The Mutable Web(simulacrum.party)
simulacrum.party
The Mutable Web
https://simulacrum.party/posts/the-mutable-web/
27 comments
> designed their frames to prioritize content
Not only is most content delivered snippets devoid of styling, the lowest common denominator Internet user is just (1) the only source of growth nowadays and (2) utterly conditioned to expect everything looks like a Google SERP, so (3) everything looks like a Google SERP.
Not only is most content delivered snippets devoid of styling, the lowest common denominator Internet user is just (1) the only source of growth nowadays and (2) utterly conditioned to expect everything looks like a Google SERP, so (3) everything looks like a Google SERP.
#offtopic - what CMS do you use in your blog?
Jekyll static site with a custom template.
Well, not Jekyll, but similar. I built my own static site generator.
@jamesjyu @simulacrumparty I liked both! Simple and minimalistic. @simulacrumparty Is your staticgen opensource? Like to have a minimalistic one like that.
I believe that the web could be so much more if competition between platforms was somehow decoupled from competition between UIs. It would be incredible if every social network had a marketplace of competing UIs, allowing for rapid front-end innovation.
Of course, many services provide APIs, so in theory this decoupling is already possible, but the problem is that many platforms rely on advertising & promoted content for their revenue, so they need to maintain control over the front-end and therefore won't allow people to build alternative UIs.
I don't know how to solve the revenue problem. I just wish we could find a way to have UI competition.
Of course, many services provide APIs, so in theory this decoupling is already possible, but the problem is that many platforms rely on advertising & promoted content for their revenue, so they need to maintain control over the front-end and therefore won't allow people to build alternative UIs.
I don't know how to solve the revenue problem. I just wish we could find a way to have UI competition.
Before behemoths funded by free-but-spying software/services took over, protocols and standards were a thing and had some power, at least. They've (largely Google, but not just them) been slowly killing them. Can't risk making it easy for eyeballs to leave your platform (ugh) since that's what you're selling, and you can't just stick ads in (say) their RSS feed since that doesn't help you track what people click, let alone spy on them across other sites.
Basically protocols are what you want, but they don't make it easy enough to be shitty, so they're dying until we outlaw (yes, with actual laws) being shitty. Which may never happen.
Basically protocols are what you want, but they don't make it easy enough to be shitty, so they're dying until we outlaw (yes, with actual laws) being shitty. Which may never happen.
I really want to try this.
A new Reddit
- but with the Wikipedia funding model
- with Snapchat's ephemerality
- an amazing API and all open source code
- all submissions cc-by-sa licensed
Since profit isn't a motive, it would encourage the proliferation of new frontends and clients. As well as really cool mashups (haven't heard that term in awhile - probably due to increasingly closed ecosystems.)
Without having to save user generated content you can save tremendously on servers. You don't have to scale other than enough to handle the fire hose. Everything could reside in memory. Just Redis and Rust.
The content gets scrubbed after a week. No sharded storage is necessary. But due to the license, others can persist content they like.
There's next to zero value in looking up old posts. I don't know why this hasn't been done.
A new Reddit
- but with the Wikipedia funding model
- with Snapchat's ephemerality
- an amazing API and all open source code
- all submissions cc-by-sa licensed
Since profit isn't a motive, it would encourage the proliferation of new frontends and clients. As well as really cool mashups (haven't heard that term in awhile - probably due to increasingly closed ecosystems.)
Without having to save user generated content you can save tremendously on servers. You don't have to scale other than enough to handle the fire hose. Everything could reside in memory. Just Redis and Rust.
The content gets scrubbed after a week. No sharded storage is necessary. But due to the license, others can persist content they like.
There's next to zero value in looking up old posts. I don't know why this hasn't been done.
> There's next to zero value in looking up old posts. I don't know why this hasn't been done.
I genuinely cannot tell if this is satire.
A lot of subreddits are bastions of information for sometimes very niche topics. I frequently run into reddit posts that are 6+ months old but still relevant to what I'm seeking knowledge about. Outside of the programming sphere, posts from years ago generally still hold value.
Saving posts would imply that I knew what Future Me wants to look up, or praying that someone was interested and cached it. Writeups/insightful discussion would be completely wasted, and I would have to find -another- website for potential caches of things relevant to what I'm looking for.
It would be like IRC where people delve into the same topics and arguments ad infinitum.
If I wanted an ephemeral social network (like snapchat) I would use an ephemeral social network, like snapchat.
I genuinely cannot tell if this is satire.
A lot of subreddits are bastions of information for sometimes very niche topics. I frequently run into reddit posts that are 6+ months old but still relevant to what I'm seeking knowledge about. Outside of the programming sphere, posts from years ago generally still hold value.
