Sociotechnologist, activist. First employee @ Twitter, built that and pioneered social decentralization, created OAuth. Shy cloud-observer, mostly. Building Roundabout for local communities at @newpublic.org.https://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.socialhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mtmrwvv23c2pThis would give us a way to talk about how much impact a given system has: "a single email account is probably on the order of 100 μDEUh per year, while Palantir's stack for 300k people might be 1 MDEUh per year, or 30,000x more impact than the equivalent email system." [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 Aug 2026 22:15 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmrwvv23c2phttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mtmrc45ry22pI think we need a way to talk about datacenter usage. Everyone uses datacenters, like everyone uses fossil fuels. Some more than others. I propose "Datacenter Equivalent Unit" or DEU, comparable to the shipping industry's TEU ("Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit") or "barrels" for oil usage.21 Aug 2026 22:03 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmrc45ry22phttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mtlwarhvac2kIt doesn't help anyone when people who buy beef and pork daily from McDonalds and Walmart – but who think that veganism is good in principle – spend significant energy attacking the local cooperative organic farm for raising a handful of free-range chickens.21 Aug 2026 14:00 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtlwarhvac2khttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mtkmuteeqs22 [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 Aug 2026 01:39 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtkmuteeqs22https://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mthixshnvs2qI'm pretty excited about this: we're launching a ヽ(^O^)ノ paid ⎝(^O^)ヽ virtual residency at New_ Public for folks with big ideas for making the internet a better place. Got a big idea? 💡✅ Care about people and communities? 💖✅ Please apply and share! newpublic.org/eir [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Aug 2026 19:51 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mthixshnvs2qhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mtc3aeewkk27Come work with us! [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Aug 2026 16:02 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtc3aeewkk27https://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3msymcoppdc2zSo excited that I can finally talk about this! We're working with Chicago Public Media to bring @roundabout.town to communities across Chicago, under the umbrella of chicago.com! (all built on atproto!) [contains quote post or other embedded content]13 Aug 2026 21:41 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3msymcoppdc2zhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mrqnu4b4z22xLexicon d'Origine Contrôlée29 Jul 2026 00:22 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrqnu4b4z22xhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mqpgxee4ps2dToday feels like celebrating a twenty-year wedding anniversary, five years after a catastrophic divorce ended the relationship. For me, the relationship started well before the ceremony, and the fault lines of the relationship were visible soon after the honeymoon ended. https://bsky.app/profile/newpublic.org/post/3mqpewh5aec2f [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Jul 2026 19:21 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqpgxee4ps2dhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mplwteabhs24Happy Canadian Visibility Day! 🍁🇨🇦01 Jul 2026 16:29 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mplwteabhs24https://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mp5uwdu6bc2xI've had this poster hanging on my wall for well over a decade. It's not radical, it's common decency. [contains quote post or other embedded content]26 Jun 2026 02:18 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp5uwdu6bc2xhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mp5smdopgk2xI've just watched a presentation by one of the most incredible, thoughtful researchers I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I hope I can share it, because I'm crying here. 😭 Living in a tiny community that's lived through a major wildfire is a vibe, y'all.26 Jun 2026 01:36 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp5smdopgk2xhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3moyint3mjk2fAt Roundabout, we're very excited about this proposal for permissioned atproto data. Roundabout has been built on atproto, but has been on a separate network because there are some (many!) things that just aren't for the whole world. This will bring us a big step closer to being on main! [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Jun 2026 22:55 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3moyint3mjk2fhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3montmjzjq22tMy thought for the day: Don't confuse products with protocols, and vice-versa.19 Jun 2026 17:12 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3montmjzjq22thttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3monrokqbzs2tThis is a good explainer. The one change I'd make is that the fiefdom thing is something that very explicitly came from Mastodon, as it was implemented in the world. ActivityPub is in many ways just "two-way, more efficient RSS" [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Jun 2026 16:37 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3monrokqbzs2thttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3monnhjdkpc2yThis article calls out something interesting about the C-22 debacle. C-22 makes clear that no encryption back-doors should be in place, and it seems like the liberal ministers and law enforcement "just" want to be able to make secret metadata and data retention orders.19 Jun 2026 15:22 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3monnhjdkpc2yhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mom2ipdc2c2yLeader of a national party, hanging out in cattle class. Love to see it. [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Jun 2026 00:10 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mom2ipdc2c2yhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3molx5444ps2yIt was the best of governments / it was the worst of governments. [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Jun 2026 23:09 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3molx5444ps2yhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3modlohzdgs2lThis is such a farce. "They put slot machines in the libraries! That's probably bad!" / *Government does nothing for 20 years, enshittification of libraries continues* / "We must ban libraries, they're harming the children!" [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Jun 2026 15:23 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3modlohzdgs2lhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3modihyqmtc2l"We are so committed to fairness that we have lost sight of the unfairness of doing nothing." I feel like this quote, from this article about an indigenous project to address the problem of housing unaffordability in Vancouver, is true of so many things right now: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/opinion/vancouver-housing-crisis-development.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qVA.Wp4t.UpWhM4yEOLnu&smid=url-share15 Jun 2026 14:26 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3modihyqmtc2lhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mo45zlfpks2xI just tried a thing that I've honestly been waiting for since ~2006. @sgo.to is a genius, and his persistence is a godsend. I'm told it'll be live in a few months-ish. Can't wait to share more widely, thinking about implications in the meantime. (Sorry to be coy, it's not easily demo-able yet)12 Jun 2026 16:30 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo45zlfpks2xhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mo3vplga3c2qSame, but in 🇨🇦 cc @avilewis.ca - we really need to get our geese in a flank, or we'll just mint Telus as the new Meh-ta. [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Jun 2026 14:01 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo3vplga3c2qhttps://blacksky.community/profile/blaine.bsky.social/post/3mnzfsib5dk2qReally disappointed that Canada is joining the crowd in banning social media for under-16s. The *best-case* scenario is that it entrenches Apple and Google's control over our online identities, and will do very little to improve things for kids, let alone the rest of us.11 Jun 2026 14:11 +0000at://did:plc:3vdrgzr2zybocs45yfhcr6ur/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnzfsib5dk2q