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I finally did it, I purchased a record player. I don't recall how long it's been, but for some time now I've wanted to own a record player. I can't give a specific reason either, but I've always wanted to try one out. I didn't know anything about records and vinyl, so to learn and get exposed to it all, I subscribed to the r/vinyl subreddit. I've seen some pretty neat setups since then, and many…
This is a follow-up to my previous post about creating a Books page. I started thinking about how I wanted to manage the books.json pseudo-database I was using to power the /books page. It really wasn't that big a deal to go and manually add new entries or move around as needed. But editing a JSON file is inconvenient, making sure to follow the syntax and everything. When I created the initial…
tl;dr: Go to my /books page. For the past couple years, I kept track of my books here on my website. For 2023 and 2024 , I simply updated a post listing the books I'm currently reading, have finished, did not finish, and want to read. This is simple enough of course, but I've now decided to list every book on a single page. The source of data for the page could be managed from a simple JSON file.…
Not much changed from 2023 , as a majority of my apps are web-based. But I've moved to Linux full-time for my personal devices, so I've updated entries that were Windows-only. This list does not include apps I use for work, though there is some overlap. Email : Gmail Calendar : Google Calendar Documents/Cloud Storage : Google Drive PDF Reader : Okular Photos : Google Photos Password Manager :…
Much like last year, I wanted to give a quick review of some of the media I consumed this year. I'm not much of a reviewer, but I had several stand-out items I enjoyed, so thought I'd make a mention of it here. Simple and quick, that's all. Books A small selection of the books I read this year. See my full list of books in my Books of 2024 post. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.…
I've been PC user for most of my life. My first experience with computers was in the late 1990s, using MS-DOS and Windows 3.1. It wasn't until I was in college that I was able to build my own PC for the first time. It was a very fun and educational experience for me. Eight years have passed since then, and now it's time to build another PC in 2024. I completed this new build in February this year…
I decided on a whim last January to list the books I read throughout 2023. While there are better tools out there to track books, it was fun to share it on my blog (even if no one reads it). So I'm doing it again this year. As with last year, I don't have a firm number of books I want to read. However, I managed to read 13 books last year, so 12-14 books seems reasonable. I also started listening…
I decided this year to look back on the stuff I've read, watched, played, or listened to. While not everything I've consumed is listed here, I did want to point out some items that I enjoyed. No full reviews here, I prefer simple lists and quick thoughts. Gives me an excuse for another blog post at least. Books See my full list of books in my Books of 2023 post. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette…
Inspired by others I've seen across various blogs and on Mastodon, here's a list of default apps I've been using at the end of 2023. I doubt this will change much year-to-year, but we'll see what next year brings. Email : Gmail Calendar : Google Calendar Documents/Cloud Storage : Google Drive PDF Reader : SumatraPDF Photos : Google Photos Password Manager : Bitwarden Notes/Lists/Tasks : Google…
A recent update to Ubuntu has added messages about the Ubuntu Pro subscription service in both the default message of the day (MOTD) (like when logging into a Ubuntu server) and when using apt commands. The message showing up in the MOTD is: Introducing Expanded Security Maintenance for Applications. Receive updates to over 25,000 software packages with your Ubuntu Pro subscription. Free for…
Is it cliché to set a goal to read more books at the start of the new year? Yes. Am I doing it anyways? Also yes. I haven't decided on a set number of books to read, I simply wanted to read more this year. At the end of the year, I'll try to do a little reflection post about the books I've read this year. The following is a list of books I'm currently reading, have finished, decided to not…
Ubuntu on WSL2 currently comes loaded with Python v3.8, which is the default in Ubuntu 20.04. I wanted to update to Python v3.10, as I try to use more recent software releases when starting new projects. Updating Python took more work than I thought it would (I'm more familiar with Node and utilizing node version manager to manage Node versions). Eventually I did get it all worked out, and in an…
Having a personal website can be liberating. Sharing my thoughts into the world, even in the tiniest corner, still gets something out there. I have a public presence! But on the other hand, it's public, and that's intimidating. Any random stranger can view my thoughts and judge me for it. Even in the midst of writing this post, I still feel that sense of knowing that someone is going to laugh at…