Micro.blog offers a podcasting plan to add on to your blog subscription. This is a great feature that I’ve been using for over a year. I record a weekly podcast featuring my three children called ChetCast.

I love how my short posts, pictures, long posts, and podcasts all flow together on the same timeline. I have a ChetCast page that lists all of my previously recorded episodes.

There’s a small downside to having a podcast running on your main Micro.blog subscription. If you submit your podcast to Apple Podcasts (or anywhere else), Micro.blog by default defines your podcast title and artwork based on your blog. So your blog title is the podcast title, and your podcast artwork is your Micro.blog photo.

Manton plans to add the ability for everyone to change the podcast title and artwork in the Micro.blog dashboard at some point in the future. Until that feature is available, you can make the changes yourself if you’re using a custom theme.

I’m using Kiko. Go to Micro.blog > Posts > Design > Custom Themes. In your custom theme, under Custom Templates, find the file, “layouts/list.podcastxml.xml.”

To change the title, find the “title” tag. It should have a series of curly brackets between the title tag.

Simply replace all of that text your new title, without any quotation marks, between the “title” tags. Mine looks like this:

<title>ChetCast</title>

To add custom artwork, first create your image. Make it a square between 1400x1400 and 3000x3000, ensuring the file is no larger than 512kb. Upload that image to Micro.blog (micro.blog > Posts > Uploads). Copy the URL, and then go back to the layouts/list.podcastxml.xml page.

Find the itunes:image tag. It should have a link that points to your Micro.blog site. Replace the link between the quotation marks with the link to the artwork you uploaded. Mine looks like this:

<itunes:image href="https://www.chetjcollins.com/uploads/2019/309bb431cb.jpg"/>

That’s it! You’ve customized your podcast feed title and podcast artwork. You should see the changes in Apple Podcasts after the next refresh.

Just getting a letter from the IRS causes my heart rate to spike. Even if it’s good news, I still don’t like the experience.

Glad to see that they’re still making these.

I guess I’m building shelves this afternoon.

Email aliases on your own domain are amazing.

Just a month until my son starts school. So much to get done! 🎓

Moon Landing

Capture my son’s mind,

He really likes Neil. A friend.

Growing scientist?

“Daddy, Neil Armstrong has never been to the moon before. Do you think he’s afraid?” - My 5 year old after watching the Apollo 11 launch scene.

Apollo 11. 🍿

Happy Moon Day! 🌖 🇺🇸

Push Mower

Mowed the lawn at church.

Had to use a push mower.

What a punishment!

Just placed my first Field Notes order.

My kids are loving the fruits of summer. 🍓🍉🍑

When It Comes to Taxes, Sometimes It Pays to Say ‘I Don’t’ - WSJ

But they aren’t married and say one reason is taxes.

Dumb.

Overdue Car Wash

Three weeks with no wash,

Plenty of dust, dirt, and bugs.

Repeat every week.

Mussels at home is about $2.50 per plate. Economical eating right there.

I believe that I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in 8th grade, but I’ve never read the full Chronicles of Narnia. I thought it would be a good series to go through with them, and this book was a delight.

Well crafted, easy to follow, and distinctly beautiful. Imagining the creation of the world being done through the a song was really beautiful. The genius of C.S. Lewis really shone through.

The children loved the book and even asked for the next story to be one that has, “the talking lion.”

Would I recommend: YES

ISBN: 978-0060234973

Outside Toys

New toys to play with,

Running all over the yard.

Need new storage things.

Currently reading: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis 📚

I’ve settled on using OpenDNS for network content filtering with iOS parental controls for redundancy. Hard work to keep the Internet safe for the kids.

My new default activity when I’m waiting (car mechanic, kids activities, etc) is reading. Much more enjoyable than mindlessly surfing on my phone.

El Chapo Sentenced to Life in U.S. Prison - WSJ

Mr. Guzmán spoke at length to the judge for the first time since his extradition in 2017. He expressed no remorse for his crimes and instead spent most of his statement comparing his conditions of confinement to torture…

Rich.

The kids and I go outside to play with some new toys.

The product development team over at Walmart has some incredible product innovations on their fruit tray.

5 Ways to Get Around Parental Controls on the Internet - wikiHow

Though your first choice should always be to talk to your parents about having the controls lifted, there are a few ways to bypass parental controls

Wow.