I decided I would appreciate being home at 9:30am instead of 5pm more than I will be annoyed at having to wake up at 4:30am, so I changed my flight home to the early flight. Hope I don't oversleep! #travel
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2024-10-23T21:21:12-05:00",
"url": "https://aaronparecki.com/2024/10/23/22/",
"category": [
"travel"
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"content": {
"text": "I decided I would appreciate being home at 9:30am instead of 5pm more than I will be annoyed at having to wake up at 4:30am, so I changed my flight home to the early flight. Hope I don't oversleep! #travel",
"html": "I decided I would appreciate being home at 9:30am instead of 5pm more than I will be annoyed at having to wake up at 4:30am, so I changed my flight home to the early flight. Hope I don't oversleep! <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/tag/travel\">#travel</a>"
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{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2024-10-22T22:43:51-07:00",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/3583-Tinnitus-update",
"category": [
"tinnitus",
"vertigo",
"TMJ"
],
"name": "Tinnitus update",
"content": {
"text": "For several days my tinnitus and vertigo were getting progressively worse, which made me once again worry that I am developing M\u00e9ni\u00e8re\u2019s disease, which has a prognosis that is very much Not Good.\n\nAnd I mentioned this on a friend\u2019s Discord\u2019s venting channel, and someone else replied:\n\nI had a family member diagnosed with M\u00e9ni\u00e8re\u2019s and it turned out to actually be TMJ dysfunction from teeth grinding.\nIt was causing Eustachian tube swelling and thus the vertigo\n\nThis was actually super informative, because I\u2019ve always had TMJ issues and pretty bad bruxism!\n\nSo, I started doing a bunch of research, and found a couple of useful videos:\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSo I\u2019ve been doing these for a couple of days, and while it hasn\u2019t resolved everything, my tinnitus is already doing way better most of the day, and I haven\u2019t had any dizzy spells today.\n\nHere\u2019s hoping, anyway!",
"html": "<p>For several days my tinnitus and vertigo were getting progressively worse, which made me once again worry that I am developing <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9ni%C3%A8re's_disease\">M\u00e9ni\u00e8re\u2019s disease</a>, which has a prognosis that is very much Not Good.</p><p>And I mentioned this on a friend\u2019s Discord\u2019s venting channel, and someone else replied:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I had a family member diagnosed with M\u00e9ni\u00e8re\u2019s and it turned out to actually be TMJ dysfunction from teeth grinding.</p>\n<p>It was causing Eustachian tube swelling and thus the vertigo</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>This was actually super informative, because I\u2019ve always had TMJ issues and pretty bad bruxism!</p><p>So, I started doing a bunch of research, and found a couple of useful videos:</p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>So I\u2019ve been doing these for a couple of days, and while it hasn\u2019t resolved everything, my tinnitus is already doing way better most of the day, and I haven\u2019t had any dizzy spells today.</p><p>Here\u2019s hoping, anyway!</p>"
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{
"type": "entry",
"author": {
"name": "Jared White",
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
"photo": null
},
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/20241022/video-is-the-holy-grail-of-the-open-web",
"published": "2024-10-22T09:18:49-07:00",
"content": {
"html": "<p>The <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/openweb\">#openweb</a> has conquered <del>all</del> some.</p>\n\n<ul><li>You can post text and images directly on the web. It\u2019s very simple to do\u2014even for non-geeks who just use Wix or Squarespace. Blogging is still very much a thing, and now with the rise of decentralized social media, we can claim that too. Even RSS is making a comeback!</li>\n <li>You can post audio directly on the web and create your own podcast. There are many hosts around which make this straightforward, and everyone is happy to use their \u201cpodcast player of choice\u201d.</li>\n <li>You can launch communities, accept payments, offer games, provide software, and all sorts of other digital goodies through a variety of tools and services on the open web.</li>\n</ul><p>But here\u2019s the thing which <em>nobody</em> (*) does directly on the web: <strong>video</strong>. Video was eaten by <strong>YouTube</strong>.</p>\n\n<p><em>YouTube has conquered all.</em> Yes for short form, also TikTok and Instagram. For streaming, also Twitch. But I\u2019m primarily highlighting longer, typically pre-recorded, 16:9 videos. That market is <em>owned</em> by YouTube, no question about it.