TrickJarrett.com

Thursday, July 6th, 2023

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I am still waiting for evaluation on the blog's newsletter account to be cleared so I can resume sending it out. If they don't approve it soon, then I will go ahead and begin moving over to the other platform simply out of a desire to be done with it.

Update: And just received the all-clear. Incoming double newsletter delivery.

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LinkedIn is Weird

7/6/2023 7:48 am | : 2 mins.

In response to this post by Rand Fishkin:

I wrote the short and unhelpful, "LinkedIn is weird." I didn't know how better to say it in the moment and after sitting on it for a dozen hours I think I have a better way to say it.

LinkedIn is a professional network, and is filled with people attempting to be professional in a way that feels like nearly endless peacocking. Splaying of their tail feathers and strutting around. It's performative in a way that other networks can't be due to the AFK nature of the network.

That is why I feel it's weird.

It's not bad (at least, no worse than any other network.) And it has its definite values professionally. I've been in my job for over 11 years, but for those seeking work it levies personal networks and also provides professional job hunting tools.

Not bad, just weird.

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Discussion around XHTML and its impacts on HTML

A great walk down the journey of the evolution of HTML through XHTML to today's HTML 5. Specifically the author comes at it discussing how XHTML led people to self closing some html tags, such as:

<img src="[URL" />

The /> at the end is the part in question and he explains why it isn't required anymore; something I didn't realize and will happily begin ditching.

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Firefox Shortcut Tip

Did you know, you can press Ctrl + L to jump to the addressbar? I didn't! Very useful.

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New Newsletter Name

7/6/2023 9:27 am | : 2 mins.

As has been an important highlight for the last few days, the newsletter I send out has been on my mind. Right now it has the self-titled subject of "Trick's Words." But I decided I wanted to give it a better name. I brainstormed on it a bit and came up with two ideas:

Bits & Blips

I like this one because it has the alliterative title. And Blips was one of the original things as I built this blog engine, I called entries blips. Because the original vision was to be entirely a link blog, so blips would encompass the short entries in the same way 'tweets' (and now 'toots' and 'skeets') are entering common language.

The Daily Trickster

Gives it more of a newspaper feel and it still incorporates my name while perhaps also allowing me license to have a bit more fun in the newsletter.

We'll see. Still mulling these over and how I feel.

Update: I've landed on calling the daily update emails 'Bits & Blips' moving forward.

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The Scope that Changed the World

7/6/2023 10:17 am | : 2 mins.

A few years ago on a long flight across the North Atlantic, the perfect choice for a good read was iWoz, the autobiographical account of [Steve Wozniak]’s life. In it, he described his work replicating the wildly successful Pong video game and then that of designing the 8-bit Apple computers. A memorable passage involves his development of the Apple II’s color generation circuitry, which exploited some of the artifacts of the NTSC color system to produce a color display in a far simpler manner than might be expected. Now anyone seeking a connection with both Pong and the Apple II can have one of their very own if they have enough money because [Al Alcorn]’s Tektronix 465 oscilloscope is for sale. He’s the designer of the original Pong and used the instrument in its genesis, and then a few years later, he lent it to [Woz] for his work on the Apple II.

What a remarkable piece of modern history. The same device which created the first massively successful video game and also was critical to the development of the Apple II.

The post goes on to note that the device is up for sale and I wish I had the means to acquire it as I'd love such an artifact in my collection.

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WaPo introduces 'Keyword' which crosses Wordle with a Crossword

I got today's in 6 guesses & 2m19s.

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Delving into the meaning of the Ubuntu philosophy

7/6/2023 4:35 pm | : 3 mins.

Bringing people together is what i call 'ubuntu,' which means 'I am because we are.' Far too often people think of themselves as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity. - Desmond Tutu

I have known of the term of ubuntu for years. Largely since it's rise as the name of a Linux distro in the 2000s. However I was re-introduced to it for its philosophical meaning as I continue listening to 'How to be Perfect.'

Ubuntu is an Nguni Bantu term meaning "humanity". And the philosophy it represents, as Desmond Tutu speaks to above, is "I am because we are." Which I absolutely adore.

From its Wikipedia page, the most recent definition of ubuntu from the African Journal of Social Work:

A collection of values and practices that people of Africa or of African origin view as making people authentic human beings. While the nuances of these values and practices vary across different ethnic groups, they all point to one thing – an authentic individual human being is part of a larger and more significant relational, communal, societal, environmental and spiritual world.

We are not individuals. We are part of a larger entity and we cannot be our true selves without it.

This speaks so much to my way of seeing the world and I am excited to dig deeper into it and look for books from African authors discussing it.

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Doing something I haven't done in a while thanks to a gentle nudge from my friend Dave. Editing a book I wrote in hopes of it ever seeing the light of day. We'll see.

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Automated Archives for July, 6th 2023

7/6/2023 10:45 pm | : 1 min.

This post was automatically generated

Mastodon Bookmarks

Wallabag Additions

These are articles that which I saved today so that I may read them later. Substance and quality will vary drastically.

Blog Posts On This Day

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