Posting to Blot using Ulysses
It occurred to me that since Blot uses text files in a Dropbox folder, I could write new posts in any iOS editor that uses Dropbox. So, I’m typing this in Ulysses on my iPad.
I started by adding ~/Dropbox/Apps/Blot to my Ulysses library. Then I created a new document (this one) in the ./Drafts folder. When finished, I moved the file from Drafts to where I keep my posts (./posts/2017) and poof!, it’s published.
One trick I didn’t know about is that if you begin a file in Ulysses using @: it determines the file name. For example, this document begins with:
@:posting-to-blot-using-Ulysses
This creates the file in Dropbox named “posting-to-blot-using-Ulysses.md”, which is what I want.
Nice, since I still believe in file names.
Blot
Blot has been popping up in my feed at micro.blog.
Blot turns a Dropbox folder into a blog.
Use your favourite app to write. Just drag-and-drop files into Blot’s folder to publish them. Images, text files, Markdown and more become blog posts automatically. There’s no interface. Just files and folders.
I’ve tried a number of these blogging-via-dropbox things and they’ve all disappeared. Still, I paid the $20/year fee for blot.im (charging for the service is a good sign) and started this blog just to get a feel for it. It feels pretty good.
Blot.im is clever, simple, good-looking by default, and cheap.
It’s just that I love static sites so much
It may be happening again and I don’t know how to stop it.
The better I get at using my favorite tools for publishing a static site the more I want to always do it that way. WordPress is good at its job but I never feel comfortable with it.
10 ways to have a better conversation | Celeste Headlee
This was amazing and it helped me better understand what an awful conversationalist I can be. I have work to do.
(via Kottke.org)
Kodachrome Magazine, 2017 Issue 1
I completely understand that Kodak is messing with all my nostalgia dials with Kodachrome Magazine, 2017 Issue 1 but I ordered a copy anyway. I mean just look at it. “Art, Film, Analog Culture,” yes please.
Kodachrome Magazine
Likes on social networks should be private
It feels good to know when someone enjoys what I’ve written.
There’s a discussion around the visibility of “Favorites” on micro.blog. Some people want them to be a sort of bookmarking tool only for the person adding the Favorite. Others want them to resemble other social networks, in that they prefer “Favorites” (aka “Likes”) to be visible to all users. This benefits the network by encouraging everything to become a popularity contest and is exactly what I don’t want.
Opinion: Likes should be visible to only the Like-or and the Like-ee. Liking something is a simple, unobtrusive way to let someone know I appreciate what they wrote. It’s also a way to get a little bump when someone likes what I wrote. No one else need be involved.
Facebook vs the Open Web
Lots of discussion this week around Facebook vs the Open Web.
The sad thing is that most don’t care about the open web or about content longevity.
Colin reiterates that most people don’t care about all this open web nonsense. They just want to find and interact with their friends. I agree with him.
However, just because a lot of people don’t care about something doesn’t make it unimportant. The open web is important.
Walker again:
Ephemera has taken over because most aren’t creating anything that needs to be retained beyond the context of the current conversation.
Much of Facebook is useless chit chat that no one will miss when it’s gone. Still, I believe it is a mistake to think that we already know what should be retained for future generations. And in Facebook’s case, nothing is retained for future generations.
Of course we don’t need everything, but there are too many babies being thrown out with all that bathwater; deliberately, unnecessarily, and for the wrong reasons.
Many will just move on, but I intend to keep helping people care about the open web and its preservation, even if it sometimes feels like a lost cause.
Kelly Graduates
My niece Kelly graduated tonight. She seemed very happy. Here she is posing with her grandma and grandpa.
Kelly
Evergreen: A new feed reader from Brent Simmons
Evergreen is an open source, productivity-style feed reader for Macs.
The more feed readers there are, the better.