MediaActivist

That's awesome!

I'm excited for it coming to Linux -- later in the year, I think?

Beautiful to read.

I seem to keep coming back to Arch and/or Manjaro.

There are similarities here with my comment - I think some of us longtime internet users have a shared history!

This is my real name you're seeing. And yet I totally agree with this advice. I'll try and explain.

Basically, I was an early contributor to IndyMedia during the anti-war movement of the early 2000s, back before IndyMedia collapsed under the weight of conspiracy theories and antisemitism. I also did a lot of guerrilla video work and interviewed fairly high-profile people, and ended up holding screenings and speaking at events as a guest speaker and such, and I kept various blogs online too.

There was a fascist doxxing website here in the UK called Redwatch which listed me, and there were other incidents that were unpleasant. But the genie was essentially out of the bottle, and I've carried on being active online, as myself, all through the years in a way where folks could find my latest work or projects via my usual handle that is associated with me and my name.

However, I'd advise anyone to be active online under a pseudonym because it's just safer that way, and more proactive from the perspective of protection from authorities, especially as Late Capitalism predictably embraces and promotes fascism in order to protect itself, and therefore even "democracies" become more authoritarian.

That's not to say I haven't at times been active online under pseudonyms as well, but mostly I try and restrict my energies into the causes that I also happen to be associated with and known for, which means still being the same person who got into media activism twenty years ago and became known for it online.

I envy folks who are now starting from scratch, signing up for sites using pseudonyms, and retaining their anonymity. For most of us, there is absolutely nothing to gain from using real names online. Mask up on protests, and protect your privacy and security online!

I think Owncast might be comparable?

Kolektiva.media "A collective effort to offer video hosting to anarchist collectives and individuals federated with the PeerTube network. Registrations are open, but you need to write us with why you want a Kolektiva.media account at [email protected]"

I started phasing out all things Google a few years ago, with search being the last to go a couple of years back -- I started using other search engines but would often on occasion use Google search on an assumption that I wouldn't get by without it. Yet when I finally quit Google search altogether, I realised that assumption was wrong.

Obviously the more information something has on you, the more powerful and personalised the results may be, but it's not worth it. I mean, iirc Startpage uses a lot of the power of Google's search engine to bring you results while better protecting your privacy, so there's that.

I've also used DuckDuckGo a lot, and tried Searx instances too. Basically it's anything but Google for me!

And that was before I even read the webcomic Contra Chrome.

I'll be sticking with the tofu and stuff I've been surviving on for the last 30+ years.

This. Not to mention all the times each week I witness ambulances struggling to get across town because of all the traffic...tragic.

Keepass!