photo on Cliff538

Silent Sunday

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 10:43:36 -0700

Update to Calibre-Web: Worth it?

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:52:01 -0700

Out on the road, I’ve had time to fully investigate my Calibre-Web setup. I wrote a short post about it, but this is an update on using it and whether it’s worth the setup time.

You launch it, of course, via a web browser. I use TailScale to access mine to keep it secure. It has a nice layout with several options for how you want to sort your books. At the top, I have a Random Books section, which is a nice feature that shows you four random books from your collection. I have to admit, I see books that I don’t remember getting. Which is kind of cool; it’s almost like looking at your own personal indie bookstore.

You click on a book, and you can see the metadata, rating, description, and whether you’ve read it or not. All things that you download through Calibre when you import your books. There is an in-app book reader which opens a new tab and allows you very minimal options to read the book. I would never use this; it’s very bare in layout options and, critically, has no scrolling option. Most importantly you can download the books in whatever format you originally set up in Calibre; epub, PDF, etc. If you are an Apple user, that download will open up in Apple Books, which is a pretty good eReader. I don’t read many books in it, but I don’t mind it.

Overall, I’m glad I set it up. I have my whole personal digital book library with me at all times; I can download and read any book or just browse the collection looking for a lost book or my next read. Nowhere as nice as looking at a bookcase of actual books, but for your digital collection this is a very nice option. I can highly recommend it if you have a large ebook collection.

One thing I haven’t tested yet is emailing books to your ebook reader. I don’t use an ebook reader but would like to get one and give it a go.

Calibre-Web

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 17:44:52 -0700

I’ve been a Calibre user for years now. It’s great for managing your ebook collection. It has tons of advanced functions that I don’t use, but the ability to back up your collection, add metadata, and book covers is perfect for my use. But I’ve never dabbled with Calibre-Web and finally got it installed on my Mac mini home server.

Calibre is only on my office computer and I don’t even open it much unless I need to add new books. A few times on the road, I remember a book and want to look at it, but I don’t have access. Calibre-Web takes care of that scenario.

I can now view, read, or download any of my 1400+ ebooks. I’m not sure I’ll use it much, but since I travel every week, it’s nice to have access to all my ebooks. Now, when I want to browse my collection, find that book I just remembered, and download it, I can.

So far, it’s working perfectly. While on vacation this year, I’ll access it and play around with it a bit. If I find any issues, I’ll update this post.

Here’s to good books!

📚 Twentieth-Century Color Photographs - Identification and Care

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 11:05:47 -0700

I recently stumbled upon this book by Sylvie Pénichon, and it is a wonderful deep dive into the history and care of color photographs. The appendix includes a chronology of several film types, including Kodachrome and Ektachrome films, Polaroid-Kodak-Fuji instant films, and more. It also has sheet notch codes, which are really nice. Just a great resource.

From the book description: This abundantly illustrated volume provides an accessible overview of the history and technology of the major traditional color photographic processes and promises to become the standard reference in its field. Following an introductory chapter on color photography in the nineteenth century, seven uniformly structured chapters discuss the most commercially or historically significant processes of the twentieth century—additive color screen, pigment, dye imbibition, dye coupling, dye destruction, dye diffusion, and dye mordanting and silver toning—offering readers a user-friendly guide to materials, methods of identification, and common kinds of deterioration. A final chapter presents specific guidelines for collection management, storage, and preservation. It also includes a glossary of technical terms, along with appendixes presenting detailed chronologies for Kodachrome and Ektachrome transparencies, Cibachrome/Ilfochrome printing materials, and Instant films.

360 pages with 375 color and 70 B&W illustrations.

It covers the identification of:

chromogenic color prints
dye-transfer processes
Kodachrome
Ektachrome
Cibachrome/Ilfochrome
Polaroid instant films
Kodak instant films
Fuji instant films
deterioration and storage issues

If you’re interested in the history and the how and why of color film, you will enjoy this book. You can read it cover to cover or use it as a reference. I’m slowly working my way through it alongside The Darkroom Cookbook.

I’ve also updated the Film Journey & Resource page with it.

Silent Sunday

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 17:44:50 -0700

York Labs - Only 1¢ per super glossy upgrade!

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:48:48 -0700

Along with all my negatives were some mail-in envelopes from York Labs; must have been a favorite of mine.

Just crazy to see the prices. Rolls of film for $2.99. Developing with prints for a roll of 36: $3.00.

You can think back to that time, and everyone developed film: Safeway, Sears, K-mart, Fotomat, Kodak. There were little one-hour processing booths in parking lots that would take your film. Every convenience store sold film.

The comment about “we now process Seattle FilmWorks” film brings back a memory of that film needing special processing.

(much time goes by as Cliff looks up the history of Seattle FilmWorks…)

I had to look it up: Seattle FilmWorks bought bulk Kodak 35mm color motion picture film (Kodak 5247 and Kodak 5294) and loaded it into 35mm still camera cartridges. So your normal one-hour photo lab wanted nothing to do with it because of the rem-jet removal.

They had a crazy deal where they would send you a free roll of film if you sent it back to them and paid for processing; they’d send you another free roll. I think I can remember getting caught up into that for a while. At their peak, they employed 800 people and processed 20 miles of film every day.

Another trick was that because they used motion picture film, they could give you negatives, prints, and slides. They could make positive transparencies from the film and give you all three.

Later they started selling C-41 film at the same time, so if you find a roll now, you just don’t know how to process it. I’ve seen Reddit threads on this exact dilemma.

Anyway, a fun little time capsule.

Testing Polaroid Flip

Wed, 05 Aug 2026 10:40:52 -0700

Daisy Mae Camera: SX-70 Land Camera Film: Color 600 Location: Home Sweet Home Date: August 9, 2026

River Home Sweet Home · Aug 2026 Camera: SX-70 Film: Color 600 Location: Arizona Date: August 9, 2026

To Do

~~scan a real Polaroid picture front and back~~
~~tweak font~~
~~adapt for a dedicated page of Polaroids~~
~~determine if you like the tilted look of the backside~~
~~different serial numbers for each frame~~
~~upload fonts, so no browser fallbacks~~
~~make shortcode, for easy reuse~~

Kodak Snapic Review

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:16:41 -0700

I posted nine days ago about a new flight bag camera I was carrying around the Kodak Snapic. I finally got two rolls of film shot through it, developed, and scanned. You can see what you get with this very small, lightweight point-and-shoot camera.

