![\"Frank](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.ws%2Fcritiqueboutique%2Fimg97.jpg\")
Frank NavaskyFrank Navasky (YOU’VE GOT MAIL (Warner Bros., 1998)) \n“Now listen to this.\n\n\n\t
\nThe gentle and soothing lullaby of a piece of machinery so perfect –”
![A 1977 Olympia Report de Luxe electric typebar typewriter with an index card in the carriage that reads: \"Now listen to this. The gentle and soothing lullaby of a piece of machinery so perfect--\"](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F06%2Fwp-17812805007093887062811227926847.jpg%3Ffit%3D563%252C750%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\t![A 1977 Olympia Report de Luxe electric typebar typewriter with an index card in the carriage that reads: \"Now listen to this. The gentle and soothing lullaby of a piece of machinery so perfect--\"](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F06%2Fwp-17812805007093887062811227926847.jpg%3Fresize%3D660%252C880%26ssl%3D1\")
![\"Black](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F06%2Fwp-17812035943334811438640244886900.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tJose Siri gets Shohei Ohtani out while using an Index Card in an MLB Baseball Game ![\"Close](\"https://talqix.cloud/photos/50/https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/card-and-throw.jpg?fit=750%2C422&ssl=1\")
![\"Siri](\"https://talqix.cloud/photos/50/https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/card-away-and-ready-for-the-next-ball.jpg?resize=660%2C371&ssl=1\")
: boffosocko.com
Clicky-clack, we are bringing the typewriters back on Saturday, June 27, from 12 pm to 5 pm, in celebration of National Typewriter Day!boffosocko.com","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/06/10/a-typewriter-festival-at-international-printing-museum-2026/","date_published":"2026-06-10T17:46:35+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-10 17:46","date_timestamp":1781113595,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"91609190","content_html":"\n\t
\n\nExperience the timeless beauty of typewriters as you test your speed and precision in a typewriter contest, hear from typewriter experts, join in the collaborative process of writing “never-ending tales” on vintage typewriters, look for hidden gems in our scavenger hunt, and much more.
\n\nLocal vendors and makers are offering typo-o-grams, original poetry, themed merch, retro treasures, hand-crafted greeting cards,...
![\"Typed](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F06%2Fwp-17805882214722365128986832837554.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tA recreation of the Ames Supply Co. No. 93 (Royal) Segment Pick from Paul Lundy (Bremerton Typewriter) and Bob Powell (Metal Creature Precision)\n\n\n\t
![\"A](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F05%2FSegment-Pick-scaled.jpeg%3Ffit%3D750%252C501%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\t![\"An](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F05%2Fwp-17798992255946808612683483855781.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tIn a pre-web analog world, this is what a CMS really was. (Hint: there’s actually two in this photo.)
\n","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/05/27/pre-web-cms/","date_published":"2026-05-27T16:34:35+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-27 16:34","date_timestamp":1779899675,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"90925130","content_html":"The Royal KMG Standard Typewriters of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ![\"Tracy](\"https://talqix.cloud/photos/50/https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Tracy-Royal-KMG-010257.jpg?fit=750%2C422&ssl=1\")
: boffosocko.com
The Lindy Effect and Typewriters
\n\t
![A typed index card in the platen of a typewriter which reads: \"The Lindy Effect | The phenomenon by which the future life expectancy of a non-perishable thing is proportional to its current age. | Thus the longer a period something has survived to exist or be used in the present, the ;onger its remaining life expectancy. | This bodes incredibly well for the life of my typewriter.\"](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F05%2Fwp-17791455697184973070559648869499.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tSerial Number: 46-0171787\n\n\n\t\n\t
\nOlympia Pica No. 12 typeface, 10 pitch, 2.6m/m, 6 lines/inch, keyset tabulator, half-space spacing, vertical spacing, portable, bichrome, segment shift, American keyboard, 44 keys, 88 characters, white and gray plastic body with grey hood and gray plastic keys with white characters
\nManufactured in Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Along with Ron Rosenbaum, Steven Levy, Patricia Highsmith, and the fictional Frank Navasky of You’ve Got Mail fame, I have joined the Quiet Cult of...
boffosocko.com","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/05/11/1977-olympia-report-de-luxe-electric-portable-typewriter-ske-model/","date_published":"2026-05-11T23:17:40+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-11 23:17","date_timestamp":1778541460,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"89873431","content_html":"\n \n \nAcquired 1938 Woodstock No. 5 Standard typewriter (Woodstock) \nSerial Number: 8-12-512178E\n\n\n\t\n\t
\nElite (12 CPI), 6 lines/inch, bichrome, keyset tabulator, typebar hood, 12\" carriage, carriage shift, American keyboard, 42 keys, 84 characters, foundry marks: alpha: backwards \"2 slash\", numeric: \"8\", in black enamel with glass keys, manufactured in the U.S.A.
