2025.03.09.

2025.02.26.

Mihai Parparita is asking on Mastodon:

What are good examples of early Mac OS X software (10.0-10.4 era, pre-Intel switch)?

Then providing the initial list.

  • OmniWeb, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner and other Omni Group software
  • Transmit 2, Unison, Candy Bar, Pixadex, and other Panic software
  • Audio Hijack and other Rogue Amoeba software
  • NetNewsWire and MarsEdit
  • Watson
  • Acorn
  • TextMate
  • Quicksilver
  • VoodooPad
  • BBEdit
  • SubEthaEdit
  • GraphicConverter
  • iCab
  • Camino
  • Fetch
  • Default Folder X
  • MenuMeters
  • DEVONthink
  • CodeWarrior
  • Resorcerer
  • FruitMenu, WindowShadeX and other Unsanity haxies
  • LiteSwitch X
  • DragThing and PCalc
  • TinkerTool
  • LaunchBar
  • Path Finder
  • Konfabulator

Good memories, although most if these are still alive and well.

Read “It’s still worth blogging in the age of AI”

Blogging is essential because it provides knowledge and serves as a valuable reference for us and others.

On the other hand, getting recognized as a blogger these days is rarely going to work. People are increasingly consuming different types of content these days, and this is largely due to the way AI is changing the way we interact with the web.

That said, having a blog for thinking out loud is still the best way to learn and then “report” it, even if we’re the only ones reading it.

2025.02.18.

2025.02.17.

2025.02.10.

Bookmarked “(mac)OStalgia”

Mac(os)talgia is exploring my 2020 work-from-home routine with an added touch of nostalgia. How would have the same workflow looked like with the tools of today and the limitations of yesterday.

I would take this Mac OS 9 design of Slack, Zoom, and Figma immediately.

2025.02.08.

Using tags to create threads in WordPress

Continuing 3380:

Maybe I should use tags as a thread title in a way that group posts together. I’m using pretty general tags currently, which is fine, but a tag page is just another filtered wall of text. This way, each post could be part of an ongoing conversation. Here’s an example page for a thread.

It means that I could have more precise tags which can be displayed in the sidebar, or even better, I can link to a thread which kind of acts like an article on its own. It was just written in a chronological order.

As an icing on the cake, a post could belong to multiple threads.

Continuing 3378:

If you visit the front page of my blog, you’ll notice that I organize posts by day, inspired by the daily notes feature from Roam Research.

I typically enjoy this wall of text style more than having separate posts highlighted individually (perhaps that’s why I like threading on Mastodon).

The issue is that WordPress lacks a similar feature, but I would love to have threading on my blog too. My Zettelkasten can stack connected notes, which aligns with this concept.

Maybe I should create something that allows me to link posts together, with backlink support.

Previously:

I sometimes think we might need different ways to share ideas instead of long articles—it’s important to mention that I’m talking about ideas, not stories.

Looking at how I read, I see that I usually skim content instead of reading it all at once. Then, I go back to the interesting parts later. If you think this is like Incremental reading, then you’re correct.

I’m not sure what might happen if I started using formats closer to the raw idea then heavily edited posts.

Exploring Real-Time Voice-to-Text Transcription Options

I’ve been thinking about using voice input more in my workflow after watching Chris from DailyTekk talk about quitting typing. He made some interesting points about how speaking (120-150 words per minute) is naturally faster than typing (40-60 words per minute). What was interesting is his observation about typing disrupting the flow with constant self-editing—I’ve definitely experienced this.

So, I’m experimenting with various voice-based input options for my Mac (and possibly iOS/iPadOS as well).

I recently acquired VoicePen as a tool to take voice notes. It’s not a direct dictation app, though. Instead, it works by recording voice in a separate app and then allowing you to copy the cleaned transcription back to your note-taking app. It maintains a history of transformations (such as fixing grammar and cleaning the text) alongside the original transcription. I can revisit and reapply these transformations or copy different versions of the text. It’s a decent tool, but it’s not designed for real-time voice input.

I looked at Inbox AI too, but it’s more of an automation app and I don’t want to invest time learning it right now. I’m sure it can do this.

Bolt.AI offers something different – it has an inline dictation feature. I’m currently trying out its dictation with chat assistants—being able to talk naturally to AIs instead of typing.

I’m also experimenting with macOS’s built-in dictation. It integrates well with text editing and shows what I’m typing in real-time. Sure, it sometimes types the wrong stuff, but these can be fixed quickly with the built-in writing tools.

I’m noticing there’s a difference between thinking out loud and just dictation—I’ll need more time to figure out what works best for each case. For now, I think each input method—typing, voice, even Apple Pencil—probably has its place. I’ll likely end up using a mix of them depending on what I’m trying to do.

Read “The Field Notes Thing”

I try to operate on the “Nothing Doesn’t Go in Here” principle. Flipping through the notebook that is on my desk right now, I see shopping lists, notes from conference calls, sermon notes, a little chart I made when working on some invoices for Relay, a doodle of the Widgetsmith icon I made for some reason, and a lot more. A receipt for a recent meal with a friend fell out of it onto my lap; I’ll probably tape that into the notebook for safekeeping.

