Couldn’t Help Myself, Installed iOS 26 on my iPhone

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/20250707/ios-26-here-we-go",
    "published": "2025-07-07T22:53:33-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Welp, I dood it.</p>\n\n<p>It\u2019s possible Developer Beta 3 will end up as a Public Beta shortly, but I just couldn\u2019t wait. Despite previously saying I\u2019d hold out until the Public Beta cycle to upgrade my <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/iphonepro\">#iPhonePro</a>, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it.</p>\n\n<p>Look, I find the iOS 17 UI to be <em>supremely boring</em> at this point (and I never went for v18 because it sucked). <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/apple\">#Apple</a> may still have a laundry list of tweaks to do before they get <strong>Liquid Glass</strong> dialed in just right\u2026but I\u2019m so there already on my iPad and figured <strong>YOLO</strong>. \ud83d\ude05</p>\n\n<p><em>So far so good!</em></p>",
        "text": "Welp, I dood it.\n\nIt\u2019s possible Developer Beta 3 will end up as a Public Beta shortly, but I just couldn\u2019t wait. Despite previously saying I\u2019d hold out until the Public Beta cycle to upgrade my #iPhonePro, I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it.\n\nLook, I find the iOS 17 UI to be supremely boring at this point (and I never went for v18 because it sucked). #Apple may still have a laundry list of tweaks to do before they get Liquid Glass dialed in just right\u2026but I\u2019m so there already on my iPad and figured YOLO. \ud83d\ude05\n\nSo far so good!"
    },
    "name": "Couldn\u2019t Help Myself, Installed iOS 26 on my iPhone",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45327487",
    "_source": "2783"
}

I Declare Independence…From My Blog! 😜

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/20250705/declaration-of-blogging-independence",
    "published": "2025-07-05T07:40:32-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I suppose it\u2019s fitting that the first day since last year (in early December!) I truly skipped a day in my daily-blogging challenge is July 4th, also known here in the U.S. as Independence Day. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\udf86</p>\n\n<p><strong>I hereby declare my independence from <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/writing\">#writing</a> every day!</strong> \ud83d\ude06</p>\n\n<p>OK, this wasn\u2019t entirely an accident. I <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/20250623/blogging-every-day-oh-dear\">recently talked about</a> how much I\u2019d been enjoying this challenge over all yet I wish I\u2019d given myself an \u201cout\u201d from having to do it without fail, without any breaks, <em>every single day</em>.</p>\n\n<p>After never breaking my daily blogging streak for over six months (!!), the time has come to make those tweaks! So I\u2019ve given myself <strong>a maximum of four skip days a month</strong>. That means I <em>could</em> essentially take a day off each week, or I could save my skips and cluster them together. At any rate, I\u2019m no longer worried about breaking my streak, because that\u2019s built into the framework.</p>\n\n<p>To be clear though, <strong>I\u2019m definitely NOT giving up daily blogging!</strong> As I keep saying, it\u2019s been absolutely incredible for me and has reshaped my relationship with writing this year. I no longer consider it merely a hobby. <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/articles/i-am-a-writer\">Twelve years ago I mused on the thought</a> that \u201cat some point I will officially make the transition from amateur writer to professional.\u201d</p>\n\n<p>That\u2019s <a href=\"https://buttondown.com/theinternet\">exactly what I\u2019m doing</a> at this point in time. And not just a professional writer\u2014<a href=\"https://vibecoded.transistor.fm/\">a professional podcaster</a> as well. So yeah, it\u2019s no longer an option for me to flake out and not \u201cdo the stuff\u201d for long periods of time. I\u2019ve \u201cgone pro\u201d as it were, and I increasingly see that taking up a meaningful portion of my overall efforts as a creator.</p>",
        "text": "I suppose it\u2019s fitting that the first day since last year (in early December!) I truly skipped a day in my daily-blogging challenge is July 4th, also known here in the U.S. as Independence Day. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\udf86\n\nI hereby declare my independence from #writing every day! \ud83d\ude06\n\nOK, this wasn\u2019t entirely an accident. I recently talked about how much I\u2019d been enjoying this challenge over all yet I wish I\u2019d given myself an \u201cout\u201d from having to do it without fail, without any breaks, every single day.\n\nAfter never breaking my daily blogging streak for over six months (!!), the time has come to make those tweaks! So I\u2019ve given myself a maximum of four skip days a month. That means I could essentially take a day off each week, or I could save my skips and cluster them together. At any rate, I\u2019m no longer worried about breaking my streak, because that\u2019s built into the framework.\n\nTo be clear though, I\u2019m definitely NOT giving up daily blogging! As I keep saying, it\u2019s been absolutely incredible for me and has reshaped my relationship with writing this year. I no longer consider it merely a hobby. Twelve years ago I mused on the thought that \u201cat some point I will officially make the transition from amateur writer to professional.\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m doing at this point in time. And not just a professional writer\u2014a professional podcaster as well. So yeah, it\u2019s no longer an option for me to flake out and not \u201cdo the stuff\u201d for long periods of time. I\u2019ve \u201cgone pro\u201d as it were, and I increasingly see that taking up a meaningful portion of my overall efforts as a creator."
    },
    "name": "I Declare Independence\u2026From My Blog! \ud83d\ude1c",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45306071",
    "_source": "2783"
}

Link: Abrego Garcia, Abused and Tortured in El Salvador, Files Amended Lawsuit

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250703/abrego-garcia-tortured",
    "published": "2025-07-03T21:05:53-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<blockquote>\n  <h2><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0T9U3zMjlU\"></a></h2>\n\n  <p>Torture, Abuse, and Cruelty. Katie Phang on Kilmar Abrego Garcia\u2019s new lawsuit that documents the disgusting treatment he experienced at CECOT and how the Trump Administration continues to violate his due process rights. (YouTube)</p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I know there\u2019s so much to be horrified by in U.S. <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/politics\">#politics</a> right now, but a story I\u2019ve been following very closely for some while now has been the plight of <strong>Kilmar Abrego Garcia</strong>; husband, father, union worker, and perhaps most importantly, a man with no criminal record!</p>\n\n<p>He\u2019s currently on U.S. soil, thank god, but his future remains very much up in the air due to the despicable actions of the Trump regime, and <strong>we must hope fervently the courts are able to keep him here</strong> and not allow his deportation back to a gulag in El Salvador\u2014or worse.</p>",
        "text": "Torture, Abuse, and Cruelty. Katie Phang on Kilmar Abrego Garcia\u2019s new lawsuit that documents the disgusting treatment he experienced at CECOT and how the Trump Administration continues to violate his due process rights. (YouTube)\n\n\n\nI know there\u2019s so much to be horrified by in U.S. #politics right now, but a story I\u2019ve been following very closely for some while now has been the plight of Kilmar Abrego Garcia; husband, father, union worker, and perhaps most importantly, a man with no criminal record!\n\nHe\u2019s currently on U.S. soil, thank god, but his future remains very much up in the air due to the despicable actions of the Trump regime, and we must hope fervently the courts are able to keep him here and not allow his deportation back to a gulag in El Salvador\u2014or worse."
    },
    "name": "Link: Abrego Garcia, Abused and Tortured in El Salvador, Files Amended Lawsuit",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45291707",
    "_source": "2783"
}

