First, it’s absolutely amazing to me how fast development is going with the Obsidian space. The number of things that are 1-2 weeks old that radically alter my workflow are just mind boggling. https://write.as/ftwynn/interstitial-journaling-in-obsidian-with-a-stripped-down-quickadd I wrote that less than a week ago, and now that script is a proper plugin. It’s so hot off the press it isn’t in the Obsidian UI yet, but I’m looking forward to when it is (which will hopefully resolve some weirdness I had with the script version).

When I was first stranded across the country due to COVID, I was sadly without my sunrise alarm clock (which I will probably use forever at this point). The closest thing I could get without buying a whole new clock was the Pixel Stand, which gave the Pixel a sunrise alarm along with it. The alarm itself was a little finicky, but it took actually putting the device on and off the charger for me to appreciate how nice wireless charging is.

I would like to start by saying that minimal design is a good thing. Clutter is objectively bad, and it takes a lot of really difficult work to cram a lot of capability into a smaller and smaller UI surface. I am completely acknowledging that. That said, some gestures on the iPhone can go screw themselves. In particular, whoever decided that swipe up from the bottom but not too much was a good idea should be publicly shamed.

First, it’s absolutely amazing to me how fast development is going with the Obsidian space. The number of things that are 1-2 weeks old that radically alter my workflow are just mind boggling. An example that I started working with is chhoumman’s QuickAdd, courtesy of Eleanor’s Round Up. While I had trouble getting the script as written, which is way over-engineered for my needs, I stripped out the basics into a simple “add this line from a prompt to the Daily Note” tool, which is absolutely perfect for Interstitial Journaling, which I stumbled on for the first time the other day.

This past Memorial Day weekend I woke up to my own Groundhog Day-style disappointment. My Pixel 4 XL’s battery had stopped holding a charge… again… on a third device. Working in technology, I’m used to having things break. I’ve also been a big Android user since the release of the Motorola Droid, sticking with the OS through a fair share of warts and growing pains. But when my phone broke last week in the same way as my other two Pixel devices, causing a Monday morning scramble to the store, I decided maybe it was time to be less of a tinkerer and more of a user again.

In part because I didn’t get very good career advice when I was there, I like talking to Duke students about their potential careers. Since I jump at the opportunities that present themselves, I end up saying a lot of the same things over and over.

So, I’ve decided to write them down here to make it easier for all involved, and maybe even help a few others along the way. I’ll start with some warnings, give you my suggestions for how to build your career, and then give a brief recap of how mine has been going for reference.

This advice is targeted particularly at Duke students, but hopefully there is enough here that you can apply it to your own life at other schools as well.