I keep going back and forth on this but as somebody who needs a computer – even in the case of a laptop – that can be durable and capable, I’m less convinced that I should be looking at a Mac as each day passes. A Microsoft notebook might be the way to go.

This page from Michael Tsai is Exhibit A for my continued unease. It’s not that I’m likely to get a MacBook Pro, especially not as my first Mac but the progression, or lack thereof, in the higher end models is a sign of how well the lower end models will be treated. To be frank, the price of the new MacBook Air is not enough to put me off but the terribly negligence displayed by Apple toward the Mac in general is disconcerting.

At this point, I’m waiting to see if they’ll continue supplying regular updates (which to be fair, they have since the 2016 redesign) and revert some of the bad decisions of the past two years, and if they don’t I’ll avoid the Mac entirely and compare instead the iPad Pro to Windows laptops.

Edit: Another set of updates from Michael Tsai

Seriously, even if I wasn’t poor there is no way I will be able to tolerate this seemingly terrible keyboard. I write way too much to ever work efficiently; I barely have time enough for this work as it is!

I no longer want to be tied up in various accounts for platforms and services, to be tied to black-box style technology with which if you have any issues it just doesn’t work and you’re left to shrug and wait for things to get better. Of course I know that it would be ridiculous to have full and total control over every piece of technology, since that would involve constant maintenance and other investments for which the vast majority of people have no room in their already full lives. However, not every possible app and service is necessary – no, this is not an advert for Marie Kondo – and whenever I think about just how much control of my life I am handing over to corporations there is an inexorable sinking feeling, bordering on despair.

That’s kinda shit. So I’m not doing it anymore. Let’s look at what I’ve got:

• iCloud
• Google
• Amazon
• Microsoft
• Twitter
• Facebook

Those are the largest arbiters of my digital life, and I would imagine relatively common for the people who are most likely to read this, but that doesn’t mean they are the only ones in my sights; I’ll come back to the smaller platforms at a later date.

iCloud is not going anywhere; not only is Apple the only company talking about, and acting on privacy with any sort of semblance of truth but I am also working towards a goal of trying all-in with them, for which iCloud is essential.

Google is tough. To begin with it’s not going anywhere since I have a Pixel 2 and after trying a different Launcher (Microsoft’s no less) found performance and stability suffered massively when compared to the default set up; apparently Google are quickly taking Apple’s approach with regard to “controlling the experience”. It is highly unlikely that I’ll be able to change my phone for another year, so that’s Android set in place.

On top of this is YouTube, which is not as bad as it once was since I have massively cut the amount of regular series I watch but is still a gradual process; fortunately some of my favourite channels offer alternative methods for watching their videos, so I will work on moving over to those.

Beyond that I have moved my search over to a combination of DuckDuckGo and web-based resources such as directories and blogs, whilst I am happy with Fastmail for email. The only other catch is Maps, for which Apple and Bing are the best alternatives but they’re nowhere near as easy to access as Google on my phone and that is where I am likely to need a map the majority of the time.

Amazon is likely to stay. Between an ever reliable back-up for delivered shopping and Prime it is currently in a strong position. Although, the move to Apple might negate Prime whilst attaining one of our current big domestic goals, getting a car, would put a dent in Amazon’s power as a retailer. I would love to extract myself from their ecosystem entirely.

Microsoft is the current backend for my task management, such as it is, but that can change easily enough over time. Other than that is Windows 10 which is in a strange position; either it’s entirely fragile because of how much better Mac OS is or I’m not all that convinced by Mac OS and Windows becomes the unquestionable default for my desktop and laptop needs. Even if the operating system stays, there will still be options for third party software, such as they are on Windows.

Twitter has gone from the unquestionable social network for me to an entirely disposable, infected waste of space. My remaining account is used to convince people to join Micro.blog, a cost I am currently willing to pay since it is so entirely locked down and focused away from the maddening flood that is the inner-most thoughts of millions of people. Also: fuck Jack Dorsey.

