Blog (in English)

Brazilian Internet Forum (FIB16) in Belém, Pará: A visual tour

I had the opportunity to participate in yet another edition of the Internet Forum in Brazil (FIB16), this time in the Amazon forest region, in Belém, Pará. The event, organized by NIC.br, brings together people from different sectors to debate hot and/or important topics related to the internet in the country.

My FIB16, however, was a bit different. Like the previous edition in Salvador, Bahia, I came here hired by NIC.br to host the interview podcast Nós da Internet. I opted to stay for fewer days this time, which packed my interview schedule and kept me from attending the panel discussions. (A tip that’s useful for me: all of them were streamed and are available on YouTube.)

To not miss out on covering the event for this Manual, I thought I’d document the venues and moments of FIB16 and the behind-the-scenes of Nós da Internet in photos. Also, a few more pictures of Belém and its touristic spots.

It had been a long time (really long) since I’d photographed anything other than family events. Ignore the weird angles, blown-out lights, and strange colors. I noticed I’d forgotten everything I ever knew about photography — which, to be honest, was never much to begin with.

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Indigo unifies Bluesky and Mastodon in one app

Indigo app icon: purple, with a white circle in the middle and the top of the letter “i” cut out within the circle.I had the opportunity to test Indigo before its launch — on the 12th — a social media app that unifies the timelines of Bluesky and Mastodon.

The duo of developers, Aaron Vegh and Ben McCarthy, have experience in the field. They’re also behind Croissant, an older app that lets you post simultaneously to Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads. Seen together, it’s as if Indigo were an evolution of Croissant — you can also post to Bluesky and Mastodon at the same time from Indigo.

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Android 17, Gemini Intelligence, and Googlebook: My first impressions  youtube.com

Google announced Android 17 and a new line of laptops in a pre-recorded video shown “live” (?) on Tuesday (12th). The Android 17’s highlight is artificial intelligence agents, which has elevated Gemini to “Gemini Intelligence.” (more…)

Nothing has changed on Instagram; Meta has always read your DMs

Since May 8th, Instagram stopped offering the option of direct messages (DMs) with end-to-end encryption (e2ee). The announcement was made quietly on a page in Meta’s help documentation, which reflects the importance of this feature within Instagram — close to zero. In reporting the news, however, the media did a poor job, stretching the truth or even resorting to misinformation, inflaming public opinion for no good reason.

I am the first to criticize Meta, which is why we must be careful with our accusations, lest we weaken the real arguments against it and its practices.

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A screen addict on the couch

A few months ago, during a therapy session, I mentioned the possibility that I might be addicted to screens. The psychologist asked what I do when I’m not looking at them. I could only come up with a few things — all simple, some pathetic, like “washing dishes.”

She said it’s common for addicts, upon recognizing their addiction, to find themselves in an existential void. I think there’s no doubt that “washing dishes” is a sign of a huge void, right?

I realized this problem while reading these three paragraphs published by Dave Rupert:

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Links of the Day

I collect cool, interesting links spread all over the web and share them here in daily posts. Hope you enjoy! More of them in the archive.

Meta: New AI measures to identify teens. Meta will use AI to scan photos and videos and detect people’s height and bone structure in order to place teenagers in age-appropriate experiences. Meta says this isn’t facial recognition, as if analyzing bone structure were somehow better. The technology is coming to Brazil and EU, starting with Instagram.

iOS 26.5 RC hints at sideloading coming soon to Brazil (pt_BR), iHelp BR. Can’t wait!

Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model without consent. Worth noting if storage space is tight on your computer.

Artemis II photo timeline. They took all the official Artemis II photos and cross-referenced them with the mission’s event schedules to generate a timeline.

Artblock. An extension (Chromium and Firefox) that replaces ads with works of art and NASA photos. Brilliant! It’s not available in the extension stores yet, though.

Links of the Day

I collect cool, interesting links spread all over the web and share them here in daily posts. Hope you enjoy! More of them in the archive.

Xbox Mode begins rolling out to players on Windows 11 PCs today. This feature opens the Windows 11 gaming hub (renamed Xbox Mode): a full-screen interface to browse using joysticks.

Robot dogs with tech boss faces roam Berlin art exhibit. That’s awesome.

Bird Radio. A radio station featuring bird songs. Each “station” represents a part of the world. (Too bad the South American ones aren’t working.)

Cursor Camp. Neal Agarwal’s latest project is a camp for mouse cursors, full of Easter eggs and cool details. (Much) better from a computer or device with a mouse.

