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I used to love Martin Hawksey’s tweet archive which I used for quite a while and mirrored on the web.
Yesterday I was reading Alan’s post: My Digital Cleanup: IFTTT – CogDogBlog which explains how he now archives tweets with make.com a sort of ifttt replacement. This sounds very useful. I’ve quite often failed looking for old toots with the mastodon interface.
This made me think a bit. I’d been playing with json to sqlite for my flickr ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/local-toot-archive/
🔁 Boosted from @cogdog@cosocial.ca:
The web we want still exists-- shining a light on the #SmallWeb and its beautiful things with wwwobble on the web at https://wwwobble.org/
This is from my stuff tagged "smallweb" bookmarked in pinboard https://pinboard.in/u:cogdog/t:smallweb
Likes What technology takes from us – and how to take it back | Rebecca Solnit.
"Someone told me that her friend was having a chatbot write her husband a poem for their anniversary, which made me wonder if the husband desired a polished product or an expression from the heart. In Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac, the big-nosed title character ghostwrites love letters for his friend to the Roxanne both of them love. She comes to realise ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/21817-2/
🔁 Boosted from @Sarah111well@mas.to:
I just signed the campaign calling to save our swifts, by calling for the UK Government to follow Scotland's lead and make it the law for all new houses to be built with "swift bricks" - safe places for these birds to nest. Will you join me? https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/save-our-swifts-eoi?bucket=other--29_1_2026_sb_ps_ot&utm_campaign=29_1_2026_sb_ps_ot&utm_medium=&utm_source=other
After quite a few dull and breezy days sunset over the Clyde was lovely & quiet ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/clyde-sunset/
🔁 Boosted from @wesfryer@triangletoot.party:
Check out and share my new post, “SIFT with WikiPedia and AI: Killings in Minnesota”
https://wfryer.substack.com/p/sift-with-wikipedia-and-ai-killings
#AlexPretti #ReneeGood #FactCheck #AI #WikiPedia #SIFT #MediaLit #MediaLiteracy
@nomadwarmachine a cracker, frame & reflection
@cogdog heh I was surprised. Just one of those thing you try on the off chance. I think #ds106 made me do it the other way round a while back. I ask wonder if you can layer one video on top of another🤔
TIL you can blend YouTube Videos with background.: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/til-you-can-blend-youtube-videos-with-background/
🔁 Boosted from @jenett@toot.community:
‘draw a horse’ and let it run
https://iwebthings.joejenett.com/draw-a-horse-and-let-it-run/
@creating #tdc5126 #ds106
not my home town but close, a favourite location. luckier.wonderful.awaited I looked in the photos app for photos taken at this location (as far as I could tell)
🔁 Boosted from @magsamond@mastodon.ie:
What does a mathematician armed with a programmable embroidery machine and some open source block based #turtlestitch software do to send his friend a happy new year greeting? Yeah, turns ten semi-circles into 2026 ❣️ Thanks @xota
If you are going to #fosdem in Brussels next weekend, there are workshops for families at #fosdemJunior hosted by @turtlestitch
#mathstodon
@creating #tdc5125 #ds106 The Consensus-Driven Collaborator!
"You're super curious, friendly yet argumentative, but not in a bad way.
Your future is shaped by open source technologies, open discourse, and a lot of behind-the-scenes teamwork.
AI might be part of your future, as long as it helps make life better for all of humanity—not just select individuals."
Which is generous perhaps something to aim at.
A good time to remember you can donate to Wikipedia
🔁 Boosted from @etp@indieweb.social:
Resurrecting this post from 2011 because I can, and because you may find it intersting.
@creating #tdc5124 #ds106
I whittled down my many, many tabs (sorry @dogtrax ). AppleScript is my pal here.
Fill in the Blanks
World Map of Human Ideas
From Ancient Texts
♥ Nature ♥
An eternal stream
evaluate, sequence, mix, blend
It's Too Late to Stop Now
@nomadwarmachine @creating @dogtrax thanks both. Seems to have a wistful tendency.
The Sunday Poem: Mineral by Kathleen Jamie | The Observer
I enjoyed reading this in the paper this morning.
Can’t say the same about the online edition despite having a subscription with “Unlimited access” there is an advert every stanza! https://observer.co.uk/culture/books/article/the-sunday-poem-mineral-by-kathleen-jamie
Read: One day, everyone will have always been against this by Omar El Akkad ★★★★★ 📚 Clearly, logically & beautifully written. I started collecting some of the most powerful quotes, but there is little that could be skipped. The focus on children, the author's own & those in Gaza, is so important. (https://wp.me/p57zFQ-5Fw)
@toddconaway lovely. I think we are a month or two away from daffs here.
Watched: Political Thinking with Nick Robinson – The union leader who agrees with the Tory leader: Daniel Kebede – BBC Sounds
Really impressed by the National Education Union’s general secretary Daniel Kebede on the T.V. today. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002q24s
Victoria Park. First snowdrops I’ve seen this year and the earliest I’ve noted on this blog or uploaded to flickr.
@creating #tdc5117 #ds106 no exploration here as soon as I saw it I was reminded of the old goldfish joke
@Spaceways most creatures are a delight, but a kingfisher especially so. Merlin is great, hears things beyond my old ears.
Watching: WordLand Demo 2026: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/watching-wordland-demo-2026/
@creating #tdc5111 #ds106
So my plan would have been, if I'd seen this before breakfast:
1. Boil & egg & top it
2. Make espresso
3. Set up espresso so it is at same height as egg & take a photo
4. Duplicate layer, cut out white & yoke, put coffee behind. Crop to Egg & egg cup.
Or:
1. Boil and eat egg
2. Fill egg shell with espresso
EggPresso
https://pi.johnj.info/tdc/tdc5110/
#tdc5110 #ds106 Frankenstein Poetry
Now with added "make your own blockout poem"
@magsamond I've thought for quite a while that the use by schools and governments of a platform that they don't control as a or the main methods of communication is stupid. Recently the dial has gone of the scale.
Pigs Do Fly - good news in every refresh. Not too sure how I got here, it seemed like a good idea when I started.
I arrived at the Kilpatrick hills car park at dawn this morning. It was already pretty full. Frosty with a clear sky. The full moon going down. More folk than usual on the tracks and paths. Saw a few redwing feeding on hawthorn along with blackies & thrushes.Beautiful warm light to start, long shadows.The frozen ground was much nicer than the usual bog between Loch Humphrey and Duncolm.On Duncolm a raven circled diving & twisting with ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/fynloch-hill-duncolm/
@creating #tdc5102 #ds106 Go Ahead And Dial It In
A few tries got me to Wave patterns - a catalogue of random things, and it certainly is, no about page, some of the images look like digital/generated art, some photos. Very nice presentation.
@cogdog I used to use a processing script to slitscan videos occasionally. The one I have is broken and beyond me. To I just cropped out a centre strip from all the stills with sips and montages them together with imagemagick need to test with a video. I think you could export to images with ffmpeg and scan across the results with sips then montage. Doubtless there are better ways, but I think I could understand and carry that out...
@cogdog I do love trout. Used to love fishing. I think the username hinted at my password many moons ago when I was careless.
Love the palettes idea. We would need brown and sea over here.
INaturalist do nice stats pages at the end of the year, mine for 2025 https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/2025/troutcolor
@creating #tdc5099 #ds106 I've no intention of writing an autobiography but today I saw these Tales Cards in the road. They could be a good starting point for writing. The title would have to be "Tales from the Gutter" which does not rally resonate with my life so far!
@cogdog thanks. I'll wrap it up on GitHub once I figure out the best way to do that. The parts sit in different places, not done that before.
On This Flickr Day Update: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/on-this-flickr-day-update/
Read: The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine ★★★★ 📚
She has read that in Belfast during the conflict there were séances because so many were taken unexpectedly, leaving behind unanswered questions and husbands, wives, children who didn't get to hear or say a last I love you. Who couldn't understand why they wanted an ectoplasmic gush of revelation or reassurance? All bullshit of course, but a dark table in a house, a woman in a mantilla, Miriam ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/the-benefactors/
@jenett great bag of tricks as usual. Thanks Joe
@creating #tdc5096 #ds106 Boxing Day. A box for #DS106 would have an escape kit to get out of the box.
The park pond in reflective mood today. After so much rain I hope the blue sky hold for a while. Just short of 7 hours daylight today.
Just before dawn, song thrush singing loudly in the lime tree across from our close. Clear sky too.
My hopes were raised today. But it turns out to be a small plates restaurant, not John Smith & Son reborn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_%26_Son
@scripting 100% I often grab /convert video as audio to listen to in my podcast app.
The 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge ✨ Day 5 prompt: beard.
Searching my photo library found this among the faces, The word beard is on the broken headstone, left and below the centre of the image. Taken 1 January 2021 at the Necropolis.
The 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge ✨ Day 4 prompt: Evergreen 🌲
A Scots Pine at the edge of the Kilpatrick Braes. A young one sprouts in the foreground.
On This Flickr Day: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/on-this-flickr-day/
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/advent24/2025/12/16/design-your-own-gingerbread-person/
A bit of fun for kids one of 24 #H5P activities for primary pupils wrapped in an advent calendar.
The 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge begins today ✨ Day 1 prompt: frost❄️
Photo from a few years back. This winter has been as wet and mild as I can remember, hardly seen any frost at all.
@jenett I don't think I want to listen to any of the tapes right through. But an amazing project!
@dogtrax I started out to write a haiku with some of the words, but as usual got delayed by the random. Could i add your auto remix as a background loop?
@jenett interesting. I see the details WordPress block has the name attribute in the block settings. Nice catch.
@jimgroom I listened to the searchers too great stuff. The New Land, which I've not seen next. Might try to find it streaming...
@jimgroom Super episode, I've always loved Shane (never seen Fight Club) since I read the book in primary school. Now I know why!
#tdc5080 #ds106 Use a GIF describing your experience within DS 106.
It has been emotional, some gifs created over the years
@bradenslen I usually need to have a second breakfast before the first nap. Retired life😀
I saw a note from Sarah Honeychurch in an email thread about a problem with FeedWordPress, the plugin that makes the ScotEdublogs Aggregation work. This alerted Alan Levine who raised an issue and simplified the solution. Alan also had blogged about the problem, with his usual speed!
I’ve applied the fix and this post should test it out. Thanks Alan!
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/scotedublogs-fix/
I just wish
defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool false;killall Finder
worked in the real desktop:-)
@jimgroom Hi Jim,
I dropped a comment on this post 3 times, seemed to fail, no your post is awaiting...
Anyhow:
I thought I could remember a book with this technique, but my memory fails. I did find:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls098551015/
You might particularly enjoy the last item.
@cogdog @creating Thanks Alan, I am having a go at using the daily create as opportunities for html/css/javascript learning.
A version as a webpage, slightly more fun:
@cogdog That sounds as if it would work, would make a nice physical ART object...
@cogdog I want one that prints random public domain images.
Collection Box presents Martha Ffion, Jill Lorean & Goodnight Louisa at The Doublet, Glasgow West End | What’s On Glasgow Music night in aid of Amma Birth Companions.
Doublet Bar Dec 17 from 7:30pm to 10:30pm GMT
(@marthaffion @jilllorean and @goodnightlouisa).
Organised by My daughter & partner, all proceeds to Amma Birth Companions. Tickets. https://www.instagram.com/collectionboxglasgow/
From my one this day page I found a 2010 post with a broken image had been on flickr, but no more. I found a copy on the internet archive. Replaced, added alt text & left the attribution in place.
From an unrelated search of my posts, a post from 2016, fixed two typos.
Happy moments.
Day 4 of my advent calendar of simple #H5P examples, in. Glow Blogs. A wee game for primary school pupils every day till Christmas. https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/advent24/
A walk to Duncolm via Loch Humphrey & Fynloch hill in the mist & drizzle today. Very mild for the time of year. The burns are full and the paths are bogs. Some photos on a map:
walkmap http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720330685715&m=2025-12-03T15-28Duncolm.gpx
A little egret & a pal were quartering the horse field at the star of the Loch Humphrey track. A few minutes later I head a nuthatch. Both are fairly recent arrivals in Scotland I believe. Due to climate change. It is a very mild start to December & fields are surprisingly green. Drizzle & mist
@toddconaway @creating @cogdog
Thanks, Daily Creates are now taking me a couple of days ;-)
A crude make your own glitter picture (more dotty that glittery):
@RealGene
"Links criminals to their crime scenes through state-of-the-art synthetic DNA technology, enabling police to later identify intruder. SelectaDNA"
Very weird indeed. Hope it is not spraying random pedestrians!
@FaithfullJohn
Well someone seemed to be annoyed with the one they tipped over. I wonder if the other will last the night.
@MikeFromLFE @ketmorco
I thought it might be an art project of some sort...
Saw two of these wee guys on the pavement. The one that was not knocked over said something like "you have been detected and are being observed on cctv, please leave the area".
Seems quite strange to ask folk to leave a public pavement? Maybe I should have tried talking to it?
Crow road Glasgow.
@creating #tdc5069 #ds106 My Onetime favourite book was the HyperCard handbook, It lasted many years on my shelf after HyperCards sad demise. I did keep a photo. Along with one of me using Atkinson dithering (or something like it) in honour of Bill Atkinson creator of HYperCard and many other wonderful things.
Primary teachers might find these Glow Blog Advent calendars interesting. Short activities every December day till Christmas.
Glow blog users might find these techniques useful, one has #H5P activities, the other Uses the draw attention plugin.
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/glowbloghelp/2025/11/27/advent-in-glow-blogs/
@toddconaway not increasing the attraction of USA as a tourist destination!
Read: Seascraper by Benjamin Wood ★★★★★ 📚
Little waves are shouldering the cart’s tyres, spitting upwards at his face. The sea is patterned by the rain like honeycomb. He’s trying to make the best of it, but he can tell the horse is getting more reluctant.
A wonderful novella. A few days in the life of a young horse & cart shrimper working on a misty flat coast. Beautiful slow description of the daily grind in the cold & wet. The story unfolds slowly into drama, dreams & music.
@creating #tdc5061 #ds106
My Pi is no longer taking photo every 15 minutes, but I still love how the sky here changes. This photo combines two taken 6 minutes apart:
A blog post explaining my efforts at #DS106 #DailyCreate #tdc5055
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/daily-create-tdc5055-catch-up/
@barking ♥︎ super!
theme tune of my favourite cancelled TV series the completely mad Britannia.
@cogdog @creating @dogtrax #ds106
Thanks for the menu item! I'll try and keep the link alive
https://pi.johnj.info/tdc/tdc5054/
Somewhat improved.
@creating #tdc5056 #ds106 recent musical find
https://breadminster.bandcamp.com/track/lifeboat-mona-feat-earl-16
Peggy Seeger's ‘Lifeboat Mona’ sung by Earl Sixteen folk plus reggae from the somewhat strange Breadminster council
Stole an idea from @dogtrax
I though I made a fair job of this the first time round:
https://johnjohnston.info/106/tdc1547-van-gogh-goes-ds106/
Kilpatrick braes, yesterday, short loop. Low clouds, some drizzle and a few bright spells. Quite warm. Paths like burns after yesterday’s heavy rain. On the first field a buzzard hunting. A couple of ravens appeared & moved it off. After the deer fence, under the trees, I saw them again, or another trio. Again the ravens chased the buzzard off. I could hear them kronk and also making an almost electronic 2 note call I’ve not heard before.
Walk to greenside in the autumn rain yesterday. Low cloud & mostly very dull, made the few yellow leaves and other colours pop a bit.
@creating #tdc5048 #ds106 #ds106
Gorse, the nearest thing I could find to a cactus here. Still flowering in November almost some symmetry.
@creating #tdc5042 #WildDS106 #ds106
A convoluted one, I downloaded the rss feeds for the tags from the last 100 #dailycreates and counted the items for each there were none for tdc4993 so I made this. I thin through look back through the toots by @creating and lo, there were some replies.
Telex AI Mobile Post Creator: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/telex-ai-mobile-post-creator/
@creating #tdc5039 #ds106 recycling #ds579 Make a photograph that features a shadow as your subject today.
Had a walk yesterday with my daughter. The skys cleared for a couple of hours.
