2026-01-09 05:01:00
If you've been paying attention to the news you probably are aware of the murder of Renee Good at the hands of ICE.
And unfortunately, this is where the useless apathetic takes come out. The useless commentary of people who want nothing more than to self-aggrandize on how little of an opinion they have.
It must be nice being so damn obtuse to the situation at hand that you can sit in a nice place of privilege and arrogantly try and claim both sides as just as bad.
Both sides aren't killing people, both sides aren't violently harassing citizens, both sides aren't justifying lethal use of force from the state.
If all you're gonna do is stick that fence post firmly up your ass and "both sides" the situation to death, then your best course of action is to shut the fuck up, because your "commentary" is about as useful as a broken refrigerator.
If you have nothing intelligent to offer besides surface-level observations, your opinion has already been done to death by mainstream news outlets.
Your apathy is at best cowardice, and at worst evil. If you're the type of person to think how Renee was "insignificant" and thus you don't care. Let this be a reminder that you are a piece of shit. How many people need to die before you realize you're just a sociopath masquerading as an intellectual?
You're not enlightened for being a "centrist". If you're ignorant of the situation, that's fine, but don't go trying to act like both sides are equally bad in this situation.
If you watched a woman getting murdered in her car trying to escape a bunch of fascist-backed thugs and think "bOtH sIdEs" you need to find a proctologist to have your head surgically removed from your own ass.
2026-01-09 04:00:00
I check the recent discovery feed often, sometimes several times a day. I really enjoy seeing the variety of posts and knowing that most people blogging here are regular people sharing insights into their daily lives or throwing their thoughts and feelings into the void.
I frequently upvote posts that I find interesting as my (small) way of saying thank you for sharing. I wish I could see a history of what I upvoted, because unless I bookmark a post, I quickly forget which ones were most interesting. If there’s a way of doing this, please let me know!
If a site has a layout or theme I find attractive, I’m more likely to look around a bit. Yes, I’m tempted by pretty things.
I gravitate towards certain themes - I usually click links that contain the following:
I’m more likely to click on posts that are clearly titled so I have an idea what I’ll be reading about. That’s not to say I don’t click on ones that don’t, but if I’m short on time or not in the mood for reading much, I’ll be more likely to pass over them.
There’s a few topics I almost never click on - there’s nothing wrong with any of these, they just aren’t my cup of tea.
I don’t look at the Trending tab very often. Because posts can stay there for a few days, it’s not necessary. However, I do like to browse a few pages in and discover posts that have had a few upvotes which I missed on the Recent tab.
I’d love to know what interests other Bear bloggers have and how you like to browse the Discovery feed. Feel free to comment in my guestbook, reply with your own post or just pop me an email if you want to keep it private.
Carlos commented via the Contact page:
Hey Becky,
I just read your post "Navigating Bear's Discovery Feed" and enjoyed it. My initial thought on seeing your bookmarking question was that a potential solution could be a postroll.
I wrote a brief note about your piece and mentioned that, but realized my notes are not discoverable by default and wanted to drop in and send you that link and potential solution!
Creating An Automatic Postroll With Bear's Powerful Embed Feature
Take care!
2026-01-08 20:33:00
This thought popped into my head last night. Ever since starting Bear Blog, I've been receiving emails from fellow bloggers, and it reminds me of my ==penpal== days, when we used to send snail mail to complete strangers—usually on the other side of the world—simply to connect.
But before starting this post, I did a quick search on Bear Blog's discovery to see if anyone else has written on the subject. Sure enough, Sebastian wrote a post titled, "Emails Are Making Me Happy Again," which perfectly summarizes all of my thoughts. So rather than just repeat what he wrote, I'll add on another take:
We have many forms of communication at our disposal today, and I believe each has its purpose. Texting is great for casual chatting or even long-winded conversations. ==But texting really fails at sending useful chunks of information.== In fact, if I received a bunch of links and info via text, I might find it overwhelming, but I'd mostly just FORGET about it. I mainly use Whatsapp, and while you can star specific messages, it's not the best at saving information, and most of the time, I simply just don't remember that it's there.
You could send all that info in one go. It could be a list of links, an essay, or even span multiple threads. But it's all there, bundled together by an appropriately titled subject line. Emails are there forever, and even for an unorganized inbox, one can simply search via keywords, which isn't as easy to do on Whatsapp.
I'm one of those people with only one email for everything. I mostly shop online, so I appreciate emails when my order has shipped. I worry that if I had multiple accounts, I'd forget to to check them. And if I forwarded all of those emails to my main... Well, what's the point of having multiple accounts in the first place?!
On the topic of emails, I am also keen on de-Googling my life. However, it's difficult and will take some time. I would also need to do some research, and right now, looking into email clients is not on my priority list.
So, echoing the words of my fellow Bear Bloggers who love receiving emails, I love them too! I used to spend time organizing my inbox, but ever since it fell by way of marketers, I stopped caring. Now, I feel motivated to do so.
Also, remember when we used to send email chains? I don't miss that format, but that's when I first started seeing content like, "25 facts about me," etc. etc.
Not only are more and more people yearning for the analog life, we're also collectively yearning for the early days of the internet, back when it was messy, imperfect, and clearly made by humans.
2026-01-08 13:09:00
I first saw this lovely lady when I visited Chiang Mai back in 2014. Yesterday, I saw her again and asked if I could take a photo.
She was still sitting in the very same spot. A small street-side shelter made of bamboo and tarps, where she runs her sewing business.
I have no idea how old she is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s close to 70. It felt as if she hadn’t aged a day during the decade that had passed.
