Blaugust 2023 Lessons Learned

With Blaugust 2023 at the day 31 finish line, what are some lessons I’ve learned? What might I have done differently? And would I do it again? Fair questions. What follows might be more coffee talking than wisdom. I’ll take either one.

Back To Blogflow Basics

Howdy fellow bloggers and readers of blogs. If you’ve followed mine for any length of time, then you’ve probably noticed I tend to change my theme or layout about one to half-a-dozen times a year. I might do that again soon. But it’s more than a cosmetic facelift; it’s about a structural change. It’s about simplifying my blog workflow and asking, “Should you post all your stuff on your own site or social media?” So coffee up.

Sea Of Stars Review Round Up

The Sea of Stars reviews have dropped, and there’s a consensus: the retro-styled turn-based JRPG is great! Like I figured, this is a must-play game. I can’t wait to get into it…but wait I must. I’m still enthralled with Tears of the Kingdom and have so much more to savor in it. That said, the positive reviews and scores make Sea of Stars hard to resist. One thing that really helps me is that the physical version doesn’t release until next year.

Will Apple Wow With Wonder?

As expected, today Apple invited press to an event scheduled for September 12. New versions of the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods are anticipated. Maybe next month, like Steve Jobs said in 2007, Apple will “reinvent the phone.” But rumors of the latest iteration of iPhone suggest more modest improvements. And what about the iPad or Mac? While new software for those is slated to arrive this Fall, it’s unclear when new hardware will appear. I’m interested to see what’s next, but I’m not too excited. Frankly, Apple hardware available now is already great.

Blogger Needs Miracle To Avoid Google Reader Death

Remember Google Reader? It was one of the more beloved products buried by Google in 2013. The big question is, who killed it? That’s what David Pierce at The Verge asked a few weeks ago. I’ll spoil the answer now (but you should definitely still read Pierce’s excellent article). Basically, the Google+ effort (turned up to 50!) sucked Reader’s life away.

Replacing Twitter With Mastodon Not Threads

Cal Newport has written yet another great piece at the New Yorker about Twitter, questioning the need for a global central communication network. First, he wonders if Threads can or will replace Twitter; it’s unlikely. Then he reasons why we don’t need a Twitter replacement at all.

Four Small Quests In One Huge World

Today’s post is a simple update on my latest adventures in Hyrule. Last night, I stopped “not playing,” fired up Tears of the Kingdom, and let myself get sucked in. The game is so huge! Immediately, I decided to just do what’s in front of me, bouncing from one thing to the next. There is always something new to discover. I achieved four small things in the big game.

Waiting For Sea Of Stars Is Easy

Here we are with a fresh and flashy retro-modern JRPG releasing next week, Sea of Stars. It feels like a “must-play” role-playing title to me, so it’s a question of, “When?” The tricky part is that the pending launch is digital only; I prefer physical. And I prefer not to wait, maybe.

A Rare Backlog Of Books

When I mention the backlog, it’s usually about video games I own yet haven’t played. But today it’s about books, which is a unique situation for me. I’ve found a few books on sale this year and snapped them up, adding to my Kindle library. And I’ve been too distracted busy to read them.

Touch Grind Skate 2 Review

My go-to game machine these days is the aging yet mighty Switch. Though for a good stretch of years, I only played mobile games on smartphones or tablets. Some were casual like Bejeweled, others were console-ish like the recent RPG Fantasian. But the one I’ve played the most and have always kept installed is Touch Grind Skate 2.

My Status On Social Media

The social web is sticky. But when the spider comes, this would-be prey wriggles free. That’s related to my recent stance on X (Twitter). I’ve written almost entire blog posts in a few different comments sections this week in response to others’ takes on certain social media sites. So of course it’s time to blog a summary below.

Discovering Brackets HTML Editor

Have you heard of Brackets? It’s an HTML editor I recently discovered. As you might imagine, there are several of these types of programs (apps?) available. So what makes this one stand out?

Still Need The Master Sword

This week, Nintendo Life (NL) published a check-in article for Tears of the Kingdom since it’s now been out for three months. So how far have I gotten? My progress is slow yet sweet. I determined at the start to take my time in the game, savoring its vast world. That said, the article sheds light on things I want to accomplish, and I could be enjoying the newest Zelda more than I have been. So what am I waiting for?

Guinea Pigs Move Up A Level

A month ago, I finally took ownership of my very own Guinea Pig! Two more cute cuddle muffins were quickly added over the following two weeks. Wanting to provide proper care, I knew I had to procure plenty of piggy paraphernalia. And last week, the crown jewel of their habitat arrived: a balcony!

The Writr Theme

Today I’m writing (lamenting?) about Writr, an old WordPress theme that I first used when I launched Jason Journals in March, 2017. It’s long been abandoned by WordPress. Sad trombone. Frown emoji. Boo-hiss.

Meet Squeak Dreams

Today’s creator to appreciate is Squeak Dreams. It’s a YouTube channel all about Guinea Pig behavior, care, and ownership. It’s made by Sarah. The vlog also has a companion website.

