{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "user_comment": "This feed allows you to read the posts from this site in any feed reader that supports the JSON Feed format. To add this feed to your reader, copy the following URL -- http://mashby.com/feed/json -- and add it your reader.", "home_page_url": "http://mashby.com", "feed_url": "http://mashby.com/feed/json", "title": "mashby", "description": "The personal blog of Michael Ashby", "items": [ { "id": "http://mashby.com/2023/01/my-matt-mullenweg-story/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2023/01/my-matt-mullenweg-story/", "title": "My Matt Mullenweg Story", "content_html": "
Yesterday was the 20-year anniversary of WordPress, so it felt like a good time to share this story about the time I gave free webhosting to Matt Mullenweg.
\nBack in the late 90\u2019s and early aughts, I was really into a little handheld computer called the PalmPilot. The Internet was different back then. There weren\u2019t as many channels of information, and one of the carry overs from the pre-Internet were User Groups. I had created a couple of Palm User Groups (PUGs) and since building web sites was mostly done by hand back then, I saw a way that I could help so I created the International Palm Users Group\u00a0(InterPUG).
\n\n
The goal of InterPUG was to help other Palm User Groups get started, provided hosting (if needed), and raise awareness for finding members and sponsors. Anyone that was creating a PUG and needed hosting, we would host them for free and help them get started. What we offered was SUPER rudimentary compared to today\u2019s standards. I\u2019d setup an FTP account and email account and then coordinators would create webpages by hand and upload them. If you didn\u2019t know how to write markup, I would recommend Teach Yourself Web Publishing With Html 3.2 in 14 Days. To give context, the book weighed over 5lbs!
\nAnyway, one day, I want to say 2000 something, a 16/17 year old named Matt reaches out to me. He is from the Houston area and says he wants to start up a PUG. I get his account created, give him his logins and everything and I distinctly remember him being very disappointed. It went something like this:
\n\nMatt: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing here. What am I supposed to do?\u201d
\nMe: \u201cWhat do you mean? Just create an HTML page and upload it.\u201d
\nMatt: \u201cThere\u2019s no templates,? Or anything?!?\u201d
\nMe: \u201cLOL. No, nothing like that. If you know where I\u2019d find something like that, let me know, but writing HTML isn\u2019t hard. There\u2019s this book\u2026\u201d
Matt was clearly frustrated that he had to write HTML by hand but he did eventually launch his site. We would chat now and again and I got to know him a little bit. He was into jazz and played the sax and I had graduated from LSU in trumpet, so we had some things in common beyond the PalmPilot.
\nHe eventually got over his disappointment in my free offering but he kept looking for something that would make manging his web site easier. I remember him asking me if I had heard of this thing called b2. I hadn\u2019t and I remember being confused by databases because again, this was all new stuff. Matt was clearly motivated and started a personal blog at http://photomatt.net using the software. I eventually figured out databases and started my own blog here with MovableType a year later in 2003.
\nOne of the last chats I remember having with him was about PHP.
\n\nMatt: \u201cI\u2019ve been learning PHP, know anything about it?\u201d
\nMe: \u201cI know of it but I don\u2019t know how to program in it or anything. Why?\u201d
\nMatt: \u201cI\u2019m thinking of doing something with b2. The developer isn\u2019t updating the software and I think I can do something with it.\u201d
\nMe: \u201cYeah, good luck with that.\u201d (eye roll)
I wasn\u2019t dismissive but I defintely didn\u2019t think there was much of a future in it. I wanted him to do well, of course, I just didn\u2019t think it would amount to anything. Imagine my surprise when WordPress launched a year or so later and just took off. I mean it was like a rocket and has managed the web sites for most of the web for over a decade. Not only that but Matt also created\u00a0Automattic, which is now valued at over 7 billion dollars.
\nI guess he found something with it.
\nIn 2009, I did a post here on WordPress that somehow caught Matt\u2019s eye and he left a very kind comment.
\n\nconsider WordPress a belated thank you – Matt Mullenweg
If you\u2019d like to learn more about the history of WordPress, I found an article from 2019 that provides a good summary.
\n", "date_published": "2023-01-26T21:14:29+00:00", "date_modified": "2023-01-26T21:24:27+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2023/01/everything-old-is-new-again/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2023/01/everything-old-is-new-again/", "title": "Everything Old Is New Again", "content_html": "\nWent down a little rabbit hole over the past couple of weeks and thought I’d share.
