What I'm Doing Now

Last Updated: 28 June 2024

Still Keeping To Myself

I still keep to myself and live an anonymous private life. I'm happiest when I'm writing code, composing and recording electronic/rock music, and drinking iced mocha frappuccinos.

I keep to a close circle of trusted friends. I don't like social drama & intrusions. It's ok to email me though! I'm on Mastodon, but I prefer email.

Lighting Candles

It's a cold and rainy winter in Perth right now. I'm working from home more often. So I've started lighting candles in my workspace again. A close friend got me hooked on scented candles a decade ago, but when we drifted apart I stopped lighting them. I'm slowly finding my way back to creating winter candle ambiences again.

I'm usually a fan of Dusk candles. But recently my barber gave me a Salted Caramel candle to try when I kept commenting on the scent ambience in his hair salon. Turns out, the secret Salted Caramel candles are just $1 at Kmart. They also sell an excellent Caramel Waffle candle.

A scented Caramel Waffle candle glowing brightly in its jar covered with Hundreds And Thousands.

Dark Mode

As I work into the night by candlelight, I found my own website blindingly bright. So I finally designed a dark mode theme. It was easy to do, I just had to include the relevant color changes within a CSS media tag. It will follow the theme preference in the browser settings:

@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) { ... }

Switching From Windows To Linux & Haiku

I'm worried about the future of Windows and macOS. I don't want a machine full of ads, distractions and unreliable AI. I want to be focused and precise. So I'm looking for an escape hatch.

I now use elementaryOS, a version of Linux focused on design & usability.

The default Mac-like desktop appearance of elementaryOS 7 Horus.

I also use Haiku, an open source remake of BeOS. But BeOS and Haiku doesn't have as much useful software as Linux does.

I can do maybe 50% of my computer work from Linux now. But I still need Windows & macOS for much of my work and hobbies. Linux has improved a lot, but there needs to be much more software support before it's a practical choice.

All-In (ish) On Mastodon

I joined Mastodon a year ago, but now I have my own paid solo server, hosted by Masto.host: @kohan@mastodon.kohanikin.com

Having your own server is a huge improvement. You see only what is chosen by you. Not by the crowd or a volunteer moderator with different interests. You set the rules. By using FediBuzz Relays, I can import just the posts with topics (hashtags) I'm interested in. I still see interesting posts from people I don't follow, but without celebrity gossip or political activism.

(Well, until the political activists start spamming the hashtags you follow. There are some really horrible people on Mastodon after all.)

It's hard to recommend Mastodon to "regular people". I pay $130/year to run my solo Mastodon server. I prefer it to other social media, but it's hard to justify.

Listening

Reading

Watching

Things That Spark Joy

Things That Spark Sadness

Archived Now Highlights

October 2015   |   January 2016   |   March 2017   |   July 2020   |   June 2022

This page was inspired by Derek Sivers' Now page.

© Kohan Ikin.