Previously I’ve shown off VimiumC as a way to navigate content inside your web browser without needing to take your hands off the keyboard to reach for your mouse, but now I’ve found a tool for macOS that lets you do the same thing for the entire operating system called Homerow. … | Continue reading
Fiction Read in March 2024 Liberty’s Daughter – Naomi Kritzer Liberty’s Daughter follows Beck Garrison, who was kidnapped by her father to live on a techno-libertarian seastead. We get to follow Beck as she reunites with the mother she thought was dead, and finds “stuff” for peop … | Continue reading
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Today we’re going to look at some of the ideas found in The Promise of Access by Daniel Greene. Specifically we’ll look at libraries and schooling and how mere access to technology without fundamental reform in the structures of society will not change much. This is a reader supp … | Continue reading
There are no shortcuts to “git gud” so stop looking for them. To read this post become a member.. | Continue reading
This is a reader supported site. To get access to my book notes and extra content become a member Write to Figure Things Out While I’d love to be a full-time writer I don’t sweat the details too much. For me writing is about figuring out what I think. The long piece I wrote last … | Continue reading
I Miss the Internet by Joan Westenberg was at the top of my inbox today and it’s a quirky zine dedicated to the internet that Joan misses. I was online first in around 1995 and at some point around there I remember digging into Geocities and having a site. Then I spent almost 10 … | Continue reading
The Global North has many erroneous views, but one that’s been sticking with me lately is it’s superiority view of business models. We have the false view that we are the leaders in all fields all the time and that anything not invented in the Global North, often limited entirely … | Continue reading
Matt tells an excellent story about fixing his furnace that relates very much to learning anything. While Matt was able to fix some of the issues with his furnace, some were beyond his time spent on YouTube researching. After the HVAC came for the final problem, he fixed it by hi … | Continue reading
How does the impact of unchecked growth in data centers affect us? Are these “very smart people” pushing more processing power thinking about the environmental impact at all? If you want to read this whole post become a member. Members get all my courses included.. | Continue reading
These are the types of projects I imagine I’d do, but then I have other things that monopolise my time. Very cool iPad Mini and MacStudio project. | Continue reading
While nostalgia can feel harmless, it does cause harm to our companies, ourselves, and the media we consume. Excessive focus on a “better” past means we can’t step into the future. This site is reader supported so become a member if you like this content. Things were better once … | Continue reading
There are many services and applications around to save content to read later. Academics often lean towards something like Zotero, but most people don’t need the heavy citation management that is present in an application like Zotero. For most of us an application like Omnivore i … | Continue reading
This channel came up in my feed today and after a few videos it’s been an excellent office companion. First up was Japanese Funk. Next was Rhythms of the Continent: Then some more Japanese City Pop: | Continue reading
I first grabbed Read Write Own from my local library because the subtitle sounded interesting. I’m ready for a new era on the internet, the current one of companies controlling everything and extracting the maximum they can from people sucks and I’m tired of it. Unfortunately, I … | Continue reading
I’ve been streaming working quietly lately as it helps me stay focused and I’m told it helps others who struggle working from home to feel like they’re in an office when they can hear my keyboard sounds or the few times I talk. Play them back, or join me life most Mondays at 0615 … | Continue reading
Today we look at the quest for perfection, but that way madness lies. You may just have to do the hard work. If you want to read the whole post, become a member. Members also get my book notes. | Continue reading
Remember, this site is reader supported. To keep the content coming you can become a member or take a course. Members get all my book notes included. What Is Good Writing In many ways good writing has the same feeling as pornography does, you know it when you see it. This often l … | Continue reading
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This is supported by members. Members get extra content, access to my courses and my book notes. The content only keeps coming because of those members. The Cost of Achievement for Kids I’m almost finished Never Enough, and the big thing that continues to strike me in this book i … | Continue reading
I regularly see people using a notebook for tasks saying that they forget to do things, important things. I’d ask if the task was important though if you forgot to do it. One of the forcing functions of Bullet Journal, or any paper based system, is that when a task feels way to h … | Continue reading
As we do every month, let’s take a look at the books I read in February 2024. Overall I “read” 9 books, 3 fiction and 6 non-fiction. I also added 3 fiction books on Audible this month for a total of 12 books. Unfortunately my current system of recording books read doesn’t have a … | Continue reading
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This is a reader supported site, if you like the content then become a member. Members get my courses, my book notes and an extra piece of content weekly. Reading Doesn’t Have to Be Productive Western life wants us to optimise everything for productivity and to feel bad if we don … | Continue reading
Of course the Apple goggles are a preposterously priced novelty looking for a customer base to validate their existence. Rob Horning I’ve read a few people that are excited about the Apple VisionPro, but a very few because I simply don’t care about it at all. Even with effort I t … | Continue reading
