h2g2bob @h2g2bob@mastodon.dbatley.com

Finally, an update on the state of #passkeys for the #linux desktop:

Credentials for Linux: Bringing Passkeys to the Linux desktop

https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/838A8N-credentials-for-linux-bringing-passkeys-to-linux/

Slides: https://fosdem.org/2026/events/attachments/838A8N-credentials-for-linux-bringing-passkeys-to-linux/slides/265188/fosdem_ravbuub.pdf

#FOSDEM2026

Portland's transit crisis is getting bad. They're even talking about cutting all transit to a major hospital.

Yes, I know we have other crises. Leaders will have to multitask here.

My moderately deep dive:

https://humantransit.org/2026/01/portland-dire-transit-service-cuts-planned.html

Today's #Muppets GIF of the Day is...

Collecting a whole deck of cards (by finding them on the street)

Picking things up in the street has been a habit since I was a child. I always had pockets full of nuts and bolts and other interesting bits and bobs I'd collected. When I started compiling sketch books for visual research around 2008/9 a lot of found objects ended up in there, with the occasional playing card. Since 2021 I have been collecting playing cards more deliberately, logging the date and location of discovery.

http://grahamdunning.com/2026/01/30/collecting-a-whole-deck-of-cards-by-finding-them-on-the-street/

📝 We've created all the May 2026 elections in our system. 4,357 English councillors are scheduled for election, across 107 councils. This is in addition to six local authority mayors and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

👀 Find out if you have an election at https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/

🔼 The final seats total will rise slightly when by-elections are taken into account.

🔽 29 councils have had their elections postponed. 656 councillors were due to be elected in these councils.

🆕 blog! “Are there any open APIs left?”

One of the dreams of Web 2.0 was that website would speak unto website. An "Application Programming Interface" (API) would give programmatic access to structured data, allowing services to seamlessly integrate content from each other. Users would be able to quickly grab data from multiple sources and use them for their own purposes. No registration or …

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/are-there-any-open-apis-left/
⸻
#api #coding

RE: https://social.vivaldi.net/@LonM/115966748145817371

UK PEOPLE: this is REALLY IMPORTANT. If the government bans under-16s from using VPNs, then logically they must intend to REQUIRE AGE VERIFICATION FOR ALL VPN USE. Which will affect adults too!

*Your* privacy and right to anonymous web browsing is at risk!

Great news today the French government have launched their own Visio video conferencing tool #digitalsovereignty

But the PR stories, while explaining it is French built, don't mention it is Open Source and based on LiveKit - so any government can reuse what they have done.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/01/27/france-to-ditch-us-platforms-microsoft-teams-zoom-for-sovereign-platform-amid-security-con

https://github.com/suitenumerique/meet

Are you in the UK? Do you have an hour to spare to watch the birds in your garden (or other greenspace) today, on Saturday, or on Sunday? 🐦‍⬛

Then you should totally do the Big Garden Birdwatch: https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch

It's #CitizenScience and it's good for the soul!

(Only open to participation January 23-25 2026, in case you see this later.)

#BigGardenBirdwatch #birdwatching #birds

RE: https://fosstodon.org/@robhawkes/115938090494579308

While my National Grid: Live site at https://grid.iamkate.com gives a high-level overview of live and historical electricity generation, Robin’s map at https://renewables-map.robinhawkes.com is a fantastic tool for drilling down into the details:

I went on a hunt for the new Piccadilly Line tube trains yesterday.

I'd seen that they were testing them around Acton Town on Saturday, so headed over there to see if I could see one, and I struck the jackpot! There was one waiting in a siding, then another came round the corner into the platform!

Tfl were testing the new Piccadilly line trains over the weekend, and luckily I managed to find some in the wild and get a few shots.

Here's the train arriving at Hammersmith London Underground station, I love how the lights look in the darkness.

Beavers are really important.

After the huge wildfires in Oregon in 2022, a biologist went out to survey the damage. Not only were the forests blackened, thriving trout populations in the streams were gone, choked to death by ash. “I was in total shock. It just looked like devastation.”

Then he stumbled upon something even more surprising: roughly five acres of pristine greenery in an otherwise burned-out area! At the center were eight active beaver dams.

But this was more than a refuge from the fire. While fish had disappeared upstream of these dams, the downstream water was crystal clear — and trout were thriving as though the fire had never happened! The beaver dams were acting as a water treatment plant.

[Paraphrased from this article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/beaver-dams-help-wildfire-ravaged-ecosystems-recover-long-after-flames-subside/]

This post by Bruce Schneier contains so many thoughtful soundbites:

> The question is not simply whether copyright law applies to AI. It is why the law appears to operate so differently depending on who is doing the extracting and for what purpose.

> Like the early internet, AI is often described as a democratizing force. But also like the internet, AI’s current trajectory suggests something closer to consolidation.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/01/ai-and-the-corporate-capture-of-knowledge.html

One of my favourite memories was when I met up with a Spiderman cosplayer on the London Underground. People treated him like the real Spiderman! Hugs, selfies etc. I almost lost it when a tourist asked him for directions. I did manage to capture a photo of it through the laughter

Another episode of our podcast is out today! Listen to me and @peterrowlett chatting about A Taxicab (in both of the ways you might possibly imagine): https://aperiodical.com/2026/01/mathematical-objects-a-taxicab/

AWS hiked GPU prices 15% on a Saturday, hoping nobody would notice. Corey Quinn did. https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/aws_price_increase/