dce/davideisinger.com
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Actions Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

Add november links

Browse Source
This commit is contained in:
David Eisinger
2024-10-30 23:40:20 -04:00
parent df81b457f8
commit 31ba49beea
13 changed files with 3529 additions and 6 deletions
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

164
static/archive/anniemueller-com-0nscuw.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
[1] annie's blog
[2]annie's blog
[3]👋 Hello! [4]✍️ Guestbook [5]👊 Blog [6]🫶 Micro
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
How to do the RSS
This is a simple guide for people who are not super tech-oriented.
I like the recent [7]You should be using an RSS reader article that’s being
shared.
And I think we need a simple little guide for people who might read that
article and think, Yeah. Good idea. I should do that.
And then they might think, Huh, how exactly do I do that, again?
RSS isn’t complicated. But if you’re not at all familiar with it, it’s not
easily apparent.
So here’s a little guide to get started with RSS.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The very short version
1. Sign up for an RSS reader. I use Feedbin. [8]Go sign up. You get a free
month, then it’s $5/month. Don’t bitch about the price. Cancel something
you don’t use, like that food tracking app or that one Substack you never
read.
2. Open a site you like to read. Look for RSS or Feeds in the menu or find the
RSS icon. Sometimes it’s in the footer. Sometimes it’s difficult to find.
An image with caption: The RSS icon. Might not be orange! The RSS icon.
Might not be orange!
3. Right click on the RSS icon or the RSS/Feed option, once you find it, and
copy the link.
4. Go back to Feedbin, click the +Add button in the bottom left, paste in the
link, and hit Enter.
5. Feedbin will pop up a little dialog with the feed title. Confirm you want
to add the feed by clicking the blue Add button.
Repeat steps 2 through 5 to add more sites and blogs and cool stuff to your
RSS reader.
Now for the longer version.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
What is RSS
RSS is your own personal feed of cool stuff from the Internet made by cool
people you want to hear from.
It’s a little bit like what Facebook was when it started, although it came long
before social media.
We could call it the original social media. In fact, I think we will. From now
on. I will, anyway. You do what you want.
Anyhow, social media was useful and cool at first because you got to connect
with people you knew in real life or found interesting and then their stuff
would show up in your timeline, and you could see everybody’s stuff all in one
handy feed.
Social media has become such an ad-congested, algorithmed experience that it’s
pretty much useless if you want to actually see the stuff made and shared by
the people you actually care about.
Which brings us back to RSS.
RSS lets you build your own little Internet feed. You add the people you like
and you get a continually automatically updated stream of things you’re
interested in from people you want to hear from. No ads or interventions or
intrusions or extraneous junk that doesn’t belong there.
How to set up RSS
First up, you need an RSS reader. There are so many. Free ones and paid ones,
old ones and new ones. Of course nothing else will ever come close to the
original* and the best, my one true love, Google Reader, which honestly wasn’t
that special but it holds a special place in my heart. Miss you, baby.
Anyway there are lots. But you don’t need lots. You need just one.
Step 1: Sign up for an RSS reader.
There are many options. They are all basically the same, honestly. Don’t
overthink it. You can switch this up later if you want.
Go read [9]this article and pick one of the options, then sign up for one.
Are you mad that you might have to pay a small subscription fee? Don’t be. Be
glad. Paying for something means you’re the consumer, not the product. On
Facebook, etc., you’re the product being sold to advertisers, so you don’t have
to pay.
Also, get real. It’s like, $5 to $10 a month. You can do this. I believe in
you.
Step 2: Add feeds to your reader.
There are two ways to do this.
First: Search for the people/sites/blogs in your RSS reader of choice. Look for
the Add/find/subscribe option somewhere in your reader. Most modern readers
have some sort of functionality to sniff out the RSS feeds for you. Try it. See
what you can find.
Second: Open the sites and blogs you want to read and look for their RSS feeds.
Some sites make it really easy to find and some don’t. Some sites have multiple
feeds to choose from.
Step 3: Get the app for your RSS reader of choice.
Because let’s be real, you’re mostly going to read these on your phone. Which
is fine.
Step 4: Repeat step 2 anytime you discover a new site/blog/person you like and
want to follow.
That’s it. You create a customized feed of your own choosing, with the things
you like and the people who are interesting to you, and you can read them at
your leisure, and they won’t get buried in the timeline by the algorithm.
They’ll be there when you want them. And you can remove any that get boring.
You’re in control.
By the way, here’s [10]my RSS feed.
Okay, go do it! Get to RSSing!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
*Don’t @ me with your timelines and argumentation about why it isn’t the real
original, I don’t care.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Published October 17, 2024
[11]
Subscribe via RSS
[12]
Back to all blog posts [13]PIKA
References:
[1] https://anniemueller.com/
[2] https://anniemueller.com/
[3] https://annie.omg.lol/
[4] https://anniemueller.com/guestbook
[5] https://anniemueller.com/posts
[6] https://annie.micro.blog/
[7] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise
[8] https://feedbin.com/
[9] https://www.wired.com/story/best-rss-feed-readers/
[10] https://anniemueller.com/posts_feed
[11] https://anniemueller.com/posts_feed
[12] https://anniemueller.com/posts
[13] https://pika.page/?utm_source=pika_blog&utm_medium=pika_footer_branding

93
static/archive/blog-jim-nielsen-com-w2ugpt.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
[1]Jim Nielsen’s Blog [2]Archive [3]Subscribe [4]About
[5] Jim Nielsen’s Blog [6]
[7]Jim Nielsen’s Blog [8]Archive [9]Subscribe [10]About Preferences
Theme: This feature requires JavaScript as well as the default site fidelity
(see below).
Fidelity:
Controls the level of style and functionality of the site, a lower fidelity
meaning less bandwidth, battery, and CPU usage. [11]Learn more.
[12](*) Default [13]( ) Minimal [14]( ) Text-Only Update
Putting the “Person” in “Personal Website”
2024-10-02
The other day I saw a meme that went something like this:
Isn’t it crappy how basic human activities like singing, dancing, and making
art have been turned into skills instead of being recognized as behaviors? The
point of doing these things has become to get good at them. But they should be
recognized as things humans do innately, like how birds sing or bees make
hives.
I thought about that for a minute, then decided: making websites should be the
same!
The original vision for the web, according to Tim Berners-Lee, was to make it a
collaborate medium where everyone could read and write.
Social media sort of achieved this, but the incentives are off. And it’s not
just about ownership of the content you produce and who can monetize it, but
the context in which you produce it. Mandy nails this in her recent piece [16]
“Coming home”:
While one of the reasons oft declared for using POSSE is the ability to own
your content, I’m less interested in ownership than I am in context.
Writing on my own site has very different affordances: I’m not typing into
a little box, but writing in a text file. I’m not surrounded by other
people’s thinking, but located within my own body of work. As I played with
setting this up, I could immediately feel how that would change the kinds
of things I would say, and it felt good. Really good. Like putting on a
favorite t-shirt, or coming home to my solid, quiet house after a long time
away.
Yes! This is why I believe everyone could benefit from a personal website. Its
form encourages you to look inward, whereas every social platform on the
internet encourages you to look outward.
A personal website has affordances which encourage you to create something that
you couldn’t otherwise create anywhere else, like YouTube or Reddit or Facebook
or Twitter or even Mastodon. Why? Because the context of those environments is
outward looking. It’s not personal, but social. The medium shapes the message.
If I were to put this in terms of a [17]priority of constituencies, it would be
something like this:
• Personal website: personal over social.
• Social platform: social over personal.
Additionally, a personal website and a social platform are two different
environments: one I’ve cultivated, the other I’ve been granted. As Mandy puts
it:
[having a personal website] allowed me to cultivate the soil to suit my
purposes—rather than having to adapt my garden to the soil I was given
Like dancing or singing, you don’t have to be skilled to do them. Personal
websites should be the same. They’re for everyone. Like dancing and singing,
their expression can be as varied as every individual human.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Reply via: [18]Email :: [19]Mastodon :: [20]Twitter
References:
[1] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/
[2] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/archive/
[3] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/feed
[4] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/about/
[5] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/
[6] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2022/verified-personal-website/
[7] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/
[8] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/archive/
[9] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/feed
[10] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/about/
[11] https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2022/website-fidelity/
[16] https://aworkinglibrary.com/writing/coming-home
[17] https://adactio.com/journal/16811
[18] mailto:jimniels%2Bblog@gmail.com?subject=Re:%20blog.jim-nielsen.com/2024/person-in-personal-website/
[19] https://mastodon.social/@jimniels
[20] https://twitter.com/jimniels

117
static/archive/gsg-prose-sh-xsmtam.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
I like Go, but only when I don't have to write it
2024-10-06 · [1]gclv.es
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I am on a quest to restore the joy I had in programming, and computing more
generally. Being funemployed, I have been writing a lot of just-for-fun code
lately. For my latest toy project, I am writing a simple regex matcher. The
goal is to start with [2]the didactic implementation, then graduate to [3]a
more robust one.
Stated preference [4]#
Programming language choice always comes up when kicking off a new personal
project, and my thought process is always the same:
• How is the tooling?
• Will I need to install hundreds of dependencies?
• Will the language and the runtime let me focus on the intrinsic complexity
of the problem? Or is there accidental complexity that steals attention
from it?
• It's been a while since I've written code. Will I have to/want to tweak my
Emacs for two days instead of doing the actual thing?
Almost every time, answering those questions leads me to start the project in
Go. Almost every time, I get side-tracked infinitely and drop the project. I
thought the latter was just me being weak-willed, but I am now convinced it's
because Go is not a good choice for me.
Papercuts [5]#
The criteria above do seem solid to me, and I think Go is a great choice given
those criteria. But then the following start to irk me:
1. how do I install gopls and goimports again? ^[6]1
2. how do I test this? Wow, I have to type so much just to get a single unit
test... how should I refactor this? Oh no, that was too soon, let me undo
that
3. so much repetition in the code! How should I refactor this? Oh no, that was
too soon, let me undo that
4. I don't know what it is, but I can never learn anything from reading the
docs
5. let's just hope nothing goes wrong at runtime, because I haven't the first
clue as to how that works
The code I was writing for fun because it was supposed to be elegant is now
littered with the likes of if err != nil { return nil, err } and unnecessary
assignments. When I come back to it to make a change, I have to read 300 lines
to make sense of a simple thing. And the tests don't serve as documentation.
Revealed preference [7]#
At one point in my regex matcher, when I was annoyed at having to write another
20-line for loop inside my function, I rm -rf'd it ^[8]2 and started over in
Rust. The joy! Algebraic data types! Expressiveness! Multiple forms of
iteration! Abstractions!
I have finally reflected on the experience and found what's missing in my
declared preferences above: expressiveness. I expect expressiveness of a
language.
Conclusion [9]#
Maybe I'm still learning, and this is [10]the hard part of learning a language.
After all, I haven't written Go code in anger in significant amounts. But
life's too short. For the last few weeks, this is what I've favored instead:
• For fun tasks: Ruby, as long as it only has to work on my machine
• For pragmatic tasks: Rust or Python
• For computation-heavy tasks: Rust or Scala
• For web tasks: probably TypeScript + Node. Or [11]the BCHS stack. Or,
better yet, nothing at all
And this has been working great! Programming is more fun, insights are more
pretty, cleverness is valued again. I'm like the flying dude from [12]that xkcd
. ^[13]3
I continue to "like" Go, and think it's a great idea, as long as it's written
and read [14]by others.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
1. this is 100% my fault, but those two always disappear from my PATH by the
time I pick up the next project [15]↩︎
2. pronounved: "rimraffed" [16]↩︎
3. let's see how long until I fall into [17]this other xkcd... [18]↩︎
Thoughts? Comments? [19]Shoot me an email!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
published with [20]prose.sh
References:
[1] https://gsg.prose.sh/
[2] https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/spr09/cos333/beautiful.html
[3] https://swtch.com/~rsc/regexp/regexp1.html
[4] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#stated-preference
[5] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#papercuts
[6] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#fn:1
[7] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#revealed-preference
[8] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#fn:2
[9] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#conclusion
[10] https://www.hillelwayne.com/post/learning-a-language/
[11] https://learnbchs.org/
[12] https://xkcd.com/353/
[13] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#fn:3
[14] https://theonion.com/report-98-percent-of-u-s-commuters-favor-public-trans-1819565837/
[15] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#fnref:1
[16] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#fnref:2
[17] https://xkcd.com/1987/
[18] https://gsg.prose.sh/i-like-go#fnref:3
[19] mailto:~gg/public-inbox@lists.sr.ht
[20] https://prose.sh/

95
static/archive/kristoff-it-edtlns.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
[1]Loris Cro
Personal Website
[2]About • [3]Twitter • [4]Twitch • [5]YouTube • [6]GitHub
The Static Site Paradox
October 08, 2024 • 3 min read • by Loris Cro
In front of you are two personal websites, each used as a blog and to display
basic contact info of the owner:
1. One is a complex CMS written in PHP that requires a web server, multiple
workers, a Redis cache, and a SQL database. The site also has a big
frontend component that loads as a Single Page Application and then
performs navigation by requesting the content in JSON form, which then gets
“rehydrated” client-side.
2. The other is a collection of static HTML files and one or two CSS files. No
JavaScript anywhere.
If you didn’t know any better, you would expect almost all normal users to have
[2] and professional engineers to have something like [1], but it’s actually
the inverse: only few professional software engineers can “afford” to have the
second option as their personal website, and almost all normal users are stuck
with overcomplicated solutions.
Weird as it might be, it’s not a great mystery why that is: it’s easier to spin
up a Wordpress blog than it is to figure out by yourself all the intermediate
steps:
1. Buy a domain
2. Find a hosting platform
3. Configure DNS
4. Find an SSG (or handcraft everything yourself)
5. Learn how to setup a deployment pipeline
And so, while we software engineers enjoy free hosting & custom domain support
with GitHub Pages / Cloudflare Pages / etc, normal users are stuck with a bunch
of [7]greedy clowns that make them pay for every little thing, all while
wasting ungodly amounts of computational power to render what could have been a
static website in 99% of cases.
Last week I spoke at SquiggleConf in Boston about my experience writing a
language server for HTML. Most of the talk is tactical advice on what to do (or
avoid) when implementing one, but I concluded the talk with a more high-level
point, which I will now report here fully as conclusion to this blog post.
When I published SuperHTML, I discovered that it was [8]the first ever
language server for HTML that reported diagnostics to the user. I wrote a
blog post about it, it got [9]on the frontpage of Hacker News and nobody
corrected me, so you know it’s true.
I originally found it a funny thing, but thinking about it more, it’s a bit
sad that this is the case. Linters do exist, and people can get diagnostics
in their editor, but that’s usually tooling tied to a specific frontend
framework and not vanilla HTML, which leads to people opting to use
frameworks even if they don’t really have a real need for all the
complexity that those frameworks bring.
And that’s bad in my opinion. Not because of an abstract appreciation for
simplicity, but because the web doesn’t belong just to software engineers.
The more we make the web complex, the more we push normal users into the
enclosures that we like to call social networks.
Don’t you find it infuriating when lawyers and accountants fail to clarify
how their respective domains work, making them unavoidable intermediaries
of systems that in theory you should be able to navigate by yourself?
Whenever we fail to make simple things easy in software engineering, and
webdev especially, we are failing society in the exact same way.
This is not something that startups or big tech can solve for us, their
economic incentives are just too misaligned, so I invite you all to help
make the web more accessible, partially as a matter of taking pride in our
craft, and partially because the web used to be more interesting when more
of it was made by people different from us.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[10]← Critical Social Infrastructure for Zig Communities • [11]Yes, Go Does
Have Exceptions → or [12]Back to the Homepage
References:
[1] https://kristoff.it/
[2] https://kristoff.it/
[3] https://twitter.com/croloris
[4] https://twitch.tv/kristoff_it
[5] https://youtube.com/c/ZigSHOWTIME/
[6] https://github.com/kristoff-it
[7] https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/04/wordpress-vs-wp-engine-drama-explained/
[8] https://kristoff.it/blog/first-html-lsp/
[9] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41512213
[10] https://kristoff.it/blog/critical-social-infrastructure/
[11] https://kristoff.it/blog/go-exceptions/
[12] https://kristoff.it/

