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        <title><![CDATA[ Drea - pckt ]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[ https://drea.pckt.blog ]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[ Welcome to my corner of the internet, where I share random musings on a variety of topics that are too long to fit in a Bluesky post. ]]></description>
        <language>en</language>
        <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2026 10:35:46 +0000</pubDate>

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                <title>I&#039;m &quot;Wispring&quot; now</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/im-wispring-now-hs8ut4e</link>
                <description><![CDATA[I started using Wispr Flow this week. I was potentially influenced by the YouTubers waxing about the incredible productivity gains achieved using AI speech-to-text apps, or I just like trying new stuff. Whatever it is, I am trying it. On a keyboard at the computer, I like typing. I&#039;m a good typist and I love my mechanical keyboard collection. Typing helps me process information, think things through, refine what I want to say. However, lately, I really dislike typing on the iPhone. A big part of...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">im-wispring-now-hs8ut4e</guid>
                <pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 00:26:10 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Beautiful azalea garden courtesy of our local water company</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/beautiful-azalea-garden-courtesy-of-our-local-water-company-zc8ydj6</link>
                <description><![CDATA[I was shocked to learn that our local water company, WSSC, maintains a beautiful azalea garden. We visited this week when the azaleas had just peaked and it was absolutely stunning. Five acres of nothing but azaleas bushes. The area is very accessible. There is parking just across the street near the WSSC facility, with a well marked crosswalk that provides access into the garden. Once in the garden area, you can traverse wide gravel paths. There are parts that are slightly hilly but it is fairl...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:28:01 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>AI tools are about to suck for most of us</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/ai-tools-are-about-to-suck-for-most-of-us-pq9nfky</link>
                <description><![CDATA[AI tools are something I use daily. I am not an AI power user but more of an AI-tools-make-me-a-bit-more-productive kind of person. Personally and professionally I use AI tools like Claude and Gemini regularly for personal and work-related research, drafting, and summarizing information. Questions I used to drop into Google search are now dropped into AI tools. And I use AI tools to help analyze information, draft written work, and summarize information. All this to say, my AI tool usage pretty ...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Garden Gaslighting: don&#039;t be fooled by April!</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/garden-gaslighting-dont-be-fooled-by-april-6gu2kgj</link>
                <description><![CDATA[A vegetable garden is an exercise in patience - waiting for things to grow, waiting for the right time. It&#039;s also an exercise in avoiding temptation and amateur weather forecasting, especially in the D.C. area where spring can feel like summer one day and winter the next. This extreme temperature variability makes it very difficult to know when to start seedlings, and when to transfer them into the eagerly awaiting garden beds. Get tempted too early and you&#039;re holding a memorial service for your...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">garden-gaslighting-dont-be-fooled-by-april-6gu2kgj</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2026 10:37:17 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Vegetable Garden Update - April 18, 2026</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/vegetable-garden-update-april-18-2026-h9h2t4e</link>
                <description><![CDATA[This year has been a fast transition from slow-prep mode to full swing with our vegetable garden. Spring was a beautiful season with rapidly warming temperatures in the D.C. area. Temps are still swinging back and forth, but with a number of 90+ degree days behind us and no foreseeable days below freezing, the ground should be warm enough to begin planting. The garlic and arugula are doing great. Arugula always does well in colder weather. Hopefully we will be eating arugula in the next couple o...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">vegetable-garden-update-april-18-2026-h9h2t4e</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:37:45 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>GLP1s as a tool for managing type 1 diabetes</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/glp1s-as-a-tool-for-managing-type-1-diabetes-r5wtuz7</link>
                <description><![CDATA[It’s hard to avoid the GLP-1 craze these days. Over half my friends are on a GLP-1 or have tried one, and those are just the ones who have outright admitted to it (I suspect a number of people are closet GLP-1 users). I never considered using a GLP-1. First of all, I am a type 1 diabetic, and I had heard for a long time that GLP-1s were contraindicated for use among this group. Second, I don&#039;t really have much weight to lose; according to the scale, I am only slightly into the overweight categor...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">glp1s-as-a-tool-for-managing-type-1-diabetes-r5wtuz7</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:34:15 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Spring 2026 has outdone itself in the D.C. area</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/spring-2026-has-outdone-itself-in-the-dc-area-jhacpt6</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Springtime in the D.C. area is always amazing, with the cherry blossoms and many other trees bursting with color all at once. But this year has been particularly exception. It&#039;s like technicolor everywhere I look. Maybe it was the snowcrete this winter or the bitterly cold temperature we dealt with. But there&#039;s something special about this spring.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 14:36:23 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>A spring weekend in NYC spring break trip</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/a-spring-weekend-in-nyc-spring-break-trip-wrs164p</link>
