% Digital Solidarity Networks
% a shared listing of tools, practices and readings for digital solidarity, conviviality and togetherness

% Initiated in: March 2020
% Situated update of the introduction text: May 2021
% Redux version during CLOG agency session: July 2021

<!-- Lot of the formatting on this pad is inspired by Markdown syntax, and the first three lines are following the Pandoc extensions to Markdown syntax. This makes it easier to render the pad with some tools, and make it harder to grok without those same tools. -->

> Let's chat further on IRC, in the #digital-solidarity-networks channel on Libera.chat [0]
> For access from the web browser, you can use https://web.libera.chat/gamja/#digital-solidarity-networks to join the channel (no password needed)
> If you want to see an uneditable version of this pad, you can do so here https://etherdump.vvvvvvaria.org/publish/digital-solidarity-networks.raw.html

To whoever encounters this pad: this is work-in-progress, please join! 

This is the start of a listing of resources regarding mutual aid strategies, propositions for future setups and social closeness through 'alternative' digital infrastructures. This pad contains examples of collective digital reparative practices, in a time where everything points to the further consolidation and accelerated normalization of the Big Tech industry (Zoom, Facebook, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Skype, etc.), a.k.a. GMAFIAZ. Other attitudes are possible!

The Covid-19 pandemic was the main (de)stabilizing force during the period where this pad emerged (physical distancing, remote working and care taking-and-giving), nevertheless we also want to account for other temporalities of diverse thicknesses and lengths, // which are inextricably embedded in what is shared hereby [this is a perfect clog to unclog!]. For example: the irreversible damage that we are left with in the aftermath of the sneaky moment[1]; the relational precarity provoked by what the Invisible Commitee called the contemporary "crisis of presence"[2] that combines the digitization of the modern subject's experience and how "he’s taken to speaking of an 'anthropocene'" (5); the increasing need and control of migration flows along the Global North-South axis; turbo-capitalism as the computationally speeded-up financialisation of most socio-economical relations; the establishment of computationalism as the contemporary colonial regime[3]; mainstream feminism with a door for TERFs[4]; requiems to late liberalism, new fascisms, mindsets of going back to business as usual; hyper-hygenic "new" normality; rural injustices such as lack of connectivity; and a generalized path towards the 6th mass extinction by means of a provoked climate change against which only partial reparations can now be dreamt of.

Such dreams have affirmative material forms, such as: the abolitionism movements organized around a variety of well established institutions (defund the police and prison complex including tech-to-prison pipelines, intensive farming, border control, ...); the moment of re-politicizing open licenses within F/LOSS communities (closing the Software-as-a-Service/SaaS loophole with the AGPL); shared economies of new unions, co-ops & other solidarities (housing, delivery riders, sex workers, street vendors aka "manteros", gig workers, ...); the potentials that we are left with in the afterglows of the same sneaky moment[1] such as forms of collective (re)engagement with computational infrastructures for the public interest; the back to the countryside effect; and non-western social uprisings.

[0] Moved from Freenode reflecting on the latest fork in the infrastructure.
[1] sneaky moment is a term used by the Darmstadt Delegation to refer to moments of separation https://twentysix.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-196-lets-first-get-things-done-on-division-of-labour-and-techno-political-practices-of-delegation-in-times-of-crisis/
[2] crisis of presence  https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/the-invisible-committe-to-our-friends in: The Invisible Committee. 2015. *To Our Friends*. Cambridge: MIT Press.
[3] computationalism http://oro.open.ac.uk/46718/1/__userdata_documents8_sma78_Desktop_A_Brief_Introduction_to_Decolonial_Compu.pdf
[4] TERF = Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists

In such a context, we feel the response-ability to suggest a different approach to technology which does not reinforce capitalist ideals of productivity in situations of crisis (i.e.: "business as usual"). One that promotes collective networks of solidarity that don't rely on data extractivist models, reconsider the figure of the user[0], and can be adapted to the specificities of each situation. Luckily, there are already plenty of inspiring initiatives doing great work in this area. With this pad, we hope to share some of them and contribute to cross-pollination.

