I created a Twin Cities IndieWeb list on BlogFlock. Let me know if you have sites that should be added! I feel a desire to get an IndieWeb meetup going in the Twin Cities.

People & Blogs List on BlogFlock

I ran across BlogFlock, a new service by Raphael Kabo that takes a social approach to RSS feeds, and decided to give it a look. BlogFlock is entirely built on open RSS feeds and allows users to create lists of RSS feeds that others can then follow. Think of it as a way to build a custom timeline using RSS in the open. It isn’t a Feed Reader because it isn’t just your feed or list and there is no read or unread status. It is more in the spirit of a “river of news” feed that anyone can use.

I was having fun with it and decided to create a list I’ve always wanted for Manuel Moreale’s excellent People & Blogs project. I created a BlogFlock list for People & Blogs and yes, I actually added all 66 blogs to the list (some exceptions noted below). That wasn’t super fun but it is done and adding each new one is simple enough.

I had previously thought of doing something like this in Feedbin but it isn’t public so it kind of missed the point. I wanted something more like a “river of news” for it. So BlogFlock was a perfect approach.

It seems to be working really well and I like the way it works. Check out the People & Blogs List and give it a look.

Some notes for BlogFlock.

  1. You should be able to subscribe to the RSS feed for the list itself. In this way BlogFlock could be an aggregator and then I could add that lists aggregated RSS feed to my feed reader.
  2. You for sure should be able to create a list by importing an OPML file.
  3. Lists should be exportable via OPML as well.
  4. The description for a blog in a list is hopefully scoped just to that list. So if I add the same feed to two different lists I would want a different description for each one.
  5. You should be able to manually reorder the blogs in a list.
  6. It could handle posts without titles a bit better.
Auto-generated description: A website page featuring blog post listings and a sidebar with names under People & Blogs.

On this list itself it contains all 66 blogs that have been highlighted in People & Blogs thus far, with these exceptions:

  • P&B 9: Ray Thomas has no RSS feed.
  • P&B 43: Devastatia has adult content so I left it out.
  • P&B 60: Steyn Viljoen has no RSS feed.

PS: It turns out Manu has a similar People & Blogs List on Feedland.

The SPS Observation Station is ready for Cyber Monday 2024!

I saw this graph on Tyler Cowen’s blog and it blew my mind how much is “alone”. In the comments someone did a stack area version which is much more readable.

We need to spend less time alone. If that isn’t possible, this is one area I think AI could be “helpful”. Spend time talking to AI?

Vikings v Cardinals

We went to the Vikings v Cardinals game today. Tammy decided that we should take in a football game and got us all set up. We had seats on club level right at the 50 yard line.

The first three quarters of the game were frankly a yawn. A collection of 6 field goals left the Cardinals ahead 12 to 6. Seriously watching teams just go back and forth and score field goals was not thrilling.

Then the Cardinals scored a touchdown and made it 19 to 6. That seemed to wake the Vikings from their slumber. They scored a touchdown getting to 19 to 13. Then some more field goals put the game at 22 to 16 with the Vikings finally taking the lead for the very first time in the final minutes of the game with a touchdown taking them to 23 to 22. The Cardinals had a possession and time, great defense held them and then they threw an interception in the final minute shutting the game down.

The first three boring quarters were all forgotten with that excitement!

Now THAT is a giant flag! 🤩🇺🇸

Ready for the Vikings v Cardinals today! 🏈

We saw The Best Christmas Pageant Ever tonightt. Well done and great start to the holidays.

It is only 11 °F but it was the best day for me to fill the hot tub and burn in the sauna. Plan is next time we can use them. 💧🔥🥶

I made the best pan of Toffee Bars I’ve ever made. These are a holiday favorite of mine. My Mom has made them for me many times. My Grandma Rose would always seem to have a pan of them when we would visit the Farm. Just six ingredients. This batch was perfectly firm but soft.

The last part of our day-after Thanksgiving tradition is watching Elf! What a great movie! 🎬🎄

Per tradition we got our Christmas Tree up and decorated today. It is always fun to recount past memories with the ornaments. 🎄

First time Christmas tree shopping at the Minneapolis Farmers Market Annex. Was weird to go downtown to get a tree but we found a good one! 🎄

I find this growing trend of sending a one-time code via email to login very annoying. Especially when companies make it the default. I’m good with 1Password.

Had a Things 4 Good candle scent survey today. Figuring out new scents for next year’s event.

From our family to yours — Happy Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful day.

We saw Wicked tonight and thought it was really great. The ending was so powerful. Recommended! 🍿

Auto-generated description: A witch and a fairy-like character reach toward each other against a backdrop of a mystical landscape with the text Everyone deserves the chance to fly and the title Wicked.

Could the micro.blog discover section take a very different approach? The curation was nice but I doubt sustainable.

How about a sampling technique using a percentage of all posts that are not replies and including them? I feel like that would work pretty well. Not algorithmic, just a sample rate.

Tyler’s done with school for the week. Mazie’s home from college. I’m making Wassail Tea and it smells great. Logs burning in the fireplace. Feels like Thanksgiving. 🥰

Auto-generated description: A cozy fireplace burns brightly in the background with a basket of firewood placed in the foreground.

OmniFocus 4.4.3 just shipped with a bug I found in the change log!

Sync – Fixed issue of the same Mac showing multiple registrations in Settings > Sync > Registered Devices, when running macOS 15 Sequoia. After this update, OmniFocus 4.4.3 may show up as one additional registration; delete all other registrations of the same Mac (that don’t include “this device”) to improve sync times.

I’d been pruning these ghost devices every few days. Happy to not need to look at sync devices now. 🙂