Just a guy in Vermont trying to connect all the dots...
Dan York
Author's posts
Sep 22
How To Use MarsEdit with TypePad in 2022
How do you configure MarsEdit to work with the Typepad blogging platform? As I’ve started to try to get back into blogging more, I found that MarsEdit, the tool I’ve been using to write blog posts for 10+ years now, was no longer connecting to Typepad. And in a sign of how far the mighty (Typepad) have fallen, a Typepad blog can’t be auto configured by MarsEdit, and isn’t even listed anymore on the MarsEdit manual configuration page. And… there is nothing whatsoever in the Typepad knowledge base about external editors, XML-RPC, “Movable Type”, or anything else.
So for anyone still remaining on Typepad who wants to do this, here is what you need to do.
1. Get the blog ID from Typepad.
I couldn’t find this in any of the settings, but you can get it from the URL. Once you are logged into Typepad, and are in the settings for one of your blogs, the URL in your browser will be something like:
https://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a01d1212acd6e53ef00d12345de09f92/dashboard
The hex string that I show in bold is the part you need. (And that is not the actual value for one of my blogs.)
2. Add a new blog in MarsEdit
In the main MarsEdit window, press the “+” in the lower left corner of the app to add a new blog. Type in the name and URL of your Typepad blog and press “Continue”. The auto-configuration will fail, and you will be prompted to manually configure the site. Under Connection Settings, you need to use:
- System Name: Other
- System API: Movable Type API
- API Endpoint URL: https://www.typepad.com/services/xmlrpc
- Blog ID: <the hex string that you copied in step 1 above>
Here’s a screenshot of the preferences screen:
3. Login With Your Typepad User Info
After you save those settings, MarsEdit will prompt you to “login” to your blog. This is where you enter your Typepad username and password.
4. Start Writing with MarsEdit
Once this is done, you should see the MarsEdit interface load the most recent posts into the editor window. (If not, you may need to hit the refresh circle.)
That’s it. You should now be able to create posts in MarsEdit and publish them on a Typepad blog.
And really… 5. Figure Out How To Move Away From Typepad!
The complete lack of any information in the Typepad knowledge base about working with external editors does concern me. Add to that the fact that the “Everything Typepad” site hasn’t been updated with a new post since October 2021. And that the @typepad Twitter account only gets occasionally updated about trouble issues.
And.. that the Wikipedia article about TypePad notes that Typepad stopped accepting new signups as of 2020.
So they are really just existing for the people like me who just haven’t gotten around to moving our blogs to some other platform. 🙁
Perhaps this IS the year when I finally figure out how to migrate my 5 remaining Typepad blogs over to Wordpress… sigh…
Sep 06
FIR #282: If You Need Me, Text Me
A lot of the communication with customers for which businesses once used email has transitioned to text messaging — along with communication among friends, families, and pretty much everyone. To some extent, that even includes employee-to-employee communication. Whether it’s SMS messaging or a messaging app like WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram, people increasingly prefer the functionality and speed of response with text messages. Email isn’t going anywhere but its uses may be diminishing.
The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop sometime in late September. Neville and Shel will be together in the UK and plan to record face-to-face. Watch for more information as our plans firm up.
We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.
Links from this episode:
- Sorry I Missed Your Text: Messaging Is the New Email (WSJ paywall)
The post FIR #282: If You Need Me, Text Me appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
Sep 01
FIR #281: Advertising and Marketing in the Metaverse
Advertising on the Web is two-dimensional, with a consumer on the outside looking in. In the Metaverse, consumers will be active participants in virtual worlds, participating directly with virtual objects and one another. That opens the door for entirely new forms of advertising. In this short mid-week episode, Neville and Shel discuss what advertising might look like in virtual worlds and some of the technical, ethical, and legal challenges that organizations will face selling their wares to denizens of these immersive spaces.
