My semi-rarely updated journal where where I can muse on topics in tech, bicycles, tools, and other nerdery. I am mostly using this to condition myself to write more often, and to reduce my usage of social media services.

Wondering About Using My Blog to Post Photography

I have been thinking about this for a bit. I recently acquired a couple really solid cameras and lenses, so I have been really leaning into bringing my camera with me everywhere and capturing interesting moments. I wonder if I should start posting the best examples of my work here instead of sacrificing quality to post on social media. It’s a dilemma for me as I am not and don’t want to be a professional photographer, but I still really want to show the shots I get just by virtue of living in San Francisco and also being a hiker and bike tourist....

<span title='2023-11-24 05:49:53.839 +0000 UTC'>November 24, 2023</span>

MUDs Are Still Fun

I recently started playing Realms of Dispair, which is a MUD (Multi User Dungeon) and is entirely text-based. I haven’t played a MUD or other online text-based game in many years, but a friend at work was reminiscing with me about the old days of the internet and they came up. I was surprised to see how active many MUDs are today, with admins that still listen to their community and put out a lot of really great content for their games....

<span title='2022-07-16 23:45:23.794 +0000 UTC'>July 16, 2022</span>

On Bromptons...

For years I really could never understand “alternative” bicycles. You see, I had a type when it came to bikes, and my idea of a proper bicycle was one that had large tires, full fenders, racks, and lots and lots of gears. A proper bike had to have drop bars, because otherwise how would you move your hands around to reduce fatigue? A proper bike definitely had a dynamo hub and a good set of lights paired with it....

<span title='2022-07-13 03:00:36.839 +0000 UTC'>July 13, 2022</span>&nbsp;·&nbsp;Robert Hill

My Everyday Carry

Why Do We Care What People Carry For years, I have been very keen on exploring what people consider essential for work, play, and otherwise living life. I tend to believe that most people can learn a whole lot by watching what others us to accomplish great things. This can be as simple as a set of small tools or as complex as the toolset that a specialized engineer would carry to investigate a sophisticated piece of equipment in the field....

<span title='2022-04-16 14:00:36.392 +0000 UTC'>April 16, 2022</span>&nbsp;·&nbsp;Robert Hill

In Key(boards)

This post was edited to add my newest addition, a 60% Keychron K12 The Backstory When I was a very young child, my father had a workstation issued to him from Digital Equipment Corporation that had my favorite toy: a keyboard. This wasn’t just any keyboard, it was a great big clicky-clacky keyboard, and if you typed something it didn’t like, it would beep at you. This was easily my favorite sound in the world as a toddler....

<span title='2022-04-02 06:00:38.723 +0000 UTC'>April 2, 2022</span>&nbsp;·&nbsp;Robert Hill

Bike Camping Doesn't Need to be Hard.

My Second Trip to Angel Island This week I took Thursday and Friday off having secured an extremely popular campsite on the San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island. I have camped here before, back in 2017 with my partner, but this was my first solo trip just for fun and solitude. Campsite Location is Important I first camped on an East Bay side campsite on Angel Island. It was fantastically wild for being so close to San Francisco, with perfect darkness at night with only the foghorns reminding you that you are right in the middle of one of the largest metropolises in the United States....

<span title='2022-02-04 16:48:01 -0800 -0800'>February 4, 2022</span>&nbsp;·&nbsp;Robert Hill

Do I really need a high-end laptop?

Why do I keep getting top spec machines? This bugs me, and I feel bad for complaining about it. In my career, I have generally been issued laptops that I flat out will not use to their maximum capabilities. I work on highly automated SaaS apps. I have worked on this type of an application for years. There are lots of dependencies and running a full stack locally just doesn’t make sense....

<span title='2022-01-16 22:22:44 -0800 -0800'>January 16, 2022</span>&nbsp;·&nbsp;Robert Hill