Gavin Chait;

I am a data scientist, researcher, engineer, sometime-traveler, and African SFF author.
I lead software- and systems development in open data and open science, with a focus on ethics and curation. I am fascinated by the frontiers of human progress: innovation vs ignorance; wealth vs poverty, migration vs stasis.
I also drink a great deal of coffee.

#DataScience, #OpenData, #OpenScience, #author, #ScienceFiction, #African, #SFF, #coffee, #searchable

Portfolio: https://whythawk.com
Novels & short stories: https://gavinchait.com
eReader & collaborative self-publishing: https://qwyre.com
GitHub: https://github.com/turukawa/

Public Key

npub1kmm9r2x326v878vt787ez6ggtpyl663rkm9ucaeph344aq3tm8ksqt8pzf

NIP-05 Address

gavinchait_at_wandering.shop@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqstdaj34rg4dxrlrk9lrlv3dyy9sj0adg3mdj7vwusmc667sg4anmgprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmnthgr99h

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1kmm9r2x326v878vt787ez6ggtpyl663rkm9ucaeph344aq3tm8ksqt8pzf

Show more details

Published at

2026-08-12T22:42:02Z

Kind type

0 Metadata

Event JSON

{ "id": "624d36a6ae40ac032f3a720fa59f3d1c6b7c2c00ced18bcaaa1c935bdaab228b", "pubkey": "b6f651a8d156987f1d8bf1fd9169085849fd6a23b6cbcc7721bc6b5e822bd9ed", "created_at": 1786574522, "kind": 0, "tags": [ [ "t", "sff" ], [ "t", "sciencefiction" ], [ "t", "coffee" ], [ "t", "datascience" ], [ "t", "opendata" ], [ "t", "openscience" ], [ "t", "african" ], [ "t", "searchable" ], [ "t", "author" ], [ "proxy", "https://wandering.shop/users/GavinChait", "activitypub" ], [ "L", "pink.momostr" ], [ "l", "pink.momostr.activitypub:https://wandering.shop/users/GavinChait", "pink.momostr" ], [ "-" ] ], "content": "{\"name\":\"Gavin Chait;\",\"about\":\"I am a data scientist, researcher, engineer, sometime-traveler, and African SFF author. \\nI lead software- and systems development in open data and open science, with a focus on ethics and curation. I am fascinated by the frontiers of human progress: innovation vs ignorance; wealth vs poverty, migration vs stasis. \\nI also drink a great deal of coffee.\\n\\n#DataScience, #OpenData, #OpenScience, #author, #ScienceFiction, #African, #SFF, #coffee, #searchable\\n\\nPortfolio: https://whythawk.com\\nNovels \u0026 short stories: https://gavinchait.com\\neReader \u0026 collaborative self-publishing: https://qwyre.com\\nGitHub: https://github.com/turukawa/\\n\",\"website\":\"https://wandering.shop/@GavinChait\",\"picture\":\"https://stockroom.wandering.shop/accounts/avatars/109/439/582/786/317/420/original/df551dcde840b9e7.jpg\",\"banner\":\"https://stockroom.wandering.shop/accounts/headers/109/439/582/786/317/420/original/98a36d7fae553979.jpg\",\"nip05\":\"gavinchait_at_wandering.shop@momostr.pink\"}", "sig": "1602489e785e5a0378ed5f00566da19afc00bf7e0b787ddd8c40cdf8f8b9d6bd926977f1ea9841a7c725eec625553e8691276178a6727f83dadcf2f31d276b15" }

Last Notes

2026-07-30 08:58:19 UTC

- reply

I think it's more "how do you intend for this to be used?" than whether important or not. I never use likes, but some people prefer them. The affordance isn't a problem. More that we don't overclaim what it can be used for.

