#ActivityStreams

"＠context": [
"https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
{
"Quotation": "as:Quotation",
"citation": "as:citation",
"quotation": "as:quotation"
},
],

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #JSONLD #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

@reiver

There are examples of the #ActivityPub extensions #Bookwyrm makes, which are on the (commonly taken) path of protocol decay and whack-a-mole programming by their #LinkedData non-conformance, unfortunately.

Yet that means there's opportunity for #FEP's if there are more #interoperability parties. 😃

Here's an example of Quotation, which has no LD context:

https://github.com/bookwyrm-social/bookwyrm/blob/main/bookwyrm/tests/data/ap_quotation.json

And here of Edition which is incorrectly placed in #ActivityStreams context:

https://github.com/bookwyrm-social/bookwyrm/blob/main/bookwyrm/tests/data/bw_edition.json

4/

Apparently, Bookwyrm stores quotations with:

type="Quotation"

And if one Bookwyrm server talks to another Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Quotation"

...

BUT — if a non-Bookwyrm server talks to a Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Note"

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

3/

Apparently the Bookwyrm developer had the exact same idea!

(Which isn't too surprising.)

Here is how it works —

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

2/

How could you represent a quotation in ActivityPub‽

...

I suppose there are 2 major approaches.

Either use an existing Object Type. Maybe:

type="Note"

Or create a new Object Type:

type="Quotation"

...

Here is the interesting thing though —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

Quotations & the Fediverse / ActivityPub

1/

One thing I used to do a lot on social-media is — post quotations.

Sometimes I was reading a book. And, I would quote things from the book and post it on social-media.

Or I was reading a scholarly paper, or reading a blog post, or watching a video, or listening to a podcast, etc.

...

I was thinking — how could you represent a quotation in ActivityPub‽

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

4/

Apparently, Bookwyrm stores quotations with:

type="Quotation"

And if one Bookwyrm server talks to another Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Quotation"

...

BUT — if a non-Bookwyrm server talks to a Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Note"

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

@reiver

There are examples of the #ActivityPub extensions #Bookwyrm makes, which are on the (commonly taken) path of protocol decay and whack-a-mole programming by their #LinkedData non-conformance, unfortunately.

Yet that means there's opportunity for #FEP's if there are more #interoperability parties. 😃

Here's an example of Quotation, which has no LD context:

https://github.com/bookwyrm-social/bookwyrm/blob/main/bookwyrm/tests/data/ap_quotation.json

And here of Edition which is incorrectly placed in #ActivityStreams context:

https://github.com/bookwyrm-social/bookwyrm/blob/main/bookwyrm/tests/data/bw_edition.json

4/

Apparently, Bookwyrm stores quotations with:

type="Quotation"

And if one Bookwyrm server talks to another Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Quotation"

...

BUT — if a non-Bookwyrm server talks to a Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Note"

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

Quotations & the Fediverse / ActivityPub

1/

One thing I used to do a lot on social-media is — post quotations.

Sometimes I was reading a book. And, I would quote things from the book and post it on social-media.

Or I was reading a scholarly paper, or reading a blog post, or watching a video, or listening to a podcast, etc.

...

I was thinking — how could you represent a quotation in ActivityPub‽

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

Quotations & the Fediverse / ActivityPub

1/

One thing I used to do a lot on social-media is — post quotations.

Sometimes I was reading a book. And, I would quote things from the book and post it on social-media.

Or I was reading a scholarly paper, or reading a blog post, or watching a video, or listening to a podcast, etc.

...

I was thinking — how could you represent a quotation in ActivityPub‽

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

4/

Apparently, Bookwyrm stores quotations with:

type="Quotation"

And if one Bookwyrm server talks to another Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Quotation"

...

BUT — if a non-Bookwyrm server talks to a Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Note"

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

4/

Apparently, Bookwyrm stores quotations with:

type="Quotation"

And if one Bookwyrm server talks to another Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Quotation"

...

BUT — if a non-Bookwyrm server talks to a Bookwyrm server, then — the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams representation of the quotation will have:

type="Note"

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

3/

Apparently the Bookwyrm developer had the exact same idea!

(Which isn't too surprising.)

Here is how it works —

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

2/

How could you represent a quotation in ActivityPub‽

...

I suppose there are 2 major approaches.

Either use an existing Object Type. Maybe:

type="Note"

Or create a new Object Type:

type="Quotation"

...

Here is the interesting thing though —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

Quotations & the Fediverse / ActivityPub

1/

One thing I used to do a lot on social-media is — post quotations.

Sometimes I was reading a book. And, I would quote things from the book and post it on social-media.

Or I was reading a scholarly paper, or reading a blog post, or watching a video, or listening to a podcast, etc.

...

I was thinking — how could you represent a quotation in ActivityPub‽

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

Quotations & the Fediverse / ActivityPub

1/

One thing I used to do a lot on social-media is — post quotations.

Sometimes I was reading a book. And, I would quote things from the book and post it on social-media.

Or I was reading a scholarly paper, or reading a blog post, or watching a video, or listening to a podcast, etc.

...

I was thinking — how could you represent a quotation in ActivityPub‽

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #ObjectTypeNote #ObjectTypeQuotation #retejo

1/

I have spending time thinking of ways you could automatically create ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown

Most people will probably write in plain UTF-8 text, or Markdown, or HTML

How to do you take that and get it onto the Fediverse and Social Web‽

This isn't just a question of how to technically do it — but also a question of user-experience (UX)

I.e., what are "good" ways of doing it‽

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

9/

A regular users might write Markdown like this:

"""
# Hello!

How do you do?
"""

Or write HTML like this:

"""
<article>
<h1>Hello!</h1>
<p>How do you do?</p>
</article>
"""

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

8/

REMEMBER: this is for power-users, not regular users

How would you get ActivityPub / ActivityStreams into HTML using RDFa‽

Like this:

<div vocab="https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#" typeof="Note">
<p property="name">Hello!</p>
<p>How do you do?</p>
</div>

AGAIN, REMEMBER: this is for power-users, not regular users.

Regular users can just write Markdown or HTML and Retejo will figure this out automatically for you

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

8/

REMEMBER: this is for power-users, not regular users

How would you get ActivityPub / ActivityStreams into HTML using RDFa‽

Like this:

<div vocab="https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#" typeof="Note">
<p property="name">Hello!</p>
<p>How do you do?</p>
</div>

AGAIN, REMEMBER: this is for power-users, not regular users.

