Posts tagged decentralization

nrempel.com
De-Googling My Life
This is another great post about changing digital habits, google edition. This is feeling more possible to me every day. I need to switch to Fathom Analytics here. Google Analytics is overkill for a personal website. And it wasn't mentioned in this post, but I still haven't found a good alternative to Google Maps on my phone. Apple Maps has been improving but it's still not as accurate in my experience.
Recommended · Jun 13th, 8:19 am
inessential.com inessential.com
inessential: My Blogging Setup These Days
Brent Simmons on his blog tech setup. I like his micro.blog idea but I have mixed feelings on syndicating out to services like Twitter and Facebook. a.) They are terrible for society and individuals. b.) I think you need to be ‘present’ and interacting for the social part of social media. Maybe you can do both, but: society.

Similarly: Always own your platform.
Recommended · Jun 11th, 7:29 am
Postlight Postlight
image from Postlight
Introducing Liftoff: Easily Create a Static Website Powered by Airtable
Webster’s Dictionary defines serverless as—well, it doesn’t define it yet. But I like Postlight’s take on it here. I’m also a fan of Airtable which does structured data and media entry well. With some light glue in Node.js form, you can present that data and media with HTML & CSS. I could see using this when you don’t need the overhead of running WordPress but you want some structure around how you enter content. Neat idea! In conclusion, serverless structure still requires servers.
Recommended · Apr 6th, 4:35 pm
Gizmodo Gizmodo
image from Gizmodo
RSS Is Better Than Twitter
"I’d start with, at most, 10 news sites to subscribe to. This will give you a feel for how fast you want the feed to move. Too slow? Add more. To fast? Delete a few. I try to narrow things down even further: Instead of subscribing to the New York Times, which publishes dozens of items per day, I subscribe specifically to the Times’ tech section, which means I get a much more curated selection."
Seconded. And hey, I could have written this. This article has great advice for embracing the decentralized lifestyle. I personally use a self-hosted Tiny Tiny RSS with Reeder on iOS which costs about $8/month at AWS. Instead of limiting feeds, I subscribe liberally and put them in folders by subject. Then I browse by subject periodically instead of the full list of feeds and tune from there.
Recommended · Mar 30th, 1:41 pm
forbes.com
image from forbes.com
Society Desperately Needs An Alternative Web
"The decentralized web is a mindset and a belief in an alternative structure that can address some of the afflictions that have risen from data pollution."
This article raises more questions than it answers but it’s a good summary of why some of us prefer decentralized web tools and recreation. Re-decentralization feels like a lost fight but I’m glad people are working on it.
Recommended · Mar 28th, 7:14 am
Craig Mod Craig Mod
image from Craig Mod
Oh God, It's Raining Newsletters
"...email has stayed, and has largely stayed decentralized, and from that — its ubiquity and lack of central authority — email has become one of the most boringly powerful publishing platforms around." Newsletters, amirite?! I agree that it feels like an exciting time for email and I really need to get back to posting my favorites. Are you thinking about starting your own newsletter? There's a guide for that: Newsletter Guide. And here's the obligatory Simpsons reference.
Recommended · Feb 11th, 7:38 pm
Medium Medium
image from Medium
Why Mastodon is defying the “critical mass”
I like this framing of the Mastodon vs. All Social Media story. Mastodon doesn't have to supplant Twitter to be a success. If people like me enjoy using it (and I do!) then it's working on some level. Yet every article about Mastodon says, "it has a long way to go to supplant Twitter." When you look at raw number of users, that's true, but do we need massive centralized networks? This recent Mastodon 101 article falls into the same framing trap, but it's a good summary nonetheless: The quest to design an ethical social media platform.
Recommended · Nov 11th, 2018, 6:16 am
iTunes iTunes
image from iTunes
Mast
This is a nice, new iOS Mastodon app. I'm going back and forth between Mast and Amaroq and I can't decide which is the one Mastodon app to rule them all yet. If you're wondering what Mastodon is, you can't go wrong with Laura Kalbag's summary: What is Mastodon and why should I use it?
Recommended · Oct 27th, 2018, 4:03 pm
  • New Republic: Democratize the Internet Now!
    "My personal information, my finances, my family connections, my ideas--all are now in the hands of those to whom I have submitted." (Can we please centralize and scale Paul Ford?)
Jun 27th, 2016, 5:00 pm
Dec 3rd, 2009, 10:00 pm
  • Anil Dash: The Web in Danger
    Anil collects more thoughts on the coming storm of apps vs. open web. "This, for me, is a social issue, a cultural issue, and a political issue, not just a technological issue. Perhaps we need to speak of it that way more often, to make the stakes clear."
  • Tim O'Reilly: The War For the Web
    "...it's time for developers to take a stand. If you don't want a repeat of the PC era, place your bets now on open systems. Don't wait till it's too late." Tim O'Reilly on the coming platform storm. [via anil]
Nov 16th, 2009, 10:00 pm
Oct 2nd, 2009, 10:00 pm
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Showing 1 through 12 of 14 posts tagged decentralization.