Sawyer Paul's Blog, page 29
January 2, 2019
More Things, January 3, 2019
With the help of an IFTTT recipe that turns what I save to Pocket into a Markdown link, I can easily make a linked list blog post again. Hence, the return of More Things.
Articles are ordered from oldest to newest.
My name is Sarah Miller and all I want to do is buy a tablet for the love of god
The Case for the 6-Hour Workday
The rise of the recommendation site
Six Years With a Distraction-Free iPhone
The ‘Future Book’ Is Here, but It’s Not What We Expected
We Should Replace Facebook With Personal Websites
‘All In’ Just Showed Us the Future of Pro Wrestling
Designing for Meaningful Social Interactions
Designing Layouts for Screen Readers
These Our Our Readers’ 21 Favorite Board Games
How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually.
December 28, 2018
Away from Facebook
Craig Mod, in his newsletter:
I want to step away from Instagram. Many reasons why. The biggest is the “fool me once … shame on me. Fool me, like, you know, fifteen times …” feeling I have with much of social media. Facebook has collapsed as a viable marketing / distribution platform for me. Twitter is fine, but the audience trends heavily to certain demographics. And as lovely as Instagram has been, with the loss of its cofounders in 2018, I feel like we are entering the Death By Monetization/Optimization™ spiral that Facebook is so very good at.
Part of what made Facebook a breath of fresh air ten years ago was its relative minimalism compared to MySpace, etc. Now it’s a full-blown space shuttle interface.
Repeat for Messenger.
And, now, repeat once again for Instagram. Instagram will only get more complex, less knowable, more algorithmic, more engagement-hungry in 2019.
I want to have a place very far apart from that, where I can post photos on my own terms.
Yup.
I launched the new sawyerpaul.com last winter, and I’ve been so happy with how it works, because it’s just text files. What you’re reading is a text file that lives in dropbox. It’s delightful. But more than anything, it’s not attached to any other thing. A company can’t decide that porn isn’t allowed anymore and I have to leave. I won’t get blocked for using a bad word. I won’t be guilted to come back if I leave for a few weeks.
Facebook is a bad company, run by people who wish us harm. As of November, my usage of their products looked like this:
Messenger
As of December, it looks like this:
Messenger
If you didn’t know, you can delete your Facebook and keep Messenger. I know that’s why a lot of people keep it. So, that’s a freebie.
What’s harder is getting rid of the others. But hey, that’s what new years’ resolutions are for.
December 17, 2018
Cura, December 18, 2018
Note: The playlist embedded above will always be the most recent playlist and might not match the list below.
Cura is my Spotify mixtape. You can listen to it and subscribe here. I keep it as one playlist so it’s easy to subscribe to. I update it fairly frequently, but I also keep an archive playlist so you don’t have to miss a thing.
I hope you like it. I made it for you.
Here’s the track listing for this week:
Getting To Me By Caroline Rose
All I Want By Glimmer of Blooms
Song for Sasha Banks By The Mountain Goats
Small Talk By Courtney Barnett
(You’re Better) Than Ever By illuminati hotties
December 15, 2018
Instagram TV looks like YouTube but when you’re not logged in.
Instagram TV looks like YouTube but when you’re not logged in. Celebrity appearances, “influencers,” and stunt videos. No wonder it’s not working.
December 14, 2018
Podcast Recommendations, December 15, 2018
Here are some podcast episodes I’ve enjoyed lately. Links go to Overcast.
Why Ocarina of Time is Still a Masterpiece 20 Years Later - NVC Ep. 433
Do By Friday: The Cool Table at the Magic Convention
99% Invisible 330- Raccoon Resistance
December 12, 2018
This Wasn’t the Plan
Raina Hersh of the This Wasn’t The Plan podcast was kind to have me on her show last month. I wouldn’t shut up, so she had to make two episodes.
Episode 1 is funnier, but I think I like what I said more in episode two. Some of it might age very poorly!
Bonus: Listen to my Fran’s Not Here pahhhhhhdner Robbie in the previous episode.
More Things, December 13, 2018
With the help of an IFTTT recipe that turns what I save to Pocket into a Markdown link, I can easily make a linked list blog post again. Hence, the return of More Things.
Articles are ordered from oldest to newest.
The act of drawing something has a “massive” benefit for memory compared with writing it down
Why Is Japan Still So Attached to Paper?
Tumblr’s Porn Ban Is The Middle Of The End Of The Old Internet
Working Without A Keyboard On The Surface Pro 4
The new word processor wars: A fresh crop of productivity apps are trying to reinvent our workday
Instagram’s IGTV was supposed to be the “next generation’s TV-viewing experience.” What happened?
This company shifted to a four-day workweek–and it’s going great
Squarespace’s elegant redesign rejects Silicon Valley clichés
No DreamCast Classic: You Motherfuckers Had Your Chance to Buy One the First Time
Who Do Designers Really Work For
Capstone, a tablet for thinking
Zelda: Ocarina of Time at 20 — melancholy masterpiece changed games forever
December 11, 2018
Deleting Facebook Again
I’ve deleted my facebook account twice before, and definitely before it was cool. I wonder how long this one will last. It feels different, this time.
