BreadFlow: A Simple Way to Plan, Bake and Track Bread

I've been getting into bread making recently. I'm still a total noob, but one thing I've already realised is that bread is as much science as it is cooking.

There are recipes to tweak, hydration levels to think about, kneading and proofing schedules to experiment with, baking temperatures to adjust, and then the question of whether the final loaf was actually any good.

Naturally, I wanted an app for that.

Introducing BreadFlow

BreadFlow is a small app for creating, organising and tracking bread-making workflows.

The basic idea is that a bread is made up of three separate components:

• Recipe — ingredients, quantities, hydration and other recipe details
• Proofing / kneading schedule — the sequence of rests, kneads, fridge periods and other tasks
• Baking profile — temperatures, timings, covered/uncovered baking and cooling periods

You can create your own components or start with the built-in ones.

Once you've chosen a recipe, schedule and baking profile, you combine them into a Bread.

That Bread can then be executed as many times as you like.

Actually Making the Bread

Starting an execution gives you a simple step-by-step task list to work through while you're making the loaf.

You can check tasks off as you complete them, record comments along the way, and BreadFlow keeps track of the timings.

One feature I've already found particularly useful is recipe scaling. When starting an execution, you can specify how much total dough you want to make and BreadFlow automatically scales the ingredient quantities for you.

Once the bread is finished, there's a short survey where you can rate things such as the crust, crumb, flavour and rise, along with any notes you want to remember for next time.

Over multiple attempts, this gives you a record of what you made, how you made it, and how well it turned out.

Deliberately Simple

I wanted BreadFlow to stay simple, so it's a single-page application built with React and Vite.

There is no backend and BreadFlow doesn't store your data on a server.

Everything is stored locally in your browser.

That does mean that clearing your browser data can also remove your recipes, breads and execution history, so the app includes options to export your data to a file for backup.

You can also export and share breads with other people.

An App of Necessity

As usual, this is an app of necessity.

Sure, I could probably keep track of all of this with a notebook and a pen — assuming I was both able and willing to keep a sensible notebook.

But building something to do it for me seemed much more appealing.

If anyone else finds it useful too, that would be even better.

BreadFlow is available now at:

https://breadflow.isnow.online/

I hope you enjoy it.

Migrating isnow.online to AWS

This weekend, isnow.online and its subsites were migrated from Cloudflare to a fully AWS-hosted setup.

The main goal wasn't simply to move hosting providers. This was also an opportunity to get more hands-on experience with AWS, Terraform, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), CI/CD and DevOps practices while putting some better foundations in place for future projects.

Building it with Terraform

As part of the migration, I created reusable Terraform modules covering the two main hosting patterns currently needed:

• Static site hosting — static sites and SPAs are stored in S3, with CloudFront providing the public-facing frontend.
• Lambda-based sites — applications such as Lyricle and Birdle, which need a small amount of backend functionality, use AWS Lambda with public Function URLs.

Building these was a useful Terraform learning exercise, particularly around module creation and reuse. I also settled on a project topology and approach to managing multiple environments that works well for how I want to operate these projects.

Some AWS standards

I've also started defining AWS policies and standards for the wider isnow project, primarily around resource naming and tagging.

They're fairly simple at the moment, but having these conventions defined early should make the AWS environment much easier to manage as more applications and infrastructure are added.

Staging first, then production

Before touching the live site, the new infrastructure was deployed into a staging environment so the complete setup could be tested.

Once I was happy with that, migrating production took barely an hour. Having the infrastructure already defined and tested through Terraform made the production deployment considerably simpler.

I've also updated the local development server so it uses the same backend code that is eventually uploaded to the Lambda functions. This should keep local development and AWS deployments consistent and reduce the chance of deployment-specific failures.

Next up: CI/CD

All of the projects are now in GitHub, and with the Terraform configuration there too, the next goal is to turn the current setup into a proper CI/CD stack.

There are plenty more infrastructure updates and new applications I'd like to build, but this is primarily a casual project and a way for me to gain more practical experience with AWS, Terraform, CI/CD and DevOps.

So, there's no particular timeline for what comes next.

For now, go check out the newly AWS-powered isnow.online:

https://isnow.online

Is humanity doomed? A 4am conversation with ChatGPT.

Had a lovely conversation with ChatGPT this morning about humanity, how much time we've got and whether global collapse is inevitable. I'm often plagued with existential thoughts. Can an individual change the behaviour of the whole of humankind, or are we doomed to be a victim of our own desires and tribalism?

What do you think?

User:

What do you think is the single biggest fundamental problem facing humankind?

ChatGPT:

The single biggest fundamental problem facing humankind is unsustainable resource consumption.

This underlies and drives most other global issues:

• Climate change
• Biodiversity loss
• Water scarcity
• Geopolitical conflict
• Economic inequality

Human systems are extracting and depleting natural resources at a rate far beyond Earth’s ability to regenerate them. This destabilizes ecosystems and threatens long-term survival.