Saving posts would imply that I knew what Future Me wants to look up, or praying that someone was interested and cached it. Writeups/insightful discussion would be completely wasted, and I would have to find -another- website for potential caches of things relevant to what I'm looking for.
It would be like IRC where people delve into the same topics and arguments ad infinitum.
If I wanted an ephemeral social network (like snapchat) I would use an ephemeral social network, like snapchat.
> A lot of subreddits are bastions of information for sometimes very niche topics.
While I don't doubt that's the case, it's incredibly difficult to get at old content due to Reddit's horrible search experience. I never look up anything old there.
While I don't doubt that's the case, it's incredibly difficult to get at old content due to Reddit's horrible search experience. I never look up anything old there.
Reddit's search has always been terrible.
site:reddit.com or site:reddit.com/r/nichesubreddit <query> is how I actually find things. Lately I actually have begun to cache important things locally, but I wouldn't assume anyone else is doing that for the particular topics or niche subsection of a topic that I'm looking up.
site:reddit.com or site:reddit.com/r/nichesubreddit <query> is how I actually find things. Lately I actually have begun to cache important things locally, but I wouldn't assume anyone else is doing that for the particular topics or niche subsection of a topic that I'm looking up.
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>The content gets scrubbed after a week. No sharded storage is necessary. But due to the license, others can persist content they like.
This is what a * chan does. N pages of content max; anything more, and the oldest thread will be "dropped off" the site.
Combined with anonymous-by-default posting, it works fairly well.
>There's next to zero value in looking up old posts. I don't know why this hasn't been done.
This is not really true; there's tons of good information that gets lost. On most * chans, this was recovered by screenshotting the thread and sharing the image around; today there are auto-archiving sites for the larger * chans, and people just link to that. But the culture still prefers sharing (edited, MS Paint) screenshots around.
This is what a * chan does. N pages of content max; anything more, and the oldest thread will be "dropped off" the site.
Combined with anonymous-by-default posting, it works fairly well.
>There's next to zero value in looking up old posts. I don't know why this hasn't been done.
This is not really true; there's tons of good information that gets lost. On most * chans, this was recovered by screenshotting the thread and sharing the image around; today there are auto-archiving sites for the larger * chans, and people just link to that. But the culture still prefers sharing (edited, MS Paint) screenshots around.
> Without having to save user generated content you can save tremendously on servers. You don't have to scale other than enough to handle the fire hose.
Or just get rid of the false binary between centralized control/data (silo model) and decentralized resource-consuming p2p apps (blockchain model).
Federation models provide a sane alternative and have proven scalable/maintainable in the long run (see email/xmpp).
For federated web protocols, see ActivityPub, Linked Data or WebSub. Outside the web, there's the old and wise XMPP.
Or just get rid of the false binary between centralized control/data (silo model) and decentralized resource-consuming p2p apps (blockchain model).
Federation models provide a sane alternative and have proven scalable/maintainable in the long run (see email/xmpp).
For federated web protocols, see ActivityPub, Linked Data or WebSub. Outside the web, there's the old and wise XMPP.
There's many ways to achieve this. Usually any standard protocol will make it possible.
On the web specifically, micropub and activitypub were designed with interoperability in mind (for the microformats and activitystreams formats respectively).
We need to use more of these (or other) standard protocols in every backend project we make: our blogs, agendas..
On the web specifically, micropub and activitypub were designed with interoperability in mind (for the microformats and activitystreams formats respectively).
We need to use more of these (or other) standard protocols in every backend project we make: our blogs, agendas..
Isn't that what Fediverse is all about or at least coming close to? The communication runs on ActivityPub (https://activitypub.rocks/) and anyone can setup their servers and clients as they wish.
maybe ActivityPub will reach some kind of critical mass.
Interestingly the images on this site did not load until I disabled my adblocker...
In the uBlock Origin settings the second tab ('Filter lists') contains a list of filter files, some of which are enabled by default and some of which aren't. I checked the boxes to enable some additional filter lists - everything in the 'Built-in' category except Experimental, and everything in the 'Annoyances' category.
It's been a while since I enabled these so I don't remember what exactly all of them do, but I rarely see a cookie banner or a modal popup subscribe dialog, I think due to these extra filters. These extra filters also include social blocking ones, which delete like/share buttons such as those from Facebook and Twitter (these buttons are useless to me). I think one of the rules in these extra filter lists is matching on your images, which are on the path '/assets/images/tmw-twitter-xxx.png.' The uBO logger shows the rule being matched as '/images/twitter-' and that it is present in Fanboy's Annoyances and Social Blocking lists.
Of course there's nothing wrong with the site, the images here are just a casualty of a blocking rule. But it was an interesting 'bug' to find.
