Writing
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Hey Dingus for his shortcuts and regular links posts
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Matt Langford for his work on Tiny Theme
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Manuel Moreale for his People and Blogs newsletter
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Flohgro- For his work on Drafts and Raycast
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Vlad Campos - For his videos on Obsidian and Evernote
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Numeric Citizen - For his videos about Micro.blog
- Download tab as markdown
- Download selection as markdown
- Download all tabs as markdown
- Send tab to Obsidian
- Omnivore - It’s the best read it later service around these days, featuring a mobile app with read aloud capability, newsletter subscription service, RSS feeds and a browser extension.
- MarkDownload - saves Markdown versions of web pages directly into my Obsidian vault with customized properties
- Perplexity - Although one of the unique features of Edge is the built-in access to Chat-GPT4, I like to use Perplexity as well. It’s a popular extension with over 200K downloads.
- Raindrop.io - I have a subscription and heartily endorse Raindrop.io for it’s cross platform support as well as its IFTTT integration which really helps me when I’m researching anything
- Aboard - This is the extension for the app my wife and I use to share links with each other. When I find an app, a TV show, a news story or whatever, I put it into Aboard and she gets a notification and can check it out when she has time. It’s free and useful.
- Chrome Remote Desktop - This allows me to access my home computer from other locations. It’s free, easy to set up and use and reliable. I don’t know what people pay for Screens or TeamViewer subscriptions.
- UBlock Origin- The best ad blocker on the planet. 31,000,000 downloads can’t be wrong.
- Toby - My new tab extension. It makes it easy to save and open windows full of tabs on the go. I use the free version and even though I maintain my start.me page, I stick with Toby for new tabs.
- Velja - Works in conjunction with the Mac app of the same name to open URLs in other bowsers and apps (e.g., Slack, Teams, Zoom, Freetube etc)
- Lastpass - I’ve had a paid account shared with my wife for more than a decade. Lastpass has gotten some bad PR due to a couple of incidents, but I haven’t had any issues. Still, peer pressure is getting to me and I’m looking to switch to Bitwarden when my subscription is up.
- Archive page - An indispensable extension for getting around paywalled content. I use it multiple times a dat for Medium posts and Atlantic articles.
- Postlight Reader - The Postlight Reader extension for Microsoft Edge removes ads and distractions, leaving only text and images for a clean and consistent reading view on every site.
- Reddit Enhancement Suite - I use this for one primary reason - to block pictures of other people’s graphs on the Obsidian subreddit. LOL
- Simplify Gmail- The only extension I pay for. It has hundreds of improvements (small and large) to streamline, simplify, and enhance Gmail’s design and functionality. Hide the features you don’t use, customize the ones you do including setting the list and message width and fonts.
- Raycast - Built-in page summary for Raycast Prousers.
- ChatGPT for Google- Adds a simultaneous ChatGPT search when you look for something at Google.com.
- Web Time Tracker - Provides stats on how much time you spend on web sites
- Street Pass for Mastodon- StreetPass is a browser extension that helps you find your people on Mastodon. Here’s how it works:
- Mastodon users verify themselves by adding a custom link to their personal site.
- StreetPass lets you know when you’ve found one of these links, and adds them to your StreetPass list.
- Browse the web as usual. StreetPass will build a list of Mastodon users made up of the websites you go to.
- Swipe between pages of a document
- Open Notification Center
- Show the desktop
- Open Launchpad
- Open Mission Control
- Use App Expose
- Swipe between full-screen apps
- A single (one-finger) click on the bottom right corner initiates a Google search
- A two finger tap acts as ALT+TAB and brings up my application switcher from Keyboard Maestro.
