On 2018-09-02 09:05, Matt Birkholz wrote:

I hear tell there is talk of decentralizing the Internet, maybe even
breaking up the NSA/Google/Facebook duopoly fnord.  I am skeptical.

I've been reading that some are upset and say that Google, Facebook, etc are using their technology to censor and some are calling for Google, Facebook, etc to be regulated as utilities so free speech can be reinstated.  For the record I think all should have equal access to share their ideas no matter how adverse and no one should use technology to silence.   

It was a journalist, and I had not heard anything like it from a
credible source (except maybe the Free Software Foundation, but
they're way fringe).  MOST suspect: the efforts were credited to the
same Vile Offspring that just yesterday replaced the verb "search"
with a new verb: "Google(tm)".

As a monk I am proud of my people's tradition of running away, so I am
naturally interested in decentralizing the ever-lov'n blank out of the
Internet.  The more "dark" corners there are, the safer I will feel.

Back before government-mandated-everything Americans banded together
in fraternal organizations that provided health/life insurance for
families, not desks.  They also provided nosy brothers whom you were
rarely tempted to cheat.  Again, as a monk, these kinds of
institutions seem natural, a necessary evil, like cooking.  And they
seem a proper size for the autonomous entities of a decentralized
Internet.

I'm talking about a LOCAL organization of real people, e.g. the
Escanaba Lions Club[1], NOT a pit of lobbyists like The Humane
Society of the United States (not to be confused with the many
hard-working local humane societies, despite The Humane Society's[sic]
best efforts).

I have time to spend fanning the sputtering flames of demokrasy in
Amerika before I go, so I'm thinking about offering free technical
support to clubs that use a standard, KISS setup to offer their
membership federated services *just* like GMail, Skype, One Drive,
and Facebook.

These would be icing for an existing cake of common interests, local
concerns, maybe even group health insurance.  And if there is a club
house, it would be able to offer any member living within maybe 20
miles a volunteer who will climb up on their roof with a pringle can
and get them cheap, high-speed Internet without the whole last-mile
cluster-mumble.

And discuss...

[1] - If you have not seen _Escanaba in da Moonlight_[2], you messed up
somewhere.

[2] - I was shocked (*not*) to see that _Escanaba in da Moonlight_ and
_Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ are "Frequently bought together" on
Amazon.

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