gbl08ma
@gbl08ma.com
I'm a software developer; preferences (descending): Go, Svelte, TypeScript, C#. I built @pds.labeler.tny.im, jungletv.live, underlx.com, and more. Disillusioned with Android; open web FTW. Slightly into game modding. Sometimes I make music. I use Arch BTW.
Pinned
gbl08ma
@gbl08ma.com
· Nov 14
"Invalid handle" is Bluesky jargon; it's also what most would like to say when trying to read my username. Too-young-me chose it 15 years ago, and it stuck.
I'm gbl08ma everywhere on the internet, but you can call me just G-B-L or Gabriel. He/him. Feel free to reach out, I think I don't bite.
I'm gbl08ma everywhere on the internet, but you can call me just G-B-L or Gabriel. He/him. Feel free to reach out, I think I don't bite.
Reposted by gbl08ma
current thoughts after experimenting with some proposed discord alternatives recently, a thread 🧵:
February 17, 2026 at 5:54 AM
current thoughts after experimenting with some proposed discord alternatives recently, a thread 🧵:
I find Bluesky to be a viable alternative to Twitter, with "good enough" feature parity and UX that isn't a complete mess, while offering options for decentralization (alt clients, appviews, firehoses, PDS...) that still keep everyone mostly connected.
How I wish such a thing existed for Discord.
How I wish such a thing existed for Discord.
February 16, 2026 at 5:42 PM
I find Bluesky to be a viable alternative to Twitter, with "good enough" feature parity and UX that isn't a complete mess, while offering options for decentralization (alt clients, appviews, firehoses, PDS...) that still keep everyone mostly connected.
How I wish such a thing existed for Discord.
How I wish such a thing existed for Discord.
I slept for about one hour last night, and as a result, I felt the irresistible urge to rant about where our digital freedoms are headed.
Are we trying to delay the "inevitable" as we try to find Discord alternatives?
Are we trying to delay the "inevitable" as we try to find Discord alternatives?
On illegal software
Where I open my mouth, but not to verify I'm an adult
gbl08ma.leaflet.pub
February 13, 2026 at 11:02 PM
I slept for about one hour last night, and as a result, I felt the irresistible urge to rant about where our digital freedoms are headed.
Are we trying to delay the "inevitable" as we try to find Discord alternatives?
Are we trying to delay the "inevitable" as we try to find Discord alternatives?
Say something nice about someone today:
@psingletary.com has said nice things about one bazillion people today; a beacon of positivity in an environment of the kind that can turn toxic even involuntarily. The ability to put into words the Good Parts is a skill people, myself included, often lack.
@psingletary.com has said nice things about one bazillion people today; a beacon of positivity in an environment of the kind that can turn toxic even involuntarily. The ability to put into words the Good Parts is a skill people, myself included, often lack.
Say something nice about someone today:
@laurenshof.online you have been the context i need for open social web and serve valuable service as the #1 journalist for ATProto. You are more about the positive and benefits of people than anything else. Keep feeding the hope and desire for better.
@laurenshof.online you have been the context i need for open social web and serve valuable service as the #1 journalist for ATProto. You are more about the positive and benefits of people than anything else. Keep feeding the hope and desire for better.
Say something nice about someone today:
@scale94.com you introduced me to bsky.app/hashtag/Thic...
You keep Bluesky weird and wonderful
@scale94.com you introduced me to bsky.app/hashtag/Thic...
You keep Bluesky weird and wonderful
February 13, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Say something nice about someone today:
@psingletary.com has said nice things about one bazillion people today; a beacon of positivity in an environment of the kind that can turn toxic even involuntarily. The ability to put into words the Good Parts is a skill people, myself included, often lack.
@psingletary.com has said nice things about one bazillion people today; a beacon of positivity in an environment of the kind that can turn toxic even involuntarily. The ability to put into words the Good Parts is a skill people, myself included, often lack.