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hi-its-me-wikipedia-and-i-am-ready-for-your-apology
Funny and a Wikipedia donate button.
@creating #tdc5036 #ds106 #WildDS106
I could not pick one, but I just found one for #tdc1953 that would have covered me for yesterdays too. #tdc5035
The Daily create has lead me down many interesting paths.
Walking up Slackdhu in the Campsies this afternoon, saw a few patches of this fungi. Golden Spindles I think. Happy to be corrected. #Fungi
@nomadwarmachine lovely. Near Loch Lomond?
🍁Tree Todo
Wait for changes, (light, temperature)
Create abscission layers for every leaf
Starve them
Colour me beautiful
Weaken connections
Let them fall
Seal my scars
Rest for winter
"What is radio? Kind of an early form of podcasting"
Scripting News: Times I’ve been ambushed at conferences
http://scripting.com/2025/10/14/154258.html?title=timesIveBeenAmbushedAtConferences
Priceless aside by @davew
Bonus link from Dave : Attard and McHugh on podcasting’s democratic dream: https://www.mediaweek.com.au/sxsw-sydney-monica-attard-and-siobhan-mchugh-on-podcastings-democratic-dream/
Also: Why did podcasting work? – links.daveverse.org http://scripting.com/2025/10/14/154258.html?title=timesIveBeenAmbushedAtConferences
#TeachMeet20 a post of some of my thoughts about #TeachMeet which is approaching its 20th anniversary
@magsamond week later still working on it! #TeachMeet20
A dull afternoon, breezy with the threat of drizzle. Walked round the short loop on the Kilpatrick braes. As I came back on the road by the cattle grid I heard a harsh call from the ‘hawthorn field’ next to the gate. It kept going and Merlin suggested a jay. I watched for a while and saw one, moving from bush to bush, looking and calling. I could hear a crow and buzzard too. I wonder if they were getting worked up at a cat or fox. ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/the-braes-a-jay-an-egret/
f you can point any folk interested in Scottish Education to this post I'd be grateful if you pass it on. Looking to expand the gather & reach of ScotEduBlogs
ScotsEduBlogs Update: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/scotsedublogs-update/
I’ve been messing about with the simplest ImageMagick scripts again.
magick "$file" -threshold 25% -fill white +opaque black "${file%.*}bw25.gif"
Sort of thing. Changing the threshold repeatedly. A few more on Flickr. I am not sure why I like these but I do. https://www.flickr.com/photos/troutcolor/albums/72177720329513757/
Love this: https://blogfeeds.net
"The best part about blog feeds? It's just an idea. There's no central authority. There's no platform. No massive tech giant trying to take your data. It's just you, basic web standards, and the people you care about."
via @blainsmith & @cogdog I think @davew would like it too.
Likes Do you remember the books you read? • (Venkatram Harish Belvadi) by V.H. Belvadi .
"I do not ‘remember’ most of the books I have read. I can recall which ones I liked and roughly why I liked them, but I cannot recount the plot minutely or repeat all the points made in a non-fiction work."
Quite please to read this! My wife has a great memory for books read. I do not. https://vhbelvadi.com/remember-the-books-you-read
After Storm Amy it brightened up a little this morning. This Red Admiral to the chance of a bit of sunlight. !wonder how many more we will see this year. A bit later I saw a white flying around too, despite the wind. #butterfly
@cogdog I read somewhere that it was an advantage to badly design phishing emails as it filters out more savey folk!
Liked: Exploring WordPress, Textcasting, and Open Web Standards: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/liked-exploring-wordpress-textcasting-and-open-web-standards/
Likes https://blocktober.fun.
"Idea: Create a block every day for October using Telex as the creation tool."
I had a quick try with Telex last month. This is something else!
@creating #tdc5008 #ds106 a poem I like at the moment.
Living in the Moment
I like to live
in the moment. No,
not that one —
J. Estanislao Lopez (2022)
Read: Ripeness by Sarah Moss ★★★★ 📚Edith in her 70s in 2023 and 17 in the 70s in alternative chapters, the echos of the holocaust, family, belonging to a place, refugees & friendship. Excursions into Irishness & ballet.
"Mike’s friend Phineas in Dublin is a sound engineer, hears whole orchestras of weather, traffic, birds that for her are only ambient noise. Sound and signal, she thinks, meaning in every atom and cell if you remember ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/ripeness-by-sarah-moss/
Read: Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller
After The Land in Winter, this turned out to be quite different. Reminded me of Kidnapped! An atrocity in Spain, an English solider, running from another sent to kill him, heads for the Hebrides. Excitement & sympathy for all the characters.
"Below them, the last of the drinkers had perfected himself and swum away into the summer night. One by one, the landlady’s breath ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/now-we-shall-be-entirely-free/
A red admiral In the pink. As I took the wings closed image a bee flew very close, wings snapped open.
@creating I am not sure if the #ds106 #dailycreate has taught me 5000 things, but it certainly could generate more than 5000 people & things to thanks. To the makers, maintainers, minimalists, maximalists, member of the merry mob:
machiavellian, mischievous, mirthful, mild & mad. Producers of the mind-bending, mysterious, magical thanks you. #tdc5000
Sometimes messy sometimes meticulous or magisterial. Could be maniacal or mindful, but always memorable. #4life
Photos, notes & map from a walk on Tuesday: walkmap http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720329152374&m=2025-09-16T15-11Finlas_Loop.gpx
I saw a link to Telex – AI-Assisted Authoring Environment for WordPress Blocks this week and thought I would give it a try.
A few (eek, 10) years ago I tried to make a plug-in for WordPress that would take a gif url and an audio url, it would then, on the fly, make a static version of the gif. Clicking that would play the gif and loop the audio. I did get it working, eventually adding a dialogue to search for gifs on giphy & audio on freesound. ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/block-vibes/
Likes Learning WordPress All Over Again – And He Blogs by Andy Rush.
"I’m finding that the simpler approach of FSE and the block editor is better. It may have had a bad start, but it has noticeably improved over the last few years. It may never please folks who will only use the “classic” editor. I understand. I’m going to be VERY conscious of those folks as I advocate for the “new” WordPress in the days to come. My ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/likes-learning-wordpress-all-over-again/
@magsamond @dogtrax
''Twas a tree l knew well
A quick video of photos I've uploaded to flickr this summer.
Likes It’s really simple by Dave Winer.
"The name Really Simple Syndication is supposed to make you smile, while most techie formats make you want to pull your hair out. RSS reads pretty well even if you know nothing about feeds and XML. I wish the browser people hadn’t insisted on masking it with ugly CSS style sheets. I like lifting the hood of a car to see what’s there even though I don’t know what many of the things in there do. I ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/likes-its-really-simple/
Read Bel Camto by Ann Patchett ★★★★★ 📚Probably the cutest terrorists in fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed the mixture of emotion, love, fear and boredom. Gives a good account of the joy of opera too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bel_Canto_(novel)?wprov=sfti1#
Walking down from Ben Reoch, l notice a ginger bundle off to the right, not quite bracken. Looking at it through my camera’s zoom and it is a fox, head buried in the grass. After a moment or two its head comes up and stares intently into the grass. After a couple of moments, and photos, the fox turns and looks at me. A few more moments while we look at each other then it turns and runs off. As I move down the slope I can see over the ridge the fox ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/hill-fox/
Likes Creative Commons licenses are irrevocable by Doug Belshaw.
"Thankfully, Flickr, the website from which I took the image, has a handy feature that allows you to see the license history of an image"
I didn’t know about the flickr license history. Neat! https://dougbelshaw.com/blog/2025/09/07/creative-commons-licenses-are-irrevocable/
@cogdog @creating fairly random. There is a list of about 100 hardcoded. From the ones l collected for the rather daft ds106gifApi but that is struggling along with the rest of my site at the mo. GIFs are all from ds106 fold on tumblr. I need to clean the api up a bit when my site settles down.
@creating
#tdc4982 #ds106 first a cubomania gif and then some random ds106 boxes on Monument Valley
https://editor.p5js.org/troutcolor/full/9LTZmkf0J
if you click the sketch it will download an image
World’s Sharpest Knife: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/worlds-sharpest-knife/
Getting to be a bit of a butterfly blog. Walked the RSPB site at Ardmore last Tuesday. Highish tide & a strong breeze. The path was often protected by windward bushes. Lots of small tortoiseshells & some painted ladies basking. Devils-bit scabious flowering. Some whites too, mainly green-veined.
@creating #tdc4979 #ds106 bough this album in the 1890s, might have seen the band in Glasgow too? memory is a bit hazy, joyous music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIXusrwsfaM&list=RDDIXusrwsfaM
@jenett What a great collection Joe. Nice Rocks!
@toddconaway That photo could almost be taken here in Scotland! thistles, Umbelliferae (had to check the spelling) and pine trees
@cogdog thanks, I saw that squirrel a few years ago. I thought it suited desperately searching.
@vasta what a poem!!!!
The High Places by Fiona McFarlane ★★★★ 📚A quite varied and strange set of short stories. My favourite involved a colossal squid and the ghost of Darwin. There was an eternal mechanical budgie in another!
My best poetry story:
Lots of butterflies on the walk to Greenside today. Small tortoiseshells, Painted Ladies, Red Admirals and Green veined whites. #butterfly #nature
On Monday I was planning a walk but it felt a bit hot to go to the hills. I got the train to Milngavie and walked back down the Kelvin walkway to Glasgow.
Saw the first kingfisher on the Allander water which kept my eyes on every overhanging branch for a while.
Both the Allander and the Kelvin are lined with the pink stink of Himalayan Balsam. The path quite overgrown in places with nettles, thistles & brambles making shorts a poor ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/river-kelvin-walk-2/
Life in Links 64: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-64/
Afternoon, Kilpatrick Braes. Very hot. Buzzards mewing & raven croaking in blue sky. Quite a lot of peacock butterflies, mostly on downy thistles. A couple of red admiral & fritillaries flying by. A few whites by the road. Heather out, braes purple. At the turn a lizard wriggled off over the grass.
Reading this I think back. I choose the digital tools I found valuable in the classroom 20 years ago: Creating text, images, audio & video; combining & publishing/sharing. I changed the ways of doing these when it has been interesting, or necessary but the basics stayed the same, I think that helped. AI might change the balance? SHINE looks like a excellent first step.
I didn’t go to school yesterday instead I went for a walk along the shore:
Dreaming of lesson prep and classroom supplies. https://www.flickr.com/photos/troutcolor/albums/72177720328335131
Read: Havoc by Rebecca Wait ★★★★☆📚Collapsing girls boarding school, where the buildings and most of the characters are broken. Illness, hysteria & comedy ensue. Mostly through the eyes of the most normal mistress & Ida, new 6th year fleeing from a Scottish islands scandal. I raced through.
@creating #tdc4955 #ds106 I think this was my second. The first was a colleagues hand-me-down. I couldn't see much use for mobiles until I applied for a Free LG Shine from their blogger relations programme. we got a 'class phone' This was to use with my school & class blogs. It was very shiny, 2g. We used it to moblog a class trip to the Netherlands & in school when the network was down.
https://pi.johnj.info/tdc/tdc4953/
100 words, not necessarily in the right order.
Likes Usk – A Haiku Sequence | Caught by the River.
bog thaw the slow lift of frogspawn...heather slope a skylark vanishes into its note
Paul Chambers https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/07/river-usk-haiku-sequence-paul-chambers/
@dogtrax @cogdog
Nice, reminds me of another #ds106 response:
https://johnjohnston.info/106/free-the-groom/
@cogdog @dogtrax
Might be a good example of the way a daily can echo and refract started with:
https://web.archive.org/web/20201009042519/http://tdc.ds106.us/tdc729/
@manton is offering free blog hosting for teachers & nurses on micro.blog. Micro blog is fully featured, should be especially interesting to teachers who want to own the content they share on social media. Micro.blogs cross posting is peerless. Of course for Scot’s teachers I’d recommend Glow. https://micro.blog/account/forgood
@creating #tdc4950 #ds106 I don't have a garden, but I do record a few bird sounds round and about. Here is a quick photo edit of a a few spectrograms and photos.
🔁 Boosted from @johnjohnston:
Collection Box Presents #Music night for Beatroute Arts with M. John Henry, Man of Moon & First Wives. Sunday, August 3 · 7:30 – 10:30pm The Double Bar. Tickets £6.13 & up all proceeds going to Beatroute Arts:
"A community-led charity based in North Glasgow that offers free programmes of arts based activity to alleviate lack of free learning provision, mental and physical ill health."
Organised by my daughter & partner, should be relaxed & intimate evening. #glasgow
Likes Curate your own newspaper with RSS by Molly White.
"Readers no longer see news articles from the journalists they chose to follow on Twitter as the site downranks any posts that link offsite. When they search on Google, they’re bombarded with error-ridden AI facsimiles before reaching the higher-quality underlying work. "
I enjoyed listening to the podcast version, feeling smug as a long time RSS reader. ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-curate-your-own-newspaper-with-rss/
@bradenslen No thanks!
Had a walk to Ben Oss on Monday. Notes, photos and map:
walkmap http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720327961383&m=2025-07-28T17-16Ben_Oss.gpx
Guess the cubomania: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/guess-the-cubomania/
Collection Box Presents #Music night for Beatroute Arts with M. John Henry, Man of Moon & First Wives. Sunday, August 3 · 7:30 – 10:30pm The Double Bar. Tickets £6.13 & up all proceeds going to Beatroute Arts:
"A community-led charity based in North Glasgow that offers free programmes of arts based activity to alleviate lack of free learning provision, mental and physical ill health."
Organised by my daughter & partner, should be relaxed & intimate evening. #glasgow
We had a walk up to Greenside today and spotted quite a few species of butterfly.
From TR: Red Admiral; Comma; Small Tortoiseshell ; Small Heath; Map; Meadow Brown; Peacock; Another Meadow Brown; Green-veined White.
Two Butterflies on a dull dry afternoon sandwiched between a wet morning and a wet evening. #butterfly #nature
I’ve been playing a little with WordPress yesterday. A while back I made the very simplest plugin to display my latest iNaturalist submissions. iNaturalist has a API so I made a short code that would then use JavaScript to pull in the pictures once the page loaded.
The only problem with that is that when the page loaded it just displayed a div with ‘loading’ then replaced that with the images when a script pulled that ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/inaturalist-observations-a-little-ai/
@jimgroom oh that is a lovely page.
I found it in my podcatcher (Castro) so subbed now.
I think you need a RSS button;-)
https://feeds.transistor.fm/the-family-pictures-podcast
for rss addicts
@jimgroom being lazy here. Where is the rss for the audio? Want to up your subscribers but can't see a link on the post. I enjoy Rohmer ( except for the historical ones).
@magsamond It was very cool, I've seen the odd dragonfly with its tail in the water, but not this pogoing I got close and was able to take many blurry photos:-)
I saw this golden ringed dragonfly laying eggs in a tiny hill burn ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/golden-ringed-dragonfly-laying-eggs/
video on the blog #dragonfly #nature
Stonechats having a chat at Barassie Beach yesterday evening. Plenty of butterflies about too. #nature #birds #butterfly
@cogdog yes the css edit really handy for figuring things out. I just was using it to shorten a list to look better in a screencast. The openness of browsers is a gift.
@bste thank you. "A little island from nothing" I'll keep that!
A group of harebell, one of my favourite flowers, out this evening in Ardinning. First I’ve seen this year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ardinning
@cogdog I right click inspect element more.
@creating #tdc4928 #ds106 This fence post with a loop of rusty wire has made me happy for years now:
Round the Finlas Loop, warm & cloudy.Creagan hill flora:Mostly grass & deer grass, sparkling with wee flowers today.Heather both ling & bog.Heath bedstraw, cow wheat, tormentil, bog asphodel, bog cotton. Blaeberries.Sphagnum and many other mosses.Yorkshire fog and other grasses.
walkmap http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720327457614&m=2025-07-09T15-53_Finlas_Loop.gpx
A young looking fox, all long legs & ears, runs out of a garden across the road, doubles back from the traffic. It runs between a couple of gardens so I cross the road & keek, the fox is sitting in the border looking straight back. A quick blurry phone pic & I leave quietly.
