Ryan Singel

Building Outpost.pub to help build an indie publishing ecosystem. Also Contextly, Stanford and formerly journalist at Wired.

Public Key

npub1yd6afjt48cypm9dwlg2dq3t7v8z9qulul8u3ldzxp2f3xuf2rzpq2hujht

NIP-05 Address

ryansingel_at_writing.exchange@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqszxaw5e96nuzqajkh059xsg4lxr3zsw070n7glk3rq4ycnwy4p3qspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43q8qruwg

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub1yd6afjt48cypm9dwlg2dq3t7v8z9qulul8u3ldzxp2f3xuf2rzpq2hujht

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Last Notes

2024-08-12 17:52:50

Tim Walz is seen as a champion for workers. But how have they actually done under his leadership? Pretty well.
https://prospect.org/politics/2024-08-12-tim-walz-vice-president-worker-first-agenda/

2024-08-12 17:14:03

Looking to migrate off Patreon?
Outpost can help you transition to Ghost (open source), and start you on the path to owning the payment relationships with your supporters.
No % taken (other than Stripe cc fees).
The Patreon trap is that #Patreon owns the payment relationship.
You do have to set up your own Stripe account which does make it harder to be anonymous.
If you have a decent size Patreon and are looking for a path off, drop us a line to talk. ryan@outpost.pub

2024-08-09 05:01:15

Substack is a roach motel, pt 135.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/8/24216317/substack-socia-media-newsletter-creators
If you publish on #substack, you are not an indie publisher, you are just sharecropping.
And your sharecropping on a platform that likes Nazis and sympathizes with the alt-right.
And you're making the Trump-supporting Andreeson Horowitz VCs even richer.
A16Z is Substack's only real investor. $86M.
If your URL has that distinctive substack /p/ in it, I'm not clicking it.
I

2024-08-08 00:35:34

Looking for other ways of donating to make change come next year, especially looking for effective ways to support voter registration/turnout/down ballot races.
Currently looking at Oath (says it picks candidates/orgs for maximum impact) and VoteAmerica.org, run by the founder of Vote.org.
https://app.oath.vote/monthly
Any thoughts on those or alternatives?

2024-08-06 21:46:16

Turns out Elon Musk is a rude dick even to his ideological allies. This is the right-wing activist attorney general in Missouri reaching out in the DMs. Via a sunshine request.
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/112/917/268/099/787/724/original/a45d8bb16eaa363a.png

2024-07-24 15:22:14

The moral bankruptcy of A16Z, also known as the primary investors in #Substack.
Choose your publishing tech and subscription dollars accordingly
https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/24/24204706/marc-andreessen-ben-horowitz-a16z-trump-donations

2024-07-23 21:38:20

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@npub1grx…uxfe
Not sure. Can't be of help here unfortunately

2024-07-22 14:56:02

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@npub1grx…uxfe
Totally get it. Done a lot of Ghost stuff so if you have questions hit me up. Ryan around outpost.pub

2024-07-22 03:01:33

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@npub1grx…uxfe
If self-hosted, you can set your own SMTP server for the things like membership login and confirmation. But sending posts as newsletters is Mailgun only currently

2024-04-25 17:30:30

VMWare is one of those companies that is too big to be competent.
They bought Pivotal Tracker, a tool for managing software projects, and then recently decided to boot off all the paying customers that weren’t enterprise.
I just found an email in my spam folder. DKIM and SPF is apparently being too difficult for them to figure out. The email said I had cancelled my paid plan.
No, VMWare you decided you no longer wanted me to pay you.
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/112/333/044/409/243/947/original/c237f775fd950112.png

2024-04-25 16:33:27

The FCC just voted to restore its authority over broadband providers and restore #netneutrality.
States largely get to enforce their laws as well.
It's a good win, with the caveat that the devil is in details and final order not released until next week. ISPs fought hard to aerate the order with loopholes.
I'm really looking forward to the FCC forcing mobile ISPs to stop their video throttling of everyone not on the most expensive plan.

2024-04-20 23:59:55

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@npub1u27…3qfq
A bok Choi version of palak paneer. A pressure cooker v helpful for this.
You can also make the paneer in a pressure cooker from milk and vinegar

2024-03-27 05:25:26

An Outpost client's site that covers the LGBTQ+ community was blocked by CUNY's J-School's web filtering service, which said it was some scam/adware site.
CUNY IT refused to explain.
But since it's a public university, I filed a Freedom of Information request to figure out what tool they used.
It was Palo Alto Networks filtering and I found there's an online site to test URLs and request reclassification.
https://urlfiltering.paloaltonetworks.com/
Problem solved, no thanks to the IT dept
Public records FTW

2024-03-19 07:36:40

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E-bikes outsell electric cars and trucks, and are the best-selling Electric Vehicles.
Meanwhile most journalists focus on the traditional automotive market and use the term EV to refer only to e-cars/trucks.

