This is great news. Feed Wrangler is my favorite new RSS syncing service because of its clever and forward-thinking features. But Reeder is the best-looking feed reading client. Now it looks like we’ll have the best of both worlds.
Author: Shawn Blanc
What Editing Feels Like →
Eric Maierson (via David Friedman):
You are alone in a dark room. Across the floor are the scattered pieces of three or four or five floor lamps. You don’t know how many. There are screws and bulbs and fixtures mixed together. You try not to panic as you feel your way across the floor in search of these pieces.
Writing and editing (and most all other creative endeavors) are those things which you never feel like you’re getting any better at.
When I read some of my old work and cringe then it’s proof (to me, at least) that I’m pretty sure I’m a better writer today than I was 5 years ago. But the day-to-day act and work of doing the writing itself? Well, that doesn’t feel any easier at all. It’s still a difficult and lonely endeavor. All we can do is keep on trying our darndest to do our best creative work.
Something I wrote a few years ago:
Suppose one day I do arrive at some level of skill where the ink flows like honey and the prose like fine wine. I wonder if I’d even realize it. It may very well feel just like it does right now — like today — when it seems as if I can’t even put two words together using copy and paste.
2013 World Barista Champ: Kansas City’s Pete Licata →
A huge congrats to Pete Licata, the QA manager at the downtown location of Parisi coffee, for winning the 2013 World Barista Championship.
Over the last 10 years, Kansas City has exploded with some absolutely fantastic coffee shops: Broadway (of course) and the Roasterie have been around for a while. We now also have Oddly Correct, Quay, and Parisi, among some others.
A few months ago Parisi opened up a second cafe that’s closer to where I live, and it’s become my new favorite spot to work from on Tuesdays (the day I leave my home office to get out and work from somewhere else).
Migrating from Things to OmniFocus and Back to Things →
Rick Stawarz’s story of switching from Things to OmniFocus back in 2010 and then switching back again a few weeks ago:
During my three-year affair with OmniFocus, Things had grown up quite a bit. It finally gained cloud sync and a couple other powerful features.
It’s hard not to pit these two apps against one another because in they’re the two kings of the to-do list hill when it comes to powerful, feature rich, well-designed task apps for the Mac.
And, Rick does a good job at comparing them without claiming one is better than the other, or vice versa. Because one isn’t better than the other — they are both good, they’re just different.
Personally, I love the look of Things as well as Things’ OTA sync, which, though late to the game, is incredibly well done. Also, the scrolling date picker within Things on the iPhone is one of the best and easiest-to-use date picker designs period — Apple themselves should adapt its design.
But I’m an OmniFocus user not so much because I’m a “power user to-do guru”, but because I’ve become too hooked on the Forecast and Review modes of OmniFocus, and the new-ish Mail Drop feature. Also, I use OmniFocus on my iPad a lot, and arguably the iPad version is the best of the 3-app suite. Whereas with Things, the iPad version is arguably the worst of their 3-app suite.
While OmniFocus certainly serves well the “extreme power user” it also has some great features which still suite the more casual user as well. You don’t have to be hardcore to use OmniFocus (though it helps).
Sponsor: Radium →
Radium is a new way to listen to internet radio. It sits in your menu bar and stays out of your way. And it just works.
With its clean user interface and album cover display, you’re always just a click away from beautiful sounds. Add your favorite tracks to the wish list and check them out later on the iTunes Store. Take the sounds with you using Radium’s built-in AirPlay streaming support. It’s all there.
With the proliferation of services like Spotify and Pandora, why choose Radium? Because with Radium, you don’t have to build up playlists, constantly answer questions about your music preferences, or navigate a cumbersome user interface. Radium is all about the sounds. And these sounds come from over 6000 free stations, maintained and curated by real people like you.
Available for $10 on the Mac App Store. Check it out.
* * *
My thanks to Radium for sponsoring the RSS feed this week. Sponsorship by The Syndicate.
‘The Last Ice Merchant’ →
Fantastic short documentary about Baltazar Ushca, the last man who still mines and sells ice from Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo. (Via Patrick Rhone.)
John Mayer, ‘Where the Light Is’ 2007 LA Concert →
Okay, so here’s where I admit that I’m an avid John Mayer fan. His live show in LA back in 2007 is perhaps one of my all-time favorite recordings ever — I wish I could have been there in person.
You know how at a concert it’s normal to have an opening act, a 2nd band, and then the headlining band? Well, for this show Mayer did all three: his acoustic songs as the opening act, then a blues jam session with the John Mayer Trio, and then headlined with his studio band playing his more popular hits.
The video of the concert has a couple songs and other behind-the-scenes tidbits that you don’t get with the audio-only version. I have the iTunes version, and I often turn this on and then just listen to the audio while working. But just recently I saw that the full-length version is also on YouTube. So, boom. Here you go.
