Chris

Things Can Only Get Better?

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Websites and social media platforms are getting aggressive in the monetizing of their services because- who knew that providing a platform for free is not sustainable? No one wants online advertising either and we all live with it because these web developers have to have money to buy shoes too, right?

The truth is, the WWW will never get better. It’s too far gone to think we’ll get it back. The netizens have lost the war to the platforms. I am very close to tucking my head into my shell and shut down all interest in the whole thing. I’ll use my current tech toys for more creative and less consuming matters. After the tech toys have outlived their usefulness?  Analog everything. That’s how fed up I am.

I don’t know what’s going to come out of those moments but I do know there will be bright spots out there. It’ll be more difficult to find underneath the search engine optimized BS, the invasive advertising and the algorithmic feeds forced on us. But they are out there.

For now, we still have the capability to set up our own homestead on the WWW, do our own thing and choose to connect with whoever you want.  The orginal web 1.0 tools are still around because they are the foundation of the internet- and still the best. E-mail, text, RSS, blogs, forums, etc. You are in control. Stop sharecropping on social media to make them rich and start building on your own land.

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And do you feel scared, I do
And I won’t stop and falter
And if we threw it all away
Things can only get better -Howard Jones

Time Off

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It has been a little over a month since stepping away from my website- I needed the break. Before dusting off the HTML code though, I’ve had some time to reflect on a few things including my participation on the WWW. More on that later.

For now, I need to make opportunities to make the most of what little time I have when not working. I haven’t been on a road trip in a year (Memphis 07/22.) and once again, the urge to go rambling on has kicked in. Two years ago I was in Wichita (see above image)

Having come off a 4-day weekend of relaxation and recovery, it felt wasted. Therapuetic but wasted. The next opportunity will be better.

Digital Essentialism

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How is your digital life? Feeling overwhelmed by all the clutter in your inbox, hard drive and cloud service? I know I was.

Though I consider myself to be an essentialist, there does come a time when I get lazy and the discipline slides. Clutter, digital or otherwise, can get distracting over time. Now may be the perfect time to clean up your digital room, so to speak. If not daily, then weekly because a well-organized computer will yield positive results for your state of mind and your workflow productivity.

Here’s how to get started:

Backups

When was the last time you backed up your data? If you can’t remember, then it has been too long. I set a calendar reminder for once a week, then plug in the dedicated external hard drive, flip on Apple’s Time Machine and let it do its thing-creating and preserving a snapshot image of everything on the MacBook’s drive. Before all that, I suggest sorting through your Downloads folder and assign to a proper folder or delete. How are your other folders? Photos, Music, Videos, Documents all need to be sorted. Toss what you have been holding on to for some reason. After all that, then take out the Trash and delete everything in that folder.

Cloud

Just as the computer gets cleaned up, so too your Cloud backups. My Cloud mimics the desktop with everything in place. Run Time Machine again and ensure good backups.

Software

If you have dozens of software programs and apps, it is time to have a think about what you are actually using. If you haven’t used a program in say six months, then uninstall and free up space on your machine. It will thank you for it. Do you really need four calendar apps, two music players, three browsers and who else knows what? Pick the right tool for the job and stick with it. Uninstall the rest.

Desktop

A cluttered desktop can be overwhelming and distract from your focus and productivity. A messy computer desktop is akin to a messy physical desk. Nobody wants to see that. Sort that clutter into their respective folders, empty your Trash can folder and enjoy the serenity. ADD DESKTOP SCREENSHOT

Web Browser

Now, wait just a damn minute, Chris. This is sacred. If I don’t have multiple tabs open or bookmarked, I run the risk of losing and forgetting them. I might even return to them…someday. That mentality is an old way of thinking that needs to be corrected. You won’t go back to them. You don’t need it. One of these days, your browser’s memory will slow to a crawl, and you’ll be forced to reboot the thing and potentially lose all those open tabs you’ve been saving.

Inbox and RSS feeds

If you cringe every time you access your email inbox, then you are doing it wrong. Email should be assigned from an inbox to a folder, replied to or deleted. Don’t forget to take the trash out again when done. If the mail is piled up, and you are overwhelmed, most email applications have a search feature.

RSS feed readers are a remarkable resource to stay current on the websites and blogs you enjoy. Shameless plug inserted here- https://chrisdenbow.website/feed But how does your “Unread” count look? Either read the article or save it to the “Read It Later” folder. Everything else can be deleted. The same can be said for podcast episodes!