840
static/archive/pluralistic-net-zlmzc1.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,840 @@
[1] Skip to content
[2]Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
No trackers, no ads. Black type, white background. Privacy policy: we don't
collect or retain any data at all ever period.
Menu
• [4]Books
• [5]About
• [6]Forums
• [7]Podcast
• [8]Newsletter
• [9]RSS
• [10]Twitter
• [11]Mastodon
• [12]Medium
• [13]Tumblr
Pluralistic: You should be using an RSS reader (16 Oct 2024)
[14][16Oct2024]
Today's links
• [15]You should be using an RSS reader: The one thing you can choose to do
that will make your internet life better and make the internet better for
everyone else, too.
• [16]Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
• [17]This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023
• [18]Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
• [19]Recent appearances: Where I've been.
• [20]Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
• [21]Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
• [22]Colophon: All the rest.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A rifle-bearing, bearded rebel with crossed bandoliers stands atop a mainframe.
His belt bears the RSS logo. The mainframe is on a floor made of a busy,
resistor-studded circuit board. The background is a halftoned RSS logo. Around
the rebel is a halo of light.
You should be using an RSS reader ([23]permalink)
No matter how hard we all wish it were otherwise, the sad fact is that there
aren't really individual solutions to systemic problems. For example: your
personal diligence in recycling will have no meaningful impact on the climate
emergency.
I get it. People write to me all the time, they say, "What can I change about
my life to fight enshittification, or, at the very least, to reduce the amount
of enshittification that I, personally, experience?"
It's frustrating, but my general answer is, "Join a movement. Get involved with
a union, with EFF, with the FSF. Tell your Congressional candidate to defend
Lina Khan from billionaire Dem donors who want her fired. Do something systemic
."
There's very little you can do as a consumer. You're not going to shop your way
out of monopoly capitalism. Now that Amazon has destroyed most of the
brick-and-mortar and digital stores out of business, boycotting Amazon often
just means doing without. The collective action problem of leaving Twitter or
Facebook is so insurmountable that you end up stuck there, with a bunch of
people you love and rely on, who all love each other, all hate the platform,
but can't agree on a day and time to leave or a destination to leave for and so
end up stuck there.
I've been experiencing some challenging stuff in my personal life lately and
yesterday, I just found myself unable to deal with my usual podcast fare so I
tuned into the videos from the very last XOXO, in search of uplifting fare:
[24]https://www.youtube.com/@xoxofest
I found it. Talks by Dan Olson, Cabel Sasser, Ed Yong and many others,
especially Molly White:
[25]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTaeVVAvk-c
Molly's talk was so, so good, but when I got to her call to action, I found
myself pulling a bit of a face:
But the platforms do not exist without the people, and there are a lot more
of us than there are of them. The platforms have installed themselves in a
position of power, but they are also vulnerable…
Are the platforms really that vulnerable? The collective action problem is so
hard, the switching costs are so high – maybe the fact that "there's a lot more
of us than there are of them" is a bug, not a feature. The more of us there
are, the thornier our collective action problem and the higher the switching
costs, after all.
And then I had a realization: the conduit through which I experience Molly's
excellent work is totally enshittification-proof, and the more I use it, the
easier it is for everyone to be less enshittified.
This conduit is anti-lock-in, it works for nearly the whole internet. It is
surveillance-resistant, far more accessible than the web or any mobile app
interface. It is my secret super-power.
It's RSS.
RSS (one of those ancient internet acronyms with multiple definitions,
including, but not limited to, "Really Simple Syndication") is an invisible,
automatic way for internet-connected systems to public "feeds." For example,
rather than reloading the Wired homepage every day and trying to figure out
which stories are new (their layout makes this very hard to do!), you can just
sign up for Wired's RSS feed, and use an RSS reader to monitor the site and
preview new stories the moment they're published. Wired pushes about 600 words
from each article into that feed, stripped of the usual stuff that makes Wired
nearly impossible to read: no 20-second delay subscription pop-up, text in a
font and size of your choosing. You can follow Wired's feed without any
cookies, and Wired gets no information about which of its stories you read.
Wired doesn't even get to know that you're monitoring its feed.
I don't mean to pick on Wired here. This goes for every news source I follow –
from CNN to the New York Times. But RSS isn't just good for the news! It's good
for everything. Your friends' blogs? Every blogging platform emits an RSS feed
by default. You can follow every one of them in your reader.
Not just blogs. Do you follow a bunch of substackers or other newsletters?
They've all got RSS feeds. You can read those newsletters without ever
registering in the analytics of the platforms that host them. The text shows up
in black and white (not the sadistic, 8-point, 80% grey-on-white type these
things all default to). It is always delivered, without any risk of your email
provider misclassifying an update as spam:
[26]https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/10/dead-letters/
Did you know that, by default, your email sends information to mailing list
platforms about your reading activity? The platform gets to know if you opened
the message, and often how far along you've read in it. On top of that, they
get all the private information your browser or app leaks about you, including
your location. This is unbelievably gross, and you get to bypass all of it,
just by reading in RSS.
Are your friends too pithy for a newsletter, preferring to quip on social
media? Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to get an RSS feed from Insta/FB/
Twitter, but all those new ones that have popped up? They all have feeds. You
can follow any Mastodon account (which means you can follow any Threads
account) via RSS. Same for Bluesky. That also goes for older platforms, like
Tumblr and Medium. There's RSS for Hacker News, and there's a sub-feed for the
comments on every story. You can get RSS feeds for the Fedex, UPS and USPS
parcels you're awaiting, too.
Your local politician's website probably has an RSS feed. Ditto your state and
national reps. There's an RSS feed for each federal agency (the FCC has a great
blog!).
Your RSS reader lets you put all these feeds into folders if you want. You can
even create automatic folders, based on keywords, or even things like
"infrequently updated sites" (I follow a bunch of people via RSS who only
update a couple times per year – cough, Danny O'Brien, cough – and never miss a
post).
Your RSS reader doesn't (necessarily) have an algorithm. By default, you'll get
everything as it appears, in reverse-chronological order.
Does that remind you of anything? Right: this is how social media used to work,
before it was enshittified. You can single-handedly disenshittify your
experience of virtually the entire web, just by switching to RSS, traveling
back in time to the days when Facebook and Twitter were more interested in
showing you the things you asked to see, rather than the ads and boosted
content someone else would pay to cram into your eyeballs.
Now, you sign up to so many feeds that you're feeling overwhelmed and you want
an algorithm to prioritize posts – or recommend content. Lots of RSS readers
have some kind of algorithm and recommendation system (I use News, which offers
both, though I don't use them – I like the glorious higgeldy-piggeldy of the
undifferentiated firehose feed).
But you control the algorithm, you control the recommendations. And if a new
RSS reader pops up with an algorithm you're dying to try, you can export all
the feeds you follow with a single click, which will generate an OPML file.
Then, with one click, you can import that OPML file into any other RSS reader
in existence and all your feeds will be seamlessly migrated there. You can
delete your old account, or you can even use different readers for different
purposes.
You can access RSS in a browser or in an app on your phone (most RSS readers
have an app), and they'll sync up, so a story you mark to read later on your
phone will be waiting for you the next time you load up your reader in a
browser tab, and you won't see the same stories twice (unless you want to, in
which case you can mark them as unread).
RSS basically works like social media should work. Using RSS is a chance to
visit a utopian future in which the platforms have no power, and all power is
vested in publishers, who get to decide what to publish, and in readers, who
have total control over what they read and how, without leaking any personal
information through the simple act of reading.
And here's the best part: every time you use RSS, you bring that world closer
into being! The collective action problem that the publishers and friends and
politicians and businesses you care about is caused by the fact that everyone
they want to reach is on a platform, so if they leave the platform, they'll
lose that community. But the more people who use RSS to follow them, the less
they'll depend on the platform.
Unlike those largely useless, performative boycotts of widely used platforms,
switching to RSS doesn't require that you give anything up. Not only does
switching to RSS let you continue to follow all the newsletters, webpages and
social media accounts you're following now, it makes doing so better: more
private, more accessible, and less enshittified.
Switching to RSS lets you experience just the good parts of the enshitternet,
but that experience is delivered in manner that the new, good internet we're
all dying for.
My own newsletter is delivered in fulltext via RSS. If you're reading this as a
Mastodon or Twitter thread, on Tumblr or on Medium, or via email, you can get
it by RSS instead:
[27]https://pluralistic.net/feed/
Don't worry about which RSS reader you start with. It literally doesn't matter.
Remember, you can switch readers with two clicks and take all the feeds you've
subscribed to with you! If you want a recommendation, I have nothing but praise
for Newsblur, which I've been paying $2/month for since 2011 (!):
[28]https://newsblur.com/
Subscribing to feeds is super-easy, too: the links for RSS feeds are invisibly
embedded in web-pages. Just paste the URL of a web-page into your RSS reader's
"add feed" box and it'll automagically figure out where the feed lives and add
it to your subscriptions.
It's still true that the new, good internet will require a movement to overcome
the collective action problems and the legal barriers to disenshittifying
things. Almost nothing you do as an individual is going to make a difference.
But using RSS will! Using RSS to follow the stuff that matters to you will have
an immediate, profoundly beneficial impact on your own digital life – and it
will appreciably, irreversibly nudge the whole internet towards a better state.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Hey look at this ([29]permalink)
[heylookatt]
* You Can't Make Friends With The Rockstars [30]https://www.wheresyoured.at/
rockstars/
• Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (And Vice Versa) [31]https://
taylorjessen.blogspot.com/2024/10/tom-lehrer-tom-lehrer-discovers.html
• Conceptual models of space colonization [32]https://www.antipope.org/
charlie/blog-static/2024/10/conceptual-models-of-space-col.html
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A Wayback Machine banner.
This day in history ([33]permalink)
#20yrsago Sony bullies Retropod off the net [34]https://web.archive.org/web/
20041018040446/http://www.retropod.com/
#15yrsago This Side of Jordan – Violent jazz age novel by Charles M Schulz’s
son Monte [35]https://memex.craphound.com/2009/10/16/
this-side-of-jordan-violent-jazz-age-novel-by-charles-m-schulzs-son-monte/
#10yrsago FBI chief demands an end to cellphone security [36]https://
www.nytimes.com/2014/10/17/us/politics/
fbi-director-in-policy-speech-calls-dark-devices-hindrance-to-crime-solving.html
#10yrsago Please, Disney: put back John’s grandad’s Haunted Mansion tombstone
[37]https://thedisneyblog.com/2014/10/16/
petition-to-return-a-lost-tombstone-to-the-haunted-mansion/
#10yrsago How Microsoft hacked trademark law to let it secretly seize whole
businesses [38]https://www.wired.com/2014/10/microsoft-pinkerton/
#10yrsago If you think you’ve anonymized a data set, you’re probably wrong [39]
https://web.archive.org/web/20141014172827/http://research.neustar.biz/2014/09/
15/riding-with-the-stars-passenger-privacy-in-the-nyc-taxicab-dataset/
#10yrsago The lost cyber-crayolas of the mid-1990s [40]https://
memex.craphound.com/2014/10/16/the-lost-cyber-crayolas-of-the-mid-1990s/
#5yrsago “The People’s Money”: A crisp, simple, thorough explanation of how
government spending is paid for [41]https://neweconomicperspectives.org/2019/10
/the-peoples-money-part-1.html
#5yrsago What it’s like to have Apple rip off your successful Mac app [42]
https://memex.craphound.com/2019/10/16/
what-its-like-to-have-apple-rip-off-your-successful-mac-app/
#5yrsago Blizzard suspends college gamers from competitive play after they
display “Free Hong Kong” poster [43]https://www.vice.com/en/article/
three-college-hearthstone-protesters-banned-for-six-months/
#5yrsago Terrified of bad press after its China capitulation, Blizzard cancels
NYC Overwatch event [44]https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-15/
blizzard-cancels-overwatch-event-as-it-tries-to-contain-backlash
#5yrsago A San Diego Republican operator ran a massive, multimillion-dollar
Facebook scam that targeted boomers [45]https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/
craigsilverman/facebook-subscription-trap-free-trial-scam-ads-inc
#5yrsago Britain’s unbelievably stupid, dangerous porn “age verification”
scheme is totally dead [46]https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/
uk-government-abandons-planned-porn-age-verification-scheme/
#5yrsago Not only is Google’s auto-delete good for privacy, it’s also good news
for competition [47]https://memex.craphound.com/2019/10/16/
not-only-is-googles-auto-delete-good-for-privacy-its-also-good-news-for-competition
/
#5yrsago Edward Snowden on the global war on encryption: “This is our new
battleground” [48]https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/15/
encryption-lose-privacy-us-uk-australia-facebook
#5yrsago In Kansas’s poor, sick places, hospitals and debt collectors send the
ailing to debtor’s prison [49]https://features.propublica.org/medical-debt/
when-medical-debt-collectors-decide-who-gets-arrested-coffeyville-kansas
#5yrsago Want a ride in a Lyft? Just sign away your right to sue if they kill,
maim, rape or cheat you [50]https://memex.craphound.com/2019/10/16/
want-a-ride-in-a-lyft-just-sign-away-your-right-to-sue-if-they-kill-maim-rape-or-cheat-you
/
#5yrsago #RedForEd rebooted: Chicago’s teachers are back on strike [51]https://
www.thenation.com/article/archive/union-strike-chicago-teachers/
#1yrago One of America's most corporate-crime-friendly bankruptcy judges forced
to recuse himself [52]https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/16/texas-two-step/#
david-jones
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Upcoming appearances ([53]permalink)
A photo of me onstage, giving a speech, holding a mic.
• OKFN Tech We Want Online Summit (Remote), Oct 18
[54]https://okfn.org/en/events/the-tech-we-want-online-summit/
• SOSS Fusion (Atlanta), Oct 22
[55]https://sossfusion2024.sched.com/speaker/cory_doctorow.1qm5qfgn
• Eagle Eye Books (Decatur), Oct 23
[56]https://eagleeyebooks.com/event/2024-10-23/cory-doctorow
• TusCon (Tucson), Nov 8-10
[57]https://tusconscificon.com/
• International Cooperative Alliance (New Delhi), Nov 24
[58]https://icanewdelhi2024.coop/welcome/pages/Programme
• ISSA-LA Holiday Celebration keynote (Los Angeles), Dec 18
[59]https://issala.org/event/issa-la-december-18-dinner-meeting/
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A screenshot of me at my desk, doing a livecast.
Recent appearances ([60]permalink)
• Speciale intervista a Cory Doctorow (Digitalia)
[61]https://digitalia.fm/744/
• Was There Ever An Old, Good Internet? (David Graeber Institute)
[62]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Jlxx5TboE
• Go Fact Yourself
[63]https://maximumfun.org/episodes/go-fact-yourself/
ep-158-aida-rodriguez-cory-doctorow/
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A grid of my books with Will Stahle covers..
Latest books ([64]permalink)
• The Bezzle: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other
grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 ([65]
the-bezzle.org). Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies ([66]https:
//www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/).
• "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor
Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 ([67]http://lost-cause.org).
Signed, personalized copies at Dark Delicacies ([68]https://www.darkdel.com
/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/)
• "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech
(Verso) September 2023 ([69]http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed
copies at Book Soup ([70]https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245).
• "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you
knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books [71]
http://redteamblues.com. Signed copies at Dark Delicacies (US): [72] and
Forbidden Planet (UK): [73]https://forbiddenplanet.com/
385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/.
• "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get
Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for
creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 [74]https://
chokepointcapitalism.com
• "Attack Surface": The third Little Brother novel, a standalone
technothriller for adults. The Washington Post called it "a political
cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and
resistance." Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies [75]
https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html
• "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": an anti-monopoly pamphlet
analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a
solution. [76]https://onezero.medium.com/
how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=
f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b) (signed copies: [77]https://
www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/
Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html)
• "Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new
introduction by Edward Snowden: [78]https://us.macmillan.com/books/
9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: [79]https://www.darkdel.com
/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html
• "Poesy the Monster Slayer" a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender,
and kicking ass. Order here: [80]https://us.macmillan.com/books/
9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: [81]https://
www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/
Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
A cardboard book box with the Macmillan logo.
Upcoming books ([82]permalink)
• Picks and Shovels: a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of
the PC, Tor Books, February 2025
• Unauthorized Bread: a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella
about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2025
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[colophonim]
Colophon ([83]permalink)
Today's top sources:
Currently writing:
• Enshittification: a nonfiction book about platform decay for Farrar,
Straus, Giroux. Today's progress: 818 words (64779 words total).
• A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING
• Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the
PC. FORTHCOMING TOR BOOKS FEB 2025
Latest podcast: Spill, part one (a Little Brother story) [84]https://
craphound.com/littlebrother/2024/10/06/spill-part-one-a-little-brother-story/
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[by]
This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like,
including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow,
and include a link to pluralistic.net.
[85]https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included
either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a
separate license. Please exercise caution.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
How to get Pluralistic:
Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):
[86]Pluralistic.net
Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):
[87]https://pluralistic.net/plura-list
Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):
[88]https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic
Medium (no ads, paywalled):
[89]https://doctorow.medium.com/
Twitter (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising):
[90]https://twitter.com/doctorow
Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising):
[91]https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic
"When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla
Like this:
Like Loading...
[bdd2b]Author [92]Cory DoctorowPosted on [93]October 16, 2024October 16, 2024
Categories [94]UncategorizedTags [95]accessibility, [96]big tech, [97]
disenshittification, [98]rss, [99]standards, [100]surveillance, [101]xml
[102]5 Comments
Post navigation
[103]Previous Previous post: Pluralistic: Of course we can tax billionaires (15
Oct 2024)
[104]Next Next post: Pluralistic: Blue states should play "constitutional
hardball" (18 Oct 2024)
Archives
• [105]October 2024
• [106]September 2024
• [107]August 2024
• [108]July 2024
• [109]June 2024
• [110]May 2024
• [111]April 2024
• [112]March 2024
• [113]February 2024
• [114]January 2024
• [115]December 2023
• [116]November 2023
• [117]October 2023
• [118]September 2023
• [119]August 2023
• [120]July 2023
• [121]June 2023
• [122]May 2023
• [123]April 2023
• [124]March 2023
• [125]February 2023
• [126]January 2023
• [127]December 2022
• [128]November 2022
• [129]October 2022
• [130]September 2022
• [131]August 2022
• [132]July 2022
• [133]June 2022
• [134]May 2022
• [135]April 2022
• [136]March 2022
• [137]February 2022
• [138]January 2022
• [139]December 2021
• [140]November 2021
• [141]October 2021
• [142]September 2021
• [143]August 2021
• [144]July 2021
• [145]June 2021
• [146]May 2021
• [147]April 2021
• [148]March 2021
• [149]February 2021
• [150]January 2021
• [151]December 2020
• [152]November 2020
• [153]October 2020
• [154]September 2020
• [155]August 2020
• [156]July 2020
• [157]June 2020
• [158]May 2020
• [159]April 2020
• [160]March 2020
• [161]February 2020
Categories
• [162]Medium
• [163]Uncategorized
Meta
• [164]Log in
• [165]Entries feed
• [166]Comments feed
• [167]WordPress.org
Previous editions
• [168]Pluralistic: AI's "human in the loop" isn't (30 Oct 2024)
• [169]Pluralistic: Conspiratorialism as a material phenomenon (29 Oct 2024)
• [170]Pluralistic: The US Copyright Office frees the McFlurry (28 Oct 2024)
• [171]Pluralistic: Keeping a suspense file gives you superpowers (26 Oct
2024)
• [172]Pluralistic: Ian McDonald's "The Wilding" (25 Oct 2024)
[173] 49501796801_4247c0309f_k
Search for: [174][ ] Search
READ CAREFULLY
By reading this website, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me
from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED
agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap,
confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies
("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners,
licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing
rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to
release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.
Optimized for Netscape Navigator.
[176]badge for deflect.ca, reading 'Protected by Deflect'
• [177]Books
• [178]About
• [179]Forums
• [180]Podcast
• [181]Newsletter
• [182]RSS
• [183]Twitter
• [184]Mastodon
• [185]Medium
• [186]Tumblr
[187]Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow [188] Proudly powered by
WordPress
[189] [190]
Loading Comments...
Write a Comment... [ ]
Email (Required) [192][ ] Name (Required)
[193][ ] Website [194][ ]
[195][Post Comment]
[196]
%d
References:
[1] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#content
[2] https://pluralistic.net/
[4] https://craphound.com/
[5] https://craphound.com/bio
[6] https://chinwag.pluralistic.net/
[7] https://craphound.com/feeds/doctorow_podcast
[8] https://pluralistic.net/plura-list
[9] https://pluralistic.net/feed/
[10] https://twitter.com/doctorow
[11] https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic
[12] https://doctorow.medium.com/
[13] https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/
[14] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/
[15] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise
[16] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#linkdump
[17] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#retro
[18] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#upcoming
[19] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#recent
[20] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#latest
[21] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#upcoming-books
[22] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#bragsheet
[23] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise
[24] https://www.youtube.com/@xoxofest
[25] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTaeVVAvk-c
[26] https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/10/dead-letters/
[27] https://pluralistic.net/feed/
[28] https://newsblur.com/
[29] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#linkdump
[30] https://www.wheresyoured.at/rockstars/
[31] https://taylorjessen.blogspot.com/2024/10/tom-lehrer-tom-lehrer-discovers.html
[32] https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/10/conceptual-models-of-space-col.html
[33] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#retro
[34] https://web.archive.org/web/20041018040446/http://www.retropod.com/
[35] https://memex.craphound.com/2009/10/16/this-side-of-jordan-violent-jazz-age-novel-by-charles-m-schulzs-son-monte/
[36] https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/17/us/politics/fbi-director-in-policy-speech-calls-dark-devices-hindrance-to-crime-solving.html
[37] https://thedisneyblog.com/2014/10/16/petition-to-return-a-lost-tombstone-to-the-haunted-mansion/
[38] https://www.wired.com/2014/10/microsoft-pinkerton/
[39] https://web.archive.org/web/20141014172827/http://research.neustar.biz/2014/09/15/riding-with-the-stars-passenger-privacy-in-the-nyc-taxicab-dataset/
[40] https://memex.craphound.com/2014/10/16/the-lost-cyber-crayolas-of-the-mid-1990s/
[41] https://neweconomicperspectives.org/2019/10/the-peoples-money-part-1.html
[42] https://memex.craphound.com/2019/10/16/what-its-like-to-have-apple-rip-off-your-successful-mac-app/
[43] https://www.vice.com/en/article/three-college-hearthstone-protesters-banned-for-six-months/
[44] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-15/blizzard-cancels-overwatch-event-as-it-tries-to-contain-backlash
[45] https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/facebook-subscription-trap-free-trial-scam-ads-inc
[46] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/uk-government-abandons-planned-porn-age-verification-scheme/
[47] https://memex.craphound.com/2019/10/16/not-only-is-googles-auto-delete-good-for-privacy-its-also-good-news-for-competition/
[48] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/15/encryption-lose-privacy-us-uk-australia-facebook
[49] https://features.propublica.org/medical-debt/when-medical-debt-collectors-decide-who-gets-arrested-coffeyville-kansas/
[50] https://memex.craphound.com/2019/10/16/want-a-ride-in-a-lyft-just-sign-away-your-right-to-sue-if-they-kill-maim-rape-or-cheat-you/
[51] https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/union-strike-chicago-teachers/
[52] https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/16/texas-two-step/#david-jones
[53] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#upcoming
[54] https://okfn.org/en/events/the-tech-we-want-online-summit/
[55] https://sossfusion2024.sched.com/speaker/cory_doctorow.1qm5qfgn
[56] https://eagleeyebooks.com/event/2024-10-23/cory-doctorow
[57] https://tusconscificon.com/
[58] https://icanewdelhi2024.coop/welcome/pages/Programme
[59] https://issala.org/event/issa-la-december-18-dinner-meeting/
[60] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#recent
[61] https://digitalia.fm/744/
[62] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Jlxx5TboE
[63] https://maximumfun.org/episodes/go-fact-yourself/ep-158-aida-rodriguez-cory-doctorow/
[64] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#latest
[65] http://the-bezzle.org/
[66] https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3062/Available_Feb_20th%3A_The_Bezzle_HB.html#/
[67] http://lost-cause.org/
[68] https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/
[69] http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org/
[70] https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245
[71] http://redteamblues.com/
[72] https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2873/Wed%2C_Apr_26th_6pm%3A_Red_Team_Blues%3A_A_Martin_Hench_Novel_HB.html#/
[73] https://forbiddenplanet.com/385004-red-team-blues-signed-edition-hardcover/
[74] https://chokepointcapitalism.com/
[75] https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html
[76] https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59?sk=f6cd10e54e20a07d4c6d0f3ac011af6b
[77] https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html
[78] https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583
[79] https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html
[80] https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627
[81] https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/
[82] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#upcoming-books
[83] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#bragsheet
[84] https://craphound.com/littlebrother/2024/10/06/spill-part-one-a-little-brother-story/
[85] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
[86] http://pluralistic.net/
[87] https://pluralistic.net/plura-list
[88] https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic
[89] https://doctorow.medium.com/
[90] https://twitter.com/doctorow
[91] https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic
[92] https://pluralistic.net/author/doctorow/
[93] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/
[94] https://pluralistic.net/category/uncategorized/
[95] https://pluralistic.net/tag/accessibility/
[96] https://pluralistic.net/tag/big-tech/
[97] https://pluralistic.net/tag/disenshittification/
[98] https://pluralistic.net/tag/rss/
[99] https://pluralistic.net/tag/standards/
[100] https://pluralistic.net/tag/surveillance/
[101] https://pluralistic.net/tag/xml/
[102] https://chinwag.pluralistic.net/t/pluralistic-you-should-be-using-an-rss-reader-16-oct-2024/1319
[103] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/15/piketty-pilled/
[104] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/18/states-rights/
[105] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/
[106] https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/
[107] https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/
[108] https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/
[109] https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/
[110] https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/
[111] https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/
[112] https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/
[113] https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/
[114] https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/
[115] https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/
[116] https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/
[117] https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/
[118] https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/
[119] https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/
[120] https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/
[121] https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/
[122] https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/
[123] https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/
[124] https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/
[125] https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/
[126] https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/
[127] https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/
[128] https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/
[129] https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/
[130] https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/
[131] https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/
[132] https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/
[133] https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/
[134] https://pluralistic.net/2022/05/
[135] https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/
[136] https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/
[137] https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/
[138] https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/
[139] https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/
[140] https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/
[141] https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/
[142] https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/
[143] https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/
[144] https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/
[145] https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/
[146] https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/
[147] https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/
[148] https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/
[149] https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/
[150] https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/
[151] https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/
[152] https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/
[153] https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/
[154] https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/
[155] https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/
[156] https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/
[157] https://pluralistic.net/2020/06/
[158] https://pluralistic.net/2020/05/
[159] https://pluralistic.net/2020/04/
[160] https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/
[161] https://pluralistic.net/2020/02/
[162] https://pluralistic.net/category/medium/
[163] https://pluralistic.net/category/uncategorized/
[164] https://pluralistic.net/wp-login.php
[165] https://pluralistic.net/feed/
[166] https://pluralistic.net/comments/feed/
[167] https://wordpress.org/
[168] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/30/a-neck-in-a-noose/
[169] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/29/hobbesian-slop/
[170] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/28/mcbroken/
[171] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/26/one-weird-trick/
[172] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/25/bogman/
[173] https://pluralistic.net/49501796801_4247c0309f_k-2/
[176] https://deflect.ca/
[177] https://craphound.com/
[178] https://craphound.com/bio
[179] https://chinwag.pluralistic.net/
[180] https://craphound.com/feeds/doctorow_podcast
[181] https://pluralistic.net/plura-list
[182] https://pluralistic.net/feed/
[183] https://twitter.com/doctorow
[184] https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic
[185] https://doctorow.medium.com/
[186] https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/
[187] https://pluralistic.net/
[188] https://wordpress.org/
[189] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#
[190] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#
[196] https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#

