Jason Fried on building systems that encourage thoughtful consideration of new ideas:

We don’t want reactions. We don’t want first impressions. We don’t want knee-jerks. We want considered feedback. Read it over. Read it twice, three times even. Ponder. Sleep on it. Take your time to gather and present your thoughts — just like the person who pitched the original idea took their time to gather and present theirs.

That’s how you go deep on an idea.

Although in my previous job we never quite got to the asynchronous freedom that Basecamp was designed for, it was something I wanted dearly and tried to push. As someone who likes to take their time with reactions to ideas, the deliberate slow-down of a write-up, rather than a live presentation, for new ideas was very appealing.

I do less of the type of work that requires presentations these days, but I still come back to writing things down when I need to think them through.

Linked

A weekly list of interesting things I ChatGPT found on the internet, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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So I opened up my list in Drafts today and realized I hadn’t saved a single link to share in 7 Things. My bad. But I had the idea to ask what ChatGPT would come up with to share with you all. And the results are, well, really impressive. I knew only one of them, but they’re all, indeed, interesting. Here are ChatGPT’s 7 Things this week (with my commentary italicized below each one).

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1️⃣ Radio Garden - A website that allows you to listen to radio stations from all around the world in real-time, just by spinning a globe and clicking on a location. Check it out at https://radio.garden/

JB: For someone who sometimes has trouble picking music to play, just spinning the globe was a fun mechanic to get some music going. And it makes the world feel somehow smaller.

2️⃣ A Soft Murmur - A website that allows you to create custom ambient soundscapes to help you relax, focus, or sleep better. You can mix together different sounds like rain, thunder, waves, and birds, to create the perfect atmosphere. Check it out at https://asoftmurmur.com/

JB: I was able to put together a custom background sound to my liking — like the one in use in Dark Noise (campfire, rain, and thunder if you’re wondering) — in seconds.

3️⃣ The Wayback Machine - A digital archive of the internet, which allows you to browse over 20 years of web history. You can see how popular websites looked in the past, and even access pages that have been taken down or deleted. Check it out at https://archive.org/web/

JB: An indispensable tool for maintaining a record of the ever-changing internet. I recently found the Rewinder extension which couples The Wayback Machine with the macOS Time Machine interface.

4️⃣ The Scale of the Universe - A website that allows you to explore the relative sizes of objects in the universe, from the smallest subatomic particles to the largest known structures in the universe. Check it out at https://htwins.net/scale2/

JB: I’ll never not be fascinated by the scale of things in the knowable universe. My favorite string of text found near the 1 femtometer (very very small) mark: “Lengths shorter than this are not confirmed.”

5️⃣ Project Euler - A website that offers a series of challenging mathematical and computational problems, designed to help you develop your problem-solving skills. Check it out at https://projecteuler.net/

JB: Maybe the one dud link. I didn’t really understand the premise of the site. But if I had the time, I might check out some of the math problems here for fun.

6️⃣ Virtual Piano - A website that allows you to play a virtual piano using your computer keyboard or mouse. You can choose from a variety of instruments and play your favorite songs, or even compose your own music. Check it out at https://virtualpiano.net/

JB: I played, as I do with any piano I come across, the Rugrats theme.

7️⃣ Window Swap - A website that allows you to view video clips of scenic views from other people’s windows all around the world. It’s a great way to get a virtual travel experience and see new places. Check it out at https://www.window-swap.com/

JB: Another world-smallifying-contraption. Looks like it is snowing in the UK!

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Take a Chance

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Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know.

7 Things

A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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1️⃣ Simply astonishing photos in 2022’s class of World Nature Photography Award winners. [📷 worldnaturephotographyawards.com] (Via Jason Kottke)

2️⃣ Holy shit! This might be my favorite AI art tool yet. Give it a terrible scribble and a description, and it returns an image based on your drawing. Here’s a fun example. [🔗 scribblediffusion.com] (Via Brett Terpstra)

3️⃣ This toot got a chuckle out of me. [🔗 @viticci // mastodon.macstories.net]

4️⃣ As did this one. I love me some dry humor. [🔗 @moltz // mastodon.social]

5️⃣ Matt Birchler is a good follow wherever you find him (Mastodon, RSS, YouTube, YouTube again…). Smart, considered, helpful takes, plus he shares a lot of podcast clips, which I’d like to do more of. [🔗 @matt@isfeeling.social]

6️⃣ Omnivore is another intriguing read-later app that I’m trying out. So far: native design is nice, very fast Share Extension, best-in-class audio readings, but less polished than I’d expect for an app that gets so close. [🔗 Omnivore // apps.apple.com]

7️⃣ Jason Becker’s Letters project continues to lure me. He corresponds with someone each week (a new person each month) and publishes the conversation to his blog. It appears to be a fantastic way to break into new writing topics. [🔗 Jason Becker // json.blog]

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Take a Chance

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Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know.

