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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2777 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 4, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Does anyone know of a good tool or method that could be used to archive all the pages of a given Substack?

I know this is paranoid, but there are some that I'd like to save locally, in case the site is taken down or something.

You can fetch Substack content via RSS, and have a reader automatically store all content locally, or on an server. I'm doing something like this myself, but I'm more focused on Twitter.

For Substack one issue is subscriber only posts, because the public feed only gives you previews, but maybe it's just a question of passing your credentials in the request headers. Never bothered trying it out, but I can give it a go, if you're interested.

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A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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