Merging SDIFFSTORE and ZINTERSTORE into a single ZDIFFSTORE, thanks to redis 6.2.0. Requires new docker image.

Personally I find modern technology to be very liberating.

When I was a child, even going around my own city was a stressful thing. What if I get lost? What if I run out of money for the train? How do I know I got the bus in the right direction? (the darn things didn't announce stops at all).

The first times I traveled involved printing a stack of papers including names, addresses, and maps. Getting to a hotel in a country you've never been before and without having a good command of the local language is stressful.

With modern tech? It's all a breeze. I can find a route to anywhere, check if the place I'm going to is open, call for help if needed, find a bar/restaurant/hotel if something unplanned happens, talk to the people I'm going to meet, check on the status of my flight...

Yeah, I don't feel very comfortable without my phone precisely because it provides so much useful stuff that I don't have otherwise. And no, it's not because I've grown addicted to it, but because the discomfort that I already had before smartphones were a thing returns.

Jason Kottke, six weeks ago:

Does what I do here make a difference in other people’s lives? In my life? Is this still scratching the creative itch that it used to? And if not, what needs to change? Where does kottke.org end and Jason begin? Who am I without my work? Is the validation I get from the site healthy? Is having to be active on social media healthy? Is having to read the horrible news every day healthy? What else could I be doing here? What could I be doing somewhere else? What good is a blog without a thriving community of other blogs? I’ve tried thinking about these and many other questions while continuing my work here, but I haven’t made much progress; I need time away to gain perspective.

So. The plan, as it currently stands, is to take 5-6 months away from the site. I will not be posting anything new here. I won’t be publishing the newsletter. There won’t be a guest editor either — if someone else was publishing here, it would still be on my mind and I’m looking for total awayness here.

Six weeks in and I miss his words dearly, but I’m happy for him. They say you should hydrate before you get thirsty. I suspect the same is true for taking sabbaticals — you should take one before you know you need one. That’s hard to figure out, though.

A friend once asked me what’s been the longest stretch between posts on DF since I started. I told him the truth: I don’t know.

It’s no secret fast food chains and other food brands have been clamoring to cash in on the plant-based market, but the desire to promote offerings as plant-based is getting redundant and a bit desperate.

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