Regular users can just write Markdown or HTML and Retejo will figure this out automatically for you

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

7/

If you are wondering what RDFa is —

You might be more familiar with OpenGraph.

https://ogp.me/

OpenGraph is usually the thing that causes "preview cards" to be showed for links shared on social-media.

OpenGraph is written in RDFa. Which, in practice, is some special HTML elements added to the page.

For example:

<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/img/preview.png" />

So what about ActivityPub‽ —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

1/

I have spending time thinking of ways you could automatically create ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown

Most people will probably write in plain UTF-8 text, or Markdown, or HTML

How to do you take that and get it onto the Fediverse and Social Web‽

This isn't just a question of how to technically do it — but also a question of user-experience (UX)

I.e., what are "good" ways of doing it‽

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

6/

Obviously, beginners are NOT going to do this, but — some power-users may want this level of control.

There are different way this could be done, but — one way might be that power-users could use RDFa to explicitly specify what data from the HTML gets into the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data.

Again, beginners and typical users would NOT do this.

But a power-user might want to.

Here is an example —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

6/

Obviously, beginners are NOT going to do this, but — some power-users may want this level of control.

There are different way this could be done, but — one way might be that power-users could use RDFa to explicitly specify what data from the HTML gets into the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data.

Again, beginners and typical users would NOT do this.

But a power-user might want to.

Here is an example —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

5/

So, what would be a good user-experience (UX) for power-users be — in a system that automatically creates ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown‽

One thought I had is that power-users could explicitly mark what data from their HTML gets into the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data (if they want to).

I'll explain —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

5/

So, what would be a good user-experience (UX) for power-users be — in a system that automatically creates ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown‽

One thought I had is that power-users could explicitly mark what data from their HTML gets into the ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data (if they want to).

I'll explain —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

1/

I have spending time thinking of ways you could automatically create ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown

Most people will probably write in plain UTF-8 text, or Markdown, or HTML

How to do you take that and get it onto the Fediverse and Social Web‽

This isn't just a question of how to technically do it — but also a question of user-experience (UX)

I.e., what are "good" ways of doing it‽

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

4/

I think one mistake some software does is — they create a good experience for beginners, but have a poor experience for power-users.

And keep in mind that — some beginners become power-users later on.

I think it is important to design for power-users, too, in addition to beginners.

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

3/

If a typical user is writing in Markdown, and their Markdown file has a level-1 heading right at the beginning, then —

That could go into the ActivityPub "name" field.

And, similar could be done for HTML, too.

...

But what about power users —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

3/

If a typical user is writing in Markdown, and their Markdown file has a level-1 heading right at the beginning, then —

That could go into the ActivityPub "name" field.

And, similar could be done for HTML, too.

...

But what about power users —

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

2/

What are "good" ways of automatically creating ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown‽

I think the answer depends on who, for example, is writing HTML, and how they are writing it.

For example, is this a typical user? Is this a power-user? Do they know HTML? And if they do know HTML, how well do they know it? Etc?

I will show you what I mean —

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

2/

What are "good" ways of automatically creating ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown‽

I think the answer depends on who, for example, is writing HTML, and how they are writing it.

For example, is this a typical user? Is this a power-user? Do they know HTML? And if they do know HTML, how well do they know it? Etc?

I will show you what I mean —

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

1/

I have spending time thinking of ways you could automatically create ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown

Most people will probably write in plain UTF-8 text, or Markdown, or HTML

How to do you take that and get it onto the Fediverse and Social Web‽

This isn't just a question of how to technically do it — but also a question of user-experience (UX)

I.e., what are "good" ways of doing it‽

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

1/

I have spending time thinking of ways you could automatically create ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown

Most people will probably write in plain UTF-8 text, or Markdown, or HTML

How to do you take that and get it onto the Fediverse and Social Web‽

This isn't just a question of how to technically do it — but also a question of user-experience (UX)

I.e., what are "good" ways of doing it‽

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

1/

I have spending time thinking of ways you could automatically create ActivityPub / ActivityStreams data from HTML and Markdown

Most people will probably write in plain UTF-8 text, or Markdown, or HTML

How to do you take that and get it onto the Fediverse and Social Web‽

This isn't just a question of how to technically do it — but also a question of user-experience (UX)

I.e., what are "good" ways of doing it‽

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #Fediverse #Markdown #retejo #RDFa

Retejo

I have been working on a new type of web-server for serving static web-sites.

I started working on it recently — on August 23rd. But, have had the idea for it for a number of years.

...

What is different about this web-server for static web-sites‽

Well, of course, it supports HTML.

But, it also supports Markdown, and ActivityPub natively!

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #gitea #markdown #retejo #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

1/

If you are curious about where the "Retejo" name comes from —

The way the name "retejo" was chosen was inspired by how the name "forgejo" chosen.

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203527761462559

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

2/

"forgejo" comes from the Esperanto word "forĝejo".

"retejo" is (also) an Esperanto word.

The meaning of the Esperanto word "retejo" can be understood as follows:

ret-: The root for "net" or "web".
-ej-: A suffix meaning "place" or "site".
-o: The noun ending.

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203527761462559

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

1/

If you are curious about where the "Retejo" name comes from —

The way the name "retejo" was chosen was inspired by how the name "forgejo" chosen.

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203527761462559

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

1/

Probably the biggest thing that motivated me to create Retejo now (as I've had the idea for this for a number of year) is —

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203482817088160

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

4/

So, I thought — what if I just ran my own web-server to server files from Codeberg.

And thus, Retejo was born.

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

...

But, while I am at it, I can also add automatic ActivityPub / ActivityStreams support to it.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203482817088160

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

4/

So, I thought — what if I just ran my own web-server to server files from Codeberg.

And thus, Retejo was born.

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

...

But, while I am at it, I can also add automatic ActivityPub / ActivityStreams support to it.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203482817088160

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

3/

№1:

The software powering Codeberg Pages seems like it isn't being maintained anymore beyond minor fixes

№2:

Although Codeberg is pretty reliable, Codeberg Pages doesn't that reliable.

...

