Axxuy's Internet Notebookhttps://axxuy.com/Hugoaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.comaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-09-22T00:00:00ZBack Upaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-09-22T00:00:00Z2026-09-22T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/back-up/<p>I am back up. As in, up again, not a “backup,” a spare copy of something. By the way, have you backed up your files lately? You should do that. Have you checked your backups to make sure they work? Do that too.</p>
<p>So basically my computer has been having some strange issues with the internet lately. I could connect just fine, I just couldn’t make any <a class="h-cite" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/Transmission_Control_Protocol">TCP</a>
connections. That’s most useful connections. It’s what websites use. So that was a problem.</p>
<p>I still don’t understand just what was going on. This problem has happened transiently before, but this time it lasted for more than a week. It’s been very frustrating.</p>
<p>So do I have a bunch of posts stacked up and ready to go now? Nah. I’ve also just been busy. Business is an excuse, yes, but it’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.</p>
<p>Now I could ramble more, but I have a date to get ready for, so excuse me for <em>that</em>.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=back-up">Reply by email</a>RIP Wendell Berryaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-09-03T00:00:00Z2026-09-03T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/in-memoriam-wendell-berry/<p>The other day I heard that <a class="h-cite" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry">Wendell Berry</a>
had died. Yet another name in the recent spate of celebrity deaths. I will defer to Wikipedia for his full C.V. but among other things he was a writer and environmentalist.</p>
<p>Mainly I know him because I read a book of his essays a few months ago. I enjoyed them and I have been interested in reading his poetry.</p>
<p>He had a strong voice and strong opinions in his essay. He was sharply critical—to put it mildly— of the modern world, with essays such as <a class="h-cite" href="https://classes.matthewjbrown.net/teaching-files/philtech/berry-computer.pdf">Why I am Not Going To Buy A Computer</a>
.</p>
<p>When I read his book I assumed he had already passed away. The book was not really that old, but it is old enough to be palpable. It gave me a strong feeling that the person writing those words at that time, seeing how things have gone since then, would spontaneously combust. I assumed that he could not <em>survive</em> the sight of the modern world with the views he had.</p>
<p>There is much more to say about Berry’s life, but I am not the one to say it right now. All I can do is make my few comments.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=rip-wendell-berry">Reply by email</a>What is Natureaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-09-02T00:00:00Z2026-09-02T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/what-is-nature/<p>There is a very special park in my area—there’s a lot of parks, it’s nice. It is a beautiful bit of nature. It is full of lush greenery that is deeply refreshing to be among.</p>
<p>Except is isn’t actually natural. The whole thing is engineered. It’s centered around a canal that was gouged out for business and industry and commerce. Some praiseworthy person a century ago decided to put a park and gardens alongside the canal. It’s all maintained by a staff of professional gardeners.</p>
<hr>
<p>I like hiking (not that you would know it from the amount that I actually do). There’s something deeply soothing about getting away from civilization and wandering through the wilderness. Just keep in mind that trails are <em>built</em>. They do not occur naturally or maintain themselves naturally. And though the forests around me may seem like nature, I have to keep in mind that they are not really so wild. All the land in my area was clear cut decades ago. The forests are faint shadows of what once was.</p>
<p>The <a class="h-cite" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Built_environment">built environment</a>
includes much more than steel and concrete. It can just as well be a grassy meadow and the forest surrounding it.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=what-is-nature">Reply by email</a>Septemberaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-09-01T00:00:00Z2026-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/september/<p>Today is the first day of September. <a class="h-cite" href="https://axxuy.com/blog/2026/blaugust-is-here-again/">Blaugust</a>
is over. Over the course of 31 days I wrote a grand total of… 4 posts.</p>
<p>I blame work. There some scheduling… adjustments during August. I spent essentially the entire month busy and sleep deprived. It was really impossible to get into a writing mood. It was difficult (even more so than usual) to focus. So, naturally, I did not write.</p>
<p>I am disappointed at missing Blaugust, but I do not feel to bad about it. I am too tired to feel bad. I just want to sleep.</p>
<p>I hope to write more in the next month. I do even have a draft of a post already!</p>
<p>This blog remains, even if slowly.</p>
<p>In the meantime, I have lots and lots of great blog posts from everybody else who participated in Blaugust to catch up on.</p>
