Andre Franca's Blog

CMS

Migrating from WriteFreely to Ghost CMS

I’m starting to think I’ve become a professional digital nomad, except the "nomad" part is my blog. Last October I proudly announced my escape from Hugo to WriteFreely, bragging about finally finding a platform that let my words breathe. Fast forward a month and a half,

Blogging

A Quick Word on F1 2025 Championship Battle

McLaren is definitely letting Max Verstappen dream. Since I started following F1, this is the first time I've seen a team so dominant do absolutely everything in its power to lose the drivers’ championship. With Verstappen’s recent win in Qatar - thanks to yet another absurd mistake

Blogging

Black Friday

I set out to write a rant on Black Friday, exposing how coordinated discounts turn shopping into a manufactured frenzy. The day feels engineered to lure us into buying things we don’t need, all while our wallets shrink. Months before the event, algorithms scrape our browsing histories, abandoned carts,

Blogging

Thanksgiving Reflection

Thanksgiving always nudges me toward gratitude in places I didn’t expect. This year, the surprise guest at my table is the web, not the sprawling, algorithm‑driven beast we all complain about, but the tiny alcoves where real people still write, share, and actually listen. Since I launched my

Blogging Featured

Why 90s Movies Feel More Alive Than Anything on Netflix

I was rewatching The Silence of the Lambs the other night, and something hit me hard. This movie, made in 1991, feels more alive, more gripping, more real than most things coming out today. And it got me thinking: why do 80s and 90s movies seem so much better than

Blogging

Femismo e Autofagismo

A cena que rolou no programa Fim de Papo da UOL é quase uma comédia pronta. Juca Kfouri fez um comentário sugerindo que a cobertura jornalística de celebridades como Virginia deveria ser feita por jornalistas mulheres, e o circo pegou fogo. A apresentadora Domitila Becker pediu um minuto de silêncio

Blogging

RE: Why Do You Need Big Tech for Your SSG?

The recent Cloudflare outage sparked an interesting talk in the small web community. I wrote about the fragile architecture we've built, where a single configuration file brought down half the internet. Kev Quirk responded with a compelling argument: why rely on big tech at all? Just spin up

Blogging

Why I Write in Public

I keep writing in public, even when it sometimes feels like standing naked in a crowded room. There's something terrifying about hitting the "publish button", knowing that anyone can read, judge, or misinterpret what I've written. Yet here I am, still doing it. When

Blogging Featured

The Fragile Web We Built

Today, I was in the middle of writing a blog post when things suddenly stopped making sense. I refreshed the page for a quick reference, and instead of loading, it just… hung. At first, I assumed I had messed something up as usual, maybe a DNS thing... A couple of

Blogging

Fatherhood in the Age of Screens

The other day, my son looked up at me while I was scrolling through my phone and asked, "Daddy, are you working or playing?" I froze. The question wasn't accusatory, just curious, but it cut through every rationalization I had been making about my screen time.

Blogging

Minimalismo Digital

Há algum tempo observo e reflito sobre a minha relação com a tecnologia. Na verdade, este foi/é um processo gradual de perceber o quanto certas ferramentas digitais ocupam espaço mental sem oferecer valor proporcional em troca. E essa percepção me levou a explorar o que muitos chamam de minimalismo

Blogging Featured

Small Web, Big Voice

Why to maintain a blog in 2025? While the digital landscape continues to consolidate around many platforms, each promising reach and engagement and the holy grail of virality, some people still choose to write on their own little corner of the web. They update their domains, fiddle with their CSS,

Blogging

When Technology Serves (Not Controls)

Have you ever asked yourself about the difference between technology that works for you and technology that quietly works against you? It's not always obvious at first. A tool can seem helpful, even essential, until you realize you've handed over more control than you meant to.

Blogging

COP 30: Um Vexame Global

A COP 30 chegou a Belém carregando promessas grandiosas de sustentabilidade e compromisso climático, mas para por aí. Antes mesmo dos líderes mundiais discursarem sobre redução de emissões e proteção da Amazônia, a cidade paraense se transformara num palco de contradições tão gritantes que até o mais otimista dos ambientalistas

Technology

Thoughts on Webapps

I've been thinking about webapps lately, especially as I watch the endless cycle of software updates, permission requests, and the nagging feeling that every binary I download might be doing something I didn't agree to in the background. The browser has become, almost by accident, one

Blogging Featured

Curating the Web

There's something curiously nostalgic about maintaining a blogroll these days. It's like tending a garden in a world where everyone consumes ultra-processed food delivered by algorithmic drones. While Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok feeds push content at you based on what you theoretically want to see, a

Blogging

When Activism Excludes...

In recent years, movements like "woke" culture, certain racialist groups, and parts of LGBT activism have gained significant influence in our cultural and political conversations. These movements started from real struggles against discrimination and violence - causes that genuinely mattered. But somewhere along the way, many of them

Blogging

Same Blog, New Domain

It's been a while since I've shared some behind-the-scenes updates here, and today I have an important one. After much thought and preparation, I've decided to move this website from abf.li to a new home at afranca.com.br This wasn't

Blogging

Por Que Precisamos de Mais Operações Contra o Terror das Facções?

Vivemos tempos em que as palavras se tornaram mais importantes do que os fatos, tempos em que a narrativa escolhida importa mais do que a realidade vivida por milhões de brasileiros que acordam e dormem ao som de tiros, que calculam rotas para evitar áreas de confronto, que enterram parentes

Blogging

A President's Moral Collapse

I've reached a point where I can no longer stomach the kind of intellectual dishonesty that passes for political discourse in Brazil. When President Lula stood in Jakarta and declared that drug traffickers are "victims of users", he didn't just make a political gaffe

Blogging

I've Migrated to WriteFreely

I would like to announce that this blog has migrated from Hugo to WriteFreely! This change brings a more streamlined writing and reading experience with less distraction while maintaining all the content. What's Changed The blog is now powered by WriteFreely, a minimalist, federated blogging platform. The new

Blogging

When Words Fail, The Right Must Rise

The past few days have delivered shocks that leave anyone who still believes in decency and basic human dignity with a sense of outrage, sorrow, and urgency. When I think about the murder of Iryna Zarutska, a young Ukrainian refugee who came to the United States hoping for safety and

Blogging

Back to the Gym: My Fitness Comeback

After 18 years away from the gym, I finally decided to return. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it became inevitable as I faced the consequences of years of a sedentary lifestyle. My body was heavier, my energy levels were low, and simple daily activities started to feel like

Technology

[Update] Thoughts on Sveltia-CMS

This is a quick update on Sveltia CMS. I recently shared my thoughts on it, and a few days later, the dev team released version 0.70.0, which now officially supports mobile devices! 📱 This update has made my life easier. I can review and update content right from my

Blogging

Thoughts on Fosstodon Moderation Controversy

In recent days, Fosstodon (a Mastodon instance) has become an example of how even well-intentioned communities can go sideways when communication breaks down and everyone starts shouting past each other. I've been following the drama with a mix of frustration and disappointment. At the center of the discussion