One Password To Rule Them All

I dislike passwords, and captchas and just about every modern day credential grabber. Who can keep track of them all? I used to and failed. Then I tried a third-party password manager. I only needed one password to log in to that, and every time I needed to sign in elsewhere, that application would pop up and log in for me. That was fun until their data center was hacked and everyone’s passwords were in the open. I currently use Apple’s Password manager. I’m already signed in to an Apple account, so I don’t have to remember a password there. Any website I visit, the Password app is ready to log me in, or help me create a new username/password. Once credentialed, Passwords will retain the info and be ready to use again. All it requires is my Face ID or Touch ID.

The Takeaway

Our digital usage over multiple devices can overwhelm us, and we open ourselves up to clutter. Who has the time to organize when we just want to scroll a feed or watch a video? I find that currently we need to be more mindful. Digital simplicity, essentialism, and minimalism is more important than before.

Until Next Time…

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After twenty-two years of owning and maintaining a website presence it is time to hang it up for now. There are a multitude of reasons behind this decision but I’ll keep most of them to myself. And yet after all this time it feels like I owe people an explanation for decades worth of loyalty.

Reasons:

As a friend once so eloquently put it: “I want to de-bullshit my life.”

It is costly to self-host your own website.

The articles have been stale because the day job does not allow time to create what I want.

Do I need to display a personal website on the WWW?

Why am I doing this?

Who the heck out there can remain interested in this site when I am not interested?

Alternative:

Grey Matter- it is my second brain. A digital garden where I have imported all my website articles, journals and notes into one massive database.

An article inside my database from six months ago about this goodbye process.

I have all those files backed up in plain text format so they are platform agnostic and portable with minimal file space used. These files are also linked and back linked together so if I performed a search on “Nikon” for example, then every article, note or mention will pop up and show me how my thoughts on the matter are connected.

When I now have the urge to write something for myself, I’ll place it in the “Journal” section and not the “Website” section. I was also paying an annual subscription service to the brilliant Day One journal app but now it is redundant in favor of my personal database.

Next Steps:

Now I am questioning the entire presence on the WWW and my software subscriptions. Regarding my photography website the same reasons apply as the blog:

“I want to de-bullshit my life.”
It is costly to self-host your own photography website.
The images have been stale because the day job does not allow time to create what I want.
Do I need to display a personal photography website on the WWW?
Why am I doing this?
Who the heck out there can remain interested in this site when I am not interested?

Once I have exported my articles from the website and import them into my database, I’ll shutter the website. I am still keeping the ChrisDenbow.com domain name and e-mail server of course. That is my digital real estate and no one else owns it. The same thing goes for PhotoDenbow.com. At some point in the future I am sure I’ll bring the website back online.

I am back in minimal essential mode to de-bullshit my life and maybe, just maybe, start to enjoy it again.

Thank you.

Chris Denbow
Saturday May 27, 2023 @ 10:30p
36.8.921, -95.58.145

On Friendship

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Like the Greek philosopher Aristotle says about friendship:

1. There is the one friend who you can hang out with.

2. The one you call friend because you want that person to do something for you.    

3. The friend who helps you become the best you can be.

Number 3 is the friend we need the most.

Sparring Partners

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Most of us need fewer friends and more intellectual sparring partners. Friends can be easy to come by.

Intellectual sparring partners are harder to find. They will call you on your BS, question your assumptions, and push you to think bigger.

Find your intellectual sparring partner and hold on to them.

Like & Subscribe

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As a follow up to my post last year on the state of my digital subscriptions, it’s time to review and re-think what I am paying for. I am always looking for the best software for my workflow so I am constantly tweaking. Now, a lot of this is me wanting to test the new, shiny toys out there. Some of it is the developers changing something or raising prices. Either way, it’s time to review.

Must Have

Apple One- Apple bundles six software services into one monthly price. Most of these services are used heavily while the others are meh, but saves money. Another benefit: I can share this subscription to 5 family members or friends. I have one spot left hint, hint.

Apple One Services

Adobe Lightroom – So essential to my photography workflow that I just can’t quit it even after several cancellations. A week later I resubscribe. Nothing can replace it for me just yet. I wish I could just use Apple Photos and be done with it but then Adobe includes website hosting for my portfolios. Smart move, Adobe.    

