Dann Berg: blog, newsletter, shop, and more

My stats and more in 2025: a year in review

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 07:00:00 -0500

Every December, I enjoy taking a week to review and reflect on my past year. An important part of this process is writing the blog post that you’re currently reading. It’s a thorough exploration of the numbers, strategies, and things that made up my year.

I’ve been doing this for a long time. You can check out previous posts by year: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Each year I reevaluate the format and add/remove sections based on relevance and interest. For example, I’ve focused much more on web traffic and subsequent revenue as that’s become more of my internet-presence story.

This has become one of my favorite rituals. I find it hugely valuable. Plus, as I’ve started making some money from my blog/YouTube channel in recent years, it’s a great way for others to get a sense of income potential from various creative projects.

If my 2025 had a theme, it would be stability. I had a steady full-time job that I enjoy at Squarespace, I continued publishing my monthly newsletter on schedule, and I didn’t move or make any large-scale life changes.

Most of my focus was on getting incrementally better: eating better, figuring out good skin and hair care habits, being a better developer, and improving my skills professionally. You’ll see this reflected in the content below.

This was my last year in my 30s (I turn 40 in March 2026), and I’m starting to think about what habits I want to help drive the second half of my life. The time is now.

Let’s get into the details.

Traffic across properties and projects

My internet presence continues to be mainly across these three channels:

I mentioned last year that I saw “huge traffic increases across all my web properties.” There was a new step-function in my traffic in 2025 that dwarfs last year’s growth, all due to a single article (and companion YouTube video): my review of the service Function Health.

Here’s a high-level overview of my traffic: people usually discover me through Google Search, finding dannb.org or my YouTube channel through searches for Function Health or Obsidian. From there, a segment of my blog traffic will explore other articles on my website (either from the Articles page or the Start Here page). A smaller segment still will discover my monthly newsletter and subscribe.

What does that mean in terms of numbers? Let’s take a look.

This website: dannb.org

I don’t have the same level of data to share for this website this year because, at the end of March, I accidentally broke Google Analytics. I was attempting to be compliant with GDPR (I think?) and added a cookie consent banner (possibly incorrectly?), and it nerfed my traffic numbers. I still got traffic, I just couldn’t see that traffic.

I implemented a solution in December 2025: switching from Google Analytics to Umami. Umami is fantastic, and I’m looking forward to having complete traffic data available to me again for next year’s Best Of post.

Even though I’m not able to share total traffic numbers, I still have access to top performing pages.

Reviewing the top trafficked pages in more detail:

My honest Function Health review: 100+ tests and what I discovered - This post did gangbusters this year, both in terms of traffic and affiliate revenue. The affiliate revenue was largely a happy accident, which I’ll talk about more below
My Obsidian Daily Note Template - The crown jewel of my Obsidian content. This article continues to drive traffic thanks to high search engine ranking
Obsidian Meeting Note Template - Once again, this was my second-most visited Obsidian article. I’m glad it’s continuing to help people
My Obsidian People Note Template - Coming in third in terms of Obsidian content for another year
10 tips for smart Obsidian usage - Last year, this ranked as my tenth most trafficked article overall. It bumped up to spot five this year. This was wildly successful as a YouTube video, and I’m glad to see the article continue to get views
Start here - A newcomer to my top articles. I created this page in 2024 as a way to help new visitors discover my best content. It’s serving its purpose well
Daily Driver Task Management System - I love that this post still gets traffic. I should really make this into a YouTube video

As I mentioned, I don’t have Google Analytics to show a chart of my actual traffic, but I do have Google Search Console, which shows organic traffic from Google only. Since most of my traffic comes from Google, we can extrapolate total traffic numbers.

I published my Function Health review on March 8th, and the traffic increase from that one article is obvious from the chart above. Take a look at my Top Queries, also from Google Search Console.

Function Health traffic dwarfs Obsidian traffic by a large margin. On top of that, the engagement is high. I’ve gotten several emails and messages from people asking questions or sharing their stories. I even had a coworker discover my channel because he was independently considering Function Health himself. Fun!

Function Health post, in depth

I’ve been focusing on my health more as I approach the milestone of 40 years of age (happening March 2026). This is due in part to an agreement I had with myself: I would be much more lenient with myself while younger (while I could) and then buckle down more later in life. That time has now come.

As part of that journey, I decided to sign up for Function Health. The service provides access to 100+ blood tests, plus follow-up tests at the six-month mark. It democratizes access to information about your own body and allows you to build a time series of your results over time. You can hear my detailed thoughts and experiences in my review blog post.

I got the test in January, and the testing cycle wrapped up with the final Clinician Notes in February. I thought the experience was great and I had a ton of opinions. I decided to write a review as a way to process and share my thoughts.

Towards the end of this writing process, I discovered that Function Health has a generous referral program. I decided to sign up for the program and add it to the review as an optional way for readers to say “thank you” if they liked the content.

That small decision turned out to be incredibly lucrative. In the spirit of transparency, I want to share exactly what that means.

From Function Health’s referral program: “Earn $100 for every new member who joins Function through your link and stays for 60+ days.” When I published the post, I had hoped I’d get a handful of successful referrals.