At the same time, we cannot ignore that it takes effort, and a great amount of privilege, to walk away from these corporate tech solutions once and for all. Ease-of-use in times of urgency; network effects; family members whose contact is dependent on the usage of mainstream social networking platforms; complicated political situations where these are sadly the most convenient choice; the need for an online presence in times of structural precarity; etc.; are all considerations that should not be discarded and are the reality for most of us. In fact, and precisely because of such considerations, we are not advocating a purist approach. We are all entangled with Big Tech, but we would prefer to critique it, put limits and eventually choose our dependencies without being forced. 

So if you are interested in experimenting with other digital infrastructures, we invite organisations, collectives and individuals to look closer into these alternatives and support them to the best of their abilities, by either hosting their own versions of the software, therefore diminishing the visitor load, or providing financial compensation for someone else's services. There are many tools and hosting initiatives to start exploring and engaging with.

We have curated this pad from a resonant perspective to those articulated by the tenets of the Feminist Server Manifesto[1]; Dear Cultural Institution, there is an Elephant in the Room[2]; Technological Sovereignty[3]; lists of feminist and autonomous servers[4]; F/LOSS Art and Libre Graphics[5]; community care and mutual aid networks (Global Information Society Watch[6], Allied Media[7], gendersec[8], Critical Design Lab[9], Leeszaal[10] + ...), XPUB[11]; Lurk[12]; pirate.care[13]; ...

[0] https://theusercondition.computer/
[1] https://areyoubeingserved.constantvzw.org/Summit_afterlife.xhtml
[2] https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/elephant + https://constantvzw.org/wefts/distant-elephant.en.html
[3] https://www.ritimo.org/IMG/pdf/sobtech2-en-with-covers-web-150dpi-2018-01-10.pdf / http://backbone409.calafou.org/es/node/229.html
[4] https://pad.riseup.net/p/femservers-checklist-security + https://gendersec.tacticaltech.org/wiki/index.php/Servers:_From_autonomous_servers_to_feminist_servers
[5] https://archive.bleu255.com/bleu255.com-things/floss-art/index.html + https://libregraphicsmeeting.org
[6] https://www.giswatch.org/
[7] https://alliedmedia.org/
[8] https://gendersec.tacticaltech.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
[9] https://www.mapping-access.com/
[10] https://www.leeszaalrotterdamwest.nl/
[11] https://xpub.nl
[12] https://lurk.org/
[13] https://pirate.care/

These are some of the places/moments where shared intersectional sensibilities have been activated:

- Varia https://varia.zone/en
- Arts Meets Radical Openness (AMRO) http://radical-openness.org/en
- Iterations https://iterations.space/
- 3rd Obfuscation Workshop https://3rd.obfuscationworkshop.org/
- Relearn Summerschool http://relearn.be
- Techno-Galactic Software Observatory https://constantvzw.org/site/-The-Technogalactic-Software-Observatory-.html
- Networks with an Attitude https://constantvzw.org/site/-Networks-with-an-Attitude-.html?lang=en
- Are You Being Served? + feminist servers summit https://areyoubeingserved.constantvzw.org/Summit_afterlife.xhtml
- TransHackFeminist Meet-Up https://transhackfeminist.noblogs.org/
- TransHackFeminist Convergence https://alexandria.anarchaserver.org/index.php/Main_Page#TransHackFeminist_Convergence
- Reclaiming Digital Infrastructures https://constantvzw.org/site/-Reclaiming-Digital-Infrastructures,232-.html + https://autonomousdesign.hotglue.me/
- Monday Readings https://apass.be/monday-readings/
- CLOG Agency https://nieuwevide.com/expositie/open-call-for-clog-agents/
- Relearning Series https://constantvzw.org/wefts/relearningseries.en.html
- The Institute for Technology in the Public Interest (TiTiPi) http://titipi.org/

Being aware that lived experiences still miss embodied perspectives related to computed forms of ageism, ableism, racism, speciesism, ... this pad needs to be read as the snapshot of a very situated community of practices, undoubtedly tainted by the problematics of a particular group of people (and not others), no matter how large it still is. Yet, we hope that this pad is taken as an invitation to expand, stretch, reshape and carry the conversation further.

