Olivier Forget
@olivierforget.net
Aerospace engineer turned developer and entepreneur. https://olivierforget.net Interested in web and user agency on the net. Building https://dropserver.org
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Threads is effectively shelving their fediverse integration, after it saw marginally little use
Zuck has played the game well, harming both open protocol movements while growing his platform, getting good PR and distracting regulators
connectedplaces.online/reports/fedi...
Zuck has played the game well, harming both open protocol movements while growing his platform, getting good PR and distracting regulators
connectedplaces.online/reports/fedi...
December 19, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Threads is effectively shelving their fediverse integration, after it saw marginally little use
Zuck has played the game well, harming both open protocol movements while growing his platform, getting good PR and distracting regulators
connectedplaces.online/reports/fedi...
Zuck has played the game well, harming both open protocol movements while growing his platform, getting good PR and distracting regulators
connectedplaces.online/reports/fedi...
I understand that CBS is circling the drain. That's on them. But why the heck is Bank of America putting their name on this? I don't have high expectations about large institutions at this point, but come on.
"We here at Bank of America remember a time when a woman couldn't get a credit card without her husband's approval. Wouldn't that be fun again?"
"Has feminism failed women brought to you by bank of america" is my MKULTRA sleeper agent activation phrase
December 19, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I understand that CBS is circling the drain. That's on them. But why the heck is Bank of America putting their name on this? I don't have high expectations about large institutions at this point, but come on.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Happy slightly belated 90th birthday to the Douglas DC-3, an airplane whose impact on the world of aviation is hard to over-estimate.
Virtually every major airline in existence today operated it either directly or somewhere in its lineage, from launch customer American to KLM to Ethiopian.
Virtually every major airline in existence today operated it either directly or somewhere in its lineage, from launch customer American to KLM to Ethiopian.
December 18, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Happy slightly belated 90th birthday to the Douglas DC-3, an airplane whose impact on the world of aviation is hard to over-estimate.
Virtually every major airline in existence today operated it either directly or somewhere in its lineage, from launch customer American to KLM to Ethiopian.
Virtually every major airline in existence today operated it either directly or somewhere in its lineage, from launch customer American to KLM to Ethiopian.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
I love to create things, and will keep doing that.
December 18, 2025 at 4:22 PM
I love to create things, and will keep doing that.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
We really need to start paying attention to this underlying need that is driving the demand for "AI". This is a real human need. We know that because it is making people do things that are objectively not very smart. People will compromise their reasoning and their values to get their needs met.
December 17, 2025 at 5:55 PM
We really need to start paying attention to this underlying need that is driving the demand for "AI". This is a real human need. We know that because it is making people do things that are objectively not very smart. People will compromise their reasoning and their values to get their needs met.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Great blog post from Matt Haughey on driving a VW Buzz from Texas to Oregon. When the Buzz was announced, I was hoping it would look a little more old-school VW, but seeing one in person they look really good. Seems mostly well designed inside too.
December 16, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Great blog post from Matt Haughey on driving a VW Buzz from Texas to Oregon. When the Buzz was announced, I was hoping it would look a little more old-school VW, but seeing one in person they look really good. Seems mostly well designed inside too.
I remember those days of smoke everywhere. Don't miss them. I remember going out in NY soon after the smoking ban, and it was fine. People get over things easily when it's clearly the right thing to do.
I lived thru the end of public smoking. Early in my career I presented to city councils who were smoking, in front of audiences who were smoking.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, hospitals…
All of that seems insane now, but it was very controversial when we DID change it.
We CAN change things.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, hospitals…
All of that seems insane now, but it was very controversial when we DID change it.
We CAN change things.
It’s crazy that people used to be able to just smoke cigarettes wherever they wanted
December 16, 2025 at 6:31 AM
I remember those days of smoke everywhere. Don't miss them. I remember going out in NY soon after the smoking ban, and it was fine. People get over things easily when it's clearly the right thing to do.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
What we are working on right now: blog.exe.dev/meet-exe.dev
We all need more virtual machines. We keep building software to work around the fact that VM infrastructure is clunky. Let's have good VM infrastructure instead.
We all need more virtual machines. We keep building software to work around the fact that VM infrastructure is clunky. Let's have good VM infrastructure instead.
