notsocrazyanymore

This is a hard one. I am now staying with my mother, who is a very successful professional that is also a hoarder. She goes to the extreme when it comes to frugality, tearing apart old tshirts and towels to turn into rags that are then used for decades. She gave me leftover baby soap from 1989 for my baby, born in 2023.

It thus feels awful to, under her roof, quietly order not two, but three new gadgets for a dream writerdeck, on top of what I already have (a planck keyboard that was on the expensive end as it came preassembled, a raspberry pi 4000 with a cyberdeck extension, a raspberry pi 4 with a long, narrow screen). A just got the now-discounted Boox Palma 1 and a new low-profile ortholinear split-keyboard, AND because i couldn't bear the chance of missing a Micro Journal drop, the rev.6, which is itself a raspberry pi powered planck keyboard and eink device (aka what I wanted to build myself but failed because I didn't have the energy in me to learn and invest in 3D printing).

If I can successfully return the split keyboard, I'm still looking at around 1000 euros of investment in a "minimalist low-tech solution to distraction-free writing" when I know that I could've and should've just shut up and write. Like I am now with my Planck and my smart phone.

Meanwhile, my mother is using a desktop upstairs from the early 2000s, it still has the static external speaker set and a keyboard that connects with the dual-colored plugs. She uses an open source word processor and writes all day long on that thing. She would never have dreamed of (she would in fact be quite disgusted by) any of my purchases. And she gets everything done. She doesn't procrastinate, she knows who she is and what she is capable of, and did I say that she writes?

I, on the other hand, am a washed-up wanna-be, it seems, trying to throw money at the problem (including money for an expensive therapist to talk about this issue).

When the world is turning to war and I have very limited resources to survive what is to come, I know what these purchases are doing. They are an attempt to grasp onto a world that I wish I were in, where I could carelessly and frivolously enjoy fun gadgets and write for/out of pleasure.

Now that that is out, I do have to say that it was a pleasure typing on this thing.

Since nobody could answer this question for me on the interwebs, I'm posting my solution here. I have a customized Planck keyboard layout with no capslock key, yet somehow on my Android (Pixel phone), I could only type in all caps. LIKE A SILLY PERSON. The problem wasn't my keyboard, as I was able to type correctly once it was connected to a laptop. So here is how I solved the problem:

1. use on-screen keyboard (I use a G-board) on my phone to check that indeed, capslock was on for some reason
2. go to physical keyboard under settings and select the option to change modifying keys.
3. change the capslock so something I have on the board, like alt, change alt to capslock so that the two shortcuts don't fight with each other
4. use the alternative key, in my case, alt, to turn off capslock. change the keys back.

All done!

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/9759283

I had the great pleasure to accidentally discover one of the oldest typewriter shops in the world. Since 1930, 95 years and going, the owner is the grandson of the original founder. Having just revived my Planck EZ writerdeck set-up, it was of course a delicious treat to take in the whole range of antique typewriters displayed and sold at the shop (which also does repairs).

I am especially attracted to the 1958 Herme Baby and this absolutely adorable children's typewriter.

We also played with a modern T 180 DS Plus electric typewriter-- one still produced and sold-- and looked up some USB typewriter options (imagine that, having a digital copy saved up while typing up the original instead of printing out a copy after typing up the digital!).

This was a much-needed treat because I haven't studied German for more than half a month and it was a great disappointment to many that I didn't have the right kind of linguistic skills to communicate during today's team meeting.

As my colleague and I walked out the door, we saw an incredible sight. An elderly gentlemen stopped in front of one of the typewriters at the window and stared at it, not believing his eyes. He then looked up, and on his face was a smile I've never ever seen on someone his age in this city. It was radiating with youth and sheer joy. This is why this shop still exists, I suppose.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures. Vienna is full of gems.

Typed on Planck EZ (now discontinued!)

When: after baby's bed time

I had the great pleasure to accidentally discover one of the oldest typewriter shops in the world. Since 1930, 95 years and going, the owner is the grandson of the original founder. Having just revived my Planck EZ writerdeck set-up, it was of course a delicious treat to take in the whole range of antique typewriters displayed and sold at the shop (which also does repairs).

I am especially attracted to the 1958 Herme Baby and this absolutely adorable children's typewriter.