Pros:

very small
lightweight
double exposure feature
flash
macro setting
uses two AAA batteries, which are common and easy to find

Cons:

the placement of the flash setting in the upper-left corner is prone to bumping
there is no indication that you are using the macro setting, which in turn means you have to remember to switch it back
film door latch is not covered. If you carried this in your pocket, you could pop the back open. I’ve carried mine in my pocket for over eight miles without any issues.

One huge benefit is how small it is; you can shoot pictures without people really knowing what you are doing. I’ve talked in the past about street shooting and feeling self-conscious about it, or people giving you the stink-eye. I haven’t had any of those issues with this. It fits in the palm of your hand, and when you hold it up to your face, it doesn’t look like a camera.

This is perfect for parties or being out with friends and passing the camera to them to shoot some. I used to carry a full-size camera on the road, but the weight and bulk just aren’t worth it. The Snapic will stay in my bag and go with me on my walks alongside my iPhone for shooting. You can see Becca Farsace’s video on why cheap cameras are better.

Let me add, just because I’m super proud of it, that both of these rolls were developed and scanned by me. The Tri-X was my first roll of film I’ve developed since 1987. Film borders, as you can see, are all over the place. I did not take the time to crop; you get the real deal of film border with these shots, no fake film borders on digital pictures with these! I intentionally used generic Frontier scanner settings so you can see what you get with this little point-and-shoot. Overall, I’m very happy with the quality of the shots. The Tri-X is just old-school, iconic, grainy black-and-white. The Portra is just the classic 1970s muted look that I’ve always loved. There are some low-light and very low-light shots, so you can get a feel for them.

Kodak Portra 400 Photos Shot With The Snapic

*Click the first picture to open a full-size viewer, then use the arrow keys to navigate through the whole set

Kodak Tri-X B&W Photos Shot With the Snapic

New Flight Bag Camera: Kodak Snapic

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:41:39 -0700

Thanks to @macmanx posting this YouTube video from Becca Farsace about why cheap cameras are better, I now have a Kodak Snapic to carry in the flight bag. I used to carry a digital camera at work, but the size and weight are cumbersome. This little lightweight plastic Snapic is perfect. I wanted a film camera, and I wanted it to be something cheap enough that I could lose it and not fret over it. While more expensive at $99, I’m hoping it will last longer. If not, I’ll go for the much cheaper Kodak EC35 at $35.

One feature that the Snapic has that I wanted (the EC35 doesn’t have it) is the ability to shoot double exposures. It’s always fun to see what you get, especially with film.

I’ve shot a roll through it, but haven’t developed it yet. Soon, though, I’ll get some pictures up from this thing.

It Ain't Much - Adobe Stock Sales

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:21:13 -0700

I’ve been selling my photography on Adobe Stock for many years now, and my sales have slowed considerably in the past few years. I used to make hundreds of dollars every year, but recently it’s been under a hundred. Which is fine. I don’t depend on these sales; it’s always been a way to buy more photo gear.

I only post this in case you want to try your hand at selling your photos through a stock service. If you keep up with the type of photos that are in high demand, you can make thousands of dollars per year or even make your living from it, but you’ll be photographing things you don’t want to. Most of my photography is out on the internet and can be had for free by right-clicking it, so I figured I should at least try and sell it to make a few bucks for new gear.

I had a website for a few years selling my aviation prints mostly to other pilots, and that did very well. My average sale was in the $600 range, but I didn’t last long; the work involved was more than I bargained for, and it was ruining the hobby that I so loved, so I gave it up. Now it’s just stock sales, and I’m sure in a few more years that will dry up to nothing.

I haven’t uploaded new pictures in several years, but I have my top sellers that seem to sell every year. And what’s funny to me is the ones I thought would sell very well haven’t sold a one. The ones I didn’t even want to upload have sold very well. Go figure. These days, it makes enough to pay for a subscription or, if I save up for several years, a used lens. Better than nothing.

These days, my focus is on my love of photography, not making money from it. Been there, done that.

Cameras Up! - Let’s go take some pictures and post them online!

Kodak Mini 2 Retro Photo Printer

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:40:29 -0700

I’ve been harping lately about printing your photos because it’s just so much nicer than looking at them on a screen. Touch ‘em, hold ‘em, pass them out. People love a physical print. You’ll thank me. Really.

I do most of my journaling in Obsidian and post my daily pictures there, but I still use a paper journal. I put my stickers in there, and I’ve always been bothered by the fact that I can’t add photos, at least not very easily. Until now.

I saw a review for the Kodak Mini 2 Retro and thought, what the hell, let’s try it.

This little thing Rocks! I love it. It’s small, fairly cheap, and prints surprisingly well. You can see my test prints below. I tried to give it the full gamut, and the only colors that were off to me were the dragonfly bokeh.

You can print 5 photos at a time; it hooks via Bluetooth to your phone. It’s super simple, easy, software, and this thing is small enough you could take it with you. As you can see, you can have the print edge-to-edge or add a simple white border. I love the border look. I print everything these days with a nice white border.

Online in the U.S., it’s $99 and comes with 38 prints. Refills work out to be 0.37 cents each, which isn’t too bad. Have you looked at printing costs lately?

It’s a four-pass, dye-sublimation printing process. I’m just very impressed with what it can do. How will it hold up? I don’t know, but I’ll be testing it and printing a lot, and give you my long-term testing results later.

My plan is to carry it on work trips, pass out a few pictures, and, I guarantee you, it will make people smile. I’ll also use them to add to my paper journal. My only complaint is that there is no sticker backing on the prints. I believe that’s because of the multi-pass dye-sublimation process it uses. But you can just carry a small roll of double-stick tape. I know other small portable printers use different printing processes and have a sticker backing if that’s important to you.

I also had some nice nostalgic feelings from seeing the Kodak logo.

I printed 5 photos in a row, then started another 5; it had to pause after each photo to cool down while printing the next 5. Not surprising for something so small. It would be rare to print so many at once, but it can be done; it will just take slightly longer. Other than that, nothing to report for now. Again, I’m just so impressed with the colors that it can reproduce.

When printing, the photo goes in and out 4 times; each pass, it looks a little better. It reminded me of watching a Polaroid develop.

Silent Sunday

Sun, 24 May 2026 07:43:54 -0700

Beam Paints - M’Chigeeng First Nation Company on Manitoulin Island

Mon, 11 May 2026 11:06:39 -0700

Beam Paints

My wife is a watercolor artist in her free time and just found a wonderful resource for hematite pigment. Harvested by an M’Chigeeng First Nation company on Manitoulin Island. She just received them today.

It’s not cheap. But, I’m told there is no replacement for quality paint.