<p>Ĝis la reskribo!</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=september">Reply by email</a>Short Postsaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-08-20T00:00:00Z2026-08-20T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/short-posts/<p>One of the nice things about writing your own blog on your own website is that the form of it is completely up to you. There are absolutely no constraints or rules about how you present yourself or your ideas (but please be cool and make sure it’s accessible).</p>
<p>Almost all of my experience with writing before this blog was school assignments, so I am very happy to be free of those strictures. In particular, I enjoy not having to worry about length. I can just write two paragraphs if I want—or even two sentences—and that is enough. There’s so stretching and straining to fill out a five page assignment. I don’t think I’ve ever had five pages worth of stuff to say about one topic in my life.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=short-posts">Reply by email</a>Blown Off Courseaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-08-19T00:00:00Z2026-08-19T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/blown-off-course/<p>We’re right around the halfway point of August now (what‽ already‽) and I have not been nearly as active around this blog as I would have liked to be. I haven’t even read many blog posts! And there are so many great posts coming out, both as part of Blaugust and as part of the constant stream of creativity that is the best part of the internet.</p>
<p>I’ve only gotten two posts out this month. Nobody is keeping score, I know, but <em>I</em> had hoped and wanted to do more. But what is there to say? I haven’t had much time or (especially) energy to write. And once that’s happening it’s hard to build momentum to strt again.</p>
<p>I don’t like to make these kinds of posts. But it’s what I have to say at the moment. And August isn’t over yet. There is more time, and I hope there will be more blogging from me.</p>
<p>In the meantime, it is good to see such a stream of activity. Keep up the good work everyone!</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=blown-off-course">Reply by email</a>Writing By Handaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-08-07T00:00:00Z2026-08-07T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/writing-by-hand/<p>The main tool I use for to write this blog is vim (specifically <a class="h-cite" href="https://neovim.io">Neovim.</a>
“Vim” at this point is not really a particular program, but a <a class="h-cite" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clade">clade</a>
of software.) I have been using it for many years now, so this is not surprising.</p>
<p>What is surprising (to me) is that I do not write (or at least draft) more posts by hand. I like writing by hand. I have quite a collection of analog writing instruments and I certainly am looking for ways to justify that. I have <a class="h-cite" href="https://axxuy.com/blog/2025/handwriting/">fountain pens,</a>
I have <a class="h-cite" href="https://axxuy.com/blog/2025/typewritersarecool/">typewriters,</a>
I have far too many <a class="h-cite" href="https://axxuy.com/blog/2026/i-bought-a-new-notebook/">notebooks,</a>
I have many miscellaneous pens. To add to the mess I recently ordered a sampler pack of fancy Japanese pencils. I like analog writing.</p>
<p>And yet I do not use all of those for this blog very often. I usually write straight into my keyboard. This is a contradiction.</p>
<p>Not that you would be able to tell if I did not tell you. These words, as they appear on your screen, will <a class="h-cite" href="https://axxuy.com/blog/2023/toolmarks/">carry no trace</a>
of just how they were written. In fact, they <em>cannot</em> remain purely handwritten and reach your eyes, no blog post can. It must be translated into an electronic form somehow.</p>
<p>Translated, not transcribed. One of the things that sets blog posts apart from other kinds of writing is the inclusion of <a class="h-cite" href="https://brennan.day/knitting-the-web-we-need-interlinkers/">links</a>
. Writing is a conversation, even if only with oneself. Blogs directly attach themselves to their respective conversations with links. But I have no way to represent those as I scribble with my pencil. Urls are not meant to be written by hand. Even if they were, on paper they are mere references, not <em>links</em>.</p>
<p>That is not why I don’t draft by hand, though. Really it’s mostly out of laziness. Writing by hand means that I have to retype everything. I write in cursive and OCR can’t handle that. I’ve tried.</p>
<p>So then, what about you? Do any of you write your posts by hand? How often? What are your favorite tools?</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=writing-by-hand">Reply by email</a>Blaugust 2026 Is Hereaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-08-01T00:00:00Z2026-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/blaugust-is-here-again/<p>It’s August again. The year goes by so fast. With August comes a very special event: <a class="h-cite" href="https://nerdgirlthoughts.game.blog/2026/07/15/blaugust-2026-is-coming/">Blaugust!</a>
It’s a month long celebration of blogging.</p>
<p>There are all kinds of events going on at all times in various corners of the “blogosphere,” but this is the one that really got me into the habit of blogging.</p>
<p>It is a bittersweet one this year. <a class="h-cite" href="https://aggronaut.com/">Belghast</a>
