Category: Journal

Thoughts on Social Media 3/?: Did You Know RSS Was Still a Thing?

It’s true. I mean, you somehow found this blog post, which means you might already know this. But if you didn’t, I think it’s important to remind people.

It used to be easier, but it’s still around. RIP, Google Reader. I use and like Newsblur, but your choice of reader is kind of personal. Also, I think I got grandfathered into an account where I paid once and can use it for free. I don’t think that exists anymore. You may need to pay money to get a good reader.

People seem to be gravitating more towards mailing lists. I really dislike mailing lists. One thing I didn’t realize was that Substack and other mailing list blogging platforms offer RSS feeds. I didn’t know! You don’t get subscriber-only (subscribing as in money), but I’m not paying for mailing lists, so that’s okay.

I’ve been leaning a bit more heavily on my RSS reader since I’ve been drifting away from Twitter. And with the enshittification of search engines along with centralized social media, putting in a little work to curate my own river of news seems only prudent. I’ll keep on cleaning up my old feed list and finding new feeds.

And hey, maybe you’ll consider adding me to your reader so you won’t ever miss a post! I’ve posted more this week than I did all last year! Things are looking up!

featured image is ojingogo by webfee. CC-BY-NC.

Some thoughts on social media 1/?: Tweetdeck

It finally happened. Elon finally noticed Tweetdeck still exists. I’d kinda stuck around Twitter saying that if Tweetdeck goes, I go. And Tweetdeck is going. So I’m off.

Tweetdeck was always great, because every stupid thing that Twitter users complained about happening to their UI didn’t happen there. I had a reverse chronological feed of tweets from people I followed. And that’s it. No ads, no Nazis (mostly), nothing else. And I could add a bunch of lists for special interests that made me happy, like Doctor Who or Lego or Star Wars or whatever, that I wouldn’t have followed directly. It was great.

New Tweetdeck does most of these things, but no way am I paying Elon to ride Twitter into the depths of Hell. So I’m out.

I’ve got some more thoughts on things now that I’ve been mucking around with Mastodon a bit more, I have some more thoughts on Fediverse things, but maybe I’ll spin those off to separate posts. A blog series! I haven’t done one of those in ages!

Christmas Mixtape 2022

It’s the hap, happiest season of all! We’re back for a another Christmas mixtape. This will be my sixth. You can listen to all the mixtapes over at my Mixcloud.

You can also find it up on YouTube Music, although you’ll be missing a couple tracks.

Give it a listen! I do this because it’s fun for me and the last couple years, Ellen and I have kind of worked on our own mixtapes together. I like finding stuff that speaks to me and isn’t the sort of thing you’re likely to find playing in the mall. Track list with liner notes and music videos where available under the cut.

Continue reading Christmas Mixtape 2022

Quarantine Diary, Day 974: Toot

I don’t know if you knew this about me, but Twitter’s been kind of a big part of my life for 15ish years. And, as a result of events you might have heard of, I’m feeling a bit adrift in relation to it.

This feeling isn’t entirely new. Twitter’s been a less happy place for me for quite a while, even though I still think I get a lot of value from it. I’ve felt, however, that it may be time to branch out. Look for new horizons. That sort of thing.

Totally unprompted, I can assure you.

I’ve joined Mastodon. I’m @flyingsquirrel, if you’re somewhere in the fediverse and want to follow my nonsense there.

I might talk about this stuff more. Or maybe not! I may end up rebuilding the Mastodon instance that Ellen inherited last year but we haven’t had time to properly get up and running. We’ve been busy.

Did I mention we’ve had a baby? No, I see that I haven’t. He’s a year old now. Amazing!

Twitter sapped most of my blogging urges over the last 15 years, and this probably isn’t going to help. But who knows! This blog is also on the fediverse now. You can follow it at @Darcy@flyingsquirrel.ca! Get all three posts a year as soon as they happen! If you don’t already have an RSS reader, I guess.