fidzu : thunderbird

I'm changing the media queries on this blog to try to get the layout to work on a variety of different size devices and windows. In order to help do that I put a little JavaScript on the page to update the width in the upper right corner. So that's what the little number is.

Also moved the site search form.

This site should still work fine without JavaScript, except for recipe mode.

Bonus links

More on Apple's Trust-Eroding 'F1 The Movie' Wallet Ad by John Gruber. Like, what if you recently bought tickets to see another summer blockbuster movie? Using Apple Wallet? And then you got this ad? It'd be completely sensible to be spooked by that, and conclude that Apple Wallet is tracking you. Sending this ad is completely destructive to all the hard work other teams at Apple have done to make Apple Wallet actually private - and, more importantly, to get users to believe that it's private. That Apple can be trusted in ways that other big tech companies cannot. (Another good example of what has become an widely held assumption: Personalizing advertising is something that untrustworthy companies do.)

China breaks more records with surge in solar and wind power by Amy Hawkins. Between January and May, China added 198 GW of solar and 46 GW of wind, enough to generate as much electricity as Indonesia or Turkey.

European Digital Sovereignty is an Industrial Project. Everyone Else Get Out of the Way. by Cristina Caffarra. And there's only one possible direction of travel: build. Everything else is a distraction. Honestly, friends, this is not primarily about defending our democracy though sure, being less dependent helps. It's not primarily about our European values though sure, privacy and freedom of speech are natural parts of our way of thinking. But I lose patience with this discourse (typically from civil society and think tanks) because what we need is single-minded focus on building, not piety and moralizing around this stuff. (The Eurostack is not a drop-in replacement for US-based Big Tech, but it doesn't have to be. It just has to get to the point where the build (in Europe) risks are less than the buy (from a country that, any minute, you could be in a trade war or a data embargo with) risks. Another point in the Eurostack's favor is that US-based incumbent vendors are steadily enshittifying and turning to crime, so by the time a Eurostack IT project finishes, the US-based alternative will be substantially worse than it was when the project began. (or maybe Google will go legit

I Fought in Ukraine and Here's Why FPV Drones Kind of Suck by Jakub Jajcay. [T]he greatest obstacle to the successful use of these drones by far is the unreliability of the radio link between the operator and the drone. One of the reasons why hitting a target at ground level with precision is difficult is that when first-person view drones get close to the ground, due to obstacles, they start to lose their radio connection to the operator, often located up to 10 kilometers away. In some cases, drones cannot attack a target if it is simply on the wrong side of a tall building or hill because the building or hill blocks the line of sight between the drone and the operator. (Related: Generative AI's crippling and widespread failure to induce robust models of the world by Gary Marcus, Ukraine's Massive Drone Attack Was Powered by Open Source Software by Matthew Gault.)

28 Jun 2025 12:00am GMT

Here at Mozilla, we are the first to admit the internet isn't perfect, but we know the internet is pretty darn magical. The internet opens up doors and opportunities, allows for human connection, and lets everyone find where they belong - their corners of the internet. We all have an internet story worth sharing. In My Corner Of The Internet, we talk with people about the online spaces they can't get enough of, the sites and forums that shaped them, and how they would design their own corner of the web.

We caught up with Florent Daudens, who led digital innovation in Canadian newsrooms before becoming press lead at Hugging Face, the open-source AI community. He talks about shaping his feeds to feel more like home, his move from journalism to AI, and why the best way to understand new tech is to start making things.

What is your favorite corner of the internet?

That rare, quiet part of the internet that actually makes you smarter without making you feel behind. For me, it's a mix.

LinkedIn surprised me. I used to think of it as stiff and self-promotional, but it's become where I exchange ideas with people wrestling with the same big questions: What's AI doing to journalism? What's worth building?

[X] is still very relevant for everything related to AI news. It's where I get pulled into weird, fascinating rabbit holes. Someone posts a half-broken agent demo or a wild paper, and suddenly I have 12 tabs open. It's chaotic in the best way.

And Hugging Face of course, to keep pace with AI releases!

I think what changed everything was narrowing my feeds. Once I stopped trying to follow everything and leaned into what really matters to me - AI, openness, news and creative industries - it all started to feel like home.

What is an internet deep dive that you can't wait to jump back into?

My YouTube recommendations read like a personality test I didn't mean to take:

• obsessive AI build logs. I'm a sucker for "How I made this with that" videos to learn new skills related to AI.
• Mandarin tutorials (six years in and still chasing tones…)
• vintage French science shows that I now rewatch with my kid - equal parts nostalgia and wonder.

What is the one tab you always regret closing?

That post. You know the one - right under the other one. You meant to open it in a new tab, but you didn't. And then the feed refreshed and it's gone forever. A digital ghost.

What can you not stop talking about on the internet right now?

AI-generated videos that are totally unhinged and strangely beautiful. Like:

• A yeti doing ASMR
• A gorilla cracking its teeth mid-skydive
• Or Total Pixel Space - the RunwayML AI film festival winner that feels like visual poetry

What was the first online community you engaged with?

CaraMail, back in France in the late '90s. It was messy, anonymous, and kind of magical. That early feeling of connecting with people across borders, in French, about anything, was completely new. It opened up so many possibilities and shaped how I saw connection and community, and actually played a role in me moving to Montréal at 18.

If you could create your own corner of the internet, what would it look like?

Actually, I'm lucky; I am building it.

