Latest Stuff…
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Magic the Gathering Arena Achievements
Magic is funny. Here I am in the beginning of 2026 and I am absolutely getting crushed in Ranked Standard (Airbender set). I decide to step back and just try to get some achievements, a recent feature in the game. And I see one for putting 12 Artifacts or Enchantments on the battlefield. I grab
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Toxic Grassculinity
Wife asked me: Why do you put the houseplants outside each week? I said… Because I want them to grow absolutely enormous. I have Toxic Grassculinity.
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Generating and AI Image with Chat GPT
I’m late to the game on using AI, probably because it worries me. A lot. Not AI itself, but how bad actors may use it. Such as propaganda or hacking, and of course, people losing their jobs. I don’t have an optimistic view of the future around it, unfortunately. But anyways… I have been seeing
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Host Your Own Copy of Wikipedia
Today I learned how to download and run your own copy of Wikipedia in it’s entirety. There’s a lot of information out there but for my ADHD brain this was the first video I found that was the simple and fast to get started. After watching it though, all I really needed to know was
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Upping My Blogger Game
I came across a Hacker News post regarding the year’s most popular bloggers. And the first one really struck me. It’s Simon Willison and his approach to running a link blog. I’ve been blogging off and on (mostly off) since blogging was a thing. I usually lose interest and end up deleting my effort. But
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How to Play MTG Arena on Mac and Without Epic Games
Today I learned I could play Magic the Gathering’s Arena on my Mac Air. And it runs amazingly well, better than my PC laptop. It loads faster and plays smoother. The other thing I also learned was that you can skip the Epic Games downloader which requires an Epic Games account and is the default
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First Practice on Vacation
Family took a vacation this week to the dunes and I brought my practice pad and a single drumstick. Aka, my minimalist drum practice kit. I’ve crossed 40 hours and approaching 300k single strokes. My left hand is starting to feel strong. i can now go like 500 strokes without needing to rest. Today I
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Milestone: 65 BPM Left Hand Strokes
Today I practice my left hand finger strokes at 65 BPM. My first bump in tempo since I started using a metronome to track it. It’s on the edge of my ability. And I do have to take breaks from fatigue. I only did about 20 minutes today, mainly because I want to also work
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Sabian Quiet Tone Classic
When I search online for good practice pads, it’s interesting to me how many there are. And there are lots of videos that go through dozens and dozens of pads. But most are just a variation of the rubber mat or the cheapie 8 inch plastic one. It took me a long time to find
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Starting to Use a Metronome in Daily Practice
Today I am starting to use a metronome. I’ve seen enough YouTube videos now where they say you really should be doing *everything* to a quantized beat. Especially beginners. So today marks the date. I start today. I did an hour of left hand quarter note strokes at 60 bpm. I think that’s about as