It's kind of cool that Drummer still works. It's a nice tool that works in a way that fits my brain.
#
It's going to be interesting to watch how the changes in AI models affect "prompt writers". Will it be similar to how everyone flips out when Google changes their algorithm today?
#
My goodness it's liberating to not worry about how the software works, or deployments, or dependencies. Don't tell anyone, but maybe I'll type here for a spell.
#
Yesterday, I wrote
Everything is here now. I'm not sure how long that will last. I'm posting this here because I'm in the mood for a short, simple posting environment, and that's what Drummer is.
#
Writing publicly like this helps remind me that I exist. Not much else does that.
#
I’m just sitting here staring at my big, beautiful computer screen and wondering whether computers still make me happy like they used to.
#
I don't know who needs to hear this, but... starting a post with "I don't know who needs to hear this, but..." makes me hate you.
#
Reading the reactions to
Chomsky's piece in the NYT reminds me of the crypto bros vs cons arguments from a year ago. It's boring this time, too.
#
It seems like my plan here is to discourage people from subscribing to my noisy, meaningless RSS feed.
#
I like rubber bands, push pins, paper clips, and pencils and paper. They all work on their own with no help from other tools (maybe the need for a sharpener disqualifies the pencil, but I'll still allow it). I dislike staples because they require a stapler, need a second tool to remove them, and cause ugly, irreversible damage to paper.
#
Have you ever had one of those days where everything on or about the internet is annoying. Yeah, that's me today.
#
I used to find Kevin Kelly's relentless optimism to be refreshing. Now, I just think he's delusional.
#
With the Tinderbox version of this site, I have things configured so that each entry/post requires a title, even though titles aren't used on the home page. This is friction that Drummer doesn't suffer from.
#
I mean, Drummer still
works, right?
#
Burger King Original Chicken Sandwich
#
The Burger King Original Chicken Sandwich has been a favorite meal since I worked there in 1982.
#
Dave
wrote: "Something changed over here, and I'm more inclined to let you all take care of yourselves for a while." I hope he takes care of himself. We'll be OK over here, but this never bodes well for tools I'd like to rely on for the long term.
#
I love a good ear kaboom
#
I don't really need any of this, and yet I'm always here, aren't I?
#
I removed dark mode from
baty.net. I know that people love dark modes, but I don't. It's my website, right? It's not a tool or public utility, so I get to design it for me, the way I like it. I like it light. Besides, I probably stare it it far longer than anyone else.
#
My giant notebook/scrapbook
#
I see that there are nearly 70 broken images on my wiki because at one time I installed gallery software on a server somewhere and then decided later I didn't like it, but only after referencing the URLs 70 times. I never learn.
#
I try to remain optimistic, but SmugMug purchased Flickr in, what, 2018? Maybe I was expecting too much, but it feels like not much has changed since then.
#
My feeds were empty so I thought something was broken but then I remembered that I'd muted "ChatGPT"
#
Alice knows how to spend a Sunday afternoon
#
I would happily be that rich person no one has heard of.
#
I'm still amazed at the lengths we've gone to just to avoid writing a few lines of HTML.
#
I swear to god if I see another uninformed, hand-wringing, nonsensical "take" about AI I'm going to fold.
#
Is it time to redirect daily.baty.net here? Or maybe I should dive right in and proxy the domain.
#
I'm not sure that my Drummer settings and URLs are correct, so I'm making sure they all start like: https://drummer.land/jack@baty.net/. This
seems to work.
#
Today's project is (tentatively) to migrate
my TiddlyWiki to use the Node.js version and to configure the updated Markdown plugin for it. I don't mind the wiki format, but it does add friction when everything else is either Markdown or Org-mode. Also, I could "index" the files in DEVONthink, making it easy to find and reuse content than as a single HTML file. Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.
UPDATE: Not worth the trouble, just so I can search individual tiddlers in DEVONthink. I've been happy with the standalone TiddlyWiki via WebDAV so I think I'll just keep that and maybe export tiddlers en masse once in a while.
#
It was pointed out to me that the header image on my new blog was using http: not https: and so was causing mixed content issues with some browsers. It's fixed now, sorry about that. Yet another hint that fighting https is a hill not worth dying on. Hell, it's no longer even worth standing on.
#
It's good having lunch with friends. I avoid people, but I also need people.
#
New camera who dis
#
So far, having one "real" blog (baty.net) and another for random daily notes and journaling (you're soaking in it) feels pretty good. I'd like to run with this setup for a bit and see how it plays out. There's always overlap between what constitutes a daily note vs what goes on the blog, so that'll need fleshing out, too. It's all fun, though.