I just wanted to do a shoutout about a First Nations small business.

From their About Page:

Beam Paints is the result of a multi-generational love of pigment, paint, colour, and innovation. I was raised by my artist parents, Carl Beam and Ann Beam, and was taught from a young age how to harvest hematite pigment in the LaCloche mountain range near our home in M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island. Beam Paints draws on my early educations in Indigenous pigment and expands it to encompass all paint traditions. A focus on high quality pigment content creates sublime artist materials, with plastic free packaging. Beam Paints is 100% Anishnaabe Kwe owned, and operating in our home reserve of M’Chigeeng First Nation, we are happy to employ paintmakers and woodworkers, men and women from our communities including M’Chigeeng, Sagamok and Wikwemikong. Click on one of these articles to find out more:

www.thefoundryhomegoods.com/blogs/jou…

Lightfast pigments, gum arabic, and Manitoulin maple sap blend together to create a handmade saturated colour that is a joy to paint with. From thick stripes to fine washes and details, quality is evident in every stroke. Our watercolours are shaped into paintstones, our version of a half-pan, before being wrapped in beeswaxed cloth. Our pans are packaged in slices of cedar and birch offcuts from an Indigenous sustainable lumber operation.

Stray Pixels - Tribute To My Friend Richard

Mon, 11 May 2026 10:05:34 -0700

My friend Richard died this morning in his sleep.

Today’s pictures are dedicated to him. I took them yesterday—Richard’s last day, at least here on Earth. These pictures are for him. Richard may have commented on one or two of them on Flickr. I will miss that.

I will never forget Richard. I did not know him for very long, but he was such an amazing human being—so kind, so talented. Richard was a husband, father, grandfather, teacher, artist, woodworker, photographer, and so much more—a wonderful photographer with a unique style. He had many art shows featuring his work, and I was lucky enough to see a few of them.

We lived close to each other and consulted on projects from time to time. We texted and communicated on Flickr. Richard loved Flickr and had so many Flickr friends.

You will be greatly missed, my friend. You made me a better human. You gave me so many creative ideas and inspired me.

Wherever you are, my friend, take some pictures and send them to me…

The last comment from Richard on Flickr to me.

Richards last photo on Flickr.

😔

Silent Sunday - Ocean Therapy

Sun, 03 May 2026 15:17:02 -0700

Denoise: LightRoom vs DxO PureRAW 5

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 19:04:03 -0700

A quick down-and-dirty comparison between LR and DxO denoise. There is a very clear winner here.

I was doing a fair amount of low-light shooting with my OM-1 Mark II, and the noise was just killing me during editing. I recently purchased DxO PureRAW 5 and haven’t really used it yet. I thought I’d do a quick comparison. Nothing scientific here, and I’m not even sure how much will show up in the screenshots below.

The OM-1 is a 20.4 MP Micro Four Thirds sensor and does not handle low light very well. So noise can be a real issue at times. I’ve always just used LR denoise, and it’s been good enough, but after seeing what DxO can do, I’ll be using DxO for all serious noise issues.

Here is LR denoise vs. out-of-the-camera ORF (raw): You can really see how noisy the OM-1 is in low light!

Here is DxO denoise vs. out of the camera ORF:

Finally, here is DxO vs. LR: I zoomed in to 200% for the best comparison.

In Summary, I hope you can see the large differences in the screenshots. The clear, hands-down winner is DxO. I would love for Adobe to improve the denoise in LR so I could skip this extra step, but here we are. Something to look for with denoise is preservation of detail; denoise tends to soften your picture, leaving you with less detail where you may want it. DxO also did a much better job in preserving details.

DxO also provided Optical Corrections: Lens Sharpness Optimization, Vignetting, Chromatic aberration, and Lens Distortion, but I did not take the time to analyze these.

I’m extremely impressed with DxO’s performance. On the downsides, it takes a while to process, and it’s an extra step in your workflow, but if you have a lot of noise, it’s worth the extra time. My average processing time per picture was 17-25 seconds.

I also learned that LR isn’t as bad as I thought. I’ll still use it for light noise issues, or when time is a factor, but for your good shots where you want maximum noise reduction and preservation of detail, DxO is worth every penny and your time.

Whether this is worth it to you depends on the camera you are using and the conditions you are shooting in. At the time of this blog post, DxO PureRAW 6 costs $139.99 as a one-time fee. If you just post your shots to social media in low-quality JPGs, you may not even need to denoise. But if noise is an issue for you and you’ve been unhappy with the software you are using, it’s worth your time to test-drive DxO.

Let’s go shoot some pictures tomorrow!

Silent Sunday

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 07:26:01 -0700

Pentel Arts Multi 8 Pencil

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:38:28 -0700

Hiro had this pencil in his last Hiro.report. Had to order it right away and get penciling.

It’s a fun pencil, and switching leads is easy. Rotate the clip to the color you want—the cutout in the clip shows which one is selected. Press the top button, and the lead drops down. Adjust it to the length you want, then start writing. To switch colors, hold the pencil upside down, let the lead fall back into place, and rotate the clip to your next color.

It’s surprisingly small for how much it holds. The tapered barrel makes it comfortable to hold, and it never feels awkward. It’s all plastic, so it has a slightly cheap feel, and you’ll probably want to be careful not to stress the clip too much. Still, it feels solid enough to last a long time with reasonable care.

Bright, fun colors in a very small pencil. This is definitely going to become a must-carry item with my journal.

Canyon in Twilight - Silent Sunday

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:37:53 -0700

Custom Oura Ring Data Board

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:49:49 -0700

Poking around, I found out that Oura ring has a robust API, so I wanted to see what Claude Code could do with it. It took an afternoon of fiddling, but it seems to be a robust custom data board with about 4 years of data, that updates itself 3 times a day to a SQLite database. It runs on my Mac Mini home server.

I can download my CSV data from the data board, and I also set it up to run a monthly report that makes an Apple Note for me and files it away. I had it run monthly reports for the past 4 years, and it’s an excellent way to digest sleep data.

The best part is a second page on the dashboard called the Correlation Explorer, where you can see how tag data affects your sleep. You do have to remember to add tags, late meals, massage, medication, sauna, vaccinations, etc., and you can start to see what is helping and hurting your rest. You can see the evidence on my board. On this note, my wife swears that a hot shower before bed helps you fall asleep faster. That’s the next test that will be tracked with tags. We shall see.

I know a lot of people don’t like A.I., but I’m still in awe of the things I can build with it. This is so far beyond my skill level. And the data analysis that I can now do is truly helping my sleep. The older I’ve gotten, the worse my sleep has been. I’ve increased my sleep by one hour per night just from the Oura ring data.

