ethanschoonover

ethanschoonover, 1 year ago to random

Will this be Mastodon's VHS or Betamax moment?

I haven't tested Bluesky but I can say that if Mastodon wants to stay competitive (and I hope it does), it needs to address SEARCH & SURFACING fast.

The first open-protocol network that enables news and fast breaking events to surface easily and with functional search will win the market. You'll see journos, sports, etc. migrate to the platform that gives them that visibility.

There is a window of opportunity here but it doesn't stay open long.

ethanschoonover, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

Like me, perhaps you suffer from Sleep Debt.

I'm setting up a global marketplace to trade SLEEP OFFSET CREDITS. While you'll just be as tired as you were before, you'll sleep better* knowing that globally we're moving in the right direction.

• not actual sleep, will be SLEEP OFFSET CREDITS

ethanschoonover, 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago) to hamradio

Since putting up what amounts to a clothesline on my roof a month ago, I've managed to transmit and make contact with 37 states (and multiple countries) using 10 watts.

This is the power equivalent of putting an LED lightbulb on my roof, flicking it on and off, and having the east coast see it and reply.

Never ceases to feel amazing to me. #hamradio

(want to learn ham radio? join us on https://www.cascadiaradio.org/ - a free, progressive, ham radio collective meeting on discord)

ethanschoonover, 10 months ago to random

Someone gave us a towel with our cat's photo on it and now she sleeps exclusively on top of it like some sort of degenerate narcissist 1970s movie star.

ethanschoonover, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to random

Did you know that #AppleReminders is sort of a secret power tool for projects and todos?

It even has a kanban view.

And clicking any one of those icons on the reminders shown? Opens the project note in #AppleNotes. Easy. Simple built in tools.

Apple Reminders > View Menu > as Columns (you can make new columns which show up as sections in list view)

ethanschoonover, 9 months ago to hamradio

My son and I made a quick run to the Puget Sound seaside to take advantage of the 20 meter band this morning. Sitting here in Seattle we made a contact in the Czech Republic using less power than you'd use to light a lightbulb. #hamradio #amateurradio #ft8

ethanschoonover, 6 months ago to random

It's nobody's job to be on twitter at this point.

It's everyone's job to leave.

When the bar turns into a nazi bar run by a guy that loves to talk shop with nazis, you walk out. You don't keep going because you have to hit all the bars.

At some point you either take a stand or you are part of the problem.

ethanschoonover, 10 months ago to random

Would love it if  Notes could stop adding new, cool features because it makes it very hard for me to choose a notes app.

(love using #Obsidian but the sync situation is sometimes iffy, while #AppleNotes just dropped a bunch of cool stuff in the most recent beta)

ethanschoonover, 1 year ago to random

Running my MacBook pro off one of my DeWalt power tool batteries. There are USB-C adapters for most major tool battery brands out there, many of which (like this one) will both power devices and charge the tool battery from a standard USB-C power plug. YMMV in terms of quality/safety (this is the official dewalt adapter which works great).

Great for power redundancy, etc. A no brainer if you already have the batteries for tools.

ethanschoonover, 10 months ago to random

Getting serious about local music file management on macOS again.

Any music library management application recommendations?

ethanschoonover, 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago) to random

Ok @ivory users, I'm going to blow your mind:

Yesterday I wished for a yellow-card/penalty-box on Mastodon (a temp mute/block). For those times when someone MIGHT be an asshole but maybe they were just having a bad day? Or because they are posting spoilers for your fav show for the next week?

I know Mastodon has good filters buried in settings but I wanted a one or two click solution.

IVORY HAS IT BUILT IN! On a user profile you just:

1. Click the profile menu
2. Click filter & pick timeout!

ethanschoonover, 11 months ago to random

The story of the internet is never let the money guys in

ethanschoonover, 4 months ago to random

I'm going to have my kids make dinner for the family on a regular basis.

I'm going to start them off by giving them a few (3 to 6) recipes as good options for them to pick from.

