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nathell
flir
Just glanced at the front page - it seems to be very "blog posts about blogging" (4 out of the top 5 posts right now). Is it always like that?
The "My" tab looks like it covers the same ground as a feed reader would. I wonder who the audience is for that feature.
jl6
Is blogging always like that? Always has been.
flir
From memory, there was a long tail of blogs like that way back when, but a core of solid, interesting content. I have an expectation that an aggregator would bubble the interesting stuff up, and the self-referential stuff down. But maybe this is just content the audience finds interesting.
woodpanel
> it’s so diverse and humane
Opened the page, first entry: „white supremacist dogwhistle“
One can’t make this much diversity and humaneness up.
Yes, their frontpage overall seems normal and you probably meant well, but that this is their first entry is just hilarious.
throwawayk7h
Very exciting! And I like the fediverse integration too.
> $N independent, personal blogs. One front page. Ranked by votes and freshness, shaped by you.
This sounds a bit AI-generated (i.e. bland). I would just remove that line entirely from the UI.
> top / new / hot / my
this is a non-parallel construction[1], "my" sounds weird here to an english speaker. These can all be read as adjuncts if you change it to "mine".
casey2
What happens when the instance admin gets bored? Fediverse doesn't to my knowledge have a good migration policy. I can't imagine this is recommended since even the forum hosting related proposals [1] requires email.
[1] https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/fep-521a-representing-...
siddboots
I saw it and completed it as “top posts” “new posts” “hot posts” “my posts”.
exitnode
Very cool but I would like to be able to create an account with my mail address instead of using a Mastodon account because I am trying to avoid social media.
solid_fuel
It looks like there's an RSS feed at the bottom. If you don't want to use the social aspects of the site, maybe just use that in an RSS reader?
*Link: https://bubbles.town/rss
holtwick
The briefing pages also have RSS, this way you see the most relevant stuff https://bubbles.town/editions
DavideNL
Hmmz the "briefing" rss feed can't be filtered by "minimum votes", i believe...?
brulx126
I haven't tried but in principle you only need a Mastodon compatible authentication, there are other services that are not twitter clones. See for example https://fedi.tips/what-other-kinds-of-servers-are-on-the-fed... or more complete https://fediverse.observer/allsoftwares
samtheDamned
I can't speak to other fediverse software but I tried a few lemmy servers to no avail. My mastodon instance is under maintenance so I guess I'll have to wait until that's done to sign up.
rsolva
I do NOT consider the Fediverse and the myriads of implementations of it to be social media, but rather a social web. More like websites with the abilities to communicate and interact in different and interesting ways.
Social media is dead, and has been for a while. Many use it still, but it is not primarily social. The social part was mainly a ploy to get peoples attention and then badly abusing it in ever more creative and sinister ways.
rirze
To me, social web == social media.
I don't use Facebook but use it for auth when I have no other option.
Even worse, I don't want an external service federating my identity when I can avoid it. We have all heard of people getting locked out in cases where Google decided to ban a user from their platform.
I'm never trusting an external provider again.
rsolva
Exactly! It is so empowering to host my own instance at home and own my own identity online, using GoToSocial.
AbuAssar
I'm curios why you are avoiding social media?
exitnode
Mostly because the "damn this is interesting" to "i don't care what you ate yesterday" ratio is not good enough to spend my time on it. These days I am much more enjoying exploring gopher holes, reading and writing blog posts. For realtime communications, I prefer IRC. For me, social media sits in between chatting and publishing content and is therefore neither fish nor fowl.
rsolva
I do NOT consider the Fediverse and the myriads of implementations of it to be social media, but rather a social web. More like websites with the abilities to communicate and interact in different and interesting ways.
Social media is dead, and has been for a while. Many use it still, but it is not primarily social. The social part was mainly a ploy to get peoples attention and then badly abusing it in ever more creative and sinister ways.
EDIT: This comment was meant to be posted to the parent comment!
altairprime
Email the mods and ask them to detach and relocate it.
locknitpicker
> I'm curios why you are avoiding social media?
You make it sound as if that's undesirable.
sdevonoes
Because there’s little good about it
globalnode
Its a scam
Schiendelman
+1 to this. Apple sign-in would be ideal, since it maps to single-identity more cleanly than a social media system.
whereistejas
This reminds me of Kagi's Small Web: https://kagi.com/smallweb/ or https://kagi.com/smallweb/river
janaagaard
I think the links should open in the same window (like they do here on HN) instead of in a new tab/window. If I want a separate tab, I can Cmd+click and Browsers don't have the reverse option for opening in the same window.
viermalbe
Bubbles dev here, I've heard you loud and clear and follow the discussion closely.
I will change the default behaviour to open links in the same tab like on HN or Lobsters soon. But first the HN visitor wave needs to calm down.
mindtricks
So many comments debating the philosophy around this. I like it when these type of sites open a new tab for me. Is there a way to just code in a toggle between the two link opening types?
hallway_monitor
This is the type of thing I have to fight against daily. You already have both action available - left click or middle click. Don't bloat your software with band aids for problems that don't exist - just train your users better.
zenoprax
Middle-click a link to open a new tab. I can't force a link to open in the same window but I can with new tabs.
