đ End Subscription Stress,The Value of Forums, and Creative Video Spaces
Zoom is for Boomers now
Hello! Howâs it going this fine Monday morning? Itâs practically Fall now - and time for fall flavors! Yes, itâs pumpkin spice time now - I will drink my one customary Starbucks drink.
Sadly, here in Middle Tennessee, it stays in the 70âs to 80âs until mid-November.
Maybe weâll get lucky and have some cooler weather soon!
The contest is winding up soooon in the next few days! If you havenât entered yet, make sure you do.
Did you hear about the Twisted Metal TV show that theyâre making? Yes, that amazing 90âs game series is getting its own show. Anthony Mackie (or - Falcon / Captain America) will be starring in it too!
I canât wait to see what they do with Sweet Tooth!
Did you catch up on the Apple event? Itâs pretty cool that they added Apple pencil support to the Ipad mini! The whole flicktype keyboard drama is pretty interesting as well.
Why ya gotta be that way Apple?
Oh - and we canât forget about those Facebook Rayban glasses. I wonder if theyâll succeed. đ¤
Anyway, letâs hop on in to todayâs topics shall we?
đEnd Subscription Stress
Weâve all done it - paid for a subscription that we didnât really want. Maybe itâs just an oopsie month or maybe itâs a whole year. Maybe we kinda use it, but not really.
Itâs an endless struggle - and in a world where you can now subscribe to earbuds - we have to be vigilant with all those free trials.
Well, thereâs a cool startup called ScribeUp that can help you avoid the endless war.
How does it work?
Basically, it generates a virtual card you can use to sign up for free subscriptions. They canât charge you if thereâs nothing on the card, right?
Itâs quite easy to use the virtual card too. You just click on the little icon - grab the card details, and sign up for that FREE trial.
Today - I signed up for Pandora to check out the free trial. Every few years I wander back to see if the platform has changed at all. Itâs never enough to steal me away from Spotifyâs warm embrace - but you never know.
Now I know that once the trial expires - I wonât be charged! I can also subscribe with my REAL debit/credit card if I want to keep the subscription.
Wouldnât it be awesome to manage the subscriptions you want from one place? and save yourself money from the ones you donât want? Itâs WAY easier than frantically trying to remember the 8 services youâre subscribed to.
Get instant access to the beta through this special link - and begin your free trials.
đ¸The Value of Forums
The humble forum is one of the most important pieces of the internet - and theyâre beginning to disappear.
Eurogamer has closed its forums. Theyâre gone. Theyâre so gone Google is still pulling up links that no longer exist.
Luke Plunkett, from Kotaku - notes this from the Eurogamer announcement
Sadly, times change and the way people communicate also has changed. Traditional forums are no longer a popular place for people to come together to talk, and have been replaced in popularity with more modern community platforms like Discord, Twitter, and Twitch.
Due to this, our forum community has declined over the years to the point where there are only a handful of people left actively using the forum. This makes it difficult for us to spend resources keeping the forum running.(Source)
Across the internet - things are aâchanging. Discord, Telegram, and Whatsapp, FB Messenger, Imessage groups, (Etc, Etc) are where everyone hangs.
However - this message is lacking. Itâs lacking a fundamental understanding of how one interacts with and finds information on the internet.
Forums and Discord are apples and oranges. Users arenât being moved from one similar thing to another, theyâre being shifted to platforms with fundamentally different ways of approaching discussions. Discord is great for talking in the moment. Itâs a place for real-time conversations . . . Forums arenât the same though. Theyâre nothing like it. Forums are more deliberate, more considered, and while theyâre far from perfect . . . Forums create a record, an archive we can search through, so that whenever we want to revisit issues, or find help with a problem, or see what was happening during a certain time, we can do that. Thereâs a paper trail, and while sometimes that leads to embarrassing takes on tv shows and game reveals, other times itâs providing an enormous help with technical issues or parts of a game youâre stuck on . . . Discord simply canât provide that. Itâs a river running in real-time, and while it does have search functions, the way the whole app is structured means youâre simply never going to get the same levels of detailed discussion or archived information as we can get from forums. (Source)
I love Lukeâs take here. Discord is a fast-running river - while a forum is an archive you can flip through.
