Life imitates…
And to get away from it all tonight we played (well, continued) a game of Civilization: Famine, Strife, Civil War, Flood, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, but strangely no epidemic (yet).
Figure 1: Civilization
Awesome online singing from Denmark to Australia, and social distancing too!
There are some amazing online singing events happening now around the world: Denmark, Australia, Nashville, etc. I want to highlight a couple examples of that to add brightness to these dark times.
Human beings have an unquenchable desire to live in community. Singing has always been an expression of that. Modern technology has enabled it.
Figure 1: The Sacred Harp Quarantine Chorus
Day 07 of #100DaysToOffload.
Getting started in life is harder right now
Getting started in life is harder right now. I have two college age sons who both just finished up their year with online classes, and both are home now. In “normal” times they would be working summer jobs or participating in other activities that would help them advance toward their chosen careers. Jobs may or may not happen. Even getting out of the house may not happen much. These are weird times.
Vis tibi sit
On the occasion of the ancient Roman Festival Bella Stellaria, I wish you Vis tibi sit Lucas Skywalker magis de bella stellaria hic: https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars et hic https://twitter.com/tutubuslatinus/status/1257065883614109696 Day 05 of #100DaysToOffload.
Hiking, the Appalachian Trail, Health and Choices
I’ve section-hiked over 1000 miles on the Appalachian Trail. Through-hikes have been shut down this year, upsetting plans people have made for years. I’m headed out today to do maintenance today. Not sure what I’ll find. I will be good to be out.
Figure 1: Mt. Katahdin from Abol Bridge, 2018
Day 05 of #100DaysToOffload.
HOWTO: Using Pi-hole DNS to block ads. The struggle continues…
This article is a work in progress. Updated: 2020-05-02. This is turning into a bit of a catch-up on the state of DNS for me.
Day 03 and 04 of #100DaysToOffload.
1 Intro
The war against ads continues. https://pi-hole.net/ looks like a reasonable, good, new?, open source entry in the war against ads. Get ‘yer source_install for linux at https:/_github.com_pi-hole_pi-hole
Per Paul Vixie
not even non-technical users need a “public DNS” to shield themselves from a lot of known-evil internet sites. check out @The_Pi_Hole or have your 12yo child or cousin install it.
..but I always make things harder.
Figure 1: pi-hole console after a few hours on my system
Choosy Programmers Choose GIF
Steve Wilhite is the most prolific programmer I’ve ever known. He’s mostly remembered for creating GIF but he spent 30 years writing piles of amazing software which helped set the stage for the Web.
Figure 1: CompuServe XF4 Fortran Manual
Day 02 of #100DaysToOffload.
Poetry in the trash
A few years ago, my mother went through the effects of her cousin after she died. It turns out Thelma Jane wrote poetry. Nobody knew. It wound up in the trash.
Thelma lived alone. Her husband had died in his 40s. They had no children. Her mother, my great-aunt Bess, lived to 102 and took her first motorcycle ride at 100. My mom had to go through Thelma’s stuff and Aunt Bess’ stuff, most of which Thelma still had. I now have some of the leftovers. But nobody wanted the poetry. So it’s gone.
This brings me to the question this article explores: why write?
#100daystooffload #whywrite #poetry
Digital chimney smoke?
Daniel Boone is quoted (via Hubert Humphrey) as saying
when he could see the smoke from another chimney, felt himself too crowded and moved further out into the wilderness.
Mark Twain said
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
All is not doom and gloom: go for a walk !!!
I find that when I stay glued to twitter (pick your social-media-of-doom-amplifier) I tend to get a rather gloomy view of life. There is indeed a lot one can be gloomy about these days. But if you just go for a walk and look around you may be surprised:
I found this art sidewalk art at just about the exact place where last fall I had purchased a cup of lemonade from 4 eager young entrepreneurs. I suspect the ring leader of that optimistic young bunch.
Figure 1: Sidewalk art