ldstephens weblog

Social Media

2024-07-24T00:00:00Z

July 24, 2024

Hey friends, let's talk social media. It's been around forever, and you know what? I gotta confess, I've never been a huge fan. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat – I’ve never had an account on any of them.

The closest I came was Twitter. Used to have it on and off, mainly to keep up with current events. But after that whole thing with the shitposter buying XTwitter I said fuck this and deleted my account for good.

For a while now, I've been on Mastodon. It's a different platform, but honestly? Here's the thing: everyone I follow there also has a blog with an RSS feed that follow. And guess what? The stuff I see on Mastodon is the same stuff I’ve already seen in those feeds. There's some occasional back-and-forth but for conversations I much prefer email. You can always reach me through my blog if you ever want to chat.

Anyway, after a lot of thinking, I've decided to ditch Mastodon too. Social media, just ain't my thing. I'll still be here on the blog, creating and sharing my thoughts. Just minus the social media.

Advice on Blogging

2024-07-27T00:00:00Z

July 27, 2024

Jim Nielsen

What my blog is now is a result of me wrestling with what it even means to blog. What I love about “blogging” is how personal it is. Even the word, “blog”, doesn’t give you any classifying genre of what content or experience you’ll get from any one individual’s blog.

Blogging is all about personal expression. The best part? You never know what you'll get from someone's blog, making each one a unique discovery.

RSS Versus Bookmarks

2024-08-03T00:00:00Z

August 03, 2024

Coincidentally I read two blog posts about RSS within days of each other this week. Chris is emphasizing the benefits of RSS and encouraging folks to start using it while Jason has decided to stop using it. So I thought I would chime in.

Chris

Request for iPhone RSS help

I actually prefer if you read my blog over RSS than the web, for two reasons. Firstly, you have more chance of seeing my future posts that way, rather than remembering to visit the website again. But secondly, and more importantly, I think you will have an improved digital life if you incorporate RSS into your daily habits.

Jason

No Need For Feeds

I decided to try something old-school, relatively “low-tech” and “slow-tech.” I deleted my RSS Reader app (NetNewsWire) from all my devices. And I have no web bookmarks to Feedly. But how would I keep up with the latest? What about the cool sites I follow? Answer: surf the web!

Now I simply rely on my browser’s bookmarks. I made a folder called, “RSS Replacement” and saved all the sites that I like to visit for new articles. So I more intentionally go to my bookmark folder and click those I want to visit when I think to do so. I no longer feel pulled to frequently check an app — pull to refresh.

I appreciate Jason's reasoning for deciding to stop using RSS but I side with Chris on this. I have been using RSS for as long as I can remember. Here's why: using RSS centralizes my favorite blogs and news sites, all in one place. I get real-time updates and I never miss a post from my favorite bloggers. Without RSS there is little chance that I would have ever seen the blog post above written by Chris and Jason.

Blogging Challenges - Are They Really Worth It?

2024-08-13T00:00:00Z

August 13, 2024

As an indie blogger, our unique voice is our biggest asset. Blogging challenges, especially those requiring daily posts, often lead to low-quality content.

I prefer reading spontaneous posts that are authentic, not those written solely to meet a daily challenge goal. As a reader, I can easily tell the difference.

Write when you have something genuine to share, rather than forcing content to meet a challenge deadline. Just my opinion!

Blogging - Eliminating Distractions

2024-08-17T00:00:00Z

August 17, 2024

This is Lionel "Ploum" Dricot writing about his blog on People and Blogswith Manu Moreale:

My blog is exactly where I want it to be. If I had to start again, I would simply do it like I did in 2022. I was quick to remove any form of comments from my blog and, later, any kind of statistics. As far as I know, I’m one of the few strong advocates for the complete removal of statistics/analytic/tracking tools. It’s not ethical to spy on users but it is also completely counterproductive. Statistics on websites are a brainworm. People are obsessed by it and it makes them write dumb stuff in order to increase a dumb counter. Getting rid of any audience-measuring tool is one of the best things I did in 2013.

[…]

I’ve completely deleted all my social network accounts and never felt so free. Ironically, the less I was using social networks, the more readers I had on my blog. Social networks don’t bring you an audience. This is a lie! Social networks distract you from your real work and prevent your audience from reaching you. That’s their whole business! I know how frightening it is to delete permanently an account with thousands of followers. But this number is also a lie.

This quote has prompted me to rethink my approach to this blog. While I’ve always valued the freedom to write what I want, the reminder to eliminate distractions like analytics and social media has hit home.

I've turned off analytics to focus more on the writing. I've also eliminated social media letting my blog stand on its own merits. This feels like a step toward a better connection with my work and readers.

15 blogging rules

2024-09-03T00:00:00Z

September 3, 2024

Give up on trying to be popular. I try not to filter myself based on what I believe will be popular. Some of my favourite posts get ignored. Some posts get popular and I have no idea why. Besides, terrible posts get buried fast if I’m posting three times a week. So post with abandon.

Give up on trying to be interesting. Readers will come to my site for what’s interesting to me, or not, it’s fine, just say what I think about whatever I’m thinking about.

Matt Webb

Who am I responsible to here?

2024-09-03T00:00:00Z

September 3, 2024

"Whenever I change blogging platforms or domain names or simply post to several places, I feel a twinge of guilt. How will my “audience” feel about the changes? Does it confuse things?[…] I don’t get a lot of traffic, but it’s also not zero traffic, so I feel some responsibility. But why? I am not writing for money or influence or popularity. I write to better understand what I’m thinking about, and sometimes share the result. I write so that I have a record of those things. I write, almost entirely, for me.[…] In that light, I shouldn’t need to worry about whether my RSS feed is consistent or if people need to follow me in too many places. I don’t want to be a dick about it, but c’mon, it’s an unimportant personal blog by some nobody on the internet. Let’s not overthink it."

Jack Baty

Write Like You Talk

2024-09-03T00:00:00Z

September 3, 2024

"Here's a simple trick for getting more people to read what you write: write in spoken language.[…] It seems to be hard for most people to write in spoken language. So perhaps the best solution is to write your first draft the way you usually would, then afterward look at each sentence and ask "Is this the way I'd say this if I were talking to a friend?" If it isn't, imagine what you would say, and use that instead. After a while this filter will start to operate as you write. When you write something you wouldn't say, you'll hear the clank as it hits the page.[…] just don't let a sentence through unless it's the way you'd say it to a friend."

Paul Graham

Re - On personal websites and social web

2024-09-23T00:00:00Z

September 23, 2024

In this blog post, Manu reflects on the divide between two groups regarding the future of being social on the web.

And in those posts, I’m starting to see a trend of some sort. People are apparently starting to split into two camps that follow two very different ideological approaches when it comes to being social on the web. And when I say “people” I mean tech people, those who care about this type of stuff.

On the other you have the people who are realising that maybe the solution is not to recreate social media but rather to abandon it and go back to a more deliberate way to be social online, using personal sites, small forums, emails, and other “traditional” tools. I’m obviously part of this second group.

