Start April dispatch
This commit is contained in:
David Eisinger
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---
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title: "Dispatch #26 (April 2025)"
|
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date: 2025-03-31T23:05:49-04:00
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draft: false
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tags:
|
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- dispatch
|
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references:
|
||||
- title: "Viget Rewind: A Reimagining of Spotify Wrapped | Viget"
|
||||
url: https://www.viget.com/articles/viget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped/
|
||||
date: 2025-04-01T03:26:23Z
|
||||
file: www-viget-com-ab37cx.txt
|
||||
- title: "My LLM codegen workflow atm | Harper Reed's Blog"
|
||||
url: https://harper.blog/2025/02/16/my-llm-codegen-workflow-atm/
|
||||
date: 2025-03-02T05:57:54Z
|
||||
file: harper-blog-l8lxlh.txt
|
||||
- title: "The API client that lives in your terminal - Posting"
|
||||
url: https://posting.sh/
|
||||
date: 2025-04-01T03:11:33Z
|
||||
file: posting-sh-zsjk7n.txt
|
||||
- title: "Our interfaces have lost their senses"
|
||||
url: https://wattenberger.com/thoughts/our-interfaces-have-lost-their-senses
|
||||
date: 2025-04-01T03:11:36Z
|
||||
file: wattenberger-com-zl39ri.txt
|
||||
- title: "Art-directing AI"
|
||||
url: https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/art-directing-ai/
|
||||
date: 2025-04-01T15:12:39Z
|
||||
file: www-robinsloan-com-2lwtj1.txt
|
||||
- title: "If it is worth keeping, save it in Markdown"
|
||||
url: https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves
|
||||
date: 2025-04-01T03:11:40Z
|
||||
file: p-migdal-pl-4of5up.txt
|
||||
- title: "The Imperfectionist: Reality is right here"
|
||||
url: https://ckarchive.com/b/4zuvhehpp24m4t6ovveola6g9z777s5
|
||||
date: 2025-04-01T03:11:46Z
|
||||
file: ckarchive-com-xm6rqk.txt
|
||||
- title: "The Outsider Option: Why I Sold Half my Company to Tiny"
|
||||
url: https://ryan.norbauer.com/journal/the-outsider-option-why-i-sold-half-my-company-to-tiny/
|
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date: 2025-04-01T15:10:45Z
|
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file: ryan-norbauer-com-wvwypu.
|
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- title: "The average college student today - by Hilarius Bookbinder"
|
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url: https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today
|
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date: 2025-04-01T15:28:16Z
|
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file: hilariusbookbinder-substack-com-ehgwjk.txt
|
||||
---
|
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|
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Some thoughts here...
|
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|
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<!--more-->
|
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|
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{{<dither IMG_7708.jpeg "782x600" />}}
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{{<dither IMG_6952.jpeg "782x600" />}}
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|
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* Nico on the move
|
||||
* "new major release"
|
||||
* Nev big girl bed
|
||||
* Difficulty of finding decent mix of price + quality
|
||||
* [Hasura][1]
|
||||
* [Viget Rewind: A Reimagining of Spotify Wrapped][2]
|
||||
* Haskell
|
||||
* Vegas
|
||||
* Goal/habit setting
|
||||
* Music
|
||||
* [Tascam Model 12][3]
|
||||
* [Conductive Labs MRCC][4]
|
||||
* So many cables
|
||||
* Piano → Reface CP → mixer → speakers
|
||||
* New book edition
|
||||
* Copenhagen
|
||||
|
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[1]: https://hasura.io/
|
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[2]: https://www.viget.com/articles/viget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped/
|
||||
[3]: https://tascam.com/us/product/model_12/
|
||||
[4]: https://conductivelabs.com/mrcc/
|
||||
|
||||
### This Month
|
||||
|
||||
* Adventure: Lake, [kayak][5]
|
||||
* Project:
|
||||
* Skill:
|
||||
|
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[5]: /journal/dispatch-2-april-2023/
|
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|
||||
### Reading & Listening
|
||||
|
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* Fiction: [_Sunbringer_][6], Hannah Kaner
|
||||
* Non-fiction: [_Co-Intelligence_][7], Ethan Mollick ([recommended here][8])
|
||||
* Music: [_Saudade_][9], Thievery Corporation
|
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|
||||
[6]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/sunbringer-hannah-kaner/20297610
|
||||
[7]: https://bookshop.org/p/books/co-intelligence-living-and-working-with-ai-ethan-mollick/20812081
|
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[8]: https://harper.blog/2025/02/16/my-llm-codegen-workflow-atm/
|
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[9]: https://thieverycorporation.com/portfolio/saudade/
|
||||
|
||||
### Links
|
||||
|
||||
* [Posting – The API client that lives in your terminal][10]
|
||||
|
||||
> The API client that lives in your terminal. Posting is a beautiful open-source terminal app for developing and testing APIs.
|
||||
|
||||
* [Our interfaces have lost their senses][11]
|
||||
|
||||
> We've been successfully removing all friction from our apps — think about how effortless it is to scroll through a social feed. But is that what we want? Compare the feeling of doomscrolling to kneading dough, playing an instrument, sketching... these take effort, but they're also deeply satisfying. When you strip away too much friction, meaning and satisfaction go with it.
|
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|
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I found this delightful; [Robin Sloan wasn't as impressed][12].
|
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|
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* [If it is worth keeping, save it in Markdown][13]
|
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|
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> The most durable solution would be carving things in stone - it would last for millennia. But that's hardly practical, and it wouldn't make things easily searchable or shareable. The second best option is plaintext files with UTF-8 encoding and Markdown formatting3. As long as computers exist, we'll be able to read plaintext files with ease.
|
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|
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* [The Imperfectionist: Reality is right here][14]
|
||||
|
||||
> But there’s one piece of advice I’m confident applies to basically everyone: as far as you can manage it, you should make sure your psychological centre of gravity is in your real and immediate world – the world of your family and friends and neighborhood, your work and your creative projects, as opposed to the world of presidencies and governments, social forces and global emergencies.
|
||||
|
||||
* [The Outsider Option: Why I Sold Half my Company to Tiny][15]
|
||||
|
||||
> I very intentionally capitalized and bootstrapped Norbauer & Co. in such a way as to never need outside investors, and at no point (now or in the past) have we ever been in want of cash. Indeed, I have spent my entire entrepreneurial life resisting investor-oriented management. So, as I now find myself more tranquil and satisfied than I have ever been in all my working life, I’m reluctant to admit what made it all possible. I sold nearly half of my company to a publicly-traded investment fund run by a Canadian billionaire.
|
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|
||||
* [The average college student today][16]
|
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|
||||
> All this might sound like an angry rant. I’m not sure. I’m not angry, though, not at all. I’m just sad. One thing all faculty have to learn is that the students are not us. We can’t expect them all to burn with the sacred fire we have for our disciplines, to see philosophy, psychology, math, physics, sociology or economics as the divine light of reason in a world of shadow. Our job is to kindle that flame, and we’re trying to get that spark to catch, but it is getting harder and harder and we don’t know what to do.
|
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|
||||
[10]: https://posting.sh/
|
||||
[11]: https://wattenberger.com/thoughts/our-interfaces-have-lost-their-senses
|
||||
[12]: https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/art-directing-ai/
|
||||
[13]: https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves
|
||||
[14]: https://ckarchive.com/b/4zuvhehpp24m4t6ovveola6g9z777s5
|
||||
[15]: https://ryan.norbauer.com/journal/the-outsider-option-why-i-sold-half-my-company-to-tiny/
|
||||
[16]: https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today
|
||||
2
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The Imperfectionist: Reality is right here
|
||||
|
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464
static/archive/hilariusbookbinder-substack-com-ehgwjk.txt
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[1]
|
||||
Scriptorium Philosophia
|
||||
|
||||
[2]Scriptorium Philosophia
|
||||
|
||||
SubscribeSign in
|
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|
||||
Share this post
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|
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[8]
|
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[https]
|
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Scriptorium Philosophia
|
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Scriptorium Philosophia
|
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The average college student today
|
||||
Copy link
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Facebook
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Email
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Notes
|
||||
More
|
||||
|
||||
The average college student today
|
||||
|
||||
How things have changed
|
||||
|
||||
[9]
|
||||
[htt]
|
||||
[10]Hilarius Bookbinder
|
||||
Mar 25, 2025
|
||||
3,535
|
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Share this post
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|
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[12]
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[https]
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Scriptorium Philosophia
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Scriptorium Philosophia
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The average college student today
|
||||
Copy link
|
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Facebook
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Email
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Notes
|
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More
|
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[13]
|
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786
|
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653
|
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[14]
|
||||
Share
|
||||
|
||||
I’m Gen X. I was pretty young when I earned my PhD, so I’ve been a professor
|
||||
for a long time—over 30 years. If you’re not in academia, or it’s been awhile
|
||||
since you were in college, you might not know this: the students are not what
|
||||
they used to be. The problem with even talking about this topic at all is the
|
||||
knee-jerk response of, “yeah, just another old man complaining about the kids
|
||||
today, the same way everyone has since Gilgamesh. Shake your fist at the
|
||||
clouds, dude.”[15]1 So yes, I’m ready to hear that. Go right ahead. Because
|
||||
people need to know.
|
||||
|
||||
First, some context. I teach at a regional public university in the US. Our
|
||||
students are average on just about any dimension you care to name—aspirations,
|
||||
intellect, socio-economic status, physical fitness. They wear hoodies and yoga
|
||||
pants and like Buffalo wings. They listen to Zach Bryan and Taylor Swift.
|
||||
That’s in no way a put-down: I firmly believe that the average citizen deserves
|
||||
a shot at a good education and even more importantly a shot at a good life. All
|
||||
I mean is that our students are representative; they’re neither the bottom of
|
||||
the academic barrel nor the cream off the top.
|
||||
|
||||
As with every college we get a range of students, and our best philosophy
|
||||
majors have gone on to earn PhDs or go to law school. We’re also an NCAA
|
||||
Division 2 school and I watched one of our graduates become an All-Pro lineman
|
||||
for the Saints. These are exceptions, and what I say here does not apply to
|
||||
every single student. But what I’m about to describe are the average students
|
||||
at Average State U.
|
||||
|
||||
Scriptorium Philosophia is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts
|
||||
and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
|
||||
|
||||
[26][ ]
|
||||
Subscribe
|
||||
Reading
|
||||
|
||||
Most of our students are functionally illiterate. This is not a joke. By
|
||||
“functionally illiterate” I mean “unable to read and comprehend adult novels by
|
||||
people like Barbara Kingsolver, Colson Whitehead, and Richard Powers.” I picked
|
||||
those three authors because they are all recent Pulitzer Prize winners, an
|
||||
objective standard of “serious adult novel.” Furthermore, I’ve read them all
|
||||
and can testify that they are brilliant, captivating writers; we’re not talking
|
||||
about Finnegans Wake here. But at the same time they aren’t YA, romantasy, or
|
||||
Harry Potter either.
