Celebrating crap photos and books that are difficult to read in an age of AI...
https://danthornton.net/2026/08/celebrating-crap-photos-and-difficult-books/
Remote
Dan Thornton
@badgergravling@mastodon.social
mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Self-employed freelance writer/SEO interested in creativity, marketing, technology, sim racing, scifi, motorcycles, guitars and tacos.
Cofounder and Director at Digital People in Peterborough and Peterborough STEMFest, owner of onlineracedriver.com and rescogs.com, and various other projects...
168 Followers
248 Following
31 Posts
Joined November 09, 2022
Business:
Sim Racing:
RE: @OnlineRaceDriver@mastodon.social
As someone who loves history and motorsport, one of the best things about sim racing is being able to drive projects like this - getting a bit of the experience of driving a pre-war car around a vintage track adds so much to reading about the drivers and teams of those eras...
Picked out some personal film, TV, music and gaming highlights for Disposable Media, and got it done just before the end of the year...
https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/dans-disposable-2025-highlights/
Replying to
@atomicpoet I remember that well - I used to be on Digg a lot...
There have been lots of smaller examples of updating/closing forums and communities, but Twitter might finally push Digg off the top spot
Replying to
@Daveosaurus @Geoff_Campbell @aurynn
I'd advocate for selective ad blocking - punish the intrusive ones, but support those creators you want to continue.
Unfortunately micropayments, Patreon, etc etc only work for a relatively small number of people, if at all...
Replying to
@AndySocial @lpsrocks @atomicpoet
Yep, in the dusty library of my memory, along with signing up for this new email service thing called Hotmail, and people claiming AltaVista and AskJeeves would never be replaced by that newfangled Google.
Now I feel really, really old and need a lie down and a nap.
Replying to
@Geoff_Campbell@hobbs-end.uk @Daveosaurus@mastodon.nz @aurynn@cloudisland.nz
Yeah - I was asked to join the beta around that time and tried it for a while.
Ultimately, process and tech problems can be overcome. The challenge is changing human habits. And even before the internet, most media was predominantly ad funded (the cover price of magazines is generally eaten up by publishing and distribution).
Replying to
@Geoff_Campbell@hobbs-end.uk @Daveosaurus@mastodon.nz @aurynn@cloudisland.nz
I'm mostly sticking out of the conversation, but micropayments have been experimented with for years e.g. Flattr has been around since 2010 and still hasn't caught on. Google also tried it around 2014/2015
Micropayments are something everyone claims to want (including me at times), but no-one ever actually does...
If they did, I think most small publishers would happily ditch ads overnight.
Replying to
Replying to
@captainborracho @Daveosaurus @Geoff_Campbell @aurynn
And while I'm all in favour of other revenue streams, it requires either deep pockets or a strong personal brand.
I'm not equipped to become a celebrity Youtuber, and I don't have the funds to set up live events etc.
So as someone who would love to earn a living by writing about things he's passionate about on his own websites, advertising is a necessary evil...
Replying to
@captainborracho @Daveosaurus @Geoff_Campbell @aurynn
(For ref - my day job is a self-employed SEO/writer for clients, which is significantly more lucrative, but doesn't stop me wanting to build my own online homesteads)
Replying to
@aurynn @captainborracho @Daveosaurus @Geoff_Campbell
I come from a working class family and scraped into the media after blagging work experience. Luckily my parents could just about help out.
Anything that reduces the chance of poorer people being able to create anything is bad.
Especially when they're clinging on in the face of AI churnalism wiping them all out.
Replying to
@lpsrocks @atomicpoet
I'm ancient enough to remember the days of posting questions and answers in blog circles, and notifying people with mentions in the post, so they'd see the pingbacks!
I haven't watched a soap opera in years, but I'll quite happily follow the antics of the clumsy pigeons in our garden - romance, drama and the occasional disaster when the load bearing capability of a branch is much less than the pigeon has assumed.
The best thing about old cars and motorcycles are the small details and odd quirks designed by people use pens and drawing tables...
RE: @OnlineRaceDriver@mastodon.social
Always cool to see games being revived, whether that's by the original developers or community efforts.
RE: @OnlineRaceDriver@mastodon.social
It's always incredible to me to see these types of stats.
Most stuff has become much more expensive over the years - one of the few outliers seems to be budget motorcycle kit, which has got a lot better without prices going up a lot...
RE: @OnlineRaceDriver@mastodon.social
The Moza KS Pro looks like it needs to be on my sim rig at the earliest possible opportunity....
I can't think of a more obviously pointless status symbol than an AI pen.
If I'm writing on paper, it's private. Or jumbled thoughts which I want to work on in the future. And my handwriting is barely legible, let alone worth 'capturing' so someone can more easily forge my identity.
Spent a couple of days not looking forward to getting back into the early morning routine...
Then got up early, had some OK appointments, did some errands, and started work full of enthusiasm.
Turns out that rising at a decent hour and getting stuff done does build some motivation. Who knew? 🤦♂️
Another music legend gone...
I've probably listened to his guitar playing more than any other musician, given the amount of hits he played on...
RIP Steve Cropper - one of the greatest of all time...
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/dec/03/steve-cropper-death
RE: @OnlineRaceDriver@mastodon.social
Always a shame to see games pushed back, but I'd rather they arrived in a good state than hitting deadlines for the sake of it...
😢
'The Harder They Come' and 'You Can Get It If You Really Want' have been on a playlist I've kept saved for years, and play any time I need to feel happier or more motivated.
And they always take me back to being a kid and my dad pulling out classic vinyl to share with me...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj4qdren425o
Still working on my photography and meeting more local residents...
Is it weird to want to model my home office on the interior of a nuclear bunker decomissioned in 1992?
Replying to
@aurynn@cloudisland.nz @Daveosaurus@mastodon.nz @Geoff_Campbell@hobbs-end.uk
Cool. Let me know your IP, and I'll make sure it's blocked from any site I run with advertising on it
And it's not about you 'owing me a business model'. It's the fact that business model helps lots of small media companies and creators to exist...
If you just want stuff from the 3-4 big media conglomerates, go for it...
Replying to
@aurynn@cloudisland.nz @Daveosaurus@mastodon.nz @Geoff_Campbell@hobbs-end.uk
What a lovely capitalist libertarian way of looking at it.
Enjoy Fox News when it's all that's left. I'd rather spend time trying to find solutions that improve things for everyone.