Chad Moore

I bought myself an iPad to try to use as my main computer. I’m writing and drawing much more than I have been previously. I thought the iPad would address those needs, and man that Pencil combined with the Procreate app is amazing.

I do wish I could use the pencil in any text field and have my lettering turned to text, maybe some day.

Anyway, there’s only one thing that I typically do that is hard on the iPad so far. It’s one specific website I use frequenty. I can get by, but it’s not a great experience. Also, FaceBook messenger in Safari puts double spaces in everything I type, but renders it properly on posting. But I don’t use FaceBook much anyway.

I don’t really code very much anymore, and when I do, I can log into the old MacBook the family uses.

I’m lucky to have options. I’m not trying to convince anyone to purchase iPads, or start changing how you do what you do. I type all the above to bring me to this.

Advancing backwards

This iPad and other modern computers are amazing machines. Full of features, and systems, and amazing advances in technology.

Maybe it’s my interest in minimalism/essentialism.

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, and trying to remove distractions and focusing on a smaller set of concerns. And setting better expectations for myself.

Maybe it’s the move to indieweb. The reaction to the large social media sites, and all their ills that outweigh the good.

Maybe it’s the time we live in. Dealing with the politics, the binary sorting of sides and encouraged fighting over discourse.

Maybe it’s the amount of news; 24 cycle, always on. Real or fake, bot generated, all designed to manipulate humans.

Maybe it’s the super specifc time we live in. Dealing with the isolation and anxiety over the coronavirus. Some are using this time to focus on what’s really important. I’m trying to. It’s hard.

Habits and tech

I’ve spent some time building up a journaling practice again. And, as a tinkerer, I’ve tried many apps and systems. Digital, analog, and combinations of both.

Again, I come back to plain text. These are computer files that are stored as .txt files. The oldest filetype, perhaps? I mean these kinds of files were around over twenty years ago, when I first got serious about computing. How old is Linux? These files were probably there at the start of that OS.

The thing is, they can be read and written on any computer. Mac, Windows, Linux, maybe others? Whatever your computer looks like. Desktop, Laptop, Tablet, Phone, micro-controller.

If you store them in a cloud service like iCloud, Dropbox or one you roll your own (make your own server and system) you can get to them anywhere there is internet.

Totally open, easily accessed, editable, shareable, easy to understand.

I wish more things in life were like these silly, simple text files.

I’ve been tinkering with the concept of the Highlight from the Time Dorks and just came across this post the other day from John Henry Muller.

I like the combination of ideas, and Muller’s simple text approach. I’ve modified it a bit. Maybe too much overhead?

I made a textExpander snippet to expand into the date and the format described in the today article. It looks like this…

If nothing else, today I am going to blank.  I am going to do this by blank then blank and then blank. If I do this, and only this, today will be a good day.

I use the fancy fill-ins> fields functionlity of textExpander, but that’s not that important. I mean I could just write that entire thing, right?

So then I move that to iaWriter, into a Journal folder, and add some other not as important tasks. I use this throughout the day.

The tech doesnt matter

I’m thinking of going back to edit this post to remove the TextExpander and specifc apps talk. The process of focusing is all that matters, and secondarily that the file is plain text and on the cloud, so I can edit it in any app, on any computer, anywhere where there’s internet. The rest is yak shaving, perhaps.

Work / home balance

I struggle with the day job, and all the other projects I have. Balancing them all out. This Highlight idea will help me focus, I hope. I purposley keep these things seperate in terms of technology.

With all that’s happening in the world at the moment, it’s a bit hard to focus and I’m working on that. I realize that it could be a lot worse for me. Trying to be mindful of that. Thinking through any challenge and writing about it helps me. Stay safe, stay home. We’ll get through this and dance in the streets when we can do so safely.

Anyone made the transition from nvAlt on Mac to something on iPad? I’m looking to replicate that nvAlt/Dropbox workflow on iPadOS, now that I’m mostly using the iPad. Closest I’ve come is iaWriter. Some things I’m looking for

• single .md or .txt files stored in one directory
• that directory is in iCloud (preferred) or Dropbox
• great search
• maybe tagging but great search removes the need for tags, I think?