We so often consider constraints to be a negative. We have become convinced that they stop us doing what we want and that, therefore, they prevent us from being our most creative.
But constraints are actually the most beautiful thing in the world. Constraints are what give us direction. Constraints are what give us focus. Constraints are what give us empathy.
In this talk Charlie will tell us how constraints are something that should be sought out and embraced, especially in the infinite chaos of the web.
Videos
📺 Take Back Your Web by Tantek Çelik | Beyond Tallerand 2019
We used to control our online identities, content, and experience. We now share Twitter names instead of domains; even web developers tweet and post on Medium instead of their own sites. We scroll social media and feel empty instead of reading news & blogs to feel informed and connected. Algorithmic feeds amplify rage & conspiracies, enabling tribal ad-targeting to polarise and spread misinformation, threatening democracy itself.
What happened? And what are we doing to fix it?
That's a big question that will require all of us, our communities, our employers, to shift. I don't want to wait, and you probably don't either.What can you do for yourself, today?
Own your domain. Own your content. Own your social connections. Own your reading experience. IndieWeb services, tools, and standards enable you to take back your web.
📺 Embarrassing 80’s – Ricky Gervais & Seona Dancing | YouTube
Seona dancing was a 1980s British new wave group, best known for providing comedian Ricky Gervais with his first experiences as a public performer. Although the band were not successful, their single "More to Lose" went on to become a teen anthem in the Philippines.
In June 1982, in his final year as a student at University College London, Ricky Gervais and his friend Bill Macrae formed Seona Dancing, with Macrae writing the songs and playing keyboards and Gervais writing and singing the lyrics. After recording a sixteen-song demo tape, they were signed by London Records which released two of their singles: "More to Lose" and "Bitter Heart". In 1983, the duo performed their single "More to Lose" on the ITV syndicated children's television show Razzamatazz. Yet, despite the promotion of "Bitter Heart" through its music video and "More to Lose" by its TV performance, both singles failed to break the Top 40. With "More to Lose" charting at number 117 and "Bitter Heart" at number 79 on the UK Singles Chart. After the lacklustre performance of their two singles, the band split up in 1984.
Gervais went on to have a successful international career as a comedian and actor, while Macrae later embarked on a solo career, though he has not made any real media appearance since. When Jimmy Kimmel asked about Macrae in an interview in 2014, Gervais said jokingly, "I hope he got fat too."
📺 Podcasting Basics | Week 3- Editing Software | YouTube
In week 3 we cover DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) and the basics for editing your first podcast episode. Watch the other videos in pA's #OneEpisodeChallenge podcasting basics video series.
📺 Podcasting Basics | Week 2- Audio Gear | YouTube
Week 2 od pA's #OneEpisodeChallenge covers the different types of audio gear required to record a podcast. This is a 4 part video series teaching you the basics of podcasting. Any questions will be answered with personal episodes in Podcast Q&A by plasticAudio on Anchor.FM. the following weeks will cover Audio Editing & Distribution.
📺 Podcasting Basics | Week 1- Show Concept | YouTube
Welcome to plasticAudio's video series on podcasting basics. This first week covers show concept. The next 3 weeks will cover audio gear, editing software, and distribution. These videos are part of my #OneEpisodeChallenge. After 4 weeks you'll have one episode of your new podcast series recorded, edited, and distributed across several platforms.
These videos are for anyone interested in learning about podcasting and businesses looking for a new way to reach customers.
📺 How to Set up Atom 1.0 with your Preferences | YouTube
Just download the new Atom 1.0 want to know how to set styles, keybindings, and themes? Maybe you are interested in installing a package into your editor. Find your answers in this video to make Atom 1.0 fit to your work style.
📺 Introduction to the New Testament History and Literature RLST 152 – Lecture 9: The Gospel of Luke | Open Yale Courses
Luke and Acts, a two-volume work, are structured very carefully by the author to outline the ministry of Jesus and the spread of the Gospel to the gentiles. The Gospel of Luke emphasizes the themes of Jesus’ Jewish piety, his role as a rejected prophet, and the reversal of earthly status. The Gospel ends in Jerusalem, and the Acts of the Apostles begins there and then follows the spread of the Gospel, both conceptually and geographically, to Samaria and the gentiles. By closely analyzing the Gospel and Acts, we see that the author was not concerned with historicity or chronological order. Rather, he writes his “orderly account” to illustrate the rejection of the Gospel by the Jews and its consequent spread to the gentiles.
I was ten years into a career as a user experience designer making new digital products when diabetes blew my family's life apart. The complexity and relentlessness of the burden of care that came with my youngest daughter's diagnosis at 1.5 years old, were overwhelming. I learned that people with diabetes are always 10 minutes of inattention away from a coma. Run your blood sugar too low and risk brain injury or death. Run too high and you do cumulative damage to your organs, nerves and eyes. And as a designer and hardware hacker I couldn't accept the limitations and poor User Experience I was seeing in all the tools we were given to deal with it.
Then I discovered Nightscout (a way to monitor my daughter's blood sugar in real time from anywhere in the world) and Loop (a DIY open sourced, artificial pancreas system that checks blood sugar and adjusts insulin dosing every five minutes 24/7) and the #WeAreNotWaiting community that produced them. For the first time I saw the kinds of tools I needed and true power of solutions that come from the people living with the problem. When I learned about the Tidepool's project to take Loop through FDA approval and bring it to anyone who wants to use it to give the same freedom and relief that we've experienced from it, I had to get involved. Now we are taking an open source software through regulatory approval and using real-life user data from the DIY community for our clinical trial in a process that is turning heads in the industry. We'll get into the many ways this story demonstrates ways that user driven design, open source models and a counterculturally collaborative approach with regulators are shifting the incentives and changing the landscape toward one more favorable to innovation.
📺 You’ve got to go forwards to go back….(WIlly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 1971) | YouTube
📺 IndieWebCamp New Haven | YouTube
Introductions and Keynote: Connected Learning & the IndieWeb by Kimberly Hirsh
at Southern Connecticut State University, Davis Hall, 501 Crescent Avenue, 06515 New Haven, Connecticut.
I wanted to rewatch the entire opening to see Kimberly Hirsh’s keynote a second time. I almost feel bad that she gave it remotely so that she couldn’t experience the direct feedback and adulation of people watching it live. Of course the benefit of a streamed version is that I got to watch it bleary-eyed in my pajamas (because of the time difference between New Haven and Los Angeles) and it will live on for others to watch and enjoy long into the future.
Congratulations Kimberly! And thanks again for taking the time to talk to all of us.
Tantek Çelik at Personal Democracy Forum 2014
📺 Innovate Pasadena – Chuck Chugumlung | YouTube
Innovate Pasadena President Beth Kuchar interviews Chuck Chugumlung - Art Center alumnus, creative director and co-organizer of IP's Friday Coffee and Design X meetups.
📺 What is the IndieWeb? | Aaron Parecki | YouTube
📺 Taking Back The Web | Jeremy Keith | Webstock ’18
In these times of centralised services like Facebook, Twitter, and Medium, having your own website is downright disruptive. If you care about the longevity of your online presence, independent publishing is the way to go. But how can you get all the benefits of those third-party services while still owning your own data? By using the building blocks of the Indie Web, that’s how!
Presentation slide-deck: speakerdeck.com/adactio/taking-back-the-web