Starting off a new month of PenPal letters with @val.
It’s getting easier and easier to recommend Micro.blog to anyone in open web blogging. Auto-OPML files and webmentions too? We’re spoiled by @manton:
Today we’re introducing a new feature: blog recommendations. This was inspired by recent interest in bringing back blogrolls, including posts from Dave Winer, his service FeedLand, the recommendations feature in Ghost, and feedback from Micro.blog users asking for new ways to discover people to follow. It’s a way to curate a list of favorite sites to link to from your blog.
Too tired to write a proper introduction post, but I’m happy to say that oneamonth.club is now a thing that exists! It’s something I’ve wanted to put together since being inspired by @manuelmoreale.com. Please send me more sites to feature! And you can support my site for $1/month at heydingus.net/club. 🫶
Ideas for blogs and weird hardware, computer pain points in the year 2024, and talented artists. Plus a new album and a 'Take a Chance' link that had me chuckling all week.
Go read Bradley’s piece on finding better balance with an iPod. These are things I know I’m struggling with as well.
We all know something is wrong. We all know that this can’t continue. We need to disconnect. We need long periods away from connectivity. We need a break. We need a break for the sake of our mental health.
I knew I needed this, so I started thinking about a change. I wanted to go back in time. I wanted to get lost in the music. Music, Tim, is at the core of who Apple used to be.
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Some people will call this a silly stunt, but the truth is that for years Federico has been exploring (and pushing) the edges of Apple’s platforms so the rest of us don’t have to. He’s an ergonomic astronaut, floating away into strange places where no one (outside of rooms in Cupertino with blackened windows) has gone before.
And I’m quite jealous of his escapades! Seriously, the MacPad is tempting.
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Think about what it would be like for that to be the default view in Arc. It’s not a MacStories.net webpage. It’s an auto-generated page that’s an answer to a question. It’s also a page that’s so far removed from the notion of browsing the web that I’m not sure Arc could even be called a web browser anymore if that were the default view. Instead, it’s a parallel, auto-generated web built on top of the existing web that acts as a gatekeeper to the source material.
I didn’t realize this was what felt icky about AI summarizers, but it is.
What can I say? I, too, like to use nice tools.
And when compared to hardware, good software is much more affordable. The price difference between a Lexus and a Suzuki is significant. The price difference between excellent software and basic software is not that significant. After all, there is no software equivalent of Rolex.
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iOS and iPadOS 17.4 include two new shortcut actions. Using data from your device’s sensors, the ‘Get Physical Activity’ action can return a description of how you are currently moving — such as “Stationary,” “Walking,” and “Running” — and the ‘Get Orientation’ action can return your device’s current orientation, as either “Portrait” or ”Landscape.”
These’ll be nice for conditionals when running from Back Tap or the Action Button.
Another perfect (March!?) day guiding atop Owl’s Head Mountain. We were supposed to climb ice for Levi’s bachelor party, but the rock was pretty great too. 📷
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[M]y personal enjoyment starts when the kids are tired and my wife is content doing something else, I can then relax.
This is enjoyment for me, and just one of the things I ‘signed up for’ when I became a father. I put the whole world first, and I am ok with that.
I see a lot of myself in this post. Not only as a husband, but as a professional and just as a person.
I don’t usually have multiple books going at once, but in an effort to maximize March is Reading Month, I now have a bedside book, a downstairs book, and an iPad book. 📚
Currently reading: Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words by Steve Jobs 📚
Currently reading: Self-rescue by David J. Fasulo 📚
Currently reading: Accidents in North American Climbing 2023 by American Alpine Club 📚
I make a fair number of shortcuts for Micro.blog. I finally got around to making a post that lists them all in the Micro.blog Help Center, in case you want find them all in one place. I’ll do my best to keep it updated!
I just updated my ‘Bulk MB Image Uploader’ shortcut to version 1.1 (sorry to early adopters!):
- Added support to optionally generate image descriptions with the ‘Generate Alt Text with OpenAI Vision’ shortcut
- Added option to copy the uploaded images as HTML
- Added an error check if no images are found on the clipboard for input
- Other spit and polish
Get it from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.
I just released my ‘Bulk MB Image Uploader’ shortcut:
This shortcut helps you to upload sets of images to your Micro.blog account and copy the resulting image URLs (optionally as Markdown) to the clipboard for easy sharing or editing. Get items from the share sheet, or run it without input to choose from sources like Files, Photos, the clipboard, and the camera.
Get it from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.
I wish more places offered round-ups for local charities. I’ll almost always say yes.
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But I also have an M1 MacBook Air that I use for work. Recently, jumping back and forth between the two, I’ve come to appreciate the wedge more than I thought I would. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but I find it easier to type on. When I’m writing a draft, the sloped edge is more comfortable under my palms. When I tuck it under my arm while walking through the office, it just feels better. […] I still feel the same fuzzy feeling when I unzip my backpack and see that wedge waiting in the laptop sleeve.
Me too 🥺
Whelp, got out guiding rock today, March 4th. What a strange, strange winter. Hard to say goodbye to ice season, but with a Red Rocks trip quickly approaching, it felt good to plug some gear and pull on rock. 🧗 📷
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it’s deeply ingrained in all of us that having children is what we’re “supposed” to do, when our need to repopulate has been overstated for some time. i’d much rather folks be enthusiastic about having children than being ambivalent and doing it anyway.
I don’t face a ton of scrutiny for choosing not to have children, but if I do, this might become my go-to response.
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I sometimes like to use the term “weave the web” to describe people who publish on their personal website. While web-themed, “weave the web” speaks only to one aspect of the web: its interconnectivity. Internet gardening evokes thoughts of the other side of the web: where you are on your own land, cultivating the thoughts on your mind. Letting ideas grow.
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Along with the usual smorgasbord of links, this week marks the 9th album entry for my 52 Albums project. Any other dodie fans out there?
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Today was the first time I’ve ever heard this quote, and it’s sticking with me. It’s quite practical advice! (Origins are apparently unclear.)