I endured the Apple Watch for four months

I consider myself a decisive person, though I do have my weaknesses. Major purchases, like electronic devices, are always a soap opera. The Apple Watch one lasted a few years.

At the end of 2025, a special episode aired with a major plot twist, typical of the best soap operas. Without giving it much thought, I looked for the cheapest Apple Watch Series 10 in stores. Then I bought it. My reasoning was to take advantage of the “off-season” between versions and the depreciation of the previous model — a good strategy this year, given that the newly released Series 11 brought almost no new features.

46mm case, rose gold color, white sport band. Bought. A few days later, the watch arrived at my house. With a different band — a purple sport loop. I ended up keeping it because the models with the band I’d ordered were out of stock. It was the off-season…

The soap opera reached its (possible?) final chapter — an abrupt one — on April 20th, four months after I started wearing an Apple Watch.

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Links of the Day

I collect cool, interesting links spread all over the web and share them here in daily posts. Hope you enjoy! More of them in the archive.

Linux on PlayStation 5. The ps5-linux project enables the installation of a Linux distribution on the original PlayStation 5 (the physically larger model). The installation isn’t easy. On the other hand, since it isn’t persistent (you need to run the exploit on every reboot), there’s no risk of “bricking” the console.

OpenClaw suffers from waves of AI pull requests. They decided to limit to 10 open PRs per person (or “agent”). The irony of this is delicious.

Fedora Linux 44. The new version of Fedora is out, with many updated packages and, in the main editions, Gnome 50 and KDE Plasma 6.6.

PowerToys 0.99. This update includes two new utilities: “Grab And Move,” for moving and resizing windows without having to grab their edges, and “Power Display,” which displays controls for multiple monitors in the system tray and allows you to create profiles to switch between different settings. For Windows 11, free and FOSS.

Dorso. A macOS app that dims the screen when you hunch over. Monitoring can be done via webcam or compatible AirPods. For USD 4.99 on the App Store or for free by downloading the installer from the repository.

Boss Fight Books. A publishing house, founded in 2013, specializing in documentary-style nonfiction books about classic video games. There’s a market for everything, isn’t there?

Links of the Day

I collect cool, interesting links spread all over the web and share them here in daily posts. Hope you enjoy! More of them in the archive.

#VazaBigTech (pt_BR). Ctrl+Z, a new Brazilian organization dedicated to taking on big tech, in partnership with GlobaLeaks, has just launched this platform to facilitate secure leaks from major tech companies.

App Store: Monthly subscription with annual billing. Apple has announced a new subscription option on the App Store, with monthly payments over a 12-month period. It is similar to the annual subscription (which already exists), but with payments in 12 installments instead of a single lump sum. It arrives in May and is available on iOS 26.4 and later, except in Singapore and the US.

GitHub Copilot is switching to usage-based billing. The crackdown on generative AI subsided costs continues. The change takes effect on June 1st.

Embrapa Small Farm System. “An integrated system for small farms to produce enough food for a family.” Requires at least 100 m² and R$ 500 (~USD 100). As @NotaDiamond@mastodon.com.br said, it’s the real-life Stardew Valley!

Interactive map of the Silk Roads. The couple who created this map is visiting various points along the ancient Silk Roads, sharing photos, information, and details. The site is lovely. Hot tip from Tiago.

Links of the Day

I collect cool, interesting links spread all over the web and share them here in daily posts. Hope you enjoy! More of them in the archive.

China blocks Meta’s $2B Manus deal after months-long probe, TechCrunch. I don’t know what are the geopolitical implications of this news, but it’s funny to see Meta in such a mess.

New Google app icons, 9to5Google. The leaked icons have a Microsoft vibe, but at least they use distinct colors, putting an end to the sameness of the current icons that makes them extremely hard to tell apart.

WordPress 7.0 will be released on May 20, The Repository. The troubled upcoming WordPress update, which will feature real-time collaboration and support for AI connectors, has been given a new release date after being postponed to accommodate the AI connectors, which project leader Matt Mullenweg decided to include in the roadmap very late, following the release of the RC1.

Notepad++ for macOS. A developer has ported the venerated Windows code editor to macOS. It’s very similar to the original, including plugin support and the outdated default icon set.

Banjo: Recompiled. A native port of the Nintendo 64 game Banjo-Kazooie for computers (Linux, macOS, and Windows). Free and FOSS.

picoCAD 2. An accessible (in the sense of easy-to-use) tool for creating 3D models, textures, and animations. Free, for Windows and macOS.

Links of the Day

I collect cool, interesting links spread all over the web and share them here in daily posts. Hope you enjoy! More of them in the archive.