She was just sitting there, looking genuinely content and peaceful, sewing away. As if nothing needed to change or happen for her to be truly happy.
Maybe that’s the secret to true happiness, being thankful for what we have, here and now. We may have plans and ambitions, but we don’t let them overshadow the value of the present moment.
After all, this is all we have.
2026-01-08 08:26:00
I just read Eka's post about growing weary of self hosting. It's funny because I just reached out to fellow blogger Khem because in one of his posts he spoke about self hosting music. I love the parity that you find here on Bear Blog. :)
I’m tired of paying these companies—companies that keep raising their prices—when it’s within my capacity to host my own services, ie. photo storage via Immich, or music via Navidrome.
Everyone has their own tolerance for friction, and that friction comes in different forms; whether that be monetarily, time commitment, or frustration. For me, I find the friction of self-hosting to be fun, and something that is worth my downtime over things like scrolling.
Either way, I enjoy reading everyone's posts on here and getting to know differing ways people go about living life.
2026-01-08 04:26:00
I'm writing this post from a very noisy Asus gaming laptop. One of the fan broke again. It was last serviced in August for this exact same reason. Apparently a piece of plastic from the broken right hinge got into the fan and destroyed it. Thankfully I couldn't hear the noise with my headphones on, and I'm writing this in a dead mall where my laptop repair shop is located. I have been their customer since 2021 when I dropped this laptop from the top bunk of a bed (don't ask). No wonder the hinge is messed up now. Since then the laptop has issues here and there, but for the most part it works all right.
"I got this laptop in 2020," I told the repairman.
"Oh? That's great. These days, getting more than three years out of a gaming laptop is good."
What the fuck, I thought. Then I thought of how my more affluent friends trade in their electronics for the newer version every year. I guess that's the reality nowadays. When did that become the new normal?
A lot of my tech are secondhand. Before this laptop, I used a 2011 iMac my dad got from his friend from 2013 to 2018, then an old MacBook Pro (I don't remember the year but it was very old, about the same age as the iMac) from 2018 to 2020. Both of these macs died for reasons unknown and I thought I already got my money's worth out of them, so as a replacement I got this Laptop new around mid-2020 according to the oldest file I can find on it. I've been using it pretty much every day since, mostly for writing and indie gaming.
On the phone front, I've been using an iPhone 7 Plus since roughly 2019. Its battery has degraded and I never replace it. "I'm replacing this phone soon anyway," I told people. I've been telling people that since then and still to this day (the phone is charging next to me as we speak). It still works. Barely, but as long as the banking apps work I consider that "working".
I'm used to using gadgets until they literally died in my arms. And I'm not gentle with them either. My phone has been thrown against the wall out of rage (not caused by it) more than once. My iPad is naked because I chose to spend my money on buffet and ice cream over a new case. They're still holding up aside from the short charging port scare. I thought this was the default way of using tech until I met my rich friends. Then I thought that's just what rich people do until I realise the rest of us are also trading in our perfectly usable phones and laptops for newer ones given the chance. Now I look insane going to repair shop in a dead mall trying to squeeze more out of my aging laptop.
Society at large have gotten used to the idea that tech is either brand-spanking new or completely unusable, and anything between those is not just unacceptable but a completely unknown concept. The problem with that is it's only possible for something to be new for so long, so the moment a gadget gets older than… I don't even know what's the acceptable age for a tech item anymore, it's regarded as "too old" and traded in for a new, shiny one. It's so easy to do so these days — you can go to an evil and intimidating1 Apple Store and get your data transferred to a new phone in seconds. It's way harder to actually fix your phone. I don't know how to do it myself either but I assume that if my local sketchy repair shop can replace Nan's iPhone 6 camera with a new (albeit worse) camera then it can be done. Or maybe you can't do it with a newer iPhones. I don't know anymore.
The point is, maybe we shouldn't do this? Maybe we should learn to live with slightly (or not so slightly) scuffed tech that still works? I genuinely don't know who started the idea of trading in. Apple? Microsoft? Capitalism as a whole?! Here are a couple reasons why we shouldn't do it.
You are making unnecessary purchases by trading in your perfectly usable tech for a new one. Even if you don't care about wasting money (which you should, but you do you. I also waste my money on overpriced ice cream), you probably should care about the environment since I assume you people reading this are going to be sticking around for at least another half a century. Now I don't know where traded-in electronics go. I assume they get refurbished and resold (if they don't end up in the landfill). That's still extra packaging that need to be manufactured and shipped. I'm not a particularly eco sort, but I still think we should reduce the amount of consumption overall. Buy less, not buy eco, you know.
The enshittification is real, you guys. I don't even think this is an intentional, malicious doing to purposefully break your device so you buy a new one. I think people in Big Tech are genuinely either incompetent or replaced by AI. I run Windows 11. Every update breaks something. It's horrible. On the hardware side of thing, things break faster. Colors oxidises and chips. Hinges break at the slightest of hand. And the worst part is if your stuff doesn't break...
Unless you're somehow stuck with a phone from 2016 like I am, a new phone in 2026 isn't going to load up your content any faster than your current one does. Any faster and that's breaking the laws of physics. If you aren't able to stream a 4K video from YouTube without buffering, it's probably your internet's fault. We have long reached the point of diminishing return when it comes to technology. New phones aren't defined by their upgraded hardware specs but their (probably vibecoded) software-side features. Cameras have only been improving on the computational side for the past few years. MacBooks haven't had any significant innovation in them for years and everyone knows it.
In conclusion: just use what you already have until it dies. Don't just get a new one at the smallest of your inconvenience. Whatever problem you're having right now isn't going to be fixed with a new phone. You don't need it.
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