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Tom Atkins

@keybits.net
195 followers 541 following 150 posts

🦉 Building PostOwl: www.postowl.com 🧑‍💻 Helping people get useful things done with computers. 🕸️🏦 Promoting the Open Web & Basic Income. 🌳🌳🌳 Growing trees in West Cork, Ireland. Personal website: www.keybits.net

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Tom Atkins
c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 13/04/2024
Let's talk about the bristlemouths, 13 species of bioluminescent deep-dwelling ocean fish in genus Cyclothone. There are a lot of them. Like, a lot. Specifically, our best guess is there are a million billion (1E15) bristlemouths on Earth. Making them the most populous vertebrate on the planet.
A xenomorph looking fish with dark slightly sparkly skin and an oversized lower jaw packed with sharp, needle-like teeth.

Photo from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
https://twilightzone.whoi.edu/explore-the-otz/creature-features/elongated-bristlemouth/
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dan @danabra.mov · 23/06/2026
this is huge (if implemented). as i understand it, this is a protocol extending atproto that lets you declare member-only spaces (e.g. forums, groups, or something more exotic) holding data that different apps can read and write. so — like atproto, but with access control
{
  "lexicon": 1,
  "id": "com.atmoboards.forum",
  "defs": {
    "main": {
      "type": "space",
      "description": "A discussion forum",
      "key": "any",
      "name": "AtmoBoards Forum",
      "name:lang": { "es": "Foro AtmoBoards", "ja": "AtmoBoards 掲示板" },
      "collections": ["com.atmoboards.thread", "com.atmoboards.reply"]
    }
  }
}
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 18/05/2026
I recently switched fully to Firefox. The fact that Jake works on it helped motivate me.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 26/02/2026
A couple of years ago @michaelaufreiter.com helped me realise a dream to launch @postowl.com. We used ProseMirror for live in-place rich text editing. Now he's gone to another level by implementing his own live rich text editor in Svelte - lean and fast. I can't wait to get this into an app!
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 22/10/2025
A couple of things have improved my Bluesky experience recently. Main one is making this my default feed: bsky.app/profile/spac... It recommends posts that have been liked by people you follow.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 27/09/2025
Outstanding explanation about why atproto is such an exciting evolution for the web. This is why I got excited about Bluesky. Do take some time to read it.
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Neal Agarwal @neal.fun · 16/09/2025
I’m Not a Robot, a game about solving CAPTCHAs, is out now! good luck :) > neal.fun/not-a-robot/
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 12/09/2025
youtu.be/r-Nw7HbaeWY?... As relevant as ever and still sounding awesome.
youtu.be
M.I.A. - Borders
YouTube video by MIAVEVO
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 28/08/2025
youtu.be/eZpdCm21PFY?... Excellent video and do check out his channel - some gold on there especially if you live in Ireland.
youtu.be
The Urban Fabric
YouTube video by Kev Collins
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Reposted by Tom Atkins
Paul Biggar 🇵🇸 🇮🇪 @paulbiggar.com · 20/08/2025
Really disappointing to learn that @zed.dev just took money from racist and Islamophobic Sequoia Capital, who recently started investing in Israel in order to support Israel's genocide! Zed's team should be appalled and ashamed. For context about Sequoia bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app
Paul Biggar 🇵🇸 🇮🇪 (@paulbiggar.com)
Shaun Maguire is once again being called out for blatant Islamophobia. He has been at this for nearly two years. Let's take a look. Thread 🧵👇
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Max Roser @maxroser.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
If you are interested in our work at Our World in Data, you can subscribe to our newsletters — in recent months we made them much better. Here is what we offer and how you can subsribe: ourworldindata.org/newsletters
ourworldindata.org
Want to stay up to date on our work? Subscribe to our two newsletters
We send two regular newsletters so our readers can stay up to date on our work: data insights and a biweekly digest.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 30/12/2024
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz42...
youtube.com
The Blue Monday Code (New Order)
YouTube video by Distort the Preamp
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 20/11/2024
Bluesky Pro Tip - create a list called 'Friends IRL' (IRL = In Real Life) and add the people you actually know. Pin the list and enjoy seeing just the stuff from people you actually know! 🤗
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Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 13/11/2024
Bluesky is a PBC (public benefit corporation) with the mission “to develop and drive large-scale adoption of technologies for open and decentralized public conversation.” From the start, our goal has been to build a decentralized social network that is usable by the mainstream.
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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 08/11/2024
Here’s a link to search for starter packs by topic blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...
blueskydirectory.com
All - Bluesky Directory
