dump_json = "build/blog/feed.json"

            <p class="center">
                Also, this blog has an <a href="./feed">RSS feed</a> too, so you can add this to
                your preferred feed reader if you want.
            </p>

<h1 id="post-title">
  Middle-of-summer catching up
</h1>
<p id="post-excerpt">
  Haven't posted here in two months, it seems.
  Where have I gone? What did I do during these few weeks?
  What am I up to and what is the future of this site?
</p>
<p>
  Last update: <time>2023. 07. 23.</time>
</p>
<p>
  Time to read: <span id="reading-time"></span>.
</p>
## Time to relax
Phew, this was an interesting few weeks for me but I'm glad I'm more-or-less finished with everything that I needed to do.
This includes preparations for the following few months; they are going to be real interesting for me (more about it later).
Also, I got many personal, as well as tech-related stuff done from May until now and I can't wait to list them all.
## Here come the personal achievements
- Managed to do all the paperwork required to apply for the Erasmus program of the EU. From the middle of August, I'll study in Finland for 5-6 months. It's gonna real exciting. Got my plane ticket and arranged myself a place to live too.
- Finished my fourth semester of my Computer Science degree. I only have two or three semesters to go. It depends on the amount of courses I can finish during the next few semesters.
  - Also, even though this semester was one of my most successful ones, I still managed to fail one of my courses. Fortunately, I can do it online during the time I'm abroad.
- Went on a vacation to Venice and Verona.
<img class="small-img" src="/assets/media/blog/2023_summer_catch_up/venice.jpg">
- Did some kayaking for the first time in my life (this was yesterday, my back still hurts xd).
- Hung out with friends (baths, 8-ball pool and the like, just general <span class="rainbow">super-happy-fun-times</span>).
- Failed my driving exam two times and then passed it on my third attempt. One, I was calm as hell on the third try; two, the invigilator got out of the car in the first ten minutes of the third exam to exchange stuff with his friend and officially, that marks the end of the exam. I still drove around for a few more minutes but the teacher did not say a single word and then gave me a _passed_ rating.
  - After this, the first-aid exam was a cakewalk. Got a driver's license now and today, I finished my first 100+ km drive through the highway. I'm so proud of myself.
## Tech/hobby stuff I did
- Successfully set up a [Monero](https://www.getmonero.org/) wallet for sending anonymous donations to tech projects I like. Also tried mining some of it for fun using my laptop. It wasn't that profitable (got literally zero Monero for ~50 hours of mining, I don't know what I expected), so I stopped.
- Installed [Navidrome](https://navidrome.org) on my Pi to access all my music from the internet. It's a gamechanger and I'm so glad it got set up. I updated [the blog post about my music listening practices](https://bbence.me/blog/2023-03-03-listening_to_music/) to include this new info.
  - My music stash went from ~400 GB to 451 GB following this change. People on Soulseek love to download from me. :D
- Got addicted to mapping on [OpenStreetMap](https://osm.org) (mainly shops, buildings and addresses). I also got a lot of value out of using [Organic Maps](https://omaps.app) it on my on-foot navigation in Venice (finding drinking water and getting info on sights is a breeze).
  - I don't want to talk about OSM too much here, because it might be the focus of my next blog post.
- Researched how the [TOR Network](https://torproject.org) works and installed the [Snowflake add-on](https://snowflake.torproject.org/) to help people living in restrictive countries bypass censorship on the internet.
  - Slightly related: Had some fun with [Tails](https://tails.net), a portable operating system designed for journalists, activists and security-freaks like me. I keep a live USB of Tails on my keychain, partly for the memes.
- Hopped and cheered in excitement over the fact that my favourite game, [TF2 got a new update this summer](https://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=206148).
- [Following the murder of Reddit third-party apps](https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/30/23780130/reddit-third-party-apps-saying-goodbye-apollo-rif-boost-sync-baconreader), I migrated to [Lemmy](https://join-lemmy.org/). It's fun and I recommend checking it out.
- Made an [RSS feed of my blog](https://bbence.me/blog/feed) too, so if you're into that, add this wee-little blog o' mine to your feed reader.
## Future of this site
I started this site in January of 2023 after I clicked through a bunch of personal websites (my most visited ones are on my [webring](https://bbence.me/webring) page) and decided I wanted to host one myself too.
It's a lot of fun to work on it and whenever I have the urge to write a blog post, I usually jump right in.
I was busy these few weeks and didn't post much, but on my laptop, there's a whole document dedicated to possible blog posts ideas; I have a bunch of tech-stuff to talk about, so stay tuned.
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  Last update: <time>2023. 05. 21.</time>

  Last update: <time>2023. 05. 23.</time>

If you want to hear what I'm talking about, I recommend listening to [The Avalanches' — Since I Left You](https://y.com.sb/playlist?list=PLmtnY-efGuZsL8VJeJ8PTabPK9s9WZRcK) album.