So, I thought —

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203482817088160

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

2/

Although I've had a Codeberg account for a number of years — I recently started the process of migrating over to Codeberg (from GitHub).

Codeberg has something similar to GitHub Pages — called Codeberg Pages

https://codeberg.page/

However —

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203482817088160

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

1/

Probably the biggest thing that motivated me to create Retejo now (as I've had the idea for this for a number of year) is —

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203482817088160

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

2/

Retejo pulls its data from a Forgejo / Gitea site — such as Codeberg.

That means I can write things using whatever text-editor I want by editing a file.

And then push that file to Codeberg — or any other Forgejo / Gitea site — using git

And then, it automatically shows up on my Retejo site

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203416378004810

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

1/

Another motivation for creating Retejo is this:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/114076598430655105

I want to be able to write long-form articles using whatever text-editor I choose to use, editing a file, and using git.

Not everyone will want to create long-form content this way — but I want to create long-form content this way.

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203416378004810

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

3/

I kept that type of user in mind when designing Retejo —

That some people want to write in Markdown rather than HTML.

So, Retejo has native support for Markdown.

And, in particular, CommonMark with the GitHub Flavored Markdown (GTM) extensions that most people expect nowadays.

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203390761929242

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

2/

One thing I noticed about the Gemini-Protocol community is that —

Some of the people who are attracted to Gemini are attracted to it, because — they want a Web that was based on Markdown instead of HTML.

And, the Gemini-Protocol + gemtext seemed close to being a Markdown-based Web.

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/111180217090707425

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203390761929242

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

1/

One of my other passions, in addition to the Fediverse and Social Web, is — small-net.

One of the popular protocols in small-net is — the Gemini-Protocol.

https://geminiprotocol.net/

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203390761929242

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

1/

One of my other passions, in addition to the Fediverse and Social Web, is — small-net.

One of the popular protocols in small-net is — the Gemini-Protocol.

https://geminiprotocol.net/

...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/115203390761929242

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #GeminiProtocol #gitea #markdown #retejo #SmallNet #SmallWeb #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

Retejo

I have been working on a new type of web-server for serving static web-sites.

I started working on it recently — on August 23rd. But, have had the idea for it for a number of years.

...

What is different about this web-server for static web-sites‽

Well, of course, it supports HTML.

But, it also supports Markdown, and ActivityPub natively!

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #gitea #markdown #retejo #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

Retejo

I have been working on a new type of web-server for serving static web-sites.

I started working on it recently — on August 23rd. But, have had the idea for it for a number of years.

...

What is different about this web-server for static web-sites‽

Well, of course, it supports HTML.

But, it also supports Markdown, and ActivityPub natively!

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #gitea #markdown #retejo #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

Retejo

I have been working on a new type of web-server for serving static web-sites.

I started working on it recently — on August 23rd. But, have had the idea for it for a number of years.

...

What is different about this web-server for static web-sites‽

Well, of course, it supports HTML.

But, it also supports Markdown, and ActivityPub natively!

https://codeberg.org/reiver/retejo

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #codeberg #forgejo #gitea #markdown #retejo #StaticSite #StaticWeb #StaticWebSite

Today I discovered an interesting inconsistency in Activity Streams specs while investigating a Fedify issue.

The question: How should we interpret URLs like "icon": "https://example.com/avatar.png"?

JSON-LD context (https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams): @type: "@id" → “This is an IRI reference, dereference it to fetch an ActivityStreams object.”

Activity Streams Primer: “assume that a bare string is the href of a Link object, not an id” (no dereferencing)

Result: JSON-LD processor-based implementations try to parse PNG files as JSON and fail.

Turns out w3c/activitystreams#595 already discusses the same issue for href properties. I added a note that icon, image, etc. have the same problem.

Once again reminded of how tricky spec work can be…

#ActivityPub #Fedify #ActivityStreams #fedidev #specifications

Today I discovered an interesting inconsistency in Activity Streams specs while investigating a Fedify issue.

The question: How should we interpret URLs like "icon": "https://example.com/avatar.png"?

JSON-LD context (https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams): @type: "@id" → “This is an IRI reference, dereference it to fetch an ActivityStreams object.”

Activity Streams Primer: “assume that a bare string is the href of a Link object, not an id” (no dereferencing)

Result: JSON-LD processor-based implementations try to parse PNG files as JSON and fail.

Turns out w3c/activitystreams#595 already discusses the same issue for href properties. I added a note that icon, image, etc. have the same problem.

Once again reminded of how tricky spec work can be…

#ActivityPub #Fedify #ActivityStreams #fedidev #specifications

Today I discovered an interesting inconsistency in Activity Streams specs while investigating a Fedify issue.

The question: How should we interpret URLs like "icon": "https://example.com/avatar.png"?

JSON-LD context (https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams): @type: "@id" → “This is an IRI reference, dereference it to fetch an ActivityStreams object.”

Activity Streams Primer: “assume that a bare string is the href of a Link object, not an id” (no dereferencing)

Result: JSON-LD processor-based implementations try to parse PNG files as JSON and fail.

Turns out w3c/activitystreams#595 already discusses the same issue for href properties. I added a note that icon, image, etc. have the same problem.

Once again reminded of how tricky spec work can be…

#ActivityPub #Fedify #ActivityStreams #fedidev #specifications

Today I discovered an interesting inconsistency in Activity Streams specs while investigating a Fedify issue.

The question: How should we interpret URLs like "icon": "https://example.com/avatar.png"?

JSON-LD context (https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams): @type: "@id" → “This is an IRI reference, dereference it to fetch an ActivityStreams object.”

Activity Streams Primer: “assume that a bare string is the href of a Link object, not an id” (no dereferencing)

Result: JSON-LD processor-based implementations try to parse PNG files as JSON and fail.

Turns out w3c/activitystreams#595 already discusses the same issue for href properties. I added a note that icon, image, etc. have the same problem.

Once again reminded of how tricky spec work can be…

#ActivityPub #Fedify #ActivityStreams #fedidev #specifications

Today I discovered an interesting inconsistency in Activity Streams specs while investigating a Fedify issue.

The question: How should we interpret URLs like "icon": "https://example.com/avatar.png"?

JSON-LD context (https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams): @type: "@id" → “This is an IRI reference, dereference it to fetch an ActivityStreams object.”

