daniebker

23-19

· [Daniel Baker]

This week in dev…

Tech Independence

Starting to take Tech Independence more seriously. Have my own CalDAV server up and running the last few weeks and that’s serving as my Calendar source and tasks source. I even installed NextCloud on my VPS to start storing small batches of files. I’m actively looking for more things to replace and will continue to do so as time goes by.

My Lastpass subscription came to an abrupt end this week, this was prime time for me to move to something more independent and a good example of relying on one company for a service. Once the service was cut I lost all access to my passwords. I was only able to use them on one device. Yes, I could pay for the plan myself, but then I’m still subject to the whims of a single company. I’d prefer to manage it myself and have the freedom to change my mind quickly if something isn’t working. Thankfully, I was able to easily switch to KeePassXC and the chrome browser extension.

With NextCloud one of the things I wasn’t able to move were my off site photo and video backups. I’m currently using OneDrive which gives me 1TB of storage. I didn’t move that over since block storage on Digital Ocean is pretty expensive, 1TB would set me back $100/month where as I’m currently paying that yearly.

I did manage to move off of Google Calendar and Google Tasks. I now use a self hosted CalDAV server for that and the Android app Tasks.org. Tasks.org is amazing, yes you need to pay to unlock features but the app is well worth it. For a pay what you like app you get:

  • Calendar integration with tasks.
  • Good implementation of completed tasks. They also show up in calendar.
  • Customisable views including a today.
  • Reminders.

The list goes on, but the amount you can customise this app is incredible. I highly recommend you check it out.

Sustainable web development

I’ve been reading up on sustainable web practices. Sustainability is something that I try to incorporate into my daily life though for some reason never really thought about my impact on the web. I’m starting to rethink that.

From my research it looks like DigitalOcean is a green hosting provider, at least on the infrastructure I’m using. They’re curiously not so transparent about that as they are with their pricing.