a.k.a. Little L

Silent servers make me nervous. Things are down while some electrical work is being done on our building.

I installed a graphics card in my phone! I was picking up some tech at the local Apple Store. When I was in the parking garage next to the Apple Store, I took a photo of their green roof. I then looked in Bitcam’s settings and saw I could install a color graphics card in my phone for a couple bucks. Sold! Thanks IconFactory! 📷

Kinghorn, another local band. Heavy & LOUD. 🎵

The Mighty Missoula. Solid set. I’m glad I was able to catch them. 🎵

From Ogden, Utah: Dearth Of Earth 🎵 Really good set. There’s guys are tight and groove!

Openers: Jenny Haniver 🎵

Beer in hand, waiting for things to start

Learned, last minute, that The Mighty Missoula are playing tonight as part of NWPRC POST ROCK FESTIVAL 2023.

Fortunately, I have an open evening and I’ll be able to go.

Maybe I’ll see you there!

This past week, we were gathering old tech for recycling. I found this tower stuck under a desk. It’s hard to believe that it’s still around.

What makes this significant, is that when I first started at NAYA 12+ years ago, my first task was to prepare 20 new computers for staff. This is one of those computers.

I almost don’t want to put this on the pile.

One of my favorite U2 songs and album cover.

Venus and Luna

Wow! This is a handy page.

Tools for better thinking | Untools:

"Collection of thinking tools and frameworks to help you solve problems, make decisions and understand systems"

The different approaches are broken down into four categories:Systems Thinking, Decision Making, Problem Solving, Communication.

I’m familiar with a few of them, but I had no idea there were so many others.

I can see this being a helpful reference.

Listening to a lot of Polyphia, recently. At first, I thought they were a math rock band or just dudes who could shred. (I’d do that all day, if I could. I just wouldn’t publish it).

An early video

Crush

But, the more I listen to their music, watching their evolution and listening to them in interviews, the more it seems like these guys are genuinely a new voice.

Evolution of their sound. Same elements, developed.

G.O.A.T

They’ve also been evolving and I think they’ve found their voice.

Amazing chops on acoustic and electric guitars. The drums are amazing

Playing God

It reminds me of the same process I went through with The Clash. My roommates were huge fans and that’s pretty much all we listened to in our apartment. One day, after hundreds of listenings, it just clicked.

I have learned that if I listen with less prejudice and an open mind and heart, I may find something great.

🎵

Current mood. This is on repeat. Punk gem.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a copy of Richard Thompson’s “guitar, vocal” album in the wild. I’ve heard it on the streaming services, but as a completionist, I’m excited to have a copy. (all of the Hannibal releases seem hard to find). This album has a nice collection of rarities and special releases.

I like this Mudhoney 2-disc set for the same reason. There are some songs that were only released as 7" singles or as promos.

I appreciate it when someone takes the time to gather and create a well-curated compilations over a simple top-10 best-selling collection of hits.

Thanks, again, Music Millenium for the finds!

Recharging with Louie.

I’ve been using the Keyboardio Atreus with my Macs, for the past few years. I really, really like them. They feel good to type on and my wrists are happier.

Most of the time I work on a Mac, but I do have a PC that I need to use. Usually, I’ll use it remotely, via Microsoft’s RDP app. But, sometimes, I’m over at my PC workstation and I really miss having that same key layout. So, I’ve purchased another Atreus from Keyboardio and set it up on my work PC.

The website claims that, out of the box, it works on Mac, Windows and Linux. Which it did, except one thing. I could not login. I was pressing the Control and the Alt and the Backspace key. Nothing happened. I opened up Chrysalis, the GUI configuration tool, and checked the key assignments. All looked good. Eventually, I figured it out.

I’m posting this as a reminder to myself, and in case anyone else runs into this same issue.

To send the Control-Alt-Delete command at login, you have to ALSO hold down the FUN key. The Fun key changes the Backspace key from "Backspace" to "Delete”. Subtle.

It’s interesting how things are connected.

When I was first checking out the zsh configuration tool Oh-My-Zsh, I saw that the creator, Robby Russell, was in a local (to Porltland, OR) band, The Mighty Missoula. They describe themselves as “an instrumental post-rock band”.

I found their music on Bandcamp and it totally resonated with me. I listen to it all the time, now.

This cover is from their EP “Au Nord."

My favorite songs are “Blue Ocean” and “Coppice.” A little bit of noise, space, yearning. The perfect soundtrack for driving through The Gorge or the tall forests around Mt. Hood.

One of my favorite bands was the Sidewinders, from Tuscon, AZ. They managed to capture the wide, arid space of the American southwest. I like The Mighty Missoula because they capture the quiet drones and breezes of the Pacific NW.

With the time change, it’s nice that it’s lighter later, but it was stil after sunset when I left tonight. Beauty sky.

Tonight’s chores and cyber-explorations were powered by one of my favorite albums (still).

I knew that the only way for me to get better at using version control was to actually use it.

I watched multiple videos and read cheatsheets and a couple chapters in books.

It made sense in my head, but I didn’t really “see” it all until I actually did it.

It’s beautiful and exciting and I knew I just had to sit down and do it.

Now all that time I was afraid (?) to spend doing the work seems like a blink, rather than the hours I poked and prodded in my terminal.

I knew it.

As I’ve been doing more work in the terminal, I’ve been cycling through some monospaced fonts this week.

Something that I really enjoy about typography is how subtle details, like curves, and line weights can make such a difference. It doesn’t have to be big, or flashy to make a font feel “right” for the job.

I try not to ponder a font right after a change. I’ll just choose a font and live with it. Some fonts don’t last long, others take some time. But, so far, every one is a little “scratchy” to my eyes.

But, I’ve been very pleased with Source Code Pro, from Google.

It’s hard to explain to most of the folks around me, but I get a real jolt of joy from setting up and playing with servers.

I’m not doing anything major at the moment, just getting some new services running and testing things out.

I think it reminds me of when I first interacted with computers and it was via the command line. (this was back in the 80s).

The quick back and forth in the terminal just feels “real” or “live.”

Digging through folders on my phone, rediscovering little gems.

BitCam is one of them!

I’m impressed with the lens flare that was captured. I’m sure that a digital camera in the 80s or 90s would not look this good.

Besides the novelty of 1-bit rendering, this app is fun to play with. So many fun details.

Anything the Iconfactory makes bring delight.

(Which makes the mess over at Twitter hurt. This team doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.)

📷

The screen of my Apple Watch popped off a few days ago. I’ve had it taped down, but, I don’t think it’s gonna last. (I get my watch wet all the time, working outside or doing the dishes).

Maybe I’ll start a new fashion trend. It’s kinda cyberpunk, yes?