|
||||
|
||||
I’m not saying our students just prefer genre books or graphic novels or
|
||||
whatever. No, our average graduate literally could not read a serious adult
|
||||
novel cover-to-cover and understand what they read. They just couldn’t do it.
|
||||
They don’t have the desire to try, the vocabulary to grasp what they read,[29]2
|
||||
and most certainly not the attention span to finish. For them to sit down and
|
||||
try to read a book like The Overstory might as well be me attempting an Iron
|
||||
Man triathlon: much suffering with zero chance of success.
|
||||
|
||||
Students are not absolutely illiterate in the sense of being unable to sound
|
||||
out any words whatsoever. Reading bores them, though. They are impatient to get
|
||||
through whatever burden of reading they have to, and move their eyes over the
|
||||
words just to get it done. They’re like me clicking through a mandatory online
|
||||
HR training. Students get exam questions wrong simply because they didn't even
|
||||
take the time to read the question properly. Reading anything more than a menu
|
||||
is a chore and to be avoided.
|
||||
|
||||
[30]
|
||||
[https]
|
||||
The Buffalo wings look good
|
||||
|
||||
They also lie about it. I wrote the textbook for a course I regularly teach.
|
||||
It’s a fairly popular textbook, so I’m assuming it is not terribly written. I
|
||||
did everything I could to make the writing lively and packed with my most
|
||||
engaging examples. The majority of students don’t read it. Oh, they will come
|
||||
to my office hours (occasionally) because they are bombing the course, and tell
|
||||
me that they have been doing the reading, but it’s obvious they are lying. The
|
||||
most charitable interpretation is that they looked at some of the words, didn’t
|
||||
understand anything, pretended that counted as reading, and returned to looking
|
||||
at TikTok.
|
||||
|
||||
This [31]study says that 65% of college students reported that they skipped
|
||||
buying or renting a textbook because of cost. I believe they didn’t buy the
|
||||
books, but I’m skeptical that cost is the true reason, as opposed to just the
|
||||
excuse they offer. Yes, I know some texts, especially in the sciences, are
|
||||
expensive. However, the books I assign are low-priced. All texts combined for
|
||||
one of my courses is between $35-$100 and they still don’t buy them. Why buy
|
||||
what you aren’t going to read anyway? Just google it.
|
||||
|
||||
Even in upper-division courses that students supposedly take out of genuine
|
||||
interest they won’t read. I’m teaching Existentialism this semester. It is
|
||||
entirely primary texts—Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre. The
|
||||
reading ranges from accessible but challenging to extremely difficult but we’re
|
||||
making a go of it anyway (looking at you, Being and Nothingness). This is a
|
||||
close textual analysis course. My students come to class without the books,
|
||||
which they probably do not own and definitely did not read.
|
||||
|
||||
Writing
|
||||
|
||||
Their writing skills are at the 8th-grade level. Spelling is atrocious, grammar
|
||||
is random, and the correct use of apostrophes is cause for celebration. Worse
|
||||
is the resistance to original thought. What I mean is the reflexive submission
|
||||
of the cheapest cliché as novel insight.
|
||||
|
||||
Exam question: Describe the attitude of Dostoevsky’s Underground Man
|
||||
towards acting in one’s own self-interest, and how this is connected to his
|
||||
concerns about free will. Are his views self-contradictory?
|
||||
|
||||
Student: With the UGM its all about our journey in life, not the
|
||||
destination. He beleives we need to take time to enjoy the little things
|
||||
becuase life is short and you never gonna know what happens. Sometimes he
|
||||
contradicts himself cause sometimes you say one thing but then you think
|
||||
something else later. It’s all relative.
|
||||
|
||||
You probably think that’s satire. Either that, or it looks like this:
|
||||
|
||||
Exam question: Describe the attitude of Dostoevsky’s Underground Man
|
||||
towards acting in one’s own self-interest, and how this is connected to his
|
||||
concerns about free will. Are his views self-contradictory?
|
||||
|
||||
Student: Dostoevsky’s Underground Man paradoxically rejects the idea that
|
||||
people always act in their own self-interest, arguing instead that humans
|
||||
often behave irrationally to assert their free will. He criticizes
|
||||
rationalist philosophies like utilitarianism, which he sees as reducing
|
||||
individuals to predictable mechanisms, and insists that people may choose
|
||||
suffering just to prove their autonomy. However, his stance is
|
||||
self-contradictory—while he champions free will, he is paralyzed by
|
||||
inaction and self-loathing, trapped in a cycle of bitterness. Through this,
|
||||
Dostoevsky explores the tension between reason, free will, and
|
||||
self-interest, exposing the complexities of human motivation.
|
||||
|
||||
That’s right, ChatGPT. The students cheat. I’ve written about cheating in “[33]
|
||||
Why AI is Destroying Academic Integrity,” so I won’t repeat it here, but the
|
||||
cheating tsunami has definitely changed what assignments I give. I can’t assign
|
||||
papers any more because I’ll just get AI back, and there’s nothing I can do to
|
||||
make it stop. Sadly, not writing exacerbates their illiteracy; writing is a
|
||||
muscle and dedicated writing is a workout for the mind as well as the pen.
|
||||
|
||||
Arithmetic
|
||||
|
||||
I’m less informed to speak out on this one, but my math prof friends tell me
|
||||
that their students are increasingly less capable and less willing to put in
|
||||
the effort. As a result they have had to make their tests easier with fewer
|
||||
hard problems. When I was a first semester freshman (at a private SLAC, yes,
|
||||
but it wasn’t CalTech) I took Calculus 1. Second semester I took Calculus 2. I
|
||||
don’t think pre-calculus was even a thing back then. Now apparently pre-calc
|
||||
counts as an advanced content course. My psych prof friends who teach
|
||||
statistics have similarly lamented having to water down the content over time.
|
||||
|
||||
Symbolic Logic was a requirement when I was a grad student. The course was a
|
||||
cross-listed upper-division undergrad/grad class. Jaegwon Kim taught the
|
||||
course, and our sole textbook was W. V. Quine’s Methods of Logic, which we
|
||||
worked through in its entirety. I think we spent two weeks on propositional
|
||||
logic before moving on to the predicate calculus. We proved compactness,
|
||||
soundness, and completeness, and probably some other theorems I forget. There
|
||||
is no possible way our students, unless they were math or computer science
|
||||
majors, would survive that class.
|
||||
|
||||
What’s changed?
|
||||
|
||||
The average student has seen college as basically transactional for as long as
|
||||
I’ve been doing this. They go through the motions and maybe learn something
|
||||
along the way, but it is all in service to the only conception of the good life
|
||||
they can imagine: a job with middle-class wages. I’ve mostly made my peace with
|
||||
that, do my best to give them a taste of the life of the mind, and celebrate
|
||||
the successes.
|
||||
|
||||
Things have changed. Ted Gioia [36]describes modern students as checked-out,
|
||||
phone-addicted zombies. Troy Jollimore [37]writes, “I once believed my students
|
||||
and I were in this together, engaged in a shared intellectual pursuit. That
|
||||
faith has been obliterated over the past few semesters.” Faculty have seen a
|
||||
[38]stunning level of disconnection.
|
||||
|
||||
[49][ ]
|
||||
Subscribe
|
||||
What has changed exactly?
|
||||
|
||||
• Chronic absenteeism. As a friend in Sociology put it, “Attendance is a HUGE
|
||||
problem—many just treat class as optional.” Last semester across all
|
||||
sections, my average student missed two weeks of class. Actually it was
|
||||
more than that, since I’m not counting excused absences or students who
|
||||
eventually withdrew. A friend in Mathematics told me, “Students are less
|
||||
respectful of the university experience —attendance, lateness, e-mails to
|
||||
me about nonsense, less sense of responsibility.”
|
||||
|
||||
• Disappearing students. Students routinely just vanish at some point during
|
||||
the semester. They don’t officially drop or withdraw from the course, they
|
||||
simply quit coming. No email, no notification to anyone in authority about
|
||||
some problem. They just pull an Amelia Earhart. It’s gotten to the point
|
||||
that on the first day of class, especially in lower-division, I tell the
|
||||
students, “look to your right. Now look to your left. One of you will be
|
||||
gone by the end of the semester. Don’t let it be you.”
|
||||
|
||||
• They can’t sit in a seat for 50 minutes. Students routinely get up during a
|
||||
50 minute class, sometimes just 15 minutes in, and leave the classroom. I’m
|
||||
supposed to believe that they suddenly, urgently need the toilet, but the
|
||||
reality is that they are going to look at their phones. They know I’ll call
|
||||
them out on it in class, so instead they walk out. I’ve even told them to
|
||||
plan ahead and pee before class, like you tell a small child before a road
|
||||
trip, but it has no effect. They can’t make it an hour without getting
|
||||
their phone fix.
|
||||
|
||||
• They want me to do their work for them. During the Covid lockdown, faculty
|
||||
bent over backwards in every way we knew how to accommodate students during
|
||||
an unprecedented (in our lifetimes) health crisis. Now students expect that
|
||||
as a matter of routine. I am frequently asked for my PowerPoint slides,
|
||||
which basically function for me as lecture notes. It is unimaginable to me
|
||||
that I would have ever asked one of my professors for their own lecture
|
||||
notes. No, you can’t have my slides. Get the notes from a classmate. Read
|
||||
the book. Come to office hours for a conversation if you are still confused
|
||||
after the preceding steps. Last week I had an email from a student who
|
||||
essentially asked me to recap an entire week’s worth of lecture material
|
||||
for him prior to yesterday’s midterm. No, I’m not doing that. I’m not
|
||||
writing you a 3000-word email. Try coming to class.
|
||||
|
||||
• Pretending to type notes in their laptops. I hate laptops in class, but if
|
||||
I try to ban them the students will just run to Accommodative Services and
|
||||
get them to tell me that the student must use a laptop or they will explode
|
||||
into tiny pieces. But I know for a fact that note-taking is at best a small
|
||||
part of what they are doing. Last semester I had a good student tell me,
|
||||
“hey you know that kid who sits in front of me with the laptop? Yeah, I
|
||||
thought you should know that all he does in class is gamble on his
|
||||
computer.” Gambling, looking at the socials, whatever, they are not
|
||||
listening to me or participating in discussion. They are staring at a
|
||||
screen.
|
||||
|
||||
• Indifference. Like everyone else, I allow students to make up missed work
|
||||
if they have an excused absence. No, you can’t make up the midterm because
|
||||
you were hungover and slept through your alarm, but you can if you had
|
||||
Covid. Then they just don’t show up. A missed quiz from a month ago might
|
||||
as well have happened in the Stone Age; students can’t be bothered to make
|
||||
it up or even talk to me about it because they just don’t care.
