Troy Patterson

Educator, Thinker, Consultant

Category: Thoughts (Page 5 of 18)

Week Note: 2023-04

February 21, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Outlet

I got a deal on electrical outlets with USB plugs built in from the OWC garage sale. I decided that my office was the perfect place to install one of them as I generally have something charging plugged in. The electrical box is a pretty large piece of kit. Basically, it takes up most of the outlet box. This proved to be an issue. The outlet box that they used when redoing the house is attached via screws inside the box.
1 gang electrical outlet box with screws inside. The screws are set into rails that intrude into the box.
Unfortunately, this style doesn’t leave enough room for the new electrical outlet. Thus, I’ll need to pull the outlet box out and replace it with a traditional “old work” 1 gang box.
1 gang electrical outlet with flaps that extend behind drywall to hold the box in place.
Sigh, something that should’ve been incredibly easy.

Public Domain Pictures in browser

I”ve been using the wonderful Library of Congress- Free to Use Browser Extension for a bit now. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the bit of serendipity that it adds to my day. Essentially, every time you open a new tab, instead of a blank page, you get an image that is free of copyright restrictions. These pictures frequently incite me to think about what is going on in the picture.

This may be horrific if you are trying to maximize every second of your day (or avoid distractions), but for me, the little bit of serendipity is well worth the potential distraction.

Orange Wine

We had some Oranage Wine (Experimental Orange 2020) ) from Black Star Farms the other night. It is not made from oranges, but is named for its orange hue. Orange wine is made with white grapes that are fermented with the skins. The wine had a complex taste to it. I was reminded in some ways of whiskey tasting in that there was some complex finish notes.

Date Night

We had date night the other evening. We went to see Living at a small local theater. The movie stars the wonderful Bill Nighy as a bureaucrat in London in the 50’s. After receiving a grim diagnosis, he decides to take some action. Sad but wonderful.

Ford Sync Frustration

Ford really has struggled with Sync. Those struggles continue for me. According to my Bronco Sport, Sync is up to date (I’ve connected to my WiFi). However, according to Ford records when connecting to my online account, there is a Sync update.

I tried to run this at the end of January. I gave it a few days and checked again. Ford Sync within the Bronco still says that it is up to date. The web site says there is an update.

So, OK, I’ll use the USB drive option. I prepare the USB drive. Hm, it says that you need a USB:
4a849b6932e67446ee8c6b4b96594d1b.png

But then the next line says:

  • What is exFAT?

Hm. “previous than SYNC 3”? Notice the odd wording. Not “previous to SYNC 3” or version prior to SYNC 3. I have SYNC version 3. So, I’m going to guess that I need exFAT. I prep a USB drive, follow the directions to download the update and unzip it (using Unarchiver only) directly on the drive, and move the files back to the root level of the drive.

Out to the car and plug it in (to the front USB port since the rear is charge only). There is no indication that the update is starting (the directions do not mention any indication will be provided). The directions state that it can take up to five minutes for the update to start and another thirty minutes to complete. Once it completes, you will get a notification. So, great, I need to run the car for 35 minutes hoping that it is updating?

It didn’t work.

Mastodon

Why do people stay? There is no UX that works to “addict” the users. Rather, it is the people.

This may be one of the most underrated, and potentially positive, developments in the adoption of the Fediverse.

Week Note 2023-03

February 4, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Normal Maine Winter

Someone told me that “at least you are getting a normal Maine winter”. This is my second winter in Maine. Last winter was very mild.

The funny thing is that people wonder how I’m handling Maine winters. I grew up in Michigan. I’m guessing that they don’t know that Michigan gets snow and cold as well?

So, we have gotten a good bit of snow this year. We got 16.1 inches in January (which is a good bit more than Dearborn received in January of this year – 4.4 inches). So, a good bit of snow, but it’s not like we don’t get snow in Michigan.

Remote Work

One of the things that strikes me is the change in the acceptability of remote work. I’ve had a job where I could work from anywhere for over a decade. Prior to COVID, I tried to get some of the meetings that I had to convert to video conferences. There was much resistance. I would spend over an hour driving for a meeting that took 15 minutes. These were meetings that were very focused. However, others weren’t ready for that.

With COVID, lots of people became comfortable (or at least accepting) video conferencing. So at times, I can work remotely and everyone is OK with that. There is still real value in getting together with people most of the time. However, some things really can be handled via video conferencing. So, if we have a day with lots of ice on the roads warnings, snow safety warnings, or similar, I can take a look at my calendar and decide if I should work remotely. This is a huge change for the good.