Ready for iOS 26

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/20250702/ready-for-ios-26",
    "published": "2025-07-02T21:58:07-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I\u2019ve decided as soon as the first Public Beta of iOS 26 is released, I will be installing it on my <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/iphonepro\">#iPhonePro</a>.</p>\n\n<p>I\u2019ve been running the Developer Betas on my iPad Pro since right after WWDC, and despite all the usual visual glitchiness and springboard crashes you get with early betas, it\u2019s been absolutely worth it. <strong>iPadOS feels like a productivity workhorse</strong> in a way it never has before\u2014especially when plugged into an external monitor\u2014and I\u2019ve <em>really</em> been enjoying Liquid Glass. \ud83e\udd29 iOS 17 on my iPhone feels positively lifeless and dull in comparison.</p>\n\n<p>I haven\u2019t yet decided when I\u2019ll be installing macOS Tahoe on my Mac mini. The truth of the matter is, I don\u2019t use that computer much anymore now that I\u2019ve been experimenting with the \u201ciPad Desktop\u201d lifestyle. <em>Shocking, I know!</em></p>\n\n<p>(Plus the main thing I still absolutely need that Mac for is my music production workflow in Logic Pro, and I don\u2019t want to mess that up with a beta OS!)</p>\n\n<p>This is all quite the exciting vibe shift since last year when I <em>refused</em> to install any of the OS upgrades that cycle. I will coast into Q3 2025 having never used any system software <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/apple\">#Apple</a> released last year. <strong>What a weird time that was\u2026sure glad to be out of those doldrums!</strong> \ud83d\udc4f</p>",
        "text": "I\u2019ve decided as soon as the first Public Beta of iOS 26 is released, I will be installing it on my #iPhonePro.\n\nI\u2019ve been running the Developer Betas on my iPad Pro since right after WWDC, and despite all the usual visual glitchiness and springboard crashes you get with early betas, it\u2019s been absolutely worth it. iPadOS feels like a productivity workhorse in a way it never has before\u2014especially when plugged into an external monitor\u2014and I\u2019ve really been enjoying Liquid Glass. \ud83e\udd29 iOS 17 on my iPhone feels positively lifeless and dull in comparison.\n\nI haven\u2019t yet decided when I\u2019ll be installing macOS Tahoe on my Mac mini. The truth of the matter is, I don\u2019t use that computer much anymore now that I\u2019ve been experimenting with the \u201ciPad Desktop\u201d lifestyle. Shocking, I know!\n\n(Plus the main thing I still absolutely need that Mac for is my music production workflow in Logic Pro, and I don\u2019t want to mess that up with a beta OS!)\n\nThis is all quite the exciting vibe shift since last year when I refused to install any of the OS upgrades that cycle. I will coast into Q3 2025 having never used any system software #Apple released last year. What a weird time that was\u2026sure glad to be out of those doldrums! \ud83d\udc4f"
    },
    "name": "Ready for iOS 26",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45282320",
    "_source": "2783"
}

Tantek Çelik tantek.com

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2025-07-01 17:41-0700",
    "url": "https://tantek.com/2025/182/t1/movie-club-tomorrowland-submissions",
    "category": [
        "TomorrowlandFilm",
        "BeforeTomorrowland",
        "IndieWeb",
        "IndieWebMovieClub",
        "100PostsOfIndieWeb",
        "100Posts"
    ],
    "content": {
        "text": "I really enjoyed the IndieWeb Movie Club May 2025 submissions about the film \u201cTomorrowland\u201d. Ordered from earliest to most recent:\n\n* Paolo Feadin: https://www.feadin.eu/en/posts/tomorrowland\n* Thomas Vander Wal: https://vanderwal.net/random/entrysel.php?blog=2119\n* gRegor Morrill: https://gregorlove.com/2025/05/tomorrowland/\n* Benji: https://www.benji.dog/watched/1748757918-tomorrowland-2015/\n* James: https://jamesg.blog/2025/07/01/tomorrowland-indieweb-movie-club\n\nAs promised in my welcome post, here are my past posts regarding or related to Tomorrowland the film, Before Tomorrowland the book, and the themes and messages therein:\n* https://tantek.com/2016/042/t1/the-problem-to-solve-negative-news\n* https://tantek.com/2016/145/b1/tomorrowland-misjudging-by-name-association\n* https://tantek.com/2016/150/b1/tomorrowland-change-perspective-flight-paris\n* https://tantek.com/2016/279/t2/finished-reading-before-tomorrowland\n\nI rewatched the film in May, and had a mix of remembering my past impressions as well as forming new impressions in the context of 2025. A lot has changed in the past 10 years. Worth a separate blog post.\n\u00a0\nPreviously: https://tantek.com/2025/120/t1/indieweb-movie-club-tomorrowland\n\n#TomorrowlandFilm #BeforeTomorrowland #IndieWeb #IndieWebMovieClub\n\nThis is post 12 of #100PostsOfIndieWeb. #100Posts\n\n\u2190 https://tantek.com/2025/120/t1/indieweb-movie-club-tomorrowland\n\u2192 \ud83d\udd2e",
        "html": "I really enjoyed the IndieWeb Movie Club May 2025 submissions about the film \u201cTomorrowland\u201d. Ordered from earliest to most recent:<br /><br />* Paolo Feadin: <a href=\"https://www.feadin.eu/en/posts/tomorrowland\">https://www.feadin.eu/en/posts/tomorrowland</a><br />* Thomas Vander Wal: <a href=\"https://vanderwal.net/random/entrysel.php?blog=2119\">https://vanderwal.net/random/entrysel.php?blog=2119</a><br />* gRegor Morrill: <a href=\"https://gregorlove.com/2025/05/tomorrowland/\">https://gregorlove.com/2025/05/tomorrowland/</a><br />* Benji: <a href=\"https://www.benji.dog/watched/1748757918-tomorrowland-2015/\">https://www.benji.dog/watched/1748757918-tomorrowland-2015/</a><br />* James: <a href=\"https://jamesg.blog/2025/07/01/tomorrowland-indieweb-movie-club\">https://jamesg.blog/2025/07/01/tomorrowland-indieweb-movie-club</a><br /><br />As promised in my welcome post, here are my past posts regarding or related to Tomorrowland the film, Before Tomorrowland the book, and the themes and messages therein:<br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2016/042/t1/the-problem-to-solve-negative-news\">https://tantek.com/2016/042/t1/the-problem-to-solve-negative-news</a><br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2016/145/b1/tomorrowland-misjudging-by-name-association\">https://tantek.com/2016/145/b1/tomorrowland-misjudging-by-name-association</a><br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2016/150/b1/tomorrowland-change-perspective-flight-paris\">https://tantek.com/2016/150/b1/tomorrowland-change-perspective-flight-paris</a><br />* <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2016/279/t2/finished-reading-before-tomorrowland\">https://tantek.com/2016/279/t2/finished-reading-before-tomorrowland</a><br /><br />I rewatched the film in May, and had a mix of remembering my past impressions as well as forming new impressions in the context of 2025. A lot has changed in the past 10 years. Worth a separate blog post.<br />\u00a0<br />Previously: <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2025/120/t1/indieweb-movie-club-tomorrowland\">https://tantek.com/2025/120/t1/indieweb-movie-club-tomorrowland</a><br /><br />#<span class=\"p-category\">TomorrowlandFilm</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">BeforeTomorrowland</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">IndieWeb</span> #<span class=\"p-category\">IndieWebMovieClub</span><br /><br />This is post 12 of #<span class=\"p-category\">100PostsOfIndieWeb</span>. #<span class=\"p-category\">100Posts</span><br /><br />\u2190 <a href=\"https://tantek.com/2025/120/t1/indieweb-movie-club-tomorrowland\">https://tantek.com/2025/120/t1/indieweb-movie-club-tomorrowland</a><br />\u2192 \ud83d\udd2e"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Tantek \u00c7elik",
        "url": "https://tantek.com/",
        "photo": "https://tantek.com/photo.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "45271142",
    "_source": "2460"
}

