4:03am

I recently updated the word count of Vorcalix on the home page. I’m making steady progress… not as much progress as I’d like but it’s steady. I’d say I’m still good to have most of it written by the end of the year, finishing completely somewhen around mid-January.

If I achieve that, the goal is to dive right into Sol in order to meet the April pre-order deadline.

Once I’ve delivered Sol in time for the pre-order, the plan is to flip back to The Primogenitor Saga. I think I’ll write the last two books back-to-back, as I’ve done with Shepherd Security Services. I want to close that series off, because I want to explore a different viewpoint of shifters in my Draco-Verse shared world (Sorcerous Pursuits, et al).

Oh… good point. Before I hop into the final two books of Primogenitor, I’ll finish Tribunal. It’s long past time to get that finalized and published.

In other news…

I have stepped away from the spreadsheet-based Writing Log. I think I discussed this a little bit in a previous post, but I’m too lazy to search my own site to see if that’s true.  🙂

It’s based in PHP and HTML, and it stores everything in a MariaDB Server backend. Mariadb is a fork of MySQL that started when Oracle acquired Sun Micosystems many moons ago. I just communed with Google about that acquisition; it helpfully informed me that the closing date was January 27, 2010.

Damn… I’m old.  🙂

But I digress…

I “lost” most of November to working up the new Writing Log, but I’m very happy with how it has turned out.

My next project (once I have completed Vorcalix & Sol) will be adding “Series Bible” functionality to the web app. It will track Series, Characters, Places, Organizations, Lore, and a timeline of the world.

I’m looking forward to completing that for reasons I’m about to discuss.

As some of you may now, I’ve been right at 99% Apple ecosystem for a while now. I kept a gaming box that has flip-flopped between Windows and Linux, by my “daily driver” has been my MacBook for quite a while now.

That is no longer the case.

Earlier this year, I came across a number of articles that seriously disillusioned me with Apple and its ecosystem. That really set in when I printed them and took them to an IS (information security) buddy for his opinion. Based on the evidence provided in the articles (wiremap packet scans and such), he said that he couldn’t immediately refute what the articles’ author was saying.

That has sat with me ever since. It’s been a persistent itch between my shoulder blades that has, frankly, annoyed the hell out of me.

Look… I get it. In this modern Information Age, we are the products. We are the commodities. What we browse. What we buy online. Where we go (especially so, if you have things like Timeline enabled in Google Maps).

I kind of understand… but also… kinda not.

I tried going back to Windows for gaming, but that sat about as well with me as staying in the Apple ecosystem did/does.

And so…

I reloaded my desktop with Fedora 42 with KDE. That happened somewhen during the tail end of November (I think). A few days ago, I upgraded to Fedora 43. There are still issues with Fedora 43 the devs are working to resolve, but it is very stable for me and hasn’t given me any of the issues reported by people trying to upgrade.

I like Fedora. It’s stable. It’s fast. It does everything I want it to do, and after I switched my cabling so that my desktop is connected to my monitors via DisplayPort instead of HDMI, it looks beautiful.

When I build a new desktop next year, I will do a clean install of Fedora 43 with KDE and set up proper bare-metal disaster recovery.

Another plan is to pick up a Framework 16 laptop and load it with Fedora 43 as well for my mobile platform. I probably could go with a laptop that has a smaller footprint, but… well… I have bear paws. Tiny laptops make my hands ache.

Additionally, I will be ditching my iPhone 15, Apple Watch, and iPad Mini in favor of a Google Pixel 9 Pro and Google Tab that have been wiped and reloaded with GrapheneOS. It’s a far better mobile operating system for privacy and security than stock Android.

*** Important Note ***

Do not try to install GrapheneOS on a carrier-locked device. The carriers (like Verizion and AT&T) permanently lock the bootloader. Even if you get the carrier lock removed, you still cannot wipe Android from the device to install GrapheneOS.

*** End of Important Note ***

I’m looking forward to that switch.

I’m already using Signal to chat with people who aren’t on the Apple ecosystem, so it will be easy to adopt a Signal-First mindset.

Okay. I think that’s all the random updates I wanted to share. It probably isn’t, because I had a thought when I remembered that I hadn’t discussed what would be happening to my mobile devices… but… that thought has since sprouted wings and flown off.

If you’re reading this, thanks for sticking with me.

I hope the days treat you and yours well. Stay safe out there.