If you want to hear what I'm talking about, I recommend listening to [The Avalanches' — Since I Left You](https://inv.tux.pizza/playlist?list=PLmtnY-efGuZsL8VJeJ8PTabPK9s9WZRcK) album.

When I'm on my occasional YouTube binge, I sometimes get lost in some obscure music genre's guide ([like this one](https://y.com.sb/watch?v=6SbRglbdcLg)).

When I'm on my occasional YouTube binge, I sometimes get lost in some obscure music genre's guide ([like this one](https://inv.tux.pizza/watch?v=6SbRglbdcLg)).

One of my favourite videos that do this kind of explaining is Sound Field's [How Did Pop Music Evolve into HYPERPOP? What Is Hyperpop](https://y.com.sb/watch?v=NwSnKS1q4ow).

One of my favourite videos that do this kind of explaining is Sound Field's [How Did Pop Music Evolve into HYPERPOP? What Is Hyperpop](https://inv.tux.pizza/watch?v=NwSnKS1q4ow).

- [Recordings of intercepted phone calls with ambient and techno elements](https://y.com.sb/watch?v=i80mUHeUHv4)? Sure.
- [Improvisation of the highest degree that sounds disorganized on the first listen](https://y.com.sb/watch?v=iPDzlSda8P8)? Yah-uh!
- [Sampled classical music with my favourite sampled drum break](https://y.com.sb/watch?v=_fX4qoruQik)? You bet!

- [Recordings of intercepted phone calls with ambient and techno elements](https://inv.tux.pizza/watch?v=i80mUHeUHv4)? Sure. (Scanner - Mass Observation)
<iframe id='ivplayer' width='426' height='240' src='https://inv.tux.pizza/embed/i80mUHeUHv4?t=1' style='border:none;'></iframe>
- [Improvisation of the highest degree that sounds disorganized on the first listen](https://inv.tux.pizza/watch?v=iPDzlSda8P8)? Yah-uh! (Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz)

<iframe id='ivplayer' width='426' height='240' src='https://inv.tux.pizza/embed/iPDzlSda8P8?t=1' style='border:none;'></iframe>
- [Sampled classical music with my favourite sampled drum break](https://inv.tux.pizza/watch?v=_fX4qoruQik)? You bet! (Venetian Snares - Szamár Madár)
<iframe id='ivplayer' width='426' height='240' src='https://inv.tux.pizza/embed/_fX4qoruQik?t=1' style='border:none;'></iframe>

  Last update: <time>2023. 03. 09.</time>

  Last update: <time>2023. 07. 23.</time>

<span class="em">UPDATE (2023. 07. 23.):</span>
I installed [Navidrome](https://navidrome.org), a free and open-source, lightweight, Subsonic-compatible music server on my machine, so I can access my music collection anywhere from the Internet.
This is a gamechanger for me, because I don't necessarily have to compress and transfer my music with a cable to my phone.
I can just open a Subsonic client app (for me, it's [Ultrasonic](https://ultrasonic.gitlab.io/)) and download my music from my server.
For transfers, I still make a backup of the albums on my hard-drive, but I also upload them to my Navidrome server through SFTP.
<span class="em">END OF UPDATE.</span>

<span class="em">UPDATE (2023. 07. 23.):</span>
Recently, I found out about [Pano Scrobbler](https://github.com/kawaiiDango/pScrobbler), a streamlined app that is much better to use if you have a more recent phone that doesn't make [questionable battery optimisation decisions](https://dontkillmyapp.com).
It provides info about artists and albums that you can read while you're listening to music.
You can make photo collages of the most listened to albums/artists/songs in a specified time interval and much more.
Check it out.
<span class="em">END OF UPDATE.</span>

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