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In reply to: [[wikilinks]] and #hashtags as a portal to cross site search by Chris Aldrich

 

[[wikilinks]] and  could act as snippets for custom searches on various platforms. I’d like to be able to either click on a link or possibly right click and be presented with the ability to search that term (or nearby terms) on a variety of different platforms or trusted websites.

 

I like this idea a lot and I am still sorting the implications which could be revolutionary if this can be done.  This could be huge.

 

Random thoughts from the top of my head:

 

  1. This could be a big boost for non- Big Tech search engines, niche search engines like Marginalia Search, Indieweb Search, and various web directories. Plus, as mentioned, wikis like Indieweb.org.  I always have the notion that we are underutilizing both web search and site search on the web.
  2. It strikes me that having this as a browser extension is on the right track although it might be easier to make this platform specific like plugins for WordPress.
  3. “downsides and social ills”  Right now I can’t think of any but they will exist because this is the Internet and anything that can be exploited will be exploited.
  4. Searching one specified off-site source with a wikilink may not be too hard but trying to do a meta search of several sources could be very difficult unless each source searched opens in a new tab.
  5. The UI will be tricky. If you want wide spread adoption then it needs to be simple.  Even DDG’s !bangs are a bit too complicated for mass use.

 

Anyway it sounds like something to be discussed, thought about and experimented with.

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Hello.  I was going to write a post about how to surf the web only I remembered it had already been written, in a far more comprehensive format, by another person.  So I’m just going to link to it and consider this my recommendation:

Surf the Web by Sadgrl

 

Follow Sadgrl’s guide which is chock full of different fun ways to web surf and you cannot go wrong.  Look for link lists and blogrolls on the sites you visit they may lead you to interesting corners of the web.  Surfing the Web was how we found new websites back in the 1990’s because search engines pretty much sucked for finding anything.

 

And I want to take a moment to appreciate the contributions of Sadgrl, who’s work to revive Web 1.0 style website creation I can only admire.  She’s been tireless in building guides, resources, tools and communities all devoted to reviving the fun part of the web like it was before 2007.  She’s like a knight in armor, with a shield made of GIF’s and an HTML sword, fighting tirelessly against the fell legions of commercialism.  I’ve never met her or even talked with her, but I’m glad that she and her crew are out there building websites and communities.

 

What kind of Web am I going to surf?

 

In my mind I always divide the independent, non-commercial web into two very broad categories:

 

  1. The Retro Web – these are like the sites you found on Geocities, Tripod, Angelfire and other free hosts back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.  The modern versions are a lot like Sadgrl’s website (above).  The webmasters put a lot of time and effort into their websites.  This is the really fun part of the web that I fell in love with when I first got online.  I call it “the street fair of the web” where people post about things that excite their interests.
  2. The Indieweb – which is mostly independent blogs.  Not as colorful but loaded with text posts about everything under the sun.

 

But the reality is that the “Web Revival” is more nuanced and complex than my broad categories.  Here is an excellent guide that tries to define it: Intro to the Web Revival #1: What is the Web Revival? by Melon.  It’s well written and worth the read.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

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Hey, while everybody else is posting articles about how to work from home, I’m giving you links related to slacking off.  Consider me your uncle that tells you about stuff that you know Mom and Dad wouldn’t approve of.  🙂

Passing the time while cooped up in your home because you are self-isolating, quarantined or sheltering in place can be boring once your work from home tasks are done.  Here are some links to our directory resources that might help entertain you and your family.

Coronavirus News – I’m half addicted to reading news about this unfolding story.  I listed 5 links to sites with a broad and breaking news focus about Covid-19.

Role Playing Games – 63 links to all sorts of table top (pen and paper) RPG’s.  Abandon your search for truth and look for good fantasy!  The main thing here is there are a lot of links to free rule sets.  So if you are stuck somewhere without rules or just want to try something different you can find it here.  Also listed are how-to guides, RPG podcasts, publisher sites and paid rule stores.

Internet Radio – Only 11 links but 3 or 4 of them are to directories that specialize in online radio.  Stay informed, listen to music while you work or listen to Old Time Radio shows.  You can find a lot here.  Of course you can always listen to your local NPR station.

Movies –  19 links.  You might get some new ideas if you are running out of films to watch like: “60 Free Film Noir Movies” or in depth reviews of 100 spy movies.

Humor – 41 links.  I’m not going to lie to you, most of these are just amusing time wasters.  Don’t expect a lot of high social value.  A good place to veg out.

Preppers – Various prepper and living off grid websites. 14 in all.  Might be time to study up.

Podcasts –  31 links to various podcasts on all subjects.  Find good stuff for your daily walks.

Surfing the Web – I’m going to recommend two collections by my friends: the dailywebthing and href.cool.

Enjoy.  Be safe.

 

Feel free to forward this to shut-in friends!

 

This was also posted to
/en/coronavirus.

 

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We have a new Linear Ring for Micro.blog Blogs.  It’s open to any blog, hosted of self-hosted that posts into the Micro.blog community.

Micro.bloggers can submit whatever section of their blog that they want, whatever they thing will most engage readers.  So, for example, if you have just a category for long form posts you can submit that category.  Likewise, many Microbloggers have two blogs, one for long form posts and one for micro blogging.  Submit one or both, the choice is yours.

The main idea is to get people from outside the Micro.blog social network exploring our blogs like you  would with a conventional webring.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll answer.

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