Evil Updated +Created
Things that are not nice such as:
FeathersJS Updated +Created
Looks interesting.
It seems to abstract the part about the client messaging the backend, which focuses on being able to easily plug in a number of Front-end web framework to manage client state.
Has the "main web API is the same as the REST API" focus, which is fundamental 2020-nowadays.
Uses Socket.IO, which allows the client Javascript to register callbacks when data is updated to achieve Socket.IO, e.g. their default chat app does:
client.service('messages').on('created', addMessage);
so that message appear immediately as they are sent.
Their standard template from feathers generate app on @feathersjs/cli@4.5.0 includes:
which looks promising! They don't have a default template for a Front-end web framework however unfortunately: docs.feathersjs.com/guides/frameworks.html#the-feathers-chat lists a few chat app versions, which is their hello world:
But it is in itself a completely boring app with a single splash page, and no database interaction, so not a good showcase. The actual showcase app is feathersjs/feathers-chat.
And there is no official example of the chat app that is immediately deployable to Heroku: FeathersJS Heroku deployment, all setups require thinking.
Global source entry point: determine on package.json as usual, defaults to src/index.js.
Governments should provide basic Internet infrastructure Updated +Created
Companies are getting too much power to distort regulations and destroy privacy.
Taxes pay for the physical car roads, so why shouldn't they also pay for the "online roads" of today?
Other less simple ones that might also be feasible:
All of them should have strong privacy enabled by default: end-to-end encryption, logless, etc. Governments are not going to like this part.
And then if you ever forget a password or lose a multi-factor authentication token, you can just go to an ID center with your ID to recover it.
OpenStreetMap Updated +Created
It is rare to find a project with such a ridiculously high importance over funding ratio.
E.g., as of 2020, their help login help.openstreetmap.org/ shows MyOpenID as an option, which was discontinued in 2014, and not Google OAuth.
They do still seem to have a bit more activity than gis.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/openstreetmap on Stack Exchange.
Complaints:
All of this is a shame, because they do have some incredible data that you cannot find easily on other maps because people just edited it up.
OurBigBook.com / User acquisition Updated +Created
The general and ideal user acquisition is of course organic Googling:
However, before that point, it is very likely that Ciro will have to physically do some very hard and specific user acquisition work at some University. Maybe there is a more virtual way of achieving this.
This work will involve going through some open set of university lecture notes, and creating a superior version of them on OurBigBook.com, and somehow getting students to notice it and use it as a superior alternative to their crappy lecture notes.
Another very promising route is publishing the answers to old examination questions on the website. It is likely that we will be able to overcome any copyright issues by uploading only the answers to numbered questions. There is a minor risk that these would be considered derivative works of the copyrighted questions. But universities would have to be very anal to enforce a DMCA for that!!!
Getting in contact with students is an epic challenge, as an incredibly deep chasm separates us:
Walking with advertisement t-shirts mentioning specific course names in some university location is something Ciro seriously considers, that's how desperate things are. Watch out: docs.ourbigbook.com/#public-relations for T-shirt news!