Sigh. It’s frustrating to still feel like an early adopter of open web technology. How many years has it been? 25? 30? But here we are, trying to convince the masses that you can use open protocols, networks, and software to build lasting publishing businesses and outlets for your creativity. And who better to show us the way than…Donald Trump? Perish the thought! 😱 (But seriously, it’s amazing to recall everyone once scoffed at his fledgling social network once he was booted off Facebook and Twitter and…well, it was hardly the kiss of death.)
He proved Big Social just ain’t so powerful anymore. Can people who aren’t *batshit crazy* please take inspiration from this and use the open web for good?? TIA! 🙏
The Spicy Web: writing of the next course is underway! “DIY UI That Scales”…vanilla or mostly-vanilla JS solutions to common architectural problems. Also enjoying link-blogging at That HTML Blog.
Bridgetown: version 2 of this Ruby web framework is on the way!
Just a Spec: new podcast episodes coming soon with my buddy Ayush!
It’s that time of year again in the U.S. of A.—time to take stock of where we’ve been and find all of the silver linings. And it’s time for this podcaster to geek out over some very special blessings, from weird quirky indie horror films to weird quirky indie web browsers as well as weird quirky indie…OK, I think you get the idea.
Why has the mood changed so suddenly on Threads? How has Meta dropped the ball at this pivotal moment for the nascent social network? Meanwhile, other social networks and the Fediverse as a whole are kicking some serious ass. It’s a real shift in a short amount of time from just earlier in the summer, and I’m here to talk all about it…and how much I just love Mastodon 4.3 + Tangerine UI 2.0.
It's the summer of our content, as we take time to enjoy the great outdoors and spend quality moments IRL with friends and family. At least, that's what I've been doing, as well as making structural changes in my day-to-day such as a studio move and an email newsletter move from ConvertKit to Buttondown. But even as the sun is shining and the birds are singing, what's happening on social media right now is…weird. And I'm not sure how to feel about it. Like, what IS going on with the Fediverse anyway? And should we all just hold our Meta-scarred noses and embrace Threads now? Hmm. Let's talk about that.
There's no doubt that Riven is the G.O.A.T. of puzzle adventure games as pioneered in the 1990s, and this year we're blessed with the tremendous opportunity to fall in love with Riven all over again, as Cyan has developed and published a modern remake in glorious real-time 3D.
I’ve often found that most of the people out there who have genuine talent and real success are more than happy to pass their well-founded wisdom on to others. Unfortunately, those experts who have a proven track record, having made predictive claims grounded in reality over time, are often not the popular figures in our society. With alarming frequency, many “influencers” with high follower counts are fairly good at one thing: influencing…not the actual topics they claim to understand based on real-world expertise. Let’s discuss.
Generative art, aka artistic output that's produced by a sophisticated set of parameters, cycles, connections, and yes, even algorithms, has been around for decades—especially in music—and has a prestigious and invigorating history. More importantly, generative art tools have helped usher in countless new art forms. Contrast that with…well…y'know.
A tale of two Threads: one—the Threadiverse—is a subportion of the Fediverse dedicated to replicating the kind of experiences we’re familiar with on Reddit, Hacker News, and the like; the other is Meta’s fast-growing competitor to X. Not confusing at all! 😂
Microblogging is an artform, just like any other creative endeavor people publish on the web. In this episode, I talk about one of the subtle techniques I sometimes use to microblog which increases the likelihood of engagement and boosting—but beware! You can definitely overdo it, and you can also manipulate people with it if you're a bad actor. Use responsibly.