In the uBlock Origin settings the second tab ('Filter lists') contains a list of filter files, some of which are enabled by default and some of which aren't. I checked the boxes to enable some additional filter lists - everything in the 'Built-in' category except Experimental, and everything in the 'Annoyances' category.
It's been a while since I enabled these so I don't remember what exactly all of them do, but I rarely see a cookie banner or a modal popup subscribe dialog, I think due to these extra filters. These extra filters also include social blocking ones, which delete like/share buttons such as those from Facebook and Twitter (these buttons are useless to me). I think one of the rules in these extra filter lists is matching on your images, which are on the path '/assets/images/tmw-twitter-xxx.png.' The uBO logger shows the rule being matched as '/images/twitter-' and that it is present in Fanboy's Annoyances and Social Blocking lists.
Of course there's nothing wrong with the site, the images here are just a casualty of a blocking rule. But it was an interesting 'bug' to find.
If you are nostalgic for the aesthetics of the web of old: https://cameronsworld.net
On the age before SEO it was much easier to find what you wanted. That's the nostalgic feel that I miss. Type the title of a research paper and get the direct link to the pdf.
Great post! I completely sympathize with your nostalgia for a shared Web, but I doubt a great many people know how to edit the appearance of pages they visit. I like that you've included your own buttons for light/dark mode and serif/sans. I enjoy customizing my apps' appearances (and it seems like more and more are offering this feature); but I also think your blog looks exceptionally clean and organized.
I don't completely hate Twitter's redesign-- it does include a night mode and different highlight colors. I feel like-- as a professional installation art designer, web designer, and an education in architecture-- I can spot the same obvious pitfalls of the re-design you call out: mainly, phat text and a bulky sidebar. However, it's clear you have a stronger-than-most design sense, and are sensitive to these issues.
I wonder how the everyday user-- the consumer that uses (and does not make or own) a platform-- feels about these features? How about someone who isn't adept at web design? Who can't read small text or icons?
I don't completely hate Twitter's redesign-- it does include a night mode and different highlight colors. I feel like-- as a professional installation art designer, web designer, and an education in architecture-- I can spot the same obvious pitfalls of the re-design you call out: mainly, phat text and a bulky sidebar. However, it's clear you have a stronger-than-most design sense, and are sensitive to these issues.
I wonder how the everyday user-- the consumer that uses (and does not make or own) a platform-- feels about these features? How about someone who isn't adept at web design? Who can't read small text or icons?
Thanks for the comments! I don't think the issue is ability so much as inclination. People see the web as something to consume rather than participate in so modifying a website doesn't cross their minds at all. I think with a little rebranding and some tweaking for non-devs devtools would be a fantastic way for anybody to start off slow, changing colors and so on, and gradually work their way up to more complicated CSS concepts, or even JS. I think if this functionality was right in front of people rather than being hidden deep in a menu behind the name Developer Tools, it's entirely possible people would take to it without much trouble.
> I don't completely hate Twitter's redesign
For me it's not the design, per se. It's that they changed a couple of things in the UX department that really rile me up.
1- The old design pulled for updates in the background, and the browser tab notified me that there were new tweets in my timeline (which is not a notification for every tweet, it's just letting me know there are new tweets). This doesn't work anymore. I have to open the tab and then it loads new tweets.
2- Every damn day, I have to reset the ordering of tweets to chronological. If I set an opiton I expect it to stay put.
For me it's not the design, per se. It's that they changed a couple of things in the UX department that really rile me up.
1- The old design pulled for updates in the background, and the browser tab notified me that there were new tweets in my timeline (which is not a notification for every tweet, it's just letting me know there are new tweets). This doesn't work anymore. I have to open the tab and then it loads new tweets.
2- Every damn day, I have to reset the ordering of tweets to chronological. If I set an opiton I expect it to stay put.
Regarding overriding the styles of a site, this is another possibility: https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2018/01/devtools-w...
Disclosure: Wrote that doc
Disclosure: Wrote that doc
Heavy Stylus user here, this is how I actually read the OP's article (I didn't know what it was going to be about) - https://imgur.com/dWtQKLT
Hey, that's awesome. It was important to me to design my website to be amenable to user styling so I'm glad someone is taking advantage of it!
I touched on this in a recent post here: https://www.jamesyu.org/blog/my-journey-from-frame-maker-to-...
I empathize with the author on this, but I also appreciate that platforms have designed their frames to prioritize content. This has resulted in an explosion of creativity within the frame that we wouldn't have otherwise seen, because the platforms have allowed more people than ever to express themselves, and not just the folks who know how to hand code pages.
Homogeneity provided the consistency so that creators could focus within the frame.