I like the Oura ring app, and they have their own web view that is really nice, but being able to customize what you want to see and how is pretty neat.

If you have any trouble with sleep, I highly recommend using the Oura ring for 6 months or so, using tags, and figuring out what helps and hurts your sleep.

For the curious, here are some technical details.

The Stack Snapshot:

Next.js 14 (App Router) + TypeScript + Tailwind on the frontend and API layer.
SQLite via better-sqlite3 – synchronous API, ~23MB database holding ~4.4 years of history.
Node.js v22, brew-pinned on the prod host.
PM2 managing the Next.js process on port 3001 (alongside a sibling “Status Board” app on 3000).
launchd for scheduled jobs (not cron – it’s macOS).
Tailscale for access; the dashboard has no public internet exposure.
About 2,800 lines across the key files (ingest, queries, schema, pages), 22 React components.

The Data Pipeline:

Pulls 16 endpoints from Oura’s v2 API on a 14-day incremental window per run. Deliberately skips heartrate and interbeat_interval – those would 10x the DB for no visible dashboard benefit, and can be backfilled later if HRV analysis ever happens.

Idempotent by design. Every row is an INSERT OR REPLACE on the Oura-assigned document ID (with UNIQUE(day) constraints on daily tables). Re-running ingest is a safe no-op; late-arriving recomputes overwrite stale scores.
Two-column storage pattern. Each table has explicit parsed columns for fast queries plus a raw TEXT NOT NULL column holding the entire API JSON. If I want to derive a new column later, I don’t need to re-pull the API – just run a query over the raw JSON. Full-fidelity audit log, zero lossy transformations.
Every run is logged to an ingest_runs table (endpoint, start/end dates, status, doc counts, errors). Makes it trivial to see “did the 8am run land last night’s sleep yet?” – which I used twice this week.
~150 API requests, ~5 seconds per run – well under Oura’s 5000 req / 5 min limit, which leaves tons of room for backfill runs.

Scheduling:

launchd fires npm run ingest three times daily (8:00, 12:00, 16:00). The multiple fires exist because Oura’s detailed sleep endpoint publishes ~1–3h post-wake, so the 8am run catches the score, later runs catch the detail. A separate monthly launchd job fires on the 1st at 9:15am to produce a digest.

Silent Sunday

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:49:52 -0700

Silent Sunday

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 18:42:51 -0700

Kumari Gold Tea

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 15:29:27 -0700

Kumari Gold - Kumari Gold deserves its own post. This is a reserve tea from The Tea Spot in Boulder, CO. They have a nice blog post about it here that explains the tea and the estate it comes from.

It is one of the smoothest, most flavorful black teas I’ve ever tried. It’s wonderful, black or with a splash of cream or soy milk. I can drink this tea on an empty stomach. It’s organic and can be steeped at least twice.

I’m not a tea expert, but I’ve been really trying to expand my tea knowledge and experience. These Reserve teas are really a step up in flavor and quality.

If you have a favorite or exceptional tea, please let me know. I’d love to expand my teas. Also, favorite places to purchase fine or reserve teas would be greatly appreciated.

If you want to purchase from The Tea Spot, use my referral link and get $10 off your order when you spend at least $30.

Hope it’s an exceptional day!

Silent Sunday

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 13:28:47 -0700

Flashback to 2009

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 17:51:28 -0700

cliff538.com from 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. Really brought back some good memories. Sadly, there is no record of my very first blog, where I documented, step by step, how to build a stitch-and-glue kayak. Everything has been lost to time.

Some more old blog links: here and here

I’ve searched everywhere for that old blog on how to build a stitch-and-glue kayak. I can’t even remember which platform I used, or whether I hand-rolled it. A lot of photos and time documenting the process as a how-to was spent on that site. I can’t find a web archive or saved files of it anywhere.

Silent Sunday

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 10:19:31 -0700

Silent Sunday

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:31:04 -0700

Silent Sunday

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 09:28:08 -0700

TERRAINK: THE CARTOGRAPHIC POSTER ENGINE

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 18:45:58 -0700

TERRAINK

All credit to @hiro@social.lol for finding this one. I found out about it because I’m a subscriber to his amazing weekly email filled with goodies. You can subscribe here:

subscribe.hiro.report

Really, just click the link and go subscribe 🤠

This is really fun to play with. Build high-detail map posters from OpenStreetMap data with curated palettes, custom typography, and print-ready PNG output.

Here’s where I took my first steps on planet Earth:

Silent Sunday

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 17:31:28 -0700

#silentsunday

CyberPower UPS Internal Battery Replacement

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:49:48 -0700

So, I’ve never done this before. I think this feature of having replaceable internal batteries is fairly new? Just wanted to make a post about the option and how easy it is.

I have two UPSs in my office, one for the main desktop computer and one for the NAS. Yesterday, my main computer was off when I walked into the office. I restarted, and just a few minutes into startup, it dies again. Ugh! But I’ve seen this before, I know the drill. Unplug all peripherals, start up in safe mode, and then slowly open software and plug back in peripherals one at a time to see what is causing the issue.

I couldn’t even boot up into safe mode; it just shut back off. I was thinking, this is serious, like, take it to the shop series. Turns out it was my old CyberPower UPS; it was barely alive. No warning, no beeping, no message, just was on its last leg and wouldn’t even let my computer start up.

It’s like $300 to $400 bucks for a new one, I’m thinking, do I really need one? The power rarely drops off, etc. Then I remembered about battery replacement. Looked it up. Sure as heck, ordered a new lead-acid battery for $99 and replaced it. It takes removing two screws, popping off the front cover, unplugging the batteries, and sliding out the old battery to install the new one. Easy enough.

Be sure to go into Settings/Energy/UPS Options/ to make sure your computer recognizes the UPS and your settings are where you want them.

Back in safe waters with a good Surge protector and battery backup for the desktop.

Note: I purchased an OEM battery for $99. You can get aftermarket batteries for considerably less to save even more.

1984 - It Was One Of Those Days

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 16:12:35 -0700

August 25th, 1984 - Somebody was in a very bad mood. English class with Mrs. Buchanan; the assignment was to journal about anything.

Off I went: 😆

My 1993 Psion Series 3a Palmtop Computer Makes a Comeback

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:01:07 -0700

Digging through some old boxes, I came across my 33 year old palmtop computer.

I had forgotten all about this thing, and it flooded back some good memories. I loved this thing; I used to keep my logbook on it, write letters and spell check them, take notes, and work on spreadsheets.

