2026-04-15 01:08:00
You’re right, your life and ideas probably aren't that interesting.
The number of people who care to know what you’re doing, thinking, and feeling? Very few.
But consider this: historians and scholars today nerd out over old written artifacts. It’s a clean window into the past. Official accounts of the past are often produced with a particular point of view, the heavy hand of the state or the victor looking over the author’s shoulder.
But you? You are free to look and describe things as you see and understand them.
It’s not clear how much that’s on the Internet will persist, or for how long. But there’s a decent chance that your individual perspective could survive centuries even though you're “just a common person.”
What you wore, where you went, how you spent your time, what you worried about, how you lived—all straight from the source, as a gift for posterity.
If nothing else, the people of the far future will be thrilled to hear from you.
2026-04-14 22:44:00
The company I work for uses, like many other companies, NPS (net promoter score) to measure customer satisfaction.
The results are to be taken with a grain of salt, to say the least. On top of that, many customers don't take the survey or just reply: "I never recommend companies."
Every now and then, my boss forwards me lovely replies from happy clients. It's a nice little confirmation, but it doesn't change the way I do my work. I keep doing what I do no matter the score.
I feel the same way about the upvote button. It's nice if a post gets some extra attention, but it's not important. It won't change the way I blog.
Another thing when it comes to upvotes is that they don't say much, really. It's just a small piece of a big pie. You may have 500 readers who love your writing, but never even see the toast button in their feed reader.
I understand that some people choose to hide the upvote button for various reasons. Blogging should feel fun and free. If that toast thingy interferes with that in any way, by all means hide it if it makes you feel better.
But if you hide it just because you feel that the posts don't get enough upvotes, it's probably not the button that's the problem. That mindset will just shift to the next thing: not enough guestbook comments, not good enough stats, not enough reader mail...
Don't focus on collecting numbers, focus on delivering words.
Don't fear the upvote button, but don't praise it either.
2026-04-14 20:19:00
I'm posting this text directly from BearBlog, which is different cos I typically type into Obsidian first, but this is not one of those times.
I wanted to come on here and say was genuinely smiling after reading this post: Bear Blog and the kindness of digital strangers by The Moody Warlock and wanted to share it with anyone who read this blog. This is the exact kind of Small Web culture we need to embrace and strengthen. ■
🎧 Traffic outside my window
2026-04-14 18:48:00
I shared a post on here previously about Jamie Todd Rubin's personal archive system (PAS). I have now started to implement my own. Doing this is something that's always interested me. I feel it's important to preserve details from your own life to look back on. It gives you good and bad memories to reflect on and you can build on these and live a more intentional life. My PAS differs from Jamie's in a few ways.
My PAS is centred on Obsidian. This is the central hub for everything. I use Dropbox for storage and link into Obsidian for things like PDFs, saved email etc. Dropbox provides a unique URL for each file. I then link it in Obsidian like so [descriptive filename](dropbox link).
I use Google Photos for photos and videos. I can then link into Obsidian using links again, using the same markdown URL method I mentioned above.
A key to linking in Obsidian is using descriptive filenames. This is essential for searching, as the actual document is not stored in Obsidian itself.
The choice to store documents externally for the most part is one based on speed. I want Obsidian to remain lightning fast even years down the line. If I bloat it with 100s of GB of documents this will slow it down and ruin the experience.
I want my archive to be available for me on all devices. For this I use Obsidian Sync. This is another reason for the external storage. Obsidian only provides 100GB of storage for their sync, so I don't ever want to run out.
My Obsidian setup is based around the daily note. I use a template for these.
The daily note starts with a weather section. My grandad used to write in his diary the weather each day, just a line, and he said it helped him remember the day. So I have tried to do the same here. This causes me a few problems though. I'm based in Scotland, and we can have all the seasons in a day, which one to put - the snowstorm in the morning, the bright sunshine in the afternoon or the deluge in the evening? I did try and automate this but it was a bit much. I'm looking for other ways to automate this.
Next section is the log. This is where I log my day. What happened, who I spoke to, what I did - anything like that. This section can be fairly detailed or just a few lines depending on the day. This is the most important section for me. I also have a subheading in this section for reflections on the day. This part focuses less on what happened, and more about my thoughts on what happened.
After that comes the links section. Anything linked from Obsidian goes here. I also link other notes made on this day in this section.
Media Consumption is next. This is where I record what I've read for that day. I also use it to record any YouTube videos or podcasts that I've consumed that day. I might jot down a few notes here, or I might make a separate note and put the notes down there if I have more thoughts. I try and link to the article/video from this section too.
And the final section is Completed Tasks. I use Todoist to manage my tasks. I would really like a system where I could have all tasks added, completed and deleted appear in the Daily Note. Unfortunately, I can't find an easy, neat way of doing this. Therefore I settle for completed tasks. I use the plugin Todoist Completed Tasks to manage this. I do import all tasks created, deleted and completed in plain text into my weekly note.
2026-04-14 18:39:13
Some days ago, browsing my RSS feed as usual I got some very weird error in a blog I (now used) to read. A few days later the the same happened, but then after the crash appeared a message to disable my adblock.
If they make the webpage crash because I don't allow ads, I'm better not accessing the site anymore.1 I guess the most I lose is access to comments. The most interesting part which was the link collection they posted once in a while can still be read via my RSS reader.
To make things worse, the post-crash page says the ads are reasonable. They are not, they're the same as every other site with ads.
