15 March 2017
Quite a few people have written (and spoken) quite a few words on the subject of App.net’s imminent oblivion. I’ve written (and spoken) my fair share too! Right now I’m going to restrict myself to a very narrow definition of what helped make App.net (ADN: short for App Dot Net) special for me. Characters.
Yes, the people inhabiting the social network weren’t your usual crowd, but it’s not the people’s characters I’m thinking of right now, no. It’s the social post length. 256 characters of often lovingly-crafted posts on pretty-much any subject one could care to imagine. A chance to relax into the prose or the poem, the metaphor or the precise, the mundane, the interesting, exciting, the newsworthy (whether global, local or the deeply-personal) or the hyper-focused chats about topics directly-related to ADN.
I’ve never been able to summarise, so having the ability to footnote a social post still brings pleasure to me. 256-character posts allow one to relax knowing the chances of misinterpretation, if not entirely eliminated, are certainly lessened.
So there you have it. Or rather you don’t; it’ll be gone shortly: the plug will be pulled sometime during 2017-03-15 (though if living in a timeline to the east of San Francisco it’s likely it’ll be the 16th when things go dark.)
App.net: in total 2012 Q3 to 2017 Q1 with me from 2013 Q2 to the end; thanks to all you lovely people.
(An approximately 256 word post.)
13 March 2017
After a weekend of comparative misery, earlier this morning I sent a text message to my wife. It read thus:
“Sorry I didn’t finish off putting stuff away earlier, I had to go upstairs and have the mother of all poos in the en-suite. It felt so much better afterwards. How was the trip to school? :)”
How posh is that‽
10 March 2017
I wonder how it feels, when out with your family, if your partner attracts the attention of someone you don’t know but they do, and that person shouts out your name to ask you a trivial question.
I’m imagining a speech/thought bubble:
‘Er… how do they know m…’
09 March 2017
The Wild Turkey brand of straight Bourbon whiskey is well-enough established in the film world that I thought I ought to give it a whirl.
I have to say the first glass was interesting, but of the two Bourbons I’ve tried I do prefer Buffalo Trace.
It’s hard to argue with ‘101 proof’ though.
Oh, my gums, my lips!
08 March 2017
Yesterday evening, fresh out of the gym and leaving the leisure centre, my attention was diverted, pleasantly I might add, from the single-minded pursuit of getting out and home for dinner. Diverted by someone I’ve known for a few years now, and whose husband used to work for the same company as I.
I apologised for my tunnel-vision, she remarked about my apparent single-minded sense of purpose, and we parted company.
Ok, ok, ok, in a spirit of full disclosure I must confess I wasn’t just at the gym. No. I’d just taken my youngest daughter to her weekly swimming lesson; and we’d, together with her oldest sister, endured the trauma of showering and changing in the men’s, and the far-busier-than-Saturday’s weekday lesson time slot.
What strikes me as comforting, especially against the backdrop of my ‘Blinkers’ post at the weekend: two people I’ve known for a while took the time to say hello. Which was nice.