After 24 hours w/the iPad Pro 12.9” (up from my former 9.7” Pro):
* My iPhone X suddenly looks like a postage stamp * I can type much faster - don’t know if it is the larger size of the keyboard or if it is the increased rigidity (used on lap) * Glad I got this instead of the 11”

I’m curious what app people who host at micro.blog use for drafting posts? When I was hosting on WordPress it was easy to draft posts, preview the result etc.

Note: my question is about iOS as I do all my posting from my iPad/iPhone.

Setting up my new iPad went great! Until I tried to access my files in iCloud Drive - nothing there and nothing will upload. So far nothing Apple Support has tried has fixed it… Moving on up the support chaing.

TIL in the Micro.blog app on iPhone I can expose a return key when composing by going to numeric mode. Always bothered me Twitter had a return and this app didn’t.

Native Texans are stereotyped as conservative and Republican in general but they threw their support to Beto. Transplants were thought to be from liberal states. Hmm. Native Texans voted for native Texan Beto O’Rourke, transplants went for Ted Cruz, exit poll shows

I might have done a thing…

I Christmas shopped at a local mall today. While there I tried a new place for lunch. The tacos al pastor were small (suited me well) and very tasty. In addition to the requisite ESPN on the TVs over the bar they also had Food Network playing. I wondered if that is a strategy?

NASA gets a lot of shade. While its had its own failures it’s the only agency to ever land on Mars. Multiple times. InSight used several new technologies which all worked first time. Impressive! 🚀

Control room video of the touchdown
Summary from Ars Technica

For Micro Monday I’d invite you to follow @numericcitizen He shares some fantastic photos and also thoughtful posts on Apple devices.

In other news, I’ve gone from following 79 to 90 on the path to my year end goal of 100.

Stunning sunrise today 🌅 📷

No Black Friday shopping trips for us. Instead it’s
⚪️ Replacing smoke detector batteries (we have 12 in total…)
⚪️ Replacing batteries in IoT sensors
⚪️ Setting up timers for the outdoor Christmas lights
⚪️ Getting out the indoor Christmas decor
⚪️ Eating leftovers
🎄📦

Tools of the trade today, ready and waiting. The wine is Molly Dooker “The Boxer”. 🍷

We have our 🦃 in the oven and everyone is looking forward to having a special day together. ❤️

I’m thankful for the community of people I’ve found on micro.blog and to @manton for providing a place for us to gather. It’s a great post-social media tool.

The sky was lovely but the clouds were a bit confused (multiple types meandering around today). 📷 ⛅️

Now that I’ve used Micro.blog’s ActivityPub feature to create a Mastodon compatible name I no longer need cross-posting (my posts will go to Mastodon’s federated timeline). And I can follow a Mastodon user by entering their name in the search on the Discover tab of the iOS app.

I think Ars Technica’s post today on Facebook’s harmful nature is spot on: “Sorry Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook isn’t a ‘positive force’. Facebook makes users depressed, and Facebook posts helped fuel ethnic cleansing.” This is a result of active choices by Zuckerberg.

Question for those with the new iPad Pro + Apple keyboard: If you fold the keyboard back when not in use, e.g. to draw on it on a table or lap, how much does the fact the keys are still exposed bother you? Dig into your legs or etc on a lap?

On a short road trip with my wife today and back tonight. WiFi and cell coverage limitations are sometimes frustrating, sometimes delightful. 🗺 🚙

The problem isn’t services selling likes, it is the whole notion of Likes and Followers that is to blame for what amounts to fraud.

Instagram is cracking down on services that sell ‘Likes’ and followers - Recode

For Micro Monday I’d like to suggest you look at the timeline of @numericcitizen Great photos and overall good taste in what he shares. Interests and inspires.

My wife got a sewing machine and is learning how to make clothes. Here our son models Mom’s first ever pajama pants. 📷 🧵 👖

Bought an Apple pie today. It will not survive to Thanksgiving. 🥧 📷

The world of micro.blog — fitting some of the pieces together (at least in my mind). Image is best viewed large (i.e. in browser or Sunlit).

There are a lot of pieces and connections (some required, some optional) for users adopting Micro.Blog. As a new user back in January I was often a bit muddled about the relationships. I decided to map out the ones I’m aware of. I’ve used many of these myself.

  • The left column lists many of the ways a user can post using micro.blog. This is more important than you might think because none of those boxes is equal to the other. They each have limitations/advantages or bugs that impact what you can/can’t do. Especially early on I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out which to use. It’s gotten better lately.
  • The center column, above the backend, has some apps/sites that also host blogs (I just listed WordPress and blot.im for now).
  • Along the bottom I drew the micro.blog backend in the center pushing updates to Github pages which is then cloned to a repo on my Mac. Since that clone is in an iCloud folder it serves as a sort of crude and imperfect backup of last resort.
  • The column on the right shows destinations other than Github pages: the micro.blog timeline, Twitter, Mastodon, and etc. I put Instagram there as well but I didn’t connect it yet because I haven’t successfully used OwnYourGram (I’m sure I just need to spend more time on it). N.B. I don’t currently cross-post to Twitter either.

I’m a rather visual person for data like this so it is helpful to me. Not sure if it helps anyone else.

Wasting time on some Fallout 76. 📷

Our dog is not happy 🐶📷