The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop sometime in late September. Neville and Shel will be together in the UK and plan to record face-to-face. Watch for more information as our plans firm up.
We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.
Links from this episode:
The post FIR #281: Advertising and Marketing in the Metaverse appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
Aug 25
FIR #280: What’s Behind the “Quiet Quitting” Trend?
“Quiet quitting” is all over TikTok, with mostly Gen Zers talking about their disdain for going “above and beyond” at work. Is this really anything new, or is it just the first time a generation has used a label to share their feelings online? Or, as some suggest, is it that most Gen Zers entered the workforce during the pandemic when the boundaries between work and life were not clear and now that companies are getting back to what executives perceive as normal, they don’t agree with the expectations the company has of them? Is this even confined to Gen Z? Neville and Shel look at “quiet quitting” in today’s short mid-week episode.
The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop sometime in late September. Neville and Shel will be together in the UK and plan to record face-to-face. Watch for more information as our plans firm up.
We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.
Links from this episode:
- What is ‘quiet quitting,’ and how it may be a misnomer for setting boundaries at work (NPR)
- If Your Co-Workers Are ‘Quiet Quitting,’ Here’s What That Means (Wall Street Journal)
- How TikTok is making it cool to do the bare minimum at work: New ‘Quiet Quitting’ craze sees Gen Z workers refuse to work hard to avoid ‘burnout’ after Covid made them ‘reset’ – but bosses warn staff risk being sacked as Britain faces labour crisis (Daily Mail)
- Why Work Won’t Love You Back (December 2021 segment from “On the Media”)
- Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone (Amazon U.S. listing for the book by Sarah Jaffe)
The post FIR #280: What’s Behind the “Quiet Quitting” Trend? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
Aug 22
FIR #279: Business Buys Into the Metaverse
According to a new PwC survey of 1,000 senior U.S. business leaders from across industry sectors, businesses have bought into the inevitability and utility of the metaverse. The study also surveyed 5,000 U.S. consumers who are less aware and enthusiastic than executives are. Also in this monthly long-form episode of “For Immediate Release”:
- Gartner has released ins 2022 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies.
- Consumer trend experts anticipate the impact web3 will have on consumer trends.
- Ukraine has perfect the art of advertising in support of its resistance to Russia’s invasion.
- Each quarter, Microsoft adjusts the language it uses to advise the investment world of its ambitions.
- One CEO who had to lay off staff took to LinkedIn to explain how hard it was on him, including a selfie of him weeping over it. Was it effective?
In his Tech Report, Dan York recounts his experience with Reddit’s new social audio tool, looks at “snipping,” a new Twitter Spaces feature, and explains a Google update designed to elevate “helpful content.”
The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, August 22. FIR “shorts” — episodes under 15 minutes — will appear once or twice weekly.
We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.
Links from this episode:
- Gartner Identifies Key Emerging Technologies Expanding Immersive Experiences, Accelerating AI Automation and Optimizing Technologist Delivery
- What’s New in the 2022 Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies
- The Gartner Hype Cycle, According to Wikipedia
- How Web3 Technology Will Impact the Future of Consumer Trends [Expert Insights]
- Who Accepts Bitcoin? 9 Major Companies
- With ‘bravery’ as its new brand, Ukraine is turning advertising into a weapon of war
- PwC 2022 US Metaverse Survey: Build a metaverse strategy to deliver sustainable business outcomes
- ‘Metaverse’ is in, ‘mixed reality’ out: Reading the tech tea leaves in Microsoft’s new words
- Microsoft’s Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2022
- CEO’s teary layoff post goes south
Links from Dan York’s Report:
- More content by people, for people in Search: Google
- Google search updates will prioritize real reviews over clickbait
- Twitter Spaces launches clipping on iOS and Android
- Anyone can now share Twitter Spaces clips on iOS and Android
- What is Reddit Talk?