AI Continuing Discussions

The AI discussions are continuing. There are lots of blogs, posts, and more about AI. Some teachers are using it for their benefit. Some are freaking out about how they are going to “test kids”.

I’m feeling the discussion will continue. I’m not sure where we’ll all end up. I’ve written about this topic a couple of times already.

One of the posts about AI started with this line:

During my time on this earth,…

I love this line. I may use it in the future.

Bridge Up

My usual path to work involves crossing a draw bridge. I’ve never hit it up on the way in to work, until this week. Of course, this was compounded by a bit of construction. Still, the delay wasn’t very long.

A draw bridge with the two sides pointing up. There is a roadway curving toward the bridge up with a

Hazel Update

Hazel loves to run around. She’s not bothered by the snow or cold at all. She is doing really well with her last out of the night.

Cold

This weekend is projected to be COLD. Currently, the temperature outside is sitting at -15 degrees Fahrenheit (-26 Celsius). That’s without the wind chill. The “feels like” temperature is -39. So, it’s cold. Saturday should be rocking a high of 6 degrees.

I don’t have much planned for outside, and Hazel will bummed as I’ll watch how much she is out. But mostly, I’ll be working around the house and layering up if I’m going outside.

Using ChatGPT to Create Multiple Choice Questions to Put into Moodle

January 30, 2023 / / 0 Comments

This is a tutorial on having ChatGPT write questions to be imported into Moodle using the GIFT format. I’m going to use BBEdit as my text editor, but you can use a different one. The free version of BBEdit should do everything in these steps (* NOTE: Google Docs won’t work for the Regular Expression Find and Replace (Step 3). Microsoft Word will.)

Step 1:


Have ChatGPT write your multiple choice questions and format them in a specific way. The key is to include this sentence at the end of your request:

…Use the following format:
{1. MCVS:=Right answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer}

So, in my example, the search criteria was:

Write 50 Multiple-Choice Question about Maine. Use the following format:
{1. MCVS:=Right answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer/Wrong answer}

This resulted in the following:

Sure, here are 50 multiple-choice questions about the state of Maine:

What is the capital city of Maine?
{MCVS:=Augusta/Portland/Bangor/Lewiston}
Which river flows through the city of Augusta?
{MCVS:=Kennebec River/Androscoggin River/Penobscot River/Saint John River}
…

So far so good. However, you need to do some formatting.

  • GIFT needs a blank line between questions.
  • Wrong answers need to be marked by an “~” (right answers need an “=”, but we’ve got that already).
  • “MCVS:” needs to be removed

Step 2: Copy/Paste the questions.

Highlight the questions in ChatGPT and copy them.

Paste the questions into your text editor (preferable over a word processor).

BBEdit:

Since I’m using BBEdit, you can use File | New> (with Clipboard).

Pages, Word, Google Docs

Paste the questions into a blank document.

Step 3: Add a blank line between questions:

No matter how you do this, it is just important that there is a blank line between each question. This is how questions are delineated. You should visually inspect the text to make sure that there is blank line.

BBEdit:

  • Click on Search | Find…
  • in the Find box, type: }
  • In the Replace box, type: }\r
  • Click the Replace All button.

This will find and replace all of those instances quickly.

Google Docs

This must be done manually in Google Docs. There is not currently an easy way to script this. You’ll need to set the cursor at the end of each answer line and press the return/enter key.

Manually place your cursor and hit return/enter after each “}” at the end of each answer line. This can take a while based on the number of questions.

Step 4: Remove the MCVS:

  • Click back into the Find window
  • In the Find box enter: MCVS:
  • In the Replace box – delete all text so that there is nothing in it
  • Click Replace All

Step 5: Add an “~” in front of the incorrect answers:

BBEdit:

  • Click back into the Find window
  • In the Find box enter: /
  • In the Replace box, you need two characters: (type a space)~
  • Click Replace All

Google Docs:

  • Click on Edit in the Menu bar
  • Choose Find and Replace
  • In the Find window, enter: /
  • In the Replace box, you need two characters: (type a space)~
  • Click Replace All

Optional
Add a category for the quiz questions. This means that in Moodle, these questions will all be identified in a specific category.

