Month: February 2019
🔖 Ethical alternatives to popular sites and apps | switching.social
This looks interesting… Sadly a lot of their options seem to be very ActivityPub-centric, despite the fact that the site itself is run on WordPress (and they neglect to list it as an option as far as I can tell). Admittedly they do seem to be directed toward the non-technical user, but there are lots of options they’re also not listing here too. They’re also not mentioning the potential for abuse that some of these software present, particularly when they’re run by other people, or collectives of other people. While switching from Twitter to Mastodon may be a short term solution, your choice of particular instance could end you right back where you came from if you’re not careful or not running your own personal instance.
Missing from many of these lists are things like micro.blog and a plethora of IndieWeb-related projects.
With that said, it’s at least a start on overcoming some of the hurdles that exist for finding alternatives.
hat tip: Ryan Barrett
📑 Scoop: Leaked private schedules show Trump spent 60% of last 3 months in “Executive Time” | Axios
Responding to Axios' reporting, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders emailed this statement: "President Trump has a different leadership style than his predecessors and the results speak for themselves."
They just don’t say very much or anything very good.
👓 Scoop: Leaked private schedules show Trump spent 60% of last 3 months in “Executive Time” | Axios
It's unprecedented visibility into how the president spends his days.
I can only wonder when “nap time” and “cartoon time” are hiding?!
Downloading and backing up my Flickr account to make sure that I don’t lose any content when Flickr begins limiting non-pro accounts to less than 1,000 photos tomorrow. Fortunately I’m way under the limit and many of my photos are already on my own website, so I don’t need to worry too much.
📺 “The Americans” Martial Eagle | Amazon Prime
Directed by Alik Sakharov. With Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Annet Mahendru, Susan Misner. Philip and Elizabeth's long-planned mission turns ugly, impacting each of them in different ways. Stan digs in deeper at work as his personal life continues to unravel.
📺 “The Americans” Yousaf | Amazon Prime
Directed by Stefan Schwartz. With Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Annet Mahendru, Susan Misner. A new mission with international stakes has Philip calling on Annelise for assistance just as an old foe returns to D.C. with a vendetta. Stan makes a discovery that could put the FBI hot on the trail of illegals.
Catching back up on where I left off to start to finish off the series after being away for several months…
👓 Pulling the plug on Facebook | Dries Buytaert
I'm pulling the plug on Facebook because of their recent privacy violations — which got me thinking about what is next for the Open Web.
I want to pull the plug myself. I’ve essentially stopped using Facebook and have had the mobile app off my phone for almost a year and a half. I’m half waiting for better data export so I can keep all my data the way I’d like, but I’m beginning to think the moral imperative to just leave is more important.
🎧 This Week in Google 487 You're Filling It Wrong | TWiT.TV
- Google takes Manhattan
- Almost 50% of Google's workers are temps, contractors, or vendors.
- Facebook vs New York Times
- Harassment on Twitter
- Jack Dorsey's beard shavings, Azalia Banks, and ISIS
- A very Google holiday season
- RIP Oath
- Tesla fart app
- Peter Jackson restores WWI footage
Picks of the Week
- Leo's Tool: NexJack DeX Station
- Jeff's Number: Chartbeat's 2018 Most Engaged Stories
🎧 This Week in Google 489 I'm An Engineer, Darn It! | TWiT.TV
- Facebook hopes for a better 2019 after a public image drubbing in 2018.
- Google's Waymo Under Fire in Arizona - Literally.
- Your cell phone has a huge security flaw, and there is no plan to fix it.
- How much of the internet is made of bots? And how soon will people be the exception, not the rule?
- Copyright expires for all works created in 1923 - the 1st time this has happened in 20 years. Is Mickey Mouse next?
- One Oregon man takes his fight to call himself an engineer all the way to federal court.
- Who owns your tattoo? Not you!
- What will happen if the US tries to ban exports of AI tech?
- A cafe in Tokyo where the staff is all robots controlled remotely by paralyzed workers.
Picks of the Week
- Jeff's Numbers: Google to make $3B on hardware, 16,000 BBC sound effects for free
- Leo's Tool: Listen Notes: the podcast search engine
🔖 Listen Notes: The best podcast search engine
Wenbin Fang (Listen Notes)The most comprehensive podcast database online. Discover best podcasts. Search podcast show notes and audio transcripts by people, places, or topics.
An interesting looking service to be sure. Reminds me a bit of some of the functionality of Jeremy Keith’s Huffduffer, but it’s also a social silo of sorts for listening related content. It allows you to bookmark podcast episodes to listen later and includes an RSS feed for those so you can subscribe directly to your feed in a podcast player. It also does listen clips and comments. Sadly it doesn’t look like its got listen posts to allow you to keep track of what you’ve actually listened to. It does have an API for those who want to play around with it though.
I’m curious what folks like Kim Hansen, Ben Werdmüller, or Erin Jo Richey think of it. Are there better small tools out there?
hat tip: This Week in Google