The post FIR #279: Business Buys Into the Metaverse appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
Aug 18
FIR #278: For Every News Outlet: Churn, Churn, Churn
As news media outlets that traffic in the written word — print and online — economic pressures have led to more repurposed content and less original material. What impact does this have on trust in these media sources, and is there a role businesses and their communication teams can play?
The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, August 22. FIR “shorts” — episodes under 15 minutes — will appear once or twice weekly.
We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.
Links from this episode:
The post FIR #278: For Every News Outlet: Churn, Churn, Churn appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
Aug 16
FIR #277: Do Graphic Designers Have A Future?
More and more people are experimenting with a growing collection of Artificial Intelligence-based graphics tools. Some of these tools produce stunning images in a variety of artistic styles, leading some to wonder if art directors will generate their own images rather than continue to pay for graphic design services. Neville and Shel discuss the possibilities in this short mid-week episode.
Some examples that Shel created, first from Midjourney, with a prompt that instructed the AI to produce an image of “a grey-bearded wizard using a wand to assemble a futuristic skyscraper in an ocean in outer space.”
And this, from the Dream app (on Android), with a prompt to produce an image of “a race car driver on a tricycle on the surface of Mars.”
The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, August 22. FIR “shorts” — episodes under 15 minutes — will appear once or twice weekly.
We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.
Links from this episode:
- How much should graphic designers worry about DALL-E 2?
- TikTok’s Amazing Text-to-Image AI Backgrounds
- AI Graphics Segment from August 14 episode of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”
- Midjourney
- DALL-E 2
- Craiyon
- Dream (for iOS and Android)
The post FIR #277: Do Graphic Designers Have A Future? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
Aug 16
TDYR 412 – How Do People Use an Apple Watch? Reflections on 7 Months of Wearing One
How do people use an Apple Watch? What do they like the most? The least? What is the big caveat I have with recommending a Watch? In this episode, I share my reflections on using an Apple Watch Series 3 for seven months.
Thoughts from others in this Twitter thread from February 2022: https://twitter.com/danyork/status/1488552360288960517
Aug 11
TDYR 411 – Turning the Mic Back On! And an invitation to play with Reddit Talk
It's been a loooonnnngggg while since the last episode! But I'm back with a long list of episodes... and I'd like to engage with YOU, listeners, in experimenting with Reddit Talk as a way to record podcast episodes. If you are a Redditor, please drop me a note and lets figure out a time to try out Reddit Talk! (More info: https://reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/4404349195284 )
Aug 09
FIR #276: Should I Tay Or Should I Go?
Remember Microsoft Tay? The 2016 Twitter chatbot suffered from a concerted effort to teach it all manner of vile things, prompting Microsoft to withdraw the service and apologize. That experience is top of mind for pretty much everyone talking about Meta’s new chatbot, now available in public testing in the U.S. The developers behind BlenderBot 3 insist that they, too, had the Tay experiment in mind when they developed the process for teaching this new chatbot to behave. In fact, the beta is designed so people can report when it says something inappropriate that it may have learned from another user. That information is used to teach it what is not appropriate. Will it work?
The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, August 22. FIR “shorts” — episodes under 15 minutes — will appear once or twice weekly.
We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.
Links from this episode:
- Meta is putting its latest AI chatbot on the web for the public to talk to
- Meta unleashes BlenderBot 3 upon the internet, its most competent chat AI to date
- Blender Bot 2.0: An open source chatbot that builds long-term memory and searches the internet
- ‘Overrepresented among America’s super rich’: Facebook’s new Blender Bot 3 chatbot makes antisemitic comments
- Facebook’s new AI can tell lies and insult you – so don’t trust it, firm warns
- Meta’s AI chatbot has some election-denying, antisemitic bugs to work out after the company asked users to help train it
- The human error of Tay (from Neville Hobson’s blog in 2016)
- Midjourney (AI image generation service)
The post FIR #276: Should I Tay Or Should I Go? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.