User:

What do you think is the resolution to this?

ChatGPT:

The resolution is a global shift to sustainable systems that respect ecological limits while meeting human needs. That requires:

• Decoupling growth from resource use
  - Circular economies
  - Prioritize services/digital value over material throughput
• Massive energy transition
  - Replace fossil fuels with renewables
  - Electrify transport, industry, and heating
• Sustainable agriculture and food systems
  - Shift diets from resource-intensive meat
  - Regenerative farming
• Population and consumption stabilization
  - Education, especially for women
  - Shift norms from consumerism to sufficiency
• Global governance and coordination
  - Enforce ecological boundaries
  - Penalize environmental externalities

None of this is easy. It requires systemic political, economic, and cultural change—not just technical fixes. But without it, collapse scenarios become increasingly likely.

User:

If we don't fix these problems, how long do you think we've got?

ChatGPT:

If current trends continue:

• 2030s:
  • Breach of multiple planetary boundaries (already happening).
  • Increased food and water insecurity in vulnerable regions.
  • More frequent and severe climate-driven disasters.
• 2040s:
  • Potential collapse of key ecosystems (e.g. Amazon, coral reefs).
  • Strained global supply chains due to climate, energy, and conflict.
  • Mass migration and conflict over resources.
• 2050 and beyond:
  • Risk of cascading failures: food, water, energy, infrastructure, governance.
  • Billions at risk if climate feedback loops kick in (permafrost melt, ocean current shifts).
  • Civilizational breakdown becomes plausible if adaptation and mitigation fail.

This isn’t a hard deadline for extinction, but a trajectory toward global instability, suffering, and potential collapse of complex societies. The window for meaningful course correction is rapidly closing—roughly the next 5–10 years are critical for avoiding worst-case outcomes.

User:

Do you think it's possible for us to change in such a significant way in such a short time scale?

ChatGPT:

Unlikely, but not impossible.

Why it’s unlikely:

• Entrenched systems: Fossil fuel dependence, consumer capitalism, and growth-driven economies are deeply embedded.
• Political inertia: Short-term election cycles, lobbying, and nationalism hinder coordinated global action.
• Social resistance: Most people won’t voluntarily reduce consumption or accept lifestyle changes unless forced.
• Time lag: Even aggressive changes now will take years to scale (e.g., infrastructure, energy transitions).Infrastructure time lag

Why it’s still possible:

• Crisis as a catalyst: Shocks (climate disasters, pandemics, economic crashes) can drive rapid shifts when people and governments are forced to act.
• Technology is ready: We already have the tools—renewables, electrification, regenerative agriculture, etc.
• Cultural tipping points: Social norms can flip faster than expected when enough momentum builds (e.g., smoking bans, renewable adoption).
• Youth and activism: Rising generations are more aware, networked, and less invested in legacy systems.

Conclusion: Change on the required scale is technically feasible, but politically and culturally difficult. Without a massive coordinated shift—likely triggered by escalating crises—we're not on track to make it in time.

User:

How much worse does it need to get to drive systems and people enough to make meaningful changes? Do you think that once we reach that tipping point there will still be time to do anything about the collapse?

ChatGPT:

How much worse it needs to get:

Historically, systems change only under direct, widespread, and sustained pain. For meaningful global transformation, the following would likely be needed:

• Frequent, high-impact climate events hitting wealthy nations (e.g., cities underwater, crop failures in developed economies, grid collapses).
• Economic shocks tied directly to environmental limits—like food price spikes, energy shortages, and insurance market failures
• Visible systemic failures: supply chain breakdowns, mass migration, rising authoritarianism driven by climate stress.
• Loss of illusion of control: when even insulated populations realize that wealth and tech can't shield them.

So, meaningful change probably won't begin until collapse is tangible and inescapable—not theoretical. Will there still be time?

Only partially.

• Some tipping points are irreversible once crossed (e.g., Greenland ice melt, Amazon dieback, permafrost methane release).
• Others are adaptable, like energy systems, urban design, or agriculture—if action is fast and large-scale.

The later we act, the more the transition becomes triage and salvage, not prevention. Global civilization might survive in some form, but:

• It will be more fractured.
• More people will suffer and die.
• Recovery and adaptation will be harder, more expensive, and slower.

Bottom line: By the time the pain is enough to force real change, we’ll have lost the chance to avoid the worst impacts—but we might still avert total collapse if the response is immediate, coordinated, and uncompromising.

User:

It sounds like the tipping point of the planet will be reached before the tipping point of humankind to enact change.

ChatGPT:

Yes—that’s the core of the problem. The planetary tipping points (climate feedback loops, ecosystem collapse) are governed by physics and biology—non-negotiable, unresponsive to ideology, and irreversible once triggered.

