How to get started on Mastodon

November 10, 2022

Thanks to Elon Musk's erratic early management of Twitter, there's been a rush for the exits.

It's hard to tell if it's a trickle or a stampede, but the exodus is shining a light on Twitter's open-source alternative: Mastodon.

Mastodon is in many ways the anti-Twitter, which is why many are attracted to it.

It isn't controlled by a single company or entity; indeed, anybody with an internet connection can set up and run their own Mastodon server.

There are no ads, no sponsored posts, and no algorithmically-chosen content. Most Mastodon servers are free to join.

Cult of Mac writer D Griffin Jones has been using the service and has "had nothing but a pleasant experience."

And he's written a really good guide to getting started -- see our top post below.

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

Perhaps you, like many others, would like to move away from Twitter. If you read news, webcomics or blogs, you can follow all the same stuff with an RSS reader. But if you want to follow people in your community and talk to others online with the same interests, there’s a Twitter alternative you may have heard of: Mastodon.

Apple is investing $450 million into satellite infrastructure to insure its Emergency SOS via satellite service for the iPhone 14 series launches in November as scheduled. A majority of the funding goes to Globalstar, a global satellite service based in Louisiana.

SwitchEasy's MagMount Magnetic iPad Stand raises your tablet up to eye level, improving your posture and keeping those pains in the neck from happing. And Thursday is your last chance to get 20% off the stand in the Cult of Mac Store. The flash sale ends November 10.

A new YouTube video commissioned by Apple demonstrates how well Action Mode in iPhone 14 stabilizes tricky, action-packed video shots without any special equipment. And every handset in the iPhone 14 series has the feature, so you, too, can be an action movie director.

With iOS 16.1.1, Apple has limited the window during which iPhone users can receive AirDrop files from non-contacts in China. The move comes after Chinese protesters used AirDrop to spread anti-government images to other iPhone users.

Apple on Wednesday released iOS 16.1.1, iPadOS 16.1.1 and macOS 13.0.1 to fix bugs and close a couple of security holes. These updates don’t add any new features, but are nevertheless recommended for all users.

With the Christmas holiday season fast approaching, Philips Hue, owned by Signify, broke out its new Festavia string lights. They work with HomeKit, the Home app, Siri voice commands and the Hue app. They’re not cheap, however. A 65-foot cord with 250 LED lights goes for $160.

On November 10, 1983, Microsoft tells the world about a new product it plans to launch called Windows 1.0. Apple faces a brand-new rival!

Tweet o' the day

One more thing ...

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." -- Steve Jobs.

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