Tom McFarlin

Software Engineering in WordPress, PHP, and Backend Development

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Time Off 2020: Part 1 of Social Media Sabbaticals (And a Word on Updates)

I really have no idea how to even start writing out all of things that I want to cover in this post. It’s been a bit of while since I’ve written anything, really (and one of the last programmatic post I wrote was sometime ago – and no, I don’t plan to stop the series).

Over the past few years, I’ve written about taking time off of social media during certain parts of the year. I still plan on doing that, but this post is a bit different because it’s going to cover a lot of things.

Second Social Media Sabbatical of 2018

If you’re interested in how I’ve done this in the past, take a look:

  1. Social Media Sabbatical 2018, Part 1
  2. Social Media Sabbatical 2018, Part 2
  3. Social Media Sabbatical 2018, Part 3
  4. Social Media Sabbatical 2019, Part 1
  5. Social Media Sabbatical 2019, Part 2
  6. Social Media Sabbatical 2019, Part 3

But here’s the thing: At the time of this writing, there’s nothing I can say that wouldn’t be an understatement, right?

With that said, I think I’m going to leave that there and move on to issues that are more relevant to the blog. Namely, an update as to what’s up, some thoughts I’ve had around this blog, and some changes I’m aiming to make in the near future.

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Some Reading for February 2020

This year, one of the things I’m trying to do is revive the whole Must Read articles that I used to write.

With it being the second month of the year, I can say that I’ve had a 100% success rate in doing that so long as I actually publish this post (which, given that read you’re reading it, I have).

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Privacy is Hard: Web Browsing with 1Blocker

When it comes to privacy and web browsing, I’ve talked Firefox in a previous post. In the same post, I also stated:

I’m actually a fan of Safari for casually browsing the web. That browser coupled with 1Blocker makes it a solid alternative.

As far as Firefox is concerned, I still think it’s a fantastic browser but if you’re looking for a seamless experience between macOS and iOS 1Blocker alternative solution that I’ve been using for a few weeks.

The motivation for privacy (which I’ve previously shared) still stands but it may not be the same for you. I’m approaching it with the following attitude:

  • what I’m comfortable with using may not be the same for you (and vice versa),
  • and privacy and security are not terms that I use interchangeably.

That said, the rationale for using software like this alongside a browser that’s bundled with an operating system (remember when that was a big deal?) rather than a third-party browser is different.

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