[…]

Having said that I’m hopeful. I do think people are slowly starting to realise that you can get immense human value from the web outside of traditional social media. You have to work for it but it’s absolutely worth it.

I side with Manu on this. Social Media is shit (my opinion). I’ve mentioned many times in the past that I’ve never had an account with any social media platforms that most people participate in, except for Twitter and Mastodon, both of which I’ve stopped using.

Instead, I’ve discovered indie blogging and indie blogs. I have over 100 in my RSS feed, and I add a few new ones every week. I find that indie blogging provides a better, more authentic experience than social media by offering thoughtful content without the distractions of ads and algorithms. Instead of chasing likes or viral trends, indie bloggers write with passion, giving readers deeper insights and unique perspectives.

Additionally, blogs create a more meaningful community where discussions feel genuine and less fleeting compared to social media’s fast-paced, superficial interactions. Bloggers also have full control over their content, free from the ever-changing algorithms that often limit visibility on social platforms.

Re - How I find interesting blogs

2024-09-30T00:00:00Z

September 30, 2024

I like this conversation so I thought I would chime in: it revolves around how different bloggers discover new blogs. Barry Hess mentions submitting his blog to various directories but notes limited traffic from them. JRNresponds, saying they prefer discovering blogs through bloggers linking to or responding to each other, social platforms like Mastodon, and blog exploration features on platforms like Micro.blog. And Chris at “uncountable thoughts” echoes JRN’s sentiment, emphasizing that blog directories aren’t heavily used for discovery; instead, contextual cross-linking between blogs is a more effective method.

I’m relatively new to the indie blogging, so I’m always on the lookout for new blogs to follow. What works best for me is when I come across a blog that references another one I almost always click through, check out the “About” page, and skim the article archives to see if their content interests me. If it does, I’ll add their blog to my RSS feed.

For instance, if you’ve stumbled upon this blog post, you have the chance to discover three new blogs, in addition to mine!

On Don't Make a Blog, Make a Brain Dump

2025-02-02T00:00:00Z

February 2, 2025

Bradley Taunt, btxx.org:

Another problem arises when you finally do convince someone to start “blogging” online; self-doubt.

“What could I possibly have to share?”

“What if everyone hates what I post?”

“What if my content sucks?”

Just dump it. Who cares. It’s the internet after all, so who are you trying to impress? The point is that your sharing your own experiences that are unique to you as an individual. Posting something that you think is pointless or mundane might be extremely helpful or, at the very least, entertaining for someone else.

Write up what you did over the weekend, a new recipe you tried out, review a movie/book or video game you enjoyed, list step-by-step instructions on how you installed a new appliance in your house - anything! Just write and be part of what made the internet fun, exciting and personal again.

“Unplatform” a guidebook for escaping social media

2025-02-02T00:00:00Z

February 2, 2025

Unplatform

Unplatform is an interactive guidebook, online library, and recommendations database intended to help you escape social media and join the indie web.

I’m not on social media, but I’m a big fan of having your own space on the indie web. If you’re thinking about quitting social media, this guidebook is definitely worth checking out.

How I use AI for writing and coding

2025-02-06T00:00:00Z

February 6, 2025

I’ve been using AI in two ways: for help with my writing and for figuring out how to do things.

My writing skills aren’t that great. I know what I want to say and how I want to say it, but I struggle to put it into words. So, I use AI to proofread and improve the structure of what I’ve written.

The other way AI helps me is with writing HTML and CSS for my static blog projects. I use it to explain things in HTML or CSS and to offer the code. For example, yesterday, I had a couple of posts where I kept getting an error in my HTML, and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. So, I copied the code and put it into Claude. It rewrote the code and explained what it fixed. I guess you could call that debugging my code.

AI has become a valuable tool for me. Whether it’s helping me improve my writing or troubleshooting code, it saves me time and makes things easier.

Re - No, The People Didn’t Vote For This

2025-02-10T00:00:00Z

February 10, 2025

Democrats, obviously, aren’t thrilled, but the more meaningful data is that Republicans don’t like what Elon Musk is doing at all.[…] Voters who supported Trump based on economic promises are instead seeing federal support for their local hospitals vanish, government contracts that supported thousands of local jobs disappear, and consumer prices continue to rise. The very voters who wanted economic stability are getting the opposite: economic chaos driven by an unelected billionaire’s personal agenda.

Mike Masnick

Well! Well! Well! Lied to!

Quoting Tracy Durnell

2025-02-20T17:23:08Z

February 20, 2025

Employ private posts — I don’t have to publish everything I write

Tracy Durnell

Kindle Paperwhite’s annoying flashes

2025-02-20T22:11:49Z

February 20, 2025

Dave Rogers

I have a 10th generation Kindle Paperwhite. I've read from it a fair amount, particularly when I was away, because it's so light. But I generally don't care for the experience. It's very slow, and whenever I turn a page I get this annoying flash as the screen goes through this inversion process from whatever mode I'm in until it settles on either the Dark or Light Mode, which I selected. That is, if I'm in Light Mode, the page will first appear in Dark Mode, then switch to Light Mode. If I'm in Dark Mode and turn the page, the page first appears in Light Mode, then switches to dark. Very annoying.

I also have a Paperwhite that I use for reading, and while I appreciate its lightweight, I’m not a huge fan of the overall experience either. I continue to use it because it’s so lightweight. I have an iPad, but it’s simply too heavy for comfortable reading.

Right now, I’m actually reading a physical book for the first time in a very long time, and I’m enjoying the experience.

Platforms own you, not vice versa

2025-02-26T00:00:00Z

February 26, 2025

Hannah Ziegler, The Washington Post

Online education company Chegg sues Google, says AI is killing business A new lawsuit against Google alleges that the search giant’s artificial intelligence summaries have hurt online education company Chegg’s traffic and revenue so much that the company may not survive in its current form.

Chegg, which provides students with homework help and test answers, filed the suit against Google and parent company Alphabet this week in federal court. In its quarterly report released Monday, the company tied its recent financial struggles to AI-generated search summaries and claimed Google has “unjustly retained traffic” that once flowed to Chegg’s site. Chegg reported $144 million in revenue in its fourth quarter, a 24 percent decrease from the same period last year.

Chegg's pissed because Google isn't sending them traffic any more. Welcome to the club. If your business relies on another company's platform, you're a tenant with no lease. Chegg's lawsuit? Probably a long shot. The lesson? The landlord can do whatever the hell they want and a public company like Chegg should know better than to rely on someone else’s platform.

Why write when no one’s reading?

2025-03-02T15:06:59Z

March 2, 2025

Writing without an audience might feel pointless. It isn’t just about being read; it’s about thinking more clearly. Putting thoughts into words forces us to process them in a way passive consumption doesn't.

But most of all, write because your voice matters even if only to you. And if just one person finds what you write useful, then that makes it even more worthwhile. I think about the things I’ve read that have stuck with me, and I hope my words can do the same for someone else.

