Kind: Replies

a reply to content typically on another site
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Replied to William Jenkins on Twitter (Twitter)
“ Tried to get educators to adopt @Declara in 2015/16 and @Giveandtakeinc since last Christmas. ...In my experience It's a challenge moving edu folks to other platforms.”

I don’t want to move educators. I’d like to spread the understanding that platforms that you pay for with your attention, and then that attention is manipulated, may not be the best place to direct our pupils data and attention.

A start along that path might be to think of a blog that you either own and control or is owned by a benevolent entity (Scot Gov in this case) is the best place to store your data, memories etc. From there, they can be sent out to social networks.

Ideally, IMO, there would be a benevolent network or system that would eventually work well enough to replace commercial but free, services.

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Replied to bookmarked Why I won’t buy an Ipad: ten years later by Aaron DavisAaron Davis (collect.readwriterespond.com)
Reflecting on ten years since the release of the iPad, Cory Doctorow reflects upon the limitations of the device. From the restrictions placed on content to the inability to fix the hardware, iPads are designed to create consumers out of their users.

Hi Aaron,

I’d read the Gruber piece you also linked to to but not Cory Doctorow’s. I agree with much of both in principal. In practise, in my classroom, not so much.

We are 1-2-1 iPad. Half the class have old 2013 iPad Airs that have just stopped handling OS updates. Their batteries are good enough for a day’s use. While we do consume (reading/researching the web, watching videos) they are also pretty creative. Pupils have more freedom to install and customise than they do with our Local Authority managed PCs. They are also very good for mixing with ‘real’ work, messy making, being robust and easier to put down safely that our Windows Laptops (no cables). The go outside too.

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Replied to Blair Minchin on Twitter (Twitter)
“Quick ICT question: At a meeting where someone advocating all teachers become Apple or Microsoft accredited because most businesses are using office 365/teams etc. Are they? I worked in law, my partner is an accountant and we both work(ed) on bespoke systems. Very curious.”

Maybe we should be starting with basics that work across systems.
Learn/use simpler software when you can. Start with notepad/text editor before word for example. Also discuss, at some point, why big companies give Edu for free and touch on open source.

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Doug: Would be interested in you sharing yours, too John

Hi Doug,
My Firefox use is pretty light, so this is not too exciting. I mostly use Safari.

  • 1 Password
  • Facebook Container, not sure how that got there, auto installed?
  • Fraidycat, there is always room for another RSS reader in my life and Kicks Condor has some amazing stuff online
  • Greasemonkey, I think I installed but it was to hard for me to figure out
  • OneNote Clipper, from when I was testing OneNote
  • RSSPreview, newly installed
  • Save Tiddlers
  • Want My RSS
  • Firebug – disabled (I found it too much for my needs)
  • User-Agent Switcher (disabled)

The only ones I am particularly interested in at the moment are the RSS ones, Fraidycat and Save Tiddlers.

Although I’ve got my main TiddlyWiki experiment running on a Raspberry pi using node (look at me!) and usually use Waterfox as the editor I am interested in other ways of using it.

Interestingly I have even fewer extensions in Safari. This is partially due to the way apple controls the extensions you can use and partially due to my preference for klunky homemade things, either JavaScript bookmarklets or AppleScripts. This makes it hard for me to abandon Safari. For a while Chrome was my secondary, now Firefox & Waterfox, I think I might go back to vanilla FF as my number 2 now the RSS works:-) Especially as containers might be useful…

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Replied to Microcast #085 — Extensions for Mozilla Firefox (Doug Belshaw's Thought Shrapnel)
In this microcast, I go through my Firefox extensions and the reasons I have them installed.

Hi Doug,
That was interesting, thanks.

I’d moved to Waterfox for my secondary browser when Firefox lost the display of RSS,

I’ve now added the RSSPreview add-on. Glad to get a reminder about Fraidycat too.

