Articles
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I already learned a lot about podcasting from the people I follow. ↩︎
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I’m not linking to the photo as I think this information should have been kept private. The company in question doesn’t change this for me. ↩︎
Micro Guides: small articles which can be of great help
Yesterday I had the opportunity to help someone from the Micro.blog community by writing a tiny post.
This sparked an idea: Micro guides, small articles about any subject you think could be of help or interest to the Microblogging community (for instance on writing, podcasting1, blog design or any other subject you think could be of help).
I will certainly start to share more short articles on my journey to writing more often and possibly on Micro.blog tech stuff if I run in to it.
The open web is build together, feel free to share (who knows how many people you could help!)
Micro Guide: Changing the default colors of the Micro.blog Marfa theme
I switched my theme for this microblog to Marfa.
Marfa is a new theme for Micro.blog hosted websites. I really like the theme but wanted to give it a small personal touch by changing the default color for links.
Changing the defaults (light red/pink-ish) is quite easy. Using the edit CSS functionality of Micro.blog you can overwrite the default colors by pasting the code above and change the colors to your liking.
nav.main-nav a.cta {
background: #fff;
color: #ee4792;
border: 2px solid #fcdae9;
}
nav.main-nav a.cta:hover {
background: #fcdae9;
color: #ee4792;
}
nav.main-nav a, #footer a, #post-nav a, p a{
box-shadow: inset 0 -2px 0 #fcdae9;
}
nav.main-nav a:hover, #footer a:hover, #post-nav a:hover, p a:hover {
box-shadow: inset 0 -25px 0 #fcdae9;
}
#fcdae9 is for underline and shading of the links. The #ee4792 color is for the “Also on Micro.blog” text in the upper right button.
The Irony
Mark Zuckerberg left some of his notes on the table during a break in his testimony before Congress yesterday. It caught the attention of a press photographer who shared a photo of the document on social media.
I guess Mark learned an important lesson: never to leave your notes open and unattended in public. Keeping stuff to yourself should not be based solely on trusting others to act in your best interest.
To reuse and rephrase a quote by Mr. Zuckerberg himself; ‘I’ve “trust them.” Dumb f*ck’
There is, however, quite some talk on social media if it’s morally ok for the press to share the picture taken. A valid discussion even when it’s a hearing regarding a company under testimony for violating people’s privacy. We should treat others as you would want them to treat you1.
Do I really need to switch Text Editors?
Questioning if I really need to look in to switching Text editors I almost discarding the pick for the best Text Editor over at The Sweet Setup. Although after quickly skimming the article, some part did caught my attention.
Atom, being open source, has an advantage here compared to other options like Sublime Text or BBEdit.
Even if GitHub were to stop actively developing Atom, the open source nature of the app would (probably) allow it to live on through collaboration of its users and other contributors. In that sense, Atom is about as future-proof as an app can be.
Being open source and supported by a community sparked my interest (mainly due to my renewed focus on IndieWeb / Open standards and Open source). So, a bit to my surprise, I am now switching text editors.
∞ Obscure E-Mail Vulnerability
This vulnerability is a result of an interaction between two different ways of handling e-mail addresses. Gmail ignores dots … Netflix doesn’t ignore dots.
It’s an example of two systems without a security vulnerability coming together to create a security vulnerability. As we connect more systems directly to each other, we’re going to see a lot more of these.
∞ Facebook Sharply Increases Estimate of How Many Users’ Information Was Harvested By Cambridge Analytica
Facebook on Wednesday said the personal information of up to 87 million people, most of them Americans, may have been improperly shared during the 2016 election with Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm connected to President Trump.
I won’t be the least surprised if this number will still increase quit a bit in the coming weeks.
∞ Lasting appeal of RSS
Still, the lasting appeal of RSS remains the parts that haven’t changed: the unfiltered view of the open web, and the chance to make your own decisions about what you find there.
It’s great to see a recent uptake in RSS popularity. In my opinion RSS is one of the most valuable tools of the internet. And although probably not growing in new users for quite some time, for people still onboard, including myself, RSS never stopt providing it’s value.
Being a open standard really proves it’s value and resilience.
If someone is looking a basic but dependable RSS service I can recommend Feedbin.
∞ Cloudflare launches
Cloudflare’s mission is to help build a better Internet. We’re excited today to take another step toward that mission with the launch of 1.1.1.1 — the Internet’s fastest, privacy-first consumer DNS service. … for most Internet users, when they connect to an ISP, or a coffee shop wifi hot spot, or a mobile network then the network operator will dictate what DNS resolver to use. … The problem is that these DNS services are often slow and not privacy respecting.
Although I like Cloudflare, I’m not sure what to think regarding there recent news regarding their own DNS service.
I do think it’ great that they bring an alternative DNS service (with great performance and seemingly a strong focus on privacy). But I have some reservations regarding centralising DNS at a company which already controls 80% of the western internet.
∞ A List Apart's 20th anniversary view on the centralising of the internet in to only a handful of all-powerful networks
“In recent years, we’ve seen our rich universe of diverse, creative blogs and sites implode—leaving fewer and fewer channels available to new voices. As more content centralizes into a handful of all-powerful networks, there’s a dreary sameness in perspective and presentation. …. This creeping monopolization is a sad echo of how media worked in the 20th century. It doesn’t reflect 21st century diversity and empowerment. It’s not the web’s promise. It’s not how it’s supposed to be.”
I couldn’t agree more to this statement. With some centralized players growing more powerfull with each day passing, it’s more important to support diversity, independent content creation and keep ownership of your content.