I recently graduated from Albertson College of Idaho and have moved back home to the great NorthWest. I currently working for Northwest Technology in Ferndale Washington as their web developer.
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I have been working on a few new concepts for maxbronsema.com but wanted to create a copy of what the site, mostly the blog, before implementing these new ideas. My blog has been around for a long time and I don’t like the idea of deleting a lot of my writing. One day my family may want to read it. In my daily work I have some experience creating site copies but I had not tried it with a blog. For the longest time as a web developer I have been ok with my work being ethereal, a site or project is built and then it is a living entity changing each and every day, occasionally being rebuilt entirely with no semblance of the prior work existing. I am not sure I am comfortable with that concept any longer as more and more of the web I grew up with and the parts I created are lost.
The primary goal was to create a copy in the WARC format. WARC is the Web Archive File format. For a long time it has been straightforward to create a WARC file but cumbersome to view. Using the command line utility wget creating a copy of a site is straightforward.
Once you have your site generated as a WARC you can store it in your favorite backup destination as well as someplace else just in case that copy gets destroyed. You can view it at anytime by using the amazing ReplayWeb.page service. It is part of the great Web Recorder project.
Go forth and create personal archives of your writing and work.
I recently moved into a new home after living for nearly six years in another. In those six years I got everything fixed and had a plan for what to do next. I hope to document the fixes in this new house and share the progress as I learn some new skills. This house is much older though has been lovingly maintained and updated over the decades.
I like small maintenance fixes like these. I haven’t glazed a window in a long time, probably with my Dad when I last did it. Time to start my own collection of glazier points.
The co-ax cable jumble will be solved using this nifty tool. The tone tester is going to be useful so that I can label which cord goes to which room. For an old house, it seems to have a co-ax cable in nearly every room.
The outlet box hopefully just needs a little caulking and the screws securing it to the wall moved a little bit.
Since starting this draft, some small fixes/upgrades have been made. A little sink stopper was dropped in place in the middle floor bathroom and a dud light bulb was replaced. Just small stuff but it is moving forward. I also mowed the front yard and raked the flower beds for the first time.
My family and I have been attending the Juan De Fuca Festival of the Arts (JFFA) in Port Angeles, WA for many years. Due to COVID-19 it was suspended for this year. We decided to fill our home with folk/Americana/Celtic music purchased at JFFA from artists over the years and share our favorites here.
While one of the best parts of JFFA is finding new favorites, we hope this list lets you find a new favorite yourself. Share your favorites in the comments.
We saw them live at JFFA last year and loved the mix of music and political commentary in the lyrics. Buy their album and they will invest 20% of the profits into women’s projects and businesses. Just remember to Ms Behave…
Laura has been touring for what seems like a long time. We have seen her perform a few times and each time is special. The folk songs she weaves are worth the listen.
Personally my favorite act I have ever discovered at JFFA. He has been back one more and we were thrilled when he stopped on tour through Bellingham. In each setting his music has been authentic and easy to connect to. It also makes you think. His new album is coming out soon, pre-order it now. Order One More Time Around as well to listen to my favorite song of his, https://scottcook.net/track/1813645/pass-it-along.
What a wonderful show and powerful music. Derina Harvey Band was a blast to listen to. The recordings are much like the live performance. They have a new single out, Northern Lights of Labrador. The song in the video is one we enjoyed live.
Technically, we saw Jim at the Oregon Country Fair several years ago, but it fits right into the JFFA vibe so I am going to pretend he would have been there this year. We listened to Seattle Songs this weekend. He has what seems to be an unrivaled catalog, check out the songs/albums and support Jim.
Another, non-JFFA music favorite, that should be at JFFA. I met Brook through my boss at the time and his original music is entertaining, makes one think, and is darn fun. Go buy some music.
So. Much. Fun. Polecat is always a blast with cool instrumentals and being on the front of the beat. They have a deal right now, four albums for $25. This is something great to do while social distancing, have a personal dance party with Polecat!
Fiddle. Celtic. Rock. If you have not heard of the PaperBoys, well, that is ok. Do yourself a favor and buy their album Calithump. We have seen them at JFFA, Bellingham, and even at a local arts place in Lynden, WA. A joy to listen too.
This was a great surprise. We were at a stage just getting some food and Dustbowl Revival started their set. We danced away the whole set. They also appear to be doing virtual music festivals over the summer. Tune in for great music.
Really fun music. Lots of instruments. I believe they have made it to JFFA more than once. I believe they are from the San Francisco area, they certainly have a more relaxed approach to folk music. They have a new album out that they describe as a Faustian spaghetti western rock opera. I can’t wait to hear it.
While I have not had a chance to listen to Lindsay’s new music, we were hooked when she showed up and played as Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellies. The album Ionia is fantastic. The song “The River Jordan,” is my second favorite from all of the music listed here only to Scott Cook’s “Pass it along.” I am excited to purchase and listen to her newer works.
KK-Louise’s front seats have been in need of some help for quite some time. I had some nice seat covers I purchased probably when I first came into possession of KK, some fifteen years ago helping me ignore the need. However, as my daily driver the seat I sat in really needed some attention as I could no longer get comfortable. I ordered a set of horsehair pads from Wolfsburg West and some new oatmeal seat covering as the originals lasted nearly fifty years. I have heard the injected mold pads might be a bit more comfortable but were hard to get the covers over. As I was at this project I figured I would try to add some heated seat elements to the back and bottom as well. I found a set on ebay that sound good and installed those as well.