Instead, the post did better than I expected, and so did the referrals. As of the writing of this post, I’ve had 247 completed referrals and over $20,000 in balance paid out.

It continues to surprise me how lucrative it can be to create content on the internet. The results from this post, along with my YouTube analytics (see below), make me feel confident that if I wanted to quit my job and be a “content creator” full time, I might actually be able to make it work. The question then becomes: is that something I actually want? As of today, I don’t think that it is.

Google Search Console

The majority of my traffic comes organically through Google Search. Fortunately, Google offers Google Search Console, which provides insights into how your web properties are performing and how people are finding you.

Let’s look again at the chart of impressions and clicks that are driving traffic to dannb.org:

I already talked about the increase starting in March, due to the Function Health review article. That big spike in the middle of the year (July 11th) was when Function Health had a big sale or advertising campaign of some sort. I saw an a spike in traffic and referrals as a result of their campaign.

Last year, every single query that drove traffic to my blog was about Obsidian. Now, Function Health has taken nearly all the top spots:

It’s true that you really never know what article or topic is going to get popular. As I was writing the Function Health article (and especially as I was editing the video), I knew that I was super happy with the work. But still, I had no idea it’d take over my blog’s traffic.

This month (December) I finally moved my newsletter from Substack (boo) to Ghost (yay!). As part of that migration, I created a brand new custom theme (check out the site to view the theme and this post to read about the process). I’m super happy with my new newsletter home.

In terms of growth stats, here’s what I pulled from Substack before I made the switch.

I started the year with 1,008 subscribers and ended with 1,092, for a net growth of 84 subscribers. This is significantly lower than the roughly 500 subscribers I added in 2024.

Last year, there were two events that drove that growth: a “viral” Substack note and high YouTube engagement. This year, there were zero high-growth events, thus the slow-and-steady growth for the first half of the year before things mostly leveled off.

It remains to be seen how the move from Substack to Ghost will impact subscriptions. On the one hand, I think my new website design has a much stronger call-to-action and explanation of value. On the other hand, I wonder how much traffic came from Substack itself. Next year’s stats should answer that question.

But here’s where I feel conflicted: my newsletter is where I pour most of my heart and soul. About 90% of my content creation time is spent working on my newsletter because that’s where I have the most fun. But it’s also the platform that gets the least amount of views. I see a huge engagement increase when I focus attention on my blog or my YouTube channel. But I enjoy working on my newsletter more.

I also think my newsletter is some of my best work, even though few people (comparatively) see it. I’m not really sure what to do about that. Maybe I’ll try to initiate more collaborations in 2026 to see if I can get more eyeballs on the newsletter.

YouTube

My YouTube upload activity decreased significantly in 2025 due, in large part, to the demands of my full-time role at Squarespace. My YouTube growth stats were slower in 2025, reflecting this change.

I started the year with just under 6,400 subscribers and ended with 8,462, which means I added just over 2,000 subscribers this year. Not bad, given that I only uploaded two videos this year. But it could have been way better if I had buckled down and created more.

I also had a brief experiment with YouTube Shorts, using a third-party tool to automate the creation and publishing of shortform videos from my longer videos. I saw a huge spike in views, but the videos were low quality in my opinion, and I stopped publishing until I can figure out a better way to create quality shorts from my regular videos.

Estimated AdSense revenue for these views was just shy of $1,000 for the year. This is pretty great, but pales in comparison to the affiliate income associated with the single Function Health video. It’s no wonder that big content creators focus on brand deals. That’s where the real money is.

GitHub

GitHub has a beautiful little chart that shows your activity over the last year. Each day is represented by a small colored square, and the shade of green indicates the level of activity on that date (darker means higher activity). In terms of GitHub activity, I had a pretty good year.

Part of this activity is just automated Obsidian vault backups, but I’ve also had quite a strong year in terms of new code written and committed. GitHub is also where I manage my home server using Docker Compose (when I commit changes to the main repo, it auto-deploys on my home server). All these commits count towards that total.

I made several updates to my Kindle Clippings to Obsidian script (code I use myself every time I finish a book on my Kindle), and that open-source code base now has 79 stars.

Another big development project this year was the custom Ghost theme for my newsletter The Dann Chronicles. I used this project as an excuse to really mature my solo development practice. This meant: creating issues for new feature ideas, being good about putting code related to each feature in their own branch, and always opening Pull Requests for changes to Main. These habits greatly improved my workflow even though I was the only one contributing to these repos.

I’m consistently impressed at just how powerful GitHub is as a tool. This was a year of taking advantage of some of those features, including GitHub Actions and GitHub Pages. I still can’t believe it’s all free.

Physical Health

Given the popularity of my Function Health review, let’s add a section to this post related to health. I started 2025 feeling motivated to work on my health (part of the reason why I signed up for Function Health in the first place). I’m turning 40 in a few short months, which has inspired me to be a bit more mindful in terms of exercise and diet. It’s not a fear of aging—it’s more a recognition of the work that will be required to remain physically and mentally sharp as long as possible.