Adobe Lightroom interface

VSCO- Visual Supply Company for social photography networking. They also have amazing film emulations. The write-up is here.

Flickr- The grandaddy of photo hosts. This is where I send my processed images to stay in the cloud since 2005. The social aspect is still one of the best communities after all this time.

Feedbin- Why go to a website to catch up on news when you can have it come to you? One of the best RSS feed readers out there.

Day One – A long-time user of this brilliant journaling app. I canceled this last year, but then renewed it out of a desire to digitally journal instead of pen and paper.

Formula 1- Annual subscription to view 24 races from around the world. Worth it.

F1 racing at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi

MLS Season Pass- free subscription to major league soccer courtesy of T-Mobile & Apple.

MLB Season Pass- free subscription to major league baseball courtesy of T-Mobile & Apple.

Netflix- free subscription courtesy of T-Mobile.

Changed

Ghost- After 15 years of self-hosting my website with WordPress, I decided to host with the Ghost. So far so good but how the hell does the comment/feedback section work? I miss out on members posting because of a lack of notifications.

Unsubscribed

WordPress- If you change your focus from personal blogging to business website hosting, well, expect me to change and look elsewhere.

Disney+ – Now that I’m all caught up on the Star Wars Mandalorian series, it’ll be a long time before Disney cranks out anything new.

This saga continues to thrill me since 1977

Mylio- A brilliant photo archive organizational tool but once everything was organized, was it worth $10 monthly? Nope.

Readwise- I love the premise of this software. It can sync everything you highlight on your Amazon Kindle or a web article. It will also sync your notes. But, I wasn’t using it enough to justify the $10/mo price and went back to using GoodLinks instead.

Conclusion

I want to be mindful of the money going out the door and receiving value for it so I think a periodic evaluation is worth it. Not to mention I like to look back on those previous posts throughout the years to see what sticks and “what was I thinking?” Take this example of software I no longer use from 2012:  https://cdcomarchives.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/top-10-android-apps/

8 Exposures

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I was cleaning out some boxes in my storage area and came across a Polaroid camera and an unopened 2-pack box of Polaroid instant film. Better use it before I toss it and so I did another photo walk today. Only used 1 box so only 8 more frames after that and I am done with Polaroid. $17 or $2 each for shitty-quality is a deal breaker for me. I’ll stick to my Fuji instant square film for better results. Anyway, I’ve updated the instant film album on my photo website if you want to take a look at these and more.

The camera and the film

2023: Chapter 4

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Happy 5/5 day! It is May 5, 2023- time to start the fourth chapter for the new year’s resolutions. In the past 10 years or so, I have attempted a variation of resolution themes in an attempt to hold myself accountable, and all of them have had limited success. The first few attempts were centered around my resolutions and a monthly check-in by way of accountability. For ten years I would focus on what I called Groundhog Day Resolutions. The kickoff would always start on February 2nd or 2/2. This was a little over a month after the western calendar of New Year’s Day on January 1st.This year I want to do a variation of a monthly accountability check-in. I mentioned the “Groundhog Day Resolutions” and its limited success. While I believe the theory behind those initiatives were sound, the practice was not. So it’s time to have a re-think about the process.

In 2023, I am writing a book on it. This year I am thinking of each month of this year as its own chapter in a book. I’ll do a chapter review on the same date that corresponds with the month.

Example: The book will start on February 2 (2/2) and will go on until March 3rd or 3/3. On 3/3 I will conduct a review of the previous month, and so on and so forth. With the chapter review, I’ll throw in some chapter highlights (in blue) of the previous month in hope that by the end of the year (11/11), I’ll have written a book I can be proud of.

Here is a quick list of things I want to do for the new year:

  • Learn Spanish
  • More meditation & yoga
  • Organize the photo Archive as a database
  • Minimalism/essentialism
  • Quit smoking
  • No alcohol
  • Lower BP
  • Lose 20 pounds

Learn Spanish

Aprendiendo muchas más frases en español este mes! My goal of properly learning Spanish kicked off on December 28, according to DuoLingo, my language app. The lessons are sporadic and when I have the time or desire to, say maybe twice a week.

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Chapter Four Highlight: Este mes habra conjugaciones verbales

Meditation and yoga almost daily.

I am loving these yoga sessions about every other morning.

