Portland International Airport (PDX)
Last trip of the year
TIL the term “smishing” (SMS phishing) while looking up info on those spam text messages claiming to be from the USPS about a missed package. Never click the links in those, of course. You can also report them to the postal inspector.
Checking out a new podcast, Public Health is Dead. Sounds promising so far.
“Public Health is Dead is a forward-thinking autopsy on how we’ve f*cked up in public health. How do we prepare for future pandemics while we’re already in the thick of one? And how do we reinvent systems that place some of us closer to death?”
This is a summary curation of prior posts of mine on why post, what to post, and how to post, as well as some bits I wrote on the #IndieWeb wiki. This post assumes you already have a blog — if you don’t have one and wonder why you should, that’s a different blog post.
If you have a blog and ever feel stuck about why you should post, what to post next, or how to write your post, hopefully this post will help you get unstuck, and publish your post.
Why Post
There is a whole wiki page on the topic:
* https://indieweb.org/why_post — which could use some gardening
Here are a few reasons why to post:
* Wean yourself off social media. Post to your own site instead of social media. If you already post on social media, into someone else’s garage¹, then you already have reason enough to post. So post on your own site first, and optionally syndicate² to that silo, only if you have friends who still use it to read posts.
* Search everything you write. Do you post long comments or issues on GitHub? Do you post on public mailing lists? Post such things to your own site, so you can more easily search everything you’ve written on a topic. Then post a copy to those external destinations.
* All the reasons to own your data: https://indieweb.org/own_your_data
What to Post
* Post positive things promptly: https://tantek.com/2018/357/t3
* … from that day first: https://tantek.com/2018/364/t1
* … in time order: https://tantek.com/2018/364/t5
* Make and share lists. People like lists
* Post to learn in public, and pass on what you learn
How to Post
* Use a local text editor
* Capture first, edit & publish later: https://tantek.com/2023/365/t1/
* Do something positive (in-person), then post about it: https://tantek.com/2018/002/t1
* Single topic post
* Short and to the point. Edit and remove anything distracting from the main point.
* Quotable post title
* Summary opening paragraph
* Put tangents aside
* Quotable sentences and multi-sentence paragraphs
* Subheadings help cluster related paragraphs
* Use a footer for updates, terminology, previous posts, additional reading, and citations.
* Move definitions, citations, etc. to the footer unless including them inline either provides little risk of distraction or significantly helps reading flow
* Use footer sections: Previously, Post Glossary, References, Additional Reading
* Check your references
Each of these points could be its own blog post. There are many more whys, whats, and hows. This is a start.
* https://indieweb.org/why_post
* https://indieweb.org/what_to_post
* https://indieweb.org/how_to_post
Add your own to each, and help organize them.
Glossary
mailing list
https://indieweb.org/mailing_list
own your data
https://indieweb.org/own_your_data
post footer
https://indieweb.org/posts#Footer_sections
silo
https://indieweb.org/silo
social media
https://indieweb.org/social_media
References
¹ https://tantek.com/2023/001/t1/own-your-notes
² https://indieweb.org/POSSE
This is post 29 of #100PostsOfIndieWeb. #100Posts
← https://tantek.com/2024/306/t1/simple-embeds
→ 🔮
If you have a blog and ever feel stuck about why you should post, what to post next, or how to write your post, hopefully this post will help you get unstuck, and publish your post.
Why Post
There is a whole wiki page on the topic:
* https://indieweb.org/why_post — which could use some gardening
Here are a few reasons why to post:
* Wean yourself off social media. Post to your own site instead of social media. If you already post on social media, into someone else’s garage¹, then you already have reason enough to post. So post on your own site first, and optionally syndicate² to that silo, only if you have friends who still use it to read posts.
* Search everything you write. Do you post long comments or issues on GitHub? Do you post on public mailing lists? Post such things to your own site, so you can more easily search everything you’ve written on a topic. Then post a copy to those external destinations.