\n\n\n\nI’ve been sitting back watching Twitter slowly fall apart as a spectator and rather enjoying it becasue it didn’t affect me directly. All the outrage seemed to be focused on those that used the default client app or web site. Not me. As soon as there were 3rd party clients available back-in-the-day (has it been 16 YEARS?!?), I’ve used them. First with Twitterrific and then I migrated to Tweetbot, which I’ve been using since around 2011. I’ve never had ads, promoted Tweets or timeline shenanigans, so I was immune to all the fuss. That all changed last week.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCraig Hockenberry summed it up best in his blog post Shit Show but suffice to say, Space Karen, shut me out. Maybe it’ll come back, maybe it won’t, but I had already begun looking at other services beccause I figured at some point the wheels might come off the wagon and Twitter might become the next MySpace.
\n\n\n\nI have an accounts on Mastadon and Post but neither have a dedicated 3rd party apps just yet so I use it infrequently. Ivory looks promising and I’ll probably buy it as soon as it comes out.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn the process of exploring other social media platforms it had me thinking back to my old Palm OS User Council days and thankfully I wasn’t alone. Many of my old Palm buddies are on Mastadon and it feels a little like we go the band back together. Awash in nostalgia, I went back even further in search of the old #palmchat IRC channel.
\n\n\n\nBefore Discord and Slack, I used to chat with friends via IRC and #palmchat was the channel that I hung out in the most. Back-in-the-day it was a veritible who’s who of Palm Enthusiasts who generated content about PalmOS. No such thing as influencers, YouTube, Instagram, etc., back then but I suppose there’s a similarity, just no real compensation component. I did a dive to try and find some reference to it and I found an old article from The Gadgeteer but that was about it.
\n\n\n\nAfter the iPhone came out the PalmOS community just evaporated and everyone moved on to other things, as people do. Not intenionally, but over time I drifted away from #palmchat. I would reformat my machine and forget to connect to IRC, something else would grab my attention and I’d forget. Every few years though, I’d have a sudden reminder that I hadn’t checked in and I’d look up the connection info and pop back in.
\n\n\n\nDawned on me that it’d been at least 5-years since I checked in but I was lucky enough to find my way. #palmchat is now invite only #palmchat2 (don’t know why) and mostly on Discord now but a lot of the same people are there and it’s been fantastic to reconnect. Not as many as in 2002, of course, but far from empty.
\n\n\n\nHere’s a photo of my desktop from 2002 to give some context to my “former life”.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAll of this looking back, Wayback Machine deep dives and reconnections, naturally led me back to here. I’ve been focused on work and building my business and not really feeling like I had much to say. Maybe that will change now, maybe it won’t. Time will tell.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes”, Mark Twain
\n
Seems I’m not alone either. I looked up the developer of an application I used to use, BlogGTK!, and he’s back to blogging too.
\n\n\n\nI started this blog in 2003 on MovableType and then moved to WordPress in 2009. 20 years ago I had a lot to say, even though I didnt’ know that much. Over time, I’ve learned just how little I know and just how nuanced life can be. I don’t know how much I’ll actually blog but going down this rabbit hole has been a lot of fun.
\n\n\n\nThis article was composed and published from Byword using Markdown on an M1 Macbook Air.
\n", "date_published": "2023-01-22T20:48:54+00:00", "date_modified": "2023-01-24T16:43:26+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2018/01/recaptcha-installed/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2018/01/recaptcha-installed/", "title": "reCAPTCHA Installed", "content_html": "Like many WordPress users, I\u2019ve been plagued with SPAM comments. I\u2019ve tried disabling comments and a few other things but logging into my blog to find over 100 comments that are clearly SPAM is disheartening to say the least.
\nSo today I setup Google\u2019s reCAPTCHA service using the plugin Google Captcha (reCAPTCHA) by BestWebSoft because I don\u2019t have the time to implement it by hand. I used reCAPTCHA back in the day when this blog was using MovableType but Google has taken over the project and it’s much more elegant.
\n\n
The other option was to enable Askimet, which is made by Automattic but I\u2019m trying to limit my budget right now. I’ve used Akimet before, when it was free for a personal blog, but they moved to a “Pay What You Want” model and, even though they do allow you to pay nothing, I feel guilty not paying for it. It’s totally worth it and it’s a great service.
\nMy hope is that reCAPTCHA provides me some relief and if you run into any issues trying to comment, please let me know.
\n", "date_published": "2018-01-08T19:13:39+00:00", "date_modified": "2018-01-08T19:14:18+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2018/01/making-progress/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2018/01/making-progress/", "title": "Making Progress", "content_html": "It\u2019s been about a month since Gracie passed and things are getting a little better. Our friends and family have been very supportive in helping either by checking in on us, or not when we\u2019re slow to respond. Personally, I\u2019ve found it very difficult to return phone calls for some reason.
