Using static websites as personal archives

Over coffee this morning, browsing my unreads in NetNewsWire, I stumbled on Simon Willison’s mention of Alex Chan’s “Using static websites as tiny archives” post. And then I saw Jeremy Keith also mention it. So I thought I’d mention it to! There’s no web server, no build system, … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 6 hours ago

As I predicted in February 2023, I’m upgrading to the M4. I went with a Space Black 14″ MacBook Pro with the M4 Pro (14 CPU cores 20 GPU cores, 16 Neural Engine cores), 48GB memory, 2TB hard drive. The cost of which was a fair bit less than my previous laptop. I’ll explain my […] | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 5 days ago

Arun Venkatesan on their blogging philosophy

Independence, Creativity, Connection. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 7 days ago

Three key takeaways from FinCon 2024

A few NerdPress team members sponsored/exhibited at FinCon 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia this past week and I thought I’d distill the numerous conversations I had with attendees, speakers, and sponsors into three key takeaways. Visiting Atlanta in fall is… very warm! It was nice to be … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 8 days ago

As I mentioned in Diversions #5, I bought a pair of Crocs. It wasn’t long after purchasing that first pair that I bought a second pair to wear more casually in the garden, on the beach, or in mud – keeping the first pair nice for special occasions. Now I’m shopping for a third pa … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 14 days ago

Voice Memos #1: Reframing our thinking about follows, views, likes, etc.

In this voice memo I chat a little bit about how I’ve tried to think about my follow count, my blog’s statistics, likes, and other metrics. As the internet begins to divide into smaller groups once again, this perspective may become more important than ever. Voice Memos #1 is 7m5 … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 7 months ago

Diversions #1: I have no business owning this camera

This is the first edition of an all-new series of posts and future email newsletter that will be part of a new membership on my personal website. Diversions will the central hub for news about the membership, behind-the-scenes details of my personal projects, as well as a wide va … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 7 months ago

Here is my profile on RsS iS dEaD LOL. Try it yourself. By @paulcuth. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 8 months ago

I’m trying Safari for the rest of this week in place of Arc. I’m not revolting against them, I just feel as though our values are no longer aligned. They’ve shifted from trying to build a really great web browser (which they’ve already done, imo) to chasing AI venture dollars. I … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 8 months ago

An aerial comparison of Carbondale, PA in 1948 and 2023

Sometime near 1948 Fiore Cerra took an aerial photograph of Carbondale, Pennsylvania that captured how very different a place it was just 75 years ago or so. I live near Carbondale and the moment I saw Cerra’s aerial I knew I wanted to try to recreate it. Well, in early 2023 I di … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 8 months ago

A few snaps with my phone while browsing a few local antique shops and garden center last weekend. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 8 months ago

The first rebuilding blocks

Korczak Ziolkowski wakes up early on a bitter cold winter’s morning – the same way he has for several decades – after breakfasting and a few mugs of the hottest coffee his palette can stand, he shoulders his tool belt and trods his way in knee-high snow to the eastern wall of the … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 8 months ago

Introducing the Mastodon Favorites WordPress Plugin

One of the primary ways I find new accounts to follow on social media is by eavesdropping on other people’s favorites. Many social networks make each account’s favorites public but Mastodon does not (yet?). So I wanted a way to show my favorites publicly so that others can look t … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 8 months ago

I’m excited to finally share a portrait I made of S. Robert Powell Ph.D., the President of the Carbondale Historical Society, back in April 2023. I’m donating the prints and images to the society for their archives. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 9 months ago

Last year my mother-in-law gifted Eliza and I with a train ride to Jim Thorpe for our anniversary. I managed to snap a few color film photos along the way. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 9 months ago

My appearance on This Week in WordPress #285

My thanks to Nathan Wrigley for having me as a guest on This Week in WordPress #285. (YouTube/Apple Podcasts) Show notes There are a few links on the WP Builds website for this episode but I thought I’d share some of the links I mentioned in the episode as well. It was a lot of [ … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 9 months ago

