We laughed, we shoppe a bit, and we walked a lot. About 11km daily on average.
The above observations have their merit, life happens, time passes, tech nerd (me) wants to try something new. You know how it works. Throughout the process one of the sources I used to get user opinions, experience, reviews and feedback is Reddit.
Flame me. I know. It's a terrible ideal. But I wanted recent user feedback.
Postale, iCloud Mail, Proton, Fastmail, Proton, Tuta, Fastmail (maybe Proton again). It's a fascinating read. Really. Go read it if you're in the market for an email provider. During the process I consulted Reddit a lot. But here's the thing:
While many posts are informative, few are positive. Most appear to be edge-case tech users bitching and whining about how Proton Drive is not the perfect instant Google Photos replacement, and any dev could whip that out in about 5 minutes.
I ask you, think about your job (assuming you have one in tech) - do you drop all your priorities and processes because one customer is whining about how XYZ feature should be implemented immediately, and should just take a few minutes to do, so why not just get it done?
It isn't always the case, but it seems in many types of customer support, the customer that is extra extra nice, or super super bitchy are the ones who get the priority attention.
Where am I going with this? As I switch back and forth between email (and other) providers, I find myself disliking the service I have (or discarding the one I'm considering) due to the whining and complaining, and not so much because of the technical merits of the testimonial.
To be honest, I think Fastmail, Tuta and Proton (and the other ones I listed before) all have their merits. To be honest, I have really enjoyed every single one, and when I have moved on from each (or returned to one again) it is because my needs and interests have changed, and not because the program / company itself is bad.
In other words, I really like those companies and tools, unless I deep dive into Reddit. Because too much Reddit can leave you hating what you would otherwise really enjoy.
]]>What is American? Who is American? What does that even mean? In just a few short words, I will completely do a disservice to a complex yet silly conversation.
If you are born and raised in America, and rarely - if ever - leave the states, then you likely associate the word “American” with “U.S.”. Truth is, for better or worse, much of the world does the same.
Etc, etc., but for some reason a United State citizen gets to be - americana(o).
The common U.S. citizen is completely oblivious to this difference. Living outside of the U.S., however, and especially if you live in other parts of America, the difference will come up.
The debate / argument either for or against using “americana(o)” to refer to a U.S. citizen is pretty detailed:
Most of the Americas, and world, undstands that internationally “American” almost always refers to someone from the United States, especially in English-language contexts.
Hollywood. Thanks. Well, since U.S. media, film, music, and news is everywhere (seemingly), many are accustomed to hearing “American” used exclusively for U.S. citizens.
In most real-world conversations, if someone says “an American,” it is generally understood to mean a U.S. citizen, not a Canadian, Mexican, or Chilean.
I would add that in the examples above, the argument is basically “we all get it, so just accept it”. That would be easy to accept from a U.S. (or lazy) point of view, but there’s also some good reasoning against it:
In Chilean (and other) Spanish, América refers to the whole continent. Many people in the Americas grow up learning that they themselves are also “Americans” in a geographic sense. This is particular important
The term estadounidense (from the United States) is considered more accurate and neutral in Chile. (Yes, they [United States] don’t have a nice smooth word to refer to themselves; why is that the rest of the world’s problem, eh?)
Many in the Americas (outside of the U.S.) see “American” as reinforcing the idea that the United States dominates the identity of the entire continent. (The behavior of its leaders and citizens abroad do absolutely nothing to dispel this belief). Flags do not represent a language for the same reason as a regional distinction can not be applied to just one nation.
School in the Americas frequently teach America as a single continent (not “the Americas”), which reinforces the idea that “American” should not belong to only one country.
So, there you have it, for and against. This might all be irrelevant, however, when you consider that the name “America” came from an Italian fellow. And let’s not forget that “America” was also “discovered” by an Italian.
And their hearts (and cine) were conquered by yet another Italian. Stallion.
]]>«Not sure if this can turn into a blogger's challenge», he said, and Manu tried as well. Throwing my attempt in the ring:
There are some things that drive me absolutely crazy. And one of those are people who decide to touch fresh bread with their bare hands, rather than using tongs, gloves, etc.
I also blame every stupid business that puts this bread in arms reach of the general public. Really, just keep it behind the counter please.
You maybe know how this works:
Right said bread is rejected for whatever dumb reason: It’s too soft, it’s too hard, it has too much flour on it. I don’t like how it looked at me.
And this bread violator comes in all shapes: the sweaty bloke that is on his way back from work at a gym or construction yard. The ancient lady with the purple hair that you swear can’t be a year past 200. Or the person with allergies/cold who just wiped their nose with the back of their hand.
C’mon, HOW can you touch fresh food after doing that? I’ll have my fresh bread without a side of your DNA, thank you very much.
So here are the simple ground rules for buying bread on the same planet that I live:
Otherwise, use the tongs like a well-adjusted member of society. Or perhaps leave this planet. Keepin your options open.
Touch your own bread on your own time. My baguette is not for touching.
]]>We laughed, we shoppe a bit, and we walked a lot. About 11km daily on average.
The allergic like me will totally avoid any sort of forest and trees in the springtime.
Anyone who knows me will agree - I can definitely overfocus on the small details. Obsess, they will sometimes say. Sometimes innocently. Sometimes accusingly.
So what? :)
One of my latest hyperfocus victims are email providers. Which are secure. Which are encrypted. Which ones track you and which are easier with government information petitions than the gal that hangs out on the street corner.
It’s true, I spent a good long time looking over and over….and over….and over all the email options available because I needed to find one. But once I found one, I just kind of got hooked. Follow them on Reddit. Check the release notes. Track for possible updates every other day. Or every day.
It’s a lot. And I know I’m prone to it. Surely I am the only human being on planet earth. That does that.
It’s a tough habit to break. And to some degree, it’s not really bad at all. But it’s important to remind myself not to lose focus on what the email program is for:
To send and receive, to receive and to send. Emails.
So this is a message from me to myself (and I) - make sure to actually USE the email program you have.
And in more general terms: It’s cool to drool over every small detail of your new toy (be it that shiny Apple product, new car, new pet / kid / significant other / email program) but don’t lose the reason and purpose for that thing (or person) in your life.
As short as it is. Life.
]]>
What is perfection? Depends on who you ask I suppose. It also depends on if you are in what is called the “Western” or “Eastern” world (is there someone in the middle that defines those directions?)
There’s really only one perfect way to debate this (with myself) - through the eyes of the perfect vegetable: the carrot.
The carrot, it seems, is seasonal. Surprised me, as there always seem to be carrots around. But recently (mid-October in these here parts) every vegetable distributor has ugly, old, tasteless carrots.
There’s nothing more delicious than a raw, delicious, fresh, flavorful carrot. You may disagree, but free will allows everyone the chance to be wrong if they wish.
In the magical world of carrots, there are a number of philosophical schools of thoughts as to how to cultivate the perfect carrot. As any farmer will tell you, it depends on whether you plant your carrot at the west end or the east end of your garden. :)
So, you decided to plant your carrots in the eastern half of your garden? Well, according to the Eastern Carrot Farmer Initiative (which I completely invented) your perfect carrot is a product of:
A perfect carrot comes from patience, care, and respect — it shows good character. - Confucius
The best carrots grow strong in tough soil — struggle makes them better. - Mencius
Don’t force it — let the carrot grow how it wants. Nature knows what it’s doing. - Laozi
The perfect carrot is the one you grow mindfully — noticing every moment. - Buddha
If, on the other hand, you are prone to spill your carrot seeds at the western end of your garden, you’re likely to achieve the perfect carrot like this:
Somewhere there’s a perfect, ideal carrot — ours just try to copy it. - Plato
A perfect carrot is one that fully becomes what a carrot is meant to be. - Aristotle
A perfect carrot is one grown out of duty and respect for nature, not for profit. - Immanuel Kant
The perfect carrot doesn’t care about rules — it grows bold and wild. - Nietzsche
So the next time you’re faced with the glorious opportunity to contemplate (and consume) carrots….. consider what makes them perfect.
And what makes me insane. :)
]]>
Encryption is a hot tech buzzword in 2025. But what is it, why is it important for your email, and what do the top players offer over those email companies that serve "everyone"?
Imagine you want to send a secret note to your friend. With Gmail or Outlook, you usually hand the note to Google or Microsoft first. They put it in an envelope, deliver it, but they keep a copy of the key so they can still peek inside if they want. They say they’re just “helping” — for spam detection or smart features — but the point is, they control the lock.
(or, if you prefer, imagine you have nowhere to undress, and the other person in the room promises to not peek.... but then peeks, just to make sure you are healthy under the clothes you're wearing)
Proton Mail and Tuta Mail work differently. Here’s the metaphor:
Locking the Safe on Your Side:
When you write a message, your phone or computer puts it into a safe right on the device you are using. Before it ever leaves your hands, the safe is locked shut.
Sending the Safe, Not the Note:
Proton or Tuta’s servers only store or deliver that locked safe. They never see the note inside. To them, it just looks like a jumble of random letters and numbers — total nonsense.
Only Your Friend Has the Key:
The person you’re writing to has the matching key. When they open their Proton or Tuta account, their device unlocks the safe and shows the real message.
Ok, so now that is clear, right? But there's different types of encryption. Maybe you've even overheard people talking about end-to-end encryption at the local coffee shop or supermarket, right? :)
This is what people mean by end-to-end encryption (E2EE):
The lock (encryption) happens on your device.
The safe travels locked through the internet.
Only the right recipient’s device can unlock it.
Proton calls this a zero-access design:
“All messages in Proton Mail are encrypted on the client side using open source cryptographic libraries before they reach our servers. We do not have access to your messages.” (Proton Docs)
Tuta says more or less the same:
“All data is encrypted directly on your device before being transferred to our servers. We have no access to your private keys.” (Tuta Blog)
For most people, Gmail works differently:
Default Gmail: Google controls the keys. While they say they stopped scanning email content for ads in 2017, Gmail still scans messages automatically for “smart features” like spam filtering, reminders, and autocomplete - "Trust me, my eyes are closed"
It's all really confusing and technical (even to someone who is immersed in tech). Many on the internet will argue their last breath away to convince you why their favorite company is the best, or why this is not important at all (if you are reading Reddit, you've been warned).
Bottom line to understand is this:
Proton and Tuta: End-to-end encryption is standard for everyone — even free users. The companies literally do not have your keys, so they cannot read your messages. Free as in beer. You can sign up for one (or both) and kick the tires around.
Gmail: Encryption is mostly server-side. Only a limited group of Workspace accounts can use client-side encryption, while billions of free Gmail users still depend on Google’s systems having access.
So if we go back to the metaphor:
Gmail: Like giving your diary to a friend (or stranger) who promises not to peek… but still holds the master key.
Proton and Tuta: Like writing in an unbreakable diary where only you and your friend have the key. Even the company storing the diary can’t open it.
This is how Proton and Tuta are different: they made privacy the default, not a premium extra. And fair disclosure: I use Proton. I would recommend either of them to be honest. And if you can't decide, consider this:
Are you coming from Google's ecosystem and like all the different services they offer? Go Proton
Are you a Linux user looking mainly for email? Go Tuta
Just looking for email? Either works
]]>
Many people swear loyalty to a brand or camp. I used to be one of them; now I just want to use what is fun to use.
I have dorked around with tech for a long time. A long, long time. How long, you ask?
