Stream

I decided in May to start micro-blogging on my own website here. But as I've mentioned before, I'm not a fan of writing in markdown. Quarto offers a combination of md, html, and yaml, which works for me. So, now I write my initial thoughts on Twitter and then clean them up into YAML format.

It is heavily inspired by stream.thesephist.com.

It serves as a timeline of my thoughts. If you're curious about how I convert Twitter posts to YAML, you can find the output here. The exact prompt to achieve this can be found here.

Anyone has suggestions for in-background AI-based document editing apps? I don't need the app to tell me what to write next. What I'm looking for is an app that suggests changes like, 'This needs rephrasing to connect well to another section,' or 'Merge these two repeated sections.' 

I think my gripe with AI writing tools is that they're very generative rather than being aids for editing.

It's like someone misunderstood the term generative AI and decided that content generation is its best use. But writing a 5k+ token paper in my voice? That's a whole other ball game. It would need a strong mix of vectorization, concept mapping, segmentation, and context addition to be truly helpful as an editor.

I understand that achieving this level of sophistication is extremely difficult. Still, I find myself continually trying out these tools, secretly hoping for a miracle because, let's face it, I hate editing.

I have to say, WatchOS completely demolishes WearOS in the range and kinds of apps it provides. I have not been able to find a single useful app (for my purposes) on the WearOS store and that is just disappointing (and making me question my choices).

Something I have always done when I want to draw but I do not have something specific in my mind to draw. This is my favorite mode of relaxation - Alphabet designs.

I've got Twitch playing in the background all day, but is it worth subscribing to?

I "watch" Twitch more than I watch Netflix. Watch being in quotes, because I have it always playing in picture-in-picture mode while I am working, and then watch it for fun at night. And Twitch content is free. I usually do not mind ads but they are irritating. Should I subscribe to it? 😅

Five years (not really!) into the GPT era, and most apps still don't let you add tags using AI. What gives?

I can't believe it's been 5 years (or months) into having GPT APIs and most apps still don't let you add tags using AI. WHY IN THE EVER LOVING FUDGE IS THAT? They let you add summaries and even do QA, but tags? NOPE, they don't do them here. NotionHQ, readwise, can we get some AI tags please?

Sure, tana_inc does it, but that's beside the point. obsdmd does too through plain text, and I assume some AI plugin + templater combo, but I'm not looking for UI on top of plain text filters right now.

Let me tag my content with AI, it's one of the things it's good at!Gmail, listen up. I don't really want to write an email with AI; I want to add labels to the email with AI.

Why is there a shortage of integrating AI into our existing interfaces?

The Struggles of Finding the Perfect Document Writing App

I have a feeling, I'm going to keep using NotionHQ and still be disappointed by it, forever. It's a very similar experience with LaTeX and Overleaf.What is it about software made for document writing and note-taking that makes moving from an incumbent so hard? A significant factor is definitely collaboration. That's why I believe non-collaborative PKMs won't overtake any non-collaborative software. But what else is there?

Why Notion and Apple Notes Serve Different Purposes

Unpopular opinion: If you say Notion is overrated, I use Apple Notes, it is not Notion which is the problem, it is you. This is very much like saying trains are overrated, I use cars. Yes, they are in the same general vicinity, but they are not for the same purposes. If you want local first, write in plain text, why would you use Notion.

You can try Bear or Reflect or Craft, but Notion is like fitting a square peg solution in a round hole of needs. Upgrading to a premium round peg is the solution. If you're looking to level up your Apple notes experience, but do not collaborate, try Bear or maybe Reflect. Or for collaboration, Google Docs or Google Keep or Craft for that matter. Choose an app that does 10% over the app you are using. Try electric cars not trains.

All arguments about Notion vs Apple Notes to me sound like I was using a round peg that fits into a round hole. Instead of upgrading my round peg, I decided to use a square peg that kinda fits into a round hole. So, square pegs are overrated. Chat, it is that you don't have a square shaped hole in your life 🤷🏽‍♀️

If you want to learn how to use Apple Notes better, check out A Quick Guide to Apple’s Notes App. Also, did you know how good Google Docs is? — see that at Google Docs Is Underrated.

Date me docs are what happens when you learn no dating skills from your Asian parents, are surrounded by the idea of arranged marriage forever, and are asked to write SAT essays instead of going on dates—ending up being 27, without a partner. Disclaimer: I'm SE Asian, and if I wasn't lucky enough to be in a relationship with my partner for the past 5 years; or if we are ever not together, I am 100% sharing a date me doc.

I need to have a Readwise Reader cleanup day and unsubscribe to all newsletters that I have subscribed to. I realized I do not really like newsletters written as newsletters. I like long detailed essays, and newsletters aren't that. In general, I am not gonna subscribe to scheduled newsletters anymore. Scheduled letters make it so that someone needs to have something to say; and I kinda don't enjoy that content.