Quoting Zsolt Benke

2025-03-07T10:03:21Z

March 7, 2025

getting recognized as a blogger these days is rarely going to work. People are increasingly consuming different types of content these days, and this is largely due to the way AI is changing the way we interact with the web.

That said, having a blog for thinking out loud is still the best way to learn and then “report” it, even if we’re the only ones reading it.

Zsolt Benke

Quoting Barry Hess

2025-03-16T11:31:32Z

March 16, 2025

Blogging is a conversation. It’s a conversation with yourself and it’s a conversation with others.[…] You don’t have to be an essayist. (Though you can be one if you want!) Don’t let those essayists discourage you from blogging. Just write. Just blog.

Barry Hess

This makes my fucking blood boil!

2025-03-22T10:15:28Z

March 22, 2025

Emily Peck, writing for Axios: Seniors won't complain if they miss a Social Security check, Lutnick says

Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick suggested this week that only "fraudsters" would complain about missing a monthly Social Security check, and that most people wouldn't mind if the government simply skipped a payment.[…] More than 70 million Americans get a Social Security benefit every month, and for many, those checks are their only income.[…] "Let's say Social Security didn't send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who's 94, she wouldn't call and complain," Lutnick — a billionaire former Wall Street CEO — told the billionaire "All In" podcast host Chamath Palihapitiya.

This kind of shit just makes my fucking blood boil. As many of you know you know I’m 80 years old. I depend on my monthly Social Security check to live. Would I miss a check? Hell yes! So would millions of other seniors Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and those who don’t give a shit about politics. For some, it’s their only source of income.

It’s not like we’re getting a freebie here. We all paid into Social Security and Medicare our entire working lives. I started working when I was 15 years old and was never without a job until I retired. So I paid my fucking dues and so did all other seniors.

Oh, but sure, let's just skip a payment, what could possibly go wrong? Maybe Lutnick thinks we can all just hop on our yachts and ride out the month, or maybe we should start selling off our prescription meds to make rent. The sheer arrogance of a billionaire pretending he knows what it's like to rely on Social Security is bullshit. News flash: We're not asking for a favor. We're demanding what we earned.

Maybe you can tell I’m pissed. Don’t fuck with our Social Security and Medicare!

Quoting Jack Baty

2025-04-16T11:30:36Z

April 16, 2025

Jack Baty

I need to find a way for my brain to relax. I spend entire days with a dozen apps open, each with a dozen tabs open. I click rapidly between them looking for something to focus on. I never find anything.

Jack Baty

I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t care much what you think. OK, that’s not exactly true, I care deeply what you think. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that I don’t worry about what you think. Are you mad that I keep switching platforms? Sorry, not sorry. Are you annoyed that I use words like “just” and “maybe” and “really” too often? Yeah, me too. We’ll get over it. Does it bother you that I don’t do enough throat-clearing before mentioning something that has become problematic? You’ll be fine. Would you prefer that I only write about Emacs? Not happening.

There, I feel a little better now, because when I got up this morning I wanted to apologize for being alive and just (see, there’s that word again) shut everything down. I don’t think I’ll do that, though, because regardless of what you think…I think…and it needs to come out somehow.

I get a kick out of Jack.

Quoting Juha-Matti Santala

2025-04-17T15:39:20Z

April 17, 2025

I guess for us techies especially, the desire to tinker with the site comes from having a deeper interest in writing code than writing prose.[…] I also love tinkering with my website to learn new things and to make the site and its tooling even better suited for my own needs.[…] I can write my blog posts on my iPad when I’m in the library or local pub and at that time, there’s no way for me to tinker with the tools or the website itself.

Juha-Matti Santala

Cleaning up my 11ty project repository

2025-04-18T12:25:18Z

April 18, 2025

Hey friends, I want to share a lesson I learned today about properly managing my 11ty site repository.

For a while now, I've been noticing something strange whenever I committed changes to GitHub. When I'd make edits with my development server running (npm start), my commits would include a bunch of extra files I didn't actually change. Turns out, I was accidentally committing all my build files along with my source code!

Here's what was happening:

When running npm start, 11ty generates build files in directories like _site or dist
Without a proper .gitignore file, Git was tracking ALL these generated files
Every time I committed changes, I was pushing both my source code AND these temporary build files

This wasn't just cluttering my repository, it was also confusing when looking at commit histories and potentially causing conflicts.

The fix was surprisingly simple:

Created a .gitignore file in my project root
Added entry for build directory
Ran git rm -r --cached . to clear Git's tracking cache
Re-added my files with git add . (which now respects the .gitignore)
Committed the cleaned-up repository

Since my site deploys to Netlify directly from GitHub, I don't need those build files in my repository anyway. Netlify handles the building process on their servers.

Now my repository is clean, my commits only show the files I've actually changed, and the deployment process works exactly the same.

Text editors

2025-04-19T17:28:40Z

April 19, 2025

I’m tinkering with editors to write blog posts that integrate with my 11ty site. Posts need front matter and must be in Markdown, so the editor has to load my 11ty project and let me drop new posts into the right folder. It also needs to play nice with GitHub Desktop. Since I’m not coding anymore,just writing Markdown, I don’t need anything fancy.

Right now, I’ve only got two editors installed that do the job: BBEdit and VS Code. I’ve tried writing Markdown in VS Code, but honestly, it’s a shitty experience. I also gave Sublime Text a shot, but it takes too much setup and learning, and it’s $99. Not worth it for me. So for now, I’m sticking with BBEdit.

My on going 11ty learning curve

2025-04-20T11:34:02Z

April 20, 2025

Hey friends, I’m still learning how to use 11ty, and every now and then something clicks.

I've come to the realization that I don't need to write blog posts in a code editor like VS Code. If I'm just writing a post, a regular text editor does the job just fine.

All I need to do is drop the Markdown file into the posts folder of my local 11ty project. That folder is part of my local Git repository. Once the file's there, GitHub Desktop picks up the change. From there, I can commit and push it, and Netlify takes care of the rest building and publishing the updated to my site.

The only time I need a code editor is when I want to make a change to the site itself, like tweaking the layout, updating styles, or editing config files.

11ty blog post workflow

2025-04-21T08:48:43Z

April 21, 2025

After realizing that I don’t need a code editor to process a new blog post in 11ty I have a new workflow:

Write the post in Markdown with front matter using Drafts.
Save as file to the Desktop, naming it with the post slug.
Drag the file into the appropriate Dropzone folder that moves it into the correct location in the local 11ty project.
Use GitHub Desktop to commit and push the changes.

The future of the iPad

2025-04-21T17:42:15Z

April 21, 2025

Some quick thoughts on the future of the iPad. Since the iPad launched in 2010, it's been the go-to device for kids. It's safe, simple, great for games, learning, and videos. These iPad kids have grown up with it as their first computer.

It's estimated that a significant portion of iPad users are kids and families. Around 80% of U.S. households with children own tablets, including iPads. This high rate of ownership shows that tablets are popular among families with kids under 18.