I remember using Windows 1. :)
That probably makes me old. According to carbon-dating (and my kid), it’s true.
For maybe 30 years or so (I started young), I used Windows. I was in the “Microsoft camp”.
I remember word processing before Microsoft Word. Anyone remember Word Perfect? With the blue screen? Ahhhh, I do! (I would have written the terrible puns above on a blue screen.
Back in the day, using a computer was fun! Learning how to make a really basic (and ugly) website in a notepad was fun!
CSS was a bit hard to get into, but before I really understood it, I intuitively knew it would be important.
During my time in Windows-land, I used to hear people say over and over “Graphic and Web Designers use Mac products. They’re better for that.”
I wasn’t buying that argument. Besides, Mac products, as beautiful as they are, are ….more expensive.
And as technology advanced, Windows really did close the gap on Macs for the type of Web Design that I like.
The magic moment came when, after years of working on HP laptop computers (the last one being a HP Pavilion Gaming PC), I started to look at how Macs compared. But this time, not through the eyes of “designers use Macs” but rather “which one is a better purchase?”
This was exactly the same time Apple began the transition to their M-series processors.
It took me a while to really understand how an 8-core M1 processor compared to an Intel processor.
“Really? More cores, but uses much less power?!?” I asked myself.
This was 2020. Other things were happening in the world at this time, if I recall correctly.
But in my little world, I made the jump from Windows to Mac, after over 30 years of Windows world.
Not because it was better for my work. Or design. Or status. That’s all a bunch of crap. I wen’t that route because it just felt like the better decision.
And, along the way, using a computer became fun again. The joy of discovering a new way to do what I already knew.
So much fun. Which makes me a nerd, I guess. :)
Photo Used: pexels.com
]]>
Arriving at a website to see your language displayed automatically may be a plus for some, but can be a pain in the ass for others.
Imagine this: You speak Portuguese, live in Brazil, and visit a website (such as Microsoft, for example). You load the website and - boom - there is the content, in all its Portuguese-y glory. That worked out well for you, right?
Imagine this: You speak Portuguese and English. You live in Brazil but you are an expatriate and you prefer to read online content in English. Actually, you don’t really speak or read Portuguese, so reading in English is not a preference, but rather, a need. But, since Microsoft is detecting your browser’s language, your location and/or system settings, you must want Portuguese, right? There is simply NO other logical explanation. So you load up Microsoft’s website, and - boom - there’s a jumbled mess of text that makes no sense to you.
“Ok, no worries” you tell yourself. I’ll just hit the language selector, and we’re off.
Sure, no problem…. If the language selector is easy to find, and where you expect it.
(At the time of this writing, the language selector is in SMALL text in the BOTTOM LEFT section of the website. And it displays the CURRENT page’s language. So if you don’t see / don’t know that “Português” means “Hey, click here to change your language?, you’re screwed).
And what if - what if - you are in a location whose language doesn’t even use your ALPHABET?!? You are so screwed.
And - wait for it - my favorite part. Some websites, poorly programmed, will “redetect” your location once you change your language and click on a link, and send you BACK to the incorrect language.
Isn’t it great that in an attempt to help you out, they are really forcing upon you what they think you want?
A number of years back I wrote about how flags are not synonymous with language, and should be avoided in language selectors. Many sites still have not gotten the message, but I am seeing it less and less. However, it is worth mentioning in 2025 that location, browser or device settings are also not synonymous with my desired (or only) language.
As mentioned above, just because the visitor to a website is in a specific location doesn’t mean they prefer (or can use) the predominant language there. Some countries have multiple languages, so targeting their location becomes a language crap shoot.
While it’s understandable on the one hand that large multinational companies have thousands (or millions) of visitors and automatically serving a language could be helpful, these same companies have the size and resources available to come up with much better solutions.
And, in the case of the Microsoft example above (and, to be fair, many other sites), you should never, ever, ever force your visitors to search for the language selector.
We’ve seen in the example at the start of this long rant, but consider the following as well:
Because the web developer, in their infinite wisdom and analysis of user statistics in your country… decided that their multi-lingual website should just save you the time and frustration of looking for the language you want. So it redirects you to English, since you live in Canada. However, you live in Quebec, and you speak French. And the stupid website keeps redirecting you to English. Great user experience, right? You can have whatever you like, as long as you choose this one.
I said it here. Another fascinating article. Go and read it. :)
Ok, so you’ve seen the error of your way (or not) and would like to at least make language switching easy to find and use. Where should it be displayed?
For most (Western world, at least) websites, a visitor will look for (and hope to find) a language selection flotation device at the top of the website, as Vitaly Friedman mentions in his article Designing a Perfect Language Selector UX (English). Top right, top left. But the top. Please. If you simply must put it in the footer, add it as an ADDITIONAL helper, not the only one.
And please, please, please - do not use flags. Flags will call attention to the language selector, that is true. However, if the flag (for political or historical reasons) conjures up bad/awful/terrible memories, it is the equivalent of “Hey, look over here, look over here ….. ok, now that I have your attention….. fuck you!”
There are many ways to go about it, but at least on this simple website, where there are only two languages, it is easy to find. Right there in the navigation. Simple nav, simple location.
If the language selector on a website is so damn difficult to find or use, maybe the nav needs to be made simpler. But that’s the topic of another article. :)
Photo Used: pexels.com
]]>Chile is certainly a study in contrasts; bone-dry desert, freezing Patagonia, and everything in between. Anyone visiting Chile from abroad will quickly learn three things about Chile's Spanish (another contrast from Spanish elsewhere)
So I thought it would be fun to share some here, along with what their English equivalent would be (more or less)
| In Chile | Translation | English Idiom |
|---|---|---|
| Más cagado que palo gallinero | Screwed / Totally in trouble | Up the creek / Fucked |
| Fuiste al chancho | You went overboard / Exaggerated | Went overboard / Went too far |
| Pasarlo chancho | To have a great time / Enjoy fully | Have a blast / Have a whale of a time |
| Una persona vaca | Person who is boring or dull | Drag / Snooze |
| Perro pa’ la pega | Hardworking / Dedicated | Workaholic / Hard worker |
| Perro envenenado | Stuffed full / Completely full | Stuffed / Full |
| Un condoro | To make a huge mistake | Big blunder / Major screw-up |
| Ser sapo | To be a snitch or tattletale | Snitch / Tell-tale |
| Hacerse la mosca muerta | To pretend to be innocent or harmless | Play dumb / Play innocent |
| Más tonto que perro nuevo | Extremely stupid / Naive | Dumb as a post / Clueless |
| Buscarle la quinta pata al gato | To overcomplicate something simple | Split hairs / Make a mountain out of a molehill |
| Le pasaron gato por liebre | To be tricked or swindled | Get ripped off / Swindled |
| Ser vaca | To be disloyal or mean-spirited | Snake / Two-faced |
| Curado como piojo | Very drunk | Wasted / Hammered |
| Hacer perro muerto | To skip out on a bill or not pay | Dine and dash / Skip out |
I hope this list is entertaining. Not sure, though, if it should be useful. :)
]]>Ok, this is yet another installment in my journey to set up an email flow that I could be happy with, let go of, and step away from. To just use it.
This is a continuation of this article, which in itself was an update of this one. So rather than detail again every single provider I reviewed, I will get to the quick here. You can lose yourself (literally) in Reddit reading about each provider. Here’s I’ll list in order my recommendations in descending order, starting with the one I have gone with, and a real quick note on why or why not:
Proton - I went with this one, but I went all in. Visionary. Since I hopped back on (for the third time) they have launched Lumo, an AI app, and an Authenticator app. So new stuff is coming. Being Visionary means you get it all. Yay!
Tuta - I really really looked at this one. If it wasn’t for Proton, I would go for this. It came down to the design / UI (and the fact I had to sell a family on it, so it was for more than just me. But if you want just email at a good price, go for this)
iCloud Mail - If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, go for it, if you don’t really care about features and you just want a domain email (or two, or three) to set up quick.
Fastmail - Tough call between Fastmail and Infomaniak in this spot. I went with Fastmail because it is easy to set up, tons of features, pretty good design. But their privacy is really more the style of “trust us, we respect your privacy” than anything technical about it.
Infomaniak - I really wanted to like this one. Really really wanted to. Great pricing, generous offers. I even managed to get it set up from Chile. But support sucks. Sucks, sucks, sucks. And set up is NOT intuitive, even if you play with DNS and MX records on a daily basis.
MX Route - If you want domain email, it’s an option. Hate the Crossbox app provided for mobile email. Google Material Design.
Postale.io - This was my first experience with domain email once I woke up from the Gmail nap years ago. It’s solid and well-priced.
Purelymail - If you REALLY want to pay very little for lots of domain email features, you are technically inclined, and don’t care AT ALL about beautiful user interfaces, this is the way to go.
I can totally recommend either of the first two. I signed up for a 14 day trial with Tuta and had no problem requesting a refund, despite what Reddit users say. Sometimes you just need to stop, read the information and instructions, and follow them.
Take this for what it’s worth. Hope it helps!
]]>I have downloaded probably every email program (Canary, Spark, em, Edison, etc) from the App Store, and removed them. I previously commented on some email services; some opinions have changed. I still do not feel quite comfortable with my current service (returned to Proton). Here’s an update on what I previously commented, in the hopes that writing it out may help me actually come to some sort of definitive conclusion:
This is the first service I used for my very own domain name email, leaving Gmail behind. Nothing but good things to say. Great price for basic email needs & unlimited custom domains. I left mainly because I wanted more options and ideally a beautiful and free native mail app, which they don’t provide. They redesigned their website and admin portal recently but still use the ugly-as-sin Roundcube webmail. As my email solution needs to cater to family members of different tech levels, intuitive and “pretty” are important.
Had Visionary, loved it, left because of the price. Later returned; still love the service. The more I have looked into email security the more I come to realize (like many) that:
So the big question is - if encrypted email is only encrypted if you communicate with other encrypted addresses only, is the high price of encrypted email services worth it (at present). Like the company, love the product. Not a fan of the pricing, but mostly because we don't need most of the services. An option for multiple domain evade email plans (like Tuta) would be great, but not going to unlimited just to use 3 domain names. The Family plan is almost perfect but 6 users, yes. Only 3 domains. Really? 6 domains on Family plan at that pricing and I think it’s correct.
I like Tuta’s approach to developing their apps and system on Linux, so all systems get the apps at the same time. The security story they’re selling is also great. Pricing is also better than Proton, if you’re just looking for email (and calendar). The app is not ugly. It is very minimalist though. I am not personally a fan that, when you change paid plans, they automatically bill you for the new plan, and then “refund” you for the old one. Reddit is full of people confused about this; take a look there if that is a concern.
Ok, so you will go to their site, see what they offer, see their prices, and you will be very interested. As I was. I circled back around on this one many times, mostly because of the price. And there’s a LOT of information. Then, once the info was read, I had questions, so I emailed support. This is where it gets ugly. Two main pain points here:
They have a very strange setup where, if you want to use multiple domains for email addresses, one domain is the “main” one, and the other domains are simply “aliases”. This is super annoying when trying to set up different emails on different domains for different users. Of all the companies listed here, it is the ONLY one using this odd setup, and they can’t seem to explain it well. It’s not a “European thing” either, as many other companies there are able to explain their product well.
Great setup, easy, really reasonable pricing ($10/year) for unlimited space, domains, email accounts. Backend is ugly as sin, and if you are not proficient in setting up DNS records, this is not for you. You’ll also need an email app, if that’s a concern for you.
