Embedded tweets

After reading a recent post by Dr. Drang about embedding tweets, from now on I will use his methods here. Moving from posting photos of tweets to embedded text into the site will make life easier for everyone. Using his tweet that sparked this update as an example:

Another thing that’s so 2006: Using screenshots instead of live embedded tweets. buzzfeed.com/mjs538/tweets-…
  — Dr. Drang (@drdrang) Thu Jul 12 2012 10:11 AM EDT

Enjoy the update!

Letters of Note: Regarding your dam complaint

This was funny when I first saw it a few years ago and is still funny today. Here is an excerpt from Letters of Note: Regarding your dam complaint:

“As to your dam request the beavers first must fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity, my first dam question to you is: are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers or do you require all dam beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request? If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, please send me completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits. Perhaps we will see if there really is a dam violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws annotated.”

This one is also close to my heart.

Sincerely,

E.L. Beavers

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Celebrating Independence

The temperatures have dropped from a recent high of 108°F to a cool 94°F today, July 3, as I stand with an ice-cold Corona by our Big Green Egg slowly cooking 20 pounds of pork.

Celebrating Independence

I’m going to go ahead and say, “Happy 4th” everyone. Don’t lose any eyes, fingers or other parts.

Multiple Apps Cause "Writer's Tension"

Writer’s block is not as much of a problem for me as the writer’s tension caused by the proliferation of great writing apps for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. My basic instinct—my flaw—is to fiddle with things. My fiddly nature makes it difficult to establish a single simple workflow.

<nerd>Note: I write almost everything in MultiMarkdown
(with all due respect to John Gruber's Markdown and
have been dabbling in LaTeX.</nerd>

So, syntax highlighting and the ability to eventually export to .tex is important to me. Moving on, my goto writing apps by platform are (disclosure: affiliate links abound):

Mac

iPhone

  • Elements—Make or find notes quickly (App Store, info)
  • Drafts—Make notes quickly and send to another app (App Store, info)
  • Byword—Simple Markdown-aware text editor for iPhone (App Store, info)

iPad

  • Textastic—Syntax-aware text editor, my “BBEdit” for iPad (App Store, info)
  • Byword—Simple Markdown-aware text editor for iPad (App Store, info)
  • Elements—Make or find notes quickly (App Store, info)

Byword is the only one of these that seamlessly crosses all three devices and I want to love it so bad. I cannot figure it out, but Byword just doesn’t seem to work for me. The sensible part of me knows I need to cut the line and let that one sink, but my caring side wants to nurture that relationship.

Scrivener is where I want to work, but it’s lack of MultiMarkdown syntax highlighting trips up my concentration. I’m not complaining. Scrivener does a lot and is a best-in-class writing environment that will get its own “Apps I Use” post here later. I would prefer to do just about everything in Scrivener, but have never gotten comfortable with round-tripping files using Dropbox syncing.

NvALT is nearly perfect for making or finding text notes on the Mac and is a window into the world of plaintext notes that live in my Dropbox folder. Elements serves as its equivalent on my iPhone and iPad.

More often than not, I find myself writing in BBEdit on my Mac.

Starting Points

These are the apps, in most likely order of consideration, that freeze my brain when I want to begin a new document:

On my Mac

  1. BBEdit
  2. NvALT
  3. Scrivener

On my iPhone

  1. Drafts
  2. Byword
  3. Elements

On my iPad

  1. Elements
  2. Textastic
  3. Byword

Caveat
Things get a little squirrelly if I find myself somewhere with no connection to Dropbox. In those rare situations, I sometimes return to Nebulous Notes (info)to save locally and sync later.

Making Work Flow

Another symptom of my fiddly nature presents itself in setting up linkage. I have unconsciously replaced all of the fonts and styles and other gewgaws bogging down word processors (See also: Microsoft Word, Apple Pages for Mac and iOS) with a new way to bog myself down.

Here’s the deal. I’m trucking along at a decent pace when I write a word or two that I know will need to become a link so my Pavlovian brain slams on the brakes and I switch to my web browser to search and find just the right link and return to the working document 15 minutes later to add the link and…where was I?

Exactly.

It’s a bad habit I need to break.

Initial Treatment

I am really talking about two scenarios here. The first is the creation of a new document followed by continuing work on an existing file. The solution in either scenario is both simple and similar; to pick an app and stick with it.

A New Diagnosis

This post is turning out like an episode of House M.D. (don’t be sad it’s over, get happy). I started with a diagnosis and treatment of the obvious symptoms only to discover they were masking the correct diagnosis of a bigger problem.

In this case, the problem is probably not as much with my choice of apps, but the fear of stretching out to try something and failing. This bout of self-discovery has been helpful for me. I hope it helps you too.

Hunter S. Thompson: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 review by Matt Taibbi. – Slate Magazine

It warms my soul to know the good Doctor remains as much on edge today as during his coverage of the 1972 presidential campaign. Matt Taibbi reviewed the classic for Slate.com on the book’s 40th anniversary.

Hunter S. Thompson: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 review by Matt Taibbi. – Slate Magazine:

“The whole book reeked of a kind of desperation to know where absolutely everyone he met stood on the manic quest to find meaning and redemption that was his campaign adventure.

The obsession made for great theater, but it also produced great journalism. Hunter knew the geography of the 1972 campaign the way a stalker knows a starlet’s travel routine, and when he put it all down on paper, it was lit up with the kind of wildly vivid detail that only a genuinely crazy person, all mixed up with rage and misplaced love, can bring to a subject.”

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Losing Weight the Geek Way

MacSparky – Blog – Geek Weight Loss:

“Earlier this year I was looking at some family pictures with my glasses off and asked myself, ‘Who is that fat guy on the end?’ Turns out, it was me. I’m not sure when it happened, but I got fat.”

I’m in the same (gravy) boat. I used Lose It! last year, lost weight, lost interest, and gained the weight back with interest. Dave inspires me to give it another shot.

Mmmm. Gravy. Stop! Dave speaks to my inner nerd:

It’s all about changing habits. I needed to hack myself. I wanted something without a lot of complicated rules. I also realized that I’m a geek and because of that I should channel that geek impulse to help me lose weight.

Now to see if I can melt off 2 pounds a week.

What's Driving College Costs Higher? : NPR

NPR quoted Kevin Carey, the director of the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation, in its account of “What’s Driving College Costs Higher?”:

“There is now no doubt that certain kinds of students can learn a lot online. But people don’t just go to college to learn; they go to college to get a job. That’s the difference between a library and a college.”

I have Dave Pell to thank for helping find this gem. You should sign up for Next Draft, his excellent electronic mail automated listserv doodad full of curated buzzwordy Internet goodness.

Seriously. Sign up.