The pad will slowly morph and mutate, depending on different forces and energies: new projects and groups are being encountered and micro- and macro-organisms which are responding to each other in different ways. But remember! No pressure, no guilt, no victimhood, no productivity claims. Let's try to not apologize for not being always available.

Translations of the above text:
- generated French translation https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/digital-solidarity-networks_french
- Portuguese translation https://pajuba.frama.wiki/wiki:solidariedade_feminista <3
- NEW!! Spanish! https://pad.vvvvvvaria.org/redes-de-solidaridad-digital !!!!

General resources

Connected lists


   ____   U _____ u   _     ____  __   __      _____  U  ___ u       _   _  ____  U _____ u 
U |  _"\ u\| ___"|U  /"\  u|  _"\ \ \ / /     |_ " _|  \/"_ \/    U |"|u| |/ __"| \| ___"|/ 
 \| |_) |/ |  _|"  \/ _ \//| | | | \ V /        | |    | | | |     \| |\| <\___ \/ |  _|"   
  |  _ <   | |___  / ___ \U| |_| |U_|"|_u      /| |.-,_| |_| |      | |_| |u___) | | |___   
  |_| \_\  |_____|/_/   \_\|____/ u |_|       u |_|U\_)-\___/      <<\___/ |____/>>|_____|  
  //   \\_ <<   >> \\    >> |||_.-,//|(_      _// \\_    \\       (__) )(   )(  (__<<   >>  
 (__)  (__(__) (__(__)  (__(__)_)\_) (__)    (__) (__)  (__)          (__) (__)   (__) (__)


Non-extractive* software hosters


   ____   U _____ u   _     ____  __   __      _____  U  ___ u                 _   _   ____    _____     _      _      _      
U |  _"\ u\| ___"|U  /"\  u|  _"\ \ \ / /     |_ " _|  \/"_ \/         ___    | \ |"| / __"| u|_ " _|U  /"\  u |"|    |"|     
 \| |_) |/ |  _|"  \/ _ \//| | | | \ V /        | |    | | | |        |_"_|  <|  \| |<\___ \/   | |   \/ _ \/U | | uU | | u   
  |  _ <   | |___  / ___ \U| |_| |U_|"|_u      /| |.-,_| |_| |         | |   U| |\  |uu___) |  /| |\  / ___ \ \| |/__\| |/__  
  |_| \_\  |_____|/_/   \_\|____/ u |_|       u |_|U\_)-\___/        U/| |\u  |_| \_| |____/>>u |_|U /_/   \_\ |_____||_____| 
  //   \\_ <<   >> \\    >> |||_.-,//|(_      _// \\_    \\       .-,_|___|_,-||   \\,-)(  (___// \\_ \\    >> //  \\ //  \\  
 (__)  (__(__) (__(__)  (__(__)_)\_) (__)    (__) (__)  (__)       \_)-' '-(_/(_")  (_(__)   (__) (__(__)  (__(_")("_(_")("_)


Non-extractive* software

(would be nice to add personal experiences, in maybe another chapter?)



