One of the last posts I wrote was vastly different from what I usually write about. It was effectively a cry for help. Reading it again, I realized just how out of control my life had become. Since I wrote that post, my life continued to spiral out of control. I bought a few more domains, with the most expensive one being $19,400.
Although Searx comes with it's own built in statistics, it doesn't natively allow for adding analytics. This is largely by design considering the privacy aspect of the project. However, I was curious to see if my instance gets any traffic that isn't from me.
In the last few months, I've decided that I no longer have a use for quite an extensive homelab. I'll outline the reasons below, but this has prompted me to give considerable thought to replacing my current setup little-by-little.
I've decided that my HP Z620 Workstation will be deprecated in favor of Intel NUC (NUC10i7FNH1). I haven't decided what to do with the Z620, but it's still a workhorse and can either be repurposed or sold.
The title of this post comes from the old saying...
Red sky at night, sailors' delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.
It's a mnemonic that's been used for over 2,000 years to predict good/bad weather conditions based on a particularly red sunrise/sunset. A red sky in the morning indicates a low pressure front is coming in and can often bring rain and/or rough weather.
While this post has nothing to do with sailing or weather, the title has meaning within the context of the article.
This should serve as a reminder that even the most basic things can be interpreted differently by different people. Always be clear with requirements and don't assume anyone knows what you're talking about.
I read an incredibly well written blog post this evening by Moxie Marlinspike titled "Career Advice". It provided just that, but also some real insight into what you should strive for before you settle into a career. It's been awhile since I've read something that really resonated with me.
Ever since I can remember, I've always had an interest in tech. This interest has evolved over the years and has taken me pretty far, all things considering. I remember being around 15 years old and building my first computer in my parents basement. It was the first time of many that I would be doing such a thing. Nowadays, building a computer isn't nearly as straightforward, but that's not really the point of this article.
The reason I bring this up is because I've gotten to a point where my systems are so disorganized distributed that it's become hard to keep track of what's where.
I wrote an article last year about how the chase is better than the catch. I still consider this to be true, although I reference it not to rehash the points written in that article. Rather, I'm referencing it because in the context of domains, it can easily become an expensive lesson.
Analytics has been something that I've had mixed feelings about for as long as I've been aware of them. I understand the obvious benefits that come from having them in place. I also understand the privacy implications that come from having them in place. For me personally, I generally block as much analytics and telemetry as I can.
However, because I see the appeal in having them, I wanted to setup my own to understand them a bit better. I figured that if I setup my own on my own personal sites, it would give me a better idea of how they work. The sites I run are all visited by me, except my portfolio, which is public (not sure how much traffic that one is currently getting, but I'll find out now).
If I spend enough time on this post, it will go sideways quick, so I'll keep it brief(ish).
Good employees quit for a lot of reasons, and in most cases, it has nothing to do with salary. They want to be appreciated, recognized, given the opportunity to grow, work on something exciting, etc. There are so many more things that good employees strive for, but what they don't strive for is becoming stagnant.