> "Nowadays people have an implicit understanding that the net is vast and infinite, it's beyond the ability of one man to fully catch up, and you're just tuning into a slice of the data stream".
This is beautifully written, and condense enough to explain to anyone why we're burnt out with consumption.
Your full comment is spot on, and like you, I don’t have a perfect solution. Digests are a good idea, but there’s always going to be some kind of bias, whether it’s set by you, by an algorithm, or by another human. I think the real challenge is to create a digest that gives you a personal, meaningful view while still leaving the door open to a wider context. But if you lean too far into broadening it, you risk losing that sense of ownership and relevance. It’s a tough balance.
> there’s always going to be some kind of bias, whether it’s set by you, by an algorithm, or by another human
This is spot on, and why I become more of a free software radical every year. Even though these UX experiments roll around in my head, I doubt you can make any algorithm that is "unbiased" and perfect for all people.
Ergo the only real solution is to let a thousand algorithms bloom, and give people the ability to select the ones they want; this is getting back to the idea of the software being a "user agent" that fetches content for you and does what you want it to do, as opposed to being an advertiser's agent. Maybe there's some alternate reality out there where everything was AGPL'ed from the get-go and Facebook et al got forked a thousand times and had to compete with forks that were more user friendly. Or barring that maybe the problem gets solved in 100 years with a dozen Mastodon forks blooming, I don't know, but I'm sure if you could choose your algorithm, it would look nothing like the Instagram app in particular does today, which is my personal choice for the most mind-destroying software I find myself sometimes using
Or maybe if the government succeeds in breaking the monopolies that rule over both social media and the online advertising industry...?
Government mapping service Ordnance Survey (OS) are attempting to break a world record by creating the largest real-world place to ever exist in the Minecraft universe, by mapping out locations from across Britain in the popular video game format.
You’re spot on with this. I recently converted a local history book from 1911 to Markdown, ePub and HTML and tracked the changes on GitHub. Only a handful of copies of this book exist in physical form and it has been photo copied (which is great).
However, I was completely shot down by the local library when I was discussing it with them. They said they already had a photo copy and didn’t need anymore digital editions, I tried to explain the benefits of having it in a machine readable format but they wouldn’t entertain it. I completed the project for me, so I wasn’t too bothered, but thought they might have been interested in archiving it but they weren’t.
My general feeling is that they didn’t like an outsider contributing and touching on a format they didn’t know so got slightly defensive.
Find an archive and make sure they're aware of the work you've done. Archivists always love meeting people who've done good work in the space they're in. Especially when they have some tech chops which is desperately lacking in the space.
Beyond that, if the material is public domain, that library is called The Internet. Post it and promote it. The only reason to seek association with a library is if you're looking for cred for some reason, and that's not the business they're in.
If it's not public domain, or if you haven't marked your derivative work public domain, then you put a library in an awkward position. Realize that these are the types of people who still post little notes by the copy machines saying what's permissible and enjoy policing it.
Most just say no for the same reason that Hollywood returns ideas and scripts unopened. They're busy and the cost/benefit isn't there.
Although the self-described online ones tend to play fast and loose, real librarians have a formal code of ethics which is worth reviewing.
Interesting. I wonder if libraries suffer a supply-chain risk and so avoid taking contributions from (non-vetted) individuals? I imagine that over time a library gets lots of offers to take "important works of literature" from cranks, and perhaps they've developed this culture to protect them from that. Pure speculation, of course.
Libraries typically don't even accept print books or CDs/DVDs. If there's a donation bin outside it probably isn't even theirs. And if stuff actually winds up with them, it just gets sold off so they can purchase material via vetted channels.
I don't know the project you mentioned first, but it's a shame they stopped developing due to sales.
FlowVision looks brilliant and an almost perfect client for my needs - thanks for sharing. It's a very similar concept to what I'm trying to acheive with my project but with mine I'm trying to focus on having the output suitable for archiving with no dependecies/app installs - all the user would need is a web browser.
The idea is that as long as browsers are about, you (or anyone) can use the viewer. The general idea is that once it's built it would be put on an SSD or something and in years to come can be plugged in and viewed by clicking a .html file. Sticking to plain old HTML and CSS in the output has proved pretty resilent over the last 30 years.
I'll be sticking the code on GitHub shortly under MIT and people can do what they want with it (hopefully make it faster, and more reliable without bloating it).
Love the concept, I missed that you were outputting HTML galleries from the folder structure.
Similar reason that I bailed from OneNote to Obsidian even though it's not good with tablets/handwriting/drawing. I'm just tired of my stuff being tied up in someone else's service where at any time they can alter the deal and all I can do is pray they don't alter it any further. Sure, I pay for Obsidian Sync, but worst case it's a folder of Markdown files and a little bit of special syntax that someone else could knock off in a day if Obsidian went bad.
No, currently - Snap.as ( https://snap.as/ ) doesn't seem to be open-source and is only available (as a service) if you have a paid Write.as account ( https://write.as/pricing ).
The 1984 interview with Tom Weir, is a treasure trove of memories and insights from a man who dedicated his life to exploring and documenting the Scottish outdoors.
Tom Weir's insights from the 1980s remain remarkably relevant today. The issues he highlighted, such as environmental conservation and cultural preservation, are still pressing concerns. Today's climate change challenges and the push for sustainable living echo Weir's earlier advocacy. Moreover, the resurgence of interest in outdoor activities and heritage tourism in Scotland can be seen as a continuation of the legacy he helped build.
I made this for personal use as I wanted a straightforward, no-nonsense approach to accessing Scottish news headlines and host it so that non technical folk (my parents) could utilise it. It’s basically an RSS reader but for folk who don’t know what RSS is. It's a bit basic but I thought I'd share it anyway.