fluffy beesbuzz.biz

I FOUND IT

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2025-07-01T15:59:28-07:00",
    "url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/6748-I-FOUND-IT",
    "category": [
        "music"
    ],
    "name": "I FOUND IT",
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "fluffy",
        "url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
        "photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45270181",
    "_source": "2778"
}

fluffy beesbuzz.biz

Building a lyric search engine

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2025-07-01T14:28:31-07:00",
    "url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/16535-Building-a-lyric-search-engine",
    "category": [
        "music",
        "AI",
        "openAI",
        "automation"
    ],
    "name": "Building a lyric search engine",
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "fluffy",
        "url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
        "photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45268723",
    "_source": "2778"
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/20250630/moody-teenager-aftermath",
    "published": "2025-06-30T22:51:53-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I\u2019m the kind of tired only the parent of a moody teenager feels.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, we had a bit of a meltdown moment on our hands earlier today. My teen is feeling lots of <strong>big feelings</strong> and I totally get it. I really do. And I <em>love</em> that they are still willing to open up to me about their hopes and fears.</p>\n\n<p>At the same time, <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/parenting\">#parenting</a> isn\u2019t a switch. I can\u2019t simply \u201cturn on\u201d being a sympathetic sensitive dad to help them go through all the things they\u2019re going through, and then later \u201cturn off\u201d and I\u2019m a perfectly OK me once more. Now <em>I\u2019m feeling big feelings too</em> and\u2026well\u2026it\u2019s not easy. \ud83d\ude05</p>\n\n<p>And that\u2019s all I have to say about that because I need to go to sleep now. \ud83e\udee0\ud83d\ude34\ud83d\udca4</p>",
        "text": "I\u2019m the kind of tired only the parent of a moody teenager feels.\n\nYes, we had a bit of a meltdown moment on our hands earlier today. My teen is feeling lots of big feelings and I totally get it. I really do. And I love that they are still willing to open up to me about their hopes and fears.\n\nAt the same time, #parenting isn\u2019t a switch. I can\u2019t simply \u201cturn on\u201d being a sympathetic sensitive dad to help them go through all the things they\u2019re going through, and then later \u201cturn off\u201d and I\u2019m a perfectly OK me once more. Now I\u2019m feeling big feelings too and\u2026well\u2026it\u2019s not easy. \ud83d\ude05\n\nAnd that\u2019s all I have to say about that because I need to go to sleep now. \ud83e\udee0\ud83d\ude34\ud83d\udca4"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "45261713",
    "_source": "2783"
}

Link: Podcasting 2.0: More Apps & Platforms Adding Support

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250629/podcasting-two-point-oh",
    "published": "2025-06-29T23:39:03-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<blockquote>\n  <h2><a href=\"https://podcasting2.org/apps\"></a></h2>\n\n  <p>Your favorite podcasts are better in a Podcasting 2.0 app, letting you show your support, see dynamic content, engage in the community, and more!</p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>For quite some time, it felt like the things a \u201cpodcast\u201d can do (that is, a real one, as in distributed via RSS) hadn\u2019t really changed in a long time. The medium was good, but it was\u2026stagnant.</p>\n\n<p><strong>That seems to be changing!</strong> I\u2019m just starting to wrap my head around some of the aspects of the <strong>Podcasting 2.0</strong> initiative, but there\u2019s lots of exciting stuff on the horizon and some features are already available in certain apps and platforms. I hope to dive more into it soon and do a writeup for <a href=\"https://theinternet.review/\">The Internet Review</a>.</p>",
        "text": "Your favorite podcasts are better in a Podcasting 2.0 app, letting you show your support, see dynamic content, engage in the community, and more!\n\n\n\nFor quite some time, it felt like the things a \u201cpodcast\u201d can do (that is, a real one, as in distributed via RSS) hadn\u2019t really changed in a long time. The medium was good, but it was\u2026stagnant.\n\nThat seems to be changing! I\u2019m just starting to wrap my head around some of the aspects of the Podcasting 2.0 initiative, but there\u2019s lots of exciting stuff on the horizon and some features are already available in certain apps and platforms. I hope to dive more into it soon and do a writeup for The Internet Review."
    },
    "name": "Link: Podcasting 2.0: More Apps & Platforms Adding Support",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45251393",
    "_source": "2783"
}

