Evan Hildreth

Sun, 31 May 2026 14:14:48 -0400

Had possibly my best shot off the tee this morning… 😇 #discGolf

Tue, 26 May 2026 21:25:13 -0400

Really really trying to accept flawed tools that let me do more now instead of deciding to build my own thing to get that last 10% (and then getting burned out on building said thing).

Mon, 18 May 2026 22:02:45 -0400

The original inspiration for Smolblog was a decentralized Tumblr free of Verizon’s meddling. Tumblr’s in better hands now (yes, still better hands), but I haven’t given up on the idea. Today’s experiment: rebuilding the theme editor in Svelte, featuring the design from my first Tumblr.

Fri, 15 May 2026 16:13:41 -0400

Believe me, I really, really want to embrace the web app future. But I keep running into things like scheduled actions and SFTP access and just pure “how do I get a normie to install this” that I’m afraid I can’t commit.

Thu, 07 May 2026 19:39:59 -0400

I don’t know what hurts more: not being able to pull up the music I transferred to my phone because I have to agree to a privacy policy while I’m not driving…

Or the fact that Apple’s the one doing this.

Looking for feedback: Chat Transcripts in Markdown

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 20:41:45 -0400

I write short stories, and I vastly prefer writing in Markdown to a word processor. I’ve got one series with a lot of texting/group chat, and I’d love to represent this better both in the Markdown and the resulting HTML.

Requirements

Optional title
Optional speaker handles/names
Difference between incoming/outgoing messages (as if we’re looking at someone’s phone)

Working draft

    ] #chat name
    ]
    ] [@Other](https://micro.blog/Other) Person:
    ] Hey, have you written that novel yet?
    ]
    ]   [@Me](https://micro.blog/Me):
    ]   I came here to have a good time and
    ]   I'm honestly feeling so attacked right
    ]   now...
    ]
    ]   (that's a no, BTW)
    ]
    ]   (and now a third message for comedic
    ]   effect)
    ]
    ] [@Other](https://micro.blog/Other) Person:
    ] I kinda figured :)

(Ignore any Markdown-style links in the examples; Micro.blog thinks I’m trying to mention people. Maybe that’s a point against this?)

Denoted with ] (like block quote except not >)
Chat name starts with # (like an IRC or Slack room)
Speaker name starts with @ and ends with : (to avoid a normal message that starts with a mention and allow spaces in names)
POV character indented by 2 spaces (mimicking placement in most SMS/chat apps)

Examples

Group chat:

] # A Perfectly Normal Group Chat
]
] @EternalSneptember:
] (pw change logs out all other devices/browsers)
] 
] Ideally remote wipe but IDK if that's an option.
]
]   @EarthStars:
]   Thanks for the reminder, Snep. Remote wipe is an
]   option but would cross a line.
]
] @BuckTheWorld:
] Ugh, this sucks. How bad, @EarthStars?

DM/SMS:

] # Mom
]
] You're up late!
]
] No judgement, of course. 😜
]
]   I'll judge for you LOL Working late?
]
] Binging a new show. I'm a bad example.

Problems/feedback needed

Without speaker names, it’s not as obvious that it’s two different people speaking (see second example).
- Could increase the indentation, but that makes it even more awkward to type
- Even the current indentation is awkward to type since macOS/iOS typically adds a period instead of two spaces
Not completely sold on a blockquote-style syntax, open to other options

Anyway, wall of text over, thanks for reading, honestly I just want to talk through this with other Markdown users. I’m not making this for everyone, but I want to make something good enough for someone other than me to use it.

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 22:11:03 -0400

Trying to parse (lol) the remark docs so I can write a Markdown extension, and, well…

Extend the syntax of markdown means […] Defeating the purpose of markdown: being simple to author and looking like what it means

With all due respect, I’m extending the syntax because I want it to be simple to author and look like what it means. I want to differentiate between a handwritten note, a chat transcript, and a normal block quote as quickly as I differentiate between normal text and something emphasized.

So there. 😜

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:53:23 -0400

Car manufacturers of America, I am once again asking for an electric vehicle with

NACS charging,
200-mi range, and
is a sedan or hatchback and not another 🤬ing crossover.

I have a low-mileage VW I am happy to trade in for this car. But none of y’all make it. Maybe now you will?

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 23:47:20 -0400

Reading over CloudFlare’s EmDash, and my thoughts are:

You can’t call it a successor—spiritual or otherwise—to WordPress without plugin/theme compatibility.
What am I even doing with Smolblog?
…no, seriously, what am I doing… and why am I doing it…?

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 09:47:46 -0400

Hey Apple, can you tell me why the 🤬 Launchpad search can’t find stuff in the 🤬 Applications folder anymore?

(Maybe why you felt the need to integrate it with Spotlight instead of just filtering the list like before?)

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:14:40 -0400

A system-on-a-chip architecture with unified memory doesn’t leave room for a modular system with discrete RAM and GPUs. RIP Mac Pro. (For real this time.)

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 21:13:52 -0400

Somehow an infinite loop got past most of my unit tests and didn’t show up until the integration test. So here’s how to run Xdebug on the command line for the next time this happens.

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:37:03 -0400

I’m glad Anthropic is sticking to their principles and not giving into pressure from the United States Department of War. I wish they weren’t working with them at all, but I’m glad they are holding to the principles they do have.

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 22:40:15 -0400

Meanwhile I was afraid the one with Trevor Noah and Charles Leclerc was going to be some stupid AI thing. Never been happier to see Jigglypuff show up.

(Mine’s Mew)

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 20:38:10 -0400

Not me tearing up over Rocket Mortgage showing us the helpers while playing Mr. Rogers’ song…

Let’s imagine a better world. And then make it.