They were made between 1993 and 1996. It ran EPOC16, the ancestor of what became Symbian.

What shocked me the most was that I put in fresh batteries, and it started right up!

Now to dig in and see if I have any old files on there…

Update: You can still buy them refurbished.

Here is the software to hook it to your computer. You’ll need two cables, listed in the software’s documentation.

New Book Alert 🚨 Maria Popova - Traversal 📚

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 17:54:26 -0700

Maria Popova has a new book out today Traversal.

Synopsis from Kobo:

“From the Marginalian creator and bestselling author Maria Popova, a bold exploration of what makes a meaningful life. What is life? What is death? What makes a body a person? What makes a planet a world? In Traversal, Maria Popova illuminates our various instruments of reckoning with the bewilderment of being alive—our telescopes and our treatises, our postulates and our poems—through the intertwined lives, loves, and legacies of visionaries both celebrated and sidelined by history, people born into the margins of their time and place who lived to write the future: Mary Shelley, Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglass, Fanny Wright, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Marie Tharp, Alfred Wegener, Humphry Davy, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret Mead. Woven throughout their stories are other threads—the first global scientific collaboration, the Irish potato famine, the decoding of the insulin molecule, the invention of the bicycle, how nature creates blue—to make the tapestry of meaning more elaborate yet clearer as the book advances, converging on the ultimate question of what makes life alive and worth living. By turns epic and intimate—as concerned with the physical laws binding atoms into molecules as with the psychic forces binding us to one other—Traversal explores the universe between cells and souls to reveal the world, and our lives, in a dazzling new light.”

I have it in the queue now and look forward to reading it.

I LOVED her first book Figuring.

Building An Online Micro.blog Editor

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 08:38:39 -0700

Inspired by @numericcitizen and his editor, I set out to use Vercel and build a custom Micro.blog editor for my 3 blogs.

I made a free (hobby) account at Vercel and then got to work in Claude Code. Told it what I wanted, and for the first try, it was pretty good. It took me about 4 hours working with CC to iron out all the kinks. The biggest problems were with the media folder, uploading photos, and making cross-posting work correctly. But we got through all the issues, and it is working very nicely.

I can choose which blog to post to, and it automatically populates the media folder, cross-posting options, and categories. I can send it to MB as a draft or a post. I can save the drafts locally as a JSON file and/or download all files.

Hats off to @manton for a nice API to work with, @numericcitizen for the inspiration, and Claude Code for the ease in making something like this, because it is way beyond my skill level.

I put the web app behind a password-protected splash screen, since it is custom to my blogs only. I can only imagine the havoc if someone nefarious got into this. There are other security measures I can deploy as well. Vercel has been easy to use and understand. Their hobby plan seems sufficient for now. Interesting note: Vercel has its own AI agent. Once you connect your GitHub account, it can send its own pull requests. I let it send a PR for adding analytics, and it worked very well. Kind of fun to watch it all take place over on GitHub.

I’m going to use this for a while and see if it sticks. It’s really not needed because there is such a nice Mac App for MB that this is not necessary, but it sure shows you the possibilities. One area where it may come in handy is on the road with just my iPad; I can use the Web App to post.

I think my next project may be making an iOS app.

Claude Code Makes A Cliff538 Status Board

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 14:29:36 -0700

I know, way too many posts out there about AI Agents making apps. But, in my opinion, this is what they are for. My coding skills are at a hobby level, and now I can code using English, and it’s really fast and really good.

Today, “we” made an online Cliff538 Status Board web app. Not a single mistake was made; it went very smoothly. The only changes were asking whether certain APIs allowed more information to be displayed, and cosmetic changes to improve the look. I have a spare iPad on my desktop that keeps the page up and refreshing for me. Overkill, I know, but it’s a hobby. It’s damn fun.

It refreshes every 30 seconds, runs locally on my Mac Mini, and is accessed using Tailscale.

I love it.

I can see more custom apps in my near future. This really cements the purchase of the Mac Mini as a home server; this web app running locally hardly uses any resources. “We” code locally on my office Mac and push to GitHub, then I screen share into the mini and have it download changes from GitHub. It’s a very nice system.

I will soon investigate Vercel as an option for a VPS.

Lately, another good use for Claude/ChatGPT has been to upload my HTML and CSS files for cleanup, commenting, adding a nice Table of Contents, etc. It makes me feel better to have my personal blog web pages neat and organized.

Well, that’s it until the next web app or, hopefully, an iPhone app soon. I’ve taken many courses on iOS apps and Swift, and it never clicked for me; it’s a very hard language. I much more enjoy Python, HTML, CSS, and some JS. Excited to see how Claude and I work together on that.

It’s been a wonderful day futzing with this.

I can’t have you check out the live web app because it’s not on the internet, just on my Tailscale Network, but here is a screenshot:

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 14:42:56 -0700

Look at what you find when you clean out the closet in your office.

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 17:25:39 -0700

I’ve had it! Every time I take them out to use them… I’m ready to turn in my AirPods and look for something new. 🤬

This happens all the time. They are brand new, so it’s not a cleaning issue. This happened with my last set of AirPods as well.

The only saving grace is that they charge fast…

365Pixels Stat Page

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 17:26:14 -0700

I’ve always wanted a stat page on 365Pixels that showed my current streak, posting percentage and other info. That skill is beyond my current abilities, so I worked with ChatGPT and came up with a really nice, simple Stat Block that sits on the homepage. I think it’s pretty fun.

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 16:23:59 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 12: Home

Home is anywhere/anytime when I’m with my crew❣️

Thu, 25 Dec 2025 13:51:04 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 11: Feast

Salmon on the grill.

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 13:04:29 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 10: Travel

The Internet Baffles Me Sometimes

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 11:51:33 -0700

This morning, both my microblog blogs were down for an hour. But my two testing microblog blogs were up and running. I checked Hover, my domain provider, and they had 100% uptime with no issues. Microblog showed no problems. But we are back now after an hour or so. Who knows 🤔

Update: 12/25/2025

And all has been made clear. This explains everything above.

As they say, “It’s always DNS.”

Let's Talk Email

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 12:56:51 -0700

I’ve never put much thought into email before. It wasn’t a super big deal to me; I had no professional needs with it, just a regular online-life email. I had no custom email addresses; I just used what Google and Apple gave me.

Until you read a few stories about people being locked out of their email accounts and losing everything.

This brings email to the forefront and makes you consider who your email provider is and whether you have a backup plan.

