[ifur]

For the social part to really work, you need a community to adopt it. Not just an internet community. Good to see alternatives to Twitter however.

Generally don't like AJAX, it's JS and XML, and in the latter case Twitter services don't require Stylesheets or XLS as it's called -- without -- XML is bloated and creates metadata for sale. In addition to AJAX allowing Orwellian advertisement influence.

Edit: this gets downvoted? reasonable technical criticism or dialogue.

[crooked-v]

> Generally don't like AJAX, it's JS and XML, and in the latter case Twitter services don't require Stylesheets or XLS as it's called -- without -- XML is bloated and creates metadata for sale. In addition to AJAX allowing Orwellian advertisement influence.

...what?

[ifur]

In addition to tagging data with XML, I wont go into the misguided use of it in configuration files as its not really quicker creating checks using XML and XLS as a programmer in the "zone" :)

Point is that albeit nice, there is no need for something like this to even be in a browser. But by using AJAX it kind of have to be. In addition to advertisers being able to know due to Javascript that the user is present. And since the data is tagged arbitrarily in XML in addition to hashtags and the like, it's a lot less hit and miss for suggestions and advertisement.

For example getting flooded with bad things about people working or the US state just because they're in the vicinity of Trump to either reinforce or encourage guilt by association. After you've made a Trump pun for additional effect.

[crooked-v]

What are you even talking about? Modern web apps don't even use XML anymore, barring a few outliers.

[ifur]

"Ajax (also AJAX /ˈeɪdʒæks/; short for "Asynchronous JavaScript And XML")"

Is this wrong? Only worked with HPC and mostly hardware-software layer.

[valtism]

I think you have a misunderstanding of what AJAX is. I have no idea what you are getting at with the political rambling about metadata and Trump.

[ifur]

Perhaps, but I know the implications of javascript. This allows mouse and keyboard events from the browser and is the most insecure language known.

What concerns Trump is merely that this technically allows political manipulation by having a short and cheap route to be able to do just that.

[krapp]

>and is the most insecure language known.

Hyperbolic nonsense. Javascript couldn't even aspire to be as insecure as C.

[ifur]

>Hyperbolic nonsense. Javascript couldn't even aspire to be as insecure as C.

If that's hyperbole, I'm in stable orbit around earth.

https://deadliestwebattacks.com/2013/01/22/know-your-javascr...

https://www.cnet.com/news/faq-javascript-insecurities/

Wannabe "fiddlers" love JS as everything works.

"They should peruse their Web site for cross-site scripting flaws and fix those."

Every site is now cross-site with FB and Google, even using them as JS service providers. It has shot security that inherently dead.

[egypturnash]

do you know how many queer furries are on mastodon right now holy crap, that is definitely a community

Also um I think pretty much the entire fediverse is free of ads right now.

[ifur]

Twitter as a media form to participate with the choir in the ether is perhaps more suitable to you than hacker news.

[rainbowmverse]

I've probably seen more furballs in ~2 years of Mastodon than I did in years of furry Twtter.

[Vinnl]

> Edit: this gets downvoted? reasonable technical criticism or dialogue.

I'm quite sure the reason is that it's for me impossible to parse your message, even though I know what AJAX, Javascript, XML and Stylesheets are. If there really is a point in your message, you might want to try to reformulate it - perhaps in terms of how you as a user are actually negatively affected? (e.g. does Mastodon deplete your mobile subscription more quickly, and if so, why?)

[ifur]

Is it lack of adjectives and positive or negative extensions that throws you of? This is hacker news, I'm talking about technical things. And you want me to limit myself to user experiences rather than back and forth on nerdy technicality?

Edit to reply to the the reply below, apparently speed is frowned upon in HN:

> Maybe this analysis helps:

This is hyperbole :)

>> Generally don't like AJAX

> Not quite sure what AJAX has to do with this - I don't think Mastodon differs from Twitter here? In the sense that it has webpages that make requests to servers without reloading the page.

AJAX is said to be an improvement, exactly why? The implications is that it "improves" the platform. The reason why is well, pun intended, objectifying "documents".

