index.md (10376B)
1 --- 2 title: "Dispatch #41 (July 2026)" 3 date: 2026-07-14T01:27:26-04:00 4 draft: false 5 tags: 6 - dispatch 7 references: 8 - title: "Key, in sight – Aresluna" 9 url: https://aresluna.org/key-in-sight/ 10 date: 2026-06-01T04:29:49Z 11 file: aresluna-org-hcpaiq.txt 12 - title: "The big button" 13 url: https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/big-button/ 14 date: 2026-06-01T04:29:50Z 15 file: www-robinsloan-com-sokpt5.txt 16 - title: "The Xteink X4 E-Ink Reader — Max Glenister" 17 url: https://blog.omgmog.net/post/xteink-x4-e-ink-reader/ 18 date: 2026-06-30T05:51:00Z 19 file: blog-omgmog-net-utgcqb.txt 20 - title: "My Enjoyment From Engagement With Media Deepens As I Grow Older | Brain Baking" 21 url: https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/06/my-enjoyment-from-media-deepens-as-i-grow-older/ 22 date: 2026-07-14T05:22:13Z 23 file: brainbaking-com-zoehew.txt 24 - title: "Golden Hour | Ian Ewing | Radio Juicy" 25 url: https://radiojuicy.bandcamp.com/album/golden-hour 26 date: 2026-07-14T05:20:27Z 27 file: radiojuicy-bandcamp-com-ytgvbv.txt 28 - title: "Accidental anonymity - macwright.com" 29 url: https://macwright.com/2026/06/24/accidental-anonymity.html 30 date: 2026-07-14T05:20:29Z 31 file: macwright-com-5gx64c.txt 32 - title: "A quote from Tom MacWright" 33 url: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jun/24/tom-macwright/#atom-everything 34 date: 2026-07-14T05:20:30Z 35 file: simonwillison-net-1z8jir.txt 36 - title: "Just Be Normal About Things - by JA Westenberg - WESTENBERG" 37 url: https://www.joanwestenberg.com/p/just-be-normal-about-st 38 date: 2026-07-14T05:20:48Z 39 file: www-joanwestenberg-com-tzkhcz.txt 40 - title: "Just Be Normal About Things - Westenberg — baty.net" 41 url: https://baty.net/posts/2026/06/just-be-normal-about-things-westenberg/ 42 date: 2026-07-14T05:20:49Z 43 file: baty-net-0vthzv.txt 44 - title: "Home | mise-en-place" 45 url: https://mise.jdx.dev/ 46 date: 2026-07-14T05:20:53Z 47 file: mise-jdx-dev-cas964.txt 48 - title: "May 2026 - Tim Hårek" 49 url: https://timharek.no/blog/2026-may-recently/ 50 date: 2026-07-14T05:20:54Z 51 file: timharek-no-ayhq6a.txt 52 --- 53 54 Nico turned two in June. What the hell! Where's my baby boy, and who's this sassy little dude running around my house. We threw him a farm-themed birthday (my man loves cows), then took the kids up to see their cousins in Richmond. The next weekend, we went camping with Claire's family at [Carolina Hemlocks Recreation Area][1]. This was awesome -- bit of a haul for sure, and the boy couldn't handle the switchbacks on the way up the mountain, but we were rewarded with a beautiful campsite with river views and temperatures a good 20°F cooler than around here. 55 56 [1]: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233954 57 58 <!--more--> 59 60 {{<dither IMG_0414.jpeg "782x600">}}A toddler wearing cow-patterned clothing and a horned headband looks at a chocolate-frosted cupcake with a number 2 candle on an outdoor picnic table.{{</dither>}} 61 {{<dither IMG_0422.jpeg "782x600">}}Two adults sit with two young children at an outdoor picnic table. Three smile at the camera while the younger child looks down, and the older child holds a red toy barn.{{</dither>}} 62 63 {{<dither IMG_1750.jpeg "782x600">}}Two adults and four children sit together on a bed. Several children look toward a phone held by the adult on the right, while one child holds a stuffed animal.{{</dither>}} 64 {{<dither IMG_5247.jpeg "782x600">}}A smiling man wearing glasses and a baseball cap carries a curly-haired child piggyback in a wooded park. The child makes a wide-eyed face and wears bright pink shoes.{{</dither>}} 65 66 {{<dither IMG_5409.jpeg "782x600">}}An adult and two young children sit on a large rock in a shallow, rocky stream surrounded by forest. One child dips a foot into the water.{{</dither>}} 67 {{<dither IMG_5454.jpeg "782x600">}}An adult wearing glasses sits in a blue striped camping chair with a young child resting face-down against their chest, surrounded by trees and dirt.{{</dither>}} 68 69 In what's surely a sign of a creatively unfulfilling month, here are my thoughts about a few recent purchases: 70 71 ### [Aventon Pace 5 REC][2] 72 73 We ordered Claire a new bike after [hers was stolen last month][3]. This thing is sweet, some nice upgrades from the previous version. I'm jealous of some of the tech, and especially the power to get up the bigger hills around here. At the same time, I'm pretty chuffed with how much mileage I've gotten out of my low-tech, single-speed e-bike; there's something very pure and utilitarian about it that I appreciate. 74 75 [2]: https://www.aventon.com/products/pace-5-rec-step-through-ebike?variant=45136728031427 76 [3]: /journal/dispatch-40-june-2026/ 77 78 ### [DOIO KB16 Triple Knob Macro Pad Keyboard][4] 79 80 I got absolutely sniped by [this post about macro keyboards][5] ([via][6]) and ended up picking this thing up. Physically, it is a well-made object and pairs nicely with my [keyboard][7]. I appreciate a good thwack, so I ordered some [nice clicky switches][8] (and actually swapped out the switches in my main keyboard as well, which makes typing this sentence quite satisfying) as well as some [transparent keycaps][9] inspired by that original post. I also printed a [stand][10] which puts it at a better angle and also somehow makes it feel more "mine." 81 82 [4]: https://doioshop.com/products/doio-16-keys-programmable-multifunction-mechanical-keyboard-translucent-acrylic-kb16-01?VariantsId=10571 