Lemmy.ca

This is a followup to my introduction of BlogOnLemmy, a simple blog frontend. If you haven't seen it, no need because I will be explaining how it works and how you can run your own BlogOnLemmy for free.

Leveraging the Federation

Having a platform to connect your content to likeminded people is invaluable. The Fediverse achieves this in a platform agnostic way, so in theory it shouldn't matter which platform we use. But platform have different userbases that interact with posts in different ways. I've always preferred the forum variety, where communities form and discussion is encouraged.

My posts are shared as original content on Lemmy, and that's who it's meant for. Choosing for a traditional blog style to make a more palatable platform for a wider audience, and in this way also promoting Lemmy.

Constraints

Starting off I did not want the upkeep of another federated instance. Not every new thing that is deployed on the Fediverse needs to stand on its own or made from the ground up as an ActivityPub compatible service. But rather use existing infrastructure, already federated, already primed for interconnectivity. Taking it one step further is not a having a back-end at all, a 'dumb' website as it were. Posts are made, edited, and cross-posted on Lemmy.

The world of CSS and JavaScript on the other hand - how websites are styled and made feature-rich - is littered with libraries. Being treated like black boxes, often just a few functions are used with the rest clogging up our internet experience. Even jQuery, which is used by over 74% of all websites, is already 23kB in its smallest form. I'm not planning on having the smallest possible footprint*, but rather showing a modern web browser provides an underused toolset of natively supported functionality; something the first webdevs would have given their left kidney for.

Lastly, to improve maintainability and simplicity, one page is enough for a blog. Provided that its content can be altered dynamically.

*See optimization

How it's made

1. URL: Category/post

Even before the browser completely loads the page, we can take a look at the URL. With our constraints only two types of additions are available for us, the anchor and GET parameters. When an anchor, or '#', is present websites scroll to a specific place in a website after loading. We can hijack this behavior and use it to load predefined categories. Like '#blog' or '#linkdumps'. For posts, '#/post/3139396' looks nicer than '?post=3139396', but anchors are rarely search engine compatible. So I'm extracting the GET parameter to load an individual post.

Running JavaScript before the page has done loading should be swift and easy, like coloring the filters or setting Dark/Light mode, so it doesn't delay the site.

2. API -> Lemmy

A simple 'Fetch' is all that's required. Lemmy's API is extensive already, because it's used by different frontends and apps that make an individual’s experience unique. When selecting a category, we are requesting all the posts made by me in one or more lemmy communities. A post or permalink uses the same post_id as on the Lemmy instance. Pretty straight forward.

3. Markdown -> HTML

When we get a reply from the Lemmy instance, the posts are formatted in Markdown. Just as they are when you submit the post. But our browsers use HTML, a different markup language that is interpretable by our browsers. This is where the only code that's not written by me steps in, a Markdown to HTML layer called snarkdown. It's very efficient and probably the smallest footprint possible for what it is, around 1kB.

Optimization

When my blog was launched, I was using a Cloudflare proxy, for no-hassle https handling, caching and CDN. Within the EU, I'm aiming for sub-100ms* to be faster than the blink of an eye. With a free tier of Cloudflare we can expect a variance between 150 and 600ms at best, but intercontinental caching can take seconds.

Nginx and OpenLiteSpeed are regarded as the fastest webservers out there, I often use Apache for testing but for deployment I prefer Nginx's speed and reliability. I could sidetrack here and write another 1000 words about the optimization of static content and TLS handling in Nginx, but that's a story for another time.

* For the website, API calls are made asynchronously while the page is loaded and are not counted

Mythical 14kB, or less?

All data being transferred on the internet is split up into manageable chunks or frames. Their size or Maximum Transmission Unit, is defined by IEEE 802.3-2022 1.4.207 with a maximum of 1518 bytes*. They usually carry 1460 bytes of actual application data, or Maximum Segment Size.

Followed by most server operating systems, RFC 6928 proposes 10x MSS (= Congestion Window) for the first reply. In other words, the server 'tests' your network by sending 10 frames at once. If your device acknowledges each frame, the server knows to double the Congestion Window every subsequent reply until some are dropped. This is called TCP Slow Start, defined in RFC 5681.