|
||||
|
||||
• [51]It’s the phones, stupid. They are absolutely addicted to their phones.
|
||||
When I go work out at the Campus Rec Center, easily half of the students
|
||||
there are just sitting on the machines scrolling on their phones. I was
|
||||
talking with a retired faculty member at the Rec this morning who works out
|
||||
all the time. He said he has done six sets waiting for a student to put
|
||||
down their phone and get off the machine he wanted. The students can’t get
|
||||
off their phones for an hour to do a voluntary activity they chose for fun.
|
||||
Sometimes I’m amazed they ever leave their [52]goon caves at all.
|
||||
|
||||
I don’t blame K-12 teachers. This is not an educational system problem, this is
|
||||
a societal problem. What am I supposed to do? Keep standards high and fail them
|
||||
all? That’s not an option for untenured faculty who would like to keep their
|
||||
jobs. I’m a tenured full professor. I could probably get away with that for a
|
||||
while, but sooner or later the Dean’s going to bring me in for a sit-down.
|
||||
Plus, if we flunk out half the student body and drive the university into
|
||||
bankruptcy, all we’re doing is depriving the good students of an education.
|
||||
|
||||
We’re told to meet the students where they are, flip the classroom, use
|
||||
multimedia, just be more entertaining, get better. As if rearranging the deck
|
||||
chairs just the right way will stop the Titanic from going down. As if it is
|
||||
somehow the fault of the faculty. It’s not our fault. We’re doing the best we
|
||||
can with what we’ve been given.
|
||||
|
||||
All this might sound like an angry rant. I’m not sure. I’m not angry, though,
|
||||
not at all. I’m just sad. One thing all faculty have to learn is that the
|
||||
students are not us. We can’t expect them all to burn with the sacred fire we
|
||||
have for our disciplines, to see philosophy, psychology, math, physics,
|
||||
sociology or economics as the divine light of reason in a world of shadow. Our
|
||||
job is to kindle that flame, and we’re trying to get that spark to catch, but
|
||||
it is getting harder and harder and we don’t know what to do.
|
||||
|
||||
Thanks for reading Scriptorium Philosophia! This post is public so feel free to
|
||||
share it.
|
||||
|
||||
[53]Share
|
||||
|
||||
[54]1
|
||||
|
||||
Careful about [55]bogus “ancient” quotations on this topic, though.
|
||||
|
||||
[56]2
|
||||
|
||||
Students often ask me the meaning of common words on exams, words like
|
||||
“caricature.”
|
||||
|
||||
3,535
|
||||
|
||||
Share this post
|
||||
|
||||
[58]
|
||||
[https]
|
||||
Scriptorium Philosophia
|
||||
Scriptorium Philosophia
|
||||
The average college student today
|
||||
Copy link
|
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Facebook
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|
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Notes
|
||||
More
|
||||
[59]
|
||||
786
|
||||
653
|
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[60]
|
||||
Share
|
||||
|
||||
Discussion about this post
|
||||
|
||||
CommentsRestacks
|
||||
[ht]
|
||||
[ ]
|
||||
[ ]
|
||||
[ ]
|
||||
[ ]
|
||||
[64]
|
||||
[ht]
|
||||
[65]Matthew Lewis
|
||||
[66]6d
|
||||
Liked by Hilarius Bookbinder
|
||||
|
||||
I was a nontraditional student who went to law school at 33. It wasn't much
|
||||
better there.
|
||||
|
||||
I ended up graduating in the top 5% of my class. During the three year ride,
|
||||
peers would ask how to get their GPA up. I only had a three step strategy: (1)
|
||||
do all of the reading for each class the day before class or earlier; (2) in
|
||||
class, take notes by hand without any devices nearby; and (3) outline the
|
||||
course material before the (usually comprehensive) final exam. No one ever
|
||||
mentioned following that advice but more than a few of the people I told that
|
||||
to would ask me for my outlines at the end of the semester.
|
||||
|
||||
The scary thing for me was that I found myself explaining basic concepts we
|
||||
learned in 1L--such as the three categories of torts--to peers who would be
|
||||
graduating (two years later). They just could not retain the material. These
|
||||
are practicing attorneys who I still sometimes field basic questions from.
|
||||
|
||||
I blame the K-12 system. Grade inflation and No Child Left Behind have resulted
|
||||
in grades from American public schools being essentially worthless as a
|
||||
representation of their academic ability. Parents know they can just throw a
|
||||
fit if their child is ever on the cusp of being held back or even getting a
|
||||
failing grade.
|
||||
|
||||
There is a much bigger societal issue under the surface, for sure. We're all
|
||||
slaves to our addictions now. Work and school are things people do to
|
||||
facilitate their video games, cell phone scrolling, gambling, etc. I don't know
|
||||
how you teach discipline and restraint to people who have spent their entire
|
||||
lives in the crosshairs of a legion of software developers who want to
|
||||
weaponize our reward systems for a small increase in engagement.
|
||||
|
||||
Expand full comment
|
||||
Reply
|
||||
Share
|
||||
[69]32 replies
|
||||
[70]
|
||||
[ht]
|
||||
[71]Alexander j Pasha
|
||||
[72]6d
|
||||
Liked by Hilarius Bookbinder
|
||||
|
||||
This intellectual regression is politically very frightening, what happens to
|
||||
already eroding freedoms when illiterate addicts form a plurality of the
|
||||
public?
|
||||
|
||||
Expand full comment
|
||||
Reply
|
||||
Share
|
||||
[75]27 replies
|
||||
[76]784 more comments...
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[91][ ]
|
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Subscribe
|
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© 2025 Hilarius Bookbinder
|
||||
[93]Privacy ∙ [94]Terms ∙ [95]Collection notice
|
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[96] Start Writing[97]Get the app
|
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[98]Substack is the home for great culture
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|
||||
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|
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Copy link
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|
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References:
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[1] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/
|
||||
[2] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/
|
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[8] https://substack.com/home/post/p-159700143?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
|
||||
[9] https://substack.com/@hilariusbookbinder
|
||||
[10] https://substack.com/@hilariusbookbinder
|
||||
[12] https://substack.com/home/post/p-159700143?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
|
||||
[13] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today/comments
|
||||
[14] javascript:void(0)
|
||||
[15] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today#footnote-1-159700143
|
||||
[29] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today#footnote-2-159700143
|
||||
[30] https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb7bf2e1d-e9da-41fc-b39b-f39291ded07c_700x525.jpeg
|
||||
[31] https://pirg.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fixing-the-Broken-Textbook-Market-3e-February-2021.pdf
|
||||
[33] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/why-ai-is-destroying-academic-integrity?r=epq8m
|
||||
[36] https://www.honest-broker.com/p/whats-happening-to-students
|
||||
[37] https://thewalrus.ca/i-used-to-teach-students-now-i-catch-chatgpt-cheats
|
||||
[38] https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-stunning-level-of-student-disconnection?
|
||||
[51] https://magdalene.substack.com/p/its-obviously-the-phones
|
||||
[52] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=goon
|
||||
[53] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share
|
||||
[54] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today#footnote-anchor-1-159700143
|
||||
[55] https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/28169/what-is-the-oldest-authentic-example-of-people-complaining-about-modern-times-an
|
||||
[56] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today#footnote-anchor-2-159700143
|
||||
[58] https://substack.com/home/post/p-159700143?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
|
||||
[59] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today/comments
|
||||
[60] javascript:void(0)
|
||||
[64] https://substack.com/profile/212696350-matthew-lewis?utm_source=comment
|
||||
[65] https://substack.com/profile/212696350-matthew-lewis?utm_source=substack-feed-item
|
||||
[66] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today/comment/103628964
|
||||
[69] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today/comment/103628964
|
||||
[70] https://substack.com/profile/293244893-alexander-j-pasha?utm_source=comment
|
||||
[71] https://substack.com/profile/293244893-alexander-j-pasha?utm_source=substack-feed-item
|
||||
[72] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today/comment/103531090
|
||||
[75] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today/comment/103531090
|
||||
[76] https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today/comments
|
||||
[93] https://substack.com/privacy
|
||||
[94] https://substack.com/tos
|
||||
[95] https://substack.com/ccpa#personal-data-collected
|
||||
[96] https://substack.com/signup?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=web&utm_content=footer
|
||||
[97] https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&utm_content=web-footer-button
|
||||
[98] https://substack.com/
|
||||
[100] https://enable-javascript.com/
|
||||
266
static/archive/p-migdal-pl-4of5up.txt
Normal file
266
static/archive/p-migdal-pl-4of5up.txt
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,266 @@
|
||||
[1]Piotr Migdał[2]Blog[3]Projects[4]Publications[5]Resume
|
||||
|
||||
If it is worth keeping, save it in Markdown
|
||||
|
||||
17 Feb 2025 | by Piotr Migdał
|
||||
|
||||
• [6]r/DataHoarder thread
|
||||
• [7]r/ObisdianMD thread
|
||||
• [8]Hacker News front page
|
||||
|
||||
One of Stanisław Lem's stories, [9]The Memoirs Found in a Bathtub, begins with
|
||||
a strange phenomenon that turns all written materials into dust. While this is
|
||||
science fiction, something similar happens in our digital world.
|
||||
|
||||
[10]Digital memento mori
|
||||
|
||||
If you publish something online, sooner or later, it will vanish.^[11]1
|
||||
|
||||
In the best-case scenario, a link changes during website restructuring. More
|
||||
commonly, the content is lost. The only hope is that someone saved it from
|
||||
oblivion in the [12]Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
|
||||
|
||||
Walled gardens requiring login are even worse - when they go down, everything
|
||||
within them vanishes forever. If you haven't saved it yourself, it's gone.
|
||||
Moreover, any service (free or paid) may restrict access to content at any time
|
||||
- either completely or practically, by making it impossible to find what you're
|
||||
looking for. The same content you posted on Twitter a few years ago, now is on
|
||||
X, and in a few years might be available after login, paid subscription, or -
|
||||
not at all .
|
||||
|
||||
Even self-hosting isn't foolproof - your content can vanish when you forget to
|
||||
pay for hosting or after a server crash. And even if your data survives,
|
||||
accessing it can be tricky: WordPress blogs store posts in databases that
|
||||
server updates can break. I learned this lesson when my PHP photo gallery went
|
||||
down - thankfully, I had kept all photos as simple JPGs organized by date.
|
||||
|
||||
The only reliable solution is to store content in formats that can be opened
|
||||
without specialized software - formats that will remain accessible for decades
|
||||
to come.
|
||||
|
||||
[galadriel-]
|
||||
Galadriel in "the Lord of the Rings" opening scene ([13]video, [14]transcript).
|
||||
|
||||
[15]Why things are worth saving
|
||||
|
||||
There are many motivations for preserving content, ranging from a digital "non
|
||||
omnis moriar" through practical arguments, to archiving as a goal in itself^
|
||||
[16]2.
