Blog
Writing helps me think more clearly. This archive is longer posts; quick updates now live in notes.
Topics: AI, blogging, photography, programming, projects, Signboard
It used to be, that I was the first person in line to download new software. I'd sign up for beta access, email developers for early looks at what they were working on, or even install beta software on my daily devices. But as time went on, I valued my productivity more than having the latest software. I…
As you all know, I'm a big fan of a the Pomodoro Technique. Recently, while catching up on my backlog of Jack Cheng's excellent Sunday series, I came across a snippet in Sunday #434 regarding an interview Cheng did with author Linda Sue Park. In that interview, she mentions whittling away at the Pomodoro Technique until she ended…
(The following is a very quick mind dump. Unedited. Raw.) I prefer black and white over color film for most of my photographic work. I do shoot color film. I mostly like to capture personal memories on color film while reserving black and white for my more serious, thought out photography. I think black and white captures the…
Naz Hamid writes about how we should all keep social networks in their place; as methods of distribution rather than longterm means of connection or publication. He also contrasts that to how we could be thinking of our websites: "If you care about your creativity, and what you make and bring into the world, I'd suggest having your…
Cedric Raguenaud argues that.. "When we label our photographic pursuits as “work,” we unconsciously impose constraints and expectations that belong in the professional world. Suddenly, we feel pressured to maintain visibility, chase originality, and demonstrate creativity, not for our own satisfaction, but for an imagined audience or abstract standard of success." Many people, myself included, call some of…
My default web browser is set to Switcheroo – a custom-made macOS app by Zhenyi Tan (with some feedback and guidance from me). Whenever I click on a link a modal of sorts appears letting me choose which Safari profile I'd like to load the link within. Here is what that looks like. When that tab loads the…
Chris Armstrong, advocating for a digital garden over a blog structure: A blog structure places the highest emphasis on ‘what’s new’… but what’s new has had the least scrutiny and little authority. Robin Rendle linked to Armstrong's post recently and reading it reminded me of my 2011 post The blog format is ready for disruption. In that post,…
This morning I checked in on Pixelfed, the ActivityPub-powered Instagram alternative. I had created a profile on an instance in 2021 and I check in from time-to-time to see how it is coming along. All told, the experience is fair. But I'm far more excited by how well it is connecting to other platforms. An iOS client app…
Every person and organization has to make their own decisions about which social platforms they will have an account on, publish their content to, engage with, and support (with use or contributions both time and financial). There is no right answer for everyone. And, to many that run an online business, hoping to capture the attention of just…
Update October 2025: I'm back to using Unmark which is being actively developed once again. No shade on Anybox (which is great) but I'm simply trying to use and contribute to more open source (like Signboard). Saving links to get back to at a later time is a problem with a million great solutions. I even helped create…
Simon Willison, from a clip I created of an episode of Around the Prompt: I love AI as an accelerant of personal productivity improvement. I plan on writing an update to my post from April 2023 about using ChatGPT as an accelerator where I'll say something similar. Here is the clip:
I look back at my first year at NerdPress, what we've accomplished so far, and that I'm very excited for what's next.
A summary of some travel, the addition, the new laptop, and ActivityPub trials.
Manuel Moreale helps remove a new blogger's fear of having no readers by committing to be the first. Count me in too.
We now live in a time where many smaller social networks exist, some of them will likely exist for decades to come, and most of them may never reach hundreds of millions of monthly active users and that is a very good thing for the web. It is a bit messy, somewhat confusing, and totally great.
Jeff Triplett urges us to publish more from our own domains. I agree. But it isn't easy.
Over coffee this morning, browsing my unreads in NetNewsWire, I stumbled on Simon Willison's mention of Alex Chan's "Using static websites as tiny archives" post. And then I saw Jeremy Keith also mention it. So I thought I'd mention it to! There’s no web server, no build system, no dependencies, and no JavaScript frameworks. I’m writing everything by…
Independence, Creativity, Connection.
A few NerdPress team members sponsored/exhibited at FinCon 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia this past week and I thought I'd distill the numerous conversations I had with attendees, speakers, and sponsors into three key takeaways. Own your audience – Creating and distributing valuable content for an audience (whether free, behind a paywall, or a mix of the two) is…
In this post, I’m sharing my personal thoughts on the Automattic vs. WP Engine trademark dispute. These views are my own and may not reflect those of my employer or anyone else on my team. Additionally, this should not be seen as a comprehensive retelling of the events from the past few weeks. Much has happened even during…
Sophie Koonin recommends attending conferences for personal and professional growth. I agree.
In Diversions #6 I write about making grape jelly, canning projects, a trip to Virginia, and share some links.
The idea of trying to paint the full picture of my computing needs exhausts me for some unknown reason. Even this short post has been a chore. But I thought it important to get some of my thoughts down because it helps me to clarify my own thinking and will hopefully help me make some decisions. And I…
Kayaking in July 2024 Few experiences have the serenity of kayaking on a lake. Especially in the evening at sunset. If you haven't kayaked, I highly recommend it. For years I kayaked very regularly. These days, I hardly ever do. But it is something Eliza and I want to return to. I'm hoping that writing it down will…