I’ve had some form of dedicated server on and off for many years.

I get cheap ones (from Hetzner, OVH or OneProvider). They’re really useful. They have fast connections, powerful CPU’s and plenty of storage. And they’re no more difficult to maintain than a VPS.

What do I use mine for?

• Sharing big files. Especially big ones. I have a ‘cold storage’ folder on my S3-powered website for files that I’ve shared via email, Twitter, etc. down the years. I never delete those files. But I don’t want to pay the AWS storage/bandwidth fees for a 4GB .zip of football player images I once shared on a video game forum. My dedicated server can have those.
• Backups. I can’t backup my entire media library. But the essential files on my Mac are backed up to the server.
• Website hosting. VPS’s are very popular and capable these days. But you can’t beat a dedicated server. And once you start spending £30 on a VPS, you can get a lot more bang for your pound by getting dedicated hardware.
• Video transcoding. The main reason I have my server is to transcode full quality HD and 4K BluRays to more manageable sizes.
• VPN. I wouldn’t say I can ‘hide’ very well using the server as a VPN, as the IP address never changes and only I use it. But still, it gives me some protection.

Whenever I’m unwell all I can think about is how horribly uncomfortable and boring it must of been to be ill for most of history.

I’m in a nicely warmed home with constant access to drink, food, painkillers, and the excellent TV documentary “The Vietnam War”.

And it’s still awful.

But at least I’m not lying on a sagging, bug-filled straw mattress in a drafty London house in 1643, while rats and smoke steadily seep through the warped wooden walls.

At least I have a bathroom a few yards away, instead of a reeking chamber pot that’s overflowing.

At least I have my phone, instead of my only entertainment being church bells and my wife reading me the Bible.

At least I have ibuprofen and codeine, instead of a delightful mixture of dried toad and mercury.

At least I’m taking in plenty of fluids, instead of having bloodletting to ‘balance my humors’.

It’s not so bad really.

What about typography within emails? Unfortunately, due to the technical constraints of email systems, your options are limited.

Unlike a PDF, fonts don’t get transmitted with an email. So even though you can compose an email in any font you like, recipients won’t see that font unless they also happen to have it installed. Moreover, recipients get their email using a variety of hardware and software, which have inconsistent and unpredictable typographic capabilities.

This leaves two plausible policies:

1. If you must format your emails, stick with common SYSTEM FONTS, and make sure your messages don’t rely on spacing tricks specific to the font. (Those of you who insist on aligning things with multiple WORD SPACES were already warned.) Simpler is better.
2. Or you can just treat email as a typography-free zone. This is my policy.

Tufte-specific

This is the post summary text that will be displayed by itself on the index page.

blockquote text goes here

Here is the start of a section that is using the newthought shortcode. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Unlike a PDF, fonts don’t get transmitted with an email. So even though you can compose an email in any font you like, recipients won’t see that font unless they also happen to have it installed. Moreover, recipients get their email using a variety of hardware and software, which have inconsistent and unpredictable typographic capabilities. Sed et nibh ultricies, finibus quam eu, aliquet arcu. Donec tincidunt nisl tristique commodo porta. Morbi bibendum dolor neque, nec faucibus nisl hendrerit id. Fusce tempor vel lectus et vestibulum. Nullam efficitur lacus et ante finibus, sed pellentesque massa convallis. Aliquam sollicitudin, diam a imperdiet pretium, diam erat condimentum enim, vitae sagittis tellus magna quis tortor. Suspendisse vel dolor tincidunt mauris sollicitudin ultrices. Aliquam vitae gravida quam, et consequat nisi. Maecenas ullamcorper dui magna, porttitor interdum purus scelerisque nec. ⊕ Unlike a PDF, fonts don’t get transmitted with an email. So even though you can compose an email in any font you like, recipients won’t see that font unless they also happen to have it installed. Moreover, recipients get their email using a variety of hardware and software, which have inconsistent and unpredictable typographic capabilities. Nulla laoreet sagittis justo at pellentesque. Nulla lacinia laoreet elit sed commodo. Donec justo lectus, ullamcorper vel tincidunt vitae, ultricies eget erat.

⊕ Title text caption text goes here

Now is the time
for all good men
to come to the aid of the party

Welcome to the Markdown feature showcase! Below, you’ll find examples of all major Markdown elements. Use this to ensure your blog theme supports everything.

Headings

H2 Example

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus nisl sem, ultrices ac diam non, ultrices varius diam. Praesent id volutpat erat, a semper urna. Cras varius, velit a dignissim fringilla, ipsum orci imperdiet tortor, eu eleifend est ligula vel nisi. Suspendisse convallis metus nunc, quis hendrerit justo malesuada non. Proin vulputate tempor justo. Mauris dictum luctus ex, sit amet porttitor sapien commodo non. Donec fringilla lacus eget ipsum fermentum porttitor. Duis iaculis eros sit amet nibh tristique, eget bibendum quam ultricies.

Ut augue nisi, hendrerit non rhoncus sit amet, sodales eu lorem. Nulla dignissim interdum tortor in venenatis. In ultrices enim lectus, egestas tempus erat suscipit sed. Sed consequat molestie faucibus. Vestibulum et egestas purus. Ut blandit quam id rhoncus elementum. Praesent eu facilisis lectus. Morbi quis arcu eget massa vehicula condimentum in a arcu. Suspendisse potenti. Praesent quis rhoncus diam, sed bibendum mauris.

H3 Example

In mollis purus non dolor aliquam, eget maximus massa aliquet. Duis sagittis ante lectus, quis euismod ipsum fringilla ut. Etiam eleifend consectetur auctor. Duis ornare pulvinar nisl, non lacinia turpis iaculis at. Suspendisse potenti. Donec blandit dui eget velit aliquet, et viverra est ullamcorper. Cras eu efficitur neque, non fringilla massa. Suspendisse mi lorem, varius at fermentum nec, hendrerit accumsan massa. Donec urna ligula, porta quis libero a, iaculis fringilla nulla.

H4 Example

This is a fourth-level heading.

H5 Example

This is a fifth-level heading.

Text Styles

Bold Text
Italic Text
Bold and Italic Text

Strikethrough Text

Nested Text: Italic inside Bold

Example: This is still bold and italic

Links

• Inline Link
• Reference Link
• Link with Title

Lists

Unordered List

• Item 1
  • Sub-item 1.1
  • Sub-item 1.2
• Item 2

Ordered List

1. First item
2. Second item
   1. Sub-item 2.1
   2. Sub-item 2.2
3. Third item

Images

Inline Image:

Reference Image:

Blockquotes

This is a blockquote.
It can span multiple lines.

Nested Blockquote Example

Code

Inline Code

Here’s some inline code: const x = 42;

My favourite recorded concert of all time is The Last Waltz (video / album) by The Band. Recorded in 1976, it was their farewell concert.

It may have been their farewell concert, but the Band were still looking young. Well, aside from Garth Hudson. He looked a decade or two older than the rest.

So if you would have told me when I was younger that the elderly-looking Hudson would outlive the rest of the band I never would have believed you. But he did. He died last week, aged 87.

A multi-talented musician, he worked with Bob Dylan, Elton John, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Leonard Cohen, Norah Jones, Ringo Starrr, John Hiatt, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Roger Water, Ronnie Hawkins, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Traffic, Paul Butterfield and others.

As a fan of the Band it’s a sad day, for they are all now gone.

With his death I checked out an old Band Tumblr blog I followed. I was happy to see they’re still posting. They’ve posted about Hudson’s death.