Gosh it irritates me when ‘down south’ writes the national news stories as if no-one from ‘up north’ reads it // @crikey_news @emmaels
My favourite thing about Mastodon actually has nothing to do with Mastodon. It’s the experience of embracing a completely new network with a handful of existing connections but then start following new people creating a whole new social graph whilst screaming “HELLO NEW FRIENDS!”
James Hennessy in The Terminal:
“His primary motivator at this point is the absolutely daunting mathematics of the deal he signed … saddled it with $13 billion in debt and about a billion dollars a year in interest payments alone.”
A few thoughts on Mastodon at the end of day one:
The network brand name is stupid and not sticky, as is “toot”.
Running your own instance is not the best, but it’s not like there’s a perfect instance to join.
Following people is too hard.
It’s a nice system and I like it.
Fish tacos, margaritas, a mariachi band, all on the beach. A perfect night on the Sea of Cortez.
Balandra
I could imagine this hanging on a wall somewhere, I’m really proud of it. On the left there you’ve got what the Mexicans say is there best beach, nationwide.
Playa Balandra (Balandra Beach).
Fifty shades of blue
I decided I was being a grumpy old man by not even trying Mastodon - I think it has a stupid name for a modern product, great for an extinct elephant - but I’ve signed up … @josh@withers.online is me. Who should I follow?
One of us, and I won’t say who, just fell off the bed and landed face first on the tiled floor
On the Sea of Cortez, near La Paz, today
I can handle my parents being disappointed in me, my wife, children and friends. All of your disappointments will come and go.
But man, letting Duolingo down, this cuts deep.
Notes for my gravestone
“This is not a verification status; it’s an Important Blue Internet Checkmark, which in 2022 is just as legit. Also the Important Blue Internet Checkmark may turn into a bunch of crabs at any time 🦀”
Day 30 in Mexico: Still haven’t joined a drug cartel. Fish tacos are amazing. Send coffee.
Trung Phan on the “massive” podcast opportunity he’s identified, and something I’ve thought about a lot:
“Whatever your niche, a single person on a mic in their home can create the definitive long-form audio content for whatever is their “most valuable audience”. It’s a very simple idea …but not easy.”
So apparently the Commonwealth marriage celebrants portal and database was hacked … just a program run by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s department …
Is swashbuckling still a thing?
Why don’t we use the word “swashbuckling” more? It’s a very cool word.
The MacOS dictionary defines swashbuckling as an adjective as “engaging in daring and romantic adventures with bravado or flamboyance” and as a noun “daring and romantic adventure.”
It came to mind as I read Margaret Sullivan’s book, Newsroom Confidential, and she recalled the story of Jeff Bezos addressing the Washington Post staff:
“Even in the world of journalism, I think the Post is just a little more swashbuckling. There’s a little more swagger. There’s a tiny bit of bad-assness here at the Post.” After some applause and laughs from the exuberant crowd, Bezos elaborated on those words with some context: “Without quality journalism, swashbuckling would just be dumb. Swashbuckling without professionalism leads to those epic-fail YouTube videos. It’s the quality journalism at the heart of everything. And then when you add that swagger and that swashbuckling, that’s making this place very, very special.”
My new life goal is to be described as swashbuckling.
It’s weird to see so much talk about Mastodon and people walk right past micro.blog. I’ve been a user since @manton launched it on Kickstarter, and I think I heard about it on @gruber’s Talk Show - I love it.