</p>\n\n<p>And that\u2019s extremely odd when you think about it. What other online medium is <em>so completely dominated</em> by a single platform? It\u2019s so all-encompassing that people will literally describe their profession by the platform\u2019s name: <em>I am a YouTuber</em>. Nobody says \u201cI\u2019m a Facebooker\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m a Twitcher\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m a Spotifier\u201d. But they will gladly promote the fact they are a <em>YouTuber</em>. And even though people\u2019s \u201cblog posts\u201d are indeed part of the open web proper, people\u2019s <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/vlog\">#vlog</a> episodes are virtually always found at a single destination. <strong>Gee that sucks!</strong></p>\n\n<p>I have come to the conclusion that YouTube poses an existential threat to the open web and to our broader society far and away more than any other corporate silo. And it\u2019s not just me\u2014creators on YouTube themselves are increasingly upset with the <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/enshittification\">#enshittification</a> of the platform and the awful moderation policies which seem to punish \u201cwokeness\u201d while rewarding truly bad actors who spew misinformation and hatred.</p>\n\n<p>Does anyone sincerely believe YouTube is getting\u2026better? Or has it been steadily decaying for years? (Yes.) Speaking for myself personally, I find having to engage with YouTube in any way borderline oppressive. I already use it at little as possible directly, and prefer to subscribe to channels through <a href=\"https://feedbin.com/\">Feedbin</a>. But trying to use a third-party frontend like Invidious is nearly impossible now, and even embedded video playback through Feedbin has gotten spotty. And even having switched off YouTube history entirely so I don\u2019t get that <em>horrible</em> algorithmic front page, I\u2019m still forced to look at a \u201crelated videos\u201d sidebar which almost always has one or two videos which are clearly alt-right ragebait or general nonsense peddled by \u201cinfluencers\u201d. It makes me sick, and I mean that quite literally.</p>\n\n<p><strong>We need to do something about this.</strong> And by we, I\u2019m starting with me. I\u2019m going to do something about it. I don\u2019t have anything to announce at this time, but I can tell you honestly: when I contemplate the future of the open web, there\u2019s <em>nothing</em> that\u2019s lighting a fire under me more than how to solve the video problem and wean ourselves off of complete dominance by YouTube. We can\u2019t ignore this any longer. If you\u2019re a fan of RSS, if you\u2019re a fan of ActivityPub, if you\u2019re a fan of blogging and of podcasting, you absolutely can\u2019t ignore the elephant in the room.</p>\n\n<p><em>Video killed the open web star?</em> Not if I can help it!</p>\n\n<p>* We\u2019re starting to see\u2014and I\u2019ve talked about this before\u2014the rise of creator-friendly indie video subscription platforms. My favorite one is <a href=\"https://nebula.tv/\">Nebula</a>, and I watch a lot of shows on there. But it\u2019s still a drop in the bucket. We need 10000% more of that.</p>",
"text": "The #openweb has conquered all some.\n\nYou can post text and images directly on the web. It\u2019s very simple to do\u2014even for non-geeks who just use Wix or Squarespace. Blogging is still very much a thing, and now with the rise of decentralized social media, we can claim that too. Even RSS is making a comeback!\n You can post audio directly on the web and create your own podcast. There are many hosts around which make this straightforward, and everyone is happy to use their \u201cpodcast player of choice\u201d.\n You can launch communities, accept payments, offer games, provide software, and all sorts of other digital goodies through a variety of tools and services on the open web.\nBut here\u2019s the thing which nobody (*) does directly on the web: video. Video was eaten by YouTube.\n\nYouTube has conquered all. Yes for short form, also TikTok and Instagram. For streaming, also Twitch. But I\u2019m primarily highlighting longer, typically pre-recorded, 16:9 videos. That market is owned by YouTube, no question about it.\n\nAnd that\u2019s extremely odd when you think about it. What other online medium is so completely dominated by a single platform? It\u2019s so all-encompassing that people will literally describe their profession by the platform\u2019s name: I am a YouTuber. Nobody says \u201cI\u2019m a Facebooker\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m a Twitcher\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m a Spotifier\u201d. But they will gladly promote the fact they are a YouTuber. And even though people\u2019s \u201cblog posts\u201d are indeed part of the open web proper, people\u2019s #vlog episodes are virtually always found at a single destination. Gee that sucks!\n\nI have come to the conclusion that YouTube poses an existential threat to the open web and to our broader society far and away more than any other corporate silo. And it\u2019s not just me\u2014creators on YouTube themselves are increasingly upset with the #enshittification of the platform and the awful moderation policies which seem to punish \u201cwokeness\u201d while rewarding truly bad actors who spew misinformation and hatred.