Reposted by gbl08ma
it’s cool to see bsky embracing other tools, but not sure if I’m thrilled the first integration of this kind is a closed-sourced early-release IM product
February 12, 2026 at 8:41 PM
it’s cool to see bsky embracing other tools, but not sure if I’m thrilled the first integration of this kind is a closed-sourced early-release IM product
Nothing like a good old unscheduled server downtime to make me waffle about atproto internals to uninterested non-technical users in hopes of making them understand what the "Create a rotation key" in PDS MOOver does 😭
![Screenshot of Discord messages from me to someone else:
it is basically a stable identifier that is used across bluesky&co to refer to your account
it's what "holds" your followers
these identifiers are associated with a "DID document" and you can see yours here: https://plc.directory/did:plc:[REDACTED]
this "document" says what your handle is (so every time you change your handle you're actually making a change to this document) and also says what PDS your account is hosted on (so when you migrate your account from one PDS to another, you're also making a change to this document)
to update this document, you need a "private key" for one of the "public keys" configured in the DID document (think of the "private key" as an actual 🔑 and the "public key" as the 🔒 it fits into. everyone is able to see the lock on your door, but you must keep your 🔑 to yourself)
in order to let you change handle, the PDS (in this case, my PDS) has one of the keys to your DID document
by adding a second key that you have, you are later able to change this document yourself without intervention of my PDS (e.g. because it went offline for good and I'm gone)
and this would allow you to keep your did:plc:[REDACTED] and thus all your followers, and all the other "social relationships" that "point to you"
without adding a second key, if my PDS disappears, you won't have the 🔑 for the single 🔒 that is currently in your DID document
by adding a second key, you are adding a second 🚪 with its own 🔒 and its own 🔑 so you can get back home even if my PDS loses the 🔑 to the existing single 🚪
if you go here https://plc.directory/did:plc:[REDACTED]/log/audit - or for a nicer view, click on the Logs tab in pdsls
you'll be able to see all the changes you've made (or which your PDS has made for you) to your identity document
you can see when you added a custom handle](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3dr23xsom4xvpxsuwuhj7b7q/bafkreifzthircrca6z6t4a3nr4dhq5qafdv4owzs2r2pxgrfuy6x7unuyi@jpeg)
February 12, 2026 at 12:46 AM
Nothing like a good old unscheduled server downtime to make me waffle about atproto internals to uninterested non-technical users in hopes of making them understand what the "Create a rotation key" in PDS MOOver does 😭
And most buyers probably still wouldn't have the means to actually play it. At least bluray players are still more accessible, and higher quality, than new cassette mechs.
I'm waiting on a band to lean into releasing their catalogue on 3-layer bluray though.
Here's 100GB of lossless music, good luck playing it!
Here's 100GB of lossless music, good luck playing it!
February 11, 2026 at 11:36 AM
And most buyers probably still wouldn't have the means to actually play it. At least bluray players are still more accessible, and higher quality, than new cassette mechs.
It's #BandcampFriday again and I've been so busy that I didn't have time to curate much of a wishlist for this one, so this is your opportunity to spam some suggestions in the replies 🙏🙇
My haul this #BandcampFriday. This time it's too much for me to share individual links, go through my collection instead: bandcamp.com/gbl08ma
Feat. work by @debiscomusic.com, @arikxu.bsky.social, @senpimusic.com, @theastonshuffle.com, @elke.cafe, @nthercyte.bsky.social, Kettama, Bad Suns and more
Feat. work by @debiscomusic.com, @arikxu.bsky.social, @senpimusic.com, @theastonshuffle.com, @elke.cafe, @nthercyte.bsky.social, Kettama, Bad Suns and more
February 6, 2026 at 2:14 PM
It's #BandcampFriday again and I've been so busy that I didn't have time to curate much of a wishlist for this one, so this is your opportunity to spam some suggestions in the replies 🙏🙇
DON'T: Figure out a sensible way to shut down your abandoned side projects on the web
DO: Continue renewing domains indefinitely, because it's easier than reading/ignoring any hypothetical angry messages from the 2 to 3 users that somehow were still using them
DISCLAIMER: This is financial advice.
DO: Continue renewing domains indefinitely, because it's easier than reading/ignoring any hypothetical angry messages from the 2 to 3 users that somehow were still using them
DISCLAIMER: This is financial advice.
