Link tags: writing

A holy communion | daverupert.com

You and I are partaking in something magical.

We’ve been waiting 20 years for this - The History of the Web

Blogging isn’t one thing and that’s kind of the point. It exists fractured by intention and it can be many things to many people. And now, 20 years after the last blogging revolution, something like a fractured digital presence is once again appealing.

Indie Newsletters – Registry of cool personal and independent email newsletters

You are viewing a humanly curated list of fine personal & independent email newsletters that are updated regularly. No algorithms ever!

And remember: you can subscribe to most newsletters via RSS rather than email.

Clippy returned (as an unnecessary “AI”) | hidde.blog

Personally, I want software to push me not towards reusing what exists, but away from that (and that’s harder). Whether I’m producing a plan or hefty biography, push me towards thinking critically about the work, rather than offering a quick way out.

Premonition of a Dragon Moon

I like the sound of Robin’s next book, and I like this little website about it that he’s updating over time.

I’ll never stop blogging: it’s an itch I have to scratch – and I don’t care if it’s an outdated format | Simon Reynolds | The Guardian

It me:

I’d do this even if no one read it. Blogging, for me, is the perfect format. No restrictions when it comes to length or brevity: a post can be a considered and meticulously composed 3,000-word essay, or a spurted splat of speculation or whimsy. No rules about structure or consistency of tone. A blogpost can be half-baked and barely proved: I feel zero responsibility to “do my research” before pontificating. Purely for my own pleasure, I do often go deep. But it’s nearer the truth to say that some posts are outcomes of rambles across the archives of the internet, byproducts of the odd information trawled up and the lateral connections created.

Tales Of The Algorithm – Terence Eden’s Blog

I’m really enjoying these sci-fi short stories that Terence is publishing on his site—one for every day of the month.

Electric mountain: the power station that shows the beauty of infrastructure | Wales | The Guardian

This extract from Deb Chachra’s new book confirms that it’s a must-read. The writing fairly sings with infectious enthusiasm!

Stories | daverupert.com

Dave’s short’n’sweet sci-fi stories, collected in one place.

An editor’s guide to giving feedback – Start here

I was content-buddying with one of my colleagues yesterday so Bobbie’s experience resonates.

POSSE: a better way to post on social networks - The Verge

A good overview of syndicating from your own website to social network silos:

The platform era is ending. Rather than build new Twitters and Facebooks, we can create a stuff-posting system that works better for everybody.

References and contributors include Cory Doctorow, Manton Reece, Matt Mullenweg and, of course, Tantek.

P&B: Jim Nielsen – Manu

I enjoyed reading this interview with Jim Nielsen, much as I enjoy reading Jim’s blog. He says:

The best part of blogging is what you discover and learn experientially along the way.

That chimes with what Matthias says in the first issue of his new newsletter:

On your personal site, getting it wrong is not a bug, it’s a feature. It’s a chance to start small, take first steps, learn, edit, and improve. It’s an invaluable opportunity to evolve and to grow.

P&B: Ana Rodrigues – Manu

This makes feel all warm and fuzzy:

At the time, I was disheartened by the tech industry and terrified of doing a tech post. I thought those things were for everyone else but me.

Only at the end of 2017 did something shift inside me, thanks to Jeremy Keith’s talk at the ViewSource conference. I discovered the IndieWeb community, and with that came the reassurance that my “nicheless” blog was absolutely okay.

Thanks to that feeling of acceptance, from 2018 onwards, my confidence really picked up, and I was blogging frequently, including web development things!

More Thoughtful Reading & Writing on the Web - Tantek

The combination of taking more time (as longer form writing encourages) and publishing on a domain associated with your name, your identity, enables & incentivizes more thoughtful writing. More thoughtful writing elevates the reader to a more thoughtful state of mind.

The Unreal Writer - by Joanne McNeil - All My Stars

Joanne McNeil on the retroactive pigeonholing of downright weird sci-fi writers like Philip K. Dick, JG Ballard and Octavia Butler:

The snobbery against science fiction in the past and today’s cartoon icons of some of its weirdest authors comes from the same root: an establishment that doesn’t know how to read or appreciate it.

And she absolutely nails the straitjacketed feeling I get from a lot of new sci-fi that’s laudable in its politics but lacking in other ways:

I suspect those authors are drawn to the genre for the thing that increasingly frustrates me about it: the way science fiction is mined for road maps and potential solutions in real situations of uncertainty and disaster. The way it’s “smart person” literature about systems with hyper-competent protagonists. I’m here for the losers. The losers are my people.

Nobody cares about your blog.

I just don’t care what you think, here’s my post and you can do nothing about it :)

Fruit Of The Poisonous LLaMA? – Terence Eden’s Blog

I want to live in a future where Artificial Intelligences can relieve humans of the drudgery of labour. But I don’t want to live in a future which is built by ripping-off people against their will.

Word Count 53: The state of AI and the Goodreads fiasco

Could the tsunami of AI shite turn out to be a flash flood? Might the models rapidly degrade into uselessness or soon be sued or blocked out of existence? Will users rebel as their experience of the internet is degraded?

In my most optimistic moments, I find myself hoping that the whole AI edifice will come tumbling down as tools disintegrate, people realise how unreliable they are, and how valuable human-generated and curated information really is. But it’s not a safe bet.

A prayer wheel for capitalism

Why “AI” won’t help you get past the blank page in any meaningful way:

The value in writing lies in what we discover while writing.

Vibe Shift

Forget every article you’ve read that tries to explain large language models. Just read this post by Peter and feel it.