I hopped onboard this one for about a year, due to its low price. They offer an email app that is even customizable. But it’s based on Google’s Material Design, so if you are in Apple’s world (as I am) and like how Apple designs apps (which I generally do) then this app will be yuck.
Fastmail offered a Family plan, which was a reasonable price. Setup was nice and quick. I can't really think of much to say. I did not like the mobile app because of things like Notes, Calendar, Files, being there, and there is no function to remove them. So I moved on.
I really wanted to like this one. I really do. Multiple domain emails are possible, but just can’t get behind the idea that all your email addresses are really just an alias for the iCloud email address.
Ok, so during this entire investigation, I circled back to check on Fastmail a couple of times. In all of this, they did not have the cheapest nor most expensive service. Price was reasonable. Once I came to the conclusion that completely encrypted zero-knowledge email was not a need I had I checked back in with them. Right around this time Fastmail made a (controversial if you are on Reddit) redesign to their inbox. But in this update, they added an option to add or remove the services you want to display at the bottom of their mobile app. As stupid as it sounds, this was a deal-breaker the first time around; hated having 6 big ol icons at the bottom of the app, for 4 services I didn’t want to use. Now I can just click and hide what I don’t want.
Finally after an eternity of decision-fatigue, I pulled the trigger and we’re back at Fastmail. It’s all there, easy to set up, and fast as fast can be.
Masked Email / Aliases
I’ll just briefly add this note: Fastmail provided integration with Bitwarden and 1Password Keychains to create masked email addresses. However, during my second time with Proton, I got into Proton Pass and their way of doing alias emails more. So sticking with this one, but getting the subscription through SimpleLogin (which includes Proton Pass), rather than through Proton Pass (which includes Simple Login).
But that’s a post for another day (maybe).
]]>I've got some notes here and there which will eventually become posts / articles / rants on this website. For now, I was able to grab a few minutes here and there to update one part of this site which was bothering me - the language selector.
For as much as I love it, Publii CMS (which I highly recommend) still has no multilanguage option available. Currently I deploy two different versions of my site in two languages, to two different domains. Due to the time involved in setting up links between articles and pages, I simply had an English / Spanish link which would take you to the homepage of the site in the other language.
But no longer!
Now, clicking on English / Spanish will take you to that same page in the other language. In the case of the blog, there are a few older articles that exist currently in only one language. For articles that don't exist in the other language, you will be taken to the main blog page of the other language, rather than the homepage.
Hopefully this keeps you all on the site a bit longer to poke around and read stuff.
Hope to write more soon, about this, that, and the other. Until next time!
]]>I’ve recently had the pleasure (torture) of studying in-depth many, many, many free and paid email solutions, looking for the perfect solution for family, personal and work. As a bit of context, after waking up the need to leave Google for privacy concerns (my phone does not have a single Google application - yay!). I went first to Proton and stayed there for about a year, as a Visionary client (when I go in, it’s all in).
In the end, I can’t say that Proton was bad, just way more than I needed, and way more expensive than I wanted. Though I will note that exporting out of Proton, and the subsequent attempt to downgrade my account to Unlimited from Visionary, rather than canceling, was quite evil.
(when making high-tier customers press CANCEL, btw, don’t secretly downgrade me to a lesser plan and charge me. I will expose you here for the dozens of bots and half-dozen people who visit to see)
Anyways, in my search for the “perfect” email company for me, I came across a number of companies that pushed the idea that “our servers are in XYZ country (usually Switzerland) and so your data is completely safe. Laws here protect your privacy. (In one famous and extreme case, your data is stored in underground bunkers impervious to nuclear attacks. Good to know in the case all life on the planet is screwed, my email is safe).
Here’s the thing about the above argument (not the bunker) - your data is only safe if the laws protecting them in that country never change. Ever. In the case the government changes, or new laws are passed, or your country is invaded, your laws and Swiss protection don’t mean anything at all.
So, not really sure why you would push that as a sales point.
Maybe you are relying on the tradition argument - “Our country has never….” or “We would never….”
I’m not saying that the services that promote this are bad email companies. Far from it; most of them are pretty good.
For those who are attracted by the privacy laws argument, just turn on the toxic world news and count how many countries and governments are now doing things that haven’t been done before. Things that they would “never do”.
And I’m thinking about the democratically run countries.
My point (if any)?
Your information is not secure or private just because it is in a specific country or region. Privacy and security has much more to do with encryption than location.
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Bariloche, Argentina.
]]>However, they recently decided to increase their Microsoft 365 prices, for Basic and Family plans. Ok, that in itself is nothing new, as companies do that from time to time, maybe even for reasonable excuses.
But the way in which it is being implemented is terrible and shows no consideration for the consumer.
This article from Tom’s Guide provides the scoop. I take exception to (many things people say/write), but particularly the following:
“Microsoft will increase the prices of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family in the U.S. by $3 per month or $30 for annual subscriptions. It's the first price hike since 365 launched, but the good news is users don't have to opt-in for the AI upgrade.”
Read that again: “But the good news is users don't have to opt-in for the AI upgrade.” Ok, so the good news is that a half-baked AI implementation that no one wants is being forced upon me, and I do not have to take any action to pay more for it.
If I would rather NOT have this “feature”, then I have to jump through hoops to NOT have it. What great news! Work to not get charged for crap.
I used to not care one way or the other, but now….
Fuck you, Microsoft.
]]>I imagine most people just fire up their trusty Gmail account, check and send mail, and call it a day. But when you think about changing to a service that doesn't openly read and spy on your email, it begins to turn into a lot of work.
My head is to the point it might actually explode. I could go into a lot of detail about each service I encountered, tried and discarded. I'm happy to say that the crusade is coming to an end. On that note, I wanted to share a bit of my findings, in the hopes that it might help other people who are looking for a good, reliable service.
Quick Context: I am not looking for a high threat-model, military-grade encrypted email. I am looking for a service that will offer general encryption from a company that won't spy on me, or charge me a fortune. Here's what I have found, and my opinions:
Had this email set up for family. Actually, I can only say good things about the service offered. The problem? Once it was decided that the offering was more than we were willing to pay, the migration began - as well as the problems:
Fastmail offered a Family plan, which was a reasonable price. Setup was nice and quick. I can't really think of much to say. I did not like the mobile app because of things like Notes, Calendar, Files, being there, and there is no function to remove them. Fastmail was "meh" - can't really say I enjoy them, or not. Might be for you. Not for me.
Great setup, easy, really reasonable pricing ($10/year) for unlimited space, domains, email accounts. Backend is ugly as sin, and if you are not proficient in setting up DNS records, this is not for you.
Checking this one out, this may be what I am looking for. I'll update this once I learn more.
I really want to like this one. I really do. I will go into detail why I can't later. For me, it has to do with multiple domain emails and really wanting a separate inbox for each one.
Ok that's my rant for now. Thanks, hope it's of help, and will update as time permits.
]]>So no banner images on posts just to have one (but I will also try to take - and share - more photos in 2025)
Sorry! :)
]]>So this year, I hope to let loose and write more, think less. (Oh crap). :)
Just have the fingers dance across the keyboard and let it all run out. It’s summer in the southern hemisphere, which means it’s hot. And I do not like the heat.
Seasons are great - if you are bored with one weather pattern, just give it a bit of time and it will change.
It’s wonderful to feel the breeze and hard-core cold wind in your face in the winter.
And juuuuust when you’re bored to death with heating the house, spring and summer come around.
Still, summer heat sucks: after all, in the winter, you can always put on one more layer of clothes.
But in the summer heat, once it’s all off, there’s nowhere left to go.
Cheers to you, summer. Now let’s get a move on.
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Remembering the good old days when 4G was the latest “high-speed internet” and websites were designed to load quickly.
There I was, in the heart of South Central Chile, end of August, living a simple, common life of internet addiction - until the storms hit. First, the power flickered out. Then, the internet followed suit, leaving me in a dark, disconnected void.
Boom.
Welcome to No-Internet Hell, where you’re left remembering the good ol’ days of 4G when it felt like the future was at your fingertips, hoping that a drop of that will magically trickle down to you. Well, at least when we weren’t stuck on 3G...
Two weeks without a connection. And when there was a connection, it was - gasp - 3G. (Not 3 gbps fiber optic. I’m talking about the “mobile” 3G). Before the almighty internet returned to bless us with its presence, I had a lot of time to reflect—mostly on how much I missed reading articles about terrible internet speeds. Who knew those words would become my life?
Remember when 4G was the best thing since sliced bread? We all thought it was the beginning of a new era. But here’s the kicker: most of the time, you were stuck on 3G because 4G coverage was spotty at best. Back then, even 3G felt like a miracle compared to the dreaded 0G, where your phone became an expensive paperweight. But when 4G actually worked, oh, how fast it was. Websites loaded before you could blink (we didn’t blink much, back in my day). It was quick enough that you didn’t have time to think about how much they sucked (now we just don’t think; that’s what AI is for!).
Of course, that was back when websites weren’t bogged down with gigabytes of data-hogging nonsense. Remembering this fine piece of literature, Your Internet Speed and That of Your Website’s Visitor Probably Sucks, we’ve made things worse by designing websites that only load quickly if you’ve got NASA-level bandwidth. These days, if you’re stuck on 4G - or heaven forbid, 3G - you might as well go make a sandwich while the page loads. And watch the paint on the walls dry. Wherever it needs drying.
After a few days without the internet, I did what any sane person would do: restarted the router. When that didn’t work (shocking, I know), I moved on to the next best thing—restarting it again. Maybe it would come back! (It didn’t.) So, left with no other option, I actually talked to the people around me. I know, terrifying. It’s not that I dislike conversation, but after so long with the internet, I completely forgot why those other people shared the same space that I did. :)
I also discovered something fascinating: card games and board games still exist. Yes, those relics from a pre-digital age. They’re not as fun as YouTube or Instagram, but at least no one has to worry about buffering. After a few rounds of carioca, I was ready to crawl back to the 4G days, even if it meant living with the constant cycle of switching to 3G mid-download.
Productivity without the internet? It’s a joke. Sure, at first you think, “I’ll finally get some offline work done.” Spoiler: no, you won’t. You’ll realize how deeply you depend on Google for even the most basic tasks, like remembering how long it takes to cook rice. Remember the pre-historic days when we went to the bathroom with a book, and not a phone? (a phone doesn't serve the same dual-purpose that a good ol' paper book can in an emergency)
Even trying to remember what life was like before we were all glued to the life line that is WiFi feels like a stretch. And yet, ironically, my article on why internet speeds suck kept bouncing around my head. Turns out I had firsthand experience now of how bad a slow (or non-existent) connection really is.
After an eternity (or so it seemed), the internet came back. My router lit up like a Christmas tree, and I was back online. But the victory was bittersweet. There’s no immediate rush to watch all the Netflix I missed or binge-read Medium articles. Instead, I started reflecting on how we got here—how we built a digital world so bloated with content that even 4G can feel sluggish now (or, at least, that’s what I would like you to think. In reality, it was a frantic rush to make 2 weeks of backlogged projects go away).
It’s funny, isn’t it? We used to get by with simpler, faster websites. Now we need insane speeds just to keep up with the junk we’ve crammed into them. So if you’re out there still dealing with terrible load times and sluggish sites, I feel for ya. But don’t worry - you’re not missing anything other than crap being pushed and loaded faster and faster.