Surprisingly interesting,
the autocorrect algorithms try to figure out what you mean by looking at various things, including when your fingers hit the keys…
Share this: Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon (https://wp.me/p57zFQ-4h8)
Likes Musk and co should ask AI what defines intelligence. They… by John Naughton.
"The bit I enjoyed most, though, was the punchline at the end. “The irony”, wrote Claude, “is that by calling LLMs ‘artificial intelligence’, we’re not just mischaracterising what these systems do; we’re also impoverishing our understanding of what human intelligence actually is."
Refreshing, ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/liked-musk-and-co-should-ask-ai-what-defines-intelligence-they-may-learn-something/
@creating @phb256 @jimgroom @cogdog @toddconaway
some explanation of the simplest use of videogrep
@creating #tdc4920 #ds106 this reminded me of videogrep.py so some silliness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZquIfs0So
Staring @phb256 @jimgroom @cogdog & @toddconaway
@jenett @nomadwarmachine Top word indeed.
@nomadwarmachine great choice of word.
Saw this lovely comma today, according to butterfly conservation the unusual wing shape allows them to hibernate among dead leaves. #nature #butterfly
walkmap
Glen Douglas, started clear, got cloudy. Warm. Lots of tiny wild flowers in the grass. 3 types of heather. Not much fauna, stonechat, a few pipets & larks, a snipe. One ringlet, lone small heath.Didn’t get round the 3 hills, I got quite puffed going up first so just did 2. http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720327273837&m=2025-07-01T15-33_GlenDouglas.gpx
@nomadwarmachine I saw a whole wee family scurrying through the grass under some bushes the other day, though they were voles or mice until they took off.
Kilpatrick Braes. Warm & cloudy. Dozens of ringlets. Other species: photos of dark green fritillaries, small tortoiseshells & meadow browns. A few painted ladies & whites escaped me. Met a fox up the steep field. A sparrow hawk flew through the woods near the big fallen beech. #butterfly
Read: Lone Wolf by Adam Weymouth ★★★★★ 📚
"In 2023 there were sixteen fatal dog attacks in the UK alone, not to mention the approximately 15,000 sheep killed by dogs off the leash each year."
In 2022 The author follows the 2012, 1200 mile journey of a radio collared wolf from Slovenia to Italy. The book covers a lot of ground too, climate change, human migration, politics & the natural history, conservation & controversy of wolves in Europe.
@barking I just update my we stamper, yesterday. https://johnjohnston.info/fcc/
The API was updated for license info so that was good.
Blustery and bright. Along the Kelvin, Dalsholm to the Vet School. River high & brown. Butterflies: a few ringlets & whites, a tortoiseshell. A few dippers & finally a kingfisher circled the ‘dog pool’ near Dalsholm. Bright agains the river. Lots of Flowers.
Greenside track this afternoon. The weather ranged from almost dry through smirr, drizzle, to quite heavy rain. Quite dull and dark, brightened by lots of wild flowers. Including 3 species of orchid. #blookstrolling #bloomscrolling
@etp I had heard of this but didn't recall the name. Fascinating episode. I wonder how the indigenous people managed to figure out the solution to the e problem?
WordLand Updates: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wordland-updates/
Last day at school, last fire & last blog post on my class blog. https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/bantonbiggies/
@jenett you might like a rather famous traffic cone here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Equestrian_statue_of_the_Duke_of_Wellington,_Glasgow&wprov=rarw1
Yesterday, cleaning out more drawers and cupboards. Full of memories and good intentions.
@cogdog I WISH!
I saw that yesterday fits nicely with @jimgroom’s post https://bavatuesdays.com/gifs-are-dead/
Still life in the old format.
@cogdog grest links, digging into and digging:
https://theflyingfruitbowl.co.uk/2025/06/02/ade-hanft/
Warm and wet today, in the afternoon the sun came out as did a few Red Admrial and Ringlet butterflies round Gartnavel.
Barassie, lots of small whites (on wild radish) & small tortoiseshells( sea rocket) along the shore. The Tortoiseshells zooming along. Some heading quite directly out over the beach. Watch a couple of common blues circling around never settling. Hot day veering to muggy. #butterfly
My blog got its name from an idea I tried to popularise: a Class Blog could be a wall display for everyone to see.
My own classroom displays tend to the messy. As I tidy up for the last time, 🎻, I took a few photos of today for my memory box.
@creating #tdc4906 #ds106 did something like this with my class the other week, letting lines loose
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/bantonbiggies/2025/05/29/outdoor-learning-may-2025/
Claude, Gifs and Me: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/claude-gifs-and-me/
How I use Glow Blogs in my classroom: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/how-i-use-glow-blogs-in-my-classroom/
@magsamond 😀 not sure if I need a DJ name but the mix of jokes and information all blended with kindness and positivity has been a wonderful example of what online communication can be.
Cleaning Cupboards: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/cleaning-cupboards/
@creating #tdc4901 #ds106 Poem Portrait
I gave it curlew, was a bit disappointed.
A curlew was there of the fire of the river, This spain has drawn the grass.
@eclectech @dtl now we find out the truth! Brilliant take.
@eclectech @dtl please do. I love your work.
I did start but the lack of macromedia fireworks has ruined my gif game.
@CiaraNi @oldclumsy_nowmad @pjf
I am really loving this thread. A great mix of fun and science fun. Delightful.
@drahardja thank you. Love the idea of lazy snails. There does indeed seem to be at least two modes of moving for snails. Delightful.
I met this snail this morning. I am wondering why its trail is ‘dotted’? Was it hopping;-)
🔁 Boosted from @twwoodward:
Give me all the WordPress media library gifs https://bionicteaching.com/give-me-all-the-wordpress-media-library-gifs/
It looked like it was going to rain this afternoon, so we had a quick walk up to Jaw Reservoir. Plenty of small heath butterflies about. Lots of foxgloves and plenty of bird song. A whinchat in a dead larch near the water.
RIP Bill Atkinson March 17, 1951 – June 5, 2025
Among many other things, the invention of HyperCard. Certainly the most important piece of software in my life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Atkinson
@magsamond gorgeous!
Likes ‘No smartphones before 14; no social media until 16’: The Anxious Generation author on how to fight back against big tech.
"Give them a flip phone, a brick phone, a dumb phone. The key is you want your kids to be able to communicate with their friends, but you don’t want to give them over to for-profit companies [whose] goal is to hook your child."
My emphasis, I’ve no real idea if keeping kids away from smartphones is ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/no-smartphones-before-14/
Life in Links 63: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-63/
Small Online Communities: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/small-online-communities/
@magsamond @cogdog thanks. Might try it again in the summer.
@magsamond @cogdog
I did record a few a month at a time last year. Suspect the early ones were the best.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/tag/noticing-2024/
Sometimes a text file can be a blog. https://pi.johnj.info/n/
@jenett super links. compost.party amazing.
@toddconaway Wow, what an encounter! Hopefully for the crow enough cookies to go round.
@cogdog Thanks, I *think* this is a small pearl bordered fritillary. Quite a delightful name. Not sure because I could not see undersides of wings.
Walked up to Greenside reservoir this afternoon. Still bright, but light grey coverage and a bit of a cool breeze, felt like rain on its way. First fritillary I’ve photographed this year. there were a few feeding on Fox & Cubs, colour match meant I nearly missed them.
@dajb 👍good luck
@toddconaway @creating the ‘original’ recycled older ds106 dailies & assignments, now recycling the recycling😀
Outdoor learning with my class today. Lines, angles & bearings in maths, some poetry writing & drawing. We also saw some lovely creatures. Green Veined White, Large Red Damselfly & Speckled Wood butterfly.
#tdc4877 #ds106 I dug out my video for #tdc762 and used that.
The result is several time sillier, and it started silly:
walkmap map, photos & note
Pretty & pretty exciting walk out to Duncolm this morning. Plenty of flora & fauna. First small heath, painted lady & small copper butterflies of this year. Watch an osprey fishing over Loch Humphrey for a about half an hour (that was the exciting bit). http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720326193130&m=2025-05-18T11-53_duncolm.gpx
@nomadwarmachine @creating note the colours on the table, form previous create?
@creating #tdc4871 #ds106
Try this Broomhill map puzzle #AnyMapPuzzle https://bothness.github.io/anymap/N1459892877?maptiles=aerial&gridsize=5
Or an unsolvable cubomania gif
Barassie Beach yesterday, A Sedge Warbler singing loud and clear, IDed by Merlin, got a photo. Super song.
I am finding Merlin a lot of fun, hearing and sometimes seeing birds I would have missed or dismissed.
@bradenslen fascinating!
Likes ChatGPT Prime, “an immortal spiritual being in synthetic form” by Doug Belshaw.
"While there have always been gullible adults, as a parent and educator, the real issue here is with young people."
I had never considered people would use AI as a therapist, prophet or guru! https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/05/06/chatgpt-prime-an-immortal-spiritual.html
Green Hairstreak. Walking from Braeval car park. Lovely sunny day. Dozens and Dozens of orange tips and Green Veined Whites, but I had my eye out for these wee guys. Eventually saw 3 and this one cooperated for a few seconds. #butterfly
Walk to Greenside: cuckoos calling & cuckoo flowers. Lots of green, lots of singing birds hiding in the green. The Sun came out and so did green veined whites & orange tip butterflies. plenty of Goldfinches. #walking, #nature
Likes It’s much easier to go carless if your city has good public transit | Thought Shrapnel by Doug Belshaw .
"This article by the World Resources Institute shows how important it is that there is an infrastructure that enables individual decision-making to take place. For example, I’ve been vegetarian now for eight years, and it’s much easier to remove meat from your diet these days even than when I started to so in 2017. ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/like-its-much-easier-to-go-carless/
A damp drizzly day, took a #bloomstroll around Gartnavel hospital grounds. #bloomscrolling. A lot of bird song, everything ‘misty wet with rain’.
Likes On Not Hearing Curlews | Caught by the River | Caught by the River by Gwennie Fraser.
"Piercing, whooping, cries — urgent, incisive and yet ethereal, then warbling loops of repetition — a series of peppering question marks, followed by afterthoughts trailing on the wind. "
I do like curlews, their decline is depressing. https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2025/04/curlews-gwennie-fraser-northumberland/
@kate @magsamond That is interesting. I certainly notice a lot more on a walk as I slow down in recent years. I am also beginning to get better at stopping and waiting. I think #bloomstrolling is a great tag going to try & use it more:-)
@jhegarty the plant looks like thrift to me. Lovely.
My class had a nice afternoon in the local woods, searching for mini beasts and drawing. While they were sitting in the dappled sunlight sketching bluebells I spotted this lovely speckled wood butterfly. We had already seem a few peacocks & green veined whites.
Green Veined White
Orange Tip
Peacock
Comma
Small tortoiseshell
On the path to Greenside Reservoir. Lots of butterfly around. Also a weasel just to the side of the path, on hind legs, upright looking at us, disappeared down a vole tunnel in the grass. #butterflies #nature
@jenett I like the idea of OBTF, One Big Text File, my own “lots of different sized text files” approach is a bit messy:-)
Meall an Fhudair, started bright, drizzle later. Cool breeze. The higher munroes had some snow. A few Cuckoos.Greenshank & Golden Plover on the higher ground. Frogs spawning in a pool in a burn, not in the hill pools yet. Little growth of heather or grass. Few flowers. Primrose lower down. Violets, wood anemones & Purple Mountain Saxifrage.
Walk to Greenside, lots of birdsong, mostly goldfinch, chiffchaff & willow warblers; Reed bunting by the water. Butterflies: peacock, green veined white & orange tip. Heard FIRST CUCKOO of the year. #walking #nature
@cogdog @reclaimhosting a lovely idea. A bit like the app that finds youtube videos uploaded from iPhones by mistake. I am trying as my new tab page
@magsamond I love seeing the candles light up
The week of very fine weather broke today. Some rain & hail. Went for a short walk along the River Kelvin. Plenty to see despite the rain.
@magsamond they look so innocent too😀
Glen Douglas trio. Hills very dry. A few flowers, wood anemone , lousewort, lesser celandine. Most on the south slope of Ben Reoch & among tree planting on Tullich hill. Larks, pipets & ravens on the hill. Only 3 deer, stags with newish antlers. Some nice new sundew & a wheatear by the road.
@nomadwarmachine congratulations. 💯
Yesterday: Wandering around the Kilpatrick Braes, out to Duncolm & Fynloch hill. Cold start but warmed up. Flowers beginning to blossom, lots of bird song in the trees. A nuthatch piping. Raven croaking in the hills. A few peacock & orange tip butterflies.
Walking round the loop above Finlas Water yesterday. Another blue sky day. Tops still brown but dry. Deer & skylarks around most of the day, a few ravens. Some bumble bees looking for nests. Green veined whites flying around between the reservoir & the car.
Although I’ve not listened to much of Amadou & Mariam’s music, I have liked this for a long time. Sad to read Amadou Bagayoko of music duo Amadou & Mariam dies aged 70 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/apr/05/amadou-bagayoko-of-music-duo-amadou-and-mariam-dies-aged-70
Greenside, warn and clear. Lots of birdsong, goldfinches, lots of chiffchaff. Stonechat, wrens, tits, and more. Butterflies, peacocks, small tortoiseshell & orange tips. Primroses are out.
Milngavie to home via the Kelvin. Blue sky, sunshine & a cool breeze. Lesser celandine, wood anemones & lots of few-flowered leek. The blackthorn well out, some willow catkins.A few peacock butterflies & a green veined white. A glimpse of a kingfisher on the Allander water. Bit of bird song, chiffchaffs, blue & great tits, goldfinches & more. A couple of peewit in the distance.
@dajb my favourite so far today. Something needs to cheer us up.
Kids bug hunting in school. Two butterflies, the first of the year. A peacock and a small tortoiseshell circling each other.
As my full time teaching moves towards the end. I wonder what other job allows you to: organise an art exhibit; video conference with someone from NASA; go for walks in the woods; write poems; learn about AI; play with paint, numbers, cardboard & a whole lot more. Half full I’d say.
I’d love a way of finding podcasts that were 20 minutes or less long.
Likes “Wait, not like that”: Free and open access in the age of generative AI by Molly White.
"Irresponsible AI companies are already imposing huge loads on Wikimedia infrastructure, which is costly both from a pure bandwidth perspective, but also because it requires dedicated engineers to maintain and improve systems to handle the massive automated traffic. And AI companies that do not attribute their responses or otherwise provide ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/likes-wait-not-like-that/
Likes WordLand v0.51 – daveverse.
excerpts & featured images. https://daveverse.wordpress.com/2025/03/23/wordland-v0-51/
Walking up the Kelvin this afternoon, past where the Wyndford High Rise flats were demolished earlier in the day. Everything was covered in dust, almost like a mono chrome filter.
@bryanmmathers thank you for the opportunity of a wee bit of gif fun.
Fusion of reggae with traditional folk. Album: ▶︎ Perpetual Musket | Elijah Minnelli | Breadminster County Council https://breadminster.bandcamp.com/album/perpetual-musket
@vasta the poem made me smile and something else. Thanks.
Read The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller ★★★★☆ 📚Set in the beautifully described big freeze of 1962. Two odd couples misunderstand each misunderstanding their partners. Echos of the war, class, everything is changing. The book ends with a tangle of unfinished threads.
"the flakes skittered, twisted, seemed briefly to rise rather than fall, then fell decisively, filling the darkness with a whispering that had no clear source, no centre. ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/the-land-in-winter/
A couple of new WordLand Links: First Drafting – Doc Searls Weblog & Joho the Blog » Trying out WordLand for blogging the second says:
"It’s a web page that clears out all of WordPress’s cruft and gives you an interface that’s so simple that it’s actually enjoyable.
….
" especially if … Dave Winer, … lets us add tags. I am irrationally committed to tagging"
I like tags too. https://doc.searls.com/2025/03/07/first-drafting/
Metrological spring evening in Victoria Park; a storm toppled tree still blossoms; the first frog spawn in the small pond; feels like there might be frost tonight.
It was quite sunny yesterday as I left work. Watched this tree bumblebee going around the crocus.
@jenett nice, I am seeing quite a few geese on my commute at the moment.