                <description><![CDATA[We had a couple of extra days to fill this spring break, so decided to head up to NYC to see a Broadway show (Book of Mormon….it was hilarious!) and do a few other random things. We travel to NYC fairly frequently, mostly for Broadway but also because there is so much to do in the city. We came here because a little #hamilfan in our family really wanted to see Alexander Hamilton’s grave. The church and graveyard are beautiful and the juxtaposition of the church surrounded by Wall Street is incre...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:13:11 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Bluebirds!</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/bluebirds-dcje23r</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Thanks to conservation efforts in our region, eastern bluebirds are once again common sightings. But they still amaze me, with their bright coloring and gentle nature. This bluebird couple appears to be taking up residence in our backyard this spring. The male is one of the brightest colors of blue I’ve ever seen on one of these birds. And while the females are generally known for more drab coloring that helps aid in their camouflaging while nesting, this particular female is a gorgeous pale bab...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:13:09 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Cherry Blossoms in the D.C. Area</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/cherry-blossoms-in-the-dc-area-86tjnwy</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Contrary to what many non-locals think, the Tidal Basin in D.C. is far from the only place in the D.C. area to see the cherry blossoms. In fact, in my experience as a lifelong local, some of the best places to see the cherry blossoms are simply driving through the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. Cherry blossoms near the Washington Monument. Here’s some pictures from the 2026 cherry blossom season, which has been absolutely spectacular.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:22:26 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Vegetable Garden Update - March 30, 2026</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/vegetable-garden-updated-march-30-2026-wrqb64p</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Today we made a trellis for the tomatoes! Supplies needed for this endeavor were: This video provided us with the inspiration.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2026 20:27:06 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>The 90s Revival:  Because we&#039;re all tired of the future</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/the-90s-revival-because-were-all-tired-of-the-future-210kbg2</link>
                <description><![CDATA[I first noticed the 90s revival a couple of years ago when my daughter wore an outfit that looked a bit like Quinn from Daria. Then my friends’ kids talked about getting CDs and listening to bands like Green Day. On a Discman. One of them sported a Nirvana t-shirt. Then it was all about throwing away the skinny jeans and breaking out the low-rise bootcut jeans (I am OK with low-rise bootcut, but the mom jeans look should never see the light of day).]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">the-90s-revival-because-were-all-tired-of-the-future-210kbg2</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:18:03 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Longwood Gardens</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/longwood-gardens-zbxsdj6</link>
                <description><![CDATA[We took a trip this weekend to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania (about 45 minutes west of Philadelphia). It’s still early spring so we were there for the indoor conservatories, especially to see the blooming of the blue poppies. The conservatories are absolutely gorgeous, composed of multiple large greenhouse buildings featuring different climates (the tropical greenhouse, the smallest one, was my favorite on the chilly day we visited, because it felt like stepping into another w...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Sun, 29 Mar 2026 12:15:12 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Vegetable Garden Update - March 25, 2026</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/vegetable-garden-update-march-25-2026-ts5yqge</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Lettuce, scallions, and a few other cold-weather things have been planted outside, and seedlings started indoors. But the biggest update is that the garden beds are being rebuilt. A friend is replacing an old deck so we took all the old wood and are repurposing it to replace our previously built, falling apart old beds. Two new beds have been constructed, and we have enough to do two or three more beds.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:50:22 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Obsidian Reader</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/obsidian-reader-860mnwy</link>
                <description><![CDATA[I was excited to see make this announcement last week: I use GoodLinks for saving most things I find on the web because it does great saving most things (and parsing text from most news outlets, including Apple News), highlighting is very easy in it, and I can easily export my highlights in Markdown to Obsidian (although in my desire to cure my digital hoarding disorder, I’m trying to do that less). However, this new element to the Obsidian web clipper app is really cool and I’ll probably use it...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Sun, 22 Mar 2026 19:03:46 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>TADC Episode 8 - worth the wait</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/tadc-episode-8-worth-the-wait-wrj964p</link>
