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Andy Schwab

@andyschwab.link
411 followers 474 following 379 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 · 02/10/2026
Reminded me how powerful it is for atproto to separate user data from app UI. Whole categories of problems can be solved in new ways, or disappear entirely
arstechnica.com
Reddit is putting more limits on Old.Reddit.com
Reddit says it's fighting "automated abuse."
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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
Going forward, I'd be interested in how mirrors (say, @eurosky.social's 👋) might be able to cheaply implement internal validation that detects if plc.directory is engaging in adversarial behavior, flags/reports it, and prevents it from impacting mirror-routed users (like me 😀)
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/07/2026
The ADVERSARIAL REPORT was probably the most useful learning tool for me - a chance to break down the different types of failures or attacks the directory enables Having messed around with this for a bit now, I'd argue developing the report > developing the codebase
github.com
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/07/2026
A few design assumptions: * plc.directory remains canonical; the goal was to validate and report * false-positives are extremely bad, so the design embraces uncertainty and squish room That squish room produces new risks... which was also part of the learning 😅
github.com
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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
That's why the work of @laurenshof.online, @eurosky.social, @atmosphere.community, (+ so many others!) is critical Making the feed (and other online places) accountable to the people who depend on them is a key front in the emerging test of democratic sovereignty It is a fight worth winning /end
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
And that's where EM, tech centralization, and the feed are key to this moment in history Sovereignty is a contest of agency - but one of the easiest ways to win such a contest is to convince people to do things that mitigate their own agency And the opaque feed is shockingly good at this 9/n
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
However unpleasant, it shouldn't be surprising if those who already hold much power don't want to risk losing ALL of it when they can (they think) retain at least some of it But I don't think that was the OP's real challenge... I think the hard part is why this happens in democratic states 8/n
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
The second path is to prepare to defend your sovereignty Against a materially more powerful adversary, this means cooperation and coordination with peers that stand to win with you by resisting the consolidating power FWIW, most people (historically) chose option A... they fold, and defect 7/n
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
In such an era, there are two paths: The first is to position yourself to benefit as much as possible from the consolidation of sovereignty. This is, I think, the default path for the the capitalist class (at least in the US), as evidenced by... well, pick your news article The second... 6/n
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
The examples are (sadly) everywhere Russia tested Ukraine, and Ukraine has been proving its sovereignty on the ground since 2022 (and before) in the largest European conflict since WW2 The US has begun to overtly test claims of sovereignty across the global 5/n
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
I was born in a time when state sovereignty felt (in some communities, at least) more immutable than it may have been historical... but the illusion is fading away I don't think I'm saying anything profound noting that the new era is one where we should expect every claim to be tested 4/n
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
This is why the crypto sovereignty narrative could only end the way it did: with people getting kidnapped and extorted, with "not your keys, not your crypto" proving only too true Individual humans can't sustain claims of sovereignty alone - we need to work together 3/n
xkcd.com
Security
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/06/2026
A claim of sovereignty is only ever a kind of bet. It exists as a challenge, in the form: "you won't stop me" And anyone, at any time, may call your bluff And then you'll have to concede, or prove it 2/n
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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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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 05/06/2026
static.klipy.com
Young Man with Red Hair Laughing
Alt: Rufio
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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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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 20/05/2026
If we replace "manufactured" with "stoked", I'm there The blog below talks about "people’s anxiety about AI, which makes up the receptive soil in which the seed of misinformation lands and takes root"
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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.mu.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 · 15/05/2026
cc: @christian.bsky.social
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 15/05/2026
100% agree I do wish "agentic" has not been turned into an AI smokescreen; inferential or probabilistic compute is still compute, and the humans that deploy that compute in ways that impact other humans are responsible for what happens Looking forward to more pragmatism like arXiv's 👍
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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 10/05/2026
In my experience, the hardest part is figuring out what to build on, what to carry forward, and what to leave behind. Having insights from other contexts (both good and bad) is an extremely useful tool. But the most tempting (and dangerous) response amid frustration is often "burn it all down" 😞
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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
The diff between direction & absolute position is so important Moving from the US to the UK was like moving a hundred years into a better future Problems - and the sense things are getting worse - is real... but I hope it doesn't result in throwing away so much that really is beautiful & valuable
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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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Andy Schwab @andyschwab.link · 08/05/2026
static.klipy.com
Thumbs Up While Swimming in Lake
Alt: Thumbs Up While Sinking in Lake
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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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