Photo Used: pixabay.com
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Ah, Medium. The land of dreams, where writers come to share their deepest thoughts and worst takes on minimalism. Some are here for community, others for the joy of writing, but most of us came for one thing: cash. Via that glorious Medium Partner Program (MPP) money, which we were told would be flowing our way just for sharing our brilliant ideas. The digital gold rush.
I’m here to tell you how I turned that dream into reality. I’ve done it. I made $0.04 in one month on Medium. You’re probably asking yourself, “How can I achieve this level of success?” Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.
Everyone knows that expertise is overrated. On Medium, it’s all about pretending to know stuff. The key is confidence. The trick is to sprinkle in buzzwords like “mindfulness,” “side hustle,” and “growth mindset.” If you really want to maximize earnings, toss in some crypto talk, even if your only knowledge of cryptocurrency is that it's not a physical coin.
After initially resisting, on the principle that hard work and effort pay off, I switched to this method, convinced that my in-depth “advice” on how to maximize your website development by following my convoluted 15-step process to output your WordPress website as a static site. Spoiler: it didn’t.
I thought I’d stand out by finding the perfect niche. After all, Medium’s full of articles on digital nomads, minimalism and making one digital product and selling 325 variations for $50k a month, so I decided to niche down to something truly unique. I wrote about how to create a good password. A masterpiece. Naturally, I expected the algorithm to throw my post to the top of the platform.
What I discovered is that Medium loves niches... if your niche happens to be crypto, minimalism, or tech startups. A heartfelt in-depth guide on how to make a good password? Not so much.
This is the real joy of Medium. It’s like checking your social media for likes—on steroids. The moment you hit “publish,” you’ll find yourself obsessively refreshing the stats page. At first, you’ll be optimistic. You’ll picture the hundreds of views piling up, the comments flooding in, the claps accumulating. But instead, you’ll see numbers that look more like the cost of a pack of gum.
After a week of watching my stats like a hawk, my first milestone arrived. A whopping two cents. At that point, I began calculating how long it would take me to buy an actual cup of coffee with my Medium earnings. (It’s a very long time.)
Then it happened. After weeks of pouring my heart and soul into my content, the moment of truth arrived. I checked my stats one last time for the month and saw it: $0.04. I made it. The big leagues.
It was time to celebrate. I poured myself a glass of tap water, sat back, and basked in the glow of my monumental success. Could I afford a yacht? No. Could I afford an iPhone? Nope. But I was officially a paid writer. Technically.
Making money on Medium is, well, possible. Technically. But it’s not about the money (good thing, right?). It’s about the thrill of putting your thoughts into the world and seeing them resonate with, let’s be honest, probably just your mom. That $0.04 is a symbol of potential. The potential to someday—perhaps many, may, may, many years from now—afford a pack of gum.
So, if you're ready to become a Medium millionaire, remember this: it's not about the payout. It’s about the journey of seeing that stat page inch forward. Someday, with enough perseverance, you might just be able to buy that yacht. Or at least a cup of coffee. Full steam ahead!
Photo Used: Unsplash.com
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Update: We have a winner. Made the jump to an iPhone 16 Pro natural color. :)
Hello and welcome to October (which started 2 weeks ago). For those of you who are not in those special privileged countries that get access to the latest Apple products about a week after launch…. October means “we can buy them too!” month.
So Apple so lovingly tried to make it really easy to choose this year - 4 models (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max). In an attempt to level the playing field, the iPhone 16 / iPhone 16 Plus are more or less the same, only a different size. And the iPhone 16 Pro / iPhone 16 Pro are the same, except for a different size (and battery size as well).
To make things even “easier”, the non-pro phones this year are REALLY close to the Pro phones in features. There are about 1,000,000 reviews of these phones on the internet, so I won’t add one here. But I will say this:
Coming from an iPhone 13 Pro Max, wanting a physically smaller phone but loving a physically larger screen, the decision is really. difficult.
Still haven’t decided, and this article is more of a rant about how difficult it is to choose tech when you know all the tiny tech details. At this time of year I kinda envy those who base their decision on simpler details, such as, “I want a pink one”, or “I just want the same version I have now, only the new version”.
Moral of the story: Sometimes having all the information just means that decision-making is a PITA. Sometimes, I guess, ignorance *is* bliss. :)
Photo Used: Unsplash.com
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Hello, we’re back at it in 2024! The plan here is install WordPress in an offline environment, develop our website, with all the designs, posts, pages and plugins that you like, and then “export it” as a static website using a WordPress plugin. Since my original article in 2016, a lot has changed; WordPress has grown, and there is a new plugin to streamline this process.
This is an update of the process I wrote about waaaaay back in 2016, which apparently got a fair amount of attention. Here’s we’ll look at some updated steps to make the process more modern and streamlined, as well as discover a great place to get some free WordPress themes.
You will want to have the following to complete this process
Each person has their specific way of doing things. A particular process. A unique workflow. There are probably people who would ask me, “Why would you use WordPress to generate static websites? Couldn’t you just use an already existing static site generator?
In fact, in 2024, I would personally recommend using Publii CMS. It is amazing! (they don't pay me to say that. They don't even know).
However, I know many, many, many people use WordPress and have too much time and work invested in that platform. That in itself is a reason to do this. So if you are:
This may be of interest to you.
There are also some more convincing reasons. Such as this: Security. WordPress, as of May 2024, powers over 43% of all websites in the world. That makes WordPress a huge target for hackers, scammers, and the lot. And even if you keep your WordPress installation up-to-date, a forgotten or deactivated plugin on your website could create an accidental “back door” for hackers to take over and cause havoc.
What if you could create a website using WordPress on your computer, and then publish it as a static website? And by doing so you eliminate many of the security issues inherent in with databases, non-updated themes, software and plugins? And, as a bonus, your site is FAST?
Yes. You can.
If you want to know how, read on.
Here you’ll get a good step-by-step on how to set up a local server and install WordPress (the process is muuuuuch easier today). From there, you will add your content, design, layout, etc. (this is not a design article – that part is all you).
Once you finish setting up your website in WordPress and are at the point where you would “publish” it for the world to see….. that’s where we will change gears. We will upload this static website to the internet (using FTP or whatever you like).
As a bonus, in a follow-up article I will share with you a play-by-play on how to export your website to GitHub. (you can set up a simple website on GitHub for free, provided it isn’t super high traffic or requiring advanced scripting).
Before you invest your valuable time reading, take note of the following:
This article might not be for you if the following is true:
If this is the case, I'll understand if you drift off to some other place. (but this article might be of use to someone you know - so please share it).
Ready to begin? Let's go!
Ok so in order to install WordPress on our computer without moving it to a server, we need to setup a “server” on our computer. Previously we used a program called XAMPP, which is a bit technical and overkill for what we want to do.
For this process, we are going to download LocalWP. There are other options available to set up WordPress offline (such as XAMPP and Studio by WordPress). However, XAMPP is more technical and overkill for what we want to do. And Studio is not currently compatible with the Staatic WP Plugin which we will use to create our static Wordpress site. So head on over to LocalWP and click the download button.
You will need to choose your platform and enter some information. You can enter whatever info you like, including for the email address. Once submitted, you will be able to download the program.
Once you have finished installing the program, you will see options to Create a New Site (default option), Create From a Blueprint or Select an Existing ZIP. Choose the CREATE A NEW SITE option and then CONTINUE.
You will then see screens asking you to NAME YOUR WEBSITE, choose your SITE ENVIRONMENT and SET UP WORDPRESS. On the final screen you will set your WordPress username, password and email (if you want). In the ADVANCED OPTIONS below, you can click that and indicate if this is a MultiSite installation. Once you are ready, click the ADD SITE button.
After the setup is complete, you will see the following screen. Note the WP Admin button - you'll next want to click that button to login to your website.
However, first, please make this small but important change. You will want to change your web server to APACHE in the following section, then click the APPLY text that appears:
You will need to go to the permalinks section of your WP admin and choose an option other than the default. The Staatic WP Plugin will not work if you use the default permalinks.
We are going to install the Staatic Site Generator WP Plugin here to complete the setup of our process. You could complicate life by doing this manually, but since we just installed WordPress and have an internet connection, just follow the steps below.
First we want to go to the Admin section of our website. So click the WP Admin link, which you should see here:
This will open up in a new browser window. From here, go to the PLUGINS sections and select ADD NEW PLUGIN
On the new screen type STAATIC (note the spelling) and the following should appear. Click the INSTALL NOW button. Once completed, click the ACTIVATE button that appears.
From here the plugin is pretty simple, but there are a couple of options that may be important to you:
Destination URL: The plugin recommends an absolute URL. This means that, ideally, you know what your full website address will be (for example: www.example.com). In that case, you enter that here and save. If not, or if you plan on using this on different websites, leave the default option as-is.
For now, set it to OFFLINE URL, so once we Publish this site we can actually open it offline and view it.
Deployment Method (on the DEPLOYMENT tab): These are the options on how and where you would like to generate your new static website. By default LOCAL DIRECTORY is selected, meaning the plugin will create your new static website in a folder on your computer, and then you move it where you want to. However, there are other options to deploy (publish) directly to the internet. In a future article we will take a look at how to publish your website to GitHub. For now, if you don’t have a specific deployment destination, just leave it as LOCAL DIRECTORY.
Target Directory: Directly related to the option above. This is where your static website copy will be created on your computer. You may want to note this - or change it - so you aren't hunting for your new static website on your computer later.
Ok we've made it to the last step - once you are ready with your website, you can click on the STAATIC option in the WP Admin, and click the second link - Publications. On the new screen that appears, click the PUBLISH NOW button.
If all goes according to plan, you should see a series of information after the process is complete (it will surely look different than the following screen).
If there are no errors, you should be all set! You can click on the RESOURCES tab (see image above) or the DOWNLOAD link in the following image to download your new website.
Thank you for making it this far! I hope this guide was useful. In a follow-up article I will show you how to deploy that new static website directly to GitHub, so you can have a simple, fast, safe and free (hosting) website!
Photo Used: pixabay.com
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In 2024, using a password manager is super important – almost vital. Since nearly everything is done online — from banking to bowel movements (well, not quite yet), social media and shopping — individuals are more exposed to potential data breaches than ever before. It's very important to defend your cybercastle (pardon the ridiculous illustration) from people who like to stick their fingers where they don't belong.
Password managers offer a secure solution by generating complex, unique passwords for each of your accounts, reducing the risk of using easily guessed or reused passwords across multiple sites. This practice not only strengthens personal security but also shields against credential stuffing attacks, where hackers use compromised passwords from one site to access others (which is a complex way of saying that if hackers get your password from one data breach, they can try all your accounts, in case you use the same password everywhere).
As we open accounts and use services on more and more sites, maintaining a consistent level of security becomes challenging without a password manager. These tools not only store passwords securely but also simplify the login process across different devices, enhancing both convenience and security. By centralizing password management, users can focus on their activities online without the constant worry of remembering or securing multiple passwords manually.
I was, like you, hesitant to start, thinking that it would be difficult, complicated and a lot of work (and I like tech stuff). I went with Bitwarden because it had great reviews AND …..it was (and is) free. If you like this, you can check out a list of other software / services I recommend.
Ok, so you’re considering setting up this complex and terrifying “password manager”. Before we begin, it might help to simplify the idea of a “password manager” a bit. Imagine that over the course of your day you had to unlock 40 doors with physical keys. Each key if different. And good thing; if all 40 locks used the same key, you could imagine what would happen if you lost one, right?