If you’re seeing this post that means that my website is once again powered by WordPress. Yay! The site doesn’t look so nice on mobile devices, the feed is broken in a few ways, and I need to get the database load under control… you know, a typical website launch. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 9 months ago

ActivityPub will cross the chasm in 2024

In 1991, Geoffrey A. Moore described the challenges of introducing new technology products as Crossing the Chasm. The chasm is this very real gap between the earliest adopters and the early majority adopters of any new technology. By crossing the chasm, the momentum gained usuall … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 10 months ago

The greatest productivity hack of all time

The greatest productivity hack of all time is working less. Slack recently published new research into desk worker productivity. It is a worthy read – however, it sheds light on something that most desk workers already inherently know: longer hours do not mean greater productivit … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 10 months ago

Hello Hubbub - I'm joining NerdPress

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@cdevroe.com | 11 months ago

Hello Hubbub – I’m joining NerdPress

After a few extremely busy weeks full of rewarding and fast paced work, I’m happy to announce that I’m joining NerdPress as Senior Product Manager. We’ve acquired Grow Social from Mediavine, renamed it Hubbub, and we plan to invest in improving this popular WordPress plugin. Hubb … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 11 months ago

On ad blocking

I do not intentionally block ads. I do, however, intentionally block ad tracking. And I think this distinction is important. This morning I read Manuel Moreale’s recent post On Ad Blockers wherein they struggle to find an argument against blocking all ads on the web. “Every time … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 11 months ago

When my blog goes quiet you know I’m very busy. I’m looking forward to announcing some personal news in early December. This morning I’ve made what is likely to be my final update to my personal website until 2024 (I added my projects to my homepage). | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 11 months ago

I discovered a small bug with GUID in my RSS feed that likely existed for an entire year. Of course I fixed it. But that also means if you’re subscribed you very likely received all of my posts in your feed reader again. My appologies. I really do try to avoid such things. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 12 months ago

Yesterday, by pure chance, I met local photographer Rolfe Ross – whose work I’ve followed on Flickr for many years. It turns out his photos were being exhibited in the same venue as Eugene Lucas, whose photos I was there to see. I took some very hasty photographs of the exhibit – … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 12 months ago

If you’re reading this that means that Tuff, my now 1-year old static site generator that I’ve been rewriting from scratch for about a month, works. I’m going to write a detailed post about this rewrite but for now – if you see anything amiss on my site please do let me know. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 12 months ago

This evening I fixed a few longstanding CSS issues on my website. Many more to go. Back in April I built my own light box thingy for my portfolio images. Example. I’d like something more comprehensive, but I want to keep it light weight. Would it be terribly difficult to build so … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Photos from Chisholm Vineyards in Feburary 2020

For many years now Eliza and I have preferred to slow down and take our time on road trips rather than feeling rushed to get to our destination. We like to visit tucked away places. Do a little shopping. Or enjoy a drink. This usually adds about a day of traveltime to any of our … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Colin Walker on what he gets from blogging

Colin Walker, on his personal blog (which is looking sharp as ever) about what he gets from blogging in public: “I feel compelled to write, to share, and there is an intense satisfaction in doing so. The sharing is a secondary but essential aspect; while journalling is a rewardin … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

My less than typical day

In January 2021 I posted my typical day which resulted in some fun people following suit on their own blogs. Lately, my typical day is less than typical. I’ve been on a tear for about 12 months with side projects. This means that my day is jammed. But here is a glimpse… I accompl … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

I haven’t shared new photographic work in a while. I’ve been struggling to find the time – even though it is easily my favorite hobby. To help unclog my creative pipes, I’m slowly releasing unfinished work. Here is a new photo series, Where I – a collection of images of specific … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Talkers and writers

Mandy Brown, on two modes of thinking and how we should all try to practice both to be useful to our colleagues: “Talkers need to recognize that not everyone loves to think out loud, and that giving space for writing is part of what it means to make use of the best brains around … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