December 15, 2025 at 11:40 PM
What we are working on right now: blog.exe.dev/meet-exe.dev
We all need more virtual machines. We keep building software to work around the fact that VM infrastructure is clunky. Let's have good VM infrastructure instead.
We all need more virtual machines. We keep building software to work around the fact that VM infrastructure is clunky. Let's have good VM infrastructure instead.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
this field biologist does a great job highlighting the insidiousness of AI editing
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
December 15, 2025 at 2:21 AM
this field biologist does a great job highlighting the insidiousness of AI editing
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
these one-click AI edit buttons are incredibly appealing to many photographers, amateurs and professionals alike, and are framed as innocuous
this is worth sharing and educating people about
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Right-on-red is imho the biggest signal [sic] of how much the U.S. prioritizes driving
December 15, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Right-on-red is imho the biggest signal [sic] of how much the U.S. prioritizes driving
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Being into retrocomputing, it's interesting how UIs from the 90s mostly feel just right to me—and I don't think that's just purely nostalgia or growing up with it.
Things like window borders that are visible so you know where to resize things and scrollbars that indicate the current viewport.
Things like window borders that are visible so you know where to resize things and scrollbars that indicate the current viewport.
One amazing thing about 2025 is that, if you start up an Apple product, it forces you to choose between _three different_ window mangers, but if you start up a clean install of a current version of Linux, it just chooses good defaults for you.
December 13, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Being into retrocomputing, it's interesting how UIs from the 90s mostly feel just right to me—and I don't think that's just purely nostalgia or growing up with it.
Things like window borders that are visible so you know where to resize things and scrollbars that indicate the current viewport.
Things like window borders that are visible so you know where to resize things and scrollbars that indicate the current viewport.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Sometime it feels too easy to dunk on the idiocy that is Boom Supersonic's unfulfilled promises and fanciful vision for the future. So maybe it is fitting that the company pivoted to an AI-focused play with a partner that believes in orbital data centers.
paxex.aero/boom-pivots-...
paxex.aero/boom-pivots-...
Boom Pivots to Power | PaxEx.Aero
Can selling power generation be Boom's ticket to success? Or is it just more distraction from the technical and financial challenges of supersonic commercial flight?
paxex.aero
December 12, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Sometime it feels too easy to dunk on the idiocy that is Boom Supersonic's unfulfilled promises and fanciful vision for the future. So maybe it is fitting that the company pivoted to an AI-focused play with a partner that believes in orbital data centers.
paxex.aero/boom-pivots-...
paxex.aero/boom-pivots-...
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Polling: "Do you think the rich have too much political power in the U.S.?"
Yes: 80%
No: 8%
Independent voters are 81%/6% on this; even Trump voters are 68%/18%.
Maybe a political party could lead on this issue.
d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/ec...
Yes: 80%
No: 8%
Independent voters are 81%/6% on this; even Trump voters are 68%/18%.
Maybe a political party could lead on this issue.
d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/ec...
December 11, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Polling: "Do you think the rich have too much political power in the U.S.?"
Yes: 80%
No: 8%
Independent voters are 81%/6% on this; even Trump voters are 68%/18%.
Maybe a political party could lead on this issue.
d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/ec...
Yes: 80%
No: 8%
Independent voters are 81%/6% on this; even Trump voters are 68%/18%.
Maybe a political party could lead on this issue.
d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/ec...
Reposted by Olivier Forget
been suspecting this would be a natural correction eventually. i would also expect to see a rise in the value of human performance as well: sports, theater, things that can't be faked. this of course assumes AI investments don't crater the economy first
December 11, 2025 at 5:23 PM
been suspecting this would be a natural correction eventually. i would also expect to see a rise in the value of human performance as well: sports, theater, things that can't be faked. this of course assumes AI investments don't crater the economy first
Reposted by Olivier Forget
I remember when SSL certificates cost more than hosting your website. And good luck remembering to renew it before the old one expired.
10 years ago @letsencrypt.bsky.social changed all that. letsencrypt.org/2025/12/09/1...
10 years ago @letsencrypt.bsky.social changed all that. letsencrypt.org/2025/12/09/1...