Spotify turns 20. To celebrate the anniversary, they’ve launched a special website, and over the next 20 days Spotify will be sharing statistics from its history. (Today’s are top 20 lists.) Giving away my age: I remember using Spotify when the interface was gray and needing a VPN because it wasn’t available in Brazil.

Deezer: AI-generated tracks now represent 44% of all new uploaded music. Deezer claims to have AI detection technology with near-perfect accuracy. Let’s hope so. From now on, the platform will no longer store high-definition versions of AI-generated songs.

What’s new in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS? The new version isn’t on the official site yet, but today’s the day! It’s a long term support release, always a good choice for those who dislike surprises and/or frequent updates.

Claude Desktop changes app access settings for browsers you don’t even have installed yet, The Register. The appeal of Claude Desktop is to unleash AI to use the computer in place of the human user, isn’t it?

Galaxy owners can now connect their phones to any Windows 11 PC, Android Authority. Previously, Samsung phones could only connect to Samsung laptops, despite running Android.

Brave Origin. The Brave browser has launched a “lite” version, without the numerous extras of the standard version, for USD 60 — a one-time payment entitling you to ten activations. I think it’s easier to use ungoogled-chromium.

Apple fixed a bug that allowed the FBI to access deleted messages from Signal. It’s the only change in iOS 26.4.2. According to Apple, “notifications marked for deletion could be unexpectedly retained on the device.” The folks at Signal appreciated the news.

The football game Rabona. I happened to come across this game, scheduled for release this year on Windows. The (supposed) solo developer created a game engine and built the game all by himself, focusing on the physics of the sport — a complete contrast to what EA has been doing with FC (formerly FIFA). I thought the stick figures were adorable. Fans are excited!

Igaratype. Created for an institutional campaign to promote the Brazilian Amazon region, the Igaratype font consists of letters “created” from satellite images of the curves of the Amazon River. The entire project — which turned out beautifully and is full of meaning — is the work of local artists.

Today I learned that Bluesky’s technical advisor, a partner at one of the firms that invested millions in the social network, is an AI enthusiast, subscribes to a blocklist of anti-AI activists with over 300,000 profiles, and thought it was a good idea to throw his overheated phone into the pool to cool it down. (The phone broke.)

A lot of things suddenly started to make sense…

Links of the Day

I collect cool, interesting links spread all over the web and share them here in daily posts. Hope you enjoy! More of them in the archive.

Anthropic is thinking about removing Claude Code from its cheapest plan, The New Stack. This may be the first indication of the “Uber moment” of AI: when companies cease the subsidy and start to want profit. The “cheapest plan” costs US$ 20 (~R$ 100) per month.

This company will start monitoring employee keystrokes and mouse movement to train AI, Reuters. I’m sure you guessed what the company is. (It’s Meta.)

Framework Laptop 13 Pro. Framework positions it (verbally) as “Linux’s MacBook Pro”. The best part? Laptop 13 Pro maintains their DNA of repairability, customization and upgrades. It will start at US$ 1.5k, with a launch scheduled for June.

Vercel confirms breach as hackers claim to be selling stolen data, BleepingComputer. The breach vector was an external AI tool used by a Vercel employee. The company says the number of affected customers is low, that they have already been notified and advised to review their logs and change their credentials.

Xbox Mode and File Explorer improvements in Windows 11. Xbox Mode, which displays a different full-screen interface, will be expanded to all devices, and File Explorer is faster and free of “flash bangs” in dark mode. For now, only in the Preview channel.

LXQt 2.4.0. The new version of this Linux desktop environment includes bug fixes, code cleanup, and all improvements from point releases since November.

Firefox 150. Improvements in the view of two pages side by side, the *.pdf file editor and a new interface for the local translation service, accessible at about:translations.

SmolFedi. A super-lightweight, JavaScript-free, open-source web client for the Fediverse. According to the project’s creator, Adële, it’s a “dumb” graphical client.

textstring. A literal text string that you can pull from as if the text were on a spool.

What is Mastodon for?  connectedplaces.online

The Fediverse, particularly Mastodon, still suffers from the reputation of being “complicated.” Its key distinguishing feature — federated instances — is also its Achilles’ heel.

A few years ago, I started recommending [pt_BR] joining the Fediverse/Mastodon via the developers’ instance, mastodon.social, and focusing on the personal timeline. It’s simpler to explain and — I hope — to understand, but something gets lost along this easier path.

I hadn’t realized this until I read this post by Laurens Hof on the Connected Places blog. He makes a very astute distinction regarding the Fediverse experience, between the instance layer and the federation layer, and argues that most people live in the federation layer (timeline):

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