January 31, 2026 at 12:36 AM
DON'T: Figure out a sensible way to shut down your abandoned side projects on the web
DO: Continue renewing domains indefinitely, because it's easier than reading/ignoring any hypothetical angry messages from the 2 to 3 users that somehow were still using them
DISCLAIMER: This is financial advice.
DO: Continue renewing domains indefinitely, because it's easier than reading/ignoring any hypothetical angry messages from the 2 to 3 users that somehow were still using them
DISCLAIMER: This is financial advice.
My ability to work at my day job, my side-projects and my availability for entertainment activities are a bit limited right now due to the power grid and comms availability issues here in Portugal, caused by the major storms we're going through. I'm fine, don't worry, this is really just an FYI...
January 30, 2026 at 10:38 PM
My ability to work at my day job, my side-projects and my availability for entertainment activities are a bit limited right now due to the power grid and comms availability issues here in Portugal, caused by the major storms we're going through. I'm fine, don't worry, this is really just an FYI...
Baby steps: I've updated the README: tangled.org/gbl08ma.com/...
It's hopefully much more structured now, and should actually explain "what/why the F am I doing this" at a level understandable by, erm, all the ATProto nerds.
It's hopefully much more structured now, and should actually explain "what/why the F am I doing this" at a level understandable by, erm, all the ATProto nerds.
January 26, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Baby steps: I've updated the README: tangled.org/gbl08ma.com/...
It's hopefully much more structured now, and should actually explain "what/why the F am I doing this" at a level understandable by, erm, all the ATProto nerds.
It's hopefully much more structured now, and should actually explain "what/why the F am I doing this" at a level understandable by, erm, all the ATProto nerds.
I really should
1. find a better name for didplcbft
2. start the series of blog posts to explain the rationale and the overall "architecture" of the thing, i.e. "sell" it
The README I hastily wrote is now outdated, especially because I've made much progress on the "something to put at stake" front.
1. find a better name for didplcbft
2. start the series of blog posts to explain the rationale and the overall "architecture" of the thing, i.e. "sell" it
The README I hastily wrote is now outdated, especially because I've made much progress on the "something to put at stake" front.
January 26, 2026 at 12:23 AM
I really should
1. find a better name for didplcbft
2. start the series of blog posts to explain the rationale and the overall "architecture" of the thing, i.e. "sell" it
The README I hastily wrote is now outdated, especially because I've made much progress on the "something to put at stake" front.
1. find a better name for didplcbft
2. start the series of blog posts to explain the rationale and the overall "architecture" of the thing, i.e. "sell" it
The README I hastily wrote is now outdated, especially because I've made much progress on the "something to put at stake" front.
Reposted by gbl08ma
this site wants to be Twitter so fucking bad dude i hate it. im canadian!! i dont care about football!! get this shit off my feed!!
January 25, 2026 at 9:03 PM
this site wants to be Twitter so fucking bad dude i hate it. im canadian!! i dont care about football!! get this shit off my feed!!
"You can dismiss it," they say right as I find out there's no way to remove it without using third-party tools.
So yeah, today was the day I started using uBO to "fix" the official Bluesky app. It is now joining the ranks of such great apps as Discord, etc.
So yeah, today was the day I started using uBO to "fix" the official Bluesky app. It is now joining the ranks of such great apps as Discord, etc.
January 25, 2026 at 9:16 PM
"You can dismiss it," they say right as I find out there's no way to remove it without using third-party tools.
So yeah, today was the day I started using uBO to "fix" the official Bluesky app. It is now joining the ranks of such great apps as Discord, etc.
So yeah, today was the day I started using uBO to "fix" the official Bluesky app. It is now joining the ranks of such great apps as Discord, etc.
I think api.pop2.bsky.app (US east coast app view) may be having some issues. Some of the recent posts on my PDS show up as deleted when using this appview specifically; they show up again once I switch the PDS to using pop1.
https://api.pop2.bsky.app
_ _
| | | |
| |__ ___| | ___ _
| '_ \/ __| |/ / | | |
| |_) \__ \ <| |_| |
|_.__/|___/_|\_\\__, |
__/ |
|___/
This is an AT Protocol Appl...
api.pop2.bsky.app
January 25, 2026 at 9:08 PM
I think api.pop2.bsky.app (US east coast app view) may be having some issues. Some of the recent posts on my PDS show up as deleted when using this appview specifically; they show up again once I switch the PDS to using pop1.
