Over the last few weeks, I've been migrating my thoughts page^* and my blog^† to WriteFreely, hosted by Write.as.

I love thoughts so much, and I’ve praised it constantly. I’m so grateful that it’s gotten me back into writing short little blog posts, something I loved doing as a younger person but somehow lost interest in, maybe because simplicity and fun have taken a back seat in the world of blogging. At the same time, I’m now looking for features that thoughts doesn’t provide, like pagination, dedicated pages for individual posts, email signup, RSS, tags, and more. I still think thoughts is amazing, a beautifully simple blogging platform with an “old internet” feel in the very best way, and for that reason, I still wholeheartedly recommend it. I don’t recommend everyone switch to WriteFreely. It just seems like the better fit for me right now.

Medium, on the other hand, I could do without. They sometimes display giant banners above free blog posts to encourage readers to sign up for Medium, which is really annoying. I'm a paying subscriber to Medium as a reader, actually. I think that should exempt my blog from their advertising, but it doesn't. Also, their recommendation engine is horrific, and it encourages endless clickbait nonsense. I don’t want to support a company that does that, and I don’t want that perverse incentive to change my writing.

WriteFreely isn't perfect. Its Markdown parser can behave strangely, although it's not as unusual as the one used on thoughts. WriteFreely also doesn't provide search functionality, the navigational menus presented to authors are pretty confusing, and development seems very slow at this point, among other things of varying importance. But it's a much better fit for me right now. Even just having a separate page for each post is great. I'm sure that's what readers and search engines expect. By contrast, thoughts shows all posts on one page and uses URL fragments to link to particular posts (e.g., https://thoughts.johnkarahalis.com/#1762540598).

WordPress was another option, of course. I have mixed feelings about it, and part of me thinks it might have been a better choice given the issues mentioned above, most importantly the slow pace of WriteFreely development. WordPress can do everything WriteFreely can do, I think, the usability and user experience are a bit better, and it's a very active project. However, it's also big, bulky, and it has a bit of a “serious” feel to it, which I fear would take some of the joy out of writing. For whatever WriteFreely lacks, it's elegant and fun. Perhaps I'll migrate to WordPress some day when the tradeoffs become worthwhile (another migration, hooray!), but for now, I like WriteFreely, and I hope it continues to grow.

Over the next little while, you'll see posts disappear from those places and re-appear on this blog. I expect I'll be done somewhere around the middle of January, 2026, but time will tell.

#Business #Communication #PublicNotice #Technology #Usability #UserExperience

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* When this post was published, this linked to my thoughts page. However, once the migration is complete and all of my thoughts posts have been migrated to this blog, the link will probably redirect to this blog's homepage.

† Similarly, after I migrate all posts from Medium to this blog, this link will not load my Medium page. It's not possible for me to redirect from Medium to this blog, though, so it will probably just lead to a Not found page.

Some of the best healthcare is free: fresh air, sunshine, exercise, clean water, good sleep, meaningful relationships, and real foods from the Earth. (Well, whole foods like these are not free, but they're often less expensive than the big, bright, fantastical confections that dominate grocery store shelves.)

Of course, none of this is enough, or our ancestors would have lived much longer than they did. Vaccines, medicine, and medical treatments obviously extend life and improve outcomes in profound ways. But to a large extent, what we're lacking—what I'm lacking, at least—is not the big business of medical technology. It's healthier habits and deeper engagement with the real world.

I'm just beginning to really understand this, and I want to be better, so I'm writing this partly as a reminder to myself.

#Business #PersonalDevelopment #Philosophy #Technology #Wellbeing

Progress bars—those little horizontal bars that fill from left to right as your laptop or phone updates—are notoriously unreliable. One moment, a progress bar might be 10% full. The next thing you know, the work is done. If a written estimate is provided (e.g., “10 minutes”), you might notice it change dramatically in an instant.

As it turns out, building accurate progress bars is extremely difficult. In most cases, it's almost impossible for the computer to know how long the work will take without actually doing it.

This is the problem of software project estimation in microcosm.

#Business #Favorites #SoftwareDevelopment #Technology

The Nielsen Norman Group doesn't like iOS 26, the new iPhone operating system with Liquid Glass, and why should they? The user interface makes many, many elementary mistakes. Few if any would have been made had the designers read Donald Norman's seminal book on usability—yes, the same Norman from the Nielsen Norman Group—The Design of Everyday Things. Like Windows 8 and sadly many elements of iOS before this, iOS 26 applies the book's principles in reverse. User confusion and frustration is therefore no surprise. The real question is, what in the world happened to Apple's organization to allow this, when it previously blazed a trail for usable technology and made The Design of Everyday Things required reading?

#Technology #Business #Usability #UserExperience

Mark Zuckerberg is a villain.

Again, this is not simply partisan. He was a villain ten years ago, and he's a villain today.

Yes, he's been philanthropic, and he's pledged to donate 99% of his Facebook shares to charity. That is genuinely amazing, and it deserves genuine praise. To be sure, it's a hell of a lot more money than I'll ever donate to charity. Still, what does it matter if he destroys the world in the process? Will his philanthropy even begin to clean up the mess he's created? Surely not. He's done far more than $200 billion worth of harm to society. Try putting a dollar amount on political extremism, a problem his company has massively exacerbated.

Mark Zuckerberg is a villain, and like all villains, he thinks he's doing good for the world. He's not.

#Business #Philosophy #Politics #SocialMedia #Technology

What's wrong with hyperpartisan media? (Pick your favorite example of a one-sided TV channel, YouTube channel, website, radio show, podcast, or magazine.) If the problem is that these outlets promote overly simplistic, slanted perspectives, never reporting the other side of the story, then why are we not equally worried about social media filter bubbles, given that they are designed to do the same thing?

Facebook and other social media platforms show us what we want to see. They reinforce our existing worldviews. One doesn’t need to think hard to understand why; anything else would be bad for business. Nobody logs on to be told they’re wrong. Nobody enjoys having their reality challenged.

I’m concerned about old-style hyperpartisan media, but this new, “social” version is much worse. Many of us walk around with personalized, digital propagandists close by. They push our buttons and beg for our limited attention—buzz, buzz! Sometimes, we spend more time with them than with real human beings, with their nuanced and thoughtful perspectives.

Should we be surprised the world is so divided?

#Belief #Business #Communication #Favorites #Politics #SocialMedia #Technology

Politics has become a means of self-realization rather than a tool for solving practical problems. Views on enlightenment differ, of course, causing intense conflict and distrust. To restore our trust in each other and the political process, now may be a good time to focus on common-sense legislation with broad appeal. Let's eliminate daylight saving time, outlaw deceptive resort fees, and begin to regulate social media. Let's stop tech support scammers, strengthen online privacy, and standardize on one charging connector for electric cars. Let's make browser vendors work together to prevent identity theft. These things may seem inconsequential, but getting along couldn't be more important. Along the way, we might discover that politics doesn't always have to be so acrimonious.

#Belief #Business #Communication #Favorites #Philosophy #Politics #SocialMedia #SoftwareDevelopment #Technology #UserExperience #Wellbeing

Venmo includes the following warning with MFA codes that they send over SMS. It's the clearest warning I've ever seen, and I applaud Venmo for being so thoughtful.

Venmo here! NEVER share this code via call/text. ONLY YOU should enter the code. BEWARE: If someone asks for the code, it's a scam. Code: [CODE]

#Business #Technology #UserExperience

Spotify’s new AI DJ feature is superb, and it's only in beta!

#Business #Technology #UserExperience