I walked around with a map, penciling in X’s wherever there was a barn or shed. For the next three days, I covered four kilometers in all four directions. Living toward the outskirts of town, there are still a good many farmers in the vicinity. So it came to a considerable number of barns—sixteen altogether.

I carefully checked the condition of each of these, and from the sixteen I eliminated all those where there were houses in the immediate proximity or greenhouses alongside. I also eliminated those in which there were farm implements or chemicals or signs that they were still in active use. I didn’t imagine he’d want to burn tools or fertilizer. That left five barns.

Five barns worth burning.

Directories aren’t surging. There isn’t this nascent directory movement fomenting - ready to take on the world. Directories aren’t trending.

But there is a certainly really sweet little directory community now. From the Marijn-inspired stuff listed in Directory Uprising to the link-sharing ‘yesterweb’ collected around sadgrl.online - or the originals at Indieseek and i.webthings.

Barnsworthburning (by Nick Trombley) is a very formidable addition to this commuity - a clean, multilayered design and an innovative bidirectional index.

A collection of sites which link to barnsworthburning.net.

Thinking about the content creation side of the marketplace, Cowen is able to use the daily links post to increase demand for content that he himself wants to see more of. This is true in an indirect way, where simply directing traffic to certain content will incentivize creators to make more of it. We each, individually, produce this sort of impact on a tiny scale when browsing the web, and Cowen is able to magnify his own through sharing the sorts of content he enjoys most.

But more directly, by being so consistent in linking to content that matches his interests, Cowen further incentivizes his own readers to produce more of it.

(An article)

A decoction, solution, or infusion made by dissolving out from any substance that which gives it its essential and characteristic virtue; essence.

Some visitors may be familiar with the previous version of this site. For those who want the old experience, it's still available at this link.

Microcosm is the digital garden and commonplace book of Chase McCoy.

This site is inspired by (and built from the source of!) Nick Trombley's excellent barnsworthburning.net. Huge thanks to Nick for doing his work in the open and letting others riff on it.