Ordinary Mode

Misadventure and reconstruction

hello@ordinarymode.com — Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

There was an outage lasting a couple of days. Service should now be restored. The root cause is misadventure. However, it is more accurately described in the literature as an own goal, arising from the reckless deletion of the files that make-up this blog and an inadequate approach to backups.

Site Admin

This site has migrated away from Cloudflare. While Cloudflare was overkill for this site, the push to incorporate and support more AI along with the recent announcement to sack over 1,000 workers to ‘invest’ in AI was the driving factor.

Domain hosting is now with Porkbun. The service is intuitive, accessible and works. All that is needed from a domain register. I’ve used Porkbun for a variety of domains for over a decade.

The DNS and CDN is now provided by Bunny. While a CDN is probably overkill for this site, I like the fact that it reduces load on the server.

This migration went well.

Misadventures in optimisation

So far, so good. The next phase was to optimise the site post migration. Involving poking around the server, running update scripts, and cleaning up errant files. I use the app Secure ShellFish as it integrates into the operating system. I can edit and upload files directly from the Finder.

However, the migration resulted in a sync bug and duplicate folders. I like to keep the directories tidy. So I deleted some of the duplicates. Deletion on the remote sever is the real deal. There is no undo. The files were the site.

Reconstruction

Where is the backup?

Having a backup is essential to disaster recovery. Having a backup that is an exact copy of your data at the time of incident is invaluable. Reinstall, upload, build – you’re good to go.

Various sources

My development approach not systematic. There was no ideal backup. This involved recreating the site from various sources including downloading content from cached browser tabs and the dev files.

There was enough raw material to spend the past couple of days rebuilding the site. Getting the feed to work has been a challenge.¹

It is great to be back up and running. The rebuild was the refresher into how this site is assembled and the various components across the stack.

One takeaway is the need to develop a more robust workflow. This may include having to learn Git to allow for a CI/CD pipeline. I want to stay away from GitHub because their wanton approach to copyright and protection of customer data in their repositories. A limiting factor is that this locks development to the laptop.²

If you’re reading this via RSS thanks! Let me know if there are any issues. ↩︎
While most creation is done on the Laptop, the edits that happen after publishing invariably happen on the phone. ↩︎

Getting Hugo to generate full text RSS

hello@ordinarymode.com — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I like using RSS as it is a very convenient way to access updates from the many blogs I follow.¹

Yesterday, I wrote mentioned recent updates to the design of this site. Upon testing I noticed that the RSS feed was truncated. Readers were getting a summary, and if they want to read more they would have to visit the website.

I like reading my feeds, in full, in the application of my choice. I am sure others do, or at least like the option, to read how and where they want.

Fixing Hugo’s RSS feed

Issues such of this provide an opportunity to peer into the backend of this blog. It is an interesting problem to solve. My search on the issue led me to this article presenting the solution to the issue in 2024.

I updated the relevant line in layouts/default/rss.xml replacing .Summary with .Content.

 <description>{{ .Content | transform.XMLEscape | safeHTML }}</description>

I rebuilt the site not the server. The change didn’t occur. A little more investigation didn’t reveal anything else. I checked the code on the server, it matched that on my device.²

Updates and a reboot to the rescue

Stumped at the problem. I turned to the only other thing to try before abandoning the exercise, package updates and a reboot. As sys admin tasks are still a novel occurrence, it took a little while to retrieve from memory the correct sequence of steps:³

$ sudo pkg update
$ sudo pkg upgrade
$ sudo reboot

My testing now shows this appears to work. Readers should be receiving full RSS feeds to their service of choice.

I use NetNewsWire, synced via iCloud , allowing me to access on all my devices a growing pile of notifications of content to be read. ↩︎
The Secure ShellFish app for Mac & iOS devices makes server admin tasks relatively straightforward. The killer feature for someone who spends limited time in terminals is the integration with the file system allowing me to access, manage and create files on the server the same as managing locally. ↩︎
and the sudo password. ↩︎

Galah design inspiration

hello@ordinarymode.com — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Australia is home to many unique species of birds that live in the urban environment. Living in the suburbs, I am developing a deeper awareness and appreciation for the birds of the city.

One of the more common birds is the Galah, a small cockatoo known for its distinctive pink colouring. The word Galah is used by some speakers of Australian English to mean fool.

The unique colours of the galah are distinctive. I have found them an excellent source of design inspiration, updating this sites colours and styles to reflect the pink hues of the galahs that fly across the neighbourhood. I found the previous use feature colours framed around shades of muted tones of green lacking in contrast. The galah design brings greater aesthetic coherence that will be enduring and, I hope, a more visually pleasing experience to readers.¹

Accessibility is a key consideration in the design process and the The webAIM Contrast Checker and Link Contrast Checker were essential to refining the colour scheme to ensure readability and legibility. ↩︎

A house is a system of systems

hello@ordinarymode.com — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Renovations are happening to our house. They are major and have involved partial demolition and rebuilding. We are living in the house while this occurs. It has been disruptive, but the finish line is in sight, even if it is still a long way.