To take the analogy further - which of these sound easier to you?
Jumping into a river of postcards to seek an answer about a particular level in an old game
OR
Taking a look through a book full of detailed answers about a game level.
Iâd reckon itâs probably the second choice
Now - donât get me wrong. I love Discord. Itâs a fantastic platform for chatting with people and all sorts of awesome activities. However - itâs not a place for storing knowledge in an easily accessible way.
If I type in âHow do I solve x problem in in x gameâ on Google - chances are a forum post is gonna pop up. For example . . .
There are two forum answers right there.
Here lies the soul of Lukes's concern. We canât access very specific information like that easily via Discord. Itâs much more easily surfaced via the power of Googleâs algorithms.
So - if you do like Eurogamer and just shut them down without an archive - youâve destroyed a valuable source of knowledge for games.
If a trend emerges of more and more companies shutting down forums - then knowledge like this gets harder and harder to access.
Thatâs pretty sad.
However, there is a thread of hope in this story. A group of exiles from the Eurogamer forums have created their own version!


Personally, I like forum-style platforms like Reddit or Indie Hackers because of how quickly I can access information - and even Reddit has its issues as a proper âforum.â
Hereâs one really cool forum you should check out if youâre interested. Itâs called the Agora Road Macintosh Cafe, and it has a ton of vaporwavey nostalgic vibes. Hereâs a link to a conversation about this very same topic of forums!
đşSprout.Place - Creative Space
Friends! I have found the Video equivalent to Kinopio.club, Excalidraw, and mmm.page.
Itâs called Sprout.place and it looks SO awesome - Check this out. Itâs pure unbridled creativity and I love it.
You can literally upload pictures, the video interface itself, stickers, custom CSS the page, AND browse the web - so you can use apps WITHIN the app.
So - you could be working on an Excalidraw project with friends from the same page.
With that kind of collaboration - you could potentially use this to replace Miro or other similar apps.
I believe Sprout.place has a lot of potential in the nonlinear creative space. Thereâs a few bugs here and there - but it still works pretty well!
For example - the photos search bar is a bit glitchy, and doesnât allow you to scroll.
Personally, I believe Sprout.place is just a few pieces away from being a great web app.
I would like to see audio work in the web search function so you can listen to music from within the space.
native gifs / gif stickers integration.
Custom HTML embeds would be awesome (but not necessary)
I look forward to seeing where Sprout.place goes in the near future!
Check it out at the link.
đThe Land of Random
Random links for your random enjoyment
Craftsman Creator
Do you have a business or side hustle thatâs making you some money, but youâre ready to take it to the next level? Daren is writing a really cool book in public called the âCraftsman Creator,â which is focused on helping creators take their projects from four figures to six. From the mental mindset to business personas, thereâs a wealth of knowledge here. Every new chapter is published via a newsletter format - straight to your inbox. Subscribe at the link!
Do You Even Skate Bro?
The fact that there are 15 year old videos on Youtube is insane. Hereâs a little skate video for ya - UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE IN THE YEAR 2005. Pretty decent street stricks!
Cue Smart Widgets
This beta invite only smart widget platform looks interesting! Create smart widgets for your website based on URLâs and other rules.
Send Files by Sound
With Ozzillate, you can send files to other people WITH THE POWER OF SOUND. I tried this and it works! Perfect for sending files without needing the other persons contact info. Itâs easy to use too!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
for when you need Darth Vader to say NOOOOOOOOOOO
Paper Website
Start your website from real paper. Thatâs right - if you like to write - and you want to share that writing without double work - you can use Paper Website to upload your writing to make a real simple website. Very Cool!
Lofi.co
Iâve been seeing a lot of Lofi websites lately - and I have to say that this one is one of my favorites. I love the fun background images, ambient noise, and other features! I may make this a new homepage. Hmmmm.
TikToks You Canât Miss
That was . . . . an incredibly detailed confession
Yup, pretty sure thatâs the ultimate cheat code
Cool Wallpaper - I still need to play Death Stranding
YUS. I always need Bioshock vibes
Well, thatâs aestheticcally unsettling
Dang! That house has some super creepy abandoned vibes
Well, thatâs all for this week! See you next time :)
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