davideisinger.com/content/journal/dispatch-13-march-2024/index.md

---
title: "Dispatch #13 (March 2024)"
date: 2024-03-04T23:24:54-05:00
draft: false
tags:
- dispatch
references:
- title: "Publish Your Work | Brain Baking"
  url: https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/01/publish-your-work/
  date: 2024-03-04T04:27:21Z
  file: brainbaking-com-u5mnoz.txt
- title: "Remembering HFStival: 20 years since DC's festival went quiet | wusa9.com"
  url: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/remembering-hfstival-dcs-biggest-music-festival/65-60a8d4f0-68a7-4ac0-b79a-80d596e6ec67
  date: 2024-02-21T04:42:43Z
  file: www-wusa9-com-aimglr.txt
- title: "The 1998 HFStival"
  url: https://hfs98.tripod.com/
  date: 2024-02-21T04:38:29Z
  file: hfs98-tripod-com-jmnzh1.txt
- title: "The 1999 HFStival"
  url: https://hfs99.tripod.com/
  date: 2024-02-21T04:38:54Z
  file: hfs99-tripod-com-v7f3u9.txt
- title: "Enable Full Text RSS Feeds in Hugo"
  url: https://jasonmurray.org/posts/2021/rssfulltexthugo/
  date: 2024-03-04T04:49:23Z
  file: jasonmurray-org-ch0tvb.txt
- title: "Create a systemd service for your docker-compose project in 10 seconds - TechOverflow"
  url: https://techoverflow.net/2020/10/24/create-a-systemd-service-for-your-docker-compose-project-in-10-seconds/
  date: 2024-02-21T16:55:13Z
  file: techoverflow-net-fvl0ss.txt
- title: "Cory Doctorow: What Kind of Bubble is AI? – Locus Online"
  url: https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/
  date: 2024-03-05T03:45:13Z
  file: locusmag-com-lrcibx.txt
- title: "Subprime Intelligence"
  url: https://www.wheresyoured.at/sam-altman-fried/
  date: 2024-03-05T03:51:01Z
  file: www-wheresyoured-at-ntkfj5.txt
- title: "Neal Stephenson's Most Stunning Prediction - The Atlantic"
  url: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/02/chatbots-ai-neal-stephenson-diamond-age/677364/
  date: 2024-03-05T03:53:39Z
  file: www-theatlantic-com-qqbuyc.txt
- title: "Why all your notes and files should be plain text - The Verge"
  url: https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/18/24075077/bose-ultra-open-superlist-bulletin-text-files-note-apps-installer
  date: 2024-03-05T04:06:47Z
  file: www-theverge-com-118g7r.txt
- title: "Skiff Should Be A Reminder To Us All – The New Oil"
  url: https://blog.thenewoil.org/skiff-should-be-a-reminder-to-us-all
  date: 2024-03-05T04:06:47Z
  file: blog-thenewoil-org-ahtqki.txt
- title: "How to make self-hosting and local-first software work - The Verge"
  url: https://www.theverge.com/23938533/self-hosting-local-first-software-vergecast
  date: 2024-03-05T04:06:48Z
  file: www-theverge-com-ywplts.txt
- title: "File over app – Steph Ango"
  url: https://stephango.com/file-over-app
  date: 2024-03-05T04:06:48Z
  file: stephango-com-hgqfrw.txt
- title: "More Files Please - Jim Nielsen’s Blog"
  url: https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2024/more-files-plz/
  date: 2024-03-05T04:06:49Z
  file: blog-jim-nielsen-com-qvpn02.txt
- title: "The future needs files – Scott Jenson"
  url: https://jenson.org/files/
  date: 2024-03-05T04:06:49Z
  file: jenson-org-arxfgm.txt
- title: "The internet used to be fun"
  url: https://projects.kwon.nyc/internet-is-fun/
  date: 2024-03-05T03:57:45Z
  file: projects-kwon-nyc-bqys6y.txt
- title: "What’s the fun in writing on the internet anymore?"
  url: https://jamesshelley.com/blog/writing-on-the-internet.html
  date: 2024-03-05T03:59:48Z
  file: jamesshelley-com-iaarz3.txt
- title: "Rhoneisms"
  url: https://www.patrickrhone.net/14412-2/
  date: 2024-03-05T04:15:48Z
  file: www-patrickrhone-net-u4rozv.txt
- title: "The Year of the Personal Website · Matthias Ott – User Experience Designer"
  url: https://matthiasott.com/notes/the-year-of-the-personal-website
  date: 2024-03-05T03:44:34Z
  file: matthiasott-com-qomg4t.txt
---

