Herb Bowie's Blog From the Desk of H. Bowie https://hbowie.net/blog/atom.xml 2026-08-14T14:54:41Z Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Reason to Rock Refresh Published https://hbowie.net/blog/reason-to-rock-refresh-published 2026-08-14T12:00:00Z 2026-08-14T14:54:07Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ My venerable Reason to Rock web book has had a refresh. Now a quarter of a century old, the new look is a bit more streamlined and modern. And all produced directly out of Notenik, via the Export as Web Site function, with all content converted from Textile to Markdown.

www.reasontorock.com

#Notenik #Songs #Web

]]> Released Notenik Version 19.5.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-19-5-0 2026-08-12T12:00:00Z 2026-08-14T14:54:25Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Added the ability to link from one Note to another using a field, plus the generation of redirects, plus auto-linking to available favicon files.

notenik.app/kb/version-19.5.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Released Notenik Version 19.4.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-19-4-0 2026-07-29T12:00:00Z 2026-08-01T14:55:54Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Includes a few nice refinements, including the ability to turn off alternating row colors on the List tab.

notenik.app/kb/version-19.4.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> First Edition of Notenik News is Out! https://hbowie.net/blog/first-edition-of-notenik-news-is-out- 2026-07-26T12:00:00Z 2026-07-26T19:59:41Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ I’m starting a new email newsletter about all things Notenik. First edition available now. If you’re interested, don’t forget to subscribe at news.notenik.app!

news.notenik.app/archive/volume-1-issue-1-text-editor-opt...

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Released Notenik Version 19.3.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-19-3-0 2026-07-16T12:00:00Z 2026-07-17T18:53:51Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Added a new setting to allow the user to choose how to handle a note/collection reload after using one of the Text Edit functions to edit a note/template in an external text editor. Plus some other cool enhancements.

notenik.app/kb/version-19.3.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> It's Time for the New Centrists https://hbowie.net/blog/its-time-for-the-new-centrists 2026-07-02T12:00:00Z 2026-07-02T16:36:42Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ We need the New Centrists to come forward, and rally around these twelve tenets.

hbowie.net/writings/its-time-for-the-new-centrists.html

#Culture #Politics

]]> Released Notenik Version 19.2.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-19-2-0 2026-06-29T12:00:00Z 2026-07-01T15:45:32Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ A few small fixes and enhancements, including Markdown support for embedded audio and video files.

notenik.app/kb/version-19.2.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published "Our Cultural Confusion" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-our-cultural-confusion 2026-05-01T12:00:00Z 2026-05-01T16:56:02Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Our current confusions about culture are causing several significant problems for modern human society. Let’s take a quick but insightful look at a number of related topics.

hbowie.net/writings/our-cultural-confusion.html

#Culture

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.9.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-18-9-0 2026-04-27T12:00:00Z 2026-04-28T16:18:02Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Added a new Image Layout field; Fixed a Folder exclusion bug; Documented a new Use Case for Presenting with Notenik; Added a new Nav Slug that can be used to access navigational info within a Merge Template; Fixed optional YAML representation of Wiki Links and Backlinks; Provided a new option to choose a desired text editor from a curated list.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.9.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.8.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-18-8-0 2026-04-05T12:00:00Z 2026-04-28T15:42:15Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Improved Notenik app icon to better support dark, clear and tinted styles; default Tahoe menu item images have been restored; added support for smart quotes in titles; additional slide styling for presentation display mode; added a toggle to actually present a presentation; made a few default CSS styling improvements.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.8.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.7.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-18-7-0 2026-03-24T12:00:00Z 2026-03-25T17:19:03Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Massaged the title parser a bit more to respect embedded HTML line breaks, but mostly this release gets Notenik a little bit closer to being useful for preparing and delivering a presentation (aka “slide deck”).

notenik.app/kb/version-18.7.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published "On The Passing of Paul Ehrlich" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-on-the-passing-of-paul-ehrlich 2026-03-21T12:00:00Z 2026-03-21T23:48:14Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ For some he seemed to be a hero, while others considered him to be a demon. Let’s dive below the surface to see if we can unearth a more nuanced view.

hbowie.net/writings/on-the-passing-of-paul-ehrlich.html

#Population

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.6.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-18-6-0 2026-03-08T12:00:00Z 2026-03-08T22:36:09Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Added an optional menu bar extra (for the right side of the menu bar); fixed limited Markdown parsing of the Title field to leave underscores within words undisturbed.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.6.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published "Why AI is Different" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-why-ai-is-different 2026-03-05T12:00:00Z 2026-03-05T18:33:18Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Eight ways in which AI is different from prior tech advances. My most surprising conclusion: “AI is effectively a societal regression from information agriculture to information foraging.”

hbowie.net/writings/why-ai-is-different.html

#Ai #Tech

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.5.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-18-5-0 2026-02-23T12:00:00Z 2026-03-08T22:26:51Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Fixed an image-related bug in the Web Book Export as Site function; Eliminated unnecessary image icons in menu items; Added option for resolving relative wiki links when using the Share with Options function; Refinement of styling handling in note titles; Refinement of file naming to accommodate some meaningful punctuation characters.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.5.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published The Value of Autonomy https://hbowie.net/blog/published-the-value-of-autonomy 2026-02-23T12:00:00Z 2026-03-04T20:48:40Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ I think we all understand instinctively why some degree of autonomy is important to every human: freedom feels good, and constraints often feel stifling and restrictive. But why is autonomy important to our species? Why, in other words, did we humans evolve to value autonomy, and to so regularly exercise it?

abouthumans.net/the-value-of-autonomy.html

#Humanism

]]> Published An Appreciation for The Thin Man https://hbowie.net/blog/published-an-appreciation-for-the-thin-man 2026-02-23T12:00:00Z 2026-02-23T23:27:11Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ In my judgment, this is one of those rare cases where the film is actually better than the book, without sacrificing much of value from the written text. I’ve watched the film repeatedly over the years and my appreciation for it has only grown with each viewing.

hbowie.net/writings/an-appreciation-for-the-thin-man.html

#Film

]]> Finished reading *Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope* by Sarah Bakewell https://hbowie.net/blog/finished-reading-humanly-possible-by-sarah-bakewell 2026-02-12T12:00:00Z 2026-02-12T18:18:50Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ An informative, enlightening and interesting account of the history of humanistic thought, introducing us to many of the significant figures originally giving voice to such ideas.

rating: ★★★★★

literatibookstore.com/book/9780735223394

#Books #Humanism

]]> Published "My Education in Racial Superiority" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-my-education-in-racial-superiority 2026-02-11T12:00:00Z 2026-02-11T17:02:41Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ I am, to all appearances, white, and my ancestry, as far as it can be determined, is mostly European.

But please don’t hold that against me.

hbowie.net/writings/my-education-in-racial-superiority.html

#Humanism #Race

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.4.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-18-4-0 2026-02-10T12:00:00Z 2026-02-10T19:27:04Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Provided a way to use subfolders, but specify some that should not be treated as Notenik collections (in response to a user request). Plus some other minor refinements.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.4.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

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