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Playing With Hugo – Continued

Byrichard
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Yesterday I decided to write a blog post using Hugo and HTML rather than markdown and it worked fine. I was able to write the post, checked that everything was displaying properly, and then noticed that with HTML the theme I am using does not detect section headings.

Markdown Behaviour

With Markdown when you write a blog post you can add headers with # and it will give the heading the weight and position in the list that it needs. If you look at the top of the page you can click on a heading and you will be taken to it. No need to scroll, as this is done for you.

HTML Behaviour

When you write html rather than markdown you tell it whether you want one type of heading or another, and everything diplays well on the page. The drawback is that if you use the article map at the top of a post then that map is empty. The result is that it makes more sense to write markdown, unless you want to add embeded content. If you want to embed youtube videos you need to create an HTML page and add the code for the embed. With Markdown you do not have this freedom.

Markdown is Quick and Light

I find that I like markdown and Hugo because I can write blog posts using Terminal and Vim. With WordPress I was writing the blog post in Day One and then copying it over to the WordPress Blog. I did this for two reasons. The first is that I don’t trust a browser to keep what I am writing safe. The second is that I found that Day One can sometimes be sluggish or crash. I don’t want to use an app that crashes.

An Unrelated Change

The computer I am using six years old, or so, and it was feeling sluggish recently so I took the time to delete a few apps that were running in the background without being used. Since I removed those apps I have spare Ram and the computer is behaving better than before. I removed all the Jetbrain Apps, as well as Boinc and other apps. I enjoyed contributing to grid computing but my computer is old now, and I’d rather keep it running well for what I want to do.

And Finally

Now that I have the workflow setup to write Hugo Blog posts I may stop updating the WordPress blog. WordPress feels slow, and bloated now. So many features have been added, that it has become slow and clunky. I want to write a post, check grammar, and then publish. With WordPress I can do this but it’s noisy. The experience requires ignoring a lot of information. I like how clean and elegant Hugo is as a simple blogging option.

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Wifi and Hope with Raspberry Hopping

Wifi and Hope with Raspberry Hopping

Byrichard

I had a theory that if I wanted to I could transport a raspberry pi running ubuntu server from one place to another and connect by wifi, with a little tweak, or by ethernet if that didn’t work and today that thought was proved wrong. I spend at least an hour experimenting, before calling it a day, because of lunch time, rather than a loss of desire to find a solution.

I had the theory that if you plugged an ethernet cable into a Pi it would become visible on the network with ease but this didn’t seem to be the case. The Pi wasn’t happy. It was configured for one wifi hotspot but when I tried to change the config file for a second wifi access point it simply didn’t work.

Two Things I Learned

There are two things I learned. The first is that raspi-config works when you have Raspian installed. it doesn’t work when you have a flavour of linux installed. The second problem I encountered was that the tools which various sites, including Bard and Chat GPT recommended required a working connection to download the tools that they recommended. I tried this, but had no luck, because for some reason the ethernet network was not detected.

The lesson is that I should download those tools before migrating a Pi from one location to another, so that if I encounter such an issue I have a simpler UI that works, rather than modifying config files by hand, and failing. I wrote failing but this wasn’t a failure. My entire goal was to take a Pi, configured for one environment and transpose it into a second. It didn’t work and I familiarised myself with the tools I need to install before attempting such an experiment again.

The Beauty of Pi

Don’t forget. One of the strengths of Pi is that you can download instances and install them on microSD cards. You can attempt something with one card, and when it fails swap it for a second and try a variant, until you succeed. If you succeed you can remove that SD card, run an experiment, and see if that experiment works, before reverting to the original card with the install that works.

The beauty of Raspberry Pi, and staring and stopping instances is that you can try various ways of doing the same thing several times, and make mistakes, and invest time in learning how to problem solve, before achieving your goal and moving forward. In this situation the experiment was the goal, so my ideal outcome was not reached, but the opportunity to learn was.