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Replied to like: The Benefits of the Copy Stage of Making by Aaron DavisAaron Davis (collect.readwriterespond.com)

Thanks for this link Aaron. The idea that creating by copying is not very creative has often weighed on my mind. Especially in activities like coding in my multi-stage classroom, some pupils are mostly copying instructions. This link made me realise/remember the value of copying. Personally in my own creative endeavours I often start there.

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Hi Doug,
Thanks very much for taking the time to give your take on the IndieWeb. It was both interesting and valuable. There are a few rabbit holes to dive down. I’ve not read much Anarchism since Kropotkin and that a long time ago.

After leaving this reply for a fair time and a couple of listens my response is still a disconnected series of ramblings. Not arguing against anything you said but bouncing off some corners.

My own interest in the IndieWeb came from being a blogger who was saddened by the lack of commenting on sites after twitter. The comments that used to live on in a blog were now scattered to twitter.

Rather than read up on the principals or figure out how things worked I just loaded up a few plugins and clicked things. As you say the IndieWeb is not made for folk who do not enjoy digging into the tech a wee bit. I am testament to the fact that some of the technology can be used in a fairly careless fashion.

Micro.blog excursions

This toe dipping bumbled along for a few years until Micro.Blog appeared. Using micro.blog cost nothing for someone like me with a blog to join in. It took me a while to get my head round Micro.Blog. Partially it is an RSS reader that you can use to interact with your own and other folks sites.

Manton, who is behind micro.blog has explained that he doesn’t want the service to scale to twitter size, but more sees it as a model for how communities of independent bloggers can work. That is the way I see it, I would love to see an educational ‘micro.blog’ a place where I could follow other bloggers and what would ease some of the friction, but not too much, of blogging and responding.

The other thing that micro.blog solves is the ‘like’ and ‘follower count’ problem.

If I like something on micro.blog it is more like a private bookmark, the liked person doesn’t know I’ve liked them. I need to write a reply. Now I am quite shallow, I like getting likes, that is why I still manually posse my photos to instagram. I can however see and feel the benefits. In fact I find myself, 1. spending less time on instagram and 2. when I am there writing comments. The community conversations on micro.blog are slower and richer than on twitter in my experience.

Just as I don’t know who reads my blog I don’t know who follows me on micro.blog. This is interesting. Quite a few big name bloggers signed up for micro.blog I don’t seem many of them being very active or even posting. I suspect lack of follower numbers and knowledge of who is following you make it hard to use micro.blog for more commercial bloggers. I’ve not got anything against commercial bloggers but I want to be in a community that the conversations are two way.

Back to the IndieWeb

You used in your micro.cast to the idea of the complexity of IndieWeb as turtles all the way down (I am paraphrasing). This idea is much in my mind about technology in general. Even my best attempts to ‘own my data and technology’ relies on so many layers of thing I cannot fix. I can host a website on my Raspberry Pi, but that depends on hardware and software. Even it if that was all open source is far beyond my understanding. So to the complexity of the IndieWeb. I am not sure if mastodon has any less turtles than the IndieWeb. Micro.blog certainly show the way to simplicity.

I’ve found the IndieWeb to be tricky, bits don’t work for me, or need twiddling, or more time and knowledge than I have. I see it as an add on from the activity of blogging, which I’ll do anyway. It is not in opposition to mastodon or federation, but for me is just a few more cogs and pipes. If the IndieWeb breaks or goes away my blog will still be there. If twitter explodes the replies to my blog posts will still be in my database.

So I an a blogger first and see other things as an add-on to my blog. I understand the need for a less commercial and algorithmic network with a low technical entry barrier.

Mastodon has not yet clicked for me, I did for a short time have my posts syndicating there, but I’ve broken that somehow;-) It might yet. Other things might come along, I continue to keep half an eye on Moodle net.

Cheers

John

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Replied to https://mastodon.social/@dajbelshaw/103420294450215925 by Doug Belshaw Doug Belshaw (mastodon.social)
This is my first post with Mastodon Autopost for Wordpress -

Doug, Interesting, I’ve started using brid.gy via the ‘Syndication Links’ plugin to post to Mastodon.  I wonder if it handles replies. This should help me find out.