Sven Dahlstrand Profile Photo

Sven Dahlstrand

I am an aspiring world's best uncle, co-conspirator with Sanna, and curious coder based in Jönköping, Sweden. If you spot someone hiking deep into the forest of Tiveden, that's probably me. 🌲

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    Carrot cake and fences on a fika last year. I think Sanna borrowed my phone to snap this shot while I was away fetching napkins for the spilled coffee.

    Coffe and carrot cake on a wooden table outside in, what looks like, a garden. In the background, one can catch a glimpse of a roundpole fence.
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    One of the great things about the internet is that you will always find your community, no matter how niche your interests are. I’m into programming the 33-year-old Game Boy. Seems pretty… obscure, right? Well, when I write this, 821 souls are online on the gbdev Discord. 😮

    An old handheld video game in transparent, purple plastic. A black and white maze is shown on the screen, and right below it says Game Boy Color.
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    Tranquillity for day 12.

    A blue sky and fluffy clouds reflected in the water. At the bottom of the photograph, one gets a glimpse of the cameraman, standing on a bridge, holding a smartphone.
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    This one has to pass as maroon for day 11 of the photoblogging challenge.

    A red, sorry maroon, rug against oak wood flooring.
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    During one of my adventures in Death’s Door, I stumbled upon this fella named Pothead. He is cursed by a witch, so his head is nowadays a pot with firewood underneath. Hence his name, I guess. Day 10.

    Nintendo Switch in handheld mode showing a game running. Two characters are having a conversation, a crow and a weird-looking guy with a pot as his head. Pothead says: Hello again, Beakface!
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    Yes, yes, I’ll admit. Unfortunately, today’s challenge ended up being a rush job. ☺️ Day 9: bloom.

    White flowers on a young tree blooming against a light blue sky.
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    On the eighth day, I present the union of egg, cream, spinach, psyllium husk powder, and a pinch of salt. If everything goes according to plan, this will end up as an omelet wrap.

    A spreckled green batter on a baking tray. Looks delicous, if you ask me.
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    Located on the eastern shore of Lake Vättern, you’ll find Omberg Eco Park with fascinating nature and half a dozen trails to be explored.

    We took the Ellen Key Trail and ended up at her old villa, Strand. What a view she had!

    A woman dressed for hiking, wearing a rucksack, looking out over a lake affected by a moderate breeze.
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    Matchbox silhouette on the sixth day of the photoblogging challenge.

    A plain, black box of matches with a worn-down striking surface. Featuring nothing else than the silhouette of a boy.
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    Day five. Should I be forced to write down my top three places on Earth, the forest of Tiveden would easily make the shortlist.

    Standing in a glade in front of a big rock, a pretty girl looks up at the sun beams filtered through the tree tops.
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    Day four of the photoblogging challenge: thorny. This one is still on my to-read pile, so I can’t tell you much about it other than that it looks gorgeous. 📚

    A pretty thick book, Thornhill by Pam Smy, lays on a wooden table. The cover is illustrated in black and white. The silhouette of a house with a prominent chimney on a moonlit night. A person, maybe a woman, looks out from a lit window. The title is handwritten in all caps.
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    A couple of years ago, I teamed up with a robot for experimental doodling. The paper lantern was drawn by me in Sketch, inspired by a 1912 children’s book by May Audubon Post.

    My pen plotter did the rest (guided by the human). 🦾

    This marks day three of the challenge. 📸

    Doodles of three identical red paper lanterns with a slight offset. The paper is mounted on a thin wooden stick against a black background.

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    A photo of me, taking a photo of Sanna taking a photo of both of us. Did I get that right on day two of the photoblogging challenge? 😅

    A woman standing on the deck of a ferry, taking a selfie with her phone. The camera app preview shows a man standing right behind her, taking a photo of her taking a photo of both of them.
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    I’ve put a sticker picturing myself on the back of my Joy-Con set. You know, so that I can bring the right pair back home after a night of Switch gaming with friends. 🤓

    This is day one of the May 2022 Photoblogging Challenge. Let’s see if I can keep it up.