|
||||
|
||||
For me, the key reasons are:
|
||||
|
||||
• I want to keep and own things I wrote - they are parts of me, my history,
|
||||
my lived experience
|
||||
• I want to have everything in one place and easily searchable
|
||||
• I want to use it with AI tools (looking for similar notes, summarizing,
|
||||
using as context)
|
||||
• I want to be able to reuse or share things however I want (email, blog
|
||||
post, ebook, anything)
|
||||
|
||||
[17]Plaintext
|
||||
|
||||
As a data scientist, [18]I turn things into vectors.
|
||||
As an unabashed archivist, I turn things into Markdown.
|
||||
|
||||
The most durable solution would be carving things in stone - it would last for
|
||||
millennia. But that's hardly practical, and it wouldn't make things easily
|
||||
searchable or shareable.
|
||||
|
||||
The second best option is plaintext files with UTF-8 encoding and Markdown
|
||||
formatting^[19]3. As long as computers exist, we'll be able to read plaintext
|
||||
files with ease.
|
||||
|
||||
Markdown files are essentially plaintext with some extra syntax for common
|
||||
elements like sections, bullet points, and links. The format deliberately
|
||||
avoids precise control over display details like font selection^[20]4.
|
||||
Following [21]the rule of least power, I consider this limitation a feature.
|
||||
For contrast, consider PDF - a format so powerful that [22]it can run Doom.
|
||||
|
||||
For personal notes, I use [23]Obsidian, a note-taking app I love and use daily.
|
||||
While it's a powerful tool with great plugins, what keeps me loyal is its
|
||||
simplicity - it stores everything in plain files. The lack of a proprietary
|
||||
format moat is precisely what makes it so compelling.
|
||||
|
||||
For blogging, most [24]static site generators embrace Markdown. This very blog
|
||||
post is written in Markdown^[25]5. Using the same markup for note-taking and
|
||||
publishing makes sharing smooth.
|
||||
|
||||
[26]How I do it
|
||||
|
||||
I dream of automatically converting everything I write or encounter into
|
||||
Markdown. The reality is messier - there's a constant tension between my
|
||||
autistic urge to archive everything and my ADHD that makes maintaining such
|
||||
systems challenging.
|
||||
|
||||
So I take a pragmatic approach - when I find content worth keeping, I copy it
|
||||
to a markdown file, adding frontmatter with its publication date, source, and
|
||||
relevant tags:
|
||||
|
||||
[sauna-post]
|
||||
|
||||
I particularly save things I post that might be useful later. Conference talk
|
||||
abstracts, sauna event descriptions, technical explanations - in the future,
|
||||
they're much easier to find and reuse.
|
||||
|
||||
When I catch myself searching for old content (like a Facebook post I want to
|
||||
share or reread), I save it immediately. If I discover a blog post has
|
||||
vanished, I retrieve it from the Wayback Machine and preserve it. When
|
||||
forwarding an email with a detailed explanation - you guessed it, I save it.
|
||||
|
||||
Content worth searching for once is content worth preserving forever.
|
||||
|
||||
Worried about saving too much? Well, disk storage is cheap - and for text
|
||||
files, it's practically free.
|
||||
|
||||
[27]Tools that help
|
||||
|
||||
Sometimes manual copying suffices. For trickier formatting, AI tools are
|
||||
invaluable - being trained on Markdown, they excel at processing and extracting
|
||||
content. You can use them to convert online text or parse PDFs (like slides),
|
||||
as shown in [28]Ingesting Millions of PDFs and why Gemini 2.0 Changes
|
||||
Everything.
|
||||
|
||||
For some sources, I've created semi-automated solutions. For instance, I wrote
|
||||
a [29]Python script to convert my Kindle highlights and notes into Markdown.
|
||||
|
||||
Many tools exist to help with format conversion. The most versatile is [30]
|
||||
pandoc, which can convert between dozens of formats - from Word documents to
|
||||
LaTeX, and everything in between.
|
||||
|
||||
The community has also created specialized tools for specific platforms. You
|
||||
can find tools for converting [31]Medium posts to Markdown (either from export
|
||||
or [32]directly by URL), [33]archiving Reddit threads, and many other use
|
||||
cases.
|
||||
|
||||
Since we're dealing with lightweight text files, there are many for backing it
|
||||
up. Git is particularly well-suited for version-controlling and syncing this
|
||||
content.
|
||||
|
||||
Additionally, in each service I own, I periodically download my data. Even if
|
||||
it's a mesh of JSON, XML, HTML, CSV and other formats, I have it. Even if at a
|
||||
given moment I have no time to process it into Markdown, at least the data is
|
||||
there.
|
||||
|
||||
[34]Next steps
|
||||
|
||||
I would love to have a comprehensive tool for exporting everything - especially
|
||||
from social media. Both the posts that resonated with many people and those
|
||||
that hold personal significance deserve preservation.
|
||||
|
||||
While Facebook offers limited data export capabilities, they're incomplete.
|
||||
Most notably, there's no way to preserve entire discussion threads - often the
|
||||
most valuable part of a post.
|
||||
|
||||
And you - what content do you find yourself searching for? What have you
|
||||
archived, and what do you wish you had saved?
|
||||
|
||||
Discuss this post on [35]Hacker News, [36]Mastodon, [37]Reddit, or [38]LinkedIn
|
||||
.
|
||||
|
||||
[39]Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
1. [40]Link rot can be addressed using services like [41]Perma.cc - though
|
||||
they too could eventually disappear. Studies show that for legal documents,
|
||||
half of links die within 5 years. My focus here is on preserving and
|
||||
searching personal content. [42]↩
|
||||
2. But for practical reasons, and hoarding for its own sake, I gathered over
|
||||
14k links in [43]Pinboard. Yes, downloaded data in JSON. [44]↩
|
||||
3. I don't claim Markdown is the only solution. There are valid reasons to use
|
||||
other formats. My focus is on plaintext in UTF-8. If you prefer other
|
||||
markup languages (like reStructuredText, AsciiDoc, Org-Mode) or just plain
|
||||
text without formatting - the principles still apply. In some cases
|
||||
original format works - e.g. if it is JSON or code. [45]↩
|
||||
4. Consider HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) as a counterexample. It was meant
|
||||
to enrich text with semantics, but now serves primarily as a tool for
|
||||
building UIs. While this evolution brought many benefits, typical end-user
|
||||
HTML is no longer suitable for pure content storage. At the same time, if
|
||||
you can use simple HTML with actual semantic <strong> and <em> tags, go for
|
||||
it. But it's often a slippery slope - from "just add a few colors," through
|
||||
"add tables," to creating a full-fledged app. [46]↩
|
||||
5. This blog uses [47]Nuxt 3 Content (source: [48]github.com/stared/
|
||||
stared.github.io). It follows my previous versions in [49]Jekyll and [50]
|
||||
Gridsome. Thanks to Markdown, migration between platforms has been seamless
|
||||
- see [51]New blog - moving from Medium to Gridsome. For the latest
|
||||
migration from Gridsome to Nuxt 3 Content, [52]Cursor IDE was a great help.
|
||||
[53]Astro is another static site generator gaining significant traction.
|
||||
[54]↩
|
||||
|
||||
See also cosine-similar posts
|
||||
|
||||
• 0.617[55]New blog - moving from Medium to Gridsome
|
||||
• 0.604[56]How I learned to stop worrying and love the types & tests
|
||||
• 0.598[57]AI won’t make artists redundant - thanks to information theory
|
||||
• 0.591[58]ADHD tech stack: auto time tracking
|
||||
• 0.589[59]The first post: why Jekyll?
|
||||
|
||||
By [60]Piotr Migdał, a curious being, doctor of sorcery. See [61]my other blog
|
||||
posts.
