![\"Photo](\"/images/tanglewoodchorus.jpeg\")
For a while I’ve wanted to see if I could build a minimal ActivityPub presence for my Jekyll-built static web site. If you’re reading this in a Mastodon timeline, I guess I got it to work. (To see future posts on my site, follow blog@santry.us from your favorite Fediverse location.)
\n\nI’ve been publishing this static site to S3 alongside a little Lambda@Edge function to route requests. The ActivityPub integration I’ve done adds static things like the ActivityPub actor and outbox to Jekyll and implements an additional Lambda for the dynamic pieces: accepting follows and pushing new posts out. The follower list is a DynamoDB table with one row in it. Me. Given the audience for this site, I imagine it will remain just me for the foreseeable future.
\n\nIf you want the details — HTTP signatures, authorized fetch, and what Mastodon actually requires of a static site — ping me on hachyderm and I’ll write it up.
", "summary": "For a while I’ve wanted to see if I could build a minimal ActivityPub presence for my Jekyll-built static web site. If you’re reading this in a Mastodon timeline, I guess I got it to work. (To see future posts on my site, follow blog@santry.us from your favorite Fediverse location.)", "date_published": "2026-07-09T12:45:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2026-07-09T12:45:00-04:00", "author": { "name": "Sean Santry"}, "tags": []},{ "id": "https://seansantry.com/development/2022/12/14/split-git-nix", "url": "https://seansantry.com/development/2022/12/14/split-git-nix/", "title": "Using Multiple GitHub Accounts on a Single Machine with Nix and Home Manager", "content_html": "There’s reasonable documentation available for how to manage multiple GitHub accounts on a single machine. This can be helpful if you have one account for personal use and another for your work. I came across another guide that made some improvements over GitHub’s basic instructions but, since I’m a special snowflake, I still couldn’t get quite the setup I wanted.
\n\nHere are my goals
\n\nSetting up Nix and Home Manager are beyond the scope of this article. I’ll assume you have them already up and running. I also don’t use Nix Flakes, so if that’s your thing, best of luck!
\n\nNow, on to making it work.
\n\nWe’ll need to configure SSH a bit, so add this to your home.nix:
programs.ssh = {\n enable = true;\n\n \"*\" = {\n extraOptions = {\n AddKeysToAgent = \"yes\";\n UseKeychain = \"yes\";\n IdentitiesOnly = \"yes\";\n };\n};\nNext, create the keys
\n\nssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C \"personal@example.com\" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal\nssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C \"work@example.com\" -f ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work\nBe sure to use a nice strong (different!) password for each one when prompted. Don’t worry, we’re going to store it in the keychain so you won’t have to type this very often.
\n\nEnsure ssh-agent is running
eval \"$(ssh-agent -s)\"\nNow, add the keys. This is one of the rare times you’ll be prompted for those passwords you used for your keys.
\n\nssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal\nssh-add --apple-use-keychain ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work\nOK, now we need to tell GitHub about these keys. First, grab the public key for your personal SSH key
\n\npbcopy < ~/.ssh/ed25519_personal.pub\nThen, log into your personal GitHub account and add this new SSH key to your account.
\n\nRepeat for your work account
\n\npbcopy < ~/.ssh/ed_25519_work.pub\nWith our SSH keys in place, we now need to configure git to use the right key at the right time. We also need to use the right email address when authoring commits. In my case, all of my work repositories live under a particular GitHub Organization, so I’m going to set up a rule to use my work SSH key and work email address for all repositories in that organization. For all repositories outside that organization, I’ll use my personal SSH key and email address. To do this, we’ll need to
\n\nuser.email config to use the right email addressWe’ll accomplish this by configuring our personal SSH key and email address as the defaults, then overriding them when we’re in a work repository. Here’s our git configuration in Home Manager
\n\nprograms.git = {\n enable = true;\n userName = \"Your Name\";\n userEmail = \"personal@example.com\";\n\n extraConfig = {\n core = {\n sshCommand = \"ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_personal\";\n };\n };\n\n includes = [\n {\n contents = {\n user = {\n\t email = \"work@example.com\";\n\t};\n\n\tcore = {\n\t sshCommand = \"ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519_work\";\n };\n };\n\n condition = \"hasconfig:remote.*.url:git@github.com:WORK_ORGANIZATION/*\";\n }\n ];\n};\nThe trick here is in the includes section. Here, we specify an SSH command and email address to use instead of the default personal values. However, these work values are only used if the current repository has a git remote in WORK_ORGANIZATION. There are other conditions we could use. For example, if you keep your work repositories in a specific directory on your machine, like ~/work/ then you could use condition = \"gitdir:~/work/\";. In fact, that’s probably a better approach, since it won’t require you to jump through any hoops when initially cloning a repository from your work organization.
