Month: January 2026

We had a “snow day” this past week. It was actually more of an ice day than snow. These always end up feeling strange. I mean, on one hand, that thrill you had as a kid is still there. On the other hand, there’s still work to do. Plus, I truly wonder if this would’ve been a snow day when I was a kid. I note this as a change, not whether it is good or bad, it just is.

Web hosting

I’m continuing the transition from one web host to another. The work is almost done, but still requires a bit more work. I’m hoping to finish up this weekend. Some of the work revolves around Bluehost using temporary URL’s and creating folders with random names. Other work is centered on moving mail stores.

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There were a couple of posts that were impactful for me recently.

Exiting the Billionaire Castle

• Exiting the Billionaire Castle is an interesting article on leaving the big companies behind. For example, he talks about leaving Google services behind. I’ve read several of these, and there are several common themes. This is hard. Some of the services are deeply embedded. You need to have lots of time and skill to accomplish doing things on your own.

This is a lengthy article that addresses tons of different areas, hosting your own domain, music streaming, cloud storage, social media and more. It’s worth a read. I’ll note that his site comes up with a security warning (it’s http not https). It’s safe, but…

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The uncomfortable truth about getting people off US tech

The uncomfortable truth about getting people off US tech is from Doug Belshaw about why and when people make changes. He specifically talks about switching platforms. Most specifically, as the title will hint at, Europeans leaving U.S. tech.

The post is wonderfully clear, specific and readable. There are several examples and plenty of links (optional if you want to know more).

This is very relevant for me. I tried moving away from Facebook and Instagram. However, the reality is that Maine is very much Facebook centered. Tons of our businesses, nonprofits, and groups rely solely upon Facebook to provide/share information. If you aren’t on Facebook, you miss a ton of information.

Plus, I’m enjoying my photography hobby and looking for how photography is shared. I’ve looked at several options:

• ipernity – Ipernity is an independent, nonprofit photo sharing community with more than 3,500 active registered users worldwide. Ipernity provides the protected private sharing of photos, videos, audio files, and blog entries with family and friends, as well as the global publishing of selected contents. Since ipernity‘s web service is 100% owned by its members, it is unaffected by ideological, political, religious and/or other interests. Most of all, it is independent from financial interests of investors. Its only obligation is to promote the interest and requirements of the community. User’s privacy, private data, and content, are protected and will neither be analyzed nor used by anyone for commercial or other marketing purposes. Material released for publication may appear in search engines, but nowhere else.
• 500 px
• Portfolio.pixelfed.com
• PixelFed
  • Portfolios on PixelFed
• Flickr
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Unsplash – Unsplash is a platform powered by an amazing community that has gifted hundreds of thousands of their own images to fuel creativity around the world. So sign up for free, or don’t. Either way, you’ve got access to over 6 million photos and illustrations under the Unsplash license—which makes them free to do-whatever-you-want with.
• Google Photos
• Picdrop (free: 1gb, 3 galleries)
• Pixabay – Royalty free
• Glass
• *Pexels – The best free stock photos, royalty free images & videos shared by creators.

All of these are different. Some are free and putting your images on them makes the images free (generally Creative Commons). Some are designed for professional photographers. Some are expensive. At this point, I’m mostly posting on PixelFed. This is cost effective, for me (i.e. free). I can set the license that I want, usually either All Rights Reserved or Creative Commons – Share Alike, Non-commercial, Attribution.

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Futility Closet

Futility Closet found from following Alan Levine CogDog. Futility Closet is wonderful little site to stretch your thinking.

Futility Closet is a collection of entertaining curiosities in history, literature, language, art, philosophy, and mathematics, designed to help you waste time as enjoyably as possible.

The database contains more than 12,000 items, and more are added each day. You can read them chronologically, by topic, or randomly, using the Random Post button in the sidebar. If you’re looking for a particular item, click the magnifying glass at top right.

From March 2014 to November 2021, my wife Sharon and I also hosted a weekly podcast featuring “forgotten stories from the pages of history” — surprising and curious tales from the past. We’ve ended the show, but all 365 episodes are still available — click the Podcast link in the main menu, or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read Futility Closet on the web, subscribe by RSS, or sign up to receive a daily email (see Subscribe by Email in the sidebar). I’ve published two collections of my favorite items, and there’s a store full of merchandise bearing Von Glitschka’s distinctive logo

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Towards a personal theory of creativity

Towards a personal theory of creativity is an interesting article about, well, creativity. This was a powerful read for me. Fred talks about creativity and how it is a process that needs effort. Fred also takes issue with “value”. Creation is a ongoing act. Creation is not dependent upon end result, rather it is the process.

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The Disease of Aesthetic Photography

As noted above and in several other posts, photography is my hobby and one of my creative outlets. I’m still quite early in my photography development. There are lots of discussions about how much photography should reflect “reality”. Some claim that photography should reflect what the eye saw. Some claim that photography should capture the “mood”, the “feeling”, the existential “jist” of reality.

This article is about moving beyond the “perfection” of taking the photography and into the story that it tells. There are several great lines here:

Somewhere along the line, we stopped making photographs and started designing them.

or

Open Instagram and you’ll find yourself wading through an endless stream of beautiful nothings: golden light spilling across a brick wall, a girl holding coffee in soft focus, the occasional subject framed in tasteful melancholy. It’s all technically flawless, yes. Crisp, cinematic, algorithmically adored, and that’s precisely the problem. These images are designed to please, not to provoke. They’re built for engagement, not endurance.

The article talks about finding stories, finding truth, and the power of the photograph. At the same time, photographs that are technically perfect, but soulless undermine true photography. There are lots of examples in the article as well.

This was a wonderful article for me. He provides examples, thoughts, tips, and best practices for developing storytelling in photography.

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