>> it's JS and XML

> This is confusing as well. You refer to XML, which is probably due to the first method of sending HTTP requests without a full page request being the XMLHTTPRequest DOM API. I'm not sure if XML was necessarily involved when that was the only method, but I'm quite sure no XML is involved at all in Mastodon. But even if it was, it's not quite sure what the problem of that would be for you as a user.

Let's perhaps agree that hashtags suffice. Value add for opportunities in the backend does nothing for the users. For it's the enforce "internet bubbles".

>> Twitter services don't require Stylesheets or XLS as it's called

> This one is really hard to parse. My intuition would be that you're talking about Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), the method commonly used to define what a webpage looks like. But then you also mention XLS, which I assume does not refer to Microsoft Excel's file format, but I'm not quite sure what it does refer to - maybe you meant XSLT? But both Mastodon and Twitter use CSS (and I can't imagine you being against that), and neither uses XSLT?

XML is in a family of initiatives for preserving text an data across platforms and formats. Stylesheets allow you to EXPLAIN in a parseable way what that tagged data is supposed to look like as presentable information.

>> XML is bloated and creates metadata for sale.

> As far as I know XML only contains the data the developers put in there, and the same would be true for alternatives such as the more commonly used JSON. And again, there's no XML in Mastodon.

It's tagged data and information, as in metadata and widely abused in the "semantic web" that mostly has value to those that sell user data for-profit. Try and follow the thought train from the premises in the technology and the industry of today.

>> In addition to AJAX allowing Orwellian advertisement influence.

> So I guess your point is that somehow there's more advertisement influence at Mastodon than at Twitter? Again, it's entirely unclear how that would be the case.

Because of these technologies, it can be sold to investors as such. It may just be there for being told it is better due to to easier route to as a paid-for service.

> To sum up: it's probably downvoted because there doesn't appear to be reasonable criticism in here, and in fact, there doesn't really seem to be any content that one could even technically criticise.

Really?

> I hope I at least made clear why I was unable to understand your post, or even to criticise it. I might have misunderstood, in which case do enlighten me, but it can at least explain why people downvote you. Hope that helps.

Not in the slightest, but this dialogue is far more useful than having to ask why something is down voted prior to there being an exchange of arguments.

[Vinnl]

I don't want you to do anything; I'm just sharing that I can't make sense of what you're saying. I don't know why - it just looks like a list of words strung together.

Maybe this analysis helps:

> Generally don't like AJAX

Not quite sure what AJAX has to do with this - I don't think Mastodon differs from Twitter here? In the sense that it has webpages that make requests to servers without reloading the page.

> it's JS and XML

This is confusing as well. You refer to XML, which is probably due to the first method of sending HTTP requests without a full page request being the XMLHTTPRequest DOM API. I'm not sure if XML was necessarily involved when that was the only method, but I'm quite sure no XML is involved at all in Mastodon. But even if it was, it's not quite sure what the problem of that would be for you as a user.

> Twitter services don't require Stylesheets or XLS as it's called

This one is really hard to parse. My intuition would be that you're talking about Cascading Stylesheets (CSS), the method commonly used to define what a webpage looks like. But then you also mention XLS, which I assume does not refer to Microsoft Excel's file format, but I'm not quite sure what it does refer to - maybe you meant XSLT? But both Mastodon and Twitter use CSS (and I can't imagine you being against that), and neither uses XSLT?

> XML is bloated and creates metadata for sale.

As far as I know XML only contains the data the developers put in there, and the same would be true for alternatives such as the more commonly used JSON. And again, there's no XML in Mastodon.

> In addition to AJAX allowing Orwellian advertisement influence.

So I guess your point is that somehow there's more advertisement influence at Mastodon than at Twitter? Again, it's entirely unclear how that would be the case.

To sum up: it's probably downvoted because there doesn't appear to be reasonable criticism in here, and in fact, there doesn't really seem to be any content that one could even technically criticise.

I hope I at least made clear why I was unable to understand your post, or even to criticise it. I might have misunderstood, in which case do enlighten me, but it can at least explain why people downvote you. Hope that helps.

[Vinnl]

Here's a reply to your edit, I guess.

Again: AJAX and XML have nothing to do with Mastodon. You keep going into those, claiming that people say that it's an improvement, but it's not even relevant. Your entire posts appear to build on that, but it's a premise that is faulty.