We also played with a modern T 180 DS Plus electric typewriter-- one still produced and sold-- and looked up some USB typewriter options (imagine that, having a digital copy saved up while typing up the original instead of printing out a copy after typing up the digital!).

This was a much-needed treat because I haven't studied German for more than half a month and it was a great disappointment to many that I didn't have the right kind of linguistic skills to communicate during today's team meeting.

As my colleague and I walked out the door, we saw an incredible sight. An elderly gentlemen stopped in front of one of the typewriters at the window and stared at it, not believing his eyes. He then looked up, and on his face was a smile I've never ever seen on someone his age in this city. It was radiating with youth and sheer joy. This is why this shop still exists, I suppose.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures. Vienna is full of gems.

Typed on Planck EZ (now discontinued!)

When: after baby's bed time

I found my dusty old EZ Planck, a 40% keyboard from ZAS I bought during the second year of the pandemic. That was the height of my writerdeck craze. I subsequently got a Raspberry Pi 400 and then some small screens and then got my hands on a Raspberry Pi 3 after the pandemic shortage ended, trying to built my own deck in different ways. The big problem was that I got ambitious. I wanted to learn Linux. So I set up a whole system that I no longer have access to because it was complicated, I only played with it for half a year, and I plainly forgot.

So here I am, triggered by a discussion of Microjournals, back to the basics of writing, with my Planck keyboard and a USB cord and an old smartphone...

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/9659718

I've had this book for quite some while. My presence in Austria and exposure to philosophers working on Nazi-era biologists made me realize that a few of the historical German biologists that I've come to know and admire are actually successful and/or famous because they collaborated or are part of the Nazi rule over science.

It was wonderful that this author decided to take a year of leave from teaching biology to conduct the research needed to write up this dissertation. And now, more than ever, is the time to read it.

"This study is an attempt to answer the question of how National Socialist politics and ideology influenced the development of biological research at the universities and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes in Germany." -- p.1

In the foreword by Deichmann's dissertation advisor Benno Müller-Hill, who supervised the work, and the author's introduction, we learn that 13% biologists were dismissed between 1933-38, mostly for racial reasons, that 75% of those were able to emigrate, and that many of them went on to become internationally successful scientists. A main conclusion of this book is that the inward-looking, self-isolating Third Reich biologists and the nationalistic turn of science (e.g., publishing only in German journals and conferences) better explains the substantial decline of the biological sciences during this period, more so than the antiscientific attitude of Hitler and the (horrible) brain drain.

I really look forward to learning more about what it is like to be a biologist during these times-- especially for those who stayed and thrived through collaboration. I'll be updating my reading notes in the comments.

Offline gadgets:

Physical copy of book, but see link for an archive.org loan copy

Writer deck: kinesis Freestyle 2 split keyboard plugged into an old smartphone ("distraction-less" compared to a laptop)

Situation: baby finally fell asleep, half an hour of reading before adult bedtime

Location: desk

I've had this book for quite some while. My presence in Austria and exposure to philosophers working on Nazi-era biologists made me realize that a few of the historical German biologists that I've come to know and admire are actually successful and/or famous because they collaborated or are part of the Nazi rule over science.

It was wonderful that this author decided to take a year of leave from teaching biology to conduct the research needed to write up this dissertation. And now, more than ever, is the time to read it.

"This study is an attempt to answer the question of how National Socialist politics and ideology influenced the development of biological research at the universities and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes in Germany." -- p.1

In the foreword by Deichmann's dissertation advisor Benno Müller-Hill, who supervised the work, and the author's introduction, we learn that 13% biologists were dismissed between 1933-38, mostly for racial reasons, that 75% of those were able to emigrate, and that many of them went on to become internationally successful scientists. A main conclusion of this book is that the inward-looking, self-isolating Third Reich biologists and the nationalistic turn of science (e.g., publishing only in German journals and conferences) better explains the substantial decline of the biological sciences during this period, more so than the antiscientific attitude of Hitler and the (horrible) brain drain.

I really look forward to learning more about what it is like to be a biologist during these times-- especially for those who stayed and thrived through collaboration. I'll be updating my reading notes in the comments.

