Links of Note
Remember back in the Web 0.x days when every home page had a collection of interesting links to other sites? It was a way to discover stuff online naturally instead of according to some recommendation algorithm. Let's do that again.
Interesting
- Atlas Obscura
- Interesting places to travel and hidden gems like the metal sculptures in the California desert near Borrego Springs or the factory tours at Tillamook Creamery.
- Indie Web Directory at Indieseek.xyz
- "A small human curated, searchable, directory of web links to both websites and to individual web pages. We try and list pages that are informative, fun, classic and useful." Or you can use the Stumblizer to open a random link!
- Dracula Daily
- The classic vampire novel was written as a collection of letters, diary entries, newspaper articles and so on...each item dated, starting May 3. This mailing list sends out each day's entries from now up through the conclusion in November.
Crowdsourcing
- iNaturalist
- Citizen science: Look for wild animals, plants and other life in your area, photograph them and report where you saw them and what they were doing. Think of it as Pokémon Go for real animals!
- OpenStreetMap
- Imagine Google Maps if you didn't have to rely on Google's pervasive surveillance. A work in progress (just like the world is) that you can update or fill in yourself, licensed to ensure it stays open. I use StreetComplete and Vespucci to contribute on my Android phone.
- BOINC (Distributed Computing)
- Contribute spare computing power on your computer or device to various scientific projects. Debian and Fedora based Linux distributions include the app in their package managers, an Android version is available through F-Droid, and they offer installers for Windows, Mac, and other Linuxes.
- Alternative To
- List of a zillion apps and services, alternatives to each, with user comments, ratings and reviews.
- Switching.software
- "Ethical, easy-to-use and privacy-conscious alternatives to well-known software"
- Delightful Club
- Curated lists of software, projects and services that aim for the Internet's promise of knowledge, connection and freedom.
Web Presence
- Grow Your Own Services
- Billed as "A beginner's guide to creating your own little corner of the internet," this site is a good introduction to how and why you might want to run your own online social presence and cloud software.
- IndieWeb
- A movement to build online presence around individual websites again, instead of on social media sites run by companies that don't necessarily have our interests at heart.
- World of Ends
- "What the Internet Is and How to Stop Mistaking It for Something Else." Classic 2003 article that describes what the Internet is: a network that tosses stuff from one computer to another. All the interesting stuff happens at one end or another of that connection. Basically, Net Neutrality before the term existed.
- The Garden and Stream
- We've gotten used to posting online as a chronological stream of information. But that's not always the best way to do it. Sometimes it's better to build and update a topic-based garden.
- Project Gemini
- An ultra-light Internet protocol designed to be almost as light as gopher, but with just a little bit of weblike features. I have a Gemini capsule at gemini://hyperborea.org. Some apps you can use to view Gemini capsules include Lagrange (Win/Mac/Linux/etc) and Amfora (terminal).
- Join the Fediverse
- Wiki describing the distributed social network(s), how projects like Mastodon and Pixelfed and Lemmy fit into it, and how to get started.
Software for Websites
- ClassicPress (self-hosted)
- Community-driven fork of the well-known CMS engine WordPress. I use ClassicPress for my main blog. Read on for my full review.
- IndieWeb for WordPress
- Plugin that adds key IndieWeb features to WordPress or ClassicPress and bundles other plugins that provide more connections like Webmentions
- ActivityPub for WordPress
- Plugin that puts a WordPress or ClassicPress site on the Fediverse as an account people can follow directly.
- Eleventy (11ty)
- A super-flexible static site generator, meaning instead of building pages every time they're accessed, it builds everything as HTML files that you can upload anywhere. I use it for my less-frequent blogs like Re-Reading Les Mis and subsites like my tech tips and reviews
- Known
- A light blogging engine that connects with multiple other services including extensive IndieWeb support.
- Write Freely
- A minimalist blogging engine that's directly part of the Fediverse. The self-hosted version of the software used for the Write.as service.
- GoToSocial
- A lightweight Fediverse server for social networking, compatible with the more famous Mastodon and suitable for small servers. I'm running @kelson@notes.kvibber.com on the smallest-available Linode server with no hiccups. If you're curious, I've written a longer review.
- Lichen
- "The simplest possible CMS for the web that is friendly enough for non-technical users."
- Agate (Gemini Server)
- A simple server for Gemini capsules, handles static files (but not dynamic pages) and virtual hosts.
Other
- Standard Ebooks
- Great source of classics and other public domain material that have been formatted and edited for consistent readability, compatible with just about any eBook reader. I’ve read several books from here and they’ve all looked great.