Facebook stopped being my hub for anything years ago; I went from deleting my years-old account, to reactivating and maintaining it in “private mode” (LOL), to inevitably trashing it altogether. Since then Instagram, and to a lesser degree WhatsApp remained a hook into the ecosystem but they are both gone now. Much like the rest of these huge platforms, there are better alternatives for which my mental health is eternally thankful. Also: fuck Mark Zuckerberg.

I am now actively seeking out either non-account or non-services software for the bare essentials I need. We are in the era of Noise when it comes to software evolution for the masses and I no longer want to be weighed down by the mammoth task of moving the whole world to be plugged into one space.

Whilst I still believe it is true that these monopoly-abusing companies host the platforms upon which “everybody lives” to some extent, I simply no longer wish to bear the cost of it; I refuse to live my life by the compromised standards of other people.

• • •

I’ll be posting a follow-up to this, looking more into the future in a similar manner as I have written before now. I agree with Jack Baty with regard to where we ought to be putting our energy; great, I got rid of the thing that is bad, so what is next? Let’s all try to talk about that.

A number of other people have recently created work with which they reflect similar thoughts and approaches mentioned herein. To those people I am grateful for their contributions to these issues:

• Jean MacDonald said goodbye to Facebook.
• Cheri Baker doesn’t want to be a brand.
• Sammer Vasta is seeking out a quieter year.
• Patrick Rhone planned a special Christmas Day.
  • Patrick writes an awful lot about these sorts of issues and ideas, and is one of my absolute must-read bloggers and writers in general.
• CGP Grey took a big break from life amidst the noise of the web.
• Phil Nunnally is reconsidering his reliance on Instagram.
• Chris Wilson is taking a break from podcasts while travelling.
• John Johnston is working around “the Cloud” in his classroom.
• There have been a number of people talking about these issues on Micro.blog, many of such posts having been surfaced via Discover.

Today I Learned is back for 2019, including:

• A new page; The Phrasebook.
• A new tip.
• A variety of Page updates.
• Twitter account fully active again.
• More to come this week!

For those who aren’t familiar, @til is an unofficial resource for help with Micro.blog. It includes hints, tips, links, and much more to come over the next few weeks.

You can follow via the @-mention above on Micro.blog or using feeds:

• Today I Learned
  • The main blog.
• Updates
  • Covers updates to Micro.blog.

Now is a good time to follow TIL, whilst this is also a great time for all of us to get Back To Blogging.

A few things for you:

• Blocking Domains in webmention.io. Aaron Parecki has significantly improved the moderating tools for webmention.io and thus increased the overall utility of the service. Webmentions are a good way to help independent people on the web converse, and now it is possible for those who would need to mitigate against abuse to do so.
• Introducing MacStories Selects. The team at MacStories have launched a new feature to their already impressive line-up; these awards are a great way for anybody to easily get a good, quick look at apps that are at least worth trying out.
• feeds.txt. Andre Torrez has taken an interesting idea he saw from Adam Mathes and made it real; he is now hosting a human readable text file of his various feed-based subscriptions.
  • h/t Rey Dhuny
• Discuss on Micro.blog. Amit Gawande has implemented a nifty addition to his blog posts; a link to the comment feed on Micro.blog, an idea that is particularly intriguing as it sits along his webmention form. Together these are a nice set of tools furthering the effort to strengthen independent voices on the web.
• A Kind of Emoji. Aaron Davis is testing emoji as a form of taxonomy. There is plenty to consider with this approach, as this post clearly proves.
  • h/t Eli Mellen
• Grace Slick, standing in front of a wall with Egyption hieroglyphs on it, giving the middle finger to the camera. Hell. Fucking. Yes.
  • h/t Jean MacDonald
• Still Blogging in 2017. Tim Bray was resolute about the strength in blogging two years ago; he is very much still posting to this day.
  • h/t Jason Kottke
• One Person Can Change a Lot. Refreshing optimism from Ron Chester; an excellent way to have both ended 2018 and begun 2019.
• Discover 2019. Speaking of ending the year well, the Micro.blog Discover timeline is full of end of the year, and new year posts worth reading.
• Charles Montgomery on the value of shared community spaces.
• Progress.

