@dotmeow@hachyderm.io

.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 1h ago

the new TLD applications have been published and we were the only ones to apply for .meow so we can move on with the evaluation 🥳 https://newgtldprogram-aps.icann.org/applications if you wanna check them out for yourself :3

newgtldprogram-aps.icann.org

Applications

New gTLD Program: 2026 Round public application information, including application status.

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 1d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

The friendly folx at @WIRED@flipboard.com joined some of us at an in-person ICANN meeting and interviewed @aristhethird@hachyderm.io & Lauren Thomas for some meows :3 It's a long read but really well-written! Oh, and string release is literally around the corner!! https://www.wired.com/story/icann-top-level-domains-meow/

wired.com

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 3mo ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Hey cuties :3 It's become a little quiet on this channel while we're working in the background to get all kittens sorted! We're duly on track with the gTLD application and things are looking good so far~~~~! There's been some hiccups w/ the Kickstarter shipping of merch goods: In rough terms, KS doesn't support VAT natively and you can either apply the a fixed VAT to everyone indiscriminately (which is tricky for tax reasons) or calculate it as part of the "shipping" costs. We chose the latter because it's, theoretically, more reasonable but unfortunately the platform doesn't make it really simple & transparent. Sorry for any confusion there. Mental note to not use KS again.

You may also have seen the application of @dotfurry@furry.engineer happening and we're incredibly happy to see other orgs getting their foot in. Non-profit gTLDs isn't the solution to all our problems, but one way to reclaim some control over the Internet! Unfortunately we also got a bit behind on answering your questions but will try to work through those, sorry if anything got lost. 🥛

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 8mo ago

And with that, we have reached our goal on Kickstarter!!! That went incredibly quickly and I don't know how to thank all of you.

However!! We are not done yet!! But one of the scariest hurdles has been surmounted and we are bouncing off the walls here!!

🎉🎉🎉

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 3mo ago

The digital rewards have just unlocked :3 Our head resident artist did some pwetty designs, we hope you like them

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 3mo ago

Replying to

to preempt an "em-dash looks AI generated" discussion again: we have multiple people with a background in professional and semi-professional writing¹ and you can consider our usage of em-dashes a fuck-you to LLMs, we won't let 'em take away our favorite, precious long symbols. ¹ and have very strong opinions too. For example, this kitten prefers a different style with em-dashes set more closely to the surrounding words, separated by thin spaces, if at all.

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 3mo ago

Hey!! If you donated to the Kickstarter and haven't filed out your pledge questionnaires yet, remember to check your emails/Kickstarter accounts!

You have until noon CEST (17/06) tomorrow to get your perks (including vouchers!) and we don't want anyone missing out

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

So, for all those who've not been following us around like a good pup on a leash, dotmeow is our effort to give queer run infrastructure a name: A gTLD you can get your domain name behind (or well, rather in front, depending on how you look)! Unfortunately, the path to a new gTLD like .meow takes humans (some of us are certified!), time and money. Running a TLD does, too! But often, registries pocket a good deal of the money they receive [[citation-needed]] when you rent a domain at a registrar. Our goal is different: After covering the costs, we want to use the money to help queer organizations. So owning a .meow domain makes you automatically support queer activists around the globe!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

So, Kickstarter deep breath. You can support the launch of dotmeow by sending us cat food^W^Wmoney. Instead of just keeping and running with it, there's of course rewards, and what's a better reward for funding the queerest gTLD? Vouchers for domain registries!

So yeah, that's it, basically: You give money to us, and we provide you with domains when the gTLD launches.

But there's also treats! And the amount of treats is based on the tier you choose. The physical layer tier is just for supporting the project, updates and some sweet custom (non-AI) art. Everything above gives you vouchers, everything from the previous layer and more, like

behind the scenes access, credits
MOAR vouchers
handwritten kthx cards
EVEN MOAR vouchers
Stickers!!
SO MANY vouchers (domain hoarder option)
Branded T-Shirt!
I can't count so many domains aaaah
Unique signed artwork, staff-only merch
Are there even that many domains to give vouchers out for? Chat? chat???

