Latest in Spotlight
Two Pages That Show Me How I Blog
Two blogs I came across recently have a page that shows their posts as a calendar. One I already follow, the other I found a few days ago while poking around the small web.
Purpose Doesn't Come First
This post is my entry for the August 2026 IndieWeb Carnival, hosted by Chris at Uncountable Thoughts. This month's topic: purpose. · 9 min read
Why You Should Blog
There's a great piece over at shellsharks. com called You Should Blog that got me thinking. He's got a solid list of reasons in there too, worth reading on its own. · 6 min read
AuguStory - How I started a Blog
I am already in the middle of Blaugust this month, and then Robert Birming started something called AuguStory. Why not do both, I figured. · 7 min read
Titles, and What I Didn't Think About
Bloggers, can we make better titles for our posts? by Michael Harley On where I provide my unsolicited opinion about how you write posts on your blog. · 3 min read
What I Wish Micro.blog Bookshelves Could Do
I saw a post today from Robert Birming about a "currently reading" widget he built for Bear Blog. Just HTML and CSS, no plugin, no API. · 2 min read
Blaugust, Just for Fun
I found a post by Juha-Matti Santala about Blaugust and couldn't stop thinking about it. He writes to work through ideas in his head. · 2 min read
Simplifying the Home Page (Again)
I redid the home page again. I know, I know — I do this a lot. But this time it's actually simpler, not more complicated. · 2 min read
A Big Refresh for Toby Geeks Out!
My last big update to the blog was back in April. Since then I've been quietly adding small things here and there, nothing major. · 5 min read
There's No Right Way to Blog, Just Mine
I read a post from Dan Q this week called You Don't Have to Blog Like Me, and I agree with every bit of it, 100 percent. · 2 min read
No, AI Image Slop Is Not Ok
I found a post by Gordon McLean called "When Is AI Image Slop Ok?" and I want to answer it straight: no. Slop's not ok. · 5 min read
It Was Always Bigger Than That
250 years later, here's what actually got lost. I love this country. I don't love a flag, and I think a lot of people mix those two things up without realizing it. · 9 min read
Maybe It's Just Me, But Blogging Shouldn't Have This
John Gruber over at Daring Fireball recently gave a name to something we've all been quietly furious about for years: the dickover. · 4 min read
Today, Recent, Fading: The Inkwell Idea I Couldn't Leave Alone
So my RSS tab in Perch runs on Inkwell, Micro. blog’s RSS reader, using my micro. blog token. · 2 min read
The ADA Turns 36. The Work Isn't Done
Thirty-six years ago today, a civil rights law went into effect that said — in plain terms — disabled people belong everywhere. In jobs. In schools. · 8 min read
Twenty-Two Years and Eight Platforms Late
Twenty-two years of blogging. Eight Nine platforms. More hiatuses than I care to count. · 1 min read
Two New Pages, One Productive Day
Back in February I installed the Newsletters plugin for Micro. blog — @manton’s own — and then completely forgot about it. · 1 min read
The Android Feature That Leaves "Close All Tabs" Guides in the Dust
There are guides out there covering how to close all your tabs at once — like this one. Solid tips, all of them. · 2 min read
Why I built Perch...
I've been writing blog posts on and off for over 20 years. I survived the Blogger era, bounced around platforms, and eventually landed on Micro. · 9 min read
My Browser Stack
Three browsers on Mac. One on Android. Each has a specific job and I like it that way. · 3 min read
The Planet Is Still Worth Showing Up For
There's a patch of wild grass behind my tiny house I've never mowed. Something always shows up there — a beetle, a moth, a spider doing its thing. · 5 min read
A Few Weeks in the Geek Cave: What I've Been Building
The past few weeks have been less about writing posts and more about building the thing that holds them. · 6 min read
The "Deaf Gain" That Conquered Space: The Gallaudet 11 🚀
This past week, the world watched four astronauts climb into a capsule called Integrity and fly to the Moon and back for the first time in over fifty years. · 4 min read
Awareness Isn't Enough Anymore
Tal Anderson said it plainly. It’s past time we listened. April is Autism Awareness Month. · 3 min read
Where Did the Word "Geek" Actually Come From?
I’ve been a geek my whole life. I just didn’t always have the word for it. It started early. · 3 min read
My Accidental AI Writing Stack
I didn’t plan to build an AI writing stack. I just kept getting curious. That’s usually how it starts with me. · 3 min read
Can a Robot Love You Back?
I’ve spent a few posts lately talking about how robots make me uneasy. Automation eating jobs. AI making decisions nobody asked it to make. · 5 min read
My Hands Are My Voice: The Problem with AI Search in Google Maps
Google is doing a huge overhaul to Maps. It’s not just a map anymore; it’s becoming a personal assistant that uses AI to “see” and “think.” · 2 min read
A Detour Through Butcher Hollow
Yesterday started with a routine trip to Paintsville, KY, for an eye doctor appointment. · 3 min read
Is 8GB Still "Enough" in 2026?
I’ve been rocking an M1 M2 Mac mini with 8GB of RAM for a long time now. For the simple stuff—emails, a few tabs, the occasional video—it’s been an absolute champ. · 3 min read
Apocalyptic Warning Against AI
I just read an article. AI has changed since then, and now it’s not something out there on the horizon. It’s here. · 1 min read
Are We Ready for a Conscious AI?
Just read the article. Interesting and, indeed, alarming! Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently said the company is "no longer sure whether Claude is conscious." · 1 min read
I Was Never Weird — I Was Just Well-Programmed
Ever wonder why you're a picky — or should I say, finicky — eater? I've been asking myself that for years. Turns out, it might literally start before birth. · 1 min read
Robots Freak Me Out (And Other Things I Was Wrong About)
I actually got the LEGO Plum Blossom set this past Christmas, but I finally pulled the trigger on the build two weeks ago. · 5 min read
My Quiet Hobby Is Making a Comeback
So here's something I haven't done in way too long: adult coloring. I was really into it for a while back in DC. · 2 min read
The Robots Are Driving Now. And It's Getting Real
Okay, I have to talk about Waymo. I keep seeing these headlines and every time I do, it gets more real. Because "someday" just became Tuesday. · 5 min read
The Internet Is Filling Up With Slop. Does Anyone Actually Care?
Look at this image below. Really look at it. · 8 min read
Things That Stopped Me Mid-Scroll
You know those moments when you're scrolling through your reading list and something makes you stop mid-sip of coffee? I had a few of those this week. · 5 min read
The Self-Care Trap: Why Your Screen Time Might Be Sabotaging Your Rest
Here's something that's been sitting uncomfortably in my brain lately: I don't really experience what I'd call "screen stress," but I've definitely found myself in those loops where I've been on screens for hours and hours, and I look up and feel... · 7 min read
Sunday Afternoon CSS Tinkering
So I spent my Sunday doing what normal people probably don’t do—obsessing over blog spacing. You know how it is. · 2 min read
Wrestling with Micro.blog
I’ve been in a full-on wrestling match with my Micro. blog theme lately. · 2 min read
My M1 M2 Mac Mini (8GB RAM, 256GB) is noticeably lagging after 5 years—just juggling multiple browsers, apps like Canva, emails (Outlook/Shortwave), & Microsoft 365. Keep reading