Toby's Log

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In Mac OS Sonoma, browsers now require and the OS will ask for the “Local Network” permission to access local websites. I didn’t know why it was asking and didn’t allow it, but then couldn’t access my sites. I had to go to “System Settings”, the “Privacy & Security” pane, select “Local Network” and turn on for my browser(s) to get access again.

If it matters, my local dev setup uses domains set in /etc/hosts pointing to IPs of VMs run by VirtualBox, managed by Vagrant, set up like web.vm.network 'private_network', ip: '192.168.56.1'.

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I will be voting for Kamala Harris on Tuesday. I felt a positivity when she took Biden’s place. There are a lot of reasons I think it would be bad for the country if Donald Trump is elected again, but January 6th ought to be enough by itself.

It’s somewhat odd that this particular election is on Guy Fawkes Day this year, with the day’s connection to V for Vendetta and the authoritarian government it depicted.

If you are a US citizen, please vote your beliefs on or before Tuesday. It’s important.

Mac: create app launch keyboard shortcuts

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I wanted to create some global keyboard shortcuts for launching apps on MacOS. I used to do this with Quicksilver, but I’ve stopped using that and now just use Spotlight for most of what I used that for. Spotlight, of course, doesn’t have all the features of Quicksilver, including keyboard shortcuts for arbitrary actions. The “Keyboards Shortcuts” pane in System Settings can do a lot, but not specify a specific app to launch. Searching around the web, I found that Automator could be used to add services to it. So a flow to do this for an app would be like:

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Arborvitaes

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This past weekend, I planted the last of four arborvitaes that I bought back in spring. I wanted something for a bit of privacy in my backyard, and read that arborvitaes are native-ish, easy to care for, and great for privacy. I saw them 50% off at Petiti’s one day while looking for other stuff, so I went ahead and picked up four that were maybe 4 some feet tall for $200.

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Our life is a giant puzzle, with a great many pieces that must be fit together to make it “right”. Each individual task, project, area of our life that we work on is its own puzzle, composed of many pieces that must be fit together while also fitting into the larger puzzle that is our life. Likewise, our life is part of a much, much larger puzzle that is the world, the universe, everything, and as we work on our life puzzle, we must look at that larger puzzle and ensure ours fits into it.

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Last Thursday, I got about 4.5 inches of rain at my house (Akron). A good ground soaking. I got a bit of wet carpet in my basement, but no damage. I hear there was bad flooding in the valley.

Hasn’t rained since, so I’ve still had to water my garden, but not as much.