And Finally

With today’s experiment I learned that to make a Raspberry Pi running Ubuntu easier to port from wifi network to wifi network, for example to backup a phone while traveling, I need to add the network manager tools. If I had done that my day’s experiment would have been a success. I also learned that raspi config is not on Ubuntu installs via the Raspberry Pi imager, and this is a useful thing to learn. Now I can see whether I can recover the system before having dinner.

The Unquantified Self and the Garmin Etrex SE
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The Unquantified Self and the Garmin Etrex SE

Byrichard

Since boyhood I have liked watches. There was a period when I wore none, but eventually I got the habit back and now I regularly wear two watches. I don’t wear two watches because I like to wear two watches. I wear two watches because Apple sends to one database and Garmin sends to another, and there is some functionality that is dedicated to one platform. If you want Apple functionality you have to wear an Apple Watch, and if you want Garmin features you need to wear a Garmin watch.

The Etrex SE Solution

The Garmin Etrex SE is different from the Garmin Etrex 32X because it’s a cheaper, simpler model with a built in ability to communicate with iPhones and other mobile phones. The advantage of this is that you can track your daily walks, cycling, flying and other sports for up to 160 hours non-stop before you need to recharge or swap the batteries.

An AA Advantage

The other advantage of the Garmin Etrex family, but especially the Etrex SE is that it requires two AA batteries that can be swapped within seconds, but last for 150 hours or more.

By accident I left the device on overnight and it tracked for 19 hours and still had plenty of battery remaining for that day’s walk. With this device you can track walks, bike rides, and more for days at a time.

In contrast the Edge Explore can track for three or four hours before needing a recharge if it is in normal mode, but many more hours if it is in battery saver mode.

The Garmin instinct can track for a day or two at a time, before needing to be recharged, but to charge you need an external battery and time. With the Etrex SE you need a few seconds to swap batteries.

Geocaching Built In

If you enjoy geocaching then this is a great device because it pairs with your geocaching account and makes it easy for you to see surrounding objects and their location. It allows you to mark and navigate to geocaches of interest, with ease.

Up To Date Weather

Although it can take a few seconds to load you can also get live weather conditions with the device. This is based on weather service information, not a built in barometer.

GPS Precision

When walking I noticed that GPS – All GNSS accuracy bounced between 3-4 meters. That’s good enough to detect if you’re swapping back and forth from side of the road to the other. I played with that level of accuracy with another GPS.

Wrist Freedom

As the title suggested one of the advantages of the SE is that it’s a small, portable GPS that you turn on, track yourself, and turn off. It automatically transfers the walk, run, bike ride, flight, car drive and other activities to the Explore and the Garmin Connect apps, so you have the convenience of GPS watches, without needing a free wrist to use it.

Sports Aware

With the Garmin Etrex 32 you can easily track an activity but when you get home and sync the device to your computer you need to tell it what sport you were doing. You also need to physically either remove the SD card and sync, or you have to plug the GPS into the computer and sync that way. With the SE you can tell the GPS, either at the start of the activity, or when you save, that you’re walking, hiking, running, skiing, driving, using an ATV, flying and more. You don’t need to connect to Garmin Connect and manually tell it what you were doing.

Instant Charge

I write this more as a joke, than a serious advantage. With this GPS if you notice the battery is low, you don’t need to plug it into a wall, and wait for hours. Simply remove the back, swap the batteries and get on with your adventure.

Garmin Explore

When I looked at a comparison of the 32, the 22 and the SE I noticed one big difference between the three. The SE has no built in maps but it does have Garmin Explore, and Garmin Explore has good maps. This means that although the Etrex SE is limited due to its lack of maps, it does punch way above its weight and price, by pairing with the Explore App. You can draw your route whilst charging your phone, and then it syncs to your devices, for you to navigate with ease.

Limitations

  • It has no memory card slot, so you can’t expand to keep track of more activities or maps.

  • it is quite big and bulky. It does fit into a pocket but like a Cuckoo bird it will kick out its neighbours. You could place it in the side pocket of your hiking bag, or the top pocket, depending on preference.

  • No Maps built in. For navigation and maps you need to use your mobile phone. Location information is shared between the phone and GPS live, so you do have maps, but this requires you to use mobile phone battery life. With the Garmin Etrex 32x and other models you have maps built in.