2024-03-19 07:32:52

I still think the most under-reported, most holy shit tech story of the last 5+ years is how good e-bikes have gotten and how much more affordable a decent e-bike has become.
E-cars and trucks are a nice change but mostly meh. E-bikes, tho? They are magic.
They deserve subsidies and way more press attention.

2024-03-15 07:10:11

Someone should start a crowdfunding campaign for Heather Cox Richardson to get her a domain name
Running a site with 1.4m subscribers on a subdomain of someone else's site is unfathomable to me
All her links and SEO are at Substack's mercy
Own your own domain, ppl

2024-03-15 03:27:08

My TikTok ban theory that I have ZERO proof of
One simply does not say no to the NSA when it comes knocking for data access
#TikTok

2024-03-12 20:13:12

Just got a notice in the mail that my Philips CPAP machine had a data breach thanks to its “cloud service” connected to the secret wireless modem in the CPAP that spies on users.
I have no idea why Philips has patient’s dates of birth, email addresses and phone numbers just so it could send CPAP breathing data to a healthcare provider.
A simple unique ID generated by the healthcare provider would be enough

2024-02-28 17:00:46

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@npub1lrv…tth9
Moving off Substack is easy. Just depends on whether he signed a deal getting paid by them, and what the terms were

2024-02-28 16:49:53

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@npub1lrv…tth9
If anyone knows how to contact him, I'd love to pitch him on something better

2024-02-15 17:18:32

Google’s Gemini appears to require bland niceness.
I can’t even get it to write an email explaining why half-and-half is better than milk. It seems to think that’s mean to milk.
"While I can't send emails directly, I can definitely help draft one for you about the joys of half-and-half! However, instead of claiming superiority over milk, let's focus on the unique qualities and versatility of half-and-half.”
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/111/936/635/605/888/274/original/2bdf2d0aa2447d1f.png

2024-02-14 02:27:03

Once you back out of your driveway, you can safely take off your seatbelt
#cdcsays #cdc

2024-02-10 17:08:00

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@npub1lrv…tth9
The Espionage Act charges are disturbing, but Assange is also being charged with a set of hacking charges that are based in fact and that no journalist would ever engage in.
I'm all for protesting the Espionage charges but his defenders refuse to even acknowledge the other charges.
Nor have I seen any media or press freedom org offer a mea culpa for continuing to support Assange when it became clear he was a sociopath and a political actor in league with Russia

2024-02-07 22:02:44

In light of the Tucker Carlson/Putin interview, if I were ranking my life decisions, I think Outpost Publishers Cooperative @npub1m7j…dxuk saying no to building a site for that fascist was a pretty good one.
Though the intermediary refused to name him, calling him one of the “highest-viewership stars in American media,” it was pretty easy to guess, and have since confirmed.

2024-01-17 22:41:30

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@npub1f6a…pnql
Remind me not to apply for a job at datasette

2024-01-12 05:21:18

This is always what #Substack has been.
Marc Andreesen pouring $85M in funding to Substack was the original Musk buying Twitter. It was an extension of his idea to build his own publication because he hated tech media.
It’s always been a grievance play, funded by white guy VC grievers, and run by a white guy griever.

2024-01-10 20:49:09

Almost every day, I think about this story about Brown University throwing out dorm air filters en masse into a dumpster
Wanting a pandemic to be over so hard that you throw out clean air machines and paper towels. Could not even bother to donate them
#covid #AirQuality
Want to reduce household illness? Get a decent air filter.
Having people over to your house? Use a decent air filter.
Have a classroom full of kids? Use an air filter.
They work and are cheap.
https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2023/10/inconvenient-wasteful-frustrating-students-react-to-removal-of-paper-towels-air-purifiers-from-on-campus-housing

2024-01-10 20:37:27

A Walking Dead spinoff where characters realize that bikes actually work post-apocalypse
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/111/733/697/594/980/553/original/dca6816945972451.png

2024-01-05 09:27:54

Indie creators ditching one VC-funded company for another one thinking it'll be different this time. It won't be. The incentives remain the same.
LiveJournal was a trap
Medium was a trap
Patreon is a trap
Substack is a trap
Etsy became a trap
Beehiiv...
The difference this time is that there are real indie alternatives
Ghost
WordPress
Transistor.fm
Fediverse
Outpost.pub (self plug)
Buttondown
And more
The hacienda must be built
#SubstackMigration #Substack

2024-01-03 03:18:52

If you publish via #Substack and are looking to move to an indie platform, our publishers cooperative Outpost.pub can help.
We help power sites like 404 Media, Tangle, and The Lever.
We support sites using Ghost, an open source CMS.
Drop a note at support@outpost.pub for details

2023-12-17 00:37:21

At the radiology clinic in Kaiser in Oakland. Only one tech because all the rest are sick. Staff not masking. Patients, including those clearly sick and coughing, not masking either.
Love being "post-pandemic".
Even if you don't wear a mask anywhere else, my god, put one on in a hospital full of sick people.