Activity Streams Primer: “assume that a bare string is the href of a Link object, not an id” (no dereferencing)

Result: JSON-LD processor-based implementations try to parse PNG files as JSON and fail.

Turns out w3c/activitystreams#595 already discusses the same issue for href properties. I added a note that icon, image, etc. have the same problem.

Once again reminded of how tricky spec work can be…

#ActivityPub #Fedify #ActivityStreams #fedidev #specifications

How happy is the marriage between #ActivityPub and #ActivityStreams? 🤔

https://github.com/w3c/activitypub/issues/522

#poll #fediverse #socialweb

How happy is the marriage between #ActivityPub and #ActivityStreams? 🤔

https://github.com/w3c/activitypub/issues/522

#poll #fediverse #socialweb

How happy is the marriage between #ActivityPub and #ActivityStreams? 🤔

https://github.com/w3c/activitypub/issues/522

#poll #fediverse #socialweb

@silverpill @mariusor

I don't think you can say that. AS has more uses than with AP. I know of at least:

- Linked Data Event Streams
- DCAT-AP and DCAT-AP Feeds
- Linked Data Event Notifications

And as for #ActivityStreams relation to #ActivityPub I'd say - and it is the argument I make in the GH issue - that we have a vocabulary without good grammar and language rules. The AS social primitives are loose words, and you can construct any gibberish with them and try to make it popular slang.

How happy is the marriage between #ActivityPub and #ActivityStreams? 🤔

https://github.com/w3c/activitypub/issues/522

#poll #fediverse #socialweb

#ThoughtProvoker

#ActivityPub is peanuts, right? All peanuts, all varieties, shapes and sizes. Isn't it peculiar then that six years after AP became a #W3C recommendation we are still all mostly eating from 1 small ingredient package of the primitive #ActivityStreams variety. One small bag to cook with, and supply us with rich #fediverse peanut butter. Isn't that becoming somewhat bland and boring?

Which recipe do you cook tomorrow?

#poll

@oblomov

@pukkamustard did some interesting experiments in this area, when migrating CPub from #ActivityPub to #XMPP + #RDF and supporting #ActivityStreams vocabulary, in the openEngiadina project.

See: https://inqlab.net/2022-04-14-geopub-datalog-rdf-and-indexeddb.html

@mamund thank you. I will also give the linked article on agentic systems a read.

Note that #ActivityPub here on the #fediverse has this need to discover and introspect the capabilities of actor endpoints on the network.

This entirely missing. With #ActivityStreams #LinkedData endlessly versatile, a player on the fediverse can freely invent their own flavours on-the-fly, introducing protocol decay and makes #interoperability harder.

Whack-a-mole driven development to moving targets ensues.

let's demo this with a simple case. say you want to `tag` something that is a `Movie` described by schema.org. the `Movie` declares that it has an `actor` who performed in it.

this is redefining the term `actor` as defined at the top-level by #activitystreams -- where `actor` means who performed an `Activity`, not who performed in a `Movie`.

if the activitystreams context was protected, then this would be a fatal error for any #jsonld validator. you cannot be sure which `actor` was meant!

3/?

say you have a generic property whose range is relatively unbounded -- a grab-bag where anything goes. something like how `attachment` or `tag` are used in #activitystreams. using multiple contexts at the top-level introduces a potential conflict in terms. you could reconcile any conflicts with a custom context, but that prevents reuse / understanding a more well-known context.

unfortunately, due to context propagation, terms defined earlier on can "leak" into the naively merged subgraph.

2/?

5/

So, not just Decentralized Social (DeSo), but instead —

Decentralized Social (DeSo), Federated Social (FeSo), Localized Social (LoSo)

The goal is 'social' that is simultaneously — 'Decentralized', 'Federated', and 'Localized', all at the same time.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/114551725757671167

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #Decentralization #DeSo #Federation #FeSo #Fediverse #governance #Localization #LoSo

4/

Federation is the word we use to describe that act of bringing together and connecting these separate Decentralized, Localized communities.

This is where protocols such as ActivityPub, ActivityStreams, etc come into play.

Federation is a voluntary choice.
But, so too is Defederation, if desired.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #Decentralization #DeSo #Federation #FeSo #Fediverse #governance #Localization #LoSo

5/

So, not just Decentralized Social (DeSo), but instead —

Decentralized Social (DeSo), Federated Social (FeSo), Localized Social (LoSo)

The goal is 'social' that is simultaneously — 'Decentralized', 'Federated', and 'Localized', all at the same time.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/114551725757671167

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #Decentralization #DeSo #Federation #FeSo #Fediverse #governance #Localization #LoSo

5/

So, not just Decentralized Social (DeSo), but instead —

Decentralized Social (DeSo), Federated Social (FeSo), Localized Social (LoSo)

The goal is 'social' that is simultaneously — 'Decentralized', 'Federated', and 'Localized', all at the same time.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/114551725757671167

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #Decentralization #DeSo #Federation #FeSo #Fediverse #governance #Localization #LoSo

4/

Federation is the word we use to describe that act of bringing together and connecting these separate Decentralized, Localized communities.

This is where protocols such as ActivityPub, ActivityStreams, etc come into play.

Federation is a voluntary choice.
But, so too is Defederation, if desired.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #Decentralization #DeSo #Federation #FeSo #Fediverse #governance #Localization #LoSo

A reasonable ActivityPub / ActivityStreams API to schedule something to be posted in the future might be — to HTTP POST something to an account's outbox with the `published` field set to a date-time in the future.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

A reasonable ActivityPub / ActivityStreams API to schedule something to be posted in the future might be — to HTTP POST something to an account's outbox with the `published` field set to a date-time in the future.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

A reasonable ActivityPub / ActivityStreams API to schedule something to be posted in the future might be — to HTTP POST something to an account's outbox with the `published` field set to a date-time in the future.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

A reasonable ActivityPub / ActivityStreams API to schedule something to be posted in the future might be — to HTTP POST something to an account's outbox with the `published` field set to a date-time in the future.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

Currently, the way I am determining if content is valid ActivityPub / ActivityStreams content is —

№1:

Determining if it is valid JSON.

№2:

Checking if it has a "type" field.