Sometimes it's easier to follow a link, have a look, and then go back without jumping around tabs.
basch
The reason it’s a debate is because both interfaces / flows are broken.
Back/forth, new tab, currently open tab switch, bookmark, needs to be redesigned from first principal. They all approximate different versions of similar intents.
Shank
You can set a user preference to open in a new tab. The reverse is not true.
rovr138
I like that in Kagi I can set this as an option.
Default, on the same tab (since browsers have options around this), but allow users to select if they want it on a new tab/window.
fuzzfactor
Looks like a pretty good aggregation.
Kind of like a subset of what appears here but of course concentrated on blogs not other sources of news.
Looking at other comments some people are definitely going to prefer each link to open in its own tab.
One thing I see is because so many blogs are no different than a dead website for anybody using full security and privacy on their browser.
You wouldn't want your main page to turn into a dud every time somebody clicked on one of these dud blogs which are randomly scattered among the good links.
OTOH if you curated the blogs which are universal good links separately from the ones requiring the least bit of friction or compromise to security or privacy, that would be something I haven't seen anyone else do.
And it's needed now more than ever, plus the need's only going to increase.
speak_plainly
Thanks for adding RSS! Bringing Bubbles (and HN) into NetNewsWire is a game-changer for content discovery and keeping a clean reading list.
bookofjoe
Too bad it's so hard to submit a suggested blog.
moebrowne
Making it too easy invites spam.
Sending a single email seems like a good compromise to me.
bookofjoe
I agree, that would be a good compromise and I would do it in a heartbeat, but that's NOT the procedure. More is required:
>Participating
>You log in with a Fediverse account (Mastodon, Pixelfed, GoToSocial, and others). If you don't have one, mastodon.social is free and takes two minutes.
For non-techies like me, Fediverse accounts and mastodon.social are non-starters.
Too bad.
A single email WOULD be great, as you point out.
matheusmoreira
Is there some kind of process? I have a small website where I write articles, mainly about my programming language implementation.
AbuAssar
nope, I prefer open in new tab by default
kpopendurer
In general, it's better not to force an action onto users. You might prefer things opening in a new tab, but you always have that option. If it's forced on users, it is frustrating for those who would prefer that not to happen.
complianceowll
[flagged]
ffsm8
And yet we're here, discussing how a developer should change their own application because their preference is wrong
If you don't like it, adjust it for yourself with an extension or script.
chrysoprace
That's a good user setting, but as opening in the same tab is the default browser behaviour then it should really stay that way. Opening in a new tab takes control away from the user.
el_io
Exactly. I prefer to open in the same page. If I want to open in new tab then I can always Ctrl + Click. I don't think I can do the reverse though.
RossBencina
This. Principle of least surprise.
reactordev
Next they’ll be defending full screen div paywalls.
netfortius
100% agree. I had to install a browser extension when I use HN with such (vs app on android, when it does it by default), just to force open links to new tabs.
wredcoll
Have you considered middle clicking instead of leftclicking?
Telaneo
I too prefer that, but i don't want to force that choice on othet people.
CTRL+left click is ingrained in me now anyway.
giancarlostoro
I'd rather have an icon next to the link that implies "Open in new Tab" like one of these with the arrow:
locknitpicker
> I'd rather have an icon next to the link that implies "Open in new Tab" like one of these with the arrow:
That is a valid option for detachable UI elements seen in desktop apps.
Opening links in a separate tab or window is not that thought. That is a first class user flow in web design.
rafterydj
I do as well, but I think it's good practice to put something like in a user preference setting somewhere if you are going to stray from default browser/system behavior.
akoboldfrying
And people who prefer the other way can just hold down _____ while clicking to open it in the current tab instead.
Good ol' _____-clicking saves the day again!
em-bee
only on a mac, and probably only on safari which leaves the majority of people in the lurch.
AbuAssar
why the downvotes, I meant to demonstrate that I prefer the current behaviour so the site developer knows.
Wilduck
The downvotes are because the discussion isn't really about "which option do users prefer". It's actually about returning user choice. As the original comment said: "If I want a separate tab, I can Cmd+click and Browsers don't have the reverse option for opening in the same window."
So when you say "Nope!", you're being downvoted because you're implicitly saying "actually users don't deserve choice".
billnad
I like the new tab as well. Otherwise I will forget what I went to. My process is to go through an interesting site, like HN, and then be able to see these interesting sites after that.
I guess it depends on a persons web workflow though
SilentM68
Don't feel bad. I've been down-votted and banned into obscurity meerly for providing my opinion. Do as I did, get a gigantic list of all legislators and government officials, sent them a nice letter informing them of how HN's policies are rotten to the core. In my case I took screenshots, sent those too. When I post something such as now, only I can see it while logged in. When logged off, I can't see my posts. Will take pictures in both states, send those pictures to those legislators in my list :)
Sol Roth Annex HN
markdown
The downvoters meant to demonstrate that they prefer the standard/expected behavior and would like OP to ignore your opinion on the matter.