                <description><![CDATA[The Amazing Digital Circus episode 8 finally dropped today. I adore this show. There’s a crazy juxtaposition between the colorful, childlike cartoonish visual effects and the deep, dark nature of the plot. 🚨 WARNING!! SPOILER ALERT!! 🚨 My unfiltered observations:]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 01:17:32 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Bird pictures</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/bird-pictures-s2vtz85</link>
                <description><![CDATA[A Great Crested Flycatcher. A pretty rare sighting, as these usually stay up in tree tops. Blue jay, one of my favorite birds. Northern Flicker woodpecker.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 23:11:15 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Intentional daily journaling</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/intentional-daily-journaling-zbyfdj6</link>
                <description><![CDATA[I have kept a digital journal for a long time, starting with Momento on my iPhone way back in the day, and then switching to DayOne about 14 years ago. For 14 years, I used DayOne fairly frequently as a place to jot down thoughts, achievements, occurrences in my life, and reflections. However, I made the decision this year to move my journaling from DayOne to Obsidian, mostly as an effort to achieve greater portability, reduce friction, and eliminate another app subscription. I was mostly gratef...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 22:55:47 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Spring</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/spring-6ujykgj</link>
                <description><![CDATA[I hate the cold weather part of spring, which is where we are right now, but I love seeing all the little signs of spring starting. Like birds! And trees blooming!]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 17:56:13 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>iPhone photo and video editing apps</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/iphone-photo-and-video-editing-apps-tsu5qge</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Seeing how I cannot seem to use an actual camera to take pictures, I am doing my annual exercise of taking stock in the photography apps I use on my iPhone. When upgrading to the 17 Pro iPhone recently, I got the 1TB version, which means I have more room to store photos and videos taken at higher resolutions. For years I used Lightroom by Adobe. But ever since Adobe’s attempt to charge me to cancel a subscription, I have vowed to never use any of their services again. I also did not like having ...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:41:29 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>ℹ️ About</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/about-21vdbg2</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Welcome to my corner of the internet in the ATmosphere. This blog has no theme. It’s just a random assortment of my thoughts on various topics. You may like it, you may not. I don’t really care. Find me on Bluesky at @drearicheli.bsky.social Find me on Mastodon at @drearicheli.theforkiverse.com]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">about-21vdbg2</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 14 Mar 2026 06:19:09 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Vegetable garden update - March 8, 2036</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/vegetable-garden-update-march-8-2036-h9r4t4e</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Vegetable garden prep is underway. We’ve cleaned, repaired the fence, and even started planting some lettuce.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">vegetable-garden-update-march-8-2036-h9r4t4e</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 20:27:02 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Cal Newport is cutting through the AI clickbait</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/cal-newport-is-cutting-through-the-ai-clickbait-fqkchyp</link>
                <description><![CDATA[It is easy to get on the AI hype doom bandwagon. Concerns about AI wiping out the entire working class or AI doing entire jobs with no need for humans, and market analysis pieces about AI that have the ability to rock the stock market are scary. Not to mention all the articles scaring parents into believing that a traditional education means their children won&#039;t prepare them for an AI-dominated world. I have a tendency to get sucked into the AI doom cycle. It is easy to forgot that these videos ...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:16:04 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>My 2026 digital camera resolution has already failed</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/my-2026-digital-camera-resolution-has-already-failed-fqkkhyp</link>
                <description><![CDATA[(or why I don&#039;t make New Years&#039; resolutions) Just two months down in 2026, and I have already failed at the one thing I resolved to do - make use of my digital camera instead of always using my iPhone. Instead, I bought a new iPhone, the iPhone 17 Pro. Because that&#039;s a totally normal response to failing at something. Did I need a new iPhone? No, not really. But the improvements in the camera this year made it worthwhile spending of money (at least from my perspective).]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:37:13 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Stranger Things and the loose ends that really bug me (but I still freaking love it)</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/stranger-things-and-the-loose-ends-that-really-bug-me-but-i-still-freaking-love-it-pt6jfky</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Our family is obsessed with Stranger Things. As we watch it all the way through for the third (fourth?) time, I can’t help but now notice the little inconsistencies and loose ends that don’t add up. Here’s my running list. WARNING!! This post contains MAJOR spoilers, so if you haven&#039;t finished watching Stranger Things and don&#039;t want to know what happened, just skip this post.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 23:18:29 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Just say no to murder bots</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/just-say-no-to-murder-bots-h9r8t4e</link>