That's why I moved from journalism to AI. I could feel something shifting, not just in media, but everywhere, and I wanted to help make this foundational technology open, accessible, and collaborative. As a former data journalist, I saw how open-source wasn't just about sharing code. It was a force multiplier for learning, creativity, and community. With AI, that effect is even stronger.

So yeah, without a doubt: Hugging Face.

What articles and/or videos are you waiting to read/watch right now?

The LangGraph course on DeepLearning.ai on long-term agentic memory (it's niche, I know)

And a new series on MCP, which my colleague Ben kicked off, because I genuinely think this protocol could unlock a whole new layer of what's possible on the open web.

What's the biggest opportunity you see right now at the intersection of AI, open-source and public-interest media?

Small experiments, bold new tools, but most of all, building.

With AI-assisted coding, I think the barrier to entry is lower than ever. You can go from idea to prototype really quickly, even without knowing how to code, but just by starting with your words and ideas. And that's a game-changer.

Take AI agents: the only way to really understand their potential and their limits is to try building one yourself. That forces you into the mindset that matters most: empathy. Start with what people actually need, then design around that.

Open-source supercharges all of this. It lets you remix, test, and share. It makes scaling faster. And maybe most importantly, it's the best way to stay independent from tech companies. You're not just using tools; you're shaping them.

---

Florent Daudens is the press lead at Hugging Face, the open-source AI community. A longtime advocate for the intersection of AI and journalism, he led the digital transformation of major Canadian media such as Le Devoir and Radio-Canada. He has overseen the development of AI-powered tools, helped shape ethical guidelines for AI, and trains newsrooms on its use. He also lectures on AI and journalism at Université de Montréal and ESJ Lille.

The post At Hugging Face, a former journalist helps make AI more accessible appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

27 Jun 2025 9:47pm GMT

Something we've long known at Mozilla is that our localization community thrives on personal connections. For years, regional meetups brought volunteers and staff together multiple times a year - forging friendships, sharing knowledge, and collectively advancing the mission of a multilingual, open internet.

After a five-year pause, we're thrilled to share that in June 2025, we re-ignited that tradition with a pilot localization meetup at the Mozilla Berlin office; it was everything we hoped for, and more.

A Weekend of Community, Collaboration, and Fresh Energy

Fourteen volunteers from 11 different locales gathered for a weekend full of shared ideas, meaningful conversations, and collaborative problem-solving. For many, it was their first time meeting fellow contributors in person, people they'd worked with for years, but only ever known through usernames and chat windows. For others, it was a long-awaited reunion, finally bringing back to life connections that had existed solely online since the last wave of community meetups.

"We now feel more connected and will work together more closely," shared one participant, reflecting on the emotional impact of finally connecting face-to-face.

Throughout the weekend, we dove into topics ranging from community building to localization tooling. Some standout moments included:

• Candid discussions about what it means to lead within a localization community, the challenges of maintaining momentum, and what kind of support really makes a difference.
• David's lightning talk on the Sicilian language and community, which sparked conversations about linguistic diversity and revitalizing regional languages through digitalization.
• Collaborative Pontoon brainstorming session, where localizers took the lead in proposing enhancements, suggesting new features, and sharing pain points - and some even supporting each other with development setup and hands-on exploration.

And of course, there was time for laughter, great food, and spontaneous late-night ideas that could only come from being in the same room together.

As one localizer put it: "The event gave me fresh energy and ideas to contribute more actively to Mozilla."

Behind the Scenes

Organizing this meetup - especially after a multi-year hiatus - was a complex endeavor. Though we were eager to bring people together in the first half of the year, it took nearly nine months of planning. In the end, only two weekends aligned with enough staff availability to make the event possible.

To keep things focused and manageable for a pilot, we made a few strategic decisions:

• Location: with a local staff member on the ground and access to Mozilla's Berlin office, we could streamline logistics - from restaurant bookings and lunch deliveries to helping attendees navigate international travel with clear guidance and local support.
• Participant selection: we prioritized inviting contributors who were highly active in Pontoon, and whose travel would be cost-effective and visa-free. This helped reduce uncertainty and made the event more accessible.
• Budget-aware planning: we extended invitations to 34 community members and received interest from 27. Due to scheduling overlaps, 14 were ultimately able to attend.

Why This Matters

Events like this don't just strengthen Mozilla's localization work, they strengthen Mozilla as a whole. Contributors left Berlin feeling recognized, energized, and motivated, and organizers left with a renewed sense of purpose and clarity about how vital it is to invest in human connection.

It also gave us space to hear directly from contributors - not in surveys or chat threads, but in real time, with nuance and context. Those conversations helped surface both immediate ideas for improvement and deeper questions about what sustainable, meaningful participation looks like in today's Mozilla. It was a reminder that strong localization doesn't just come from good tools and processes, but from mutual trust, shared ownership, and space to collaborate openly.

Looking Ahead

We're now regrouping to reflect on lessons learned and to explore if it's possible to scale these meetups going forward. That means thinking carefully about aspects like:

• How do we support communities in regions where Mozilla has no local staff?
• How do we navigate unknowns, like visa requirements, more complex traveling logistics, etc.?
• How do we sustainably host more meetups per year and ensure they're just as impactful?

One thing is certain: this pilot proved once again the value of in-person community building. It re-affirmed something our community has said all along - that being together matters.

We're incredibly grateful to everyone who participated, and we're excited about the possibilities ahead. Whether you're a seasoned localizer or just getting started, we hope this story inspires you. Your contributions make Mozilla possible and we truly hope we can celebrate that together, in more places around the world.

26 Jun 2025 5:24am GMT