Tomorrow I Have The Long Drive
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Tomorrow I have the long drive. For 12 hours or so I will be driving the car with few stops and plenty of time to daydream.
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A Happy Pan – When Oil Smiled
Yesterday I had a happy pan, when the oil smiled at me. I didn’t intend for it to become a smiley face. I poured in the oil as I always do before cooking. That’s when my imagination thought it saw something. Yep, a face. I was amused enough, and I thought that my imagination was seeing something clear enough for others to recognise, so I took pictures.
This face came too early. If I had seen this on Halloween then it would have been perfect. This is a demonstration of how chaos theory can make anything happen. Alternatively if enough monkeys like me pour oil into pans we eventually get a face. People like this cooking oil. Five people have told me that they like this brand of Greek oil.
In other news Google says that I have travelled 3700 kilometres this year, between walking, cycling and the car. I think that most of it was by foot though. This is day 285 of 2021. 3700 / 285 came to around 13 kilometres a day. I think this proves how local our lives have become during this pandemic. 13 kilometres is easy to walk in a day, especially at a conference or other event, but also when walking to and from work, for some, or daily walks for other. My first reaction had been “how did I manage that, this must be wrong. Upon reflection, this seems correct.
PhotoPrism On a Pi Continued
After more than a week of working twenty four hours a day my Raspberry Pi 4 finally indexed over 120,000 videos and photos. The first thing that I notice is that Photoprism feels slower now. It takes several seconds and it feels as if it is suffering.
Overloaded with 120,000 Files
The Raspberry Pi 4 and PhotoPrism were not designed to have so many photos at once. It tells me that 63,000 files are videos, which I will remove from this archive eventually. They take an enormous amount of space without having much personal value.
Imagine that you use PhotoPrism to index your video directories, where render files are generated by Final Cut Pro X or other softwares. If those files are indexed then they take up a lot of resources to index but have no value except to the video editing system.
Purging Render Video Files
As an archivist I would often purge the render directories because they can take gigabytes of space when the only file you need is the final edit, as an international version, with no titles, and natural sound.
The Long Tail of Thumbnails
Although I speak of 120,000 images indexed there might be 12 times that number of assets being tracked by PhotoPrism. It generates up to 11 thumbnail images per asset for quick display on different resolution screens, from laptops to desktops, mobile phones and tablets.
12,000 of those video files are live photos, so I need to sort through the other files now that the indexing is finished.
Extra stats
It has found 1365 folders, 725 places, 222 calendar “events”, 57 moments and 59 people so far. It takes a long time to load unrecognised people with PhotoPrism because it is not designed to deal with hundreds of unrecognised faces at once.
Changing Faces
As you go through decades of photos at once you notice the faces that have changed over time. You see how you looked when you were two or three decades longer, and you see how your face has changed over time. You also see how much younger people looked just eight years ago in some cases.
The other challenge is to remember the name of people that you have photographed, and with a decade or two since you saw certain people it’s hard to remember.
If you have no idea of a person’s name you can just mouse over a face and click the x button and that face will cease to be in the database.
No Mass Delete
There is no mass delete option. If you want to delete photos via the web interface you will need patience. It might be better to use wildcards and delete them from the directories, and then refresh the indexes to remove ghost files and index references that no longer have media attached.
And Finally
The next step is to see how to backup the database files so that if photoprism crashes I can restore it, and how to backup the images, so that if the drives fail I do not lose the data. The step after that is to see how differently it behaves on a Raspberry Pi 5. I suspect it will make a huge difference.
Static Web Generators and CMSes
For weeks, or even months, by now I have been playing/experimenting with Hugo, 11ty and other solutions. I really like that with Hugo I can use FrontMatter as a CMS to create new posts, add the appropriate meta data, and keep track of what is published and what is in draft form. It allows me to create posts with the right metadata in seconds, rather than having to write the date, time, draft status and more by hand. It also generates the right file title for good archival practices.
Decap CMS
As I was looking for a CMS tool to make managing 11ty content easier I came across Decap CMS and it seemed interesting. I installed a version locally, and then I started to look at the code manually, rather than using the CMS tool. It felt complicated so I did some more research. Eventually I learned that in order to play with Decap CMS you need to setup a netlify account, a github account and then expose yourself to accidental charges when playing with a static website generator. I was struck by the paradox. Why would you use a CMS tool that requires you to commit to an external hosting tool? Why not use ClassicPress or WordPress and cut out the middle man. Of course the short answer is “because you still generate a static tool, but the interface is intuitive for non coders.
Yet Another Service
By requiring us to set things up via Netlify we’re forced to use yet another service, which is fine, when you’re using the service in the first place. I am not.
FrontMatter.Code
Within a few minutes frontmatter.codes could be setup locally do do what I want, to manage documents and frontmatter for an 11ty site. In so doing I keep development on the local machine, only connecting to the external server when I’m uploading site changes. I can use the same workflow as I have for Hugo, once I set it up.
ClassicPress and WordPress
It’s easier, for me to setup a ClassicPress or WordPress CMS and use that. ClassicPress feels very fast and I can use markdown or html for pages that I am creating, or that already exist. Within a short amount of time I can do what Decap CMS does, anywhere I want.
For WordPress you can use this method/tutorial or with the free playground option. Within seconds you can have a wordpress instance running on azure, up and ready for a new site and content.
In particular, while App Service F1 will not generate any cost, database usage is chargeable for “pay as you go” plans or when the usage limit of 750 hours per month for 12 months is exceeded. So, in order to ensure they will not pay for the WordPress playground, developers should monitor and track their database usage.