E.g. A rice based meal recipe, a pasta recipe. One of them will be baked potatoes because, hey, baked potatoes are delish.

Question for mastodon:

What recipes would you include in this short list?

ethanschoonover, 10 months ago to random

My lower back just wrote me a letter

ethanschoonover, 4 months ago to Seattle

The hummingbird feeder was frozen. I cleaned it out and made new nectar and I took it outside.

The hummingbird was so cold and hungry IT CAME TO THE FEEDER WHILE I WAS HOLDING IT. Before I even hung it back up.

Jury rigged an "easy bake" style heater to keep the nectar from freezing (my last incandescent put to good use... i'm monitoring the temp with an infrared thermometer). Superclamp involved, of course. So useful.

#seattle #weather #birds

ethanschoonover, 5 months ago to hamradio

Running an " email over #hamradio " station from a #Seattle Fire Dept. battalion station for this morning's earthquake response exercise. Part of my volunteer work with https://www.seattleacs.org

(simulating a quake and internet outage and assisting to coordinate incident response)

Figures leaning over a computer and radios on a table while a fire department chief monitors

ethanschoonover, 10 months ago to random

Classes I'd like to teach to high schoolers:

CHAOS MITIGATION: Stay organized, fight digital & physical entropy (replaces home-ec 101)

THE BOX YOU LIVE IN: Wire outlets, unclog drains, fixit stuff (replaces woodshop)

SPREADSHEETS: Before code learn this (replaces any intro class teaching Java)

ethanschoonover, 11 months ago to random

My top #TRAVEL HACK that I’ve never seen duplicated:

“Crowd management” wrist bands as luggage tags.

E.g. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015ZUOMI/

Cheap, colorful, easy to spot on the carousel, don’t come off (if you’ve had one your wrist you know) & you can write your contact info on them.

ethanschoonover, 1 year ago to random

Stop thinking of Twitter, TikTok, IG, (et al) as social media sites.

They are Content Refineries.

Like processed food manufacturers they take user content & extract the most addicting/engaging content. Brains eat it up but in an unhealthy “devour the whole bag of chips” way.

They make hyper-processed social media junk food.

Mastodon is more like a potluck. We're all bringing dishes. It's a mess. Kids are running all over. But we are, at least, real people sharing real things.

ethanschoonover, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to random

Anyone have a mac/ipad/iOS recipe management app that they like? My "dump a PDF into Notes" has worked well but I'm looking for something with a little more structure, more features, iCloud sync, and Family Sharing.

Update: After a quick review settled on Mela: https://mela.recipes

ethanschoonover, 8 months ago to random

I really feel this post by @sixcolors . I sold off my iPads in Q1 this year because I was fed up with the crazy ipadOS roadblocks to deep productivity.

I picked up a replacement iPad this summer because there are several things it does really REALLY well that I use it for regularly (photo work, amazing… on the go server access for quick work, great stuff).

It's frustrating having more or less the power of my Macbook in a tablet, but being unable to truly leverage it.

https://sixcolors.com/post/2023/08/why-i-gave-up-on-the-ipad-only-dream/

ethanschoonover, 8 months ago to hamradio

Making some good contacts on the 15 meter band right now. Again, amazing to me that I’m essentially using the power equivalent of a lightbulb, setting it on my balcony, and waiting for someone in Belize to see it and flick their lights on and off in reply. And it works. #hamradio #amateurradio #ft8

ethanschoonover, 4 months ago to hamradio

My son and I at the Seattle waterfront doing some #hamradio this afternoon. Last contacts of 2023!

ethanschoonover, 5 months ago to random

One of the best things I added to our den was this electronic display for family favorite movie posters

A man swipes in front of a poster sized display on the wall, changing displayed movie posters

ethanschoonover, 1 year ago to random

Really wish I could see the alternate icons that were designed and rejected in favor of this Apple News icon. I've never loved it and I'm sure there must have been good alternatives.