Using the same password on your email, bank, social media, Netflix account, etc, is like using one physical key to open all your locks. Good luck to you if you lose your key or someone steals it to make themselves a copy.
What if you had a small piece of FREE software that you could use anywhere you went (your browser – you like Firefox? Prefer Safari? Browse with Brave? Opera? Chrome (ewwww) – this software is available for all those browsers. Doesn’t matter if you use Windows, Mac, even Linux. Android phone? Check. iPhone? Check.
Bitwarden is one such program. (there are others, but we’re looking at this one).
What if, using this FREE software, you could create just ONE safe complex password and only have to remember that one password. Because once you open your Bitwarden with that password, all your other passwords are safely waiting inside. And those passwords could be super safe and super long. (Maybe 30, 40, 60 characters long; a hideous mix of letters, numbers, capitalization, etc). You wouldn’t ever have to think of a new and safe password again, because the program automatically generates one for you.
Bitwarden does that. Interested? This takes a bit of time to set up, but once complete, you’re good to go. I took the leap. Take a little to get used to it. But it’s soooooo much better. Follow along:
Head over to Bitwarden's official website. You can poke around and learn about the product, the company, etc. But we’re here for the free software, so let’s continue….
Once on the Bitwarden homepage, click on the “Download” button in the top navigation bar. You’ll be taken to a page with various download options. Bitwarden is available on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Choose the platform that suits your needs and follow the instructions to download the app.
For instance, if you’re using Windows:
After installing Bitwarden, open the application. You’ll be prompted to create an account. Here’s how to do it:
A super super important note at this step that I’ll repeat a few times – make sure your MASTER PASSWORD is something you will remember easily. Part of the reason Bitwarden is so secure is that they do not know your password. They don’t have access and they can’t send you a link to reset it. You can change the password later, but you will need to know the current password. Your master password cannot be recovered if you forget it! So if you forget your MASTER PASSWORD, you’re screwed; you can’t get in, you can’t recover your password. Please make sure you choose a MASTER PASSWORD you will remember. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS STEP!
Bitwarden will send a verification email to the address you provided. Check your inbox and click on the verification link in the email. This step is crucial for securing your account.
With your account verified, log in to Bitwarden with your email and master password. You’ll now enter your vault, the secure place where all your passwords will be stored.
To add your first password:
As you add more items, you might want to organize them into folders. This makes it easier to find specific passwords later on. To create a folder:
Bitwarden offers browser extensions for Chrome (ewww), Firefox, Safari, Edge, and more. These extensions allow you to autofill passwords directly from your vault, making logging in to websites a breeze.
If you’ve been storing passwords in your browser or another password manager, you can import them into Bitwarden. Here’s how:
For an extra layer of security, enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on your Bitwarden account.
Make sure your passwords are available on all your devices. Install Bitwarden on your phone and log in with your account. Your vault will sync automatically, ensuring you have access to your passwords wherever you go.
Bitwarden offers many advanced features such as secure notes, password sharing, and encrypted file storage. While these, and other paid offerings, are not at all necessary, you can certainly see if you like what they offer. If Bitwarden is not your cup of tea, I could also recommend Proton Pass.
Congratulations! You’ve now set up Bitwarden, and can generate super long, secure passwords that are different for all your websites – and you only need to remember that one MASTER PASSWORD...
Make sure your MASTER PASSWORD is something you will remember easily. Part of the reason Bitwarden is so secure is that they do not know your password. They don’t have access and they can’t send you a link to reset it. You can change the password later, but you will need to know the current password. Your master password cannot be recovered if you forget it! So if you forget your MASTER PASSWORD, you’re screwed; you can’t get in, you can’t recover your password. Please make sure you choose a MASTER PASSWORD you will remember. PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS STEP!
I hope this has been of help!
Photo Used: unsplash.com
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When Google Domains sold out to Squarespace, I felt it was time to shift all my domains to another hosting company. I had no idea that such a decision would pull me into one of the most irritating experiences I’ve had in quite sometime. Here’s why Squarespace sucks:
Domain transfers should not be very complicated. It was such a piece of cake when Google Domains was in charge of it. They would just email you and literally just click a link and your domain transfer is done and confirmed. But under Squarespace? Forget it. They take five days (!) to complete a domain transfer, which would piss off anyone who values time. Yes, five days. That is nothing short of a lifetime in Internet years. It seems like Squarespace just throws up this obstacle to convince you to stay. For all its issues, at least Google kept it simple and efficient.
A word about customer support with Squarespace: if you ever need help from these guys, be patient. And wait. And wait some more. Their email and chat support team were terrible. The communication was poor, and it took days to get a reply from them. In domain transfers, you need a quick reply. However, going by some of their practices, it is apparent that Squarespace has no idea what they're doing.
Ever since I realized that Google Domains was for sale, I began migrating my domains away from it. My escape route? Cloudflare. No joke - it has been, for me at least, one of the most delightful experiences I have had (I mention them, and other tech recommendations here). Here’s why: Not only is the transfer process streamlined, it is secure and offers great domain options. There’s also the no-price markup. Continuing with Cloudflare is simple, as I know up-front the costs I will get hit with: no yearly surprises here.
Terrible for anyone who wants to be organize their domains efficiently, Squarespace has a remarkably inefficient domain transfer procedure and near non-existent support. If you're looking for a domain registrar option, Cloudflare is a great one. They have been professional, responsive, and a pleasure to deal with. It’s hip to be square, perhaps, but not to be Squarespace.
Photo Used: pexels.com
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AI is in the news. In daily conversations. In your social media feeds (if you do that still). AI is the digital magic wand that will make all your dreams come true: construct your code, paint your pictures and write your articles. Or, at least, in some cases it will write your articles. In other cases, it will simply steal them from people who already wrote them (do people still write things on the internet?)
In case you haven’t heard, the latest scandal involves the company Perplexity, which, in summary, was caught copying articles that were not theirs and not attributing the source of the articles. I won’t summarize, as the company is not worth the time. You can catch up on it here. https://www.fastcompany.com/91144894/perplexity-ai-ceo-aravind-srinivas-on-plagiarism-accusations
In summary, it is the digital equivalent of going to a store, shoplifting a product, changing the label, and selling it in your store. Amazing business model! Why didn’t anyone think of that before.
Being a bit older, I am reminded of famous musical acts such as Milli Vanilli (side note: tragic story. search for it on the internet. You might even find an original journalistic note, rather than regurgitated AI tripe). Or just click here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli
Why is Milli Vanilli famous? Mainly for supposedly singing when they weren’t.
Back in the day, claiming something was yours when it wasn’t was not well received.
Today, however, it is apparently a very successful business model.
I remember back in school if you turned in an assignment without attributing your sources, you received a 0.
Maybe that should remain the model to follow?
Photo Used: pixabay.com
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I spent 30 minutes Googling how to build homes in my sleep using the new GPT Hammer & Nails, and sold them with just a few clicks on Instagram. The internet is full of opportunities. Just a quick search on Google will show you there are hundreds of results for a ton of people with the same three “make money in your sleep” ideas that have already saturated the market.
tl;dr: If there are a ton of articles on how to do this, any real market is already saturated and you’re only going to compete for what little falls from the people who already set up those businesses.
Ok, for those of you who are curious and want to keep reading (didn’t stop above), I think many of us have considered it, especially in the post-pandemic economic inflation-ridden world that is 2023-2024:
“How can I set up a business quickly that makes, sells and ships products quickly and automatically, and I just receive the proceeds automatically in my bank account?”
Sounds great, right? Almost too good to be true. If that message arrived in your email inbox, and you clicked the link provided - I sure hope you have a good antivirus program.
But seriously, since AI, ChatGPT, etc. is all the rage right now, I did a quick search for how to make $XYZ/month automatically using ChatGPT. Because…why not, right?
It seems that everyone has written an article about this amazing miracle, which seems to involve buying stock designs, having ChatGPT spit out silly messages, and automating t-shirt/product creation. Then they just sell themselves, right?
I do ask myself, “Self, if everyone has economic issues at this point ….who the hell is buying this stuff?!?
Now, in theory, the articles describe an interesting process on how to make money. And, unless the authors just made it up (which is also possible), then it makes money for someone.
But, as is the case with anything “in”, once someone sees that XYZ is a success, then EVERYONE wants to do it.
And after everyone starts doing it, it is no longer “in”. Because, c’mon ….everyone’s doing it.
So we will eventually be flooded with 1,000,000 online stores selling mugs and t-shirts with silly messages provided by GTP Chat.
It’s cool, everyone is doing it, so go follow the crowd.
Still, I suppose that most people will still want to find that magical easy way to make money with little to no effort. I suppose that there are ways to take Chat GPT (which is just a tool, by the way) and apply it to a new idea. If you are going to go this route, at least take a route that no one else is going.
I, for one, have applied ChatGPT to our toolbox and it now builds houses automatically. I’ve written a Python script to post the houses on the internet, so they just basically sell themselves. :)
Photo Used: unsplash.com
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It’s 2024 - if you are still using a basic password like password1234 (shame on you) or using the same password for all your online accounts, you are just begging for a world of digital (and real-life) hurt.
It can be a bit intimidating for people to start using a password manager, but put simply: would you prefer to take a bit of time now to set up a small program you can use for free and anywhere, so your passwords are safe, or are you the type that prefers to call banks in a rush to cancel cards, send support emails to companies explaining you were hacked while waiting impatiently for a reply? If you are the first group - read on!
First you need to choose one. There are all sorts of free and paid options, but there are two options that are more than enough for your needs, and both are free:
The choice is yours - I had access to Bitwarden first so mainly use that. The design is a bit dated. Proton Pass, on the other hand, is much nicer to look at, but not as mature a product as Bitwarden. Anyways, choose one and install. Then, the next step is the most important:
A good password manager will require you set up a master password, to access the password manager. A good password manager will also NOT store your master password. As a result, should you lose or forget it, you will not be able to retrieve it or request the company send it to you. You also will not be able to generate a new one. So THIS password is one that will have to be a good one and also one that you can remember. (This is the step that will burn you later on if you don’t think about it for just a bit).
If you have passwords saved in your browser, many free password managers allow you to import them. This is a good idea and will save time. Go for it!
Let the password manager automatically store new passwords when you log in.
Use the Password Manager to manually generate new passwords and also check if your password is found in a data breach. Some password managers, like Bitwarden, will let you easily set a password length (40, 50, even 100 characters). These will be passwords that you are likely unable to ever memorize. However, it isn’t necessary - as long as you remember the master password you set up in step #2, you’ll have access to it. It also doesn’t matter what browser you use, as there is an extension that you can install and use on your computer, phone, etc.
Quick easy steps. In 2024 there is no excuse for using a poor password. You can take a small amount of time now to peacefully set up a password manager…. or a lot more (and stressful) time later on.
Good luck!
Photo used: pixabay.com
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Presenting yourself on the internet can be rather complicated. Especially when you add the factor of a multilanguage website. Domain name availability, the ability to pronounce / spell a name are all factors.
Recently I’ve put what I believe to be the final touches (for now, at least) on my personal website setup. Originally, I went with one domain name and a subdomain for English speakers. It looked something like this:
That’s all fine and well…. In an English-speaking setting. No one would have problems spelling “mike”, “Walsh” is tough to screw up, and despite “el” being from Spanish, most English speakers would get the idea.
