January 3, 2021 at 11:43pm
Back to Dropbox with Blot
About 18 months ago I transitioned the publishing of this site to use Git. It was cool, but overly cumbersome for my needs.
I avoided posting here because of the overhead that Git created with respect to the publishing process.
At the same time, I didn’t want to install Dropbox on my computers because of its massive overhead, and I don’t use Dropbox for anything else.
I’ve got a solution now though. I can write in any app. On my Mac I can use Commander One (part of Setapp) to remotely connect to Dropbox without the client. On iOS I can install the Dropbox app, but alternatively I can use an action in Drafts, like I’m doing here, to write and publish in a single step.
Dropbox
Blot
Drafts
January 3, 2021 at 12:17pm
2020 Retrospective
What are the rules about linking to my own post on another website I own?
Andrew Canion - 2020 Retrospective:
For me, the narrative that 2020 was a complete write-off is not fair. A lot happened in 2020 and much of it has been positive and transformational.
link
December 29, 2020 at 3:16pm
I’ve been consciously taking more and better daily notes. Part of this is to build a greater awareness of what I do and how I spend my time. Part of it is to be able to capture and later resurface information.
I’ve tried a number of various solutions to this. I experimented with Bullet Journaling (with a pen and journal) and using the Cortext Podcast’s Theme Journal. However, paper creates too much friction considering that I am usually in front of a screen of some sort and I want digital information in any case. I’ve used a range of software, from GoodNotes with an iPad Pencil, DEVONthink with a script to create a daily note everyday, The Archive, Obsidian, and I even trialled Roam Research for a time.
DEVONthink got the closest in terms of being accessible and leveraging its AI to highlight related notes (a feature that has no peer, to be honest). Yet DEVONthink’s text editing is anaemic. No niceties for drafting in Markdown as is my preference. No outlining, which I enjoy and find productive.
I needed a better solution.
Everything’s an outline
It occurred to me that everything is an outline. Mind map? It’s an outline. Kanban board? It’s an outline. Chapters and paragraph styles? It’s an outline. Diaries and daily notes? It’s an outline.
So if everything at its essence is an outline, why not use an outliner? So here I am, using Dynalist as my everything capture tool. I decided on Dynalist after a short play with Workflowy. Workflowy is simple but has none of the features I wanted such as Markdown, linking etc. It is too basic for my wants.
Roam Daily Note
The great feature of Roam - as well as being an outliner - is that it automatically creates a ‘Daily Note’. This seemingly simple feature reduces the friction of having to create a document, or find a place to put text. Put it in the daily note, at least as a starting point.
This is why I created a script in DEVONthink to create a daily note text file at the beginning of each day.
I wanted to ensure that my Dynalist setup could also have a daily note, but it doesn’t come with this feature.
Steve Zeoli’s Daily Note
This is where I give thanks to Steve Zeoli at Welcome to Sherwood. He drew my attention to a simple Windows app that can create a list of dates that cover an entire year.
I use the date file created from this application to pre-populate a year’s worth of nested bullets for my Daily Note outline.
Dynalist Day List
The great thing about Dynalist is that I can ‘zoom in’ (hoist, in old-school outliner lingo) any bullet such that it becomes the header for the page. So I can zoom into a week, or even a single day, and make notes nested under that particular header.
Dynalist supports backlinks and internal Wiki linking, so typing [[ will bring up an active searching letting me link one part of the notebook to another.
It also support dates by starting with an !. I sync these dates to a Google Calendar, which I subscribe to via Fastmail where all my calendars live, to give me another view into my dated tasks from other calendar-based applications such as BusyCal and OmniFocus.
Search and Discovery
I am still in the process of optimising my search settings, but I’ve devised a couple that seem to work well. Searches can be saved as a bookmark within Dynalist and they run when click on in the sidebar.
- ‘Open Checkboxes’ will show my any checkboxes in my outliner that are not checked off:
has:checkbox -is:completed
- ‘Within 1 Month’ shows me any entries with date elements that are within one month ahead of now:
within:1m
Exporting Markdown
I’ve drafted this blog entry in Dynalist (with a couple of detours into Drafts to make use of Brett Terpra’s SearchLink service to create Markdown links). The lack of macOS Services support is one big downer with Dynalist.