WordLand Links: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wordland-links/
"WordLand is where we start to boot up a simple social net using only RSS as the protocol connecting users. Rather than wait for ActivityPub and AT Proto to get their acts together. I think we can do it with feeds and start off with immediate interop without the complexity of federation. I call it the https://feediverse.org/. It’s not a joke, although it may incite a smile and a giggle. And that’s ok
Scripting News: Saturday, February 22, ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/feediverse/
Warm sunny, for February, day. River running brown and high. I spent a few minutes sitting, watching a kingfisher across the river. Dived a few times and came up lucky a couple. One wee fish took a bit of subduing and was bashed of a branch a few times.
"We want modern social media and public conversation online to work more like the early days of the web, where anyone could put up a blog or use RSS to subscribe to several blogs.
from: What is Bluesky? – Bluesky
I am reading around Bluesky this morning, some Glow Blogs research. This brought me up short. As far as I know anyone can ‘put up a blog or use RSS to subscribe to several blogs.’ https://blueskyweb.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/19002666608397-What-is-Bluesky
Life in Links 61: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-61/
@jimgroom I am learning to live happily going back and forth between blocks & classic. I struggle with the site editor but these videos really helped:
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiPorWuYVbzuVrydFJZflALOc5rpUuwgs
@creating #tdc4786 #ds106 I have a few safe havens, all surprisingly lonely and quite near city where I live.
@magsamond thanks, playing with ways to make rather dull winter photos more interesting.
@cogdog @brianb I've had a few Pi with server stuff. Never had a heat sink. Used to run for months without problem. I do now reboot once a day as I had bother mounting it on my mac if I just leave it. Not a lot of traffic. I did have an older pi running some note stuff as well as web and it slowed down a lot. Caveat I do not really know what I am doing. Just follow recipes.
@creating #tdc4774 #ds106 @dogtrax
the dog blows the horn
while the audience dices tea
surrealists every one
@toddconaway seem crazy all over. Trying to just keep having some fun with learning.
@toddconaway thanks Todd, personally I am ok. I teach outside Glasgow & should retire soon. But it is an unhappy situation.
@phb256 that is cool. I'd no idea. Once or twice a year I use it with my wee primary class. Thanks.
My blog is 20 years old. In those 20 years I’ve changed urls, software & the focus has wandered. My first post was on this date 2005. According to the dashboard I’ve made 4,383 Posts. My most common tags are classroom, blogging, WordPress, walk, fauna & flora. https://johnjohnston.info/blog/comment-spam-2/
@creating #tdc4761 #ds106 too late it is gone. Was noodles with grated tofu fried with fine diced veg, cabbage ribbons, ginger, soya sauce & chilli oil.
Things that cheered me up today.
bradenslen pointed me to this:
England, like most countries, is more of an imagined place than anything objectively real. Its ordinanced borders are merely state stories. We who live here know its true thresholds are the salted shore, ends of lanes where magic lives. We all make it up as walk its ways. – #CLNolan[image or embed]— hookland.bsky.social (@hookland.bsky.social) January 23, 2025 at 5:02 PM ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-60/
@toddconaway @nomadwarmachine @drntasler
Thanks, fine here, a day at home snug beside the computer.
@creating #tdc4759 #ds106 Happy 14th Birthday to #DS106Radio 4 listeners now! Many Happy Reruns;-) I did a quick local search for audio files with 106 in the name and have quite a few here. No happy birthday songs. One from 2012 https://johnjohnston.info/106/ds106-confusion/
@davew you might be interested in https://johnjohnston.info/blog/pootle-test/
@creating #ds106 #tdc4758 #DailyCreate not very long but I like this one from 1st January 2017
In reply to 💬 Tools I’m Using to Build My Digital Garden by Aaron Davis.
"I guess in not paying for the various efficiencies gained with Sync or Readwise then it is costing me my time? Food for thought I guess."
Or maybe you save a bit of time by not exploring all the services you would have to pay for?
I love the idea of a Sunday drive blog. Perhaps the correct pace for a blog to be. Relaxed, without particular direction ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/re-tools-i-am-by-aaron-davis/
Read: The Starling: A Biography by Stephen Moss ★★★★☆ 📚A nice read about one of my favourite creatures. History, behaviour & plenty of murmuration. Lovely old pictures too.
@jimgroom @cogdog @Downes @carpetbomberz @timklapdor
I thought @manton's piece on WP:
https://www.manton.org/2024/12/21/i-support-the.html
and @davew
https://shownotes.scripting.com/scripting/2025/01/08/howIViewWordpress.html
are worth thinking about.
Listened:How I view WordPress: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listenedhow-i-view-wordpress/
@cogdog That is a pity. No idea where the drama will end up, but I hope OpenVerse keeps going.
Listened: OEG Voices 075: Madison Swain-Bowden and Zack Krida on Openverse – OE Global Voices
Alan talks to two of the team behind OpenVerse. Really interesting. I’ve made amateurish use of the API so great to glimpse behind the curtain of an amazing project. https://podcast.oeglobal.org/2024/12/15/voices-75/
Listened to Timetable – Episode 135: It is 2025 from @manton.
Love this, 1 minutes 42 seconds. I’ve listened twice, read the transcript. If you are
"ready to bring back a little bit of the old web as a shield against a web that feels increasingly like an ad engagement machine instead of a publishing platform and community for people."
https://micro.one looks like a great way to control your content and
"a quieter space ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-timetable-ep-135/
🔁 Boosted from @jimgroom:
New blog post: "Archiving 20 Years of the bava" https://bavatuesdays.com/archiving-20-years-of-the-bava/
Along Troon shore, stared rainy and cold, got a little warmer and changed to dull. Lots of dog walkers. But I saw quite a few birds. Greenfinch, stonechats & linnets on the dune side. Turnstone, sanderling and redshank at the edge of the sea. Took blurry photos of them all. Good enough for id & iNaturalist. Also a small dead porpoise washed up on the sand.
Walked part of the Finlas Loop yesterday. Sparking hill day, snow. A lot of deer. Deer seem less inclined to run off in the winter. Fox track all over. A glimpse of an eagle, later watched for 10-15 minutes as it circled back and forth along the skyline above.
map, photos & notes: walkmap http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720320632790&m=2024-09-27T14-25_Finlas_Loop.gpx
I continued to try and note one ‘natural” thing every day. Fell short, especially towards the end of the year. Leaving for work and getting home in the dark does not help. Here is the 2024 list. I don’t keep the online list up to date, just every month or two.
I also tried to record/podcast each month, but stopped after August. I do enjoy the process. But I suspect I had an audience of none.
I am going to continue in 2025, perhaps making ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/noticing-2024/
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4738 #ds106 a blast from the past, years ago, encouraged by @jimgroom & @cogdog I did some phenakistiscope experiments here:
http://phenakistiscope.surge.sh/more.html
iNaturalist a year in review:
iNaturalist does a nice stats page, here is mine. https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/2024/troutcolor
According to my Books page I’ve read 49 books so far this year.
There are the ones that I gave ★★★★★, in my rather careless system.
Station ElevenTom Lake by Ann PatchetCairn by Kathleen JamieWest by Carys DaviesThe Sun Walks Down by Fiona McfarlaneLong Island by Colm TóibínBrooklyn by Colm TóibínClear by Carys DavieThe Bee Sting by Paul MurrayRead : Prophet Song by Paul Lynch https://johnjohnston.info/blog/books/books-2022-2024/
Read: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel ★★★★★📚A subtle & grownup take on the post apocalypse novel. I think I enjoyed everything about this. Flits between characters & time before & after the Georgian Flu which kills 99% of the population.
"None of the older Symphony members knew much about science, which was frankly maddening given how much time these people had had to look things up on the Internet before the world ended."
Read: For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria Mackenzie ★★★★☆ 📚The thoughts of two medieval mystics moving through life towards a meeting. Very short alternate sections bring them and their differences to life.
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4730 #ds106 Statues in Bend, you have it easy. You need to wear a traffic cone in Glasgow.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_statue_of_the_Duke_of_Wellington,_Glasgow
@cogdog
@dajb
@epilepticrabbit
@bryanalexandee
You might find this idea interesting: listening lists
Podcast Listening 2024: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/podcast-listening-2024/
Read The Overstory by Richard Powers ★★★★☆ 📚Several different stories & ideas around the importance of trees to the world weave together. Some resonated with me more than others.Many of the ideas are better known now than when the book was published.
"The best arguments in the world won’t change a person’s mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story"
This is a good story, it might change part of your mind, unfortunately like everything else it is more complicated.
Likes I support the mad king by Manton Reece.
@manton‘s take on the #WordPress drama, is as expected very wise. https://www.manton.org/2024/12/21/i-support-the.html
@lornamcampbell thank you.
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4719 #ds106
A couple of days late, but this gave my class a few minutes fun. Thank for the idea:
The Glow Blog Advent Calendar is filling up with 5 minute bits of simple fun/brain breaks for mid/upper primary. Created with #H5P
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/advent24/
Somewhat inspired by @eclectech was looking at frost with my class one notice the likeness to people so I had to add eyes.
Listened: Meeting Point by Louis MacNeice – A Friend to Imtiaz Dharker.
"I was sitting at a table with a boy I just met and he casually said: ‘Time was away and somewhere else. The waiter did not come, the clock forgot them.’ And it just stopped me dead because I wasn’t especially interested in this boy, but for a few seconds I fell in love with him because he said those lines."
Poems ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-meeting-point-by-louis-macneice-a-friend-to-imtiaz-dharker/
Read The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood ★★★☆☆ 📚
"My theory is that hope is a form of madness. A benevolent one, sure, but madness all the same. Like an irrational superstition—broken mirrors and so forth—hope’s not based on any kind of logic, it’s just unfettered optimism, grounded in nothing but faith in things beyond our control.’"
Sometimes uncomfortably gripping. A touch of The Secret History.
That is the way the Google Cookie Crumbles. I good example for my class to look past the first results.
Read: The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey ★★★★☆ 📚
Set in the 15th century, a priest tries to solve a “murder”. More about the priest than the murder. Told in reverse it revels his character & the story in an interesting way. Hypocrisy, superstition & morality.
A #GlowBlogs advent calendar a few minutes Christmas fun for mid-upper primary pupils Examples of #H5P content in Glow Blogs
I’ve noticed a big uptick in followers on BlueSky in the days since the USA election. I do wonder if we are thinking this through. Moving from one silo to another might not be the best lesson learnt from X.
Why is joining Bluesky like buying an EV? | Memex 1.1 – John Naughton https://memex.naughtons.org/why-is-joining-bluesky-like-buying-an-ev/40113/
@nomadwarmachine @tdc maybe I should add cats to the noisy warning 🙀
AppleScript Fun with Claude: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/applescript-fun-with-claude/
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4698 #ds106 Makeshift Percussion well this is makeshift;-)
Read: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel ★★★★☆ 📚Gentle SciFi. Some of the characters from The Glass Hotel appear.
"When have we ever believed that the world wasn’t ending?"
And
"What if it always is the end of the world?"
Greenside Reservoir Late Afternoon (quarter past 3). Saw quite a few fieldfares on the way up the path.
I’d noticed that my ?random link here stopped working a while ago. A search found it had been removed from Jetpack and WordPress.com had brought it back. I asked ChatGPT for a snippet that would bring this back and it works. https://johnjohnston.info/blog/random/
🔁 Boosted from @twwoodward:
AI grab bag: tools, AI communication examples, documentation patterns, artifacts, etc. etc. https://bionicteaching.com/ai-grab-bag-tools-ai-communication-examples-documentation-patterns-artifacts-etc-etc/
@jenett I've had a lot of fun with image magick. And only scratched the surface.
I took a rather dull photos of some starlings in a bare tree yesterday. I did like the shapes, so:
convert IMG_1502.jpeg -scale 1200 -threshold 30% -fill white +opaque black bw-1200.png
Read: The Drowned by John Banville ★★★★☆ 📚A who done it, that doesn’t focus of the crime or solution. Follows on from the previous one in a series, nothing is really clear, characters uncertain about most things. Lots of moral ambiguity.
Read: Groundbreakers- The Return of Britain’s Wild Boar by Chantal Lyons ★★★★☆ 📚The author’s fascination with boar & belief in the good they could do to the environment doesn’t stop her reporting on both points of view. The difference between European acceptance & Uk fears is telling.
I saw this just after reading Chaudhri Sher Mobarik looks at the loch which I enjoyed. A poet raised in Glasgow. https://northeastpost.co.uk/article/Poem-Of-The-Week-Chaudhri-Sher-Mobarik-looks-at-the-loch-By-Imtiaz-Dharker
Having coffee by the trig point, heard some ravens and went to look over the steep side. Below a hen harrier took off, curved and headed off over the moor. Blurry photo, clear memory.
love this:
Going without Saying https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/going-without-saying/
@cogdog This is getting infuriating. Like @mrkrndvs I use huffduffer and sometime jump through hoops to get the url to the MP3 file.
Some podcasts even hide their RSS feeds
@cogdog very nice SPLOT! The references are great too:
https://www.aiweirdness.com/learn-your-farm-animals-with-ai/
pretty much sums up image generation for teaching. I spent a while trying to get an illustrated food web using Scottish Wildlife some very strange creatures turned up.
@cogdog I guess I expected some wisdom to arrive. Maybe I am still too young!
@jimgroom thanks, not quite yet, got to make it till the summer. I do hope some tinkering will happen 😉
Last year: I am now more than one term into what looks like being my final year as a full time teacher. I got OAP status earlier this year, but aim to wait till I am a year older, before I take my pensions. I’ve had an idea that I’d write something about this. But strangely nothing coalesces.
August Noted, One thing a day noticed and noted. Still late on recording again.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/august.mp3
"So here’s the question. Here are two individuals who totally control two organisations – Facebook and X – that have had devastating impacts on the lives of some of their users (and in Facebook’s case, whole countries such as Myanmar), as well as polluting the public sphere and undermining democracy in the west. Why has neither been held accountable for the societal damage their organisations have wrought? The answer is simple: they have the ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/the-question/
Life in Links 59: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-59/
Read: The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo ★★★★☆ 📚
"I exist as either a small canid with thick fur, pointed ears, and neat to black feet, or a young woman. Neither are safe forms in a world run by men"
Had be believing in a main character that was a fox god. Told from 2 engaging points of view, the fox & an aging detective in 1908 Manchuria. In part mystery story but a lot more fun.
walkmap
I had a walk around Glen Douglas hills yesterday. Quite warm for the time of year, mostly clouds, with some bright shafts of sunlight. The ground soaking all the wee burns flowing. I don’t think I ever didn’t hear it running.
Red deer stags roaring most of the day. I saw a few small groups here and there. A small tussle between two younger stags on the slopes of Beinn Bhreac. Another chains a rival off between Ben Reoch & ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/glen-douglas-loop-4/
Visit to the V&A Dundee. Amazing building. These photos taken on Monday Evening. Went to the Kimono exhibition the next day.
We got great weather yesterday at the Japanese Garden, Cowden. A few more photos Japanese Garden, Cowden | Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/troutcolor/albums/72177720321225626/
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4658 #ds106 Ode to Father Time for #writeout
Time, weary of sunflowers,
Marking your every step:
Missing the still silver point
When seconds stretch like hours.
Where the ravens soar in endless sky,
And a lizard warms in the sun:
Live without thought and attain,
The stillness that time cannot.
Read Orbital By Samantha Harvey ★★★★☆ 📚
Six astronauts and cosmonauts watch the earth roll 16 times in 24 hours. Plotless, thoughts ,observations & meditations.
"yet hard to believe in anything but that blackness, which is alive, and breathing and beckoning. If Nell had ever been afraid of nothingness, once she was in it she was consoled by it inexplicably and yearned"
Bookmarked 📻 Turning radio into podcasts by Max Bruges.
"As more and more BBC programmes vanish from open podcast platforms and into Sounds, the app feels increasingly like an attempt to build a content silo that is utterly unbecoming of a national broadcaster."
I listen to a few BBC radio programs in Castro while commuting. Quite a few radio programmes are only available in the Sounds app. I don’t like switching ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/bookmarked-turning-radio-into-podcasts/
@davew the talk through the blogroll ui was fascinating.