Most non-professionals end up with Apple Mail, Google Mail, Yahoo Mail, or a similar service. Remember AOL “You’ve Got Mail”. I’ve had them all over the years, including Hotmail. The last few years have been focused on Apple, Gmail, and Yahoo. You know the routine: an Apple address for business, a Gmail address for website accounts, and Yahoo for my spammy stuff - I don’t care if I lose this email.

That’s always been enough.

Recently, a lot of fuss was made on Mastodon about an individual who lost his Apple account after being locked out for using a bogus Apple gift card, according to the story.

This made me deep-dive into my reliance on big companies and who controls my data, especially email, email addresses, email Providers, backup plans, and best practices to avoid losing access to your email.

I’m not saying this is the best way, but it’s a lot better than what I had. It may help you as well. I think it’s pretty bulletproof.

What you want:

Your own email addresses with a custom domain: They are yours; you never have to change them. You can move them to any domain provider that suits you. Mine are at Hover. If Hover ever goes out of business, or things get flaky, I can move my domain names to another provider. The important part is that my email addresses will never have to change unless I want them to.

An email provider/service that you register your custom domain names to: This needs to be a service that has everything you need from a provider: cost, aliases, good apps, and a good look and feel. You can use your custom domains with Google or Apple, but why? You are risking some real hassles. There are excellent providers with minimal risk, such as FastMail, Proton, and others. This is where some good research will pay off. Review everything, find something that fits your needs and budget, then follow the Provider’s instructions to register your domain names with it. Remember, you can always move Providers later if you need to. At Proton, and now want to move to FastMail, just move your domains over to FastMail. In theory, you won’t lose any emails, as undeliverable emails will bounce for days, always trying to reach their destination. By the time your domains are registered with the new Provider, emails sent to and from you during this transition period will eventually reach their new home. At least that is what I’m told.

I went with Proton Mail. They have easy-to-follow instructions for setting up your domains, provide email aliases, offer good apps, and encrypt your email from start to finish.

An Alias Email Address Structure/System: The next step is to plan which email address to use for each location. You’ll have your primary email address, your favorite one. You want to keep this one mostly off the internet. You don’t want a ton of spam going to it after all these companies get hacked, and they have your email you used to sign up for all these services and accounts. In steps aliases. Most email services provide aliases for you to use. I went with a custom domain for my aliases, too; this way, I have complete control over how they look and can maintain a regimented structure. I’m using a service called SimpleLogin. I attached my custom domain to it, and now, I can make a unique address for each online account I ever sign up for. This way, when it’s eventually leaked online, and I start getting spam to it, I can change it. I only have to change one email address, and the spam stops. Suppose you use your primary email address for all your online accounts; you’re stuck. You will eventually get tons of spam, and the thought of going back and changing hundreds of email addresses will make your eyes cross, and you’ll say screw it.

My Email Plan in Action

I have three custom domains. One is for my personal email, one is for secondary/recovery emails in online accounts, and the third is my aliases email with SimpleLogin.

My business and personal email are with my main/favorite email address. Every other online account has a unique email address, an alias. This is where your email Provider will help, or you can use a custom service like SimpleLogin. I’ve been using SimpleLogin for years now, and it’s an excellent service. I’ve had zero issues with them. When that alias email gets compromised, and it will, I change that one email. Easy.

For example, I just signed up with The Atlantic magazine. It gets its own custom email: theatlantic@yourcustomdomain.com. I use the name of the account I’m signing up for; that way, I always know which account it is and which email has been compromised. Hit the easy button!

I now have 150+ email addresses out there on the internet; they all go to the same email Provider and open in the same Mac or iOS app—clean, simple, and pretty bulletproof.

Benefits

Everything can be moved.
Nobody can lock you out of your emails.
You’ll never have to change more than one email address when that one ends up on the dark web for sale, and hundreds of spam emails are inundating your inbox every day.
Every new account you sign up for gets its own email address. Your-new-account@yourcustomdomain.com or a structure that you can remember. You’ll never forget your username again.
An easy backup schedule that can be automated if needed.

Downsides

You’re not getting free email anymore. All this is going to cost you something every year. But, with that comes a lot of peace and a whole lot less spam.
Once you get your new email address, you will spend days, weeks, and maybe months changing all your emails from that Google address to your sporty new custom ones. But it’s worth it. It will be the last time you have to do this.

Let me know if you have any additional tips or if you see a vulnerability in my plan.

As always, thank you for reading.

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 08:20:39 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 9: Baking

Holiday Pizza!

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 09:34:31 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 8: Grinch

Sun, 21 Dec 2025 09:08:31 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 7: Solstice

Sat, 20 Dec 2025 18:43:32 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 6: Sparkle

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 07:24:33 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 5: Beard

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 09:23:09 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 4: Evergreen

Evergreen, Desert Style!

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 10:38:27 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 3: Firelight

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:17:25 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 2: Cozy

Taken at a local zoo a few years ago. Little one looks pretty cozy.

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 15:15:09 -0700

📸 ❄️ 12 Days of Winter Wonder Photo Challenge - Day 1: Frost

Remembering The Family Kitchen Phone

Sun, 07 Dec 2025 15:37:18 -0700

Tell me you had a kitchen phone with a super-long, curly cord so you could stretch it into the next room for some privacy without telling me…

What a little piece of nostalgia. I love this thing.

Bonus points if the kitchen phone was the only phone in the house. Super Bonus points if you had to deal with a party line.

If you want one, go here and sign up for back-in-stock alerts.

AppleTV Flashback to First Gen Model A1218 circa March 2007

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 15:56:37 -0700

Doing an office deep clean, came across this beauty. The first-generation Apple TV (the Apple and the TV were not attached back then) Model A1218, announced in January 2007 and released in March 2007.

I was so excited for this to come out, I ordered it the first day that I could.

Researching it online, I’m told Steve Jobs demoed it in September 2006 and called it “iTV”.

I’m looking through my old Apple boxes to see if I kept the box. I’m told it’s highly sought after.

When I get time, I’m going to plug it in and see if it still fires up.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Space Travel Posters

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 12:09:41 -0700

Pretty cool space travel posters/wallpapers from NASA:

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 11:23:42 -0700

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.

theroadtopatagonia.com

Scratch Pad Thoughts

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 17:22:04 -0700

Love the life you have, with the stuff you have, and try to improve it a little bit each day.
Take pictures of everything.
Tell your friends and family that you love them.
Talk to random strangers, connect with people, even just for a few minutes. You may brighten their day, and yours.
Do something you are scared to do. Start small and work up to “No Fucking Way, I’m doing that” kind of stuff.
Declutter both physically and mentally. Give something away. Clean up that pile of papers on your desk.
Read a book with your phone on silent.
If you want to buy something, put it in your cart and wait a day or two. Then, ask yourself, Will this still be useful in three months? Will this bring happiness? Is this thing worth going to work for?
You can skip the pursuit of happiness altogether and just be happy.

