A Raspberry Pi 4, top, and Pi 5, bottom.

Blogging with the Pi 5

Byrichard
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Over at least a week I have been blogging with the Pi 5 and an Apple keyboard. I am using the Apple keyboard just because it’s the one I have, rather than out of a preference for their keyboards over others. I have a full size keyboard but it lost a part so it’s unbalanced and the rapoo keyboard is too small to be comfortable for typing.

VS Code and Front Matter

I use Visual Code and Front matter. Visual Code is good for keeping files organised. Front Matter is good for generating the Front Matter required by Hugo for each blog post. I create a new post with the required title, add the tags, and mark the post as false for draft status.

Visual Code and Front Matter work well on the Pi 5. With Front Matter on the MBP from 2016 it could take a while to load all the pages. With the Pi 5 it’s much faster. This decreases the time I spend waiting when VS Code wants to restart for updates.

Web Browsing

I have found that the Pi 5 is fine for web browsing. It struggles when you play HD video for ten minutes or more, but in that situation you could play 720p or a lower res video file to save on resources.

Git, Github and Git FTP

I use git for my blog, first to get daily practice with GIT but also because if I slide from the mac to the Pi 5 it takes seconds for device A to be ready for blogging, after using device B for three weeks beforehand. I sync to github to have an offsite backup, but also because it’s an easy way of having daily activity. This isn’t so important. It’s about getting experience with using github too. Git FTP is the most useful aspect.

Before learning how to use Git FTP I would generate the pages, and have to sync the entire folder manually, rather than automatically with a single command. Filezilla requires several steps. When GIT FTP is setup it requires git ftp push and you’re done.

Hugo

I experimented with 11ty and it worked well for a bit, but eventually I found 11ty too confusing so I switched to Hugo and it suits my workflow well. The advantage with Hugo is that once you have set it up it works well. I run the Hugo command and it generates all the files I need for the blog post. Once Hugo is done I sync git, and then run git ftp.

Legacy WordPress

There was a time when I loved the simplicity of using WordPress but for a few years now I have found it bloated and slow. I use it because it has community features but if I could drop it I would. I write my blog posts in Markdown and then copy them to WordPress.

Mobile, Yet Immobile.

The paradox of the Pi is that it’s very easy to transport, especially if you have a small keyboard and a small mouse, and it can plug in to any device with an HDMI port if you have the right cable with you. The drawback is that it has no battery and no screen, so if you want to use it in a mobile manner you will need to have a screen and source of power, as well as the keyboard and mouse. Theoretically the Pi 5 equivalent of the Pi 400 integrated keyboard Pi would be better.

And Finally

I like blogging on the Pi 5. The setup I have works well.

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A Meetup Weakness
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A Meetup Weakness

Byrichard

Before the pandemic, when life was normal, I would go to three or four events per week organised via websites. These days, on meetup.com things are organised every two weeks, and for just 15 people at a time. This means that if you’re not first to sign up you’re on a waiting list and you could be social once every few weeks, rather than three times per week. This frustrates me.

There is a simple solution. There is a demand for events to be organised. I recently bought fresh Via Ferrata stuff and may start doing them regularly once again. I want to accertain that I am comfortable with the sport after such a long break, and once this is done I can create my own via ferrata and walking group. I would organise things at least once per week, maybe more.

The biggest nuissance with Meetup.com is that it requires a monthly fee for having a group. The result is that groups are created, run for a bit, and then destroyed to avoid paying for longer. The alternative is to use Facebook but I absolutely hate what Facebook is and what it represents. Every time it abuses of peoples’ trust it and gets caught it never apologises.

I have car and I have three seats. Like I used to do before the pandemic I can pick people up in Nyon, drive them to and from the activity, and when it comes time to say goodbye they can contribute towards petrol and the cost of having a group.

I would never charge people a fee to participate in an activity because that goes against my ethos, but having people pay a fair share towards petrol is the right thing to do. If you don’t charge people for the petrol used, they abuse of our kindness as drivers.

There is an added benefit. The problem with group activities is that when they end people rush to the train, without saying goodbye and I find this really strange. Before the pandemic there would be a stop at a bar to have a drink, and then drive home. In the Pandemic age that stop no longer occurs. I find this to be a shame. At least by driving from Nyon to the via ferrata or hiking location there is a moment for conversation before and after the journey.