Self-hosting (with others)


Tech co-ops


   ____   U _____ u   _     ____  __   __      _____  U  ___ u    U _____ u_   _      _       U  ___ __   __ 
U |  _"\ u\| ___"|U  /"\  u|  _"\ \ \ / /     |_ " _|  \/"_ \/    \| ___"|| \ |"|  U |"| u     \/"_ \\ \ / / 
 \| |_) |/ |  _|"  \/ _ \//| | | | \ V /        | |    | | | |     |  _|"<|  \| |>_ \| |/      | | | |\ V /  
  |  _ <   | |___  / ___ \U| |_| |U_|"|_u      /| |.-,_| |_| |     | |___U| |\  || |_| |_,-.-,_| |_| U_|"|_u 
  |_| \_\  |_____|/_/   \_\|____/ u |_|       u |_|U\_)-\___/      |_____||_| \_| \___/-(_/ \_)-\___/  |_|   
  //   \\_ <<   >> \\    >> |||_.-,//|(_      _// \\_    \\        <<   >>||   \\,-_//           \\.-,//|(_  
 (__)  (__(__) (__(__)  (__(__)_)\_) (__)    (__) (__)  (__)      (__) (__(_")  (_(__)          (__)\_) (__)


Alternative social networks


Microblogging

Macroblogging

Activist organising


Digital libraries



Non-extractive* software initatives and use examples




* Extractive software relies on a business model where the user produces economic value for the tech company in exchange for its free (free as in beer, not as in freedom) services (e.g.: Google, Facebook, Amazon, Instagram, et al). However, the exchange rate(?) is often disproportional and can have direct consequences for democracy, society and basic human rights(?), while generating profits in the order of the billions for the company (e.g.: US$40 billion (2017) for Facebook and US$110 billion (2017) for Google.)


   ____    U _____ u    _      ____   __   __      _____   U  ___ u       ____    U _____ u    _      ____    
U |  _"\ u \| ___"|/U  /"\  u |  _"\  \ \ / /     |_ " _|   \/"_ \/    U |  _"\ u \| ___"|/U  /"\  u |  _"\   
 \| |_) |/  |  _|"   \/ _ \/ /| | | |  \ V /        | |     | | | |     \| |_) |/  |  _|"   \/ _ \/ /| | | |  
  |  _ <    | |___   / ___ \ U| |_| |\U_|"|_u      /| |\.-,_| |_| |      |  _ <    | |___   / ___ \ U| |_| |\ 
  |_| \_\   |_____| /_/   \_\ |____/ u  |_|       u |_|U \_)-\___/       |_| \_\   |_____| /_/   \_\ |____/ u 
  //   \\_  <<   >>  \\    >>  |||_ .-,//|(_      _// \\_     \\         //   \\_  <<   >>  \\    >>  |||_    
 (__)  (__)(__) (__)(__)  (__)(__)_) \_) (__)    (__) (__)   (__)       (__)  (__)(__) (__)(__)  (__)(__)_)   


Reading list



Viewing list


Listening list



---

Concrete political, institutional and organisational responses to the pandemic [welp, not sure yet how to title]


---

  ____       _      ____          _         _       _____  U _____ u _   _      ____            U _____ u ____     
U|  _"\ uU  /"\  u |  _"\        |"|    U  /"\  u  |_ " _| \| ___"|/| \ |"|  U /"___|    ___    \| ___"|// __"| u  
\| |_) |/ \/ _ \/ /| | | |     U | | u   \/ _ \/     | |    |  _|" <|  \| |> \| | u     |_"_|    |  _|" <\___ \/   
 |  __/   / ___ \ U| |_| |\     \| |/__  / ___ \    /| |\   | |___ U| |\  |u  | |/__     | |     | |___  u___) |   
 |_|     /_/   \_\ |____/ u      |_____|/_/   \_\  u |_|U   |_____| |_| \_|    \____|  U/| |\u   |_____| |____/>>  
 ||>>_    \\    >>  |||_         //  \\  \\    >>  _// \\_  <<   >> ||   \\,-._// \\.-,_|___|_,-.<<   >>  )(  (__) 
(__)__)  (__)  (__)(__)_)       (_")("_)(__)  (__)(__) (__)(__) (__)(_")  (_/(__)(__)\_)-' '-(_/(__) (__)(__)      

"Pad latencies" is a section to leave traces of ongoing processes and moments of returnings triggered by this pad.
The elements below are the result of spending some time navigating the links shared above, while looking for metaphors, anecdotes and/or models that provided with a deeper understanding of the collective effort hereby infused.
As eventual vibrations that can provoke movement, these are latent terms and tactics exposed to collective ongoing inquiry.

