@rainer@socialbc.ca cover
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

rainer

@[email protected]

IT admin in Langley, BC

Local journalist / publisher of @langleyunion

Local news fights fascism / oligarchy

Job steward with #MoveUP, enthusiastic labour rabblerouser

Free Palestine

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar rainer , to random

I would like to suggest that folks in who appreciate the and learn about and thank @dansup , who invented, developed & maintained @pixelfed for YEARS even while the user base was like in the few hundreds.

Now he's behind @loops and @fedidb as well

His dedication to the open web is so criminally underrated in our country, even though he has been on the global cutting edge of the movement we're seeing in for the better part of a decade.

@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar rainer , to random

The @cbcnews account is such a fantastic example of why integrating into their product has made a HUGE impact on the .

Publishers don't have to even interact with Mastodon to make their content available for the world here.

Thank you @mike !

@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar rainer , to random

Is anyone in the or communities having discussions about how QuickBooks Online is compromised by the CLOUD Act, and identifying real alternatives?

Even alt providers in are still mostly using AWS, Google, Azure to host their cloud stack, which doesn't really solve the problem.

I'm genuinely curious if anyone else has come to any conclusions here. I'm happy to discuss in private convo, feel free to hit me up on Signal (contact info attached).

A QR code for adding username rainer.27 as a contact in Signal
ALT
@ascentale@sfba.social avatar ascentale , to random

It's a holiday week here in the US. But we still have our next this Friday at 4pm Pacific standard time (UTC-8).

This is our weekly call for questions. Reply with any you'd like me to add to the discussion on Friday. Please add the BikeNitePQ hashtag so it's easier to find a Proposed Question. There is room for more!

(BikeNite is a Q&A type discussion on the Fediverse.) cc @bikenite

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@Will @MarkBrigham @ascentale @bikenite wow that's legitimately an amazing bike! I'm quite jealous to be honest

@chris@mstdn.chrisalemany.ca avatar chris , to random

CBC reporting that Elizabeth May has said she will be voting for the budget tonight. Which means the Liberals only need one more vote for it to pass, or for two MPs to abstain.

Seems unlikely we will have an election from this budget vote... but you never know!


https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/livestory/federal-budget-vote-2025-9.6981042#content

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@chris I seriously do not want another election, but if a single MP votes for this budget then they might as well just cross the aisle. This budget deserves to fail, and honestly it might be worth triggering another election.

The priorities of this budget are wildly misaligned with what voters signed on to when they elected the Liberals earlier this year.

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@Em0nM4stodon @chris I don't think anybody expected Carney to turn right around and all of a sudden be a willing participant in the American hegemonic "sphere-of-influence" game.

We voted for "elbows up" and started talking about civil defense networks, and then a few weeks later Carney was canceling the Digital Services Tax.

Shame on me, I'm never trusting the Liberals again.

@tinker@infosec.exchange avatar tinker , to random

So how many of us are taking advantage of the Win10 End of Life?

How many Linux Install Parties are you holding in your town?

"Did Windows 10 just notify you to pay and update?

Want to update your computer to a system that doesnt spy on you, is ad free, is secure, and doesn't cost anything?

Meet us at the library this Saturday from 10am to 3pm!

We'll install Linux on your laptop for free! (We'll even make it "dual boot" so you can keep your old system just in case!). Please remember to back up your documents and pictures on a thumb drive beforehand!

We'll have demo laptops so you can play with Linux and just check it out as well!)

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@tinker this is a great idea! Do you have any literature that you hand out, or a basic guide for how the event runs? I'd love to do something like this, but if there's any way to use existing resources that would make it much easier!

@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar rainer , to random

Hi folks!

My employer is currently looking to hire a fractional CTO at about 6 hours per month, and this person would ideally provide high-level direction and guidance regarding technical systems administration, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure for our team.

Ideal candidates would have substantial career experience and live in Canada. Values-alignment (eco-stuff) is also very important.

Please DM for more info!

@ericwickham@mastodon.social avatar ericwickham , to random

@rainer Ok, you convinced me to give Mastodon a shot. I am here now. Any tips on getting started?

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@ericwickham hey, welcome! For first tips, I'm sure I'll miss something, but Mastodon is a lot different than X...a lot fewer "hot takes" and a lot more posting about things that people genuinely enjoy.

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@ericwickham one feature that I particularly love is that you can follow entire hashtags, which is a really great way to curate your feed in the beginning. I follow (because Masto posts have been called toots in the past), and you could for sure follow stuff like or other news-specific topics

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@ericwickham you can also follow accounts from other ActivityPub platforms like Pixelfed @rainer, or PeerTube @shifter , or even Threads (depending on if your instance federates with them...it's a controversial decision that each server makes on their own)

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@ericwickham it's a really expansive eco-system that is still being built out (in its infancy really), but there is so much really cool open source stuff you can do. I want to build an automated system of accounts (one for each MP) that is driven by RSS feeds from OpenParliament to make a post whenever any MP speaks in Parliament

rainer ,
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@ericwickham yeah there really is. The Social Web Foundation is a really good place for resources as well
https://socialwebfoundation.org/

rainer ,
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@ericwickham also @wedistribute is a fantastic outlet that covers this space

rainer ,
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@ericwickham other notable Canadians to follow are @dansup (main dev behind Pixelfed and Loops, lives in Alberta), and @evan (co-inventor of ActivityPub and one of the main leaders of the fediverse, also Canadian).

Friends, Eric works at @pressprogress and is checking out the social web!

@chris@socialbc.ca avatar chris , to random

Wow!! A first ballot win for @emilylowan as leader of the B.C. Green Party!
60% of the over 5000 eligible voters cast ballots and over 60% of those were for Lowan.

Congratulations to Ms Lowan! 25 years young! Can hardly wait to see her contest an election and be in the
Legislature but that might not be for awhile.

https://bcgreens.ca

10:43 Wed sep 24 p Contest: Announcement 1 8 55% Share Round 1 3189 (60.6%) Emily Lowan 1908 (30.3%) Jonathan Kerr 128 (2.4%6) Adam Bremner-Akins 14 (0.3%) None of the options Elected Emily Lowan due to highest 1st preference Bc greens MORE VIDEOS 20:36 / 30:10 YouTube #

10:43 Wed sep 24 p Contest: Announcement 1 8 55% Share Round 1 3189 (60.6%) Emily Lowan 1908 (30.3%) Jonathan Kerr 128 (2.4%6) Adam Bremner-Akins 14 (0.3%) None of the options Elected Emily Lowan due to highest 1st preference Bc greens MORE VIDEOS 20:36 / 30:10 YouTube #
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rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@chris @emilylowan Yes! Emily, would you be interested in migrating your Mastodon account to an instance that is managed and run here in BC?

Moving off of mastodon.social isn't necessary, but think of it like the social media version of buying your veggies from a farmers market instead of Save on Foods. Sure, Save On is fine and everything, but the local solution is where the magic happens!

Also, migrating an account to a new server is super easy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpI-SplOXVE

rainer ,
@rainer@socialbc.ca avatar

@chris @emilylowan another option might be for the to start their own social instance that is locked down to only party-specific accounts (aka accounts for MLAs, candidates, official party communications, meme accounts, etc).

That way, the party completely owns its own socials and has a verified instance for official accounts.

I'm sure there are folks in this space who would love to help set that up!

Also, fuck the billionaires and free Palestine!