The Bored Horse

App defaults, early 2026 Hello 2026, and hello Bored Horse readers.

App defaults, late 2024 It's that time of year again, so here are my app defaults as of late last year.

Work mode does change things Work's back in full force, which has been interesting from a digital balance point of view.

Only three calls, really?!

What is digital balance anyway?

The Punkt Digital Balance Challenge 2024 I've written a lot about our reliance on tech, and the way social media apps are designed to be as addictive as possible.

Sleep tracking cycle I’ve been tracking my sleep, on and off, for the last fifteen years.

Minimizing I've been looking at all my personal stuff to try to minimize a bit.

A change of pace This is going to be a short one.

Opt-out is always wrong Selling user-generated content is the hottest thing in tech right now.

AI is killing the blog (and then some) I love the internet.

My Name is Ronald by the Way Most of my published writing has been of the technical sort, such as the Smashing WordPress books, but I’ve had several short stories and flash fiction (that’s really short stories) published, too.

The allure of nostalgia I bought a gaming rig late last year, to play Starfield properly.

The headset lockout I've been reading the Apple Vision Pro reviews with interest and trepidation.

The Glitch welcome to my blog code jam Glitch is a fun platform for building stuff.

Trying out Micro.blog I’ve been meaning to try out Micro.blog for, well, years.

Text files are forever (possibly) I've written about the benefits of plain text plenty of times, so when I stumbled onto Steph Ango's essay File over app, it was a bit of preaching for the choir.

Online handles Jim Nielsen, who has a nice blog, wrote about the origin of his online handles.

Linkage overspill, January 2024 As mentioned in #61, I've got a bunch of links that didn't fit.

Was it a good year?

It ended up being Hey (I’m as surprised as you are) I have a weird relationship with the Basecamp guys, aka 37signals.

2024 is the Year of the Blog I know, it might be wishful thinking, but there’s no doubt that we’re seeing a resurgence for blogging.

Cancelling the Economist was a horrible experience I’ve been searching for more traditional (well...) news outlets the past couple of months, and have ended up with a bunch of subscriptions.

I bought a MacBook Air at the worst possible time, and it’s great The 13” MacBook Air hasn’t been updated in 528 days, in July 2022, and it has a big fat red don’t buy in the Macrumors excellent Buyer’s Guide.

The ease of things When I had a commute to the office years ago, I often found myself reading on my iPhone.

Back using Matter again I’ve been giving Raindrop.io a go, and I’m afraid it didn’t stick.

The quest for the ultimate setup I, like so many others, is always tinkering with my setup.

Substack alternatives With Substack sinking even deeper into the right-wing fascist pits (see #58), I think it’s time to look for alternatives.

Giving Raindrop.io a go If you’ve been following my adventures looking for the perfect read-it-later app on Switch to iPad, you know I’ve touched on Raindrop.io before.

An unscheduled break I've been ill just about all week.

Clutter I’ve been thinking a lot about clutter lately.

Considering today season 1 wrapping soon Considering today, my side-project that sends you one thing to think about, or perhaps do, every weekday, wraps its first season soon.

It took a week to downgrade Proton Just a quick update to let you know that today, finally, I was able to downgrade my Proton account.

I wish I could take over WP Tavern A lifetime ago, I was the editor of blogging news outlets the Blog Herald and Devlounge, among others.

I tried an analog calendar A while back I needed to keep track of, well, things.

Downgrading Proton shouldn't be this hard Update: It took a week to downgrade Proton.

Notifications need a reboot I’ve had it with notifications.

Apple Music radio I listen to a lot of music.

App defaults, late 2023 Here’s a new thing doing the rounds in the blogosphere I so yearn to rejoin: App defaults.

Daring to age The new Rolling Stones album, Hackney Diamonds, got me thinking, perhaps not the way they intended.

Home spaces I’m not disciplined enough to be able to create anywhere.

I barely use my phone anymore Whenever I see someone using a large phone, I get that twinge.

Back using Dropbox I’ve relied on iCloud for my file-syncing needs the past few years.

I deleted X (Twitter) I must admit, it feels weird.

A bunch of links I’m afraid I’ve had a week, I’m not quite well, and I haven’t gotten enough sleep.

50 thoughts on 50 issues of the Bored Horse This issue marks the fiftieth I’ve sent under the Bored Horse flag!

On sleep I've been tracking my sleep since Jawbone UP was the techy hotness on your wrist.

If everyone creates, who consumes?

Creator is a broken word If you've been hanging out on Twitter/X the past few years, there's an influx of the word "creator".

Writing on glass I'm an avid iPad user, and have been for a long time.