Enjoy your weekend!

… I have always thought of Facebook as a necessary evil.

– Luis Gabriel Santiago Alvarado, I don’t know anymore!

A familiar feeling with which I empathise. The behemoths of the social web (silo platforms) have been constructed to have this exact effect on as many people as possible.

Joyce Garcia agrees:

It’s very heartening to know that I’m not the only one struggling through decisions on the social media morass.

Weighing up the value of where the crowd is, or at least appears to be, against the reality of contributing to a bad thing – often definitely very bad things – is difficult.

People might say “oh but what do you think you’re really contributing by leaving” but the fact remains that as more people leave, even more people feel comfortable doing so; after a few consecutive years of steady decline in activity and visible membership, these silos have no real backup plan on which to rely. They are not web-friendly at all and with that comes the lack of local copies, which means everything just disappears, and people will inevitably see the patently destructive core of these systems.

Even the people who remain in the silos will likely change their approach to them; for example, Twitter as a simple means of producing a microblog feed as well as RSS. Over time enough people are only likely to get smarter about these platforms, in the aggregate, that their move away from the centre of our culture, our very societies is inevitable.

These platforms do not need to disappear; we simply need to put them in their place.

Last month I posted my wishlist for Micro.blog, outlining a number of items should they be implemented I feel would make significant contributions to the effort of making substantial improvements across the platform.

I built this list over time and that included removing items either implemented in that time or those that, upon reflection became less fitting for my list. Below is a list of some of these items, along with some quick thoughts:

• Android

  • Perhaps the most forcefully requested feature for Micro.blog at all, at least publicly. More than a few people have disregarded the platform altogether when it becomes obvious just how Apple-centric it is as far as apps are concerned.
  • Whilst I do think the platform will grow for the better with official Android support, I continue to believe it is unlikely to such an extent to be irrelevant, at least for now; if a significant portion of my list is implemented the lack of Android will soon become something of a highly visible flaw, especially for a platform founded on the principles of the open, inclusive web.

• Windows

  • Similar to the above issue with Android, although to a much lesser extent; aside from anything else, the web app is likely to be easier to access in a desktop-class browser. However, an app through which you are given a smooth and clean interface, even with just basic functionality, would be rather impressive on Windows; I say this as a lifetime user of Windows who has rarely seen third-party software worth talking about.
  • I wonder if a browser extension – at least for Firefox and Chrome, as well as Safari – would help a decent number of people for whom a Windows app would be appealing, at least in the short term.

• Replies on hosted blog posts.

  • This has been requested on more than a few occasions, especially from those for who the stated goals of Micro.blog are particularly attractive – for people to blog more/get back to blogging, something of a return to the old pre-social behemoth web, etc. Whilst I agree this would be a great feature, I do not believe it is important at a fundamental level for enough people to justify its theoretical status as a priority.

• Metrics.

  • This includes direct access to your Following list in a way with which most people are familiar thanks to the increasingly homogenic design of mainstream social media, the very presence of public Likes and/or Reactions, and through to the likes of built-in stats for posts. Not only do I think this would muddle the main message through which Micro.blog is promoted, I have yet to be convinced that the presence of such features ever contribute to the net positive of platforms through which people seek to discuss ideas and matters at hand.

• Search.

  • Global search built right into Micro.blog. This will immediately solve “Discovery” or so it would seem when people react with shock at the lack of conventional search. Not only does the hosted search feature provide a practical option for those who are aligned with the philosophy behind Micro.blog (i.e. bloggers, including those who are more concerned with writing and posting than they are fiddling with technical toys) but the search available via Discover provides search within a focused context. For the moment that is more than enough.

• ‘Show More’ everywhere (replies especially).