Feel free to extend (also) this section!!


These are metaphors & markers that were found in the resources on this pad:
From the intro blurb:
From Catalog of Digital Discomfort:
From Are you Being Served? https://areyoubeingserved.constantvzw.org/Summit_afterlife.xhtml
From Pirate Care:
From Feminist Pedagogy https://femtechnet.org/feminist-pedagogy-in-a-time-of-coronavirus-pandemic/
From Giswatch
From Greenet
From Digital Sovereignity:
From universal right to breathe
From Teaching Design https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OAMu6HcANcW4R-VrOGZXWhNc5UmnXoGpKEiV1_GIPvg/edit
From diaspora foundation:
From Mobilizon's website:
From the CLOG Agency:
   - Questions of scale and scope, and their ethical/political import
   - The political theology of informational capitalism, (AI is eternal and unprofanable, but so is "god") but also technology users
   - How we call ourselves?  reclaiming notions of users, like Olia Lialina below on this pad. (Human / non-human, centered / marginalized) users/used/userized and hierarchies of agencies.
   -> who/what serves to what/whom?
   - algorithmic regulation of affective flows that reorganize and recodify dividual flows into new extractive logics of capital
   - a re-mattering of capitalism through the inscription of infinitesimal bodily and cognitive movements into the global flows of capital
   - messianic time vs. clock/calendar time (clog time!)
   -> they have clocks, we have time: https://thefunambulist.net/shop/36-july-aug-2021-they-have-clocks-we-have-time
   - ways of supporting, ways into hosting, ways of relaying financial support) further articulating the questions of scales and scopes. some instruction and/or example/ anecdote (how/who/why) would be great. is an invitation enough?
   - can there be a small scale model for observing and understanding (some of the) phonomenon subject of this discussion? for example to understand the dynamics of power within a country, in some ways one can look at a small scale version of that same structure in a village. Would that be possible here?
   - can we make a trade union yet? (a structural solution for dealing with disparities, redistributing resources, funding access, ..) making a long-term structure that can sustain interventions such as this without the precarity that now seems to be its inevitable base.+1000 y!e!s! pls!!!
   - resolving conflicts
   - an articulation of the "whoever" that encounters the pad
   - in the post-pre-face, some recounting of usages, of the paths taken by the pad, experiences and situations 
   - the "alternative" of not wanting or needing any alternative, or digital tool, at all 

What's missing from the pad (suggestions only):
    - environmental issues
    - sustainable energy
    - permaculture, sustainable living
    - autonomous forms of agriculture (e.g. forest gardens, etc.)
    - anarchism and finance in the abstract (such as impact funds, short betting in connection/coordination with direct action & stock price, etc.)
    - ways of preserving water & solidarity with indigenous causes worldwide (protects the land & water resources)
    - moar ASCII art


These are individual and collective roles that we saw emerge along the different initiatives collected on this pad:
host
user
public
audience
citizen
customer
non-expert 
participants
micro- and macro-organisms
sovereign
own (as in run your own)
translators https://opencollective.com/mastodon
volunteers
interns
donators
sponsors
propaganda-makers !!
mirror/proxies/fedeproxies

These are anecdotes & stories that seemed somehow informative about the complexity at stake when engaging with digital solidarity:
sneaky moment
line 137 of the pad: "As Framasoft is overloaded, the Chatons network decided to make a page offering the same services as Framasoft, one of their members, but distributed over the different Chatons servers (have a look - auto-explanatory) Every time you load this page, other servers are proposed."