, who founded this event, tragically passed away earlier this year. I did not know him personally, so I cannot write a proper tribute, but there are others who have:</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2026/7/3/farewell-belghast">Farewell Belghast — Contains Moderate Peril</a>
</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://indiecator.org/2026/07/09/goodbye-bel/">Goodbye, Bel – Indiecator</a>
</p>
<p>And where does that leave the event? This is the sweet part of the bittersweet. There is a community here. It is stil here and still writing and still making connections. It lives on. And I am glad to be a part of it.</p>
<p>At it’s heart, Blaugust is simple: blog during the month of August. There are acheivements, if you want, but the important thing is just to write a little, and hopefully talk to people. You can do one post in the month and that counts. That is enough.</p>
<p>Or you can post every day in them month if you really want to challenge yourself. That’s what I did last year. For this year, I haven’t decided. I am feeling a little lazy. Then again, it is good to challenge yourself, push yourself to the limits: this is how you expand your limits.</p>
<p>So I make no promises about hitting every day. What I am sure of is that you will see me blog! I hope I’ll see you there too.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=blaugust-2026-is-here">Reply by email</a>Tab Cleaning: July 2026axxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-07-22T00:00:00Z2026-07-22T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/tab-cleaning-july-edition/<h2 id="some-links">Some Links</h2>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://readbeanicecream.codeberg.page/posts/2026-07-10.html">Link Tree? How about a Pan-tree?</a>
A little while ago I wrote about my thoughts on <a class="h-cite" href="http://localhost:1313/blog/2026/linktree-makes-me-sad/">linktree type sites</a>
. It seems I am not the only one whofeels that way. Here’s some tips on making your own with <a class="h-cite" href="https://pandoc.org">pandoc</a>
. (This blog has a lot of information about pandoc.)</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://readbeanicecream.codeberg.page/posts/2026-06-05.html">Distraction Free as a Distraction</a>
Are you trying to set up a distraction free writing environment? Do you spend a lot of time thinking about it? Does removing distractions distract you from what you need to do? Is it an excuse to buy new gadets?</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://brennan.day/what-have-note-taking-pkms-accomplished-really/">What have note-taking PKMs accomplished, really? · brennan.day</a>
In a similar vein, how many of the elaborate note taking, knowledge management, second brain systems that you see posts and videos about exist just for the sake of making those posts and videos and ever more elaborate systems. Or another way: I see a lot of people talking about their note taking systems, but much less about what they <em>do</em> with those systems. There’s lot’s of good links in this post.</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://antoniosantos.io/your-rss-reader-is-robbing-you/">Your RSS Reader Is Robbing You</a>
RSS is great! But, it does have it’s drawbacks in that you don’t get to see people’s sites.</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://taonaw.com/2026/06/29/my-inspiration-checklist-for-writing.html">My Inspiration Checklist for Writing Blog Posts</a>
Inspiration, actually, doesn’t just come out of nowhere. Here’s a checklist to help get some.</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://borretti.me/article/i-wish-people-were-more-public">I Wish People Were More Public</a>
Don’t just do stuff, tell people about it!</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://www.experimental-history.com/p/how-to-be-less-awkward">How to be less awkward</a>
Are you awkward? So am I. I found this article with advice on the matter. One insight: people often <em>percieve</em> themselves as more awkward than they actually are.</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://www.joanwestenberg.com/p/just-be-normal-about-st">Just Be Normal About Things - by JA Westenberg - WESTENBERG</a>
What if not everything you like and do was an obsession? What if not every problem is a conspiracy? What if we were just normal about things?</p>
<p><a class="h-cite" href="https://ploum.net/2025-12-15-communication-entertainment.html">How We Lost Communication to Entertainment</a>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All our communication channels are morphed into content distribution networks. We are more and more entertained but less and less connected.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have many more tabs open than this, of course. But this gets things cleaned up a little bit.</p>
<h2 id="bonus-tidbit">Bonus Tidbit</h2>
<p>I made a little bookmarklet to make getting these links easier. It’s a simple snippet of javascript:</p>
<pre tabindex="0"><code>javascript: navigator.clipboard .writeText(`[${document.title}](${document.URL})`)
</code></pre><p>This just formats the page title and url as a markdown link and puts it in the clipboard. I have this in my toolbar and it makes things easy.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=tab-cleaning-july-2026">Reply by email</a>Writing Too Slowlyaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-06-25T00:00:00Z2026-06-25T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/writing-too-slowly/<p>My last post is not long, but it did end up taking quite a bit longer than I wouldhave liked. Sometimes you just do not have as much time for a project as you expect. In this case it was also hindered by being tied to a programming project, which invited tweaking and contemplation of features, etc.</p>
