I’m making a bold move in my social networking workflow, inspired by these two posts by @moonmehta: this one and this other one.

I have unfollowed everybody in Micro.blog (after backing up the follow list, just in case I need to go back (You can do this by Exporting Follows in your Fediverse details in the Accounts section). and then subscribed everybody back via RSS (I use NetNewsWire for this).

The https://micro.blog/posts/user format (no .json nor .xml extension, just the plain user name) lets you subscribe to both posts AND replies of a certain user. Every post they publish and every reply they send, regardless of the recipient (I even found out that this format https://micro.blog/posts/'mastodon user' lets me subscribe to any Mastodon account via RSS).

The idea is twofold. On one hand, I limit even more the addictive nature of every social network, even a one like Micro.blog, limited-by-design. My Micro.blog timeline will not show my follow’s posts anymore, so I won’t need to be checking the web or the app like I used to do with Twitter and I still do with Micro.blog. That should help me own even more the time I give to my digital stuff.

On the other hand, scrolling down the timeline wouldn’t guarantee that I’d read every post from my follows, and I’d miss many of them. Having them in NetNewsWire will assure that I can read every post and reply and I won’t miss my favorite people’s insights.

I have started subscribing to 75 RSS feeds. This might change. I might see that I want to receive updates from a smaller number of people. Or I might like the system and follow even more people this way. I have 3.750 unread posts right now, so the Mark All As Read feature is going to be very handy in the beginning, and probably down the road too.

Engaging with the posts and replies might be a bit cumbersome. When I see a post I want to reply to, NetNewsWire opens the original blog. If the blog has the “Comment on Micro.blog” feature, it’s easy to reply to. If not, it’s a bit more difficult. Replies are opened directly in Micro.blog, so that’s not an issue. I’ll see how it goes.

So here’s a new try in my blogging/social networking journey. I want to write more and scroll less; I want to engage in meaningful conversations and read everything from the people I like. Above all, I want to own the experience and the time.

And one added benefit: this RSS feed https://micro.blog/feeds/eumrz.json now gives me my posts and the replies I receive from other people. That’s very cool. Thanks to Jatan for the idea.

xkcd: Machine

🚀 xkcd: Machine

Please, do yourself a favor and go check this awesome proposition from XKCD. I need to work a little and I have to leave it for now, because otherwise I can fall in this rabbit hole for ages. If you got a few hours to spare, don’t miss it. Or else, bookmark it.

🚀 What are UUIDs and why might I need them? – The Eclectic Light Company

It’s easy to generate a UUID in Terminal: simply type

uuidgen

and that command tool will return a fresh UUID as its response, neatly formatted using the standard layout. There are also equivalent calls available to software through the UUID structure in the macOS Foundation API. You can use those to verify that UUIDs generated close together in time are actually very different indeed.

I don’t know what I need this for, nor whether I will ever remember I bookmarked it, but it looks cool and I have the feeling some day it might pay off to keep it. #geekery

📸 Day 6: windy as suggested by @miraz #mbapr

Large waves crash against rocks near a seawall, under a cloudy sky.
Spanish: Grandes olas chocan contra las rocas cerca de un malecón, bajo un cielo nublado.
Basque: Olatu handiak harrien aurka kraskatzen ari dira, malekon baten ondoan, zeru hodeitsu baten azpian.

📷 #mbApr Day 05

Serene Cadaques

🚀 IndieWeb Carnival: Good enough and the search for perfection – Manu

At times I feel trapped between the two. Every day, whether I’m writing, coding or designing, a part of me strives for perfection while another is painfully aware that perfection is a mirage. What looks perfect now won’t look perfect tomorrow. I grow, I evolve, I change and my definition of perfection evolves with me.

It’s uncanny how much I identify with so many of Manu’s #thoughts

Day 4: foliage, suggested by @pratik. I had to add some fruit to the foliage, my friend. Fruit that makes a very fine white wine, Txakoli ;-)

Green grape clusters hang from vine branches in a vineyard, illuminated by sunlight filtering through leaves.
Spanish: Racimos de uvas verdes cuelgan de las ramas de una vid en un viñedo, iluminados por la luz del sol que filtra a través de las hojas.
Basque: Mahats berde sortak zintzilik daude mahasti-adarretan mahastian, eguzki-argiak hostoen artean iragazita argiztatuta.

Day 3: Card. #mbapr Cards describing the properties of spices at an Epicerie in Donibane Garazi, Navarre, Pays Basque, south of France.

