I thought it might be a nice idea for me to share a selection of services/webistes that I like. I would be curious to see what people like or think of them
News
Kurz gesagt / In a nutshell
I found the way they tackle this large variety of topics, from society to science, captivating, simplified and yet thought provoking. And the animation and the narration are just brilliant. I wish it was translated in many languages. I have linked one of their videos on my About page.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
A staple by now in my household. Yes, a bit USA-centric at most times, and I so so wish we had a similar approach to news in Europe, John Oliver still provides a great source of criticism all across the board. Clearly left-wing, and that is why I love it
Messaging and Social
This is probably the most sensitive topic. The way M€t4 has got everyone hooked up and made them dependent on the collection of apps they have acquired, slowly but stadely over time, should be borderline illegal. To the point that it looks almost impossible for people to even consider switching app or simply give up the commodity of certain social media regardless of anything that the company behind them might be up to. I have been off from 1nst4gr4m for a while now, and that was easy. But the rest is a challenge, for everyone. But here are my picks:
Backed up by the non-profit Signal foundation, this is a privacy-based messaging system. You need a phone number to use this, but there are clients for PC/Mac/Android/iOS. It works just fine and I wish there were more and more people switching over. Definitely no significant benefits on sticking to ThatApp people love so much…
Mastodon
Now, this came all about after the downfall of Tw1tt3r. I did sign up to see if it had potential. And potential it does have, but definitely has its limitation in reachability (the de-centralisation comes with its challenged of course). But hey, I thought I put it there and see how/if it develops
Still surviving quite decently, and personally the mean by which I found all my jobs so far, LinkedIn is quite the decent professional space. I found that the experience of LinkedIn changes quite significantly according to the sector and professional network one collects. I have to say, despite the random cliché or not-so-fitting memes, I have been very happy with the quality of my Homepage, however the moment you deviate a little, strange things happen! I try to keep it strictly for the professional network, but a good circle of friends is there too
Media
Ok, let me just say that I am extremely reluctant to subscriptions when it comes to media. And the reason is simple: they’re too many competing with each other, and yet the consumers, instead of stirring the competition towards their needs, have succumbed to just paying fees to multiple providers with questionable service. And if you are lucky to have found a good single solution (or as many as you are willing to pay), still the idea that content can be taken on and off servers and boom, you won’t be able to consume your media anymore (for which you have paid significantly over time) is a bit unfair. At the end, you own nothing. Convenient? Maybe for most. I still like to pay for what I want to consume whenever I want. Having said that:
Spotify
When it comes to music, Spotify is great. I rely on it quite a lot to discover new music. And it’s free (well, it has a free option and it’s quite decent). I wouldn’t be able to find an argument to compare it to Deezer or Apple Music (also because I’m not familiar). However most of my music is still physically owned (I am one of those weirdos who buys vinyls and plays them regularly)
Plex
Plex is how I store the digital version of my physical media. I discovered it through a friend a few years ago now. I paid a one-time purchase fee for the premium service and I never looked back. Music and shows/movies, it provides the best way to consume media over multiple devices. Locally and remotely, and it is even possible to share it all with friends. Which is cool to say the least. It does require a bit of a deeper understanding of storaging, but I would still recommend people to check it out (And you should let me know your username!)
LastFM
This is the least of the useful things you could find on this page. But the old school in me cannot skip mentioning LastFM. You know how people like to share their Wrapped on Spotify every year? Well, LastFM is the grandad of that concept: the website is a record of what you listen to, provided your player has access to your profile. I think it’s fun to see, at least for myself, what and how much I have been listening to the past year, or month or week even. Would I feel the need to share that with people? Maybe not, but if the conversation went there, I’d have a way to show that not just in December