So what happens when those iPad kids become adults? The oldest are maybe 15 now. We don't know what they'll choose as adults. Maybe they'll stick with the iPad because it's the computer they know. For them, simplicity isn't a drawback, it's how computers work. That's the open question that will shape the future of the iPad.

I don't think the future of the iPad will be determined by those who started on the Mac, went iPad, and are now going back to the Mac after hitting iPadOS limitations and want Mac like features. I think the iPads future will be determined by those kids who have grown up using an iPad.

New desk chair

2025-04-26T11:38:15Z

April 26, 2025

My old chair was plastic, and the left support piece that connects the back to the seat broke. I lived with it for a couple of months because I was too lazy to look for a new one.

On Friday, I finally decided to get off my ass and get a replacement. I knew what I wanted and asked ChatGPT for recommendations. One of the suggestions was the Kroy Ergonomic Mesh Swivel Task Chair, Black (UN59456) from Staples. My local store had it in stock, so I hopped in my truck and picked it up.

The new chair offers an extra two inches of height compared to my old one. Now my hands sit slightly above the keyboard instead of below it. It's way more comfortable and much better for typing. It’s a fantastic improvement!

Link Post - You should blog

2025-04-26T15:28:18Z

April 26, 2025

Some advice if you’re starting a blog for the first time (or it’s been awhile):

Share your thoughts on whatever. You’re a blogger, not an opinion columnist in the washington post.

Change your mind! Write about why you changed your mind!

Write however you want. Run-on sentences. Weird grammar. Write in limericks, sonnets, or haikus – defy the grammar cops.

Keith Kurson

Link post - An investment in your health…

2025-04-28T15:28:34Z

April 28, 2025

Patrick Rhone

But your body, once it’s done, it’s done.

So, it’s even more important to use and maintain it as well as you can, for as long as you can. Because it’s irreplaceable.

So, put the best fuel (food) in it you can. Make sure that fuel is clean and high-quality (organic, sustainable, balanced, chemical free, ingredients you can trust, etc.). Keep your regularly scheduled maintenance visits (doctors, dentist, etc.). Run it regularly at both cruising and highway speeds (regular walking and exercise). Give it regular washings and keep it looking good (clean cars run better and last longer, so do bodies). These things may cost you more, but that’s because they are better and better for you.

Excellent advice!

Automating 11ty backups with a shell script and Keyboard Maestro

2025-05-17T11:55:04Z

May 17, 2025

I've always done Time Machine backups every Friday, which is fine for most things. But when it comes to the 11ty project for this blog, I wanted something more frequent. I make changes throughout the week, and if I break something, I want to be able to restore from a recent backup. So, I decided to automate it.

The goal was to back up my entire 11ty project, including the public folder that's ignored by GitHub. To do this, I created a simple script to zip up the entire project and store it securely on an external drive. Here's the script:

mkdir -p ~/Documents/ProjectBackups/
cd /Users/lorenstephens/Documents/GitHub/
zip -r ldstephensnet-$(date +"%Y-%m-%d-%I-%M%p").zip ldstephensnet
mv ldstephensnet-*.zip "/Volumes/Nemo/ProjectBackups/"

This creates a backup folder if it doesn't exist, switches to my 11ty project directory, zips the entire project (including ignored files), names the zip with the date and time for easy reference, and moves it to an external drive.

To make it even easier, I added the script to Keyboard Maestro. Now, with a simple keyboard shortcut, the backup runs automatically. No more worries about missing files or skipped commits.

This script saves me from manual backups, and I know everything is safely stored. If I break something, I can always go back to the previous version.

Search

2025-05-31T14:39:59Z

May 31, 2025

Hey friends, when I'm looking for an answer or doing research, I rarely use Google anymore. I've been using ChatGPT instead. Depending on what I'm after, it can take forever to dig through Google results to find what I need. ChatGPT just gets to the point. ChatGPT also learns about me. It knows I use Netlify, so when I ask a question about it, I don't have to explain much, it just knows.

And yes, there are privacy concerns. But let's be honest, Google has been collecting our data for years. I do what I can to protect my privacy, but it's already out there.

I get that some folks are wary of AI, but it's not going anywhere. We might as well lean into it.

Link Post: RFK Jr.’s CDC Panel Ditches Some Flu Shots Based on Anti-Vaccine Junk Data

2025-06-28T11:46:03Z

June 28, 2025

John Gruber

Having an ignorant conspiracy nut lead the Department of Health and Human Services is angering and worrisome, to say the least. But it’s also incredibly frustrating, because Donald Trump himself isn’t an anti-vaxxer. In fact, one of the few great achievements of the first Trump Administration was Operation Warp Speed, a highly successful effort spearheaded by the US federal government to “facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.” […] But instead, while plotting his return to office, Trump smelled opportunity with the anti-vax contingent of the out-and-proud Stupid-Americans, and now here we are, with a genuine know-nothing lunatic like RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. God help us if another pandemic hits in the next few years.

This has me worried. Will I even be able to get my flu and COVID shots this fall? I’m a senior. Seniors' get the high-dose version for extra protection. But sure, let’s gamble with seniors’ lives. What could go wrong? With this fucking whack job running Health and Human Services, America’s about to get a whole lot sicker.

Run-Walk-Run

2025-06-30T09:43:08Z

June 30, 2025

Since I've started adding some running sections to my morning walks with Trix (our dog), I decided to start recording them in Strava yesterday. I've had a Strava account for years, from back in my bike racing days, so it was easy to pick it back up.

I'm not planning to do anything serious with the running, but hey, at 80, I might actually place pretty well in some 5K events.

I think I'd be more into 5K trail runs than road races, though. For now, it's more about staying fit and healthy, but who knows?

Link post: I don’t want your email

2025-07-07T16:18:48Z

July 7, 2025

I don’t know who reads this. I don’t know how they find it. I don’t know if they’ll ever come back. I don’t know a damned thing. And that’s by design. I value my privacy and by extension, I value others’. That’s exactly why I don’t have newsletters. The last thing I want is someone’s email.

[…]

This blog is a place to get things out of my head. I write for myself. Putting it on display provides just enough social pressure to give it that much more care. But it’d be fine if it was read by no one. I won’t lie–that wasn’t always the case. It took me a lot of years to grind that desire out of me.

[…]

Many folks got caught in the trap that they just might be able to make a living by making content. And just like every other road to fame, 99.9% of them didn’t.

[…]

I’ll never grow a following or make a dime from this blog. That’s just fine. It keeps things clean and easy. I have a simple site that I pay nothing to host. I have no aspirations beyond what this currently is. I write the things I want to write. People may read it. If they do, awesome. If they don’t, whatever. It’s freeing.

[…]

But who cares about how I feel. More importantly, this approach respects readers. They’re not tracked. They’re not bothered with ads. There are no stupid GDPR labyrinths. None of their personal information is stored. They come, they read, they leave. That’s it.

PJ Onori

I always find it enjoyable to read others' perspectives on blogs and blogging.

