Author: Colin Devroe
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Annie Mueller on the merits of the mundane
Annie Mueller: Maintenance tasks—like washing the dishes, folding the clothes—not only keep the basics of life functioning, but they also honor life itself. We are not too good for any of this. We are blessed to be here. Let me remember this as I wipe the table. Let me remember this as I sweep the…
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Frank Meeuwsen on What he doesn’t know
Fellow Dutchman Frank Meeuwsen, replying to my carpenter illustration in my What I don’t know post (translated by Google Translate): I immediately thought of a conversation I had with the electrician a few minutes before. He explained to me how the power from the meter cupboard is distributed throughout the house and how overload and…
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Ton Zijlstra linking curiosity to his blogging
Ton Zijlstra, replying to Frank Meeuwsen’s post that was replying to my post, took a different angle: Over the last 16 years my blog has been a good instrument to trigger, feed and explore my curiosity. Me blogging more means I’m curious to expand my horizons again. His post reminded me of a discussion that…
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What I saw this week #53 – January 4, 2019
I’m bringing back my What I saw this week series of posts for 2019. Likely to be published on Fridays.
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What Bill Gates learned at work in 2018
Bill Gates: In 1918, the Spanish flu killed 50 million people worldwide. It still ranks as one of the deadliest natural disasters ever. I had hoped that hitting the 100th anniversary of this epidemic would spark a lot of discussion about whether we’re ready for the next global epidemic. Unfortunately, it didn’t, and we still…
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Whalebird – A Mastodon client for Mac, Linux, and Windows
h3poteto, the username of a software engineer from Japan that only goes by the name* of the fictional character Akira Fukushima online: Recently I started Mastodon. I can find some nice client applications in iOS and Android, but I could not find client for desktop application. The above from a post on Medium from March…
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What I don’t know
Dan Abramov, lead contributor to React, in a post listing the various technologies, languages, etc. that he doesn’t know: Still, even experienced engineers have many knowledge gaps. This post is about mine, and I encourage those who can afford similar vulnerability to share their own. But let’s not devalue our experience while we do that.…
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Scott McNulty read 101 books this year, what did you do?
Scott McNulty: I managed to read 101 books this year (that’s over 35,000 pages!), the most I’ve read in a year since I’ve been keeping track. Don’t forget his tip for reading so much. Conversely I didn’t do as well as he did on my own personal reading goal. My annual goal is typically 24…
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Microsoft is the MVP
Raymond Wong: The seeds Nadella’s been planting since he hopped in the chief executive seat blossomed in full this year. Looking ahead, Microsoft’s future looks bright so long as it doesn’t drop the ball. You already know where I stand on this topic.
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Taking an axe to my subscriptions, follows, etc. Going to start 2019 relatively fresh.
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I would be willing to forgo any new software or hardware in 2019 if all efforts were devoted to increasing speed, battery life, and interoperability of everything we already have.
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Best of 2018
This year I’m taking a slightly more comprehensive approach to my “best of” list. I’ve taken a look at previous year’s lists: 2008, 2009, 2017 and comprised a slightly more complete set. Again, this is only the things I came across this year and can remember. I don’t keep a list throughout the year but…
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My crypto and indie web goals for 2019
Steven Johnson, in Beyond the Bitcoin Bubble: The true believers behind blockchain platforms like Ethereum argue that a network of distributed trust is one of those advances in software architecture that will prove, in the long run, to have historic significance. I’m very late to the game in reading Johnson’s piece in the NYT. I’ve…
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I’m very thankful when app updates have real release notes.
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On a social media break through the end of the year.
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Jeremy Keith on Edge switching to Chromium
Jeremy Keith: There’s just no sugar-coating this. I’m sure the decision makes sound business sense for Microsoft, but it’s not good for the health of the web. His reaction is very similar to mine. His call to action is too.
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Andrew Kim goes to Apple
Andrew Kim, who I mentioned back when he rebranded Microsoft and eventually was hired by them, has moved again — this time to Apple. Somehow I missed that he was at Tesla. Jon Porter for The Verge: After three and a half years at the company, Kim moved to Tesla, where he contributed to the…
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Becky Hansmeyer on iPad Pro
Becky Hansmeyer: There’s a lot more to like about the iPad Pro, especially if you’re upgrading from an iPad Air 2 like I did. The display is top-notch, ProMotion is one of those things you don’t understand how you lived without, and the Apple Pencil is downright magical. It’s much heavier than the Air, of…
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So many celebrities are starting podcasts. And many of them seem to be therapy sessions for both host and guest. Og podcasters, stick with it. They will suck up a lot of the ad oxygen for a bit but the fad will pass.