My first ever Woodstock. Acquired via thrift for $50 on 2026-05-08. Possibly a bit more expensive than it might have otherwise been, but the key rings are in stunning shape, and the work to polish them is easily worth several hundred in...
boffosocko.com","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/05/09/1938-woodstock-no-5-standard-typewriter/","date_published":"2026-05-10T05:32:17+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-10 05:32","date_timestamp":1778391137,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"89811550","content_html":"FAQ: How do you use your typewriters? ![\"A](\"https://talqix.cloud/photos/50/https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/wp-17254227886612693971950847927529.jpg?fit=750%2C563&ssl=1\")
: boffosocko.com
Serial Number: 11-6139621\n\n\n\t\n\t
\nUnderwood Pica typeface, 10 pitch, 6 lines/inch; bichrome, segment shift, American keyboard, 42 keys, 84 characters
\nin black crinkle paint with black plastic keys and Art Deco chrome trim
\nManufactured in the U.S.A.
Acquired at Goodwill Southern California for $20.28 including tax on 2026-05-06. Needs a full clean, oil, and adjust, but not in generally bad shape. Two or three mechanical issues to sort out, but it’s got some new ink and a quick wipe down/dusting has helped...
boffosocko.com","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/05/07/1947-underwood-ss-rhythm-touch-standard-typewriter/","date_published":"2026-05-07T19:15:19+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-07 19:15","date_timestamp":1778181319,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"89683337","content_html":"\n\t![\"A](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F05%2Fwp-17780272628086729954593238967961.jpg%3Ffit%3D563%252C750%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tHad some Cuzcatlan brand Cola Champagne (aka kola shanpan) at a Salvadoran restaurant the other day. Is it me, or is this the same formulation as Scottish Irn-Bru?
\n","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/05/05/cuzcatlan-and-irn-bru/","date_published":"2026-05-06T00:47:18+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-05-06 00:47","date_timestamp":1778028438,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"89332830","content_html":"\n\t![\"Typed](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-17775711938337588082312491360223.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tExterior dimensions: 6 11/16 x 4 13/16 x 3 15/16\"\n\n\n\t
\nUnknown manufacturer\n
![4 x 6\" wooden card index with dovetailed edges sitting on a library card catalog and in front of a Royal KMG typewriter.](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-17774125701267944005672358258714.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tPicked up at thrift for $2.39. What can I say? I’m a sucker for card index boxes…
\nI can’t make out the smudged black-stamped bottom of the box to determine the manufacturer who used a sphere and a triangle in their logo.
![](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-17774125701267944005672358258714.jpg%3Ffit%3D2000%252C1500%26ssl%3D1\")
Serial Number: 2161560\n\n\n\t
\nItalic Pica No. 31 typeface, tabulator, carriage shift, 88 characters
![\"A](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-17770490005112802712266483113660.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tAcquired via thrift on April 10, 2026. It finally fills my itch to have an italic typeface for use in personal correspondence. It’s in spectacular starting condition though a bit gamey, but this should clean up nicely. It immediately needed a bit of forming on the carriage lock and a new ribbon, but it’s generally ready to be in the regular rotation.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-17770490005112802712266483113660.jpg%3Ffit%3D2000%252C1500%26ssl%3D1\")
I watched the fascinating documentary Best of Enemies: Buckley vs. Vidal (Magnolia Pictures, 2015) last night. An hour and thirteen into the picture, William F. Buckley Jr., who is known to have used a Royal HH and an Olivetti Lettera 32, can be seen abusing what appears to be a Hermes 3000 portable...
boffosocko.com","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/04/21/william-f-buckley-jr-and-his-hermes-typewriter/","date_published":"2026-04-21T19:35:35+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-04-21 19:35","date_timestamp":1776800135,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"88674193","content_html":"\n \n \nAcquired Midcentury Oak Modular Library Card Catalog \n30 drawers of filing space for 3x5 inch index cards.\n\n\n\t\n\t
\nModular set up in 4 pieces including two sections of 5 columns of drawers in three rows each.