A Whole Page To Explain And Market Blocks

From WP Tavern yesterday:

“Blocks are something many casual WordPress users may still be trying to wrap their heads around, not to mention how they impact the ecosystem of plugins and themes. The Classic Editor plugin, which insulates users from the world of blocks, remains one of the most popular plugins with more than 5 million users. Its continued support is not guaranteed forever, especially as WordPress looks to revamp the admin design to be more similar to the block editor.”

Sarah Gooding

Meet Cal Newport

Showing more appreciation this week for another creator: Cal Newport. He’s a Computer Scientist (that’s code for “nerd”). His many contributions (website/blog, books, podcasts) and general approach to work/life balance are inspiring and insightful.

Meet MacMost

For Creator Appreciation Week during Blaugust2023, let me introduce you to MacMost, a website with quick tutorials and full training courses about the Mac operating system and its native apps. It’s created by Gary Rosenzweig, who is also a game developer. He’s been at it for many years and recently celebrated his 3,000th episode. That’s a lot!

Delighted With Zonelets

In my adventure of practicing a hand-coded blog, I discovered Zonelets, a nice and simple blogging engine to help start a site on Neocities. It’s free!

Neocities And Web Nostalgia

In the 90s, when the web was the wild west frontier online, sites were simple, static, and hand-coded. Among the class of ’95, my friend was quickly becoming a web junkie, learning HTML in high school and drawing detailed artwork in MS Paint. Somehow, I was otherwise clueless about the web outside of basic surfing. I was lucky to get a Windows 95 PC for college in 1997. But I remember the simple sites from that era, many of them on GeoCities. Now I’m enjoying some nostalgia and new growth through Neocities.

A Giant Backlog Approaches!

How do you react when the Giant Backlog Monster shows its scary face and threatens your time and attention? It’s like a sleeping giant you dare not disturb lest you feel the burdensome obligation to play games you already bought. When this creature throws its weight upon you, four responses are yours to choose: Fight, Magic, Items, Flee!

Blogger Bio Info - My Gamestory

I’ve been playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom since launch day in April this year. It’s, uh, more advanced than one of the earliest games I played, Maze Craze, in the mid 80s. Yeah, games have changed a lot over the decades. And I’ve basically played them from every console generation, except for one that I missed.

Blogger Bio Info - My Blogstory

People approach blogging differently. Some stick with one platform or host forever. Others, like me, sometimes switch things up. So how did I get into this hobby, what twists and turns did I take? I’d love to say my start was in the 90s with a hand-coded site on GeoCities. But no. I began a little late.

Blogger Bio Info - My Job

Here’s a new entry in my autobiography intro for Blaugust2023; this one’s about my day job. For a short time, my occupation title was in my social bio. But I removed it because it was two long words and didn’t seem important enough in that web space. So how do I put food on the table and buy video games? I’m a Structural Designer.

Blogger Bio Info - My Pets

Sticking with the Blaugust2023 introductory stuff, here’s some autobio info you won’t find in my social labels. I own several animals on my Texas homestead: some are livestock, some are pets. If you’ve seen my blog lately, though, you already know my favorites.

Blogger Bio Info Intro

As part of Blaugust2023, here’s my introductory post in which I share a bit about who in the world this guy on the internet is. I’m taking a simple approach by briefly explaining my social-bio labels: Gen X, Texan, Husband, Dad, Geek, Blogger, Believer.

Hyrule Is Huge

Tears of the Kingdom is just massive! I’ve played well over 60 hours and still feel like there’s so much left to explore and discover. The game is a huge world to immerse in. Thankfully, I’ve been able to take time to do that. And somehow the game continues to impress. I can see myself playing the latest and greatest Zelda game for a long time to come.

A.I. Hype Or Hysteria

Even though computer tech is one of my geeky interests, I’ve blogged nothing (except this) about the A.I. hype or hysteria this year. Maybe that’s because I see it as overblown on both the good and bad end of the spectrum. I think AI falls somewhere in the boring middle. Else, there’s really just one very important point I like to make.

Translucent Orange Super Switch Please

There’s been chatter on the web lately about “tHE nEXT sWITCH” or whatever Nintendo will call the Switch successor. Now that it’s over 6 years old — and with joycon drift still an issue for many — it seems about time for such plans to be in the works. A new Nintendo machine would be cool…or would it? A more modern device should be better, technically, but it kind of depends. So excitement is tempered.

Oops I Got Another Guinea Pig

OK, so maybe not really an oops. I was planning to get a third guinea pig eventually. I just wasn’t planning to do it a week after I bought my second piggy, which was six days after I got my first piggy. But it was good timing.

Still Flowing Tears Of The Kingdom

Upon firing up Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom last night, I noticed my last save date was — gulp — July 4th! Ouch. Have I been that busy? Yep. But no worries. My purple retro-Gamecube wired Switch controller and my blue wired headphones were plugged in. So was I.

Blaugust 2023 Begins

Howdy, y’all. Woke up this morning, realized it’s August, and then saw a post that prompted me, at the last minute, to join Blaugust this year. Thanks to Aywren! This is my first ever participation in Blaugust. [cracks knuckles] Begin!