10 Years of Let's Encrypt Certificates
On September 14, 2015, our first publicly-trusted certificate went live. We were proud that we had issued a certificate that a significant majority of clients could accept, and had done it using autom...
letsencrypt.org
December 10, 2025 at 2:52 PM
I remember when SSL certificates cost more than hosting your website. And good luck remembering to renew it before the old one expired.
10 years ago @letsencrypt.bsky.social changed all that. letsencrypt.org/2025/12/09/1...
10 years ago @letsencrypt.bsky.social changed all that. letsencrypt.org/2025/12/09/1...
"Yo Dawg I heard you like for-profit corporations in your healthcare so I put another for-profit corporation in your healthcare"
Rand Paul on his healthcare plan: "What if you could join Costco? Costco has 44m members and if one person negotiated for all 44 and they bought a group plan like Toyota or General Motors does, they would be the largest collective entity in the country. They would drive prices down by sheer might."
December 9, 2025 at 11:13 PM
"Yo Dawg I heard you like for-profit corporations in your healthcare so I put another for-profit corporation in your healthcare"
Reposted by Olivier Forget
For comparison, every robotic mission NASA has ever sent in its history, from the dawn of the Space Age 65 years ago to today, from Mercury to Pluto and beyond, has cost less than $40B.
I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
Mark Zuckerberg’s gamble on the ‘Metaverse’ has cost Meta more than $77B
The company now plans to cut spending on it and shift focus to AI wearables instead
(via WSJ)
The company now plans to cut spending on it and shift focus to AI wearables instead
(via WSJ)
December 7, 2025 at 2:03 AM
For comparison, every robotic mission NASA has ever sent in its history, from the dawn of the Space Age 65 years ago to today, from Mercury to Pluto and beyond, has cost less than $40B.
I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Been trying to figure out what group of reasonable people might actually give a shit about digital sovereignty/control other than people already radicalized and I think it might be parents.
December 5, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Been trying to figure out what group of reasonable people might actually give a shit about digital sovereignty/control other than people already radicalized and I think it might be parents.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
Look, all encryption is end-to-end if you let marketing define the ends.
December 5, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Look, all encryption is end-to-end if you let marketing define the ends.
Reposted by Olivier Forget
California through certain lenses.
December 5, 2025 at 1:00 AM
California through certain lenses.
Lots of talk in here about being in hiding and in the dark on the net.
Just so happens I am working on making dropserver.org "go dark" as well. I want it to be possible to set up an instance with no public access, and use it solely through private networking (specifically Tailscale for now).
Just so happens I am working on making dropserver.org "go dark" as well. I want it to be possible to set up an instance with no public access, and use it solely through private networking (specifically Tailscale for now).
December 4, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Lots of talk in here about being in hiding and in the dark on the net.
Just so happens I am working on making dropserver.org "go dark" as well. I want it to be possible to set up an instance with no public access, and use it solely through private networking (specifically Tailscale for now).
Just so happens I am working on making dropserver.org "go dark" as well. I want it to be possible to set up an instance with no public access, and use it solely through private networking (specifically Tailscale for now).
Reposted by Olivier Forget
What do people think about the "dark forest theory of the internet" ? https://www.ystrickler.com/dftrevisited/
The internet is dying on the outside but growing on the inside
Dark Forests rule everything around us. Signal chats to plan wars? Check. Private group chats where rival athletes discuss injuries? Check. Communications increasingly monitored by states and authorities? Check. A decrease in posting on social media? Check again. In 2019 I wrote that the internet was becoming dangerous and people
www.ystrickler.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:19 PM
What do people think about the "dark forest theory of the internet" ? https://www.ystrickler.com/dftrevisited/
Reposted by Olivier Forget
If anyone wonder what it takes to maintain some popular apps; I just replied to my 10 000 support email.
December 2, 2025 at 7:33 PM
If anyone wonder what it takes to maintain some popular apps; I just replied to my 10 000 support email.
Kind of amazed Claude has never called me out on my awful code. Like it's bizarre to interact with it and never have it mention how much your code sucks.
November 25, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Kind of amazed Claude has never called me out on my awful code. Like it's bizarre to interact with it and never have it mention how much your code sucks.