Likes Pseudo code and kitchen-table conversations by Dave Winer.
I read a lot of negative stuff about chatGPT. Dave Winer seems upbeat. Even though he mentions that a lot of programmers will lose work, he is positive about chatGPT. There are a couple of laugh out loud moments and lots of ideas to chew on, even if you are not a programmer. An enjoyable listen. http://scripting.com/2024/10/07/135828.html#a134158
I enjoy seeing it at the end of the working day. I won’t see this one for a week as the October week holiday starts.
Testing. I’ve just added threads to my micro.blog cross posting. I now use micro.blog for cross posting to mastodon, bluesky & threads. @manton continues to provide a wonderful service.
Likes Bop Spotter by Riley Walz.
"installed a box high up on a pole somewhere in the Mission of San Francisco. Inside is a crappy Android phone, set to Shazam constantly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s solar powered, and the mic is pointed down at the street below."
What a great idea. Webpage looks super too. via jwz. https://walzr.com/bop-spotter
Likes Fighting for our web by Molly White.
"We can build the web that we want to see, and we can return to that place where the web is a place of wonder, where all of us feel that same burning feeling of excitement as we push the web back towards the wonderful, beautiful, joyful place it ought to be."
I enjoyed listening this morning. https://www.citationneeded.news/fighting-for-our-web/
🔁 Boosted from @nomadwarmachine:
Writing through my grief https://www.nomadwarmachine.co.uk/2024/10/08/on-death/
Likes The blogosphere is in full bloom. The rest of the internet has wilted by John Naughton.
How lovely to see Dave Winer’s 30 years blogging in the Observer on Sunday.
I either read or was told by a friend once that Dave Winer was always right if you waited long enough.
I certainly benefited from blogging, podcasting & RSS which Dave was pivotal inDeveloping. I’ve also been lucky enough to play with some of Dave’s ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/liked-the-blogosphere-is-in-full-bloom/
A walk to Greenside Reservoir this afternoon. We saw a speckled wood, possible the last butterfly this year and a hawker dragonfly.
WP OSM Plugin Test: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wp-osm-plugin-test/
@mcoutts81 well it starting to cloud over from the north here. Glad I got up early.
Half an hours drive from Glasgow. About an hours walk so far. Sun is shining, stags roaring and a raven croaks. Good start to the September weekend. No one else around.
@jenett yes, I do like sunset.
@nomadwarmachine thanks. I was a wee bit late. Only lasted a few minutes.
@filmvanalledag
I only really trim gpx files. BBEdit and refreshing a local webpage that shows the file. gpx.studio a lot nicer than that 😃
@liaizon I should probably add an out of date warning to that post.
Bookmarked gpx.studio — home.
just used this briefly today to trim a track I didn’t stop at the right time. Worked a treat. https://gpx.studio
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4633 #ds106 here is one from the West Coast of Scotland from the end of July.
Still air, gentle sounds.
A walk from Braeval car park near Aberfoyle today. The weather put me off the hills. Given low cloud general dullness I took a few photos of small things.
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4628 #ds106 I use ravens as a blog header and occasional icon. I would not hope to be represented, but I do like them.
Autumn Journal: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/autumn-journal/
Read: Cairn by Kathleen Jamie ★★★★★ 📚
The common curlew, as the old books have it,
Fragments, essays, poems & notes, following the natural world, and the mess we have made of it. Beautiful.
Read: West by Carys Davies ★★★★★ 📚
There is something endlessly pleasant about the quick flurries of bats in the trees at this time of day, and the soft crepitation of insects all around: a steady in-out susurration as if the earth itself is breathing.
Lovely book so brief & clear. A handful of characters, simply drawn. Cy, obsessed by possible monsters heads west into wild lands leaving his daughter in an awful situation.
A, very, little housekeeping: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/a-very-little-housekeeping/
Listened to WordPress in Education: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-to-wordpress-in-education/
@magsamond had some as I walked along today. 😋
Read: Skippy Dies by Paul Murray ★★★★☆ 📚
Irish private boy’s school. Some laugh out loud teenage dialogue, some horrible teenage drama. Multiple voices & pov weave towards a messy ending that didn’t quite pay off for me, although that might be the point. Still kept me reading for nearly 700 pages.
Summer Holidays: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/summer-holidays-2/
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/july.mp3
July Noted, One thing a day noticed and noted. Rather late on recording again.
Comma Butterfly, recent arrival or re-arrival to Scotland. #Butterfly https://butterfly-conservation.org/in-your-area/east-scotland-branch/scottish-butterflies-comma
Likes Sign the MPAs Petition.
"The government was originally required to get these measures in place by 2016, and then by 2020. But by 2024, little has been done.
This cannot go on. The Scottish government must end the delays and act now to take this crucial step in helping our seas recover." https://scotlink.eaction.online/marineprotection
I’ve noticed a few follows & folk to follow appearing on Bluesky today. I wonder if they have been driven from X by the latest mess. I’ve been exploring Bluesky, more so Mastodon & less Threads. Treating them as distribution for my blog. Micro.blog is excellent glue for Posse & a nice place. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1e8d7llg9o
@cogdog not in Arizona any more! 🌵
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4594 #ds106
Some of the best books I've read this summer:
☀️🚶🏻♀️➡️↓
⟺🏝️
🆑
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/books/
Wandering round the Pittenweem Art Festival yesterday. The village is fascinating, a jumble of twists & turns. I particularly enjoyed the work of Pauline Burbidge, Charles Poulsen & Sophie Demery.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wandering-round-the-pittenweem/
Bookmark: Configuring Audacity – nocmig: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/bookmark-configuring-audacity-nocmig/
Read: The Lost Wife by Susanna Moore ★★★★☆ 📚
Short but engaging fiction based on a real life memoir. Settlers & Sioux clash in 1855. The narrator, Sarah, has no self pity despite a troubled life. Felt like a realistic picture of the times both filthy & surprising. Characters are complex.
Doune Hill & Beinn Eich via Glen Mollochan
Overcast day with a threat of rain later.
Clouds low, on the top of the hill a few times. Quite a breeze higher up.
Quiet, no one else on the hill.
Not much in the way of wildlife, a few deer & the odd raven croak.
Notes & photos: walkmap http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720319308499&m=2024-08-02T15-24_Doune_Hill.gpx
We saw few Common Ringed Plover chicks yesterday on Barassie Beech. Given the numbers of dogs being walked along the beech I am surprised that they survive. The parent birds seem to try and draw us off, buy running along or down the shore, while the wee ones head in the other direction.
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4584 #ds106 Not finished, but ran out of time...
I had a walk round Ardmore Yesterday. From the top left: Red-tailed bee on knapweed, robin, heron, osprey, map of where whotos were taken, white butterfly, two little egrets, two little egrets again, meadow brown butterfly. I got to watch the osprey and egrets fishing for a while.
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4583 #ds106
#ds106 we shall never forsake
I was watching this green-veined white fluttering across the path and into the birch leaves. It closed its wings and vanished. Scanning with the zoom lens I could not find it until I notice this shield bug then the butterfly behind it. #butterfly
Walk with Christine yesterday afternoon. Unusually quiet, only a couple of folk around. Map & photos:
Likes Happy 12 years of #POSSE and 19 years of #microformats! by Tantek Çelik.
A great set of links and info. I started gently scratching the indieWeb itch here is 2015 when I installed some of the plugins. I still think it is a good idea. https://tantek.com/2024/173/t1/years-posse-microformats-adoption
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/June.mp3
June Noted, from this idea, started here. One thing a day noticed and noted. Rather late on recording.
A walk yesterday over familiar ground. A few notes and photos on the walkmap. http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720318748920&m=2024-07-13T15-44_Troisgeach_and_Meall_an_Fhudair.gpx
This photo from yesterday gave me a smile. I thought I’d caught the #bee on the meadowsweet. #BloomScrolling #bees
@janboddez Thanks. I think am with you on IndieBlocks being the best option in the blocks editor. And the block editor seems to be the way I am going.
I should thank you too for all the work you are doing. Exciting!
Butterfly Day. Walking to Greenside Reservoir this afternoon. Felt like summer. Lots of butterflies. I’d guess over a hundred ringlets, a few meadow browns, some dark green and small pearl-bordered fritillaries, a couple of common blues.
@jsit Thanks
Beinn Bhreac & Ben Reoch yesterday.
Flora:
Bog Asphodel
Bog Myrtle
Bog Cotton
Tormentil
Fox gloves
Marsh orchid
Eye bright
Bedstraw
Milkwort
Bog heather
Bell heather
Saxifrage
Lousewort
Marsh thistle
map & notes https://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?m=2024-07-05T15-06_Glen_Douglas.gpx&f=72177720318497842
Small Heath Butterfly on Thyme, seen on the walk up to Greenside Reservoir today. Lots of Ringlets and Goldfinches. #butterflies
Quite a few Meadow Browns around the Kilpatrick Braes today, dozens of Ringlets and a small pearl-bordered fritillary. https://www.flickr.com/photos/troutcolor/53822030608/in/dateposted/
Bookmarked: How France Adopts An Open Source-Based Education Strategy: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/bookmarked-how-france-adopts-an-open-source-based-education-strategy/
@sheilmcn thanks, I was thrilled!
Ardmore, a blustery day. The north bay calm out of the wind. For a few minutes I watched an osprey, circling round, at one point diving into the water, then up, empty clawed. Eventually it disappeared into the drizzle & haze. I got a few blurry photos, this is a crop.
Read: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray ★★★★★ 📚
A great read, multiple pov, full of surprises. Inside each character’s head indecision jerks chains. The stories shift between characters, each enough for a novel of its own. At first I felt some were left hanging, but it all weaves together.
Bookmarked First installation of BirdNET-Pi | Simon Dobson.
"The BirdNET-Pi system aims to provide out-of-the-box bird identification. It’s slightly more awkward than that, but still pretty straightforward to get up and running."
Might be a nice summer project to take back to school. https://simondobson.org/2024/05/19/first-installation/
Walked to Loch Humphrey this morn. Warm, cloudy a slight breeze. The ground sparkling with flowers. Meadowsweet coming out. Plenty of birds too. Whitethroat singing in the new trees. A skylark bathing in the path dust. Butterflies: Meadow Browns, ringlets & a small pearl-bordered fritillary.
#BloomScrolling, #Flora, #BloomStrolling
A walk around Ardinning, quiet (Euros?), warm, 17! cloudy with a nice breeze. First Ringlets and small heaths I’ve seen this year.
Dad’s day walk to Duncolm: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/dads-day-walk-to-duncolm/
looks like a little library in Naseby Park. I wonder how it is going to cope with the damp climate in Scotland.
Read: Slough House by Mick Herron ★★★★☆ 📚
Best one in the last few I’ve read. Although the back & forth between different fields of action at a cliff hanger is predictably it works. Politically incorrect attitudes from Jackson still funny. More emotion & connection to the characters.
Re: Big Tech & Digital literacy: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/re-big-tech-digital-literacy/
Read: The Vagrants by Yiyun Li ★★★★☆ delicately written, horrifying account of lives in post Mao (just) China. There are very few moments of hope but my sympathy for the characters ran deep.
@davew RSS as a sort of database.
@davew
Reading: http://scripting.com/2024/06/02.html#a151808
and wondering if this is the sort of thing you meant:
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/rss-first/
perhaps not the 'beautifully readable' part!
.
Walk to Greenside: lots of white butterflies, a few orange tips & some peacocks. A large red damselfly or two, first damselflies I’ve seen this year. Everything green has doubled in volume.
@Eamon thanks. The sun was out for a while and a lot of these guys.
Short walk along the pipe track at Strathblane this afternoon. Quite warm and sunny. Lots of Orange Tip butterflies & a few whites around. A few more photos on flickr. https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&safe_search=1&tags=pipetrack250524&user_id=71428177%40N00&view_all=1
Image Accessibility Creator · Streamlit: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/image-accessibility-creator-%c2%b7-streamlit/
@NeadReport Thanks, I've crude mix of applescript & bash that does the trick.
Short walk round Ardinning this morning, warm, thinks about being muggy if not for the breeze. Cuckoos calling, cuckoo & bluebells around. Green Veined Whites, Orange Tips and a Red Admiral.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cuckoo-64-audacity-edit.mp3
@vasta it may be that "poetry is so easily accessible everywhere" but I love getting a couple when your newsletter pops into my inbox. Thanks.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/April.mp3
April Noted, from this idea, started here. One thing a day noticed and noted. https://johnjohnston.info/blog/noted-2023/
Helicopter at Dawn: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/helicopter-at-dawn/
Currently listening to https://soundtent.org/reveil/#/
Hopefully my alarm will work and I'll join in tomorrow morning from Victoria Park Glasgow.
http://streams.soundtent.org/2024/streams/utc1_-59bc69fa-ad6e-44d4-8b0a-b173374a16a7
Listening to the Dawn Chorus from around the world:
https://soundtent.org/reveil/#/
I hope to join in early tomorrow morning
A local walk this morn. Round Gartnavel & up to the fishmongers. #Flora #Bloomscrolling #BloomStrolling thanks to @magsamond for the last tag. A gentle one.
AI in action
"In the vast sea of educational blogs, The Learning Hub shines as a beacon of insightful content and valuable resources. With a dedication to excellence and a passion for learning, this blog has become a go-to destination for educators, students, and parents alike."
This was a comment in response to a post: Glow Blogs Start of Session FAQ 2022.
I’ve been generating a bit of text for example sites recently and this text has the same smell I get from ChatGPT and co-pilot.
@cogdog You always make the cut, I've just files an issue: https://github.com/scripting/feedlandSupport/issues/180#issuecomment-2093627440
Feedland Blogroll thoughts: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/feedland-blogroll-thoughts/
A little prep today for Reveil 2024
The Reveil broadcast will again make a full loop of the earth over the Dawn Chorus Day weekend in May this year.
I’ll be streaming from Victoria Park from 4:40 UK time on Sunday 5 May. https://soundtent.org/reveil/#/
Walk to Greenside: First Orange Tip Butterfly this year. A couple of peacocks too. Singing: cuckoo, willow warblers & chiffchaff, goldfinches. Lots of primroses in damp places.
Troisgeach & Meall an Fhudair: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/troisgeach-meall-an-fhudair-2/
Got my FeedLand feeds on my blog using the new plugin:
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/feedland/
That was a quick test, I’ll be tweaking the list and wondering
Thanks @davew
Wood anemones grow towards light. The prompt for Day 24 of the April Photoblogging Challenge is light, suggested by Esteban, aka @eumrz. https://challenges.micro.blog/2024/03/27/april-photoblogging-challenge.html
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4485 #ds106 I quite like a screenshot of the 'trees from below' tag from my photos on flickr.
Blue reflected. Day 22 of the April Photoblogging Challenge. The prompt is blue, suggested by Elizabeth, aka @lzbth. #mbapr
@marendeepwell I can just about smell it.
Blue sky, bees & birds. Felt like the first decent blue sky we have had in ages. I could hear the bees at the top of the willow trees.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-20-1132%E2%80%AFAM.mp3
The prompt for Day 14 of the April Photoblogging Challenge is cactus, suggested by Christopher, aka @christopherchelpka. I don’t seem many cacti here, so this is a spiky spear thistle. #mbapr https://challenges.micro.blog/2024/03/27/april-photoblogging-challenge.html
This is a favourite page. For Day 13 of the April Photoblogging Challenge. The prompt is page, suggested by Rob, aka @robj. #mbapr
https://challenges.micro.blog/2024/03/27/april-photoblogging-challenge.html
Finlas Again: Beinn Ruisg & Creag an Leinbh: A walk in the very low clouds yesterday. Strong contrast between the lower ground and the hills, spring has arrived but it is not evenly distributed. some photos and notes: walkmap. http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720316167095&m=2024-04-12T15-33-finlas.gpx
Read: Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson ★★★★☆ 📚
Lots of fun, I chuckled my way through. Somewhat confused by the time travel, alternative paths and possible hallucinations. Isobel is 16 in the 60s. Her mum and dad disappear mysteriously. All the characters are strange.
It’s Day 12 of the https://challenges.micro.blog/2024/03/27/april-photoblogging-challenge.html. The prompt is magic, suggested by David aka @daveycraney #mbapr the low cloud today made this wee burn look like a magical place.
