I'd like to, it's getting higher and higher on my to do list.
When it comes to using digital signals over radio it seems to be getting more and more accessible. I found this demo exciting https://youtu.be/aB3xGOj7EG4
I'm thinking with an antenna - this thing could have quite the reach!
But I might be dreaming - and thanks for letting me "subscibe" for free - it ought be evident when I find worthwhile content - I am more than happy to share fiat currency over the waves digital - so thanks!
You know, I feel like I can actually try this RSS thing. I will save the link to your site where you explain the how to. One question: what if I was curating a media playlist of highly conspiratorial videos that I took from say, YT? Does RSS retain a pathway to that video of YT takes it down?
Any attached media is linked to, unless the feed creator takes special care to embed the data directly (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Basics_of_HTTP/Data_URLs, linked for my benefit) It's definitely possible to programmatically scrape YouTube channels and save the media in a folder that when served could be downloaded as well. That would be a desirable option when trying to preserve important videos and keep some metadata / ordering.
I once wrote a feedreader for Youtube RSS feeds. But at some point I decided it wasn't worth the effort and I didn't really want a giant pile of youtube videos eating up HDD space so I abandoned the project.
Point being, yeah it's definitely possible. I wouldn't recommend it.
Embedding DataURLs is also pretty nasty, especially with videos. But even with images, if you use a lot of them, it'll bloat up your RSS feed like crazy. So I wouldn't recommend that either.
Best practice would be to store those images and other binary content somewhere and commit to keeping them there forever, or at least for as long as your feed lives. Then link to them as usual.
But most people are hosting RSS feeds via some 3rd-party software like Wordpress or Substack, and then they change domains or a software update or configuration change obsoletes the old URLs and breaks everything. This is the leading cause of feed rot.
For space/size reasons I think for most videos you'd want to convert it into medium-quality audio, and you're right that keeping it to a single file is annoying at best and masochism at worst. I think there are good reasons to store quality/timeless content, but you're not wrong that storing everything is a non-trivial task even when it is desirable. That's why I like AntennaPod because it lets you stream audio/video from a feed.
AntennaPod is great yeah, one of those rare examples of OSS that is legitimately better than the commercial alternatives with no gotchas or jank. Desktop RSS options are somewhat lacking.
No. Your RSS reader will only retain whatever is in the feed itself, which for youtube videos would include things like title, description and link to the video, unless your feed reader is configured to auto-download linked media whenever it updates the feed. Blog posts similarly get lost when the feed only contains an excerpt and a link to the full article, then the host subsequently removes or reorganizes the post.
This is one of RSS's major limitations. But the alternative, always downloading all the content, would be undesirable too. Imagine having hundreds of youtube channels in your feed, and thereby downloading hundreds of gigabytes of video every day.
Youtube actually has, or at least used to have, hidden RSS feeds. But none of the popular readers support them properly. And Youtube doesn't really want you to use them because it bypasses their ads and attention grabs.
Really the whole idea is deeply flawed, though it aims in the right direction.
I installed FressRSS on my server in response to one of your previous articles. I use it to keep track of more than 100 Substacks and other blogs (yours included). It would be a nightmare to subscribe to all of these and be inundated with email notifications.
I'd love it if RSS saw a comeback, then grew beyond what it used to be. I've been using it forever (20 years or more). Currently I use Feedly for aggregation, then IFTTT to pass everything to Pocket, where I store and read the articles. I like how Pocket presents them, and - before unlimited data - I could download the new feeds on wifi and take them with me offline.
I miss Google Reader. I've thought about building my own version of Feedly/Pocket, but can't seem to find the motivation.
I have been interested from afar. Tho I support FSF.org monthly I don't have the time to dive deep into this hands on ownership of one's system and it's connection to the Internet. This will help me to get my feet wet and I hope oriented.
Nice - do you know how to "work" - short wave radio channels?
I'm thinking an antenna is beneficial in this regard.
Regards,
BK
I'd like to, it's getting higher and higher on my to do list.
When it comes to using digital signals over radio it seems to be getting more and more accessible. I found this demo exciting https://youtu.be/aB3xGOj7EG4
bookmarked!
I'm thinking with an antenna - this thing could have quite the reach!
