Link tags: guardian

I’ll never stop blogging: it’s an itch I have to scratch – and I don’t care if it’s an outdated format | Simon Reynolds | The Guardian

It me:

I’d do this even if no one read it. Blogging, for me, is the perfect format. No restrictions when it comes to length or brevity: a post can be a considered and meticulously composed 3,000-word essay, or a spurted splat of speculation or whimsy. No rules about structure or consistency of tone. A blogpost can be half-baked and barely proved: I feel zero responsibility to “do my research” before pontificating. Purely for my own pleasure, I do often go deep. But it’s nearer the truth to say that some posts are outcomes of rambles across the archives of the internet, byproducts of the odd information trawled up and the lateral connections created.

Firefox’s fight for the future of the web | Technology | The Guardian

A good overview of the unfair playing field of web browsers, dominated by the monopolistic practices by Google and Apple.

Mozilla is no longer fighting for market share of its browser: it is fighting for the future of the web.

The Guardian digital design style guide

What a lovely way to walk through the design system underpinning the Guardian website.

Bonus points for using the term “tweak points”!

How to speak Silicon Valley: decoding tech bros from microdosing to privacy | US news | The Guardian

Every one of these is chef’s kiss.

‘It’s a caring environment’: how codebar is building a diverse tech community | New faces of tech | The Guardian

A profile of Codebar Brighton, with words of wisdom from Alice and Cassie.

Why Silicon Valley can’t fix itself

Backlash backlash:

The nature of human nature is that it changes. It can not, therefore, serve as a stable basis for evaluating the impact of technology. Yet the assumption that it doesn’t change serves a useful purpose. Treating human nature as something static, pure and essential elevates the speaker into a position of power. Claiming to tell us who we are, they tell us how we should be.

Empty half the Earth of its humans. It’s the only way to save the planet | Kim Stanley Robinson | Cities | The Guardian

Kim Stanley Robinson explores the practicalities of E.O. Wilson’s Half Earth proposal.

There is no alternative way; there is no planet B. We have only this planet, and have to fit our species into the energy flows of its biosphere. That’s our project now. That’s the meaning of life, in case you were looking for a meaning.

The Philip K Dick book I love most… | Books | The Guardian

Three authors pick their favourite book by Philip K Dick:

• Nicola Barker: Puttering About in a Small Land
• Michael Moorcock: Time Out of Joint
• Adam Roberts: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Protest and persist: why giving up hope is not an option | World news | The Guardian

Hope is a belief that what we do might matter, an understanding that the future is not yet written.

Rebecca Solnit’s piece reminded me of something I mentioned a couple of year’s back when I referred to Margaret Atwood’s phrase “judicious hope”:

Hope sounds like such a wishy-washy word, like “faith” or “belief”, but it carries with it a seed of resistance. Hope, faith, and belief all carry connotations of optimism, but where faith and belief sound passive, even downright complacent, hope carries the promise of action.

Edge of darkness: looking into the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way | Science | The Guardian

Building a planet-sized telescope suggests all sorts of practical difficulties.

The Guardian has moved to https 🔒 | Info | The Guardian

Details of The Guardian’s switch to HTTPS.

How we made the RioRun progressive web app | Info | The Guardian

The devs at The Guardian walk through the process of building a progressive web app for the Olympics. There were some gotchas with the life cycle of service workers, but the pay-off was worth it:

Once you get there though, it’s quite magical when you load the page on a phone, switch it to airplane mode, reload, and continue using the app as though nothing was wrong.

The fatal hike that became a Nazi propaganda coup | Kate Connolly | World news | The Guardian

I lived in Freiburg for years but I never knew of this story.

Dennis Cooper fears censorship as Google erases blog without warning | Books | The Guardian

Two weeks ago, writer and artist Dennis Cooper was checking his Gmail when something peculiar happened: the page was refreshed and he was notified that his account had been deactivated – along with the blog that he’d maintained for 14 years.

This is why the Indie Web exists.

His advice to other artists who work predominantly online is to maintain your own domain and back everything up.

The inside story of Facebook’s biggest setback | Rahul Bhatia | Technology | The Guardian

The history of Facebook’s attempt to steamroll over net neutrality in India …and how they failed in that attempt, thanks to a grassroots campaign.

Crucially, Facebook itself would decide which sites were included on the platform. The company had positioned Internet.org as a philanthropic endeavour — backed by Zuckerberg’s lofty pronouncements that “connectivity is a human right” — but retained total control of the platform.

Welcome to the new Guardian website

The Guardian have hit the big red button and made their responsive site the default. Great stuff!

(top tip: don’t read the comments)

Steve Albini on the surprisingly sturdy state of the music industry

Steve Albini’s barnstorming keynote address at Melbourne’s Face the Music conference.

The right to flight: why I’m flying a balloon over London this summer

Watch the skies: James Bridle’s balloon will be hovering above London distributing wifi.

Navigating the Guardian | Help | The Guardian

A peek behind the scenes of an interesting new navigation pattern on the Guardian’s still-in-beta responsive site.

You can try it out here

Guardian beta · The container model and blended content – a new approach to how we present content on the Guardian

This is what Oliver was talking about Responsive Day Out 2 — a new approach to information architecture.

Cast off your sidebars! You have nothing to lose but your grids!