New Mermaid Test

2026-02-04 Test Mermaid Bob Ossler

Using Mermaid Markdown Syntax in Hugo

I am trying out the newest version of Mermaid, and also a new way to set it up within Hugo. Instead of the shortcode I setup from the previous article, I have created a code block render hook, as found in the Hugo documentation on the Hugo Website.

I have written a markdown code block of type Mermaid, to render the diagram found below…

Sequence Diagram

  
---
config:
  theme: 'base'
  themeVariables:
    darkMode: true
    background: '#f4f4f4'
    primaryColor: '#ccc4dd'
    primaryTextColor: '#aa2825'
---
sequenceDiagram
participant Alice
  participant Bob
  Alice->>John: Hello John, how are you?
  loop Healthcheck
    John->>John: Fight against hypochondria
  end
  Note right of John: Rational thoughts <br/>prevail!
  John-->>Alice: Great!
  John->>Bob: How about you?
  Bob-->>John: Jolly good!

Click the pencil icon next to the post to see the render

Kill Me Fast

2026-01-07 Music Bob Ossler

I’ve tried
But I still can’t read your mind
Wonder if there was a sign
That somehow slipped me by

If you’re right at the edge or you’ve found someone else
Let me know
Oh

Tell me when it’s over
Don’t make me ask
Come a little closer
And break me like glass
If you’re planning to go, just don’t leave any hope
That you’re ever coming back
Tell me when it’s over
Kill me quick, kill me fast
Continue reading

Mayday

2026-01-05 Music Bob Ossler

Welcome to the end, just take a number
Just get used to the influence you’re under
It’s the same old story of
Wanting it all but it’s never enough
The more you know, you know, you know nothing

We walk like dead people who haven’t died yet
We ride like passengers without a pilot
We be losing our minds, but we all try to hide it
It’s hard to keep fighting when you’re barely surviving
Continue reading

2025 Year in Review

2026-01-02 Post Bob Ossler

2025 the year in review

It’s been a long time since I have posted anything. 2026 has just started and I thought it would be a good time to start my blog/journal anew. I give all credit for this inspiration to an amazing, beautiful, talented woman I met in 2025. Let’s call her Nat (she might kill me, but she will get the joke). We met in the most unlikely of places, but it doesn’t matter. She is smart, creative, and inspires me. We are kindred spirits. I plan to start with a cadence of one post per week, gradually increasing that as I get into a rhythm. My first post will be a summary of the year 2025…

Mermaid Test

2023-07-01 Test Mermaid Bob Ossler

Using Mermaid in Hugo

I am trying out the mermaid markdown-like syntax for creating code diagrams, graphs, and pie charts.

Graph L-R

--- config: theme: 'base' themeVariables: darkMode: false background: '#f4f4f4' primaryColor: '#ccc4dd' primaryTextColor: '#aa2825' lineColor: '#ccc' --- graph LR; Root-->A & B & C A-->A1-->A2--->A3 B-->B1-->B2-->B3 C--->C1-->C2-->C3

Graph Top-Down

--- config: theme: 'base' themeVariables: darkMode: false background: '#f4f4f4' primaryColor: '#ccc4dd' primaryTextColor: '#aa2825' lineColor: '#ccc' --- graph TD; A-->B; A-->C; B-->D; C-->D;

Pie Chart

--- config: theme: 'base' themeVariables: darkMode: false background: '#f4f4f4' primaryColor: '#ccc4dd' primaryTextColor: '#aa2825' lineColor: '#ccc' --- pie title Linux Distributions "Debian":42.96 "Ubuntu":50.05 "Arch":10.01 "CentOS":5

Flowchart

--- config: theme: 'base' themeVariables: darkMode: false background: '#f4f4f4' primaryColor: '#ccc4dd' primaryTextColor: '#aa2825' lineColor: '#ccc' --- flowchart TD; A[Choose OS] --> B{Do you want?} B -- Yes --> C[UNIX or Windows] C -- Windows --> D[Good Luck!] C -- UNIX --> E{Linux or macOS} E -- Linux --> G{Good Choice!} E -- macOS --> H{apple.com} B -- No ---> F[End]

And that’s only a few examples of what can be done using mermaid. I pulled these examples out of an article I read in Ultimate Linux Projects, Issue 2, written by Mihalis Tsoukalos. I had to make several corrections to the mermaid syntax provided by the author; possibly because of mermaid version changes.

Balloons

2022-10-18 Image Bob Ossler

Time to start adding a few more of my photos. This one is an older shot from North Carolina. We attended the Hot-Air Balloon Festival in Statesville and this is one of my favorites. Click on the image to enlarge.

Click Continue to see image

Comments Feature Added

2022-10-07 Code Bob Ossler

New feature

I have added a new commenting system using Utterances through GitHub. This is an experimanetal feature for me since I am not very active, nor do I “promote” my site. This is a test to see how I like it, and to see how well it works.

I have seen it used on other sites and it has been reported to be pretty good at filtering out spam & nonsense. My chosen theme, Bilberry-Hugo-Theme, supports it out of the box. I was also inspired to try it by a video I saw from Chris Titus Tech.

Capture Track Info

2022-02-22 Code Bob Ossler

SUCCESS!!! In a prior post I talked about re-discovering Internet streaming radio. I am enjoying listening to TheEL.US and I love their variety of Rock, Blues, and Metal. Their library spans decades and they play stuff you’d never hear on a corporate station.

What does this have to do with code & scripting?

Well, I use the mpv CLI tool to stream the station from a terminal. Each time the song (track) changes I get a message with the artist / title. I decided I wanted to start capturing the song info, as it’s played, to review later and get ideas for music to purchase.

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