Email

Support

by

In the entire twenty years of this website’s existence, I have never monetized it. No ads, no gimmicks, nada. It has been self-sufficient this whole time. But, all of a sudden I find myself in a situation where rising costs of server hosts and email hosts may be too much at the moment.

The domain for this website (chrisdenbow.com) expires next month.

The email address services (hello@chrisdenbow.com) also expires next month.

For the couple of hundred interested followers of this site, thank you for your interest through the years. If you have the kindness and appreciation for me and or this site, please consider sending a donation to help keep this site going for another year.

Apologies in advance. I am not use to this situation and I find it difficult to type these words. If interested, please send me a message to the above email address before October 24, 2022.

Thank you.

Personal Publishing Principles

by

When’s the last time you went to an actual website to read a real article written by a human, without being slapped in the face by pop-ups, cookie warnings, ads, and lead-generating magnets? It’s past time to get back to the basics of the WWW. So, here are a few thoughts on how and why this website and extensions of itself exist. First off- This is a one man publishing house. So no one else to blame but me.

My Personal Site

Can be the best place to build relationships and network.

This is where I can offer my thoughts products and services best.

When someone does a web search of me, I’d rather project intentional information that I am responsible for and not some random post on social media to be taken out of context.

This is the best spot to test all my ideas/projects/products that I come up with. Not all will work, but those that do not will see a proof of concept.

This is my place where I can express myself (see below for my blog principles.) The newsletters, micro posts, blog articles, e-zines, presets and more are offshoots.

My Personal Blog

This is my personal site. There are many like it, but this one is mine. The content and style are uniquely my own in its content and style. All articles are not to be reflective of anyone else but myself.

The most successful websites reach out and share with others. Online friendships and networking opportunities have come from twenty plus years of writing.

There is no competition.

Thinking out loud in public builds trust and shows progress towards a successful idea.

Long and short form writing on a personal website gives you an honest glance inside a writer’s brain.

Building relationships means you share stories. Stories solidify relationships.

This website has oscillated between a personal journal, to honest product reviews and networking with others. There is no intent to show that I am an authority to speak on anything, or I know more than you. I am too humble for that.

This website will always be anti-advertising, anti-algorithms and anti-tracking.

This website and its maintenance help my brain.

Perfection, consistency, and expectations die here.

Failure and success will both be public here. New things are tried, most fail, but an effort to be anti-boring is strong.

My Personal Newsletter

The free newsletter is an extension of my personal website. It promises to be easily digestible, free-spirited, informal and informational.

An attempt at consistency will be made because people enjoy their routines. I’m leaning towards Sunday morning deliveries, just like the newspapers of old. Remember those?

Obscure links to points of interest, fun, hand drawn or photos shared with interesting illustrations.

The newsletter makes $0 and is not intended to spam for any amount of money. All products I share are free to use and retain a Creative Commons license ©© with attribution.

The newsletter’s intent is to share, build relationships, network, share, etc. There are no pay walls. This is to gather an audience only.

It’s a private email list. No information will be shared. Ever.

I write for only two people: you and me.

I curate information that is of interest to me. Not only that, but I share, and sometimes people enjoy them.

Digital Essentialism

by

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 a minimalist 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.

The MacBook desktop

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.

iCloud+ Custom Email Domain

by

Ever since Apple released a beta version of custom email domain through iCloud last year, I was interested. Now that I’ve had time to follow-up with it, a new email address was created using my photography domain at no extra cost. Well, besides what I pay for with the Apple One plan that is. If I were to go through my server host it is only $12 annually but I already have two of those personalized emails for my domain here.

If you want to drop me a line to say “hey!”, or have an inquiry about my photography, the new iCloud custom email address is: chris@photodenbow.com