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Spring is doing its best to spring around town.

KeyKeeper Checks All the Boxes for Tracking Software Licenses

I've been working on getting all my software licensing information into KeyKeeper, an app by the same team that operates Bundlehunt. I've been buying Mac software since the days of the classic OS. Believe it or not, some apps I purchased as far back as 2004 are still functional, requiring the original license ket when I set up a new system. Shout out to SuperDuper! I've used various methods to track licensing information: a spreadsheet, Evernote, an email tag, Obsidian, the freeware app, Licensed All of them are functional enough, but when I saw the features in KeyKeeper, available for $4.99 in the current bundle, I decided to try it out. KeyKeeper is security focused, requiring a password to enter the database. The design follows modern Mac conventions. There are all of the database fields you'd expect for this type of app, but you can add unlimited custom fields and...

““I'm sitting here looking at the mushrooms coming up through the rotting leaves, and thinking about how much grief and loss are required for growth and change.”” — Valerie Roney

You know it’s right when you can’t explain it. The truth lies beyond words.

Every moment of existence has value. It all counts. You can’t edit life. You’re either all in or all out.

Tystnaden som en källa för välmående

Vid en av dagens husbesiktningar fick jag en märklig känsla. Det var något som inte riktigt stämde, något som var annorlunda.  Det var ingen dålig känsla. Tvärtom.  Efter några minuter insåg jag. Det var fullkomligt tyst. Inga ljud från bilar utanför, inga röster, inte ens ett brummande ventilationssystem. Total tystnad, och det kändes så skönt! Fascinerande hur frånvaron av något kan tillföra något. Och inte vad som helst, utan något fridfullt och bra. Ett verkligt välbehag. Att ha en så tyst hemmiljö är omöjligt för de flesta. Men andra typer av "oljud", som ofta påverkar våra liv ännu mer, kan vi begränsa. Vi kan stänga av notiser för vissa appar, och begränsa antalet prenumerationer på nyhetsbrev. Vi kan skära ner på antalet streamingtjänster. Vi kan nöja oss med en plattform för sociala medier eller avstå det helt. Vi låta bli att logga precis varenda grej vi ser, hör, läser, gör...

““Only the human species is afflicted with the idea that just being alive is not enough, and that enlightenment is required, in addition.” — Judy Cohen

🕖 Now — Update About Updates

1. I revisited my /nope page with more up-to-date things that I don't like. 2. I updated my About Me page hosted on Craft while working on preparing the migration off Craft to a stand-alone website built using Realmac Software Elements. Here's what it will look like. 3. Last week, I shared an updated diagram of my content creator ecosystem. 4. I got my first referral commission from the Fastmail referral program. The first of this kind. I never got one for Craft after being on their referral program for since its inception. You might like Fastmail too, btw, just like I do. 5. I like to spend some time nurturing these. It's fun. 

Never mind the specific latest apparent technological and political threat, the greatest problem we face, as has always been the case, is ourselves.

It interests me that I seem to have listened and taken some heed of the voice inside me that directed me towards volunteering and ultimately care work after the family trauma. It seems I did not try to redeem my life but allow it to happen automatically by surrendering to what was needed.

““Enlightenment is: absolute cooperation with the inevitable.”” — Anthony De Mello

““It is by no means certain that the man with good intentions is under all circumstances a good man. If he is not, then his best intentions will lead to ruin, as daily experience proves.”” — Carl Jung

““When a man lacks self-knowledge, he can do the most astonishing or terrible things without calling himself to account and without ever suspecting what he is doing.”” — Carl Jung

You have to remain the driver and solution architect

I used Claude Code to refactor a series of tests from Minitest::Mock to the Mocha library this early morning.  The main reason is that I had certain parts of the tests using Mocha and others utilizing Minitest::Mock. Since other projects I work on use RSpec, I find Mocha to be closer toons in RSpec, which minimizes the context change for me overall.  I started with a simple example and provided this prompt:  “Go in the test/services/bluesky/save_thread_test.rb and redo the test 'empty result when client returns empty array' to use mocha instead of simple Minitest mock” Here is what Claude Code proposed as a change. It added the line with instance_variable_set (it is not marked here as a diff because I chose 'No' when it asked me to apply, and I'm not sure why it isn't marked). What is true is that the SaveThread object is not handling dependency injection properly:...

