Jason Cosper

Blog

  • A Wappalyzer of my very own

    So, y’all know how it is sometimes… You go digging through GitHub repos looking to see if anyone’s already made a tool to do a specific thing that you need to get done. Something simple and fast that doesn’t do a bunch of extra stuff. Lately, I’ve been wanting a quick way to peek at what sites have been built with without having to tab away from the terminal or poll some third party API. Just a straightforward command-line thing.

    While poking around, I stumbled across a project that wrapped a Go implementation of Wappalyzer in a CLI. Sounds perfect, right? Go is fast, the command line is fast, and Wappalyzer does the thing that I need.

    The old version worked alright — no complaints, really — but nothing on the project had been touched in three years. The Go version was old, libraries were way out of date, and honestly, relying on something that stale just feels… irresponsible?

    Besides, the JSON output that the old version of the Wappalyzer CLI spit out didn’t include the domain name. Which made it slightly less useful when performing runs on a list of domains, which I’m possibly looking at doing.

    Before I start talking about my fixes tho, here’s a quick note on how this tool works. When run, wappalyzer-cli fetches the target site via HTTP, pulling HTML, headers, JavaScript, etc. Then it uses a local database of known libraries, frameworks, and server technologies. No external API calls need to be made for analysis. All of this happens locally.

    I consider this a massive win for privacy! The URLs you scan and site contents all stay on your machine. This means that you’re not feeding some rent seeking business that’ll most likely turn around and eventually funnel this data into some bullshit AI tool. On top of that, you can use this as much as you want without worrying about hitting any API rate limits.

    Anyway, I decided to give this neglected tool a friendly bit of polish. I started by switching things to a more recent version of Go. Then I bumped all of the dependencies. Once that was done, I ensured that everything still ran. Finally, I hacked the domain name into to the JSON output. Now I’ll be able to tell which site each set of results belongs to in batch runs.

    It’s still the same fast tool that it was before. It’s just a bit better now. If you want a quick, reliable site intelligence tool, go check out my updated version over on GitHub.

    Feel free to kick the tires, open an issue, or send a pull request if you’re really feeling sassy. I’m still learning Go, so it might take a minute for me to figure out how to fix whatever bugs folks might surface, but I’m still happy to give it the old college try.

  • Automaddic

    Automad / A Flat-File CMS and Template Engine
    Automad is a fast and lightweight flat-file content management system and template engine for creatives that can be used in a monolithic or headless mode.
    automad.org

    After spending close to twenty years clicking around the WordPress dashboard, I’m finding Automad’s whole “minimalist CMS” vibe deeply refreshing.

    I played with a demo of version 2, goofed around a bit with the extensions on offer, and not once did I have to dismiss a dashboard notification or suffer through a premium upsell offer. Truly glorious.

    The fact that it’s written in PHP — something that I have plenty of experience with — is also pretty damn nice.

    I’m definitely going to have to spend some more time messing around with this.

  • A little housekeeping

    If — by some minor miracle — you’re still following this site in your favorite RSS reader, you might’ve noticed that I’ve been a busy little beaver over the last several days. What’ve I been up to? Well…

    • I migrated some archival content over from a couple of side projects that stalled out.
      • gomi no sensei, my early COVID-19 pandemic, Doctorow style, dailyish newsletter that I ran for a few weeks in early 2020.
      • blog.boogah.org, a more personal site where I didn’t have to worry about all the technical debt that I’d accumulated here.
    • I migrated all of my site’s content over to using blocks via the WP-CLI bulk converter added to 10up’s great Convert to Blocks plugin.
    • I updated about ninety posts in the Linked category to use the Bookmark Card block instead of Daring Fireball style links. This decision was made mainly because the plugin I was using hadn’t been updated in at least 11 years. 😅
    • Getting rid of that ancient plugin freed me from the technical debt that was holding me back from changing themes and embracing Full Site Editing in WordPress. I’m using Davis Blocks as my current theme, but will likely cycle through a few until I find one that feels like “home”.

    Does this mean that I’m going to start posting here again? Honestly, at this point, I’ve learned to not make promises that I don’t know if I can keep. So let’s just say maybe.

    Cool?