<p>I became hesitant to post it. It took too long to finish.</p>
<p>What I find happens, is that the longer I spend with a piece of writing, the less confident I become in it. As I tweak, edit, revise, the writing seems (<em>seems</em>, not <em>does</em>) to become less clear, not more. Editing always has the feeling of pushing food around on my plate with my fork, at best stirring everything up without really changing the substance, at worst making a mess of it. I come to doubt whether I’ve made any point at all.</p>
<p>And so with these blog posts I have a tendency to rush and try to get them out as quickly as possible. One writing session is best. I can tell you, it is very possible to write something without reading it all by oneself—no AI required. I suppose it would be interesting for me to actually reread some of my own posts. I treat my blog like a stack of papers, each new post goes on the top and older ones sink deeper and deeper.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=writing-too-slowly">Reply by email</a>Adding Stats to a Static Blogaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-06-24T00:00:00Z2026-06-24T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/adding-stats-to-a-static-blog/<p>A little while ago I was wondering just how many words I’ve written on my blog. I was inspired by Wouter over at <a class="h-cite" href="https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/07/good-blogging-habits-yield-a-book-each-year/">Brain Baking</a>
.</p>
<p>Now, I use a static site generator for my blog, the upshot of which is that the whole thing is just a big folder full of files. So counting up all the words is really easy with a simple shell command:</p>
<pre tabindex="0"><code>wc --total=only -w content/blog/*/*.md
55198
</code></pre><p>That’s 55,198 total words as of the time of this writing. Well that’s neat. With <a class="h-cite" href="https://gregable.com/2010/09/why-you-should-know-just-little-awk.html">a little bit of <code>awk</code></a>
you can get the average too:</p>
<pre tabindex="0"><code>wc --total=never -w content/blog/*/*.md \
| awk '{total+=$1} END{print total, total/NR}'
55270 321.337
</code></pre><p>(The change in total word count is because I am running these commands as I write this post.)</p>
<p>And finally I have a breakdown of the number of posts by year.</p>
<pre tabindex="0"><code>rg "^date: \d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}" -t markdown -o content/blog \
| cut -d' ' -f2 \
| date -f - +"%Y" \
| sort | uniq -c \
| awk 'BEGIN{print "|Year|Number of posts|\n|----|----|"; OFS="|"}
{printf "|%-4s|%-4s|\n", $2, $1}'
</code></pre><p>That one is a little more complicated… But in brief it searches my files for the date each post was published and tallies up the number of files in each year. With a bunch of wrangling to get everything in the right format. There is an impulse to downplay that part, but really a large amount of programming consists of wrangling data into the right format.</p>
<p>That gets us some information that is hopefully interesting to someone besides me.</p>
<p>I copied this set of stats from <a class="h-cite" href="https://joelchrono.xyz/stats">Joel</a>
. The nice thing about them is that they are very easy to do. I have ideas for more complex data to show about my blog, but that is beyond my skills with shell scripting, so this will have to do for now. There are a number of <code>bash</code> wizards on my Mastodon timeline, but I am just not one of them. But the beauty of it is that you do not need to know all that much to do some cool things.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=adding-stats-to-a-static-blog">Reply by email</a>I Bought a New Notebookaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-06-16T00:00:00Z2026-06-16T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/i-bought-a-new-notebook/<p>I bought a notebook. Yes, another one. No, I did not <em>need</em> another notebook. But, you know…</p>
<p>It all started when I heard about a new stationery shop that opened in my city. Of course I had to go visit one weekend. They had a great selection of fancy notebooks. (Despite my avidly accumulating notebooks, I am picky about which ones. It is important that they have paper suitable for fountain pens, my preferred writing instruments.) It was a nice, friendly, cozy place. I only wanted to support them. So I bought a notebook.</p>
<p>It’s a brand I’ve never seen before: a Nakabayashi Logical T-line.
<img src="https://axxuy.com/images/26/t-line_notebook.webp" alt="A grey notebook on a tabletop. It is a Nakabayashi Logical T-Line in A4 size" title="A grey notebook on a tabletop. It is a Nakabayashi Logical T-Line in A4 size"></p>
<p>What am I going to do with it? Well, let me tell you. You don’t end up a notebook hoarder like I am by worrying about questions like that. But as it happens, I do have a clear purpose for it. I am going to use it for writing blog posts. It is really surprising that I don’t draft more posts by hand.</p>