The AI industry has proven itself incredibly adept at deflecting interest from real harms to hypothetical ones, like the “risk” that the spicy autocomplete will become conscious and take over the world in order to convert us all to paperclips – Hypothetical AI election disinforma … | Continue reading
I first saw the news from 404media that Automattic was going to start selling user content to AI companies looking for data. As with most media companies, 404 failed to make the distinction between Automattic/WordPress.com and WordPress.org the open source software. Then I read t … | Continue reading
Ali Abdaal is a popular YouTube content creator that focuses on productivity and living a good life and his first book is all about helping you be productive without simply grinding harder. Instead Abdaal wants to help readers get stuff done while still taking care of ourselves. … | Continue reading
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This site is reader supported. Become a member to get my book notes and my courses. When is a Book Done? Right now I’m reading Changer by Matt Gemmell and it’s not going well. The language feels stilted and the characters feel more unbelievable than a book of this type normally s … | Continue reading
Excellent video summarizing Puritan Work Ethic and the economic system that pushes us to always optimize our lives and feel bad if we don’t. Also see Manufacturing Happy Citizens for more on these ideas. | Continue reading
Reading through Ellane’s look at One Big Text File it seems to me that most of her issues could be solved with OrgMode. You can resurface notes on a set schedule with the Agenda feature. Events are simply headings with dates, and tasks get TODO added to the front of a heading. Or … | Continue reading
Just as I put everything back in Things 3 after my look at nvim OrgMode, OmniFocus 4 released which meant I needed to dig in to see if the years long development cycle has yielded any changes that changed my opinion from OmniFocus is legacy software to…you should use this app. Fo … | Continue reading
Today I focused on writing my upcoming review of Feel-Good Productivity by Ali Abaal. At the end I answer a few questions from those present on the stream. The royalty free study playlist. | Continue reading
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This is publication is reader supported. All members get my book notes, and course supporters get all my courses and published books. Plus, members get a fairly regular extra instalment of my writing. Everyone Thinks They Can Write In an interview with Steven Pressfield some inte … | Continue reading
Matt’s quick tangent on 4k screens is right up my alley. Rewind a few years to when the Studio Display released and there was a very frustrating conversation at the time about what “real Mac users” demand from a display. There were countless podcasts and blog posts about how a 4K … | Continue reading
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If you like this writing and want to support it become a member. Members get all my book notes. AI Issues for Creators So Arc search was released recently and it seems to be like much of AI, not good for creators. All these AI tools that summarise websites steal traffic from the … | Continue reading
I’m sure someone reading this is going to say Apple has been trash for a while. I get it, you don’t like Apple, but I did up until last year. Today I read that Apple is putting another nail in their own coffin as they handicap progressive web apps (PWA) in the EU. The more […] | Continue reading
From Matt: I think one of the unexpected downsides of social media over the past couple decades is how much they have become dunk machines. Yeah, positive stuff can get some traction as well, but if you want to really get people buzzing and boost those engagement numbers, you’re … | Continue reading
In 2023 I didn’t read as much as I wanted so as a bit of a forcing function I’m planning to talk far more about the books I’m reading in 2024 starting today with a recap of what I read in January 2024. The year has started off well with 5 books read in January, […] | Continue reading
Greg has a good post on productivity culture. The fact that people believe there is a hack to everything is really the issue. Everyone wants a quick, easy fix. 5 minute abs, diet pills, a stupid morning routine — whatever it is you are trying to achieve, all these ‘hacks’ are a w … | Continue reading
While Matt was right about the current AI stock crash, there are also many epic lies being told about AI. From Cruise using 1.5 highly trained technicians per “autonomous” vehicle, to Musk trotting out a robot…or actually a guy in a robot suit, lots of what Big Tech is pushing is … | Continue reading
Like Matt says, yesterday I got a bit of a smile on my face as I dreamed of the AI hype machine dying so quickly after it started as I watched stocks tumble. No I didn’t read the articles that were linked to, I just looked at “stock goes down” and thought “AI = failing”. […] | Continue reading
Prompted by John at Daring Fireball saying that the Apple Vision Pro was heavy I wondered exactly how heavy my bike helmet was. My helmet is about 280g while the Vision Pro is between 600-650g. So it’s about 3x heavier than my bike helmet and the weight is entirely loaded on the … | Continue reading
I’ve produced 106 issues of PKM weekly over the course of 2 years and it’s time for this newsletter to come to an end. As I said to members yesterday, I’ve been hitting a schedule and not producing the writing I think is of greatest value. To produce the writing I think is of gre … | Continue reading
9to5 Mac reports that while Apple will be opening up iOS to alternate appstores and default browsers, the iPad is not going to get these features. See there is evidently some nuance in the ruling saying that iOS is a gatekeeper but that’s not what the iPad runs, it runs iPadOS. T … | Continue reading