{"source":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com","title":"Substrate","updated":"2026-07-10T17:23:25.000Z","items":[{"title":"Moving your org off Big Tech","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/moving-your-org-off-big-tech","date":"2026-07-10T11:49:49.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"For the past few months I've been following Nīkau, \"a global platform, information and operations security consultancy in service to NGOs, impact-driven organisations and grassroots movements\". In addition to security auditing, etc. they also run courses, such as Cloudbreak which…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/372038da-6bed-4a58-95e9-e886798c14ed.jpg","imageAlt":"A black and white photo of a telegraph pole with a torn sticker saying BIG TECH IS WATCHING YOU"},{"title":"Dumb iPhones","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/dumb-iphones","date":"2026-07-10T07:45:12.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"There's a lot of talk about dumbphones at the moment, at least in my circles. But, of course, everyone still wants access to WhatsApp, Signal, etc. So there's a whole niche of expensive 'dumb' phones which are supposed to help you reclaim your life. While dong some research in pr…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/2f774cea-0144-4b17-b117-88f8032187f3.webp","imageAlt":"Photo from WIRED of iPhone showing 'Assistive Access' mode"},{"title":"Well, this is exciting","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/well-this-is-exciting","date":"2026-07-09T11:54:45.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"I've just sent off my first-ever zine to the printer for a sample copy! CW-PUB-001 / FNO-001: Field Notes on Productive Friction (currently 23/50 copies remaining, there will be no digital version)","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/19f50db7-e67e-44bc-9b0a-7b30d1c17960.png","imageAlt":"Screenshot of Affinity Publisher with zine loaded"},{"title":"What we mean by 'literacy' changes over time","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/what-we-mean-by-literacy-changes-over-time","date":"2026-07-09T08:36:42.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"I'm going to dive straight in. Let's just take this paragraph from about half-way through a hand-wringing, moralistic article about reading by Rose Horowitch in The Atlantic: Reading books is a workout for the attention span. The more you read, the easier it is to read, and the m…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/ab2ddd04-dd0b-4464-9b33-b69554926849.png","imageAlt":"Glitched artwork"},{"title":"Eyes on the prize","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/eyes-on-the-prize","date":"2026-07-09T08:26:34.000Z","category":"reflections","excerpt":"Let it be clear to you that the peace of green fields can always be yours, in this, that, or any other spot; and that nothing is any different here from what it would be either up in the hills, or down by the sea, or wherever else you will. You will find the same thought in Plato…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/4ff3b53f-6cdf-4929-b093-e06ed8e6f11c.webp","imageAlt":"Two people sitting comfortably, reading books"}]}