a.k.a. Little L

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?

I’m working on an app for tracking meals at work, so I’m setting up a couple Mac minis as servers.

The first time I worked on this app, I used MAMP to help with development. It was very handy and made a complex task much easier for me.

But, I always felt like I was taking the easy way out. That by skipping the server setup, I was missing some knowledge that would be useful, elsewhere.

So, now that we’re slowly returning to work, I have been charged with getting the Meal Tracker back up and running.

This time, I have a couple Mac minis (one at home and one at work). I’ll be setting them up with MySQL and PHP and Apache. And, I’ll be setting them up “properly.”

I found these pages useful:

Install Apache, PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin on Mac OS X

Updating Apache, PHP, and MySQL for macOS Catalina

I was thinking that something that has changed, since the last time I worked on this, is that I’m much more comfortable working in the Terminal and working on servers, in general. This time, I am using Homebrew to help manage installations.

But, now, I’m wondering about whether I should be using Docker…

🎵 Listening to Jonathan Livingston Seagull soundtrack for the first time in 40+ years(!) A quiet and contemplative album by Neil Diamond. 👍

We’ll-produced and sounds good and modern-ish. (That is, clean, has air and good performances)

Had to make a late night run to my office to drop off some tech for the morning crew. This guy was out in the back field behind my office. He kept an eye on me as I walked to my car. I won’t lie, I was a little nervous. I said “Hello!” and that only seemed to encourage him.

Taking down Christmas decorations. Recent winds blew down this door and half a tree.

I’ve been looking for this CD, “Live Dog 98” for years! I have never seen it in a record store. I’ve never seen it available on the artist’s or label’s website.

It’s lived for years at the top of my “CDs to Look For” note, the note I use to refresh my memory just before I go into a record store.

Like the great white whale, it had become more of a legend than an actual CD.

So imagine my surprise when I opened the gift from my sister.

I was so taken by the surprise, that I didn’t even notice the autograph on the front cover!

In the photo, above, I have the Live Dog CD on top of one of my other prized Bob Mould CDs, a promotional version of his first solo album, “Workbook.”

🎵

Beautiful and Delicate 🎵

music.apple.com

Of course, an excellent recording by ECM. Nice space, intimate and airy. Really good performance, too.

This is a color photograph

If you recall the format of Hypercritical (which I think set the pattern for many subsequent podcasts), John and Dan would talk about a topic, and then in subsequent episode, John would follow up with a correction or additions.

Luke Burrage created a nifty meta-podcast where he organized and collected snippets from episodes of Hypercritical into related topics.

Brilliant!

Just upgraded to MarsEdit 5. Using the new Micropost feature. I like this little window! I like the Markdown formatting!

Thanks for all your hard work @danielpunkass!

Beds are Sleeping

My current mood.

Hello all from the Pacific NW corner of the US! It’s partly cloudy, 39 degrees. Chilly.

I’m saving up for my next iPad. I’m 99% certain that I’m going to get a 9.7” Pro.

For the past year, I’ve been using an iPad mini 2, and I really like it. I could do a lot of my work on a mini. Before the mini, I had used a 9.7” for a couple years. It was indispensable for what I do (mainly tech support, photography).

When I first started using the mini, I wasn’t sure if it would work. I missed the real estate. My older eyes disliked the squinting.

But, now, about a year later, my 9.7” feels like a brick! (admittedly, my 9.7” is a 3rd gen, so it’s the 1st get Retina, and was just sluggish and heavy)

But, I’m thinking that my next will be a 9.7” Pro, because I want the speed and power of the pro line.

A 10.5” iPad, while bigger, might be a very appealing size. Two iPad mini’s? Yeah. I’d take that.

Why would Apple release a 10.5" iPad?: ""

(Via .)

NAYA was closed today, due to snow. When I tried to remote in to check my servers, I was not able to see all of them. So, I drove in check on things.

The roads were covered with packed snow, but, not too treacherous. (if you drove sanely, that is).

Fortunately, someone had driven through the parking lot, which allowed me to get up to the door.

The front “yard” is covered with snow, and beautiful.

Ted is setting up one of the custom case PCs that had been set up for FreeNAS. He’s installing W7.

It will be connected to the big TV in the IT Office.

This will enable us to put a PC on the big screen.

• This will have Windows 7
• MS Office
• Itunes
• Windows Media
• Adobe Reader
• Bookmark the Merakis

I’m wondering if we should use Wordpress or Igloo for internal intranet.

So far, multiple successes.

Effective meeting, where I learned that I was not stupid.

Setup new users and made them happy.

Fixed odd printer issue.