Tonight on GeekNights, we discuss Federated Architecture in light of the collapse of Twitter. Federation is how most of the Internet works, and you should understand the ramifications of it before you dive into platforms like Mastodon. From XMPP (formerly Jabber) to ActivityPub, even the nature of an email address, federation is how the Internet was intended to be used.

In the news, the FCC has a more accurate broadband map, and the rail unions are (rightly) threatening to strike over intolerable working conditions.

Tonight on GeekNights, in the shadow of Twitter's collapse at the hands of a narcissistic failure of a man, we discuss the best way to protect yourself from the inevitable collapse of every platform: the POSSE model. Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere.

Tonight on GeekNights, we reveal the secrets of How to Not Suck at Smartphone Security. There is a lot of drama that can arise from mishandling your smartphone. Tonight we'll walk you through a simple set of rules that, if you follow them, will nearly guarantee such drama does not befall you.

In the news, KakaoTalk loses millions of users after a massive outage not only cuts people off from their primary means of communication but reveals sensitive personal information related to multiple profiles. This is on the heels of Google taking their cut and has now led to calls for a monopoly probe. Also Leica has a new camera for a lot of money and Scott has written about it in the forum.

Tonight on GeekNights, after a surprisingly long hiatus between Rym going to Europe for work and Rym & Emily biking 480 miles across the state of New York, we talk a bunch about IPv6 woes with Intel NICs, and happenings in the street before we get to the news that companies shouldn't spy on their employees, and the GTX 4090 is coming. Eventually, we talk a bit about web scraping and why it is noble and just.

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider how to not suck at buying a new smartphone. Android or Apple, you actually do have a choice, and there are some basic things to think about. In the news, you can't park there, this program is illegally packaged in 14 distributions, BeReal is pretty cool, this is why schools are banning smartphones, and the lack of transparency in algorithmic CSAM detection is causing harm.

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the humble vacuum cleaner.You definitely don't want to be in a situation where a shop vac would be the solution to your problem and you do not have a shop vac. Also these are "not a scam." In the news, necrobotic spiders are a thing, Amazon continues to rush toward being a full-on dystopian megacorb, and Netflix has 90 seconds to get your attention.

Tonight on GeekNights we discuss Software as a Service (SaaS). This is one of the most lucrative, important, and enduring ways software is created and sold. In the news, a chess robot attacked a kid, Amazon buys One Medical as we edge ever closer to cyber-capitalist dystopia, Minecraft (rightly) bans blockchain (and nothing of value was lost), and warming rivers due to human-caused climate change threaten the nuclear power that is crucial to transition us off of fossil fuels.