83 [5]: https://aresluna.org/key-in-sight/ 84 [6]: https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/big-button/ 85 [7]: https://www.keychron.com/products/keychron-q1?variant=39898909212761 86 [8]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGCDYF3Q 87 [9]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ2YM5FM 88 [10]: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2215678-doio-megalodon-triple-knob-macro-pad-stand#profileId-2408970 89 90 In terms of what to do with a whole bunch of new buttons, I'm still figuring that out. I've got a few set up to do some common work tasks (join my next meeting, start a new [Harvest][11] timer, etc.) and some window management things (full/half/quarter screen). I'm trying to be mindful of annoying things I do frequently that take more than a few keystrokes. 91 92 [11]: https://www.getharvest.com/ 93 94 ### [Xteink X3 Pocket eReader][12] 95 96 I ordered this tiny e-reader after reading a few too many gushing blog posts and comments in [Installer][13]. My initial experience was pretty bad -- it's marketed as something you stick onto the back of your phone with magnets, but my phone (an iPhone 13 Mini I'm loathe to give up) is pretty small and it didn't really work. What's more, it couldn't handle the first e-book I loaded onto it. (It has a bunch of images? Not sure but it just sort of bugged out and then locked up.) 97 98 [12]: https://www.xteink.com/products/xteink-x3 99 [13]: https://www.theverge.com/installer-newsletter 100 101 I put it away for a few days until I stumbled on [this post][14], which described a few alternate firmwares and led me to [Inx][15], which is much smoother and could actually load my book, though it still struggled on the pages with photos. I printed a [simple case][16] in my favorite dark gray, giving it a little bit of protection and, again, putting my stamp on it. Then I found [some software][17] to convert EPUB files to the device's native format (and even made a [simple bug fix][18]), which has resolved the image issues and improved the reading experience overall. 102 103 Now things are working well -- I'm happy with the device and I'm finally making good progress in _Every Tool's a Hammer_. It's nice to have something to grab when I'm looking for a distraction that isn't my phone. It's neat that there's such a robust community of folks making things for this device, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend it to someone who doesn't want to tinker. 104 105 [14]: https://blog.omgmog.net/post/xteink-x4-e-ink-reader/ 106 [15]: https://github.com/obijuankenobiii/inx 107 [16]: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2758511-xteink-x3-case 108 [17]: https://github.com/thirteen37/calibre-xtc 109 [18]: https://github.com/thirteen37/calibre-xtc/pull/3 110 111 ### This Month 112 113 * Adventure: Lake Norman for the Fourth, otherwise laying low and staying in the air conditioning 114 * Project: I've got a half-finished track I'd like to do something with, and I need to finally finish that write-up of that AprilTag project 115 * Skill: my appetite for self-improvement is low these days 116 117 ### Reading & Listening 118 119 * Fiction: [_The Dragon Republic_][19], R. F. Kuang 120 * Non-fiction: [_Every Tool's a Hammer_][20], Adam Savage 121 * Music: [_Season One_][21], Peninsula Recordings 122 123 [19]: https://harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk/products/the-dragon-republic-the-poppy-war-book-2-rf-kuang-9780008239879/ 124 [20]: https://www.simonandschuster.net/books/Every-Tools-a-Hammer/Adam-Savage/9781982113483 125 [21]: http://peninsularecordings.bandcamp.com/album/season-one 126 127 ### Links 128 129 * [My Enjoyment From Engagement With Media Deepens As I Grow Older | Brain Baking][22] 130 131 > One of the most protective things you can do against the negative consequences of ageing is learning a craft when you are young and keep on practising it. The second best thing you can do is learning something new when you are older. 132 133 * [Golden Hour | Ian Ewing | Radio Juicy][23] 134 135 > Radio Juicy is happy to present Golden Hour, a six‑track journey from beatsmith Ian Ewing, who channels pure nostalgia through organic drums, warm analog tones, and melodies that drift like memories. 136 137 * [Accidental anonymity - macwright.com][24] ([via][25]) 138 139 > My other reaction is that I don't know anything about these people. They haven't put themselves out there. They haven't said anything true. 140 141 * [Just Be Normal About Things - by JA Westenberg - WESTENBERG][26] ([via][27]) 142 143 > Be normal, and opt out of the deranged belief that the only way to take something seriously is to take it to the most extreme possible conclusion. 144 145 * [Home | mise-en-place][28] ([via][29]) 146 147 > One tool to manage languages, env vars, and tasks per project, reproducibly. 148 149 [22]: https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/06/my-enjoyment-from-media-deepens-as-i-grow-older/ 150 [23]: https://radiojuicy.bandcamp.com/album/golden-hour 151 [24]: https://macwright.com/2026/06/24/accidental-anonymity.html 152 [25]: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jun/24/tom-macwright/#atom-everything 153 [26]: https://www.joanwestenberg.com/p/just-be-normal-about-st 154 [27]: https://baty.net/posts/2026/06/just-be-normal-about-things-westenberg/ 155 [28]: https://mise.jdx.dev/ 156 [29]: https://timharek.no/blog/2026-may-recently/