The Mall Pretzel, and How to Make It →
Kicking off today’s first YouTube Friday video is this how-to for making one of those huge mall pretzels. Via Cameron Moll’s whimsical new Tumblr, Check This, Boys.
McDonald’s Theory →
Akin to the piece I wrote yesterday, this is a great article by Jon Bell about how any bad idea will do when you’re just trying to get moving:
I use a trick with co-workers when we’re trying to decide where to eat for lunch and no one has any ideas. I recommend McDonald’s.
An interesting thing happens. Everyone unanimously agrees that we can’t possibly go to McDonald’s, and better lunch suggestions emerge. Magic!
It’s as if we’ve broken the ice with the worst possible idea, and now that the discussion has started, people suddenly get very creative. I call it the McDonald’s Theory: people are inspired to come up with good ideas to ward off bad ones.
The Root of Non-Writing
The blank page sucks. I’m certainly familiar with how intimidating it can be, and I’d bet a cup of coffee you are too.
To help get over that intimidation, Anne Lamott advises we give ourselves permission to write a very, very horrible first draft:
For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts. The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later. […]
Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something—anything—down on paper.
But why? Why fight the blank page by just getting anything down even though you know that when you’re done you’ll be left with something so ugly and embarrassing that it doesn’t even deserve to be used as fuel to light the charcoal for your grill?
Well, a crappy first draft is important because: momentum.
I’m currently reading through Frank Chimero’s excellent book, The Shape of Design. In chapter 3, “Improvisation and Limitations”, Frank also discusses the difficulty of getting started with a creative work.
He says you’ve got to build momentum when starting from zero. Even writing a crappy first draft still means you’ve got to push-start a car that’s not currently moving.
Frank writes:
I find the best way to gain momentum is to think of the worst possible way to tackle the project. Quality may be elusive, but stupidity is always easily accessible; absurdity is fine, maybe even desired. […]
Momentum is the most important aspect of starting, and rejecting and editing too soon as a tendency to stifle that movement.
To pull the curtain back for a second, one of the monsters I face as a writer is the fear that if the words don’t come out just right the first time around then there will be no hope for them after that. I wait to get started because I assume that if I don’t write something magical and clever as I’m typing it for the first time then I certainly won’t be able to improve upon it in the editing and re-writing process.
Of course, that’s a load of crud. In On Writing, Stephen King wrote that he’s convinced fear is at the root of most bad writing. Fear is also at the root of most non-writing.
The truth of the matter in my situation is that if I can just type out something — anything — then I’m far more likely to be able to take that crappy first draft and mold it and steer it in the direction I want until it’s something presentable. If I wait, I may never actually start.
Moreover, it’s usually in the molding and the steering that greatness shows up. Because: momentum!
[T]he only path to amazing runs directly through not-yet-amazing. But not-yet-amazing is a great place to start, because that’s where you are. For now.
There’s a big difference between not settling and not starting.
The best ideas and creative works love to build on their previous iterations far more than they love to spring out of nowhere (unless that nowhere is the shower). Therefore it’s often when I am going back over my first or second or third drafts that I actually come up with the magical or clever turn of phrase I was so hoping would pop out the first time around. It was there all along, just not bubbling on the surface.
La Distributrice →
An all-too-brief look at the smallest coffee shop in North America. Love the custom typeface and design work for the to-go paraphernalia.
The Sketchnote Typeface →
Great work from Mike Rohde. Certainly the nicest handwriting font I’ve ever come across.
Misleading Release Notes of the Week →
What’s new in the Yahoo Weather app version 1.0.3:
Beautiful new icon
Oy. Not only is the new icon not beautiful, it’s far worse than the previous one. I like Jason Stoff’s simple suggestion regarding the previous purple version: just ditch the “Yahoo!” from the icon and you’ve got something that’s pretty nice, right in line with the Yahoo brand, and which matches the design aesthetic within the app as well.
Last Week’s News
A huge thanks to my cousin Nate who wrote for the site while I was taking some time off. His football article was incredibly well received, and I heard from some folks on Twitter who watched Primer last night (it’s streaming on Netflix, fyi) and really enjoyed it.
While I was unplugged from work, a handful of things happened. And so here is some of last week’s nerdy news that’s still worth talking about.
Keyboard Maestro 6
When I saw the email about this update I just about laughed out loud for joy. In part because it’s always great to see there’s been a major update to one of your most-used apps, and also because there are some very useful new features in KM6 that I’ll be taking advantage of. Such as the ability to launch a macro when a USB device is plugged in, and the new Safari actions for grabbing a URL and Title.
Every Mac user has a few apps that they just have to have on their computer, without which they feel lost and just can’t get anything done. For me, Keyboard Maestro is one such app.1
Basically, Keyboard Maestro is the app you use to bend your Mac to your will. Don’t like the way Mail handles email signatures? No problem. Wish you could launch an app with just one keystroke? Easy peasy. Wish you could replicate the functionality of an app that’s no longer for sale? Done.
