probablytom

Blogroll

Updated 20 days ago.

I like the concept of a blogroll, and in the old “blogosphere” they made sense, but that world no longer exists and the way we consume content has changed a lot. So this page is intended to fulfil the function blogrolls used to, but filled with general recommendations instead of just links to other folks’ sites.

I guess?

I’m still figuring this out.

I used to write on this site, but the content’s become crufty and I want to figure out what it should be “for”. So, for now, that’s gone. You can enjoy these folks’ notes instead!

Inputs

I’ve tried reading some content digitally; it just doesn’t work for me. Periodicals, mostly. There was a revelation for me there in that the way in which I read impacts whether I do, what I’ll retain, and what my tolerance for distraction is.

Put that way, it sounds obvious, but noticing it has made a big improvement to my reading life. I’m still learning about this part of myself.

I get my inputs from:

I try to stay away from other content, but I’ve got a YouTube problem I can’t seem to kick and a habit of following rumour sites for Apple and FujiFilm.

RSS

RSS! RSS forever. I really believe it’s important to curate trusted thinkers and read specifically their output, so blogs collected together in a good RSS reader — I use Reeder — are a blessing for me. The benefits are twofold:

  1. When somebody publishes something new, I don’t have to remember to check the blog. That means someone who publishes infrequent but high-quality content doesn’t get forgotten about: I subscribe, and their content bubbles up to the surface when I need it to.
  2. There’s no algorithm, at all. I pull the content I’m interested in, I read it in an environment I control (no ads, tracking, and so on), and I sort and filter it however I like.

Algorithms can bubble some content to the surface, but as soon as it’s involved there’s a selectiveness introduced that I can’t control. No good. A chronological feed of anybody I’m interested in, please and thank you.

So, less distraction, more high-quality content. Here’s some of what I enjoy, when it does bubble up (some of these post quite infrequently)…:

There are also some cool folk I’ve worked with or whose academic output I otherwise admire who write from time to time. You should check out…:

Photographers

Some Glass profiles I like; they’ve been a great way for me to learn and to be inspired.

You can follow me at @probablytom and — if you’re into photography — I’ve got a few links for free Glass memberships. Let me know if you’re keen to get on board!