  • I don’t know if you can hear me

    Teenage Fanclub – Start Again

    Even though it’s complicated
    We’ve got time to start again

    Teenage Fanclub, “Start Again”

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 05.18.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    And it keeps coming and it keeps coming
    And it keeps coming ’til the day it stops

    LCD Soundsystem, Someone Great

    Sometimes, you get overwhelmed by life and let things fall by the wayside. You don’t mean to do it. It just sort of… happens.

    Eventually, you make it to the other side. But then you find yourself filled with the overwhelming desire to figure things out.

    So… what now? You can’t say “I’m never going to let this happen again.” because never sure as hell is a mighty long time.

    You’ve just got to find the thing that’ll work for you, and then try to do that thing for as long as you can.

    Anyway… How about some links?

    GMK Redacted Keycap Set

    Not to go all mechanical keyboard guy on y’all, but this pre-order (through June 2, 2020) for a keycap set with a number of redacted keys is very much my vibe.

    Stan Lee vs Rob Liefeld & Todd McFarlane

    Now, I know this video is 28 years old, but I found it while doing a deep dive on YouTube a couple weeks ago and it is fantastic.

    In it, Stan Lee lowkey savages Liefeld and McFarlane while they create one of the greatest examples of dumb 1990’s comic book maximalism, Overtkill.

    The Third Quarter of Isolation

    We may now be entering the dreaded third quarter of hollow-eyed stares, odd fixations and brooding resentment. Time grows sludgy. The days blur into the nights, and the weekdays into the weekends. You’ve hidden the notifications from a recently downloaded exercise app and you’re no longer telling people you’ll learn Italian. You begin to suspect that your friends have their own Messenger group.

    See also: Fuck the Bread. The Bread Is Over.

    Stealing Home

    In lieu of watching the Dodgers play baseball this summer, I’ve decided to read this instead and grapple with the complicated history of one of my favorite teams. (thx) 😬

    Tonight We Riot

    Over the past couple weeks, I’ve spent a decent amount of time playing this Switch brawler that allows you to control a whole movement of people trying to throw off the shackles of capitalist oppression. 🌹

    It’s unapologetically leftist, and I fucking love it.

    Bad Baby Names

    Why let Space Karen and Grimes have all the fun?

    P.S. Please join us in welcoming our new child, Dr. Bronner Paulblart, Reloaded. 👶🏻

    The Father of the Title Sequence

    On what would have been his 100th birthday, Criterion celebrates one of my all-time favorite designers, Saul Bass.

    This Word Does Not Exist

    AI generated words, with definitions. Some of them feel as if they’ve been lifted out of a William Gibson novel. (via)

    The Conspiracy Museum

    A short story by Robin Sloan for The Atlantic’s Shadowland.

    David Lynch’s Weather Report

    Back in the early aughts, David Lynch used to do the weather report for LA alternative station, Indie 103.1‘s morning show. I don’t even know why he did it, but I’ll be damned if I missed a single one of them.

    As of last week, he’s started doing them again and putting them up on YouTube. Even though I no longer live in LA, I’ve happily watched every. single. one.

    I Paint Any Ass

    You give them €40 and a photo of your butt and you get back a painting. Dunno what else to say about it, TBH.

    Jeez. Seems like I’ve been saving them up for a while, huh? 😂

    We’ll (hopefully) talk again soon!

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.27.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    I wish weekends felt more like weekends and less like days where I’m not financially obligated to sit at my computer. I need something relaxing, but everything rn is stressful and weird.

    Usually, when I’m feeling stressed, I take a few days off, pack the dogs and Sarah into the Jeep, and head out to Palm Springs or Pismo Beach. Don’t really have that luxury right now.

    I guess I need to upend my routine or something. 🤔

    Mini vMac 3DS

    The total lack of documentation on the GitHub page for this project is very much a “You’re on your own, bro.” sort of statement. But if you can get it to work — and people have — you can run System 7 on a 3DS. 😍

    GoldenHour

    A macOS app that adds a translucent, color temperature adjustable overlay on your screen.

    Pretty handy! Especially since all of the key lights that are worth a shit are sold out rn. (via)

    Baphomet Pee-wee Herman Sticker

    I mean, it’s kind of all right there in the title, isn’t it? (via)

    The Cool Quarantine, Episode 2

    I missed this when it dropped last week, but Henry Rollins is back with another 4 hours of great freeform radio.

    “Expert Twitter” Only Goes So Far

    Twitter was optimized for links and short musings. It’s not well suited for complex discussions or nuanced analyses. As a result, the feeds of these newly emerged pandemic experts are often a messy jumble of re-ups, unrolled threads, and screenshot excerpts of articles. We can do better.

