This Page is Designed to Last

January 7, 2020

I get Jeff’s point that the more pages are dependent upon external content and libraries, the more things get borked when said content disappears. But the nature of the web is linking. Things will always disappear. That’s why I PDF all of my writing and save it locally, so that when it disappears (not if…), I’ll have a copy, which I can put back online.

I agree it’s disruptive when links break. But the glass is already broken. The nature of the web is transitory. It’s like trying to make sure a tree won’t lose its leaves.

This post will be even funnier once the Kottke link breaks.

This Page is Designed to Last | Jeff Huang

My Days Wind Down, Creation and Cells

January 2, 2020

I love this blog, which is an amazingly inspirational travel journal. There’s not much tech stuff, which is fine with me, but this particular post happened to feature an interesting technology perspective. In the post, Mike makes his peace with living in the walled garden of Apple products:

I like this ecosystem and its security and even its walled gardens

I appreciate Mike coming around to this idea, because he’s making a choice. He understands the implications, but the benefits outweigh the challenges. That’s what we should all do with our technology. It’s not always about choosing free and open source.

And check out Mike’s blog. It’s very cool.

My Days Wind Down, Creation and Cells | Mikes Thoughts

How He Does It: Robert Caro Explains His Research and Writing Process

December 12, 2019

I’m not sure if this is really a tech kind of post, but I’m hanging it upon the hook of my interview with The Plain Text Project, where I discussed how I edit on paper.

I just finished reading Robert Caro’s Working, and in it he mentions using triple spacing so he has plenty of room to write in his edits. This article talks about that process:

Caro writes his drafts longhand on white legal pads, three or four times. Then he types these drafts on an old electric typewriter, using legal paper and triple spacing to leave lots of room for editing. Some drafts have more pencil marks than type.

I don’t leave that much space when I print, but I might begin to leave more than my 1.5 line spacing, as more room for writing is always helpful when marking things up.

And just to bring this around to software, one of the things I love about Typora, my Markdown editor, is that you can print from it directly, without converting the work to a PDF or HTML.

How He Does It: Robert Caro Explains His Research and Writing Process | The Elements of Writing

Want the Greenest Device? You May Already Own It

December 10, 2019

I have a lot of issues with the political reporting of the New York Times but I absolutely love their weekly Tech We’re Using, which focuses on the tools their reporters use to do their jobs.

This interview with Kendra Pierre-Louis, the paper’s environment/climate reporter (or “Gloom is My Beat,” as her Twitter bio says) has a lot of great stuff about sustainable tech, for which I have a soft spot, for the obvious reasons, but also because it’s something my wife has written about.

I really related to this particular quote from Pierre-Louis:

I can say I tend to hold on to electronics for years — I once had a laptop that lasted nine years. Toward the end, people teased me about it because it was, physically speaking, a brick. I got my workout carrying that thing around.

I’m guessing she had a ThinkPad. Those things are indestructible.

Want the Greenest Device? You May Already Own It | The New York Times