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Andy Schwab

@andyschwab.link
409 followers 474 following 378 posts

Focused on positive sum outcomes Working on provenance & reputation systems Building @at.fund Leaflet blog at blog.andyschwab.link More nerdy stuff at andyschwab.link

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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/09/2026
Seeing as we're in the midst of another round of cynical "our product is so powerful it can kill everyone" marketing, I figured I'd reshare this. TLDR: It's the inhumanity of humans, not the machinations of machines, that makes me nervous.
blog.andyschwab.link
Deus Ex Machina
On the myth of AGI
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 11/07/2026
I can't see @mu.social without thinking of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MU_puzzle
en.wikipedia.org
MU puzzle - Wikipedia
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/07/2026
Interested to see where this goes... FWIW, I do think tools that help individuals really control how they interface with the internet (like Cloudflare's, but also like AT Proto) will be on the winning side of the AI transition
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/07/2026
Been thinking about plc.directory as a single-point-of-failure So as a learning exercise, I threw together DIDMARC - an example of an independent witness for the directory 🔍 This approach uses Starknet to be fully trustless, but a trusted mirror could perform similar checks to identify abuse
didmarc.dev
DIDMARC: DID Mapping Alignment, Reporting & Conformance
DIDMARC gives every did:plc independent, on-chain proof that plc.directory serves its complete, current, non-equivocated history, exposed as a graduated status any resolver or PDS enforces unilaterall...
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
Just finished @laurenshof.online's powerful piece: "No Change" It is a critical read But I'd push back a bit on the history; I think the sovereignty of nations has, by its nature, always been in flux. And the desire for decentralized "sovereignty" without the state is part of the same story 1/n
connectedplaces.online
FR#166 – No Change
Many people in Europe see the open social web as a path to digital sovereignty. This week demonstrated a problem: the assumption that European governments actually want to be sovereign.
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 13/06/2026
Testing out @mu.social 👀
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 11/06/2026
So a surprising benefit of running LLMs locally is that it has given me a chance to introduce the tech to my kids on more-or-less my own terms
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Sifa ID @sifa.id · 10/06/2026
If you are wondering about all the (open, free) tech that is needed to build something like Sifa... ... there's a page for that: sifa.id/credits
sifa.id
Credits | Sifa
Replace your LinkedIn URL with a portable profile that updates itself from your real activity across the open web. EU-hosted. Free. No lock-in.
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/06/2026
Was encouraged to see The European Social Stack announcement (european.social). TLDR: this is good for more than just Europe.
blog.andyschwab.link
Reflections on "Don't be evil"
European digital autonomy is a global good
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/06/2026
My first computers were backroom cast-offs: a TRS-80, XT 8088 clone, etc. Their limits, and the workarounds they demanded to make them useful, were my intro to CompSci Having a bit of that experience again getting open models running on (woefully) underspec'd edge devices - and it's kinda fun 😀
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 08/06/2026
Running Qwen locally on a system that is clearly not designed for it reminds me of telnet chat over 1200baud modems... ...watching... the... words... appear... It is, nonetheless, exciting that it works! But I also need to upgrade some things
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Sifa ID @sifa.id · 05/06/2026
Hey! @bmann.ca and @trezy.codes are interested in a list of people that are available to do consulting / contracting work on ATproto, and we can share that list with companies that need you. If you want to appear on this list: 👇️
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 05/06/2026
I just finished @robin.berjon.com's excellent deep dive on the "search levy" problem - and how to fix it Strongly recommend digging into the arguments & recommendations here; the report is a remarkable distillation of our moment I have thoughts, but need to sort them out before posting further 😅
ftw.fund
Funding The Web: From Cartel to Covenant
The Web is slow-motion collapsing for multiple reasons, but at the heart of it all is a little known system: the Search/Browser Levy. Let's fix it!
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Gordon @gordon.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
funding your upstream supply chain is in your enlightened self-interest
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 27/05/2026
Valuable reflections on building trust.
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Laurens @laurenshof.online · 27/05/2026
the implication is that you also cannot build healthier social media by copying design choices that we know now consistently incentivize people to do this
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 27/05/2026
"Whatever word we use, I want it to preserve a clear division: humans on one side with responsibility, machines on the other as a boring tool."
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Ben Werdmuller @werd.io · 25/05/2026
"When such power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it tends to become opaque and evade public oversight, [giving] rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities." werd.io/the-pope-use...
werd.io
The Pope used his first encyclical to warn about tech centralization
"When such power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it tends to become opaque and evade public oversight, [giving] rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities."
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Robin Berjon @robin.berjon.com · 19/05/2026
This has been Google's game for years, since well before LLMs. They treat any independent source of information as a bug which needs crushing. Want a solution that's better than just hoping that everyone just switches (which is hard)? I've got you covered: ftw.fund.
ftw.fund
Funding The Web: A Wise Choice
The Web is slow-motion collapsing for multiple reasons, but at the heart of it all is a little known system: the Search/Browser Levy. Let's fix it!
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Sherif EA @sherif.eurosky.social · 19/05/2026
What's verification on the open social web for? With @gui.do and @emily.space we put together a draft statement and roadmap for democratic account verification. For everyone, without IDs. The draft is here, please contribute and comment. Open until 31 May tangled.org/sherif.euros...
tangled.org
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Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 20/05/2026
At @eurosky.social they don’t only offer to host your account. They also contribute to enriching the ecosystem by showcasing a library of applications, and they keep feeding the debate on ways to improve the whole infrastructure. Hats off to them!
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 18/05/2026
I wish this weren't behind a paywall, but Ben Thompson's latest on Stratechery about AI Datacenters is brutal, and honest, and important: stratechery.com/2026/data-ce...
stratechery.com
Data Center Discontent, Understanding the Opposition, Fixing the Problem
There are understandable reasons for people to oppose data centers; the only solution that will work is simply paying them off.
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Boris @bmann.ca · 15/05/2026
Yes.
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/05/2026
I... really appreciate this thread The PLC directory is a big, existential risk in a partitioned internet world (if, say, nations weaponized domain tld operator control) Addressing this risk has sticky trade-offs, but is important work long term
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/05/2026
To measure things honestly means "propagating the uncertainty" Incidentally, that is exactly what Agency Graphs are meant to do: github.com/sodal-projec...
github.com
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Eurosky Social @eurosky.social · 08/05/2026
Europe needs independent social infrastructure, not just an app. This is what we're building. eurosky.tech/build/
Screenshot of Eurosky webpage showing progress on building European social infrastructure and showing:
2 of 9 components built – 2 in progress