\n\n\nForty years ago, a 28-year-old choral conductor named John Oliver went to the managers of the Boston Symphony with a proposal. He wanted to create a permanent chorus for the orchestra.
\n
From Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR.
", "summary": "", "date_published": "2010-06-04T00:00:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2010-06-04T00:00:00-04:00", "author": { "name": "Sean Santry"}, "tags": []},{ "id": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2010/04/06/lots-of-vocal-firepower-for-mendelssohn", "url": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2010/04/06/lots-of-vocal-firepower-for-mendelssohn/", "title": "“Lots of Vocal Firepower for Mendelssohn”", "content_html": "![\"Photo](\"/images/07elijah_CA0-popup.jpeg\")
\n\n\nThe orchestra sounded fine, though it was overmatched at times by the [Tanglewood Festival Chorus].
\n
From James Oestreich’s New York Times review of Mendelssohn’s Elias at Carnegie Hall this past weekend.
", "summary": "", "date_published": "2010-04-06T00:00:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2010-04-06T00:00:00-04:00", "author": { "name": "Sean Santry"}, "tags": []},{ "id": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2009/05/04/berliozs-te-deum", "url": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2009/05/04/berliozs-te-deum/", "title": "Berlioz’s Te Deum", "content_html": "\n\n\nIn the softer, surprisingly intimate hymnal sections, [Sir Colin Davis] drew from the [Tanglewood Festival Chorus] a warm and handsomely blended tone. At the other extreme, the climaxes sounded satisfyingly full, drenching the hall with sound but never overpowering the space. Organist John Finney gave a particularly elegant introduction to the “Tibi omnes” movement, and tenor soloist Matthew Polenzani was lyrically fluid.
\n
From Jeremy Eichler’s Boston Globe review of Berlioz’s Te Deum this past weekend.
", "summary": "In the softer, surprisingly intimate hymnal sections, [Sir Colin Davis] drew from the [Tanglewood Festival Chorus] a warm and handsomely blended tone. At the other extreme, the climaxes sounded satisfyingly full, drenching the hall with sound but never overpowering the space. Organist John Finney gave a particularly elegant introduction to the “Tibi omnes” movement, and tenor soloist Matthew Polenzani was lyrically fluid.", "date_published": "2009-05-04T00:00:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2009-05-04T00:00:00-04:00", "author": { "name": "Sean Santry"}, "tags": []},{ "id": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2009/02/09/simon-boccanegra-review-from-the-boston-phoenix", "url": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2009/02/09/simon-boccanegra-review-from-the-boston-phoenix/", "title": "Simon Boccanegra Review from the Boston Phoenix", "content_html": "![\"Photo](\"https://web.archive.org/web/20121025054134im_/http://cache.thephoenix.com/secure/uploadedImages/The_Phoenix/Music/Classical/Barbara-Frittoli,-Jose-van-.jpg\")
\n\n\nThe real heroes of this performance were Levine, the orchestra, and John Oliver’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus (some 125 voices). The men in the chorus stood in the middle, so that this opera’s fundamentally dark undercurrent was smack in the center, surrounded by the women’s radiant voices. Singing as usual without scores, and with even more than usual precision and character, the TFC also exploded into convincing angry-mob cacophony.
\n
From Lloyd Schwartz’s Boston Phoenix review of Verdi’s opera Simon Boccanegra.
", "summary": "", "date_published": "2009-02-09T00:00:00-05:00", "date_modified": "2009-02-09T00:00:00-05:00", "author": { "name": "Sean Santry"}, "tags": []},{ "id": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2008/12/10/the-standout-performers-of-the-evening", "url": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2008/12/10/the-standout-performers-of-the-evening/", "title": "“The standout performers of the evening”", "content_html": "\n\n\nThroughout the evening, the hundred-member [Tanglewood Festival Chorus] sang with a range of color, an agility and an attention to text and detail that any soloist would envy. The roaring ovation that greeted them at the conclusion of the performance confirmed their triumph.