#
I've ported my
baty.net blog from WordPress to Eleventy. Most of the content came across just fine. Images were, as always, a pain. Lots of regex find-and-replace action.
baty.net#
I think I will check my notes on how to proxy this site via Caddy. I don't think it's a great idea to have users' email addresses exposed as part of the public URL. I'll probably run this at daily.baty.net
#
Ok, we're back! I hope Dave knows we appreciate all the work he's put in since Twitter pulled the rug on their API. This is good, because my plan is to use Drummer for my daily notes instead of Tinderbox or (more recently) Eleventy. I like simply hitting that big "
+" button, typing some words, and done.
#
I'm
once again thinking about moving more of my journaling to digital. As much as I love pen and paper, it becomes tiresome. I write too slowly and too sloppily. I suppose the idea is that it gets me away from the computer, but I'm hardly ever away from the computer, so that turns out to be mostly aspirational.
#
For some reason, I'm working on a new site build using
Eleventy for
baty.net. My usual and regular frustration with using WordPress is kicking in and I need something fresh (that's not Hugo or Ghost).
#
My brief foray back into Fuji-land cost me more than I care to admit. I've sold the Fuji X-T5 kit that I purchased only two months ago. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
#
- Dave writes: "BTW, once the dust settles, we have to get the blogs hooked up to the new server. But I have to turn my attention back to FeedLand now."#
- Darn. Drummer without the CMS isn't terribly useful for me, personally.#
Looking forward to having this hooked up to the CMS
#
Speaking of using things I'd previously sworn off, I'm giving Obsidian another go. I dislike using Obsidian, but it does everything I might need. As long as I steer clear of the rabbit hole of trying every plugin and workflow I see, I might be able to make it work while I wean myself from Emacs.
#
The underlying outliner/editor in Drummer could use some tweaks. For example, I can't click and drag to select text. I have to shift-click instead. That seems like table stakes and is likely a bug, but I'm not sure where to ask about it, and I'm afraid I might be scolded if I did. Perhaps I'll try anyway because it makes editing less pleasant when otherwise it's quite nice.
#
One thing that lessens my fear of being stranded with Drummer is that it's all just (OPML) outlines. If I want to move, I'm sure I could export data from here and open it in, say,
Tinderbox, which handles OPML natively. It would require moving things around and editing, but I'd have a nice head start.
#
Read this in a blog comment today: "This will only result in bachslash,...". I need to make "bachslash" a thing 😆
#
- My favorite keyboard for years has been the HHKB. I love it. The Topre switches feel perfect. The small size is great. The layout is, well, something that requires some getting used to, but once you do, it's fantastic.#
- The problem I have with the HHKB is that there is no row of function keys so lots of key bindings are behind a "function" layer, meaning I need to hold the Function key in order to access things like, oh, direction keys. This means I hold down the Function key a lot.#
- After hours of typing, my right pinky starts to hurt, so I need to swap out to a different keyboard for a while. Sometimes I just use an Apple Wireless, but when I want to actually enjoy typing, I bring in the Realforce R2. The R2 uses Topre switches, so it feels good, but it's quite large. It also uses different weights for different keys. I think this is meant to reduce fatigue by making it easier to press keys with weaker fingers. However, I find that just resting my pinky on the ";" key sometimes triggers a keypress.#
- Anyway, I'll use the R2 for a while until my pinky recovers and then I'll probably go back to using the HHKB.#
I didn't realize that screen readers struggle when hashtags are written all lowercase. So, instead of #uxdesign, one should use #UXDesign. Good to
know!
#
Right now I'm not worrying about HTTPS or a custom domain or any of that. I'm just having fun publishing with an outliner.
#
Sometimes a change of pace is fun.
#
I've archived my Drummer outline prior to 2023. Fresh! The posts are cached and still show on the public site, though. This is probably OK.
#
What happens when the Twitter API goes dark for Drummer? I see that Dave is working on it. I hope it continues. I haven't used Drummer regularly in a long time but I'd hate to see it go away. I like having the option :)
#
- I don't want to see any Twitter controls, so I went looking for a way to hide them. Not seeing anything obvious, I ended up creating my own blog template and custom css that simply hides the element. I expect this will end up a waste of time, since before long Dave's going to need to bail on Twitter completely. I hope. Onward!#
I'd like to continue using Drummer. Feasible?
#