My friend and fellow Keyboard Maestro aficionado, Ben Brooks, wrote a brief rundown of some of the highlights of what’s new in KM6.
If you’re new to Keyboard Maestro, you may want to listen to Ben’s and my 35-minute B&B episode where we share some tips and tricks about the app. For additional primers, see also Ben Brook’s KM series, Rocket Ink’s Multiple KM articles, and Federico Viticci’s review from about 18 months ago.
TextExpander 2 for iOS
Speaking of nerdy apps with major updates, TE2 for iOS came out last week. There are some really cool new features, though I have to admit my primary use-case for TextExpander on iOS remains the same: I use it to supercharge many of the apps I use that work with TextExpander. Such as Simplenote, Scratch, Byword, Poster, and Writing Kit.
New Book: Manage Your Day-to-Day
Manage Your Day-to-Day is a new book by Jocelyn K. Glei, the Editor-in-Chief of 99U.
I read and greatly enjoyed Scott Belsky’s book, Making Ideas Happen. And after hearing some good and interesting things about this new book I pre-ordered the Kindle version — it’s just $4(!), or if you’re on Prime you can borrow it for free. It downloaded while I was on vacation last week. Though I haven’t yet started it as I’m currently finishing up Frank Chimero’s The Shape of Design (which is a post for another day).
I’m not sure that they meant for it to be specifically targeted for the self-employed types who work from home, but this line from book’s description sure sounds apt to me:
Manage Your Day-to-Day will give you a toolkit for tackling the new challenges of a 24/7, always-on workplace.
Michael Schechter has a concise review of the book on Workflowing.
The New Flickr Design
Flickr got a major redesign and I think most of it is pretty great.
If you’re logged in, the Flickr home page is far more usable and interesting. And I think the look of the new profile pages for individual users encourages more frequent uploads without the need to upload gloriously professional shots. And if you’re a free user, there is no longer a limit on the collections and galleries you can have. Instead you see ads on the site as you’re browsing the home page or the Explore collection, etc.
James Hague wrote about the evolution of the design and how it wasn’t a total reworking all overnight. And Cap Watkins wrote about some of the shortcomings he sees with the new design.
I’m hoping the redesign garners more traction for the network because the iPhone app didn’t seem to do that. I’ve been using Flickr for six years, and it’s the main place where I upload my favorite images taken with my E-PL5.
But the interaction and feedback I get on Flickr is close to none even though I have about 800 contacts. And I can’t help but wonder if the low interaction rate has to do with the seemingly high expectation of talent: I don’t want to post images that are crappy, and I don’t want to favorite an image that isn’t something I’d frame on my wall, and I don’t want to comment on something unless I have something deep and constructive to say.
And that’s where Flickr totally differs from Instagram. Not that the former should at all try to replace the latter, but I get significantly more likes and comments on my Instagram photos than I do on my Flickr photos despite the fact my Flickr uploads are 100 times higher quality than my Instagrams. It’s the conversation and feedback of Instagram that keeps me coming back to it, and that’s what Flickr is missing right now.
I hope the new design, if nothing else, will encourage more feedback and interaction amongst the users.
Designing Blogs for Readers
Matt Gemmell wrote some good advice for weblog design. There are some pretty great tips in here for making a website that is readable for the readers:
Having had a decade to think about it, I want to share my views on what I think you do and don’t need on a blog today. Your needs may be different, but perhaps you’ll find something to think about. I bet you could simplify your blog in some way without detracting from the reading experience.
One of his tips (paraphrased) is to get rid of the sidebar and try to fit everything into the header instead. In some ways, I think this is a good idea. Having the text and nothing but the text underneath the header is a clean design for reading a website.
I think Matt’s site design looks great. It’s akin to some other sites, such as Zeldman.com, Marco.org, and zenhabits. But I don’t know that the single column of large serif text on a white background is the route for me. Part of why these site designs look this way is so that they’ll look really well when viewed on an iPhone — which they do.
My site doesn’t wiggle or change if you adjust the width of your browser. If you visit shawnblanc.net on your iPhone, it’ll look exactly like it does if you view it on your iPad or on your Mac. But my site is perfectly readable on an iPhone, you just have to double-tap on the main text column to zoom it in to a comfortable reading size. And that is by design.
When demoing Safari on the iPhone for the very first time at his Macworld 2007 keynote address, Steve Jobs said: “It’s a revolution of the first order to bring the real Internet to your phone.”
The iPhone doesn’t always need a “mobile” version of a website because it’s perfectly capable of rendering many websites as they would appear on a desktop computer. Now, of course this isn’t always the case since some sites (e-commerce websites in particular) are virtually unusable on an iPhone. But for websites where it works, why have a mobile version when the real version would work just as well? And that’s why my website doesn’t wiggle.