This is my original driver seat with the back laying on a pair of sawhorses.
Since so much of the seat was gone it was easy to deconstruct. The hog rings that held the cover to the frame were few and far between and came apart with some pliers. The pads went into the garbage but I hung onto the original covers. I am thinking of making some sort of center console and covering it with these remnants. Something will need to hold the heated seat switches.
The frame was in good order. I thought something would be broken as it had been so uncomfortable the past several months but it was just that the pads were mostly gone. I put some seat felt over the bottom (also ordered from Wolfsburg West), the new pad, and then some more felt which I sprayed with adhesive to stick to the pad. I wrapped it with a few bungees to secure it and let it dry. While that was happening I cut the bottom seat heater to size and placed it making sure the wire would run under the seat and out towards the passenger seat as I plan to run the wires up the center of the floor.
The bottom pad with felt over it ready for the seat heater element. Seat heater pad in place.
The new seat cover itself went on pretty easily. There was a little tugging and pulling but I was able to secure it with some new hog rings and make it feel tight. I had set the seat out on the roof of the bus in the sun to soften up a bit while I was working on the pad. I was worried that the felt would get rolled up while putting the cover on but the glue did what it was supposed to do and kept it all in place.
The back of the seat was much the same as the bottom. The driver side seat has a back covering the frame, the passenger side does not. Getting the cover to go over the frame squarely was the most challenging task. Once I get to the passenger side, it doesn’t have a a cover on the back so I expect it to be easier.
The back pad, felt, and heater pad in place.Installed back in KK-Louise.
The seat reupholster project went really well. The seat in once again comfortable and warm. I will write-up the heated seat wiring soon. I look forward to completing the passenger seat as currently it pitches passengers forward making longer rides a bit uncomfortable.
HighEdWeb 2018 was fantastic. I had a markedly different experience than my first HighEdWebin 2017. The lineup of discussions this year were more forward thinking and highly relevant. The conference team did a great job putting together an exciting lineup and great activities.
This year the conference was on the west coast in the beautiful city of Sacramento in California. The pace of sessions, breaks, and time outside of the conference center was well balanced. I was fortunate enough to again be selected to speak to attendees. I presented this year on protecting and promoting your brand by leveraging design systems. I am grateful for the positive response and feedback shared by attendees.
Following are my personal notes from the sessions I attended.
flex is a straight line, row or column, if it looks like a grid, then flexwrap has been enabled
There is a flex cross axis which determines where content is lined up
flex: 0 0 auto makes things stay the size they are, no growing or shrinking
grid-gap: #px; This is cool, it lets the grid determine the spacing between each grid box automatically
To position items within the grid you can use grid-column and grid-row shorthand properties.
grid-column and -row also support span (e.g. grid-column 2 /span 2);
grid-row(1/-1); will make content span the entire height of the grid.
grid just continues to be awesome
grid template areas allow you to build out named grids to plop elements into which is great for easily seeing what is going on later. It also allows very rapid prototyping.
minmax value is versatile way to ensure responsive grids. You can do something like repeat:(auto-fill, minmax(200px, 1fr);
Internal communications was not a focus at the school, hence email overuse, paper flyers, and external websites. Tons of paper is not a sustainable practice.
Refocus external sites for external audiences, reduce email overload to students
Helps build an intentional community culture
Evaluated packaged intranet solutions, met with campus stakeholders
Make the case: articulate the benefits of building on top of a system you already understand, develop a design, build a prototype
Plan the project: scope out needs vs. wants, do a content audit, IA development.
Big effort to collect all of the external content that really should have been in the intranet
Overcoming the perceptions of the existing intranet
** Name it something that does not include intranet
The login greets by their name, shows date and time, and shows the weather in their location
The landing page sort of personalizes for the role you have
Identify power users (those that send lots of emails or make lots of posters), and train them on how to use the system. Also tried to align with new internal communication strategy.
Measured success in increased traffic and pageviews. It has reduced email use and refocused external sites to be for prospective students.
Search behavior has changed on external sites, they were able to retire and consolidate legacy sites, got rid of internal use forms from external sites
Have created a place where institutional knowledge can reside rather than only in people
Search has been a pitfall, users still search for external resources inside of the intranet and the other way around. Need an elegant way to show separate resources.
They have 3 people doing this, definitely a product owner exists whose main goal is to increase internal communication practices and nurture the intranet
Continue to review the data and use it to support adoption of moving content into the intranet
The unemployment and underemployment for disability is something like 70%, I want to look into that
Twitter and FB have pretty good support. For instagram, put in alt description in the caption unless the caption clarifies it. Example: [Image Description: …]
Facebook supports SRT file uploads
Instagram/Twitter – you need to burn the captions into the video
Add audio description for videos and broadcasts – social media currently does not support audio description
Avoid jargon and technical talk where possible
Be clear, concise, make it stick
Champion accessibility through the entire content creation process
Social media is now embedded into the website content, we need to be clear to make that link and keep our content accessible
There is a facebook accessibility team to follow on facebook and twitter accessibility twitter account
Involve people with disabilities.
Look for a guide on accessible snaps (SnapChat)
Use camel case in your hashtags
Buffer is a great accessible platform, it is part of their culture
Hootsuite has it on their roadmap and they believe are close to tieing in accessible posts
Build in accessible content creation time into the editorial calendar