** None of these cornerstone ideas are truly my own; I’ve read/seen them before, thought about them, changed the wording to fit my life. Try to do the same, make them your own. Write your own versions and look at them daily for a few weeks over coffee. Tweak, read, think, tweak again until they are just right for you.

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 10:38:26 -0700

Finished reading: A Marriage At Sea by Sophie Elmhirst 📚

Really enjoyed the story, if you like survival stories, you’ll like this one.

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 08:27:35 -0700

📷 Day 30: Solitude

#mbjune

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 14:27:42 -0700

Photo Challenge Day 24: Bloom 📷

cliff538.com

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 11:50:33 -0700

Micro.blog Photo Challenge: Day 20: Gather

https://cliff538.com

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 09:53:42 -0700

Micro.blog photo challenge 📷 Day 19: Equal

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 17:00:21 -0700

Micro.blog Photo Challenge 📷 day 18 - texture

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 07:44:05 -0700

Powerful Photography.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/2…

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 09:29:13 -0700

Cliff538 🇨🇦 💪🏻

Short Walk in Omaha / The Rest of the Daily Shots | February 26, 2025

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 19:49:39 -0700

iPhone 16 ProMax shot/processed (shot in RAW)

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 07:41:02 -0700

Spent some time “Chatting with my highlights” in Readwise. I really like this feature. I have highlights from over 1000 books now so it’s really interesting to have a more focused knowledge base to ask questions from. This feature may alter which things I highlight in the future. 🧐

The Rest of the Daily Shots | February 16, 2025

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 17:15:03 -0700

Ever seen the inside a Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea)?

The woody skeleton inside the saguaro gives a framework of interconnected, woody ribs that provide structural support, enabling the cactus to reach heights of up to 40–50 feet.

Unfortunately, this saguaro is going to look like this fairly soon.

Saguaros have evolved to withstand the harsh conditions of the desert. However, the increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves in the Phoenix area have begun to exceed their tolerance levels. This is a very sad example of climate change here in the Phoenix Valley.

If anything good can be said of it, it will at least feed the desert critters; they seem to love munching on the soft green flesh.

Here, you can see where they are nibbling at the base of this young saguaro.

The green flesh has all been consumed here just leaving the reddish brown woody underside.

This green lichen is all over the rocks; it is this bright fluorescent green, and I haven’t bumped the color at all.

Desert rocks here have what is called Desert Varnish. It is a dark, glossy coating that forms on the surface of rocks in arid environments over thousands of years. You can read more about it here.

You can really see the shiny thick varnish on this rock. It can make for some beautiful colors.

Here you can see their shallow root system.

Saguaros possess an extensive but shallow root system, spreading out as wide as the cactus is tall, to efficiently capture rainfall. This also makes them more prone to falling over and, unfortunately, being stolen from the wild.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little desert walk.

You can see the chosen daily pic at 365Pixels

The Rest of the Daily shots | February 14, 2025

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 17:08:37 -0700

You can see the daily shot at 365Pixels.

The Rest of the Daily Shots | February 13, 2025

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:16:23 -0700

You can see the daily shot at 365Pixels.

More experimentation today. Not happy with anything, but learning has occurred. ☺️

The Rest of the Daily Shots | February 12, 2025

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:29:20 -0700

You can see the daily shot at 365Pixels.

Here are the others from the day I shot and had to choose from. Would you have picked a different one for your daily shot?

Inspired by @maique@social.lol, who posted some rainy-day windshield shots, I thought it was perfect that it was raining in BNA.

Landing in BHM, I was able to get this shot with the spoilers up.

Waiting for the van I loved the wet curve in the road with the towers in the background. When you see it, you know it needs to be captured.

Another variation really captures the lighted concrete towers. I really like the contrast in this one.

This was behind the check-in counter at the Hilton, didn’t even need to convert this one to black and white, right out of the camera and added a border.

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 09:40:40 -0700

This is how we used to change a nose tire on the Twin Otter; this technique is probably frowned upon today 😆

I spent many hours working and flying on ol' 100AP; I miss that plane.

#oldschool #aviation #arcticmaintenance #twinotter

The Rest of the Daily Shots February 10th 2025

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 15:02:42 -0700

Rusty Student Services

Aloe Garden

You can see the daily shot here.

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:16:22 -0700

It’s Monday, hang on, it’s going to be another long week…

Exposed to Light | 02 - Hippo Love by Unknown

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 09:24:03 -0700

Photographer: Unknown.
Camera: Unknown.
Title: Unknown; I’m calling it Hippo Love.
Link: Unknown.

I have two desktop screens. One’s background picture constantly changes; the other has this, which never changes. The love, care, and trust that this picture imparts makes me smile every day. I would love to know the background of this shot. I would love to talk to this man and find out about his relationship with this hippo. What is the hippo’s name? How long was he a part of this hippo’s life? Was this a daily ritual? How long did they sit there? Who took the picture?

I love the working-class feel of the picture. I had that lunch box for a while growing up. I love the tape on it. Mostly, I love the hippos' look of complete security and peace. No matter what was going on in this hippo’s life, at this moment, all was well with the world.

When I look at this picture first thing in the morning when the computer whirls to life and the screens pop on, all is right in my world, too.

The Rest of the Daily Shots from Friday, February 7th 2025

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 09:09:42 -0700

Left Base - Almost Home

Power To The People

You can see the daily shot here.

Short Walk in Las Vegas

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 19:28:43 -0700

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 17:11:47 -0700

Short Walk In Tampa

#crewlife

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 18:49:36 -0700

books.apple.com/us/book/t…

Behind the Scenes on Project 365Pixels

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 16:00:15 -0700

Tough day behind the lens. Yesterday I was super happy with the pictures and felt good posting. Today was tough and I’m not happy with anything. You can see today’s pick here. I’m showing today’s other work below so you can see what I had to work with. It’s a fun process but much more enjoyable when you have a banger. 💥📷.

Pictures shot in SMF, with an iPhone 16ProMax. Edited on iPhone and posted with iPad.

Would you have chosen a different one?

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 17:35:30 -0700

A good days work.