10 frames of 1460 bytes contain 14.6kB of usable data. Or at least, it used to. The modern web changed with the use of encryption. The Initial Congestion Window, in my use case, includes 2 TLS frames and from each frame it takes away an extra 29 bytes. Reducing our window to 11.4kB. If we manage our website to fit within this first Slow Start routine, we avoid an extra round trip in the TCP/IP-protocol. Speeding up the website as much as your latency to the server. Min-maxing TCP Traffic is the name of the game.

* Can vary with MTU settings of your network or interface, but around 1500 (+ 14 bytes for headers) is the widely accepted default

Visualizes two raw web requests, 10.7kB vs 13.3kB with TCP Slow Start
- Above Blue: Request Starts
- Between Green: TLS Handshake
- Inside Red: Initial Congestion Window

Icons

Icons are tricky, because describing pixel positions takes up a considerable amount of data. Instead SVG's are commonplace, creating complex shapes programmatically, and significantly reducing its footprint. Feathericons is a FOSS icon library providing a beautiful SVG rendered solution for my navbar. For the favicon, or website icon, I coded it manually with the same font as the blog itself. But after different browsers took liberties rendering the font and spacing, I converted it to a path traced design. Describing each shape individually and making sure it's rendered the same consistently.

Regular vs. Inline vs Minified

If we sum up the filesizes we're looking at around 50kB of data. Luckily servers compress* our code, and are pretty good at it, leaving only 15kB to be transferred; just above our 11kB threshold. By making the code unreadable for humans using minifying scripts we can reduce the final size even more. Only... the files that make up this blog are split up. Common guidelines recommend doing so to prevent one big file clogging up load times. For us that means splitting up our precious 11kB in multiple round trips, the opposite of our goal. Inline code blocks to the rescue, with the added bonus of the entire site now being compressed into one file making the compression more efficient to end optimization at a neat 10.7kB.

* The Web uses Gzip. A more performant choice today is Brotli, which I compiled for use on my server

In Practice

All good in theory, now let's see the effect in practice. I've deployed the blog 4 times, and each version was measured for total download time from 20 requests. In the first graph we notice the impact of not staying inside the Initial Congestion Window, where only the second scenario is delayed by a second round trip when loading the first page.

Scenario 1. and 3. have separate files, and separate requests are made. Taking priority in displaying the website, or the first file, but neglecting potential useable space inside the init_cwnd. We can tell when comparing the second graph, it ends up almost doubling their respective total load times.

The final version is the only one transferring all the data in one round trip, and is the one deployed on the main site. With total download times as low as 51ms, around 150ms as a soft upper limit, and 85ms average in Europe. Unfortunately, that means worldwide tests show load times of 700ms, so I'll eventually implement a CDN.

1. Regular (14,46kB): no minification, separate files
   - https://dev3.martijn.sh/
2. Inline (13,29kB): no minification, one file
   - https://dev1.martijn.sh/
3. Regular Minified (10,98kB): but still using separate files
   - https://dev2.martijn.sh/
4. Inline Minified (10,69kB): one page as small as possible
   - https://martijn.sh/

I'll be leaving up dev versions until there's a significant update to the site

Content Delivery Network

Speeds like this can only be achieved when you're close to my server, which is in London. For my Eurobros that means blazing fast response times. For anyone else, cdn.martijn.sh points to Cloudflare's CDN and git.martijn.sh to GitHub's CDN. These services allow us to distribute our blog to servers across the globe, so requesting clients always choose the closest server available.

GitHub Pages

An easy and free way of serving a static webpage. Fork the BlogOnLemmy repository and name it 'GitHub-Username'.github.io. Your website is now available as username.github.io and even supports the use of custom domain names. Mine is served at git.martijn.sh.

While testing its load times worldwide, I got response times as low as 64ms with 250ms on the high end. Not surprisingly they deliver the page slightly faster globally than Cloudflare does, because they're optimizing for static content.

