Mention other ActivityPub users right inside your WordPress blog!

If you’re actively blogging on WordPress and have been playing with Mastodon et al. in the past few months, you probably came across the ActivityPub plugin for WordPress.

The plugin implements the ActivityPub protocol for your site. It allows others to follow your blog from their Mastodon / Pleroma / GoToSocial account. If they reply to one of your blog’s posts there, their reply will be posted as a comment on your blog.

This is already pretty neat! But starting today with the release of version 0.16.1 of the plugin, you can even mention other ActivityPub users in your posts. When you hit Publish, they’ll be notified of your post inside their client of choice.

(more…) “Mention other ActivityPub users right inside your WordPress blog!”

Looking for cooperative game recommendations

Do you play games with your significant other? Do you have recommendations for us?

(more…) “Looking for cooperative game recommendations”

La Guerre des moutons

“La Guerre des moutons”, or “Wooly Wars”, is way more fun than it has any right to be!

The drawings are cute, the game is funny, you can build nice little fields and villages. It’s also a very strategic game! You have to strategize to get as many tiles in your hand as possible, plan your endgame, stop your opponents from closing big fields, all the while building pretty things!

We borrowed that game from the local library, but we may actually buy our own now. I’d definitely recommend it.

If you know of similar tile games that you’d recommend, let me know. I think we may try Carcassonne soon.

Is building a diverse Fediverse possible?

I should start with a warning: I’m new to this and learning as I go. These are my feelings as I discover this new (to me) part of the Internet.

When I joined the Fediverse a few weeks ago, I took it as an opportunity to expand my social bubble. Instead of only looking for the people I previously followed on Twitter, I started following new people to learn new things.

This is changing as more and more people join, but the Fediverse is still a bubble, or a group of interlinked bubbles. This time however, it’s not just WordPress professionals for me. :) I started following people from different circles; folks talking about the IndieWeb, the Fediverse itself, and by extension Mastodon.

In theory, the Fediverse is a great idea. As a supporter of the open web, I love the idea of a web of small independent servers talking to each other.

In practice, it seems to present some unique challenges.

(more…) “Is building a diverse Fediverse possible?”

On Repeat Today: Insomniac Olympics, Blockhead

Back to Blockhead after a few years hiatus. Somehow it fell off my recommended lists even though I’ve listened to a lot of their albums on repeat over the years.

Lucky for me, my oldest kid is now building her own recommended songs list, sometimes based off tracks I made her discover. She got Blockhead recommended to her after listening to You Wish, Nightmares on Wax. That itself is a great On-Repeat track, for another day :)

“Unlock”ed!

We finished our first “Unlock” game box tonight!

Unlock - Timeless Adventures game box, seen from the top

We struggled a lot with the first game, it was really frustrating. Luckily, there are 3 games per box (3 escape-game type adventures) and the two other games were a lot more fun to play.

Azul

Azul board game, seen from above

97, a new record for me! I really like that game, it’s always a fun little challenge.

Also, it’s one of the few games where I can win, my wife usually beats me at most of the games we play :)

WordPress as Social Media?

I’m re-publishing a conversation I had a few days ago on the Fediverse, following an excellent question from Phil Johnston:

If you’re a WordPress person who publishes more on social media than on your WP site (sadly this is still currently me), does that say anything about WordPress?

Phil Johnston (@[email protected])

I felt compelled to reply, as I’ve struggled with some version of this question myself for years. Fair warning, I’m heavily involved with WordPress, so my answer is quite biased :)

I am heavily involved with WordPress, yet I don’t post that often on this site.

What does this say about WordPress?

Read my reply “WordPress as Social Media?”

“Free” time

It’s the end of the day. Done with work, kids are asleep. What now?

I think I’m supposed to read a good book. Catch up on the news. Watch a good movie or tonight’s episode of a TV show everyone is talking about. Chat about our day with my significant other. Write a blog post. Do some budgeting, some accounting. Answer emails and messages from friends. Meet friends. Go to meetups, meetings, stay involved with my local community. Go to bed early because it’s healthy. Play some games. Do some learning by taking an online course for work. Meditate, reflect on the day. Clean around the house. Plan the next weekend with the family. Work on that side-project I started last year. Work on that other side-project I started after abandoning the first one.

I don’t know how everyone else does it.

I think I’ll just crash on the couch, watch a tv show, go to bed way too late, and do it all again tomorrow.

Schotten Totten

We got a few new board games for Christmas. One of them is Schotten Totten.

Shot of a table where Schotten Totten being played

It’s a 1v1 game. You must build 9 formations of 3 cards, all laid out in front of you. Like in Poker, you build the best hands as possible to beat your opponent, while keeping in mind what hands your opponent can build. You build all 9 hands at the same time, and every time you’re sure that one of your hands can beat your opponent’s, you win a tile. Win 3 tiles next to each other, or 5 tiles total, and you win the game.

The game’s theme (2 Scottish clans battling for land) is honestly not that important, but the cards look cute :)

It’s a pretty nice game, requires a lot more concentration than one may think at first. All in all, a very fun game, I’d really recommend it!