End of the line in Galveston. 🚂
Lots of price increases out there... Apple Music: going up. YouTube Premium family plan: going up. WordPress.com pricing: rollercoaster. Micro.blog: still $5/month, maybe forever! But please feel free to opt-in to an increase for yourself by clicking Plans → Premium or Family. 🙂
2022-10-24
Spurs fans now confused after the 3-1 start. I still want to see them make a push for the playoffs and forget about tanking. Even the worst team in the NBA doesn't really have a good chance at landing the top pick. Too risky to throw away a season that could be so much fun. 🏀
2022-10-25
Reading this Gizmodo take (via @dave) on Apple's in-app purchase rules change makes me wonder if Meta has ever considered a lawsuit. Unlike Epic, Facebook might not be able to survive without an iPhone app. Apple's power is immense.
2022-10-25
Early voting is underway in Texas. Vote early if you can! We know it's a long shot but glad to see Beto out there making a strong case for change. He's run a good campaign. 🇺🇸
2022-10-25
I missed that it has been 10 years since I stopped posting to @manton on Twitter. Still the right call. Would've been harder to do anything new if I hadn't left.
2022-10-26
Voted. 🇺🇸
Sounds like the Elon Musk / Twitter deal is now certain. We generally don't try to capitalize on other company's bad news, but maybe something special tomorrow to welcome new folks to Micro.blog? Subscription sale? Just thinking out loud. 💰
2022-10-27
Dear Elon Musk
We’re on the eve of the Elon Musk / Twitter deal closing. In his Dear Twitter Advertisers letter, Elon writes:
The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence. There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.
On first reading, this sounds pretty good. I agree that we shouldn’t be stuck in our own bubbles of misinformation. But the part Elon gets wrong is the premise that there should even be a “common digital town square” controlled by a single company. I reject that idea.
The common digital “square” should be the entire web, with a diverse set of platforms. There should be common APIs but many communities with their own rules, goals, and business models. Concentrating too much power in only a couple social media companies is what created the mess we’re in. The way out is more platforms, free to make the best decisions for their users knowing that there are options to leave and less lock-in for developers.
Twitter’s next few months or years should be interesting. Taking the company private is a good thing, to refocus the company and resources. But I expect chaos. Meanwhile, the mission of Micro.blog continues. Start a blog, get your short posts somewhere you control, and let’s get ready for a post-Twitter web.
2022-10-27
Went to bed shortly after Elon fired Parag and a handful of execs, so I was wondering when I woke up if maybe all hell would've broken loose. But looks much the same over in Twitterland. Maybe a few weeks of calm before Trump is invited back? 🍿
2022-10-28
Dark outside. Early thunderstorm rolling through Austin. Not a precursor of the work day, I hope. ⛈️
2022-10-28
Just published a new Core Int! @danielpunkass and I talk about Elon Musk actually buying Twitter, what the immediate and long-term fallout might be, Twitter's Bluesky project, APIs, and network effects.
2022-10-28
Of all the new TV shows out this year, Andor is at the top for me. Really good writing and characters. Even if you don't like Star Wars or were burned out by Disney producing too many spin-offs, this one is in another league. 📺
2022-10-28
Updated the Micro.blog app for macOS to version 2.6, adding a new option in Discover for finding users, and a bug fix. If you're already running it, choose "Check for Updates" to get the latest.
2022-10-28
We’re doing Microblogvember again! Jean has the details. Basically, a random word each day to help inspire a short blog post.
2022-10-29
Skimming some tweets about Jack Dorsey, there is a lot of confusion about what Bluesky is. Most people are stuck into thinking about social network silos, where you jump from platform to platform. As Facebook and Twitter stumble, the future is more distributed and IndieWeb-ified.
2022-10-29
I can't tell how much of the "Elon asks programmers to print out source code" story is exaggerated, but it made me think about when I hired @vincent without ever seeing any of his source code! Can that be right? I guess I value the final output more than the bits to get there.
2022-10-29
Finished reading: An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington. There is a lot going on in this. Hope the next book in the series has a little less timeline jumping, but really good. 📚
2022-10-29
Love this: Get Blogging! Concise introduction to blogging, different services, apps, reading blogs, and everything else.
2022-10-30
This is a little silly but I like to remind people this time of year that any microblog posts with "Halloween" or "pumpkin" get a secret Happy Halloween pin unlocked on their account. 🎃
2022-10-30
