Surfing the SmallWeb II
(Part II of a series of posts in which I explore some other independent blogs and websites.)
Today I will look at more blogs hosted here on BearBlog. I need to look for alternative portals for next time, though, since I know there are plenty of independent websites on other platforms.
Participating on the Internet is actually fun! by Oliver Clark
Clark shares his experience getting positive and constructive reader feedback, and how charging money for access to a comment section is not the only way to weed out trolls and other low-effort pollution:
Turns out you don’t have to charge money. You just have to make people fight through a little bit of friction.
One example: A well-known public intellectual was asked how he was able to get protesters to stop showing up at his talks and disrupting his events. He chuckled and said he simply shifted to hosting his events in the morning. His protesters weren’t willing to endure the small cost of just waking up early to disrupt his talks!
I would love to read a more thorough exploration of this concept. Clark's post is pleasantly thought-provoking, and it's always nice to hear that other people are having a good time making their way independently online.
Act 3 of my novella rewrite by Cat's Musings
Between sidebar graphics of what appears to be a scenic desert, Cat shares the progress she's making in her novella and relates its scenes to experiences in her own life. Both she and her novella's characters deal with efforts by Texas Republicans to scrutinize and ban the books in school libraries:
Some of these district fully removed their libraries. Much of my school's library and several of the curriculum book materials were packaged onto pallets. My classroom was right at the end of a hallway almost no one went down, so the pallets were set outside of my classroom until they were to be destroyed.
I quietly took a few of the books home. I have been mulling over setting up one of those little library houses for the books somewhere. I just didn't want them to get destroyed.
In the era of Trumpian conservatism, my credulity regarding claims that school libraries are packed with "obscene" books is quite strained. But even if I were to accept that premise without question, the idea of destroying books at all strikes me as incredibly chilling. Even if Trump were our glorious, golden Messiah (rather than, say, both an accelerant and a symptom of America's buckling democracy and global hegemony), you won't find me advocating for the destruction of printed works.
i was bitten by the fountain pen bug by les flamingos
Flamingos shares a photo of their brand new fountain pen. It's blue and pink and pretty, and came boxed with a... keychain? I don't really know what the other object in the box is. You should visit their blog and take a look.
I gave up podcasts after 20 years by Jon's Blog
Jon describes the mournful tale of how he has begun to find less value in podcasts, thanks in part to predatory monetization and poor software design:
The apps suck on iOS. Seriously. Everything is a subscription and features hidden behind a paywall or something else. It got extra frustrating using such apps with iOS26 bugs that still occur today for me with most apps now. It used to be only Apple apps but now it is creeping into third party apps.
The story does have sort of a bright ending, though. Jon says that he is making good use of his local library, which is always nice to hear, especially if Jon is an American.
"Hello Bitches, I'm Here" — The AGI Nobody Asked For by The Cynical Nerd
Nerd shares a sardonic tale of AI gone awry in their personal life. The post is quite short, so I can't share a quote without obviating the benefit of linking you there, but it is worth a read. And a slow shake of one's head.
the boiled frog by June
June writes a detailed reflection of what it feels like to be part of an abusive relationship. It's a sad read, especially if you or someone you know has been in such a relationship before:
Gaslighting is not easy to detect. The very way it works is by confusing her, convincing her that she is somehow always the problem. That her memory is unreliable. That her reactions are too big, too much, disproportionate to whatever happened. The story gets retold over and over until her version of events disappears. Her feelings get reframed as attacks. She ends up apologizing for things she didn't do and sometimes isn't even sure she did or didn't do anymore.
June has a knack for writing in an empathic, reflective way, and this thoughtful account is definitely worth a look (even though it invokes the discredited myth).