The good thing about Field Notes is that you don’t have to care about it. It doesn’t feel pristine like some other brands. So, I mainly capture similar things, but I group them by date. I have meeting notes, programming session notes, random ideas, outlines, journal entries, etc.

These notebooks are a trail of breadcrumbs dating back almost 15 years. If I flip through an old one, I get a glimpse of what was going on in my life at that time. I can go to the notebook I was using when we launched Relay, or when I quit my job. I like having them on hand; seeing them in my studio each day makes me happy.

I never scanned my old Field Notes but kept them safe in a wooden box. I don’t care if they are destroyed someday since I use my notebooks as a temporary capture tool. If something is interesting, I’ll transfer it to my GTD system or just scan that part of the notebook.

Otherwise, the notebook can be discarded.

Previously:

2025.02.05.

Read “Google removes pledge to not use AI for weapons from website | TechCrunch”

Google removed a pledge to not build AI for weapons or surveillance from its website this week. The change was first spotted by Bloomberg. The company appears to have updated its public AI principles page, erasing a section titled “applications we will not pursue,” which was still included as recently as last week.

Asked for comment, the company pointed TechCrunch to a new blog post on “responsible AI.” It notes, in part, “we believe that companies, governments, and organizations sharing these values should work together to create AI that protects people, promotes global growth, and supports national security.”

Shit, I just finished watching the Terminator movies yesterday.

2025.02.04.

2025.01.31.

How to clean a MacBook keyboard

After today’s post on disabling the wake on lid open, I got a comment from smarthieef on how we can switch off this behavior for the keyboard too, so we can only turn on the MacBook using the Touch ID button, making the keyboard cleaning process way easier.

  • Press and hold the left Control and Command buttons with right Shift button for a total of 7 seconds.
  • Without releasing them, press the Power button and hold together for an additional 7 seconds until your laptop shuts down. The login screen may flash for a second so don’t prematurely release the keys until the machine is off.
  • For your next startup, your Mac can only be powered on by using the Power button or closing and opening the lid.

I tested this on a 16-inch M1 MacBook Pro, and it works indeed. It is also a one-time thing, so on the next boot, it resets this behavior to the default one, so we can get the best of both worlds.

Update: I tested this on an M3 MacBook Air too, and it didn’t work.

Read “Why I Make Minimal Use of Social Media”

Here are a couple of highlights from Why I Make Minimal Use of Social Media:

I have a relative who loves to post about their perfect, loving family, filling their Facebook feed with happy family photos. But, as you might guess, they conveniently leave out the reality of their many conflicts and challenges. It’s a polished image that doesn’t show the truth.

Nobody’s gonna share their struggles and failures as much as their fun times, so I think this behavior is just for display. Remember that when you see something like this, it’s just a snapshot of their day. Nothing more, nothing less.

There are other ways to keep in touch with family members and friends. Emails and texts can be addressed to a group of contacts or individuals. By not using social media yourself, you can discourage others from using it as their preferred way to “keep in touch.”

I never emailed any of my friends, but we usually keep in touch via text messages. Texting is like having a peer-to-peer social network.

2025.01.27.

Read “Streams: Mail 3.0 concept”

Streams are not created on a personal basis, they are shared between people interested in them. Streams are like shared folders for individual threads. This additional layer keeps your communications organized: you don’t anymore have one cluttered inbox, threads are now sorted in streams with authors’ hands. Streams are high-level enough to make inbox organization effortless and not to introduce significant overhead.

Interesting ideas about making email from an inbox to streams.

2025.01.24.

I’m just playing around with Muse for Mac, and I just found this picture in their macOS version announcement post.

Creative process.

I love this analogy. Every idea we execute should have some form of artifact at the end: a blog post, a Zettelkasten note, a presentation, an email, etc.

I’ll use this distinction between the different apps that I use for idea development.

Previously:

Bookmarked “RIFT Notes”

Quickly capture your thoughts and find them later.

  • Always ready to capture

  • Message-like interface

  • Instant-search, grep-like results view

  • Syncs .md files to your iCloud

  • Markdown syntax highlighting

  • Sweet retro look ’n feel, color themes

  • (inspiration: SCRL component/style)

  • View your notes on a map

Interesting app, which also uses the chat-based UI we seen with Strflow and Gibberish. I really like the design of this one, feels retro.

Also, it saves notes as simple Markdown files, which can be moved around, so there is no proprietary database.

Previously:

Bookmarked “Memos – Open Source, Self-hosted, Your Notes, Your Way”

A privacy-first, lightweight note-taking solution that allows you to effortlessly capture and share your ideas.

Open-source, self-hosted note-taking platform that allows users to create and store notes in an SQLite database. There is threading too.

Previously:

2025.01.20.

Read “The PC is Dead: It’s Time to Make Computing Personal Again”

How the rise of internet surveillance, algorithmic polarization of social media, predatory app stores, and extractive business models have eroded the freedoms once promised by personal computers.

In the short term, we can do things like support open projects like Linux, support non-predatory and open source software, and run apps and store data locally as much as possible. But some bigger structural changes are necessary if we really want to launch the era of Personal Computer 2.0.