Anti-Vaxx Stupidity: U.S. measles cases hit highest level in 33 years

2025-07-11T16:57:59Z

July 11, 2025

Well, this is just fucking GREAT. Measles is making a comeback. The U.S. is having its biggest outbreak in 33 years, with more than a thousand cases and counting, mostly because too many people decided vaccines are optional. “The measles milestone comes the same week that some of the nation's leading medical associations sued Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., charging him with what they characterize as an effort to undermine trust in vaccines among the American public.”

Texas is leading the charge, and summer travel is helping measles spread across the country.

Why Am I Still Listening?

2025-07-19T09:38:46Z

July 19, 2025

There's a tech podcast that I listen to (not naming names) with three hosts. One of them is a smug, know-it-all asshole who makes the show almost unbearable at times. So why do I keep listening? Well, because the other two are great, and I often learn something.

I've deleted the podcast from my feed more than once, and I'll probably do it again. Today's episode, during my walk, pushed me right back to that point.

Fiddling with my blogs today

2025-07-21T19:09:16Z

July 21, 2025

I was fiddling with my blogs today and made a few updates.

On this site, I rebuilt the site using modified version of the 11ty base blog and added a background color. Now both my blogs have the same layout.

Still not sure if I'll link to weblog.ldstephens from ldstephens. There's already a link going the other way in the nav.

On The Weird Web

2025-08-03T10:43:51Z

August 3, 2025

I’m so sick of hyper-specialized, narrowly focused web presence. Give me weird. Give me personal. Talk about more than just “your focus.” I want to hear about music and art and what you’re reading and your hobbies and travels. Show me the real you. Make the web weird again!

Chris Ferdinandi

lstephens has always been pretty narrowly focused on tech and Apple stuff. That's exactly why I started this weblog - as a place where I can freely post about everything else. It’s my weird web, and I don't want to bore my tech followers with personal stories, random thoughts, the occasional rant, or whatever else I'm into that has nothing to do with tech.

There’s no fucking cure for stupid

2025-08-08T13:25:30Z

August 8, 2025

RFK Jr. Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled nearly $500 million of grants and contracts for developing mRNA vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday.

It is the latest blow to research on this technology. In May, the Department of Health and Human Services revoked a nearly $600 million contract to the drugmaker Moderna to develop a vaccine against bird flu.

The new cancellations dismayed scientists, many of whom regard mRNA shots as the best option for protecting Americans in a pandemic.

“This is a bad day for science,” said Scott Hensley, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania who has been working to develop an mRNA vaccine against influenza.

Analytics

2025-08-16T11:03:02Z

August 16, 2025

Analytics numbers can be deceiving. They only capture part of your audience, missing readers who follow your site in RSS without ever visiting directly. That means the traffic you see is just the drive-by visitors. Keep that in mind the next time you judge your site's performance by analytics alone.

Link post: This is your reminder that…

2025-08-21T11:50:43Z

August 21, 2025

Pundits are not Journalists.

Op-ed is not news.

Polls are propaganda.

Anyone can be a “media outlet” or a “Journalist” on the Internet.

Just because you read it does not make it true.

Especially scrutinize things that confirm your theories and views.

Trust but verify.

Patrick Rhone

Quoting Dave Pell

2025-08-21T14:25:43Z

August 21, 2025

Dem Bones: "Few measurements reflect the luster of a political party’s brand more clearly than the choice by voters to identify with it — whether they register on a clipboard in a supermarket parking lot, at the Department of Motor Vehicles or in the comfort of their own home. And fewer and fewer Americans are choosing to be Democrats." The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis.

[…]

Thou Shall Not: "A federal judge in Texas temporarily halted on Wednesday a state law that would have required the Ten Commandments to be visibly displayed in every public school classroom by Sept. 1." Judge Halts Texas Law Mandating the Ten Commandments in School. (Maybe people should spend less time pushing the ten commandments and more time following them.)

Dave Pell

New Look

2025-08-23T10:05:43Z

August 23, 2025

I’ve been tinkering with the site’s design and layout the last couple of days. The new color scheme is my take on Dracula (the theme, not the vampire), and navigation has moved to the footer. I like this version better since it’s mine, unlike the old 11ty-base-blog setup.

August 24, 2025, at 3:20:03 PM

2025-08-24T15:21:18Z

August 24, 2025

Made a few more changes to the site today. Moved the navigation from the footer to the top.

Updated design

2025-10-25T17:11:38Z

October 25, 2025

I updated the design of this site today. It’s simpler, faster, and easier to read.

The new look sticks to a clean black-and-white theme that automatically switches to dark mode if your device prefers it. Links are always underlined for clarity, and system fonts keep everything feeling native and quick.

Just a small refresh — focused on readability and comfort.

Hobbies

2025-11-01T12:46:27Z

November 1, 2025

One of my favorite hobbies is exploring different text editors. They typically fall into two categories: simple and ready-to-use, or deep and endlessly customizable, provided you invest the time.

Editors like iA Writer and MarkEdit are user-friendly and come with most of the essential features built-in. In contrast, Drafts, VS Code, BBEdit, and Sublime Text offer extensive customization options, but require a willingness to learn.

Drafts is my go-to editor because I've used it for years and have customized it to suit my preferences. When I need a more focused writing environment, I use iA Writer. I use VS Code to manage my 11ty sites.

More design updates

2025-11-01T13:13:44Z

November 1, 2025

This morning, I updated the homepage of this site. I've been wanting to add my 10 most recent posts to it, and I finally managed to get it done.

A Practical Path to Universal Healthcare

2025-11-28T11:56:28Z

I’ve been digging into Scott Galloway’s take on healthcare, something he talks about a lot on Pivot and honestly, his phased Medicare expansion idea makes a lot of sense for America. He thinks the path to a national system isn’t some overnight revolution. It’s a slow rollout: cut the Medicare age by two years every two years until it covers everyone.

65 → 63 → 61 → all the way down to zero.

It’s a simple way to move to a real Medicare for All. Hospitals and insurers get time to adjust. People get coverage without waiting for Congress to agree on the perfect plan.

I don’t agree with Scott on everything he says, but this one strikes me as both practical and humane. Healthcare as a right, implemented with a plan.

On the NFL Streaming Fragmentation

2025-12-21T15:14:26Z

December 21, 2025

I’m tired of these leagues sprinkling their games across a million different outlets so I have to have a million different subscriptions to watch them all.

jcarucci

It's not just the NFL; it's true for all sports. I used to watch way more sports than I do now because of this very reason.

Get a local 11ty project on GitHub without the command line

2025-12-23T11:25:27Z

December 23, 2025

I like tinkering with 11ty projects for learning and fun. Most of the time I work on them locally, and sometimes I later decide I want the project on GitHub. As someone who isn’t a developer and isn’t comfortable with the command line, I need a different option.

The usual advice looks something like this:

    git init
    git add .
    git commit -m "Initial commit"
    git branch -M main
    git remote add origin https://github.com/USERNAME/REPO.git
    git push -u origin main

That’s fine if you live in the terminal. I don’t.