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Darice de Cuba on Inclusive Design
Darice de Cuba, who is a front-end web developer that slowly lost her hearing starting at a young age: But inclusive design is much more than structure, code and color only. Inclusive design is about the whole website as one — it’s about the complete experience of the user when they visit a website. She…
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Microsoft gives up on EdgeHTML
Chris Beard, CEO Mozilla Corporation: Microsoft’s decision gives Google more ability to single-handedly decide what possibilities are available to each one of us. From one point-of-view this move by Microsoft might seem to make total sense. They spin this as “it will be easier for web developers to target one less browser engine”. However, this…
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The State of Web Browsers
Ferdy Christant: If you agree that this sucks, install Firefox. Also on mobile. Here’s instructions on how to switch from Chrome. Read the entire thing. Sorry it is on Medium. I don’t know why he’d post this there. The irony is palpable.
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Repost: Annie Mueller on Creativity
👉 Annie Mueller: Creativity is anyone making anything out of anything. /via Micro.blog in Discover
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Finished Outbreak by Robin Cook. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good: Fast paced, easy read, female heroine. Meh: Predictable, love subplot, a few overt racist terms.
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I don’t have analytics on my blog. So I don’t know if one topic or post has done better than another. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I blog for me.
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Florida wildlife – November 2018
Florida wildlife – November 2018 My big brother Derrick, my cousin Kelli and I went for a paddle off Weedon Island and also visited a local preserve. Florida’s flora and fauna are very different from what I’m used to in Pennsylvania. It was very cool to see a variety of things I don’t get to…
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YETI Presents
YETI, the premium tumbler/cooler company, has one of my favorite YouTube channels at the moment. We celebrate stories from the wild. From the off-road tracks of Baja Peninsula to the BBQ pits of Giddings, TX, we capture stories that speak to the wild side of life. If adventure and grit is at the heart of…
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SubEthaEdit 5 – free, open
In the early 2000s, when I switched to the Mac from Windows (oh how times change), SubEthaEdit was an amazing leap in text editing. It allowed you to connect with other Macs to collaborate on the same document — something we take for granted these days. Here is Dominik Wagner, one of the original authors…
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1Password gave me a 1-year subscription that I was able to give away for free. This is such a nice way for paid services to spread to people that may never give them a try. Go beyond gifting and enable giving.
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New music Friday kinda bleh this week. That Billie Eilish joint for Apple tho 👌
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Gutenberg, the new content editor for WordPress, is very good
I’m writing this post using a new post editor that is coming in the next version of WordPress code-named, and likely named for all-time, Gutenberg. In fact, I’ve written several of my most recent posts, including this photo post of South Iceland, using this new editor. Gutenberg is an editor that allows a WordPress author…
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I was informed by a friend on Facebook that the book I just finished, Flatland, is available as a movie on YouTube. And it’s trippy.
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Finished Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott. ⭐⭐⭐ A clear commentary on social, political, and spiritual topics. Aside from that I enjoyed how deep the author explained the world they created.
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Google Pixel Night Sight on a Google Pixel 2 XL compared to iPhone Xs
My wife has a brand-new iPhone Xs and I have a one-year-old Google Pixel 2 XL. We always compare photos in a variety of situations. When she had the iPhone X my Pixel 2 XL would win handily in a variety of situations. Her new iPhone Xs wins here and there (e.g. in Portrait mode…
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I’ve been very happy hosting my blog on a WordPress Droplet on Digital Ocean since April. I’d like to move The Watercolor Gallery now. Does anyone know if I should use the same Droplet or better to create a new one?
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The iPad is Apple’s best product
Faruk, of iPhonedo, on iPad: iPads are Apple’s best products. They almost never get old. They work for years. I agree. The iPad is a good investment as a product. Whatever you end up spending on them you get that back and much more. I’m still using my 4+ year old iPad Air 2 and…
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Trello’s emoji autocomplete prioritizes :thumbsup: before :thumbsdown: (even though not alphabetically correct) due to its higher usage. In Microsoft Teams they don’t. Sometimes it is the small things that make a huge difference in software UX design.
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Slow internet is somehow worse than no internet.
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The new Sticky Notes app on Windows 10 is actually very nice.
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Is there a good Windows 10 email client that allows you to keep notes for yourself on each email thread?
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Every time I’ve made something incorrectly it is because I didn’t take the needed time to plan how to build it correctly.
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Google+ shutting down for consumers
Ben Smith: Given these challenges and the very low usage of the consumer version of Google+, we decided to sunset the consumer version of Google+. Thank heavens. Also, this bit: At the same time, we have many enterprise customers who are finding great value in using Google+ within their companies. Our review showed that Google+…
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I haven’t been in the mood to blog much lately. Not ashamed of that either. I’ll write more when I feel like it.
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Important note: If you plan on using Windows to store photos from an Apple product use Live Photos sparingly. They become MOV files and you lose the JPG or HEIC files. Learned this the hard way.