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bovermyer
The Briefings have been most useful for me. It feels more curated and less firehose-y.
gus_massa
You can try with https://news.ycombinator.com/best
alfirous
This is the best for me (pun intended). Less overwhelming than the default front page. And more discussion.
lapcat
Also, showing the excerpts from the post text is vastly superior to just showing the post titles.
viermalbe
I currently work on a feature to show excerpts (and read time) in the list views as well. But I will wait with the deployment until the Hacker News visitor wave has calmed down.
lapcat
> and read time
If anything, I would recommend a word count instead.
Word count is objective. Read time is subjective, variable, just an estimate, and probably based on word count anyway.
viermalbe
Bubbles dev here, thanks for the mention
RobotToaster
Any plans to add Lemmy federation? It would be nice to be able to follow it as a Lemmy community since it works like a federated hn/Reddit.
samtheDamned
This would be really cool. With the process of allowing fediverse logins it would be nice to also be able to use lemmy accounts since right now those don't seem to work. (That might be related to the HN hug though I'm not sure).
stakhanov
I'm curious: What software is driving this? Is it a re-skin of the lobste.rs or HN open source software, or is it its own thing?
EDIT: ...just realized that's in the FAQ.
> Is it open source?
> Not yet. Maybe someday.
viermalbe
It runs on Go + sqlite on a Hetzner machine, built from scratch, not a re-skin.
Semaphor
Clearly inspired by HN, there are few sites where I have to zoom in to get any kind of readability ;)
TopHatHipster
What type of Hetzner box are you running this on?
embedding-shape
> not a re-skin
Is that something you're frequently accused of, or why the "disclaimer"?
AbuAssar
how do you decide which blog is included in the aggregation?
viermalbe
You can find the criteria in the FAQ: https://bubbles.town/faq#sources
ShinyLeftPad
try about page, it explains
dchuk
Nice job, clean and well built. I built something very similar, with a focus on engineering/product/startup blogs https://engineered.at
What's your tech stack? Mine is pretty vanilla ruby on rails, while my site is closed source, I did open source a rails engine for adaptive monitoring of RSS feeds that does a lot of the heavy lifting: https://github.com/dchuk/source_monitor
adrianwaj
The summaries are a great idea.
It would be interesting to extract devices and inventions from articles to create an "inventions race" (as opposed to "arms race.") It could be used to establish prior-art and negate a lot of expensive and unnecessary patents that end up going nowhere or used for trolling. That's something I have been thinking about for tinkeri.ng. Something comparable to a patent archive - but used for networking and sharing. Would end up looking like a wiki with articles getting pingbacks.
dchuk
It’s funny, sites like these are so divisive. I’ve gotten as many “do not llm summarize anything for me” as I’ve gotten “this is super handy!” responses. I like them, so I’m keeping them.
Interesting idea overall. Could be generalized to just general trend identification I think based on named entity recognition (like google trends). Over time you can trace first mentions of stuff and buzz over time. I’ll noodle on it.
altairprime
Ah, I love a good classic curated-authors aggregator. The days of yore have returned! Gives me hope. And thank you for having posts open to HN, that’s a brilliant way to augment rather than displace.
On first glance, the first several posts are more interesting than HN; that’s a good sign. But there’s no hide link to mask the AI posts I don’t care about; perhaps one appears after signup?
But. HN’s single-post mute method is treading water at best versus the flood, and with the sixth post on the homepage being outsourced-to-AI, clearly that will persist at Bubbles. Can I mute specific blogs that are just repeatedly posting ‘I subcontracted my project to AI and am now taking credit as if I did the work myself’ on this site? If so, I’d give this a full week tryout immediately.
wwfn
Excited to see this get traction! Federated voting and comments on top of RSS has an indie-web elegance to it.
Indulging in meta-commentary: The HN submit history for bubbles.town is interesting. Took 7 tries to reach the front page. The final viral title resembles the supposed-LLM-tell "X not Y." Coincidence or evidence that the models touch on a useful way to communicate ideas. (I only looked because I submitted the one 2 weeks ago.)
436 points 3 days ago Hacker News but for independent blogs
3 points 4 days ago Bubbles – community-ranked feed of blog posts
3 points 13 days ago A community-ranked feed of blog posts from curated sources
3 points 20 days ago Bubbles – an HN-like link aggregator for the non-tech internet
1 point 28 days ago Bubbles: Blog Post Discovery
4 points 50 days ago Bubbles
6 points 75 days ago Bubbles – HN-like frontpage for personal indie blogsjdiff
"X but for Y" has been around for a good long time, it long predates (and I would say is significantly distinct from) "not X, but Y"
hackerbeat
Love these niche experiments.
Rap Dash is great too in case you're into rap: https://rapdash.com/
RobotToaster
It would be great if this supported federation as a Lemmy community, given that Lemmy already has votes.
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I’ve been perusing Bubbles increasingly often since discovering that my blog is syndicated there, a few weeks ago.
It feels really refreshing compared to doomscrolling of social media, or indeed even to HN. It’s so diverse and humane. The indie blogosphere is coming to life.
Kudos to the author. A great idea, splendidly executed. I hope it grows and doesn’t change much.