But I might be dreaming - and thanks for letting me "subscibe" for free - it ought be evident when I find worthwhile content - I am more than happy to share fiat currency over the waves digital - so thanks!
BK
I'll check it out thanks.
I'm about to listen to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhG2kskeD50
So - I'm still curious what the price is now - but here is some info:
https://www.alinco.com/Products/ham/mbl/DR-03_06/
Oh - tis $250 here:
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/alo-dr-06ta?seid=dxese1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqJzN277qhQMVRJtaBR0AbQuWEAQYASABEgLe3vD_BwE
I think this may not be a "short-wave" radio - but tis a receiver.
You know, I feel like I can actually try this RSS thing. I will save the link to your site where you explain the how to. One question: what if I was curating a media playlist of highly conspiratorial videos that I took from say, YT? Does RSS retain a pathway to that video of YT takes it down?
Any attached media is linked to, unless the feed creator takes special care to embed the data directly (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Basics_of_HTTP/Data_URLs, linked for my benefit) It's definitely possible to programmatically scrape YouTube channels and save the media in a folder that when served could be downloaded as well. That would be a desirable option when trying to preserve important videos and keep some metadata / ordering.
I once wrote a feedreader for Youtube RSS feeds. But at some point I decided it wasn't worth the effort and I didn't really want a giant pile of youtube videos eating up HDD space so I abandoned the project.
Point being, yeah it's definitely possible. I wouldn't recommend it.
Embedding DataURLs is also pretty nasty, especially with videos. But even with images, if you use a lot of them, it'll bloat up your RSS feed like crazy. So I wouldn't recommend that either.
Best practice would be to store those images and other binary content somewhere and commit to keeping them there forever, or at least for as long as your feed lives. Then link to them as usual.
But most people are hosting RSS feeds via some 3rd-party software like Wordpress or Substack, and then they change domains or a software update or configuration change obsoletes the old URLs and breaks everything. This is the leading cause of feed rot.
For space/size reasons I think for most videos you'd want to convert it into medium-quality audio, and you're right that keeping it to a single file is annoying at best and masochism at worst. I think there are good reasons to store quality/timeless content, but you're not wrong that storing everything is a non-trivial task even when it is desirable. That's why I like AntennaPod because it lets you stream audio/video from a feed.
AntennaPod is great yeah, one of those rare examples of OSS that is legitimately better than the commercial alternatives with no gotchas or jank. Desktop RSS options are somewhat lacking.
No. Your RSS reader will only retain whatever is in the feed itself, which for youtube videos would include things like title, description and link to the video, unless your feed reader is configured to auto-download linked media whenever it updates the feed. Blog posts similarly get lost when the feed only contains an excerpt and a link to the full article, then the host subsequently removes or reorganizes the post.
This is one of RSS's major limitations. But the alternative, always downloading all the content, would be undesirable too. Imagine having hundreds of youtube channels in your feed, and thereby downloading hundreds of gigabytes of video every day.
Youtube actually has, or at least used to have, hidden RSS feeds. But none of the popular readers support them properly. And Youtube doesn't really want you to use them because it bypasses their ads and attention grabs.
Really the whole idea is deeply flawed, though it aims in the right direction.
I wonder about how I can post a "Youtube" video on the Substack I currently am the proprietor of - and the beauty is - no ads.
Must have something to do with this "RSS" you all discussing....news to me, but I inferred something of that nature.
Smart on SubStack to program it that way - but does Youtube - still get a "kickback"?
I installed FressRSS on my server in response to one of your previous articles. I use it to keep track of more than 100 Substacks and other blogs (yours included). It would be a nightmare to subscribe to all of these and be inundated with email notifications.
I'd love it if RSS saw a comeback, then grew beyond what it used to be. I've been using it forever (20 years or more). Currently I use Feedly for aggregation, then IFTTT to pass everything to Pocket, where I store and read the articles. I like how Pocket presents them, and - before unlimited data - I could download the new feeds on wifi and take them with me offline.
I miss Google Reader. I've thought about building my own version of Feedly/Pocket, but can't seem to find the motivation.
thank you Gabriel for this RSS info,
I have been interested from afar. Tho I support FSF.org monthly I don't have the time to dive deep into this hands on ownership of one's system and it's connection to the Internet. This will help me to get my feet wet and I hope oriented.
thank you again ~william