Weeknote 37/2019
I used to employ a bullet-point format for these weeknotes but that seems to have gone by the wayside since starting my Friday roundups on Thought Shrapnel of interesting things I’ve read. I guess I don’t like writing two bullet-point based posts within a 24-hour period…
Anyway, it feels like a golden age on the internet for newsletters and podcasts at the moment. Which is to say that, sadly, it’s not particularly a golden age for blogging and other forms of social media. Most of the good stuff arrives in your ears and inbox rather than the open web.
In an attempt to force myself to use bullets, here’s three newsletters that you should check out. Interestingly, they’re all ones I pay for via Substack:
- Things That Have Caught My Attention (dan hon)
- The Art of Gig (Venkatesh Rao)
- Work Futures Daily (Stowe Boyd)
I’ve already listed a bunch of my favourite podcasts in the show notes to Microcast #072.
This was quite a quiet week, all things considered. The rest of the MoodleNet team apart from James were otherwise occupied with holidays, moving house, or adding a small human to their family!
After making an appointment related to stuff I was discussing last week, I got a chance to talk to someone Trained In These Things. It’s not like any of this is a mystery to me; I put the anxiety I experienced from my teaching career into a box, which now, almost a decade later, is being triggered by my involvement with Scouts. So after a quick chat, I’ve been referred for some CBT. Fingers crossed.
I’d told our Group Scout Leader that I was planning to step down after Christmas, but decided that it was actually in my best interests to do so immediately. While it made me feel guilty for the lack of notice, they’ve got enough leaders to cope, and it should help me get things sorted out.
In other news, this week’s Thought Shrapnel article seemed to be well-received. I also enjoyed putting together my latest microcast about privacy and children’s use of technology. Oh, and I wrote a short thing about why capitalism needs people to be upset about ‘prizes for all’.
Two more bits of news. First, the family of Dai Barnes have asked me to deliver a eulogy at his memorial service. It’s a huge honour to do so, and I’m grateful to Eylan Ezekiel and Dai’s brothers for their help with this. Second, I’ve managed to squeeze myself onto the last ‘split weekend’ Mountain Leader course I could go on this year. We start in the Peak District next month, and I’m very much looking forward to it.
Finally, I’d deleted Red Dead Redemption 2 after Dai passed away, but my brother-in-law Sean bought the game specially to play with me. It was a lovely gesture and very much appreciated, so I’ve reinstalled it and been showing him the ropes. It won’t take him long to be much better than me, as Dai was. (I’ve been playing the FIFA series of games for 25 years and still get rinsed by nine year-olds.)
Next week, I’m at home with Wednesday off to get the eulogy written and life admin done. All of the MoodleNet team apart from Mayel will be back, so it’s time to crack on with getting everything ready for the beta launch in November!
Photo taken on a family walk at Druridge Bay.
So blogging is dead. Again. I really do not see podcasts or emailed newsletters are a replacement. Nor do I see a reason to choose one over another.
Nothing can replicate the efficiency of scanning hundreds of blogs via an RSS Reader and somewhere a cat explodes each time someone claims that they have replaced feed reading that with twitter. I cannot scan podcasts, and listening, while offers flexibility of doing while commuting or exercising, demands solid chunks of time, and is not scannable.
Nor because many people who Once Were Bloggers hardly means people are not posting anymore. It means new voices are out there. And I really do not get the idea of email newsletters, the creation of which is exactly the same as a blog post.
Oh well. I’m just a sad dinosaur. Read my newsletter where I criticize newsletters.
Hi Doug!
Agreed, and I’m an RSS fan too, bit you can’t deny things have changed.