Rolled out additional fixes to timezones, more robust photo uploads. Also prepared the iOS app for the App Store. No more TestFlight builds.
→ 2017/06/28 11:14 am
Deployed a major improvement today for timezones and custom domains on hosted sites. Seems simple, but tricky to do without breaking feeds.
→ 2017/06/27 5:59 pmPreview of Sunlit 2.0
A few years ago, Jon Hays and I built an app for photos called Sunlit, powered by the App.net API. We evolved it to work with other services, like Flickr and Instagram, but as App.net faded away we could never justify the investment to rewrite significant parts of the app to bring it forward and keep it relevant. It also wasn’t clear what the app should do if we were to modernize it. So we let the app sit in the App Store, kind of neglected, and even discussed removing it from sale.
As I rolled out Micro.blog to Kickstarter backers, Jon dusted off the Sunlit project and experimented with something that should’ve been obvious to us earlier: Sunlit should post to blogs. And more than that, it should work well with microblogs and IndieWeb standards. It should become a great app for photoblogging. The new version of Sunlit can post photos to Micro.blog, WordPress, or any site that supports the Micropub API.
To play nicely with microblogs, we introduced a new post type in the app for single photos. For longer posts, you can still collect multiple photos together, add text, and post them as a story directly to your blog. There’s also a brand new editing interface with filters and advanced adjustments:
Jon has put a bunch of work into this while I focus on Micro.blog. Sunlit 2.0 is already feature complete and in beta testing now. We expect to ship it sometime this summer.
I was skeptical when the NBA announced that they wouldn’t give awards until after the playoffs. But it’s nice. It wraps up the season by celebrating multiple teams instead of just one.
→ 2017/06/26 8:45 pm How can I not support a Kickstarter project with such a nice stop-motion video? Panobook, backed.
→ 2017/06/26 12:07 pm Looks like a lot of great work came out of IndieWeb Summit hacking yesterday. Watched some of the video and tried to keep up on Slack. I didn’t end up having as much time as I hoped, but still deployed a handful of fixes to Micro.blog over the weekend.
→ 2017/06/26 9:05 am Love this map of the IndieWeb. Great visualization of how the entire web can be the best social network.
→ 2017/06/25 9:14 am Excited to hear from everyone attending IndieWeb Summit in Portland this weekend. I’ll be in IRC/Slack. Hoping to have a chance to improve some related parts of Micro.blog.
→ 2017/06/24 9:09 am Expecting great things when the Spurs use their 59th pick in the NBA Draft tonight. (4-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili was 57th.)
→ 2017/06/22 4:39 pmCore Intuition 287
We just posted Core Intuition episode 287, following up on Chris Lattner, WWDC, and Uber. From the show notes:
Daniel and Manton react to Chris Lattner’s early departure from Tesla, and segue into speculation about his job prospects, and the challenges of effective technical interviews. They talk about the new frameworks announced at WWDC, and overcoming fear of incompetence when learning new things. Finally, they react to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s resignation, and think about what’s next for the company.
Thanks for listening. If you’re new to the show, you can subscribe in iTunes or Overcast.
I wrote my Uber post before Kalanick resigned. Thinking about whether it changes my opinion… Not really.
→ 2017/06/22 8:28 am We saw Cars 3 this week and enjoyed it. Maybe my favorite of the series. Pixar is the best at trying to fit an original story into sequels.
→ 2017/06/22 7:49 am Danny Green is an important part of the team. No way I’d trade him to get Chris Paul. Spurs are competitive as-is with only minor changes.
→ 2017/06/21 8:36 pmThe open web and Micro.blog progress
I was very excited to see this post from Brandon Kraft, about the potential for an expanded role for WordPress in the IndieWeb movement:
The dream isn’t to return to the past before social media, but help make social media part of the web in an organic way. For this post, you can like it or comment it on via this site, WordPress.com, Twitter, or Facebook, but all of the comments will appear here using Webmentions. The closed gardens will still exist, but it’ll make it easier for people to reach out between them.
People always ask me how Micro.blog is going. There are many answers to that: from the business side, or how the community is growing, or the technical bits of scaling the backend. But one simple answer is how Micro.blog’s success can be judged in posts like Brandon’s.
I still believe strongly in the dual nature of success that I posted about earlier this year:
Key for Micro.blog: it’s a success if more people blog. To provide value it doesn’t need to replace Twitter. But also, it can.
Of course, “if more people blog” is a simplification that leaves out what naturally happens next: the spread of more web standards and better tools for microblogging. If Micro.blog has played even a small part in encouraging IndieWeb standards within WordPress itself, that is great progress. I’ll be happy to raise the bar for what success looks like.
Micro.blog iOS going universal
As I expected would happen, using iOS 11 on my iPad Pro after WWDC has inspired me to revisit the universal version of Micro.blog for iOS. Here’s a screenshot of my current build:
I plan to include this in 1.0. I’m in the process of moving the app from TestFlight to its final home in the App Store. As we prepare for the public launch, this’ll make it much easier for everyone to download it, and it shouldn’t be limited or scaled up on the iPad.
Democrats have a serious, near catastrophic turnout problem. Time to stop blaming the candidate and figure out what is wrong on the ground.
→ 2017/06/20 8:45 pm Polls closed in Georgia. While waiting for results, I’m just going to keep rewatching Randy Bryce’s video announcing his run against Paul Ryan.
→ 2017/06/20 6:24 pm Acorn 6 public beta is out. Great app that I use all the time. It gets significantly better every year.
→ 2017/06/20 5:37 pm I’ll admit it. I’ve checked a few times today if the latest Planet of the Apps episode is out yet.
→ 2017/06/20 4:38 pm Fixed inconsistency between conversation threads on the web vs. the Micro.blog iOS app. Much better.
→ 2017/06/20 3:58 pm