I also got the same error with another site I found while browsing. I guess I don't need to access that one too.↩
2026-04-14 17:51:00
It is, perhaps, a sign of our chaotic times that I wasn't surprised to read a Wired article this morning about numerous MAGA supporters wondering whether Donald Trump is actually the Antichrist. I'd laugh if the state of the world wasn't so perilous right now. I'm quite sure the potential global catastrophe we face is pushing my already high blood pressure to risky levels.
Lets look at Trump, the most buffoonish of figures, through the lens of religious narrative for a moment. If a person was ever going to be the opposite of the Jesus figure, it's Trump - a pathological selfish liar - a thin-skinned grifter - a man so stupid, he continues to tell himself and everyone else that he's actually a genius. If he was just another moronic average Joe on the street corner, you might pity him. But this dangerous fuck - this infantile scumbag - has access to the nuclear codes and a powerful military force.
Every country maintains a mythology ~ stories about foundation, about values that drive its people, about cultural and socio-economic goals that align with grand objectives and religious tales. These things form a kind of cultural bedrock upon which communities are formed. One might believe in the so-called American Dream or the idea that America is so mighty that it can influence events in far-flung parts of the world without consequence. The story of American exceptionalism is strong - the idea that the nation aspires to glorious goals and is exceptional technologically, militarily, economically, culturally, and politically. Such a nation feels justified in exporting democracy abroad and projecting both soft and hard power to influence allies and enemies. Citizens thereby feel empowered and starry-eyed about possibility. They are filled with the kind of hope that tends to obliterate the reality of their own poverty filled lives. These stories also legitimise bloody conflicts to reinforce hegemonic power. The justification is made that bloodshed is necessary because some group somewhere threatens American order, world order, and American supremacy.
These stories are consensually constructed and maintained mythologies that drive human history with momentum equal to their scale and believability. One might truly believe in the power of the individual, possessed by the demon of industry and innovation, toiling away until lifted up by what seems an inevitable goldrush of money and glory. But stories are also illusions. They are two-sided - both empowering and dispossessing. Those that have riches maintain the illusion for fear of losing their wealth and social status, and those who have little are so disempowered that they have no voice. The largest contingent, those in the middle, tend to aspire to the golden dream, fulfilling their function in society as active maintainers of the mythology because they believe it.
Even here in Australia, we've always maintained comfortable mythologies that appease the majority. Whilst a more moderate and less religious culture generally, the Aussie Dream revolves around hard work, rugged individualism, mateship, and egalitarianism. For many Australians, the class system is something that only happens in other countries. The reality is, of course, that powerful interests siphon wealth and influence into their own pockets weekly, and have the ear of politicians. The corrosive factor is familiar: the world viewed through the economic lens, where everything and everyone is divided into consumers and producers - nothing more.
Does Trump's chaotic and disordered administration represent a challenge to the mythology of American exceptionalism? An imbecilic man who grew up with everything and wants ever more has plunged the world into disarray. And all for what? Vanity? Ego? Filling his personal abyss? Or is it worse? Is it a mentally ill cadre of dangerous groupies, loyalists, power fantasists, and religious fundamentalists driving hard to their goal of bringing about the apocalypse? Are we facing an existential threat? Their fantasy of doing God's will and entering heaven in exchange for earthly destruction? Smart science graduates these people are not.
For those who talk tough about nuclear arsenals and nuclear strikes, I can only say this: none of us should want even a single nuclear strike anywhere on this fragile planet ever. If you believe that dropping the atomic bomb on Japan seemed OK and people still live there now, I can tell you with certainty - the nuclear warheads of today are far more powerful and destructive. Even a single strike would wipe out ecosystems and kill millions either instantly within the blast zone or through radiation poisoning. Just a few more strikes will kill untold millions more, and more than this will devastate all life on earth. And there are dangerous leaders out there who have access to nuclear codes.
We should never ever create systems that allow people like this anywhere near power and influence. Nor should we ever tolerate the casual platforming of misinformation and the voices of profiteering online stars who tell us soporific fairy-tales about power, manhood, and dominance just so they can gain more followers, more power, and more money.
On that point, I have no sympathy whatsoever for anyone who has seen fit to platform misinformation in service of their bank accounts and the political career of Donald Trump. As much as I understand the kind of socio-economic positioning, ignorance, greed, status anxiety, and opportunism that leads someone to favour a person like Trump, I have zero time for their sob stories and possible regrets. I can only hope that a lot of formerly apathetic people learn very quickly the importance and responsibility attached to civic life. But I won't hold my breath.
I have friends who had an opinion on Trump's first term. They viewed him as a fun agent of chaos, an entertainer, and a refreshing change from the stiff political classes who typically hold office. Some people have told me they think Trump needs to go but they agree with some of his policies - usually the kind of America-first programs that promise easy fixes to complex problems. To them, I can only say that even a stopped clock is right two times a day. And Trump is as stopped a clock as any other moronic authoritarian who would destroy the world to feather their own filthy nest.
So, Trump as an Antichrist figure is about as hysterical a characterisation as I'd expect from a political base that doesn't understand politics, certainly doesn't understand the importance of global politics and diplomacy, is uninterested in anything but having their tiny voice heard in a broken system that has systematically silenced it, and is now trying desperately to make sense of the chaos their man has wrought upon their cherished nation. For them, perhaps, the simple story of the Antichrist makes sense because it's filled with both the mythological battle between good and evil and the dread of destruction that their black and white view of the world finds appealing. For the rest, Trump remains the same self-serving, profiteering vomit-sack we saw on The Apprentice, only this time the darkest sections of his diseased personality are thrashing about vainly because Death is atop his shoulder and not even a criminal billionaire can escape it. And he fucking has access to the nuclear codes.
Reply by email: [email protected]. Subscribe to my blog via RSS feed.
