I stumbled upon this post by Jose Gilgardo called “own your work“. In a nutshell it argues that, sooner or later, a platform owned by someone else will kick the bucket. GeoCities and MySpace is a good example.

The solution seems simple: own the data, own the entry point. And it is simple.

Own the data

Own the data is easy. Make sure you always have a copy at your place. That is, do not just write your work directly in Medium, Facebook, Blogger or whatever. Keep a copy at your local device. Preferably in a format that open and easy to upload somewhere else.

Own the entry point

Get a domain, point it at your data. If you need to move your data, update your domain accordingly. This way your data will always be associated with your domain name, and not the current provider that hosts your data.

Cost of ownership (and why it isn’t that high)

The cost associated with this is slightly higher than the alternative. But that is the price of owning, rather than giving it away for free. Actually, in most cases you are actually paying for giving away your data. You just don’t know it.

Writing a post on Facebook is free. You don’t pay for it directly. But you pay for it in terms of viewing ads and giving away personal data, which Facebook and their parent company Meta in turn sells to the highest bidder.

I host my own domain on my own server at my own house. Ergo, I own my own content. It may not be good, but it is mine. And if I move, I have the data, I have the entry point (given I continue to pay for the domain name.)

The part about “my own server at my own house” is the “or worse” part in the title. If there is a power failure or a disk failure or the internet connection for some reason goes down, my content is unavailable. I still own it, but you won’t see it.

Actually, this happened this week. For some reason my router stopped working. It took a few reboots for it to work again. And this was only two weeks after I enabled IPv6. So my blog was not only IPv6 in-accessible, it was IPv4 in-accessible as well. And as I feared, I got a new IPv6 block once my router started working again.

In other words: Norway has entered summer time, also known as UTC+2. And while time itself had nothing to do with it, everyone else acts as if it has. I myself will wait till tomorrow and turn the clock one hour ahead during a meeting. Maybe I’ll do it twice. Once before lunch and once again after.

I’ll correct any mistakes when I get home after work.

Actually, I suspect I will keep on making new mistakes, but hopefully not the same ones. Because I don’t have time for that (pun intended, you may slow clap.)

Unrelated. I think it’s time to get rid of Windows 11. Again, this is unrelated to the UTC+2 changes, but it certainly didn’t help either. I’ve been looking at openSUSE, which seems to be enjoying growth as of late. I have come so far as to download the installation, but not far enough to have put it onto a bootable USB drive. Also, I have misplaced the USB drive altogether. But I know where it is, and once I get it back it is “go time.”

Many, many years ago. A bit more. No, not that far. Anyway, somewhere back in time, I used to have Linux as my main operating system. And as time goes, I feel more and more that I should move back. The only thing keeping me back these days are Adobe Lightroom, and possibly Steam. But I don’t play my games, so it seems like a silly excuse. Then again, you haven’t heard my other excuses, so this one may actually be one of the more reasonable ones.

Well. Times up. I have books to read. Hooray!

Anxiety is the part of me that never gives up. Sometimes it leaves me for a while, but it always comes back to give me a hug when I need it the most. Ignoring the fact that I need it from another human being.

When I want to run and hide. Anxiety runs with me. Not to hide, but to remind me how pointless it is.

When I want to be alone. Anxiety tells me I am not good enough. Not worthy of love. Not even from myself.

When I want quietness. Anxiety plays the drums and shout at the top of its lungs. Always to a tune I cannot stand.

When I want to sleep. Anxiety asks me—with a grin on its face—about the mistakes I have made in my life.

Anxiety is a part of me, and it will never give me up for someone else. Someone better.

This past week I’ve had what I would call a ‘hybrid vacation.’ Working in the morning and kayaking after lunch (if the weather permitted, which it did.)

Not only that. I’ve also picked up my dSLR camera, charged the batteries and started toying with light and shadows again. Still missing live models, but I’ll have a lot of inanimate objects around me. Like this piece of paper, telling yet another story of my activities: Practicing my handwriting.

This is the first attempt copying some guy on the internet. I’m still making tweaks to find my own style. I also have to produce three extra letters from the Norwegian alphabet. You would think a guy like me, working with computers all day, would prefer keyboard. But no. More and more I am drawn to the pen and paper. Away from the screen.

Talking about being away from the screen: Here are three images I took on a recent walk around sunset.

That’s it. My attempt at making blogging personal again. Oof, that doesn’t sound too good. That orange joke from USA has ruined “make … again” expression completely.