7 Things

Apple is nothing if not coordinated. Just yesterday, Apple released the yellow iPhone 14 and it’s already center stage in today’s hero image for the Ted Lasso season 3 premier press release.

The yellow of the iPhone pairs nicely with the blue of the backdrop. Blue and yellow is, of course, the color palette of Ted Lasso itself¹.

I extend a knowing nod and tip of the hat to the team that put all this together.

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1. And of many of the Ted Lasso-themed products I have in the HeyDingus Store. 👀↩︎

Underscore David Smith, on his blog:

Widgetsmith has just achieved a remarkable milestone, surpassing 100 million downloads since its launch in September 2020. A number that I can’t really wrap my mind around. A number larger than the population of all but 14 countries (🤯).

A massive congratulations are in order for Underscore on reaching a truly mind-boggling number of people around the world with Widgetsmith. This milestone is the result of the consistent, high-quality effort put into his apps, and making the best product at the right time, but also a lot of help from many communities (indie app developers, Apple enthusiasts, the team at Apple that develop the tools and evangelize for developers, and more). And it couldn’t happen to a nicer, more earnest, caring, or down-to-earth guy.

As David hoped for in sharing this news, I, at least, find it inspiring to know that a one-person shop can indeed move the needle.

Linked

Apple had (too much?) fun with showcasing iMessages in the ghosting theme of this trailer for their newest film in the TV+ lineup:

But it does look like an amusing movie with A-list actors (of course). And if it’s indeed from the creators of Deadpool, then I’m sure I’ll like it.

Ghosted premiers next month on April 21st.

Linked Movies

Stephen Hackett, writing at 512 Pixels on the rumor that the iPhone’s ringer switch will be changing significantly this year:

[…] I couldn’t work out why I felt so weird about the idea of the iPhone’s ringer switch going away.

It hit me today: the ringer switch is one (of the ever-shrinking number) of the hardware feature of the original iPhone that is still with us today.

Stephen hit the nail on the head with this one. It’s been with us for over 15 years, and I’ll be a bit sad to see it go.

You know, I’ve often wondered why other phone manufacturers haven’t copied this hardware feature in the way they copied so many other things from the iPhone. It’s so undeniably useful to anyone who’s tried it. And aside from the piece of mind it provides, that little switch is probably my most-used fidget toy.

Don’t miss Stephen’s footnote about the iPad’s old switch, either. That’s another gone-yet-not-forgotten hardware feature.

Linked

A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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1️⃣ The jaw-dropping numbers and spread of casualties in World War 2. I had no idea the Soviet Union suffered so heavily. [▶️ Neil Halloran // vimeo.com]

2️⃣ This UK citizen experimented with how short they could write their home address and still get it a letter delivered to it. Pretty darn short, is the answer. [🔗 Vladh // microblog.vladh.net]

3️⃣ This clip of Jon Stewart’s show (granted, out of context) is a point of view that I’ve struggled to coherently express. He does a good job. [🔗 @gruber // twitter.com]

4️⃣ I just finished watching Loot on Apple TV+. It’s a delight! [📺 tv.apple.com]

5️⃣ I spent a fun few minutes perusing the ‘List of Internet top-level domain’ entry on Wikipedia after an idea sparked for a future project. Spoiler, the TLD I wanted is not yet available. Maybe someday. [🔗 wikipedia.org]

6️⃣ I always love a good magic explainer. [▶️ Daniel Roy // youtube.com]

7️⃣ I can’t not link to Mark Rober’s final Glitter Bomb video. [▶️ Mark Rober // youtube.com]

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Take a Chance

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Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know.

7 Things

I’m a day late, but I just turned 29. This will be the last year of my 20s and the last of my third decade here on Earth. I don’t really fear or regret getting older. I’m mostly just excited to see what this new year brings!

Looking back at being 28, I’d say it was one of the best years of my life, while still presenting its unique challenges. I feel more confident and sure of myself than ever before, and I feel like I have a direction. I have things I want to achieve set in my sights.

Thinking back through the things that defined being 28, there’s an obvious big one: my wife and I moved to a dream town here in Saranac Lake. We didn’t know it when we picked the spot, but we’d very quickly grow to love living in such a small town. It’s friendly. Everything is very walkable. All my favorite activities are nearby. This could be our forever hometown.

I got a new job, and despite a rocky start, I’m loving finally being a Guide for folks exploring new activities in the wilderness. Being a destination location, I get to talk with people from all over the world and from all walks of life.

I’ve made many great new friends, mostly thanks to #11 below. On the other hand, staying in touch with friends from previous homes is harder. I’ve spent almost all of my free time off of work getting outside and exploring new places and outdoor pursuits. It’s left less time than I expected for just hanging out or day-to-day life stuff.

Last year, I listed out 28 things I hoped to achieve in my “golden year”. Let’s see how I did.