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The latest public art installation at the waterfront was unveiled this weekend. “Break Water” is inspired by a side wheel of a steamboat and honors the resilience and strength of Black communities.

iNet Network Scanner

For anyone with a home lab or who is invested in the Internet of Things, the ability to scan your network is a tool that you want in your management arsenal. Additionally, if you live in an urban environment, being able to monitor the devices on your Wi-Fi network is important if you suspect one of your neighbors might be attempting to access anything they shouldn't. iNet Network Scanner from BananaGlue GmbH is a particularly useful tool for anyone with a home network that's heavy on Apple devices. It's scanner can correctly identify laptops, desktops, iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs and HomePods. It can also pick up other computers, tablets, thermostats, picture frames and similar devices. Network Scanner• Displays information for all devices powered on and connected to the network including their IP and MAC addresses. • Customize the names of the devices in your network and assign them custom icons...

NPD and NID - March 2025

Several new acquisitions for me ... First I picked up a TWSBI Eco in Persian Green with Medium nib. I won a gift card at my local shop, [Penny Post](https://shoppennypost.com), back in January and finally decided to use it earlier this month. I love the TWSBI Ecos, they're such a workhorse of a pen. Decent price, reliable, great color selection, etc. Here it is inked with Iroshizuku Syo-Ro.Then I picked up a bottle of ink. We just got back from a quick trip to Los Angeles. While there we stopped at [Flax Pen to Paper](https://www.flaxpentopaper.com). I didn't *need* another pen, so I bought a bottle of ink, intending to fill my new TWSBI back at home. I found a couple that I wanted, but settled on the Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu (Japanese Beautyberry) ink because I need a really good purple. Here's my swatch of the Murasaki-Shikibu.Finally I picked up a...

• 🐛 Fixed a potential issue when viewing posts, that contained an image, from your blog on the Micro.blog timeline. It seems someone used the same "Lightbox" class name in the CSS 😅 (it was me!)

• 👾 Enabled Apple Podcasts to be embedded with your content. Just copy the full share URL and everything else will just work — it will pick out if it's a whole podcast listing or an episode link. • 🧹 Tweaked max heights on the post option options for categories and embeds.

Vapnen som aldrig användes

Jag lyssnade på en intervju med Beatrice Fihn, tidigare chef för organisationen Ican och mottagare av Nobels fredspris. Med allt elände som pågår i världen är det lätt att tappa hoppet och tänka att allt fredsarbete är förgäves. På det svarar Beatrice: "Tänk på alla vapen som aldrig använts." Vem vet hur världen hade sett ut om ingen kämpade för fred? En sak är säker: den hade definitivt inte sett bättre ut. Vi får inte ge upp bara för att det kan tyckas vara lönlöst. Vi måste fortsätta sträva mot fred, värna om miljön, bekämpa orättvisor och kämpa för jämlikhet. Det gör skillnad! Vi behöver inte blicka särskilt långt tillbaka i tiden för att påminnas om vilken bedrövlig tillvaro många levde i. Det kanske känns som om mänskligheten inte har lärt sig ett dugg när vi läser tidningarnas rubriker, men det har vi. Vi kan även känna samma sak på...

• 👾 Added the ability to override the search text that is shown on the search bar on the archive page. Head on over to Overrides for your blog to change these.

Understanding who one is has nothing to do with identity or images of selfhood. Knowing who you are means accepting your wholeness, embracing every aspect of your being, the dark and the light. We discover that we are who we are and not who we think we are or who we would like to be. This recognition requires a radical honesty and letting go of fantasies of identity.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Yesterday I've finally saw the last episode of the new "Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man" animated series on Disney+. Frankly one of the best franchise ever starring Spider-Man. It has managed to  fascinate old guys like me, remembering the '70 TV show and John Romita's artwork, with the right spin of modern technology and themes. Frankly each episode has been a joy to follow, along with my 7 y.o. child on the couch with me most of the time. If you like comics, you can't miss this!

““If I know what I shall find, I do not want to find it. Uncertainty is the salt of life.”” — Erwin Chargaff

The infinite variation and uniqueness of minds ensures there is no single, common experience of any sort. We are deluded by the similarities and remain unenlightened by the differences.

