Introducing ActivityBot - the simplest way to build Mastodon Bots

As you may have read, BotsIn.Space is closing down, I have lots of automated bot accounts living on the Fediverse - and I want them to continue posting. Installing and maintaining an entire Mastodon instance sounds like hard work. Paying people to host my stuff feels like putting my fate in someone else's hands.

Say… didn't I write my own ActivityPub server? Why, yes! Yes I did!

I took the code and stripped it down to the bare essentials. All you need to do is upload two files⁰ - index.php and .htaccess - fill in your details, and you're done.

Get the ActivityBot source code on GitLab.

There's no database, no containers, no caching. It is as simple as I could make it

This bot can do the following:

• Be discovered on the Fediverse
• Be followed by other accounts
• Be unfollowed by accounts
• Send messages to the Fediverse
• ️ Attach an image & alt text to a message
• ️ Autolink URls, hashtags, and @ mentions
• Move followers from an old account
• Verify cryptographic signatures
• 🪵 Log sent messages and error.

That's it! Here's what it doesn't do:

• Receive messages (other than follows and unfollows)
• Send private messages
• Thread replies
• Delete or update a post
• Create Polls
• Attach multiple images
• Set focus point for images
• Set sensitivity for images / blur
• Set "Content Warning"
• Accurate support for converting user's text to HTML
• Cannot be discovered by Lemmy instances

Grab a subdomain (don't buy a whole new domain name!) and stick this code on it. You'll have an ActivityPub bot running in minutes.

You can follow one of my bots @[email protected]

Feedback very much welcome.

#ActivityPub #bot #fediverse

Who can reply?
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/06/who-can-reply/

Vague thoughts as they enter my brainbox.

The BlueSky social network has introduced "Reply Gating" - it looks like this:

You can write your hot take on Taylor Swift and not be inundated by weirdos replying to you. Nifty!

This is nothing new. Twitter has it. Facebook has the concept of "audiences" to restrict who your post is visible to.

And, of course, blogging has this! There is a comment form at the bottom of this page - and I moderate it. If you post something stupid, I don't have to subject my audience to your inanities. I can (and do) block users from commenting.

ActivityPub doesn't have this (yet). It's much more like a public mailing list. I can block or mute you - which stops me from seeing your abuse - but doesn't stop anyone else from seeing it.

Should ActivityPub have something similar? Yeah, I reckon so. I'd like to be able to say "Anyone I know want to go to the pub tonight" and only have mutuals reply. I want to prune away spam or repetitive replies. It would be helpful to have a conversation in public that other people can't interrupt.

The UI would be complex. And the social model needs a bit of work. And there are some technical challenges around syndicating which replies should be included.

But, ultimately, social media should respond to the needs of its users.

Who can reply?

Terence Eden’s Blog (shkspr.mobi)

#ActivityPub #mastodon #SocialMedia

1,000 edits on OpenStreetMap
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/05/1000-edits-on-openstreetmap/

Today was quite the accidental milestone! I've edited OpenStreetMap over a thousand times!

For those who don't know, OSM (OpenStreetMap) is like the Wikipedia of maps. Anyone can go in and edit the map. This isn't a corporate-controlled space where your local knowledge is irrelevant compared to the desire for profit. You can literally go and correct any mistakes that you find, add recently built roads, remove abandoned buildings, and provide useful local information.

Editing the full map is... complicated. For simple edits like changing the times of a postal collection, there are simple forms you can fill in. There's also an aerial view so you can drag and drop misplaced locations. But for anything more complicated than that, you'll need to spend some time understanding the interface. There's a friendly community who are happy to check or correct your submissions.

I'll be honest, I don't use the web editor much. Instead, I use the Android app StreetComplete. It's like an endless stream of sidequests. As you travel through the world, it will ask if a shop is still open, or if the highway is lit, or how many steps there are on a bridge, or whether a playground is suitable for all children, or if restaurants serve vegetarian food, or if a bus-stop has a bench, or... the list is almost endless!

I use it when I'm walking around somewhere new, or on holiday, or waiting for a bus. I used it so much that, for a short while, I became the #1 mapper in New Zealand!

So get stuck in! Make mapping more equitable and more accurate.

1,000 edits on OpenStreetMap

Terence Eden’s Blog (shkspr.mobi)

#OpenStreetMap #ReDeCentralize