I use Syncthing to synchronize files between various systems in my extended homelab. There are currently five systems using Syncthing - a primary NAS server and a backup NAS server based in Texas, a laptop running Ubuntu Server 24.04 currently based with me in Ireland (and known as the Blackrock server), my personal Asus laptop running Windows 11, and a Digital Ocean VPS running Ubuntu Server 24.04. (I have a couple of other devices in the Tailnet - my Pixel 6 phone, and the travel Chromecast.)

Here’s how I solved a minor annoyance with my current setup.

Before we came to Ireland for extended stays, I setup an old Dell laptop to be the media server while we travel. This system runs Ubuntu 24.04 Server with a GUI, and makes it possible for us to watch our ripped movies and related media. I use Tailscale to securely access my remote systems, and in the Tailnet this server has the uninspired hostname of dell4800.

I use the vim editor to write these posts, and prefer not to use vim’s automatic line-wrapping. There are times when longer lines are necessary, so I like to manually wrap lines when needed. In blog posts like this, paragraphs are separated by a blank line. To wrap the lines in a single paragraph, use this key sequence: :gq} : opens command mode, gq is the wrap command which must be followed by a movement command. } moves to the next empty line. Put them altogether and the current paragraph is wrapped to the defined line width, which defaults to 80.

Over the last week or so, I’ve enjoyed updating the tools I use for this site, which is built using Hugo. Hugo creates static HTML from Markdown source, and is perfect for low volume sites that are updated on an occassional basis, and that hasn’t changed. The tooling I use to host the site has changed, along with the method i use to upload the new HTML to the web host.

My sister was going through some old papers left by my father, and came across this article from the local newspaper. I was invited by a local group for secretaries and administrative assistants to give a 30-minute presentation on the use of the World Wide Web. As was the norm back then, I suited up for my presentation, but I think I omitted the tie. My recollection of the evening is quite positive.

From Futility Closet: “Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before and wiser than the one that comes after it.” — George Orwell

For the last few years, my sister and I have been playing the daily New York Times puzzles. A few months ago, We started sharing our daily efforts playing Wordle and Connections - we both also play other NYT puzzle games, but stuck with the two main games to share. It’s a great, low-key way to stay connected. Often we just share the basic results, but if either of us has a particularly good or particularly bad day with our solutions, we’ll commiserate. We both agree the most annoying thing to happen in Wordle is to have 4 of the five letters correctly placed with either the first or second guess, and then need 3 or 4 chances to find the final letter.

Some memorable quotes from Lois McMaster Bujold

I have a nice pair of low-top Merrell shoes I like to wear for walking and hiking. From time to time the knot would come undone, which is somewhat annoying. I was getting ready to do my 3 mile walk around the neighborhood, and decided I wanted to learn a secure but easily tied replacement for the bunny-ears knot I learned in kindergarten. The solution was:     Ian’s Secure Shoelace Knot It’s easy enough to learn and then to tie, and results in a very secure shoelace that’s still easy to untie. Here’s a diagram of Step 6, which shows a view of the completion of the process.