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 15:52:13 -0700

CFM LEAP-1B

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 08:49:46 -0700

“Pretty in Pink”

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 08:04:39 -0700

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 08:41:23 -0700

“Hang In There”

Hiking in Colorado, caught this guy struggling to stay on top of a blade of grass. A little metaphor for this year…

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 16:44:24 -0700

If you have to overnight somewhere, Cancun works. 😊 #crewlife

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 13:09:33 -0700

7 mile Winter desert hike.

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 09:52:47 -0700

When the processing fee is starting to rival your electricity fee…

Next month, I’ll start selling more than I use, building up a credit for the 115+ degrees F Summer that is coming.

Thank you, sunshine. #solar

A Trip Home ~ Kings and Sawdust

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 13:45:41 -0700

A visual story post over at Exposure from 2015 - A Trip Home ~ Kings and Sawdust

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 14:53:01 -0700

In the early 90s, at a Dewline station at -40F on the North Slope of Alaska, A Canadian company chartered us for weeks while they fully automated the Dewline stations. I’m sure it was mixed emotions for the hardy, brave souls who lived at and cared for these sites to watch them be automated. I wonder how many went to the tropics after that!

Sat, 11 Jan 2025 14:49:20 -0700

I always find these facinating;

Mastodon Users: 11,817,591 accounts +324 in the last hour +6,156 in the last day +31,583 in the last week

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 06:49:46 -0700

Nice winter storm moved through DAL yesterday, my first two flights cancelled this morning, so far my 11am is holding together. DFW was shut down yesterday for awhile due to lack of de-ice fluid for the runways. Going to be lots of chaos the next few days…

Where Do You find Books To Read

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 21:37:14 -0700

This has been a struggle for me in the past. I often found myself running out of books and searching for something new to read, which led me to browse bookstores. Each visit is a wonderful experience; independent shops have a unique charm, often showcasing local authors, and the smell of books is irreplaceable. However, there were times when I left empty-handed, without anything that sparked my interest.

To tackle this, having a collection of online tools for discovering books is essential. Here are some ideas that may inspire you.

Now, I face a new challenge: a to-read list that keeps expanding, which is, in fact, a wonderful problem to have. I used to feel overwhelmed by this, but I’ve learned to embrace the reality that countless books will always remain out of reach. That’s why it’s so important to focus on reading what you love. Don’t linger on a book that feels just okay; there are countless extraordinary stories waiting for you. And don’t let that ever-growing pile of unread books weigh you down; it’s always there with your next book!

I will continue to add to this list with your suggestions and any helpful resources I come across. Please email or comment with your favorites, and I’ll include them.

Updated March 18, 2026 from Somewhere in Arizona

Major Platforms

Five Books - They ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview. This site has an archive of more than 1700 interviews and 8000 book recommendations. They publish at least two new interviews per week.

The Millions - A great online publication devoted to books. Check out The Great Fall 2024 Book Preview as a good place to start.

NYT book reviews

100 Best Books of the 21st Century - NYT Gift Article

The Best Books of 2024 - The New Yorker

Atlantic book reviews

NYR Of Books - The New York Review Magazine is over my head and usually out of my wheelhouse, yet I still enjoy it and find it helpful. Although I usually read only one or two articles, the ads are mostly for books, and it’s been a great place to find new books I would never have ordinarily seen.

Washington Post book reviews

New Books To Read in 2025 - Penguin Random House. It also has a good weekly newsletter about their books.

Red Pen Reviews - Expert nutrition book reviews that sort fact from fiction

GoodReads - Amazon company

StoryGraph - A fully-featured Amazon-free alternative to Goodreads

Rakuten Kobo - For about a year now, I’ve stopped using Amazon and Kindle for my ebooks. Kobo has been a great replacement. They have a great book selection, and while still a little rough in areas, the Kobo reading app for iPhone and iPad has been good enough. I hope they continue to polish it. I haven’t tried any of their e-readers, as the iPhone/iPad apps are enough for me. I’ve heard really good things about them on Reddit.

Personal Sites & Blogs

Derek Silvers - He does a good job blogging about the books he’s read.

Trey Hunner - Has a great 2024 recap on his books and audiobooks.

The Library of Alexandra - I just found this via microblog and am looking forward to exploring it.

Robert Breen - Excellent book reviews

For myself, this is just Mastodon and the newly found Micro.blog. After you acquire a group of people you enjoy following, it can be a great place to see what they are reading and why.

Micro.blog - Really is amazing for book ideas and reviews. In your Discovery feed, you can filter by books to see what everyone is reading and their reviews. I’m new to it, but it looks like a gold mine!

Podcasts

It’s a great place to hear interviews with authors, or you can search your podcast player for book review podcasts.

If Books Could Kill - I haven’t listened to many of them, so I’m unfamiliar with their general theme and structure, but it might be worth checking out.

Friends and Family

I reached out to a small group of friends and said, “Let’s have a texting group where we text about the books we’ve enjoyed and recommend.” This has been an excellent source.

Community Driven

Literature Map - Type in an author, and it will show you other similar authors.

Recommend Me A Book

BookWyrm - BookWyrm is a social network for tracking your reading, discussing books, writing reviews, and discovering what to read next. Federation allows BookWyrm users to join small, trusted communities that can connect with one another and with other ActivityPub services like Mastodon.

Library Thing - A Home For Your Books, LibraryThing is a free, library-quality catalog to track reading progress or your whole library.

What Should I Read Next - Enter a book you like, and the site will analyze the huge database of real readers' favorite books to provide book recommendations and suggestions for what to read next.

r/books - Reddit

Literal* - Track what you’re reading, follow friends, and join clubs to collectively explore the ideas of the world’s greatest authors. I don’t use this site because the same features are built into Micro Blog, but it looks excellent for tracking your lists: Currently Reading, To Read, and Read, making custom Bookshelves, and reading other people’s book reviews. If I didn’t have Micro Blog, I’d be here.

Library Tools

OverDrive/Libby - Free ebooks, audiobooks & magazines from your local library.
You only need a public library card or access through your workplace or university. Always free - no fees or subscriptions.

Free EBook Sources

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From Above & Holding The Line

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 18:49:46 -0700

These are two of my favorite pictures. I was extremely lucky to be driving down the highway and catch these guys working in the hills. I had my 200-500mm lens, which allowed me to take these shots. It was all shot out the window. I sat there for hours, watching these guys work. I would like to do this after I retire. I respect these pilots greatly. I was able to contact the pilots via social media and made sure they received copies of the prints.

photo on Cliff538

Silent Sunday

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Silent Sunday

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From Above & Holding The Line