Category: Thoughts (Page 2 of 18)

I happen to know someone who wrote a thing that is publically available as an Open Access article.

Developmental constraint underlies the replicated evolution of grass awns

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.20268

I’m pretty proud of the author. Give it a read.

An issue came up where an Athletic Director needed kids to be able to “book” a bus. The AD started out using Google Forms, but this quickly became onerous. Too much information to collect. Too many days to cover.

After describing what was actually needed, I suggested using Framadate. This is a really neat site that is privacy positive.

Framasoft will not use your personal data, except for statistical purposes (anonymized) or to notify you of a significant change in the service;
Framasoft will not transmit or resell your personal data (your privacy is – really – important to us) ;

So, I set up an example and shared it with the AD. Since the “time” field is just a text field, I was able to add additional information (basically the location). This creates a view where the parent can enter the kid’s name and then pick the dates they want to use transportation.

The Admin gets a full list of the responses AND can download a spreadsheet if needed.

There are several settings available as well.

• Password can be added
• Full description can be added (with links to schedules and more information)
• “Voter” can be allowed to modify (see below)
  • Nothing
  • Their own “vote”
  • Any vote (definitely would not want this on for this use case)
• There is a Print button, but it doesn’t print the response, just the form

This allows users to “change their mind” as plans change.

Potential Issues:

• The word “Votes” is odd in this setting.

While Framadate was not truly designed to be used in exactly this use case, it does work really well. It is a great resource.

I’m presenting “Thanking Your Past Self – Documentation Tips” at ACTEM 2024: Empowerment, Equity, Engagement on October 10th at 1:00 p.m. in the Howard Auditiorium.

I found a post about shaving being too expensive from the wonderful Thought Shrapnel by Doug Belshaw. This struck me as I switched to shaving with a “safety” (double-edged razor) several years ago. The reasons that I switched included: to cut down on waste, be more ecologically responsible, save money, and get back to basics. There is something satisfying about small processes that take attention. (This is true for making coffee for me as well. I generally make coffee in a French Press. I like the intentionality of the process.) I also prefer using shaving soap instead of shaving foam. Shaving foam always felt weird and fake to me. Shaving soap feels much better and more natural. Again, there is an intentionality involved. It doesn’t take much longer, but it certainly feels better.

I’ve realized that there are several things that I prefer to have intentionality. Things where I prefer the “old” way of doing things. For example, I still drive a car with a manual transmission. This may be my last car with a stick, but I enjoy the process of driving.

John Whiles has an interesting article. It really reminded me of how important intentionality is for me.

The challenge this week is portrait. Technically, it is the portrait of a stranger. That’s not really my jam, so I did take a portrait, but I didn’t pick a stranger.

I ended up submitting this one:

Having a gorgeous model meant that there were lots of good shots to choose from.

It was tough not to pick this one.

She’s beautiful, but this looks too generic for me. This looks too much like a “brochure” picture.

I love the smile on this one. I did manage to obscure most of the background as well.