Through the process I have observed the builder and various trades required to build in 2026. The takeaway is understanding that the house is a system that materially reflects a range of systems - structural, pluming, electrical and aesthetic. This becomes more evident given that through out the journey parts of the rest of the house have suffered minor impacts[^ the worst as the blocked plumbing requiring extensive cleaning in the rain]. These impacts bring to the forefront the underlying systems in the house. A modern house is a reflection of these systems. A home is a system that operates and feels comfortable.

The process has involved many decisions: what colour paint, kitchen configuration, tap choice, where to position the light switches? Through the process it has required thinking through the system that supports the home and the requirements to be effective for us.

We are seeking to create a home, not merely investing in an asset class. This requires making sure the house meets our needs into the future.[^ requiring (over)analysis of every decision] As opposed to the many (most?) in the current environment that are seeking to ‘flip the property’.

Renovating and extending a house takes time. It is a big project, one where I still wonder whether it is too big for us. The expertise of the builders and trades reflect the effort required to build effective living systems. My role is focusing on the accoutrements as part of the atheistic system to hopefully produce a home that meets our needs on a functional level. The build, and the decisions, continue.

Server Updates

hello@ordinarymode.com — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It has been a while. Logging in requires updates to server and software. Things break. Everything is now in order. While there is a temptation to tinker more with the design, fonts, structure. I have decided to write. Not much more than this note.

One of the key changes to the site has been moving the site to be served by Cloudflare. The reason is the ongoing struggle to protect creative content, or just standard content like this blog, from the vacuum of AI companies who lobby to reduce copyright protections, or by arguing ‘fair use’ in the US. The move to use Cloudfare allows blocking AI scrapers from taking content without permission.

Whoa-press

hello@ordinarymode.com — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I used to use Wordpress. A long time ago. 2006 was a long time ago by internet standards.

I am currently helping a friend build a basic website. I recommended Wordpress as a CMS given the user friendly nature of the platform. I must say I was wrong. Wordpress is a horrible, bloated piece of software. It is not user friendly, not for people like my friend who are not web-designers. The blocks, page layout functions and various plugin interactions make the site way too complex. To add the platform is not doing itself any favours in the community management stakes.

I was amazed at how hard the site was to wrangle. Maybe I am out of touch, fair enough. Maybe the platform is now for professionals to develop on behalf of clients – I understand that too. But a simple, straightforward CMS for most people it is not.

I am glad, this site runs on Hugo. For my friend, a simple html and css site will do the trick.

The Power of Radio

hello@ordinarymode.com — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What’s on in the morning sets the tone of the day. One of the most impactful things I did last year was to change breakfast radio programming from news to music. It is great to munch the morning muesli with diverse tunes as opposed to the trivial talking points regurgitated by banal politicians.

Melbourne is blessed with a number of community radio stations. For me the Breakfast Spread on PBS FM is a perfect way to start the day. The program is unique, in that it is mainly music. The majority of breakfast radio is banter or news.

Embracing the radio, specifically PBS FM, has put a spring in my step and is a great companion throughout the day.

An easy way to refresh your morning routine is to change to a music heavy mix.

Moving House

hello@ordinarymode.com — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I am currently in the process of moving house. This has occupied an inordinate amount of spare time, reflecting the lack of attention to my blog. The whole experience – selling our apartment and then frantically going to many open for inspections was both disappointing¹ and overwhelming².

The process was finding compromise among suboptimal choices. This required distilling what I wanted, vaguely, in a home. Some natural light, a bit of space and most importantly still cycling distance from work.

It will be good to move and not have to engage with the whole real estate process. I’m looking forward to a few extra kilometres on the morning commute, heading into spring, that won’t be a bad thing.

Most that were within budget had too many constrains - such as needing lots of work. ↩︎
Most of the more liveable houses were too expensive. ↩︎

On E-Bikes

hello@ordinarymode.com — Sun, 05 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

One of the better things to happen this year was welcoming an e-bike into our home. The bike is a cargo bike equipped to carry two little people. It has revolutionised our commute — especially to childcare.

Instead of spending 20–40 minutes driving 4 km, it is 25 minutes on the bike. For a commute, predictability is the key. Oh, it is also fun. The kids love being on the back, and we often get welcoming waves¹ from people in cars and buses.

It is a great way to travel through the city. More adoption of E-bikes can reduce our reliance on cars and really amplify the benefits of electric power. In my view, e-bikes are an essential component of our future transport mix, and we should prioritise our cities to encourage greater adoption of cycling.² I talk about our experience to anyone who will listen.

As we head into winter, we’ll continue to ride and enjoy our way to commute through the city.³ If you can find an opportunity to explore an e-bike, it might change your relationship to your city.

More so from the two kids enjoyment on the bike. ↩︎
more separated bike lanes would be a good place to start. ↩︎
We might have to get in the car for those occasional days where it is hosing down with rain at 8am. ↩︎