Tag: digital culture
Cyberdeck Week: The Antidote to Modern Living
My plan for this week was to dive into cyberdecks to explore as a hobby. Or see if this is just a short lived hyper-fixation that I can use to fuel my writing endeavors. What I discovered was cyberdecks as a commentary on our relationship with technology.
Vagueblogging and Subtweeting Are Awful
Vagueblogging and subtweeting are the most toxic modes of online communication, yet research shows people prefer them to direct confrontation anyway. On the psychology of strategic ambiguity, insecure attachment, context collapse, and the online disinhibition effect. A case against the culture of passive aggression online, and a call for those with safety and privilege to stop hiding behind the same hedge as everyone else.
THE LANTERNFLY.
The spotted lanternfly is beautiful and terrible, an invasive species that illuminates even as it destroys. AI-generated content is flooding the Internet, and authenticity is becoming a premium commodity. We must refuse the premise that human writing is a niche product.
Be a Lover: Make Sure the Quiet Wheel Gets the Grease
The world isn't full of critics, it's full of quiet kind people who don't get nearly enough time or attention from us because we're born with a negativity bias. We need to proactively choose to be lovers and proactively grease the quiet wheels.
The Internet Needs More Cross-Pollinators
So, my silly little fanfic project blew up like crazy and received some really negative feedback. And I think I understand why. Exploring the concept of boundary spanning and cross-pollination in online communities. Drawing on organizational theory and the work of Michael Tushman. We need people who move between different online subcultures to seed ideas and build bridges.
Gemini, Gophers, and Fingers. Oh My! Alternative Internets Beyond HTTPS
Finger from 1971, Gopher from 1991, and Gemini from 2019. These protocols offer decentralized, terminal-based alternatives to the modern web. The small web's is in a renaissance. On the solarpunk philosophy of intentional technology, and how these protocols meet you where you are, whether you're on a machine from 2005 or just tired of Chrome's monoculture.
/r/SlopcoreCirclejerk and the Men who are pro-AI
With the AI bubble finally deflating, what can we learn from the gender gap in genAI enthusiasm? Looking at /r/SlopcoreCirclejerk's culture of contempt, historical Luddite parallels, crypto bro demographics, and why men are drawn to extractive technologies.
Writers Who Burned All Their Words feat. Bix Frankonis
I am a compulsive archivist, terrified of losing my words, but many of history's greatest writers asked for theirs to be burned. Kafka, Dickinson, Plath, Virgil all had their reasons. A meditation on self-erasure, ego, and the difference between the writing and the written thing, with an interview with Bix Frankonis, a contemporary writer who one day decided he needed to be smaller online, not bigger.
How has a lack of ownership changed art?
On the subscription economy, Walter Benjamin's aura, Pokémon scalpers, the rot of physical media, and the person at the photocopier making what the streaming model cannot touch.
That's Home. That's us.
We have the first human photograph of Earth from space in 54 years, and I can't help but meditate on what it means to be human on a fragile planet in 2026.
The Internet's Landlord Problem
A quarter of the entire Internet uses Cloudflare. This is an existential threat to the Internet's ideals. I realized I need DDoS protection, but I could not use Cloudflare in good conscience. And so, I'm beyond excited to announce that I'm now using Deflect.ca for my website.
Incels Won the Culture War
Looksmaxxing. Redpilled. Sigma. Mogging. Cope. Seethe. Malding. Goyslop. Gooning. Memes from image boards became cultural foundation for Generation Alpha. How rich, powerful men have coordinated a harmful online culture for nearly twenty years.
Being Taken Seriously as a Writer
There's tension between creative authenticity and professional presentation in the IndieWeb space. What does it mean to be taken seriously as a writer while maintaining personal joy and rejecting the aesthetic standards of capital?
Building the Good Web
What does it actually mean to build a better web, and what do we owe each other in doing so? A response to the 32-bit Café thread about trust, onboarding, and the distance between knowing something is wrong and doing something about it.
Downgrading to macOS Catalina: A Sermon on Obsolescence
A complete step-by-step tutorial for creating a bootable Catalina USB installer using mist-cli on modern macOS in order to downgrade an Early 2015 MacBook Pro from macOS Monterey to Catalina. Accidentally also a philosophical look at planned obsolescence, e-waste, and corporate control over hardware lifespan.