- AlDente Pro - battery management (SetApp)
- App Tamer - CPU monitor and governor (SetApp)
- Backup Status - monitors TimeMachine backups
- Bartender 5 - menu bar management (SetApp)
- Better Display - extra controls for built in and external displays
- Better Touch Tool- automation and customization for trackpads and keyboards (SetApp)
- Clean Shot X - screen capture tool (SetApp)
- CloudMounter - mounts One Drive and Box for me (SetApp)
- Default Folder X - enhanced open and save dialog boxes (SetApp)
- File Widgets - macOS widgets to access specific folders
- Google Drive - C cloud storage and backup
- History Hound - multi-browser and bookmark database
- Keyboard Maestro - automation tool
- KeyClu - reveals keyboard shortcuts
- Mission Control Plus - Adds functionality to Mission Control
- PopClip - manipulates and enhances text selections (SetApp)
- Raycast - program launcher, emoji picker, clipboard manger, text replacement, window manager and more
- RightZoom - changes the behavior of the zoom button from full-screen to maximize
- Things Helper - helper app for Things 3 task manager
- Velja - picks browsers and default apps for different types of URLS
- XMenu - Menu bar app launcher
- Hazel - automated file management
- Nord VPN - virtual private network
- Dropzone 4 - manages files, runs scripts
- Scrap Paper - floating notes app (better than Raycast)
- Little Snitch - powerful and customizable firewall
- 24-Hour Wallpaper - time synced dynamic wallpapers (SetApp)
- Karabiner-Elements - keyboard remapper for making a hyperkey among other things
- Maestral - lightweight Dropbox client that keeps its files in the root of your home directory
- Path Finder - Finder replacement (file manager)
- iStat Menus - computer hardware monitors
- Lingon X- advanced automation tool for cron jobs and more
- Paletro - command pallet in any application (SetApp)
- Tembo - file search app
- A personal Gmail account
- A work account in Outlook
- A Yahoo email account just for newsletters
My 10 Favorite #Raycast Use Cases (and all the apps it replaced)
I’ve been using a keyboard driven application launcher since 2006. For the majority of that time, I was a devout Launchbar fan. installing it on Mac after Mac and dutifully paying for the infrequent upgrades. When I initially heard about Raycast, I wasn’t interested, but the uproar just kept getting louder. Tech bloggers and Reddit sang its praises and kept pointing out new features one after another. I finally relented and downloaded it. After spending my Thanksgiving break of 2023 getting it configured to match my needs, I’ve been an enthusiastic proponent ever since. I’m a paid subscriber, mostly to keep my setup synced between my two computers but also to take advantage of the many AI features only available to pro users. Not to fear though, absent AI and sync, almost everything else is included in the free version.
1. Clipboard History
I used to use Pastepal and at times I miss its ability to sync my clipboard with my phone, but there are work arounds for that. By using Raycast’s built in clipboard manager, I eliminate the need to run a separate program at all times. It’s very convenient to assign a hotkey combo to show my clipboard history and then to navigate it without the need for a mouse.
2. Kill Process
When I have the infrequent application crash, I don’t have to remember the Apple keyboard combo for force quitting an application nor do I have to use a mouse to click on the dock or Apple Menu. I just launch Raycast and type “Kill Process” and then the name of the rouge program and hit enter. Boom, just like that the crash is over and I can relaunch the application if I want to.
3. Image Modification
As a blogger, I have a frequent need to reduce the size of images before I post them on my website. The image modification plugin acts on whatever file is selected in the finder. I specify the width I want and it figures out the height for me. If I want to convert an image from a PNG to a JPG, it can handle that too. It can also pad and scale images as well as removing EXIF data.
4. Emoji Picker
I used to use Rocket, a separate program as an emoji picker but the one built into Raycast works just as well. I can select from my frequently used emojis or search all those installed. I can copy the result onto my clipboard or paste it into the active application. I use the hotkey fn+E to summon the emoji picker and I do it often 😃.
5. Unsplash
When I’m looking for a stock photo to use on my blog, I can use the Unsplash extension to do it right from Raycast without having to use a web browser. I can search and download a variety of images for free from the keyboard. I can search specific collections, my favorites or the entire catalog. I can even use Raycast to set my wallpaper to any image on Unsplash.
6. Brew
I no longer have to use the terminal to do maintenance on Homebrew, the Mac package manager. I can get a list of my installed and outdated casks and run the updates right from Raycast. I set a reminder in Things 3 to do this every weekend and I don’t have any issues keeping up with developer releases.