🙏🏼
Chapter Four Highlight: Stretching feels amazing.
Yoga & Meditation programs with Apple Fitness+ 

Photography Goals

Non-existent. I have had zero time to photograph anything meaningful due to the day job. Sure, I still take daily pics during “snappy hour” when prompted but nothing to proudly display or print. Photo organization has mostly not even been on my mind.

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Chapter Four Highlight: https://www.chrisdenbow.website/iphone-vs-camera/

Minimalism and essentialism

Slowly removing some stuff out of my life but not enough. I will have to get mean to get lean.

🗑️
Chapter Four Highlight: Time to trash the place.

Quit smoking

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Chapter Four Highlight: Smoke break…check back next month.

No Alchohol

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Chapter Four Highlight: On hiatus.

Lower Blood pressure

Priority one with results. I started taking BP medicine to help recuce the tension. Too soon to tell if it is having any effect but I am hoping. Less, salt. Less sugar. Less eating out. Increase my cardio with more walking, yoga. All of this should help me lower my weight and eventually those readings will come down.

❤️
Chapter Four Highlight: Lower blood pressure!

Lose 20 pounds

In the past few years, I maxed out at 217.4 pounds. That isn’t great for a 5’7″ frame. When starting this initiative last month (2/2), I was down to 204.4. Currently (3/3) I am down to 193. So glad to see some results and hope the remaining 12 pounds will not be too difficult. My goals is to get down to 185 pounds. 175 is better, but let’s be realistic. The issue here is nutrition. The job has me out in the field for 8-10 hours daily and the temptation to eat out is strong. But the job is also a physical one so I should take advantage of all that lifting and walking.

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Chapter Four Highlight: 30 pounds lost so far. Mission accomplished but now I want to get down to 185. 4 more pounds to go!

It’s time to get to writing a new chapter. See you on June 6th (6/6) for a review of Chapter 5.

iPhone vs Camera

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The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of ditching all but one of my cameras and just use the camera built in to my iPhone.

Why?

An iPhone can untether the photographer because you have a full stack setup of a camera, a digital darkroom to process images and a publishing studio in your pocket.

You can point and shoot with your iPhone to make images, use Apple Photos to edit or a third-party app like VSCO or Snapseed to process them and then publish the keepers to your website or social media.  

Millie in downtown Chicago 2019 shot with iPhone 11 Max
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More articles about iPhoneography: https://www.chrisdenbow.website/iphoneography-tips/ https://www.chrisdenbow.website/crop-resize-my-photo-gear/ https://www.chrisdenbow.website/camera-minimalism/

The Negative:

If an iPhone has the same quality imaging as a standard digital camera what can be so bad about that?  More screen time on your phone and more distractions can be bad. You’ll experience neither of these when using a dedicated camera.

But… an iPhone is a perfect camera for almost everyone

If most of your images are uploaded to social media or just stored on your phone or in a cloud you don’t need another camera. An iPhone is perfect for this. You aren’t printing your photos and almost 50% of your images aren’t seen again until a few years later and you say “Oh yeah…I remember that” then you delete it.

When the time comes for a family portrait and you want to print archival-quality images, then you can dust off your DSLR camera.

Most of us don’t need better image quality or the largest sensor we need photo shoot ideas, imagination and creativity to make our images stand out.

Digital and Film

I love shooting film photography because every frame costs money and I need to take my time to enjoy the process as opposed to shooting thousands of digital shots and hope for the best. I try to find the best of both worlds by creating my own film emulations. For the past ten years I’ve developed my own film aethestic to try and duplicate my favorite film stock (see below.)

Left: Carlie on Ilford HP5+ black and white film Right: Carlie on Fujifilm Velvia 100 both created in my digital darkroom

The issue with digital photos is that almost all of them will die in the darkness of your hard drive. They won’t die alone because there are thousands of images that will never see the light of day again.

Left: Ilford HP5+ black and white roll of 36 exposures Right: Contact sheet of digital negatives from that same roll

All of that to say this: I think I’ve found my photo mojo again with a new project. I am going to blend the film and digital concept starting this weekend. I will go out for a photo walk with the iPhone and limit myself to only 36 shots, the same as a roll of 35mm film. I will then develop them in my digital darkroom using only one film stock aethestic and finally, pick my favorites and have them printed on archive paper. I’m looking forward to the hybrid process and now the weekend cannot come soon enough.

Oh, and I can’t wait to buy the iPhone 14 Pro Max later this year so I can use my iPhone 13 Pro Max as a camera only and not worry about dropping my new phone when shooting.