Software

Installation fun

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Attempting to update TidalCycles only managed to break everything. Everything seemed to be in the right place but nothing was aware of anything else. Apparently it is a common problem. Perhaps it was the multiple versions of ghc…

or the changes to cabal, or the Mac’s recent switch from bash to zsh. After wrestling with it for a couple of days I gave up and deleted random .ghc and .ghcup directories and did a complete fresh install which seemed to sort things out.

Far simpler was Nextcloud which just involved uploading a php file which when executed checks that the required components are available and then installs and sets up everything for you. Their iOS app gives access to your Personal cloud from anywhere.

Yadit #100DaysToOffload

(Not) Mac Apps

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These days some of the software produced for Macs seems to lack the very Mac-ness that makes a Mac a Mac – the attention to detail, the delight of discovery. Some would argue that Apple itself is as guilty as anyone here – although the cursor for the iPad suggest they still get it mostly right. The article today by Brent Simmons highlights some common problems. I have left reviews on the Mac’s App Store along the lines of – nice idea but it is a pity it is not a Mac app. To their credit some developers have taken steps to rectify the problems when they are pointed out – If I close a window it does not mean I want to quit the app. Etc. Etc.

Yadit #100DaysToOffload

Menu Bar Clutter 2020

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A quick catch up after the 2010 and 2012 editions.

Skitch Capture material for sharing.

Quick Draft Simple text editor for notes. Syncs with iOS devices.

Dropbox Online storage, file sharing etc.

Backblaze Online backup service.

MyAddress IP address monitor syncs across iCloud for when you are away.

BlockBlock Keeps an eye on what is being installed and notifies you about anything suspicious.

Presentify Highlighter for presentations etc.

Hazel Automates routine tasks.

Typinator Type in a short sequence and it gives you the long form version.

1Password Excellent password manager.

PopClip The single most useful thing to add to a Mac.

Amphetamine Keeps your Mac awake. Very configurable – set a time or wait for a job to finish etc. before going to sleep.

BwanaDik Monitors your connection notifying you when down. No longer supported but included here for continuity with older posts.

WiFi

LittleIpsum Adds Lorem ipsum text in words, lines or paragraphs. No longer supported.

Cookie Removes specified cookies, trackers and the like either at set intervals or when you quit the browser etc.

Memory Cleaner

Bluetooth

AirPlay

Sound

Bartender Declutter the menu bar. Hides all the icons you do not need to click on regularly.

FuzzyTime Tells you the time in a normal (not to the precise second) way
in a variety of languages. I have had to add the day to the display otherwise I would not have much idea what day it was lately.

ClipMenu Having tried numerous clipboard managers I have found nothing as useful as this although it has not been updated in years and never made it to version 1.

Spotlight Search for anything on your Mac.

User

Notifications See/ignore information.

Yadit #100DaysToOffload

Which WordPress Plugins I Use

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I was interested to read Kev Quirk’s plugins article as I had found his introduction to the IndieWeb thing very helpful.

I currently have 18 active plugins – which is probably far too many. So this is as much an exercise for me to consider which can be deactivated as it is information for anyone else; but in the tangled mess that this blog has become over the years it is hard to say which are still actually needed.

Akismet Anti-Spam which did a great job of filtering out spam comments. But as I now have a JetPack account I probably do not need this plug in. And as I have turned off the ability to comment I probably do not need this plugin.

Background Update Tester Checked the site to ensure it was set up correctly for automated updates. I can probably deactivate this one too as it has not been updated in five years and is probably no longer required.

Classic Editor Restores the classic WordPress editor replacing the new blocky Gutenberg editor when required for IndieWeb stuff.

Hotfix Provided quick fixes for individual WordPress bugs between updates. Can probably be deactivated as I do do the updates regularly as required.

IndieWeb Adds IndieWeb functionality – whatever that is :-/

Insert Headers and Footers Not sure what I was using this one for as I do not do the Google Analytics or Facebook linkage things. Possibly deactivate.

Jetpack adds a lot of goodness to the site – security, backups, image optimisation etc.

Microformats 2 More IndieWeb stuff. Not sure it is required as I have switched to an IndieWeb friendly theme anyway.

Page Links To Provides simple links out of the WordPress site. Could probably deactivate this as I am moving link outs to the sidebar widgets.

PHP code widget Allows you to add PHP code to the site – not sure what I was doing with this.

Post Kinds More IndieWeb stuff doing something or other.

Preserve Code Formatting Displays code as text so it does not get used as code by the site.

Simple Lightbox Presents pictures in a neat way. I need to configure this to do more.

Tumult Hype Animations Player for animations created in Tumult’s Hype editor. I should try and use this more.

VaultPress Backup system which is now part of JetPack so this one can probably go too.

WP Super Cache Helps to speed up the presentation of site.

Wiki Tooltip Makes the little window that pops up when you move over a link to Wikipedia (or whatever you have set it to respond to).


WP-DBManager Helps to keep the tangled sprawling mess that is this blog’s database in some kind of order.

So apparently most of my plugins can go and I should just stick with the half dozen or so that are actually required/doing something.

Tomorrow: What is all that crap in the menu bar? As we have not had one of those for a while.

Yadit #100DaysToOffload