This seems like a great primer for learning how to use CSS to improve readability of posts on your site. It covers a bunch of CSS topics like font size units, letter and word spacing, width and alignment of text, etc...
I went from an Archive Page that used an embedded Glitch app, to a static Archive Page.
Previously, I used an embedded Glitch app to dynamically create the contents for my Archive page. It worked well, but it was also slow. It was slow because every time you visit the page, the Glitch app had to wake up, then pull all my write.as posts and finally display them in a list. The slowness was a stark contrast to other pages on this site — most of which load very quickly. I also didn't like the idea of depending on a third-party service to serve up the contents of my Archive page.
So, I've been wanting to switch to a static Archive page for awhile now. My problem was that I already had over 350 posts on this site. To get me started, I needed a way to quickly generate a list of all posts on this site. For this, I created a .NET Core console app. This app would get all my posts using the write.as API. Then the app would spit out the list of all posts in HTML format. My first pass actually had it spitting out text in Markdown. But I quickly ran into issues with Markdown and <div> elements not playing well together. So, HTML it was. Anyway, once I had the output on a text file, all I had to do was copy over the HTML and paste it into my Archive page.
Update:
I added a new version, which in my opinion is much better than the first one I shared on this post. I'm keeping the first one for historical purposes, but I don't use it anymore.
Got a new PC at work some time ago. That means I lost all the EQ settings that I used with the Creative SoundBlaster E1 external amp/sound card. Thankfully I still have the EQ settings for my Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones here. But I lost the ones for my Bose Soundsport Wired earphones. Just another reminder to save your stuff to devices/locations that you control.
Anyway, I had to start from scratch with my Bose Soundsport Wired earphones. These earphones are bright sounding earphones. They don't have that much bass to begin with. This is where an external amp/sound card with EQ settings can come in handy. Using the built-in “Rock” preset from Creative, I modified it to add more bass. The result was surprisingly good. This setting sounds even better than any of the previous EQ settings that I've made for my Bose Soundsport Wired earphones. There is now enough bass — more than enough for these earphones — but with minimal degradation to the mids and highs.
Looks like it's been over a month since I wrote a music log entry. And since it's Friday, here's a new one. Today's music log will once again feature piano/cello covers by The Piano Guys. I love listening to their covers. They're always great re-arrangements of popular hits. They make them sound like their own. And they make them sound beautiful. I credit them for my recent appreciation of classical musical instruments, like the piano and cello. That or I'm just getting old. Probably a bit of both. 😄
Anyway, first one for today is a cover of “Just The Way You Are”, originally by Bruno Mars. I love that they simply didn't follow along with the original melody and tune. Instead, they took inspiration from the original song and re-arranged it to where it sounds like at times, an original piece. Beautiful cover of the original.
This is a cold start video of my daily driver, a 2013 Mazdaspeed3. This is with the stock downpipe, an Ultimate Racing catted racepipe and a Magnaflow catback exhaust.
I've been playing with adding emojis to this site recently. If you haven't noticed, the pinned pages now have emojis at the end. It is as simple as copy and paste. I didn't have to use escape characters. I basically went to the Emoji Unicode Reference page on w3schools, copied one of the emojis, edited one of the pinned pages, pasted the emoji and hit publish. And it... worked. Too easy really. Maybe everyone else already knew that it was that easy, but not me 😀
Anyway, I'm bookmarking the page so I can easily find more emojis to use in the future. Maybe someone else will find it useful too.
The narrative that science and Christianity are enemies is false. Not only are they not enemies but Christianity helped science develop beyond the limits imposed on it by ancient cosmologies.
I know, right? The title seems absurd, even for me as a Christian. But, keep an open mind and listen to Dr. Stacy Trasancos make her case. In this free sample lesson from Word on Fire, she discusses ancient culture and the history of science. Culminating in how it all led to the modern science that we have today.
While Catholic teaching maintains that God operates within the universe, it does not go all the way to saying that God is the universe. Rather, we say that God created the universe and holds everything in existence. The universe is not God, it is God's creation — God's handiwork. This nuance puts science in its place, as the study of the handiwork of God.
That is the first time I've heard someone say, that science is the study of the handiwork of God. If you think about it though, it makes sense. If God really does exist, then science is definitely the study of His work. From this perspective, science is not in conflict with belief in God. It is not in conflict with faith.
This post is Day 22 of my #100DaysToOffload challenge. Visit https://100daystooffload.com to get more info, or to get involved.
Perhaps lesser known is the fact that Ignatius also developed a method of discernment or decision-making that is still relevant today and that can be applied by people of all faiths and adapted to those who are not religious.
A great read on a decision-making process developed by a 16th-century saint. Belief in the divine is not a requirement to make use of this decision-making process. Credit for that goes to the author, who makes an effort to make this process applicable to everyone.
He also urged people to make decisions for the “greater glory of God.” How can non-religious people use this advice? I argue they can consider how their decisions will affect the vulnerable, the poorest and the most marginalized.
That is a wonderful way to translate the phrase “for the greater glory of God” and make it applicable for people who do not believe in God.
In today’s hurried world, a 16th-century Catholic mystics’ advice may seem quaint or his process tedious. However, many modern psychological approaches confirm the value of such reflective practices.
A good reminder to look into the past for solutions to problems that we might still have today.
When I say notebooks, I don't mean those lightweight laptops that the tech industry calls notebook. I mean real paper notebooks. These paper notebooks are distraction free.
If you've been following this online journal, you probably already know that I keep a Bullet Journal. I mean I only ever mention it every other post or so. I also have a Work Journal. I also have a number of Field Notes notebooks lying around. I use these Field Notes notebooks in a variety of ways. One is a Food Journal. Another is Baby Caleb's milk, temperature, wet/dirty diaper, health tracker. Another is a backup satellite Bullet Journal. Another is a catch-all notebook for whatever needs to be written down.
I found that I could not discuss my thoughts on this show without referencing specific events in the show. So, to try and make this as spoiler free as possible, I hid the major spoilers behind links. You will have to click the links to view the spoilers if you so choose.
Like I said in a previous journal entry, Messiah is a very intriguing show. It really made me question the world we are living in today. For instance, the Messiah's request to... click here for spoiler, was thought provoking. Can you imagine what the world will be like if that happened? I for one cannot. And I cannot even say if that will bring about more good, or more bad. I don't think anyone can, unless they can see into the future. But it is a very interesting scenario to think about.