Why I Like Bluesky and You Should Too

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Cathie",
        "url": "https://cathieleblanc.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://cathieleblanc.com/2025/06/29/why-i-like-bluesky-and-you-should-too/",
    "published": "2025-06-29T22:28:33-04:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>How would you feel if the only people you could call or text using your phone were people who were using the same carrier as you? If you were on Verizon, for example, you couldn\u2019t call your best friend who uses T-Mobile as their phone provider. If you wanted to call or text your best friend, you would have to open up a second account on T-Mobile. Maybe the accounts themselves would be free as long as you watched ads and agreed to allow T-Mobile to sell data about your activity to the highest bidder. Would you be ok with that scenario?</p>\n<p>Or think about email. What if you could only send emails to people who used the same email provider? Your work email, for example, could only send email to other people at your work. If you had a GMail account, you could only email other people who also had GMail accounts. If you wanted to send an email to someone using Yahoo or some other email provider, you would need to sign up for an account using that same provider. How would you feel about it?</p>\n<p>These might seem like ridiculous scenarios for phone numbers and email accounts, but it is exactly the situation we put up with when we use most modern social media platforms. A friend recently asked me to recommend a Facebook alternative. She was sick of Meta\u2019s politics and wanted to cut ties with their tools. But she has lots of friends that she communicates with primarily through Facebook and she didn\u2019t want to lose contact with them. Unfortunately, if she wants to maintain that network of friends, she is stuck with using Meta\u2019s tools. Facebook and most modern social media platforms rely on proprietary software that implements proprietary communication protocols. A protocol is simply a set of rules for how to communicate. Facebook, X, Tiktok, etc. each implement their own, secret set of rules for communication and in order to use those rules, you have to use the applications they have built. If you don\u2019t like something about how the application works, your only choice is to leave the application entirely which also means leaving whatever network of people you have cultivated on that application.</p>\n<p>But of course, phones and email don\u2019t work like that. And social media platforms don\u2019t need to either. There is no technical reason that social media platforms need to use proprietary protocols. That\u2019s where <a href=\"https://bsky.app/\">Bluesky</a> comes in. Bluesky is a micro-blogging site. That means that it\u2019s a place where users post short (micro) content, mostly text and images. Unlike many other social media platforms, Bluesky doesn\u2019t downrank links so you can create content on another site and easily post a link to that content and Bluesky will include the post in your followers\u2019 feed just as though it didn\u2019t have a link. Instagram, for example, doesn\u2019t allow posts with links. Facebook downranks posts with links because Meta wants users to create their content completely within the closed environment of Facebook. In addition, Bluesky gives users lots of control over how their feed appears (unlike sites like Facebook and Instagram). Lists are a very cool feature of the application. Anyone can build a list of accounts that they like and share that list with others to either follow or block. For example, I used several lists to find astrophotographers to follow. I have found lots of indie game designers and activists resisting fascism and so on. The communities that I have found are engaged and supportive. I love interacting with smart, creative people. But the most important thing that I like about Bluesky is that it is built on top of an open protocol called AT Protocol. That means that developers are able to create different applications that can communicate with Bluesky users. So if you don\u2019t like how Bluesky is dealing with posts or your data, you can look for other applications to use and not lose the communities that you have connected with in Bluesky. There aren\u2019t a lot of other applications available using the AT Protocol yet but they are coming. The ethos of Bluesky is very similar to the Indie Web and I know several folks in that community are building tools for users to implement on their own web sites.</p>\n<p>There are several other, more technical reasons that I like Bluesky but the fact that it is so far living up to its ambition to free social media users from centralized corporate control of our content and our attention is the main reason that I recommend checking it out. And if you do create an account, follow me and I\u2019ll follow you back. You can find me @cathieleblanc.bsky.social.</p>",
        "text": "How would you feel if the only people you could call or text using your phone were people who were using the same carrier as you? If you were on Verizon, for example, you couldn\u2019t call your best friend who uses T-Mobile as their phone provider. If you wanted to call or text your best friend, you would have to open up a second account on T-Mobile. Maybe the accounts themselves would be free as long as you watched ads and agreed to allow T-Mobile to sell data about your activity to the highest bidder. Would you be ok with that scenario?\nOr think about email. What if you could only send emails to people who used the same email provider? Your work email, for example, could only send email to other people at your work. If you had a GMail account, you could only email other people who also had GMail accounts. If you wanted to send an email to someone using Yahoo or some other email provider, you would need to sign up for an account using that same provider. How would you feel about it?\nThese might seem like ridiculous scenarios for phone numbers and email accounts, but it is exactly the situation we put up with when we use most modern social media platforms. A friend recently asked me to recommend a Facebook alternative. She was sick of Meta\u2019s politics and wanted to cut ties with their tools. But she has lots of friends that she communicates with primarily through Facebook and she didn\u2019t want to lose contact with them. Unfortunately, if she wants to maintain that network of friends, she is stuck with using Meta\u2019s tools. Facebook and most modern social media platforms rely on proprietary software that implements proprietary communication protocols. A protocol is simply a set of rules for how to communicate. Facebook, X, Tiktok, etc. each implement their own, secret set of rules for communication and in order to use those rules, you have to use the applications they have built. If you don\u2019t like something about how the application works, your only choice is to leave the application entirely which also means leaving whatever network of people you have cultivated on that application.\nBut of course, phones and email don\u2019t work like that. And social media platforms don\u2019t need to either. There is no technical reason that social media platforms need to use proprietary protocols. That\u2019s where Bluesky comes in. Bluesky is a micro-blogging site. That means that it\u2019s a place where users post short (micro) content, mostly text and images. Unlike many other social media platforms, Bluesky doesn\u2019t downrank links so you can create content on another site and easily post a link to that content and Bluesky will include the post in your followers\u2019 feed just as though it didn\u2019t have a link. Instagram, for example, doesn\u2019t allow posts with links. Facebook downranks posts with links because Meta wants users to create their content completely within the closed environment of Facebook. In addition, Bluesky gives users lots of control over how their feed appears (unlike sites like Facebook and Instagram). Lists are a very cool feature of the application. Anyone can build a list of accounts that they like and share that list with others to either follow or block. For example, I used several lists to find astrophotographers to follow. I have found lots of indie game designers and activists resisting fascism and so on. The communities that I have found are engaged and supportive. I love interacting with smart, creative people. But the most important thing that I like about Bluesky is that it is built on top of an open protocol called AT Protocol. That means that developers are able to create different applications that can communicate with Bluesky users. So if you don\u2019t like how Bluesky is dealing with posts or your data, you can look for other applications to use and not lose the communities that you have connected with in Bluesky. There aren\u2019t a lot of other applications available using the AT Protocol yet but they are coming. The ethos of Bluesky is very similar to the Indie Web and I know several folks in that community are building tools for users to implement on their own web sites.\nThere are several other, more technical reasons that I like Bluesky but the fact that it is so far living up to its ambition to free social media users from centralized corporate control of our content and our attention is the main reason that I recommend checking it out. And if you do create an account, follow me and I\u2019ll follow you back. You can find me @cathieleblanc.bsky.social."
    },
    "name": "Why I Like Bluesky and You Should Too",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45250279",
    "_source": "2782"
}

Changing Podcast Platforms

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/20250628/changing-podcast-platforms",
    "published": "2025-06-28T23:03:43-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I\u2019m in the process of really shaking up the JCU (<strong>Jared Content Universe</strong>) this summer, and one aspect of that which has become clear to me is I need to find a new podcast hosting platform.</p>\n\n<p>Historically, my <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/podcast\">Fresh Fusion podcast</a> has been a hodgepodge of techniques: the MP3 files themselves are hosted on Amazon S3 (ugh, not a service I want to support anymore), the RSS feed and pages are hosted here on my static site, and I use a proxy in front of the S3 URLs in the form of <a href=\"https://blubrry.com/\">Blubrry</a> for analytics.</p>\n\n<p>Meanwhile, two other podcasts I\u2019ve worked on which are currently on hiatus, <a href=\"https://www.fullstackruby.dev/topics/podcast\">Fullstack Ruby</a> and <a href=\"https://justaspec.buzzsprout.com/\">Just a Spec</a>, are hosted on <a href=\"https://www.buzzsprout.com/\">Buzzsprout</a>\u2026except I use Fullstack Ruby for the episode pages and Buzzsprout itself for the Just a Spec website. \ud83e\udd2a</p>\n\n<p>It\u2019s all a bit of a mess. While I do like Buzzsprout, it makes it hard to experiment with new podcasts over time because every single show is its own subscription. And while I like the idea of Blubrry as a way of adding analytics support to any set of podcast files, its UX leaves a lot to be desired (and also costs a small monthly fee).</p>\n\n<p>All that to say: <strong>I\u2019m on the hunt for a new podcasting service with a single (low) price for an unlimited number of shows</strong>, plus the very critical feature that it integrates well with <a href=\"https://buttondown.com/\">Buttondown</a>. For you see, dear reader, my recent efforts to record audio editions of my <a href=\"https://buttondown.com/theinternet\">Cycles Hyped No More</a> newsletter (hosted on Buttondown) has made it crystal clear for me that <strong>I freakin\u2019 love writing essays and also recording them as spoken word as part of a unified artifact</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I\u2019m gearing up to do <em>a whole lotta podcasting</em> soon, and that means I need what is essentially the core infrastructure for a podcast network. There are a couple of options I\u2019m looking at, and once I have a clearer idea of how it all looks, I\u2019ll publish my findings here in a follow-up post!</p>",
        "text": "I\u2019m in the process of really shaking up the JCU (Jared Content Universe) this summer, and one aspect of that which has become clear to me is I need to find a new podcast hosting platform.\n\nHistorically, my Fresh Fusion podcast has been a hodgepodge of techniques: the MP3 files themselves are hosted on Amazon S3 (ugh, not a service I want to support anymore), the RSS feed and pages are hosted here on my static site, and I use a proxy in front of the S3 URLs in the form of Blubrry for analytics.\n\nMeanwhile, two other podcasts I\u2019ve worked on which are currently on hiatus, Fullstack Ruby and Just a Spec, are hosted on Buzzsprout\u2026except I use Fullstack Ruby for the episode pages and Buzzsprout itself for the Just a Spec website. \ud83e\udd2a\n\nIt\u2019s all a bit of a mess. While I do like Buzzsprout, it makes it hard to experiment with new podcasts over time because every single show is its own subscription. And while I like the idea of Blubrry as a way of adding analytics support to any set of podcast files, its UX leaves a lot to be desired (and also costs a small monthly fee).\n\nAll that to say: I\u2019m on the hunt for a new podcasting service with a single (low) price for an unlimited number of shows, plus the very critical feature that it integrates well with Buttondown. For you see, dear reader, my recent efforts to record audio editions of my Cycles Hyped No More newsletter (hosted on Buttondown) has made it crystal clear for me that I freakin\u2019 love writing essays and also recording them as spoken word as part of a unified artifact.\n\nAnyway, I\u2019m gearing up to do a whole lotta podcasting soon, and that means I need what is essentially the core infrastructure for a podcast network. There are a couple of options I\u2019m looking at, and once I have a clearer idea of how it all looks, I\u2019ll publish my findings here in a follow-up post!"
    },
    "name": "Changing Podcast Platforms",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45242829",
    "_source": "2783"
}

Jonathan LaCour cleverdevil.io/profile/cleverdevil

🏁🙌🏻 Heidi Vroom’s New Plates!