7. Google Search
In the age of AI, there’s still a lot to be said for searching plain old Google. I have a hotkey set to COMMAND+G to allow me to conduct a search wherever I am on my computer. The resulting window not only provides space to type a new search, it also shows me my history (which is erasable). I can open the Google page in my browser or copy the resulting URL to the clipboard.
8. Open Link in Specific Browser
Sometimes I come across a page that just won’t work in the browser I’m using. Using this Raycast command, I can choose another browser to try - Chrome, Arc, Edge - whatever. It doesn’t matter. it will take the URL I’m trying to open and send it to the browser of my choice.
9. Password Search
Raycast has plugins for most major password managers. I use LastPass (yes, I know about the breaches) but it works the same for 1 Password or Bit Warden. I can search for the password I need and either paste it into a browser window or copy it to the clipboard. No longer do I have to use a separate application or browser to get the password or secure not that I want.
10. Shorten URL
The Bitly plugin allows you to shorten URLs straight from the clipboard. Just highlight the URL in your browser’s address bar, invoke the Raycast command and you’re ready to paste the result into a document or social media post.
Honorable Mentions
Raycast quick links allow me to search YouTube, Amazon, NetFlix, HBO/Max, DuckDuckGo and Mac Updater right from the keyboard. I don’t use windows management tools that often, but when I do, they are built-in to Raycast, eliminating the need for yet another separate program.
Did you ever have a manic phase that let you just turn out good stuff for a prolonged period of time? It sucked when it ended, didn’t it? I had one of those phases about ten years ago and carried a camera all the way through it. A Once and Future Love
10 Lesser Known But Super Useful Obsidian Plugins
The most popular Obsidian community plugins, Excalidraw, Dataview and Advanced Tables have over a million downloads apiece. The Obsidian forums and Reddit are full of questions about the best ways to use them. There’s no doubting the power of these plugins and the value they add to Obsidian. But what about the lesser-known work of volunteer developers who make up the backbone of the devout Obsidian community? What about more niche cases and hidden gems? Let’s look at some of those. All of these have less than 50K downloads, some of them much lower than that.
1. Beautitab
Beautitab creates a custom new tab page in Obsidian with customizable elective elements for search (with native search or Omnisearch), time, greeting, recent files and bookmarks to keep often used notes readily available. You can include a daily quote and an ever changing and beautiful collection of photographs as a background.
2. Local Images Plus
Local Images Plus downloads the images in web pages you add to you vault so that if the page is taken down or the URL changes, you still have the images to illustrate your notes. It converts images to jpg from png and makes sure you don’t have duplicates by using the MD5 hashing algorithm. It will also remove orphaned images from your vault. You can even use this plugin to localize images from existing notes.
3. Auto Note Mover
Auto Note Mover allows you to set rules that automatically move notes to the folders of your choice based on tags. You can also set up rules to manually move notes based on tags or you can include a file property yo exclude a mote from being moved. If the destination folder does not exist or if there is already a note with the same name, you will receive a warning and the note will not be moved.
4. Callout Manager
Callout Manager is a plugin that makes creating a configuring callouts easy. With it you can browse a list of available callouts, change the color of callouts, create custom callouts. As a bonus, it works on mobile.
5. Extract URL Content
Extract URL content works when you select a URL in a document and execute a command from the command pallet to replace the selection with the markdown content. Additionally, if you use a file property of link:, followed by a URL, the markdown content will be created. Finally, if you have multiple links in a note, you can run a command to have notes created for each URL in a separate folder.
6. Automatic Table of Contents
Automatic Table of Contents is useful for long and detailed notes. It will create a table of contents for you at the top of a note based on the headers you have used. If you make changes to the note, the table of contents will automatically change to reflect your input.
7. Media DB
Media DB is useful if you use Obsidian to track content consumption. You can search a movie, television series, anime, game, music release or wiki article by its name across multiple APIs. You can make customized templates in each category and even convert existing notes into Media DB notes using the API.
8. Raindrop Highlights
Raindrop Highlights imports your collected bookmarks from the Raindrop.io service along with your highlights into your Obsidian vault. You can import them all or selectively choose the folders you want to bring in. You have the option of running a sync process manually or having it run automatically. If you have decent JS skills, you can even use Nunjucks to create a template for custom front matter and the importation of content with your bookmarks.
9. Attachment Management
The Attachment Management plugin is central to my workflow for the importation of web content. It centralizes the location on attachments in a single folder with subfolders matching the structure of my vault. It renames images to match the note names they are a part of. It works well with the Local Images Plus plugin. If you have folders where you don’t want the attachments moved or renamed, setting up exclusion rules is easy.
10. Waypoint
Waypoint is an Obsidian plugin that automatically generates tables of contents/MOCs within your folder notes. Once a waypoint is generated, it’ll automatically link to every note within the folder and its subfolders. The Waypoint plugin will detect when you create/rename/move/delete a note and automatically stay up-to-date.
Doc Watson, the blind folk guitarist from the NC mountains been gone for 12 years now but before he passed away, I got to see him perform live. It was the musical experience of a lifetime. His music has had special meaning to me for decades. The Essential Doc Watson - a Review
Adventures in Camera Land - The story of a recent weekend spent chasing good snaps, featuring the Easter Bunny, some Green Berets, hookah-smoking coeds, a Lebanese delegation and lots of unphotographed children.
The Wire - Season One, Episode One, Scene One - The Masterpiece That Kicked It Off
I knew from the very first scene in the very first episode that The Wire was a going to be a great television series. Nothing before or since has topped it for me. I was fortunate enough to experience the show as it happened, week by week, season by season, although I’ve binged it several times since. You know a show is good when you find yourself wondering what the characters are up to these days. Except Omar, because that little punk assassinated him in the corner store as he was buying a pack of Newports and his beloved Honey Nut Cheerios.
Anyway, if you haven’t watched in a while or if you’ve forgotten the absolute masterpiece of a scene that kicked the series off, you owe it to yourself to give it a watch today. See homicide detective Jimmy McNulty get schooled on the way America works by a witness at a Baltimore murder scene.
In the pre-streaming days when my kids were young teenagers (circa the mid-90s) we could go rent movies on Friday nights and get an entire weekend’s worth of films for $5. It was glorious and makes for a fine memory. Remembering the 90s- the Video Store
The One a Month Club's I've Joined So Far
Ever since @jarrod started the One a Month , I’ve looked for people to acknowledge with that token contribution. It’s not much, obviously, but it’s really the thought and the tangible appreciation that really count. I encourage everyone to pick out a few of your favorites to do the same thing.
So far I’m supporting:
MarkDownload - The Browser Extension that Works With #Obsidian
There are a variety of ways to get web content into Obsidian, but the one I find myself using most frequently is the MarkDownload Web Clipper. With this tool, you can clip entire pages, snippets and images from most major browsers straight into your Obsidian vault. There are versions of MarkDownload for Chromium based browsers, Firefox, and Safari.
Customization
You can customize the file properties so that they match the standards you use in your vault. I have the creation date set to YYYY-MM-DD. Instead of “source”, I prefer to use “url”. I also like the URL included in the body of the created note so that it’s clickable. Depending which of the download methods you choose for the note, you have the ability to edit the title and include tags right from the browser. Besides custom front matter, you can also choose the flavor of markdown that you want right down to specific elements.
The default template is:
Setup
To use the Obsidian integration, you need to download and enable the Obsidian Advance URIcommunity plugin. Make any changes you want to the front and back templates. Specify the name of your Obsidian vault and the name of the folder where you want downloaded notes to go. You have choices for the download method but using the Downloads API is recommended. Finally make any changes to the markdown syntax that you want.
Usage
According to the developer “Because the website is first passed through a readability process, you won’t get extra content such as website navigation, footers and advertisements. However, please note that not all websites are created equal and as such some sites may not clip the content you expect.” To clip a page, simply click the extension button in your bowser’s toolbar. You’ll be offered a save as dialog box and the opportunity to make edits. An alternative way, one that bypasses the dialog box, is to right-click in the web page and select from the context menu for MarkDownload. Your choices are:
You can also use the context menu to copy the page or selection to your clipboard as markdown. The final context menu choice is to download images. Image Management in Obsidian - A Workflow
Browser Extensions Personalize The Web Like Nothing Else Can - What Are Your Favorites?
Most of these extensions were designed for Chromium browsers. I am an unashamed user of Microsoft Edge. It can use the same extensions available to Google Chrome and there’s a vast selection to choose from. I don’t find that running all these extensions slows Edge down appreciably, so I install what I need. Extensions are specific to the profile you are using, but workspaces within the same profile share the same extensions. You can create a different Mac and PC profile is you find yourself using extensions that are platform specific. Here’s what I use:
Apple Magic Trackpad and Better Touch Tool - What Are the Best Use Cases, Tips and Tricks?
I got a new 24" M3 iMac at work last week and decided I wanted to try using Apple’s Magic Trackpad with it. I picked up a refurb on Amazon for $30 less than a new one from Apple. I got next day shipping as a Prime member. I used the included lightning cable to charge it overnight and it was ready for deployment this morning. I moved the switch into the on position, opened the Bluetooth settings in the iMac and in about 30 seconds it was paired, and I was in business.
I used it comfortably throughout the day, having no problems moving the cursor, selecting text or “right-clicking” (a two finger press on the force touch surface). There are built in gestures for trackpads in macOS 14 Sonora to:
I have Better Touch Tool from Folivera.ai installed. So far, I only have two gestures programmed:
I’d love to hear from anyone who has favorite Better Touch Tools settings they’d like to share. I’ve heard so much about the program and what it can do. I feel like I could really make use of it from a productivity standpoint.
My 10 Favorite Books - Most of them life changing in some way, a couple just for entertainment and one for survival.
Open at Login - The Balancing Act: Every App You Run Has the Potential To Slow Your Computer Down But Some Stuff You Just Can't Live Without
We buy our computers in order to use them. Some of them get used at work so that we can earn a living. In a lot of ways they are like shovels or hammers, just tools, a means to an end. Some computers are used for a different purpose. They help us express our creativity through art, photography, poetry. They provide us a link to the news of the world, whatever world it is that we wish to live in, be it some ancient kingdom in a video game or up to the minute events in politics and war or maybe just the lives of our friends online and in real life. We get to decide. We get to choose the tools, in the form of software that we are going to use to have the experience on our computer that we want to have. In the end, it’s all subjective. Maybe you can write a best-selling novel with TextEdit and use nothing but the stock out of the box apps on your Mac. Some do. Others, however, look for the tools that fit their styles and meet their needs in a particular way. There is no right and wrong.
There are a few things that people in the Windows world get that we don’t. Windows has a built-in clipboard manager. It has Windows management tools. We can have those things, we just have to find an app to do them for us. Most often those apps are installed so that they run when you log in to your computer. I’m going to list the tools I want available to me when I’m on my laptop. Every single program in the list runs as a login item on my Mac. Undoubtably, some people are going to be SMDH. Well, IDGAF. This is what it takes for me to have the experience I want. I’ve been using a Mac for a minute (I’m a retired Mac sysadmin from the public school system) and if an app has any kind of notoriety, I’ve probably tried it. Some of these apps are available on SetApp, if that’s something you’re interested in. Unfortunately for me, I bought a bunch of them before Setapp ever existed, so I don’t get to realize a savings on all of them.
So, as Leeroy Jenkins immortally exclaimed, let’s do this.
My Daily Digital Checklist - Staying Organized and Tracking the Important Stuff. Easy to Implement. Easy to Follow.
I use three of my favorite apps to create a daily digital checklist that I run through in the last hour of the day before bed. I have a template in Drafts containing the items I want to do regulalrly. I use a Keyboard Maestro Macro to automatically create a new list every day in Things 3, my task management app.
I have three email accounts:
I have a checkbox for each of these accounts and strive to reach Inbox Zero each night. I get behind on newsletters at a times, that being my lowest priority. I also have a checkbox to make sure I’ve downloaded any attached files to Google Drive.
Drafts
I use Drafts for iOS as my quick capture tool for all text. In the evening, I look at what I’ve captured that day and route it to the appropriate app. Notes go to Obsidain Quotes for my ever-growing collection go to Thoughts. I sometimes have new todo items for Things or calendar events for Fantastical.
Things 3
I go through Things and make sure I’ve checked off everything I accomplished that day. I take a minute to add anything I might want to get done tomorrow that I have not already added.
Obsidian
I clear out any notes I’ve saved in my Obsidian inbox, adding any tags or backlinks that I need. If it’s something I want to read later, I bookmark it - because I have a weekly task to read my bookmarked notes. I also have an Obsidian folder where emails arrive whenI send them via an IFTTT action. I clear that daily too. I make sure that any Omnivore highlights, notes or articles are properly tagged and that the metadata matches my preferred format. The last step is making sure I’ve completed my daily note. I add to it throughout the day as a journal, but at night I like to reflect a bit and add what I’m grateful for that day.
Updates
I have nearly 400 apps installed on my MacBook and an equivalent number on my iPhone. I run two Mac apps nightly to check for updates, Mac Updater and Latest. It only takes a couple of minutes, and it saves me from having marathon sessions of updates if I keep putting it off. The other thing I update is Trakt, a media tracking service that allows me to keep a record of my viewing habits.
Following this plan, making it an integral part of my evening routine helps me stay on top of the things that are important to me. The systems I have in place function smoothly because of this checklist. It’s an evolving habit and I add and remove items as I need to.
If you use multiple browsers or just want a super-charged database for searching your web history and bookmarks, HistoryHound from St. Clair Software is a must have tool. It searches not only the page title but also the content of every page you visit in a centralized database.
When the Writing Was Easy - The writing process and how it differs for me when engaged in real life vs. while on a grand adventure.
If you find the floating note useful in Raycast, you need to check out Scrap Paper by Wegner Labs, the ultimate scratch pad. It’s a menubar app with customizable colors and fonts that syncs to iCloud, can be shared via the share sheet. $2.99 in the app store. Details here
This Week's Bookmarks: Coconut Curry Red Lentil Soup, TV's Favorite Fake Beer, A Graph of Wikipedia, Real Places that Look Fake, Terrible Software Bugs, Missed Connection Ads, Voyager 1
Coconut Curry Red Lentil Soup l Panning The Globe - “I love everything about this Coconut Curry Red Lentil Soup, from the tender red lentils that melt into the creamy, curry-spiced tomato and coconut broth, to the perfect balance of heat, spice and tang that keeps it interesting right down to the bottom of the bowl.”
Meet Heisler, TV’s Favorite Beer That Doesn’t Even Exist | VinePair “You’d be hard-pressed to find any Heisler to chug while you play [a drinking game]. The beer doesn’t actually exist, but its on-screen presence is so extensive that it’s earned the nickname “the Bud Light of Fake Beers.”
I Made a Graph of Wikipedia… This Is What I Found (youtube.com) “A deep dive into the network of Wikipedia and some of the the most interesting, bizarre, and unique articles on the website.”
Photos of places on Earth that look fake, but are actually real
An anthology of terrible, terrible bugs For people who like their software stories extra-hideous
‘To the train lady with dark brown hair … ’: extraordinary stories of four couples who found love via small ads | Relationships | The Guardian “What are the chances of real romance via a ‘missed connection’? And has the internet turned these interactions from the stuff of romcoms to just a bit creepy?”
NASA engineers discover why Voyager 1 is sending a stream of gibberish from outside our solar system | Live Science “Voyager 1 has been sending a stream of garbled nonsense since November. Now NASA engineers have identified the fault and found a potential workaround.”
Supporting Something New, An IndieWeb Developer Releases a New Tool and I Get in on the Ground Floor louplummer.lol/post/supp…