Label describing ground cardamom, with aromatic profile and culinary uses, set against a backdrop of spices.
Text transcription: LES ÉPICES DU MONDE CARDAMOME MOULUE
Elle possède des arômes très frais et chauds, floral, avec des notes de bergamote, son goût rappelle celui du citron, du poivre et de l'eucalyptus. Ingrédient noble et essentiel de la cuisine indienne, elle entre dans la composition des currys, garam massala et autres mélanges d’épices. Très subtile, elle parfume le riz et légumes, les poissons et viandes blanches, les pâtisseries, salade de fruits, confitures, infusions et thés, café turc, et de surcroît elle est digestive. 9,90€ le décilitre

Ja soc aquí. Cadaqués 2024.

White buildings with varied rooftops under a cloudy sky, one building with a bell tower stands out.
Spanish: Edificios blancos con tejados variados bajo un cielo nublado, uno con campanario destaca.
Basque: Zeru lainotsu baten azpian dauden teilatu desberdineko eraikin zuriak, kanpandorre bat duen eraikin bat nabarmentzen da.

📸 Day 2: Flower.

Flowers on a wall in Cadaqués. I took the picture two years ago, and today I’m going back. Happy.

Red flowers cascade against a rustic stone wall, contrasting nature with a man-made structure.
Spanish: Flores rojas caen en cascada contra un muro de piedra rústico, contrastando la naturaleza con una estructura hecha por el hombre.
Basque: Lore gorriak harri horma zahar baten kontra isurtzen dira, natura eta gizakiak egindako egitura kontrastatuz.

🚀 Daring Fireball: Trump Media Plunges as Truth Social’s $58 Million Loss Reported

I want to laugh, but: If Trump is elected again in November — which, based on the close results of 2016 and 2020, and the current polling data, is definitely possible — shaking down lobbyists and foreign governments with exorbitant rates for ads on Truth Social seems like a much better grift than running a hotel across the street from the White House. A corrupt president owning a social media site would be a grift that scales. If there’s any rational reason for Trump Media to have any value at all, it’s that. It’s worthless today, but could be a veritable goldmine in a second Trump administration.

It’s all so scary, guys. Please, please elect the boring old guy, for fuck’s sake. #thoughts

Risotto. I still got it.

A bowl of risotto rests on a striped tablecloth with a spoon to the side.

I’m 49. I won’t be for long. Unless I die before I turn 50. Then I’ll be 49 forever.

Apple CEO Tim Cook for Associated Press: “Enough DMA. We’re pulling out of the EU”. #Applexit

🚀 It’s been 17 years – Brad Barrish

Here’s a letter he wrote to The Kansas City Star in 1993 in response to school children writing letters to try and pressure MTV to drop Beavis and Butthead.

I loved reading this emotional post by @bradbarrish about his father. Please go read the whole thing, and especially the letter the former quote is about. Mr. Barrish was Brad’s best friend, and he was a true free speech champion for all of us. Very necessary in these times of turmoil. #thoughts

And that’s about every picture I have of toys.

📸 Day 1: Toy #mbapr

A person wears glasses with lenses replaced by images of cartoonish yellow eyes against an urban backdrop.
Spanish: Una persona lleva gafas con lentes reemplazadas por imágenes de ojos amarillos caricaturescos sobre un fondo urbano.
Basque: Pertsona batek hiri-atzeko fondeo batean marrazki bizidunetako begi hori irudiekin ordezkatutako lenteak dituzten betaurrekoak janzten ditu. A hand holds a yellow ball with a cartoon Minion face

📸 Day 1: Toy #mbapr

My trusted writing companion.

A C-3PO funko figurine with large eyes stands on a keyboard; cables and a monitor in the background.

Well, I think I made it. Both Focus and Focused are working properly and I now have a computer that can’t run Safari or any other browser, can’t connect to any webpage and can only run one app. One that opens a blank page with a single blinking cursor and is ready for me to write. (I stopped Focus and opened Mars Edit to micropost this).

Screenshot of focused at 31 mar 2024 at 21_46_56.

I’m happy because these days are being pretty productive for me. I planned to go on vacation to Cadaqués from next Tuesday to Friday, so I needed to finish ahead some commitments and due dates. Thursday the 28th, Friday the 29th and Monday April 1st are holidays here in the Basque Country, so I’ve had plenty of time to work, free from emails and phone calls. I’ve worked every morning and afternoon and I have been able to advance a lot in all the projects I planned for these days.