Extra features

• Taking over the Light or Dark mode of the users' device is a courtesy more than anything else. Adding to this, a selectable permanent setting. My way of highlighting the overuse of cookies and localStorage by giving the user the choice to store data of a website that is built from the ground up to not use any.
• A memorable and interactable canvas to give a personal touch to the about me section.
• Collapsed articles with a 'Read More'-Button.
• 'Load More'-Button loads the next 10 posts, so the page is as long as you want it to be

Webmentions

Essential for blogging in current year, Webmentions keep websites up-to-date when links to them are created or edited. Fortunately Lemmy has got us covered, when posts are made the first instance sends a Webmention to the hosters of any links that are mentioned in the post.

To stay within scope I'll be using webmention.io for now, which enables us to get notified when linked somewhere else by adding just a single line of HTML to our code.

Notes

• Enabling HTTP2 or 3 did not speed up load times, in fact with protocol negotiations and TLS they added one more packet to the Initial Congestion Window.
• For now, the apex domain will be pointing directly to my server, but more testing is required in choosing a CDN.
• Editing this site for personal use requires knowledge of HTML and JS for now, but I might create a script to individualize blogs easier.

Federal agents on Friday arrested a judge in Wisconsin on obstruction charges after she allegedly helped an undocumented immigrant evade arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel said.

Patel made the announcement in an X post, which was quickly deleted. The FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on why the post was removed.

A Call for Constructive Engagement

April 22, 2025

As leaders of America’s colleges, universities, and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education. We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding.

America’s system of higher learning is as varied as the goals and dreams of the students it serves. It includes research universities and community colleges; comprehensive universities and liberal arts colleges; public institutions and private ones; freestanding and multi-site campuses. Some institutions are designed for all students, and others are dedicated to serving particular groups. Yet, American institutions of higher learning have in common the essential freedom to determine, on academic grounds, whom to admit and what is taught, how, and by whom. Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in their pursuit of truth, faculty, students, and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship, or deportation.

Because of these freedoms, American institutions of higher learning are essential to American prosperity and serve as productive partners with government in promoting the common good. Colleges and universities are engines of opportunity and mobility, anchor institutions that contribute to economic and cultural vitality regionally and in our local communities. They foster creativity and innovation, provide human resources to meet the fast-changing demands of our dynamic workforce, and are themselves major employers. They nurture the scholarly pursuits that ensure America’s leadership in research, and many provide healthcare and other essential services. Most fundamentally, America’s colleges and universities prepare an educated citizenry to sustain our democracy.

The price of abridging the defining freedoms of American higher education will be paid by our students and our society. On behalf of our current and future students, and all who work at and benefit from our institutions, we call for constructive engagement that improves our institutions and serves our republic.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/62373168

FBI Director Kash Patel on Friday said federal agents arrested a Wisconsin judge on obstruction charges in a message Patel posted on X and later deleted. In the post, which Reuters saw before it was deleted, Patel said there was evidence of the judge "obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week."

A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service said Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County circuit judge, was arrested at a courthouse this morning.

Originally Posted By u/Zacoftheaxes At 2025-04-25 11:44:52 AM | Source

The latest killing of a Russian general underscores the fact that Ukraine is still very much in the fight for its survival, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley

Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of trying to help an undocumented immigrant who appeared in her court avoid arrest.

A hacking collective identifying itself as R00TK1T has claimed responsibility for a massive data breach affecting TikTok, allegedly exposing the credentials of more than 900,000 users.  According to the group’s statements, they have released a sample of 927,000 TikTok user records into the wild, describing it as “proof of their vulnerabilities”. R00TK1T stated they had […] The post Hackers Allegedly Breach TikTok, Exposing Over 900,000 Usernames & Passwords appeared first on Cyber Security News.

https://archive.is/pYuJz

Roku has tested annoying, obtrusive ads as recently as last month.

I've not been able to exercise for 3 days and I feel flat AF. I've kept busy doing work, chores, fun stuff etc but still flat.

Video version, with clips of the bot-DJ

A dollar gauge is on track for its worst performance during the first 100 days of a US presidency in data going back to the Nixon era, when America abandoned the gold standard and switched to a free-floating exchange rate.