Here’s what I did instead using GitHub Desktop:

Created a new repository on GitHub with just a README file.
Opened the repository locally using GitHub Desktop, which created a local copy.
Renamed my original project folder and copied all of its files into the new repository folder.
Committed the changes and pushed them to GitHub.

That’s it. No command line.

Link Post: The Case for Blogging in the Ruins

2026-01-06T14:24:32Z

January 06, 2026

Joan Westenberg

Start a blog. Start one because the practice of writing at length, for an audience you respect, about things that matter to you, is itself valuable. Start one because owning your own platform is a form of independence that becomes more important as centralized platforms become less trustworthy. Start one because the format shapes the thought, and this format is good for thinking.

On - Why People Should Not Ask for Donations or Money to Run Their Own Personal Blog

2026-01-15T17:41:30Z

January 15, 2026

Andre Franca,

Why do you run a blog? Is it to make a living, or is it a hobby? If you write from your small corner of the internet for pleasure, to meet new people, or simply for engagement, then you probably shouldn’t ask for money for it. Here's why:

[…]

First, asking for donations creates an implicit transaction, even when framed as "optional". Readers may feel entitled to certain topics, frequency, or opinions.

Second, financial incentives often (if not always) influence behavior. Writers may unconsciously avoid controversial opinions, difficult topics, or experimental ideas out of fear of alienating supporters. This certainly leads to self-censorship, where authenticity is sacrificed in favor of maintaining income. There are many examples of this among content creators out there.

Third, the barrier to entry for blogging has never been lower. Today, there are countless ways to build an online presence, and running a blog can cost little to nothing. When the costs of running a blog are minimal or nonexistent, requesting money becomes harder to justify, especially for a purely personal website.

[…]

Finally, without financial pressure, writers are free to write irregularly, change direction, or even stop altogether. At least, that is how I feel about this blog.

For my own site, I agree in principle.

A personal blog, for me, is my space where I share how I'm using my tech, random thoughts, and the occasional rant. I don't want to feel obligated to produce posts, stick to specific topics, or maintain consistency. Even optional donations can alter that dynamic, at least in my own mind.

Blogging isn't expensive anymore. A domain and basic hosting cost very little, and I'm happy to cover that expense myself.

I appreciate that my blog doesn't have to perform. It doesn't need to grow or justify its existence. It can be valuable to a few people, or just to me.

What are your thoughts?

Today 2026-01-20

2026-01-20T14:26:27Z

January 20, 2026

This morning, after my walk with Trix, I sat down at my MacBook, scanned my RSS feeds, and checked my email. Then I thought, "Now what?" I didn't have any special projects planned, so I decided to fool around with this site.

I have two different designs for it: one based on the 11ty base blog, and another that I built myself, which I'm pretty proud of. I decided to switch from the base blog design to the one I created. After making a few changes and updating the theme, what you're currently seeing is the result.

Hope you like it.

Blogging: No List, No Schedule

2026-01-21T13:34:07Z

January 21, 2026

I have a folder of quotes I've collected over the years. This morning, while reading through a few, one stopped me:

Instead of constantly hunting for blog topics and maintaining a never-ending list of ideas, I'm trying a new approach. Rather than forcing ideas, I'm focusing on writing only about things that genuinely spark my interest. I'll know it's the right topic when I feel a natural urge to share my thoughts. This might mean blogging less, but it could also mean journaling more.

Author unknown

This quote mirrors my own approach to blogging. I don't keep a list of ideas, feel obligated to publish on a schedule, stick to specific topics, or maintain consistency. I write when something resonates with me in a way that feels worth sharing.

Often, my writing begins as a way to think, not necessarily to publish. The act of writing helps me understand the ideas I'm circling around. Sometimes that becomes a post; sometimes it doesn't, and that's fine. Not everything needs to become something.

Life before social media

2026-01-22T10:37:32Z

January 22, 2026

While I was laying down to take a nap today (yes I take a nap every afternoon) I started thinking about what a fucking shit show social media is and how in my opinion it is destroying society.

Social media as we know it today started in 2003 with MySpace and was then overtaken by Facebook and has progressed to what we have today. I was born in 1945, which means I lived the first 58 years of my life without social media. At 81 now, I've had a front-row seat to watch what it's done to society over the past two decades. My introduction to personal computers was in the mid-1980's. I had a Compaq portable that was my work computer and a Commodore 64 that I bought and used at home. I've always been fascinated with computers and considered tinkering with them a hobby that I still enjoy to this day.

People born after 2003 have never known life without social media, which is a shame. Life was so different then, and honestly, simpler in ways that matter.

What We Had Before

Back then, we actually experienced boredom - and that wasn't a bad thing. Waiting in line at the grocery store or sitting in a doctor's office meant your mind wandered. You thought about things, came up with ideas, daydreamed. Now everyone just reflexively grabs their phone the second there's a quiet moment.

If you had a disagreement with someone, you had to work it out face-to-face or over the phone. You couldn't hide behind a screen or fire off a nasty comment and walk away. This meant actual conversations, real conflict resolution, and learning how to regulate your emotions when talking to people.

Your social world was the people physically around you - neighbors, coworkers, friends from local organizations. You invested in your immediate community because those were the relationships that mattered in your daily life. There were no parasocial relationships with strangers halfway across the world.

News came at specific times - the morning paper, the evening broadcast. You could stay informed without being perpetually anxious about every crisis happening everywhere all at once. And here's a big one: privacy was the default. Embarrassing moments, youthful mistakes, stupid things you said - they weren't permanently archived and searchable. People could reinvent themselves, move on from their past, grow without dragging everything behind them forever.

My Commodore 64 and Compaq portable were tools that enhanced what I could do without demanding constant attention or messing with my head. They didn't buzz at me all day or make me feel bad about myself.

The Damage We're Seeing

The mental health crisis, especially among young people, is staggering. Depression and anxiety rates have spiked dramatically since social media became widespread. Constant comparison, cyberbullying, fear of missing out, seeking validation through likes - it's created a generation struggling with basic self-worth.

Truth itself has become slippery. When the business model is engagement over accuracy, misinformation spreads faster than anyone can fact-check it. People end up living in completely separate realities based on whatever their algorithm feeds them.

And let's be honest about what these platforms really are - they're engineered by some of the brightest minds in tech to be addictive. Infinite scroll, variable reward schedules, notification systems - all deliberately designed to hijack our dopamine systems and keep us scrolling. It's not an accident that you can't put your phone down; it's the intended outcome.

The algorithms promote whatever triggers strong emotions because outrage drives engagement. This pushes people toward extreme positions. Nuance and thoughtful discussion die because they're boring, and boring doesn't keep people on the platform.

We've also surrendered an unprecedented amount of privacy. The data harvesting and behavioral manipulation happening behind the scenes is staggering. We've become products being packaged and sold to advertisers.

And now we're seeing particularly disturbing developments like the Grok AI issues on X, where the technology is being used to create non-consensual intimate imagery - including of children and women. This isn't just another social media problem; it's a tool being weaponized for sexual exploitation and harassment. The fact that this technology exists on a platform claiming to champion free speech while enabling the sexual exploitation of children shows just how morally bankrupt things have become.