  • GPS or All GNSS services. With this device you can’t tell it “I want to use Galileo, and no other GNSS. You can only choose between GPS, and “all GNSS” which I think is a limitation. I would like more freedom to choose.

  • Pairing is limited. If you want to track heart rate, temperature, cadence and other data then you can’t. It tracks your location, speed and altitude but not much else.

And Finally

If you want a GPS for navigation then this is not the gps for you, unless you’re navigating to geocache locations. This is one of the cheapest GPS devices you can get. It’s cheaper than a lot of watches, handheld GPS and more. The device itself is limited, in terms of maps, but if you pair it with the Explore app, then it becomes a powerful option, for navigating and more.

I am surprised that the device has so few reviews. I spent less than a minute drawing a walking route with the Explore app and I could sync it to the Garmin Instinct watch and Etrex SE within seconds. It’s smooth, fast, and intuitive.

The Garmin Etrex SE, although, very simple, demonstrates the future of GPS navigation devices, taking full advantage of Android, iOS and excellent battery life.

Pacer And The Camino De Santiago

Pacer And The Camino De Santiago

Byrichard

Just as I was thinking, “I have nothing to write about because I have been walking around in circles for three or four years I find that at least virtually I have almost achieved a big project. Walking 819 kilometres on the Camino De Santiago. I am now four kilometres from the end. By the end of tomorrow morning I will have completed this goal.


In reality nothing special, as I haven’t had to change my routine, suffer or anything else. What does surprise me is how quickly I completed the challenge. I could have accomplished the goal in more time. I have more than 100 days left to complete the challenge. Now we know how long it would take me to complete, in the physical world.


Cost


Pacer, for one year, costs 29CHF and for a while I thought that this was prohibitive for what is essentially a step counting app. I eventually did pay because I like having the longer term virtual goals. I like the idea of walking around the Mont Blanc, or walking the Camino De Santiago. It is also nice to see some of the additional data you get. The app tells me that I have taken taken 18 million steps over 768 hours over a period of 1890m days for a total distance of 21,142 kilometres. I am also more active than 97.2 percent of the users within my age group.


The Niche It Aims At


I suspect that this app is aimed at people who are not in the habit of walking two hours a day. I think it is aimed to the type of people who walk half an hour to an hour a day but want to achieve more. It provides audio coaching, simple goals for steps, duration and more. It also offers nutritional advice and more. It also offers a group of people to interact with, who are not striving for KOMs, legendary status or personal records. It is aimed at runners, walkers, hikers and people who like to feel that their circular walks are leading to somewhere interesting. That’s why I eventually decided to play with the premium features for a year.

Trail Glove 7 After 440 Kilometres

Trail Glove 7 After 440 Kilometres

Byrichard

Since the 7th of May 2023 I have been wearing Trail Glove 7 Shoes for most of my walks. During this time I have walked in towns, villages, fields, the mountains and more. They have felt comfortable for almost all of this walking. As I am not familiar with this type of shoe I have been keeping an eye on the wearing out of the shoes.

Heels and Blisters

Usually with most normal shoes I wear out the rear part of the shoe, to the point that the soft material that pads the back of the heel is worn away to expose bare plastic, which then wears against the back of my feet, and leaves blisters. My solution, to extend the life of those shoes was to protect the rear of my foot from rubbing. This isn’t an ideal solution. That’s what encouraged me to try barefoot shoes.

Toe Box Spacing

For some reason as I wore new iterations of shoes that I previously really liked I found that the sides of my feet would sometimes rub against the side and adapt a way to protect themselves. I didn’t like the idea that normal shoes were damaging my feet. Designs that had been fantastic in the past, became uncomfortable to wear due to either poor design, or bad materials.

The Trail Glove 7

These are very comfortable shoes for the first 400 kilometres. They provide just the right amount of heel padding for the heels. After 400 km I believe that the sole of the heel is worn just enough for heel strikes to be felt in the bone, after a walk.