  • Scroll to the very top of the document.
  • Set the cursor and create a new blank line.
  • Type “$CATEGORY:XXXX” (Replace XXXX with the category name that you want).*Bonus, you can also create subcategories by adding a “/Subcategory” after your category. Thus, If you wanted a category of World War I, it would look like this:

$CATEGORY: World War I

If you wanted a sub-category of “allies” in World War I, it would look like this:

$CATEGORY: World War I/allies

  • Create a blank line below the category line.
  • Save the file

Moodle

Open your Moodle instance. Go to the course that you want to put the questions in.

  • Click on the More link in the top sub-menu
  • Select “Question Bank”
  • Click on the Questions button and select “Import”
  • Select “GIFT format” radio button
  • Drag and drop the file (or use the “Choose a file button”) to add the file that you previously saved.
  • Click “Import” button at the bottom
  • Read through the questions, scroll down and click “Continue”

That’s it. You’ve now created a bunch of questions and imported them into Moodle, ready to go.

Check the Questions

Please remember the ChatGPT is NOT programmed to be right. It will be confident, but maybe not right. It is crucial to check all the questions for accuracy.

In Moodle, you can utilize the Preview function. You may want to review the questions prior to import. Either will work, it depends on your preference. Do make sure to review the questions though.

An introduction to BookStack page. This shows an example of BookStack with the explanation of What is BookStack? The text is nonsense.

Other Software

January 11, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Recently, I posted on the software that I use. I know that I left some valuable resources out. It’s funny how you can use something tons and then not even really think about it when asked.

In some conversations, I realized that I had left out at least one resource that I really like. I’ve received lots of praise for implementing this one. It replaces expensive software that doesn’t work as well.

  • BookStack – This is wiki software that you can host. It is free and open source. It produces a beautiful site. I use this for documentation sites. (In my job, documentation is undervalued but crucial.) Lots of customization options. Lots of controls. It also supports Markdown (though I leave it at the default of WYSIWYG for others.)

Just thought that I’d add it to the list.

Software That I Use

December 27, 2022 / / 1 Comment

I thought that I’d share some of the applications that I use regularly. Most of these are Mac-centric, but many are cross-platform.

Open Source:

  • Clipy – ClipBoard manager that builds on the open-source ClipMenu. This is a MUST have for me.
  • Maestral – allows you to sync with DropBox – without counting as a device and much more.
  • Joplin – Note taking (supports Markdown) and encrypted syncing.
  • DarkTable– Photo organization and editing. Completely replaces Adobe Lightroom for me.
  • RawTherapee – Photo editing
  • Manager – Business Accounting. Terrific for consultants who need to create professional looking invoices.
  • NetNewsWire – RSS reader.
  • OnyX – System cleaning and “fixing”. Get it before you need it.
  • OBS – Advanced screen recording. A little bit of a learning curve, but you can do nice recordings.
  • GNUCash – Accounting software. Great for checkbook and financial tracking.
  • GRAMPS Genealogical Research Software

Paid Apps:

  • 1Password – password manager
  • Audio HiJack – Record audio with lots of features.
  • BBEdit – Lots of great features for free, but I support the software by purchasing.
  • Comic Life 3 – bought it once and use it regularly. Plus, phenomenal support.

Other Things That I use:

  • Hypothesis – Social Bookmarking and Annotation. Technically, this is open source. However, I don’t host this myself, I use the public version.
  • App Cleaner – Not open source, but free. Removes the dependencies along with the application.
  • Moodle – Learning Management Software. I host this on a server.
  • WordPress – Web development platform.
  • Mastodon – Social Networking site. Currently, I’m on Scholar Social.

AI Text Thoughts

December 21, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I’ve been having conversations about AI text (Chat GPT being the most popular currently). Here is a follow-up to a conversation that I thought I’d share.

Having taught writing in middle school and high school, my first thought was “wow, I’m glad that I’m not teaching 8th or 9th-grade writing“. The AI writing is frequently on par with some of the writing that was turned in to me. 

I’ve been thinking about this for a while though. I’ve lived through the “calculator wars” (where educators argued about whether students should ever use calculators in school).  I also lived through the time of “turning off spell check” on computers. Those have now passed. I also watch adults (and students) type on computers. When the squiggly red line comes up, users (adults and kids), look back and fix those issues. I personally have a tendency to think faster than I type. I frequently leave words out. I know of a district that has purchased Grammarly Premium for all of the administrators.

This technology isn’t going away. I’ve adjusted my thoughts from the original “How would I ever teach writing?” to a much more nuanced view. 

  • Are there times when we need to teach writing without AI? Sure. 
  • Are there times when we need to teach how to expand writing using AI? Sure.
  • Is there value in writing things out longhand? I believe so. 
  • Are all kids going to be the same? No.