Year 28’s list:

1. Read more books than I did last year. ✅ (12 versus 8!)
2. Spend at least four weekends in a tent. ✅ (All great. All memorable.)
3. Design more t-shirts than I did last year. ✅
4. Summit at least five peaks. ✅ (Knocked out 13 of the 46 ADK High Peaks.)
5. Write more consistently than I did last year. ❌ (Had three months where I hardly published anything.)
6. Spend more time journaling than I did last year. ❌ (If you count blogging and journaling, maybe. Which I tend to count both more these days.)
7. Get in the habit of reaching for healthy snacks rather than junk food. ❌
8. Make more regular phone calls to family. ❌
9. Learn how to fix things in my home. ✅ (Am I now a “handyman”? No. But I’m learning and less embarrassed about asking for help.)
10. Own up to mistakes more than I have in the past. ✅
11. Join a local club. ✅ (ADK Run Club is the best.)
12. Lend my talents to a local volunteer organization. ✅ (I helped, briefly, with the FISU World University Games. Not the local organization that I imagined, but it did help out local friends.)
13. Strike up conversations with strangers. ✅
14. Get good at cooking something with fresh ingredients. ❌
15. Finish at least one story-based video game. ❌
16. Make Date Night with my wife a priority. ❌
17. Close all my rings at least 50% of the days this year. ✅
18. Get out ice climbing. ✅ (Been out a bunch, and loving it.)
19. Climb at least three multi-pitch routes. ✅ (Did at least double that.)
20. Tick off at least 15 crag days. ✅ (Maybe doubled that one, too.)
21. Find a local climbing partner. (Maybe this should have been #18) ✅ (Shout out to Dakota!)
22. Take a non-local friend out climbing. ✅
23. Take my wife up a trad route. ❌
24. Learn a programming language / finish a programming course. ❌
25. Take a writing course. ❌
26. Take my wife on a surprise weekend trip. ❌
27. Play my trumpet. (Hooray for living in a house, not an apartment!) ❌
28. Work my way up to running a half-marathon. ✅ (One of my proudest achievements of last year. I decided I’d put it off long enough, and got out and ran it on New Year’s Eve.)

Results: ✅: 16 and ❌: 12

Honestly, I feel pretty good about the things I got done. Would it have been cool to cross off all 28 goals? Sure. But I think I knew even then that this was pretty deep into New Year’s Resolution territory; notoriously dicey for not working out. And I make the rules here, so I say not finishing everything is okay!

There are items that I wish I would have put more effort towards date nights, cooking and eating more healthily, for example. So instead of listing out now 29 new things that I’d like to do this year, I think I’m going to try to keep the good times rolling by extending the 12 that I didn’t get done last year into this year, and maybe adding just a couple more. I’m choosing to think of it as 30 things before 30. 😉

Year 29’s list (or 30 Before 30):

1. Write more consistently than I did last year.
2. Spend more time journaling than I did last year.
3. Get in the habit of reaching for healthy snacks rather than junk food.
4. Make more regular phone calls to family.
5. Get good at cooking something with fresh ingredients.
6. Finish at least one story-based video game.
7. Make Date Night with my wife a priority.
8. Take my wife up a trad route.
9. Learn a programming language / finish a programming course.
10. Take a writing course.
11. Take my wife on a surprise weekend trip.
12. Play my trumpet. (Hooray for living in a house, not an apartment!)
13. Finish requirements for the New York State Level 1 Rock Guide License.
14. Host (or be part of making happen) at least 10 friend or family get-togethers. Like game nights. Probably game nights.

(Bonus-but-somewhat-out-of-my-control: Make significant progress toward owning our own home.)

I’ve got 364 days. Wish me luck!

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• 28
• 27

Journal

A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not.

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1️⃣ This macOS tips post is worth the price of admission just for the first one about the Stationary Pad option in the ‘Get Info’ menu. [🔗 - Tim Hardwick // macrumors.com]

2️⃣ The modern version of the Wikipedia speed run game. [🔗 @PeterSciretta // twitter.com]

3️⃣ Here’s another neat use case for GPT3: Make an RSS feed with a short summary of each article to help you decide whether to click through. [🔗 piqoni // piqoni.bearblog.dev]

4️⃣ Casey Newton’s predictions for this year look very on-point to me. [🔗 Casey Newton // theverge.com]

5️⃣ I’m liking the look of this Sidekick Notebook from Cortex Brand. I’ve been using the Studio Neat desk notebook for a couple of years, but I appreciate that this is made to anti-precious. [🎥 - Cortex Podcast // youtube.com]

6️⃣ Last Skier Standing is a bananas competition where nutty people skin up 1100 feet and ski back down, and then do it again and again at the start of every hour. Until there’s only one skier left. (They went for 60+ hours last time.) I kinda want to try. [🎧 The Dirtbag Diaries // overcast.fm]

7️⃣ Like Steve Jobs’ declination to sign an autograph — actually, more so — Merlin’s email turning down the opportunity to write about his alma mater is a work of art. [🔗 Merlin Mann // ungainly.me]

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Take a Chance

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Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know.

7 Things