Category: Uncategorized

  • Why you should know about 3d printing even if you don’t ever want to 3d print something

    Why you should know about 3d printing even if you don’t ever want to 3d print something

    I dropped my Vornado fan. One of the fan blades broke in the fall. I couldn’t find a replacement blade for it, so it’s next stop should be the landfill. But. A person on Thingiverse had the same thing happen to the exact same fan and was able to design a replacement part. I tried…

  • How to verify your WordPress site on Mastodon

    How to verify your WordPress site on Mastodon

    If you prefer this in video form, I’ve created a screencast that shows the steps to get verified on Mastodon: When you look at someone’s profile on Mastodon, you might see that they have a green check mark next to their links: That means Mastodon has confirmed that the link is controlled by the person…

  • Mastodon is the new Google Reader

    Mastodon is the new Google Reader

    I’m optimistic about Mastodon, the open-source federated Twitter clone, but even more optimistic about ActivityPub. Together, they can bring back the heyday of Google Reader. Your friend tells you to join Mastodon and you’re like “ok where do I sign up?” and then your friend sends you a manifesto about things like “federation” instead of…

  • Firefox Tip – Use the ^ Search Operator

    This list of 11 secret Firefox tips is fantastic! Number 2 will change your life! OK, that’s overselling it a lot. Many of those I already knew, but the second tip really is great: Search for a needle in a tabstack Tab hoarders, we see you. Heck, we are you. Don’t ever let anyone shame…

  • Get Your Blog Posts on Mastodon

    Get Your Blog Posts on Mastodon

    Update Nov 7, 2022: Donncha wrote a similar guide to integrating WordPress and Mastodon that caught a key thing that I missed. If you’re following the instructions below, you’ll also want to install the WebFinger plugin. I didn’t seem to have problems without it but the Mastodon docs are pretty clear that WebFinger is needed…

  • A step toward replacing Facebook

    One of the things I noted when I left Facebook was that I ended up outsourcing my social labor to my wife. Sarah Jeong wrote a great piece for The Verge about her experiences without Facebook, and found similar gaps in the Facebook-less life. The real problem only began to present itself much later. I…

  • Hello, this is Lenny

    Lenny is having trouble hearing you. He thinks someone called last week about this. Sorry, he can barely hear you. Lenny is a bot that talks to phone spammers, so you don’t have to. For example, this is my favorite call: a phone scammer pretending to be from Microsoft: For more calls, check out Lenny’s YouTube…

  • About that new stadium in Detroit…

    Two years ago Detroit got approval to spend over $283 million of taxpayer money on a new arena for the Red Wings just six days after the city filed for bankruptcy even though the Red Wings’ owner is Mike Illitch the founder of the Little Caesar’s pizza chain who’s worth an estimated $5.1 billion. And…

  • A Day in the Future

    A Day in the Future Something to be thankful for.

  • On Hiatus Until Further Notice.