621
static/archive/syllabusproject-org-ncgptq.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,621 @@
A Syllabus for Generalists
by [1]Cristina Jerney
In recent years, there’s a tendency towards specialism and specialists, from
the job market to identities to relationships to education and more.
Conversations around university education, for example, tend to be focused on
high-earning job prospects, rather than on developing multidisciplinary ways of
thinking. The job market tends to favor people who have had a clear, laddered
path to success. The prevalence of TikTok trends, which disappear as quickly as
they appear, have viewers categorizing themselves within a range of attributes,
classifications that are used as bywords for a personality: “clean girl”,
“softboi”, “thought daughter”, “thot daughter”, “de-influencers”, and more.
Curiosity for curiosity’s sake is not discouraged, per se, but it’s not clearly
monetizable either, and therefore can be deprioritized.
As a result, people are quick to try to categorize themselves based on interest
or skill, as a way of telling the world who they are quickly, before an
audience’s attention runs out, which can lead to tunnel vision, bias, and a
sense of social entrapment. Generalists have an important place within society,
working from a broad range of knowledge that brings context into the complex
and nuanced circumstances humanity finds themselves in today. For example,
doctors looking to improve their practices could find helpful lessons from
history and philosophy—the history of humankind is also the history of
generations of patients, after all. However, generalists have long faced the
danger of being overlooked as the “jack of all trades, master of none”.
A syllabus for generalists is comprised of four weeks of general education;
that is, a little bit of everything. It contains something for everyone—for
specialists looking to branch out, and for generalists searching for new
beginnings of knowledge.
Though formal in tone, this is not meant to be an authoritarian syllabus, but
rather a jumping off point. Additionally, there is no pressure to finish
everything within a specific time period. Come back to this syllabus (or its
structure) whenever you like.
Suggested method: Choose a week, and then choose one topic per day. Take notes
(digitally or on paper), doodle, ask questions, research further. You don’t
need to use all of the texts—review what you like, to whatever level you like!
Once the day is over, move on to the next topic, and don’t think about it until
summation. At the end of the week, review your learnings.
Week 1: Core Curriculum—or, things you forgot about in math, science,
literature, and history
Key math principles, texts, and problems
Algebra
Algebra is a foundational form of mathematics that is used to discover
unknowns. Using letters (typically x and y) to stand in for an undetermined
value, algebraic formulas are the foundation for advanced math, science, and
engineering. Algebra has many everyday uses, including budgeting, comparing
price per volume, working out travel times, calculating ingredients for
recipes, and more.
Texts:
[2]Introduction to Algebra by BCC Bitesize
[3]Algebra Basics by CueMath
[4]Algebra – From Beginners to Advanced by LibreTexts
[5]The History of Algebra and the Development of the Form of Its Language by
Ladislav Kvasz
Problem Set:
[6]Algebra Problem Set by Paul’s Online Notes
Geometry
Geometry is a form of mathematics that expresses values relating to space.
Geometry is used to calculate the distance, size, shape, and relative position
of an object. Use cases for geometry range from art and architecture to most
scientific disciplines.
Texts:
[7]Introduction to Geometry by Skills You Need
[8]Geometry – From Beginners to Advanced by LibreTexts
[9]Geometry: A History from Practice to Abstraction by Nrich
[10]A Brief History of Geometry by N J Wildberger
Problem Set:
[11]Geometry Problem Set 1 by Maths Made Easy
[12]Geometry Problem Set 1 Answers By Maths Made Easy
[13]Geometry Problem Set 2 by Maths Made Easy
[14]Geometry Problem Set 2 Answers by Maths Made Easy
Trigonometry
Trigonometry focuses on the form and functions of angles, used for astronomy,
optics, acoustics, graphics, engineering, and more. The six most common
functions are sine (sin), cosine (cos), tangent (tan), cotangent (cot), secant
(sec), and cosecant (csc).
Texts:
[15]Introduction to Trigonometry by BBC Bitesize
[16]Trigonometry – From Beginners to Advanced by LibreTexts
[17]Further Trigonometry by LibreTexts
[18]History of Trigonometry by Nrich
Problem Set:
[19]Trigonometry Problem Set by Math10
Calculus
Calculus is the mathematical study of continuous change; for example, use cases
include calculating velocity and acceleration. Calculus is therefore used in
all physical sciences, for mathematical modeling, and more.
Texts:
[20]The Three Calculus Concepts You Need to Know by PiDay
[21]Introduction to Calculus by CueMath
[22]Calculus – From Beginners to Advanced by LibreTexts
[23]Calculus Textbooks by Active Calculus
[24]The History of Calculus by Oxford Scholastica Academy
[25]A Brief History of Calculus by Dalhousie University
Problem Set:
[26]Calculus I Problem Set by Paul’s Online Notes
[27]Calculus II Problem Set by Paul’s Online Notes
[28]Calculus III Problem Set by Paul’s Online Notes
Key science principles, texts, and experiments
Physics
Physics is the natural science of matter, and addresses motion, force, and
energy. Use cases include driving, engineering, astronomy, and more.
Texts:
[29]Introductory Physics by the University of Winnipeg
[30]Physics – From Beginners to Advanced by LibreTexts
[31]The People’s Physics Book by James H. Dann and James J. Dann
[32]Six Defining Moments in the History of Physics by Immerse Education
Experiment:
[33]Distance and Speed of Rolling Objects Measured from Video Recordings by
Science Buddies
Chemistry
Chemistry is the natural science of properties and composition of matter, and
addresses the reactions of different matters. Use cases include cooking,
cleaning, cosmetics, medicines, and more.
Texts:
[34]Beginning Chemistry by LibreTexts
[35]General Chemistry by LibreTexts
[36]Interactive Periodic Table by the Royal Society of Chemistry
[37]A Brief History of Chemistry by 2012Books
Experiment:
[38]Chemistry of Ice Cream Making by Science Buddies
Biology
Biology is the natural science concerned with living organisms. Use cases
include medicine and health, agriculture, and more.
Texts:
[39]Introduction to Biology by Open Stax
[40]Biology, Answering the Big Questions of Life by Wikibooks
[41]Biology – From Beginners to Advanced by LibreTexts
[42]The History of Biology by Britannica
Experiment:
[43]Can Your Body Temperature Tell the Time of Day? by Science Buddies
Key literature principles, texts, and questions
Some suggested readings—some familiar, some less familiar. If none of these
pique your interest, feel free to choose your own to follow the interpretation
and writing exercises below.
Suggestions for Reading
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome
Blowing the Bloody Doors Off by Michael Caine
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
One Art: Letters by Elizabeth Bishop
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel
The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Wei Wei
Tribes by Nina Raine
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht
Hawaii’s Story by Queen Lili’uokalani
The Door by Magda Szabo
Libro de las preguntas by Pablo Neruda
Interpretation & Writing
Take notes (mental, digital, physical, or otherwise) on your selected text(s).
Then respond to one (or more) of the following prompts in any manner you choose
(essay, poem, video, art, interpretive dance, etc):
– Evaluate the idea that where someone comes from affects the language they
use.
– How is technology changing language, and how is this explored in your chosen
text?
– Compare and contrast two texts from the suggested readings.
– “Identity is mobile: a process, not a thing; a becoming, not a being.” (Simon
Firth). Use this quote to explore one of the texts above.
– Under what circumstances are characters “free” or “trapped” in one of the
readings above?
– Discuss the role of the family unit within your chosen text.
– How does the form of your chosen text help get its key message across?
Key history principles, texts, and reimaginings
It’s impossible to do justice to the entirety of history; therefore, here are
some selected texts, to use as a jumping off point.
Some general histories
[44]Andrew Marr’s History of the World by the BBC
[45]Connections by James Burke by the BBC
[46]The History of Africa by Britannica
[47]The History of Antarctica by Britannica
[48]The History of Asia by Britannica
[49]The History of Australia by Britannica
[50]The History of Europe by Britannica
[51]The History of North America by Britannica
[52]The History of South America by Britannica
Some lesser-known histories
[53]The History of Italian Food by Marianna Giusti
[54]The Story of Ziryab by History Collection
[55]The Lesbian Pulp Fiction That Saved Lives by Atlas Obscura
[56]The People Who Danced Themselves to Death by the BBC
[57]Mansa Musa by National Geographic
[58]How the British let one million Indians die in famine by the BBC
[59]What Really Happened at Wounded Knee by National Geographic
[60]Paraguay still haunted by cataclysmic war that nearly wiped it off the map
by The Guardian
[61]Emperor Norton by the Museum of the City of San Francisco
Reimaginings
Take notes (mental, digital, physical, or otherwise) on your selected
histories. Then respond to one (or more) of the following prompts in any manner
you choose (essay, poem, video, art, interpretive dance, etc):
– Analyze and contextualize a lesser-known history into your larger
understanding of the area/history.
– Could you create a narrative out of the history you’ve just learned about
from multiple perspectives?
– Analyze and contextualize a cultural output (literature, food, art, etc)
within its historical circumstances.
– How can historians determine facts? How much of the history you’ve learned do
you consider to be narrative and interpretation vs. true fact
– Like the tv show Connections (listed above), how far back can you trace
today’s events?
Summation
Write a reflection (in prose, in poetry, in bullet points, in geometry, etc.)
on your key takeaways from these principles. Was there anything you liked or
disliked more than when you had previously learned it? Is there anything
completely new you learned? What do you want to learn more about? What do you
want to explore next?
Week 2: Practical Skills—or, things you never learned but always wondered how
to do
Ham Radio
Ham Radio is amateur radio communication, focused on connecting with people
around the world. Operating on specific frequencies designated for amateurs,
using ham radios can be fun, challenging, and handy in times of emergency. You
can even talk to astronauts on the space station! On a personal note, it’s
something that my father has been trying to get me to learn for years (this
syllabus is as much for me as it is for anyone else!).
Operating a ham radio requires a license; resources can be found below.
[62]Beginners Guide to Ham Radio by Edwin Robledo
[63]Why You Should Learn to Love Ham Radio by Jason Feifer
[64]Why Do I Have to Learn Theory to Use a Radio? by Ham Hub 
[65]Radio Society of Great Britain
[66]The National Association for Amateur Radio (US)
N.B.: This syllabus is not suggesting that you learn and master ham radio in a
day or even a week. However, in this age of extreme communication, this
syllabus would like to gently remind its readers that not all forms of
communication are guaranteed (such as when there is interference with cell
phone towers). Ham radio is one of many types of practical communication that
can be practiced and studied; if this isn’t your thing, maybe write letters or
find other non-mobile/computing ways of communicating! The ideals of ham
radio—experimentation, innovation, connection—can be explored in many different
ways, and all without obtaining a license. 
Tying Knots
How many times have you found yourself in a situation where it would have been
handy to know a strong knot, something that sailors would use? Okay, maybe not
too often—but there’s no denying that it’s a good skill to have in case of
emergency, for daily practical uses (a handy knot can be a simple fix to broken
items and more!), and outdoor activities.
This syllabus highly suggests getting a length of string or rope to practice
these knots; knowledge is not often meant to stay theoretical!
[67]Complete Knot List by Animated Knots
[68]The Basic Knots by Trip Pilot
[69]Essential Knots: 10 Basic Knots Everyone Should Know by HICONSUMPTION
[70]How to Tie a Knot: The 21 Essential Knots You Need to Know by Outdoor Life
Home Maintenance
You don’t have to be an aspiring DIY-er to be able to look after your home
(whether your rent or own)—and consistent, small actions save you a lot of
hassle (and money!) in the long run. 
[71]Making Your Home More Eco-Friendly by Mr. Handyman
[72]Home Maintenance Checklist by The Right Choice Realty
[73]The Ultimate Guide to Maintenance Appliance by Checkatrade
[74]How to Repair a House Wall by B&Q
[75]How to Fix a Poor Caulking Job Well by Silicone Depot
Food Preservation
Making your food last longer is good for your paycheck, the environment, your
health, and is a good skill to know generally. There are several different
methods of food preservation; this syllabus includes a few for you to try.
[76]Food Preservation Methods and Guidance by Human Focus
[77]A Guide to Home Food Preservation by MasterClass
[78]The National Center for Home Food Preservation by the University of Georgia
Summation
Create a reflection (in prose, in a knot, in bullet points, in a jam, in
another practical skill, etc.) on what these practical skills give you. How do
they compare with your current skillset? What do you want to learn next?
Week 3: Just For Fun—or, one-time projects that can allow you to try a new
hobby
This week is defined by four core methods of a hobby—something to make,
something to do, something to find, and something to relax. Again, these are
suggestions—feel free to substitute your own make, do, find, or relax as you
see fit!
Make: Limoncello
Limoncello is easy to make, and a lovely drink to sip on a hot summer evening.
It’s also a great housewarming gift! Making it at home also gives you control
over the amount of alcohol and sugar in the recipe, so you can make it to your
taste.
[79]Limoncello by BBC Good Food
[80]Homemade Limoncello Easy by Fatto in Casa de Benedetta
Bonus: Pink lemonade
Are you looking for a similarly refreshing drink, sans alcohol? Pink lemonade
is another classic summer staple, and easy to make at home as well.
[81]Pink Lemonade by BBC Good Food
Do: Origami
Origami is a Japanese art that involves folding a single piece of paper to
create a sculpture or form. It’s easy to try, fun to do, and can be a great
creative outlet.
[82]Origami Beginner’s Guide by Origami.mi
[83]Origami for Everyone by Instructables
Bonus: Photography Embroidery
Give your photos a fresh look—try embroidering your photography for a tactile,
standout touch.
[84]Add colorful embroidery to old black and white photos by Studio 5 KSL
[85]Hand Embroidery for Beginners by Let’s Explore
Find: Geocaching
Geocaching is a worldwide, ongoing treasure hunt. Participants look for caches,
or small waterproof boxes that contain a logbook and, occasionally, trinkets.
It’s a great outdoor activity, and a great way to test those scavenger hunt
skills.
[86]Geocaching 101 by Geocaching
[87]Geocaching for families by the National Trust
[88]How to Get Started Geocaching by REI
Bonus: Invader
Invader is a French street artist, known for secretly installing small mosaic
space invaders and other artwork around the world. Depending on where you live,
you may be able to find some; or if you’re traveling, keep an eye out and
document the ones you find!
[89]Space Invaders by Invader
[90]Space Invader Map by Note
Relax: Cryptic Crosswords
Cryptic crosswords are regular crosswords’ trickier counterpart – more
advanced, complex, and, at times, downright annoying. However, getting a clue
right in a cryptic crossword is extremely satisfying, and a great way to
stretch your brain while relaxing.
[91]Beginner’s guide to solving cryptic crosswords by The Guardian
[92]Guide to Cryptic Crosswords by The Wall Street Journal 
[93]How to do Cryptic Crosswords by the Financial Times
[94]Daily Cryptic Crossword by The Guardian
Bonus: Chess Puzzles
If you already know the rules of chess, chess puzzles can be a great way to
improve your logic skills. Or, if you’re a chess beginner, it can be a great
way to get into the chess mindset, so you’re ready to beat any future
opponents.
[95]Puzzles by [96]Chess.com
[97]How to Play Chess by Chess.com
Summation
Write a reflection (in prose, in a cryptic clue, in bullet points, in
limoncello, etc.) on what activities during downtime gives you. Leave it in a
geocaching cache if you’re feeling brave.
Week 4: Staying Curious—or, creating your own generalist’s syllabus
What are you still dying to know? What could interest you outside of your usual
work, hobbies, and routines? Create your own generalist’s syllabus to learn and
document new knowledge, and to share with your community.
Step 1: Brainstorm – what do you want to learn? what do you want other people
to learn?
[98]Create a Syllabus by MIT’s Teaching and Learning Lab
Step 2: Research – deep dive into your topics
[99]Free Databases by EBSCO
[100]Free Databases by CSU Long Beach
[101]Free Databases and Collections by Smithsonian Libraries
[102]YouTube
[103]Reddit
Step 3: Collate resources – gather, gather, gather
[104]15 Best Free Web Tools to Organize Your Research by Lifewire
Step 4: Write your syllabus – and edit it, if it doesn’t make sense the first
time around
Choose your favorite method—personally, I wrote this in [105]Scrivener.
Step 5: Share – we are all made smarter by what we learn from people around us
Share with one person, with your family, your friends, or with a wider
audience—or keep it for yourself. It’s up to you!
Further Resources
Further reading on various topics, to begin a new generalist’s journey.
[106]Free Courses by the Open University
[107]Math Cheat Sheets by Paul’s Online Notes
[108]What Happens to the Stuff We Send Into Space by Atlas Obscura
[109]What’s the Fastest Language in the World by Atlas Obscura
[110]The Computer History Museum
[111]Amortization Schedule Calendar by [112]Calculator.Net
[113]How to Mend Your Clothes by Remake
[114]Agnes Varda by The Gentlewoman Club
[115]Bicerin Recipe by BBC Good Food
[116]Starting a Garden from Scratch by the National Garden Scheme
[117]The Beginner’s Guide to Creating a Kitchen Garden by The Oxfordshire
Gardener
[118]Her Blazing World by Francesca Peacock
[119][BoY-logo]
References:
[1] https://syllabusproject.org/cristina-jerney/
[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zkf7xfr
[3] https://www.cuemath.com/algebra/basic-of-algebra/
[4] https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Algebra
[5] https://academic.oup.com/philmat/article/14/3/287/1462575
[6] https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Problems/Alg/Alg.aspx
[7] https://www.skillsyouneed.com/num/geometry.html
[8] https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Geometry
[9] https://nrich.maths.org/6352
[10] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFMcNXC-dW0&ab_channel=InsightsintoMathematics
[11] https://mmerevise.co.uk/app/uploads/2017/10/C1-A-Level-Maths-Coordinate-Geometry-Curve-Questions-AQA-OCR-Edexcel-MEI.pdf
[12] https://mmerevise.co.uk/app/uploads/2017/10/C1-A-Level-Maths-Coordinate-Geometry-Curve-Answers.pdf
[13] https://mmerevise.co.uk/app/uploads/2017/10/C1-A-Level-Maths-Straight-Line-Coordinate-Geometry-Questions-all.pdf
[14] https://mmerevise.co.uk/app/uploads/2017/10/C1-A-Level-Maths-Straight-Line-Coordinate-Geometry-Answers.pdf
[15] https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z93rkqt
[16] https://math.libretexts.org/Courses/Reedley_College/Trigonometry
[17] https://math.libretexts.org/Courses/Fort_Hays_State_University/Review_for_Calculus/02%3A_Trigonometry
[18] https://nrich.maths.org/6843
[19] https://www.math10.com/problems/trigonometry-problems/easy/
[20] https://www.piday.org/the-3-calculus-concepts-you-need-to-know/
[21] https://www.cuemath.com/calculus/
[22] https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Calculus
[23] https://activecalculus.org/
[24] https://www.oxfordscholastica.com/blog/newton-and-leibniz-the-fathers-of-calculus/
[25] https://www.mscs.dal.ca/~kgardner/History.html
[26] https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/problems/calci/calci.aspx
[27] https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Problems/CalcII/CalcII.aspx
[28] https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Problems/CalcIII/CalcIII.aspx
[29] https://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/physics/
[30] https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/College_Physics/College_Physics_1e_(OpenStax)
[31] https://scipp.ucsc.edu/outreach/index2.html
[32] https://www.immerse.education/study-tips/physics/history-of-physics/
[33] https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Phys_p027/physics/distance-and-speed-of-rolling-objects-measured-from-video-recordings
[34] https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Chemistry/Beginning_Chemistry_(Ball)
[35] https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Chemistry_1e_(OpenSTAX)
[36] https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table
[37] https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/principles-of-general-chemistry-v1.0/s05-04-a-brief-history-of-chemistry.html
[38] https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/FoodSci_p013/cooking-food-science/chemistry-of-ice-cream-making
[39] https://openstax.org/books/biology/pages/1-introduction
[40] https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Biology,_Answering_the_Big_Questions_of_Life
[41] https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves
[42] https://www.britannica.com/science/biology/The-history-of-biology
[43] https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/HumBio_p020/human-biology-health/human-circadian-cycles-body-temperature
[44] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03ty0wf/clips
[45] https://archive.org/details/ConnectionsByJamesBurke/Connections/Season+1/Connections+S01E01+-+The+Trigger+Effect.mp4
[46] https://www.britannica.com/place/Africa
[47] https://www.britannica.com/place/Antarctica/History
[48] https://www.britannica.com/place/Asia
[49] https://www.britannica.com/place/Australia/History
[50] https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe
[51] https://www.britannica.com/place/North-America
[52] https://www.britannica.com/place/South-America
[53] https://www.ft.com/content/6ac009d5-dbfd-4a86-839e-28bb44b2b64c
[54] https://historycollection.com/ziryab-genius-cordoba-history-forgot/
[55] https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lesbian-pulp-fiction-ann-bannon
[56] https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220512-the-people-who-danced-themselves-to-death
[57] https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/mansa-musa-musa-i-mali/
[58] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-36339524
[59] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/what-really-happened-at-wounded-knee-the-site-of-a-historic-massacre
[60] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/27/paraguay-war-of-the-triple-alliance-anniversary
[61] https://sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html
[62] https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/blog/beginners-guide-ham-radio-make/#:~:text=The%20basics%20of%20ham%20radio,to%20communicate%20and%20connect%20with.
[63] https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a14410/why-you-should-learn-to-love-th-ham-radio/
[64] https://www.hamhub.uk/content/why-do-i-have-to-learn-theory-to-use-a-radio/
[65] https://rsgb.org/main/operating/licensing-novs-visitors/uk-licensing/
[66] https://www.arrl.org/ham-radio-licenses
[67] https://www.animatedknots.com/complete-knot-list
[68] https://www.trippilot.net/post/the-basic-knots
[69] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHLGZkR8Q8E&ab_channel=HICONSUMPTION
[70] https://www.outdoorlife.com/photos/gallery/hunting/2012/02/essential-knots-how-tie-20-knots-will-keep-you-alive/
[71] https://www.mrhandyman.com/tips-ideas/checklists-resources/making-your-older-home-more-eco-friendly/
[72] https://therightchoicerealty.ca/resources/home-maintenance-checklist/
[73] https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/expert-advice/appliance-maintenance-guide/
[74] https://www.diy.com/ideas-advice/how-to-repair-a-house-wall/CC_npci_100040.art
[75] https://siliconedepot.com/blog/how-to-fix-a-poor-caulking-job-well/
[76] https://humanfocus.co.uk/blog/food-preservation-methods-and-guidance/
[77] https://www.masterclass.com/articles/a-guide-to-home-food-preservation-how-to-pickle-can-ferment-dry-and-preserve-at-home
[78] https://nchfp.uga.edu/
[79] https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/limoncello
[80] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR4qLmpJdh0
[81] https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/homemade-pink-lemonade
[82] https://origami.me/beginners-guide/
[83] https://www.instructables.com/Origami-For-Everyone/
[84] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQlACAGseXM&ab_channel=Studio5KSL
[85] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWv6Ypzn9dg&ab_channel=Let'sExplore
[86] https://www.geocaching.com/sites/education/en/
[87] https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/outdoor-activities/geocaching-for-families
[88] https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/gps-geocaching.html
[89] https://www.space-invaders.com/world/
[90] https://pnote.eu/projects/invaders/
[91] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/may/03/how-to-solve-cryptic-crossword
[92] https://s.wsj.net/blogs/html/wsjcrypticguide.pdf
[93] https://www.ft.com/content/711698d5-af60-4c9b-ab2e-83519844dbd1
[94] https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/series/cryptic
[95] https://www.chess.com/puzzles
[96] http://chess.com/
[97] https://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-play-chess
[98] https://tll.mit.edu/teaching-resources/course-design/syllabus/
[99] https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/free-databases
[100] https://csulb.libguides.com/c.php?g=39192&p=249953
[101] https://library.si.edu/research/free-databases-and-collections
[102] https://youtube.com/
[103] https://reddit.com/
[104] https://www.lifewire.com/organize-research-3483046
[105] https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview
[106] https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue
[107] https://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Extras/CheatSheets_Tables.aspx#CalcSheet
[108] https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/weird-stuff-sent-to-space
[109] https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/worlds-fastest-language
[110] https://computerhistory.org/
[111] https://www.calculator.net/amortization-calculator.html
[112] http://calculator.net/
[113] https://remake.world/stories/style/how-to-mend-your-clothes-during-quarantine-5-easy-stitch-fixes/
[114] https://thegentlewoman.co.uk/library/agns-varda
[115] https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bicerin-coffee-chocolate-drink
[116] https://ngs.org.uk/starting-a-garden-from-scratch/
[117] https://theoxfordshiregardener.co.uk/the-beginners-guide-to-creating-a-kitchen-garden/
[118] https://aeon.co/essays/the-contradictions-that-give-life-to-margaret-cavendishs-story
[119] https://syllabusproject.org/