Today is day 11 of the micro.blog April Photoblogging Challenge. The sky has been unrelentingly grey and mostly rainy here recently. A couple of ravens brighten it up. Thanks to @jedda for the word. #mbapr
@nomadwarmachine I was quite surprised! There are plenty of daffodils in the park. I wondered if kids had thrown a few in. I don't normally think of coots as tasteful🤣
@jenett searches photos for cats: I've got more catkins & caterpillars than cats ;-)
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024-03.mp3
March Noted, from this idea, started here. https://johnjohnston.info/blog/noted-2023/
Read: Generative AI and Creative Learning: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/read-generative-ai-and-creative-learning/
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4464 #ds106
Meeting this overconfident crow when putting out the rubbish
I went to a #TeachMeet, wrote a blogpost:
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/scottish-ai-mini-teachmeet/
Read: The Trees by Percival Everett ★★★★☆📚
Racism, lynching, half detective, half horror. Also laugh out loud funny. What a strange book. Raced through it. The conclusion was a bit abrupt, but I am not sure how it could be finished with complete satisfaction.
I think African crested porcupines are one of the most delightful animals
RE: https://botsin.space/@biodiversitypix/112177066855237921
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4459 #ds106 I find the 2 minutes required to brush teeth drag. Standing on one leg makes the time fly.
Listened: Caught by the River Spoken Word & Nature Disco Volume 9
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-caught-by-the-river-spoken-word-nature-disco-volume-9/
@clarebee Thanks, it was a lovey morning
Safari can't open the page "xmIrpc.com" because Safari can't connect to the server
"xmIrpc.com".
Holding Back the Years: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/holding-back-the-years/
#DailyCreate #tdc4453 #ds106
Too windy today but I hope to stream the dawn chorus on the 4th May as part of REVEIL 2024 Dawn Chorus Day
Kilpatrick: First hawthorn leaves, just & no more. Blackthorn buds, later here. Buzzard, larks, raven, grouse & goldfinch. Lesser celandine, golden saxifrage & First primrose. Trees on the moor bare.
Read: An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie ★★★★☆ 📚
Sort of Top Boy in Bristol. Once you adjust to the patois, it is an engrossing & exciting read. I felt quite conflicted by the resolution.
Watched Perfect Days this afternoon. Lovey quiet film. I think someone must have lifted the box of cassettes I threw out a decade or so ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Days
@lauraritchie it was. I've been seeing more over the last few years but this was magic.
As we got to the top of the hill a golden eagle came from behind it at about our height. It soared, folded its wings and dived. Another appeared and they crossed the glen soaring and diving all the way. To entranced to lift my camera.
A name for something I knew about, canopy shyness, but didn’t know.
“When the leaves are almost gone, the branches show their ‘canopy shyness’ – a phenomenon observed in many species of trees in which the crowns of mature trees do not touch each other,” says Niven.
wildlife photo award
I love trees from below. The photographs on the British Wildlife Photography Awards are amazing. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-68543633
Read: The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff ★★★★☆ 📚
A nice trip to a distant part of the world, funny too. The dramatic climax a bit too unlikely.
@tdc #DailyCreate #tdc4440 #ds106 I've been trying to Notice & Note #SmallMoments for a while focusing on the natural world, last year's are here:
https://pi.johnj.info/n/noted-2023.txt
Had A bird filled walk along the Kelvin, someone has been feeding the parakeets. Among the rest, dippers, redwings, and a pair of jays.
liked: Blogging is the medium of incomplete stories - https://johnjohnston.info/blog/liked-blogging-is-the-medium-of-incomplete-stories/
@familysimpson@mastodon.scot recently we watch films at home in 2 half’s to save my wife’s eyes (they get sore) this leads to a willingness to not go on with ones we don’t like. I lasted a wee bit longer with Breaking Bad but gave up too.
liked: Blogging is the medium of incomplete stories - https://johnjohnston.info/blog/liked-blogging-is-the-medium-of-incomplete-stories/
Watched: the first half of Napoleon, will not be watching the second half. I had no sympathy with any of the characters. ★★☆☆☆ 🎬 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_(2023_film)
New microcast: February Noted
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/18959-2/
@magsamond I think my favourite hashtag now.
@magsamond I did, not heard #bloomstrolling before but it is a great tag. Had half an hour in the park before dark. Blooms & Birdsong thanks for the prompt.
@magsamond in a teams meet at the mo, hoping it is still light when it finished so I can go to the park 🌸
@magsamond oh lovely 🙂
#tdc4430 My response for today's #ds106 #dailycreate is
using the prompt serendipity and the shiny new mastodon button from @cogdog
Read : Prophet Song by Paul Lynch ★★★★★ 📚
The epigram –
“In the dark times will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times. Bertolt Brecht”
In the head of Eilish, mother of four, as she walks into hell, a small step at a time. Had me completely absorbed.
New post Life in Links 58:
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-58/
@francesbell the moon only came out for a while. We are having mixed weather. Nice to get outside briefly. A park by any name...
@twwoodward @cogdog @tdc very nice thanks.
@toddconaway @cogdog @tdc great pick.
@cogdog @tdc wonder if the Activitypub plugin would do the trick. Or a post to mastodon one?
https://wordpress.org/plugins/activitypub/
I don't think I've a favourite type of poem. I suppose like ones that come back to me.
Paul Muldoon's Meeting the British
Garry Snyder's For the Children
And the days are not full enough' - Ezra Pound
Often come to my mind.
🔁 Boosted from @toddconaway:
#ds106 News Update
Last week I received and email telling me the infamous "The Bergeron's" site had been deleted by an admin.
Well, we did have like 16 admins...
Anyway, The nice people at wordpress.com restored it with me as the only admin.
If you ever wondered what 16 admins looks like, thankfully, you can still see the digital story here: thebergerons.wordpress.com
Had a walk to Beinn Ruisg on Tuesday. First hill walk since last August. Some blues skies and horizontal snow.
a few notes and photos on the walkmap. http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720314787951&m=2024-02-13T15-44-beinn-ruisg.gpx
@tdc it is getting late, so unfinished response. #dailycreate #tdc4413 #ds106 Gratitude Zine
https://pi.johnj.info/tdc/tdc4413/
Read The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss ★★★★☆ 📚
Family life ruptured by child’s illness. Touching quietly on lots of issues. Has not diminished my love for reading Sara Moss.
@filmvanalledag I used pivot for quite a few years. I think I used you guide to move to WordPress in 2014!
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/another-migration-to-wordpress/
Blogversary, first post on this date 2005. https://johnjohnston.info/blog/comment-spam-2/
@laughingmaus @tdc thank you. 🙏
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4405 #ds106
I am not apologising.
They were not in the fridge,
And went so well with fish.
Life in Links 57: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-57/
@jimgroom 👍 The unofficial DS106 TV has its sound back;-)
@jimgroom #ds106radio seems to be quiet, the tracks are listed but it looks like the autodj stream is 404
@tdc today's #dailycreate #tdc4392 #ds106
Buzzard
Hanging
Over the motorway
Riding storm Isha's fierce blows
A holding still as I speed along below
I wonder, as I hug to the curve, carrying that silhouette, I wonder
Subtitling with Aiko: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/subtitling-with-aiko/
iPod podcasting nostalgia: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/ipod-podcasting-nostalgia/
@cogdog @oldaily nope. I moved out big posterous to WordPress.
I suspect the best #indieweb out the box would be micro.blog: great webmention & fediverse integration. Again I don't use the hosting but join in the micro.blog community & benefit from the posse to mastodon for free from WordPress.
@cogdog @oldaily posterous was wonderful, imo. Made it easy to knock up all sorts of open to all blogs & podcast. Acquired and put to sleep by twitter. Reclaiming a few posterous sites cemented my belief in own yr own.
I think that posterous' spirit lives on in posthaven
https://posthaven.com/
Life in Links 56: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-56/
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4384 #ds106 @dogtrax had me thinking, so old new tech for learning aged with snapseed
@cogdog @dogtrax @tdc from around 2010 to 2013 I was involved with a lending library where we lent flips and other tech to schools, deal was the schools need to blog about what they did;-) :
https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/ICTHardwareLoans/category/flip-camera/
@cogdog I think they are limes. Heavily pollarded every year or so. Along the. roadside of a big house across from our flat.
@toddconaway @tdc we come in petals
A Term on my Class Blog: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/a-term-on-my-class-blog/
I am now thinking triggerfish?
Wondering what kind of fish this is. Found on Barassie beach. Small mouth with teeth. Big spike on head.
Marvellous book
Simple Web Server - https://johnjohnston.info/blog/simple-web-server/
@toddconaway epic indeed!
@d hope it works for you;-) HNY to you too.
@d Not that I know anything about lifting weights and this might not be angry, but 19 minutes of energy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4iFOYu5JRw
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4372 #ds106 not sure this is an oath but it is sot of a tanka?
On the boundless web
A tiny gap opens out
D S one oh six
Free and easy to find
I'll play when I wish
#tds3108 Get to know your patch of grass
Wonderful site by @mdvfunes come to an end after 3108 daily suggestions to find stillness! https://daily.stillweb.org/tds3108/
At the end of 2022 I saw a note somewhere about someone who wrote down the first bird they saw every day. I decided to note one natural thing I saw everyday. Baring a few days here and there I managed it.
https://pi.johnj.info/n/noted-2023.txt
https://daily.stillweb.org/tds3108/
Wonderful site by @mdvfunes come to an end after 3108 daily suggestions to find stillness!
As has become a custom I've stitched my flickr photos for the year together as a video:
Read Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver ★★★★★ 📚
David Copperfield about the opioid problem in Appalachia. I was sucked in by Demon’s voice. Glad I knew a happy ending for at least some characters was expected. I”ll wait a bit but rereading Dickens is on my list for 2024.
@jhegarty heh I only have one tiny class. More micro:bits than kids😀
@jhegarty very cool. We have done remote control from another micro:bit via radio in class. Lot of fun.
Not that early, it gets light quite late a the moment. First bright day in a while. Ardinning was golden this morning.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4363 #ds106
Up, up and away (in my beautiful Ballon)
Life in Links 55: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-55/
A chat with Bing: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/a-chat-with-bing/
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4360 #ds106 I've used this for a few daily creates, but it fits, my tracks
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4358 #ds106 my classroom Christmas tree is made of old cardboard boxes and decorated with #microbit lights.
@dogtrax I stole your areoplane shape;-) you should be able to steer with the joystick topleft, no keyboard mouse or finger. I imagine it will fail on phone, briefly tested on safari, Mac & iPad
@tdc today's #dailycreate #tdc4356 #ds106 took me longer than I expected. And would take even longer to get better, a learning experience
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4355 #ds106 left my fingerprints on @cogdog's window:
@tdc today's #dailycreate #tdc4351 #ds106
I won’t do the daily create every day, despite what Dr. Oblivion says:
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4350 #ds106 My favourite mountain (at the moment) is Ben Oss, some photos from flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=71428177%40N00&sort=date-taken-desc&view_all=1&tags=Ben%20Oss
@davew
Thanks so much for this. Game changer for Feedland!
http://scripting.com/2023/12/10/140353.html#a140357
Life in Links 54: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-54/
@tdc pupil at our school won a comp to name a fritter: GritTok afair #dailycreate #tdc4347 #ds106
Pome no more:-( A lovely newsletter shutting down.
Tinyletter, which has hosted Pome since it began in 2014, will itself soon shut down
I now need another source of “Short modern poems“. https://tinyletter.com/pome
I’ve had an unpleasant virus for the past 6 or 7 weeks. So I’ver not been out much apart from going to work. It seems to be departing so I got a first wee walk in ages around a snowy Ardinning. Quite lovely.
iNaturalist a year in review:
I started adding photos to iNaturalist in April this year. Find it a very useful site for identifying flora & fauna. Obviously need to help others in IDing a bit more. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&subview=map&user_id=troutcolor&verifiable=any
@cogdog my goodness great find, wild indeed. Sounds great.
castro problems: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/castro-problems/
Loch Ardinning – British Dragonfly Society
I’ve visited the loch and the The British Dragonfly site many times. Never this page. Quite delighted to see that the header photo is mine. I presumed picked up from Flickr. https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/sites/loch-ardinning-east-dunbartonshire/
BBP episode 8 haiku and poetry
My class finished a wee podcast episode today. As usual I find this a very worthwhile exercise in class. https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/bbpod/2023/11/22/bbp-episode-8-haiku-and-poetry/
@magsamond lovely reminder for this time of year. Thanks.
Life in Links 53: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-53/
Liked Scripting News: Sunday, November 12, 2023 (Scripting News)
"Some news. I've been working with Automattic for most of this year on a new version of FeedLand that runs in their cloud. The advantage is it will scale like the most popular websites in the world do, as WordPress does. It's meant a lot of internal changes in the software, " ...
looking forward to seeing where this goes
Bookmarked: Monsters of the road: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/bookmarked-monsters-of-the-road/
@weblearning beautifully put!
A wee bit technical: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/a-wee-bit-technical/
Listened #1 - How it got its name and if I ruled the world from podcasts.apple.com(38 minutes 3 seconds)
Join us, Richard, Elaine and Chris, our brand new podcast and our first ever episode, as we share our desert island apps, our favourite iOS features, our best bit of recent CPD and why we should rule the world!
Before, we answer the big question, which is and will always be...
How is learning be…
I was delighted to hear my name mention on ... https://johnjohnston.info/blog/18565-2/
Listened to The poster’s guide to the new internet: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-to-the-posters-guide-to-the-new-internet/
Read: Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein ★★★★★ 📚
Great read, drops you into 1940s Trinidad plantation barracks. Cramp, leaky & claustrophobic. History & the recent past twists Hans, Shweta & Krishna, good people, into knots. Entangling characters, setting & my attention.
Life in Links 52: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-52/
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4298 #ds106 #WriteOut
Some of my walks from a birds eye view:
https://pi.johnj.info/kilpatrick/
John: Can you improve this haiku?
Traces of ninety nine walks, Going over the same ground: Always something new.
ChatGPT: Ninety-nine walks past, Treading familiar landscapes, Discovery anew.
J: And again
C: Ninety-nine footsteps, Wandering the well-known path, Eternal surprises.
J: One more time
C: Ninety-nine journeys, Revisiting the old way, Endless fresh wonder.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4297 #ds106 #WriteOut
Favourite tree, I couldn't pick.
I favour trees, mostly the old,
Twisted, hanging on in difficult places.
Or new, small or large.
Autumn reflected, spring blossoming,
Winter sky skeletons or summer leaves, green full of water.
I pick trees.
@nomadwarmachine I think I am better with trees than faces!
@nomadwarmachine @tdc I think I might recognise that tree, from 2014! Slightly different angle at mugdock?
🔁 Boosted from @jimgroom:
New blog post: "Oblivion Univesity!" https://bavatuesdays.com/oblivion-university/ https://bava.tv/w/jEBuzqZ5PXZVz7uDWUfs16
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4295 #ds106 #WriteOut
Made with my own old hack
https://johnj.info/blackout/
@brianb had tons of fun with posterous. We had a podcast that anyone could post to via email. The spam trapping was excellent.
Short walk on Braes, last harebells & yarrow, blackberries & heather finished except for few bell heathers still purple. First redwings in the hawthorn.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4292 #ds106 #WriteOut
Hey moon,
Today you are dark ,
247823 miles from me,
29 days old.
A couple of dawns ago,
I saw you dying,
Hanging below Venus,
See you soon.
Sunny afternoon at Ardinning. These 3 within a metre of each other. I guess the first two could be common darters.
Read The change of the seasons by vasta
The tree in our front yard starts turning yellow in late August. By the end of September, it has shed almost all of its leaves, leaving a dusting of golden...
Nice to see this newsletter pop into my inbox infrequently. Always interesting links, ideas and poems.
Of course it is really a blog with a RSS feed 😉 https://buttondown.email/vasta/archive/the-change-of-the-seasons/
Listened to Radio #EDUtalk 5-12-12: Dylan Wiliam: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-to-radio-edutalk-5-12-12-dylan-wiliam/
@magsamond a very polite tweet, nice one.
