I’ve been using the #Penstar for a few days now, but it offers so many features that I decided to produce multiple videos, starting with an overview and my first impressions. If you have questions, please let me know below, and I’ll answer them in the video.
Today, I woke up to a milestone message sent by YouTube. It took me a while to do what big channels do in a day or a single video, but it means a lot to me. You guys are absolutely outstanding. Thank you for being there and helping me grow my channel.
Many years ago, long before the current Twitter drama, the company introduced an algorithmic feed. We were told that it was optional, but in reality, the app kept pushing us out of the chronological timeline. I remember hating that decision and implementation so much, and in hindsight, that was probably when my love for Twitter started fading away.
Threads’s approach is an even worse version of what Twitter started back then. That’s why I never liked it. Mastodon was my choice, as it had a chronological feed, but also because of the many cool things the ActivityPub protocol can enable.
Then came Bluesky. Why they didn’t choose to collaborate on the ActivityPub protocol instead of creating yet another one is beyond my comprehension. The good news is that the AT Proto is also decentralized, at least as far as I can technically understand. But there’s more.
For some reason that I also don’t comprehend, people, institutions, and companies are recently picking it as their new home. I know what triggered the move, but I’m not sure why Bluesky was the choice of so many people at the same time. Anyway, as I previously mentioned, that translates to nearly half the users I was following on Twitter.
All the above means that I’m back to a feed that I absolutely enjoy. As you know, I’m a Timeline person. But I’m not only following posts happening in real time (a.k.a. in the correct order); I’m now interacting with others in a way I was missing without knowing.
By the way, I just created a Started Pack of hardware and software I have in my Toolbox that have already joined Bluesky. If you don’t know what a Starter Pack is, please watch the video below.
There are a lot of configuration options in the new #Obsidian Web Clipper. And I love it! For example, I set it to create the clipped note with the properties I always use. But there are many other options, such as choosing between creating a new note or adding to a specific position in an existing note. Anyway, it’s going to take me some time to test everything and then make a video about it.
I’m having so much fun with NotebookLM lately. It behaves more like a companion AI as it uses the information and knowledge we have added to it to give the answers. I’m curious as to why there’s so little discussion about it. Anyway, there’s definitely a video coming up soon.
Please don’t get me wrong, I love that people are finally moving away from Twitter, and I do like Bluesky. However, I am still perplexed as to why so many users are choosing it at the same time. As I write this, Bluesky is about to reach 20,000,000 users, which in my case translates to nearly half the people I was following on Twitter. When I started using Mastodon, the number was considerably lower.
Speaking of which, I think Mastodon would be a better place for companies, news outlets, and institutions to be because of how servers work there, but perhaps Bluesky’s approach was a better one. Since there is currently only one server to choose from, it may be easier for people to understand it.
As for Threads, I don’t like the fact that they are constantly pushing the “For You” feed and are taking so long to properly join the Fediverse. It’s also important to keep in mind that it’s a Meta product.
I’ll still post on my blog first and from there automatically share on social media, but it’s great to see so much enthusiasm and so many people joining a decentralized platform.
Finally, if you are new to Bluesky, the video below will help you learn how verification works on the platform. Even if you are not planning to verify your account, I believe it’s important to know if you are actually following the real person or institution.
Cross-post to Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, LinkedIn, etc. for as low as $5/month. I use Obsidian to compose the posts, but that’s optional. Learn how to do it in the video below.
I was considering the recent migration to Bluesky as a fad, but at the rate at which the Bluesky User Count number is growing, it will reach and exceed 19M users very soon. To give you some perspective, there are almost 11M ActivityPub users as of now.
Of course, if Threads was already fully integrated into the Fediverse, the situation would be entirely different. Which brings us to the question I’ve been asking myself for quite some time now: is Threads even serious about being part of the Fediverse?
Penstar sent me this device, and before turning it on, I was already shocked by how thin it is. It’s extremely thin, almost as thin as the USB-C charging port. Then, when I started the onboarding process, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The text is so sharp.
I literally got it out of the box now, and these are just my initial impressions. If you’d like to learn more about it, stay tuned. After playing with it for a few days, I’ll start sharing more thoughts and reactions on my blog and YouTube channel.
