Links
- A free year of a .lol domain - make your own website, hosted anywhere you like. Mine is Linkage.lol
- Membership in Social.lol - a Mastodon community based on respect for all including the LGBT community, POC and the neurodivergent. That's where I have my account and I've met some of the coolest people I've ever encountered on the Internet, and I've been online for a long time. There is also a Discord server.
- An email address - username@omg.lol, which is cool as hell anyway you look at it. Get it forwarded to an existing email account. It's so easy
- A bio page like mine - Amerpie
- A /now page like this - Amerpie/now
- A status log that can cross post to Mastodon and be embedded in a web page
- A photo gallery for sharing photos and embedding them in your web site
- Would you believe there is more? Go have a look!
- REM
- Jason Isbell
- Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
- The Avett Brothers
- Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats
- Lambchop
- The Drive-By Truckers
- The Hold Steady
- Iron and Wine
Search Reddit for references to the app.
Apps from the Mac app store can generally be regarded as safe from malware, but you should read the privacy policy and make a decision based on your comfort level
Use a firewallย like Little Snitch or Lulu if you have concerns about an app accessing the Internet with your data. Objective-See also makes Block-Block which will notify you when new apps try to access the Internet.
Don't use any pirated software
Don't disable System Integrity Protection or Gatekeeper
If downloading from third party sites like MacUpdate or GitHub, evaluate the number of downloads or stars an app has to determine how widely used it is. Generally (but not always) apps that have a lot of users have been investigated by enough people to be safe.
Stay current on tech/Apple news. If there is a misbehaving app, it generally makes the news.
If you want the extra protection, use something like Malware Bytes on demand scanner
If you are dealing with highly sensitive financial or other data, learn how to use encryption tools likeย Cryptomatorย so that you have control and you are not relying on unknown developers.
Learn to use a VPNs if you have security and privacy concerns.
Don't believe everything you hear. There are bad actors whoย spread misinformation about safe apps.ย Paranoia can also be catching.
This Week's Bookmarks - Grocery Prices Worldwide, Wildlife Photo Winners, The Truth about Media Lies, Stranger's Project, Content Creators vs. Journalists, 2004 the 1st Year of the Future, Great Talk from XOXO Conference
๐ Procrastinator’s Anonymous - My favorite time to do anything is “not right now.” - louplummer.lol/procrasti…
Some Links for Music Lovers
One of the benefits of having broadband is the ability to hear just about any song you want to, whenever you want to Apple Music, Spotify and a host of other services let you listen on demand. Lots of time you can find live performances on YouTube. There are a couple of sites that give you a collection of links for just about any album or song that you can think of.
The free website Odesli.com will create a shareable web page for you containing links to album art, websites to listen, websites to make a purchase and to YouTube for just about any album or song. You can create a page with a custom URL or make an embed for what you searched for. Here are a couple I made.
Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen - https://album.link/Boss_Nebraska
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (Live) - https://song.link/jcatfolsom
A website to help you make lists of albums, complete with album art, to share with friends or on your blog is Album Whale. It's free.
Check out my album list, Alt Country Classics, on Album Whale! https://albumwhale.com/lou-plummer/alt-country-classics
If you're doing research into a favorite band or artist, there is no better site on the internet than AllMusic.com It's been around forever, and you can spend hours reading album reviews and making playlists.
Check out their page on The Beatles
The last resource is Last.fm, a site that let's you upload the songs you've listened to so that it can recommend other artists you might like. I have over 76K plays uploaded and have discovered many, many bands through their recommendations.
OMG.LOL is the Best Thing on the Internet
OMG.LOL is the Best Thing on the Internet - The community at OMG.LOL along with the services offered are the best thing on the Internet. - linkage.lol/omglol-is…
OMG.LOL is the Best Thing on the Internet
When I first started investigating blogging, I was heavily influenced by a British fellow by the name of Robb Knight. One of the many things he recommended for folks looking to involve themselves in this thing called the IndyWeb was a $20 a year membership in the web community found at OMG.LOL Describing what you get for that is kind of hard, but I'll give it a shot:
I have four blogs on three different platforms and I use elements of OMG.LOL in conjunction with all of them. If all this sounds cool to you but you simply can't afford it, message Adam, the guy who runs the place, and you might qualify for a scholarship sponsored By a caring member of the community. If you can afford it, great, sign up using my referral link, and I promise to use the benefits to help someone come onboard.