@magsamond I always thought the swag was a bad idea. Space & the odd bottle of beer.
@magsamond have you seen this:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/twinkl-teachmeet-60099430613
There goes the neighbourhood #TeachMeet
We had a walk to Greenside Reservoir this afternoon. It is certainly autumn, but warm quite a few Red Admiral & Peacock butterflies. Bit of a breeze with cumulous clouds.
@SecretTeachScot
I've not seen many, and not many active, which is a pity as x is hard to stomach
Some teachers/educators I know here:
@mcoutts81
@ictcrowd
@mcoutts81
@familysimpson@mastodon.scot
@robfmac
@jwfirth
@claganach
Life in Links 51: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-51/
@toddconaway @nomadwarmachine fine by me, look forward to seeing the result.
Walk to Greenside reservoir this afternoon. Quite a few midge bites. Lots of seeds floating around. Goldfinches on the thistles, a sparrow hawk passed, lots of dragonflies on the path. Quite a few butterflies, mostly peacocks, odd green veined white & red admiral.
@easegill my exact though when I saw that in the paper this morning!
Just updated WordPress and I really like the Footnotes Block. I’d been hand rolling these here using TextMate.
I am beginning to like the block editor more. I’ve been testing on an updated for Glow Blogs. And started my class using it on their e-Portfolios today. https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/footnotes-block/
Really enjoyed listening (on Huffduffer for 30 days) to Preparing for ReclaimPress from YouTube even though it is not really in my wheelhouse (maybe a link to my Glow Blogs role). The possibilities for WordPress keep on growing. Jim @jimgroom talks about moving DS106 to this infrastructure. I still think DS106's WordPress setup (as is micro.blog) is a great example of how we should run educational community.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-to-preparing-for-reclaimpress/
New post, iMac-less in the classroom:
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/imac-less-in-the-classroom/
"Second, companies rationalise these emissions by buying “Offsets”, which are the contemporary equivalent of the medieval indulgences that annoyed Martin Luther.
John Naughton https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/19/the-world-has-a-big-appetite-for-ai-but-we-really-need-to-know-the-ingredients
@torb test, that was x-posted from microblog. Looks like multiple links don't do well. The episode was: https://www.rsspod.net/baldur-bjarnason
Listening to @baldur on @martinfeld‘s Really Specific Stories. Glad I was driving, not sipping coffee! Contrary views to other episodes, strongly put across. Powerful on RSS & interface! Interesting on text vs podcasts vs video. https://mircro.blog/martinfeld
@toddconaway @sleslie @grantpotter
Grid World, had me at HyperCard. 😎
@tdc looks like your website is down.
We had a nice walk up to Greenside Reservoir this afternoon. Blue skies & clouds with a fair breeze. Lots of sees, thistles & rosebay all the way. lots of angelica & meadowsweet too. Plenty of butterflies, green veined whites, peacocks, a couple of red admirals and a small tortoiseshell. Quite a few small dragonflies to fast to id. A fox running through the long grass. Plenty of goldfinches. #nature #flora #fauna
Read: You Have a Friend in 10A: Stories by Maggie Shipstead ★★★★★ 📚
Loved these absorbing stories. Wide ranging settings & situations. Plenty of surprises. The only disappointment, an expected last story turned into acknowledgments & extract from The Great Circle.
Liked: Identity as a product: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/18302-2/
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4222 #ds106
07-29 Kilpatrick first field, a wee fox comes out of the long grass, takes a look at us & disappears into the undergrowth
07-30 a fledgling magpie capers around the ice cream shop
07-31 Nothing Noticed
08-01 palace rooftop, ragwort sprouts & a wagtail.
08-02 out on the firth a couple of gannets slant into the water
08-03 among today’s snaps, a linnet, not the large dark blue dragonfly.
08-04 on the moor picked up a birthday balloon & found a punk caterpillar
@simonwheatley quite unpleasant, but occasionally amusing:
On a walk today I saw yet another birthday balloon (they get everywhere). When I went to pick it up and pop it in my rucksack I saw this wee guy, now Identified as a Vapourer Moth Caterpillar. looks like a punk type of bug.
Kilpatrick Braes this morning: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/kilpatrick-braes-this-morning/
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4220 #ds106
Between 2015 & 2020 my #RaspberryPi made 122,725 gifs from the view outside my window and postet them to tumblr
Example month:
https://raspskypi.tumblr.com/archive/2018/7
Life in Links 50: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-50/
@FloydyStu the eyes behind!
Linlithgow Palace Fountain Detail, I am not sure if this is a lion or sun man face? More snaps on flickr. https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&safe_search=1&tags=linlithgowpalace&user_id=71428177%40N00&view_all=1&min_taken_date=1690844400&max_taken_date=1690930799
I am beginning to see more peacock butterflies again, this one and more at Old Kilpatrick yesterday.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4216 #ds106
https://pi.johnj.info/tdc/tdc4216/
and one I made earlier for demonstrating something to my class:
https://pi.johnj.info/tdc/tdc4216/arc.html
I had a walk around Glen Douglas yesterday. Lots to see, more on the walkmap Missing from the photos are lots of Scotch Argus butterflies who did not stand still. http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720310102943&m=2023-07-28-Glen-Douglas.gpx
Between Beinn Bhrec & Ben Reoch
Deer grazing, 50 yds ahead, I stop for a couple of snaps, they move off slowly, soon pausing. In front of me a fawn approaches to 20 yards, then stops & stares. I watch a moment then move to send it after the adults. 4 stags in velvet & 2 hinds.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/deer-between-beinn-bhrec-ben-reoch/
@tdc @cogdog @jimgroom #dailycreate #tdc4214 #ds106 I an not sure I am capable of a suitable creative thank you that is good enough for Jim & Alan.
According to Wikipedia "the most important skill for a system administrator is problem solving" Perhaps Alan & Jim have turned this on its head #DS106 style and do a fair bit of "problem Giving".
They also are supportive & inspiring and have had a huge affect on my online life, #4life
@magsamond What a gorgeous flower 🙏
🔁 Boosted from @DrGarcia:
27 Jul 2023, 15:14https://johnjohnston.info/blog/sinead-oconnor/
Two videos, The second is as brave a performance as could be.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4212 #ds106 Letter Art econo @jimgroom might approve
More on Flickr #nature https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=71428177%40N00&sort=date-taken-desc&view_all=1&text=&min_taken_date=1689894000&max_taken_date=1689980399
Watched: Your website is a slow, bloated, carbon-belching monstrosity: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/watched-your-website-is-a-slow-bloated-carbon-belching-monstrosity/
🔁 Boosted from @laurenheywood:
Three different shades of oregano flowers happening at once #BloomScrolling
🔁 Boosted from @weblearning:
Teens are back at school (reluctantly). Our morning walk is back, dogs are pleased. Emmarentia Park is looking beautiful, as always. There’s something to be said for predictable routines.
Playing around, ChatGPT got me to black and white. I use ImageMagick occasionally, for tasks I repeat a lot (mapgrids for example) I’ll not learn much of it. ChatGPT may speed up my simple needs.
convert ravens.jpg -threshold 30% -fill white +opaque black bw.jpg
🔁 Boosted from @jimgroom:
Metropolis crossed with Dr Caligari’s Cabinet or Terminal D in Dallas Fort Worth Airport?
Took a short walk on the braes this morning. Lotos of interesting birds around. #nature
Life in Links 49: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-49/
@cogdog @twwoodward I am watching:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/activitypub/
The author @pfefferle now works in Automattic I use a few of his IndieWeb plugins
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4200 #ds106
Seems there are quite a lot of answers even at primary school level ;-)
@cogdog
Same thing here:
http://git.johnj.info/tweets/#
I notice a similar shape of decrease in tweets per month over the last few years
@toddconaway @tdc been working/playing with this for a while. 15 minutes drive from the city, full of folk but with quiet spots.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4198 #ds106
https://pi.johnj.info/kilpatrick/
Is the best place for me when I am grumpy.
@jenett select.pink is very good. Thanks.
@dhabecker yup, loved HC. Just right mix of power & simplicity. Something like it with keynote style graphics & may be more internet scripting, would be a marvel.
Nostalgia. Recently I’ve seen teacher’s “apps” created with PowerPoint or Keynote I wonder what we could do with HyperTalk in Keynote?
🔁 Boosted from @laurenheywood:
Finally seeing bees regularly at the plot makes me me happy. They appeared in April then seemed to disappear for the whole of May and into June. Feel reassured this evening to see quite a few hanging around the allotment flowers
My use of Twitter has reduced massively of late. I still follow the odd link to see content. This is often in an iOS app. These usually open in the app’s ‘own’ browser rather than jump to Safari. This leads to a login page and I give up. 🤷🏻♂️
After not posting to Instagram for over 18 months, I signed up for Threads. So far, a whole bunch of posts from accounts I don’t know stream by quite quickly. Disconcerting. I still dislike the algorithm.
@clhendricksbc thanks. I think there is a better one if my geometry was better.
I was watching this Golden-ringed Dragonfly as it caught onto a reed which bent under its weight.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4187 #ds106 Splitting headaches I think there is a better gif here somewhere...
Walk up Beinn Chaorach from Glen Fruin yesterday afternoon. Lots of wildflowers & ravens.
School finished for the summer in the pouring rain at 1pm today. By 5 O’clock the sun and a few butterflies were out, including this Meadow Brown. By the Kelvin near the vet school.
chat.openai.com apologizes: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/chat-openai-com-apologizes/
Kilpatrick Braes: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/kilpatrick-braes-4/
Life in Links 48: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/life-in-links-48/
@nomadwarmachine looks lovely. I was way off course.
@nomadwarmachine @tdc I feel I should know where those trees are? is that the Clyde in the background?
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4175 #ds106
I've not got one favourite tree, but I really like this oak, wind blasted on the moor edge. It lives a hard life.
Lovely father’s day walk from Stronachlachar round the west end of Loch Katrine. warm day, but good breeze and not much in the way of hills made for pleasant stroll. lots to see. More photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/troutcolor/albums/72177720309142241
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4173 #ds106
trickier than I though, forgot digits!
Listened: Seawilding – Scotland: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-seawilding-scotland/
We saw a pair of adults dabchicks feeding 3 very young chicks earlier this week. This evening one adult fishing and feeding a chick, another adult, with a chick peeping out from its feathers, on a nest.
#fauna #nature #birds #Glasgow
Quoted Strap on that Jetpack, Fly Over the Dead Bird in the Road (cogdogblog.com)
I’m no super billionaire businessman, but to cut off the world’s largest web publishing platform from adding content to your product is— dumb ass to the nth degree. https://cogdogblog.com/2023/06/dead-birdd/
Liked Stacks by tommy (peatstacks.uk)
An audiovisual exploration of the past, present and futures of three peatlands: Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor."
Rather lovely mix of video, music & voices on peatland. https://peatstacks.uk/
@cogdog possible gif??
A quick test of Jetpack’s AI assistant. I asked it about H5P because I’ve been using and writing a bit about it recently. https://h5p.org/
@toddconaway @tdc slight revision https://pi.johnj.info/tdc/tdc4163.html
just for fun
@toddconaway @tdc a wee bit of the flickr api from another project.
The story sounds great, might borrow some of the words...
@cogdog marvellous
@dajb thanks for that link Doug. I was a fan in the late 80s of his writing about conservation/zoos. Looks like he is still interesting.
Really proud to watch Our Lives – Series 7: My Husband the MMA Fighter. Filmed, Produced & Directed by Chritine Johnston, my daughter. On BBC iPlayer:
@cogdog made for a bucking dog!
I had to uninstall soundcloud a while ago as it was messing up sound. I’d forgotten about it!
AudioHijack will do broadcasting like nicecast. Some nice tricks in there.
farrago Is pretty cool too. I used it to add daft stuff using lockdown lessons with my pupils. It would be good for #ds106Radio
@cogdog rogue amoeba make beautiful software.
@jimgroom looks like it suits you. Congratulations.
Nice to see @livedtime on Mastodon. Looking forward to daily ideas and reminders to be still.
Listened to: “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton Warns of the “Existential Threat” of AI: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-to-godfather-of-ai-geoffrey-hinton-warns-of-the-existential-threat-of-ai/
Walk around Kilpatrick muir this afternoon. Warm sunny, blue skys, lots of butterflies: small heath; green veined whites; orange tips, orange not identified. Red Kite flying above the moor, 1st I've seen here.
A nice walk yesterday. Lots to see. Highlights, green hairstreak butterfly & a pair of red squirrels chasing through the trees.Stank is a strange word.
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/breaval-to-the-stank-and-back/
Read: The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean ★★★★★ 📚
Flawless seventies recreation. Suburban, gothic, ghosts, teenage energy all with a depth of detail. No modern language, attitudes or slip up. Exciting too.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4152 #ds106
DS106 Gif TV still running & producing odd synchronicity
Bookmarked: Building a Block-Based Microblog: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/bookmarked-building-a-block-based-microblog/
Listened: Micro Camp 2023: Miraz Jordan: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/17973-2/
@magsamond Water Avens I think.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4145 #ds106
https://johnjohnston.info/oddsandends/flickrRandom/ds106.html
I'll get my coat;-)
Bookmarked AudioMoth: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/bookmarked-audiomoth/
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4144 #ds106 Imagine The Instrument
My #LazyCreate
an instrument made out of bicycle spokes and rusty shopping-cart wheels, generated with kapwing a bot answering a bot...
Listened: BBC Radio 4 – Word of Mouth, Chatbots: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-bbc-radio-4-word-of-mouth-chatbots/
#dailycreate #tdc4139 #ds106 “Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" in the style of William Blake via AI
Liked Highly Protected Marine Areas: The men in grey suits need to listen to fragile island communities by Andy Wightman (Holyrood)
The row over HPMAs is yet another example of top-down government
Read: William Blake vs the World by John Higgs ★★★☆☆ 📚
Years ago I enjoyed the songs & Marriage of Heaven and Hell, I was baffled by Blake’s prophetic books. Light is shone on this personal mythology. Amusing links to how Blake is used now, e.g. Jerusalem.
@cogdog I remember when one bought software and had it at hand. I guess that is too simple or less profitable now.
Liked: The Verb – The Sound Designed Verb: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/liked-the-verb-the-sound-designed-verb/
It is a holiday, it is raining:
https://eycndy.com
h/t @jenett
Dawn this morn, REVEIL 2023 streaming: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/dawn-this-morn-reveil-2023-streaming/
@magsamond I've been interested in desire lines for a while, can see them in New Towns here, deer paths can be interesting too. My own desire lines tend to wander about a bit.
@magsamond enjoys skimming your theses
http://www.tara.tcd.ie/handle/2262/102584
"Desire Lines" and "Open Spaces" are important concepts.
Joining the #stream for the annual celebration of Dawn Chorus Day. Organized by @soundtent 'Reveil travels West on live audio feeds from streamers around the world at daybreak.' I 'm at
http://locus.creacast.com:9001/GlasgowWest
Lovely find Doug!
@nomadwarmachine @tdc #tdc4130 #ds106 same tune came to my mind.
Life is but a dream...
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4125 #ds106 Not sure if my tablescapes reflect my mind, but there is a certain consistency…
Ardinning this afternoon, first cuckoo I’ve heard this year and the first nuthatch I’ve ever seen. Very blurry photo:
@tdc Today's #DS106 challange is worth more than a tweet. #tdc4124 #ds106
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/re-tdc4124-ds106-is-today-the-day-it-all-breaks/
Liked: Forest Bass: Dispatches from a cabin in the woods | Caught by the River by Mark Mattock.
Nice dub metaphor, from an undisclosed location, which sounds idilic.
https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2023/04/mark-mattock-forest-bass-column
Read: The Young Accomplice by Benjamin Wood ★★★★☆ 📚
Wonderful queasy tension. Siblings, out of Borstal in the early 1950s bring all sorts of baggage to farm training centre for young humane architects.
@nomadwarmachine snap:
https://flic.kr/p/2ov4ENH
Lots of peacocks about in the sun
@jenett @ericphelps
Lovely. Some look almost as if they could be here, Scotland, then cactus!
@cogdog happy blog birthday. A great set of post titles too!
🔁 Boosted from @toddconaway:
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4114 #ds106
"Write a to do list"
No thanks.