Writing is a special process. But not all writing is the same. Some kids really struggle with how to write. It isn’t really the way that their brain works. (Temple Grandin has a new book called Visual Thinking which is on my list. If you aren’t familiar with Temple Grandin, she has some fascinating perspectives.) Sadly to me, some people never write for the joy of writing. Some people never paint for the joy of painting. Some people never learn to play music. 

So, what can AI text do beyond providing a thoughtless copy/paste assignment? Well, AI text can provide another avenue to take the writing. Having AI provide some feedback may give the writer something else to think about. AI text could also act like a “peer editor”. AI text can take out some of the monotonous parts of writing. Heck, at a minimum, it may encourage kids to check out the thesaurus (*attempted humor). There are still definitely going to be times to have students write without AI. I will argue though, that we should also teach kids how to write with it.

How is AI text being used now?
I’ve been working with some educators and others, and have found the following use cases:

  • Peer feedback
  • Rough draft
  • Writing test questions
  • Reflection
  • Lesson plans
  • OER Resources
  • Writing code
  • IEP goals

AI text isn’t going away. It will get better and better. It still won’t replace great writers.

Writing, Typing, Cheating, and AI

Writing, Typing, Cheating, and AI

December 6, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I was listening to the wonderful Mac Geek Gab, (show 958) and Dave Hamilton shared a story from his past that I found fascinating. I think that it is relevant to what we are facing as well.

You can listen to the story on the Mac Geek Gab Podcast – the story starts around 28:05, or follow my condensed, from my memory version, or read the YouTube transcript below:

Dave relates a story of when he was in 10th grade and the family had a computer. The class was assigned to write an essay. Dave wrote his rough draft on an Apple IIc since he had one. He printed it out and handed it to the teacher for the next phase. The teacher didn’t want to accept it as a rough draft because it was printed out. (My favorite line was Dave said, “I’m like, wow, just you wait, go ahead and read it. Like I’m pretty sure you’re gonna disagree with yourself. Actually, yeah, it’s pretty rough. Like I don’t think I’m that good you know”). The teacher’s point was that everyone else had to write out the rough draft and Dave was cheating. The teacher failed Dave. He headed to the Guidance Counselor who agreed with Dave.

So, how does this relate to today? Well, AI writing things is becoming, well, a thing. The kids know it. Teachers are dealing with it. The question is partly, will this become a way of writing? Will we have an AI write the rough draft, or provide alternative points, or proofread what you write, will that become “normal”?

Almost everyone I watch type, kind of defaults to looking for the red squiggles that indicate a word is spelled wrong or maybe used incorrectly (me included). This has become a reality for us.

So what does the future look like? Actually, that’s the wrong question. What does life look like today? Should we be taking advantage of these tools? Should we be teaching kids to utilize them for their benefit?

YouTube Transcript of Dave’s Essay Story

but I will share an anecdotal story from
my own history in high school in 10th Grade I had I
think it was 10th grade when we had to write our first term papers I had uh an
apple 2C at home I was very happy to have this apple 2C at home and
I they you know the process this was to learn how to write a paper so there was
a process to it and the rough draft was probably more important than the final
product right because this we had to write a rough draft and then we would go through an editing process both
individually with the teacher and then also with our groups in the class and then we would you know present a
finalized product and and the grade was sort of on the whole project great like no problem fine
I uh so I went home and I I wrote my term paper and of course I wrote it on
my Apple 2C because I had it and I knew how to type and and it was relatively
new for us this was really our first computer we had a Timex Sinclair before that but you know in terms of I don’t
know Sinclair had it had its new had its utility but so I did it and I printed out my my work
and I brought it in and the teacher was like I can’t accept this and I said uh what what do you what
do you mean they’re like well you’re this isn’t a rough draft you know you’ve printed this and I’m like wow just you
wait go ahead and read it like I’m pretty sure you’re gonna disagree with yourself actually yeah it’s pretty rough
like I don’t think I’m that good you know and uh she’s like well yeah but you didn’t hand write it like the final
product has to be typed but the the rough draft everybody else hand wrote it
I’m like not it’s fine it doesn’t bother me whatever they chose to do I’m like I did this and she’s like well you did
this on a computer right and I said yeah she said well this is like cheating because everybody else in the class uh
wrote it out by hand and then is going to have to after we do the edits it’s going to then have to go and type the
whole thing you know essentially writing it a second time on a different medium and I’m like well I mean that’s on them
like yeah all I have to do is go in and do the edits and then reprint like obviously and that is what every single
person that’s listening to this show would do today but back then what’s that
it was the future then it was no I she failed me for the project and I went
straight to my guidance counselor and I was like like this and I even told her
I’m like this is the future and it’s not like some Hundred Year future I’m like within five years this is how this class
is going to be taught and the opposite will be the exception rather than the rule and my guidance counselor looked at
the teacher and she’s like he’s a hundred percent right this is you did not put in the requirements that people
had to hand write their rough draft this is not a penmanship class yeah this is
an English class and he is getting full benefit arguably more more than full
benefit of this because he’s able to focus on the English part of it and not the pedantic handwriting and rewriting
of this thing over and over again and the teacher was pissed pissed but so 18
and a half four years with her yeah yeah exactly right uh but I I share this
anecdote because right now we all think that using an AI to write our papers is
cheating and someone thought that using a computer to write my paper was
cheating and literally failed me until she was forced not to so