                <description><![CDATA[The last week of February 2026 was a crazy week for AI. The current regime tried to compel Anthropic to provide unfettered access to Claude to basically do whatever the fuck they want, to which Dario Amodei was basically like, nah, bro, we good. And while I am generally NOT a fan of tech CEOs, I was impressed with how Amodei explained the situation in a subsequent interview. It is good for companies to draw a bright red line when it comes to their technology being used to make autonomous murder ...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:17:19 +0000</pubDate>
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                <title>Maybe we are not doomed by AI</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/maybe-we-are-not-doomed-by-ai-yasre17</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Last week, I read some terrifying articles in which two people shared their perspectives of where all this AI shit is headed. Cal Newport, however, does not agree with Matt Shumer&#039;s take on AI, his argument being that the job-takeover of AI is much more narrow than we are being told, with articles like Shumer&#039;s being more AI doom-clickbait and vibe nonsense. He believes that disruption is going to be very limited to computer programmers, and very specific areas of technology. I don&#039;t think Newpo...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">maybe-we-are-not-doomed-by-ai-yasre17</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 23:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Fighting back against techno-capitalist-authoritarianism</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/fighting-back-against-techno-capitalist-authoritarianism-emzg48c</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Lately I feel like the world&#039;s slow burn has been set to broil. Things are not good. And often times, I feel kind of hopeless, like we are going to have no choice but to succumb to authoritarianism and our new tech overlords. Sometimes it feels utterly impossible to do anything to shift the tide of doom. And that&#039;s the point. The people in control want us to feel hopeless, they want us to feel a sense of existential nihilism so that we don&#039;t fight back because we think it&#039;s useless to do so. Com...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">fighting-back-against-techno-capitalist-authoritarianism-emzg48c</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 23:07:34 +0000</pubDate>
                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Is the Obsidian graph useless?</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/is-the-obsidian-graph-useless-pt6afky</link>
                <description><![CDATA[According to Obsidian, the graph view is a core plugin that lets you visualize the relationships between the notes in your vault. Online there is a love/hate relationship with the Obsidian graph view. Some people see the sharing of these graphs as a useless flex (see here and here). Meanwhile, any forum where Obsidian users lurk is filled with pictures of these these weird brain-shaped dot graphs. But in this feature useful? Is it more than just “productivity porn?” (HT to Merlin Mann for that p...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">is-the-obsidian-graph-useless-pt6afky</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 22:52:40 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Taio - a great Obsidian companion app</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/taio-a-great-obsidian-companion-app-fqr1hyp</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Someone on Mastodon reminded me that I wrote about Taio years ago. So I thought it would be a good time to revisit my use of Taio because, yes, I still use it with Obsidian. I mostly use Taio to access my .obsidian and .trash folders on mobile. These folders are hidden in the iOS system and not directly accessible via the Obsidian app. In Taio I can easily create and add .css snippets to my Obsidian vault or pull something out of the trash without having to go to my computer.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:56:45 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>The welcome death of social media</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/the-welcome-death-of-social-media-h9unt4e</link>
                <description><![CDATA[The enshitifcation of the internet hit social media hard in recent years. I am old enough to remember the raw excitement of MySpace, Tumblr, Twitter, and Live Journal. Each platform was thrilling, new, and fresh. It felt like we were conquering a new world. And I am not the only one who remembers these things apparently because the hosts of a recent Search Engine Podcast episode titled “The Fediverse Experiment” also pined for the good old days of social media. But everything has changed. It’s a...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">the-welcome-death-of-social-media-h9unt4e</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:18:58 +0000</pubDate>
                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Plugins for journaling in Obsidian</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/plugins-for-journaling-in-obsidian-qzgr9a9</link>
                <description><![CDATA[When I decided to move my journaling from DayOne to Obsidian, there were two things I knew I was going to miss - the calendar view and the map view. Way back when I last used Obsidian, there was not a simple way to replicate these features within Obsidian. Thankfully, that has changed. In addition to the standard Daily Notes core plugin, here is how I replicated these other features: Notebook Navigator is a wonderful plugin that replaces a lot of other plugins. But the most important thing it do...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">plugins-for-journaling-in-obsidian-qzgr9a9</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:29:57 +0000</pubDate>
                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Obsidian monospace snippet</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/obsidian-monospace-snippet-1wxq8wv</link>
