Author: Seth Werkheiser

IT’S EMBARRASSING TO POST THINGS ON THE INTERNET NOW

From Noah Kalina:

I was out taking pictures and I made a picture that I really like. I was working on it and I was like, “This is so good.” And I was like, “What am I going to do with this?”

My natural inclination is to want to post it on the internet, but why? I almost feel like it’s embarrassing to post things on the internet now.

More thoughts here.

HOW TO WRITE ONLINE

Solid advice for writing online, from Sean Goedecke:

  • Try and find opinions you have that lots of people disagree with. Those are the interesting opinions others might want to read about
  • Ideas should come naturally from doing actual work, not from sitting and reflecting on what a good blog post would be
  • It’s OK to write multiple posts about the same thing
  • I deliberately don’t include every caveat – good readers will know I’m only writing about my old experience; bad ones won’t care anyway
  • I try to be upfront about my experience so readers can judge how seriously to take what I’m saying
  • Set up a RSS feed and some kind of analytics

Read more at ‘Writing a tech blog people want to read‘ (via Hacker News).

DAD’S RECORDS

From ‘Her dad, the 10,000 records he left behind and a viral lesson in grief:‘

“Since September, the 24-year-old Polish Canadian woman has held a daily “listening party” on her Instagram and TikTok pages, @soundwavesoffwax, to explore decades and genres of music that her father, Richard, loved — punk, disco, pop, jazz, techno, new wave and ’60s psych rock. The project has exploded online, resonating with more than 460,000 followers combined so far — and she still has nearly 10,000 records to go.”

It’s sad that those vinyl records will outlive those social media channels, though.

(via HackerNews)

NEVER DONE

With being sick, as I have been for the past week, it just makes me realize how unenthused I am about rushing back to be in front of a computer. Instead, I wish I could just meet with amazing people in a nearby coffee shop, a cozy diner, a nice office and just… do the work.

The computer screen looks the same when there’s 100 things to do and when there’s just two things to do. When everything is done, it looks no different than having multiple fires to put out.

The computer is the same no matter what.

Back when I activated cell phones from faxed order forms (in the late 90s), when there was a stack of 25 phones to process, that looked different than when we were all caught up.

And it was a delight.

But today’s knowledge work is never done.

HASCO ENJOYMENTS – ‘WOW!’

Finding the delightfully weird is a challenge without social media, but also its own reward. I spent about 10 minutes digging through Bandcamp before I found this little gem. Look at those colors. Hit play and dream of color patterns. Why not?

LISTENING WITHOUT A STREAMING SERVICE

Since cancelling my YouTube Premium subscription, I’ve had to find alternative ways to listen to my ambient music for work and sleep. Thankfully Focus Soundscapes isn’t just on YouTube, but they’re also on Bandcamp.

I don’t have a membership to Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube Music now either, so last night’s run on the treadmill was a challenge. Thankfully the Bandcamp app did the trick, and I was able to pull up the albums I’ve purchased over the years and continue running.

Now I need to find a straight MP3 player app for my iPhone, or maybe look into a dedicated MP3 player that isn’t tied to the Apple iOS ecosystem. Man, I just want to plug things in and move files around, you know?

1,000 DISPLAY ADS

We’re in 2025 and websites are still jamming as many ads as possible onto every nook and cranny. There are eight display ads on this one page, every three paragraphs.

Absolutely boggles the mind that this is the best we’ve come up with, the only way we can make it work.

Consider 1,000 true fans? Fuck no, how about 1,000 display ads? That’s all this is.

SCREEN TIMES

The last three days I’ve been putting my phone away. Out of site. Going for walks without. Reading a book while making coffee. Checking for anything urgent when I get home from the gym or grocery shopping.

My average for the week us under an hour, a definate improvement from the week prior of five hours per day. It all adds up, watching YouTube clips while eating lunch, checking emails while on a walk, or getting off the treadmill, or getting in the car from the gym, or then checking again when I get home. Too. Much. Input.

I’ve been sleeping like a champ, and I think lower the level of inputs has been good for recovery from my runs. I ran over 5 miles on the treadmill the last two nights, when in the previous few runs I could barely muster 3. I was just wiped out.

All that to say – put your phone away. Delete stupid apps. Stop checking for emails. Read a book while waiting for your water to boil.