<p>This post was first written in the aforesaid notebook. I took it to a cafe and wrote these words with coffee and a donut. The sun is streaming in through the windows. It is a lovely day at the start of summer. The air is gently warm. I can raise my head and look outside at all the people going by, on foot and in car. I’d include a picture if I weren’t so shy about that sort of thing<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" class="footnote-ref" role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>I could bring my laptop (in fact, I did, and used it to work a little on another project) but what fun would that be? I admit it, I’m a sucker for aesthetics.</p>
<p>When I took the notebook out and searched my thoughts for what to write about, I initially thought about declaring some opinion or hot take. Or possibly sharing some new fact I learned from a headline, or perhaps skimming a Wikipedia article. It would probably be better for SEO if I did those sorts of things. But that isn’t really what I want this website to be and it never has. I don’t exclude those kinds of posts from consideration, I just don’t want to do too many. It also puts a bad taste in my mouth (or maybe this coffee has just been sitting in the pot for too long) to sit down and deliberately try to find an Opinion. I prefer spontaneity for this blog. This blog is whatever I happen to have on my mind at a given time.</p>
<p>What’s on my mind right now is the paper in front of me. So that’s what this is about.</p>
<div class="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I know I’ve had an idea for a blog post elaborating on this. I was going to link to it but it seems I never got around to writing it. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=i-bought-a-new-notebook">Reply by email</a>I Want to Talk to People, Not Chatbotsaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-06-09T00:00:00Z2026-06-09T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/i-want-to-talk-to-people-not-chatbots/<p>I don’t really want to make another post about LLMs. I would love for blogging about LLMs to become as gauche as blogging about blogging. But this is the idea I have right now.</p>
<p>I don’t want to talk to chatbots. There is one simple reason:</p>
<p>I am not chatty. I am not talkative. I find it difficult to think of things to say. It takes me quite a bit of time and effort to think of things to say. It’s hard!</p>
<p>And so, if I am going to spend all that time and effort, I want to spend it on <em>actual people</em>.</p>
<p>I want my computer to be a tool; I want to wield it; I want to operate it; I want to use it. That way my energy can go into the task that the computer is for, not thinking of things to say.</p>
<p>There are other reasons too, but this is <em>my</em> reason.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=i-want-to-talk-to-people-not-chatbots">Reply by email</a>I Love Walkingaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-05-30T00:00:00Z2026-05-30T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/i-love-walking/<p>I love to go for long <a class="h-cite" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking">walks</a>
. That is my first choice for getting places.</p>
<p>I love being able to walk places. It is a privilege. It is a privilege to have a body that can do it without pain. It is a privilege to have places close enough to walk to. It is a privilege to have a climate and landscape amenable to it. None of these are guarantees.</p>
<p>Sometimes they are short walks. There is a bakery a few blocks from where I live. Every now and then, when I have a bit of time in the morning, I indulge in a sweet treat from there.</p>
<p>About half an hour away on my legs, there is a little park with a stunning view of the local landscape. That is always a good stroll.</p>
<p>There is nothing like the feeling of moving through the world by yourself, with nothing more than your own body (and the help of the teams of people who designed, manufactured, and shipped my shoe; or the people who designed, built, and maintain the roads, paths, trails, etc that I walk on). There are other cafes and parks that I walk to.</p>
<p>It feels freeing to go where I want, when I want, regardless of where everybody else is going. I can even go, simply is whatever direction pleases me, without worrying about exactly where. Or I can go to a place without knowing the route, content that I know I am heading the right direction. I can go at my own pace, at ground level.</p>
<p>It is hard, in a car, to stop to admire the interesting things, the shape of a rock, a pretty flower, the color of the light against a building, the sound of trees rustling in the wind, the chirping and singing of birds. Cars are boxed in. Traffic is alternately halting and urgent. Walking gives you a chance to actually observe the patch of world around you.</p>
<p>Walking is not only a way to get <a class="h-cite" href="https://shellsharks.com/outside">outside</a>
, it’s <em>free</em>!</p>
<p>Walking has all manner of health benefits, I am told. I admit that is not a major reason I walk. It is certainly good for thinking. I have come up with quite a few ideas while walking.</p>
<p>I think I am going to go for a walk now. Feel free to join me.</p>
<h2 id="context">Context</h2>
<p>This post was written as a response to this month’s <a class="h-cite" href="https://indieweb.org/IndieWeb_Carnival">Indie Web Carnival</a>
, with the theme <a class="h-cite" href="https://hamatti.org/posts/indieweb-carnival-write-a-love-letter/">“Love letter”</a>
</p>
<h2 id="ps">P.S.</h2>
<p>Here are some of the other things I considered writing a love letter to for this post:</p>
<ul>
<li>Love letters</li>
<li>Mail</li>
<li>Libraries</li>