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2025-06-28T22:51:31+00:00",
    "url": "https://cleverdevil.io/2025/-heidi-vrooms-new-plates",
    "photo": [
        "https://cleverdevil.io/file/8a3e73cbeb08956f30f8fdc003c44ecd/thumb.jpg"
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    "syndication": [
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        "https://bsky.app/profile/cleverdevil.io/post/3lspalobtau22"
    ],
    "name": "\ud83c\udfc1\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb Heidi Vroom\u2019s New Plates!",
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Jonathan LaCour",
        "url": "https://cleverdevil.io/profile/cleverdevil",
        "photo": "https://cleverdevil.io/file/e37c3982acf4f0a8421d085b9971cd71/thumb.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "photo",
    "_id": "45241290",
    "_source": "10"
}

Link: Seattle’s Getting Big Y’all: Population Now Over 810,000

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250627/seattle-population-over-eight-hundred-thousand",
    "published": "2025-06-27T22:35:05-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<blockquote>\n  <h2><a href=\"https://www.theurbanist.org/2025/06/27/seattles-population-blows-past-800000-in-latest-state-estimates/\"></a></h2>\n\n  <p>For the first time ever, Seattle has officially surpassed the 800,000 population mark. The state Office of Financial Management (OFM) pegged Seattle at 816,600 residents in April 1, 2025 population estimates released Friday. This year marks the fifth straight that Seattle\u2019s growth rate has exceeded 2%, making Seattle one of the fastest-growing cities in the country.</p>\n\n<p>As of April 2024, OFM estimated Seattle\u2019s population was 797,700. The new estimates would indicate that Seattle added 18,900 residents in one year, growing 2.4% over the previous year.</p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>For a while, it seemed to me that Seattle\u2019s rapid growth had far outpaced the ability of its transportation infrastructure to handle such demand. But they\u2019ve made a lot of improvements to the roads as well as adding new train lines, bike lanes, and other transit options beyond the car, and on a recent trip to the Seattle area I felt the most relaxed I\u2019ve been there in quite some time.</p>\n\n<p>I hope as Seattle continues to grow they can continue to invest in public transit, micromobility, and other methods to keep the roadways from descending into utter madness. (I know it\u2019s tough in places because of the <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/geography\">#geography</a> of the natural landscape\u2026for example, downtown Seattle is literally located in a bottleneck!)</p>",
        "text": "For the first time ever, Seattle has officially surpassed the 800,000 population mark. The state Office of Financial Management (OFM) pegged Seattle at 816,600 residents in April 1, 2025 population estimates released Friday. This year marks the fifth straight that Seattle\u2019s growth rate has exceeded 2%, making Seattle one of the fastest-growing cities in the country.\n\nAs of April 2024, OFM estimated Seattle\u2019s population was 797,700. The new estimates would indicate that Seattle added 18,900 residents in one year, growing 2.4% over the previous year.\n\n\n\nFor a while, it seemed to me that Seattle\u2019s rapid growth had far outpaced the ability of its transportation infrastructure to handle such demand. But they\u2019ve made a lot of improvements to the roads as well as adding new train lines, bike lanes, and other transit options beyond the car, and on a recent trip to the Seattle area I felt the most relaxed I\u2019ve been there in quite some time.\n\nI hope as Seattle continues to grow they can continue to invest in public transit, micromobility, and other methods to keep the roadways from descending into utter madness. (I know it\u2019s tough in places because of the #geography of the natural landscape\u2026for example, downtown Seattle is literally located in a bottleneck!)"
    },
    "name": "Link: Seattle\u2019s Getting Big Y\u2019all: Population Now Over 810,000",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45234776",
    "_source": "2783"
}

“Ballerina” Was the Perfect Dance for Me

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/20250626/ballerina-was-the-perfect-dance-for-me",
    "published": "2025-06-26T23:05:14-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I really wanted to make sure I got a chance to see <em>Ballerina</em> before it left the theaters, and I\u2019m glad I did.</p>\n\n<p>I\u2019d heard a bit of mixed early reactions to the film, so I wasn\u2019t sure going into it if I\u2019d really enjoy it or if I\u2019d be disappointed. In particular, some folks thought the first act of the film was slow and there was way too much setup.</p>\n\n<p><strong>I have no idea what they\u2019re talking about!</strong> I\u2019m <em>always</em> a sucker for a good training montage, and this was one hell of a training montage. Given that this is the first time throughout all of the John Wick <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/movies\">#movies</a> so far that John Wick is not the main character (though he definitely plays an integral role, hallelujah!), <em>I needed a reason</em> to care about Eve Macarro (played to perfection by Ana de Armas), and this film gave it to me in spades.</p>\n\n<p>I agree with the <a href=\"https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ballerina_2025/reviews\">Graeme Tuckett review excerpt on Rotten Tomatoes</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n  <p>The Wick series has always featured deceptively excellent writing, a winking self-awareness and a commitment to as much old-school stunt work as a two-hour running time can hold. Ballerina holds true to those values and builds on what has gone before.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Not only that, but I thought <em>Ballerina</em> was <strong>incredibly well directed and shot</strong>. Yes, all of the John Wick films offer a very specific sort of stark beauty, but they can also feel quite stylized. This installment perhaps felt the most grounded in reality, and the cinematography alone held my attention from start to finish. Despite the fact <em>Ballerina</em> hasn\u2019t fared all that well at the box office (for reasons I honestly can\u2019t fathom), I hope both the director (Len Wiseman) and the DP (Romain Lacourbas) can continue to make <strong>lots more awesome</strong> in Hollywood.</p>\n\n<p>One other note, perhaps my only real disappointment although its wrapped in a celebration: the principal villain of the story is played by none other than the one, the only <strong>Gabriel Byrne</strong>. Byrne is one of my all-time favorite character actors, and of course he\u2019s Irish so that\u2019s immediately a feather in his cap. However, once my elation had worn off from seeing him loom large on the silver screen, I was a wee bit bummed the screenplay didn\u2019t give him much to work with. I won\u2019t say his was a one-note performance, because he\u2019s simply too good for that; he clearly did the best job he could with the material he had to work with. I just wish they\u2019d gone the extra mile to make him an <strong>iconic bad guy</strong> in the franchise. Instead, he\u2019s merely a grumpy jerk. Oh well.</p>\n\n<p>Indeed, the plot of the movie in parts was a little thin I\u2019d say, but other than those minor quibbles, <strong>I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film</strong> and consider it a worthy member of the <em>John Wick</em> franchise. Will we see a <em>Ballerina 2</em> in the future? I suspect that\u2019s unlikely, but if it happens <strong>I\u2019ll be the first to go see it without hesitation.</strong></p>",
        "text": "I really wanted to make sure I got a chance to see Ballerina before it left the theaters, and I\u2019m glad I did.\n\nI\u2019d heard a bit of mixed early reactions to the film, so I wasn\u2019t sure going into it if I\u2019d really enjoy it or if I\u2019d be disappointed. In particular, some folks thought the first act of the film was slow and there was way too much setup.\n\nI have no idea what they\u2019re talking about! I\u2019m always a sucker for a good training montage, and this was one hell of a training montage. Given that this is the first time throughout all of the John Wick #movies so far that John Wick is not the main character (though he definitely plays an integral role, hallelujah!), I needed a reason to care about Eve Macarro (played to perfection by Ana de Armas), and this film gave it to me in spades.\n\nI agree with the Graeme Tuckett review excerpt on Rotten Tomatoes:\n\n\n  The Wick series has always featured deceptively excellent writing, a winking self-awareness and a commitment to as much old-school stunt work as a two-hour running time can hold. Ballerina holds true to those values and builds on what has gone before.\n\n\nNot only that, but I thought Ballerina was incredibly well directed and shot. Yes, all of the John Wick films offer a very specific sort of stark beauty, but they can also feel quite stylized. This installment perhaps felt the most grounded in reality, and the cinematography alone held my attention from start to finish. Despite the fact Ballerina hasn\u2019t fared all that well at the box office (for reasons I honestly can\u2019t fathom), I hope both the director (Len Wiseman) and the DP (Romain Lacourbas) can continue to make lots more awesome in Hollywood.\n\nOne other note, perhaps my only real disappointment although its wrapped in a celebration: the principal villain of the story is played by none other than the one, the only Gabriel Byrne. Byrne is one of my all-time favorite character actors, and of course he\u2019s Irish so that\u2019s immediately a feather in his cap. However, once my elation had worn off from seeing him loom large on the silver screen, I was a wee bit bummed the screenplay didn\u2019t give him much to work with. I won\u2019t say his was a one-note performance, because he\u2019s simply too good for that; he clearly did the best job he could with the material he had to work with. I just wish they\u2019d gone the extra mile to make him an iconic bad guy in the franchise. Instead, he\u2019s merely a grumpy jerk. Oh well.\n\nIndeed, the plot of the movie in parts was a little thin I\u2019d say, but other than those minor quibbles, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film and consider it a worthy member of the John Wick franchise. Will we see a Ballerina 2 in the future? I suspect that\u2019s unlikely, but if it happens I\u2019ll be the first to go see it without hesitation."
    },
    "name": "\u201cBallerina\u201d Was the Perfect Dance for Me",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45224834",
    "_source": "2783"
}

