Let’s try this again

A year to the day. I wish I could say I planned that.

A lot has happened in the last year, but not much of that took place here. I’m going to try to change that again.

A few of my more recent highlights:

I’ve picked up Joomla development. It’s a different tool for a different job. There are things that Joomla does better (MVC-based theme overrides!), and things that WordPress does better (Child themes and script dependencies). But in the end I appreciate a new perspective.

I bought a Raspberry Pi and started learning Linux. Running websites will always require a certain amount of Linux shell knowledge. I’m quite comfortable in PowerShell, but—though I’ve used Macs exclusively at home for well over a decade—I rarely find the need to use a unix shell, and when I do it’s nothing advanced. I’m setting out to change that too, starting with replacing my aging Mac Mini server with a headless Raspberry Pi.

I’ve contributed some time and code to Plex through fixing some outdated Canadian channels. The CBC and HGTV Canada channels are now working again! I’ve learned basic Python along the way, and had to figure out the poorly-documented Plex channel framework. It’s great knowing that other folks out there are benefitting from my work, no matter how simple it might have been. I’ve set my sights on a few more channels that are also in need of updating.

I’ve cut down on social media for the most part. I still check in on Twitter once a week or so—though I’ve greatly reduced and focused who I am following—and have been using Instagram a little more, but I’m now relying on my own curated set of RSS feeds as well as local news sites for my news. I’m hoping that’ll help manage my information overload; I think it has so far.

I might go into more details about some of these topics in the coming weeks or months.

Aside from some more time on Plex channels, I’m also starting to work in React and will probably develop some thoughts on that as well. I’ve decided on React over Angular on good-faith and with a bit of research; a few people and companies that I follow have made some pretty strong investments and recommendations for it, so I’m following their lead. It’s entirely possible I’ll end up regretting it though.