198
static/archive/thesecretknots-com-0zquqy.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
[1]The Secret Knots
Comics by Juan Santapau
• [2]Archives
• [3]About
• [4]Patreon
• [5]Pdf
• [6]Discord
• [7]Tumblr
• [8]Newsletter
• [9]Merch
[Later-01-9][Later-02-9][Later-03-9][Later-04-9][Later-05-9][Later-06-9]
[Later-07-9][Later-08-9][Later-09-9][Later-10-9][Later-11-9][Later-12-9]
[Later-13-9][Later-14-9][Later-15-9][10]Support me on Patreon
[11]‹‹ First [12]‹ Prev [13]Comments(10) [14]Random Next › Last ››
Remind me later
by [15]Juan on October 3, 2024 at 10:10 am
Chapter: [16]Comics
New Secret Knots comic: “Remind me later”.
[17][18][19][20]
[21]Comments RSS
Discussion (10) ¬
1. [7b9b76]
AJ
October 3, 2024, 12:33 pm | [22]# | [23]Reply
Okay, that was just mean and hard hearted!
2. [a37c6a]
Mihael
October 3, 2024, 3:35 pm | [24]# | [25]Reply
This gave me the chills, love it!
3. [bf9668]
D
October 3, 2024, 3:54 pm | [26]# | [27]Reply
Having the buttons at the end not be clickable was a missed opportunity
4. [69f740]
Dave
October 3, 2024, 5:55 pm | [28]# | [29]Reply
Cheeky ending. Love it. Did not expect a “Terms and Conditions Horror”
5. [2428f2]
cial
October 4, 2024, 3:24 pm | [30]# | [31]Reply
fukin real
6. [448a75]
Niha
October 6, 2024, 11:03 am | [32]# | [33]Reply
What about cookies setting?
7. [a1b23e]
Carlos cruz
October 7, 2024, 5:55 pm | [34]# | [35]Reply
Okey, I’m not the type of guy who always leaves a comment on the internet,
but I have to say that this comic leaves me feeling understood by another
person. I suffer from anxiety and depression, and the way you describe
things in this comic amazes me
8. [85b009]
andyrandom
October 7, 2024, 7:09 pm | [36]# | [37]Reply
I’m too tired to leave a comment right now. Remind me later.
9. [883495]
Ab
October 8, 2024, 5:56 am | [38]# | [39]Reply
This has an orwellian vibe to it. Love it.
10. [1e2bfe]
Rocket
October 11, 2024, 12:59 pm | [40]# | [41]Reply
Tom Scott
Comment ¬ [42]Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
[ ]
[44][ ] *NAME
[45][ ] *EMAIL — [46]Get a Gravatar
[47][ ] Website URL
[48][ ] Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I
comment.
[49][ ] Yes, add me to your mailing list
[50][Post Comment]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
Δ[ ]
[56]shopify analytics ecommercetracking
• [57]Archives
• [58]About
• [59]Patreon
• [60]Pdf
• [61]Discord
• [62]Tumblr
• [63]Newsletter
• [64]Merch
©2006-2024 [65]Juan Santapau | Powered by [66]WordPress with [67]ComicPress |
Subscribe: [68]RSS | [69]Back to Top ↑
References:
[1] https://thesecretknots.com/
[2] https://thesecretknots.com/comic-archive/
[3] https://thesecretknots.com/about/
[4] http://www.patreon.com/santapau
[5] https://gumroad.com/santapau
[6] https://discord.gg/BFUpvbF
[7] http://santapau.tumblr.com/
[8] https://thesecretknots.com/newsletter/
[9] https://www.redbubble.com/people/santapau
[10] https://www.patreon.com/santapau
[11] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/plastic/
[12] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/the-real-capello/
[13] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comments
[14] https://thesecretknots.com/?random&nocache=1
[15] https://thesecretknots.com/author/juan/
[16] https://thesecretknots.com/chapter/comics/
[17] https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/twitter?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthesecretknots.com%2Fcomic%2Fremind-me-later%2F&linkname=Remind%20me%20later
[18] https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthesecretknots.com%2Fcomic%2Fremind-me-later%2F&linkname=Remind%20me%20later
[19] https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/bluesky?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthesecretknots.com%2Fcomic%2Fremind-me-later%2F&linkname=Remind%20me%20later
[20] https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/mastodon?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fthesecretknots.com%2Fcomic%2Fremind-me-later%2F&linkname=Remind%20me%20later
[21] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/feed/
[22] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267318
[23] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267318#respond
[24] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267320
[25] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267320#respond
[26] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267321
[27] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267321#respond
[28] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267322
[29] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267322#respond
[30] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267328
[31] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267328#respond
[32] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267335
[33] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267335#respond
[34] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267341
[35] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267341#respond
[36] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267342
[37] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267342#respond
[38] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267346
[39] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267346#respond
[40] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#comment-267365
[41] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/?replytocom=267365#respond
[42] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/#respond
[46] https://gravatar.com/
[56] http://statcounter.com/shopify/
[57] https://thesecretknots.com/comic-archive/
[58] https://thesecretknots.com/about/
[59] http://www.patreon.com/santapau
[60] https://gumroad.com/santapau
[61] https://discord.gg/BFUpvbF
[62] http://santapau.tumblr.com/
[63] https://thesecretknots.com/newsletter/
[64] https://www.redbubble.com/people/santapau
[65] https://thesecretknots.com/
[66] http://wordpress.org/
[67] http://frumph.net/
[68] https://thesecretknots.com/feed/
[69] https://thesecretknots.com/comic/remind-me-later/