gRegor Morrill gregorlove.com

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2025-06-26 14:43-0700",
    "url": "https://gregorlove.com/2025/06/join-us-for-an/",
    "category": [
        "indieweb"
    ],
    "syndication": [
        "https://bsky.app/profile/gregorlove.com/post/3lsk45bj7ln2o"
    ],
    "content": {
        "text": "Join us for an IndieWeb Create Day on July 5! Hang out virtually in our Zoom and/or in the chat, work on your personal website, share ideas, get inspired!",
        "html": "<p>Join us for an <a href=\"https://events.indieweb.org/2025/07/indieweb-create-day-3q2PTCbGioi9\">IndieWeb Create Day on July 5</a>! Hang out virtually in our Zoom and/or in the chat, work on your personal website, share ideas, get inspired!</p>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "gRegor Morrill",
        "url": "https://gregorlove.com/",
        "photo": "https://gregorlove.com/site/assets/files/6268/profile-2021-square.300x0.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "45223068",
    "_source": "95"
}

Marty McGuire martymcgui.re

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2025-06-26T12:24:45-0400",
    "url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/06/26/122445/",
    "category": [
        "coffee",
        "fluffy",
        "dalgona",
        "IndieWeb"
    ],
    "photo": [
        "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmarty/image/fetch/w_960,c_fill/https://media.martymcgui.re/2d/aa/17/33/e740b0ed70641d986102680470b2d5ef08fdaa54540a35da78bc1696.jpg"
    ],
    "syndication": [
        "https://fed.brid.gy/"
    ],
    "content": {
        "text": "A fluffy dalgona coffee before some afternoon meetings.",
        "html": "<a href=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/2d/aa/17/33/e740b0ed70641d986102680470b2d5ef08fdaa54540a35da78bc1696.jpg\"></a>\n\n  <p>A fluffy dalgona coffee before some afternoon meetings.</p>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Marty McGuire",
        "url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
        "photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "photo",
    "_id": "45220119",
    "_source": "175"
}

gRegor Morrill gregorlove.com

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2025-06-25 12:19-0700",
    "url": "https://gregorlove.com/2025/06/bookmarked-the-who-cares-era-by-dan-sinker/",
    "category": [
        "creativity"
    ],
    "syndication": [
        "https://bsky.app/profile/gregorlove.com/post/3lshems3c2s2y"
    ],
    "content": {
        "text": "Bookmarked: The Who Cares Era by Dan Sinker:\n\n\n\u201cIn the Who Cares Era, the most radical thing you can do is care.\n\nIn a moment where machines churn out mediocrity, make something yourself. Make it imperfect. Make it rough. Just make it.\n\nAt a time where the government\u2019s uncaring boot is pressing down on all of our necks, the best way to fight back is to care. Care loudly. Tell others. Get going.\u201d",
        "html": "<p>Bookmarked: <a href=\"https://dansinker.com/posts/2025-05-23-who-cares/\">The Who Cares Era</a> by <a class=\"p-author h-card\" href=\"https://dansinker.com/\">Dan Sinker</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"p-content\">\n<p>\u201cIn the Who Cares Era, the most radical thing you can do is care.</p>\n\n<p>In a moment where machines churn out mediocrity, make something yourself. Make it imperfect. Make it rough. Just make it.</p>\n\n<p>At a time where the government\u2019s uncaring boot is pressing down on all of our necks, the best way to fight back is to care. Care loudly. Tell others. Get going.\u201d</p>\n</blockquote>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "gRegor Morrill",
        "url": "https://gregorlove.com/",
        "photo": "https://gregorlove.com/site/assets/files/6268/profile-2021-square.300x0.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "45210902",
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}

Marty McGuire martymcgui.re

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2025-06-25T13:25:42-0400",
    "summary": "\ud83d\udcd5 Finished reading The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Dj\u00e9l\u00ed Clark ISBN: 9781250767042",
    "url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/06/25/132542/",
    "category": [
        "books"
    ],
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Marty McGuire",
        "url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
        "photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "45209919",
    "_source": "175"
}