I could be like others, and take the same trains as they take but that would increase my costs for participating in events. It also doubles or triples the journey time.

Last week I walked an extra eight kilometres rather than take a train, so it isn’t that I want to use the car. I have spent five or six years doing almost all of my bike rides and walks from home. The point of the car is to expand my range, once again.

And Finally

As I got to the end of this post I noticed that I am included in the hike that I thought was overbooked, and I see that other people are doing a VF at the same time on the same day and now I am torn about which one to do. The beautiful irony.

The old paradox is back. Nothing to do for the entire week, and then two activities to do at the same time.

Playing with Bookmory and StoryGraph

Playing with Bookmory and StoryGraph

Byrichard

Goodreads was independent, once upon a time, and then Amazon bought it and it became part of the Amazon universe. At that point Goodreads stopped being an interesting option because we were helping a billion dollar company rather than an indipendent project.

Bookmory and storygraph are two alternative projects. Bookmory imports the goodreads csv faster but Storygraph provides more analytical data after the fact. Storygraph simplifies importing the book CSV from Goodreads to Storygraph but once I got the Goodreads CSV I could migrate my data to both services with ease.

The difference in price is 31 CHF per year for Bookmory and 39 Euros per year for Storygraph.

I started using both yesterday so I haven’t made up my mind about which I prefer. I do like that I can track my reading streak via StoryGraph rather than via the Kindle app, Apple Books or other apps.

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As featured on Operator 11

Byrichard

After a long but great day of work I came home to do The Twitter Vox show with Loudmouthman and two guests. We were joined by Goldie Katsu and Malburns. We discussed what it’s like to reach 3000 tweets and the conversation moved towards the advantages of using twitter when part of global communities like Second Life. We had some interesting insights and the conversation progressed well. It’s a good show and can be found here.

additionaly the show was featured on the front page of operator 11.

Twitter Vox featured

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Ingress and the Sony Xperia Z3

Byrichard

Ingress is a game that requires a data connection, GPS data and the screen to be on. As a result of this battery consumption is high. Earlier today I took the Sony Xperia Z3 out in the rain and played for two solid hours non stop walking from portal to portal and the battery was at 50 percent. This is excellent compared to other devices.

Screenshot_2014-12-14-16-25-59 Screenshot_2014-12-13-20-16-29

 

The phone is also waterproof to a depth of one meter therefore the rain we had this afternoon was no hindrance to game play. Every so often I had to wipe the screen as the touch screen stopped functioning as well as it should due to the signals it was getting from the rain.

 

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Threaded conversations and community

Byrichard

From the 1970s to 2007 we had threaded conversations through bulletin boards, forums, groups and other centralising discussion points. For a brief window of about two years conversations became so captivating that people wanted to meet in person as strong friendships were established. By 2009-2010 the threaded and personal conversations between web users was hijacked by “social media” marketers and so the speed of conversation and quality of interactions collapsed. In it’s place hashtags would replace user engagement with quick metrics.

The golden age of conversation has been replaced by the dark ages of indifference. Every day that we spend online we see how disengaged people have become. Look at twitter. Do you still see user to user conversations. Look at Facebook. Do you still see engaging content and passionate conversations? I see a waste of time. The conversations which were taking place have been replaced by dumbed down headlines and sensationalist content.

For several years we have heard about how corporations should not have access to our data because of what they will do with it. From where I am surfing the web and interacting with the online community I see a more serious problem. I see that as the chance of individual to individual conversations has decreased so the quality of shared articles, videos and other content has been dumbed down. This is evident on Facebook and Twitter. These networks are becoming ghost towns. They have millions of user profiles that are slowly going dormant.

That social media networks are going dormant is excellent. Instead of wasting time with Ello, Diaspora and other solutions I believe that going back to the blogging habit will benefit everyone. It is decentralised, it is interest based and it is long form. Through Worpdress.org tools, through Disqus and other solutions so our ability to connect and communicate is improved. It forces us to be positive and to be accountable. Everything that you share can contribute to your reputation and help share your passions. We should not be hidden behind silos and we should not be anonymous. We need to break the twitter and Facebook duopoly.

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