And that is it.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSONLD

Dealing with JSON-LD would be easier in many ways if everything was defined inline.

Rather than having to get the content from a URL in the context, parse it, etc.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSONLD

"Activities addressed to this special [public address] URI shall be accessible to all users, without authentication."

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/#public-addressing

The "public address" is:
https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public

(Yes, I am posting this for a reason.)

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #PublicAddressing

2/

I think there is a need for a "dumb" document format.

HTML is no longer that.

Markdown probably isn't it.

No one really uses enriched-text (IETF RFC 1896).

(I prefer wiki like formats, for various reasons, but —)

I don't think there is an obvious choice for a "dumb" document format, right now.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

1/

I think HTML being the default content type for ActivityPub / ActivityStreams is unfortunate in some ways.

HTML was originally a "dumb" document format. But, it is now a "smart" application format — with privacy & security concerns.

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/108237663610634862

You should NOT just take whatever HTML is in the 'content', and put it in the web-browser to view it.

You have to sanitize it. Or, render (unsafe) HTML to (safe) HTML.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

Previews in ActivityPub / ActivityStreams is what should bind the disparate software and user-experiences on the Fediverse.

Not the ActivityStreams 'Note'.

...

Previews using 'icon', 'image', 'name', 'summary', etc.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #TheMastodonInTheRoom #SocialWeb

3/

A good file-extension for ActivityPub / ActivityStream files might be:

.activity

And maybe also:

.jsonactivity

Those could be used to trigger a web-server to respond with the Content-Type "application/activity+json".

.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FileExtension #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

2/

.json isn't sufficient, since it would produce a Content-Type of "application/json" rather than "application/activity+json".

ActivityPub / ActivityStream files need their own file-extension.

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FileExtension #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

1/

A file-extension for ActivityPub /ActivityStream files.

...

On many web-servers, the Content-Type returned when serving a file is based on the file-extension of the file.

Ex: .txt for text files, .gz for gzip files, .gmni for gemtext files, etc.

I am not aware of a widely used file-extension for ActivityStreams / ActivityPub files.

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FileExtension #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

4/

This needs some testing to see what extant Fediverse software actually does.

For example — with the extant Fediverse software —

Does the avatar image, the (actor) name, etc show up with the post?

Does the post show up?

Etc?

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

3/

Now, this would probably break like counts, share counts, a replies to some degree.

But, if you didn't care about that, I think it should work.

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

2/

For example, at:

http;//example·com/object/123

You might have the activity-JSON (application/activity+json):

{

....

"attributedTo": "https;//mastodon·social/users/reiver",

...

}

I.e., a Note or Article or whatever is saying that the author is NOT an actor on the same server host (example·com), but an actor over on the server host mastodon·social.

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

1/

You could have a post on one server host attribute and account on another server host as its author.

All you have to do is set the "attributedTo" field appropriately.

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-vocabulary/#dfn-attributedto

For example....

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

Is SpaceBar adding AcitivtyPub support?

SpaceBar (formlery called "Fosscord") is an open-source alternative to Discord.

https://spacebar.chat/

https://github.com/spacebarchat

https://github.com/spacebarchat/activitypub-types

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/114070527125565414

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discord #Fediverse #Fosscord #OpenSocial #OpenSource #SocialWeb #SpaceBar #SpaceBarChat

ActivityPub outboxes are the new RSS / Atom / WebFeed.

You can just read from them to get a JSON feed of someone's posts.

I.e., you do NOT have to implement the full suite of Fediverse protocols, or Follow, or run your own server, or anything else to get someone's posts on the Fediverse — just read from their outbox.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #AtomFeed #AtomFormat #DeSe #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSON #OpenSocial #RSS #SocialWeb

ActivityPub outboxes are the new RSS / Atom / WebFeed.

You can just read from them to get a JSON feed of someone's posts.

I.e., you do NOT have to implement the full suite of Fediverse protocols, or Follow, or run your own server, or anything else to get someone's posts on the Fediverse — just read from their outbox.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #AtomFeed #AtomFormat #DeSe #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSON #OpenSocial #RSS #SocialWeb

3/

ActivityPub & ActivityStreams are based on JSON-LD — a format that is not (non-programmer) human-legible & human-writable

Maybe we need an alternative way of encoding ActivityPub & ActivityStreams in situations where (non-programmer) humans might read it or write it

Maybe the INI file data format? Or something else that is friendly to (non-programmer) humans?

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #HumanLegible #HumanWritable #INI #JSON #JSONLD #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

2/

I agree that an open protocol is better and more important than just an application.

But I also think that an open file data format is better and more important than just an open protocol.

I.e.,:

file data format ≫ protocol ≫ app

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #HumanLegible #HumanWritable #INI #JSON #JSONLD #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

1/

JSON-LD is not (non-programmer) human-legible format because — JSON is not (non-programmer) human-legible format.

JSON-LD and JSON are both also not (non-programmer) human-writable.

...

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #HumanLegible #HumanWritable #INI #JSON #JSONLD #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

ActivityPub outboxes are the new RSS / Atom / WebFeed.

You can just read from them to get a JSON feed of someone's posts.

I.e., you do NOT have to implement the full suite of Fediverse protocols, or Follow, or run your own server, or anything else to get someone's posts on the Fediverse — just read from their outbox.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #AtomFeed #AtomFormat #DeSe #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSON #OpenSocial #RSS #SocialWeb

ActivityPub outboxes are the new RSS / Atom / WebFeed.

You can just read from them to get a JSON feed of someone's posts.

I.e., you do NOT have to implement the full suite of Fediverse protocols, or Follow, or run your own server, or anything else to get someone's posts on the Fediverse — just read from their outbox.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #AtomFeed #AtomFormat #DeSe #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSON #OpenSocial #RSS #SocialWeb

What if a (new type of) Fediverse server automagically created an ActivityPub actor for each hash-tag.

So, for example, if someone on the server used:

⋕banana

(Then if the domain of the server is "example.com") then we would automagically have the actor:

＠banana＠example·com

Probably a group actor.

And it boosted any local post with that hash-tag.

Then you could follow a hash-tag on a server.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSe #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #HashTag #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

ActivityPub outboxes are the new RSS / Atom / WebFeed.

You can just read from them to get a JSON feed of someone's posts.