\nOverall, we\u2019ve gotten through the worst of the grief and gratitude is starting to return. We\u2019re grateful that she\u2019s not suffering, even though it means she can\u2019t be with us, and we\u2019re grateful that she wasn\u2019t in any pain.
\n\n
Now our \u201cI wish\u2026\u201d comments are about things long ago, when she was younger, like when she was in Pacific Grove. We\u2019re recalling good memories, which makes us smile and laugh, so it\u2019s more about the good times and less about her last few days with us.
\nAfter few other notes:
\nI accidentally deleted my WordPress database and had to get tech support to restore it. It happened shortly after my previous post. Nothing like making a really stupid mistake right after posting a gut wrenching entry and then sharing it on Twitter. I had to laugh at just how bone-headed that mistake was.
\nMost days are better than the one before but usually one day a week is a real stinker. Sometimes I feel guilty for moving on, or feeling excited about something, but I know that this is all part of the process. Our missing her will never truly go away but we\u2019re getting there. We\u2019re making progress.
\nImage Credit: \u201cProgress Bar 5K Wallpaper\u201d courtesy of RV770 on Deviant Art
\n", "date_published": "2018-01-06T22:59:49+00:00", "date_modified": "2018-01-06T23:00:17+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2017/12/say-goodnight-gracie/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2017/12/say-goodnight-gracie/", "title": "Say Goodnight Gracie", "content_html": "On Friday, December 8th at 10:30am, our dog Gracie passed away from congestive heart failure. She was one-in-a-million and blessed our lives for over 14 and-a-half years. We couldn’t have asked for a better dog and we were sorry to see her go but it was her time and, thankfully, she went peacefully.
\nShe was born with a heart murmur and we knew that, in time, it would probably present a major issue as she grew older. Although she had overcome a tumor on her stomach over 3-years ago, we learned early this summer that her murmur had become a major issue. Thanks to the overwhelming support and stellar care provided by Dr. Courtney Merrow, DVM at PedMed and the staff at Blue Pearl we did everything we could to prolong her life as long as possible. Unfortunately, her body stopped responding to the diuretics, as we were told they would, and the fluid build-up became too much. With no more remaining options, we put her to sleep.
\n\n
Gracie found us on July 15, 2003, to be exact, and to say that she was member of our family would be an understatement. She went with us everywhere — to the office, on vacations, running errands, you name it. Everywhere she went, she seemed to have friends and fans.
\nAt the office, people would stop by my door to come say hello and give her a pet. “She is just the best office dog”, said Dan on more occasions than I can count. Across the street, at Greko Street Food, several staff members would come to the outdoor area where we’d sit and eat our lunch just to see her. She was the star and I was proud to be in her entourage.
\nOr her chauffeur. She absolutely LOVED taking trips in the car and after I bought my MINI Cooper Clubman, she insisted on standing in my lap with her face out the window. Regardless of the weather, she was always ready for window time. Some weekends, we would go for a drive just so she could enjoy the trip.
\nIf we were out somewhere, the most common question we’d get is, “What kind of dog is that?” Our best guess is that she was a cockapoo — a mix of cocker spaniel and poodle — but that is just a guess because we never really knew.
\nAfter her passing, my Mom, Holly and I recounted all the wonderful ways that she touched our lives and all the many things that she did. Our tears quickly turned to laugher recounting all the many adventures that she had. Here’s a short list:
\nI named her Gracie because “it was by the grace of God that she found me” and I am so, so very glad that she did. She was a blessing and enriched my life more than I can measure. For as long as I have left here on Earth, I will strive to be half the man she thought I was. Gracie was the child I’ll never have and although I did everything I could to spoil her rotten, it just wouldn’t take — she was always a sweetheart.
\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2017-12-23T00:42:06+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-12-24T16:55:41+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2017/11/the-one-that-got-away/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2017/11/the-one-that-got-away/", "title": "The One That Got Away", "content_html": "\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Back in 2014, Waterfield made a messenger bag called the “Rough Rider“. It was expensive, around $350, so I put off buying it. I figured I’d save a little a purchase one later. That time never came and Waterfield stopped making them and the “Maverick” took it’s place.
\nThe Maverick is a nice bag but I prefer the stylings and design of the Rough Rider so every now-and-again, I find myself searching eBay to see if I can find one that someone is looking to sell. I never do.
\nThe last bag I bought was made by Fossil called the “Troop East/West Messenger”. It’s canvas bag and it has served me well for the past 8-years but I do wish it had a bit more structure to it. Looking at it sitting by my desk right now, I realize I am quite fond of it and how well it’s held up.
