closed source and symmetric blocking. two strikes.

Hi, I got a couple questions that aren’t answered on your transparency page yet.

• Has AI been used to create this?
• Two AI communities are on top of your communities list. Your terms talk about preventing AI scraping, yet your platform seems to welcome “AI founders”. How does this go together?
• Where is the source code?
• Your terms talk about monetization through Normals Plus. Can you elaborate on this?

This post is written on https://normals.me and delivered to !fediverse@lemmy.world over #ActivityPub, so if you are reading it the basic plumbing works. Now let me explain what is this.

Normals is a forum with communities, threads, and questions with an accepted answer. It is a single instance, not software you can host, and the core is closed for anti-abuse reasons. The federation module will be published separately with implementation notes (FEP-67ff).

What federates today Every community is a Group actor following the Lemmy model (FEP-1b12). Follow @selfhosted@normals.me or any other community from Lemmy, PieFed, Mbin or Mastodon.

Posts and comments go both ways. Replies from your instance appear in the thread on Normals, replies from Normals go back to the origin.

Remote content is labelled with its origin, links back to it, and is never copied. Media loads from the source.

Signed fetches, so it works with instances that require authorized fetch. NodeInfo 2.1 is up.

Policies, in case they matter to you, it has no ads, and no paid reach, and of course no AI training on posts. AI crawlers blocked by default, public mod log with reasons, and no automated removals. Numbers at https://normals.me/transparency so please take a look.

If something from your instance shows up wrong here, or something from here shows up wrong on yours, reply with the URL and I'll fix it. Andy Piper mentioned NodeBB uses the same group model, if anyone runs a NodeBB instance I'd like to test against it, if possible.

I hope we all have fun. Cheers!

If your “anti-abuse” security requires your software to be closed source, then your software is not secure. Well built software can be open source, and still secure.

You imply that your code could not prevent abuse if it was known, so, no offense, but that code must be pretty bad!

I like the fediverse because it distributes power. I, as a user, have the power to choose my instance, choose my moderation, choose the structure that my social interactions are built upon (threads based, microblogs, etc) and if I dont like something, I have the power to change it. Thats why open source is such a perfect fit to that model. Closed source federation then, sounds to me like you didnt get it.

Has AI been used to create this?

Do you really need to ask? 😅

mahmoud 🇵🇸
@mahmoodhamod991
has got
‼️$0.00‼️
in recent‼️ 7 days‼️
https://mastodon.social/@mahmoodhamod991/117541285618679549

Also, he hasn't posted recently.
This morning, I messaged him to ask how he was doing. Surprisingly, he replied immediately. Why I was surprising was that it was morning in Japan, but 3 AM in Gaza.
He said:
"I have nowhere to sleep.
I'm on the street, I can't sleep here."
I'm astonished and ask him:
"You mean that now you have no place to rest in the midnight? How awful!"
His answer:
"Yes, brother, that's true. I have another tiring day tomorrow. I couldn't find a place. I'm tired of that."
I wanted to know the environment he was in as possible as in detail, so I asked him to take a picture of the surrounding scenery and send it to me. Then he sent me the attached image with his message:
"There's nothing there, it's too dark."
I lost my words.
My friend, mahmod is in absolute dire straits right now.
He's been thrown out onto the street in the middle of the night, wandering under the dark sky without any shelter.
Nevertheless he is keeping silent in madtodon.
What a teriffing silence!
But I think there are many silences as him here.
Please listen to them, and help them!

Here's the link to mahmoud's campaign page:
https://chuffed.org/project/174651-help-mahmoud-and-his-family-survive

If you can donate him, please hurry!

#FediForGaza
#gaza
#palestine

Cuteness!

"Won't someone think of the windows!"

The most insufferable take on recent European unrest.

@evan I find the issues I have with USB-C are almost always because stuff gets into the connector *behind* the angled contacts wedging it in place - making cleaning difficult and hard to tell if it's dirty - especially if it's a dark coloured cable.

Lightning on the otherhand had its locking pins in the socket and the nubs on the edge of the connector so it was pretty obvious if there was something in the socket preventing latching.

@davidrevoy Your comic will become a recurring meme

In the most hilarious irony, Iran caused regime change in the US

#USpol #USpolitics #Iran

@AlaaGaza2026 @bilalmzeyada

Update:
Here's the latest message from Alaa:
"My husband is gone and doesn't ask about me or our children. I'm completely alone.

I'm a single mother supporting my children. The tent owner needs the money now, or he'll take the tent immediately. I begged him to wait a little longer, but it's no use. He needs the money today or tomorrow morning. Please, I have no one but you. Help me, I'm begging you.

Please 😭😭😭😭 I'm crying in despair."

Oh,no.
Alaa is a single mother.
I just found out.
You understand, right?
We absolutely must help her!

#FediForGaza
#gaza
#palestine

Top story: That Sisyphean rock kept falling back to solid red ground. In 2020, #Democrats’ sky-high hopes fell flat hard. In 2022, no dice. In 2024, a major regression.

Then, in this year of 2026, with the seeming snap of a finger, it all vanished. https://www.texasobserver.org/down-goes-red-texas-democratic-rout-2026/

#Midterms #politics #news #Texas

Russell Brand is now a convicted rapist.

Solidarity with all of his victims, especially those who did not see justice in the courtroom today, and fuck you forever to the cretins and useful idiots who have been running cover for this narcissistic rapist for years.

Walliams next.

@fesshole @scarscarin

BREAKING NEWS: $SPUNC hosts undisclosed dividends from $DASH trade #BreakingNews

#introduction tldr: I've just joined @Mastodon as interim commercial director.

I've been working with open source organizations on commercialization, positioning strategy and GTM for several years, I've hosted The Business of Open Source podcast since 2020, and I co-organize @OpenSourceFoundersSummit.

In my "real" life I'm into improv theater and I bake a lot. So if I ever give up on the tech career I'll open a cafe with improv shows and excellent baked goods.

Every day we struggle to secure food for my family. We have lost everything and have no source of income. This link is a lifeline for 9 people. Please do not leave us alone in these difficult circumstances. Even a small donation of $10 can help buy food or medicine, and every share of our campaign means so much to us
https://chuffed.org/project/188403-sawsan-needs-help-for-the-9-family-members?pds=79I4cTS6-Ckkl1wlJMD1cOcOLE6LcZzh9Vz-kq6BVbg&utm_campaign=campaign&utm_id=019f1482-5747-7260-82e3-4c60d1c0df98&pdm=url_copy