links
Beam Paints - M’Chigeeng First Nation Company on Manitoulin Island
My wife is a watercolor artist in her free time and just found a wonderful resource for hematite pigment.
Flashback to 2009
Browsing the internet archives, I stumbled upon my blog from 2009. The original cliff538 was built from scratch as an exam for an HTML/CSS class that I was taking.
The Good Stuff - January 2026
A smattering of useful things I’ve come across this month of January 2026.
Separate Blog Experiment For Short Notes Up and Running
A separate blog for short notes is being considered to keep the main page clean while maintaining a record of posts shared on Mastodon.
🍿 Watched: The New Yorker at 100
A Netflix documentary centered on the New Yorker’s vaunted newsroom, this star-studded documentary explores the history and inner workings of the iconic, century-old magazine.
Cliff Notes: Q4 Photography Update
I’m going to try to update my photography goings-on every few months or so, so I have a good look back on all things photography-related.
Love. Hope. Fear. Vulnerability. Strength. Life.
Love. Hope. Fear. Vulnerability. Strength. Life. All wrapped up in the most beautiful and perfect comic. Randall Munroe knocks it out of the park. 💛
Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Space Travel Posters
NASA offers an impressive collection of space travel posters and wallpapers.
I really enjoyed this documentary. If you even have a small adventurous bone in your body, you’ll enjoy it.
I had a difficult time finding it online, but was eventually able to rent/purchase it through Vimeo.
From 2003 to 2023, the share of Americans who read for pleasure fell 40 percent, a sharp decline that is part of a continuing downward trend
Reading for pleasure among Americans has seen a significant decline of 40% over the past two decades.
I learned about this website from Ed Young’s Newsletter. I think everyone in the U.S. needs to see it.
About The Website Unbreaking:
The United States is experiencing institutional collapse at a speed and scale that are difficult to understand, especially through feeds and updates that atomize our attention. We believe that mapping the damage done and its human costs—and the pushback and resilience work already underway—is necessary groundwork for building and retaining political agency.
Koofr and pCloud
Well, I’m uploading 2TB of photos to Koofr, so far, so good.
I’m new to them, and setting everything up has been straightforward so far.
I also signed up with pCloud and set it up, but I haven’t used it much yet. I can say I prefer pCloud’s interface, which looks and feels better to me.
After using both, I’ll let you know the pros and cons.
#koofr
#pcloud
Custom CSS for your Markdown in DEVONthink - Who Knew!
This link comes from MacStories, but it’s too good to not share.
If you are a DEVONthink user, this is a really nice touch. I’ve downloaded and used jsloop’s custom CSS, and it’s terrific.
I had no idea you could do this in DT, and it makes all the difference in the world.
There are directions for both DEVONthink 3 and DEVONthink To Go 3, and you are free to use jsloops CSS to get you started. Then it’s easy to make tweaks after that.
The two links:
https://www.devontechnologies.com/blog/20250327-markdown-stylesheet-jsloop
https://jsloop.net/2025/03/22/markdown-theming-in-devonthink-3
I did 1,157 books the old fashioned way, with lots and lots and lots of clicking. Don’t be like me, be smart. Follow this 👇
‘How to bulk download Kindle files, while you can’ 🔗 Jason Snell / sixcolors.com
Bringing a Little Joy Into My Day and Weekly Planning
There are endless blog posts about the latest to-do apps and systems. My goal is not to proclaim from the rooftops that I’ve found the secret to daily planning success but to share some thoughts on a few options that I have found very rewarding.
I have a constant struggle with Analog vs Digital; it perturbs me how much I think about this. I’ve given up worrying about which type of system it is, and I do what feels right and what keeps me on track. And, if that system brings a little joy to the process, even better.
KIWIX - A User Report
I’ve seen this posted about Mastodon a lot, and then @amerpie posted about it yesterday, and I thought, why the heck not? Let’s check it out; I’ve got some time to kill.
So, yeah, this KIWIX is really cool. I’m not a Super Bowl kind of guy, so I downloaded Kiwix and then proceeded to download the entire Wikipedia, then iFixit, then Gutenberg. Sheesh, why not? I have a Synology with ample space, so why not lock some of this stuff in and have it on local storage?
🔗 How Your Thinking Changes at 60 | Andy’s Blog
Then you turn 60. And something shifts.
You stop caring about things that don’t matter.
You don’t need to prove yourself anymore.You don’t need permission.
You don’t waste time on people who drain your energy.You’ve seen enough trends, fads, and “next big things” to know they all pass.
And most importantly, you realize time is no longer on your side.