Personal Data Server — Complete
Where your posts and data live, hosted in Europe, under European law.

Migration Tool — Complete
Move your existing Bluesky account to Eurosky in minutes.

Relay — In progress
Listens to every post across the entire network in real time.

PLC Directory Mirror — In progress
The identity registry that verifies who you are across every app on the network.

Indexer — Needs funding
Indexes and organises network content to power feeds, discovery, and search.
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 08/05/2026
I take a very long time composing stuff, and I can be, um, loquacious in my desire to be precise. In the past, I would double, triple, and quadruple check my content for typos and such. Now, I find I'm tempted to leave a few errors in, just so people know I didn't paste a prompt response 🙃
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 08/05/2026
I think durable value generation has a unifying frame: restoring intuitive sense-making in the era of super-abundant information "feeds + ads" solved this with a trade-off: gain simplicity & context*, lose autonomy & control There are better equilibriums, and this post is a good place to start 👍
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brendan @schlage.town · 07/05/2026
Wrote up some thoughts on new *atmospheric generatives* Things that can generate value even in environments where everything can be copied, like: contextualization • fluidity • aggregation • relationality Riffing on a @kevinkelly.bsky.social piece from years ago; extending for the atmosphere!
scraps.schlage.town
On atmospheric generatives…
How can we build moats on an open network? How can we make money when all the data's free? Here, I sketch some ideas for new generatives — contextualization, fluidity, aggregation, and relationality — for value creation in the atmosphere.
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Chad Kohalyk @chadkoh.com · 06/05/2026
New worker-owned #localnews outlet dropped in #Vancouver www.defactomedia.ca/welcome/
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 06/05/2026
The act of ruthlessly stomping out my good intentions in a process colloquially known as "inbox zero" is... complete.
static.klipy.com
Indiana Jones Waving Farewell
Alt: An old man waving goodbye
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business goose🪿 @goose.art · 04/05/2026
nice, @at.fund has good Oauth scopes now, setting it up for myself, will work on adding more projects this way , love the idea of a hub for financially supporting important infrastructure www.at.fund/goose.art
at.fund
goose.art — at.fund
Support goose.art on at.fund — funding for the Atmosphere.
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Chris Pardy @chris.pardy.family · 05/05/2026
I second this call out to @danabra.mov for his awesome explainer. I created a labeler @lexicons.harvester.blue that adds a label to accounts that have successfully published their lexicons.
A picture of a bluesky post by at.fund showing a Verified Lexicon Publisher label. The post is at.fund thanking danabra.mov for a lexicon writeup and saying that they now have correctly published canonical lexicon
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fig (aka:[phil]) @bad-example.com · 04/05/2026
you can nominate @microcosm.blue and your other favourite open-source projects for an @endowment.dev grant, if you want.
endowment.dev
Nominate OSS for Funding — Open Source Endowment
Nominate critical, underfunded open source projects for OSE grant funding through our open, community-developed model.
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Emelia @thisismissem.social · 04/05/2026
Okay so – with a big caveat that we still need to write a lot more documentation – between the @roost.tools team, @dcallies.bsky.social and myself we've managed to ship a new documentation site for ThreatExchange / HMA: facebook.github.io/ThreatExchan...
facebook.github.io
ThreatExchange
Trust & Safety tools for working together to fight digital harms.
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at.fund @at.fund · 04/05/2026
Thanks to @danabra.mov for the lexicon writeup 🙌 at.fund now has a correctly published canonical lexicon 😅
underreacted.leaflet.pub
atproto made simple: publishing lexicons - underreacted
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 01/05/2026
Took a step back from building to spent time musing and experimenting on the user education side The initial result is fundyourinternet.org, an attempt to think about solutions in terms of culture, expectation, and habit formation - not "tech" This is a first draft, and feedback is very welcome 👍