Offline gadgets:

Physical copy of book, but see link for an archive.org loan copy

Writer deck: kinesis Freestyle 2 split keyboard plugged into an old smartphone ("distraction-less" compared to a laptop)

Situation: baby finally fell asleep, half an hour of reading before adult bedtime

Location: desk

edit: I'll be writing about my thoughts in the comments of the original post

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/9648876

A stroller walk and a 1.5 nap bought me a precious two chapters into these exciting new books.

#Language of Climate Politics

The "Language of Climate Politics" caught my eye because the author quote posted a comment on Bluesky that her book is the best of the genre. As someone trained in philosophy, psychology, and biology at a graduate level and now working in the field of science & institutional communication, I've always been fascinated by the way concepts/conceptions/words move people.

If you already know a bit about the reality of man-made climate change and the different ways people react to it (from denial to alarmist to optimistic to neutral to doomist), it's useful to skip directly to the final pages of chapter 1 "How to Talk about the Thread of Climate Change-- And the Fight to Phase Out Fossil Fuels". Threading the tight line between despair and evidence-based optimism, the author suggests redirecting our attention from the facts around the projected future to the "people maintaining the systems that are destroying the human future" and the way their political language achieves this goal. "Keeping the language and the actions of all these people in view will help stoke a healthy outrage over fossil-energy interests' depraved indifference to the destruction of the only world known to support life." The goal is to END the languages that are silencing climate change action.

I look forward to seeing her exposure of propaganda and politik-talk in the next chapter.

#Careless People

Like most people, the Streisand Effect of loud censorship bringing attention to the censored led me to this now best-seller. I bought the audiobook off of Libro.fm, which is my current source of audiobooks (that I will truly own as mp3 and mp4 files). From a story-telling perspective, the author really nailed this down. The first two chapters are fun, outrageous, but also relatable stories. Excellent story-telling. I've never been this engaged with a straight narrated audiobook before (I usually listen to poetry and performances). My mind usually wanders when someone is droning about in the background of whatever it is that I'm doing... but this strollerwalk with the book was excellent.

Offline gadgets:

"Language" PDF ebook: Quaderno A5 e-reader

"Careless" Audiobook: Yoto player & card

Microjournaling: L!FE B6 notebook

Baby status: evening stroller walk and nap

Reading location: walk (audio), cafe (ebook)

A stroller walk and a 1.5 nap bought me a precious two chapters into these exciting new books.

#Language of Climate Politics

The "Language of Climate Politics" caught my eye because the author quote posted a comment on Bluesky that her book is the best of the genre. As someone trained in philosophy, psychology, and biology at a graduate level and now working in the field of science & institutional communication, I've always been fascinated by the way concepts/conceptions/words move people.

If you already know a bit about the reality of man-made climate change and the different ways people react to it (from denial to alarmist to optimistic to neutral to doomist), it's useful to skip directly to the final pages of chapter 1 "How to Talk about the Thread of Climate Change-- And the Fight to Phase Out Fossil Fuels". Threading the tight line between despair and evidence-based optimism, the author suggests redirecting our attention from the facts around the projected future to the "people maintaining the systems that are destroying the human future" and the way their political language achieves this goal. "Keeping the language and the actions of all these people in view will help stoke a healthy outrage over fossil-energy interests' depraved indifference to the destruction of the only world known to support life." The goal is to END the languages that are silencing climate change action.

I look forward to seeing her exposure of propaganda and politik-talk in the next chapter.

#Careless People

Like most people, the Streisand Effect of loud censorship bringing attention to the censored led me to this now best-seller. I bought the audiobook off of Libro.fm, which is my current source of audiobooks (that I will truly own as mp3 and mp4 files). From a story-telling perspective, the author really nailed this down. The first two chapters are fun, outrageous, but also relatable stories. Excellent story-telling. I've never been this engaged with a straight narrated audiobook before (I usually listen to poetry and performances). My mind usually wanders when someone is droning about in the background of whatever it is that I'm doing... but this strollerwalk with the book was excellent.

I'll be updating my reading notes in the comments.

Offline gadgets:

"Language" PDF ebook: Quaderno A5 e-reader

"Careless" Audiobook: Yoto player & card

Microjournaling: L!FE B6 notebook

Baby status: evening stroller walk and nap

Reading location: walk (audio), cafe (ebook)