@kin Kin, scalability and reach.
APIs and 🤖 code allow you to do things a human cannot. Using cheap commodity hardware, a well documented Python module and some custom code, since 2017 I’ve run a service ¥ that read out lines from Jane Austin novels, one line at a time every 15 minutes.
Humans cannot tweet as regularly as my 🤖 code. It is stable enough to run for months without intervention. I targeted #JaneAusten, a popular author and grew the readership to almost 3K. Not big numbers, but read by a significant portion of the serious Austen readers and scholars on twitter.
I started if for a challenge and kept it running for fun. You can read more of the technical bits here: <https://seldomlogical.com/pureausten.html>
My Mastodon #FollowFriday Postman Collection https://apievangelist.com/2023/02/04/my-mastodon-follow-friday-collection/
My #FollowFriday summary for the week:
Five of my recent favorites:
@bobmagicii
@markwyner
@pluralistic
@pinskal
@rdp
@ben
Five of my recent followers:
@mjsamberg
@kookster
@timdavies
@timklapdor
@tjlull
@stevedunn
I am wanting to understand the narrative of Twitter over the years for a story I am writing and there is no better way than to scan their blog -- so I pulled 2967 posts, and sorted in a list, so I can scan them. - https://gist.github.com/kinlane/34d77cf4f6749c19f3259b696cb597e6
It is interesting how many people today who have responded to me about Twitter charging for their API, stating if it costs the platform money, they should charge for it. When there are all these API platforms (Twitter included) who ask me to work for FREE in their ecosystems so they can build their platforms. I'll just start saying -- SHOW ME THE MONEY!!
50 years of powerful Bay Area posters collected by Oakland library go online - https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-fruitvale-library-posters-17757091.php
I have spent considerable time cleaning up my Gmail and Google docs because I am getting the big red warning about storage. I've used their data management tools and various interfaces. It is clear they don't want me to clean up my date -- just upgrade. They make it real hard, and every turn -- you should just upgrade.
The next time you use any navigation device, software or Google Maps thank Dr. Gladys West. Her contributions to the mathematical modeling of the shape of Earth, and her work on the development of the satellite models that were eventually incorporated into the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. #BlackMastodon #BlackHistoryMonth
I really hate when people limit pagination on blogs. On the Twitter blog I can only paginate back to 2015, then it stops. #PetPeave
Update: moved this to my new writing site so there’s a new URL.
Every hashtag on every post on every platform should ALWAYS be pascal case. I wrote this to illustrate how screenreaders read hashtags based on their case.
It’s a small thing that all of us can do to build a more inclusive, accessible internet for all. Please take the time to use pascal case.
Read more:
https://markwrites.io/hashtag-accessibility-by-everyone-for-everyone
#Accessibility #WebAccessibility #Usability #Readability #Hashtags #SocialNetworking #Blogging #UX
#Netflix has unveiled the details of its new anti-#PasswordSharing policy, detailing a suite of complex gymnastics that customers will be expected to undergo if their living arrangements trigger Netflix's automated enforcement mechanisms:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/02/nonbinary-families/#red-envelopes
1/
Not going to lie, Twitter killing off free API access hits me in the feels. I remember with great affection the flood of creativity that happened after we opened up the API, and it's heartbreaking to see that unceremoniously strangled.
I'm relieved that we've got better alternatives, though. While this is perhaps the final straw for many bots on Twitter, it's been a long time coming and the API has long been hobbled compared to the early days. Open protocols or bust. ✊
I am a writer, storyteller, and cybernetics researcher.