Vegard Skjefstad

Silhouette of a fisher man standing in his one-man boat.

September 14, 2019 / 1 Comment

From Running to Rowing

Back in 2016 we purchased a fairly high-quality treadmill. Having it in the basement was absolutely brilliant. I could go for a run no matter the weather outside, or in the evening even if I was home alone with the sleeping kids. Going outside for a run with the kids home alone sleeping would have been, shall we say, problematic.

So since 2016, I’d used the treadmill semi-regularly, and as of the end of July this year, the odometer had stopped at just shy of 1,500 kilometers (~932 miles). It’s not a terribly impressing distance, but it’s a whole lot further than I would have run without the treadmill.

Unfortunately, a treadmill isn’t very kind to your knees. Over the last half a year or so, I’d not used the treadmill as much as I should. Towards the end of each session, my left knee started to act up, and my motivation for using the treadmill went a bit downhill because of that.

Another issue with the treadmill was that the kind of exercise I got was limited. It’s cardio, legs, and perhaps some back training – I imagine that my posture has improved – but the rest of the body is just along for the ride.

So now I’ve sold the treadmill, and transitioned to a piece of exercise equipment I’m hoping will give me a better all-round workout.

Say hello to my new best friend, the new Abilica Premium TopRower!

September 11, 2019 / 0 Comments

What is a Password Manager?

What is a password manager, and how can it save you from hackers and password fatigue?

As we discussed in the post Why Should I Use a Password Manager?, the average internet user typically has a few online accounts. All these accounts require that you provide a pair of credentials – a username and a password – to log in. As we know, a long password is more secure than a short one, but who can possibly remember tons of different long passwords? No one.

Because of this, many people use the same, short and uncomplicated password on all their online accounts. The username is also usually the same everywhere – more often than not, it’s the e-mail address of the user.

There’s no doubt that this is very convenient. It’s one pair of credentials to rule them all. But what happens if one of the services you use gets hacked, and your credentials are leaked? Since you’re using the same username and password everywhere, the hacker can now log in to all the online services you use!

To prevent this from happening, you should use a password manager. But what is a password manager?

ZERO and the girl sitting on a roof top looking at New Mecca.

September 8, 2019 / 0 Comments

Katana ZERO Review

Come for the soundtrack, stay for the rage quits. Here is my Katana ZERO review.

Katana ZERO is a 2D action platformer, a genre that is way out of my gaming comfort zone. If my memory serves me right, the previous 2D platformer I played was Superfrog on the Amiga some time during the 1990s. I suspect that I tend to avoid the genre because if you mess up, your mistake has immediate and disastrous consequences. You usually die, and it’s game over, man! Or at least you have to restart from the previous checkpoint.

In simulation and strategy game games, which are my preferred genres, it’s often possible to mitigate failures. If your star fleet is destroyed, it’s probably not the end of the ~~world~~ universe. You can call in the reserves, or build a new star fleet. And if you somehow managed to mess up a delivery of carbonated black powder Bologna to Bordeaux, there’s always another job you can take.

So how did I come across Katana ZERO? Why, the soundtrack, of course!

September 3, 2019 / 0 Comments

Fairphone 3

The Fairphone is an ethical mobile phone that’s making a positive impact across the value chain in mining, design, manufacturing and life cycle.

I’d never heard of Fairphone until I accidentally stumbled across the company on the Fediverse. Initially, I thought they were a bunch of hippies with a grand plan on their merry way to certain failure. My experience with the likes of Navdy (bankrupt), SuperBook (vaporware), and the Jolla Tablet (cancelled) has made me a bit weary of new hardware projects.

But as it turns out, Fairphone is a well-established company that was funded back in 2013. And this isn’t their first phone, either. The company shipped just south of 200,000 units of their first two phones, and just recently revealed their third model, Fairphone 3.

The Fairphone 3 is made from recycled and fair materials, and has a modular and repairable design. But what does this actually mean?

September 1, 2019 / 0 Comments

September One-Liners

September is here. Summer is officially over, and we’re slowly moving toward darker times. But fear not, here are some sarcastic and funny one-liners to brighten your day. Want to see more? Then you should browse the complete collection of almost two thousand funny one-liners.

The only thing standing between you and your dreams is insomnia.
“The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident.” — Francesco Guicciardini
“Cure for an obsession: get another one.” — Mason Cooley
“Any kid will run any errand for you, if you ask at bedtime.” — Red Skelton
You’re in a serious relationship when both members are wearing sweatpants.
I knew there was little chance that the solution to my problems would be at the bottom of this whiskey bottle, but the important thing is that I tried.
“You can’t expect to hit the jackpot if you don’t put a few nickels in the machine.” — Flip Wilson
“There are times when one would like to hang the whole human race, and finish the farce.” — Mark Twain
Trouble shared is trouble halved.
Don’t regret the past, just learn from it.
“Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.” — Dalai Lama
“A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me. I’m afraid of widths.” — Steven Wright
“True friends stab you in the front.” — Oscar Wilde
“To be free is nothing, to become free is everything.” — Hegel
“Liberty is about our rights to question everything.” — Ai WeiWei
“The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.” — George Orwell
“To err is human, but to really screw things up requires a design committee of bureaucrats.” — Henry Spencer

www.vegard.net

From Running to Rowing

What is a Password Manager?

Katana ZERO Review

Fairphone 3

September One-Liners

Random quote

The IndieWeb Webring

Looking for something?