Each month, we create a post to keep you abreast of news and happenings regarding the server, discuss recent events, and to act as town square for the community.

This August, we’ll be keeping it short, as you are probably enjoying the summer time ☀️

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🌟 Community Highlights 🌟

• !ancienthistory@slrpnk.net - A community to discuss ancient archaeology, history, philosophy, etc.

• !dumpsterdiving@slrpnk.net - One person’s trash is another’s treasure! A community around the topic of rescuing things thrown away.

• !unschooling@slrpnk.net - Letting go of the ideas of conventional schooling and instead letting the child lead by following their own interests.

• !smolweb@slrpnk.net - Community for the appreciation of the small web / the indie web / or even the non-www internet (gemini, gopher, etc).

🔌 Technical updates from the servers 🪫

As promised in the last monthly update, we started to look into ways how to improve the resilience of our servers against DNS issues and other unexpected problems. For now we got a nice RasberryPi based hardware KVM that allows to remote control and restart a server even when completely stuck in a failed state and will attach it to our new main router and firewall server once we have finished migrating all the services over.

We also found a less buggy option to automatically update the DNS entries should a similar problem occur as earlier last month, but we still need to test and deploy it.

As for future upgrades: the new router will allow 10gbit connectivity and native IPv6 support in the future, should we decide to upgrade our main connection.

🥄 Piefed migration status update 🥧

We are still committed to eventually migrate our Lemmy instance to Piefed, but so far there has been little change in the main blocking issues identified last month.

However, the very nice Photon frontend got experimental support for Piefed, so people using our local copy of it will feel right at home even on Piefed. There are also a few other frontends and apps experimenting with Piefed API support, but the API is still under construction and far from complete.

🎒 Aiding those in need with Direct Action 🫂

Housing costs skyrocketing across the globe due to an epidemic of mega-corporation landlords has left hundreds of thousands of individuals and families without access to housing, who are ultimately left to twist in the wind as the corporate landlords march ever onward with price fixing and gentrification, all for the profit of the dear shareholder.

While government programs and non-profits can offer some help, punks like us rendering aid with direct action is still incredibly beneficial to those in need. Here are some ways you can help:

Most cities often have a group that renders mutual aid directly to those most in need, and they would love your help. Food Not Bombs is the most well known, and they have an index you can search to find one local to your area.

If you don’t have one in your area, perhaps due to being in a more rural area, you and some friends could start your own Food Not Bombs chapter instead! Alternatively, even if you’re not religious, a local church may be a good place to render aid with an existing group.

For people in need while on your way to work or the grocery store, assembling Care Packages can allow you to immediately render useful aid. The contents of a care package will be determined by your area and the needs of the people you’re looking to give them to. Chatting with a person in need and asking them what would be most helpful to them is one of the best ways to narrow down the essentials, and avoid things that won’t actually be of much use.

But there are generally a few universal things that will always be appreciated.

🔻 General Care Package Contents 🔻

1. Socks! - This is often the most requested aid, as they prevent blisters, and wear quickly due to constant use and frequent walking. Used socks are fine as long as they’re washed and clean. For colder or wet climates, wool socks are vastly preferred, as they have anti-bacterial properties, and still provides warmth even when wet.
2. Hygiene supplies - Things like a bar of soap (with sealable bag to store it when wet), deodorant, babywipes, a washcloth, toothbrush and paste, rinseless body wipes, comb.
3. Menstrual hygiene supplies.
4. Over-the-counter Medical supplies - Painkillers, bandages, antibiotic ointment, rubbing alcohol.
5. Calorie-dense non-perishable food - This often takes the form of canned foods (ensure they have a pull tab!), protein bars, or dehydrated fruits. Try to avoid hard or crunchy food, as it’s possible the person you’re trying to help may have active dental issues that may not allow them to chew those types of foods. Softer foods are preferred.
6. Electrolyte drinks or drink packets - Especially needed in hotter climates where electrolyes will be constantly lost through sweat, and can be life threatening if not replaced. Ones with sugar tend to have more calories, but may not be usable by those with diabetes, so it may be a good idea to have some with alternative sweeteners as well.
7. Money - Cash can drastically increase the quality of life of someone without access to an income, and allow them to obtain the things they need most when they need it. Any amount you can afford is useful.
8. Backpacks - If they don’t already have one, a backpack is generally much appreciated to help carry around the supplies in your care package. You can often find them used at thrift stores.
9. Petfood - Catfood is preferable to dogfood, as catfood can be eaten by either dogs or cats, while the same can sometimes not be true for dogfood. People with a pet companion will be quite grateful.
10. Resealable Waterproof bag - Something like a large ziplock so that they have a waterproof place to protect their supplies.

If you keep water in your car trunk, try for canned water in metal containers to avoid giving people water that has toxic plastics leeched into it from the heat.

Also, If you have the means, buying these things in bulk can help reduce the cost.

Lastly, if you have access to a printer, include a page of resources such as a list of local mutual aid groups where they can obtain more help in the future, along with their address and times that they operate. On the opposite side, a map of your area and any local public transit routes and timetables would also likely be useful.

💬 Open Discussion 💬

Now it’s your turn to share whatever you’d like down below; your thoughts, ideas, concerns, hopes, or anything related to the server. If you have a new community you’d like to shine a spotlight, shine away! If you’re a new user wanting to say hi, feel free to post an introduction :)

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SLRPNK Community Resources:

Community Wiki - Moderators, you can create your own Wiki here for your communities!

Movim Chat - Open to all members (use your SLRPNK login credentials)

Etherpad - Collaborative document editor