Unfortunately, in a Spanish-speaking content, it’s not so easy. Here’s the pitfalls I experienced:
So, having to spell out m-i-k-e-w-a-l-s-h to share my domain name or email address sucks. Especially by phone.
Good test for choosing your name/email/whatever btw - if you can say it in a phone conversation and the other person can note it, you’re doing well.
Here’s how I got around it:
And for the other 1% electronic communication might be a whole different issue.
The original michaelwalsh.com domain? I put together a neat starry night landing/splash page with two photos of myself linked to the Spanish and English versions of my personal sites.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
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Quentin Tarantino recently remarked that he plans to make 10 movies, and that’s it. (note: in context, he did indicate that he would be fine doing something later on despite having done 10 movies, so it’s not a set-in-stone number). Mentioned wanting to go out at the top of his game. Similar to some, but not all, athletes. The same applies to everything; our “mere mortal” projects. Our jobs. Our ambitions. Our desire to make more, have more, obtain more, visit more, watch more, see more.
At what point is it enough?
Enough means the necessary to meet a need or desire. So once you reach that point, everything beyond that is extra. Unnecessary. Wasteful, even.
Is the glass half full or half empty? (Is that even the correct question?)
There is a strong minimalism trend in a number of circles. You can find excesses in minimalism as well, as many try to do away with everything except the bare spartan essentials of life. In the design world, minimalism appears to mean “Only use black and white please. Hopefully only text.”. But in some cases, enough means more than black and white.
There is an old adage to “take everything in moderation”. That is a fine way to avoid excesses, but then again, taking “everything in moderation” is in itself excessive. More than “enough” (so go crazy every once in a while).
It’s a good idea to stop every now and again to ask yourself, “What is enough?” If not, you may never know when you’ve arrived.
Photo used: unsplash.com
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According to the Gregorian calendar, another year (2023) is coming to a close. That time of year where many people across the world enter the yearly commercialist furor and shop, shop, shop, eat, eat, eat and drink, drink, drink.
Oh my goodness, I have a headache and am stressed just writing this. Pull the handbrake. Stop. Breathe. Relax. Step away from the stress machine and no. one. will. get. hurt.
Take the time to stop, relax, look around, and enjoy. Let it go. Keep it simple. Go watch A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Enjoy the holiday and live to tell about it.
Photo Used: Our Christmas tree. Simple. Handmade. Reusable.
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On Sunday, December 17, Chile will (again) go to the polls to vote on the new constitution proposal. In very very general political terms, while the first proposal a couple years back was seen as “leftist”, the new one has been prepared by a predominantly right-wing group. It is a simple vote: Do you approve of the new constitution? Yes or No. Simple question. How hard could it be?
It’s pretty easy to fuck it up, if you think about it (which, unfortunately, I have). So, here are 4 ways to fuck up a simple yes/no question:
Well, we will have to see how this turns out on the weekend. I’m sure there are many other ways to fuck up a simple yes/no question, but you need to start somewhere. And now you know.
Photo used: unsplash.com
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I remember a past time, a golden time, when this interconnected space called the internet was a different place. It was a place to show who you were, unashamedly. GeoCities and MySpace existed (don’t miss them), Google did not. It was a place to build spaces and pages with primary colors, and behold the hideous ugliness that resulted and say, “I. Made. That.” And it was created, for no other reason than to make something and maybe – just maybe – someone else would find it.
The internet has largely transformed itself into the digital equivalent of a mall, where everyone wants to sell you something, or get you to subscribe to the latest trend. All in all, it’s all the same as the next website, except “it’s our special take on it; subscribe to / buy our XYZ, not the other one”. Every website seems to have a pop-up window, and some try to block what you are looking for. Others are so full of advertisements and banners that you have to search to find what you were really looking for.
We got smart and installed ad-blockers. The websites, desperate for hits and money, punched back, sometimes forcing us to “disable” the ad blocker, as if what we were doing was….bad. (quick tip: love Safari – when the pop-up does not give you the option to close it, just hit the Reader Mode and it all goes away). :)
When we go home (or wherever we live) we close the windows, turn off the lights, and leave the world outside. We then connect to our social media to upload photos of every single waking moment of our life (stopping to actually live that life, in order to better document it). What we are wearing (or not). What we are doing. Where we are doing it. With whom. It’s kinda the equivalent of living in a glass house, taking off all your clothes, taking out a megaphone and announcing to the world that the party is at your place.
Ewwwww.
I guess no one will really stop for a moment to actually think about what (and why) we do what we do when we connect. We’re too busy turning off our brains to do what we always do.
So many people are worried that AI will soon be smarter than humans and we should stop developing that technology. I’d say that humans are in such a rush to stupidify themselves that IA won’t have to overtake us at all – we’ll just dumb ourselves down until AI passes us by naturally.
Photo used: pixabay.com
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In today's world, our virtual existence is like a fortress. Just like castles required fortifications for protection, so does your online presence. It may sound daunting, but don't worry, we've poked around the sage advice from the legendary Sun Tzu, master strategist, to help you strengthen your digital defenses without feeling like you're preparing for war.
First and foremost, let's look at the importance of knowing the playing field. As Sun Tzu famously said,
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
In the digital realm as understanding your various platforms, being aware of where your sensitive information is stored, and identifying any potential vulnerabilities in your online setup. Where have you set up accounts, what information have you provided, how strong is your password, who has access, etc.
Defense is not the only factor at play here - being a sly li’l devil is equally important (in a positive sense, of course…usually…). Sun Tzu valued deceit, and the same principle applies in this situation. Be on your guard against deceptive emails attempting to extract your confidential information or entice you to click on dubious links. Adaptability is also crucial. The digital sphere is constantly evolving, so your defenses must evolve as well. Stay ahead by updating security settings, choosing strong passwords (please refrain from 'password123'), installing and using a password manager (Bitwarden and Proton Pass are good), and implementing two-factor authentication for added security.
Don't forget, safeguarding your data is only one piece of the puzzle; safeguarding your identity is just as crucial. Your digital persona warrants just as much caution and protection as your physical self. By delving into Sun Tzu's strategies, you're equipping yourself with the skills of a ninja - swift, elusive to threats, and fortified against any breaches (and ninjas are super cool, of course).
Armed with timeless wisdom and modern savvy, you'll be able to maneuver through the online realm like a seasoned pro, fortifying your virtual fortress against cyber intruders. It's like becoming your own personal cybersecurity hero without needing a superhero cape, and you can return to wearing your underwear under your pants (cough, cough, Superman, cough).
Photo used: pixabay.com
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Just a quick post to share a few photos from a trip across the mountains to a couple of towns in Argentina. Fun times (and chocolate) were had by all. :)
San Martin de los Andes and Bariloche, Argentina.
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Privacy is a hot topic in 2023. A concern for some, a buzzword for others. Should I care? What can I do? Is it too late? Why bother?
I’d love to say this is your one-stop shop for all the answers, but who am I but one set of hands typing? (Disclaimer: In 2023, this website uses ancient technology – I am a human writing this article from scratch; no Artificial Intelligence added).
But some musings on privacy, for what they may be worth:
So what can be done about privacy (online, at least)? Well, this does not at all aim to be a comprehensive primer on protecting yourself online. Just a small list of ideas and possible solutions / services. I’m not affiliated with any of them, and I get nothing by you clicking any links here.
Most websites will also use Google Analytics to track you, because companies / sites are obsessed with seeing how much traffic they receive. This website, by the way, has no tracking or analytics installed. I don’t care. There is a method of contact indicated on this website; if you are interested in it, you will find it easily enough.
Well, those are the musings of the moment. Hope it is of some help to someone!
Photo used: unsplash.com
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This little list appears to be making the rounds – I found it here at Manuel Moreale’s website, and looks like he stumbled upon it from another site. Indeed it does look fun, so sharing my version here:
Photo used: pixabay.com
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Some reflexions on that magical liquid called whiskey
Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough. - Mark Twain
I like my whisky old and my women young. - Errol Flynn
Whisky is liquid sunshine. - George Bernard Shaw
Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake. - W. C. Fields
]]>My God, so much I like to drink Scotch that sometimes I think my name is Igor Stra-whiskey! - Igor Stravinsky
My special guest
An undeterminable number of days ago, I had a conversation with my wife. Out of nowhere, she asked me:
The filmmaker Emir Kusturica is working on a documentary about the life of the expresident of Uruguay called “The Last Hero” (El último héroe). But, why is the old ex-president of a country that is really, really tiny so….famous?
Unfortunately, for many people, Mujica is most famous for his controversial legalization of marijuana. But what really got my attention, more than the initiative, and even more than the reasons for enacting it, was the way in which he presented it:
This is an experiment. And just like any experiment, there are naturally risks involved and we have to have the intelligence to know that if this gets too big and becomes out-of-control, we can take a step back. We don’t have to become fanatical.” (Source: La Nación, translation mine)
When was the last time a politician, in any country, spoke so candidly and said quite openly that something was unsure, and it was important to try it out and not be afraid to make mistakes?
Can you say “never”?
One of the first linguistic “gifts” that the Trump administration gave us was the now-famous “alternative facts” costume with which we can now dress up our lies and parade them around as if it were Halloween.
In case you have been living under a rock somewhere, (as if Uruguay wasn’t “living under a rock somewhere”) an advisor to the now-President Trump, Kellyanne Conway, was defending the Press Secretary, who was accused of inaccuracies when explaining the attendance of the president’s inauguration, and made it clear that the Press Secretary was not lying, but rather, offering alternative facts.
Really, now….what is the alternative to a fact?
And what does Mujica have to say about facts and lies?
“I want to know the truth, but I don’t believe a damn in justice.” (Source: Emol.com, translation mine)
The simple life philosophy that the “world’s poorest president” embraces draws a stark contrast with the new, inflated, larger-than-life ego at the helm of the United States. Let’s take a look at the declarations of each one and then you, dear reader, can try to guess who said which:
“I might be mistaken, because I often am, but I call it as I see it. (Source: Publimetro, translation mine)
and
“Show me someone without an ego, and I’ll show you a loser…” (Source: Twitter)
Gosh, it certainly is a real head-scratcher, isn’t it?
While one old feller takes control of a nation with a crazy, frenetic energy, desperate to put his personal name and style in the history books, spearheading a new controversy every day, the other has finished his term. Despite his declarations of not wanting to run for reelection, he continues to serve his country as a Senator. He is content with what he has and not what he is lacks; he tends to his garden and trucks around his tiny nation in an old (1987) Volkswagen Beetle.
So, in this acrid environment, full of controversy, scandal and uncertainty, it is necessary, I think, to pause, take a step back and see things — life included — from a different angle.
The world is not a place always filled with flowers and optimism, but neither is it perpetually the inverse. And politicians, like all of us, are only human. We don’t — shouldn’t — depend on them to “save the world” because it is tasked to each of us to “save our world”, wherever it is and however small it may be.
Perhaps there is no better way to part ways than with this gem of a quote from the Last of the Mujicans:
“Despite it all, I believe that the human being that is able not only to improve the world, but also to improve himself. Perhaps I’m mistaken, but let me die with utopias” (Source: Emol, translation mine)
Now go out and make the world a better place, although only one drop, because life won’t do it alone.
Photo used: elmeme.me
Into everyone’s life a little shit must fall. Call it what you will: poop, caca, defecation, excrement, bad things….it’s all the same — shit.
