The third ever IndieWebCamp San Diego with two days of independent open distributed web talks, breakouts, and hack sessions. Bring your website or setup a new domain on the spot.
Even better, Tantek has already suggested a session on card catalogs that’s right up my alley: https://indieweb.org/2025/SD#Session_ideas.
“Like a jam session for people who like typewriters. You had unions do sit-ins and hippies do be-ins, so I thought, ‘We’ll do a type-in.’”
—Michael McGettigan, 56, bike shop owner who coined the phrase
With attendees from 8 months old to over 80, our Spring type-in was so successful, we’re hosting another one before the end of the year. Bringing your own typewriter(s) and related ephemera is definitely encouraged, but is entirely optional.
Date
Saturday, November 29th, 2025
Time
1:00 – 4:00 PM
Location
Vroman’s Bookstore
695 E Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91101
2 blocks West of Lake Avenue, which has both East and Westbound exits off of the 210 Freeway.
We’ll be meeting upstairs on the second floor. Parking available behind the bookstore as well as on surrounding streets. There is a handicapped accessible ramp (from the parking lot in rear) and entrance(s) with an elevator to the second floor as well. (Hint: this is also available for those bringing their collections of standard typewriters.)
Type-ins are community-based, family friendly events at which typewriter enthusiasts share their love for the analog art of putting ink onto paper with mechanical marvels of the late 19th through 20th centuries. To do this they bring one or more manual typewriters and their knowledge and love of the machines to share with the community. New friends share stories, history, repair tips, working methods, and other typewriterly ephemera. Typists of all ages and levels of ability are welcome.
Typewriters optional
We definitely encourage those without their own machines to attend. With some luck and the kindness of new friends, you should be able to try out a variety of machines which are present in an effort to decide what styles and feel you might consider for purchasing one of your own one day (or for the upcoming holidays). Please kindly ask the owners’ permission before trying a machine out. If you’ve got multiple typewriters, feel free to bring an extra for a friend or two. Our current record for the attendee bringing the most typewriters is 6.
Below is a list of activities we might try based on the interests of the attendees:
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Vroman’s Bookstore is a Pasadena institution and SoCal’s oldest indie bookstore since 1894 (almost as old as the invention of the typewriter itself!) While you’re visiting, be sure to check out not only their book selection, but their gifts and cards; the wide array of notebooks, stationery items and their fantastic fountain pen counter; and their children’s section. Downstairs stop by their excellent wine bar or Tepito Coffee Shop which will be open for snacks and beverages throughout the day.
Looking for typewriter-related books as holiday gifts and stocking stuffers while you’re there? Ask for some of the following:
Our meeting space, which is frequently used for author talks and book signings, should be adequate, but please RSVP (with your expected number of typewriters) so we can plan for the appropriate amount of tables and chairs.
Questions? Media queries? Contact: ChrisAldrich@jhu.edu
The next book for the Dan Allosso Book Club is Roland Allen‘s The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper (United Kingdom: Profile Books, 2023).
For those interested in intellectual history, here’s a chance to join a long standing book club full of inveterate note takers/zettelkasten-ers, educators, and lifelong learners. Those interested in the topic are encouraged to join us.
To join, reach out to Dan Allosso for access to the book club’s shared Obsidian Vault and/or ping me for the Zoom link for the discussions to be held on Saturday mornings at 8:00 – 10:00 AM Pacific over the coming month.
Which machines are you bringing?
Front row (left to right): ’51 Remington Super-Riter, ’56 Remington Standard, ’55 Royal HH, ’58 Royal FP (gray, 16″ carriage), ’57 Royal FP (gray)
Back row (left to right): ’45 Remington 17, ’50 Royal KMG, ’61 Royal FP (yellow), ’77 Olympia SG3
Time
1:00 PM onwards
Location
Vroman’s Bookstore
695 E Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91101
2 blocks West of Lake Avenue, which has both East and Westbound exits off of the 210 Freeway.
We’ll be meeting upstairs on the second floor. Parking available behind the bookstore as well as on surrounding streets. There is a handicapped accessible ramp (from the parking lot in rear) and entrance(s) with an elevator to the second floor as well.
Type-ins are community-based, family friendly events at which typewriter enthusiasts share their love for the analog art of putting ink onto paper with mechanical marvels of the late 19th through 20th centuries. To do this they bring one or more manual typewriters and their knowledge and love of the machines to share with the community. New friends share stories, history, repair tips, working methods, and other typewriterly ephemera. Typists of all ages and levels of ability are welcome.
Typewriters optional
We definitely encourage those without their own machines to attend. With some luck and the kindness of new friends, you should be able to try out a variety of machines which are present in an effort to decide what styles and feel you might consider for purchasing one of your own one day. (Please kindly ask the owners’ permission before trying a machine out.) If you’ve got multiple typewriters, feel free to bring an extra for a friend.