\nAssembled dimensions: 33″ wide x 17 3/8″ deep and stands 43 1/2″ tall.
\nPrimarily composed of quarter sawn oak.
I’ve expanded my index card database storage by 30 new drawers of 13 3/4″ of space each.
\nThis model appears to be a Gaylord Bros. card index, but is missing explicit badging. It has the appropriate size for the modular Gaylord system and seems to be missing a few pieces including...
boffosocko.com","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/04/20/midcentury-oak-modular-library-card-catalog-acquisition/","date_published":"2026-04-21T00:46:31+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-04-21 00:46","date_timestamp":1776732391,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"88484819","content_html":"\n\t![\"Typed](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-17764637967072601987506422056993.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tSerial Number: none\n\n\n\t\n\t
\nCirca 1904
I’ve slowed way down on acquisitions in my typewriter collection, but when I saw this magnificent exemplar with Art Nouveau decoration pop up at thrift, I could not resist. For a near complete exemplar, it seemed to be better priced than most of the market that I looked at before purchasing.
\nI suppose that perhaps my next chapter of collecting might be some older machines? I don’t see them out in the wild as frequently, so perhaps it’ll keep my...
boffosocko.com","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/04/15/odell-no-4-index-typewriter-and-wooden-case/","date_published":"2026-04-16T06:07:51+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-04-16 06:07","date_timestamp":1776319671,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"88283499","content_html":"\n\t![A pack of 100 3x5\" index cards with the corporate logo SCM sits on top of a burgundy Sears Cutlass typewriter.](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-17762312992412032490538997124611.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\t#TIL Smith-Corona Marchant (aka SCM) not only made typewriters, but they also manufactured index cards! They apparently had an office supplies group in Marion, Indiana.
\nI can’t wait to take some of these for a spin in my .
\n","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/04/14/scm-index-cards/","date_published":"2026-04-15T06:05:56+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-04-15 06:05","date_timestamp":1776233156,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"88186714","content_html":"\n \n \nQuoted by Mademoiselle, the French Teacher (Heaven Can Wait (20th Century Fox, 1943)) \nDid you ever consider not marrying girl?\n\n\n\t
\nÉcoute, mon chérie. In your papa's time, papa kiss mama and they marry.
\nBut this is 1886, time of bicycle, the typewriter is arrive. Soon everybody speak over the telephone and people have new idea of value of kiss.
\nWhat is bad yesterday is a lot of fun today.
![\"Typed](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-1776106353455122656363046230405.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\t![](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F04%2Fwp-1776106353455122656363046230405.jpg%3Ffit%3D2000%252C1500%26ssl%3D1\")
Most Collected Typewriters on the Typewriter Database ![\"Two](\"https://talqix.cloud/photos/50/https://i0.wp.com/boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/wp-1715623153974668920892920990135.jpg?fit=750%2C563&ssl=1\")
: boffosocko.com
![\"Dodger Blue\" 1957 Royal FP typewriter at the ready in front of a television featuring Dodger Stadium to score the baseball game. Next to the typewriter on its table are three baseballs and a blue Dodgers cap featuring the iconic LA logo.](\"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F03%2F20260326_165121-scaled.jpg%3Ffit%3D750%252C563%26ssl%3D1\")
\n\tFrom 1957, the year the Dodgers announced their move to Los Angeles, I’ve got my Dodger Blue Royal FPP typewriter ready to go to score the home opener! Blue ink at the ready, I can already hear a military bomber circling my neighborhood on the way to a flyover of the stadium. ⚾🏟️
\n\n","summary":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2026/03/26/los-angeles-dodgers-opening-day-2026/","date_published":"2026-03-27T00:28:09+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-03-27 00:28","date_timestamp":1774571289,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"46405962","content_html":"","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2024/09/27/smart-alec-reply-to-pete-brown/","date_published":"2024-09-28T04:32:02+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2024-09-28 04:32","date_timestamp":1727497922,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"15580804","content_html":"@miljko Microcasts (on talqix.cloud) could certainly be an interesting experiment to try. Aggregating all the conversations on Huffduffer.com using the tags selbsthilfegruppeZK or zettelcast might be a way to help distribute them as well.