                <description><![CDATA[A fun little CSS snippet for Obsidian that makes the entire vault appear in Monospace font. Because Monospace just feels more productive. Or something. Eliminates the need to do custom font installations.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">obsidian-monospace-snippet-1wxq8wv</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 22:48:33 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>On portability and notes apps</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/on-portability-and-notes-apps-9d54s7z</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Evernote is getting a lot of flack lately and for good reason. It was recently acquired by Bending Spoons, a company that has acquired a number of other apps and proceeded to enshittify them. It appears Bending Spoons is now doing the same with Evernote. Evernote’s pricing recently jumped to $250 year (or $25/month) for their “advanced” plan. THAT. IS. INSANE. And people are rightfully getting very annoyed with up Evernote (see just a few examples here, here, here, and here).]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">on-portability-and-notes-apps-9d54s7z</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 19:18:58 +0000</pubDate>
                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>The Amazing Digital Circus is deeper than I thought</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/the-amazing-digital-circus-is-deeper-than-i-thought-8674nwy</link>
                <description><![CDATA[About a year ago, my tween kid started talking obsessively about The Amazing Digital Circus. Like many of my tween’s obsessions, I got to listen patiently as she described the plot, the characters, the episodes…my initial reaction was “this sounds pretty freaking out there.”But I watched an episode with her (mostly to make sure this was appropriate viewing material for her age) and was kind of intrigued once I understood what was going on. She explained that the show was loosely based on “a book...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:23:03 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>The Forkiverse is building better social media</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/the-forkiverse-is-building-better-social-media-dce723r</link>
                <description><![CDATA[The minute I heard The Forkiverse Experiment episode of the Search Engine podcast, I was all in. I requested an account before I even finished listening to the podcast. I have long been a fan of decentralized social media and Mastodon. The concept sounds amazing - no single ownership, no data lock in, no corporate evilness. 👿 Adoption hasn&#039;t been quick or widespread, but I see that as a positive thing. Slow adoption brings back the vibe of Twitter or LiveJournal in the early days.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">the-forkiverse-is-building-better-social-media-dce723r</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 20:19:34 +0000</pubDate>
                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Trying a digital camera....again</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/trying-a-digital-cameraagain-5eqtv73</link>
                <description><![CDATA[For most of the last 15ish years (maybe even longer), my primary camera has been my iPhone. I’m not a photographer but I enjoy taking pictures, sharing them with others, and occasionally posting to social media. As iPhone cameras improved, I saw less of a reason to carry around a separate camera. Unless I was going to use a heavy DSLR (NOPE), the device in my pocket felt sufficient for my purposes. And it was always with me! And I could edit on it! And I could use it to share my photos! A perfec...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">trying-a-digital-cameraagain-5eqtv73</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:33:30 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Beginning the 2026 vegetable garden</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/beginning-the-2026-vegetable-garden-wr0q64p</link>
                <description><![CDATA[It is currently January and this means it is pretty cold out and nothing is growing. We did plant some garlic, which should be ready to harvest in about July, but other than that, our garden is bare. 🪏 However, this is when the work begins. We use this time to make repairs to our garden beds, clean up debris, and do other basic maintenance that is easier to do when the grass isn’t growing and the temperatures are cold. We’ve aimed to make our garden as sustainable as possible. This means we get ...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">beginning-the-2026-vegetable-garden-wr0q64p</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 20:22:14 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Cleaning up my messy read-it-later workflod</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/cleaning-up-my-messy-read-it-later-workflod-uvh9g9n</link>
                <description><![CDATA[My read-it-later and bookmarking workflow is a mess. Digitally, my stuff is just…scattered. Random tidbits in Apple Notes, links and notes in Obsidian, remnants from when I used Readwise and synced those highlights, articles I clipped to Obsidian using the web clipper and then forgot about, and interesting YouTube videos saved in every corner of my device. 👋 Hello, I’m Drea and I am a digital hoarder. I consume many different types of content from a variety of sources throughout my day. My consu...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">cleaning-up-my-messy-read-it-later-workflod-uvh9g9n</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:52:13 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Saying goodbye to the oldest app on my phone</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/saying-goodbye-to-the-oldest-app-on-my-phone-4xd9a1t</link>