I.e., you do NOT have to implement the full suite of Fediverse protocols, or Follow, or run your own server, or anything else to get someone's posts on the Fediverse — just read from their outbox.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #AtomFeed #AtomFormat #DeSe #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSON #OpenSocial #RSS #SocialWeb

This feels so wasteful —

Including the same content twice — once in "content" and again in "contentMap".

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSONLD #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

9/

And just for the record —

Just like everyone else I contacted about their 'discoverable' flag being defaulted to 'false' —

He wasn't aware of the 'discoverable' flag existing (just like everyone else I contacted).

He didn't want to be hidden (just like everyone else I contacted).

He changed it to 'true' (just like everyone else I contacted).

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

8/

As it is now, I think the 'discoverable' flag is broken.

And, I think the whole user-experience (UX) around the 'discoverable' flag is poor.

And, I think Fediverse software treating a 'false' value for 'discoverable' as "not discoverable" (rather than "not discoverable" or "no choice made") has hugely negative consequences for the user-experience (UX) of the Fediverse

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

7/

So now I have to DM Ben to tell him that his 'discoverable' flag is set to false

He (just like everyone else I contacted) will likely not even be aware that the 'discoverable' flag exists

And (just like everyone else I contacted) wished it wasn't set to false

And then (just like everyone else I contacted) struggle to find where he can set it to true

And then set it

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

6/

As it is now, the 'discoverable' flag seems broken to me.

Because 'false' doesn't actually mean 'false'.

'false' (in practice) means both "not discoverable" and "no choice made". And this is a very unfortunate situation —

Because the idea of a 'discoverable' flag is a good idea — but this problem with the meaning of 'false' and the UX consequences a big deal.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

5/

JSON and has a 'null'. That could have been used for the 'discoverable' flag.

We could have had so that:

'discoverable' set to 'true' meant that the user explicitly chose to be discoverable.

'discoverable' set to 'false' meant that the user explicitly chose to not be discoverable.

And 'discoverable' set to 'null' meant that the user has not explicitly made a choice.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

4/

With other conceptions, this lack of choice — this lack of setting a value — isn't as muddled.

With optional-types (which are also called "option-types" and "maybe-types") when something isn't assigned a value it is represented as 'nothing' / 'none'.

In relation-databases, this is represented as 'null'.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

3/

As it is right now, the 'discoverable' flag does not communicate whether the user actually made a 'true' or 'false' choice.

If it is 'true' we know they made a choice.

But if it is 'false' it either means the user chose 'false' or the user didn't make a choice. BUT WE CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

2/

There are a HUGE number of people who (unknown to them) have their 'discoverable' flags set to 'false' who —

№2:

Do NOT know that they have a 'discoverable' flag —

And do NOT know that their 'discoverable' flag was automagically set to 'false' —

And do not understand the consequence of having their 'discoverable' flag set to false.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

1/

A problem with the 'discoverable' flag (in Mastodon and any other Fediverse software that added it) is —

There are a HUGE number of people who (unknown to them) have their 'discoverable' flags set to 'false' who —

№1:

Did NOT set their 'discoverable' to 'false' themselves.

Mastodon assigned it for them without ever asking them before hand and getting consent.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

8/

As it is now, I think the 'discoverable' flag is broken.

And, I think the whole user-experience (UX) around the 'discoverable' flag is poor.

And, I think Fediverse software treating a 'false' value for 'discoverable' as "not discoverable" (rather than "not discoverable" or "no choice made") has hugely negative consequences for the user-experience (UX) of the Fediverse

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

7/

So now I have to DM Ben to tell him that his 'discoverable' flag is set to false

He (just like everyone else I contacted) will likely not even be aware that the 'discoverable' flag exists

And (just like everyone else I contacted) wished it wasn't set to false

And then (just like everyone else I contacted) struggle to find where he can set it to true

And then set it

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

6/

As it is now, the 'discoverable' flag seems broken to me.

Because 'false' doesn't actually mean 'false'.

'false' (in practice) means both "not discoverable" and "no choice made". And this is a very unfortunate situation —

Because the idea of a 'discoverable' flag is a good idea — but this problem with the meaning of 'false' and the UX consequences a big deal.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

5/

JSON and has a 'null'. That could have been used for the 'discoverable' flag.

We could have had so that:

'discoverable' set to 'true' meant that the user explicitly chose to be discoverable.

'discoverable' set to 'false' meant that the user explicitly chose to not be discoverable.

And 'discoverable' set to 'null' meant that the user has not explicitly made a choice.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

4/

With other conceptions, this lack of choice — this lack of setting a value — isn't as muddled.

With optional-types (which are also called "option-types" and "maybe-types") when something isn't assigned a value it is represented as 'nothing' / 'none'.

In relation-databases, this is represented as 'null'.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

3/

As it is right now, the 'discoverable' flag does not communicate whether the user actually made a 'true' or 'false' choice.

If it is 'true' we know they made a choice.

But if it is 'false' it either means the user chose 'false' or the user didn't make a choice. BUT WE CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

2/

There are a HUGE number of people who (unknown to them) have their 'discoverable' flags set to 'false' who —

№2:

Do NOT know that they have a 'discoverable' flag —

And do NOT know that their 'discoverable' flag was automagically set to 'false' —

And do not understand the consequence of having their 'discoverable' flag set to false.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

1/

A problem with the 'discoverable' flag (in Mastodon and any other Fediverse software that added it) is —

There are a HUGE number of people who (unknown to them) have their 'discoverable' flags set to 'false' who —

№1:

Did NOT set their 'discoverable' to 'false' themselves.

Mastodon assigned it for them without ever asking them before hand and getting consent.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #Discoverable #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseUX #JSONLD #Mastodon #SocialWeb

Could ActivityPub / ActivityStreams be used to synchronize files across separate machines / computers / devices‽

I think the answer is, YES.

❦

The inbox-outbox system could enable you to send messages between separate machines / computers / devices.

The 'messages' transfer the changed 'blocks' / 'chunks' that make up a file, notify about deletions, file creations, etc

Existing Activity Types might be sufficient to do this

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSONLD

Is any Fediverse software using or generating the 'View' activity-type?

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-vocabulary/#dfn-view

You could create view-counts on posts, profiles, etc, using this.

Of course, there are privacy concerns with this.