Highlights this month: a weekend in Wilmington, a successful 10K, and a solo dad weekend (including a rainy bike adventure followed by an incredible rainbow over Central Park). Plus some new music and a bunch of website improvements.

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Here's a new track called "Arcus" -- smash play and read on.

<audio controls src="/journal/dispatch-13-march-2024/Arcus.mp3"></audio>

I'm really pleased with [my result][1] in the in the [Wrightsville Beach Valentine Run][2] 10K. You can see I'm still far from competitive, but that's much faster than I ever thought I'd be when I started this journey in 2021. Running (at least at the level I'm at) is one of the few things you can get improve at just by showing up. Want to get better? Run more. Were all the other things I pursue so straightforward.

[1]: /journal/dispatch-13-march-2024/wbvr-result.pdf
[2]: https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/WrightsvilleBeach/WrightsvilleBeachValentineRun

At the beginning of February, I updated the site to store encrypted photos and display them as black-and-white dithered images. I [documented the process in some detail][3], and then put a link to it on the [Hugo discussion forum][4]. Imagine my suprise when, a few days later, one of the core contributers posted that the next version of Hugo would ship with [native dithering functionality][5]. I guess my post [inspired him to add it][6], which echoed a post I'd read a few days earler, ["Publishing Your Work"][7]:

> I don’t create or publish in the hopes of influencing others. I create things because I have an urge to create. But it sure is great to help others along the way, however small my contribution might be.

[3]: /journal/encrypt-and-dither-photos-in-hugo/
[4]: https://discourse.gohugo.io/t/encrypt-and-dither-photos-in-hugo/48157
[5]: https://gohugo.io/functions/images/dither/
[6]: https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/pull/12016#issuecomment-1936664139
[7]: https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/01/publish-your-work/

I stumbled on a [retrospective of the HFStival][8], a DC-area music festival that was a big part of my adolescence. I remembered that I made fan sites for a few of them, and after a few minutes of trying to recall the domains, I discovered that the [1998][9] and [1999][10] editions are still online. Not bad, 15-year-old Dave. Funny how I'm still doing basically the same thing 25+ years later, though I guess we have CSS now and I write in Markdown rather than hand-editing HTML files on a server.

[8]: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc/remembering-hfstival-dcs-biggest-music-festival/65-60a8d4f0-68a7-4ac0-b79a-80d596e6ec67
[9]: https://hfs98.tripod.com/
[10]: https://hfs99.tripod.com/

I made several website updates this month:

* The site now has full-text RSS; I wish this was the default or at least a toggleable option. [The fix][11] is to copy the RSS template into your site and then change `.Summary` to `.Content`, which is a maintenance headache.

* I added a favicon using this [friendly generator][12].

* I moved the site to a new server on Digital Ocean. My previous VPS was running a version of Ubuntu from 2014 and was just a mess. I haven't really kept up with modern DevOps and didn't want to learn [Ansible][13] for my relatively basic needs, but I do have a lot of experience with [Docker][14] and decided to use Docker Compose to run this site and a handful of others. It all came together easily with [Caddy][15] plus `php-fpm` and MySQL for an old [Textpattern][16] site I keep around. Now I've got all my infrastructure in a version-controlled repository I can test locally, and the actual server is doing very little. [Here's a handy script for running `docker-compose` as a `systemd` service][17] that I used.