*Post image from Wikimedia: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Artificial_Intelligence_%26_AI_%26_Machine_Learning_-_30212411048.jpg

Image viawww.vpnsrus.com
Date16 August 2018
Sourcehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/152824664@N07/3021241048/
Authormikemacmarketing

Quick Update

November 25, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Joplin

Well, hopefully, I have my Joplin sync issue resolved. If you are using Joplin and enable encryption, it is best if you make sure to use the same password on all your devices.

Joplin is how I write blog posts (yes, I could write directly on the blog, but, well, habit). Thus, blog posts haven’t been as numerous lately.

Thanksgiving

The kids were otherwise occupied for Thanksgiving. We had intended upon sharing Thanksgiving with some friends, but, alas, a family emergency pre-empted those plans.

Rm did make a wonderful dinner and we had a lovely Thanksgiving. I’m truly thankful for my life partner. She’s absolutely wonderful. She’s kind, funny, fun, sweet, and gorgeous.

The Lions lost, but at least it was a close game.

Fediverse PD

Mastodon is starting to develop educational PD opportunities. I recently found Brenna Clarke Gray’s Blog through Mastodon. She has some wonderful thoughts about education and leadership. (Tip: she doesn’t have an RSS feed on her blog but adding /feed to her URL works).

Fediverse

There was a discussion about Big Social Media, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc, and I found this line:

…think of that old story about the pigs marvelling at how well the farmer fed and looked after them

I think that I’ll leave with that.

Week Note

November 8, 2022 / / 0 Comments

ACTEM

ACTEM went pretty well. My presentation was a bit too broad for the group. However, a couple of attendees were inspired to work on creating some materials.

Mostly, it was nice to meet some people and make some connections. It’ll be interesting to see if conferences go “back” to what they were before.

I was also intrigued by the keynote speakers. Personally, I wonder how they ended up with the gig. (This is not a criticism of them, just wondering.)

PixelFed

PixelFed is an open-source site designed to share photos. It is very much like Instagram, without Facebook, sorry Meta, owning it.

The neat thing is that it is very easy to use, very graphically pleasing. The negative is that there aren’t as many as your friends (most likely) on it.

There is no tracking. There is no algorithm to determine what you’ll see. There is no advertising.

There are three basic feeds, Home, Local, and Global. Home is the one of people you follow. Local is all the people on this instance, and Global is, well everyone.

If you are on PixelFed, connect up with me.

PrePandemic Weekend

This weekend was kind of a “pre-pandemic” weekend. Rm and I were able to attend several events. Of course, we masked up for each and every one of these, but still is was wonderful.

Paul Reiser

Paul Reiser may be best known (at least by us) for “Mad About You”. This was one of our favorite TV comedies.

Paul Reiser does observational comedy. He is funny and family friendly. The show included several bits about “getting older”, and was funny and enjoyable.

The venue Waterville Opera House is a nice theater.

Amsterdam

On Saturday, we headed off to see the movie Amsterdam. This was an interesting movie with a few major flaws (like a couple of alternative reality sequences). I would say the movie was good, but not great.

What the movie really brings up is how important knowing history really is. The movie is loosely based on history of a plot to replace Roosevelt. It also brings up the past belief of creating a nation centered on the “right” people. Here it is really important to understand the rise of eugentics.

Violins of Hope

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to the Portland Symphony Orchestra for the Violins of Hope Maine concert. The Violins of Hope Maine is a month long residency program that focuse on playing violins from the Holocaust. The centerpiece of concert is Verdi’s Requim of Hope.

