Technology

In Appreciation Of Web 1.0

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I used to enjoy the internet. There was a time when it was something to be explored (Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser was aptly named but poorly executed, by the way.) Back then there were standards and protocols but still the wild frontier. The www was creative, decentralized from corporate greed and educational. Now? I cannot stand most of what’s out there.

Corporate greed has taken over news sources turning them into deceptive ways to make money by selling your information. Good luck trying to find an article. The advertising is so pervasive it actually hinders the website performance.

Very rarely do I visit web sites, preferring the information come to me instead thanks to the old RSS feed protocols. Currently I am using Feedly, a service that aggregates my desired websites and sends them to my feed reader. Topics I care about, nothing else. Do you know how refreshing this is? Try it.

I don’t care for social media anymore, either. There is way too much noise, hype, and drama.

Bloggers have fancied themselves as unpaid journalists and come up with all sorts of marketing schemes. Usually involving gaudy advertising, e-mail newsletters and “buy my e-books!” It makes me want to avoid the internet completely.

There is so much noise and not enough signal out there.

And then I thought about what I do like.

My website is really nice. It is my own little corner of the web that is out there for anyone to see. But honestly it is probably only two people right now, myself and my child. Hopefully they will look back and gain some perspective from Dad.

I highly recommend setting up your own website. You control everything with no restrictions and no censorship.

I also highly recommend setting up your own private email address. Only family and chosen friends use it. It is very rarely used, sure, thanks to video and text messaging but it is available when all else fails.

I never give this private email to anyone except family and friends.

I don’t use Gmail, preferring to use MS Outlook instead and I let it collect my e-bills, news and the junk. The people you really care about will use the new one, so you won’t need to check the throwaway mail much anymore.

It feels good to have a notification mean something again. When you get a few emails and know that they are really for you. Or, if you don’t get any notifications, then nothing you really care about has arrived so no need to check.

Most days I don’t look at the web. I just go photograph something, write, text friends, call friends, and check email. That’s enough.

Ulysses

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Now that I’ve acquired one of the best writing apps for iOS I had to figure it out and set it up. That was easy to do with it’s intuitive features. I was able to connect it to a few other apps like Mind Node where I could import my mind maps as notes. Loving this.

The one downside so far is a lack of connection to publish articles to my website remotely. I’m still working on this but apparently there is an issue with the XMLRPC connection. Firewall policy rate-limiting?

Overall, it is very pleasing. The one thing it won’t do is write the manuscripts for me.

Back In Cyberspace

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Screenshot of this website in an RSS feed

Cyberspace- A long time ago, before we allowed ourselves to bottlenecked into a few social platforms, fed into massive surveillance machines, mined for our attention, and controlled by algorithms, there was an idea about internet freedom. Cyberspace.

We allowed cyberspace to become dominated by a few large companies. It was unregulated, free. We created things and shared ideas and we didn’t need anyone to do it for us. We just did it.

Web 2.0- We became lazy and enticed by centralized/connected web applications. Back in 2005, I became hooked into the Google platform thanks to Gmail. Flickr was new and exciting way to share photos. In 2006, I was one of the first users of TWTTR (now Twitter) and I even had a MySpace account and then Facebook. We then coined the phrase “social media” and it was good. The internet became a cesspool of ads, trolls, marketing and algorithms after that.

Social Media- No Google, no Facebook, no Twitter. Thanks to the massive digital footprints I’ve left behind, you can still find some references to my usage but I am off of social media. The Flickr account I subscribe to is not social. It is an online repository and cloud backup to my photo archives. I have an Outlook account from Microsoft but that is residual and for using their services (which I am weaning off of.) No more. Most of us rely on those corporate platforms that decide what they think you need to know. Facebook news feeds anyone? Google search, anyone? Controlled by algorithms designed to keep you hooked and sedentary inside their apps.

I’ve spent the past year winding the clock backwards and starting over again. I have fully reclaimed my little hub here in Cyberspace. My domains are secured again. The website is self-hosted. Email domains are mine.

Since the early 2000’s most of us have used and since then forgotten two brilliant tools to consume information; E-mail and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds.

With E-mail and RSS we control what we want to focus our attention on. For either information or for pleasure. I’ve slowly re-introduced E-mail subscriptions to informative websites I trust. They use it as communicating ideas, just like we did in cyberspace a long time ago. They won’t sell my information and they won’t spam me. When/if they do I’ll simply unsubscribe.

Since I first discovered RSS back in the early 2000’s, I was hooked. I’ve relied on it almost daily as an information resource. Here’s why: every website or blog has a feed attached to it. Once you set up or subscribe to these feeds in a feed aggregator like Feedly (free), you could read articles from your favorite websites without visiting them all. No ads, no tracking, no algorithms and in one central location.

I am in control of what I see. No one else. Now, that does not mean I won’t visit the web, far from it. I still use it for research purposes like everyone else but those websites are prevented from tracking me thanks to ad and content blockers. I use a secure browser called Firefox Focus which blocks them. I use Duck Duck Go to perform searches on the web. They don’t track or sell you anything. Pretty soon I will purchase a VPN (Virtual Private Network) that masks my internet provider’s information.