Over the last two days I have walked in rainy, wet conditions. Due to how worn out the soles of the shoes are I felt the shoe slide from under me. I expected that this problem would occur. The tread wears out within 120 kilometres depending on walking style and surfaces. After that you’re happy to have warm, dry weather, Slipping is less of a risk in such conditions.

The rest of the shoes look fine. There are no holes on the top of the shoes, no fraying or any other signs of wear.

Mud Grabbing

As I wrote before the tread of the shoes wears down quite fast, where our feet apply the most force to the ground, but remains intact everywhere else. The result is that if you walk in muddy conditions, as I did yesterday, the tread traps mud and you’re stuck having to clear out the mud with a skewer or tooth pick, rather than a brush. Brushing doesn’t work.

And Finally

Although I think the support from the heel of the left shoe is gone I will continue to wear them until they get a hole. I wore a pair of hiking shoes until the foot support was worn smooth inside the shoe, and the soles were also worn out. I have worn other shoes until the toes of the soles of the shoes were punctured. I plan to do the same with these shoes, to determine their endurance. At the very least I want to get them to five hundred kilometres.

You know it’s time to replace shoes when you walk through a shallow puddle and your socks get wet, from the bottom of the shoe, rather than the sides.

The Daily Walk – 100 Days of Consecutive Blogging.

The Daily Walk – 100 Days of Consecutive Blogging.

Byrichard

We walk daily to look into the distance, to have fresh air, and to think about things. We take our daily walk because it’s a habit. We take our daily walk because it is a way of travelling from one place to another, without necessarily changing location.


A flower, with a field, and the Alps behind it.


Today is day 100 of writing a blog post every day. Every day I have tried to find inspiration to write and every day I have succeeded. The posts go unread, but the challenge is not to be read. The challenge is to be consistent. I have managed that challenge.


We are in a pandemic so I do not travel to via ferrata, hikes in the mountains or activities. There are no conferences, so I do not go to large events. My ideas and inspiration come from what I read, see, hear or feel. As we meet very few people we also converse less. Ideas are harder to share and discuss.


I question whether, when the pandemic is over, I will have the motivation to try to resume a social life. At the moment, because we’re in a pandemic, I feel that the answer is, “definitely not.” This is a self defense mechanism, and a way of commenting on the one and a half years of pandemic.


We have to be solitary to cope with pandemic solitude, but we also have to be that way inclined to be in that situation.


See you tomorrow.


The Futility of Blogging

The Futility of Blogging

Byrichard

I have been writing blog posts every single day for one hundred and fourty five days and rather than feel more inspired, and get a big audience, I am writing for an audience of one. Some days I am filled with inspiration and I write the blog post in twenty minutes or less. Other days it takes me an hour or two. It’s hard to write every day because some days are interesting, so there is something to talk about, and other days are dull. 


Mindful


I spend more time blogging because it’s a chance to look inwards, and outwards. it is an opportunity to spend time thinking and formulating ideas. It does count as mindfulness but only if we use the Day One app on the iPhone. On the laptop it doesn’t count. This should be fixed. 


Bickering


Twitter and Substack are in the news at the moment because they’re arguing. Substack is bringing out a “Notes” product, to fill the microblogging niche, and Musk is not happy, but Musk had Revue, before he terminated the project, so he’s arguing for nothing. Rather than excel at what it does Twitter is sliding backwards. Substack has 34 million users, and Twitter has 130 million if you look at who follows Musk, and 240 million if you look at other figures. Twitter could easily be overtaken. Twitter probably will be overtaken, as it has gone from being a source for collaboration and inspiration, to a place for bickering. 


Yesterday I posted a few tweets. Not a single reply. Twitter is now a ghost network. Those that would converse with me have left, so Twitter is losing its “stickiness”. It is losing users. 


A Bike In The Car


I put the bike in the car yesterday. It fits easily and this is great. It opens up the regions around which I can cycle, without having to cycle along some of the busier roads. I could drive to Palais and try to do some riding there, as I have been wanting to do for years. I can go to the top of the Jura and range around there. It provides me with more flexibility for more adventures. 

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