"If a complete stranger knocked on your door and asked for a copy of all your emails in exchange for $1, would you accept such a deal? Probably not, but if you use Gmail that’s the deal you’re accepting: Google gets to read all your emails, and in exchange Google gives you a mailbox that costs about $1 a month to run. […]" <https://switching.software>

Hello world out there, probably inside somewhere else... We often read in the opening of emails these days the wish to find a dear one in good health, or well taken care of, in this tough times. <https://pirate.care/>

Framatalk Statement:


We were contacted by a companion ( :) ) who shared the Digital Solidarity Networks pad with his students. One of the students had their browser set on auto-translate into French and when they opened the pad, it accidentally replaced all that was there with its French auto generated counterpart. We had luckily saved a local copy from which to restore it and included the French version in a listing of translations.

Calibre's history: "As my e-book collection grew, I realized that managing it was quickly becoming unwieldy, so I decided to write a graphical interface to libprs500 to make it easier. This became calibre, in its present form, as a comprehensive e-book management tool. libprs500 was renamed to calibre in mid-2008. The name calibre was chosen by my wife, Krittika. The libre in calibre stands for freedom, indicating that calibre is a free and open source product, modifiable by all. Nonetheless, calibre should be pronounced as cali-ber, not ca-libre."

Olia Lialina: "A year ago, in Turing Complete User, I wrote that the development of the Invisible Computer results in the creation of an Invisible User. We need to keep both the term and the idea of the User alive, to insure that users — those who use a system they haven't developed — don't lose either their rights or the opportunity to protect them. In the article I only briefly mention what these users rights could be.

Now I'd like to invite  computer users to elaborate and suggest points (long or short) that should be included in a Bill of Computer Users' Rights. Please participate! At the moment we need to collect varying opinions. Don't think that it's only about big issues like free software or data privacy. Demand to have a back button, if its absence infringes upon your rights as a computer user!"

olia lialina, 2013-10-04 <https://userrights.contemporary-home-computing.org/>

Acts of mirroring sites:  Radio Alhara together with a group of sound platforms and sound artists started The Sonic Liberation Front (SLF) in order to create one sound for Palestine; standing with Palestinian civilians in protesting against Israel’s attacks in Gaza and the repression of Palestinian communities everywhere. Through a dispersed network of friends and colleagues, using emails and social media (mainly instagram and facebook) etc Radio Alhara shared the url of the stream of SLF and invited other radio platforms to mirror it in their own infrastructures. 

Resource sharing: The gesture of Constant to make their BBB accessible to other individuals/organisations in need of a video conferencing tool but not able to run one themselves.

These are some of the few business models that were explicitly exposed in the sites of projects for digital solidarity:
dependent to public funds
crowdfunded?
volunteering
donations; 


These are distribution/collaboration models:

[federated networks as a whole different kind of network, where groups cluster, relations between clusters can be opened or cut off.... creating a space for negotiation how the network operates]

federation/federated networks
fedeproxy
<https://fedeproxy.eu/blog/2021/01/16/what-is-fedeproxy/>
"Service portability is achieved because federated forges continuously maintain identical copies of the software project although they are operated by independent actors and running different servers and user interfaces."

"Removing federated media attachments
RAILS_ENV=production ./bin/tootctl media remove"
From Lurk's wiki: <https://things.bleu255.com/runyourown/Main_Page>

"A feminist server ... Is a situated technology. Her sense of context results from a federation of competences;"
Via anarchaserver: <https://alexandria.anarchaserver.org/index.php/History_of_Anarchaserver_and_Feminists_Servers_in_general_visit_this_section>

"Fédération FDN, France: Federation of DIY Internet providers"
Via anarchaserver: <https://alexandria.anarchaserver.org/index.php/Servidor_feminista/Feminist_Server>


We found these operated as ghosts of other technopolitical arrangements, still latent but no longer active:
(services which died)
(attitudes that applied in the past but now feel out of joint?, e.g. cyberpunk, cyberfeminism, forking it all, low cost travelling to keep networks alive, ...)(this connects to genealogies too)+1!