202
static/archive/werd-io-p5z10p.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
[1]Skip to main content
Toggle navigation [3] Werd I/O
[4][ ]
• [5]About
• [6]Posts
• [7]Links
• [8]Newsletter
• [9]Subscribe
[10][thumb] [11]Ben Werdmuller [12]
[13]It turns out I'm still excited about the web
Passion led us here
I’m worried I’ve become cynical about technology as I’ve gotten older. But
maybe technology really is worse.
Someone asked me the other day: “what [in media and technology] are you excited
about right now?”
We both agreed that it was a surprisingly difficult question. And then came the
follow-up:
“Do you think it’s just because we’re older now, or is the web really less
exciting?”
And to be honest, I’m not sure.
I used to be so excited. If you sneak a glance at my high school yearbook,
you’ll see that I wanted to be a journalist. Telling stories was my first love.
It’s still where my brain feels the most comfortable. I love the flow state of
writing more than doing just about anything else. That’s why I keep writing
here, and why my long-term plan is to pivot from a technology career to one
where I get to write all the time.
But in 1994 or so, I got distracted by the web: what an amazing medium for
stories. Many of us share the experience of trying out a browser like NCSA
Mosaic, discovering voices from all over the world, and getting stuck into
writing our own HTML code without having to ask anyone for permission or buy a
software license to get started. I vividly remember when we got the ability to
add our own background images to web pages, for example. For a long time, I was
a master at table-based layouts.
In the UK, where I grew up, you were effectively forced to pick your university
degree at 16. You were required to choose three or four A-level subjects to
focus on for your last two years of high school; then you had to apply to do a
particular degree at each university, knowing that each degree had subject
requirements. If you wanted to study English at university, you needed to have
chosen the English A-level; good luck getting in if you hadn’t.
Specifically because I was distracted by the web, I put myself on the Computer
Science track. Even then, I kept a Theater A-level, because I couldn’t imagine
a world where there wasn’t some art and writing in my life. Most British
universities correspondingly dismissed me for not being focused enough, but
Edinburgh took me, so that’s where I went. Even while I was doing the degree,
[14]I built a satirical website that got over a million pageviews a day - in
2001. I blogged, of course, and although I haven’t kept a consistent platform
or domain for all that time, I’ve been writing consistently on the web since
1998.
It was a platform I got to approach with a sense of play; a sense of
storytelling; a sense of magical discovery as I met new people and learned from
their creativity.
The web sits apart from the rest of technology; to me, it’s inherently more
interesting. [15]Silicon Valley’s origins (including the venture capital
ecosystem) lie in defense technology. In contrast, the web was created in
service of academic learning and mutual discovery, and both built and shared in
a spirit of free and open access. Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, and CERN
did a wonderful thing by building a prototype and setting it free. [16]As CERN
points out on its page about the history of the web:
An essential point was that the web should remain an open standard for all
to use and that no-one should lock it up into a proprietary system.
That ethos is how it succeeded; it’s why the web changed the world. And it’s
why someone like me — over in Scotland, with no networks, wealth, or privilege
to speak of — was able to break in and build something that got peoples’
attention. It’s also why I was interested to begin with. “The internet is
people,” I used to say; more than protocols and pipes, the web was a fabric of
interconnectedness that we were all building together. Even in the beginning,
some people saw the web and thought, “this is a way I can make a lot of money.”
For me, it was always a way to build community at scale.
And then Facebook — it always seems to be Facebook — became the first web
company to reach a billion dollar valuation, in a year that happened to also
see the launch of the iPhone. Building community at scale became finding
customers at scale. There was a brief reprieve while global financial markets
tumbled at the hands of terrible debt instruments that had been built on shaky
foundations, and then the tech industry started investing in new startups in
greater and greater numbers. Y Combinator, which had started a few years
earlier, started investing in more and more startups, with higher and higher
checks ([17]$6,000 per founder for the first cohort, compared to [18]half a
million dollars per startup today). The number of billion-dollar-plus web
startups grows by the hundreds every year.
The web I loved was swamped by a mindset that was closer to Wall Street. It’s
been about the money ever since.
It’s so rare these days to find people who want to build that
interconnectedness; who see it as a mission and a movement. People in tech talk
excitedly about their [19]total Compensation (which has earned its own
shorthand acronym, TC), and less so what exciting thing they got to build, and
what it allowed people to do. Maybe they’ll give you a line about what they
allow for the enterprise or increasing some company’s bottom line, but it’s
usually devoid of the humanist idealism that enchanted me about the early web.
I realized some time ago that the startups I personally founded in this era
couldn’t have succeeded, because my focus was all wrong. I wanted to be paid to
explore and build this wonderful platform, and was not laser focused on how to
build investor value. I still want to be paid to build and explore, try and
make new things happen, with a sense of play. That’s not, I’m afraid to say,
how you build a venture-scale business.
So, let’s return to the question. Given this disillusionment, and my lack of
alignment with what the modern tech industry expects of us, what am I excited
about?
My cynicism has been tempered by the discovery that there are still movements
out there that remind me of the web’s original promise — efforts that focus on
reclaiming independence and fostering real community. Despite the
commercialization of the web, these are still places where that original spirit
of openness and community-building thrives.
[20]The Indieweb is one. It’s an interdisciplinary group of people that
advocates for everyone owning their own websites and publishing from their own
domains. It’s happening! From the resurgence of personal blogs to new
independent publications like [21]Platformer and [22]User Mag, many people see
the value of owning their presence on the internet and their relationships with
their community. Independence from sites like Facebook and Google is surging.
The other is [23]the Fediverse: a way to have conversations on the web that
isn’t owned by any single company or entity. The people who are building the
Fediverse (through communities, platforms like [24]Mastodon, cultural
explorations) are expanding a patchwork of conversations through open protocols
and collaborative exploration, just like the web itself was grown decades ago.
It’s phenomenally exciting, with a rapidly-developing center of gravity that’s
even drawing in some of the companies who previously were committed to siloed,
walled-garden models. I haven’t been this enthused about momentum on the web
for twenty years.
I was afraid I had become too cynical to find excitement in technology again.
It wasn’t true.
While I’ve grown more cynical about much of tech, movements like the Indieweb
and the Fediverse remind me that the ideals I once loved, and that spirit of
the early web, aren’t lost. They’re evolving, just like everything else.
[25] October 10, 2024 · [26]Posts · [27][logo] Share this
post
I’m writing about the intersection of the internet, media, and society. [28]
Sign up to my newsletter to receive every post and a weekly digest of the most
important stories from around the web.
[29][ ]
Subscribe
[31]Newsletter
[32]ben@werd.io
[33]Signal
[34]
References:
[1] https://werd.io/2024/it-turns-out-im-still-excited-about-the-web#maincontent
[3] https://werd.io/
[5] https://about.werd.io/
[6] https://werd.io/content/posts
[7] https://werd.io/content/bookmarkedpages
[8] https://werd.io/
[9] https://artisanal-artisan-3527.ck.page/56920a9da9
[10] https://werd.io/profile/benwerd
[11] https://werd.io/profile/benwerd
[12] https://werd.io/profile/benwerd
[13] https://werd.io/2024/it-turns-out-im-still-excited-about-the-web
[14] https://words.werd.io/we-are-the-monkeys-of-rum-70f81d4a02df
[15] https://words.werd.io/what-is-silicon-valley-87fcf49f30c8
[16] https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web/short-history-web
[17] https://foundersatwork.posthaven.com/grow-the-puzzle-around-you
[18] https://www.ycombinator.com/deal
[19] https://compt.io/guide/total-compensation/
[20] https://indieweb.org/
[21] https://www.platformer.news/leaving-substack-platformer-year-four/
[22] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/taylor-lorenz-leaves-washington-post-launch-user-mag-substack-1236011888/
[23] https://socialwebfoundation.org/
[24] https://joinmastodon.org/
[25] https://werd.io/2024/it-turns-out-im-still-excited-about-the-web
[26] https://werd.io/content/posts
[27] https://shareopenly.org/share/?url=https://werd.io/2024/it-turns-out-im-still-excited-about-the-web&text=It+turns+out+I%27m+still+excited+about+the+web
[28] https://newsletter.werd.io/
[31] https://newsletter.werd.io/
[32] mailto:ben@werd.io
[33] https://signal.me/#eu/_ehMeopT5JeELrkt2lSk-R0V6d1AsGt_3Q98UOJhgBMTal5EGTdNIbZHB9H9CqBn
[34] https://werd.io/feed

