Rosey Glasses of Serendipity +1

Something pretty fun is the random suggested topics at the bottoms of posts here in the web forums. It is insta-serendipity for bits of data is a pool I’d otherwise glaze over.

For instance, look at what happened when I posted a quest about ActivityPub:

I don’t have a screenshot to compare it to, but consider the game listing in Steam, the sidebar with white lettering on a dark grey background, that scrolls for hundreds of pages. Human brains are :ng: at that level of filtering and sorting.

I’m not saying everyone should go about it the way I have (Discourse is a little heavy for this on an individual level), but maybe our personal catalogs should consider the mind that will operate it.

  • “I have so much to choose from, help me decide!”
  • “I want to leisurely walk through my media library”
  • “I want to listen to music contemporary to my high school years in this embarrassing genre, because I’m ready to share this part of myself with my partner of over a dozen years and apparently there is a lot to unpack there”

These are all interesting use cases, and of course most people can approximate these in some way. But all of those associations are in the buttcloud, and while I make mine very public because I’m :cool: like that, it is distinctly my data. I am actually volunteering it, rather than doing the “free” route of, “you get all these benefits but you have to sign over all these rights, and everyone assumes this is business as ususal”.

This post started by finding delight is a system I configured to relieve my brain. It ends with thoughts on where IoT systems are heading. I am always putting together these space age systems that automate aspects out of my life. I used to worry they were too geeky, kept them to myself. But we have to share as much as possible. Innovation as a defense depends on it, but it will also put us in the correct spirit, space where compassion and connection really amplify.

So play games together, and talk about fun stuff. :slight_smile: