I find it interesting that sites like @macstories@macstories.net are setting up their own Mastodon instances. It’s an interwsting concept, but I can’t help but feel like they should setup individual blogs and ActivityPub so that they contribute to the open web instead. Needless to say, I’ll watch with interest.

Cameron Moll laying out exactly what I have had to lay out to others about why UI and UX belong together.

I’m officially fed up of it being minus degrees outside 🥶

I used to love using Notational Velocity back in the day, I didn’t know that nvUltra was a thing. I’d love to return to the simplicty of that app for notes.

Came out of church to snow this morning…

What’s Good About the Arc Browser… A really interesting take on the Arc Browser which is a browser that continues to fascinate me with it’s experimentation and UI. For some reason I can’t get it to fit into my work flow easily. I might need to give it more time, but I think a large part of the reason I can’t get it to stick is because I like apps. When it comes down to it, I would rather use a Mac app than a web app.

Lovely cocktails to start dinner this evening. Had a delicious feast of Bao and BBQ with Bao bread and butter pudding to finish!

More to do app explorations, came across an app called TaskFlow which handles lists and kanban but in a native app this time. No shortcuts though…

Can’t stop drooling over these notebooks and stationery stuffs from MARK+FOLD…

I’m down the rabbit hole again. TickTick has been downloaded and looks promising. Kanban mode, list mode, calendar integration for time blocking, shortcuts that work on macOS… playing will ensue later.

I’ve been using Todoist for the last few weeks. I like it’s ability to have projects in lists or as a kanban style board. I really dislike it’s inability to work with shortcuts on the Mac. Anyone know of a similar to do app that has boards and lists together?

An interesting post that sums up how exactly how I feel about these new AI writing tools that are appearing in apps like Craft and Notion. It will be a long time before anything can replace a human actually doing the work of writing something new.

Over the weekend I saw someone say that students will never have to write an essay again. I disagree. The art of the essay is not about the writing, it is about the thinking and understanding that goes on behind it. AI writing tools will never be able to replace that.

Trying to customise a Micro.blog theme, but I can’t tell if it’s not working or if Safari on iPad caches too aggressively. Should’ve bought my aging MacBook Pro.

Over the last few days I’ve come across more and more people moving from Twitter to Mastodon. It’s caused me to poke around Mastodon a little and I’ve added some users to my Micro.blog timeline. Whilst the technology behind it is great something about it feels a little bit like a side step rather than a forwards step.

This morning I had 5 minutes to kill between meetings and an unusully empty email inbox so I had a little nose through my RSS instead. I came across a post on MacStories about a shortcut Federico has created to open toots (seriously?) from one Mastodon instance on the instance your account exists on. It immediately felt broken. For the techies who are willing to invest the time jumping through these kinds of hoops it’s fine. For the non-techies in the world, they’re never going to understand this or have the inclination to try. As I clicked around Mastodon and came across a few people I used to follow on Twitter, I found myself looking for a link to their personal web site instead of looking for their username. I’d rather add their blogs to my RSS reader than jump through hoops to follow their toots.

I realised right then that we still have the same problem we had before Twitter. Following a blog or personal website still requires some underlying knowledge of technology. Clever people are spending a lot of time and energy building the fediverse which despite all the best will in the world is still ultimately a silo. The walls might not be so solid or high, but the content still sits behind a sign in and is visited through someone elses domain. Would we not be better off in the long run putting that effort into making it easier for the average person to setup their own personal website, post to it, and follow the websites of their friends? Isn’t the web enough? Do we really need a fediverse?

I remember when I first discovered @NetNewsWire it had a send to MarsEdit button in it. Anyone know if that feature is in the new version or does it rely on the share sheet on macOS?

I might spend some time this weekend trying to customise my micro.blog site. It needs a bit more me in the design…

Just discovered that the new micro post interface in MarsEdit 5 has a universal keyboard shortcut. Love that. This is the kind of thing that got me posting to Twitter lots in the early days.

An unusually productive Monday today. Fewer meetings more design time is always a good balance.

Had a little look at the upcoming OmniFocus 4 this morning. I can’t put my finger on why, but I always find the UI of Omni apps slightly off that puts me off using them.

In a lovely post from Patrick Rhone he comments

If I were to paid to dig ditches, I would discover that the ditch is for a water line to a new house that means someone gets clean water, once I think it through, I can find my passion in the ditch digging.

It made me look back at my career and the various jobs I’ve had. The ones that have been most rewarding are the ones which have a greater purpose. As a freelance designer it was for clients whose focus was not about increasing the bank account. In my current job it is for a large charity aiming to help people find their next steps in higher education.

When I worked as a barista the most rewarding time was when I was teaching others how to make great coffee. When I realised it was giving them a skill they can take anywhere in the world it was fantastic. I remember receiving a confused look from one 20 year old who wanted to travel but was unsure about earning money that she didn’t need to worry. She hadn’t realised now she could make a good coffee she could find a job in any country in the world. It was great to see how enabling that skill would be for her.

I’ve disliked the advice of turning your passion into a career for a long time and Patrick’s post reminded me why. If we can find passion in our existing careers work becomes much more fulfilling. It’s ok to have a hobby we are passionate about without trying to turn it into our day job.

Shocked at England’s dominance in the football today. I know we were playing Iran, but given recent performances it was surprising. ⚽️

This morning is very much a dark mode morning.

The sermon in church this morning was all about suffering. A timely subject given recent news about my Mum’s health. Sometimes even as someone who as been a believer for decades you need reminders of the basics. ✝️

I’m resorting to pen and paper to get a proper overview of all the “tasks” that I have assigned to me. Starting to question if digital task managers create work and black holes of stuff.

David Sparks on his journey To Day One and Back Again. I’ve been on a similar thought cycle recently. I have been a long time sporadic user of Day One, and I’ve journaled for a while in Obsidian as well as pen and paper. But recently I’ve decided it’s back to Day One.

Similarly to David it is about ease and access for me. I am a legacy Plus user which means I have sync across all my devices, I can save photos and other items as and when I feel it’s right to do so. Ultimately, I know that if I am going to journal regularly and it be of any use it needs to be easy for me to do so and Day One presents the least amount of friction.