Over the last few days I’ve come across more and more people moving from Twitter to Mastodon. It’s caused me to poke around Mastodon a little and I’ve added some users to my Micro.blog timeline. Whilst the technology behind it is great something about it feels a little bit like a side step rather than a forwards step.

This morning I had 5 minutes to kill between meetings and an unusully empty email inbox so I had a little nose through my RSS instead. I came across a post on MacStories about a shortcut Federico has created to open toots (seriously?) from one Mastodon instance on the instance your account exists on. It immediately felt broken. For the techies who are willing to invest the time jumping through these kinds of hoops it’s fine. For the non-techies in the world, they’re never going to understand this or have the inclination to try. As I clicked around Mastodon and came across a few people I used to follow on Twitter, I found myself looking for a link to their personal web site instead of looking for their username. I’d rather add their blogs to my RSS reader than jump through hoops to follow their toots.

I realised right then that we still have the same problem we had before Twitter. Following a blog or personal website still requires some underlying knowledge of technology. Clever people are spending a lot of time and energy building the fediverse which despite all the best will in the world is still ultimately a silo. The walls might not be so solid or high, but the content still sits behind a sign in and is visited through someone elses domain. Would we not be better off in the long run putting that effort into making it easier for the average person to setup their own personal website, post to it, and follow the websites of their friends? Isn’t the web enough? Do we really need a fediverse?

I remember when I first discovered @NetNewsWire it had a send to MarsEdit button in it. Anyone know if that feature is in the new version or does it rely on the share sheet on macOS?

I might spend some time this weekend trying to customise my micro.blog site. It needs a bit more me in the design…

Just discovered that the new micro post interface in MarsEdit 5 has a universal keyboard shortcut. Love that. This is the kind of thing that got me posting to Twitter lots in the early days.

An unusually productive Monday today. Fewer meetings more design time is always a good balance.

Had a little look at the upcoming OmniFocus 4 this morning. I can’t put my finger on why, but I always find the UI of Omni apps slightly off that puts me off using them.

In a lovely post from Patrick Rhone he comments

If I were to paid to dig ditches, I would discover that the ditch is for a water line to a new house that means someone gets clean water, once I think it through, I can find my passion in the ditch digging.

It made me look back at my career and the various jobs I’ve had. The ones that have been most rewarding are the ones which have a greater purpose. As a freelance designer it was for clients whose focus was not about increasing the bank account. In my current job it is for a large charity aiming to help people find their next steps in higher education.

When I worked as a barista the most rewarding time was when I was teaching others how to make great coffee. When I realised it was giving them a skill they can take anywhere in the world it was fantastic. I remember receiving a confused look from one 20 year old who wanted to travel but was unsure about earning money that she didn’t need to worry. She hadn’t realised now she could make a good coffee she could find a job in any country in the world. It was great to see how enabling that skill would be for her.

I’ve disliked the advice of turning your passion into a career for a long time and Patrick’s post reminded me why. If we can find passion in our existing careers work becomes much more fulfilling. It’s ok to have a hobby we are passionate about without trying to turn it into our day job.

Shocked at England’s dominance in the football today. I know we were playing Iran, but given recent performances it was surprising. ⚽️

This morning is very much a dark mode morning.

The sermon in church this morning was all about suffering. A timely subject given recent news about my Mum’s health. Sometimes even as someone who as been a believer for decades you need reminders of the basics. ✝️