  • I totally forgot about this. It is an example of feature parity, or lack thereof and whilst I would dearly love to see it (hi from Windows and Android 👋🏻) it’s definitely not a deal-breaker nor a thing I believe would turn many people away, at least not in the short term.

I am confident there are plenty of other items I could have put here, however those are the ones I have noticed when it comes to looking at both the platform and community as a whole. It’ll be interesting to see if any of these make progress ahead of my actual wishlist.

Sometimes things don’t turn out the way you think they will. Life can be full of surprises that way. Here I am, not even a week into this year and already changes are afoot that even a few days ago I would not have expected. Let’s get to those changes.

Updates:

• Posted my CSS as a Gist.
  • I use the Marfa theme for Mumblings, with a bunch of custom CSS to twist it into the shape I prefer. The code is now on GitHub, for anybody to grab and/or leave feedback. I’ll also soon post it to this site.
• Projects:
  • They Chose Us is a website dedicated to my cats, Kismet and Aria.
  • Firebyrd is the home of my wife and I for our collaborative work, including our blog with which we will post updates.
• Increased contributions to Micro.blog on GitHub.
• Snapshot has been put on indefinite hiatus.
• Returned to Twitter and Instagram.

The future:

• Today I Learned returns proper on Monday, the 14th of January.
  • The December edition of The Macro Report will be back before then.
• For The Weekend returns this Friday, the 4th of January.
• Introducing: Broken Ground, a photo-based record of the public infrastructure in Liverpool.
  • I’m going to highlight the condition of the streets and roads in my local area, within the relevant context to talk about why this is important and exactly why, as citizens, we should demand more from both those in positions of authorities and each other.
• Introducing: Chronicles of Thedas, a fan-site hosting stories set in the Dragon Age universe.
• Regular longer form blogging is forthcoming on Mumblings, with a reduction of shorter posts.

I briefly moved Mumblings, this site, from Micro.blog Hosted to Tumblr but now it is back again and I couldn’t be happier. I believe strongly in the work being done by the team, that Manton is right when he says the best future for the web is one made of smaller networks of higher quality rather than the current roster of social media behemoths.

I have big goals for this year and Today I Learned is a big part of that. I can’t wait to restart the project on the 14th of the month, especially with the plans I have in place for further expansion.

I hope to get my Micro.blog Hosted photoblog back up before the end of the year, along with a couple of other blog-based ideas for which I am currently in the early planning stages. In the meantime I’m going to keep blogging here and look forward to a year of even more people getting back to blogging.

Happy New Year!

– Simon

During my downtime over Christmas I’ve been thinking a lot about the time I am spending on writing, especially with regard to how I am moving away from constant, daily blogging and toward longer form blogging whilst increasing my time on writing-based projects.

Between this and the pressing need to maintain my overall health – as a carer, there is no other choice; if I do not maintain my health then I cannot do my job – I am looking at cutting away those activities of my day-to-day life that are in fact excessive. A post from tones helped me see this ambition in the sharp reality that is text and I have never felt as driven to do my best work as I do right now.

That being said, there is no question that my decision to move away from regular shorter blogging is an important part of this focus; don’t get me wrong, the activity is brilliant and has been integral to my year-long rejuvenation thanks to which I am now well equipped to reach for my aforementioned goals. However, those goals are unlikely to be met if I continue to spend time with such regular blogging; I do not write about a specific subject or have a well established history of sharing via link blogging, or have any real access to the type of material about which I could write and thus gain traction with any sort of audience.

… and there it is. I want to make things for people. I believe the world is better when we all try to contribute to it and right now I wish to do so directly, with intention. This means posting my general, mixed blog is purely for me as a hobby, which again is great but for me unfortunately little more than excessive; a thing that has the potential to drag me down as it were.

And so my blog, this very site, will be for the longer form writing and that is fine.