426
static/archive/www-oneusefulthing-org-kop2ys.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,426 @@
[1][https]
[2]One Useful Thing
SubscribeSign in
Share this post
[https]
Thinking Like an AI
www.oneusefulthing.org
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Note
Other
Thinking Like an AI
A little intuition can help
[13][https]
[14]Ethan Mollick
Oct 20, 2024
528
Share this post
[https]
Thinking Like an AI
www.oneusefulthing.org
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Note
Other
[21]
60
41
[22]
Share
This is my 100th post on this Substack, which got me thinking about how I could
summarize the many things I have written about how to use AI. I came to the
conclusion that [23]the advice in my book is still the advice I would give:
just use AI to do stuff that you do for work or fun, for about 10 hours, and
you will figure out a remarkable amount.
However, I do think having a little bit of intuition about the way Large
Language Models work can be helpful for understanding how to use it best. I
would ask my technical readers for their forgiveness, because I will simplify
here, but here are some clues for getting into the “mind” of an AI:
LLMs do next token prediction
Large Language Models are, ultimately, incredibly sophisticated autocomplete
systems. They use a vast model of human language to predict the next token in a
sentence. For models working with text, tokens are words or parts of words.
Many common words are single tokens, or tokens containing spaces, but other
words are broken into multiple tokens. For example, one tokenizer takes the 10
word sentence, “This breaks up words (even phantasmagorically long words) into
tokens” into 20 tokens.
[25]
[https]
When you give an AI a prompt, you are effectively asking it to predict the next
token that would come after the prompt. The AI then takes everything that has
been written before, runs it through a mathematical model of language, and
generates the probability of which token is likely to come next in the
sequence. For example, if I write “The best type of pet is a” the LLM predicts
that the most likely tokens to come next, based on its model of human language,
are either “dog”, “personal,” “subjective,” or “cat.” The most likely is
actually dog, but LLMs are generally set to include some randomness, which is
what makes LLM answers interesting, so it does not always pick the most likely
token (in most cases, even attempts to eliminate this randomness cannot remove
it entirely). Thus, I will often get “dog,” but I may get a different word
instead.
[26]
[https]
These are the actual probabilities from GPT-3.5, as are the other examples in
this post.
But these predictions take into account everything in the memory of the LLM
(more on memory in a bit), and even tiny changes can radically alter the
predictions of what token comes next. I created three examples with minor
changes on the original sentence. If I choose not to capitalize the first word,
the model now says that “dog” and “cat” are much more likely answers than they
were originally, and “fish” joins the top three. If I change the word “type” to
“kind” in the sentence, the probabilities of all the top tokens drop and I am
much more likely to get an exotic answer like “calm” or “bunny.” If I add an
extra space after the word “pet,” then “dog” isn’t even in the top three
predicted tokens!
[27]
[https]
But the LLM does not just produce one token, instead, after each token, it now
looks at the entire original sentence plus the new token (“The best type of pet
is a dog”) and predicts the next token after that, and then uses that whole
sentence plus the next to make a prediction, and so on. It chains one token to
another like cars on a train. Current LLMs can’t go back and change a token
that came before, they have to soldier on, adding word after word. This results
in a butterfly effect. If the first predicted token was the word “dog” than the
rest of the sentence will follow on like that, if it is “subjective” then you
will get an entirely different sentence. Any difference between the tokens in
two different answers will result in radically diverging responses.
[28]
[https]
The intuition: This helps explain why you may get very different answers than
someone else using the same AI, even if you ask exactly the same question. Tiny
differences in probabilities result in very different answers. It also gives
you a sense about why one of the biases that people worry about with AI is that
it may respond differently to people depending on their writing style, as the
probabilities for the next token may lead on the path to worse answers. Indeed,
[29]some of the early LLMs gave less accurate answers if you wrote in a less
educated way.
You can also see some of why hallucinations happen, and why they are so
pernicious. The AI is not pulling from a database, it is guessing the next word
based on statistical patterns in its training data. That means that what it
produces is not necessarily true (in fact, one of many surprises about LLMs are
how often they are right, given this), but, even when it provides false
information, it likely sounds plausible. That makes it hard to tell when it is
making things up.
It is also helpful to think about tokens to understand why AIs get stubborn
about a topic. If the first prediction is “dog” the AI is much more likely to
keep producing text about how great dogs are because those tokens are more
likely. However, if it is “subjective” it is less likely to give you an
opinion, even when you push it. Additionally, once the AI has written
something, it cannot go back, so it needs to justify (or explain or lie about)
that statement in the future. I like this example that [30]Rohit Krishnan [31]
shared, where you can see the AI makes an error, but then attempts to justify
the results.
[32]
[https]
The caveat: Saying “AI is just next-token prediction” is a bit of a joke
online, because it doesn’t really help us understand why AI can produce such
seemingly creative, novel, and interesting results. If you have been reading my
posts for any length of time, you will realize that AI accomplishes impressive
outcomes that, intuitively, we would not expect from an autocomplete system.
[33]
[https]
Claude makes themed Excel formulas on demand and explains them in delightful
ways. Next token prediction is capable of lots of unexpected results.
LLMs make predictions based on their training data
Where does an LLM get the material on which it builds a model of language? From
the data it was trained on. Modern LLMs are trained over an incredibly vast set
of data, incorporating large amounts of the web and every free book or archive
possible (plus some archives that almost certainly contain copyrighted work).
The AI companies largely did not ask permission before using this information,
but leaving aside the legal and ethical concerns, it can be helpful to
conceptualize the training data.
The original [35]Pile dataset, which most of the major AI companies used for
training, is about 1/3 based on the internet, 1/3 on scientific papers, and the
rest divided up between books, coding, chats, and more. So, your intuition is
often a good guide - if you expect something was on the internet or in the
public domain, it is likely in the training data. But we can get a little more
granular. For example, [36]thanks to this study, we have a rough idea of which
fiction books appear most often in the training data for GPT-4, which largely
tracks the books most commonly found on the web (many of the top 20 are out of
copyright, with a couple notable exceptions of books that are much pirated).
[37]
[https]
Remember that LLMs use a statistical model of language, they do not pull from a
database. So the more common a piece of work is in the training data, the more
likely the AI is to “recall” that data accurately when prompted. You can see
this at work when I give it a sentence from the most fiction common book in its
training data - Alice in Wonderland. It gets the next sentence exactly right,
and you can see that almost every possible next token would continue along the
lines of the original passage.
[38]
[https]
Let’s try something different, a passage from a fairly obscure mid-century
science fiction author, [39]Cordwainer Smith, with an unusual writing style in
part shaped by his time in China (he was Sun Yat-sen’s godson) and his
knowledge of multiple languages. One of his stories starts: Go back to An-fang,
the Peace Square at An-fang, the Beginning Place at An-fang, where all things
start. It then continues: Bright it was. Red square, dead square, clear square,
under a yellow sun. If I give the AI the first section, looking at the
probabilities, there is almost no chance that it will produce the correct next
word “Bright.” Instead, perhaps primed by the mythic language and the fact that
An-fang registers as potentially Chinese (it is actually a play on the German
word for beginning), it creates a passage about a religious journey.
[40]
[https]
The intuition: The fact that the LLM does not directly recall text would be
frustrating if you were trying to use an LLM like Google, but LLMs are not like
Google. They are capable of producing original material, and, even when they
attempt to give you Alice in Wonderland word-for-word, small differences will
randomly appear and eventually the stories will diverge. However, knowing what
is in the training data can help you in a number of ways.
First, it can help you understand what the AI is good at. Any document or
writing style that is common in its training data is likely something the AI is
very good at producing. But, more interestingly, it can help you think about
how to get more original work from the AI. By pushing it through your prompts
to a more unusual section of its probability space, you will get very different
answers than other people. Asking AI to write a memo in the style of [41]Walter
Pater will give you more interesting answers (and overwrought ones) than asking
for a professional memo, of which there are millions in the training data.
[42]
[https]
The caveat: Contrary to some people's beliefs, the AI is rarely producing
substantial text from its training data verbatim. The sentences the AI provides
are usually entirely novel, extrapolated from the language patterns it learned.
Occasionally, the model might reproduce a specific fact or phrase it memorized
from its training data, but more often, it's generalizing from learned patterns
to produce new content.
Outside of training, carefully crafted prompts can guide the model to produce
more original or task-specific content, demonstrating a capability known as
“in-context learning.” This allows LLMs to appear to learn new tasks within a
conversation, even though they're not actually updating their underlying model,
as you will see.
LLMs have a limited memory
Given how much we have discussed training, it may be surprising to learn that
AIs are not generally learning anything permanent from their conversations with
you. Training is usually a discrete event, not something that happens all the
time. If you have privacy features turned on, your chats are not being fed into
the training data at all, but, even if your data will be used for training, the
training process is not continuous. Instead, chats happen within what's called
a 'context window'. This context window is like the AI's short-term memory -
it's the amount of previous text the AI can consider when generating its next
response. As long as you stay in a single chat session and the conversation
fits inside the context window, the AI will keep track of what is happening,
but as soon as you start a new chat, the memories from the last one generally
do not carry over. You are starting fresh. The only exception is the limited
“memory” feature of ChatGPT, which notes down scattered facts about you in a
memory file and inserts those into the context window of every conversation.
Otherwise, the AI is not learning about you between chats.
Even as I write this, I know I will be getting comments from some people
arguing that I am wrong, along with descriptions of insights from the AI that
seem to violate this rule. People are often fooled because the AI is a very
good guesser, w[44]hich Simon Willison explains at length in his excellent post
on the topic of asking the AI for insights into yourself. It is worth reading.
The intuition: It can help to think about what the AI knows and doesn’t know
about you. Do not expect deep insights based on information that the AI does
not have but do expect it to make up insightful-sounding things if you push it.
Knowing how memory works, you can also see why it can help to start a new chat
when the AI gets stuck, or you don’t like where things are heading in a
conversation. Also, if you use ChatGPT, you may want to check out and[45] clean
up your memories every once in a while.
The caveat: The context windows of AIs are growing very long (Google’s Gemini
can hold 2 million tokens in memory), and AI companies want the experience of
working with their models to feel personal. I expect we will see more tricks to
get AIs to remember things about you across conversations being implemented
soon.
All of this is only sort of helpful
We still do not have a solid answer about how these basic principles of how
LLMs work have come together to make a system that is [47]seemingly more
creative than most humans, that we enjoy speaking with, and which does a
surprisingly good job at tasks ranging from corporate strategy to medicine.
There is no manual that lists what AI does well or where it might mess up, and
we can only tell so much from the underlying technology itself.
Understanding token prediction, training data, and memory constraints gives us
a peek behind the curtain, but it doesn't fully explain the magic happening on
stage. That said, this knowledge can help you push AI in more interesting
directions. Want more original outputs? Try prompts that veer into less common
territory in the training data. Stuck in a conversational rut? Remember the
context window and start fresh.
But the real way to understand AI is to use it. A lot. For about 10 hours, just
do stuff with AI that you do for work or fun. Poke it, prod it, ask it weird
questions. See where it shines and where it stumbles. Your hands-on experience
will teach you more than any article ever could (even this long one). You'll
figure out a remarkable amount about how to use AI effectively, and you might
even surprise yourself with what you discover.
[56][ ]
Subscribe
[58]Share
528
Share this post
[https]
Thinking Like an AI
www.oneusefulthing.org
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Note
Other
[65]
60
41
[66]
Share
PreviousNext
Discussion about this post
Comments
Restacks
[https]
[ ]
[73]
Mickey Schafer
[74]Oct 20
Perfect timing! This will be the first post students read next semester
for a one-credit class called Prompting Curiosities 😊. I'm struggling
to find those 10 hours so embedding it into a class seemed like a fun
[72] way to get it done. Just me, 15 students, and the university's AI
[https] system which has most of the LLMs in 3-4 versions. We will start with
simple prompts across different LLMs, then as each finds their
favorite, they'll choose one thing as their final project and work on
it. All in all, it should produce at least 20 per person which will
help me understand these much better moving forward!
Expand full comment
Reply
Share
[76]2 replies
[78]
Clarke Pitts
[79]Oct 21Liked by Ethan Mollick
[77] An excellent essay, interesting and intelligible. Very little
[https] explanation about AI and LLM is as lucid.
Expand full comment
Reply
Share
[81]58 more comments...
Top
Latest
Discussions
No posts
Ready for more?
[94][ ]
Subscribe
© 2024 Ethan Mollick
[96]Privacy ∙ [97]Terms ∙ [98]Collection notice
[99] Start Writing[100]Get the app
[101]Substack is the home for great culture
Share
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Note
Other
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please [108]turn on JavaScript
or unblock scripts
References:
[1] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/
[2] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/
[13] https://substack.com/profile/846835-ethan-mollick
[14] https://substack.com/@oneusefulthing
[21] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai/comments
[22] javascript:void(0)
[23] https://a.co/d/9onRd33
[25] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F805116f4-c2dc-4804-b277-253d14b2139d_1292x105.png
[26] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfb74661-2025-4694-b0db-a96d2166865e_1098x711.png
[27] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F623e802b-c122-4ef0-a667-6e429b09cc54_1992x504.png
[28] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff7f2a21-1252-474d-896d-d307dc88eea7_1255x837.png
[29] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2212.09251
[30] https://www.strangeloopcanon.com/
[31] https://x.com/krishnanrohit/status/1802747007838384382
[32] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffc187f7b-6341-4ac9-b2e4-0c97d1eddef9_924x502.jpeg
[33] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd959adb9-d728-4e2f-b0f1-840b125ac9e0_1900x1126.png
[35] https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.00027
[36] https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.00118
[37] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fedb0dd91-9b8e-468e-8c37-cdda8bd3db5c_1290x864.jpeg
[38] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3dc09899-6a1a-47b3-90b9-c23be78835f8_1504x429.png
[39] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordwainer_Smith
[40] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc63b6bec-2dc7-48e4-8e71-ec056768ac96_1494x430.png
[41] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Pater
[42] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F59a0b6a1-37ca-4447-8777-b94593809c4f_2025x1324.png
[44] https://simonwillison.net/2024/Oct/15/chatgpt-horoscopes/
[45] https://openai.com/index/memory-and-new-controls-for-chatgpt/
[47] https://docs.iza.org/dp17302.pdf
[58] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share
[65] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai/comments
[66] javascript:void(0)
[72] https://substack.com/profile/244712-mickey-schafer
[73] https://substack.com/profile/244712-mickey-schafer
[74] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai/comment/73352564
[76] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai/comment/73352564
[77] https://substack.com/profile/14800577-clarke-pitts
[78] https://substack.com/profile/14800577-clarke-pitts
[79] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai/comment/73452831
[81] https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/thinking-like-an-ai/comments
[96] https://substack.com/privacy
[97] https://substack.com/tos
[98] https://substack.com/ccpa#personal-data-collected
[99] https://substack.com/signup?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_content=footer
[100] https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&utm_content=web-footer-button
[101] https://substack.com/
[108] https://enable-javascript.com/

