The clean slate protocol I initiated a few days ago is a success. After creating a new domain name and building a new website, with a new e-mail account and a new Apple ID, I am slowly migrating some of my crucial data from backups.
I have yet to delete the old Apple ID for fear of missing a few crucial pieces of correspondence from companies I do business with but all that should be wrapped up by this coming week. For now, I can breathe a sigh of relief as I start building good organizational and privacy habits to ensure nothing gets out of control again.
After recent price increases, subscription fatigue, privacy concerns and probably long overdue contentment, it’s time for a change. I’ll be withdrawing more from technology, technology blogs and restructuring everything to maximize privacy, reduce monthly subscription spending and pursuing avenues of personal interest.
I am heavily embedded into the Apple eco-system after decades of using Windows/Android. I have stuff scattered all over the internet, cloud storage and external hard drives with almost zero organization. That’s changing as of today.
First up, a new identity. I will no longer be using my personal name online. I don’t need to “brand myself” anymore since I am done playing the game. I created a new Apple ID that is generic and not personal. Then I created an iCloud account to go with it. Next, I purchased a new web domain here (silverfox.website) and email address to match it and then made THAT one the new/updated Apple ID. The hard part is switching everything from contact information to businesses and services I use over to the new account. Sure, I’ll lose a lot of subscriptions, but I am pairing them down and prioritizing anyway.
With iCloud+ services such as Private Relay and “Hide My Email” I can create generic, disposable email addresses. Apple then allows me to use random, generic passwords and will even store them for me using their KeyChain.
When all of this is sorted I need to discipline myself to keep it organized, unlike my previous attempts. Maybe then I can get back to enjoying what I love in peace such as photography, reading and geocaching.
After recent price increases, subscription fatigue, privacy concerns and probably long overdue contentment, it’s time for a change. I’ll be withdrawing more from technology, technology blogs and restructuring everything to maximize privacy, reduce monthly subscription spending and pursuing avenues of personal interest.
I am heavily embedded into the Apple eco-system after decades of using Windows/Android. I have stuff scattered all over the internet, cloud storage and external hard drives with almost zero organization. That’s changing as of today.
First up, a new identity. I will no longer be using my personal name online. I don’t need to “brand myself” anymore since I am done playing the game. I created a new Apple ID that is generic and not personal. Then I created an iCloud account to go with it. Next, I purchased a new web domain (silverfox.website) and email address to match it and then made THAT one the new/updated Apple ID. The hard part is switching everything from contact information to businesses and services I use over to the new account. Sure, I’ll lose a lot of subscriptions, but I am pairing them down and prioritizing anyway.
With iCloud+ services such as Private Relay and “Hide My Email” I can create generic, disposable email addresses. Apple then allows me to use random, generic passwords and will even store them for me using their KeyChain.
When all of this is sorted I need to discipline myself to keep it organized, unlike my previous attempts. Maybe then I can get back to enjoying what I love in peace such as photography, reading and geocaching.
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
Due to a denial of service (DoS) attack and suspected breach of my personal website security, I was contemplating just wiping the slate clean and start fresh with my entire web presence.
No more chrisdenbow.website, new social media accounts, new accounts on the iTunes and Google Play which would force me to lose my digital media purchases, setup new accounts, passwords and all the rest of the inconvenient hassles.
But I’ve worked too hard these past few years building my web server, email server, content, web accounts and more to just walk away from it. With the support of my web server host support and enterprise software providers, etc, I think I’ve rooted out the issues and am staying put.
So what has changed? Nothing on the surface. All my systems have been secured as best as I could.
The content here still stinks but I’ll still crank it out. So yeah, I’m back.
The term “reboot” means to discard much or even all previous continuity and start over with fresh ideas. It could also imply that I just wanted to scratch the whole thing and start over again. Previous posts (2005-2011) have been backed-up and shelved until I create an archive.
Ever feel like taking the pages out of your notebook and ripping them out to start over?
Yeah, me too. Since you are reading this you are involved in the process as well.
The Facebook accounts are “scheduled” for deletion, the GReader inbox has been thinned out.
People on Twitter that I am following has been reduced.
The website is being streamlined into something more manageable and readable.
Possessions that might have been useful or meaningful are neither and are being sold or given away.
The ideas I want to post here should be relevant, not random. They also need to be mine, not someone else’s idea. My media content should be posted here, not theirs. I can save that for Twitter or Google Plus.
I suppose I just want this website to be a reflection of me and you are seeing these ideas and changes evolve as I am evolving.
The first, overreactive response I had to this feeling was to export the content, archive it and restore the database with a fresh install.
I’ve done this many times with a computer’s hard drive, why not this website? Heck, I may still do it.
I want to be intentional, focused and fresh. I need a blank page to start this whole thing over.
Project 2: Migrating all of my images off of both Flickr accounts (6 years worth). My Flickr Pro account will expire this month and I am not anxious to renew it after all these years. Lack of innovation and customer support has me looking to my own server. I tried SmugMug but can’t get into it.
Project 3: Uploading a majority of these to a photo gallery attached to my personal photography site
This website was created about the same time MySpace was coming online back in 2000 and I’ve always said this is my main outlet. Sure, I’ve been lured by social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and now Google+, but always managed to find my way back here.
This website is the only place where I own the content. My thoughts, my images, the followers and even the privacy controls.
