2024 | Mark Stoneman

Jun 12, 2024 ∞

Shared Notes: Small Image Galleries

I’ve had no luck with the plugins on offer at Micro.blog, so I have set up two- and three-column flex boxes that become single columns on small screens.

Set up snippets for the HTML in Drafts and wherever else you find convenient. Write the post itself in Markdown, unless you have other CSS classes to apply.

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Jun 11, 2024 ∞

Was in the dentist’s chair for two hours today. (One procedure became another, the second done by an extern.) I don’t want to use my mouth, but I haven’t eaten in twelve hours. Gotta cook something soft.

Jun 11, 2024 ∞

Shared Notes: Digital Gardens

New post format: notes written only for myself, but perhaps of interest to others. Will file under a new shared notes category for now, while also using the blog's other relevant categories.

I ran into the term “digital gardens” on the 🦣 profile of @[email protected], which I looked up because of a repost by @[email protected] of a piece on the latter’s search functionality. RDK’s whole website, Just Text, has a quirky feel that reminds me of some Micro.blog-hosted blogs. These have extra pages about stuff that matters to them, lists, photos, a Tweet archive, other collections of related content.

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Jun 11, 2024 ∞

The clouds were changing shape and color, getting very dark in one part of the sky while the sun was playing with white clouds and a blue sky in other parts. The photo only hints at the dynamism, but my eyes were on the road, and I only had a brief moment without any cars near mine.

Jun 10, 2024 ∞

Are people really shocked about the European Parliamentary election results? Or are the responses more part of the performative virtue that we’ve learned to offer on social media when people do bad things? I’m not saying the results aren’t bad, but they certainly didn’t come out of nowhere.

Jun 10, 2024 ∞

Wahl 2024

I wanted to blog this in German, without waiting for any proofreading assistance. On Mastodon, I cross-posted it as a thread instead of as a link to this post.

Von Schock und Überraschung nach den gestrigen Wahlergebnissen lese ich auf Mastodon. Wirklich aber? Es gab ja in Deutschland das Ganze mit dem Kampf gegen die nötige Machtausübung des Staates während der schlimmsten Momente der Pandemie. Mangelndes Mitgefühl hat das schon gezeigt, und grosse Vertrauensverlust den Machtausübenden gegenüber. Vielleicht triftiger noch: wir in den USA kennen eine starke Affinität zwischen solchen Ansichten und rechtspopulistischem bzw. rechtsradikalem Gedankengut. Ich meine, daß diesen Zusammenhang öfters in Deutschland auch konstatiert wurde.

Ich denke auch etwa an 2015 und an – anders aber relevant – die schlimmen Angriffe auf ausländische Mitbürger kurz nach der Wende. Neuerdings gab us wieder das instinktive Weiterrücken der CDU/CSU Führung nach rechts, was ja nicht im Vakuum geschieht. Zu guter Letzt gibt es die Rückgratlosigkeit des Bundeskanzlers und einer Großzahl anderer Politiker, die die öffentliche Meinung lieber folgen als lenken zu versuchen. Mich sollte es eher überraschen, daß es Überraschung gibt, aber das kenn ich in den USA auch, wie viel vom vorher Erwähntem auch.

Es gibt zwei berühmten schwarzen Komiker hierzulande, die in einem Sketch nach der Wahl 2016 nur lachen konnten, weil sie sehr wohl wußten, dass der Rassismus weiterhin fluorierte. Wenn man Peacock in den USA hat, ist es wohl leicht zu finden. Sonst fällt mir leider nur YouTube ein.

Jun 8, 2024 ∞

Microblogging is Social Media, Not Broadcast Media

Max Boot on Threads writes, “I really want Threads to take over from X which is broken. But this is discouraging.” Setting aside the fact that he has 23,000 followers, I typed a hurried response because I just can’t hear it anymore. Why do so many smart, media-savvy people refuse to understand what has happened in the social media space over the past two years? Maybe it’s because they’ve always understood Twitter as just another broadcast medium?