Enjoyed it? Please upvote ๐
๐ Doing the Best We Can - For once, pop psychology gets it right. We are doing the best we can do with what we have to work with. - louplummer.lol/doing-the…
Bump Up Your Meme Game
Bump Up Your Meme Game - A good meme says a lot. Here are some famous ones to study and a website to make your own. - linkage.lol/bump-up-y…
Bump Up Your Meme Game
I'm not ashamed to admit that I appreciate a good meme. There are just some people who are deadly with the damn things. They can pull the right one out of their hat and spring it on you at any time. Some high bowed folks look down on communicating this way but they need to get a grip. In 2024, rapidly identifiable visual media is where it's at. Yeah, sometimes the TikTok crowd uses stuff that is over my head, but that's to be expected. I am old and they are young and that is the way the world has worked since time immemorial.
50 famous memes and what they mean
๐ Blogs Are Not Commodities - The blogs I like are building blocks of something beautiful and heartfelt, not optimized, market driven revenue generators - louplummer.lol/blogs-are…
Cardinals at the Window - A Benefit Album for Western North Carolina
Cardinals at the Window - A Benefit Album for Western North Carolina - An album featuring 136 artists costing only $10 is available with the proceeds benefitting hurricane victims in Western, NC. - linkage.lol/cardinals…
Cardinals at the Window - A Benefit Album for Western North Carolina
In late September of this year, Hurricane Helene blew through the mountains of several states and in its wake whole communities were erased. Places that hadn't flooded in a millennium were inundated. It will take years, if not generations, for the counties of Western North Carolina to recover. Cities like Asheville will never be the same. To raise money for those in need, 136 members of the music community from and associated with the area created an album available on Soundcloud for $10. You can stream it and download all 136 songs. Some of the artists who contributed include:
Cardinals At The Window | Various Artists | Cardinals At The Window
Enjoyed it? Please upvote ๐
๐ Quit Being Paranoid - Being cautious is a survival skill. Being paranoid is just an annoying personality trait. - louplummer.lol/quit-bein…
Can I Trust This App
Can I Trust This App - Learning how to determine whether software is trustworthy is a 21st century survival skill. - linkage.lol/can-i-tru…
Can I Trust This App
In any discussion of software, regardless of the app in question it seems, someone always asks "Can I trust this app?" seeking some protection against malware or privacy invasion. It would serve anyone interested in investigating software or trying new apps to learn a few things about how to answer this question for themselves. Here is a list that is not comprehensive but should serve as a good place to start.
How Can I Tell If a Download Is Safe?
11 Easy Ways to Know If It Is Safe to Download Something
Agree? Disagree? What have I left out?
Enjoyed it? Please upvote ๐
๐ What Is Your Love Language? - In what way do you like to be shown you are loved? - louplummer.lol/what-is-y…
Death Row Last Meals
Death Row Last Meals - The last meals of convicted criminals have long fascinated us. What would you ask for? - linkage.lol/death-row…
John Wayne Gacy’s Last Meal
Just How Much Cocaine Was in Coca Cola?
Just How Much Cocaine Was in Coca Cola? - You’ve heard the tales about Coke. have you ever looked into them? - linkage.lol/just-how-…
I’ve updated my /now page with info on a classic American police procedural series, a British spy TV series, all 21 blog posts from this week, my favorite recent Amazon find and all the bookmarks I added to my personal collection.

๐ Changing Computer Habits - My computer usage changes little from day to day but massively over the years. - louplummer.lol/changing-…
This Week's Bookmarks - Human/Animal Hybrids, Internet Forums, Generational Labels, Book Finder, Hurricane Propaganda, Panoramic Photo Awards,
Forums Are Still Alive, Active, And A Treasure Trove Of Information - Aftermath
What generation am I? A full breakdown of the years (and names)
Find book recommendations based on your favorite authors
From the Storm to the Stormtroopers - by Timothy Snyder
Panographic Photo Awards for 2024
Donald Trump Is the Tyrant George Washington Feared - The Atlantic