It happens to everyone; no religion or politics can escape it’s soggy, magnetic pull.
So, without further ado…
Listen To This Article
This is not my real voice. Why not? Perfect explanation in this article by Manu.
Chilean’s are a particular bunch of people. They live in a country often mistaken for the word “Chili” (and, what’s worse, the geography just happens to resemble a chili….), are surrounded by ocean to the west, mountains to the east, and their country is only as wide as, say, the state of Illinois in the U.S., but over 4,000km long!
Yup, it’s that “skinny country” down there in South America.
And, one other small detail — the Earth under their feet moves. A lot.
It is natural, therefore, that Chileans have become accustomed to seismic events. However, the visitor to Chile may not be as experienced. Never fear, help is on the way!
A Chilean children’s book author, Mauricio Paredes, created the Seismic Manuel for Foreigners (in Spanish). It is a humorous (and quite correct) observation on how Chileans react to seismic events, according to their Richter Scale rating.
Translation provided by me. Original text can be found here, or by viewing the Spanish version of this post. And now….
→ In the case of the Earth moving, the first thing you must do is find a Chilean. They can be easily identified: they are the ones that put salt on their food before tasting it.
Richter Scale Rating / Chilean Reaction → Explanation.
Chileans have mutated and are incapable of feeling seismic movements as weak as these. We are something like the X-Men of earthquakes.
The Chilean knows that it is trembling, but won’t interrupt what they are doing for something so tiny. It also will not interrupt what they are not doing.
You will think it’s the end of the world, but nothing will happen. Don’t get the idea of leaving, because that’s much more dangerous. Just stay calm, watch the Chilean closely and wait. And please return to our country, or at least don’t bad-mouth us upon your return home, because we don’t have thaaaaaat many natural disasters.
It is now acceptable to talk about “earthquakes”. In other countries, this would be a cataclysmic event, but here the construction resists quite a lot (and the ones that don’t, well…they already fell in previous earthquakes). It’s OK, we understand if you don’t ever want to return to Chile. Get yourself a good psychologist for the post-traumatic stress (really).
Hold on tight, because if you don’t, you’re gonna fall to the floor. Do exactly the same as the Chilean. Try not to cry, and definitely don’t scream. It’s very likely that nothing will happen, but you could have a run of bad luck, and the very same building you are in decides to part in two (Shit happens). That’s life.
The shit hit the fan. Now it is indeed the end of the world for real, the Apocalypse. Try to pray and think of your loved ones, because it’s all coming to an end, and Chile won’t win the Copa America either (Translator’s Note: This “guide” was created specifically for foreigners visiting Chile during the Copa America 2015. Chile did, in fact, win the tournament….and would go on to win it again the following year). Try to take stock of your possessions, and be on the lookout for the famous “Chilean cleverness”.
Well, that’s all for now. Have fun, and when in Chile, do as the Chileans do (more or less).
Photo used: Ciencia Escolar, Recomendaciones en caso de Tsunami [ONEMI]
A nerdy tip to manage those untidy Excel documents.
There is no better way to spend an afternoon than by working hard, copying and pasting first and last names into different columns so that you can import your Excel list into a program like Mailchimp or Surveymonkey (or whatever) in order to send your emails, newsletters, surveys and the like.
If you really like copying and pasting your life away, I recommend you stop reading this and get back to work. But, if you prefer to free up hours of your life and look smart in the process…..read on!
I will detail a case that frequently occurs in my work. Your experience should be modified to fit your reality. I am often tasked with sending out a newsletter or survey. The list of recipients arrives in the form of an Excel document. If I am fortunate, the document is relatively tidy and there are no spelling errors (one can dream). But, in almost all cases, the information comes in two columns — one with the email addresses, and one with the first and last name(s).
The problem? Programs and sites like Mailchimp and Surveymonkey allow you great personalization of your emails, allowing you to target and use things like the recipient’s first name, last name, or other data, but only if it is in its own column.
So, how can we clean up our first/last name problem without cutting and pasting all day? With a couple of formulas.
I will use a few illustrations to demonstrate. First, we want to make sure that the first and last names are all in one nice and near column. Make sure that there are empty columns to the right of your First/Last Name column; it isn’t necessary, but it will make your life easier.
=LEFT(A1,FIND(" ",A1,1)-1)
(Note: formatting error with quotes above now fixed — copy and use!)
=LEFT(B1,FIND(" ",B1,1)-1)
(Note: formatting error with quotes above now fixed — copy and use!)
=RIGHT(B1,LEN(B1)-FIND(" ",B1,1))
(Note: formatting error with quotes above now fixed — copy and use!)
To fix this, we simply highlight the First/Last Name columns, and press CTRL + C ( or right-click and select Copy…). Then, we paste the copied columns into two different, empty columns, (it doesn’t matter which columns you paste into). However, we don’t want to paste using CTRL + V. Instead, right-click and you will see multiple paste options. Select the icon that has a 123 at the bottom. This is called Paste as Values. If you do this, you are separating the First/Last Names from the formulas, and can freely cut and paste them wherever you want in the future.
Well, that’s all here. Hope this makes your life easier. Hey, why not make my life easier and click that green heart icon at the bottom of this article, so that more people can enjoy it?
Guess what, my beloved article reader? Your internet speed probably sucks. Sorry to break it to you.
But, look on the bright side: you aren’t alone. In fact, you are part of a majority I will call the 2G Internet — Grandma and Grandpa Speed Internet.
All silliness aside, if your average global internet speed is more than 6.3Mbps, you are above the average. In a class all your own.
6.3Mbps, according to ISP Review, is the average global internet speed in 2016.
Let’s take a moment to look at where the best internet speeds in the world are. There are many different ways to measure and present this information, but I am presenting the findings of Webpage FX. In their article, Who Has the Fastest Internet Connection in the World?, they show the top 10 countries with fastest average internet speeds as being:
But how many people is that, really? Well, I took the time to collect some stats, do a bit of math, and I have the answer for you. The Worldometers website (a great source for demographic information) was so kind as to provide me with the 2016 population for the above countries. Adding the population of the 10 countries above gives the following: 242,299,253.
Worldometers also has a current World Population counter (scary to think about that amount of people!). And some simple division shows us that the above ten countries, with the fastest internet speeds in the world, account for…
…3.2% of the world’s population. Yup, that’s all. You can use different lists and alternate sources, but that percentage is not going to change much.
So, yeah….your internet probably sucks. But there isn’t too much you can do about that, emigration notwithstanding. Now, let’s think about what you use the internet for. How much do the websites/applications/programs you use and enjoy contribute to your slow, sucky internet?
Web designers, depending on where you live and/or work, you may likely take your internet speed for granted. Sure, there are times when everyone experiences some frustration over how *slow* the internet is, but, on the whole, we continue working without being too aware of it.
Which can be dangerous, because we forget that our website’s visitors may come from much different places than we do. The tale has been told many times before, by people much more capable than I am, but to summarize, dear website creator:
Who doesn’t like a fast internet? Faster videos, faster uploads, faster….everything! We are creatures of instant gratification. But, not everybody lives in South Korea, home of the fastest average internet speeds in the world (as well as being home of that hypnotizing dance phenomenon Gangnam Style). Truth is, millions upon millions of people live with…less than ideal internet speeds and bandwidth limits.
I like Aditya Herlambang’s story about moving back home to Indonesia after working in Silicon Valley. The challenge of website design and development for (and even more so in) developing countries is great. As Aditya states:
“In Silicon Valley if you had to optimize for 2x efficiency, here you’d have to optimize 10x more.”
Just because you are top, top, top in California doesn’t mean you would cut it in India.
A recently finished project by Tim Kadlac called The Web Worldwide, shows a lot of promise, despite not having a lot of publicity. As a designer/developer living in Chile, I definitely appreciate it. At the Web Worldwide, you can choose from an impressive list of countries and see basic demographic information for each, as well as a wealth of information about the internet in that country. The information available varies from country to country, but is divided into two basic categories — connectivity and affordability. Taking the example of Chile, you can find connectivity information for:
And under affordability, one can view:
Source: Chile, The Web Worldwide.
That is certainly a wealth of useful information to have when designing and developing for your audience!
I must confess that internet proliferation in Chile has increased rapidly in just the past couple of years. 2–3 years ago, I was developing and designing in a semi-rural part of the country with a maximum download speed of 1 Mbps, no WiFi (and subject to climatic conditions). I greatly value this time of personal work and growth, as it made me acutely sensitive to the need for fast-loading, lightweight applications and code.
I also am greatly enjoying my new average download speed of about 25Mbps. But I have not forgotten about the rest of the country (or the world).
The world has changed and fiber optic internet has arrived where I am. 800mbps up and down. But I still have not forgotten about the rest of the universe.
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Ever enter the wrong public bathroom by accident? Did your experience have anything to do with how the door was labeled?
The next time you find yourself in a public place and need to use the restroom, take a moment (if it’s not too urgent) and note the indications on the doors. Many locations use the words Men and Women, taking all the mystery out of your decision-making process. But some places like to be ….creative in labeling the bathroom doors. Sometimes the symbols are clear, while other times…not so much. In one location, images of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe were used on the door. I suppose that represents Men and Women Do Your Business Here, and not Dead Famous People Hide Out Here.
In one location, I actually saw a rooster and hen as the bathroom symbols. That sure assumes that the user can discern between the two, and has had some previous experience with them.
In fact, the UX Myths website talks about the usefulness of icons and notes that
“A user’s understanding of an icon is based on previous experience.”
So when we use symbols that are recognizable, we must be certain that we understand what they really represent. And, of course, we must be sure that they are universally recognizable.
Take the example of country flags in website language selectors:
You go to a website, and it is in a language you do not know. So, the first thing you want to do is discover how to change the language to something you know. So, you look around on the screen — probably in the top-right corner — and you spot it…. The “language switcher”. You are looking for the option to change the language to English, and there you see it, perhaps in a drop down menu — the word English. And, what is that little image to the left of the word English? Why, it’s a flag — a United States flag. “That’s great” you think, as you are navigating the website from your office in Canada. Where you live. Where you are from.
Good thing you recognize the U.S. flag, because that is the only country which speaks English in the world.
You visit the same website, but this time you are automatically directed to the English version of the website. Because the web developer, in their infinite wisdom and analysis of user statistics in your country (Canada) decided that their multi-lingual website should just save you the time and frustration of looking for the language you want. So it redirects you to English, since you live in Canada. However, you live in Quebec, and you speak French. And the stupid website keeps redirecting you to English.
Great user experience, right? You can have whatever you like, as long as you choose this one.
So, you have been to (or perhaps designed) a website in multiple languages, and have seen each language alongside the language name. (Or far worse, there is only a flag!) What did you think/feel?
Perhaps you felt identified, because your language happens to use the flag of the country you are from.
Maybe you felt a bit strange that your language shows a different flag (I speak that language, but I don’t fly that flag).
It is possible that you are offended by the use of a flag that not only does not represent you, but perhaps represents something opposed to what you are.
Let’s briefly consider each point now.
Congratulations! You are from England. You live in England. You have been a fan of Manchester City all your life. And now, you have the fortune to visit a website that uses the name of your language and your flag in the language switcher. That’s wonderful. But, how many other people don’t have that luck? Let’s imagine the case of England, as mentioned in James Offer’s Why flags do not represent languages. He states that,
“…the flag of England is the most appropriate flag to represent the English language. But how recognizable is the English flag?”