“Like a jam session for people who like typewriters. You had unions do sit-ins and hippies do be-ins, so I thought, ‘We’ll do a type-in.’”
—Michael McGettigan, 56, bike shop owner who coined the phrase
Vroman’s Bookstore is a Pasadena institution and SoCal’s oldest indie bookstore since 1894 (almost as old as the invention of the typewriter itself!) While you’re visiting, be sure to check out not only their book selection, but their gifts and cards; the wide array of notebooks, stationery items and their fantastic fountain pen counter; and their children’s section. Downstairs stop by their and their excellent wine bar or Tepito Coffee Shop which will be open for snacks and beverages throughout the day.
Looking for Typewriter-related books while you’re there? Ask for some of the following:
Our meeting space, which is frequently used for author talks and book signings, should be adequate, but please RSVP (with your expected number of typewriters) so we can plan for the appropriate amount of tables and chairs.
Questions? Media queries? Contact: ChrisAldrich@jhu.edu
So mark your calendars, limber your fingers, and start tuning up your favorite typewriter(s)! More details and specifics to come shortly.
If you’re nearby and can spare some time to help volunteer, drop me a line.
The book is broken up into 3 parts (approximately 50-75 pages each) and we’ll discuss each on succeeding weeks. The group has several inveterate note takers who are well-acquainted with Zettelkasten methods.
If you’d like access to the Obsidian vault, please email danallosso at icloud dot com with your preferred email address to connect to the Dropbox repository.
DM either Dan or myself for the Zoom link for the video meetings.
I saw hundreds of images of the eclipse today, but none remotely similar to mine. While thinking back on how I imaged the eclipse with my “pinhole colander camera”, I realize that so much of my life is informed not only by science, but the science of cooking. 
Micro.blog Analog Tools Meetup January 2024. 🖊️🗃️📓☕
cygnoir (cygnoir.net)Nearly two years later, I’m reviving the idea of a Micro.blog meetup for analog tools like paper and notebooks, pens and ink, pencils, stationery, planners and journals, typewriters, index cards, etc. Thirteen intrepid fans of analog tools filled out the survey last time, and the majority thought a one-hour Zoom meeting each month would be the best way to start. Timing is everything, in so many realms, and this one is no different. I’m available to host this meetup every third Saturday of the month from 9-10 a.m. PST. That would make our first meetup on Saturday, January 20th.
The first annual IndieWebCamp San Diego is scheduled for December 16 and 17th! The venue will be the Blackmarket Bakery (until 4pm). They have a nice fenced in courtyard of good size with several table sizes, shade, power, etc. and is centrally located in San Diego, CA with easy access to transportation and other amenities.
Time: Sunday, May 7, 2023, 12:00 noon Eastern Time (US and Canada)
9 AM Pacific Time
Zoom link for the meetup: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8850659900?pwd=ZE9ROUs1czNiK2FTTStjTUJuVkIydz09 4
Agenda
This one is going to be fun! Sönke Ahrens, the author of How to Take Smart Notes 12 will join our meetup on May 7th. Let’s start a thread on what we’d like to review with him. The meetup is not for a couple of weeks. If you have the time, I highly suggest you grab a copy and give it a read.
Mark Bernstein of Eastgate Systems, Inc., is the designer of Tinderbox: https://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
Join Mark as he turns back the clock to examine some early Tools For Thought, and the people who created them. There’s quite a lot to learn from both, as well as a research literature that repays study.
The infinite canvas as a thinking space now has a long history, but few of the early systems are well known. I think some of them might be worth a brief look, in terms of the ideas they brought forward and in terms of the tasks they sought to address. For example:
Sketchpad: Ivan Sutherland’s system from the 1960 kicked off interactive computer graphics AND object-oriented programming.
NLS/Augment: Doug Engelbart’s original outliner, the first system that explicitly sought to be a tool for thought.
Xanadu: Ted Nelson’s early proposal for a hypertext docuverse.
Storyspace: the first system intended for non-sequential narrative. Introduced in 1987 and still in use today.
Intermedia: a platform for digital pedagogy, developed at Brown and BBN.
KMS: a hypertext system for technical documentation, the source of Akscyn’s Law
Microcosm: A hypertext system based chiefly on contextual links, the ancestor of all sculptural hypertext.
Aquanet: the 1990 system from Halasz, Trigg, and Marshall at Xerox PARC, described as a tool to hold your knowledge in place.
VIKI: the first spatial hypertext system, designed by Cathy Marshall as a reaction to Aquanet and the start of an enormously influential line of research
Share ideas, create & improve our personal websites, and build upon each other's creations. Whether you’re a creator, writer, blogger, coder, designer, or just someone who wants to improve their presence on the web, all skill and experience levels welcome. Breakout rooms available for those who want to collaborate on the same topic.