2026-07-29 20:53:14 UTC

- reply

my question is "A vouches for what for B?" If it's just an endorsement in general, then it's equivalent to a like on a post. But a post is usually about something. And if an endorsement is for something specific, then who decides? LinkedIn has their version, which is for a list of terms. Derive common hashtags for that person & vouch for that?
@npub17gq…8hhz @npub1npm…drka @npub1vag…mjkp

2026-07-28 22:00:24 UTC

- reply

yeah, it's not about time order. It's about traceability & evidence.
Going backwards in my use case:
Book -> attestations for authorship & editorial approval.
Authorship -> attestation that author appointed editor
Editor -> attestation that instance admin recognises editorial role
Admin -> instance attests admin appointment
Each critical attestation can answer the question: what is being attested, who is doing the attesting, & by what authority?

2026-07-28 21:09:36 UTC

- reply

More importantly, if it turns out an editor was attesting plagiarised work, their attestations are subject to the existing `Flag`, & can cascade to all instances where they are authorised & all their attestations revoked.

2026-07-28 21:06:20 UTC

- reply

that's why I said an attestation is by actors who have defined roles to attest against a specific scope. E.g. I want to publish a novel. Before my instance will permit me to release it for sale, it requires that one editor review it & test to its readiness. The instance attests editors recognised for this purpose, & I will need to ask one of them to read & approve my book. Later, another instance can pose the question: who edited this book, & approved the editor.

2026-07-28 20:39:35 UTC

- reply

I think it's a genuine gap in AP right now, & the timing for this discussion is excellent, for me anyway.

2026-07-28 20:35:13 UTC

- reply

it still depends what this is for. A straight "number go up" endorsement is always gameable, no matter how you try to mitigate. But endorsements of specific things for specific purposes by actors which are themselves endorsed with the authority to offer that endorsement is an attestation chain that conveys some auditable sense of trust.

2026-07-28 20:23:50 UTC

- reply

this auditable chain can be used anywhere needed, with attestation roles assigned to attestors which scopes what they're permitted to do. In a network without central authority, chained attestation is the only record of trust we can offer to create supply source transparency. Attestations can be limited: period, hashed fingerprint... Sure a famous person could endorse a product, but who endorsed them to endorse the product? What weight does that endorsement carry?

2026-07-28 20:18:48 UTC

- reply

my very real design requirement is that no product on my federated market can be sold without attestation from a third party reviewer. That review gates release. So, a creator invites a reviewer to review. The approval is an attestation object which permits publication of the product. But the audit trail is a chain of attestations. An instance admin endorses each of the seller & reviewer. The instance actor endorses the admin, & nodeinfo identifies the instance actor.

2026-07-27 20:54:02 UTC

- reply

You mentioned bad actors, & we have to be real mindful of this. The old spy novels (Forsythe, Le Carre) used to talk about spycraft of setting up wholly fictitious, but perfectly "real", identities which could be picked up when needed. Entire bureaucracies dedicated to moving paper around to give the impression of a real life. Of course, if you have social media with networks of endorsements ... well, you can automate this.

2026-07-27 06:58:29 UTC

- reply

I think this is useful, but needs to be calibrated against the trustworthiness of the instance the endorsement is coming from. A well-moderated instance being more trustworthy than one which "isn't". But that then creates a layer of complexity between individual endorsements. However, at the instance level, perhaps a method to tune what endorsement messages will be accepted (i.e. an accept-list, rather than a block-list), and go from there?

2026-07-24 17:18:55 UTC

- reply

Did you happen to watch The Return with Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche? I thought that slice of the story was just remarkable. Gave the characters so much room to breathe and be.

2026-07-24 09:31:56 UTC

- reply

For the last 18+ months, I've worked on applying ActivityPub to federated stores (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt6rJpJ7a94&t=3126s). #hopsauna #fediverse (https://codeberg.org/whythawk/hopsauna/src/branch/main/docs).
I'm UI prototyping before building:
•Products are actors.• A product has its own page, its own address, its own news feed. Follow it from the shop's app, AP/Mastodon, or RSS. Unfollow whenever you want.
https://stockroom.wandering.shop/media_attachments/files/116/974/227/280/395/580/original/a986766315993715.png

2026-07-24 09:31:55 UTC

- reply

Imagine instead a social business network. One without intermediaries, where creators are paid direct. Web stores run by groups of like-minded people interoperating with others.
Where you engage direct with authors, musicians, & designers instead of being forced apart by platforms.
Your feed filled with memes, news, & updates from creators you follow. The new Ethiopian Yirgacheffe arrived at your favourite café. That shirt is back in stock. Your favourite author published a new novel.