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 30/04/2026
Been thinking about this a lot since Atmosphere. I suspect this issue is bigger than any particular technical challenge or protocol capability. It's about expectations, and how we value (or not) the work other people do that we depend on.
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 28/04/2026
Going to beat the interop drum again This is a great thread and, to me, the coolest thing about it is that the solution is already in the works... and it isn't tangled or radicle having to build it They can keep doing what they're best at, while social proof gets integrated in parallel 🍻
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 28/04/2026
At Bellingcat, we’re not just producing investigations — we also want to empower you to carry out your own. That’s why we build tools to help you dig deeper. You can explore our full suite of open-source tools on GitHub: github.com/bellingcat
github.com
Bellingcat
An independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists brought together by a passion for open source research. - Bellingcat
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 28/04/2026
Being able to acknowledge mistakes, extend grace, and keep working together is the essence of systemic resilience. Side note - we've been encouraged for too long to separate "rational" and "ethical". This is a cynical illusion. The human animal is a cooperative toolmaker: we succeed together.
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 28/04/2026
I love that this reads @sifa.id records to just work. Another example of natural interop that makes for a genuinely improved user experience / greatly lowered cost to adopt new tooling 👍
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 24/04/2026
What was old is new again.
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dietrich @burrito.space · 24/04/2026
User & Agents is moving off Discord, and been thinking on platform portability patterns for Peek. How to move a community from platform A -> C without pre-determining C? Experiment using Atproto as B, in A->B->C migration, via opt-in revocable membership "proofs" (badges?): link.portable.agency
link.portable.agency
portable.agency
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 23/04/2026
We can help each other do things too 👍
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Alex @alex.bsky.team · 22/04/2026
I'm excited to announce another guest post on the atproto.com blog! This time, we're featuring @spacecowboy17.bsky.social, the maintainer of the popular For You Feed (bsky.app/profile/spac...)! atproto.com/blog/serving...
atproto.com
Serving the For You Feed - AT Protocol
How the maintainer of the popular For You feed serves it from their living room!
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Bumblefudge @bumblefudge.com · 21/04/2026
If anyone needs a little advice on how to set up (and firewall, and drama-proof) a sponsorship contract for standards work, whether at IETF or W3C or both, that's actually kinda my day job and I'm happy to help. It costs less $$ and drama than you'd think to have "ears on the inside"!
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Jim Ray @jimray.bsky.team · 20/04/2026
Huh. You can just watch @mosh.bsky.social outline an MBA-level framework (the good parts) custom tailored to building atproto apps. Even on a Monday that’s WILD. atmosphereconf.org/event/BzrpDQK
atmosphereconf.org
ATmosphereConf 2026
ATmosphereConf is the global atproto community conference. Join us in Vancouver, Canada, March 26th - 29th, 2026.
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Atmosphere Community @atmosphere.community · 17/04/2026
Yes, it's true! @brittanyellich.com crushed it in shipping a v0.1 version of a new community hub at atmosphere.community Features: @standard.site aggregation powered by @opensocial.community, group calendar, regional communities etc etc etc
Screenshot of atmosphere.community
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Eurosky Social @eurosky.social · 17/04/2026
We’re fundraising to build everything we need to operate without Bluesky. Our €100,000 target will accelerate our goal of building a European app backend (Appview) and a microblogging app. Since last night over 282 of you contributed more than €5,000. Let's do this! fund.eurosky.tech
Screenshot of Eurosky fundraising page showing amount raised: €5,226 out of a €100,000 target and number of supporters (282).
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