* All the reasons to own your data: https://indieweb.org/own_your_data
What to Post
* Post positive things promptly: https://tantek.com/2018/357/t3
* … from that day first: https://tantek.com/2018/364/t1
* … in time order: https://tantek.com/2018/364/t5
* Make and share lists. People like lists
* Post to learn in public, and pass on what you learn
How to Post
* Use a local text editor
* Capture first, edit & publish later: https://tantek.com/2023/365/t1/
* Do something positive (in-person), then post about it: https://tantek.com/2018/002/t1
* Single topic post
* Short and to the point. Edit and remove anything distracting from the main point.
* Quotable post title
* Summary opening paragraph
* Put tangents aside
* Quotable sentences and multi-sentence paragraphs
* Subheadings help cluster related paragraphs
* Use a footer for updates, terminology, previous posts, additional reading, and citations.
* Move definitions, citations, etc. to the footer unless including them inline either provides little risk of distraction or significantly helps reading flow
* Use footer sections: Previously, Post Glossary, References, Additional Reading
* Check your references
Each of these points could be its own blog post. There are many more whys, whats, and hows. This is a start.
* https://indieweb.org/why_post
* https://indieweb.org/what_to_post
* https://indieweb.org/how_to_post
Add your own to each, and help organize them.
Glossary
mailing list
https://indieweb.org/mailing_list
own your data
https://indieweb.org/own_your_data
post footer
https://indieweb.org/posts#Footer_sections
silo
https://indieweb.org/silo
social media
https://indieweb.org/social_media
References
¹ https://tantek.com/2023/001/t1/own-your-notes
² https://indieweb.org/POSSE
This is post 29 of #100PostsOfIndieWeb. #100Posts
← https://tantek.com/2024/306/t1/simple-embeds
→ 🔮
Just installed my first Lutron Caseta switch. Going to slowly convert all these switches over in the next few weeks. I do like how the switch is silent, no sound of a relay snapping.
~3 weeks ago I posted some thoughts¹ about the US #election. Upon more reflection, more thoughts and some updates.
~50 days until many #changes that will harm many, disrupt many more. Some changes and impacts will be immediate, some in days to weeks, mostly predictable, and some in months or longer, less predictable the further out.
It will be a lot like 8 years ago, except accelerated in time and severity, more well planned and executed, and quickly becoming hard to predict.
How to prepare for a mix of seemingly unpreventable disruptions and unpredictability?
resilience, redundancies, redirects, and resistance.
The next 50 days are the calm before a four year storm, if not longer. Perhaps there will be a respite in two years (midterms), perhaps even worth pursuing, yet not something to depend on.
For now, the following come to mind as immediately useful, actionable, and necessary, as a ways to act that are sustainable, and build upon each other:
1. make changes slowly, gradually, incrementally
2. take extra care of yourself, physical health, mental health
3. strengthen connections that matter, close friends, family, neighbors, not social media
One goal of these is to build stronger personal foundations from which to take larger actions.
Lastly, it is easy to get discouraged after disappointing outcomes. Easy to feel powerless. There are things we can all do, individually or collectively, perhaps locally, and there are many things that are difficult or impossible. It’s a spectrum of difficulty, not a dichotomy.
Better to focus on approachable actions and goals rather than seeking perfection, the enemy of the good.²
Surround yourself with those that encourage and celebrate your actions and successes, and spend less time with those who speak fatalism (all outcomes are inevitable), defeatism (all actions are ineffective), or nihilism (nothing matters).
Small successes build momentum and upon each other into larger successes.
More to follow.
¹ https://tantek.com/2024/313/t1/reflecting-listening-thoughts
² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good
~50 days until many #changes that will harm many, disrupt many more. Some changes and impacts will be immediate, some in days to weeks, mostly predictable, and some in months or longer, less predictable the further out.
It will be a lot like 8 years ago, except accelerated in time and severity, more well planned and executed, and quickly becoming hard to predict.
How to prepare for a mix of seemingly unpreventable disruptions and unpredictability?
resilience, redundancies, redirects, and resistance.
The next 50 days are the calm before a four year storm, if not longer. Perhaps there will be a respite in two years (midterms), perhaps even worth pursuing, yet not something to depend on.