2026-07-24 09:31:55 UTC

- reply

You know who is making your coffee. You spoke to them at the till. They've seen you on days when you were laughing with friends; the day you were so grief-filled you barely had strength to go out but wanted to go to this safe place. You've seen them on the day they came back from having their first kid. & on days when they had barely any customers & were scared they might not make rent.
You know each other.
Amazon took that away from us in exchange for gameable "algorithms".

2026-07-24 09:31:54 UTC

For near 30 years, I've researched informal business collaboration through networks of trust: organic, flexible, & unmediated.
These are still-existing chamas, stokvels, susus... Individuals join, groups enforce rules, transgression has immediate & devastating consequences.
Group-lending has unheard-of levels of repayment because failing the group means failing your community. Plus, the group is flexible. If you're struggling, they're your friends & neighbours. They'll find a way to help.

2026-07-24 09:31:54 UTC

- reply

Most business are networks of social relationships. There is no "platform". When you go to your local café, you are engaging with their milk suppliers, the roasters, importers & growers of their beans, the ceramicist who makes their cups, the person who maintains their espresso machine.
And none of them has to work through intermediaries to connect to each other. There is no offline equivalent of Amazon taking 30% of every single person's interaction while keeping everyone functionally apart.

2026-05-02 11:54:36 UTC

- reply

I quite like it, although it does need more ebook controls. Definitely worth experimenting.

2026-02-25 21:44:25 UTC

- reply

yeah, I'm a proponent of standardised ontologies as well. An additional benefit is that label terms can then be translated to support further interoperability and accessibility.

2026-01-27 06:04:02 UTC

- reply

you know you can teach them to bring you things? Like you give it some biscuit crumbs and it brings you something shiny, like gold coins 😜

2026-01-04 14:52:06 UTC

- reply

it's a pity about that pesky border dispute between South Canada and North Mexico.

2026-01-02 16:47:26 UTC

@npub1l26…2ynh @npub163h…mv0n I'm building a new activitypub stack for commercial use by creators, & I'm starting on the moderation component. I'm one developer, & moderation is important but I am no expert. Who should I talk to, or where do you recommend I start? Stack is here https://codeberg.org/whythawk/hop-sauna

2025-12-20 13:13:48 UTC

- reply

Exactly! Americans will have little idea who Obote or Amin were yet, without them, no Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York.
@npub1s6k…39lr @npub1faz…vc22 @npub14dg…89xg

2025-12-18 14:05:53 UTC

As #authors, we often talk about the creative process but not how we try earn a living from what we make. I joined with fellow African SFF authors Cheryl S Ntumy from Ghana & @npub1faz…vc22 from Uganda, with @npub10a7…h9jk from Interledger, to talk writing, getting paid as African creators, & our hopes for new ways of accessible payments. Listen here: https://podcast.interledger.org/@InterledgerSalon/episodes/unlocking-possibilities-the-role-of-open-payments-in-african-speculative-fiction
#bookstadon #amwriting #WritingCommunity #Authors #OpenPayments

2025-07-01 05:07:25 UTC

- reply

four toes on one foot, and hands like clubs... Definitely AI.

2025-03-15 16:44:50 UTC

- reply

Dilman's Ugandan, and you should read some of his work. He's written some of my favourite short stories of recent years.

2025-02-02 12:55:49 UTC

- reply

I'll have something on that for you in a few months. Got some funding to build something which may help us all.

2024-09-17 13:22:22 UTC

I'm looking for a #JavaScript / #NuxtJS developer to help me extend my FastAPI/NuxtJS template (https://github.com/whythawk/full-stack-fastapi-postgresql) to support #ActivityPub. I'm busy with the #FastAPI server. My objective is an open source starter template for developing full federated apps for creator commercial activity (like a personal Etsy or Amazon site) where creators can sell their work & supporters can follow for new product releases. This is a paid project. Contact me direct. #FediHire