And, also, what counts as a "view".

Although, I sometimes use a "Like" to indicate I viewed something. If a 'View' was something manual (such a pressing a button) that could be more semantically clean.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSe #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #Privacy

To me, it feels like the Activity Types should have been past-tense verbs, rather than present-tense verbs.

I.e.:

• "Accepted" rather than "Accept"
• "Added" rather than "Add"
• "Announced" rather than "Announce"
• "Arrived" rather than "Arrive"
• "Blocked" rather than "Block"
• "Created" rather than "Create"
• etc

Present-tense verbs feel like commands.

Past-tense verbs feel like events.

Activities are events not commands.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

To me, it feels like the Activity Types should have been past-tense verbs, rather than present-tense verbs.

I.e.:

• "Accepted" rather than "Accept"
• "Added" rather than "Add"
• "Announced" rather than "Announce"
• "Arrived" rather than "Arrive"
• "Blocked" rather than "Block"
• "Created" rather than "Create"
• etc

Present-tense verbs feel like commands.

Past-tense verbs feel like events.

Activities are events not commands.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

To me, it feels like the Activity Types should have been past-tense verbs, rather than present-tense verbs.

I.e.:

• "Accepted" rather than "Accept"
• "Added" rather than "Add"
• "Announced" rather than "Announce"
• "Arrived" rather than "Arrive"
• "Blocked" rather than "Block"
• "Created" rather than "Create"
• etc

Present-tense verbs feel like commands.

Past-tense verbs feel like events.

Activities are events not commands.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse

3/

However, "orderedItems" is mentioned in the ActivityStreams Core spec:

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-core/

Maybe the closest thing to a definition is:

"Collection are represented using the 'items' property while ordered items are represented using the 'orderedItems' property."

So, "orderedItems" is just like "items":

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-vocabulary/#dfn-items

... except renamed and the interpretation is different

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #OpenSocial #orderedItems #SocialWeb

2/

"orderedItems" also isn't in the ActivityPub spec:

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #OpenSocial #orderedItems #SocialWeb

1/

"orderedItems" shows up in the examples in the ActivityStreams Vocabulary spec:

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-vocabulary

But, I don't see a definition for "orderedItems" in there (in the ActivityStreams Vocabulary spec).

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #OpenSocial #orderedItems #SocialWeb

@frankstrater @dansup @peertube

Other than that.. I started calling current AS/AP fedi the "as soon as possible" fediverse, where necessarily early app implementations served as the de-facto reference implementations for the #W3C #ActivityStreams and #ActivityPub open standards.

At serious cost: Ever increasing #ProtocolDecay and subsequent #WhackaMoleAdoption i.e. retaining app-by-app interop pipes against moving release targets.

When is Video domain getting standardized? That's my question.

I'm looking for your opinions from the developers of the fediverse.

A common HTML web page can contain related links via the <link> tag. I would like to do the same for Activity Streams objects, for example:

{
  "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
  "id": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/ap/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse.json",
  "type": "Article",
  "name": "A year with the fediverse",
  "content": "2024 was truly a year where I was deeply immersed in the fediverse. …",
  "url": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/",
  "attachment": [
    {
      "type": "Link",
      "rel": "alternate",
      "hreflang": "ko",
      "href": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/index.ko-hang-kr.html",
      "mediaType": "text/html"
    },
    {
      "type": "Link",
      "rel": "alternate",
      "hreflang": "ja",
      "href": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/index.ja.html",
      "mediaType": "text/html"
    }
  ]
}

Do you think this makes sense, and would it be appropriate to put Link objects in the attachment?

#fedidev #ActivityPub #ActivityStreams

I'm looking for your opinions from the developers of the fediverse.

A common HTML web page can contain related links via the <link> tag. I would like to do the same for Activity Streams objects, for example:

{
  "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
  "id": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/ap/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse.json",
  "type": "Article",
  "name": "A year with the fediverse",
  "content": "2024 was truly a year where I was deeply immersed in the fediverse. …",
  "url": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/",
  "attachment": [
    {
      "type": "Link",
      "rel": "alternate",
      "hreflang": "ko",
      "href": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/index.ko-hang-kr.html",
      "mediaType": "text/html"
    },
    {
      "type": "Link",
      "rel": "alternate",
      "hreflang": "ja",
      "href": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/index.ja.html",
      "mediaType": "text/html"
    }
  ]
}

Do you think this makes sense, and would it be appropriate to put Link objects in the attachment?

#fedidev #ActivityPub #ActivityStreams

Fediverse Labeler update:

I have been working on a site that anyone can use to see Fediverse Labelers in action.

This is what it looks like if the user it looks up doesn't provide an avatar image or a header image.

I.e., this (in the screenshot) shows the default avatar image and header image.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

3/

Although what I mentioned here doesn't resolve the problem with changing ones username.

That problem still exists with this technique.

#acctURL #ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #HTTP

2/

For example —

If the "username" is part of it, then there is a straightforward unique ID for this user as an acct-URL:

acct:joeblow@example·com

But there are many ways an HTTP-URL as an ID gets represented. Ex:

• http;//example·com/users/joeblow
• http;//example·com/user/joeblow
• http;//example·com/api/users/joeblow
• http;//example·com/api/user/joeblow
• http;//example·com/~joeblow
• etc

#acctURL #ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #HTTP

1/

If ActivityPub and ActivityStreams used acct-URI rather than HTTP-URL to identify users, then there would less problems with switching between different Fediverse software.

(Different Fediverse software represent users with different style HTTP-URLs — which creates the problem.)

#acctURL #ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #HTTP

For previous posts on Fediverse Labelers, see:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113833886881290289

And:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113825206793984884

And:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113822862806430217

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

Fediverse Labeler update:

I have been working on a site that anyone can use to see Fediverse Labelers in action.

This is what it looks like if the user it looks up doesn't provide an avatar image or a header image.

I.e., this (in the screenshot) shows the default avatar image and header image.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

2/

For discussion on some of the technical / programming side of Fediverse Labelers, see:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113822893896346873

.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

1/

More on Fediverse Labelers —

Here is how text-labels from multiple Fediverse Labelers could appear in an application on a person's profile.

...