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 2mo ago

We have arrived! Find us at @milliways@milliways.social at #emfcamp if you want to talk to us. We also have new stickers / sticker designs, just hit us up :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 7mo ago

We are BEYOND excited about this! Come say hi tomorrow!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

Second, all of this is supposed to be as grassroots as possible in the tight corset of ICANN rules etc. So *you* can get involved too (more details on that soon to come!). Because queer infrastructure ought to be in queer hands. And we don't know many folx queerer than you lot!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 8mo ago

We are SO excited for this :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

And in case of more questions, we'll be at #39C3 too!!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@HeNeArXn they're also glow-in-the-dark!!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@zaire@fedi.absturztau.be @ljrk@todon.eu Oh, the whole domain system is absolutely depressing. There's some work on building a more decentralized alternative DNS world -- and we love that -- but if one wants to be able to have a website that's accessible to everyone, one needs to play by these rules. Currently. Hopefully this changes at some point!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@uvok @q We've reached out, yes! And some of us already met her (@ljrk), last FOSDEM. Q runs its own registrar, so that's where you'll hopefully be able to redeem the vouchers!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@mcfly ty for the shoutout!! :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@zaire@fedi.absturztau.be @ljrk@todon.eu Based on where Mozilla is going r/n (well, for the last... many years) that'd actually be something I'd love to see! I'm afraid that this'll be somewhat of the 100th stretch goal or so though, but we'll see what the future brings. If we can bring the "meowser" to being, that'd be something to be proud of! RE alternative DNS roots, OpenNIC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenNIC) is one such initiative!

en.wikipedia.org

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@davebloggt Yes, absolutely! We're already in contact with Kickstarter support about this. Also shipping to Germany should be less than 9 EUR even, that's the price for the US IIRC. Either way, we'll be at 39C3 and there'll be other(?) merch too, without shipping 0:-)

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@jak2k It's called The Big Chief by Jonny Boyle!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 8mo ago

Replying to

@gkrnours dog can go meow if they want to :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@polyphonychat@fed.amazonawaws.com hell yeah!!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@ity @milliways It'll be at #39C3 but hopefully it also won't be the last!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@mcfly @milliways Thank you, or artist is amazingly talented! :3 We'll be at 39C3, but this is just a tease for now... we'll post about details later 0:-)

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@tisha We get that, but ICANN rules are rather strict about "arbitrary" rules so there's limited potential of abuse there or unreliable-ness. But there's still the potential of others calling us not "strict enough" or anything like that. Either way, whether one wants to run a .meow TLD is in the end up to them and I do hope that we're more lasting than some other infrastructure that's been built in the recent years.

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@argv_minus_one We know about .cat, but that's a ccTLD assigned to Catalonia and while we do love our catalonian-pretend-cats, we want .meow to be independent of any nation!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@j-g00da paws crossed!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@Infinidoge thank youuu!! And I mean, it's not set in stone that we "loose" all coins over 39C3...

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@autinerd The campaign runs til Feb the 17th so there's plenty of time :3 We're very happy to see this grow!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@nowwhat Way to go! We wish you all the best, thank you for your support! <3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@theorangetheme *nose boops*

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@zaire @ljrk There's lots on my wishlist as well. I think we need better APIs for extensions that cross the web-boundary (e.g., os native autofill, synch of bookmarks through os-plugin-service, ...). There's so many things that one could innovate upon in this space... alas

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@davebloggt excited to meet you all! :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@zaire@fedi.absturztau.be @ljrk@todon.eu Ah, there is... somewhat. But these are often from within the crypto-bro scene so we're not comfortable with that. We just hope that the existence of many other alternative roots like OpenNIC can bring more decentralization to the table. But it's not a solved problem at all, unfortauntely!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@Ry @KopfKrieg So happy it worked out in the end! Sorry for the confusion, we're all very new to Kickstarter as a platform and there are definitely some idiosyncrasies ^^' But if you end up with not enough stickers, I'm sure this can be helped :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@kechpaja Thank you!! We're excited :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@TheOneDoc @dns I don't have our current list of cooperating registrars but I'll forward this! We are absolutely looking into exchange with folx running registrars and other DNS stuff!! :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@aurora_luna @aristhethird @ljrk There are still some coins at Haecksen too, grab them while they're there! :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@ChaoticNeutralCzech Yeah, we've been made aware of that, and already posted about it here: https://hachyderm.io/@dotmeow/115757449811208827 It's just... some of us are professional writers and they like em-dashes (I prefer en-dashes but I didn't write the text). And they're more than a bit hurt by those allegations. We firmly stand against LLM-slop and if you read our socials (they're linked on the website), you'll see a lot of hate of AI slop. Unfortunately we cannot edit the descriptions anymore to make it look less GPTy :/

hachyderm.io

.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^: "Oh and there's been a few questions regarding the…" - Hachyderm.io

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@coopdot@chaos.social TYSM! <3 If you want to, you can always give away domain vouchers as well! :3

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 8mo ago

@kasiandra@chaos.social you can always email us at info@dotmeow.org and we can work something out!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@emo_mruczek @ljrk is still at haecksen! currently sitting at the fire :3 The rest on the couches at Milliways!

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.meow ∙ #EMF was nice, back 4 #40C3 ^-^ @dotmeow@hachyderm.io

· 9mo ago

Replying to

@aurora_luna now at Haecksen, ask for LJ!

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