I’m well out of practice in dealing with people in a group social setting. An opportunity for improvement.
Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2009 - ★★★½
It's only been on my watch list for a decade, and finally I've seen a typically enjoyable Wes Anderson movie with its delightful art direction and distinctive stable of actors. A lovely movie.
The most epic Jenga game I’ve played. Considering Benji, who just turned 6, was one of the three players — and he didn’t lose — makes it that much more impressive.
Return & Recycle Apple Gear
I tried to return a bunch of old iPads and MacBooks to Apple today. I got $50 for one old iPad. Potentially could have gotten more but the others I’d forgotten to charge and couldn’t be bothered about it, so I returned them for $0. They wouldn’t take the Macs in-store but coming home, I’ve discovered I can get $110 each for two 2013 MacBook Pros. Two older machines are recyclable only. To my mind, it’s all free money!
Climbing through the Roof
I’ve been climbing and crawling around my roof space today running ethernet and installing security cameras. It was hot in the roof - after a few minutes I would emerge drenched in sweat. I would estimate it was around 60º up there.
A few hours after finishing I’ve realised that I’m not as young as I once was. I got an inkling of that in the roof when climbing through rafters and making sure I only stepped on the beams - and not the gyprock ceiling - my hips and legs weren’t loving it. Now the general soreness is setting in. I wonder how I’m going to pull up tomorrow. Probably not well.
The photo is one I took from the deepest recesses of my roof. We had to get cable from that corner to the other end of the house. Then do that same thing another 3 times. We got the job done. I owe a huge thanks to my mate Daz - without him I couldn’t have done it. What a legend.
I keep playing around with themes on micro.blog, but I ultimately always seem to return to Marfa. The only problem with it is the way that comments/replies are rendered. Will that element of the template ever be improved? @help
Configuring my Stream Deck
This post was originally written in August 2021 for Hemispheric News; subscribe at the Patreon site One Prime Plus to receive this monthly newsletter and other benefits that are linked to the Hemispheric Views podcast.
Sitting in my OmniFocus task list, and my SkedPal task list, both for two long, has been one item:
I have been intending to give myself two hours to do some new stuff with my Stream Deck that has been sitting in front of me for about a year.
After an initial foray upon purchase, it has mostly sat unloved and unused. Plugged in and active, but I would forget it is there, and never use any of its little buttons.
No more! Clearly if I wasn’t using it, I hadn’t configured it appropriately for my workflow. Hence, the project assignment to review it. Despite that project I let it sit idle. Defer, defer, defer.
Now, today, I made progress. New buttons have been configured. The test will be seeing if I stick with it. I crafted some buttons for OmniFocus to apply various stages of kanban process to my tasks, as per this example from Omni Automation. Perhaps this will both establish a use for the Stream Deck and rebuild my love of OmniFocus which I’ve found to be on the wane in recent times (another story for another day).
On other screens, I have some nice buttons setup to construct my desktop in ways for different podcasting setups. Unfortunately, I forget to use these, and I even forget what exactly they do and how I have them configured. If I were to start today, they would trigger a Bunch script - but I don’t think they do that at the moment!
The best way I have found to leverage the Stream Deck is in partnership with Keyboard Maestro. Having a script in KM is the best and easiest way to build automations which can be triggered via a button press. Don’t use the native/developer created integration though. The KM-link plugin that is available through the Stream Deck app store (for free) is a much more versatile option.
So, enough reading, let’s look at some pictures of my current bizarro eternal work-in-progress Stream Deck.
- This is my default page. It needs work. The IFTTT button isn’t connected anymore. I never use Pomodoros but I have a button for them. Sigh. The happy calendar is good, though. It is a calendar reminder system that changes colour and has a countdown timer as the meeting draws near. I got this from TJ Luoma over at the Mac Power Users forum.
- My “media” folder has some music controls and playlist icons. I need one for my Favourites mix. Half the Zoom stuff doesn’t work properly. I gave up bothering to connect my dSLR as a webcam.
- My podcasts setup page. Maybe I did use Bunch!
- My OmniFocus kanban management page that I’ve set up over the last couple of days. Right as I’m considering switching from OmniFocus to Things. Nice one, Andrew.
Looking at these pages, it’s quite clear I need to dedicate more time to my Stream Deck. It remains an under-utilised asset.
Do any readers own a Stream Deck? Do you have any great ideas about how to use it? Let me know in the Discord chat room, because any inspiration is helpful.
A bookmarklet to post a link to micro.blog: Micro.blog Posting Bookmarklet – Colin Devroe. This link has been posted with said bookmark. @cdevroe
I’m decommissioning our Apple MacBook Pro (Late 2013). Its had a good life, albeit the last two have been hard as my kid doesn’t show the same care and respect for it as I do. I thank it for its service.
The irony of it being super hot and wanting to jump in the pool, but knowing the UV is extreme and I will burn in 10 minutes. Considering… How does this compare with your situation @gaby?
Another day of heat in Perth. Currently 38.5ºC. To truly experience it I’m sitting outside, under a patio with a fan. This is the fourth consecutive day over 100ºF. I feel sorry for our plants; by yesterday evening a number of them had burnt and dried out leaves. 🥵
Could somebody explain to me why the local council doesn’t offer an extra bin run after Christmas? We have an alternating weekly cycle for recycling and general rubbish. I think they should both be collected following Christmas. As it is I’m going to be backlogged for a month.
I tried to use the micro.blog markdown importer. I got a success message, but after about 10 minutes there is still no evidence of any of the posts on my micro.blog posts page. Is there something I missed? @help
Hottest Christmas Ever
These last two days in Perth have broken records for heat. Both Christmas Day and Boxing Day were several degrees over 40ºC. I am immensely thankful that this year, for the first time in my home ownership history, we have a swimming pool. With weather like this, it’s a complete game changer. A benefit of the heat is that upon emerging from the pool, it takes only minutes to be completely dry from the hot air. At which point you are warmed up enough to want to get back in.
I’ve previously explained on Hemispheric Views Episode 032: It’ll Blow the Roof Off Your House! that our house has evaporative - not refrigerated - air conditioning. On dry heat days like we’ve had, it’s worked well. It keeps the house pleasantly cool.
So, despite these two days setting December heat records for Perth, I’ve felt more cool than I have in previous years.
Tomorrow, the forecast is for a mild 39ºC.
Added another 2 years of subscription for canion.omg.lol. Best value profile provider on the internet.
I’m contemplating migrating my Blot site to micro.blog - and having a single site to rule them all. Should I do it?
Finished reading: Ball Boy by Paul Shirley 📚I’m afraid I didn’t love it.
For Benji’s birthday we went to the cinema to see Spider-Man: No Way Home. The boy has been obsessed with Spidey for about the past four years so he was beyond excited. 🎥🍿🕸🎂
It was great to get out of the house today. I read some of my book, and had a FaceTime call with @burk.