    TL;DR: Get a blog.

    I’ve already got one, so I’m sure you can understand how I might be bullish about them… 🤣

    Five is good for today, right?

    Until next time, friends!

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.23.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    We’ve got a war on our hands, people.

    The springtime gophers that have taken up residence in our back yard have been going off this year. When I woke up this morning, I found at least four new mounds of varying sizes scattered about.

    Last year, a heavy blanket of Uncle Ian’s all over our yard took care of them. But I checked the garage a few days ago, and found that I maybe have enough to funnel into each one of their mounds before flattening them back out.

    That’ll keep them away for a minute, but I’m definitely going to need to order more repellent. Maybe a sonic spike or two. 🤔

    Heaven forbid I have to go full Caddyshack on their lil asses…

    Porcupine Racetrack 2020

    Members of 90s comedy troupe The State reunite (virtually) to do a cover of their classic Porcupine Racetrack sketch.

    I’ve already watched the cover and the original at least five times each. It is very much my happy place. I hope that maybe it’s yours too.

    FAQ: Composting

    McSweeney’s comes through with a composting FAQ that goes off the rails very quickly.

    6 Feet Back or 6 Feet Under

    My buddy Derek made a new tee that’s perfect for anyone who’s courageous enough to wander outside rn.

    TiddlyRoam

    An open source fork of TiddlyWiki with features similar to the (eventually premium) SaaS offering Roam.

    I’ve been keeping my outboard brain in nvALT for ages, but before that I used Instiki. I kind of miss having a personal wiki, so maybe I’ll import some content over and try living with it… (via)

    Alright… I need to get a little exercise in before I start working on dinner. Only ~13 minutes worth, according to my watch.

    Cheeseburgers tonight! Pretty nice…

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.22.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    We’ve got a big one today. The next post might suffer for it, but why should I sit on all of these tasty morsels and end up get scooped by the likes of Kottke and Waxy? 😄

    Epidemic Lofi

    Let’s kick the day off on a chill note. This Soundcloud playlist from Epidemic Sound has damn near 200 songs worth of lofi hip hop vibes to get you through your day.

    I don’t know about you, but I’ll use whatever I can to get through my day at this point.

    Blind Users Struggle with State Coronavirus Websites

    Forty-one of the 50 state pages we surveyed contained low-contrast text, which can be challenging for users with low vision, including seniors, who are at higher risk in the outbreak.

    …

    Navigation was another challenge for users with visual disabilities. Thirty-one of the 50 state pages contained empty links or buttons, which means a screen reader will not be able to tell the user what the button does or where the link is supposed to go.

    😞

    Of course most of these sites are lousy on accessibility. People with disabilities tend to be an afterthought all over the web.

    Big Honking Button

    Why press Y to honk when you can press a big honking button instead?

    This is more than “just a button” though — it’s a hackable, one-button sampler that runs CircuitPython.

    Psilocybin Produced in Yeast

    Too bad there’s a yeast shortage, because I could really stand to get trip balls on some dough rn. 🍞

    Gophers

    Keep a gopher network alive in a post-apocalyptic wasteland – your community will thank you for it.

    I’m pretty fucked out on post-apocalypse shit at the moment, but I really adore the concept and style of this (free!) game produced as part of Ludum Dare 46. (via)

    98.css

    Nothing means anything anymore — and, as we covered the other day, the internet feels pretty 90s lately — so why not make something that looks like Win98? (via)

    People of the Pandemic

    An effective visualization of how a pandemic can spread through a community, masquerading as a game. 🦠🕹

    I find it interesting that the game uses the decisions of 19 previous players to inject a little entropy into your decisions. Because, in situations like these, you’ve always gotta worry about what the other assholes in your town are doing… 🙄

    MonoLisa

    I know what some of y’all are saying… “$350 for a typeface for my terminal?! Are you high?”

    I mean, a little. 😬 Don’t worry though — there’s also a more modest $70 version for the junior ballers in the crowd.

    Still, take some time to look at the specimen and fuck with the playground on the site. I’m sure you’ll agree that MonoLisa is a beaut.

    Hoo boy. 🥱 Let’s call it a day, shall we?

    Hope to see all you nice people back around here soon!