\nThat being said, I do lament that I didn’t jump when I had the chance.
\n", "date_published": "2017-11-30T06:12:44+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-12-01T00:12:43+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2017/11/umm-what-he-said/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2017/11/umm-what-he-said/", "title": "Umm… What He Said", "content_html": "I\u2019ve been a fan of the AppleTV since it debuted and I\u2019m currently on my 3rd one. It\u2019s a great device and one of the reasons we \u201ccut the cord\u201d \u2013 99% of what we watch is done through it. That being said, it\u2019s not a perfect device and there is plenty of room for improvement.
\nThankfully, M.G. Siegler put into words what I could not. In his latest post How Apple Should Fix Apple TV, he echos my thoughts exactly. It\u2019s a spot-on critique and I hope one that Apple listens to.
\n", "date_published": "2017-11-15T17:24:00+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-11-15T17:24:00+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2017/11/speaking-of-rss/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2017/11/speaking-of-rss/", "title": "Speaking Of RSS", "content_html": "One of the blogs that I follow, MacSparky.com, had a post today about RSS entitled The Case For RSS. Of course it’s not a direct answer to my post, Does Anyone Use RSS Anymore, but it does answer the question nicely.
\nIn his article, David Sparks says that he’s still a big fan of RSS and uses it to this day and finds a distinct difference between news feeds and Twitter.
\n\n\n\nIf a few days go by, I can open RSS and go through my carefully curated list of websites and get caught back up with the world.
\n
In follow up to his article, David reposted a tweet from David Brownman regarding an alternative to RSS & Atom.
\n\n\n\n So I agree about the usefulness of the feed subscription structure, just not the format. XML is a pain, it would be great to see more sites adopt json feed: https://t.co/lfxxv0V87S. Same concept, built on a simple web standard\n
\n\u2014 David Brownman (@xavdid)
\n
\nI have read a few articles on the subject and a lot of people really like it, so I went to the jsonfeed.org and found that they had a WordPress plugin and decided to install it and add it to the top menu under “Feeds”.
If you prefer json feeds over RSS, and you want to subscribe to my blog, then you can use the following link — http://mashby.com/feed/json — to subscribe.
\n", "date_published": "2017-11-10T22:28:46+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-11-10T22:28:46+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2017/10/my-imac-is-now-obsolete/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2017/10/my-imac-is-now-obsolete/", "title": "My iMac Is Now Obsolete", "content_html": "Just a few weeks ago I wrote about how my 27″ iMac was still going strong and running the latest build of macOS. I’m still impressed by how long this computer has held up and continues to perform. Well, I learned today that Apple has declared it to be obsolete.
\nAll this means is that Apple won’t offer repairs and replacement parts, which really isn’t that big of a deal since I would go to a 3rd party repair place or do the repair myself. Once the Apple care warranty expires, going direct to Apple is my last resort.
\n\n
There was one item from the article that tickled me though. If I lived in California, then my iMac would be considered “Vintage”.
\n\n\nFor legal reasons, the situation is different in Turkey and California, where the computers are instead labeled \u2018vintage\u2019 and will continue to be supported for a further two years.
\n
Featured Image: “Retro and Vintage Apple” courtesy of Crazy-Frankenstein.com
\n", "date_published": "2017-10-31T15:01:55+00:00", "date_modified": "2017-10-31T15:02:42+00:00", "author": { "name": "Michael Ashby" } }, { "id": "http://mashby.com/2017/10/does-anyone-use-rss-anymore/", "url": "http://mashby.com/2017/10/does-anyone-use-rss-anymore/", "title": "Does Anyone Use RSS Anymore?", "content_html": "Back-in-the-day, RSS or News Feeds were all the rage. I, for one, have been using them since the early 2000’s and it’s my daily source of news via Fever. It’s the app I I switched to it back in 20131 when Google killed it Reeder service.
\nWith the #1 feed reader dead, it seems like most people switched to Twitter and Facebook to fill the gap. Although I use Twitter, I still use Fever to track those sites that are most important to me, which now that I look, is 151 sites. I do a purge every now and then but I tend to hover at about that number.
\nWhen I’m not at my desk, I use Reeder 3.0 on my iPhone. It’s a solid app but I would say 90% of my news reading comes from Fever on the desktop.
\nI wonder, how many people still use News Aggregation? If you still use it, please let me know in the comments below.
\nShawn Inman cancelled sales and support of both Fever and Mint (another app I use) back in 2016 but both are still going strong and I have no plans of stopping usage of either application. ↩
\n