298
static/archive/www-rousette-org-uk-ku8whc.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,298 @@
[1]Fruitbat logo
but she's a girl...
• [3]about
• [4]archives
• [5]microblog
• [6]photos
• [7]tags
[8]Exploring desktop Linux
written by [bsag_avata] bsag
26 Aug 2024[9]geekery[10]linux
Screenshot showing a browser window on the Hyprland web page, in a window
without decorations. A minimal statusbar is at the top of the screen.
Hyprland with status bar adapted from Archcraft version.
I don’t know about you, but the direction that macOS has been going in lately
has been making me a bit nervous. I’ve used Macs almost continuously since
about 1991 and enjoyed the experience tremendously. I’ve been an enthusiastic
advocate of the Mac ecosystem to anyone willing to put up with me wittering on
about it. However, for the first time (excepting the time I couldn’t afford the
hardware, which I’ll talk about more below), I am thinking about alternatives.
That’s how I ended up buying a mini PC and seeing what modern Linux on the
desktop has to offer.
Why?
Apple’s approach has always been opinionated. Up until now, that has mostly
been fine with me, as I have agreed with their choices, and appreciated the
more ‘curated’ approach to an operating system. I was able to go about my daily
computing life easily and comfortably, and found few roadblocks to what I
wanted to do. That is still largely true today, but there are two things on the
horizon that make me think that this might not always be the case. First, Apple
seems to be progressively locking down macOS so that it gets closer to iOS.
Security is increasingly important, but the recent security nags that [12]
people have reported on the betas of Sequoia seem ominous somehow. I’ve also
long wanted to use a proper tiling manager on macOS, but that has been
impossible without dodgy hacks that require disabling security features, though
[13]Aerospace seems like a cool way around that. Of course, things may change,
and Apple may respond to the pushback they are getting from ‘power’ users, but
it gives me an uncomfortable feeling. The second issue is AI. Talking about my
opinion on generative AI would be a whole other post, but let’s just say that I
don’t like it, I don’t want or need it, and I don’t want to be party to wasting
energy and water, just so that I can have AI summarise something for me that my
human brain is already capable of doing pretty well. I certainly don’t want it
forced on me. I barely even use Siri at the moment: I ask Siri to start timers,
and when in the car, read incoming messages. That’s it. Linux seems to be the
only OS where you don’t have AI forced on you if you don’t want it, and I
appreciate that.
It’s not my first go on Linux either. Back in the last days of MacOS 9, before
MacOS X appeared in 2001, I needed a new laptop but didn’t have the money to
buy an Apple laptop. I also knew that Apple was switching to Unix
underpinnings, so I decided to buy a cheap PC laptop and run a Linux distro on
it for a few years. I can’t remember which distro I settled on now, but I think
it might have been Open SuSE or RedHat? Anyway, I enjoyed the experience, and
found that knowing my way around the command line helped me a lot in the
transition to MacOS X when that arrived (and I got an Apple laptop again). I
also experimented with [14]NixOS on an old laptop back in 2018, but that was
just playing around and I didn’t try to use it as my full-time personal
computer. That’s what I wanted to explore this time: would Linux work for me as
a full time computing environment at home?
The hardware
I went back and forth on this quite a bit, but in the end decided to get a [15]
Minisforum Venus UM790Pro which is an AMD Ryzen based mini PC. I figured that
if my experiment didn’t work out, I could use it as a home backup server. My
choice was partly informed by seeing some third-party sellers selling it with
Linux installed (so I knew that the hardware was compatible), and partly
through watching a lot of YouTube videos where people installed Linux on it.
It’s not much to look at, but not as ugly as some mini PCs, and it has a good
range of ports, and very impressive performance for the form factor and price.
I ended up getting one with 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD. In a very pleasant change
from Apple hardware, you can upgrade both the memory and SSD. I’ve got a slot
free for each so there is lots of scope to cheaply double the memory and drive
space in the future if I need to. At the moment, I have plenty for my needs, as
my distro and window manager seem much more thrifty with RAM than macOS. The
CPU barely gets above a few percent, even building packages from source. It
seems to stay cool, and it is very quiet.
I have a Kensington Thunderbolt hub, so the new PC, my ageing Mac Mini and my
work laptop (when I work from home) can all connect to the peripherals and my
screen by a thunderbolt cable that I swap between machines.
Choosing a distro and desktop environment/window manager
I ran [16]ArchLinux on a Linode server to serve this blog for several years,
and came to enjoy the rolling distro life and the extensive range of packages
available, so I was pretty sure that I wanted something Arch-based. A few
distros have sprung up which use Arch as a base, but build a more friendly
installation experience and base system on top. I went with [17]EndeavourOS as
it seemed to strike a happy medium between making Arch more approachable
without installing too much or altering how you do things in Arch.
To get my bearings, I installed the system with the Gnome desktop environment,
and then KDE. I was incredibly impressed by how slick both the EndeavourOS
installation and both desktop environments are. Things have come on enormously
since the early 2000s (not surprisingly!), and almost everything worked very
nicely out of the box. Both desktop environments are so much more beautiful to
look at and more consistent visually and functionally than they used to be.
Even my Apple Magic Trackpad just worked without any configuration when plugged
in via USB. As a sidenote, this is the way I always use it. It may seem a weird
way to use a wireless peripheral, but if you plug it in, as you switch between
devices using the thunderbolt hub, they all see it as being attached and
active. In my experience, this is impossible to when all your devices are
nearby physically, even when they are all Apple devices.
Screenshot showing Emacs window on the left, editing this post in Markdown and
browser window on the right, previewing the post.
Emacs window on the left with the TokyoNight Moon colourscheme, and Vivaldi on
the right.
Of the two, I think that I preferred Gnome, at least for a personal computer. I
liked the way that hitting the Meta key (i.e. Command on a Mac keyboard) alone
would pop up an overview of your workspaces and windows, and that typing would
filter apps to launch. It’s quite unlike either the Apple or Windows approach,
but it is deceptively functional and slick. I also slightly prefer the more
minimal appearance of the windows and applications in Gnome, however it is a
bit less configurable. KDE Plasma is highly configurable, though that comes
with the potential to be overwhelming at first. It is very beautiful and
functional, but to me seemed a touch more professional but marginally less fun.
I’m interested to see how System76’s [18]Cosmic Desktop develops, as this has a
tiling window system by default, and seems to be somewhere in between KDE and
Gnome in terms of flexibility of configuration.
Screenshot showing two semi-transparent Alacritty terminal windows, one of
which showing system details with Fastfetch, and a Rofi launcher window
floating in the centre.
Alacritty terminal windows, Fastfetch and Rofi launcher.
Really, I could be happy with either, but wanted to see where I could get to
with a tiling window manager instead of a full desktop environment. Window
managers do much less for you than desktop environments, but you usually get to
design the status bar, set all the keyboard shortcuts, and use whichever
applications you like to build your own system. Both KDE and Gnome can do
tiling by installing and configuring plugins of various kinds, but I wanted to
try a window manager that tiled by default, and opted for [19]Hyprland. It is
one of a clutch of new window managers that use Wayland instead of the ancient
X11 system to manage the graphical interface. The downside of this is that
graphical applications that have not yet been updated to use Wayland have to be
handled using XWayland as a bridge, and this is not ideal if you use a HiDPI
(Retina) monitor as I do. In practice, I have found very few applications that
I want to use that are X11 only, so it hasn’t been too much of an issue.
Hyprland
I took the reasonably easy route by using [20]mylinuxforwork’s Hyprland starter
, which sets up a basic structure of configuration, provides a status bar,
wallpaper and so on. It’s nicely organised and easy to adapt and build on for
your needs. All the configuration for Hyprland is done through text format
configuration files. I love this approach, and much prefer it to hunting
through menus for settings. You can also easily backup and version your files
if you mess something up and want to revert to a previous version.
Once I had got to grips with what goes where, I really enjoyed configuring it.
Hyprland’s documentation is very good, and it is mostly quite self-explanatory.
The styling of windows and status bars and so on is done using CSS, so if you
know how to style a web page, it is all very familiar and easy. A nice touch is
that as you save the configuration files, the window manager reloads live, so
you can quickly adjust things without having to logout for most changes.
I also ran across [21]Archcraft where you can pay a small donation to download
a more complex and crafted configuration for Hyprland, which I did, as I liked
the look of the status bars and launchers in this setup. That’s what you see in
the screenshots here. I basically went all in on the [22]TokyoNight
colourscheme, and am ridiculously thrilled that I can get my terminal
colourscheme to match my Emacs theme, to match GUI application themes and my
launcher and status bar, and so on. That kind of visual consistency (using a
colourscheme of my own choice) is really fun. I’m still working on it and may
change the layout a bit, but I’m really happy with the way it looks and
functions.
Problems along the way
I’m impressed that I have had remarkably few problems. The most annoying
problem I had when installing was that — by default — you seem to have to grant
permission as a user to connect to Thunderbolt devices. This is a problem if
your monitor connects only via Thunderbolt, as you obviously need to see what
you are doing! I solved this by taking the PC down to the living room and
connecting to the TV by HDMI, then using bolt to authorise and save the
authorisation for the Thunderbolt hub. I still had a problem when booting up: I
could see when the login manager (I was using SDDM at the time) started up from
the power to the USB devices turning off briefly then on again, but the screen
stayed dark. I found that if I entered my password blindly, the desktop would
start and the screen would display, but this was hardly ideal. I futzed about
with this for a while, before finding out that it was some issue with SDDM and
switching to GDM to manage login and launching of desktop environments or
window managers worked fine. If you have HDMI ports on your monitor, you won’t
need to go through this dance. I gather also that some BIOS have a setting to
disable the security for Thunderbolt devices temporarily, but I couldn’t see
that in the BIOS of this PC (maybe because it came with Windows pre-installed —
I could not get out of there fast enough…).
Final thoughts (for now!)
I’ve had so much fun with this, and I am really enjoying Linux. I love a
keyboard driven system, and I really appreciate the way I can set things up to
manipulate windows, move between workspaces, switch windows and so on, all
through my own choice of keyboard shortcuts. I’ve also discovered some great
software (some of which is cross-platform) that I will talk about in later
posts.
I need to use this system full time for a few weeks and months to see what I
can and can’t replace from the Apple ecosystem. Inter-operability with my
iPhone and Watch is one thing, but I’m going to see how much I miss that over
time.
One last thing: I like giving my computers names. I have often used animal
species names, using a sequence of penguin species (which started when I first
used Linux), then bird species. My current work laptop is named with the
scientific name for the genus of cheetahs, which amused me as a dual joke about
the speed of the M1 chips and a throwback to MacOS Cheetah (MacOS X 10.0) until
I realised that I can neither spell nor pronounce it properly.
Given that this PC is running EndeavourOS, there was an immediate choice of
name — Morse. I’ll get me coat…
[23]← older
[24]newer →
— @
• Reposts:
• Replies:
• Favourites:
[25] Discuss on Mastodon
Activity elsewhere
• [26]
• [27]
• [28]
• [29]
Social media
• [30]
• [31]
• [32]
• [33]
Copyright © 2002-2024 bsag • Powered by [34]Hugo • Running on [35]Netlify •
Styled with plain CSS by me • Analytics by [36]Tinylytics
[37]but she's a girl... created by [bsag_avatar] bsag (she/her pronouns, and
known as bsag pretty much everywhere online) and based in Birmingham, West
Midlands, United Kingdom.
I’ve been ‘bsag’ on the web for more than 20 years now. I’m a biologist by
profession, and a nerd by inclination. I have way too many hobbies, from sewing
clothes to designing and making tiny custom keyboards.
References:
[1] https://www.rousette.org.uk/
[3] https://www.rousette.org.uk/about/
[4] https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/
[5] https://micro.rousette.org.uk/
[6] https://photos.rousette.org.uk/
[7] https://www.rousette.org.uk/tags/
[8] https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/exploring-desktop-linux/
[9] https://www.rousette.org.uk/tags/geekery
[10] https://www.rousette.org.uk/tags/linux
[12] https://sixcolors.com/post/2024/08/apples-permissions-features-are-out-of-balance/
[13] https://github.com/nikitabobko/AeroSpace
[14] http://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/nixos-and-the-art-of-os-configuration/
[15] https://store.minisforum.com/collections/all-product/products/minisforum-um790-pro?variant=43865372492021
[16] https://archlinux.org/
[17] https://endeavouros.com/
[18] https://system76.com/cosmic
[19] https://hyprland.org/
[20] https://github.com/mylinuxforwork/hyprland-starter
[21] https://wiki.archcraft.io/docs/wayland-compositors/hyprland/
[22] https://github.com/folke/tokyonight.nvim
[23] https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/devilish-fun-with-a-modeless-modal-editor/
[24] https://www.rousette.org.uk/archives/exploring-desktop-linux-p2/
[25] https://social.lol/@bsag/113028981223112542
[26] https://www.rousette.org.uk/index.xml
[27] https://bsag.omg.lol/now
[28] https://letterboxd.com/bsag/
[29] https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/33331686-bsag
[30] https://micro.blog/bsag
[31] https://social.lol/@bsag
[32] https://www.flickr.com/photos/bsag/
[33] https://github.com/bsag
[34] https://gohugo.io/
[35] https://www.netlify.com/
[36] https://tinylytics.app/
[37] https://www.rousette.org.uk/

