Weekly review cw 14

Registration for the IronRace in the Harz Mountains

Last year, I went to the Hot Foot Run in Cologne with a few friends. It's a 10 km obstacle course fun run. Unfortunately, I suffered a foot injury in the summer of 2024 and had to compete in Cologne without any training. In glorious sunshine, it ended up being a strenuous run.

This year, I won't be able to do it without training – I'll be completing the 12 km course at the IronRace Harz – Downhill – Cross. A fitting video popped up on my YouTube recommendation last Sunday: Asian David Goggins. Videos like that motivate me.

Doing the entire 12 miles (approx. 19 km) from day one seemed too ambitious. I've scaled back my training plan a bit:

• Monday 11 km run
• Tuesday 11 km run (with sore muscles from the day before – that was a tough battle)
• Wednesday I went to the gym so I could play my table tennis match that evening. The break didn't help; I played miserably.
• Thursday 15 km run (my battery was drained entirely afterward – respect to Asian Goggins for running 19 km from day 1)
• Friday I went to the gym because I had another match that evening
• Saturday 15 km run
• Sunday All-day table tennis tournament

In addition to the exercise plan, I started eating more mindfully and cutting out sweets. I ran in the evening before dinner. My stomach growled while I was running, and I had to concentrate hard to avoid thinking about pizza, burgers, and the like.

Sociabli

Earlier this week, we completed the implementation of the new "Connections" feature for Sociabli. We set up an app on Mastodon, and the user grants us access. We work with the API token for future access in the workflows. This also provides us with access to the content of more strictly configured Mastodon instances where our old approach didn't work.

We wanted a similar approach with the Bluesky connection but needed logic to repeat the authorization after 60 days because the token expires. To keep the customization smaller, we stuck with the Bluesky handle and the app password.

As a new feature, the two connections are combined into a "workflow." One connection serves as the source, the other as the destination. With this architecture, we can provide workflows in any combination in the future—e.g., Mastodon → Mastodon or Bluesky → Mastodon.

Once the project was complete, we needed to inform our existing beta users without using a paid service like SendGrid or MailGun. And manually sending emails to almost 100 users wasn't an option. Our salvation came from the email program Thunderbird with the Mail-Merge plug-in.

Server Side Stories

Maintaining the Sociabli focus, I released a new episode of my podcast Server Side Stories this week. It's about the experiences and history surrounding the Sociabli launch. Maurice and I elaborate on its development and our challenges – listen for yourself.

Walk and Telcos

A few coincidences converged this week, prompting me to combine my conference calls with a walk. The result was fantastic. Not only was I relaxed and able to enjoy the conferences, but I was also more creative and alert during the calls.

It won't be possible to attend every conference while walking. However, it will undoubtedly be feasible for many. If the combination of not having to take notes and sunshine allows, I'll continue to try this approach.