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Where are you all? š¤ š (#blogger #bloggerlife)
Fridays are always slow, it seems. Are people simply taking time off social networks, blogs, etc.? Maybe. In any case, I want to send a “have a nice week-end” to my dear readers and followers. šš» I do have a lot on my plate for this week-end: writing, writing, writing. And some time off too.
Photo credit: Jonas Jacobsson / Unsplash.
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How Synology NAS can improve my blogger workflow (#synology #nas #storage #blogger #tools)
As an IT guy, looking at what Synology has in store for 2021 makes me pretty excited. I wrote about that yesterday but I took a deeper look at what is coming in DSM 7.0, their NAS operating system. I didnāt pay too much attention to their photo management software that comes with a Synology NAS, but that might change. In my blogger workflow, there is something I can optimize is the use of a photo management to store all my screen shots, stock photos, visual assets, etc. Synology Photos could be the tool I was looking for for a long time. I donāt want to use Appleās Photos application as I donāt really like to see screenshots intermixed with family pictures. If Synology Photos is as solid as it looks, if their mobile application is much improved to their current version, Iāll certainly give it a serious try. On top of that, this photo feature also enable remote access to the photo library. Very interesting.
Iāve been shopping around for a home NAS for a long time and only made the plunge this year. After much thinking and reading, I settled on Synology because I saw a mature company offering mature products with a solid reputation. Again, DSM 7.0 brings a lot of new features and improvements which makes me feel happy about my choice of going with them. Canāt wait to try whatās new.
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The modern business card? (#blogger #writer)
Over the last two years, I expanded my online presence. Maybe a bit too much; itās hard to keep up. I came across something interesting recently: Linktr.ee. According to their website, the purpose of the service is to āConnect audiences to all of your content with just one linkā. Itās exactly a case of āyou donāt know you need it until you see it!ā. Building the mini-website is quick and easy. There are enough layout options to make your page look like your own. I opted for the paying tier which enables more design choices and better analytics. Hope you like it and pay a visit to learn the breath of my online presence. I think of it as some form of a modern business card.
I started to replace my links to the following one which makes things simpler in places like my Twitter profile page. Check it out: https://linktr.ee/numericcitizen
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Podcasting (#podcasting #blogging #writer #blogger)
My podcast adventure was too short (The Numeric Citizen Podcast). I prefer written words over audio. I prefer photography over video. There is something about moving content that I find difficult to grasp, as a creator. I’m may be too old for podcasts creation or YouTube, I don’t know. I loved creating those episodes (in French), though, using Ferrite.
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What's wrong with Medium's statsā¦? (@medium #writing #bloggerlife) š¤
What’s wrong with Mediumās āreading time" stat? Here, this story āThoughts on āOne More Thingā - The Ultimate Mac Transitionā, got 34 views so far, 12 reads, 2 two responses, 4 fans, 53 claps but the total reading time is 50 seconds? What’s wrong with that? 12 reads x 11 min estimated reading time = 132 minutes. Someone wrote: āvery informative talkā! Did this guy really read my story or he is trying to get some attention? š¤Ø
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Hourra, Ulysses ! (#macosbigsur #writingtools #blogger @ulyssesapp)
My go to app for blogging, Ulysses, is now ready for macOS Big Sur. Yeah! Iām doing my part, as Iām going to order this M1-based Mac mini today so I can run Big Sur on its own machine and experience the future now. And that icon is lovely, not too iOS-ified, enough Big Sur-ified to feel at home! Ulysses 21, Pt. 2 - Ulysses Blog
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Measuring my success (#blogger #writer #newsletter)
As a blogger and a content-creator, how can I measure my success? Well, itās not an easy one to answer. Each blogger could have its own way at looking at this. Personally, I could pay attention to my blogs visitors statistics, but there is one thing that I keep an eye on these days. I recently started publishing a free monthly newsletter on Substack. The membership is increasing, but what I'm looking for is easy: following a new issue of my newsletter, how many are unsubscribing? None, so far. To me, itās some form of success.
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Basic Apple Guy but gorgeous! (#apple #blog #discovery @basicappleguy)
Thanks to an article from John Gruber’s website, Daring Fireball, I discovered a new Apple-centric blog yesterday: Basic Apple Guy. After spending a few minutes on it exploring the content, I kind of fell in love with it and and started to wish it was mine. I’m impressed by the simplicity and the content quality. RSS feed already added to my collection.
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I kind of like what Iām seeing (#myblog #blogger #bloggerlife)
This is my Micro.blog.
Using the popular Newsify RSS feed reader, I used my own feeds to see how it would look through it. I was pleasantly surprised by the end results. Itās been a while since I found the best way for me to post on Micro.blog. All posts have a title, hashtags, a picture and use at least 280 characters so the boundary where a title becomes available. Without it, Micro.blog cross-posts the whole text on Twitter which I donāt want to happen; I prefer a summary titled.
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A follow up to @mattbirchler on why opting for Newsletters instead of a blog? (#blogger #blogging #writing #substack)
In a recent blog post, the well known blogger and content creator, Matt Birchler, wants to understand why so many people are opting for emails (newsletters) over the web. I want to give my perspective on each of his questions.
What about writing in a newsletter is more enjoyable than writing for a blog?
My Numeric Citizen Introspection newsletter is a monthly one. I start writing the next issue at the beginning of each month. I hit āPublish and sendā at the very end of each month. It gives me four weeks to nurture its content. When the end of the month approaches, the newsletter content is mostly complete and I like how it evolved from the beginning. It is a satisfying process. Then, I take a pause and look forward to start the next one. I like the regular beat of all this process. I wouldnāt do a weekly newsletter, though, as it requires much more time to do.