How to fix the web

Robin Rendle published Why are websites embarrasing? wherein he laments the state of design and accessibility on the web. But, he’s hopeful. “I do truly believe that a website can be as well designed as any book, just as thoughtful, just as brilliant.” I sympathize with Robin. Th … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Dear Arc

As an avid Safari fanatic, I’m reluctant to dive into a new browser backed by any company with a business model I find… elusive. I’ve been giving Arc a spin every few releases since signing up for the beta and each time it has improved a lot. Just yesterday I was chatting with ou … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Reducing my personal hosting complexity

Have you ever put off a task because you felt like it would take you far too long so you just procrastinate and simply never get it done? I do this all the time. And, for the most part, when I do finally get around to getting the task completed I find out that my […] | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Static first

In the early days of the modern web – say, the mid-1990s through the mid-00s – my personal website was served statically. It was built with plain HTML (CSS didn’t exist at the time) that I copied and pasted when I needed to create a new entry (the word blog didn’t exist then eith … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Stripe Transfer continues to grow slowly. The latter half of this year I hope to grow it a bit more. As a start I’ve turned on Google Adwords and also wrote a post about migrations subscriptions from Chargebee to Stripe over on Medium. | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

For the first year we’ll be in a phase with visionOS where designers will be updating their interfaces to be translucent, dynamic rounded rects. Personally, I am looking forward to when they break out of the windowed world we’ve all been living in for the last few decades and fin … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Apple Vision Pro is exactly what I hoped for

I am very happy. For many years I've wanted a computing experience that resembles precisely what Apple announced at WWDC just a few short weeks ago. In 2019 I wrote "I want any size screen, any time, any where." As poorly written as that sentence may be, I think Apple is attempti … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Apple Vision Pro is exactly what I hoped for

I am very happy. For many years I’ve wanted a computing experience that resembles precisely what Apple announced at WWDC just a few short weeks ago. In 2019 I wrote “I want any size screen, any time, any where.” As poorly written as that sentence may be, I think Apple is attempti … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Will Apple's headset enhance productivity?

I’ve written several times about mixed reality experiences over the last 6 or 7 years here on my blog. I recently went back and looked at some of those posts and so I thought I’d sum up my thinking as it stands today, as well as detail what I hope to see from Apple’s headset. For … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Will Apple’s headset enhance productivity?

I’ve written several times about mixed reality experiences over the last 6 or 7 years here on my blog. I recently went back and looked at some of those posts and so I thought I’d sum up my thinking as it stands today, as well as detail what I hope to see from Apple’s headset. […] | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Making Tuff improvements

My approach to building Tuff, my static site generator that I began working on last November, was to jump in as quickly as possible by publishing my personal website publicly very early in the development process. Doing so forced me to make rapid improvements and to focus on the … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Making Tuff improvements

My approach to building Tuff, my static site generator that I began working on last November, was to jump in as quickly as possible by publishing my personal website publicly very early in the development process. Doing so forced me to make rapid improvements and to focus on the … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Humane Leap of faith

John Gruber on Humane's recent demo at TED: "So far, it feels like Humane’s entire premise is founded on that same mistake: building a new device intended to replace our phones, without that new device being able to do any of the dozens of things we love to do on our phones that … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

Humane Leap of faith

John Gruber on Humane’s recent demo at TED: “So far, it feels like Humane’s entire premise is founded on that same mistake: building a new device intended to replace our phones, without that new device being able to do any of the dozens of things we love to do on our phones that … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

How I'm using ChatGPT as an accelerator

Over the last few weeks I’ve begun using the recent crop of AI-powered services in my daily work and I’ve found them to be an enormous boost to my productivity and fun to play with. I do not know if these human-like chat services will end up causing great harm to the earth’s popu … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago

How I’m using ChatGPT as an accelerator

Over the last few weeks I’ve begun using the recent crop of AI-powered services in my daily work and I’ve found them to be an enormous boost to my productivity and fun to play with. I do not know if these human-like chat services will end up causing great harm to the earth’s popu … | Continue reading


@cdevroe.com | 1 year ago