There is a lot of cyberspace out there still. The corporate platforms and strict governments haven’t completely taken over it, even if they do fancy themselves as masters of the universal internet.

I do not advertise and will never have advertisements here. I will never spam or sell anyone’s information. Ever. If you’d like to add my website to your feed aggregator it is [http://chrisdenbow.website/rss].

Productivity(?)

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Over the past few weeks I have slowly acquired some tools in an effort to find some way to get my scattered thoughts out of my head and into some format that makes sense enough for me to pick it back up when I need it. See there? Longest run-on sentence ever. Scattered.

I have pen and paper, including the Pentel Energel and the new Grids & Guides hardback in black. Now I’m afraid of using it for the same reason people are afraid of getting their new shoes dirty. Weird.

Things- Promises to help me “focus on what matters” by seeing calendar events and to-dos together. Collect my thoughts, get organized, plan my time? One can hope!

GoodNotes- This was an automatic buy for me when I upgraded the iPad and Pencil. It allows me to take my handwritten notes in digital form. Handwritten notes & PDF markup? Crazy cool.

MindNode- A brilliant mind mapping tool that allows me to diagram and parse my thoughts visually and helps me brainstorm ideas. I’m using it for story plots and arcs.

Day One- A digital journal app. But Chris, don’t you have a blog? Well, yeah, duh. But sometimes you want to keep your personal shit just that. Personal. Private. DayOne allows me to add text, audio or photos. It automagically logs, location, date, time, weather and even the song you have playing on Apple Music. Why are these important? Because looking back on your thoughts and wondering why without context or surroundings can be futile. And while I’m thinking about it…

Apple Music- No, it isn’t as good or as user friendly as my favorite, Spotify, but Apple Music is just as strong and has exclusive content. And it works beautifully with other apps because it is integrated. Built in. Less shenanigans means more productivity right?

Bear Notes- Elegant writing and note taking. Because the built in Notes is functional but the interface is simple, boring. I am anti-boring.

Ulysses- Promises to be the ultimate writing app. I think that is gratuitous but I bought into it anyway. I shared a little bit about it on the last post and will probably mention it again in the future.

WordPress- You’re reading this article on my website using the WordPress engine on my own server. It was time to take control again.

Will any of these help achieve the desired results? I don’t know but I am looking forward to finding out.

Hello world!

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This is the obligatory first post on the new web host. I’m migrating back to a self-hosted platform to take better control over my content. I’ve decided to use WordPress as my engine of choice too. Let’s see how this works. When all goes well, I’ll migrate the photo website to this platform too.

Digital Minimalism

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I’m currently reading four books at once. Bad idea but the public library had all the desired books I had on hold ready to go and they are all on heavy demand. Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport is one of them. I really wanted to to read and review this book so much, that I petitioned the library to order it. Success.

Step one is kicking the smartphone addiction. By removing a majority of the apps that are not in use or are major distractions, this will help free up both mental and hard drive space. Also, disabling notifications is a great way to regain control of your time and attention.

I am stopping right there for now and applying what I am reading to a test. As of this writing I have forty two applications installed on my iPhone xR. The iPhone storage gauge says I can save 325 MB by offloading unused apps. I’ll run that soon and then keep on with more.

I’ve also shelved the Windows desktop in favor of using the iPad as a PC replacement. Another experiment to see if it is possible to downsize. I am missing my mouse and re-learning keyboard shortcuts.

The distracting apps removed from my iPhone will stay on the iPad as it will function as both a tool and entertainment hub.

Offline

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Since I am no longer subscribed to an internet service at home, I have been relying on public WiFi and my phone’s hot spot. This has been challenging for me, especially since I need a connection for my continuing education.

I just remembered today that you can save a web page to your computer and still reference it…even when you are offline. I use Firefox because of speed and security so that will be the reference used here. Your web browser should be similar, experiences vary.

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Click the Settings icon and choose “Save Page As…” (as shown above.) Then decide where you want to save it. When offline, locate and open. That web page is now viewable offline. It goes without saying…even though I am going to, but you cannot click or navigate this page while offline, only view. Neato.

Below is the saved web page. A tutorial I needed to reference while offline.

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Now Developing

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Picking up the Python programming language is going smoother than most of the other languages I have attempted to learn so far. If I am going to become a full stack developer I need to get in the habit of using best practices such as…

1. Developing a working solution by solving a problem.

2. Work it out first either by using pen/paper or a mind map app.

3. Utilize an up-to-date Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

4. Master at least one language

5. Keep it simple

6. Ask questions. Reach out to others to learn from.

7. Utilize Github more often. Submit several more pull requests.

8. Brush up on my Linux skills (installed on my machine via VirtualBox.)

9. Look up terms I don’t understand.

10. Read up on current trends

Developing these habits, I believe, will allow me to…develop.