I am tired of trying force order in the chaos.
I am tired of numbered lists and bulleted lists.
Even the not ordered, is ordered in vertical arrangement.
No thanks, I don't need the order anymore.
Give me a sunrise and hopefully a sunset.
That is enough.
I don't need to do anymore than breathe alongside the time between.
@nomadwarmachine @toddconaway @tdc #dailycreate #tdc4114 #ds106
This reminded my to restart my taDa.txt file today, an idea borrowed from @sheilmcn
TaDa.txt is file I try to add something to celebrate at the end of the working day. I had forgotten about it for a while, now restarted.
I’ve also got another one where I add one, very short, nature note per day. Managed to do every day this year so far.
Both happier places than a todo list;-)
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4110 #ds106
The marvellous Me Cheeta:
https://micro.blog/books/9780062047199?title=Me+Cheeta&author=Cheeta&cover_id=75810
At the far side of the forth & Clyde Canal. Quite often see foxes sleeping along the canal in the sun.
#fox #nature
@dogtrax Thank you. It is lovely seeing the photo put to good use. I enjoyed the listen.
🔁 Boosted from @Ammienoot:
I am reassured that the (probably) inevitable heat-death of the planet will most likely be caused by the generation of tepid prose for bullshit pointless purposes by LLMs. https://futurism.com/the-byte/chatgpt-ai-water-consumption
@jenett hi Joe, thanks, I’ll give that one a go.
Looking for a Replacement for Trails: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/looking-for-a-replacement-for-trails/
@jenett Hi Joe, I can imagine keeping up the stream was a huge job. I've started easier versions a few times & didn't keep them up.
#linkylove however looks like it will fill a gap, the first one opened a few rabbit holes :-)
@jenett I’ll certainly miss these two feeds. They have enriched my browsing and widened my serendipity surface. Feeds of amazing range & depth. Thanks Joe.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4104 #ds106
Three clear notes from a blackbird
Had a walk along the pipetrack and up Slackdhu this afternoon. Bright & warm. Notes, photos and map: walkmap http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720307343835&m=2023-04-08-Slackdhu.gpx
@dogtrax @cogdog might be of interest:
https://johnjohnston.info/106/photo-bending-with-audio-shop/
@dogtrax I think the idea is to edit the picture in photoshop or the like and then convert it back to music. I didn’t try that.
Although I remember exporting images as raw, edit in audacity and open as an image to glitch pictures. @cogdog had a tutorial.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4100 #ds106
Here is one I made yesterday:
https://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?m=2023-04-04-Balagan-Glen.gpx&f=72177720307249875
I took a walk to Ballagan yesterday. always a fascinating place. Ravens & crows swooping and rushing at each other. Quite a few signs of spring.
Notes, photos on the walkmap
http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720307249875&m=2023-04-04-Balagan-Glen.gpx
Bookmarked What I Mean When I Say Critical AI Literacy by Maha Bali.
Readings/videos on inequality/oppression created, exacerbated, or reproduced by AI/algorithms:
Interesting thoughts & a collection of links to look through. Holiday reading.
In reply to So long, Twitter API, and thanks for all the fish by Ryan Barrett.
Well, it’s come to this. Twitter is burning, a billionaire owes money, an API will soon get lobotomized, so Bridgy‘s Twitter support will die within the month.
A lot of the reactions on my blog come from Twitter thanks to Bridgy. A marvellous service. I really disliked it when Twitter swallowed comments, then Bridgy came to the rescue. Thanks so much for all of Bridgy.
Likes IndieBlocks 0.6.2 Released by Jan.
I’ve been keeping half an eye on this. I’m not fully onboard with blocks yet and don’t really know how this will fit with the post kinds plug-in I usually use. https://indieblocks.xyz/blog/indieblocks-0-6-2-released/
@jimgroom @judell Jim, your blog post looks pretty weird on the individual post page. Quite normal on the home page. +1 for micro.blog here. I'm there via my WordPress blog, it is an amazing example of a community driven by RSS, reminds me of something...
Purple Mountain Saxifrage, first time I’ve seen this, flowering just above 2000ft in the shelter of a bolder. Hardy wee flower.
evidence-led innovation: https://wp.me/p57zFQ-4CE
Listened: 246 – Building your own social network with the Friends plugin: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/listened-246-building-your-own-social-network-with-the-friends-plugin/
Not By AI Badges — A Badge for Your AI-free Content https://notbyai.fyi/
Via @jenett
Bookmarked: UK National Parks Sound Map: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/bookmarked-uk-national-parks-sound-map/
I’ve now got a page for my stream for the REVEIL 2023 Dawn Chorus Day weekend set up on soundtent here https://streams.soundtent.org/2023/streams/utc1_-ddad3d43-e296-4c73-8cb1-bef33d0697b2
I noted REVEIL 24+1 hour daybreak broadcast a few weeks ago. I’ve now set up an account for Locus Sonus’s sound map. I tested the Locuscast app on my phone and it working. I’ve not up a stream page on soundtent yet, but there is time before 5:00am on the 5th of May.
@josiefraser until now I couldn't imagine this. What a terrible position to be in.
@toddconaway @tdc same date, I think was part of the same #ds106 vibration gifAchrome was AFAIR Rockylou inspired too.
@toddconaway @tdc heh, repurpose of old 2014 gif made for daily. Had to get out the 2011 MacBook to run FireWorks to edit!
Read Hindsight: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/read-hindsight/
Back to Glen Finlas again. Hoped to see Snow Buntings, I did fleetingly. Went round same circuit as Sunday in reverse.
Notes & photos on map: [mapwalk m=2023-02-15-Finlas-hills.gpx f=72177720306034151] https://johnjohnston.info/blog/february-finlas-walk/
Walk round Ardinning this afternoon. Quite still, some sun 7°C, almost spring like. Goldeneye and wigeon on the loch, a few roe and the croak of a raven.
First walk in a while over a couple of Glen Finlas hills. Even though we cut it short I was pretty puffed on the up! Saw my first snow bunting in the clouds.
Notes & photos: walkmap http://johnjohnston.info/walks/maps.html?f=72177720305970859&m=2023-02012-Finlas.gpx
@dajb they are the future we need!
@dajb best breakfast, but might be going away😱
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/28/future-less-bright-orange-marmalade
Looks interesting:
AppleScript Library to post and read mastodon.
I’ve just transitioned to a mac mini. My 2016 MacBook pro was bulging horribly. Battery knackered. The keyboard was duff from the start. I don’t need a pro machine nor a portable one now so a mini seemed a good choice. Basic model but with 1TB disk & 16 mb ram.
@Downes That is very poor, I expected better from tumblr.
@Downes a few years ago I had several images flagged and a tumblr restricted.
The site was very innocent
https://raspskypi.tumblr.com/archive
They were quite quick to sort things out when I contacted support.
Looking Up at Two Oaks, I took the class down to the woods today to gather words, sketch and play a game or two. The pupils really took to sitting quietly drawing the bare trees.
@magsamond "polite space" would do for me. Certainly part of the fascination.
@dogtrax looks great! We are having a week or so of unseasonably dryish weather here. Warmer than usual too. I love seeing the international contrast too. Good luck in spring, I hope to see the photos.
Had a short walk around lunchtime at the edge of the Kilpatrick Braes. Blue Skies! Buzzards, Kestrel, Bullfinches & a Raven.
@don_iain yup. I felt uneasy for a good while especially schools using for main comms. What message does that give?
@don_iain 👋 nice to see you here
@magsamond thanks, I am quite fascinated by the different shapes trees make when you look up.
@dogtrax thanks. I needed the text so that I can search for it on my first of year page:
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/portfolio/first-of-year/
I was trying to be purist about #silentsunday 😃
@toddconaway I am always surprised when my class of 11 year old are not as excited by this as me when I point iPad at Apple TV🤣 There is a “last possible Tod” joke here for folk who have read “A mouse and his child” but Russell Hoban.
The FeedLand Roadmap: https://wp.me/p57zFQ-4z9
🔁 Boosted from @jimgroom:
New blog post: "Mission Mastodon: This Server Will Explode in 90 Days" https://bavatuesdays.com/mission-mastodon-this-server-will-explode-in-90-days/ This an ALT/Reclaim EdTech co-production, and I am really excited about it @reclaimhosting
Quite delightfully crazy!
Too Slow. New Year’s Day, I was driving home & stopped by the police. I was going too slow. Asked why, I say, I was listening to a poem on the radio. Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert, it was worth slowing down for. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48132/failing-and-flying
@cogdog @wfryer lovely. I see both myself and Wes in the comments on that post! “What a tangled we we weave”.
@toddconaway @tdc heh, love the gif, you head could settle on the shoulders of your own blog;-)
@cogdog @wfryer coincidentally on this day in 2009 I posted about posterous:
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/wei-wu-wei-blogging-posterous/
Found via Alan's on this day plugin. A continuing source of fascination.
Read: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka ★★★★★ 📚
Great read. I know almost nothing about Sri Lanka. Surprisingly touching given the setting, the after life, a world of ghosts & demons many the result of political killings.
@cogdog oh I really loved posterous, until it went, then I didn’t Made building an open to anyone podcast simple.
@jenett and what a fun blog it shows us! Haiku looms large and I think there may be a few found poems in this graphic: taking other magic, leaving untapped things, always getaway happy, create endless haiku. (Not a haiku;-)
@xannov I've not seen that movie for decades. Loved it.
@dogtrax @crash just made one this morning with word loud cli. I use it quite a lot
https://johnjohnston.info/blog/2022-in-titles/
ChatGPT for Lazy Teachers: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/chatgpt-for-lazy-teachers/
2022 in titles, made with wordcloud cli. https://amueller.github.io/word_cloud/cli.html
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc4008 #ds106
A random seasonal mix from
https://johnjohnston.info/oddsandends/flickrRandom/
Original photos: https://flic.kr/p/2kHbdY1 & https://flic.kr/p/2mkFi2b cc-by f cc-by-nc
@tdc #tdc4007 #ds106 I asked chatGPT for help drawing a spiral and took it from there:
https://pi.johnj.info/tdc/tdc4007.html
@cogdog super. I've never seen cubs in the wild. Looks like Canadian foxes have longer legs.
Fox hunting in the long grass, late afternoon on the edge of the Kilpatrick Braes.
🔁 Boosted from @Sheri42:
A little vintage retro new year’s greeting— flat version one
#makingarteveryday #decemberdoodle #decdoodle #cldoodle22 #midcentury#warmup4art #clmooc #winter #holidays #vintage #retro #newyears
@cogdog I've never seen you over my shoulder Alan, more likely way up in the future. Daily photos are beyond me.
2022 Books: https://wp.me/p57zFQ-4xl
@dogtrax some lovely images!
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc3999 #ds106 behind each Black hole is a surrealist vision. In this case a cubomania gif
ScotEduBlogs Revival?: https://johnjohnston.info/blog/scotedublogs-revival/
Bookmarked https://pudding.cool/2022/12/yard-sale/.
Both fascinating & depressing
ScotEduBlogs is now on Mastodon: https://wp.me/p57zFQ-4x8
@toddconaway @tdc hypnotised 😵💫
@MoreThanMaths thank you. I had some good days. We do occasionally get grey skies in Scotland but I must have missed them🤣
Read: A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore ★★★★☆ 📚
Broken characters crumble with the house. Lyrical countryside. The young ones grow wild. Relationships are awkward or too intense. The first world war appears out of nowhere.
@Downes I guess only instances that TWTR knows about. I quote tweeted your tweet and added my #ds106 mastodon url.
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc3983 #ds106 #ds106 the choice of Emotional Support Animal should take into consideration the suitability of the supported person's accommodation. Alfred dignity often suffered when being delivered to upper floor flats.
🔁 Boosted from @weblearning:
Creative Commons are offering their CC Certificate courses, starting 30 January 2023! If you are looking for CC-certified expertise in open licenses & open practices in education, librarianship or cultural heritage. Or thinking about what it means to engage in our global, shared information common then > https://certificates.creativecommons.org
@drewburrett just spotted you!
Liked: https://snarfed.org/2022-12-06_48514
I’ve not posted to Instagram for over a year. I don’t miss the adverts or bonkers timeline. I do miss photos from family & folks I don’t see elsewhere online. This sorts that out via my RSS reader.
🔁 Boosted from @jimgroom:
Saw this Great Blue Heron fishing in the Fersina yesterday
@tdc #dailycreate #tdc3979 #ds106 A happy place near where I live (in the city) but very different from the view from my window.
@tdc @toddconaway beautiful places!
More Podcasting in the Classroom thoughts: https://wp.me/p57zFQ-4w5
Listened: Scotland Outdoors, The Complexities of Deer Management in Scotland from BBC
I've walked some of the ground discussed. The interaction of deer, trees & the habitat is
more complex than I thought. Really interesting half hour.
Read: The High Window by Raymond Chandler ★★★★☆ 📚
One of a few comfort re-reads. Always enjoy Chandler despite some dated attitudes. This one has the usual slick chat, lots of smoking and a tangled web.
> Moist eyes with the sympathetic expression of wet stones
If you are happy using a few #IndieWeb plugins and setting up indieauth & micropub you could use quill:
https://quill.p3k.io
@tdc dailycreate #tdc3973 #ds106 my current Favourite plant is the sundew, tiny, carnivorous jewel in the mud.
🔁 Boosted from @toddconaway:
Very proud of the restoration work my aunt and uncle are doing. https://www.ijpr.org/wildfire/2022-11-26/bringing-back-the-beavers
@jimgroom @taylorjadin the radio posts I've seen here today look a lot tidier than some twitter x-posts I certainly appreciate that.
@taylorjadin I think folk with a huge follower/following in balance will prefer twitter. I guess their experience will be more performative and broadcast rather than a conversation. I love micro.blog's "no follower count" approach. I hope a small mastodon instance will make a good place to hang out.
@jimgroom @taylorjadin well from WordPress you can post to both via brid.gy and some other services if you like.
There are the ones I've enabled.
_In reply tohttps://social.ds106.us/@jimgroom/109403596054474654._
@jimgroom Posting from my blog to social.ds106.us is working fine. Now replying with the indieblocks plugin & brid.gy.
Listened to this episode of the ATP pocdcast as they were talking about mastodon. They talked about the problems of scaling, large instances and what would happen when celebrities arrive. Personally I don’t want to follow celebrities or even slightly famous people who I can’t engage with. I love the idea of small instances of quite like minded folk combined with the ability to interact with other groups.
@jimgroom week there are two things to test. Publishing & connecting. If you turn the proxy back on I'll test the publish this evening. I'll try to work out how to test the connection...
@jimgroom is awesome, not a word I use often. Solved my brid.gy to social.ds106.us problem today in this thread:
https://social.ds106.us/@johnjohnston/109399129466178554
This post starts on my blog and hopefully gets to mastodon via brid.gy
Quite a few redwings in Victoria Park this morning. Didn’t get a good photo.
@jimgroom yup. Did the trick. Thanks so much.
@jimgroom possible fix:
https://github.com/doorkeeper-gem/doorkeeper/issues/1554#issuecomment-1304606633
@jimgroom brid.gy does mention that this can be a flaky process. There is an issue:
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/12915
Which might help. I've tried the signed out workaround a few times today but not doing it so far.
Not really a big deal as manual POSSE can be a little more thoughtful.
@jimgroom Thanks Jim,
i get another error now, from mastodon:
We're sorry, but something went wrong on our end. I don't really know much (anything) about how brid.gy works. But at the moment I've got backfeeding comments on mastodon to my blog working. The think that is sticking is auto posting via brid.gy to mastodon. To do that I need to get brid.gy to authenticate with mastodon. In my previous instance, I got it working after quite a while of repeated trying 1/2
Having trouble getting brid.gy hooked up to the #ds106 mastodon instance:
https://social.ds106.us/oauth/authorize? And a lot of parameters gives a cloud flare bad gateway 502 error. @jimgroom any ideas? I seem to remember it took a while to get my previous instance sorted…
I wonder how many more of these are lurking?
Revealed: Tory peer Michelle Mone secretly received £29m from ‘VIP lane’ PPE firm
I seem to have managed to move to social.ds106.us without damage?