2023-11-28 23:33:05

Anyone in the Bay Area have a good recommendation for an accountant for a small business and possibly personal as well? Remote might work too
Tired of doing taxes myself
#BayArea #oakland #accountant

2023-10-23 15:38:58

The Dutch are using AI to street shame the rest of the world
https://dutchcyclinglifestyle.com/
Here's a stretch of Telegraph in Oakland that's perfect for getting that treatment
Try it yourself
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/111/285/078/383/717/309/original/b94b9249ec1389d1.png

2023-10-17 16:06:14

I appreciate the Washington Post story from Michael Coren on how to replace a car with an e-bike, but it's still stuck in car-centric thinking.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/10/17/electric-bikes-cars-cost-testing/
E-bikes are electric vehicles.
E-bikes are the most popular electric vehicles.
E-bikes are the most revolutionary electric vehicles.
E-bikes rarely get subsidized, unlike giant e-cars and trucks, because lawmakers think of them as toys, not vehicles.
E-bikes are electric vehicles.
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/111/251/211/789/261/111/original/0d876447e8038674.png

2023-09-14 20:38:50

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@npub1yck…ujmw
Because it's not about a profit. People care about the team being successful and tied to their community. Tying a profit motive in warps that.
For instance, if I think I'm getting a dividend or a return, I'm going to have a motive to support the team raising ticket and food prices, even if that's the opposite of what city residents want out of a team.
That's what is brilliant about the Packers model

2023-09-14 20:21:02

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@npub1yck…ujmw
That's exactly what I want. Maybe something with more community input, but with zero expectation of financial return and irrevocable commitment to staying in place

2023-09-14 16:33:31

Oakland's soccer teams, Roots (mens) and Soul (women) are selling community shares through crowdfunding.
Opened yesterday and up to $1.3M
https://wefunder.com/oakland/
Not quite the Green Bay Packers model where community fully owns the team, and there's no profit motive in ownership, but close enough for my taste. I want to support, not profit.
This city deserves and clearly wants a team that's actually loyal. Looking at you Warriors, Raiders and A's.
#oakland
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/111/064/462/754/459/976/original/23d30bddb181bc5b.jpeg

2023-09-12 23:05:30

In re the FDA announcement that the crappy cold medicine on the shelves doesn’t actually work (hopefully most everyone already knew).
https://apnews.com/article/sudafed-decongestants-phenylephrine-pseudoephedrine-fda-0f140bafae9a500c5fba05fe764ecb66
We only had the crappy ones on the shelves because Sen. Dianne Feinstein wanted a law putting the stuff that actually works (pseudoephedrine + ibuprofen/acetaminophen) behind a counter, available by only by showing ID and getting put in a fed database to limit how often you buy it.
Because the war on drugs
2006: https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=7929ff4f-7e9c-9af9-770b-68728b8208b9

2023-08-16 23:49:18

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@npub1xpc…3t05
Drives me nuts when people do this, especially when it's a gorgeous through ball or generous pass

2023-08-10 18:29:30

In the late aughts, Wired.com (the online news side NOT the magazine side) experimented by launching multiple standalone blogs with a lot of editorial independence: Danger Room, Threat Level, Gadget Lab, Wired Science and more
When the mag staff got final site control, they dumped all of the blogs, despite their success and reader loyalty
Katie Drummond wrote for Danger Room
Today she got named worldwide Wired EIC
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/business/media/wired-katie-drummond.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Hoping she brings that model back

2023-08-03 01:23:24

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@npub1v2u…6w20
@npub1hyk…3p33
Just ran into the Apple example again where I can't screen record and capture internal audio with built-in tools, not because it's hard but because pirrrracy

2023-07-28 06:20:11

Easiest jobs in the world ranked:
NSA spokesperson: You never respond to any emails, never say nothing, and never pitch nothing
Apple spokesperson: You never respond to any emails, never say nothing, and if you pitch something, every tech journalist writes it up dutifully and never violates your embargo rules
Trust fund baby: Respond to any emails on any drugs you like, say anything you like, get accepted by any college or VC, and weirdly never pay for your fair share of dinner or drinks

2023-07-07 21:00:38

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@npub1nd8…2zkd
I've tried searching for people complaining, but don't find anything

2023-07-06 21:49:22

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@npub1vqm…ccpx
Oh god. Still too traumatized by The Day After. That was some experiment on GenX.

