What is it about?

In a previous article, I presented how I proceed to stay informed. I mentioned in this post the lack of a system for suggesting new information sources as one of the points to improve. Now, the latest version of Reeder allows sharing a news feed (RSS). So I decided to add a 📰 newsfeed to this blog. The objectives of this personal feed are: to share articles from information sources that you might not be following prioritize the relevance of added information over publication speed, so articles are not necessarily published closest to their publication date You don’t see everything I come across, only the articles that seem relevant to me cover pretty much all the subjects that interest me (in the spirit of this blog) Hope this feed will be useful to you 🤗 ...

⚠️ Sorry folks, this podcast exists in French only 🇫🇷 I am a podcast enthusiast. I listen to dozens every week. Among them, the excellent series by Philippe Colin about historical figures. Listen : Léon Blum, une vie héroïque Why this Podcasts series? Maybe like me, the name Léon Blum doesn’t mean much to you. This is exactly why I found this series enlightening. Through his story, we better understand the French domestic issues between the two wars, political games … I started listening skeptically but finished thrilled 🤩. ...

What’s my problem? Facebook, X, Google News, Apple News, Flipboard, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube… Most people I know use these platforms to stay informed. Personally, I’ve never been able to get into it 😒. It’s not that I’m stubborn—I’ve tried it more than once. But I just never got hooked, and I think it can be summed up as follows: Fragmentation: Jumping between 5 different platforms to get my news is fundamentally annoying. The news is inconsistent, redundant, and I feel like I’m wasting time (and it’s not just a feeling). Algorithmification of information (I don’t know if that’s a word, but I don’t care—this is my blog 😛. You get the point right?). I really dislike the idea of being manipulated, especially since mass manipulation scandals are everywhere. I’d say it all started with Cambridge Analytica, and since then, it’s been a party 🎉. For example, Elon Musk is pretty busy with X right now, or there’s the recent news about TikTok potentially being banned in the US, revealing the power games at play… I’m not even mentioning their business model, which revolves around keeping me hooked to stuff me with ads so they can make money. This doesn’t work for me at all. ...

I decided that the first article on this blog would be dedicated to MacG. Why, you ask? Well, because they’re celebrating their 25th anniversary 🎉 and on this occasion, they’re asking their loyal readers what MacG has meant and means to them. I never comment on articles, it’s not my style. So it took me a while to decide… but my first article will be an answer to this question, as a tribute. ...