This is an ongoing collection of formulations that refer to "alternative" software:

- non-extractive software (pad)
- free software (pad)
- privacy-conscious (<https://switching.software>)
- ethical (<https://switching.software>)
- "everyday" software (<https://codeberg.org/swiso/website/src/branch/develop/CONTRIBUTING.md#user-content-criteria-for-software> via <https://switching.software>)
- Tools For Developers 💻 / Tools For Everyone 😷 / Tools For Parents & Guardians 🚸 / Tools For Vulnerable People (😓 and those supporting them) / Tools For Remote Workers 📞 / Tools For Sick People 🤒 / Tools For Mourners 🕯 / etc etc (<https://coronavirustechhandbook.com/>)
- Consentful technologies <https://alliedmedia.org/projects/consentful-tech-project> 
Permacomputing, appropriate technology, low tech, small tech https://post.lurk.org/@l03s/105713332161647316
- Safe Network <https://safenetwork.tech/>
- Federation/federated
- A co-operative alternative 🥳 <https://docs.coopcloud.tech/>
- Digital discomfort

---

Statements, snippets, sharp quotes, good jokes

Framatalk statement (video chat service hosted by Framasoft) - https://framatalk.org/accueil/en/

A trans*feminist infrastructure implies... - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DvC21LSXgAIMPtl.jpg

---

Q's & multiple A's





---





    v _____ v  _____    _   _  v _____ v   ____      ____       _      ____
     \| ___"|/ |_ " _|  |'| |'| \| ___"|/v |  _"\ v v|  _"\ vv  /"\  v |  _"\
      |  _|"  V  | |   /| |_| |\ |  _|" R \| |_) |/ \| |_) |/ \/ _ \/ /| | | |
      | |___    /| |\  v|  A  |v | |___    |  _ <  I |  __/   / ___ \ v| |_| |\
      |_____|  v |_|v   |_| |_|  |_____|   |_| \_\   |_|    A/_/   \_\ |____/ v
       <<   >>  _// \\_  //   \\  <<   >>   //   \\_  ||>>_    \\    >>  |||_
       (_V_) (_A_)(_R_) (_I_)(_A_) ("_)(__) (__) (__)  (_P_)(_A_)_D_)  (__)  (__)


  Welcome to the etherpad-lite instance hosted by Varia! 
  You are most welcome to use it but please take note of the following things: 

  VISIBILITY:
  - The pads are not indexed by search engines, but anyone that knows its URL is welcome to read and edit it.

  PRIVACY: 
  - The contents of the pads are not encrypted, meaning that they are not private. 
  - Anyone with access to the server has the possibility to see the content of your pads. 

  RETENTION:
  - We make our own backups, meaning the the contents of all pads sit on our harddrives potentially indefinitely.
  - Because the identity of a pad author cannot be confirmed, we don't respond to pad retrieval requests.

  ACCESSIBILITY:
  - If you rely on the content of these pads, please remember to make your own backups.
  - The availability of the pads is subject to cosmic events, spilled drinks and personal energies.

  CODE OF CONDUCT:
  - Both the physical and digital spaces of Varia are subject to our Code of Conduct <https://varia.zone/en/pages/code-of-conduct.html>

  If you wish to publish a pad to the Varia etherdump <https://etherdump.vvvvvvaria.org/> 
  add the magic word __ PUBLISH __ (remove the spaces between the word and __) to your pad.

__PUBLISH__

[do we keep the etherpad intro?] it's so pretty - thanks VvvvvvvVVvvvVvVVvvaria :-D !!!hell yesss <3<3<3<3<3
["Dancing Font" was used to make the ASCII headers http://patorjk.com/software/taag/#p=display&f=Dancing%20Font&t=Digital%0ASolidarity%0ANetworks, many thanks to Patrick Gillespie for making this wonderful ASCII text generator!]