2023-07-06 21:37:17

Chromecast throwing shade today
A horror show from 1984 🔥
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/669/295/515/767/563/original/1f7f597cd4cec09f.png

2023-06-30 18:45:34

Meant to share this yesterday but this Melissa Gira Grant story about figuring out that the gay wedding website case was built on totally faked facts is amazing.
I love and miss journalism for this: picking up the phone and calling the person no one else ever bothered to or knew to.
https://newrepublic.com/article/173987/mysterious-case-fake-gay-marriage-website-real-straight-man-supreme-court
#journalism

2023-06-24 05:42:54

Thoughts and prayers tonight for all the tankies and their fellow travellers, including Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Medea Benjamin, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Max Blumenthal, Grey Zone, Code Pink, Tulsi Gabbard, RFK Jr, David Sacks and more
Watching their autocratic wet dreams and love of butchers fall apart thanks to the unwavering resolve of the freedom loving people of Ukraine is beautiful
Almost sad I gave up on Twitter. Can't hear their tears, silence and pathetic bleeps
Slava #ukraine

2023-06-16 17:01:02

Fascinating story about a local news site owner training an LLM on local news and info and then using it to cover local government meetings
The piece covers the innovations happening so fast in generative LLMs and what gets lost
#AI #llm #journalism #media
https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/06/ai-will-soon-be-able-to-cover-public-meetings-but-should-it/

2023-06-15 04:06:01

Watching people use Substack to publish their critiques of the VC and tech-bro driven meltdown of Reddit and Twitter is highly amusing

2023-06-14 18:55:41

[sponsored post] does capitalisms suck?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2023/06/14/does-capitalisms-suck-forbes-invites-other-brands-to-ignite-a-national-conversation-on-capitalisms-future-with-a-campaign-created-by-goodby-silverstein--partners/
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/544/089/229/256/190/original/955418c1bf33efad.jpeg

2023-06-12 20:12:41

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@npub178r…qekt
Is bicycle icon in a bike lane a bike?
They are paralyzing

2023-06-09 20:05:21

Not reading any Trump indictment coverage that doesn't have "beautiful mind paper boxes" in the headline
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/516/051/482/865/924/original/b45a3d0c2ae84d5d.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/516/051/591/018/632/original/f5af576d8320baa1.png
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/516/051/694/869/389/original/27d70af551209396.jpeg

2023-06-04 03:21:46

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@npub1nd8…2zkd
6. Large Post-it Notes

2023-04-22 20:28:16

I am enjoying the hell out of Annalee Newitz's new novel The Terraformers.
The literal world building is incredible (with nods to Kim Stanley Robinson), and they made me care more about a moose's autonomy than I ever thought I would
Give them a follow at #[0] to see if they are doing an event near you (and cuz they are great generally)
And if you want a copy: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-terraformers-annalee-newitz/19537833
#[1] #[2] #[3]

2023-04-19 22:33:31

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#[0]
But it's not clear AI can copyright anything.
So when Drake makes a copy, he calls it the original and then he can DMCA the AI original as a derivative work, thus upending time and causality because copyright

2023-04-19 22:10:23

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#[0]
What if Drake recorded his own version of that song?
Also reminded of this Rock Astley lawsuit https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/27/yung-gravy-sued-by-rick-astley-signature-voice-betty-get-money-never-gonna-give-you-up

2023-04-14 03:15:06

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#[0]
#[1]
Hey sweet whip
I'm in red brooks saddle, swing back handlebar club too!
https://cdn.masto.host/writing/media_attachments/files/110/194/989/717/824/816/original/a65839acc1b47cc0.jpg

2023-04-04 22:33:21

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#[0]
A bit stronger than mismatched tennis shoes in the dryer over here in Oakland

2023-04-04 22:25:07

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#[0]
You have to set up a mailgun account and connect that to Ghost, but that's pretty set it and forget it and has a decent free tier.
Once that's set up, you can publish and send/publish/send only via the Ghost API. Ghost handles all the sub, unsub and send as well.
The annoyance might be updating Ghost every month or so. Platform is moving pretty fast.

2023-04-04 21:43:30

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#[0]
Alternatively you could self host a Ghost site and use its API