A curated collection of all things relating to the Blue Sky social media platform.
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Scott Spence @scottspence.dev · 19/10/2024
I made a @sveltesociety.dev starter pack! A list of a lot of the Svelte community I know on here 😊 go.bsky.app/QEhPG3P
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Gabriella Nonino @gabriellanonino.com · 17/09/2024
It's great to be on a social network led by a woman who doesn't steal the limelight, works hard in the background, focusing to create a global place for discussion, investigation and creative expression for everyone. Thank you @jay.bsky.team 👑
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P(aul) Frazee @pfrazee.com · 14/09/2024
Bluesky makes it possible for users and orgs *outside Bluesky* to label content for misinformation or other issues. You subscribe to these in the app, and can unsubscribe at any time. Stackable moderation is one of our most novel experiments, so I'm excited that @newsdetective.bsky.social is here
bsky.social
Bluesky’s Stackable Approach to Moderation - Bluesky
Today, we’re open sourcing Ozone, a tool that lets a team of moderators or curators collaboratively review reports, create labels, and inspect content on the atproto network. Later this week, we’re op...
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Reposted by Tom Atkins
Why @why.bsky.world · 01/09/2024
If you want to understand how we scaled to handle this influx like we did, this blog post from @gergely.pragmaticengineer.com goes over a lot of our design and implementation decisions
newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com
Building Bluesky: a Distributed Social Network (Real-World Engineering Challenges)
Bluesky is built by around 10 engineers, and has amassed 5 million users since publicly launching in February this year. A deep dive into novel design decisions, moving off AWS, and more.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 29/08/2024
I love discovering new music from the Bandcamp Links feed: bsky.app/profile/did:...
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Bluesky @bsky.app · 28/08/2024
📢 App Version 1.90 is rolling out now (1/11) This release is focused on personal moderation controls, and includes a lot of new tools for reducing unwanted attention! Open this thread for more details. 👀
Bluesky 1.90. New: list quotes on a post. New: New self-moderation tools. “Detach” quote posts. Control who can quote. Hide a reply. New: Timed mute words. Changed: Tuned the visibility of replies in Following.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 16/08/2024
I was lucky enough to go to this fantastic gig on Monday. Thanks to @jasonlee.ie for taking much better photos than I did! I can recommend checking out the recent albums from both This is the Kit and Rozi Plain.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 17/07/2024
Just back from the Scottish highlands. Majestic as always.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 16/06/2024
My favourite time of year for enjoying the garden.
Picture of our garden with flowers in the foreground and polytunnel in the background.
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Mike McGrath-Bryan @mikemcgb.bsky.social · 14/06/2024
Proud of this one, for Bandcamp Daily: chats with Seán Ronayne about his soundscape album 'Wild Silence', and the importance of his mission to record the call of Ireland's bird species - some 200 or so of them. #ireland #birds #biodiversity #environment daily.bandcamp.com/features/sea...
daily.bandcamp.com
Irish Wildlife Sounds and the Race to Record Ireland’s Birds
"I've got two frequencies in my brain, the bird frequency and the human one. The bird frequency takes priority, always."
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 14/06/2024
Dogtail Soup being amazing at Levis Cornerhouse last weekend.
Dogtail Soup behind the shop counter.
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Reposted by Tom Atkins
Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 14/06/2024
I'm slowly getting more out of Bluesky. Occasionally I put some effort into looking at who people follow to find new people to follow. I also get great value from custom feeds and list to help get away from the 'scrolling through a random list of disparate topics' feeling.
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Nigel Slater @nigelslater.bsky.social · 14/06/2024
Mint, strawberries, fennel, lavender, lemon verbena, pinks, violas, thyme, oregano and rosemary on the little herb table by the kitchen door. Foxglove and lily aside, they will all end up in the kitchen sooner or later.
A wooden plank from a packing crate used as a table for pits of herbs. Purple viola, pinks, creeping thyme and lavender are in flower.
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Jaz @jaz.sh · 12/06/2024
This was a fun and challenging feature to build, so happy it's finally rolling out! If you wanna read a bit about how I built the backend for it, check out this blog post - jazco.dev/2024/04/20/r... Roaring Bitmaps are a really neat datastructure and have a lot of uses in large-scale systems :)
jazco.dev
An entire Social Network in 1.6GB (GraphD Part 2)
Roaring Bitmaps offer an even more efficient way to store and query an entire social graph, fitting the entire network of 5.5M users and 164M+ follows into a ~1.6GB SQLite DB on disk.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 08/05/2024
So much music in the world. I don't try and keep up. But there are some gems in this great selection: daily.bandcamp.com/lists/i-foun...
