Title photo
Think globally, microblog locally
Tue, 17 Apr 2018

My day-job Firefox transition is going well. I have been creating and arranging the bookmarks I need. I sync those bookmarks so I have them on all PCs. Tasks still on Chrome: Getting weather information across SoCal (that's a LOT of bookmarks) and Google Maps screen-grabs, which render more clearly on Chrome than FF.

Mon, 16 Apr 2018

The Finns who refuse to give up on Sailfish OS - Engadget https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/01/jolla-sailfish-os-team-interview-mwc/

The missing building blocks of the Web – Anil Dash https://medium.com/@anildash/the-missing-building-blocks-of-the-web-3fa490ae5cbc

The most important article you will read today: It's time to rebuild the web - by Mike Loukides for O'Reilly Media https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/its-time-to-rebuild-the-web

Fri, 13 Apr 2018

It's not like Google didn't have an unfair advantage in collecting data with its ubiquitous search engine, free and functional email and apps, as well as a phone OS, but it also controls the web browser that most of us use. There are other browsers besides Firefox, but for me it stands alone, and its importance today cannot be overstated.

Go: the good, the bad and the ugly - Sylvain Wallez https://bluxte.net/musings/2018/04/10/go-good-bad-ugly/

Build a JSON API with Hugo's custom output formats - Forestry.io: This is huge: Using the Hugo static blogging system as the engine for an API. https://forestry.io/blog/build-a-json-api-with-hugo/

Key to avoiding Firefox tab scrolling: Maximum of 16 tabs (at least on my laptop screen)

To get around the problem in Firefox where you can't see all of your tabs without using scroll buttons (if you have a lot of tabs), I am going to try to uses more windows, and I am making bookmark folders that I can use to populate individual windows more quickly.

I'm doing another serious Firefox test. I already use it for most of my non-day-job browsing, but having so many bookmarks set up in Google Chrome plus Firefox's tab issue (you can only fit so many on the screen before you have to use scroll buttons) has kept me in Chrome.

Thu, 12 Apr 2018

(Puts tinfoil hat on) The worst thing is a smartphone. It's like we're all wearing a wire AND a tracking device at all times. Facebook is telling us how creepy it is in terms of how much data it collects, and while that is oddly refreshing, Google, Amazon, Apple, Twitter and others are being suspiciously quiet about what they do and how much control we have over it.

The question is becoming, "Should we avoid being tracked, and how can we do it?" It sounds very tinfoil hat but likely includes all commercial social-media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat), everything Google, Apple and Amazon, and all branded browsers.

Wed, 11 Apr 2018

I'm really getting into using multiple desktops in Windows 10. Coming from a desktop Linux background, it's yet another thing that Windows is doing that makes a Linux user more comfortable.

How can I copy text to the system clipboard from Vim? - Vi and Vim Stack Exchange https://vi.stackexchange.com/questions/84/how-can-i-copy-text-to-the-system-clipboard-from-vim

The Macros page is a powerful on from the Vim Tips Wiki http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Macros

Mon, 09 Apr 2018

Fascinating story: Nikon versus Canon - A story of technology change https://medium.learningbyshipping.com/nikon-versus-canon-a-story-of-technology-change-45777098038c

Uber acquires dockless bike-share startup Jump - The Verge https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/4/9/17213994/uber-acquires-dockless-bike-share-jump

How to use Cloudflare's DNS service to speed up and secure your internet | ZDNet https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-use-cloudflares-dns-service-to-speed-up-your-internet-and-protect-your-privacy/

The most important article you will read all day: How to keep your ISP’s nose out of your browser history with encrypted DNS | Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/04/how-to-keep-your-isps-nose-out-of-your-browser-history-with-encrypted-dns/

Facebook urged to make GDPR its 'baseline standard' globally – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/09/facebook-urged-to-make-gdpr-its-baseline-standard-globally/

GIMP 2.10.0 Release Candidate looks great but still can't really work with IPTC metadata, which is a hard requirement for an image editor that I can use. I've been waiting more than 10 years, so I'll keep using IrfanView and digiKam. https://www.gimp.org/news/2018/03/26/gimp-2-10-0-rc1-released/

Denver Post rebels against its hedge-fund ownership - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/business/media/denver-post-opinion-owner.html

Ask Hacker News: Where have you registered your domains and why? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16784074

Starbucks picked an odd time to force WiFi customers to cough up personal data – GeekWire https://www.geekwire.com/2018/starbucks-picked-odd-time-force-wifi-customers-cough-personal-data/

Cruising Van Nuys Blvd. in the late 1970s - photos from 1978-79 taken mostly in front of 6454 Van Nuys Blvd., then a J.C. Penney that looked to be already closing, now the Valley Professional Building at the corner of Van Nuys Blvd. and Gilmore Street. http://vnbcruisinglate70s.com

Sat, 07 Apr 2018

I took a few weeks off of using Xenialpup (aka Puppy Linux) until I could figure out a setup that would take the pup_save off of my Windows hard drive and put it on a USB flash drive. Did that. First boot didn't work, but second did. Keeping fingers crossed.

SpaceX can't broadcast Earth images because of a murky license - CNET https://www.cnet.com/news/spacex-cant-broadcast-earth-images-because-of-a-murky-license/