<li>Blogging</li>
<li>Trees</li>
<li>eBay</li>
</ul>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=i-love-walking">Reply by email</a>Tab Cleaning: May 2026 Editionaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-05-18T00:00:00Z2026-05-18T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/tab-cleaning-may-edition/<p>First up is a pair: <a class="h-cite" href="https://tracydurnell.com/2026/04/27/nostalgic-for-past-futures/">Nostalgic for past futures</a>
by Tracy Durnell and <a class="h-cite" href="https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/04/nostalgia-always-includes-a-temporal-context/">Nostalgia Always Includes a Temporal Context</a>
by Brain Baking. Both posts, as the titles suggest, are about nostalgia.</p>
<p>In <a class="h-cite" href="https://taonaw.com/2026/05/14/its-pie-day-for-me.html">It’s Pie day for me</a>
JTR shares a picture of some delicious looking pizza. I’m a very big fan of pizza.</p>
<p>Two more from Tracy Durnell: <a class="h-cite" href="https://tracydurnell.com/2026/05/14/bookshelves-as-mental-constructs/">Bookshelves as mental constructs</a>
with some philosophizing on bookshelves. And a recipe for <a class="h-cite" href="https://tracydurnell.com/recipes/chickpeas-and-pasta-with-rosemary-oil/">Chickpeas and pasta with rosemary oil</a>
—sounds yummy!</p>
<p>Aaron Hertzmann wrote an essay about dogs and the way dogs think: <a class="h-cite" href="https://aaronhertzmann.com/2026/05/15/dog-knowledge.html">Dogs Do Not Know Things</a>
. In short, dogs <em>do not</em> think like we do, and trying to treat them like they do will not have good results for anybody involved. Also, with respect to training, intentional or otherwise, humans are not actually so different.</p>
<p>I have a couple of tabs with a classic topic: bloggers talking about why blogging is great. They are right; blogging <em>is</em> great. Marc Jenkins has a post about <a class="h-cite" href="https://marcjenkins.co.uk/personal-blogging/">Personal Blogging</a>
—blogging as a better way to express yourself and connect with people on the internet than social media platforms. Meanwhile, Gordon McClean has written <a class="h-cite" href="https://www.gordonmclean.co.uk/2026/04/28/the-bloggers-manifesto/">The Blogger’s Manifesto</a>
with advice and ideals born of years of blogging.</p>
<p>There’s another post from Brain Baking looking back at <a class="h-cite" href="https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/05/april-2026/">April 2026</a>
with lots of interesting links that have really set this clean-up project back T_T.</p>
<p>Blast-o-rama has an exhortation: <a class="h-cite" href="https://blast-o-rama.com/2026/05/13/dear-internet-read-a-little-deeper-it-wont-hurt-you-i-promise/">Dear Internet: Read A Little Deeper, It Won’t Hurt You, I Promise</a>
. This should be basic stuff. Think about the claims that are being made in articles. Think about the sources.</p>
<hr>
<p>Well that was nice to clear out some of the blog posts I’ve had open. They accumulate. I open links in new tabs thinking I will read them later. But “later” doesn’t happen unless you make a deliberate effort to make it happen. It turns out, a lot of those links are actually pretty good. There were some interesting posts, and I’ve added a couple new blogs to my feed reader.</p>
<p>Now, at the end of this effort… I still have way too many tabs open. Oh well. I’ll just keep chipping away at it.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=tab-cleaning-may-2026-edition">Reply by email</a>The Tool For the Jobaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-05-14T00:00:00Z2026-05-14T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/the-tool-for-the-job/<p>I have noticed an interesting phenomenon with LLMs. There is something I have never quite understood.</p>
<p>From what I have gathered from people talking about LLMs in comments, and blog posts, and chat rooms, and Youtube videos, etc. One of the most common uses for them is looking up information. And I don’t get it.</p>
<p>I do try to avoid using LLMs where I can, but this particular case is not aversion or resistance for me. It is categorization. I simply that I don’t associate them with finding information. When I want to look something up, I go to <a class="h-cite" href="https://www.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>
, or <a class="h-cite" href="https://youtube.com/">Youtube</a>
. I go to a search engine and look for blogs and forums.</p>
<p>LLMs aren’t even in the list of things that I think about for learning. I am a little mystified by how they got onto that list for so many other people. There are many tools for this task already. Those tools can certainly be improved on—who has anything good to say about search engines in 2026? But for me, LLMs do not seem tool-shaped.</p>
<p>I suspect this may be a bigger divide between me and LLM users than even moral or economic considerations.</p>
<p>What tools do you use to find information, to learn? What makes something look and feel like a tool for that?</p>
<p>Wikipedia is, of course, patterened after encyclopedias, the default reference tools of the print era. Youtube videos vary, but often register either as lectures like you might find in schools, or practical demonstrations. Blog posts are (we always hope) experienced people sharing the lessons they have learned, as if we were listening to a mentor or colleague.</p>