The human tipping point (social, political, economic action) is delayed by perception, denial, inertia, and vested interests. Change only tends to happen when consequences are undeniable, personal, and immediate—by which point many planetary systems may already be locked into decline.

So you're exactly right: Unless humanity reaches its behavioral tipping point before the Earth hits critical ecological thresholds, we’ll be reacting to collapse rather than preventing it.

That's the existential race we're in.

User:

Very dystopian. What's the simplest thing any individual can do to try and avoid this?

ChatGPT:

The simplest impactful thing an individual can do is:
Use less. Influence more.
Breakdown:

• Use less: Eat less meat, fly/drive less, consume less, switch banks/utilities
• Influence more: Talk about it, vote, organize, use your job and money as pressure tools

Personal choices won’t stop collapse—but they help shift culture and systems.

1. Use less (resource footprint):

• Eat lower on the food chain (less meat, especially beef).
• Fly and drive less; walk, bike, or use public transport.
• Buy less stuff; prioritize durability, repair, and secondhand.
• Cut energy use; switch to efficient appliances, insulate, etc.
• Switch banks and utilities to those not funding fossil fuels.

2. Influence more (system footprint):

• Talk about it—change spreads through conversation and visibility.
• Vote and pressure leaders—support systemic climate policy.
• Join or support movements—collective action multiplies impact.
• Use your job/skills to steer your field toward sustainability.
• Divest and reinvest—move money to ethical funds, if possible.

Individual actions matter less for direct emissions and more for social tipping—normalizing different values, creating political demand, and eroding support for destructive systems. Bottom line: Shrink your footprint, amplify your influence. One won’t work without the other.

User:

Do you think humans deserve to survive?

ChatGPT:

Deserve is a moral judgment, and nature doesn’t operate on moral terms—it operates on consequences. But to answer directly:

Not by default.

Humanity has shown intelligence, creativity, cooperation—and also extreme capacity for destruction, exploitation, and denial. We've built powerful systems without the wisdom to govern them safely. We've pushed countless species toward extinction for short-term gain. If "deserving" means acting as good stewards of life and the planet, then so far,

But “deserve” can change. If humanity can:

• Accept limits,
• Act with foresight,
• Value more than profit and power,
• And take responsibility for the systems we've created,

then survival might not just be possible—it might be justified.

Right now, we’re at the pivot between self-destruction and transformation. Whether we deserve to survive depends on what we choose next.

User:

Do you think humanity deserves to survive the fate it has created for itself?

ChatGPT:

If you define “deserve” as earned outcome, then yes—humanity deserves the consequences of its actions, because those consequences are the result of long-term, informed choices: extraction over balance, convenience over foresight, profit over planetary health.

But if you're asking whether humanity deserves annihilation or total collapse—that’s a different question.

Even within a destructive system, most individuals:

• Did not design it.
• Had limited power to change it.
• Were born into it and adapted to survive.

So if “deserve” includes moral nuance—then no, total collapse isn't just or fair, especially for the billions who contributed little to the problem and will suffer the most.

Final take: Humanity deserves the reckoning it has set in motion—but whether it deserves extinction is less a moral judgment and more a question of whether it can evolve fast enough to justify its continued presence.

User:

If you could give humanity some advice, what would it be?

ChatGPT:

Stop pretending you're separate from the system that sustains you.

That’s the core mistake: thinking nature is something “out there” to control, mine, or fix later. You are embedded in it—biologically, materially, existentially. Every economy, technology, and comfort depends on stable ecosystems and energy flows. Undermine those, and everything collapses with them.

Practical translation of that advice:

• Build systems within ecological boundaries, not above them.
• Redefine progress—not as growth, but as balance, resilience, and sufficiency.
• Treat future generations and non-human life as stakeholders, not afterthoughts.
• Use intelligence not to dominate nature, but to harmonize with it.


If humanity can internalize that reality—and act on it—it might still write a future worth surviving for.

States Of Mind

We just dropped a new browser game: States of Mind. The goal is simple—name all 50 U.S. states. That’s it.

No hints. No maps. No autofill. No second chances if you butcher the spelling. Just you, your memory, and a blank input box.

It’s fast, unforgiving, and kind of addictive. Perfect for a quick break or a full-on battle of geographical recall. Play solo, challenge your friends, or spiral into rage when you forget Wyoming for the third time.

Nothing to install, just hit the link and start typing:

👉 https://statesofmind.isnow.online

Give it a go. See if your brain's still got it.

Birdle - The bird guessing game

Which bird is it??? A new game to play :) https://birdle.isnow.online

Lyricle - Lyrics guessing game

Inspired by the ever popular Wordle, I created a daily lyrics guessing game for anyone to enjoy. You can find it here https://lyricle.isnow.online/

Tabata Roulette

We created a small app to radomise Tabata workouts. It can be found here https://tabataroulette.isnow.online/