Is it a problematic commercial? Absolutely. Heavy-handed? Probably. And selling a product that encourages over leveraged debt and is more and more out of everyone’s hands thanks to uncontrolled private equity? Yes.

I’m so tired.

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 09:56:25 -0400

If they can retroactively defund PBS they can retroactively defund the “immigration enforcement” that is killing US citizens.

Sat, 10 Jan 2026 11:54:15 -0400

Towards the end of 2018, Apple threatened to pull the tumblr app from the App Store over the presence of CSAM on the site. Tumblr responded with a radical change in policy that affects it to this day.

Today, despite similar concerns, the X app has not been pulled.

Come on, Apple.

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 12:25:16 -0400

How is Plaid still a thing? No, I’m not entering the password for my bank account anywhere other than my bank’s website, thank you very much!

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 09:19:49 -0400

YOU 👏 BANNED 👏 MY 👏 ACCOUNT

Tue, 02 Dec 2025 22:20:05 -0400

I need help. I’ve got two 4K monitors and a boatload of USB peripherals that I want to switch between my 2-4 computers. My current KVM switch is flaking out, and the replacement I bought might be bad. All the known KVM brands are $$$ with features (EDID, hotkeys) I don’t need/want. Recommendations?

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 22:02:52 -0400

So CVS will text me incessantly about picking up my meds, but they tell me about a recall via physical mail?

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 21:41:12 -0400

In what I can only describe as divine intervention, the PHP script threw the “out of memory” error from the actual file where the problem was occurring after chasing this bug down for over a week. Just… wow.

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 18:39:11 -0400

No, I haven’t shipped Smolblog. But I have taken some of the code and codified it as its own framework. Let me introduce you to Cavatappi, a PHP framework very much in progress for making complex applications simpler.

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 22:14:12 -0400

Ok, be real with me: how bad of an idea is it to get into amateur radio? Or how hard is it to get started?

People Are People, or Why I Don't Want to Be a Landlord

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 12:19:30 -0400

There’s a dustup going on over at Bluesky over moderation decisions. I won’t go into details because—for the purposes of this blog post—I’m less focused on why the dustup is happening and more that it is happening. It’s happening at Bluesky, it happens on Mastodon, it happened on Tumblr, and it will keep happening in the future despite all the best intentions.

And I need to stop fooling myself that I want any part of it.

Expectations, Meet Reality

Every relationship that lasts long enough or goes deep enough eventually hits a point where expectations meet reality. Language is imperfect, there’s always things left unsaid, and we fill those gaps with assumptions. Eventually, those assumptions are proven correct—or more often incorrect. There’s disappointment, anger, and a lot of blame.

In personal matters, people talk it out and maybe seek counseling. In business, contracts get more detailed. In social media… it’s people making personal expressions on a business' platform. Not only is that a recipe for mismatched expectations, it’s incredibly unbalanced.

And it’s a rude awakening for both parties when a significant group of users realize that, despite everyone’s best efforts, this is not their beautiful house.

Some of the backlash can be blamed on social media itself. We’re encouraged to reach out and make connections, especially with celebrities or people we admire in some way. But this can lead to a false sense of relationship and nurture the notion that the person on the other end cares as much about us as we do about them. In this environment, disagreements can feel less like a disappointment and more like a betrayal.

And I’m finally realizing how pervasive it is.

Refusal of the Call

As tensions rise, even actions meant to calm the waters can only infuriate people more. Calls for moderating language are seen as tone policing or censorship. Attempts at reiterating common principles are met with accusations of failing said principles. And the longer it goes, the less human everyone becomes.

And the worst part? It’s understandable. Because at the end of the day, these are people trying to assert agency over their online identities.

A moderation decision or policy change by a site operator is, for them, a business decision. For a user that has tied part—or all!—of their online identity into their use of the site, such decisions would have the same emotional investment as a decision about where to live or what they believe. One party is talking business, the other is talking religion. No wonder these conversations get so charged!

Let me be clear: I’m not trying to shame anyone involved here. I’m trying to describe the current environment of running a social media site. What I’m describing here just is. These aren’t technical problems; they’re personal ones. Apps and protocols can mitigate these problems, but I don’t see any technical way to deal with a situation that’s escalated out of control other than suspending or banning users.

And I’m just not cut out for that.

What About Smolblog?

The original plan for Smolblog (laid out in the video I posted last year) was to have the project supported by a paid hosted service. I’m abandoning those plans. I will not be running a hosted Smolblog service for the general public.

Limiting the service to paid users would encourage shared values, but not guarantee them. Having a self-hosted open source option rings hollow when users sign up for the paid service to avoid self-hosting. That’s on top of the brand confusion that happens when an open source project has a hosted service with the same name. And all this while selling what is basically web hosting, a notoriously high-support, low-margin business.

The goal would be to sustainably support the project, but a hosted service is looking more and more unsustainable itself, at least for me to run.

In the decentralized social media and independent website circles, we like to talk about digital serfdom and comparing site owners to landlords. What we may not realize is that this applies to anyone operating a site for others to use, even operators with the best of intentions and sites with the best user freedoms. Decisions still have to be made that affect the users much more than the operators.

I applaud the people willing to do this, especially because I am not one of them.

This is both part of and prompting a broader re-thinking of the project for me. The mission is still to make an adaptable content management system that lets people own their expression and approach social media on their own terms. The actual execution will just look less like a website to sign up for. Beyond that, I don’t know what the specifics are yet.

In the meantime, I’m working on packaging up some of the less Smolblog-specific code into its own thing, but that’s all I’ll say on that for right now…