The Violins of Hope Project centers around a private collection of violins, violas, and cellos all collected since the end of World War II. Many of the instruments belonged to Jews during the war. The instruments have been reconditioned and travel the world to share the story with people everywhere.

The Death of Twitter? (And the move to Mastodon)?

The Death of Twitter? (And the move to Mastodon)?

November 1, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Some thoughts about moving to Mastodon from Twitter.

Now that Elon Musk has purchased Twitter, there is a bit of a hue and cry to leave Twitter. I totally get that. Musk’s recent tweet (since deleted) responding to Hillary Clinton’s tweet about the attack on Paul Pelosi was nothing short of abdominal. Essentially, Musk helps spread offensive, inaccurate lies. He is legitimizing absolute lies. He is pushing for more attacks on people. The tweet reinforces the fears of Musk running Twitter.

However, I’m not yet convinced that people will leave Twitter in massive numbers. There are lots of people who believe and support exactly that kind of thinking. There are even more people who don’t consider that kind of speech “My problem”.

I’ve never seen tons of hate speech on Twitter. I follow a bunch of educators. Mostly, my Twitter feed has been K-12 educators and a few parody or comedy accounts.

I’ve researched leaving Twitter several times. The biggest alternative is Mastodon. However, Mastodon isn’t Twitter. It is different. It has a different intent. It functions differently.

Mastodon

Mastodon is not owned by a specific company. There is no algorithm to provide you content. Rather, it can be what the community wants it to be. That’s the first difference, Mastodon isn’t a single site, but a connection of sites. Each user joins a Mastodon instance (server, community) that fits their perspective. There are a wide range of Mastodon instances (sites) available. Generally, one starts with the Mastodon instance (site) that fits their interest. Instances (sites) centered on things like Art, Music, LGBTQ+ issues, Programming, and much more are available. Here is a quick link to some site listings. However, just because you join one instance, doesn’t mean that you can’t see things from other instances. So, if you join a community focused on Art, you can still follow people from other communities. Thus, you can create a feed of people that you are interested in. Those people can be on any community at all (pretty much, communities can block other whole communities – which is actually a good thing, very few communities get blocked).

Mastodon seems to be seeing a huge influx of users. Some have closed registrations (new accounts).

Why Scholar Social registrations are closed

We’ve spent 5 years developing a culture at Scholar that is intentionally different from Twitter and even from academic Twitter (with varying degrees of success)

We’re more chill, we’re in academia but intensely critical of academia, we’re anti-racist and pro-queer; we’re “the teacher’s break room of the Fediverse”

I’m not going to throw that all away, trampled by an influx of users who think that this space is just “different Twitter”

Mastodon is comprised of three basic feeds, whereas Twitter only has one. Those three feeds are:

  • Home – those people you have chosen to follow
  • Local timeline – those people in the same community (server) as you
  • Federated timeline – Pretty much lots of things from different communities

Coming from Twitter, these changes are definitely different. It took me a while to understand the differences. Once you understand that the second column is the instance (community feed), things can make more sense. Following people is easy, but there isn’t a company-wide algorithm to direct you to users. You have to find them.

Here are a couple of guides:

Mastodon is not new. Mastodon has been around for quite a long time. Please don’t join an instance and start requesting changes. The community has debated, and decided, how Mastodon should look, work, and feel. If you are passionate about wanting some changes, please be part of the community for a while BEFORE you start asking for things to be changed.

The biggest issue may be a bit ironical. There are fewer users on Mastodon than on Twitter. The same network effect really isn’t in place. One of my frustrations has long been that there isn’t really a Mastodon targetted for K-12 educators. Maybe Twitter will get so screwed up that people will leave and look for something similar, but different.

I’m not yet convinced that Mastodon will replace Twitter. I still think that it’s too early. It is an interesting time though. I’ve tried to make the change a few times. If enough people do try out Mastodon and stick around for a bit, it really could be a better experience.

I remain an open-source advocate. I hope that more and more people will realize the advantages of open-source. Having control is a good thing.

Another resource:

If you have issues with your Mastodon account and are on mastodon.social, take these steps:

  1. Go to https://instances.social/ & do the wizard
  2. Select any instance that pops up that looks nice to you
  3. Create an account there
  4. Set up an account alias by going to Settings -> Account -> Account Settings -> Moving from a different account
  5. Move your account by going to https://mastodon.social/settings/migration

The #Fediverse is distributed, you don’t need to be on the most popular instance to participate.

https://chaos.social/@pludikovsky

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