|
||||
|
||||
Keep in the loop with the [62]RSS feed or join the [63]newsletter.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
References:
|
||||
|
||||
[1] https://p.migdal.pl/
|
||||
[2] https://p.migdal.pl/blog
|
||||
[3] https://p.migdal.pl/projects
|
||||
[4] https://p.migdal.pl/publications
|
||||
[5] https://p.migdal.pl/resume
|
||||
[6] https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1is1wbn/if_it_is_worth_keeping_save_it_in_markdown/
|
||||
[7] https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/1is1snu/if_it_is_worth_keeping_save_it_in_markdown/
|
||||
[8] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43137616
|
||||
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoirs_Found_in_a_Bathtub
|
||||
[10] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves/#digital-memento-mori
|
||||
[11] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fn-link-rot
|
||||
[12] https://web.archive.org/
|
||||
[13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj139dE7tFI
|
||||
[14] https://www.tk421.net/lotr/film/fotr/01.html
|
||||
[15] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves/#why-things-are-worth-saving
|
||||
[16] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fn-pinboard
|
||||
[17] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves/#plaintext
|
||||
[18] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/01/dont-use-cosine-similarity
|
||||
[19] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fn-plaintext
|
||||
[20] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fn-html
|
||||
[21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_least_power
|
||||
[22] https://www.reddit.com/r/itrunsdoom/comments/1i02c6b/doom_in_a_pdf_file/
|
||||
[23] https://obsidian.md/
|
||||
[24] https://jamstack.org/generators/
|
||||
[25] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fn-blog
|
||||
[26] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves/#how-i-do-it
|
||||
[27] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves/#tools-that-help
|
||||
[28] https://www.sergey.fyi/articles/gemini-flash-2
|
||||
[29] https://gist.github.com/stared/ce732ef27d97d559b34d7e294481f1b0
|
||||
[30] https://github.com/jgm/pandoc
|
||||
[31] https://github.com/gautamdhameja/medium-2-md
|
||||
[32] https://medium2md.nabilmansour.com/
|
||||
[33] https://farnots.github.io/RedditToMarkdown/
|
||||
[34] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves/#next-steps
|
||||
[35] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43137616
|
||||
[36] https://mathstodon.xyz/@pmigdal/114021315189570737
|
||||
[37] https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1is1wbn/if_it_is_worth_keeping_save_it_in_markdown/
|
||||
[38] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/piotrmigdal_if-it-is-worth-keeping-save-it-in-markdown-activity-7299139148634841089-_Xe3
|
||||
[39] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves/#footnote-label
|
||||
[40] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_rot
|
||||
[41] https://perma.cc/
|
||||
[42] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fnref-link-rot
|
||||
[43] https://pinboard.in/
|
||||
[44] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fnref-pinboard
|
||||
[45] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fnref-plaintext
|
||||
[46] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fnref-html
|
||||
[47] https://content.nuxt.com/
|
||||
[48] https://github.com/stared/stared.github.io
|
||||
[49] https://jekyllrb.com/
|
||||
[50] https://gridsome.org/
|
||||
[51] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2022/12/medium-to-markdown
|
||||
[52] https://www.cursor.com/
|
||||
[53] https://astro.build/
|
||||
[54] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2025/02/markdown-saves#user-content-fnref-blog
|
||||
[55] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2022/12/medium-to-markdown
|
||||
[56] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2020/03/types-tests-typescript
|
||||
[57] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2023/02/ai-artists-information-theory
|
||||
[58] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2020/05/adhd-tech-stack-auto-time-tracking
|
||||
[59] https://p.migdal.pl/blog/2015/12/first-post
|
||||
[60] https://p.migdal.pl/
|
||||
[61] https://p.migdal.pl/blog
|
||||
[62] https://p.migdal.pl/feed.xml
|
||||
[63] https://eepurl.com/bVJlgL
|
||||
169
static/archive/posting-sh-zsjk7n.txt
Normal file
169
static/archive/posting-sh-zsjk7n.txt
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
|
||||
[1][ ] [2][ ]
|
||||
[3]
|
||||
Posting
|
||||
The API client that lives in your terminal
|
||||
[4][ ]
|
||||
Initializing search
|
||||
|
||||
[6]
|
||||
darrenburns/posting
|
||||
|
||||
• [7] Home
|
||||
• [8] Guide
|
||||
• [9] Roadmap
|
||||
• [10] Changelog
|
||||
• [11] FAQ
|
||||
|
||||
Posting darrenburns@posting.local P OST ▼ https ://
|
||||
jsonplaceholder.typicode.com / posts ■ ■■■■■■ Send ╭─ Collection
|
||||
─────────────────╮╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
|
||||
Request ─╮ │ GET echo ││ Headers • Body • Query Auth Info Options │ │ GET
|
||||
get random user ││ ╸ ━━━━━━━━
|
||||
╺━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ │ │ POS echo post ││ ▐
|
||||
Content-Type application/json │ │ ▼ jsonplaceholder/ ││ ▐ Referer https://
|
||||
example.com/ │ │ ▼ posts/ ││ ▐ Accept-Encoding gzip │ │ GET get all ││ ▐
|
||||
Cache-Control no-cache │ │ GET get one ││ ▐ │ │ █ POS create ││ Name Value
|
||||
Add header │ │ DEL delete a post
|
||||
│╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯ │ ▼
|
||||
comments/ │ ╭─────────────────────────────────────── Response 201 Created ─╮ │
|
||||
GET get comments │ │ Body Headers Cookies Trace │ │ GET get comments (via │ │ ╸
|
||||
━━━━ ╺━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ │ │ PUT
|
||||
edit a comment │ │ 1 { │ │ ▼ todos/ ▆ │ │ 2 "title" : "foo" , │ │ GET get all │
|
||||
│ 3 "body" : "bar" , │ │ GET get one │ │ 4 "userId" : 1 , │ │ ▼ users/ │ │ 5
|
||||
"id" : 101 │ │──────────────────────────────│ │ 6 } │ │ Create a new post │ │
|
||||
1:1 read-only JSON ▼ Wrap ▐ X ▌ │ ╰───────── sample-collections ─╯
|
||||
╰─────────────────────────────────────────── 65.00 B in 524.34 ms ─╯ ^j Send ^t
|
||||
Method ^s Save ^n New ^p Commands ^o Jump f1 Help
|
||||
|
||||
The API client that lives in your terminal.
|
||||
|
||||
Posting is a beautiful open-source terminal app for developing and testing
|
||||
APIs.
|
||||
|
||||
Fly through your API workflow with an approachable yet powerful
|
||||
keyboard-centric interface. Run it locally or over SSH on remote machines and
|
||||
containers. Save your requests in a readable and version-control friendly
|
||||
format.
|
||||
|
||||
[12] Discover Features [13] Get Started
|
||||
|
||||
Designed for efficient workflows
|
||||
|
||||
Navigate intuitively and efficiently with the keyboard using jump mode.
|
||||
|
||||
Access commands from anywhere using the built-in command palette.
|
||||
|
||||
Build requests quickly with powerful autocompletion.
|
||||
|
||||
Edit a request body in nvim or browse a JSON response in fx? No problem!
|
||||
|
||||
Import curl commands into Posting by simply pasting into the URL bar. Export
|
||||
requests to curl in seconds.
|
||||
|
||||
Colorful & customizable
|
||||
|
||||
Use compact mode to fit more on screen.
|
||||
|
||||
Create your own themes, or choose from a selection of built-in options.
|
||||
|
||||
Gorgeous syntax highlighting powered by the popular tree-sitter library.
|
||||
|
||||
Adjust the user interface to your liking through the configuration system or at
|
||||
runtime.
|
||||
|
||||
Customize keybindings to your liking using the keymap system.
|
||||
|
||||
Environments
|
||||
|
||||
Share common data across requests and with others using environments.
|
||||
|
||||
Load variables from one or more dotenv environment files, or allow access to
|
||||
environment variables.
|
||||
|
||||
Edit variables in your favorite editor, and Posting will hot reload them.
|
||||
|
||||
Contextual help
|
||||
|
||||
Feeling lost? Press f1 to learn keybindings and other useful information for
|
||||
the currently focused widget.
|
||||
|
||||
Scripting
|
||||
|
||||
Run Python code before and after requests to prepare headers, set variables,
|
||||
and more.
|
||||
|
||||
Runs where you need it
|
||||
|
||||
Run it on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Install it locally, on a remote server, in
|
||||
a Docker container, or even on a Raspberry Pi.
|
||||
|
||||
Community
|
||||
|
||||
Posting is a community-driven project with an [14]open roadmap.
|
||||
|
||||
The roadmap is highly influenced by user feedback.
|
||||
|
||||
Get involved on [15]GitHub by reporting bugs, suggesting features, [16]
|
||||
sponsoring development, or contributing code.
|
||||
|
||||
[17] GitHub [18] Issues
|
||||
© 2025 Darren Burns
|
||||
[19] Posting
|
||||
[20]
|
||||
darrenburns/posting
|
||||
|
||||
• [21][ ] [22] Home
|
||||
• [23][ ] Guide Guide
|
||||
□ [24] Getting Started
|
||||
□ [25] Navigation
|
||||
□ [26] Collections
|
||||
□ [27] Requests
|
||||
□ [28] Configuration
|
||||
□ [29] Environments
|
||||
□ [30] Command Palette
|
||||
□ [31] Themes
|
||||
□ [32] External Tools
|
||||
□ [33] Keymaps
|
||||
□ [34] Importing
|
||||
□ [35] Scripting
|
||||
□ [36] Help System
|
||||
• [37] Roadmap
|
||||
• [38] Changelog
|
||||
• [39] FAQ
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
References:
|
||||
|
||||
[3] https://posting.sh/
|
||||
[6] https://github.com/darrenburns/posting
|
||||
[7] https://posting.sh/
|
||||
[8] https://posting.sh/guide/
|
||||
[9] https://posting.sh/roadmap/
|
||||
[10] https://posting.sh/CHANGELOG/
|
||||
[11] https://posting.sh/faq/
|
||||
[12] https://posting.sh/#feature-title-1
|
||||
[13] https://posting.sh/guide
|
||||
[14] https://posting.sh/roadmap
|
||||
[15] https://github.com/darrenburns/posting
|
||||
[16] https://github.com/sponsors/darrenburns
|
||||
[17] https://github.com/darrenburns/posting
|
||||
[18] https://github.com/darrenburns/posting/issues
|
||||
[19] https://posting.sh/
|
||||
[20] https://github.com/darrenburns/posting
|
||||
[22] https://posting.sh/
|
||||
[24] https://posting.sh/guide/
|
||||
[25] https://posting.sh/guide/navigation/
|
||||
[26] https://posting.sh/guide/collections/
|
||||
[27] https://posting.sh/guide/requests/
|
||||
[28] https://posting.sh/guide/configuration/
|
||||
[29] https://posting.sh/guide/environments/
|
||||
[30] https://posting.sh/guide/command_palette/
|
||||
[31] https://posting.sh/guide/themes/
|
||||
[32] https://posting.sh/guide/external_tools/
|
||||
[33] https://posting.sh/guide/keymap/
|
||||
[34] https://posting.sh/guide/importing/
|
||||
[35] https://posting.sh/guide/scripting/
|
||||
[36] https://posting.sh/guide/help_system/
|
||||
[37] https://posting.sh/roadmap/
|
||||
[38] https://posting.sh/CHANGELOG/
|
||||
[39] https://posting.sh/faq/
|
||||
1256
static/archive/ryan-norbauer-com-wvwypu.txt
Normal file
1256
static/archive/ryan-norbauer-com-wvwypu.txt
Normal file
File diff suppressed because it is too large
Load Diff
303
static/archive/wattenberger-com-zl39ri.txt
Normal file
303
static/archive/wattenberger-com-zl39ri.txt
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,303 @@
|
||||
[1]
|
||||
|
||||
Our interfaces have
|
||||
lost their senses
|
||||
|
||||
Think about how you experience the world—
|
||||
|
||||
you touch, you hear, you move.
|
||||
|
||||
[dance1] [dance1] [dance1] [dance1]
|
||||
[dance-grou]
|
||||
|
||||
But our digital world has been getting flatter, more muted.
|
||||
|
||||
Reduced to text under glass screens.
|
||||
|
||||
This shift made interfaces simpler.
|
||||
But was that really the goal?
|
||||
|
||||
An interface is the bridge between
|
||||
the human
|
||||
&
|
||||
the machine.
|
||||
[human]
|
||||
[human] [machine]
|
||||
It's how we tell computers what we want,
|
||||
[arrow-righ]
|
||||
and it's how computers communicate back to us.
|
||||
[arrow-left]
|
||||
The shape should fit how we work,
|
||||
for ergonomics and ease of use
|
||||
and it should fit how the computer works.
|
||||
for simplicity and a good mental model
|
||||
Recently, we've been too focused on fitting to the computer's shape, and not
|
||||
enough to our own bodies.
|
||||
[machine]
|
||||
|
||||
The Great Flattening
|
||||
|
||||
Computers used to be physical beasts.
|
||||
|
||||
We programmed them by punching cards, plugging in wires, and flipping switches.
|
||||
Programmers walked among banks of switches and cables, physically
|
||||
choreographing their logic. Being on a computer used to be a full-body
|
||||
experience.
|
||||
|
||||
[tech0]
|
||||
[tech1]
|
||||
[transition]
|
||||
|
||||
Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed
|
||||
commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less embodied. Then came
|
||||
terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more
|
||||
powerful, but our digital world became less embodied. Then came terminals and
|
||||
command lines. Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our
|
||||
digital world became less embodied. Then came terminals and command lines.
|
||||
Physical knobs turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world
|
||||
became less embodied. Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs
|
||||
turned into typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less
|
||||
embodied. Then came terminals and command lines. Physical knobs turned into
|
||||
typed commands—more powerful, but our digital world became less embodied.