Here is my reply as is, warts and all:

Maybe people accustomed to huge followings need to rethink how they do social media. The days of one platform are gone. A lot of us you will want to reach will never be reachable on twitter. And many of us will not stay on threads if it does not actually federate or stop playing around with its algorithm in such an unhelpful way. Try Bluesky, and try encouraging people to set up algorithms that will discover news. Try setting up such algorithms yourself and spreading the word about them. 1/2

Use tools that let you broadcast to multiple platforms. But also, stop thinking of such media as broadcast media. Go for quality interactions too. Doing so can have its own network effects. Besides, shouldn’t your media organizations be setting up tools too, such as their own Mastodon instances, Bluesky algorithms for your benefit, etc. There will never again be a pre-Musk Twitter. And we need to stop relying on the mega rich to build our tools. 2/2

[I’ve had to remove the links to my own comment because I’ve since deleted my account. –MS, 2/1/25]

Jun 8, 2024 ∞

The IndieWeb approach is about owning your own content. Making over one’s web presence in such terms might also be about fashioning a whole self in the face of the fracturing that corporate siloes and algorithms incentivize and create. That’s too much to ask of a little blog, I know, but I’m noticing how the IndieWeb perspective is helping me feel better about my online life in the present moment.

Jun 8, 2024 ∞

In any case, the site is humming along. And Micro.blog’s IndieWeb features are already making it easier to move about and socialize in other spaces without thinking about what to post. (2/2)

Jun 8, 2024 ∞

Still getting used to the automatic crossposting option on Micro.blog. There are no preference settings for how an automatic crosspost should be handled on a given platform, and one approach to all isn’t always going to do. (1/2)

Jun 8, 2024 ∞

Visited Facebook last night for the first time in ages. Very good to see news from old friends, but the algorithm also churns up a lot of random schmalz. And it’s downright needy. Why, at a gathering of friends, should I need FB to drag me around and tell me what and who I should pay attention to? And why does it ask me to evaluate friends' speech along the way? FB is such an intrusive and overbearing host.

Jun 6, 2024 ∞

Was just feeling good about the new iteration of my site, but then apparent server issues on Micro.blog (host) and Knowledge Commons (where a few linked-to files live) appear. I’m trying to be patient. I really want this IndieWeb solution to work for my life on the web.

Jun 6, 2024 ∞

Loud TV screen at the gas pump. Will have to remember to not stop there next time.

Jun 5, 2024 ∞

I am wondering how Threads can really federate given what Meta is doing with user content and so-called AI. There’s opt-out in Europe and no choice whatsoever in the United States. While both situations are bad, they are becoming known. But what about people on other Fediverse instances who casually interact with a Threads account? I wonder who’s working harder right now to achieve federation, Threads' coders, their legal team, or their spin doctors? The doublespeak, selective listening, and tone-deafness in Adam Mosseri’s posts are sometimes hard to overlook.

Jun 5, 2024 ∞

A Bridge for the Bluesky–Mastodon Gap

An early version of a bridge between Bluesky and Mastodon is now available. At a Mastodon 🦣 or other Fediverse account, follow the Bridgy Fed bot for Bluesky, @[email protected]. It will follow you back, and—presto, bridge built to Bluesky.

This also works in reverse. Bluesky 🦋 accounts can build a bridge to Mastodon and other Fediverse accounts by following @ap.brid.gy.

I’m not sure how I’ll use this, given that I have an account in both places, but it should make certain kinds of cross-sharing easier. By reposting something on one platform, I’ll have it on the other, where I can repost from my primary account on that platform.

Regardless, Bridgy Fed’s real power probably lies in the access it gives to (potential) readers who favor one platform over the other. Differing preferences are already emerging as people experience platform fatigue. Bridges between places are definitely needed. Thank you, Ryan Barrett, for making this happen.

Jun 5, 2024 ∞

Revisiting an Old Project

I just noticed that the History of Knowledge’s “About” page has been rewritten to claim that the GHI’s director conceived that project. I would tell the story somewhat differently, but the boss gets to tell the story the way she wants.¹ Besides, this version reinforces my impression that my co-editor and I did something good because this boss would never claim ownership of a dud.

In fact, the site is still thriving, and, remarkably, it’s chugging along with the same old Penscratch theme from WordPress’s pre–block theme era. In an academic culture focused on making the new, while ignoring the need to maintain what has already been built, this is also a win of sorts. And I rest easier knowing that the site is being regularly archived by the Wayback Machine. Regardless of a director’s priorities and the institute’s funding, this thing will continue to exist for quite a while.