<p>Moreover, when I am looking something up with one of those resources, I am usually looking for something specific. In that directed, information-hunting mindset, a conversation or chat is simply the wrong format.</p>
<p>Learning can and does happen in conversation—but it is reactive. It begins when a particular person makes a statement, either written or spoken. And perhaps you would like them to clarify a point you did not fully understand. You would like them to elaborate on an idea you found interesting. You would like to challenge them on something you disagree with. And in this way the conversation starts and may proceed to new information. But this does not map onto LLM conversations. The bot has nothing more to say than you do.</p>
<p>And for my part, I rarely have anything to say to actual people. Going to a website to talk at a bot in hopes of something productive is extremely artificial and unlikely.</p>
<p>In conclusion, yes, I am still using search engines to find things. That is what they are for. Or are supposed to be for. Tools for finding information and knowledge and experience.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=the-tool-for-the-job">Reply by email</a>Re: Who Knows That You Blog?axxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-05-05T00:00:00Z2026-05-05T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/re-who-knows-that-you-blog/<h2 id="who-knows-that-you-blog">Who Knows That You Blog?</h2>
<p>First, this is a response to David’s post: <a class="h-cite" href="https://forkingmad.blog/who-knows-that-you-blog/">Who knows that you blog?</a>
. It is also a response to the <a class="h-cite" href="https://hamatti.org/posts/i-tell-about-my-blog-to-anyone-willing-to-listen/">other</a>
<a class="h-cite" href="https://kevquirk.com/who-knows-that-you-blog">people’s</a>
<a class="h-cite" href="https://kaigulliksen.com/re-who-knows-that-you-blog/">responses</a>
that I have seen in my RSS feeds.</p>
<p>For the most part, no one I know in real life knows this blog. My partner knows <em>that</em> I blog, but I have not showed it to them. I—like many other people, it seems—feel a sense of separation between real life and internet life that I am hesitant to violate. Also, the name I blog under here is the same one I write fanfiction under, so I feel a little shy about that. Beyond that I am not embarassed about what I write here—even if some things are hastily and uncarefully written. I am sure I’ll share this sooner or later.</p>
<p>But all in all, nobody I know in real life knows both that I blog and where my blog is. At least for right now.</p>
<h2 id="who-knows-you-from-your-blog">Who Knows You From Your Blog?</h2>
<p>Now here’s where it gets interesting. I have actually been in the reverse scenario. Once, I met at a convention, <a class="h-cite" href="https://crystalwobsite.gay">someone</a>
who read my blog, but that I did not know in real life. I’ll wager that is a great deal less common. The same separation applies, however. They remarked to me that they read my blog, but did not have much of a sense of who I was. I did not have a good answer.</p>
<h2 id="do-you-want-to-be-known">Do You Want To Be Known?</h2>
<p>I certainly do prefer to omit personal details. I hope, or think, or expect, that people will simply read between the lines to get an idea of me. I guess I have done a good job of that. In part, I am old enough to have been taught not to give out personal information on the internet. But mostly, I am just very shy. Somewhere in the queue of blog post ideas is one about not posting more pictures—because they are a trace of where I have been and where I am.</p>
<p>Is it even worth the worrying? What I am most concerned about is not any particular reader, but the vast constant sweeps of surveillance that patrol the internet—and those already know who I am.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=re-who-knows-that-you-blog">Reply by email</a>It's Not Just Slop—It's Bad Writingaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-05-04T00:00:00Z2026-05-04T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/its-not-just-slop-its-bad-writing/<p>There was an article I saw floating around recently. It was about an experiment: <a class="h-cite" href="https://arman-bd.hashnode.dev/i-left-port-22-open-on-the-internet-for-54-days-here-s-who-showed-up">setting up a computer with a fake login and leaving it open to the internet</a>
. It quickly became apparent as I read it, that it was written by an LLM.</p>
<p>The other day, I started watching a video by a youtuber I have enjoyed in the past. The script of the video was very obviously LLM-written. I didn’t finish the video.</p>
<p>It was undeniable. The “it’s not just X—it’s Y"s. The triplets of short sentences with an implicit verb. The “Question? Answer.” introductions to paragraphs. All repeated relentlessly until there was no chance of it being a quirk of individual style.</p>
<p>It all bothered me. But it took a moment for me to realize exactly why. Eventually I came to the conclusion that both of these things were actively made worse <em>because they were written by LLMs</em>. Why?</p>
<ul>
<li>Not because I doubt the accuracy of the information</li>
<li>Not because of the ethical issues with LLM training</li>
<li>Not because of the resource usage in data centers</li>
</ul>
<p>It isn’t that these aren’t valid criticisms—they just aren’t the point I am trying to make. And besides, plenty of blog posts have been written on them already.</p>
<p>My problem is that the content I was dealing with was obviously made by LLMs. Why is this so bad?