","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2022/12/29/55813242/?replytocom=401637","date_published":"2022-12-30T15:21:47+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2022-12-30 15:21","date_timestamp":1672413707,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"13108817","content_html":"@fletcher0xFF Matt Ridley indicates in The Rational Optimist that markets for goods and services “work so well that it is hard to design them so they fail to deliver efficiency and innovation” while assets markets are nearly doomed to failure and require close and careful regulation.\nIf we view the social media landscape from this perspective, an IndieWeb world in which people are purchasing services like the ability to move their domain name and URL permalinks from one web host to another; easy import/export of their data; and CMS (content management system) services/platforms/functionalities, represents the successful market mode for our personal data and online identities. Here competition for these sorts of services will not only improve the landscape, but generally increased competition will tend to drive the costs to consumers down. The internet landscape is developed and sophisticated enough and broadly based on shared standards that this mode of service market should easily be able to not only thrive, but innovate.
\nAt the other end of the spectrum, if our data are viewed as assets in an asset market between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, et al., it is easy to see that the market has already failed so miserably that one cannot even easily move ones’ assets from one silo to another or really protect them in any meaningful way. Social media services don’t compete to export or import data because the goal is to trap you and your data and attention there, otherwise they lose. The market corporate social media is really operating in is one for eyeballs and attention to sell advertising, so one will notice a very health, thriving, and innovating market for advertisers. Social media users will easily notice that there is absolutely no regulation in the service portion of the space at all. This only allows the system to continue failing to provide improved or even innovative service to people on their “service”. The only real competition in the corporate silo social media space is for eyeballs and participation because the people and their attention are the real product.
\nAs a result, new players whose goal is to improve the health of the social media space, like the recent entrant Cohost, are far better off creating a standards based service that allows users to register their own domain names and provide a content management service that has easy import and export of their data. This will play into the services market mode which improves outcomes for people. Aligning in any other competition mode that silos off these functions will force them into competition with the existing corporate social services and we already know where those roads lead.
\nThose looking for ethical and healthy models of this sort of social media service might look at ‘s talqix.cloud platform which provides a wide variety of these sorts of data services including data export and taking your domain name with you. If you’re unhappy with his service, then it’s relatively easy to export your data and move it to another host using WordPress or some other CMS. On the flip side, if you’re unhappy with your host and CMS, then it’s also easy to move over to talqix.cloud and continue along just as you had before. Best of all, talqix.cloud is offering lots of the newest and most innovative web standards including webmention notifications which enable website-to-website conversations, micropub, and even portions of microsub not to mention some great customer service.
\nI like to analogize the internet and social media to competition in the telecom/cellular phone space In America, you have a phone number (domain name) and can then have your choice of service provider (hosting), and a choice of telephone (CMS) for interacting with the network. Somehow instead of adopting a social media common carrier model, we have trapped ourselves inside of a model that doesn’t provide the users any sort of real service or options. It’s easy to imagine what it would be like to need your own AT&T account to talk to family on AT&T and a separate T-Mobile account to talk to your friends on T-Mobile because that’s exactly what you’re doing with social media despite the fact that you’re all still using the same internet. Part of the draw was that services like Facebook appeared to be “free”. It’s only years later that we’re seeing the all too real costs emerge.
\nThis sort of competition and service provision also goes down to subsidiary layers of the ecosystem. New service providers don’t necessarily need to take the soup to nuts approach that talqix.cloud does. Take for example the idea of writing interface and text editing. There are (paid) services like iA Writer, Ulysses, and Typora which people use to compose their writing. Many people use these specifically for writing blog posts. Companies can charge for these products because of their beauty, simplicity, and excellent user interfaces. Some of them either already do or ostensibly could support the micropub and IndieAuth web standards which allow their users the ability to log into their websites and directly post their saved content from these editors directly to their website. Sure there are also a dozen or so other free micropub clients that also allow this, but why not have and allow competition for beauty and ease of use? Let’s say you like WordPress enough, but aren’t a fan of the Gutenberg editor. Should you need to change to Drupal or some unfamiliar static site generator to exchange a better composing experience for a dramatically different and unfamiliar back end experience? No, you could simply change your editor client and continue on without missing a beat. Of course the opposite also applies—WordPress could split out Gutenberg as a standalone (possibly paid) micropub client and users could then easily use it to post to Drupal, talqix.cloud, or other CMSs that support the micropub spec, and many already do.
