The Fediverse was abuzz today about a report that Apple will be allowing third-party app stores on the iPhone. But reading the fine print, it's obvious this is not an altruistic gesture on Apple's part.

Spoilers ahead!

I'm currently obsessed with the Star Wars TV series Andor. Writing, directing, acting, cinematography, music, story – all brilliant. It resonates with me on many levels. I'm watching the first season for the second time and paying close attention. In Episode 7, Announcement, a conversation between Andor and Maarva got me thinking.

Warning: Andor spoilers ahead!

My favorite TV show of 2022 – and probably my favorite TV show ever – is the Star Wars series Andor. I have been watching its debut season again and loving it even more the second time around. In Episode 5: The Axe Forgets we learn a little more about the beloved character Nemik – a young Rebel idealist who is in it all for the cause – so much so that he creates a Manifesto which is referenced prominently later in the season.

It's been many years since I've had games on my smartphone. It's not that I don't enjoy video games, it's that I enjoy them too much.

My brother (who is younger than me) has never used big social media.

I make a distinction between big and small social media.

• Big social media = the large popular platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
• Small social media = however you interact with smaller, private groups of people. Like a small Discord server, iMessage group, etc.

I guess technically my brother does have a LinkedIn account that he uses as an online resumé, not as a social network. But Facebook? Twitter? Instagram? Nope. Nada.

I have to say, I envy him in that regard.

I've been trying the Vivialdi browser off and on over the past several weeks. There's a lot to like about it. It has tons of baked-in features that require add-ons in other browsers, and a massive settings sections allows you to configure and customize it unlike any other browser. But there's one thing that keeps me using Firefox.

I've written several posts about how I acquired and got my current laptop working – a Dell Latitude E7470. It's several years old, but it's been running like a champ and has come into my possession at the perfect time, given my current hobby project.

Getting a new shared Mastodon instance going is a lot of work! I've put in a lot of hours the past couple days on getting ZCMI.social off the ground. It's not just the technical side of things with domain, hosting, and administration – there is a lot more to it.

It's been a whirlwind weekend, but I somehow started a new Mastodon instance! ZCMI.social is now a thing.

Occasionally over the past couple years, I've thought about starting a Mastodon instance for members of my church – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.