For now, the following come to mind as immediately useful, actionable, and necessary, as a ways to act that are sustainable, and build upon each other:
1. make changes slowly, gradually, incrementally
2. take extra care of yourself, physical health, mental health
3. strengthen connections that matter, close friends, family, neighbors, not social media
One goal of these is to build stronger personal foundations from which to take larger actions.
Lastly, it is easy to get discouraged after disappointing outcomes. Easy to feel powerless. There are things we can all do, individually or collectively, perhaps locally, and there are many things that are difficult or impossible. It’s a spectrum of difficulty, not a dichotomy.
Better to focus on approachable actions and goals rather than seeking perfection, the enemy of the good.²
Surround yourself with those that encourage and celebrate your actions and successes, and spend less time with those who speak fatalism (all outcomes are inevitable), defeatism (all actions are ineffective), or nihilism (nothing matters).
Small successes build momentum and upon each other into larger successes.
More to follow.
¹ https://tantek.com/2024/313/t1/reflecting-listening-thoughts
² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_is_the_enemy_of_good
During yesterday’s IndieWeb Create Day, I got inspired by Reilly’s progress adding tags to his posts. I finally set up my Tags page and linked up the tags at the bottom of each post.
I couldn’t resist adding a bit of random HTML tag fun at the top of that page, too. Let me know your favorite HTML tag and I might add it to the rotation.
I still highly recommend the Pilot Institute Part 107 course if you've been thinking about getting a drone pilot license! There's a good black friday deal on right now too! https://pilotinstitute.com/course/part-107-remote-pilot/?affcode=245841_o4stdmp5
ran the Spartan Turkey Trot #5k #race in 44:34 @SpartanTurkey5k!
2min/mi+ faster average pace than 2023’s #turkeyTrot walk / slow jog of 47:37 on a shortened course (2.86mi).
Arrived early for a warm-up and it was the coldest it’s been in years (30-something F).
Alternated run/walk sessions for ~20min then jogged back to the track start area where they had moved the start since last year. Used the bathroom, and kept warming up with back/forth strides then high knees while waiting with the fam in wave 3.
Ran out at a moderate pace dodging walkers and strollers. Once we were on the street the cold air really hit my lungs. Listened to music nearly the whole time. Mile 2 was my slowest but still kept it under 15min/mi (my goal pace). Ran much more than walked in the last mile, and had enough left in the tank to push a little harder the last quarter mile to the finish where I hit my highest heartrate of the race.
Pretty happy with a sub-45 in sub-40F temperatures, and a solid improvement after last year’s walk/jog which itself was only ~3 months after recovering from a cardio-destroying illness.
Considering what to race next, thinking a trail race in December.
See also: https://www.spartanturkeytrot.com/
#turkeyTrot2024
Previously:
* https://tantek.com/2022/329/t1/spartan-turkey-trot-5k
2min/mi+ faster average pace than 2023’s #turkeyTrot walk / slow jog of 47:37 on a shortened course (2.86mi).
Arrived early for a warm-up and it was the coldest it’s been in years (30-something F).
Alternated run/walk sessions for ~20min then jogged back to the track start area where they had moved the start since last year. Used the bathroom, and kept warming up with back/forth strides then high knees while waiting with the fam in wave 3.
Ran out at a moderate pace dodging walkers and strollers. Once we were on the street the cold air really hit my lungs. Listened to music nearly the whole time. Mile 2 was my slowest but still kept it under 15min/mi (my goal pace). Ran much more than walked in the last mile, and had enough left in the tank to push a little harder the last quarter mile to the finish where I hit my highest heartrate of the race.
Pretty happy with a sub-45 in sub-40F temperatures, and a solid improvement after last year’s walk/jog which itself was only ~3 months after recovering from a cardio-destroying illness.
Considering what to race next, thinking a trail race in December.
See also: https://www.spartanturkeytrot.com/
#turkeyTrot2024
Previously:
* https://tantek.com/2022/329/t1/spartan-turkey-trot-5k
I've been digitizing old family VHS and 8mm tapes, and it's kind of incredible to think about how I can have a giant pile of tapes reduced to a single SD card. But also it's fun to find things like me playing piano at Nordstrom during the holidays.
