Anchor is a simple, themeable blogging platform you can install on your own server. It supports Markdown and HTML to write posts and the whole system comes in at less than 250kb.

Twizzle is a ‘light’ Twitter app for macOS, Windows, and Linux that focuses on messages and tweeting only. You won’t get sucked into the timeline because there is none.

Based on the limited amount of info on their website, it’s hard to say what exactly Slapdash is/does. It looks like a tool to manage files (from places like Dropbox and G Drive) and combine them with tasks on other platforms (like Asana, Github, Slack, etc). You’ll have to sign up for an account to find out more...

Timing observes how you use your Mac. It categorises your activities to see how you spent your time. It even automatically recognises blocks of time that belong together.

Winners Take All →

The Elite Charade of Changing the World

I first heard of Anand Giridharadas on a podcast and instantly became interested in what he had to say. I still haven’t read his book but I watched dozens of his speeches online. Ever since the book launched, he’s been on countless talk shows, spoken at global conferences, and even made a case against the existence of billionaires at the Dutch parliament (Watch the first 10 minutes – an incredible speech that he opens with: “It is an honour to be here in The Hague, the past home of my wife and the future home of President Donald Trump.”) He’s an incredibly smart, funny, and articulate thinker and I can’t wait to finally dig into his book. Read a review of the book here or watch this illustrated summary of its thesis.

Bolt Action Pen →

Machined pen

Texas-made, machined, refillable pens that last a lifetime, with a unique feature: “The main piece that makes these pens interesting is the unique bolt action. It’s one fluid motion to advance or retract and, because the surfaces of both the interior part and the inside surface have been carefully machined to be extra smooth, the action feels amazingly satisfying.”

I really enjoyed this essay about finding fulfilment and pursuing excellence in one’s job: “The car in front of us had slowed down, signaled, pulled over toward the shoulder, and made a smooth right turn into a shopping complex. Bob [the driving instructor] was impressed. ‘See how nicely he positioned that car?’ He explained to the girl that that was exactly how it was done. And then a while later, long after the moment had passed, he said quietly, more to himself than to either of us, ’I really liked the way he did that.’”

David Wallace-Wells with a sombre, disturbing assessment on how the catastrophic, ongoing fires here in Australia already have a normalising effect on us and how easily we disconnect the suffering of people elsewhere (specifically in poorer countries) from our own lives – largely due to “the desire to look away, to avoid contemplating the scariest aspects of contemporary life or what they portend for our future, the shortsightedness of the media, reluctant to cover climate disasters, at least as climate disasters, and the forces of denial now seemingly embodied as much by Australian prime minister Scott Morrison as they are by Donald Trump or Jair Bolsonaro.”

I struggle with developing a broader set of interests and hobbies. This article came as a good reminder to make a greater effort this year: “By becoming well-rounded we also become sharper – and not just sharper but stronger, and able to put more force behind the arrow. Wisdom is fungible. The more you have of it – regardless of where you got it – the more places you can apply it. (...) Mastery, and the specialization it requires, is exhausting. Many talented or promising people burn out before their time.”