Previous followers, this initial "The Programmer's Fulcrum" newsletter revives the former Symfony Station (The Payload) and Battalion (Defending Democracy) newsletters.

A big thanks for supporting us in the past. We have imported those lists here as we consolidate website, newsletter, and Fediverse handle into one platform for 2026 and our upcoming golden years. ;)

TPF is the future home of Battalion and Symfony Station as they are merge into my retirement project. Its more focused coverage will be on the items and ideas in Battalion's Techno Anarchist Manifesto that relate to development.

For Symfony Station that means coverage of the development aspects of CMS options for the Open Media Network. Think Grav CMS, Ghost, WordPress, Micro.Blog, Write.as, and Write Freely. And maybe Drupal CMS, we'll see how easy 2.0 is to use for the average Joe and Mustang Sally. It will mean less Symfony, Drupal, TYPO3, and PHP coverage.

For Battalion that means coverage of the Fediverse, Open Media Network, and community-focused open-source software. It will mean less Evil Empire, Big Tech, Pariah States, and cybersecurity coverage.

And probably less cursing all the way around.

In 2025 you will have full access to the website as well as these newsletters featuring new weekly content. It will consist of links for each week's Symfony Station Communiqué and Battalion "Destroying Autocracy" post along with the featured item of each.

If you like what you see today you are set for the future. If the slightly different approach The Fulcrum takes is not for you, you may unsubscribe below.

I apologize for any inconvenience and this long introduction. Stay safe and sane!

Here we feature the latest Symfony Station Communiqué and Battalion "Destroying Autocracy" Post.

Symfony Station Communiqué - Stardate: ✦ 29 August 2025 ✦

Get the latest from the Symfony Universe and PHP development communities.

Explore!

Featured Item

Symfony has terrible news:

We are deeply saddened to share the news that Ryan Weaver — a cherished member of the Symfony Community, a tireless educator, and a friend to so many — passed away after a long and courageous battle with brain cancer.

Ryan was more than just a contributor to Symfony: he was a voice, a teacher, and an inspiration who made the framework, and the wider PHP world, more approachable and fun. His passing is an immense loss to our community.

Remembering Ryan Weaver: Teacher, Core Team Member, Friend

So sad even if we knew it was coming. 😢

In remembrance, here are some of our articles featuring Ryan:

Lucky like a 7 - Seven SymfonyCasts Courses to Master Symfony 7

Let's explore the strange new world of Symfony’s AssetMapper

SymfonyCast’s “Harmonious Development with Symfony 6” Course

Destroying Autocracy – August 28, 2025

Welcome to this week's "Destroying Autocracy". It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it.

Destroy!

Featured Items

In a late addition, Connected Places writes:

Building a decentralised network like the fediverse thus means not only building a social network that spreads out over many different nodes, but also building an infrastructure for the network to run on that is itself decentralised. What’s happening to SocialHub is symptomatic of this broader tension, where these decentralised systems promise to distribute power, but they still need coordination mechanisms to function.

SocialHub and the Substrate of Decentralised Networks

Nate Matias has this great story of perseverance:

That’s when I got an email from Enel X Way, an Italian power company, that the software in the boxes that charge our cars would be disconnected in just a few short weeks. I immediately thought of Mark, whose medical care required reliable travel to the nearby city of Syracuse.

Across our entire neighborhood, forty homes had exactly the same box, many supported by a New York State electric charging grant. And now all of us were about to have tens of thousands of dollars in critical infrastructure lose functionality - infrastructure we relied on to get to work, access medical care, and live our daily lives.

Escaping the chains of tethered products: the Juice Rescue project

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