\nSocial media should be a service to and for people all the way down to its core. The more companies there are that provide these sorts of services means more competition which will also tend to lure people away from silos where they’re trapped for lack of options. Further, if your friends are on services that interoperate and can cross communicate with standards like Webmention from site to site, you no longer need to be on Facebook because “that’s where your friends and family all are.” The more competition there is for cleaner, nicer user interfaces and simple solutions, the less lock in effects will be felt from existing and predatory social services.
\nI have no doubt that we can all get to a healthier place online, but it’s going to take companies and startups like Cohost to make better choices in how they frame their business models. Co-ops and non-profits can help here too. I can easily see a co-op adding webmention to their Mastodon site to allow users to see and moderate their own interactions instead of forcing local or global timelines on their constituencies. Perhaps Garon didn’t think Webmention was a fit for Mastodon, but this doesn’t mean that others couldn’t support it. I personally think that ‘s Hometown fork of Mastodon which allows “local only” posting a fabulous little innovation while still allowing interaction with a wider readership, including me who reads his content from there in a microsub enabled social reader. Perhaps someone forks Mastodon to use as a social feed reader, but builds in micropub so that instead of posting the reply to a Mastodon account, it’s posted to one’s IndieWeb capable website which sends a webmention notification to the original post? Opening up competition this way makes lots of new avenues for every day social tools. One might posit that it was this lack of diverse solutions and common standards in the early 2000s that allowed corporations like Facebook, Twitter, et al. to entirely consume the market and fragment our online identities this way.
\nContinuing the same old siloing of our data and online connections is not the way forward. We’ll see who stands by their ethics and morals by serving people’s interests and not the advertising industry.
\nPrimarily composed on July 03, 2022 at 02:36PM in support of and partially in response to by Ariadne Conill.
","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2022/07/05/economic-models-in-social-media-and-a-better-way-forward/","date_published":"2022-07-05T13:30:53+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2022-07-05 13:30","date_timestamp":1657027853,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"13101157","content_html":"@KimberlyHirsh In reply to .
\nYour criticism is so good! Thank you for your write-up. You’ve helped me understand a lot more about the traditions of the Zettelkasten system.
","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2022/05/12/55804815/?replytocom=382795","date_published":"2022-07-01T05:22:29+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2022-07-01 05:22","date_timestamp":1656652949,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"12779096","content_html":"@billbennettnz These are fascinating questions, though looking at them from various perspectives and imagined audiences over time scales makes them more intriguing. \nMost often we privilege the chronological time order because that’s how we ourselves live them, write them, and how much of our audience experiences them.
\nBut consider looking at someone’s note collections or zettelkasten after they’re gone? One wouldn’t necessarily read them in physical order or even attempt to recreate them into time-based order. Instead they’d find an interesting topical heading, delve in and start following links around.
\nI’ve been thinking about this idea of “card index (or zettelkasten) as autobiography” for a bit now, though I’m yet to come to any final conclusions. (References and examples see also: https://hypothes.is/users/chrisaldrich?q=%22card+index+as+autobiography%22).
\nI’ve also been looking at Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project which is based on a chunk of his (unfinished) zettelkasten notes which editors have gone through and published as books. There were many paths an editor could have taken to write such a book, and many of them that Benjamin himself may not have taken, but there it is at the end of the day, a book ostensibly similar to what Benjamin would have written because there it is in his own writing in his card index.
\nAfter his death, editors excerpted 330 index cards of Roland Barthes’ collection of 12,000+ about his reactions to the passing of his mother and published them in book form as a perceived “diary”. What if someone were to do this with your Tweets or status updates after your death?
\nDoes this perspective change your ideas on time ordering, taxonomies, etc. and how people will think about what we wrote?
\nI’ll come back perhaps after I’ve read Barthes’ The Death of the Author…
\n \nAlso in reply to:
\n@vv4rner While I love what RSS enables and there’s a huge ecosystem for it, I am against it for DRY reasons. It’s stable in the fact that no one has iterated on it in over a decade. It also helps that WordPress core handles a lot of the admin tax for me on maintaining it, but it has caused metacrap issues for me in the past.
