onfocus

"The post-Twitter platforms like Mastodon and Tumblr are E2E platforms, designed around the idea that if someone asks to hear what you have to say, they should hear it. Rather than developing algorithms to override your decisions, these platforms have extensive tooling to let you fine-tune what you see."

History is repeating in the social media world and Cory Doctorow provides the context. Chokepoint capitalism is a good term for something I didn't have a term for before.

"There are many reasons why the tide has turned like it has, of course. But it is hard to think of another recent instance in which one human being has defied the collective expectations for his behavior and provided such an inspiring moment of servitude to the people, clarifying the terms of the conflict through his example."

Truly inspiring how Ukraine has met Russian aggression.

Really nicely executed browser version of Cardline where you place events in chronological order. Three misses and you’re out. Works well on a phone too.

"As more and more of our lives start to be run and dictated by the technology we use, it's a human right to be able to see how that technology works and modify it. It’s as key to freedom as freedom of speech or freedom of religion. So that is what I plan to spend the rest of my life fighting for."

Nice profile of Matt Mullenweg and WordPress—which is still a force on the Web.

"For now, in this moment, my job is to make lists of the many highlights of the year of 2021 before it ends forever. This is a job I take extremely seriously. Is it because I am the best at this job — this job of making lists? Yes."

Always enjoy these lists that make us think, ah yes, these are things from the past year.

’I probably went through maybe 300 Gretsch images and I got pretty good at it so I could see them and I could know right away that it wasn't it,’ he said. ‘So it's eliminate, eliminate, eliminate, eliminate.’

This story has it all! And by all I mean classic guitars, classic rock, internet sleuthery, and people being nice.

If you didn’t see the Capitol Police officers testify about the mob violence they fought on 1/6, this Twitter thread has clips that will give you a sense of their powerful stories.

See also: Officer Michael Fanone on CNN.

See also: Dan Rather says Enough.

"CARI, or Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute, is an online community dedicated to developing a visual lexicon of consumer ephemera from the 1970s until now."

What’s the German word for existential dread mixed with nostalgia? Asking for no reason.

"More than anything else, Tumblr in 2020 is a self-sustaining ecosystem. It’s a semi-sealed and increasingly fertile terrarium, a nigh-impossible perpetual-motion machine of a platform going productively psychotic in its isolation."

Nice look at the recent history and current state of Tumblr.

Fun gallery of vintage record sleeves. [via webcurios]

We're talking about a guy who received one complaint from a student who came to his office to talk to him, and then he himself voluntarily canceled the course. He took his ball and went home. And yet we're supposed to be like, “All of these kids today, they're so over-sensitive”.

Fantastic conversation that connects 90s political correctness discourse with cancel culture discourse. They show how flimsy moral panic stories were fabricated, used as evidence of liberal overreach, and repeated ad nauseam.

"The Lomax Digital Archive provides free access to audio/visual collections compiled across seven decades by folklorist Alan Lomax (1915–2002) and his father John A. Lomax (1867–1948)."

Fascinating folk music archive to wander through.