I just wish the current team had a more modern understanding of social media. Staying on Twitter after 2022 has meant relegating any conversation with readers and contributors to a now siloed platform that countless scholars and concerned citizens have abandoned. Of course, this criticism presupposes a desire for conversation. I suspect, though, that social media is purely a broadcast medium for the current team, as it is for many organizations. After all, engagement takes time, which means financial and opportunity costs.

The change certainly adds a new layer of meaning to a small thing that happened in 2020. The director had me remove a footnote in an article about the blog that thanked her for the wide latitude we had in the project. ↩︎

Jun 4, 2024 ∞

Waging War with Factories

Production. B-17F heavy bomber. Working on the roof of a B-17F (Flying Fortress) bomber swung over on its side in the Boeing plant at Seattle. A turret will be mounted over the large circular opening. The Flying Fortress, a four-engine heavy bomber capable of flying at high altitudes, has performed with great credit in the South Pacific, over Germany and elsewhere.

– Andreas Feininger, December 1942, United States, Office of War Information, Library of Congress

The library has a large collection of photos showing the manufacture of B-17 bombers under the subject heading United States–Washington–King County–Seattle.

Jun 3, 2024 ∞

Comments Back On (Tentatively)

I activated a second feature on my Micro.blog-hosted site that I had turned off years ago while still on WordPress: Comments. They had become more trouble than they were worth, and there was always the once useful bird site, where real conversations could transpire. But those were different times.

In a moment of optimism, I have chosen to believe that the sign-in requirement with Mastodon, BluSky, or Micro.blog will reduce potential friction for me because I’ve encountered a lot less of it on these federating platforms. But time will tell. Right now, I can unmark a problematic comment so it doesn’t appear, but only after the comment is initially posted. (The developer behind Micro.blog is considering making prior-approval an option.) I also have the usual mute, block, and report options.

Next step: seeing what happens—and what I might still need to do—if I get any responses from other sites via webmention. I’m definitely enjoying what the IndieWeb community makes possible, but I wish its tools and documentation were more accessible to non-programming folk. I can deal with modern HTML and CSS, but that’s as far as it goes.

Jun 2, 2024 ∞

Bringing Back a Blogroll

It’s been a long time since I maintained a blogroll, but the poisoning of Twitter makes me think it’s a good idea. I do not want my network to be owned by a random billionaire whose interests are at odds with community building and maintenance. I’ve been slowly (re)connecting with people on other microblogging platforms, but it’s time to begin making my own site social as well. That’s why the blogroll is back.

A couple first impressions: I’m noticing fewer blogs among people I’m following on Mastodon than I would have expected on Twitter some fifteen years ago, when microblogging was not yet so ubiquitous. There are plenty of websites as CVs and marketing tools (for books and speaking engagements), but not as many blogs per se. On the other hand, there is a ton of microblogging going on. It’s possible that some of these accounts should find their way onto my blogroll—perhaps more personal blogs too. But baby steps.

For now, I want to curate a list that reflects the interests on display in my own blogging. This approach will not necessarily create social connections with those I list, but it should manifest socially contingent knowledge about other blogs that some readers might find useful. In other words, I’m trying to offer some social or human-driven discovery as opposed to the stuff that algorithmically driven search engines and social media deliver.

Jun 1, 2024 ∞

I still need to work on the styling (colors, fonts, etc.) of this version of my website, but I’m becoming satisfied with it’s basic organization and functionality.

Jun 1, 2024 ∞

The Republican Party’s divorce from the rule of law is complete.

Aaron Blake, Washington Post

May 31, 2024 ∞

Any general machine can be misused by any malign actor with ill intent. The pursuit of failsafe guardrails in AI will prove futile, for it is impossible to predict every bad use that anyone could make of a machine that can be asked to do anything. That is to say, it is impossible to build foolproof guardrails against us, for there are too many fools among us.

Jeff Jarvis, “Demote the Doomsters”, Buzz Machine, May 21, 2024. via @[email protected]

May 28, 2024 ∞

☺️ It is amazing to watch a tiny human, my granddaughter, develop language for herself.

May 25, 2024 ∞

Whenever I finish fixing one thing on my site, a new issue arises. Still, if I tell my perfectionist self to get over it, I can have a good weekend, holiday traffic be damned.