I'm not saying we need to go back to the Commodore 64 era - technology has brought amazing things too. But social media as it exists today? It's not making us happier, smarter, or more connected. It's doing the opposite, and I think more people are starting to realize it.

Bracing for the big chill

2026-01-24T09:40:29Z

January 24, 2026

It's really fucking cold this morning. The temperature is currently 11 degrees, with a wind chill of -3. A major storm is expected tomorrow, bringing snow, sleet, and ice. We spent yesterday preparing for it. I checked the heating oil, and we have plenty. I'll bring in a good supply of firewood this afternoon.

Winter snow storm update

2026-01-25T15:24:40Z

January 25, 2026

It's snowing and blowing, with a temperature of 24 degrees but a windchill making it feel like 10. We've already accumulated a solid 8 to 10 inches of snow. I've cleared the back porch, the roofs of the shed and chicken coop, and the cars twice already, and I need to do it again. I also used the snowblower to clear some walkways in the yard. So far, we haven't lost power, fingers crossed 🤞.

Not moaning about AI

2026-01-26T15:16:21Z

January 26, 2026

Giles Turnbull

Gemini and other tools like it aren’t intended for me - they’re for people who find writing hard. I find it easy. Of course I’m going to be dismissive, of course I’m going to want it to stop pestering me. Some people will welcome that.[…] So, sure, I don’t value LLM words for my own purposes, but I can see why some people might.

Too Many Options (And Why That's Actually Fine)

2026-01-28T09:17:59Z

January 28, 2026

Devices, apps which should I use, and for what? Do I have to pick one and commit to it? I always feel that pressure. MacBook Pro or iPad? Drafts, Bear, MarkEdit, BBEdit, or iA Writer? Why can't I just use them all?

Here's the thing: I always force myself to stick with a single app, and I constantly struggle with which one it should be. But everything I write blog posts, journal entries, notes ends up exported to markdown files in my archive anyway. That's where it all lives. The apps are just different desks where I sit down to write. Right now, I'm writing this on my MacBook Pro in Bear. I could just as easily be doing it on my iPad, or in iA Writer, or Drafts. But this morning, Bear on the MacBook felt right, so here I am.

I've already solved the real problem, my writing isn't trapped in any app; it all ends up in the same place. So why do I keep asking myself which tool I should commit to? The answer is simple: I don't have to pick one. I can use whatever feels right. I just need to accept that that's okay.

Link post: Does Tim Cook even care about Apple's image anymore?

2026-01-30T10:13:21Z

January 30, 2026

The Macalope

Based on who he likes to hang out with on a Saturday night, one wishes Apple CEO Tim Cook were a bit more of a homebody. The day that ICE agents killed another U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, Cook went to the White House that sent those agents to Minnesota so he could attend the viewing of a weapons-grade hagiography about the First Lady.

This would be the hagiography directed by accused sexual predator Brett Ratner. You have to be a pretty bad person to have X-Men: The Last Stand be low on the list of your offenses.

On plain text files

2026-01-31T10:40:32Z

January 31, 2026

I came across plaintextproject.online and, after reading a few posts, I was reminded why I keep all my writing, journals, notes, and quotes in a repository of markdown files instead of trapping them in a proprietary database app.

Source

On Wasting Time With Apple Shortcuts

2026-02-02T10:43:34Z

February 2, 2026

Today, I spent far too much time fucking with Apple Shortcuts just to do something embarrassingly simple: append the current date and time to a specific Bear note on iPadOS.

After all the time I spent trying, I still didn’t have a working shortcut. Even with help from Claude.

For comparison, I had created the exact same behavior on my Mac using a shell script and Keyboard Maestro. It took about 15 minutes. Here’s the timestamp Apple Shortcuts and I argued over:

#### 02 February 2026 07:03 PM

This is why I will never be iPad-first.

My small protest against Apple

2026-02-04T10:48:30Z

February 4, 2026

I'm not trying to escape Apple I'm staging a protest. A small one, sure, but deliberate. The reasons pile up daily: Apple has quietly transformed from a company that built great tools into one that tightens its grip, nudging users toward subscriptions, lock-in, and manufactured dependency. I still use their products. But what I can do is live more intentionally within the system by:

Using the device with the least amount of lock-in, favoring a Mac over an iPad while accepting the iPhone as unavoidable.
Eliminating subscriptions that quietly feed Apple's money machine.
Using open-source, free, or paid apps.
Keeping my data local instead of defaulting to iCloud whenever possible.

Drafts was my last subscription app, so this morning I set out to eliminate it before its renewal in a few weeks. I successfully replaced it with FSNotes and MarkEdit, both open-source options available for free on GitHub.

This won't change Apple's trajectory. My protest is too small. But that's not the point. The point is refusing to sleepwalk through my own choices, to mistake the path of least resistance for the only path. Every eliminated subscription, every open-source alternative, every piece of data kept local is a reminder that I still have agency that the system's convenience doesn't have to mean my capitulation. It's not about escape. It's about living deliberately, even within the walls someone else built.

Inspired by: Matt Gemmell

It's too cold to go outside, so I learned Python instead

2026-02-07T10:55:23Z

February 7, 2026

On a recent podcast, I heard [Jason Snell(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Snell_(writer)) mention that he had created a simple Python app to automate a task on his Mac. Inspired by that, and since the weather is to fucking cold to be outside, I decided to explore Python and how I could use it to automate some of my own tasks. I've put together three Python scripts that streamline my daily note-taking and journaling workflow. They are simple, automated, and integrate seamlessly with Alfred. Here's what each one does:

Daily Note

The daily_note.py script creates a new note each day in my FSNotes folder. Every time it runs, it appends a timestamp, such as 3:42:36 PM, to the current day's note. This is especially useful for tracking my work or simply noting my activity throughout the day.

The filenames are formatted as 2026-02-07 - Daily Note.md, ensuring a fresh start each day.

Monthly Journal

My monthly_journal.py script works differently. Instead of creating daily files, it generates one journal file per month in my Writing folder. Each time I run the script, it adds a new entry with the full date and time: `#### 01 February 2026 02:14 PM.

The best feature is that it automatically opens the journal in MarkEdit, allowing me to begin writing immediately. It has become my preferred method for monthly reflections and longer-form entries.

FSNotes Empty Trash

The empty_fsnotes_trash.py script performs exactly as its name suggests: it empties the trash folder in FSNotes. Instead of manually searching for deleted notes, running this script instantly clears them. While a small thing, it helps maintain a tidy and organized notes app.

Running Them With Alfred

All of these scripts are located in my ~/scripts folder, and I can execute them quickly using an Alfred workflow.

Troubleshooting FSNotes File Visibility Issues

2026-02-09T10:53:34Z

February 9, 2026

I recently mentioned using FSNotes for note-taking and quick capture. However, I experienced an issue where files would randomly disappear from the user interface, only to reappear after restarting the application. I contacted the developer, who suggested I install the latest version (7.1.1) to see if it resolved the problem. I'm currently testing it.