\n\nDoes anyone sincerely believe YouTube is getting\u2026better? Or has it been steadily decaying for years? (Yes.) Speaking for myself personally, I find having to engage with YouTube in any way borderline oppressive. I already use it at little as possible directly, and prefer to subscribe to channels through Feedbin. But trying to use a third-party frontend like Invidious is nearly impossible now, and even embedded video playback through Feedbin has gotten spotty. And even having switched off YouTube history entirely so I don\u2019t get that horrible algorithmic front page, I\u2019m still forced to look at a \u201crelated videos\u201d sidebar which almost always has one or two videos which are clearly alt-right ragebait or general nonsense peddled by \u201cinfluencers\u201d. It makes me sick, and I mean that quite literally.\n\nWe need to do something about this. And by we, I\u2019m starting with me. I\u2019m going to do something about it. I don\u2019t have anything to announce at this time, but I can tell you honestly: when I contemplate the future of the open web, there\u2019s nothing that\u2019s lighting a fire under me more than how to solve the video problem and wean ourselves off of complete dominance by YouTube. We can\u2019t ignore this any longer. If you\u2019re a fan of RSS, if you\u2019re a fan of ActivityPub, if you\u2019re a fan of blogging and of podcasting, you absolutely can\u2019t ignore the elephant in the room.\n\nVideo killed the open web star? Not if I can help it!\n\n* We\u2019re starting to see\u2014and I\u2019ve talked about this before\u2014the rise of creator-friendly indie video subscription platforms. My favorite one is Nebula, and I watch a lot of shows on there. But it\u2019s still a drop in the bucket. We need 10000% more of that."
},
"name": "Video is the Holy Grail of the Open Web",
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "42645686",
"_source": "2783"
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{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2024-10-22T01:05:34-07:00",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/12065-But-there-were-no-signs",
"category": [
"gender",
"rambles"
],
"name": "But there were no signs",
"content": {
"text": "When I was a kid I was really into Infocom text adventures, and the game Beyond Zork had some very strong tabletop RPG elements, much moreso than other Infocom games. One of the things about it is that when you started the game you had to roll a character, and you could choose the gender of the player character.\n\nThe gender of the player character had literally no effect on the gameplay.\n\nI always chose \u201cfemale\u201d for some reason.\n\nBut there were no signs.\n\nI also used to be really into fighting games (Street Fighter et al), until I had to stop due to RSI issues.\n\nI always chose the female fighters for some reason.\n\nBut there were no signs.\n\nWhen I was 7 I was really into The Last Unicorn.\n\nMy parents thought I identified with Schmendrick the magician.\n\nI identified with the unicorn.\n\nBut there were no signs.\n\nWhen I was 10 and Super Mario Bros 2 came out I was infatuated with the game. Especially because the manual described Birdo as \u201cthinking he was a girl.\u201d\n\nI wanted to hug her so bad, and say, \u201cme too.\u201d\n\nBut there were no signs.\n\nEvery time I wrote a story that had a self-insert character, it always just felt natural for that character to be a girl.\n\nBut there were no signs.",
"html": "<p>When I was a kid I was really into Infocom text adventures, and the game <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Zork\">Beyond Zork</a> had some very strong tabletop RPG elements, much moreso than other Infocom games. One of the things about it is that when you started the game you had to roll a character, and you could choose the gender of the player character.</p><p>The gender of the player character had literally no effect on the gameplay.</p><p>I always chose \u201cfemale\u201d for some reason.</p><p>But there were no signs.</p><p>I also used to be really into fighting games (Street Fighter et al), until I had to stop due to RSI issues.</p><p>I always chose the female fighters for some reason.</p><p>But there were no signs.</p><p>When I was 7 I was really into <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn\">The Last Unicorn</a>.</p><p>My parents thought I identified with Schmendrick the magician.</p><p>I identified with the unicorn.</p><p>But there were no signs.</p><p>When I was 10 and Super Mario Bros 2 came out I was infatuated with the game. Especially because the manual described Birdo as \u201cthinking he was a girl.\u201d</p><p>I wanted to hug her so bad, and say, \u201cme too.\u201d</p><p>But there were no signs.</p><p>Every time I wrote a story that had a self-insert character, it always just felt natural for that character to be a girl.</p><p>But there were no signs.</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "fluffy",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
"photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "42638469",
"_source": "2778"
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