Simply because it made me think about AI. I was thinking about AI—and <em>not</em> the information in front of me. It was pure distraction.</p>
<p>Yes, LLMs can be instructed to avoid this stereotypical style. I have probably read things generated that way without ever realizing it. I know I will in the future. I don’t even mind that.</p>
<p>There are very few hard and fast rules for writing. But if there is one, it is <em>keep your audience’s attention</em>. If some element of either content or style distracts from the point of the work, remove it. If you have any respect for your audience: stay on topic. If you care at all about what you are trying to communicate: don’t add noise to the message.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=its-not-just-slopits-bad-writing">Reply by email</a>Emailing about Blogging and Blogging About Emailingaxxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-04-30T00:00:00Z2026-04-30T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/emailing-about-blogging-and-blogging-about-emailing/<h2 id="reach-out-to-your-fellow-bloggers">Reach Out to Your Fellow Bloggers</h2>
<p>A few days ago, I read a post about email: <a class="h-cite" href="https://taonaw.com/2026/04/22/about-writing-other-bloggers-email.html">About Writing Other Bloggers Email</a>
. It’s a reflection on the joy of emailing other bloggers. Not so much as a way of <a class="h-cite" href="https://axxuy.com/blog/2025/shootmeanemail/">commenting on their posts</a>
(though not excluding that), but as a way of connecting with the people behind those posts.</p>
<p>Shortly after that, on <a class="h-cite" href="https://bubbles.town">Bubbles</a>
, I read a reply to that: <a class="h-cite" href="https://kaigulliksen.com/re-about-writing-other-bloggers-email/">Re: About Writing Other Bloggers Email</a>
. It’s a short note that I found very relatable. The author, like me, thinks about emailing other bloggers, would like to make a habit of it, but so far has not followed through much. I know the feeling.</p>
<p>I have sent both of these people a message, so that’s a start. One of the things that keeps me from doing it more is overthinking what to say. In the end, I kept it to a simple “hey, I saw your post and I like your blog.” Every now and then I get an email to that effect, and it always is a pleasure. It is unfortunately satisfying, in 2026, simply to recieve an email from an actual human being.</p>
<h2 id="email-is-a-social-network">Email Is A Social Network</h2>
<p>There is a way to take this even further. A few <em>weeks</em> ago I read an interesting post about a certain “workflow”—blogflow is perhaps a better word?—for the smolweb. <a class="h-cite" href="https://ploum.net/2026-03-20-social-smolnet.html">The Social Smolnet</a>
. The post talks about some specific software, namely <a class="h-cite" href="https://offpunk.net/">offpunk</a>
. I have not used it, but it seems to be a browser designed specifically for the small/indie web.</p>
<p>The specific software is not the interesting part. To me, the interesting part is the philosophy I see in this post. It makes the case for a social network composed entirely of blogs and email. What if you looked at your RSS feeds not just as a list of interesting people to listen to, but as a contact book, a list of interesting people to <em>talk to</em>?</p>
<p>I love that idea. And I think it gets to the heart of things. We aren’t writing all these posts about email because email is so great in and of itself. We are writing about it because email is a tool for connecting.</p>
<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>
<p>Email is nice. So I’m going to end this post with two things. One is a pledge to send more emails to the people who’s posts I read. And two is a bit of shamelessness: I would love to get more emails from all of you. My inbox is open.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=emailing-about-blogging-and-blogging-about-emailing">Reply by email</a>I Also Got An Xteink X4axxuyaxxuy@axxuy.com2026-04-23T00:00:00Z2026-04-23T00:00:00Zhttps://axxuy.com/blog/2026/i-also-got-an-xteink-x4/<p>Have you heard about it? The hot new device? I have recently seen a flurry of discussion about a new gadget: the Xteink X4. This is only a sampling of the blog posts about it:</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="h-cite" href="https://joelchrono.xyz/blog/early-days-with-xteink-x4/">Early Days With Xteink X4 - Joel Chrono</a>
</li>
<li><a class="h-cite" href="https://moddedbear.com/i-love-reading-on-the-xteink-x4/">I Love Reading on the Xteink X4 - JP</a>
</li>
<li><a class="h-cite" href="https://www-gem.codeberg.page/sys_x4/">Barebones e-reader: Xteink X4 - www-gem</a>
</li>
<li><a class="h-cite" href="https://bit-101.com/blog/posts/2026-04-08/xteink-x4/">XT Eink X4 - Bit-101</a>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="what-is-it">What is it?</h2>
<p>It is an ereader. The big deal is that it is small and relatively cheap. It’s about A6 sized and retails for $69 USD. It’s got a magnet so you can stick it to the back of your phone and take it everywhere.</p>
<p>There is open source <a class="h-cite" href="https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader">firmware</a>
you can install to enhance it’s features.</p>
<h2 id="why-did-i-get-one">Why did I get one?</h2>
<p>At first, I looked at all this discussion, and I thought “I don’t need one.” I didn’t feel like buying <a class="h-cite" href="https://axxuy.com/blog/2024/primitivepics/">yet another gadget</a>
. It’s neat sure, but I already have an Amazon Kindle. I don’t love Amazon, but I have it and it still works. I like to ask “what can I do with this that I can’t with the old one?” when I am thinking about buying something like this. At the end of the day, it is a toy. $69 is a lot of money to spend on a toy.</p>
<p>And then I realized exactly what I would use it for. Sometimes I have downtime at work. I often wish I had a book with me during these moments. A book—or even my kindle—are a little too inconvenient, and, well, conspicuous, to pack. I have my phone, but that is obviously quite distracting.</p>
<p>So, with that specific use case in mind (and of course I will read it in other places too), I ordered one for myself. It is really nice. People are raving about it for a reason. It is a supremely convenient way to read—at work, on the bus, in waiting rooms, etc. I have a book everywhere I go now, and it’s not connected to the internet. How wonderful.</p>
<p>The build quality is okay. You can only expect so much at this price point. I’ve already had one button crack, and that does not give me very much confidence in the longevity. We shall see.</p>
<p>Overall, I can recommend it. It’s pretty cool.</p>
<a href="mailto:axxuy@axxuy.com?subject=i-also-got-an-xteink-x4">Reply by email</a>