Are newsletter audiences more engaged than blog subscribers?
Iām not sure about this one in general. For me, it is too early to tell. My gut feeling is that people are more or less engaged the same way as they are with blogs. Iād like to be wrong, though, and have people engage more with newsletters.
As a reader, do you prefer reading in your email app to an RSS app (or just the web in general)?
I use Substack to build and send my newsletters. Each of them are also available via an RSS feed. Depending of the client used, the reading experience can be enjoyable on both type of clients. Personally, I do subscribe to Hey and reading newsletters with their client is really nice and provides a nice clipping feature which is very handy.
Do you not miss things like link posts and āgoing viralā which are much harder, if impossible to do with emails?
Link posts can be done in newsletters and they wonāt go viral for sure. But, Iām not really looking for this kind of fame to be honest.
Is it easier to get people to sign up for a paid subscription compared to the web?
Iām still building this stuff and my newsletter is free for now. I get new subscribers regularly but not as much as I would like. I guess I still have to get the word out and be more āfamousā.
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Secured. (@medium, #blogger, #blog)
A word about my other home: Medium, which I love. Following their latest update, they now offers publishers to secure their own domain name as well as allows better customization of publisherās profiles. This is mine).
Im still pondering how I’ll make use of Mediumās new love for bloggers.
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Iāve been robbed by... @duggu24 (#bloggerlife #blogger)
For the first time in my numeric life (at least, from what Iām aware of), one of my article has been robbed by another guy. After discovering it, I asked for immediate removal but without success. So, today, Iām calling him out.
The robbed article is the one about upgrading from an Apple Watch Series 4 to Series 6 published on my main blog on October 3 of 2020 and on Medium. You can see the stolen article there. This article was then pushed on this fake Twitter account with 1628 followers. This Twitter account is apparently owned or operated by this guy, the thieve who is following four people and has only one follower (poor guy).
This hosting website seems to enjoy quite a bit of traffic. Good for him. All his articles is stolen stuff without any mention of the source. He must be proud of himself, I wonder if his parents are, though?
The main take out: Iām must be a good writer after all so people are starting to notice and copy my stuff.
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On newsletters rising popularity #blogger #blogging #writing #writers
The rising popularity of paid newsletters is good news for many reasons. First, it’s a signal that people are willing to pay for great content without ads all around it. Second, some people value the direct relationship feeling with the writer compared to a traditional website. Third, the popularity of independent writing is rising which is giving back control to the writers.
In a recent article by Nick Heer on Pixel Envy, the author writes:
Yet, despite all of these clear advantages, I still find it difficult to think of my email inbox as somewhere I will go to find something enjoyable to read.
I find newsletters a wonderful medium that cut the noise from social networks. The reading experience can further be improved with a great email client like Basecamp’s Hey which provides a specific reading mode for newsletters call The Feed. You can read my review of this email client here.
Read more comments from Mr. Heer in his blog post. I started a newsletter a few weeks ago. For now and the foreseeable future, it will be free. I have to prove myself that I can meet the deadline every month with quality content. I’ll see how it goes.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
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On Ulysses Latest Release for iPadOS 14
Using the latest release of Ulysses for iPadOS 14, it is a joy to write on the iPad. Now, what am I writing, you might ask? More than 1700 words to express my current view of iOS 14 widgets: where are we, whatās left and where it could be going. It was supposed to be a 5 min reads… now Iām at more than 7 min. Oh well. Should be out in the coming days on my main blog at https://numericcitizen.me
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Iām currently testing the beta of the upcoming reimagined Medium mobile app and I love it š„°. For once, a redesigned experience is not synonymous of going backward. More on this soon.
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My Numeric Citizen Introspection newsletter is out! Check it out, it’s free! Lots of stuff about Apple, photography, privacy and climate change! #newsletter #apple #photography #privacy #climatechange
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The second edition of my Numeric Citizen Introspection Newsletter is on the launchpad!
My upcoming (and free BTW) Numeric Citizen Introspection Newsletter for September is done. I’m just waiting for September to conclude before hitting the send button. Crafting newsletters like this is so fun. Meanwhile, why not give a look at the first edition?
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Micro.blog 2.0 - Testing, 1-2-3, Testing...
I really like what I’m seeing here on macOS. Only request is the default view of a New Post window should show the Title and Categories by default. On the web, the improvements are massive. I’m surprised the Bookmarking feature is available in a new Premium tier only. I want this feature but not the others (podcasting, richer media support). I’ll give it a try while it is free and I’ll see. On iOS and iPadOS, the workflow of selecting a photo from the library is still broken, otherwise, I love the changes. There seems to be speed improvements too. In other words, it is snappier!
All in all, I like where Micro.blog is going with these updates.
Testing an embedded bookmark here.
For the Micro.blog 2.0 launch week, weāve enabled the new bookmark archiving and highlights feature for everyone to try out. You can upgrade to Micro.blog Premium at any time and also get podcast and video hosting.
Read: www.manton.org
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Thought of the day for bloggers and written content creators
Competing against Googleās YouTube, Facebook, Instagram et al. In order to grab users attention is impossible, even with great content to a certain degree. Coupled with the general trend towards more visual content instead of written words, Itās hard to build things like newletters or even simple blog with a reasonable readership. I guess this is the numeric world we must accept to live in. Your thoughts?
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While I’m already preparing for released of the second Numeric Citizen Introspection Newsletter, slated for the first week of October, I’m pleased with the visitors and subscribers numbers. Thanks to you all! #newsletter #blogger numericcitizen.substack.com