    P.S. I’m still crossposting these regular link dumps 💩 to my newsletter. If you’re still not reading RSS feeds because you haven’t quite gotten over losing Google Reader, you should subscribe.

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.21.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    Hrm. Today’s edition ended up being a bit rona heavy. Sorry about that. 😬 It wasn’t intentional, honest. I just went where the currents took me.

    If I could’ve posted about the ginormous bumblebee that’s been going HAM on the flowers outside of my office window since this morning, I totally would have — but I couldn’t find any links about it.

    C’est la vie.

    Rich Americans Activate New Zealand Pandemic Escape Plans

    This lede… 😳

    As coronavirus infections tore across the U.S. in early March, a Silicon Valley executive called the survival shelter manufacturer Rising S Co. He wanted to know how to open the secret door to his multimillion-dollar bunker 11 feet underground in New Zealand.

    The tech chief had never used the bunker and couldn’t remember how to unlock it.

    🙄

    1. This asshole clearly needs to read Cory Doctorow‘s Masque of the Red Death.
    2. I already know the answer to this, but what sort of prepper doesn’t even bother to familiarize themselves with the shit that’s supposed to keep them alive?

    (via)

    Amoeba Music Needs Help To Survive

    One of my all-time favorite record stores is running a GoFundMe to help keep the lights on in these times:

    All three of our stores have been closed since mid-March and must remain closed indefinitely. With no way to generate income, our savings are running out, with bills and rent coming due, and with a primary commitment to our staff, who we are trying to keep as healthy and financially sound as possible.

    They’re still shipping out online orders too, so consider picking up some music or merch if GoFundMe isn’t your bag.

    Webcomic Name Face Masks

    Everybody’s selling face masks now. But I only know of one person selling face masks with the punchline from Webcomic Name on them…

    Stripe Is Silently Recording Your Movements on Its Customers’ Websites

    They claim to be doing this in the name of fraud detection — which is a very necessary thing in the eCommerce world — but I’m still lowkey cranky about this. (via)

    How to Fix Virtual Cameras in Zoom 4.6.9+ for macOS

    People use virtual cameras for a lot more than Zoombombing, so I’m glad that someone has figured out how to work around the restriction Zoom put in place with version 4.6.9 of their software on macOS. (via)

    What Self-Isolation Has Taught Us About Cooking

    As someone who has never cooked at home as much as he has in the past couple months, this article from the Serious Eats team shows that even the pros are learning new things and having their fair share of problems.

    All I know is that — as someone who is exhausted by endless dishes and overwhelmed by meal planning — I really needed to read it. Maybe you do too.

    Leave Philly Alone

    I would like variations on this fantastic t-shirt for every municipality, please and thank you. (thx)

    Okay, y’all… Enough sitting at my desk.

    Since the weather here will be in the eighties the rest of the week — and continuing to rise 😩 — it’s high time to get out of the house and enjoy the rest of this partly cloudy 73° F day.

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.20.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    Fetch the bolt cutters — and happy super 420 — it’s time for some links!

    Star Wars Videoconferencing Backgrounds

    If whatever y’all are using for videoconferencing allows you to load virtual backgrounds, the official Star Wars blog has released a metric crapload of great ones.

    I popped into a work meeting from the Millennium Falcon this afternoon and it felt awesome.

    Setting Up Your Computer for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

    Speaking of videoconferencing, this resource from Matt Stauffer has helped me think about how I need to step it up on the video front — both because I work from home and because I’m a regular on the best WordPress podcast in the game.

    Seinfeld Adventure

    The pitch: What if Monkey Island, but Seinfeld? (via)

    Why Does It Suddenly Feel like 1999 on the Internet?

    I thought it was because I follow a handful of people on Mastodon who have been:

    1. Building stuff on the Gopher inspired Gemini protocol.
    2. Getting super into HyperCard.

    But nope, looks like the internet is running in classic mode for more than just me. 🤔

    Why Does WordPress Notify Google That I’m Writing This?

    Turns out that the WordPress block editor (AKA Gutenberg) loads Google’s Noto font from Google servers every time you go to write or edit a post.

    From a privacy standpoint, that’s not great, Bob. But at least there’s a way to disable it.

    Papercraft Computers

    If you’re looking for something to do — and all the puzzles you look at seem to be on back order — why not try a little vintage hardware papercraft? (via)

    Alright… So that’s Monday.

    Guess I better go start dinner and watch last night’s Westworld before the internet spoils it. 😬