Link: Revolution, the NBC TV Show That Was Ahead of Its Time

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Jared White",
        "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://jaredwhite.com/links/20250624/nbc-revolution-was-ahead-of-its-time",
    "published": "2025-06-24T23:58:04-07:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<blockquote>\n  <h2><a href=\"https://www.cbr.com/revolution-2012-most-underappreciated-post-apocalypse-show/\"></a></h2>\n\n  <p>Unlike many of the most popular visions of the apocalypse, Revolution presented a remarkably grounded catastrophe. No cordyceps fungus is exerting mind control over the human population. No nuclear winters or improbable genetic mutations are sweeping the planet. Eric Kripke eschewed all of pop culture\u2019s most common explanations for societal collapse. Instead of natural disasters, warfare, or zombies, Revolution envisions a world without electricity.</p>\n\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><em>Revolution</em> was one of those <a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/tag/tvshows\">#TVShows</a> which came along in that awkward phase post-LOST when every traditional network wanted to come out with their own high-concept binge-watch drama destined for streaming. Unfortunately we weren\u2019t yet in the thick of the streaming wars, and it didn\u2019t fare well in \u201cprimetime\u201d and was canceled after two seasons. I can\u2019t help but wonder how a <em>Revolution</em> might have fared if it\u2019d been a fully-funded Apple TV+ or HBO Max production.</p>\n\n<p>Nevertheless, I\u2019m slowly working my way through a rewatch of Season 1 right now and still enjoying it thoroughly. I will always have fond memories of experiencing <em>Revolution</em> in its day\u2014for a variety of reasons but most notably because it was my introduction to the powerhouse that is <strong>Giancarlo Esposito</strong>. His work in the role of Captain Tom Neville is truly a performance for the ages. <strong>Chewing scenery like a boss!</strong></p>",
        "text": "Unlike many of the most popular visions of the apocalypse, Revolution presented a remarkably grounded catastrophe. No cordyceps fungus is exerting mind control over the human population. No nuclear winters or improbable genetic mutations are sweeping the planet. Eric Kripke eschewed all of pop culture\u2019s most common explanations for societal collapse. Instead of natural disasters, warfare, or zombies, Revolution envisions a world without electricity.\n\n\n\nRevolution was one of those #TVShows which came along in that awkward phase post-LOST when every traditional network wanted to come out with their own high-concept binge-watch drama destined for streaming. Unfortunately we weren\u2019t yet in the thick of the streaming wars, and it didn\u2019t fare well in \u201cprimetime\u201d and was canceled after two seasons. I can\u2019t help but wonder how a Revolution might have fared if it\u2019d been a fully-funded Apple TV+ or HBO Max production.\n\nNevertheless, I\u2019m slowly working my way through a rewatch of Season 1 right now and still enjoying it thoroughly. I will always have fond memories of experiencing Revolution in its day\u2014for a variety of reasons but most notably because it was my introduction to the powerhouse that is Giancarlo Esposito. His work in the role of Captain Tom Neville is truly a performance for the ages. Chewing scenery like a boss!"
    },
    "name": "Link: Revolution, the NBC TV Show That Was Ahead of Its Time",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45204588",
    "_source": "2783"
}