|
||||
|
||||
[tech2]
|
||||
[transition]
|
||||
|
||||
We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user
|
||||
interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches,
|
||||
flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in
|
||||
the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons.
|
||||
We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user
|
||||
interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches,
|
||||
flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in
|
||||
the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons.
|
||||
We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user
|
||||
interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches,
|
||||
flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in
|
||||
the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons.
|
||||
We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user
|
||||
interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches,
|
||||
flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in
|
||||
the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons.
|
||||
We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user
|
||||
interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches,
|
||||
flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in
|
||||
the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons.
|
||||
We brought back some of the tactile controls with GUIs—graphical user
|
||||
interfaces. We skeumorphed the heck out of our screens, with digital switches,
|
||||
flat sliders, and folder icons. But we kept some of the the functionality in
|
||||
the physical world, with slots to stick disks into and big ol' power buttons.
|
||||
|
||||
[tech3]
|
||||
[transition]
|
||||
|
||||
Then came touchscreens.
|
||||
What a beautiful thing! We get to [2]poke things directly!
|
||||
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
|
||||
Then came touchscreens.
|
||||
What a beautiful thing! We get to [3]poke things directly!
|
||||
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
|
||||
Then came touchscreens.
|
||||
What a beautiful thing! We get to [4]poke things directly!
|
||||
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
|
||||
Then came touchscreens.
|
||||
What a beautiful thing! We get to [5]poke things directly!
|
||||
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
|
||||
Then came touchscreens.
|
||||
What a beautiful thing! We get to [6]poke things directly!
|
||||
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
|
||||
Then came touchscreens.
|
||||
What a beautiful thing! We get to [7]poke things directly!
|
||||
But now we live in an flat land, with everything behind a glass display case.
|
||||
|
||||
[tech4]
|
||||
[transition]
|
||||
|
||||
With increasing amounts of AI chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color,
|
||||
shape.
|
||||
Instead of interactive controls, we have a text input.
|
||||
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
|
||||
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
|
||||
Learn something? Read another block of text. With increasing amounts of AI
|
||||
chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
|
||||
Instead of interactive controls, we have a text input.
|
||||
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
|
||||
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
|
||||
Learn something? Read another block of text. With increasing amounts of AI
|
||||
chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
|
||||
Instead of interactive controls, we have a text input.
|
||||
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
|
||||
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
|
||||
Learn something? Read another block of text. With increasing amounts of AI
|
||||
chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
|
||||
Instead of interactive controls, we have a text input.
|
||||
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
|
||||
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
|
||||
Learn something? Read another block of text. With increasing amounts of AI
|
||||
chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
|
||||
Instead of interactive controls, we have a text input.
|
||||
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
|
||||
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
|
||||
Learn something? Read another block of text. With increasing amounts of AI
|
||||
chatbots, we're losing even more: texture, color, shape.
|
||||
Instead of interactive controls, we have a text input.
|
||||
Want to edit an image? Type a command.
|
||||
Adjust a setting? Type into a text box.
|
||||
Learn something? Read another block of text.
|
||||
|
||||
[tech5]
|
||||
[tech6]
|
||||
|
||||
The Joy of Doing
|
||||
|
||||
We've been successfully removing all friction from our apps — think about how
|
||||
effortless it is to scroll through a social feed. But is that what we want?
|
||||
Compare the feeling of doomscrolling to kneading dough, playing an instrument,
|
||||
sketching... these take effort, but they're also deeply satisfying. When you
|
||||
strip away too much friction, meaning and satisfaction go with it.
|
||||
|
||||
Think about how you use physical tools. Drawing isn't just moving your
|
||||
hand—it's the feel of the pencil against paper, the tiny adjustments of
|
||||
pressure, the sound of graphite scratching. You shift your body to reach the
|
||||
other side of the canvas. You erase with your other hand. You step back to see
|
||||
the whole picture.
|
||||
|
||||
We made painting feel like typing,
|
||||
|
||||
[typing]
|
||||
[art-transi]
|
||||
|
||||
but we should have made typing feel like painting.
|
||||
|
||||
[artist]
|
||||
|
||||
Putting the you back in UI
|
||||
|
||||
So how might our interfaces look if we shaped them to fit us?
|
||||
|
||||
We think in movement, [movement]
|
||||
in space, [space]
|
||||
in sound,
|
||||
[sound]
|
||||
in patterns.
|
||||
[patterns]
|
||||
|
||||
We use our hands to sculpt, our eyes to scan, our ears to catch patterns.
|
||||
|
||||
Our computers can communicate to us in many different formats, each with their
|
||||
own strengths:
|
||||
|
||||
Text
|
||||
Great for depth, detail, and precision.
|
||||
[images]
|
||||
But it doesn't always have to be in full paragraphs. How about showing key
|
||||
points first, then letting users expand?
|
||||
Visualizations
|
||||
Ideal for spatial relationships, trends, and quick insights.
|
||||
[vision]
|
||||
Can we show more content spatially? Or encode it in charts or colors?
|
||||
Sound
|
||||
Perfect for alerts and background awareness. Also, patterns.
|
||||
[hearing]
|
||||
Why are most web UIs silent? Can we use subtle chimes or sonification to
|
||||
highlight patterns?
|
||||
Haptics
|
||||
Provides passive feedback (vibrations, force).
|
||||
[touch]
|
||||
Here's one I always forget about! We can vibrate phones to alert or convey
|
||||
patterns.
|
||||
|
||||
And what about the reverse! We can communicate to our computers in many
|
||||
different ways, each with their own strengths:
|
||||
|
||||
Typing
|
||||
Precise, detailed, and familiar
|
||||
[typing2]
|
||||
Good for composing long-form thoughts, keyboard shortcuts, and rough direction.
|
||||
Clicking & Dragging
|
||||
Direct, fine-grained control.
|
||||
[clicking]
|
||||
Great for spatial tasks (design, organization) and pointing at
|
||||
things-on-a-screen.
|
||||
Tapping, Swiping, Pinching
|
||||
Intuitive for direct manipulation.
|
||||
[tapping]
|
||||
Great for mobile, but do we have to limit guestures to mimicking mouse
|
||||
interactions?
|
||||
Gesturing
|
||||
Hands-free, fluid, and expressive.
|
||||
[guesturing]
|
||||
Could be powerful for accessibility, quick actions, and complex fine
|
||||
control—reliable detection feels very possible at this time.
|
||||
Speaking
|
||||
Easy for loose thoughts.
|
||||
[speaking]
|
||||
LLMs have made speech more viable—can we let users think out loud or navigate
|
||||
roughly with their voice?
|
||||
|
||||
And the real magic happens when we combine different modalities. You can't read
|
||||
and listen and speak at the same time—try reading this excerpt while talking
|
||||
about your day:
|
||||
|
||||
If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life
|
||||
would have been entirely different. She would have gone, with the rest of her
|
||||
clan, to Aunt Wellington’s engagement picnic and Dr. Trent would have gone to
|
||||
Montreal. But it did rain and you shall hear what happened to her because of
|
||||
it.
|
||||
|
||||
~ [8]The Blue Castle
|
||||
But you can talk while clicking,
|
||||
[click]
|
||||
listen while reading,
|
||||
[listen]
|
||||
look at an image while spinning a knob,
|
||||
[look]
|
||||
guesture while talking.
|
||||
[guesture]
|
||||
|
||||
Let's build interfaces that let us multitask across senses.
|
||||
|
||||
Rebuilding the bridge
|
||||
|
||||
So, what might a richer interface look like? I have strong conviction that our
|
||||
future interfaces should:
|
||||
|
||||
• let us collaborate on tangible artifacts, not just ephemeral chat logs.
|
||||
• support multiple concurrent modalities—voice, gestures, visuals, spatial
|
||||
components.
|
||||
• respond to ambient signals—detecting context, organizing information,
|
||||
helping us think better.
|
||||
|
||||
Last year, I did a rough exploration of what this could look like for a thought
|
||||
organizing tool. One that listened as you talked or typed, and organized your
|
||||
rambling thoughts into cards.
|
||||
|
||||
This interface is very rough, but felt like a different way of working with
|
||||
technology. Especially how it let me bumble through rough ideas one second,
|
||||
then responded to commands like "re-group my cards" or "add 3 cards about this"
|
||||
the next.
|
||||
|
||||
I would love to see more explorations like this!
|
||||
|
||||
Our interfaces have lost their senses
|
||||
|
||||
All day, we poke, swipe, and scroll through flat, silent screens. But we're
|
||||
more than just eyes and a pointer finger. We think with our hands, our ears,
|
||||
our bodies.
|
||||
|
||||
The future of computing is being designed right now. Can we build something
|
||||
richer—something that moves with us, speaks our language, and molds to our
|
||||
bodies?
|
||||
|
||||
[footer]
|
||||
|
||||
References:
|
||||
|
||||
[1] https://wattenberger.com/
|
||||
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyBEUyEtxQo
|
||||
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyBEUyEtxQo
|
||||
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyBEUyEtxQo
|
||||
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyBEUyEtxQo
|
||||
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyBEUyEtxQo
|
||||
[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyBEUyEtxQo
|
||||
[8] https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67979
|
||||
55
static/archive/www-robinsloan-com-2lwtj1.txt
Normal file
55
static/archive/www-robinsloan-com-2lwtj1.txt
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
|
||||
[1]Blog [2]About [3]Moonbound [4]Shop
|
||||
|
||||
This is a post from [5]Robin Sloan’s lab blog & notebook. You can [6]visit the
|
||||
blog’s homepage, or [7]learn more about me.
|
||||
|
||||
[8]Art-directing AI
|
||||
|
||||
March 27, 2025
|
||||
|
||||
I want to draw your eye to the images in [9]this recent post from Amelia
|
||||
Wattenberger, which seem to me an example of someone trying hard to art-direct
|
||||
AI image generation in a recognizably editorial way.
|
||||
|
||||
Clearly, Amelia was going for a particular look. There is a clear idea at work
|
||||
here, exactly the kind you’d specify to an artist (or pitch to an art
|
||||
director). However, the fundamental fuzziness of the AI approach is apparent;
|
||||
while the images do all have the same “texture”, they don’t seem to have come
|
||||
from the same source, or indeed to have been made by the same “person”.
|
||||
|
||||
Anyone who has worked with AI tools will recognize the feeling of “close
|
||||
enough”-ness. If you squint, you can see all the images Amelia rejected — a
|
||||
pile of crumpled-up drawings just beyond the frame of the browser. The images
|
||||
published with the post were, for sure, the best options, even if together they
|
||||
don’t quite form a coherent package.
|
||||
|
||||
Anyway, it’s interesting and useful to encounter this strategy for illustration
|
||||
“fully expressed”, rather than just imagined. I don’t think it succeeds, but/
|
||||
and I’m glad to have the example to consider.
