The apps, services, devices, and habits that help me publish, create, remember, plan, and keep daily life moving.
Home Web Server
This site runs from a Raspberry Pi 5 single-board Linux computer in my apartment. Apache serves the pages, and PHP handles the Micropub endpoint.
I use Google Gemini to do the coding since I am not a PHP professional.
- I instructed Gemini to create a site that supports the Micropub specification.
- I then went through each of the tests on Micropub.rocks to ensure the site complied with each of them, prompting Gemini to make fixes when tests failed.
- Added support for Webmention.
- Added support for password-protected creation, editing, and deleting of posts directly on the site.
- Added syndication support.
- Added a separate endpoint on a nonpublic port for receiving Overland location data from my iPhone using a Tailscale network.
- Currently working on Microsub support.
- Hardware: Raspberry Pi 5
- Operating system: Linux on the Pi
- Web server: Apache
- Publishing endpoint: PHP-based Micropub
- Post storage: SQLite3 database for the site; QuartzDB for Overland data.
- Public address: pi.swb72.us
Personal Publishing
The site is built around IndieWeb ideas: owning the original post and letting outside tools publish into the site through Micropub.
- Post formats: Notes, articles, photos, videos, audio, replies, likes, reposts, RSVPs, bookmarks, check-ins, events, weight tracking, and reading logs
- Markup: Microformats for post and author data
- Conversations: Webmention support on individual post pages
- Maps: OpenStreetMap for check-in locations
- Weather: Open-Meteo for location-aware conditions on check-ins
- Checkins: I stopped using Foursquare Swarm and created my own Apple Shortcut to search for the location from Apple Maps data and send a checkin via Micropub
Creative Work
My creative project is The Study of Starlight. This site connects back to that work through the top navigation and the social feeds on the home page.
- Video: YouTube
- Photography: Flickr
- Streaming: Twitch
- Audio: SoundCloud
Everyday Carry
- iPhone 17 Pro Max, 1 TB, with Pro TechWoven Case with MagSafe.
- A 3D-printed custom wallet.
- 3D-printed custom card cases, one for TSOS cards and the other for #uncommonlove cards to offer to Cast Members who are clearly in need of encouragement and need to know that they're seen and appreciated in the Disney parks.
- Meta Oakley HSTN smart glasses, or Warby Parker Ellington frames if I prefer a lighter-weight pair or in places where having glasses with a built-in camera and recording capability is ill-advised.
- AirPods Pro 3.
- 13″ iPad Pro, M5, 256 GB, with 5G cellular and Wi-Fi.
Photo Gear
- Nikon COOLPIX P1100 bridge camera, with 125× optical zoom.
- Cambofoto SAB265B tripod with a Neewer Professional Metal 360° Rotating Panoramic Ball Head. The center pole is removable for use as a monopod.
- Manfrotto Compact Action tripod, out on the balcony for rocket launches.
- SIRUI AM-404FL heavy-duty monopod with removable tripod base and QC-55 head. I prefer this and its small footprint over full-size tripods that take up ground space for a family of seven.
Video Gear
- Insta360 X5 360° action camera. I also still have my previous-generation X3 and X4.
- Insta360 Utility Fast Charge Case.
- Invisible 2-in-1 Selfie Stick & Tripod, because Disney bans standalone selfie sticks, although I have a couple of those also.
- Joby TelePod Sport, which is about a foot taller than the above 2-in-1.
Music Gear
- Arturia Keylab Essential 61 MIDI controller.
- Akai Professional MPK mini MIDI controller.
- Yamaha PSR-EW400 portable keyboard.
- Yamaha SILENT Guitar SLG-200S. The "S" at the end notes the steel stringed version.
- Ibanez V-220 acoustic guitar.
- RoadRunner guitar gig bag for the Ibanez. The Yamaha SLG came with its own.
Desktop and Home
- 14″ Apple MacBook Pro, M5, 24 GB RAM, 1 TB internal storage.
- ViewSonic OMNI VX3418-2KPC 34″ 21:9 curved monitor, 1440p, 144 Hz.
- Ricoh ScanSnap iX2500 wireless/USB high-speed document scanner. I keep as little on paper as possible in my apartment; I don't have the space for physical files.
- Canon PIXMA TR160 portable inkjet printer, which replaced a much bigger OfficeJet Pro that I hardly used.
- HP LaserJet Pro m118dw, a rather dated black-and-white laser printer that I take out of storage from time to time.
- TP-Link Archer AX10000 Tri-band Gaming Router, not because I'm a gamer, but because I needed one with a 2.5-Gbit WAN port to match my cable modem.
- Nintendo Switch, which I hardly play, with Pro Controller.
- Aqara G100 camera out on the balcony to catch rocket launches.
- Bambu Lab X1 Carbon 3D printer.
Home Audio and Video
- Apple HomePod and HomePod mini. The bigger one is in the living room/workspace and the smaller one is next to my bed.
- 78″ Toshiba TV with Amazon Fire TV, because I want to see my TV without my glasses, dammit! It also supports Amazon Luna, for which I have the controller. It reminds me a lot of Google Stadia, which folded several years ago, but it can livestream to Twitch without any extra hardware/software on my end.
- Samsung 2.1 soundbar with wireless subwoofer.
- Apple TV 4K.
Go-To Software and Services
- Parallels Desktop for running Windows apps as needed on my Mac.
- iCloud and Google Drive for off-site backup and storage.
- ChatGPT Plus account for all kinds of stuff, mostly automating stuff.
Credit
This page was inspired in part by Aaron Parecki's Life Stack.