The intent now is to export it as a Markdown file and publish it to the world.
Unfortunately, getting nice Markdown out of Dynalist wasn’t perfect. Exporting as plain text with dashes for indentation was the best I could do. This didn’t establish H1, H2 headings and nor did it ensure my graphic was exported. Each paragraph was adorned with a bullet, which doesn’t make sense for long-form writing, either.
It would appear others feel this pain too, as there are a number of threads about it on the Dynalist forum; with this one summing it up best.
So export to markdown is an area that needs some work. Perhaps it isn’t optimal for writing pure blog posts, leaving a place for iA Writer in my arsenal.
dynalist
software
review
November 8, 2020 at 1:59pm
My Subscription Services
Steven Garrity at Acts of Volition writes of the online services he pays for. This prompted me to make my own quick list.
Some of these links include referral codes, but that’s not the motivation driving this post. They do, however, help me out.
Internet Infrastructure
Micro.blog
Where I spend a lot of my Internet socialising time. It also hosts my blog, photos and podcast.
Blot
An alternative blog that I set up mainly because I was interested in Blot. I really should be spread across two locations, but what can you do?
Fastmail
For secure and private email and calendars.
iCloud
My cloud storage of choice.
Software as a Service
Textexpander
I rely on this for some templating. I don’t like it’s interface. If there was something better, I’d switch.
Inoreader
Solid RSS reader that has many features I don’t use.
Harmonizely
The only online booking system that works well with Fastmail.
Setapp
I use enough of the apps provided through Fastmail to make it worthwhile.
Blackblaze
I’ve been burnt by hard drive failures in the past. I hope never to have to actually ever restore anything.
YNAB
I can only afford all these subscriptions because YNAB helps me budget for them.
Sanebox
Keeping the clutter from my inbox.
1Password
Secure, unique passwords are mandatory in my world.
News
Australian Financial Review
Got a 3-month discounted trial.
Unlikely to continue past this month.
The Washington Post
Got a cheap deal.
Unlikely to continue upon its conclusion.
The Saturday Paper
Got a cheap subscription.
One of the few places for longer-form Australian journalism.
I don’t love it though, and expect not to continue.
Entertainment
Apple TV+
Still on the free trial but I’ve enjoyed enough of the content that I will stay.
Apple Music
I’m in the Apple ecosystem and I like being able to call up music from wherever.
Its playlists are never as good as the ones on Spotify.
Netflix
It’s the default.
Amazon Prime
Has enough content to keep us onboard.
Disney+
Good value for the kids, and The Mandalorian.
The Unmade Podcast
I laugh more through this podcast than any other.
NBL Pocket Podcast
I am a co-host, so I have to support it!
Dithering
An enjoyable and insightful bite-sized podcast. Pay for the things you want to exist in the world.
Like You Podcast
A great relaxation podcast for children. I admire what the creator, Noah, is doing.
iOS Apps
Day One
I’ve been journalling in Day One for many years. I run hot and cold with it, but I enjoy the metadata it captures in addition to my thoughts and memories.
Drafts
Where text starts (when I remember). Used to kick-off OmniFocus templates for work.
Pzizz
Coming to the end of a 5-year subscription.
Used less than I used to, but is still helpful at bedtime.
AnyList
Reliable shopping list and recipe manager.
Contains a few random other lists as well.
New York Times Crossword
Brain food, especially the earlier in the week puzzles!
1Blocker
I don’t like Internet ads, and this covers macOS and iOS.
Headspace
I had a run of around 150 days, then I just… stopped.
Castro
The Inbox has saved me, but I do switch between this and Overcast.
Other
Readwise
I read a lot. I’m using this service to try to help me remember it.
Flickr Pro
An unused subscription. It houses a semi-complete photo archive.
I don’t need this but I have a weird emotional connection to Flickr, despite hardly ever using it.
I should get rid of this subscription. Life would go on.
subscriptions
list
August 24, 2020 at 3:23pm
Mondo Electronics
Mondo Electronics is a company I’ve helped as part of my job as an Entrepreneurs’ Programme Growth Facilitator.
They were kind enough to say some nice words about the value of the service to their business and me personally.
Working with companies like Mondo is what makes my job enjoyable.
work
video
canion.me