In this example, the application pulled in 7 labels from 4 different Fediverse Labelers.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

For previous threads on Fediverse Labelers see:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113825206793984884

And:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113822862806430217

.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

For previous threads on Fediverse Labelers see:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113825206793984884

And:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113822862806430217

.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

Fediverse Labeler update:

I have been working on site that anyone can use to see Fediverse Labelers in action.

I am hoping to get it done soon. (Maybe by the weekend or next week.)

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

3/

This screen mock-up only shows text-labels.

Other types of labels can exist — image labels of different types, virtual object labels, space-time labels, etc.

And labels can have different use-case (in addition to human-readable text) — more on that later.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

2/

For discussion on some of the technical / programming side of Fediverse Labelers, see:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113822893896346873

.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

1/

More on Fediverse Labelers —

Here is how text-labels from multiple Fediverse Labelers could appear in an application on a person's profile.

...

In this example, the application pulled in 7 labels from 4 different Fediverse Labelers.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

3/

This screen mock-up only shows text-labels.

Other types of labels can exist — image labels of different types, virtual object labels, space-time labels, etc.

And labels can have different use-case (in addition to human-readable text) — more on that later.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

2/

For discussion on some of the technical / programming side of Fediverse Labelers, see:

https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113822893896346873

.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

1/

More on Fediverse Labelers —

Here is how text-labels from multiple Fediverse Labelers could appear in an application on a person's profile.

...

In this example, the application pulled in 7 labels from 4 different Fediverse Labelers.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #FediverseLabelers #FediverseLabels #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

4/

Note that even in this example, that there are different types of labels!

I have some examples of text labels.

But I also have some examples of Icon labels.

(Other types of labels could exist, too.)

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

3/

The "describes" field would point to the thing being labelled.

The "attributedTo" field would point to the person or machine that create these label.

And the "attachment" field would be a list of labels.

The (top level) "icon" field would be an icon that would be shown next to the label in the user-interface (UI).

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

2/

A Fediverse Labeler would output a separate ActivityStreams "Profile" Object for each thing it wants to label.

Each of these should be at a separate URL.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

1/

This is how a Fediverse Labeler could work.

In particular, This is how a Fediverse Labeler could be represented as ActivityPub / ActivityStreams / JSON-LD data.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityPubProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #JSONLD #OpenWeb #OpenSocial #SocialWeb

Is any Fediverse (or other) software using or returning an ActivityStreams 'Profile'?

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-vocabulary/#dfn-profile

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ActivityStreamsProfile #DeSo #FediDev #FediDevs #Fediverse #FediverseLabeler #JSONLD #OpenWeb #SocialWeb

I wish Mastodon handled ActivityStreams "type":"Video" as well as "type":"Note" with a Video attachment.

They could be rendered the same. But they (currently) aren't.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDevs #Fediverse #Mastodon

Interesting. PeerTube content (in their "application/activity+json") can be Markdown.

(Reference: curl -H 'Accept: application/activity+json' https://tube.archworks.co/videos/watch/7d1d5c2f-6d13-48d0-addd-ea99e9e9c967 )

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDevs #Fediverse #JSONLD #MarkDown #PeerTube

It seems to be common now to put JSON-LD in the HTML source code.

ActivityPub and ActivityStreams files (application/activity+json) are JSON-LD files.

You could put ActivityPub and ActivityStreams in the HTML source code.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDevs #Fediverse #HTML #JSONLD

I wish Mastodon handled ActivityStreams "type":"Video" as well as "type":"Note" with a Video attachment.

They could be rendered the same. But they (currently) aren't.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDevs #Fediverse #Mastodon

I'm looking for your opinions from the developers of the fediverse.

A common HTML web page can contain related links via the <link> tag. I would like to do the same for Activity Streams objects, for example:

{
  "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
  "id": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/ap/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse.json",
  "type": "Article",
  "name": "A year with the fediverse",
  "content": "2024 was truly a year where I was deeply immersed in the fediverse. …",
  "url": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/",
  "attachment": [
    {
      "type": "Link",
      "rel": "alternate",
      "hreflang": "ko",
      "href": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/index.ko-hang-kr.html",
      "mediaType": "text/html"
    },
    {
      "type": "Link",
      "rel": "alternate",
      "hreflang": "ja",
      "href": "https://writings.hongminhee.org/2024/12/a-year-with-the-fediverse/index.ja.html",
      "mediaType": "text/html"
    }
  ]
}

Do you think this makes sense, and would it be appropriate to put Link objects in the attachment?

#fedidev #ActivityPub #ActivityStreams

As I mentioned before — I think the Fediverse version of Follow-Packs / Starter-Packs should be some type of ActivityPub / ActivityStreams object.

It could look a lot like the "following" and "followers" URLs look.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@reiver/113629444566451650

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #DeSo #FediDevs #Fediverse #FollowPack #FollowPacks #JSONLD #StarterPack #StarterPacks

1/

There are now multiple efforts to create a Fediverse version of Follow-Packs / Starter-Packs.

❦

A starter-pack gives you a collection of people and other users to follow

They help new users find people to follow — so they don't have an empty home-feed. But they also help existing users find more people to follow.

🧵

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #ATmosphere #ATProto #ATProtocol #Bluesky #DeSo #FediDevs #Fediverse #FollowPack #FollowPacks #JONSLD #SocialMedia #StarterPack #StarterPacks

There are a lot of different types in the ActivityStreams Vocabulary.

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-vocabulary/

But because Mastodon only supports 8 of them (with only 2 of them being supported properly), there is "pressure" on other Fediverse software to restrict themselves to these 8.

https://docs.joinmastodon.org/spec/activitypub/#payloads

Because they want to be compatible with Mastodon.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #Fediverse #Mastodon

The ActivityPub Client-Server API

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/#client-to-server-interactions

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #Fediverse #FediverseTech

#introduction
I am an open data access (#ODBC, #JDBC, and #HTTP), integration (#DataVirtualization), and data management (#DBMS and/or #KnowledgeGraph) technologist, enthusiast, and entrepreneur.

I am passionate about open standards for #GenAI, #AI, #Identity #Authenticity, #SocialMedia (#ActivityPub & #ActivityStreams), and data de-silo-fication initiatives (e.g. #SemanticWeb, #LODCloud, #LinkedData, #RWW, and #SmallData).

I don't like any kind of silo!