Longer-form posts and essays.

Finally watching Parts Unknown Season 9. Couldn't to do so before today.

Sickler’s Pond to Elk Hill – August 2019

Sickler's Pond to Elk Hill – August 2019 I still have a lot to learn about manually creating HDR images using my drone. This was my first attempt. You'll notice the sky and foreground are both properly exposed. A nice technique to have when needed.

Today Eliza and I have been married for 20 years! ♥

Brendan Dawes on Adobe

Brendan Dawes: After twenty three years of using Adobe products in a professional capacity, I've now moved away from them as a company as I find there subscription model not something I can partake in, especially when they can suddenly decide to switch off older versions of the CS suite, making those programs you might use everyday useless…

Me, 1994: The Internet seems interesting. I wish it were 100x faster. 2004: The Internet has everything! I wish it were 50x faster. 2014: The Internet is everywhere! I wish it were 10x faster. Me, 2024: The Internet ruined humanity. I wish it were just a little faster.

What I saw this week #59: August 23, 2019

At this point, the WISTW posts are woefully inaccurately titled and inconsistent in their schedule. The following are a few things I've seen recently that you may enjoy – but were certainly not just from this week. Das Boat – MeatEater, my favorite outdoor media company, has finally jumped into fishing. And they are doing so, for free,…

Popeyes chicken sandwich

Want to hear something weird? Last Friday Eliza and I went to New Jersey and had to grab a bite to eat in the late-afternoon. We stopped at a Popeyes in Wayne, NJ – it was on the way, and neither of us had ever had it – and we both ordered the Spicy Chicken Sandwich. The person…

Audio: My armchair analysis of Automattic acquiring Tumblr

Date recorded: August 19, 2019 Yesterday while driving (sorry for the audio quality) I recorded a quick audio bit to distill my thoughts on why Automattic acquired Tumblr. Short-version: Automattic sees Tumblr as an entry point for new WordPress.com customers – especially youth. For someone to go from idea to full commerce or publishing success via WordPress.com's current…

Connecticut weekend vibes – August 2019

Connecticut weekend vibes – August 2019 Eliza and I enjoyed a gorgeous weekend in Connecticut this weekend with my sister and her family.

Animating Seljalandsfoss in Iceland

The above animation, created with Pixaloop on Android, is from a photo by Eliza while we were in Iceland. That's me in the bottom right, shooting my own images of Seljalandsfoss.

My answers to my askATP question

I've recently started listening to ATP. I'm enjoying the three hosts slightly different takes on things. Somehow they each have just enough of a different perspective to make their conversations – and particularly their angst – entertaining. I sent in a question and on their most recent episode they graciously spent a considerable amount of time answering it….

Chris Stapleton, Bethel Woods, New York – July 2019

Chris Stapleton, Bethel Woods, New York – July 2019 Eliza and I had the opportunity to see Chris Stapleton at the infamous Woodstock grounds. Though not a fan of country, per se, he was amazing.

Matt Mullenweg on how Verizon handled the Tumblr sale

Matt Mullenweg, stressing the more important aspects of the Tumblr sale: First, they chose to find a new home for Tumblr instead of shutting it down. Second, they considered not just how much cash they would get on day one, but also — and especially — what would happen to the team afterward, and how the product and…

The Square in Scranton – June 2018

The Square in Scranton – June 2018 An alternate view of the courthouse in Scranton. The building on the far side of the square was my old office building from 2014-2017 or so.

NetNewsWire public beta

Brent Simmons: NetNewsWire has reached public beta! It only took like five years. 🙂 Pre-Twitter, NetNewsWire was the app I opened first in the morning to catch up on the day. In fact, I said so on a cool November morning on this very blog in 2005. If you're on a Mac, and have any inclination whatsoever to…

Automattic acquires Tumblr

Matt Mullenweg, on this Tumblog: When the possibility to join forces became concrete, it felt like a once-in-a-generation opportunity to have two beloved platforms work alongside each other to build a better, more open, more inclusive – and, frankly, more fun web. I knew we had to do it. Let's get a few things out of the way…

Mike Davidson on working remotely

Mike Davidson: First, let’s dispense with the easy part: despite what you may read on Twitter, remote work is neither the greatest thing in the world nor the worst. We are not moving to a world where offices go completely away, nor are we going through some sort of phase where remote work will eventually prove to be…

Chris Hannah on blogging

Chris Hannah: If you are trying to start a blog, then the best advice is to just start writing, and then press publish. Sure, it might not be the best content you’ll ever produce, but it’s something. Then with the experience of writing and publishing that post, the next one will be slightly better. I shall shamelessly quote…

Repost: David Hobby on meeting new people

👉 David Hobby on Twitter: Takeaway: proceed on the assumption that every new person that you meet carries with them the ability to change your future in a significant way—or connect you the someone else who will.

Raymondskill Falls – July 2019

Raymondskill Falls – July 2019 These loud falls run into the Delaware between Pennsylvania and New Jersey just outside of Milford, PA.

Google Pixel 4 wishlist

Yes, I know there have been leaks galore regarding the Google Pixel 4. While I've seen the leaks I haven't paid much attention to them. I've tried to ignore them so that I could be at least a little surprised when it is announced. I currently have the Google Pixel 2 XL. I've had it since December 2017….

iOS creates a competition hostile environment

Below is a screenshot of the sheet you see on YouTube for iOS when tapping on a link in a video's description. They invoke this custom sheet because, like Google, Apple has created iOS to be competition hostile to other browser vendors like Mozilla, Opera, Microsoft, etc. Tapping on a link should open your default browser, not provide…

Cicada Killer – July 2019

Cicada Killer – July 2019 For the last three years I've hiked 3 miles to the nesting grounds of these giant wasps. Amazing insects. (Listen to audio from 2017)

Butterfly – July 2019

Butterfly – July 2019 Went for a hike last night to see the digger wasps again. The fields were full of butterflies.