                <description><![CDATA[A new journaling routine for 2026 After over 14 years of using DayOne for journaling, I made the decision to switch my journaling routine to Obsidian. This was not a decision I made lightly; DayOne was the longest running third-party app on my phone. But it was time, and this change has reinvigorated my daily journaling routine. I started using DayOne in 2011, not long after it was released and it has been my digital journal ever since. I am not very consistent with journaling but have done a de...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">saying-goodbye-to-the-oldest-app-on-my-phone-4xd9a1t</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:28:02 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Ai, social media, and the problem with tech evilness</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/ai-social-media-and-the-problem-with-tech-evilness-ptw4fky</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Last year I read Careless People, by Sarah Wynn-Wiliams, a tell-all book about the inner workings and people of Facebook/Meta. My thought while reading it was “holy shit, these people are evil.” The overall premise that I took away from her book is that they (the people who run Facebook/Meta and others like them) are unintentionally evil, their evilness a byproduct of insane, rapidly accumulated wealth in a sector and society with no guardrails on wealth or their products. They are essentially c...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">ai-social-media-and-the-problem-with-tech-evilness-ptw4fky</guid>
                <pubDate>Wed, 18 Mar 2026 14:15:54 +0000</pubDate>
                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>A trip down app memory lane</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/a-trip-down-app-memory-lane-zbyzdj6</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Here are a few apps that I once loved, but have since disappeared from the App Store. This app was the juiciest time killer of all time, especially during the workday. Geared towards college students, it had a lot of use in the D.C. area among interns and professionals. The content on Capitol Hill was just 👩🏽‍🍳💋 Obviously there was quite a bit of NSFW content on there, but the posts and exchanges were also frequently deep and wholesome. It eventually made a comeback, but it was never the same Yi...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">a-trip-down-app-memory-lane-zbyzdj6</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 23:43:09 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>AI in DIY Loop</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/ai-in-diy-loop-s2ecz85</link>
                <description><![CDATA[One cool thing about the app that keeps me alive is that people are always innovating on how to make it better. When I saw this video by Diabetech about a new customization someone built to use Ai food search within Loop to count carbs, I was so on it that I had my Loop app updated with this new customization added in before the video was even over (I’m not joking). Thanks to the great instructions, I was able to add the customization to my forked repository in GitHub and build the app in a matt...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">ai-in-diy-loop-s2ecz85</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 21:52:10 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>The app that keeps me alive</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/the-app-that-keeps-me-alive-jhkhpt6</link>
                <description><![CDATA[It is an app that is testament not just to medical technology, but to the spirit of innovation and what a group of very ordinary people can accomplish when they come together to work on a problem. You can&#039;t find this app in the App Store. It is an app that I have to build using Xcode or GitHub. It is an app that, for a small group of people, has been lifesaving. I have type 1 diabetes. At the most basic level, type 1 diabetics have to replace the insulin they no longer produce. This seems simple...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">the-app-that-keeps-me-alive-jhkhpt6</guid>
                <pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 20:11:08 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>The best camera is the one you have in your hand</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/the-best-camera-is-the-one-you-have-in-your-hand-qzg59a9</link>
                <description><![CDATA[#photography #iphoneographyFrom the moment I bought a cell phone with a camera on it, I was obsessed with taking pictures with a mobile device. There was something about the portability of my phone, the in-the-momentness of those pictures that attracted me to the technology. I would intermittently use a point-and-shoot digital camera and even briefly toyed with a DSLR, but my phone was what I always had on me. It fit in my pocket, portable and convenient. I liked the challenge of taking pictures...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
                <guid isPermaLink="false">the-best-camera-is-the-one-you-have-in-your-hand-qzg59a9</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:39:07 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>New River Gorge - a very underrated national park</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/new-river-gorge-a-very-underrated-national-park-v49gy0t</link>
                <description><![CDATA[Nestled in the western portion of West Virginia, New River Gorge National Park is the newest national park and happens to be just a 5 hour drive from the D.C. area where we live. We decided to check it out recently and had an amazing time. We lodged at the New River Gorge Cabins, which were private and quiet, and included our own campfire ring. The weather was pretty hot, so we stuck to small hikes but still had some really nice views. But highlight of the trip was a family white water rafting t...]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 23:15:59 +0000</pubDate>
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                            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Acadia National Park</title>
                <link>https://drea.pckt.blog/acadia-national-park-zbehdj6</link>
                <description><![CDATA[A few photos from an amazing trip to Acadia National Park in Maine (August 2022). This is a beautiful national park. We stayed in downtown Bar Harbor which was also fun, a great little town to explore when not in the national park.]]></description>
                <author>Drea</author>
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                <pubDate>Sat, 21 Mar 2026 12:50:31 +0000</pubDate>
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