However, there is still microblogging. Those short posts for which my favourite social media platform is named; Micro.blog. Everything about the platform is great… well, almost great. I recently posted my wishlist for the platform and have come to realise my main issue can be summed up in a word: friction. There’s just too much of it still, be it foundational issues such as the lack of cross-platform apps, cross-platform parity, or a lack clear messaging about how it is safer than mainstream social media platforms… I still wouldn’t recommend Micro.blog for the average person and so it is not quite great.

Then there is mainstream social media, specifically Twitter and Instagram. Flawed though they are, I have written previously about the reality that they are where people are; within contexts that are important for my life this is simply true and remains so to this day. There is also another thing; they are relatively free of friction, to enough of an extent to matter.

To this end, a recent post on Instagram by Federico Viticci caught my eye. He is effectively blogging on Instagram. I guess Instagram is photoblogging by another name anyway but I had never thought much about it also as a general purpose blogging tool. Yet there it is, again, relatively friction free.

It’s a similar story across mainstream social media:

Tap -> tap -> tap -> done. Boom; on with your day.

This ought to be one of the big aims for Micro.blog. Not necessarily as friction-free but much closer to that point than it is at the moment. I believe this is possible, likely to happen, and the true moment when I can thoroughly attempt to convince people I know on a day-to-day basis to give the platform a try as a replacement for whatever social media platforms they are using.

A lot of these thoughts have come in the midst of a deep desire to finally push on and maintain the momentum gained from a particularly busy year. Cutting away excess, minimising friction for hobbies and side projects, and thus making tangible contributions through my work is the path I am taking… as a result, I will continue to think about such matters as I have written about here, make the relevant decisions, and update my blog as I do so.

It’s been… well, one hell of a year. There are plenty of things I can’t remember right now and that’s OK; if it’s important enough I’ll remember it and make a note. In fact, I’ve been advised by more than one person to start a diary and I’m looking forward to doing just that.

If there’s one thing I’m currently feeling it is anticipation; after taking a break, I’ll be back on my bullshit and determined to take on all kinds of projects, as well as shoring up my basic organisation of various tasks so that I can use more of my time to do actual work. The improved use of my time will also grant me the chance to rediscover some hobbies, which now feels like a thing I ought to be better at prioritising.

I don’t have much else to say, so here are some recent updates:

• Deactivated my Now page.
  • It’s been a great writing exercise over the past year, and has helped me with regard to making decisions about exactly what I want my blog to be, the degree to which I am involved in mainstream social media, and more. I thoroughly recommend it.
• Edited menu links.
  • This now better reflects my thinking about this site. It will change if certain features are implemented on Micro.blog but the basic structure is set.
• Edited the About page.
  • This continues to be an ever-changing page but the rate of change has slowed over the past few months, which is good. I would prefer it to be relatively stable, mostly with changes in the future centred around additions.
• Moved my home page to WordPress.
  • It’s almost done; just missing a single post that I’ll have up at some point in January. Tumblr is decaying as part of its life as a social media silo, whilst Micro.blog does not currently have the features I require for this kind of page/site, and I can’t afford the other options. Fortunately I won’t be blogging at this site so the recent update by Automattic won’t be a problem.
• Started contributing to Micro.blog on GitHub.
  • I haven’t done very much yet but a start is better than none. I think this is the best place to focus the various discussions across the community about Micro.blog itself; hopefully this will help make it easier for people to get a good idea of the extent to which Micro.blog is developing and the actual influence the community has on that process.

I have also done some light work on project planning and since stopping regular work a few days ago have found it a lot easier to note down ideas and think about my exact intentions for the next few months. The various parts of my projects are moving forward together nicely and I’m looking forward to getting some hobby projects off the ground during my break.

Other than that I am winding down my usual computer-based activity as a whole and will spend more time with both my iPad (reading, video, etc) and my Chromebook (limited functionality means focusing on specific, smaller task), as part of a much more relaxed approach to each day. It’s gonna be fun!

With that in mind, this is the last post on Mumblings until next year. Have a fun, safe end to the year everybody. :)

Bye!