|
||||
|
||||
[10]To the blog home page
|
||||
|
||||
I'm [11]Robin Sloan, a fiction writer. The main thing to do here is sign up for
|
||||
my newsletter:
|
||||
|
||||
[12][ ] [13][Subscribe]
|
||||
This website doesn’t collect any information about you or your reading.
|
||||
It aspires to the speed and privacy of the printed page.
|
||||
|
||||
Don’t miss [14]the colophon. Hony soyt qui mal pence
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
References:
|
||||
|
||||
[1] https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/
|
||||
[2] https://www.robinsloan.com/about/
|
||||
[3] https://www.robinsloan.com/moonbound/
|
||||
[4] https://www.robinsloan.com/shop/
|
||||
[5] https://www.robinsloan.com/
|
||||
[6] https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/
|
||||
[7] https://www.robinsloan.com/about/
|
||||
[8] https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/art-directing-ai/
|
||||
[9] https://wattenberger.com/thoughts/our-interfaces-have-lost-their-senses?utm_source=Robin_Sloan_sent_me
|
||||
[10] https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/
|
||||
[11] https://www.robinsloan.com/about?utm_source=Robin_Sloan_sent_me
|
||||
[14] https://www.robinsloan.com/colophon/
|
||||
442
static/archive/www-viget-com-ab37cx.txt
Normal file
442
static/archive/www-viget-com-ab37cx.txt
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,442 @@
|
||||
[1] Skip to Main Content
|
||||
[2] Viget
|
||||
|
||||
• [3] Work
|
||||
• [4] Services
|
||||
• [5] Articles
|
||||
• [6] Careers
|
||||
• [7] Contact
|
||||
• Open Menu
|
||||
|
||||
Navigation
|
||||
|
||||
[9] Viget Close
|
||||
|
||||
• Practice
|
||||
• [11] Work
|
||||
• [12] Services
|
||||
• [13] Articles
|
||||
|
||||
We’re a full-service digital agency that’s been helping clients make lasting
|
||||
change since 1999.
|
||||
|
||||
[14] Contact Us
|
||||
|
||||
People
|
||||
|
||||
• [15]Company
|
||||
• [16]Careers
|
||||
• [17]Code of Ethics
|
||||
• [18]Diversity & Inclusion
|
||||
|
||||
More
|
||||
|
||||
• [19]Pointless Corp.
|
||||
• [20]Explorations
|
||||
• [21]Code at Viget
|
||||
|
||||
Featured
|
||||
|
||||
[22]
|
||||
Read the Article: Surf’s Up: Designing a New Product for the Open Social Web
|
||||
|
||||
Newsletter
|
||||
|
||||
Surf’s Up: Designing a New Product for the Open Social Web
|
||||
|
||||
[23]
|
||||
Read the Article: Viget Rewind: A Reimagining of Spotify Wrapped
|
||||
|
||||
Article
|
||||
|
||||
Viget Rewind: A Reimagining of Spotify Wrapped
|
||||
|
||||
Viget Rewind: A Reimagining of Spotify Wrapped
|
||||
|
||||
[eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ2Z3QtdmlnZXRjb20tYW]
|
||||
|
||||
• [24]Home
|
||||
• [25]Articles
|
||||
• [26]Viget Rewind: A Reimagining of Spotify Wrapped
|
||||
|
||||
[27] Subscribe (opens in a new window)
|
||||
Share
|
||||
|
||||
• [29] Share this page
|
||||
• [30] Share this page
|
||||
• [31] Post this page
|
||||
|
||||
[32] Megan Raden
|
||||
|
||||
[33]Megan Raden, Quantitative UX Researcher
|
||||
|
||||
Article Categories: [34] #News & Culture, [35] #Data & Analytics, [36] #Product
|
||||
|
||||
Posted on March 26, 2025
|
||||
|
||||
• [37]
|
||||
Share
|
||||
• [38]
|
||||
Share
|
||||
• [39]
|
||||
Post
|
||||
|
||||
We wanted to take the unique aspects of Spotify Wrapped—its personalized touch
|
||||
and sense of community—and see what we could do with our Harvest time-tracking
|
||||
data.
|
||||
|
||||
W e w a n t e d t o t a k e t h e u n i q u e a s p e c t s o f S p o t i f y W
|
||||
r a p p e d — i t s p e r s o n a l i z e d t o u c h a n d s e n s e o f c o m
|
||||
m u n i t y — a n d s e e w h a t w e c o u l d d o w i t h o u r H a r v e s t
|
||||
t i m e - t r a c k i n g d a t a .
|
||||
|
||||
A Raccoon Sticky Note
|
||||
|
||||
As a data nerd and someone who listens to a lot of music, I always look forward
|
||||
to Spotify Wrapped. Back in November of 2024, I was eagerly Googling the
|
||||
estimated release date for Spotify Wrapped when I had the idea of extending the
|
||||
concept of yearly personalized data to other parts of my life.
|
||||
|
||||
Because Viget is an agency that works with clients, it's really important for
|
||||
us to track our time. We need to know how much time we are spending on any
|
||||
given day, for any one of our clients. And because we already track our time
|
||||
for clients, we also track our time for internal projects and tasks. So every
|
||||
year, we have a wealth of data on what anyone was working on throughout the
|
||||
year.
|
||||
|
||||
We track our time in a tool called Harvest, and I thought, "What if we could
|
||||
have a Harvest Wrapped?" We invest so much time into all of our client work and
|
||||
various internal projects, how cool would it be to be reminded of what you
|
||||
contributed to over the course of 12 months? So I wrote my idea down on a
|
||||
raccoon sticky note to ensure I wouldn't forget to share it when it came time
|
||||
to pitch ideas for our annual Pointless Palooza.
|
||||
|
||||
[eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ2Z3QtdmlnZXRjb20tYWxsLWFzc2V]
|
||||
My raccoon shaped sticky note that I kept as a reminder for my Pointless
|
||||
Palooza idea.
|
||||
|
||||
Pointless Palooza is our annual hackathon-style event where we try to build
|
||||
something useful and/or fun in a limited amount of time. In mid-February, I
|
||||
pitched my idea for Harvest Wrapped, and last week, in a 12-hour sprint across
|
||||
2-ish days, our team got together to bring this to life.
|
||||
|
||||
Repackage and Rewind
|
||||
|
||||
Compared to other kinds of data reports, Spotify Wrapped is unique. Most data
|
||||
reports we produce or consume are focused on conveying information that is
|
||||
immediately applicable or actionable. What makes Spotify Wrapped different is
|
||||
that you can look at data simply because it’s fun, and get results specific to
|
||||
you. While we do get a glimpse into our behaviors and preferences in a way that
|
||||
is personal, Spotify Wrapped also creates a shared experience with other
|
||||
Spotify users.
|
||||
|
||||
We wanted to take these unique aspects of Spotify Wrapped—its personal touch
|
||||
and sense of community—and see what we could do with our Harvest data.
|
||||
Repackage the more technical and dry time-tracking data to let us rewind on
|
||||
what our year looked like.
|
||||
|
||||
Unlimited Ideas but Limited Time
|
||||
|
||||
Unlimited Ideas
|
||||
|
||||
At kickoff, we allowed our imaginations to run wild. We didn’t want to limit
|
||||
ourselves too early, even though we knew that scope would be a major factor due
|
||||
to the limited time available. We also anticipated that wrangling the Harvest
|
||||
data might be challenging, but we decided to ignore that concern for the time
|
||||
being and brainstormed a variety of interesting ideas. These included both the
|
||||
visual elements—like animations—and the story we wanted the data to tell.
|
||||
|
||||
[eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ2Z3QtdmlnZXRjb20tYWxsLWFzc2V]
|
||||
Our brainstorming Whimsical board that included ideas around visuals and
|
||||
function.
|
||||
|
||||
We considered questions such as:
|
||||
|
||||
• What kinds of metrics could we pull in?
|
||||
• What would the overall narrative of these metrics be?
|
||||
• What other metrics could we bring in?
|
||||
• How can we create a sense of community or shared experience?
|
||||
• How do we account for large differences in the data across individuals and
|
||||
roles?
|
||||
|
||||
Every employee at Viget does an annual review using data from Harvest so it was
|
||||
important for us to create something separate from the annual review—something
|
||||
more fun, with a stronger narrative structure. It should also provide insights
|
||||
that wouldn't typically be included in an annual review.
|
||||
|
||||
Limited Time
|
||||
|
||||
After brainstorming, we started to narrow in on ideas that felt both within
|
||||
scope and still captured some of the fun and narrative elements we envisioned.
|
||||
We decided to create a narrative centered around seasonality. The plan was to:
|
||||
|
||||
• Look at the different clients and projects an employee worked on each
|
||||
quarter and calculate the number of hours spent
|
||||
• Add seasonal, company-wide events to give a stronger sense of community and
|
||||
shared experience
|
||||
• Include individual highlights, such as an employee’s "Vigeversary" - the
|
||||
year they started at Viget
|
||||
|
||||
Once we settled on this approach, we divided into two groups:
|
||||
|
||||
1. One group focused on implementation - how to structure and analyze the
|
||||
data, and build the application.
|
||||
2. The other group focused on design, copy, and narrative, working in Figma to
|
||||
bring those ideas to life.
|
||||
|
||||
UX & Branding: Meaningful metrics and seasonal lava lamp vibes
|
||||
|
||||
Now that we had an overall concept, it was time to think about the details!
|
||||
|
||||
First was the visuals and branding for the concept. We explored how to create
|
||||
seasonality without being too literal. Ambient gradients gave us enough
|
||||
flexibility to create the right vibe quickly without taking the extra time for
|
||||
custom illustrations, and we knew it would make for some fun potential
|
||||
animations. Luckily our team developer already had a lava lamp orb animation in
|
||||
his back pocket - kismet! We also quickly realized we wanted to move away from
|
||||
words like “Harvest” and “Wrapped” - in the future, we could actually have data
|
||||
beyond Harvest feeding into the experience. After a quick Slack brainstorm, we
|
||||
settled on “Viget Rewind” instead to name our reflective experience.
|
||||
|
||||
[eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ2Z3QtdmlnZXRjb20tYWxsLWFzc2V]
|
||||
Backgrounds used in our prototype.
|
||||
|
||||
In parallel, we began to mock up a few rough wireframes with an actual team
|
||||
member’s data and copy, before we could access the raw data itself. It didn’t
|
||||
take long to gain some quick learnings about meaningful Harvest data:
|
||||
|
||||
• There’s ample opportunity to provide “color” in copy alone to the
|
||||
prototype. We toyed with seasonal writing to suggest timing.
|
||||
• The project name data didn’t always provide the right context. “2019-2026
|
||||
Support” isn’t a title that evokes lots of memory, so we needed to pair the
|
||||
client and project names to make this more meaningful.
|
||||
• Not every project type should be reported back. For example, sharing back
|
||||
PTO hours still seemed awkward and inappropriate, no matter what copy you
|
||||
put in.