\n
From Kalen Ratzlaff’s Opera News review of Ein Deutsches Requiem.
", "summary": "Throughout the evening, the hundred-member [Tanglewood Festival Chorus] sang with a range of color, an agility and an attention to text and detail that any soloist would envy. The roaring ovation that greeted them at the conclusion of the performance confirmed their triumph.", "date_published": "2008-12-10T00:00:00-05:00", "date_modified": "2008-12-10T00:00:00-05:00", "author": { "name": "Sean Santry"}, "tags": []},{ "id": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2008/09/29/the-interplay-between-death-and-life", "url": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2008/09/29/the-interplay-between-death-and-life/", "title": "The Interplay Between Death and Life", "content_html": "\n\n\nThe real star of the evening was the [Tanglewood Festival] chorus. Many groups sing this piece; few do so with the depth, precision, and focused sound the TFC marshaled. They made it seem effortless at the opening and showed remarkably little strain by the end. Through their voices emerged the interplay between death and life that lies at the core of this great work.
\n
From David Weininger’s review of Friday’s Ein Deutsches Requiem. For me, Saturday’s performance was even more moving. The sound of complete silence at the end of the piece was better than any amount of applause.
", "summary": "The real star of the evening was the [Tanglewood Festival] chorus. Many groups sing this piece; few do so with the depth, precision, and focused sound the TFC marshaled. They made it seem effortless at the opening and showed remarkably little strain by the end. Through their voices emerged the interplay between death and life that lies at the core of this great work.", "date_published": "2008-09-29T00:00:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2008-09-29T00:00:00-04:00", "author": { "name": "Sean Santry"}, "tags": []},{ "id": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2008/09/25/early-evening-light-in-symphony-hall", "url": "https://seansantry.com/articles/2008/09/25/early-evening-light-in-symphony-hall/", "title": "Early Evening Light in Symphony Hall", "content_html": "\n![\"Early](\"http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/2886891872_8533dd983d.jpg\")
\n
Photo by Sean Santry
\n\nThese windows above the second balcony in Boston’s Symphony Hall had been boarded up for at least 30 years.
\n\nWell now they’re open and add a lovely natural light to an already beautiful space.
", "summary": "", "date_published": "2008-09-25T00:00:00-04:00", "date_modified": "2008-09-25T00:00:00-04:00", "author": { "name": "Sean Santry"}, "tags": []},{ "id": "https://seansantry.com/development/2008/08/29/fixing-mac-address-could-not-be-autodected-error-from-uuidtools-phusion-passenger-and-ruby-enterpris", "url": "https://seansantry.com/development/2008/08/29/fixing-mac-address-could-not-be-autodected-error-from-uuidtools-phusion-passenger-and-ruby-enterpris/", "title": "Fixing “MAC address could not be autodected” error from UUIDTools, Phusion Passenger and Ruby Enterprise Edition", "content_html": "I’m using the UUIDTools 1.0.3 gem in a Rails 2.1 application to generate globally unique IDs. After migrating the site to run under Phusion Passenger and Ruby Enterprise Edition I began encountering the following error:
\n\nStandardError (MAC address could not be autodetected. Set the MAC address manually.):\n /vendor/gems/uuidtools-1.0.3/lib/uuidtools.rb:241:in `timestamp_create'\n /vendor/gems/uuidtools-1.0.3/lib/uuidtools.rb:229:in `synchronize'\n /vendor/gems/uuidtools-1.0.3/lib/uuidtools.rb:229:in `timestamp_create'\n ...\nIt seemed UUIDTools was trying to get the the network card’s MAC address (I’d guess to collect entropy), but couldn’t for some reason. I should also note that this is all running on an Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04, 512MB slice over at Slicehost (yes, that’s a referral link, use it! :-).
\n\nIt turns out that UUIDTools was trying to use ifconfig to read the MAC address, but ifconfig wasn’t in the PATH. Since the application is now running under mod_rails, the relevant PATH is Apache’s PATH, which doesn’t include /sbin by default.
So, a quick edit of /etc/init.d/apache2 to change
\n\nENV=\"env -i LANG=C PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin\"\nto
\n\nENV=\"env -i LANG=C PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/sbin\"\nand a sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart was all it took to get the app back up and running.