With this tool a wordpress instance is prepared for you, and for a month you can see what the cost would be, before jumping into a financial commitment.
And Finally
If I am experimenting with a Static website generator like Hugo or 11ty I want to have local versions to play with, rather than remote ones that may cost something if I am not careful. If I’m reading it correctly the basic plan I’m experimenting with is 3 CHF per month for a server in Northern Switzerland. With this “playground” I have the opportunity to experiment, and see whether that is the case.
The testing options are cheap, but for production Azure and other cloud solutions are expensive, which is why we use other cloud solutions, especially for personal sites. I will spend time experimenting with Frontmatter, set up for 11ty, following this learning experience.
Flitting Between Water Bottles and Rows of Corn
I thought that when I bought two cycling water bottles and two normal day bottles I would be done, but then I found a nalgene bottle for a reasonable price, and then someone mentioned drinking from a steel container, rather than aluminium so I was distracted and tempted. I did tell myself that this would replace my habit of drinking other types of drinks. I thought “Stop with these drinks for three weeks per bottle and you amortise the cost”.
It goes deeper than that. If I stop drinking the two drinks I normally drink, then I will save money within three weeks, and not have to spend it again for weeks at a time. It may be materialist to want more water bottles than I can use in a week, but at least it’s a lot less plastic to be recycled on Monday afternoons. I don’t mind recycling. I just hate that there are set times when it is possible. I hate that it has to be scheduled, rather than spontaneous.
If I have less aluminium and PET then my trips to recycle are diminished. In reality my goal is just to switch the budget from one luxury to another, without having a new expense. If I find that I am happy with the new system then that is all the better.
Temptation 1 – to replace the half litre bottle that I use daily, because it’s easier to clean
Temptation 2 – to replace the 1l bottle I have used for over ten years, because it is easier to clean, and because it should be easier to carry.
If we were not in a pandemic, and if we were not in a society where people still do not wear their masks properly, and where people respect the 2 meter safety distance then I would go and look at the products in person, and probably lose interest. It’s because we’re in a long protracted pandemic that I am growing curious about such things. It is a coping mechanism. As dull and boring as it may sound.
A few years ago I looked at mobile phones, new watches, climbing gear etc. Now I’m looking at water bottles. I like water bottles. It is something that you use every day, from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep.
Rows of Corn
Have you ever considered that we always look at rows of corn from the same angle. We always look at them along the line of plantation so all we see is a wall of corn. Today during the walk I saw that some corn had been cut to reveal the seed rows of corn and it’s interesting to see the cistern like rows of columns of corn plants.
It’s interesting to see that corridor down which animals and other small creatures can run along. You never think of how distinct it is. You always associate corn fields with a jumble of corn, like a forest of trees. Unlike in old films and cartoons this is highly organised, so walking in one direction is easy, but not perpendicularly.
Seventy Kilometres from Finishing The Camino De Santiago – Virtually
Now that I am seventy kilometres from finishing the Camino De Santiago virtually I have less than a week of virtual walking left. I walk in the real world, but the distance is mapped onto a virtual Camino. This is advantageous for two reasons. The first is that it makes walking around in circles near home less boring, but also because it means that there is less one less individual on the Camino De Santiago, so one less person contributing to population stress. I am doing this via the Pacer app.
According to their schedule I have 111 days in which to complete the walk, so I will complete it with over one hundred days to spare. I wasn’t even walking that much compared to this summer. Their target for walking 800 kilometres was too long for me. My habits are faster. At the same time I do not walk 30-40 kilometre days like thru-hikers do.
For years and years I have had points via a card, and for years I have never used them because I never had anything that tempted me. I saw someone that had a Sigg bottle I was not familiar with so I looked at it, and then I was told that I could get it with those points. Of course being the individual that I am, what I am looking for is something that can replace my Camelbak forge.
CamelBak Forge
For years I loved using the Camelbak forge, until, eventually I overtightened it too many times, and so the top became loose, and dangerous. Imagine freshly boiled water, carried via the cap rather than the base, and you have a painful accident waiting to happen.
Sigg Travel Mug
As I browsed through a variety of options I found the Sigg Travel Mug. It comes in 0.27L and 0.47L versions and I chose the larger version. The difference is 5 CHF. When I worked 4am shifts one winter I really liked having such a drinking vessel. I then used it constantly for long enough for it to fail on me.
It is nice to have hot drinks on demand when you’re fighting to stay awake, and when you’re outdoors working in cold weather. It is also nice when sitting at a desk.
Environmental Reasoning
The kettle I have requires me to boil at least 800ml of water at a time, but if I prepare just one cup then I waste a lot of energy and water. My solution, for a while, has been to boil that volume of water, but to pour it into a thermos, that way the drinks stay warm, and I can drink the hot drink hours later, or even the next morning.
Horizon/Neso Niche
If you’re sitting at a desk, or at home, unscrewing a top is not an issue, but when you’re driving anything that allows you to remain focused on the road is good, and that is where the Camelbak forge and travel mug are good. The Camelbak Horizon and Sigg Travel Mug Pure ceram could also be considered except for one serious flaw. They need to be upright to keep your drink from leaking. Although named Horizon the Camelbak Horizon prefers to be vertical. If you shake or lean it then it leaks. If you have a car with cup holders then this isn’t an issue. I don’t, so I anticipate a mess.
Purchase justification
The Forge failed months ago and I was looking for a replacement. I finally see that I can replace it for 15 CHF so I am seizing that opportunity.