I continue to annoy my friend with long-winded explanations of my ambitions for a decentralized approach to plc.directory. Keep in mind this is being sent to someone who barely uses bsky and who, I only realized today, didn't even know what did:plc was.
I often wonder how people put up with me.
I often wonder how people put up with me.
January 13, 2026 at 10:44 PM
I continue to annoy my friend with long-winded explanations of my ambitions for a decentralized approach to plc.directory. Keep in mind this is being sent to someone who barely uses bsky and who, I only realized today, didn't even know what did:plc was.
I often wonder how people put up with me.
I often wonder how people put up with me.
Does anyone know what are the rate limits on GETs from plc.directory? I don't see mentions to them in the spec nor in the API docs.
January 10, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Does anyone know what are the rate limits on GETs from plc.directory? I don't see mentions to them in the spec nor in the API docs.
I wasn't planning to release this to the public so soon, but recent updates made me realize that the official PLC implementation might be evolving faster than I can keep up with, so here goes: tangled.org/gbl08ma.com/...
I guess this is a bit of a rant-y reaction to the sequential IDs they've added
I guess this is a bit of a rant-y reaction to the sequential IDs they've added
January 6, 2026 at 10:27 PM
I wasn't planning to release this to the public so soon, but recent updates made me realize that the official PLC implementation might be evolving faster than I can keep up with, so here goes: tangled.org/gbl08ma.com/...
I guess this is a bit of a rant-y reaction to the sequential IDs they've added
I guess this is a bit of a rant-y reaction to the sequential IDs they've added
And this shall be my first ATProto record of 2026! Happy new year, everyone!
January 1, 2026 at 12:18 AM
And this shall be my first ATProto record of 2026! Happy new year, everyone!
The ironic part I just found out is that I can't even recover that old @upcloud.com account since I've forgotten the password and no longer have access to the phone number I had back then, and they require a call/text to the phone number to reset the password, not just access to the email address 😂
Did you know that @upcloud.com has been around for over a decade? I ought to know, but I didn't anymore.
For my first post on @leaflet.pub, I'm sharing memories of my teenage years before I forgot them for good.
For my first post on @leaflet.pub, I'm sharing memories of my teenage years before I forgot them for good.
UpCloud's viral marketing travels in time
Where I find that I've been a long-time nonpaying customer of Bluesky's favorite, allegedly-affordable, cloud provider, while you get to be fed relevant portions of my life story.
gbl08ma.leaflet.pub
December 25, 2025 at 4:30 AM
The ironic part I just found out is that I can't even recover that old @upcloud.com account since I've forgotten the password and no longer have access to the phone number I had back then, and they require a call/text to the phone number to reset the password, not just access to the email address 😂
Reposted by gbl08ma
Your power bill has tripled and you can't afford new PC parts just to create this.
December 20, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Your power bill has tripled and you can't afford new PC parts just to create this.
Not only does the official did:plc server implementation not check this, there are operations in the PLC that have duplicated keys, so I'll have to remove this check.
The did:plc spec is "great": there are things it doesn't specify, and some of the things it specifies are not actually enforced.
The did:plc spec is "great": there are things it doesn't specify, and some of the things it specifies are not actually enforced.
December 18, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Not only does the official did:plc server implementation not check this, there are operations in the PLC that have duplicated keys, so I'll have to remove this check.
The did:plc spec is "great": there are things it doesn't specify, and some of the things it specifies are not actually enforced.
The did:plc spec is "great": there are things it doesn't specify, and some of the things it specifies are not actually enforced.
On the did:plc front, I've been toying around with some ideas that are likely to be controversial. Some of the reasons will probably be valid, but I bet there is mostly going to be a lot of knee-jerking going around. Maybe it won't matter: I might never get this to a state I'm happy publishing.
December 18, 2025 at 5:18 PM
On the did:plc front, I've been toying around with some ideas that are likely to be controversial. Some of the reasons will probably be valid, but I bet there is mostly going to be a lot of knee-jerking going around. Maybe it won't matter: I might never get this to a state I'm happy publishing.