daily.bandcamp.com
I Found It on Bandcamp Friday: May 2024
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Molly White @molly.wiki · 01/05/2024
Many yearn for the "good old days" of the web. We could have those good old days back — or something even better — and if anything, it would be easier now than it ever was. www.citationneeded.news/we-can-have-...
citationneeded.news
We can have a different web
Many yearn for the “good old days” of the web. We could have those good old days back — or something even better — and if anything, it would be easier now than it ever was.
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 29/04/2024
Had a wonderful stay on Cape Clear at the weekend. Beautiful sunshine, people and nature on the edge of Europe.
View to Mizend head from Cape ClearWide angle shot inside a yurt on Cape ClearSilhouette of my partner standing in waist deep water about to swim in the sea at Cape Clear
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 25/04/2024
Gleninchaquin waterfall near Kenmare. Taken in October 2022. Well worth a visit if it's been raining! And there's a great walk into the hills above. #blackandwhite #monochrome #ireland
Gleninchaquin waterfall, Ireland
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 20/04/2024
Can't resist sharing a pic of this oak which leans over the river at the bottom of our place near Ballydehob. I imagine it's roots doing something similar to the branches underground.
Oak tree leaning over river
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 19/04/2024
Browsing through my photos and I think I'll share some here occasionally. This was taken last summer while sailing round the Fastnet lighthouse, waiting for my brother to arrive in his small yacht that he'd sailed over single-handed from Plymouth.
Fastnet lighthouse and rock, south-west Ireland
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Martin Kleppmann @martin.kleppmann.com · 03/04/2024
Interesting vision of how we might be able to prevent software supply-chain attacks like the xz backdoor in the future www.tbray.org/ongoing/When...
tbray.org
OSQI
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Standplaats Kraków could really use some cash! @standplaatskrk.pl · 01/04/2024
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Filippo Valsorda @filippo.abyssdomain.expert · 29/03/2024
Woah. Backdoor in liblzma targeting ssh servers. www.openwall.com/lists/oss-se... It has everything: malicious upstream, masterful obfuscation, detection due to performance degradation, inclusion in OpenSSH via distro patches for systemd support… Now I’m curious what it does in RSA_public_decrypt
openwall.com
oss-security - backdoor in upstream xz/liblzma leading to ssh server compromise
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 28/03/2024
I'm really enjoying using the Zed text editor. VSCode never tempted me away from Sblime Text. But Zed has. macOS only for now. Recommend watching their blog for some great inverviews on the development process: zed.dev/blog #programming
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 28/03/2024
Great idea from Ben Werdmuller: Share Openly werd.io/2024/share-o...
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Bluesky Safety @safety.bsky.app · 12/03/2024
Bluesky is built to give users control over their social spaces online. Today, we’re open sourcing Ozone, a tool that lets users collaboratively inspect and label content on the network. Later this week, we’re opening up the ability for users to run their own independent moderation services.
bsky.social
Bluesky’s Stackable Approach to Moderation - Bluesky
Today, we’re open sourcing Ozone, a tool that lets a team of moderators or curators collaboratively review reports, create labels, and inspect content on the atproto network. Later this week, we’re op...
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redsolver @redsolver.dev · 11/03/2024
I would like to thank everyone who already donated via GitHub Sponsors (github.com/sponsors/redsolver) 💙 Thanks to *you*, SkyFeed is now over 52% of the way to being sustainable, meaning SkyFeed can continue to host free feeds for millions of users, without any ads or similar bullshit!
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 04/03/2024
A project I found inspiring as it captured the desire to make it free and easy for anyone to have their own website. I made a couple of DAT sites and viewed them on another computer. Magic! You reputation from that and other projects brought me here. Thanks for all the creative work. 🙂
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MU-Peter Shimon 🀄 @mu-peter.bsky.social · 01/03/2024
Babe what’s wrong? You haven’t eaten your Croissantosaurus 🧪
Croissantosaurus 
Source: Johnny Cadillac
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 02/03/2024
The ability to create fine-grained feeds is a feature that makes Bluesky one of the few social media apps I actually want to use.
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Bluesky @bsky.app · 28/02/2024
📢 App Version 1.70 is rolling out now (1/6) Hashtags! You can now use #hashtags in your posts. When you tap them, you’ll get a menu with lots of handy options:
A screenshot of Bluesky. A menu is open over a post

The post says “#Hashtag incoming”

The menu items are
“See #Hashtag posts”
“See #Hashtag posts by this user”
“Mute #Hashtag posts”
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Tom Atkins @keybits.net · 27/02/2024
I wrote a blog post about saving and sharing links / bookmarks: www.keybits.net/posts/saving...
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