““We hear men say they are really motivated. Which is, of course, their misfortune. Where peace, truth, love and beauty are concerned, no effort is required.”” — The two obstacles, Men’s Work

““I suppose that when it comes down to it, what I am trying to say is that the path of inward solitude, or whatever it should be called, is something one finds oneself falling into when everything else has fallen to bits. Only when there is no other way does the way open; and it is the way one has been searching for all along.”” — Mike Farley, A messy business

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Final day in LA and we stopped at Hermosa Beach to watch our nephew play in a beach volleyball tournament. We also saw a pod of dolphins swim past the pier.

Week in Review - March 23rd, 2025

👽 Personal • I survived my first week at my new job, and I rate the week a solid B. I have my own office, which is a first, the people are nice, and the work seems doable. The pay isn't the best, but hopefully it's going to be an easy job, and I'm just happy to be working again. 🏋️Healthy Living • KILLING IT! I'm in such a rhythm these days. Even with my new job starting, I still got my The Pump workouts in, and I've kept my calories in check. My shirts are getting bigger on me, and I'm feeling strong.  📺 Watched (A Glimpse at Some of the Stuff I Watched) • Dardevil: Born Again (S1 E4) - Each episode is better than the last. I hope it keeps this run up. • The Flash (S1 E15-17) - The show really takes off, and seeing Mark...

UTM for Virtualization

I recently converted my Windows laptop to Ubuntu. I don't rely on Windows for anything personally any longer so I didn't need a dedicated machine for that OS. However, as the extended family tech support guy, there are occasions when I need to use Windows 10 and Windows 11 to troubleshoot issues for my relatives who have yet to see the light and buy a Mac. I relied on Oracle's free VirtualBox for a long time to build VMs and I've had licensed copies of Parallels through work off and on through the years. It's a good product, but not worth the price just for occasional use. My current choice for running Windows in a VM on a Mac is UTM. It's free and allows you to run an Intel based version of Windows on an M series Mac. It's slow and inefficient, not something you want to use every...

What matters? Different things at different times. Answers come and answers go revealing that there are no answers and eventually the question simply dissolves leaving, as always – what is, important or not.

Beef and Bean Bake

1 lb ground beef  Pepper  1/3 cup chili sauce  3 tablespoons brown sugar  1 teaspoon salt  2 tablespoons chopped onion  1 lb pork and beans    1. Brown beef, stirring occasionally. 2. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Add onions and cook a little longer.  4. Add beans, sauce, and sugar. 5. Pour into greased casserole dish and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

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The wife was able to snap a picture of the anti-Tesla, anti-Musk, and anti-fascism protestors as we drove through Pasadena.

Koofr - European Based Cloud Storage Provider with a Generous Free Tier

I am in the process of de-Googling. I already moved my email to Fastmail. I changed my default search engine to Kagi. I am moving my photographs to Ente. Today, I took advantage of an ongoing sale at Stack Social to purchase a lifetime deal on 1 TB of cloud storage with the Slovenian company, Koofr For $120. I've been paying a monthly fee for cloud storage for more than 10 years and I'm delighted that is coming to an end. My de-Googling project is based more on my desire to preserve my privacy and protect myself from the US government, but I'm happy to save a few bucks while doing it. For anyone who wants to try out Koofr, they offer a 10GB account for free. If you just want an offshore place to store documents, that is a healthy amount of storage, but not enough if you are...

1. Recognition 2. Acceptance 3. Gratitude

Friheten i en tom kalender

Ikväll ska jag gå och kolla på Kent. Ska bli riktigt trevligt! Det är ett av mina favoritband. Men jag har inte sett fram emot det... Grejen är att jag inte gillar att ha saker inplanerade. Jag vill ha en tom kalender. Känner jag mig överbokad om det är mer än en aktivitet inplanerad en vecka. Jag föredrar det spontana. Till exempel att någon skickar ett meddelande och frågar om vi ska ta en fika. Perfekt! Skitkul! Har aldrig förstått hur somliga kan gilla att ha saker inbokade varenda dag. Det kanske har med min sociala baksmälla att göra, jag vet inte.  Hur som helst, vi är alla olika och det är värt att fira - till exempel genom att gå på Kent-konsert.  Trevlig helg på dig, oavsett om du är en planerare eller föredrar det spontana. 

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It was a difficult day. So we ended it with a sunset at the beach and Mexican food.

And we're back. Thanks for watching 😂