Random Geekery
Collecting my attempts to improve at tech, art, and life
2017
So many posts! 36 is by far the most I ever added to my site in a single year. Drawing, knitting, crochet, wrestling with Disqus, exploring Emacs, then going back to Vim and the command line, with tools like Taskwarrior.
Dec 25, 2017
Tools [Taskwarrior Babysteps] · taskwarrior ·
Merry Christmas! Time to organize my Taskwarrior tasks.
Dec 16, 2017 (Updated Dec 22, 2017)
Tools [Taskwarrior Babysteps] · taskwarrior ·
I ended up with a mess after half a year trying to use every feature of Taskwarrior. It’s time to focus on building solid knowledge one step at a time.
Dec 15, 2017
Craft · drawing · Procreate · celtic · zentangle ·
This started with practicing a knotwork pattern from Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction, and ended up as an exercise in how long I could add stuff before I got bored. Thirteen hours. Not bad. Not in a row, of course. Oh and I threw in a couple tangle elements from The Tangles of Kells. I might be ready to try drawing things on purpose again. Usually it’s just that my hands get itchy when I see blank space.
Nov 19, 2017
Took me less than a week. I like that. On the other hand, I established for certain that when I knit fast my gauge loosens up. The hat fits looser than it should. I like that less. On the other other hand, I already wear it most of the time. It feels nice.
Nov 7, 2017
Craft · drawing · Infinite Painter ·
The other night I went out, and brought my iPad. Sketching calms me when sitting in a public space. This is the final version of a doodle started that night. I get nervous about color, but decided this time to relax a bit and enjoy myself. The result pleases me.Oct 31, 2017
I found Wellington, a Sass compiler written in Go.
Oct 1, 2017 (Updated Oct 2, 2017)
Tools · music · macOS · beets · python ·
My macOS iTunes music library includes over 21,000 songs. Some of those tracks contain the wrong information. Wrong title, wrong album, wrong artist, wrong year.
beets and AppleScript helped me fix my incorrect track information.
Sep 20, 2017
Marginalia · site ·
Trying to add Disqus comments once again. I adjusted permalinks, since the old
/:section/:year/:title/structure seemed to confuse Disqus. Here’s hoping. I assigned aliases to content so that old links should work.
Sep 3, 2017
Craft · drawing · Procreate · Infinite Painter ·
Thought I’d make a picture with the right aspect ratio for my desktop. Used Infinite Painter’s radial symmetry tool for most of the linework, then over to finish up with color and shade in Procreate.Aug 17, 2017
Marginalia · books ·
What have I been doing with my spare time? I’ve been reading books. Not too much. Mostly tech.
Aug 6, 2017
I rushed through that post about logging money with org mode, and didn’t take much time to edit it. This bothers me. Today I went into
writegood-modeto catch my sloppiest writing mistakes.
Jul 31, 2017 (Updated Aug 5, 2017)
I am setting up Emacs org mode to track how I use my money. This is a healthy habit, which I applied in the past with a little paper notebook. This needs to be as easy as that little notebook, or I will never use it.
I only want to see how I use my money. This can eventually become part of a budget, but all I want today is the ability to make quick money notes.
- My friend paid me back some money they borrowed
- One of the housemates chipped in for groceries
- I treated myself to coffee.
Stuff like that. Let’s see what I come up with.
Backing The Flask Mega Tutorial Kickstarter
Jul 9, 2017
Marginalia · python ·
Miguel Grenbergs’ Flask Mega-Tutorial and book helped me understand using Python’s Flask microframework. Well, somewhat. My understanding would improve if I used it more. Haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity yet. Anyways - of course I decided to back his Kickstarter for updating the Flask Mega-Tutorial.
My Stripes (And Stripes) Forever Scarf
Jul 6, 2017
This is my version of the “Stripes (And Stripes) Forever Scarf” from Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. It came together quickly. The only real challenge was getting the first row of single chains in.
Jul 1, 2017
I try out archetype templates from the Hugo static site generator, smoothing the whole thing into my workflow with a bash script.
