Inside the Little Plastic Castle

The MacMost site offers bite-sized tech help for Apple users. Even though I’ve been using Apples since 1984, I always learn something there. Recently, Gary offered 36 ways to type more easily on the iPhone keyboard. Transcript and video at https://macmost.com/36-iphone-keyboard-tips.html

I learned three things that made me happy. Writing them down helps me remember, so here are the summaries:

( Specific advice for iOS, general approach may also apply to Android )

Do you have any tricks to make mobile Dreamwidth posting easier?

Everybody loves Youtube-DL, and it’s a command line tool.

I can’t assess the wisdom of "just copy and paste this command" available in various places online.

Do you know of a graphical user interface I can plug yt-dl into?

Or an extension that works with Safari, Brave (Chromium), or iCab?

Principally on my MacBook Air, but if it’s only available on iOS, I’m willing to do that.

I’m really good at dropping my iThings, and that’s why I buy Speck cases. I have dropped both these devices on tile floors uncountable times. No damage. Worth every penny. (I went cheap for my iPod Touch case a long time ago, and shattered the glass within two weeks.)

( details )

This post brought to you with no affiliate links, but having just sailed my iPad out of my fingers and eight feet across the dining room face down on the floor.

When I began computing, everything was dark mode: green pixels on a gray-green screen. ( (just like this one, resting on two mighty 158k floppy disk drives on an Apple IIe) )

I was thrilled when the Mac showed up with black on white! So much easier on the eyes! I was mystified and repelled when Adobe products began showing a dark UI. Now it’s the hot new thing--the next version of iOS will offer it.

I learned a lot from TidBITS’s deep dive into why dark mode isn’t actually that much easier on the eyes.

https://tidbits.com/2019/05/31/the-dark-side-of-dark-mode/

The full article discusses the science of visual perception, and acknowledges its conclusions are relevant to typical eyesight. Some people’s vision requirements are different, and I’m very glad that modern computer systems let us change displays to optimize for what we can see.

Last week when I was kvelling about my new glasses, killing_rose explained how rose-colored glasses minimized migraine

( My Apple devices let me create helpful tints with software )

ETA Feb 2021:

• Setting Color Filters on iOS 14
• Adjusting Screen Color Calibration in macOS

I've been reading fanfic for twenty years! I started reading on desktop computers with CRT screens. Upgraded to a Palm OS device with the lovely iSilo reader. This showed me the magic of offline fanfic: I could read while reclining. When I finally got a laptop, I backslid a bit. I would download web pages and read them offline in my browser, but I was still tied to the upright posture a laptop requires.

I had a brief flirtation with a Kobo e-ink reader, but it wasn't bright enough for me. That did teach me to appreciate ereader software—I got an iPod Touch basically just to read fanfic on the bus. I stepped up to an iPad for the larger print--things got really swell when I got a LEVO iPad Stand*

I've tried every reader program there is, and mostly I use Instapaper on my iPad/iPhone.

( Four pluses, two minuses )

Instapaper is available for iOS, Android, and Kindle as well as the web

https://www.instapaper.com/apps

and the basic service is free!

* I got the older one with bungee cords which is not very 21st century but it works.

Environment: I use iA Writer for all my writing, switching between iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro. The current versions support URL schemes and x-callback-urls, which makes me hope that you, technically adept person, can simplify sending text from various reading apps to iA Writer (on both macOS and iOS).

Work flow: I read across many apps and keep many notes. I want to copy highlighted text, append basic source document info (Title, author, ISBN/URL), current time/date and then send this to iA writer. I you can create a share sheet/Siri Shortcut/macOS service/Applescript to make this happen in one step.

We will negotiate a fair rate to provide me with this utility and then work through two bug cycles.

Work from anywhere

payscale: up to $60/hour

job type: contract

Reply here--messages are screened so only you and I see them

I've delayed tidying my Address Book/Contacts info way too long. I sync my Contacts between macOS High Sierra and an iPhone and iPad running iOS 11 using iCloud. Somehow I also have almost all these contacts "On My Mac" as well, but I don't want them there. Because my contacts are very private info, I don't want to use an online service like Scrubly.

Either a Mac or iPad app would fit the bill. While many inexpensive utilities appear on both App Stores, ease-of-use is much more important than low price. I seek recommendations from folks with direct experience of the task and the software.

My ideal software would prune complete duplicates, offer partial matches for my merge decisions (highlighting the more-recent data) and create a clean dataset. Then I could delete all my Contacts, import this clean dataset and be more careful in the future

I’m going on a trip soon. Last month I proved myself capable of getting completely lost between 22 Monroe and Union Station in Chicago – even while using Google Maps. I learned that GMaps doesn’t complain until I’ve gone several blocks out of the way.

I’m seeking a pedestrian-oriented navigation application for my iPhone. Ideally, it would:

1. Let me plan a trip in advance. (Accepts my input for both start and end destination, instead of planning from “here.”)
2. Provide audible as well as visual prompts
3. Plan travel outside the road network (such as bike paths and mid-block sidewalks)
4. Alert me when I’m headed in the wrong direction.
5. Provide bus-stop locations and schedules

The last one is lagniappe: I can get that info from the excellent Transit.

I didn't find this answer on a quick search of Mobilereads.com forum, so I thought I'd share. I read on my iPad in the Kobo app. I buy my ebooks from Kobo because they have a deal with the American Booksellers Association; when I buy a book there Room of One's Own gets a 15% cut. ( why & how step by step  )

Part of my daily healthwork routine is silent meditation. I avoided meditating for decades because I thought I had to be a serene person to do it. I learned otherwise. Using audio guidance or timer, I concentrate on my breathing. I become my breathing body. My breath is a constant companion, always happening until I’m dead.

Concentrating on my breath helps me relax and it also reminds me that everyone on the planet is also a breathing body. This commonality calms the terror attendant on our current moment. My ideology, my fears, my impairments aren’t magicked away, but I am always a breathing body, just like everyone else.

It’s called meditation practice because that concentration is a skill. While I’m meditating I find myself thinking about the past or planning for the future. This is the magic moment. When I notice I’m thinking, I softly name it, and then return to my breathing.

I learned to meditate via an 8-week MBSR class, mindfulness based stress reduction, offered by my therapist. Since then, I’ve loved using Insight Timer, the meditation tool for iOS and Android. You do have to create a login, but they haven't spammed me. Insight Timer has tons of useful features, but at its most basic it’s got a great timer, with lovely bells, background white noise, and finely adjustable intervals. When you’re online, Insight offers hundreds of guided meditations, including introductory lessons for absolute beginners. (Other audio available: yoga guidance, Dharma talks, affirmations.) Excellent search functions let me bookmark (for example) just the 10–19 minutes long, secular, male voice, meditations designed for pain.

https://insighttimer.com

All of the audio content is also available from this web site.