237
static/archive/www-theverge-com-jgr9sy.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,237 @@
[placeholde]
[logomark]
Loading ...
[2004_WOW_L]
[1]2004 package link
[2]The Verge homepage link
Oh, WoW!
[credits]
[credits]
World of Warcraft, or WoW, is like the Red Hot Chili Peppers of the massively
multiplayer online roleplaying genre: not only [3]is it still going strong but
it’s also somehow even bigger than you thought. World of Warcraft’s current
numbers aren’t public, but [4]one recent educated guess came in at 7 million
paying subscribers, which, at $15 / month, would make the game a billion-dollar
earner by itself. Its developer, Blizzard, merged with Activision in 2008, and
Microsoft gobbled up both companies in 2022, but World of Warcraft remains a
load-bearing spine of the newly formed corporate turducken. The game that
redefined gold mining for the 21st century is still a 19th-century gold mine
for its landlords. 
It’s also thriving in a subscription ecosystem that it helped to legitimize.
World of Warcraft debuted in 2004, during an era when you still had to buy
games in boxes from stores. The runaway success of Blizzard’s always-on portal
to Azeroth proved that, for the right product, studios could charge a recurring
fee beyond the initial cost of the core game’s (at the time) formidable five
installation CDs. Here, in the enshittified 2020s, we’ve all grown used to
renting our culture by the month, but it was genuinely pathbreaking for World
of Warcraft to have 12 million subscribers at its peak in 2010. It didn’t
invent the monthly model, which had already gained traction in games like
Ultima Online and EverQuest during the dawn of the massively multiplayer online
roleplaying game (MMORPG) genre. But World of Warcraft’s success took that
recurring charge mainstream and helped popularize the unassailable business
logic that having your customers pay you once was worse than having them pay
you until they decided or remembered to stop. 
As World of Warcraft turns 20, its enduring financial success arguably pales in
comparison to its cultural significance. I asked Angela Washko, a new-media
artist who staged several notable performance pieces inside the game world,
what she considered World of Warcraft’s biggest contribution, for better or
worse. “World of Warcraft expanded the notion of what public space was,” she
told me. “I saw the bonds created amongst members of my guilds moving beyond
the game space, as players flew across the country to meet each other.”
Everyone I talked to about World of Warcraft’s legacy seemed to mention someone
or other getting married, either in the game itself or here in reality after
meeting in the game. “I think the degree of immersion and dissolving of the
boundary between ‘real life’ and ‘fantasy’ within World of Warcraft was really
a turning point in computing culture,” Washko said, adding that World of
Warcraft “changed the conversation around video games from being something that
was ‘an escape from everyday life’ to something that was an extension of one’s
social life and happened to take place in a virtual environment.” 
Through her own work, Washko also explored the less savory side of a fantasy
game populated by real people; her [5]Council on Gender Sensitivity and
Behavioral Awareness in World of Warcraft involved traveling from town to town
to educate passersby about feminism and discuss how the game’s dominant culture
often created a hostile environment for its marginalized players. I recalled my
own playing days, when you could be flying into a town on your hippogryph,
minding your own business, only to be deluged by a wave of sewer-grade hate
speech on a public text channel. We now take it for granted that online spaces
reflect the social dynamics of the people who occupy them, including and
especially the problematic ones, but in many ways, World of Warcraft was the
kobold in this particular coal mine.
I first encountered the Warcraft universe like many ’90s computer kids: as a
series of top-down, real-time strategy games about economic management and
cartoon fantasy violence. The world (lowercase) of Warcraft pitted the
seemingly noble Alliance (humans, elves, dwarves, your Tolkienesque usual
suspects) against the villainized Horde (orcs, trolls, and other stock
monster-humanoids from the trope factory) in a
vicious-with-a-touch-of-slapstick conflict spanning three main titles and
numerous expansions between 1994 and 2003. If no one was using the phone, you
could play against your friends over a modem. The series had a rich and goofy
aesthetic of exaggerated proportions, saturated colors, and sarcastic jokes.
The units that ran your economy were literal simpering peons, which gave
everything a barrel-shaped, vaguely comedic flavor that played well against the
high-gloss cinematic interludes that would become Blizzard’s calling card.
Flush with revenues from its flagship series, Blizzard began exploring how it
might expand Warcraft’s popular lore into other types of games. First, a
point-and-click game called Warcraft Adventures — a late-1990s attempt at
LucasArts-style vintage puzzle-solving in a cel-shaded take on the mythos — was
infamously canceled for not meeting Blizzard’s internal release standards. (It
also leaked, fully playable, not too long ago. Based on what I’ve seen,
Blizzard was right.) Then, starting in 2001, an experimental team of a few
dozen people got busy building a whole new engine that would bring Azeroth into
3D for the first time and let players meet, socialize, and slaughter skeletons
together. It was a primordial example of the modern phenomenon where a
corporation exploits its intellectual property by jumping genres and colonizing
a new medium. It was also how they’d get me.
There are plenty of humbling ways to use Gmail’s internal search function,
especially if you’ve had your account for roughly as long as World of Warcraft
has existed. For one example, consider my collected personal correspondence
surrounding World of Warcraft, from the peak years of its involvement in my
life. When I queried “Warcraft before:2007/1/1,” it yielded about two dozen
results, and together, they trace a blunt biography of that moment: landing a
big new job; getting hella dumped; and “spending two months as an antisocial
hermit,” as I told a friend in a Gchat in early 2006. (And how about World of
Warcraft outliving Gchat?) 
Reviewing the private record, it’s clear World of Warcraft tore through my life
like an experienced raiding party of max-level grinders through the Deadmines.
Admittedly, it was the kind of nymph-stage young adult life that was
conceptually made of crepe paper and easily shredded by a video game. But
something about the predictable rhythm of ordering junk food delivery after an
exhausting workday, logging onto World of Warcraft, and hopping through some
lush environment searching for herbs to make into sellable virtual potions just
drew me in, one night after another.
This aspect of World of Warcraft — its knack for blurring the line between work
and fun until the casual observer might not quite recognize it as either —
often came up when I spoke to others about their experiences. “One thing WoW
proved on a large scale is that people will turn a game into a job at the
slightest provocation,” said Cory O’Brien, now a narrative and level designer
for games like Redfall and HoloVista. “I remember spending hours and hours and
hours grinding for dust so that I could enchant magic items. I remember
smelting tin and copper to make bronze.” The elaborate crafting system in World
of Warcraft, which often required materials gained through repetitive in-game
labor, represented an explosion in the popularity of the now-ubiquitous
mechanic where you, as a player, find some stuff and turn it into something
else. “I still play all these more recent games like Minecraft, Project
Zomboid, and Valheim that are literally just that crafting part,” O’Brien told
me. “I spend so much time doing monotonous, repetitive tasks, for free, because
somehow we have discovered that that’s fun.” Here, in 2024, it’s hard not to
feel a vaguely sinister undertone to all of this as the rising tides of
capitalistic overreach gamify the gig economy and hijack the natural human
affinity for rewards for their own extractive purposes. But to Washko’s point
about an expanded social life, one reason this all worked is that you were
often helping out real people, with “legitimate needs” in the scope of the
game. You were rarely just doing these things for yourself.
It wasn’t always exactly a waste, either. Andrew Simone, now a project manager
in tech, attributes a large swath of his professional tool kit to skills he
gained as a guild leader in World of Warcraft. “I actually stopped playing WoW
largely because I felt like I was managing my guild more than my actual
professional jobs,” he told me, proceeding to outline a frightening slate of
workplace-flavored tasks that included interviewing prospective guild
candidates, analyzing performance metrics from the game’s multiuser boss
fights, dealing with in-guild sexual harassment, managing schedules across the
world to hold meetings about all these things, writing guides for new members,
and even “cultivating a kind of guild culture so people enjoyed being there,”
which is an incredible thing to say about something that is already ostensibly
a game. I know there are countless former guild leaders reading this and
nodding along because their current workday docket has nothing on mediating a
10-way raiding party dispute over who should get the legendary enchanted
pauldrons that just dropped. 
On the other hand: plenty of it was a giant waste. I can’t tell you, back in
the day, how many hours I was technically playing World of Warcraft but
ignoring the game itself while I sifted through, rearranged, and tested various
custom add-ons for its labyrinthine, fintech-ass user interface. World of
Warcraft is a persistent software ecosystem with clients and servers and all
kinds of data flying between them at all times — it’s just not necessarily
exposed to every player in full. An entire cottage industry of user-created UI
mods sprung up to assign repeatable actions to shortcut keys, or process
advanced analytics from game logs like Simone would do for his guild, or
implement an “[6]automatic goblin therapist” who answers any incoming whispers
to your character with an in-game implementation of the classic ELIZA protocol.
Letting players scratch their own itches for how the game felt to play was also
a clever way to limit complaints about the parts of it that weren’t as
polished. I never got much into the game’s advanced content myself, but for
those who did, pretty much the only way to follow the expected meta of guild
raids was to use externally designed UI add-ons. World of Warcraft had the
audacity to make players create their own custom cockpits for the game and
ended up creating a kind of recursive procrastination where you could even
distract yourself from your intended leisure activity. Anyone who’s ever
rearranged the app icons on their phone knows just how ubiquitous this kind of
time-consuming “metawork” has become.
Recently, I engaged in a more contemporary form of networked social
entertainment — sitting around a big TV with friends, watching four strangers
play a game together on Twitch. Just as things were picking up, the stream cut
out, and an algorithmically inserted video ad began to play: it was for World
of Warcraft. This was a group of mostly game designers, and before I had a
chance to say anything, someone else piped in to mention World of Warcraft was
20 years old now — and formally impactful enough that working game makers still
know its birthday.
Seeing that ad, writing this piece, none of it was enough to get me to
reinstall World of Warcraft. (It’s a good thing the game never stooped to
making you feed your in-game pets.) I didn’t really feel I had to replay the
game to measure its influence because its influence is everywhere. Every
monthly subscription, in-game economy, or digital “third place” where lives
bleed into online connections owes it some spiritual recognition as prior art;
those things have all become inescapable. Twenty years later, we are all living
in the World of Warcraft.
• [7]Terms of Use
• [8]Privacy Notice
• [9]Cookie Policy
• [10]Do Not Sell My Personal Info
• [11]Licensing FAQ
• [12]Accessibility
• [13]Platform Status
• [14]How We Rate and Review Products
• [15]Contact
• [16]Tip Us
• [17]Community Guidelines
• [18]About
• [19]Ethics Statement
The Verge is a Vox Media network
• [20]Advertise with us
• [21]Jobs @ Vox Media
©2024 [22]Vox Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved
[cursor]
References:
[1] https://www.theverge.com/e/24011096
[2] https://www.theverge.com/
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hot_Chili_Peppers_2022%E2%80%932024_Global_Stadium_Tour
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHDFgZAuJHU
[5] https://angelawashko.com/section/300206-The%20Council%20on%20Gender%20Sensitivity%20and%20Behavioral%20Awareness%20in%20World%20of%20Warcraft.html
[6] https://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info23151-AGT-AutomaticGoblinTherapist.html
[7] https://www.voxmedia.com/legal/terms-of-use
[8] https://www.voxmedia.com/legal/privacy-notice
[9] https://www.voxmedia.com/legal/cookie-policy
[10] https://www.theverge.com/contact#donotsell
[11] https://www.voxmedia.com/pages/licensing
[12] https://www.voxmedia.com/legal/accessibility
[13] https://status.voxmedia.com/
[14] https://www.theverge.com/pages/how-we-rate
[15] https://www.theverge.com/contact-the-verge
[16] https://www.theverge.com/a/tip-us-secure-contact-email
[17] https://www.theverge.com/community-guidelines
[18] https://www.theverge.com/about-the-verge
[19] https://www.theverge.com/ethics-statement
[20] https://www.voxmedia.com/vox-advertising
[21] https://jobs.voxmedia.com/
[22] https://www.voxmedia.com/

130
static/archive/xoxofest-com-ychjpo.txt Normal file
View File

@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
[1]
[2]Videos
[3]Guide
[4]Blog
[5]About XOXO
[6]Featured Video
Cabel Sasser
Panic
[7][2024-Badge]
“Don’t waste this. Keep everyone guessing. Make me proud.” When Panic
co-founder [8]Cabel Sasser spoke at our [9]second festival in 2013, the Mac
software company had just started venturing into games by funding the studio
behind [10]Firewatch, an indie blockbuster that launched Panic’s games
publishing business and, eventually, the [11]Playdate handheld console.
See the artwork in this talk, and more, at Cabel’s new [12]Wes Cook Archive.
[13]2024 Videos
[14]2024 Schedule
[15]2024[16]featured[17]creativity[18]legacy[19]history[20]funny
Related Videos
[21]
[0]
[22]
Simone Giertz
Queen of Shitty Robots
[23][2016-Badge]
[24]
[0]
[25]
Jenn Schiffer
Engineer/Artist
[26][2016-Badge]
[27]
[0]
[28]
Adam Conover
Adam Ruins Everything
[29][2018-Badge]
[30]Videos
[31]Guide
[32]Blog
[33]About XOXO
[34]COVID
[35]Code of Conduct
[36]Accessibility
[37]Inclusion
[38][email protected]
[39]Mastodon
[40]Bluesky
[41]Threads
Want to hear about major XOXO news and announcements first? Sign up for our
notification list.
Fonts generously provided by our friends at [42]Future Fonts —[43]Optic, [44]
Phantom Sans, and [45]Enfilade.
XOXO
[46]2012
[47]2013
[48]2014
[49]2015
[50]2016
[51]2018
[52]2019
[53]2024
References:
[1] https://xoxofest.com/
[2] https://xoxofest.com/videos/
[3] https://xoxofest.com/guide/
[4] https://xoxofest.com/blog/
[5] https://xoxofest.com/guide/about-xoxo/
[6] https://xoxofest.com/videos/featured/
[7] https://xoxofest.com/2024/
[8] https://cabel.com/
[9] https://xoxofest.com/2013/videos/cabel-sasser/
[10] https://www.firewatchgame.com/
[11] https://play.date/
[12] https://wescook.art/
[13] https://xoxofest.com/2024/videos/
[14] https://xoxofest.com/2024/schedule/
[15] https://xoxofest.com/2024/videos/
[16] https://xoxofest.com/videos/featured/
[17] https://xoxofest.com/videos/creativity/
[18] https://xoxofest.com/videos/legacy/
[19] https://xoxofest.com/videos/history/
[20] https://xoxofest.com/videos/funny/
[21] https://xoxofest.com/2016/videos/simone-giertz/
[22] https://xoxofest.com/2016/videos/simone-giertz/
[23] https://xoxofest.com/2016/
[24] https://xoxofest.com/2016/videos/jenn-schiffer/
[25] https://xoxofest.com/2016/videos/jenn-schiffer/
[26] https://xoxofest.com/2016/
[27] https://xoxofest.com/2018/videos/adam-conover/
[28] https://xoxofest.com/2018/videos/adam-conover/
[29] https://xoxofest.com/2018/
[30] https://xoxofest.com/videos/
[31] https://xoxofest.com/guide/
[32] https://xoxofest.com/blog/
[33] https://xoxofest.com/guide/about-xoxo/
[34] https://xoxofest.com/guide/covid/
[35] https://xoxofest.com/guide/conduct/
[36] https://xoxofest.com/guide/accessibility/
[37] https://xoxofest.com/guide/inclusion/
[38] https://xoxofest.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ce4e5ccf4e3f4e3eae9fff8a2efe3e1
[39] https://xoxo.zone/@xoxo
[40] https://bsky.app/profile/xoxofest.com
[41] https://www.threads.net/@xoxofest
[42] https://www.futurefonts.xyz/
[43] https://www.futurefonts.xyz/loveletters/optic
[44] https://www.futurefonts.xyz/phantom-foundry/phantom-sans
[45] https://www.futurefonts.xyz/jtd/enfilade
[46] https://xoxofest.com/2012/
[47] https://xoxofest.com/2013/
[48] https://xoxofest.com/2014/
[49] https://xoxofest.com/2015/
[50] https://xoxofest.com/2016/
[51] https://xoxofest.com/2018/
[52] https://xoxofest.com/2019/
[53] https://xoxofest.com/2024/