Trust and Faith in Our Web
What is trust in an AI-saturated internet? And a related question, how do we reckon with the barriers to onboarding people to the IndieWeb? We must cultivate faith in our digital interactions and make independent web spaces more accessible.
Software Harm Reduction
genAI code is now in Python, curl, and systemd. We face an ethical crisis. Slopware means we have two possible responses: absolutism or harm reduction. This moment demands the same principled stand that free software absolutists have taken for decades.
CHILDHOOD: Hypercapitalist Nostalgia & Unsupervised Internet Access
My nostalgia is hypercapitalist. My nostalgia is the worst of the unregulated Internet. I cannot decouple my fondest memories from the corporations and the loss of innocence that produced them, and I'm not sure there's anything wrong with that.
r/Calgary Deleted the Top Post of the Day Because I Wrote It Myself
I was permanently banned from r/Calgary for posting my own writing about local public library funding. What does this say about the state of local journalism?
Why is my local city and public library looking to pay $50/hr to an AI Artist Residency?
The Calgary Public Library is offering $8,000 for an AI Artist Residency while Canadian artists face funding cuts and 16% grant acceptance rates. There are programs like this around the world. Why?
How are we preparing for the Long Web?
What will the Internet look like in 2036? 2046? How do we reckon with the challenges of digital preservation, link rot, and building for the Long Web in an age of ephemeral content?
A Room of One's Own in 2026 in 6 Parts: The Domain, the Material and the Immaterial
What do we do with Virginia Woolf's concept of creative space in the digital age? Examining how domains, Queer dance halls, and collective spaces redefine what it means to have a room of one's own for contemporary writers.
An Open Letter to Cory Doctorow: Ollama is part of the enshittification!
A response to Cory Doctorow's defense of generative AI, examining the contradictions in supporting Ollama while championing open source principles, and an examination about what purity culture and hypocrisy really means.
My Malware Story Gets Stolen; Yet Another Argument for the IndieWeb
A few days after writing about a weird malware campaign, I discovered that half a dozen cybersecurity news outlets had picked up the story. They now outrank me on Google. A metacommentary on the state of internet journalism, attribution, and what it says that a netsec industry has to rely on amateurs to break stories.
The 1% Rule: An Open Letter to Everyone Who Doesn't Post Anything Online
A call to action for the 99% of internet users who consume but never create. If that's you (and it most likely is), then please read and consider what I'm asking."
What is the IndieWeb?
I decide to throw my hat into the ring and define what exactly the IndieWeb movement is, the core principles, and why it matters for the future of the Internet.
WriterBox, French Magazines, and Money-Making
A roundup of recent developments: building a terminal-based writing organizer, being interviewed by Le Monde about AI social media, and thoughts on Medium's Partner Program changes.
A Beginner's Guide to the IndieWeb for Writers Who Don't Code (But Maybe Want to a Little)
You don't need to be a developer to own your corner of the internet. A guide for writers, poets, and creators who want to escape algorithmic feeds and reclaim their digital presence. No computer science degree required.
The Final Coding Bootcamp: A Eulogy for Lighthouse Labs
What is the future of coding bootcamps? Is there a future? And, more importantly, what is the future of junior developers in an industry with an effortless AI bubble?
How You Can Support Indie Creators—and You Need To
Beyond tipping culture, there are meaningful ways to support independent creators that don't involve money. Here are eight of the best.
What I Have Learned Being on the IndieWeb for a Month
A month of building, connecting, and discovering the independent web. Small technical joys that turned solitude into dialogue. Treat the Internet like a personal playground and lab!
Are NSFW AI Companions Actually Just Exploited Workers in Developing Countries?
Part 3 of a series on the AI Crisis
10 Ways to Write Like the 90’s
Using the Methods of Journalists from the Past to Inspire Your Writing Today
Fandom is Awesome. Furries are Awesome. Bronies are Awesome. Cringe is Awesome. Fuck You.
What is cringe? The feeling when you see somebody deeply love something you don’t understand.