* Finally, I've wanted to be able to send out these dispatches as emails for a while now, but didn't want to sign up and pay for a service like [Buttondown][18] when I've no idea if anyone would sign up. I discovered [Listmonk][19], which is open-source, self-hosted software that offers exactly what I need: a signup form, an admin UI, and an API for creating new emails. It snapped into my Docker setup super easily, and now you can go to [dispatch.davideisinger.com][20] and sign up to receive these posts in your inbox. Go on! Be the first.

[11]: https://jasonmurray.org/posts/2021/rssfulltexthugo/
[12]: https://favicon.io/favicon-generator/
[13]: https://www.ansible.com/
[14]: https://www.docker.com/
[15]: https://caddyserver.com/
[16]: https://textpattern.com/
[17]: https://techoverflow.net/2020/10/24/create-a-systemd-service-for-your-docker-compose-project-in-10-seconds/
[18]: https://buttondown.email/
[19]: https://listmonk.app/
[20]: https://dispatch.davideisinger.com/subscription/form

This month:

* Adventure: we're headed back to Wilmington again, this time to run the [Steve Haydu St. Patrick's Lo Tide Run][21]; I've also got my annual Vegas trip and we'll head to Lake Norman at the end of the month
* Project: Nev has this little [fidget toy][22] that I'm obsessed with; I want to learn [three.js][23] and create a digital version of it
* Skill: just keep making music; I've got my eye on this [Roland SP-404][24] sampler that I might pick up -- curious how that might pair with my Novation Circuit

[21]: https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/CarolinaBeach/LoTideRun
[22]: https://www.amazon.com/Fidget-Rainbow-Stocking-Stuffers-Fillers/dp/B092M5DS4X/ref=asc_df_B092M5DS4X&mcid=ba508808da2c3bf09cb27e0b262f1682?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=79920869053533&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583520396659984&th=1
[23]: https://threejs.org/
[24]: https://www.roland.com/global/products/sp-404mk2/

Reading:

* Fiction: [_The Disposessed_][25], Ursula K. LeGuin
* Non-fiction: [_Dilla Time_][26], Dan Charnas

[25]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-dispossessed-ursula-k-le-guin/7899183
[26]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/dilla-time-the-life-and-afterlife-of-j-dilla-the-hip-hop-producer-who-reinvented-rhythm-dan-charnas/18480833

Links:

* [What Kind of Bubble is AI?][27]

  > Tech bubbles come in two varieties: The ones that leave something behind, and the ones that leave *nothing* behind. Sometimes, it can be hard to guess what kind of bubble you’re living through until it pops and you find out the hard way.

    Best piece of AI skepticism I've read (though I'd also recommend [Ed Zitron][28])

* [Neal Stephenson's Most Stunning Prediction][29] -- if I had to pick a favorite book, _Diamond Age_ would be it; I should re-read it at some point, especially now that I have a young daughter

* On files & data ownership:

  * [Why all your notes and files should be plain text][30]
  * [Skiff Should Be A Reminder To Us All][31]
  * [How to make self-hosting and local-first software work][32]
  * [File over app][33]
  * [More Files Please][34]
  * [The future needs files][35]

* On personal websites / writing online in general:

  * [The internet used to be fun][36]
  * [What’s the fun in writing on the internet anymore?][37] ([via][38])
  * [The Year of the Personal Website][39]

[27]: https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/
[28]: https://www.wheresyoured.at/sam-altman-fried/
[29]:  https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/02/chatbots-ai-neal-stephenson-diamond-age/677364/
[30]: https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/18/24075077/bose-ultra-open-superlist-bulletin-text-files-note-apps-installer
[31]: https://blog.thenewoil.org/skiff-should-be-a-reminder-to-us-all
[32]: https://www.theverge.com/23938533/self-hosting-local-first-software-vergecast
[33]: https://stephango.com/file-over-app
[34]: https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2024/more-files-plz/
[35]: https://jenson.org/files/
[36]: https://projects.kwon.nyc/internet-is-fun/
[37]: https://jamesshelley.com/blog/writing-on-the-internet.html
[38]: https://www.patrickrhone.net/14412-2/
[39]: https://matthiasott.com/notes/the-year-of-the-personal-website