Completely true. So, after all the English language originated, to a certain degree, from ….England. But it needs to be more recognizable, right?
OK, what flag is more recognizable than the United States flag, right? Consider that, according to Offer, “while the USA has far more English speakers than Britain, English does not originate from the United States.”
Oh, and since you are from England, there is the possibility that you learned in your history class that the U.S. were “the colonies that got away.” Maybe you even feel bothered about it, and their silly “American” accents.
Good point? So, if you are from England, your flag isn’t a good idea because it isn’t so recognizable. And a U.S. flag isn’t so representative. But, it could be worse — let’s fly the Union Jack!
So, since the flags of England and the United States don’t serve very well to accompany the word English in our language selector, let’s try the Union Jack. There’s a big problem with that, however. Let’s imagine you are a former colony of England/Great Britain/whatever. You surely aren’t going to be pleased to see the flag of the “former masters” as representative of your current language, right?
In closing, as so many others have said before me: flags represent countries, not languages. So unless you are targeting countries, do not use their flags (No matter what the WPML plugin for WordPress suggests!).
That, my friend, is a really good question. The simplest answer, of course, would be to not use any country’s flag. Nobody is confused, nobody is offended, and — in the case of websites with many, many languages — there are fewer design concerns regarding how to display them all.
However, in looking into the issue of Flags vs. No Flags, I came across an interesting article that seemed to buck the trend of “Flags-For-Languages-Are-Evil” opinions. Andrey Mima, in the article, Using flag in language selector is still okay, acknowledges that flags really aren’t a good combination for languages in a selector. He continues by showing a screenshot of Twitter’s homepage, with the text completely displayed using Chinese characters. The argument is that
“How do you find the language selector in order to switch the language? You can’t. And flags don’t match languages, so there are no flags.”
OK, good point. If you can’t find the language switcher, you can’t switch the language. But, this only shows that a language switcher needs some sort of visual representation to draw attention to it. This doesn’t necessarily mean it should be a country’s flag. So, what other options are there?
The great minds behind international language standards and design (who are far more intelligent that I am) came up with a possible icon to use in such situations.
It’s a ….nice icon, but just doesn’t seem to get the job done for me. I see what it is trying to represent, but I think that the icon is just too detailed to be useful, especially at smaller sizes.
Let’s try something else: the famous globe icon:
I can think of two reasons immediately why this icon might not be such a good idea:
So the globe icon could be easily misunderstood and, like the flag icon, could also be offensive.
OK, so since I am so talented in explaining what doesn’t work, what do I suggest?
Since most website visitors are now accustomed to seeing a flag alongside the language name, why not keep the flag idea? But, instead of showing a specific country’s flag for each language, why not just show a generic flag icon?
It is non-specific, non-offensive, and already a familiar icon to use for languages? There are several possibilities; I am showing the Font Awesome version here simply because it is more recognizable.
What are your thoughts?
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2024 Note: This article was written almost 8 years ago. I recently wrote a follow-up article with a newer, streamlined process. WordPress 2024: Still My Favorite Static Site Generator!
Listen To This Article
This is not my real voice. Why not? Perfect explanation in this article by Manu.
Hello! We are going to install WordPress in an offline environment, develop our website, with all the designs, posts, pages and plugins that you like, and then “export it” as a static website using a WordPress plugin. We will then upload this static website to the internet (using FTP or whatever you like). Before you invest your valuable time reading, take note of the following:
…this article might not be for you. You’ve been warned, now on with the show!
There are probably people who would ask me, “Why would you use WordPress to generate static websites? Couldn’t you just use an already existing static site generator?” Others might declare me insane, wondering why I would take the time to install and configure WordPress just to spit out (and then upload) a static website.
Those are good, valid questions. If you don’t know WordPress well, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. But what if you are really comfortable with WordPress, but don’t have the time to learn another system, just to create a static website? Or what if you have a client who has a WordPress theme and simply wants the fastest website possible? Ok, now there are some more compelling reasons. Here’s another one: security. WordPress, as of November 2016, powers over 27% of all websites in the world. This makes it a huge target for all sorts of hackers and the like. So, my question to you is:
What if it were possible to have your (WordPress) cake and eat it too? What if you could create your website using WordPress, but then output it as a static website? Are you telling me it is possible to eliminate the security issues that come with databases, non-updated themes, software and plugins?
Yes. If you want to know how, read on.
There are multiple ways to pull off what we are going to do. What we are going to do is install WordPress in an offline environment, develop our website, with all the designs, posts, pages and plugins that you like, and then “export it” as a static website using a WordPress plugin. We will then upload this site to the internet. I am going to share my way with you. To get started, there are a few things you will need:
Once you have XAMPP set up, and WordPress installed, go ahead and work on your site. This process differs greatly, depending on the theme you have, and the design you want. This is not a story about designing a website. So… go ahead and do your web design/construction, and when you are at the point where you would normally migrate everything to a live WordPress installation, stop. Because we aren’t going to do that — we are going live as a static WordPress website.
Author’s Warning: You may need to configure your site offline a number of times to get it just right. I had some conflicts with caching plugins. I also had some difficulties with the Cloudflare CDN and the Rocket Loader option.
Now, with luck, you can upload it to your web server, point whatever domain (or subdomain) you like at it, and it should run as if it were a live WordPress installation (the folder structure remains the same, so if you look at the Source Code, you will see folders such as wp-content, wp-includes, and even themes. But with one key difference:
Your website is now a static website. Which means: no worries about updating themes, plugins or WordPress installations. No problems with hackers taking over your website (or worse) thanks to security backdoors (caused by WordPress related issues, at least). And, it will be (and feel) much faster!
I hope you had a good time following along — good luck with your website!
Photo Used: pixabay.com
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2024 Note: This article was written almost 8 years ago. I was surprised to see how much of this is still relevant today, despite the changes in technology.
As a web designer, I sometimes get so caught up in the strategies, processes and …tricks we use to make the web a better place, I forget that the average website visitor does not do what we instinctively do.
This became clear to me the other day when my wife was beside me while we were examining the websites of a few companies. Everything began well, but soon she began to ask me strange (for me, at least) questions such as, “Why are you shrinking the window size?” and “Why are you looking at the same website in 4 different browsers?”
I realized then that web designers just don’t “visit” websites — we “examine” them. And in realizing that the common, everyday web user does not look at a website the same as I do, it also came to me that website owners (and their designers, if they are not the same person) should also view their website differently than their visitors.
So, that being said, these are the first 3 things I will do to your website when I visit it for the first time. I will not (express) judgement. (verbally or in written form…where you can hear/see it…)
Being a responsive/adaptive screen size “junkie,” I just can’t resist. The first thing I will do to your website is change my browser size. I will stretch it to make a skinny vertical rectangle. I will then re-stretch it to make it a skinny horizontal rectangle. I will make it a square. I will start clicking on menu and sub-menu buttons within Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer (Edge) and other browsers you probably have never heard about before. Why? To demonstrate to you that I am an almighty web designer wielding technomagic, to be feared and respected? Nah. It’s because, as a web designer, I want to see what your mobile navigation structure looks like!
I want to know if your web developer was lazy and simply used a select field (the kind you see in a contact form) or if they took the time to code and design something. I want to see if it slides in from the left (like many sites do) or if it slides in from the right (maybe not a conscious thought from your designer, but perhaps they were thinking that about 90% of the world is right-handed, and that is where their thumb might be?). I begin to feel intrigued when I suddenly see the off-canvas navigation button at the bottom of the screen — was your designer thinking that my fat thumb might reach it more easily from there? Or perhaps they didn’t even bother to hide the navigation off-screen, because they did such a great job of organizing your website that there are only a few navigation elements and, as such, can be displayed in a sticky footer navigation? I am looking at all of this on my computer, because I want to see if I will bother to look at it later on a phone.
Q: When your web designer designed your website for you, did they put some good, hard thought into your website navigation? And when you wrote off on your website’s navigation, did you do so because it was what you wanted, or what your customers wanted? (or what you *think* your customers wanted?)
I imagine that all web designers are curious folk. We like what we do, and want to see how other designers do what they do. So, whenever I go to a new website, it’s inevitable that I right-click and select “View Source”. Since I am a nerdy designer-type, I want to see how you are loading your favicons, what is in the header of your website, how (and if) you are serving a “one-size-fits-all” image on your website, or if you are loading different versions based on different devices.
If your web code is clean and nicely organized, I can learn a lot very quickly. On the other hand, if your website code appears as one block, all smashed together, (or even on one line) I can deduce that your web designer at least took a few minutes to try to compress your website assets (assets being images, code, scripts, etc.) in an attempt to speed up your website. (good for your designer!)
I want to see if you have a “static” website (usually this means no dynamic parts, no CMS, such as WordPress, Drupal, etc) or if you are using a Content Management System such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc. I also note what version of the CMS you are currently using. And, if you are using a web solution such as WordPress, I can also likely see what theme you are using, and what plugin you are using. (it appears in the code, and don’t think I am the only one looking — anyone can see your website’s code, and if your CMS/plugins are out-of-date, people with bad intentions may come a-knockin’…)
Q: When your web designer created your website, were you informed of these details? Did he/she explain them to you clearly, so that you understood their importance? If somebody asked you if your website uses a CMS or is static, would you know how to respond? Would you understand why you should know?
While I am poking around at your website’s code and potential suitability for use on my mobile devices, I am forming a general idea of how fast/slowyour website feels. Note that how fast it feels is not necessarily the same as how fast it is. I don’t mind taking time to take a few sips of coffee while I wait; I do not, however, want to plant, harvest, roast, grind and serve coffee while I wait.
There are many factors that you (or at least your web designer) should consider, and not all of them are under your control. For example, all of the following are things that can be done to increase your website’s loading time — and overall “feel”:
One thing that you can not necessarily control (though you might anticipate) is how fast my internet might be. Assuming that you are targeting a certain audience with your website, you might be able to anticipate what types/speeds of internet are prevalent there. (for example: Is your target audience in a developing nation, where 4G internet might not exist? Is your typical site visitor likely to be living in a rural area, where internet connectivity might be slow/non-existent? Is your ideal visitor someone likely to view your website on a mobile device? And, if so, have you/your web designer thought about issues such as bandwidth/data usage, roaming and associated charges? Your internet connection isn’t the standard in the world — test your site’s loading time using a number of internet speeds.
Once I am sure that my mobile data plan will not evaporate while trying to load your website’s home page, and that I will not spend an eternity waiting for an image to load, I will check it out on my phone. Or my tablet. (if it isn’t currently being used….)
You can (as your web design should have done) check out how your website ranks on many factors, such as speed, compression, loading time, and more using a variety of websites. Two that I recommend for their ease of use (again, I receive nothing for my recommendations) are: GT Metrix and Pingdom.
Q: Have you considered that the time it takes to load your website on your computer and using your internet connection will likely not be the same as that of other people? Have you taken into account the extra data charges that your visitors might incur simply attempting to view your website? (and that the money they waste on additional mb is money they won’t be paying you, in the form of services, salary or purchased products)
Us web designers are a curious (and sometimes obsessive bunch) who often interact with your website in unexpected ways. I just wanted to let you in on our little obsessive-compulsive secrets, so you can perhaps reconsider the state of your current web project. (and perhaps contact your web designer…)
Until the next set of words!
Photo Used: negativespace.co
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