I'm hoping this fixes the issue because I otherwise like the app as a Drafts replacement. I especially appreciate that it uses markdown files instead of a database, unlike Drafts.

Back to 11ty

2026-02-09T16:16:54Z

February 9, 2026

This morning, I was looking for something to read and browsed the Bearblog discovery feed. While there's a lot of content there, I realized the platform wasn't quite the right fit for my site. So, I've moved back to 11ty and Render.

As I considered the move, I also took stock of my original site's archive. Much of it is outdated, full of dead links, and tied to tools and ideas I've moved past. Rather than carry all of that forward, I decided to retire the original site. ldstephens.net will now use the weblog site I'd been maintaining on the side. It's much simpler and cleaner to maintain and better reflects where I am now.

If you followed via RSS

With redirects set, the old feeds should still work. But just in case, you may want to subscribe to the new feed: https://ldstephens.net/feed.xml

Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for reading.

Why I inlined my CSS in 11ty

2026-02-11T10:53:23Z

February 11, 2026

I recently made a small change to this 11ty site: I moved from external CSS to inlining my stylesheet directly in the HTML. The result? Faster page loads and a simpler deployment process.

I replaced this in my base.njk template:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/style.css" />

With this:

<style>
  {% include "../../css/style.css" %}
</style>

That's it. One simple template change that makes every page generated by 11ty include the CSS directly in the <head>.

This site is small, and the CSS is small only 5KB. There’s no real reason to make an extra request for something that rarely changes. Inlining it means faster initial render and one less moving part.

It also simplifies deployment. There’s no separate CSS file to cache, invalidate, or forget to upload. Each page is self contained and ships exactly as it should.

Validating and improving my site's performance

2026-02-14T15:09:11Z

February 14, 2026

A few months back, Nicolas Magand wrote about giving his site the "club racer treatment" — stripping it back to focus on what actually matters. For a blog like his, the driving experience is readability above all else, but he also wanted clean W3C validation and a perfect PageSpeed Insights score. He ended up with a clear priority order:

Driving experience / Readability
Performance / W3C validation & PageSpeed Insights scores

That framing stuck with me: performance in service of the reader, not performance as an end in itself.

Around the same time, I came across James' Coffee Blog, where James announced a handy tool he built called Validate Everything. The concept is simple — paste in a URL and it generates links to a whole suite of validators. It's the kind of tool you didn't know you needed until you have it.

I decided to put this site to the test.

What I Changed

Running through the validators surfaced two areas I wanted to improve:

Inlined styles for performance. Moving styles inline made for faster page loads and a simpler deployment process.

Theme change for readability. The previous theme had some contrast that weren't doing the reading experience any favors. Readability is the whole point, I switched from the dark theme to a simple light theme.

The Results

After making those changes, the numbers came back clean:

PageSpeed Insights — 100 across the board:

100 Performance
100 Accessibility
100 Best Practices
100 SEO

Carbon rating: A+

W3C HTML Validation:

Document checking completed. No errors or warnings to show.

The scores are great. More importantly, the changes make the site better to read and a little quicker to load. That’s the part I care about.

If you haven't tried James' Validate Everything tool yet, it's worth a few minutes with your own site. You might be surprised what turns up.

How to force restart iPhone

2026-02-17T14:38:54Z

February 17, 2026

Apple Support:

If iPhone isn’t responding, and you can’t turn it off then on, try forcing it to restart.

Press and quickly release the volume up button.

Press and quickly release the volume down button.

Press and hold the side button.

When the Apple logo appears, release the side button.

John Gruber

Switch between open windows in an application

2026-02-17T16:30:07Z

February 17, 2026

I've often wondered if there was a way to switch between windows within the same application without using the Window menu. Fortunately, I just learned that there is!

Thanks to Mac Geek Gab 1129 Quick Tip, I learned that you can use the keyboard shortcut Command + ` (command+backtick) to switch between open windows in an application.

Flaws in popular VSCode extensions expose developers to attacks

2026-02-20T08:53:26Z

February 20, 2026

The security issues impact Live Server (CVE-2025-65715), Code Runner (CVE-2025-65716), Markdown Preview Enhanced (CVE-2025-65717), and Microsoft Live Preview (no identifier assigned).[…] Also, it is advisable to remove unnecessary extensions and only install those from reputable publishers, while monitoring for unexpected setting changes.

I had Live Server and Markdown Preview Enhanced installed, but since I don't use them, I uninstalled them along with a few other extensions that I don't use.

Bleeping Computer

ldstephens weblog

Social Media

Advice on Blogging

RSS Versus Bookmarks

Blogging Challenges - Are They Really Worth It?

Blogging - Eliminating Distractions

15 blogging rules

Who am I responsible to here?

Write Like You Talk

Re - On personal websites and social web

Re - How I find interesting blogs

On Don't Make a Blog, Make a Brain Dump

“Unplatform” a guidebook for escaping social media

How I use AI for writing and coding

Re - No, The People Didn’t Vote For This

Quoting Tracy Durnell

Kindle Paperwhite’s annoying flashes

Platforms own you, not vice versa

Why write when no one’s reading?

Quoting Zsolt Benke

Quoting Barry Hess

This makes my fucking blood boil!

Quoting Jack Baty

Quoting Juha-Matti Santala

Cleaning up my 11ty project repository

Text editors

My on going 11ty learning curve

11ty blog post workflow

The future of the iPad

New desk chair

Link Post - You should blog

Link post - An investment in your health…

Automating 11ty backups with a shell script and Keyboard Maestro

Search

Link Post: RFK Jr.’s CDC Panel Ditches Some Flu Shots Based on Anti-Vaccine Junk Data

Run-Walk-Run

Link post: I don’t want your email

Anti-Vaxx Stupidity: U.S. measles cases hit highest level in 33 years

Why Am I Still Listening?

Fiddling with my blogs today

On The Weird Web

There’s no fucking cure for stupid

Analytics

Link post: This is your reminder that…

Quoting Dave Pell

New Look

August 24, 2025, at 3:20:03 PM

Updated design

Hobbies

More design updates

A Practical Path to Universal Healthcare

On the NFL Streaming Fragmentation

Get a local 11ty project on GitHub without the command line

Link Post: The Case for Blogging in the Ruins

On - Why People Should Not Ask for Donations or Money to Run Their Own Personal Blog

Today 2026-01-20

Blogging: No List, No Schedule

Life before social media

Bracing for the big chill

Winter snow storm update

Not moaning about AI

Too Many Options (And Why That's Actually Fine)

Link post: Does Tim Cook even care about Apple's image anymore?

On plain text files

On Wasting Time With Apple Shortcuts

My small protest against Apple

It's too cold to go outside, so I learned Python instead

Troubleshooting FSNotes File Visibility Issues

Back to 11ty

Why I inlined my CSS in 11ty

Validating and improving my site's performance

What I Changed

The Results

How to force restart iPhone

Switch between open windows in an application

Flaws in popular VSCode extensions expose developers to attacks

August 24, 2025, at 3:20:03 PM