A Simpler iPad Photo Workflow

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Following up on my previous post about editing photos with the iPad and VSCO workflow, I wanted to add some even more simple tools. The iPad and it’s Photos app have some very basic editing tools and help simplify your workflow.  

When I import my images to the iPad from the Lightning SD card adapter I like to think of it as a contact sheet just like we used to use for film and a darkroom. When I review the thumbnails of these images I can tell almost instantly which are kept or to be discarded. And speaking of importing, lately I have been shooting more jpeg file format as opposed to RAW. Again, simplicity. When these everyday photos are just for my use and storage, I want to minimize the file size. Faster importing and lighter on the storage. Now when I shoot for clients, I will almost always shoot in both jpeg and RAW for the sharpest, best results. Moving on.

Every photographer’s goal is to get the image right in camera. While that isn’t always possible, it is possible to have fun and play with the lighting and filter tools. 

Adjust the lighting, exposure, shadows, saturation, contrast and more. Just explore and experiment with what looks good to you. Not for anyone else. For you. This is your time to play.

There is no such thing as the perfect processing technique. When playing with the process, take a look at the offered filters.
For color filters, I lean more toward the “Dramatic” look. For black and white I prefer the “Noir” look. If these don’t do it for you, I’d suggest looking at the filters in the VSCO app.


Be sure to fine tune your image with a careful crop and rotation. These can help eliminate background clutter and even a different perspective.


Another handy dandy feature is the Favorite button. These help me sort the best from the rest. When you favorite an image it’ll go into it’s own folder. From there I can process my fave images.

When the images are finalized I will usually distribute them to various places online like my websites, Flickr, VSCO and EyeEm. But before I do that, I ensure I have access using all of my devices such as the iPhone, iPad and my laptop. Your experiences will vary but for me, I keep it simple. I use the iOS Files app, iCloud backup and Microsoft’s OneDrive. Because…Windows.  

To wrap this up, the iPad for me is quickly becoming my default device for photo production. I am constantly tweaking and refining my experience to simply my workflow. 

iPad + VSCO Workflow

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The advancement in digital photographic technology has come a long way, baby. When I acquired my first digital camera 18 years ago the post processing was minimal and the software was expensive. More recently, I’ve converted from a Nikon and Compact Flash adapter to desktop drive to an SD card to laptop situation. Why? Simplicity.

I am simplifying and tweaking my workflow all the time because I want to do more shooting as opposed to editing. Get me back out there!

Lugging a laptop around with all my photography gear is not ideal or even necessary anymore. With the technology improvements of the iPad it is becoming my go-to workhorse to catalog and process my images. Other benefits? 

– [ ] Speed. The iPad can load and process faster than a laptop and Adobe Lightroom
– [ ] Cost. A good iPad is cheaper than a laptop

So how do you get your RAW/JPEG images from your camera to your iPad?  Well, you could use the camera’s WiFi transfer feature. Or wait for them to load into your cloud drive and download them. For me? I prefer the $29 SD card adapter from Apple. This is one of the best, cheapest investments I have made. 

When I insert my SD card into the adapter and then into the iPad, the Photos Import module appears. You can choose to import all or select individual images.

To help keep me organized I add these photos to a new album such as this example here, After Dark.

VSCO, The Visual Supply Company

I am a big fan of this software. They have grown from a photo filter software app to a full fledged photographic community that could and should replace Instagram. They have both free and paid subscription model that allows them to avoid ads in their software. I pay $20 a *year* for their products as opposed to $10 a *month* for the Adobe photography plan. I just saved $100. Follow me there if you’d like: https://vsco.co/photodenbow

Now that I’ve opened the VSCO app to import my selected photos I can choose the presets to set the tone I want for my images. VSCO presets emulate actual film effects from Kodak, Fuji, Iilford, etc. They even have creative, fun presets.

After I’ve chosen the effects I can tweak individual settings such as saturation, hues, white balance etc. From there I will save to my VSCO feed or journal as well as download to the iPad. After that, do what you will with your finished product.


There is no perfect workflow for me because I am constantly tweaking it to keep it simple. Who knows? Maybe next month it will change again.

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The Best Knowledge Tools

I’m learning much more than anticipated when I am researching, preparing a novel and other short stories (still in progress). I have such an appreciation for those who are already published.

Something we readers take for granted is the research and preparation that goes into producing content we learn from (non fiction) and then enjoy (fiction). Reading a book is the ability to learn all of the insights and facts that an author has spent countless hours on. What takes them months or years only takes us a few hours!

This alone makes a book our best tool to acquire knowledge, years of knowledge at our fingertips. We owe it to ourselves to focus and apply what we are learning. Don’t just consume but to read for understanding and growth. I am slowly going through a book right now with pen and pencil in hand to highlight passages I want to follow up on or emphasize. I’m even having a one way conversation by asking the author questions that will probably never be answered by them.

When you think about all the hard work author’s put in to their writing it should make you appreciate it all the more. I know I do.