    A pair of Joy-Con controllers with a sticker on the back featuring the head of a guy with long, brown hair, glasses, and a beard. The sticker is split in half, one for each controller.
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    The musings in Increasing the surface area of blogging by @tomcritchlow are 👌.

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    Spring is here for real! I just had coffee on a sun-drenched balcony while reading the first few chapters of Indie Microblogging by @manton. 📚

    E-book reader lying on a coffee table in the sun. The chapter title reads Uses for a microblog.
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    Today I have to watch where I type to avoid squashing my new ladybug friend. 🐞 My grandma insisted ladybugs have magical power, like the ability to predict the weather.

    Is this one telling me I should… escape?

    A cute ladybug is chilling on top of the escape key on a laptop.
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    My copy of Fungirl by Elizabeth Pich arrived the other day. It looks gorgeous and just moved up to the top of my reading pile. 📚

    Coomic book cover featuring a closeup of a very light-skinned, sweating woman. It looks like she's having a hard time. On her forehead, there's an upsidedown cross.
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    In a pinch for a birthday present? Desperate for a going away gift? Buy a pot, a cucumber, toothpicks, chocolate, and candy to make a… candy cactus?! 😅 This one was for my brother’s 44th birthday.

    A cucumber showed in a white pot filled with chocolate candy. The cucumber is decorated with white and pink mushroom-looking candies. In the background, there's a Stranger Things poster and vinyl record. The candy cactus is surrounded by natural plants.
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    If you grew up on the internet making websites, reading this lovely webcomic by Amy Wibowo will make you smile. Go read Home Sweet Homepage.

    Comic panel with three kids in front of a computer. The caption reads: A friend interrupts the music chat to show us paint shop pro and geocities on her family's computer. She shows us how to make text on fire. She shows us websites with sparkly backgrounds.
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    A new Monkey Island from Ron Gilbert! Whipped up over a weekend, apparently. Woohoo! 🏴‍☠️ grumpygamer.com

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    I just learned Dagny passed away; 109 years old. She was such an inspiration and always spreading joy. In her last blog post back in January, she wrote:

    ser fram emot att fira min 110-årsdag i maj, gärna med en liten fest

    Wherever you are, Dagny, I hope there’s a party. 🎉

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    Micro Camp 2022 is just eight hours away! 🥳 On day two, I will share a short story from my life and this one weird old trick that will make your future blog post more accessible.

    I look forward to hanging out with all of you in the chat!

    Video editing software with an open project named Micro Camp 2022. The scrubber is set to around 4 seconds, and the video preview shows a happy guy sitting at a table raising his hand in a salutation. The title is set in a playful font and reads Accessible Microblogging: A Crash Course.
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    Micro Camp 2022

    I’m stoked to be presenting at Micro Camp tomorrow, March 12. On a topic near and dear to my heart: web accessibility. This space will be updated in the future with:

    See you here in a couple of days! 👋

    Explore Web Accessibility

    My presentation is about alternative texts for, or descriptions of, images. The New York Times recently ran an article well worth reading if you want to go deeper down that specific rabbit hole. The Hidden Image Descriptions Making the Internet Accessible.

    And if you want something more hands-on, I recommend Alt-texts: The Ultimate Guide.

    I also mention screen readers: software that reads the content on a screen aloud. Used mainly by people with low or no vision, but, of course, these tools can be utilized by everyone. For example, I use a screen reader to read long articles and blog posts when my eyes are tired. They are also decent as proofreaders.

    If you own a smartphone, you probably have a screen reader. On Android, it’s called Talkback, and iOS has VoiceOver. I encourage you to play around with the feature. It may become your new favorite tool!

    Finally, if you want to learn more about web accessibility beyond alternative text, Writing for Web Accessibility is a good start.

    Video editing software with an open project named Micro Camp 2022. The scrubber is set to around 4 seconds, and the video preview shows a happy guy sitting at a table raising his hand in a salutation. The title is set in a playful font and reads Accessible Microblogging: A Crash Course.
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    The snow made a comeback.

    A pine tree dressed in snow. But, as the photo is shot from below, close to the tree trunk, some green is shown as well. Another snowy pine tree with a heavy layer of snow.
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