faves

I feel like I bring more effort to trying to get into stuff for the first time when I’ve gotten assurances from someone whose opinions I repsect that it’s worth it. “I like this stuff, mabe you will too.”

This is the stuff I say that about.

Artists

Paul Rickards - Paul collects and uses vintage pen plotter devices to use with modern computers and code like Python to create new works of art. I’ve got a bunch of Rickards stuff up at home.
Leagh Gardner - Leagh started oil painting in 2020 and by 2021 was a working artist. I’ve got an original pigeon at home.

Authors

I have been trying to post what I read to my BookWyrm for a few years but I’m a completionist and will pre-order when it comes to these authors (why link to Auster, Dick, Le Guin, King, Vonnegut, etc who I also enjoy?) so they get a special link section.

Patreon posters

Video stream and VOD posters

Apps and services

1Password — password manager.
AllTrails – I use this a few times a year but pay because I never know when I’ll want to get to a trailhead and have a map of it.
Amethyst – Mac tiling window manager. I use full screen and split screeen only.
AmpliTube – With headphones, the ultimate practice rig.
Anylist – Our family plans groceries and menus in Anylist. I’m super bummed there’s no export as I’ve got a hundred recipes or so, but it works well so whatever.
bandcamp – “at the show”, “wherever the artists says to buy it”, “bandcamp”, in that order.
bandsintown – get notified when artists you like are playing in your town. This is what I used to use last.fm for before that got crappy and I deleted it for reasons I forget. It’s ok. the mac app is buggy as hell but the service works ok when I remember to keep adding artists to it.
CityStrides – I’m trying to walk every street in SF so I pay CityStrides to import my Strava, who I also pay but don’t list here, to keep track. I would skip the Strava step if I could.
CyberChef - computer stuff.
Fastmail - I finally stopped hosting my own mail and switched to fastmail in 2013 and have never looked back.
FitBod - one hour a day, “bodybuilding” profile, do whatever it says, it’s great.
Guitar Pro - guitar sheet music and tablature! invest in tools to learn, stop using bad ascii tabs.
Home Assistant - “I’ll never use home automation nonsense” disproven immediately.
inoreader - Google Reader -> Feedly -> inoreader.
iReal - Jazz charts. Like a bottomless fakebook.
Ivory - Twittter client now a Mastodon client.
Marked 2 - Weird that OS X doesn’t natively render markdown, but whatever.
Patreon - Where I tend to fund the people in other lists on here.
Pocket Casts - The free version gets me by.
Signal Messenger -
Strava - Annoying growth mode nonsense but there isn’t much else like it.
Sublime Text - Vintage mode.
Transit - How I catch Muni.
Wipr - Safari add blocker on Mac and iOS.

Podcasts

Magazines

Clarkesworld - I pay for the paper delivery and try to finish it before the next months.
Dwell - I pay for the paper delivery (and don’t read it) so that I can use their website for inspo.

Music streams

Algo-playlists have always disappointed me and the companies that make them seem like yet more layers of grift on top of artists so I’ve never used them myself and prefer human tune selection or purely random shuffle of deep catalogs. Lots of these groups also have desktop and mobile apps. When they don’t I use TuneIn (derogatory).

BAGeL Radio - GenX rock pop as likely to play Led Zeppelin as Weezer as Alvvays DJ’d by a real person who has great taste. Used to be a based in SF and a SomaFM station, moved to NYC, went independent.
Jazz Groove - Most mornings.
KCSM - “The Bay Area’s Jazz Station to the World”
KMHD - Jazz Radio, Portland
Le Mellotron - When I don’t know what to listen to, I put on Mellotron. It is my default bicycling-in-SF music, making dinner music, chilling on the patio music, etc.
NTS - I usually proceed directly to “Expansions”, but the two live streams are often also good.
Radio Nova - Classics, New, Night, Reggae, Soul: all good.
Radio Paradise - The Rock Mix is generally OK. They favor some bands that are third-rails to me but probably your favorite^[1]? No hard feelings. What makes this tolerable: you can skip to the next song. Go figure.
SomaFM - PopTron, Indie Pop Rocks!, Heavyweight Reggae, and Left Coast 70s are in my rotation.
WFMU - “Independent freeform radio broadcasting at 91.1 and 91.9 fm in New Jersey and New York City, and at 90.1 and 91.9 fm in the Hudson Valley, with gobs of online offerings.”
WTUL - “WTUL is a progressive/alternative FM radio outlet in New Orleans, Louisiana, operating at 91.5 MHz with an ERP of 1.5 kW and established in 1959. The station, operated primarily by students of Tulane University, offers a mix of cutting-edge progressive, electronica, classical, New Age, straight ahead jazz, folk, blues Latin, world reggae, show tunes, kid’s show and an eclectic mix of a variety of genres.”
WorldwideFM - “Worldwide FM is an award-winning community and platform where marginalised voices, alternative perspectives and shared progressive values are brought to the forefront through music and culture. Whether our programming comes from Palestine or New Orleans, we try where we can to give voice to progressive artists and cultural figures who fight inequality in all its forms.”

Posters

Or Bloggers, and Magazines, and stuff like that?

My webring

A bunch of people I shoot the shit with from time to time, that I internet-know, and some real pals I like, actually go get dinner with also have old sites like this one. Good for us.

In no particular order: U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Doors, the fuckin’ Eagles, the Rolling Stones. Oasis. ↩︎