|
||||
|
||||
Putting these together in a high-fidelity prototype in Figma made our initial
|
||||
vision complete!
|
||||
|
||||
[eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ2Z3QtdmlnZXRjb20tYWxsLWFzc2V]
|
||||
Some final screens from our figma prototype.
|
||||
|
||||
Building It
|
||||
|
||||
The first big question we had was, “How are we going to get the data out of
|
||||
harvest, and into a format that shows the metrics we want?” We looked into
|
||||
using the Harvest API, but quickly realized that we might spend all our time
|
||||
there. So instead, with the help of some of our brilliant Vigets, we used a
|
||||
tool called [40]Hasura to set up a GraphQL endpoint over a slice of a data dump
|
||||
from Harvest and set up a simple static app on a self-hosted instance of [41]
|
||||
Dokku.
|
||||
|
||||
But… we quickly got blocked by the tooling and with our limited time frame
|
||||
realized we needed to adopt a simpler approach. So we boiled everything down to
|
||||
the barest minimum to fetch and transform our data. From there, we worked with
|
||||
[42]tidy.js to get the data structured in the way we needed, and built out the
|
||||
visuals for a functional prototype. At the end of Pointless Palooza, we had a
|
||||
prototype that could read in the raw data for any single individual, calculate
|
||||
(some of) the necessary metrics, and show them across a couple of screens!
|
||||
|
||||
[eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ2Z3QtdmlnZXRjb20tYWxsLWFzc2V]
|
||||
Nathan giving the Viget team a demo of our functional prototype.
|
||||
|
||||
With Another 12 Hours
|
||||
|
||||
We managed to accomplish a lot in 12 hours, but didn’t get the fully functional
|
||||
prototype we had hoped we could build (though we knew that would be a long
|
||||
shot). So what if the team had another 12 hours? Or another 24? Where would we
|
||||
take this project next?
|
||||
|
||||
We could:
|
||||
|
||||
• Add in more metrics to show you how you spent your year at Viget.
|
||||
• Create dynamic animations and chart visuals that convey scale.
|
||||
• Conduct more advanced analyses that explore things like connections with
|
||||
peers (e.g., who did you work with the most?) or comparisons across Viget.
|
||||
• Include additional data sources into the experience, like Slack data or
|
||||
blog data (e.g., number of articles published and GA4 data).
|
||||
• Consider other staffing cases, like biz dev, strategy and people team.
|
||||
|
||||
There’s a lot more that we could do with Viget Rewind and I hope that in the
|
||||
coming months, we will have a chance to work on this project again. But even if
|
||||
we don’t, what we’ve already created is a testament to our existing skills and
|
||||
willingness to learn and try new things. Here’s to looking forward to the next
|
||||
Pointless project!
|
||||
|
||||
[43] Megan Raden
|
||||
|
||||
[44]Megan is a Quantitative UX Researcher working remotely from Mississippi.
|
||||
She specializes in helping others understand the what and the why of
|
||||
human-computer interaction.
|
||||
|
||||
[45]More articles by Megan
|
||||
|
||||
Related Articles
|
||||
|
||||
• [46]
|
||||
Do I need a jacket?
|
||||
|
||||
Article
|
||||
|
||||
Do I need a jacket?
|
||||
|
||||
Steven Hascher
|
||||
|
||||
• [47]
|
||||
Radical RAG: An Embeddings Experiment
|
||||
|
||||
Article
|
||||
|
||||
Radical RAG: An Embeddings Experiment
|
||||
|
||||
Joshua Pease
|
||||
|
||||
• [48]
|
||||
StackStash: Taking Bookish Musings to the Next Level
|
||||
|
||||
Article
|
||||
|
||||
StackStash: Taking Bookish Musings to the Next Level
|
||||
|
||||
Laura Sweltz
|
||||
|
||||
The Viget Newsletter
|
||||
|
||||
Nobody likes popups, so we waited until now to recommend our newsletter,
|
||||
featuring thoughts, opinions, and tools for building a better digital world.
|
||||
[49]Read the current issue.
|
||||
|
||||
[50]Subscribe Here (opens in new window)
|
||||
|
||||
Site Footer
|
||||
|
||||
Have an unsolvable problem or audacious idea?
|
||||
|
||||
Let’s get to work
|
||||
|
||||
[51] Contact Us [52] hello@viget.com [53] 703.891.0670
|
||||
|
||||
• Practice
|
||||
• [54]Work
|
||||
• [55]Services
|
||||
• [56]Articles
|
||||
|
||||
• People
|
||||
• [57]Company
|
||||
• [58]Careers
|
||||
• [59]Code of Ethics
|
||||
• [60]Diversity & Inclusion
|
||||
|
||||
• More
|
||||
• [61]Pointless Corp.
|
||||
• [62]Explorations
|
||||
• [63]Code at Viget
|
||||
|
||||
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
|
||||
|
||||
A curated periodical featuring thoughts, opinions, and tools for building a
|
||||
better digital world.
|
||||
|
||||
[64] Check it out
|
||||
|
||||
Social Links
|
||||
|
||||
[65] Viget
|
||||
|
||||
• [66]
|
||||
• [67]
|
||||
• [68]
|
||||
• [69]
|
||||
• [70]
|
||||
• [71]
|
||||
|
||||
Viget rhymes with 'dig it'. Click here to hear how we say it.
|
||||
|
||||
Office Locations
|
||||
|
||||
• [73]Washington, DC Metro
|
||||
• [74]Durham, NC
|
||||
• [75]Boulder, CO
|
||||
• [76]Chattanooga, TN
|
||||
|
||||
© 1999 – 2025 Viget Labs, LLC. [77]Terms [78]Privacy [79]MRF
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
References:
|
||||
|
||||
[1] https://www.viget.com/articles/viget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped/#content
|
||||
[2] https://www.viget.com/
|
||||
[3] https://www.viget.com/work/
|
||||
[4] https://www.viget.com/services/
|
||||
[5] https://www.viget.com/articles/
|
||||
[6] https://www.viget.com/careers/
|
||||
[7] https://www.viget.com/contact/
|
||||
[9] https://www.viget.com/
|
||||
[11] https://www.viget.com/work/
|
||||
[12] https://www.viget.com/services/
|
||||
[13] https://www.viget.com/articles/
|
||||
[14] https://www.viget.com/contact/
|
||||
[15] https://www.viget.com/about/
|
||||
[16] https://www.viget.com/careers/
|
||||
[17] https://www.viget.com/code-of-ethics/
|
||||
[18] https://www.viget.com/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/
|
||||
[19] https://pointlesscorp.com/
|
||||
[20] https://explorations.viget.com/
|
||||
[21] https://code.viget.com/
|
||||
[22] https://www.viget.com/newsletter/surfs-up-new-product-open-social-web/
|
||||
[23] https://www.viget.com/articles/viget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped/
|
||||
[24] https://www.viget.com/
|
||||
[25] https://www.viget.com/articles
|
||||
[26] https://www.viget.com/articles/viget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped/#hero
|
||||
[27] http://eepurl.com/gtHqsj
|
||||
[29] https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.viget.com%2Farticles%2Fviget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped%2F
|
||||
[30] http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.viget.com%2Farticles%2Fviget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped%2F
|
||||
[31] https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=We%20wanted%20to%20take%20the%20unique%20aspects%20of%20Spotify%20Wrapped%E2%80%94its%20personalized%20touch%20and%20sense%20of%20community%E2%80%94and%20see%20what%20we%20could%20do%20with%20our%20Harvest%20time-tracking%20data.%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.viget.com%2Farticles%2Fviget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped%2F
|
||||
[32] https://www.viget.com/about/team/mraden/
|
||||
[33] https://www.viget.com/about/team/mraden/
|
||||
[34] https://www.viget.com/articles/?category=news-culture#results
|
||||
[35] https://www.viget.com/articles/?category=data-analytics#results
|
||||
[36] https://www.viget.com/articles/?category=product#results
|
||||
[37] https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.viget.com%2Farticles%2Fviget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped%2F
|
||||
[38] http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.viget.com%2Farticles%2Fviget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped%2F
|
||||
[39] https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=We%20wanted%20to%20take%20the%20unique%20aspects%20of%20Spotify%20Wrapped%E2%80%94its%20personalized%20touch%20and%20sense%20of%20community%E2%80%94and%20see%20what%20we%20could%20do%20with%20our%20Harvest%20time-tracking%20data.%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.viget.com%2Farticles%2Fviget-rewind-a-reimagining-of-spotify-wrapped%2F
|
||||
[40] https://hasura.io/
|
||||
[41] https://dokku.com/
|
||||
[42] http://tidy.js/
|
||||
[43] https://www.viget.com/about/team/mraden/
|
||||
[44] https://www.viget.com/about/team/mraden/
|
||||
[45] https://www.viget.com/about/team/mraden/
|
||||
[46] https://www.viget.com/articles/do-you-need-a-jacket/
|
||||
[47] https://www.viget.com/articles/radical-rag-an-embeddings-experiment/
|
||||
[48] https://www.viget.com/articles/stackstash-taking-bookish-musings-to-the-next-level/
|
||||
[49] https://www.viget.com/newsletter
|
||||
[50] http://eepurl.com/gtHqsj
|
||||
[51] https://www.viget.com/contact/
|
||||
[52] mailto:hello@viget.com?subject=Hello%2C%20Viget%21
|
||||
[53] tel:7038910670
|
||||
[54] https://www.viget.com/work/
|
||||
[55] https://www.viget.com/services/
|
||||
[56] https://www.viget.com/articles/
|
||||
[57] https://www.viget.com/about/
|
||||
[58] https://www.viget.com/careers/
|
||||
[59] https://www.viget.com/code-of-ethics/
|
||||
[60] https://www.viget.com/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/
|
||||
[61] https://pointlesscorp.com/
|
||||
[62] https://explorations.viget.com/
|
||||
[63] https://code.viget.com/
|
||||
[64] https://www.viget.com/newsletter/
|
||||
[65] https://www.viget.com/
|
||||
[66] http://x.com/viget
|
||||
[67] https://github.com/vigetlabs
|
||||
[68] https://dribbble.com/viget
|
||||
[69] https://www.instagram.com/viget/
|
||||
[70] https://www.linkedin.com/company/viget-labs
|
||||
[71] https://vimeo.com/viget/collections
|
||||
[73] https://www.viget.com/dc-metro-hq/
|
||||
[74] https://www.viget.com/durham/
|
||||
[75] https://www.viget.com/boulder/
|
||||
[76] https://www.viget.com/chattanooga/
|
||||
[77] https://www.viget.com/terms-conditions/
|
||||
[78] https://www.viget.com/privacy-policy/
|
||||
[79] https://individual.carefirst.com/individuals-families/mandates-policies/machine-readable-file.page
|
||||
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Block a user