Jun 28, 2017
Ended up knitting this one twice. Tried the large size first, and it ended up way too large for my taste. Frogged and restarted the smaller size, making a new set of mistakes. But the hat fits now and I’m not starting again!
Jun 14, 2017
Marginalia · site · disqus ·
sigh Disqus discussions are hooking up to the wrong URLs again. Assigning discussions for posts to URLs that don’t point anywhere. Working on it, and also looking at alternate discussion tools.
Jun 3, 2017
Craft · drawing · Procreate · Infinite Painter ·
Started with the perspective tools in Procreate, then wandered over to Infinite Painter which has a spattery ink brush that I enjoy. To be honest, I don’t really see the spatter effect much in this picture. Lesson learned, I guess.May 26, 2017
Notes on saving screenshots in OS X, so I don’t have to look it up again.
Amazon Donates Space For Mary's Place Home
May 11, 2017
My main code hobby project is for Mary’s Place, a local homeless shelter network in Seattle. It was immensely satisfying to see their director’s face when I visited Amazon this morning.
May 7, 2017
Marginalia · site · disqus ·
Tentatively adding fresh [Disqus][] conversations to the site. [Disqus]: https://disqus.com/
Apr 22, 2017
Craft · drawing · Infinite Painter ·
I’ve been enjoying Infinite Painter‘s symmetry tools.Apr 11, 2017
Programming · perl · site · mojolicious ·
I wrote a Perl script using utility features in Mojolicious to check all of the links in my Hugo site.
Mar 28, 2017
Marginalia · personal · site ·
New Twitter Account Just For The Site
Mar 18, 2017 (Updated Jan 31, 2020)
Marginalia · site ·
Follow @randgeekery if Twitter is your news feed.
Mar 17, 2017
Marginalia · site · disqus ·
Disabling comments until I figure out why Disqus insists on loading the same discussion for all 2017 posts. Not crafts, just posts. I spent almost a week trying to figure this out, as multiple rounds of one day fixing followed by a couple days wondering if UrlMapper finished yet. Very frustrating. Comments are welcome via [email][] or the social network links along each page. [email]: mailto:brianwisti@pobox.comMaybe Ration My Time In Hot Take Land
Mar 13, 2017 (Updated Mar 15, 2017)
Marginalia · personal ·
I dunno, folks. Over the years I have seen so much [outrage][] - sincere or feigned - on social media. Then there’s the [echo chamber][] problem. Yeah. Nice thing about an RSS feed is that I’m guaranteed to see everything I subscribe to, but there’s no personal insult in unsubscribing.
I think maybe I could spend less time on Twitter and Facebook. Not give them up. They remain a source of great conversation. But this nonsense takes up brain that I just can’t spare. Some of my online friends cut themselves out completely, and [they like it][]. Perhaps I should follow their example. Besides, each of them that moves on means one less bit of signal in the noise.
There is so much noise. [outrage]: http://www.geekwire.com/2017/trump-supporters-voice-real-outrage-fake-resistanceradio-promoting-amazon-tv-series/?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=webfeeds [echo chamber]: https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/the-social-media-echo-chamber-is-real/ [they like it]: https://seeknuance.com/2017/03/07/im-happier-and-more-productive-without-twitter/
Feb 25, 2017
Programming · perl · perl 6 · rakulang · music ·
I have ignored my MacBook Pro for a few months. Now my iTunes and Rhythmbox music libraries are out of sync. The Rhythmbox library includes a handful of Ogg Vorbis files. Because iTunes does not support Ogg by default, I will use FFmpeg to convert those files to MP3. For the sake of novelty, Perl 6 is the glue language for the task.
Jan 17, 2017
A quick lunchtime sketch that I ended up liking quite a bit.
Jan 8, 2017
Mostly an exerise in light, shadow, and patience. I noticed recently that I run out of attention for a sketch after 45 minutes or so unless I’m particularly focused. For this I specifically worked in 45 minute blocks over the course of a week.
Jan 1, 2017
TL;DR: Cinnamon screenshot and recording shortcuts are in Settings -> Hardware -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> System.