Started reading: Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson ๐ on February 21st already. It’s a bit slow to get into it. A relaxed read so far as I am not super hyped how it continues so I feel like I can take my time with it.
I have a set of questions I ask in some variation at the end of my 1:1s.
I really liked these suggestions by Cate. I don’t lead 1:1s right now, but can see the value in answering them. And maybe I’ll lead 1:1s again at some point?
A thing about Raycast that I immediately like: It helps you uninstall apps from your system and deletes all belonging files. Neat! ๐

Adam posted about Mikkel today. That let me to learn about his apps, specifically Leader Key.
This app will replace some automations that I’ve used Alfred for as well as make my app-starting shortcuts in BettTouchTool redundant and add more options. And it made me switch Alfred for Raycast.
Had to move my birthday celebrations two weeks into the future because there’s still flu going round in my family and I don’t want anyone else to catch it. Damn! Was really looking forward to tomorrow. But hey, it’s only postponed.
Finished reading: What A Way To Go by Bella Mackie ๐
Oddly gripping. I am torn about this book. Couldnโt abandon it but also am not super hyped I read it. ๐
Keep your hope
Despite feeling overwhelmed by global crises, it’s important to recognize that we still have the power to take meaningful action within our own sphere of control.
Heute morgen wieder die Kinder zur Schule gebracht. Dabei gesehen, dass auch Tramfahrer nur Menschen sind, manchmal zu schnell fahren und dann nicht mehr rechtzeitig bremsen kรถnnen. Glรผcklicherweise nur Blechschaden bei dem Auto, wo die Tram hinten drauf fuhr. Dass so etwas vor der Schule meiner Kinder passiert macht mich etwas nervรถs.
Finished reading: Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb ๐
Cried for the last 400 pages. What a book. What an ending. Intensive feelings as these is what books can give. More so than movies. I know these characters. They are my friends.
I recently started using a Bookwyrm instance (bookrastinating.com) to manage my book reading. They support ActivityPub and offer some more functionality regarding reading goals and book reviews. Is there anything planned on integrating with Bookwyrm @manton?
I started reading this a few days ago as a loan from the lib: What A Way To Go by Bella Mackie ๐
Very fun and just my kind of humor:
I rolled my eyes, closed the window and went back to bed. As I fell asleep, I remembered to practise gratitude. I was immensely grateful that despite the gruesome way my husband died, he’d done it with his clothes on, and not, like Jane Borrall’s husband, naked but for a latex trench coat.
The ugly American.
dgardner.substack.com/p/the-ugl…
Found through @Buddenbohm@fnordon.de
(if only so many good ppl wouldnโt share on Substack ๐ญ)
Finished reading The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson ๐ yesterday evening. Stayed up until after 11pm to finish the book. My regular bed time would have been at around 9.30pm ๐ซฃ
I liked the trilogy very much. The ending has a believable, moving conclusion. I was captivated by the series. ๐ซถ
More on AI. And fun with Jenny Lawson.
I just read an article from Jenny Lawson about how using AI is going very strong for her: No, I do not want AI to โpolishโ me.
But after I added the update gmail was like, โYOUโRE STILL DOING IT WRONG, IDIOT?โ and the polish thing came up again and I was like, โAre you trying to AI fix a paragraph where I say how much I donโt want AI to fix shit?โ And turns out, yeah, that exactly what it meant because it gave me this
I will not (hopefully!) write that much about AI in the future but yeah. It was too good to not share with you. Also: I mentioned recently how I sometimes use AI but didn’t give an example. So here is one. I like to use LLMs to rewrite my English sentences in a more idiomatic way. I use this mostly for writing where it’s important for me the reader has little option to mis-interpret my words. Because they might be bad English.
Found via @manton: www.manton.org/2025/01/2…
It crept up on me subtly.
First, I stopped reading documentation. Why bother when AI could explain things instantly?
Then, my debugging skills took the hit. Stack traces now feel unapproachable without AI. I donโt even read error messages anymore, I just copy and paste them.
Iโve become a human clipboard, a mere intermediary between my code and an LLM.
I sincerely hope you don’t share the author’s experience.
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-pat…
The likes of Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, however, surely have that kind of money, yet theyโre prostrating themselves before Trump. They arenโt stupid; they have to know what kind of person Trump is and understand โ whether or not they admit it to themselves โ the humiliating nature of their behavior. So why do they do it?
My default apps
Inspired by Matt Stein’s post on the same topic: mattstein.com/thoughts/…
๐จ Mail Client: Mail.app, SpamSieve + GPG Suite
๐ฎ Mail Server: iCloud Mail + self-hosted
๐ Notes: Obsidian
โ
To-Do: I don’t use to-do lists anymore. If I need a reminder, I use Apple reminders
๐ท Photo Shooting: iPhone, Halide + Camera.app
๐จ Photo Editing: Darkroom, Pixelmator Pro
๐ Calendar: Fantastical
๐ Cloud File Storage: iCloud
๐ RSS: Reeder
๐๐ปโโ๏ธ Contacts: Apple Contacts
๐ Browser: Vivaldi
๐ฌ Chat: Apple Messages
๐ Bookmarks: I don’t bookmark anymore
๐ Read It Later: Readwise
๐ Word Processing: nothing
๐ Spreadsheets: Apple Numbers
๐ Presentations: iA Presenter
๐ Shopping Lists: Apple Reminders
๐ด Meal Planning: nothing
๐ฐ Budgeting and Personal Finance: Apple Numbers
๐ฐ News: Blogs and newsletters
๐ต Music: Apple Music
๐ค Podcasts: Overcast
๐ Password Management: 1Password
๐งโ๐ป Code Editor: Neovim
โ๏ธ VPN: Proton VPN
Bonus Items
๐ Launcher: Alfred
๐ Terminal: Ghostty
โ๏ธ Backup: Used to be Arq + S3 + Cubbit. Currently re-evaluating
๐ซ Ad Blocking: Relying on Vivaldi
๐ Search Engine: Ecosia
๐ Journaling: Obsidian
๐๏ธ Version Control: Lazygit, Fork
๐ผ๏ธ Screenshots: -
๐ Mastodon Client: I follow Mastodon people through micro.blog
๐จโ๐ป Local Development: -
๐๏ธ Code Repositories: GitHub
๐ Sleep Tracking: Apple Health
๐ฝ Database Manager: -
๐ Reading: Tolino
โ๏ธ Writing: Obsidian, Scrivener
๐งพ Invoicing and Time Tracking: -
๐จโ๐จ Design: -
๐น๏ธ Games: a few but too little time
๐ Web Analytics: -
๐บ๏ธ Maps + Driving Directions: Apple Maps + CarPlay
๐ฌ Filmography Reference: Callsheet
Lots of things I do not (need) to use anymore since I gave up being self-employed.
THIS. IS. SO. GOOD!
How I created a โOn this dayโ feature in Obsidian for my journaling
The author describes their process of journaling in Obsidian, including importing past entries from DayOne and creating a dynamic “On This Day” feature using the Dataview plugin.
Just looked at the cookie banner for The Verge (@manton shared a post from them and I wanted to take a look at it).
This is ridiculous. Functional cookies are usable for 810 partners? They transmit 2.6MB of JS for that article. It’s only text with 4 images.