\nSo what to do to replace RSS? If you look at most of my content, I’ve got the HTML marked up with (richer) microformats for those who’d like to consume that directly without needing a side file for it. There’s an existing ecosystem of microformats parsers and even social readers that use microformats over RSS. Incidentally microformats are also part of the semantic layer that makes site-to-site converstions on IndieWeb-based sites work better.
\nSyndicated copies:
\n","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2021/08/15/55794681/?replytocom=333860","date_published":"2021-08-20T19:02:08+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2021-08-20 19:02","date_timestamp":1629486128,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"11814815","content_html":"@terrygrierI saw that you found it, but here’s a few more useful and direct resources:
\n","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2021/08/07/55794468/?replytocom=333041","date_published":"2021-08-14T17:40:35+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2021-08-14 17:40","date_timestamp":1628962835,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"11348141","content_html":"@kimberlyhirsh In reply to .
\nHow do you get this working. Currently, I’m using the github saver. I end my personal access token, and it allows me to save for a few days, until, I assume, github revokes my token because the token itself Is being saved with the wiki. How do you get around this?
","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2020/04/04/self-hosting-tiddlywiki-with-github-pages/?replytocom=316629","date_published":"2021-03-31T21:41:03+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2021-03-31 21:41","date_timestamp":1617226863,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"10971545","content_html":"@mdrockwellIn fact, this conversation is a near-perfect use case. It’s not (yet) easy for me to write a reply to your post on talqix.cloud on my own site that includes a reply context and have it appear as if it were a native comment on talqix.cloud. (talqix.cloud should use some parsing to strip out my reply context and just post my reply.) But I can make my post quickly enough and just manually syndicate it with a link back to my website. Then, when you reply, I’ll see it via talqix.cloud and I can cut and paste your response URL, put it into my response box and I’ve got a copy of your reply!
\n(If anyone has puzzled out how to do replies to talqix.cloud from WordPress or other websites that maintains context on your own site and makes the reply look native on talqix.cloud, please do let me know.)
\ncc: @manton
","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2021/02/05/55786447/?replytocom=308956","date_published":"2021-02-05T20:07:50+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2021-02-05 20:07","date_timestamp":1612555670,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"10063321","content_html":"@bsebesta Welcome to the game ! Curious why you’re hosting your microblog separate from your main site instead of running them both from WordPress (not that you need to/have to)?\n\nI’ve enjoyed linkblogging. When I read something, I can share the link along with a quote or reflection on how it affected me. It’s a great space to think out loud. ❧
Annotated on August 05, 2020 at 01:51PM
\n\nAs Austin Kleon notes, blogging is a great way to discover what you have to say. My microblog has given me a chance to have thoughts, and this longer blog has given me a space to figure out what it means–to discover what it is I have to say. In other words, my microblog is where I collect the raw materials; my blog is where I assemble them into questions and, perhaps, answers. It’s a place where I figure out what I really think. ❧
Annotated on August 05, 2020 at 01:54PM
","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2020/08/05/why-i-started-microblogging-bryan-sebesta/","date_published":"2020-08-07T06:14:09+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2020-08-07 06:14","date_timestamp":1596780849,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"9996225","content_html":"@amitThe Micropub session this morning in the IWC pop-up discussed adding exactly that query which is what prompted my note. Browser history only works if it’s not cleared and browsers really don’t surface that data in their UI.
","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2020/07/25/55774021/?replytocom=297695","date_published":"2020-07-25T21:43:05+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2020-07-25 21:43","date_timestamp":1595713385,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"9805902","content_html":"@rnv I seem to recall having an etymology that went through old French and then back to classical Latin magister which means master in the sense of “teacher”. However after over 2,000 years, it’s going to shift, twist, and even break in its meanings over time. I’d be willing to bet there are easily 5-10 different definitions and shades of meaning on the word now (some even archaic), but some of which are now problematic in how they relate to power dynamics in society.
\nOf course if you want to really go crazy on historical linguistics, I recently ran across an etymology for the word Lord which was totally not what I was expecting but which is historically fascinating.