Casual Science in the Board Games of Elizabeth Hargrave

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "Cathie",
        "url": "https://cathieleblanc.com/",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://cathieleblanc.com/2025/06/24/casual-science-hargrave/",
    "published": "2025-06-24T11:23:24-04:00",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>My sabbatical is coming to an end and my video game, <em>Nebula Hunter</em>, is not finished yet. Making a game by yourself takes a lot of time! I\u2019ll write an update of my work soon. But I have been distracted for the past couple of months with a side project inspired by a conference that I wanted to attend.</p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https://thecwwa.org/conference-2025/\"><em>Contemporary Women Writers Association</em></a> conference was held June 18-20, 2025 at Falmouth University in Cornwall, UK. Cornwall is hard to get to but it is worth the trip because of the beauty of the landscape. The conference itself was worth the trip as well, one of the best I have ever gone to. There were over 100 attendees and the presentations were consistently excellent. I presented about <a href=\"https://www.elizhargrave.com/\">Elizabeth Hargrave</a>, the designer of <a href=\"https://stonemaiergames.com/games/wingspan/\"><em>Wingspan</em></a>, one of the most popular board games of the last 5 years. This post is an excerpt of what I said during my presentation.</p>\n<p>Since the publication of <em>Wingspan</em> in 2019, Hargrave has published 6 additional games. The games have some common characteristics that I believe make her work instantly recognizable. Her work stands out in the board game industry because of their themes and unique game mechanics. Hargrave has herself been concerned with bringing new voices and new ideas into the industry, creating a <a href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/296859/designers-who-are-women-and-people-of-marginalized\">list</a> on <a href=\"https://boardgamegeek.com/\"><em>Board Game Geek</em></a> to highlight non-male designers.</p>\n<p>Back in 2014, Hargrave was a data analyst who loved to play board games. She wondered, however, why there were no games about things that she loved and was passionate about. In interviews, she <a href=\"https://jgeekstudies.org/2019/02/24/wingspan-how-birds-colonized-board-games/\">has said</a>, \u201cthere were too many games about castles and space, and not enough games about things I\u2019m interested in. So I decided to make a game about something I cared about.\u201d She began designing <em>Bring In the Birds</em> (which later became <em>Wingspan</em>) because of her love of birdwatching. By 2016, Hargrave felt she had done enough playtesting that she contacted game publishers. Only 3 responded to her and she met with them at <a href=\"https://www.gencon.com/\">GenCon</a> where <a href=\"https://stonemaiergames.com/about/staff/jamey-stegmaier/\">Jamey Stegmaier</a> of <a href=\"https://stonemaiergames.com/\">Stonemaier Games</a> offered her a publishing contract. Together, they continued to playtest and modify the game (including adding a player mat and changing the name) until 2019 when it was published.</p>\n<p><em>Wingspan</em> was an instant hit. The first three print runs of 10,000 sold out within two months. As of January, 2025, the game has sold more than 2.5 million copies. In addition, there are numerous expansions and spin-off games, like <a href=\"https://store.stonemaiergames.com/products/wyrmspan?srsltid=AfmBOopj1AJc139FD_h3Hef8hItCXp8GXL2Wj1-w6yW4hkUiVRM8EgeH\"><em>Wyrmspan</em></a> and <a href=\"https://stonemaiergames.com/games/finspan/\"><em>Finspan</em></a>. Many gamers have talked about recognizing birds because of the game. The game has also brought some birders into the board game hobby. Hargrave has proven to the board game industry that giving new designers with ideas for games focused on new themes is good business. One of the most interesting things about <em>Wingspan</em> is Hargrave\u2019s use of what I call \u201ccasual science\u201d in the game. In fact, this is a defining feature of many of her subsequent games as well. To understand Hargrave\u2019s use of casual science, we need to understand a little bit about how the game works.</p>\n<p><em>Wingspan</em> asks the players to build bird ecosystems, where birds are played into one of three habitats (forest, grassland, or marsh). The individual birds are represented by beautfully artistic cards which contain a lot of scientific information about the birds.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://i0.wp.com/cathieleblanc.com/wp-content/uploads/annotatedCard.png?resize=599%2C359&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Picture of a bird with a variety of information about the bird displayed\" /></p>\n<p>Each card displays a painting of the bird and shows both the common name and the scientific name of the bird, the environment(s) the bird lives in, the food the bird eats, the type of nest the bird builds, the number of eggs the bird typically lays, and the size of the bird\u2019s wingspan. In addition, the bottom of each card lists a fun fact about the bird. In order to play the game, the player might completely ignore the scientific information listed on the card but the activation actions on the card often encourage the player to look more closely at that information which makes them more likely to remember it. For example, the activation action on the Northern Harrier shown above gives the player the opportunity to draw a bird card from the deck and look at the size of its wingspan. If the wingspan is small enough, the player can tuck that card behind the Northern Harrier, which will count for a point at the end of the game. Other parts of the game ask the player to pay attention to the common names of the birds, the nest types, and so on. I call this \u201ccasual science\u201d because the player doesn\u2019t have to remember any of this information in order to do well in the game. But the more the player plays, the more likely it is that this information will stick. In numerous <a href=\"https://unfilteredgamer.com/interview-with-elizabeth-hargrave/\">interviews</a>, Hargrave has said that she enjoys educating people, telling them things that they don\u2019t already know. So she builds games which casually teach this information to the players.</p>\n<p>Hargrave further emphasizes casual science in the way the cards work within the game. A game mechanic is an action that a player can take in a game. For example, in <em>Monopoly</em>, the main (or core) game mechanic that the player does over and over is to roll the dice and move their piece on the board that many spaces. In <em>Wingspan</em>, one of the game mechanics is activating the cards that the player has already laid down in the habitats on their player mat. The activation action of most cards mimics something the bird does in the real world.</p>\n<p><img src=\"https://i0.wp.com/cathieleblanc.com/wp-content/uploads/annotatedActivation.png?resize=665%2C258&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Bird cards with activation actions that match the fun facts on the card\" /></p>\n<p>For example, the fun fact on the Black-headed Cowbird tells us that cowbirds don\u2019t make nests. Instead, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. When the card for the Black-headed Cowbird is activated, the player can lay eggs when another player\u2019s bird lays eggs, which mimics the information we learned in the fun fact. Another example is from the Yellow-headed Blackbird. The fun fact tells us that these blackbirds form huge flocks and the activation action allows the player to tuck a card behind the blackbird card, forming a kind of flock and giving the player a point at the end of the game. Finally, the fun fact for the Gray Catbird tells us that catbirds mimic other birds. When the Gray Catbird card is activated, the player can copy an activation action from another bird in the same habitat. As the player plays the game, they will start to remember the activation actions for each of these cards which will also casually teach them scientific information about the real-world behavior of the birds.</p>\n<p>Casual science is a common characteristic in Hargrave\u2019s games. In <em>Mariposas</em>, the players learn about monarch butterfly migration. In <em>The Fox Experiment</em>, players learn about the genetics of fox breedking programs. (The game was inspired by a real-life breeding program from the 1950s.) In <em>Undergrove</em>, players learn about the symbiotic relationship between mushrooms and trees and the transfer of various elements (carbon, nitrogen, phosophorous, and potassium) between the various species.</p>\n<p>I talked about a lot more elements of Hargrave\u2019s games in my presentation and will probably write about those in the future. But one of my favorite parts of these games is how their design makes learning scientific concepts fun and painless.</p>",
        "text": "My sabbatical is coming to an end and my video game, Nebula Hunter, is not finished yet. Making a game by yourself takes a lot of time! I\u2019ll write an update of my work soon. But I have been distracted for the past couple of months with a side project inspired by a conference that I wanted to attend.\nThe Contemporary Women Writers Association conference was held June 18-20, 2025 at Falmouth University in Cornwall, UK. Cornwall is hard to get to but it is worth the trip because of the beauty of the landscape. The conference itself was worth the trip as well, one of the best I have ever gone to. There were over 100 attendees and the presentations were consistently excellent. I presented about Elizabeth Hargrave, the designer of Wingspan, one of the most popular board games of the last 5 years. This post is an excerpt of what I said during my presentation.\nSince the publication of Wingspan in 2019, Hargrave has published 6 additional games. The games have some common characteristics that I believe make her work instantly recognizable. Her work stands out in the board game industry because of their themes and unique game mechanics. Hargrave has herself been concerned with bringing new voices and new ideas into the industry, creating a list on Board Game Geek to highlight non-male designers.\nBack in 2014, Hargrave was a data analyst who loved to play board games. She wondered, however, why there were no games about things that she loved and was passionate about. In interviews, she has said, \u201cthere were too many games about castles and space, and not enough games about things I\u2019m interested in. So I decided to make a game about something I cared about.\u201d She began designing Bring In the Birds (which later became Wingspan) because of her love of birdwatching. By 2016, Hargrave felt she had done enough playtesting that she contacted game publishers. Only 3 responded to her and she met with them at GenCon where Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games offered her a publishing contract. Together, they continued to playtest and modify the game (including adding a player mat and changing the name) until 2019 when it was published.\nWingspan was an instant hit. The first three print runs of 10,000 sold out within two months. As of January, 2025, the game has sold more than 2.5 million copies. In addition, there are numerous expansions and spin-off games, like Wyrmspan and Finspan. Many gamers have talked about recognizing birds because of the game. The game has also brought some birders into the board game hobby. Hargrave has proven to the board game industry that giving new designers with ideas for games focused on new themes is good business. One of the most interesting things about Wingspan is Hargrave\u2019s use of what I call \u201ccasual science\u201d in the game. In fact, this is a defining feature of many of her subsequent games as well. To understand Hargrave\u2019s use of casual science, we need to understand a little bit about how the game works.\nWingspan asks the players to build bird ecosystems, where birds are played into one of three habitats (forest, grassland, or marsh). The individual birds are represented by beautfully artistic cards which contain a lot of scientific information about the birds.\n\nEach card displays a painting of the bird and shows both the common name and the scientific name of the bird, the environment(s) the bird lives in, the food the bird eats, the type of nest the bird builds, the number of eggs the bird typically lays, and the size of the bird\u2019s wingspan. In addition, the bottom of each card lists a fun fact about the bird. In order to play the game, the player might completely ignore the scientific information listed on the card but the activation actions on the card often encourage the player to look more closely at that information which makes them more likely to remember it. For example, the activation action on the Northern Harrier shown above gives the player the opportunity to draw a bird card from the deck and look at the size of its wingspan. If the wingspan is small enough, the player can tuck that card behind the Northern Harrier, which will count for a point at the end of the game. Other parts of the game ask the player to pay attention to the common names of the birds, the nest types, and so on. I call this \u201ccasual science\u201d because the player doesn\u2019t have to remember any of this information in order to do well in the game. But the more the player plays, the more likely it is that this information will stick. In numerous interviews, Hargrave has said that she enjoys educating people, telling them things that they don\u2019t already know. So she builds games which casually teach this information to the players.\nHargrave further emphasizes casual science in the way the cards work within the game. A game mechanic is an action that a player can take in a game. For example, in Monopoly, the main (or core) game mechanic that the player does over and over is to roll the dice and move their piece on the board that many spaces. In Wingspan, one of the game mechanics is activating the cards that the player has already laid down in the habitats on their player mat. The activation action of most cards mimics something the bird does in the real world.\n\nFor example, the fun fact on the Black-headed Cowbird tells us that cowbirds don\u2019t make nests. Instead, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. When the card for the Black-headed Cowbird is activated, the player can lay eggs when another player\u2019s bird lays eggs, which mimics the information we learned in the fun fact. Another example is from the Yellow-headed Blackbird. The fun fact tells us that these blackbirds form huge flocks and the activation action allows the player to tuck a card behind the blackbird card, forming a kind of flock and giving the player a point at the end of the game. Finally, the fun fact for the Gray Catbird tells us that catbirds mimic other birds. When the Gray Catbird card is activated, the player can copy an activation action from another bird in the same habitat. As the player plays the game, they will start to remember the activation actions for each of these cards which will also casually teach them scientific information about the real-world behavior of the birds.\nCasual science is a common characteristic in Hargrave\u2019s games. In Mariposas, the players learn about monarch butterfly migration. In The Fox Experiment, players learn about the genetics of fox breedking programs. (The game was inspired by a real-life breeding program from the 1950s.) In Undergrove, players learn about the symbiotic relationship between mushrooms and trees and the transfer of various elements (carbon, nitrogen, phosophorous, and potassium) between the various species.\nI talked about a lot more elements of Hargrave\u2019s games in my presentation and will probably write about those in the future. But one of my favorite parts of these games is how their design makes learning scientific concepts fun and painless."
    },
    "name": "Casual Science in the Board Games of Elizabeth Hargrave",
    "post-type": "article",
    "_id": "45198761",
    "_source": "2782"
}