\n
@bradenslen Chris, I actually owe you two thank yous: 1. OPML subscriptions, in my hunt I ran across your reference to OPML subscriptions. Since I already use Inoreader I subscribed to your Indieweb sub. I’m probably now set for life for reading! Thanks for making those available they do aid discovery. 2. Thanks for taking the time for such a thoughtful and detailed reply.
\nI’m currently doing maintaining a blogroll ala Greg McVerry’s manual way but that means it’s going to grow real slow. I think I’m going to take your advice and resurrect the WP Links function. I think I saw some plugin to make shortcodes for Links so I can create pages.
\nThe hunt for blogroll plugins was not a waste of time since it led me to a plugin for a small directory. I didn’t like that directory plugin for a blogroll but it works for other things.
\nLast, I like the idea of creating an automated list of, perhaps everyone who comments via webmention or just approved comments of any sort. Something not quite a blogroll but a recognition or reward for people who take the time to comment. I don’t have the skills to make something like that, or to hack php, but it seems like something an Indieweb programmer could turn into a very useful WordPress plugin.
\nThanks again.
The best I could hope for back in 2008, and part of why I created the @JohnsHopkins Twitter handle, was that researchers would discover Twitter and be doing the types of things that some of the Johns Hopkins professors outlined in this recent article are now finally doing. It seems sad that it has taken over a decade and this article is really only highlighting the bleeding edge of the broader academic scene now. While what they’re doing is a great start, I think they really aren’t going far enough. They aren’t doing their audiences as much service as they could because there’s only so much that Twitter allows in terms of depth of ideas and expressiveness. It would be far better if they were doing this sort of work from their own websites and more directly interacting with their colleagues on the open web. The only value that Twitter is giving them is a veneer of reach to a broader audience, but they’re also opening themselves up to bigger attacks as is described in the article.
\nIn addition to Kimberly’s example, another related area of potential innovation would be moving the journal clubs run by many research groups and labs online and opening them up. Want to open up science? Then let’s really do it! By bookmarking a variety of articles on their own websites, various members could be aggregated to contribute to a larger group, which could then use their own websites with protocols like Webmention or even simple tools like Hypothes.is to guide and participate in larger online conversations to move science communication along at an even faster pace. Greg McVerry and I have experimented in taking some of these tools into the classroom in the past.
\nIf you think about it, arXiv and other preprint servers are really just journal clubs writ large. The problem is that they’re only communicating in one direction by aggregating the initial content, but they’re dramatically failing their audiences in that they aren’t facilitating or aggregating any open discussion around that content. As a result, the largest portion of their true value is still locked away in the individual brains of their readers rather than as commentary or even sentence level highlights and annotations on particular pieces out in the open. Often is the time that I’ll tweet about an interesting article only to receive a (lucky) reply that the results have been debunked, yet that information is almost never disclosed in or around the journal article (especially online) where it certainly belongs. Academic publishers are not only gouging us financially by siloing their content, they’re failing us far worse than most realize.
\nAnother idea: Can’t get a journal of negative results to publish your latest research failure? Why not post a note or article on your own website to help out future researchers? (or even demonstrate to your students that not everything always works out?)
\nNaturally having aggregation services like indieweb.xyz, building planets, using OPML subscriptions, or the coming wave of feed readers could make a lot of these things easier, but we’re already right on the cusp for people who are willing to take a shot for doing this type of research online on their own websites and out in the open.
\nWant to try out some of the above? I’m happy to help (gratis) researchers who’d like to experiment in the area to get themselves set up. Just send me a note or give me a call.
","url":"https://boffosocko.com/2019/04/04/thoughts-on-open-notebooks-research-and-social-media/","date_published":"2019-04-04T11:57:26+00:00","author":{"name":"Chris Aldrich | BoffoSocko","url":"http://boffosocko.com/","avatar":"https://cdn.talqix.cloud/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Fboffosocko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F12%2FChris-Aldrich-1652-500x500-1.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"boffosocko.com"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2019-04-04 11:57","date_timestamp":1554379046,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"1933706","content_html":"@andrewford I’ve not tried that specifically before, so I’m not 100% sure. I know you can customize individual templates as well too. Your best bet is to catch GWG in the IndieWeb WordPress chat channel. He wrote the plugin and is always happy to help. He’s also home most of the day today for a snow day… https://chat.indieweb.org/wordpress/
\n2018-03-21 2:41 pm | Reply