January 2025 is when I signed up for Function Health and did the first round of blood testing. I documented that process in detail in that post, so I’ll refrain from recounting that here, but it proved to be a huge motivator for me throughout the year. Particularly, I was curious to see if changing my habits would have a positive impact on the follow-up tests six months later.

I weighed 178.4 lbs (80.92 kg) on January 1st. By changing my eating habits (eating fewer calories, more protein, more vegetables), I was able to drop down to my lowest weight of 156.3 lbs (70.89 kg) in September!

Screenshot from the app Happy Scale.

I started taking a few supplements after getting my Function Health results, but this habit lasted around six months before I stopped (for reasons I can’t quite recall). I imagine I’ll pick that back up in the new year after I get my next round of Function Health tests.

In the realm of good cosmetic health habits, this was my first full year using a topical Minoxidil/Finasteride spray to help prevent hair loss (so far, so good!). I also started a prescription anti-wrinkle face cream (Tretinoin, Niacinamide, and Azelaic Acid) and daily facial sunblock. Both of these new habits were inspired by Bryan Johnson.

I’ve been researching red light therapy (hair, face) but haven’t pulled the trigger yet because the price is so high. That might be a 2026 project.

Favorite Books Read

This was another light-ish year of reading when compared to my pre-pandemic levels. At a certain point, I should stop comparing my levels to pre-pandemic—enough time has passed that this is just how I read now. I did have an uptick in reading time towards the end of 2025, which makes me believe that 2026 will have a higher volume consumed. Regardless of the total number of books read, I still have a few favorites:

Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares’ If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All - A very compelling case in a matter where I have exactly zero influence
Luis Elizondo’s Imminent: Inside the Pentagon’s Hunt for UFOs - I don’t know what to make of this whole UAP thing. The signal-to-noise ratio makes it nearly impossible to suss out the “truth.” Not that I’d even know what to do with the truth. Either way, it’s interesting to read accounts like these from officially credentialed sources
Stephen King’s It - (re-read) I first read this in 2017, in preparation for the recent movie releases. Felt the itch to re-read this year, but decided to try the audiobook version. The audio is a tour-de-force, marathon performance by Steven Weber
Charlie Kaufman’s Antkind - (re-read) I enjoyed the audiobook of It so much, I decided to re-read another book in audiobook form. Despite this being my second read of Antkind, I’m still confused about my feelings for this book

Favorite Movies

According to Letterboxd, I watched 36 movies this year, down from 72 last year. It’s only now, as I’m reviewing my stats, that I realize how large the delta is between 2024 and 2025. I do feel like I still saw all the films that I wanted to see.

Once again, these are favorite movies that I watched for the first time this year. Not all of them were released this year. In no particular order:

Bugonia (2024) - Another year, another Yorgos Lanthimos film in my top list. This movie was a cool concept, expertly executed
One Battle After Another (2024) - Paul Thomas Anderson giving the world an absolute joy of a film. An instant classic
Weapons (2025) - Answers the question: what if The Barbarian but MORE. Loved it
Human Nature (2001) - I’d somehow never watched this early Charlie Kaufman movie. Quirky and fun—especially in light of the career he’d go on to have
Spermworld (2023) - The world is full of different types of people. The best documentaries pull you into bubbles you never knew existed. I guess I’m happy to know this one exists?
The Brutalist (2024) - Epic in breadth and scale not seen in cinema these days. I’m not sure when I’ll be in the mood to re-watch, but I’m very happy I saw this in theaters

Favorite TV Shows & Specials

Pluribus (Apple TV) - Definitely my favorite new show of 2025. You may have heard the buzz, and it’s all true
The Pitt (HBO Max) - I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this new show. Not only that, they plan to release a new season every year (a rarity these days)!
Severance (Apple TV) - After waiting several years, season two did not disappoint

Favorite Newsletters

I’m not just a newsletter writer; I’m also a newsletter consumer. These were the newsletters that brought me the most value and/or enjoyment in 2025.

Labnotes by Assaf Arkin
Astral Codex Ten by Scott Alexander
Recomendo by Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, and Claudia Dawson
NextDraft by Dave Pell

Notable objects

Unbranded Brand denim - Great starter pair of raw selvage denim
GAO Owl - The “fidget toy” that spent the most time in my hand
Thursday Boot’s The Court sneaker - I’ve purchased several models from Thursday Boots, and The Court sneaker is by far my favorite
Darn Tough socks - Slowly replacing all my cheap socks with these forever socks
Ghost’s Nutter Butter protein powder - Obsessed with this flavor of protein powder
Yeti Rambler 26oz with Chug Cap - I don’t really like water bottles with straws. This is a perfect solution
DYMO label maker - You get a label and you get a label. Everything gets a label!
Digifilm Camera - Not quite a disposable camera, not quite digital. It allowed me to ditch my phone and still take pictures at Burning Man
Thousand Chapter MIPS Helmet - The first bike helmet that has ever gotten me compliments
Innioasis y1 Music Player - The Millennial in me was drawn to this iPod-like mp3/FLAC player, and I love it
Synology DiskStation DS923+ - Upgraded my Synology this year when I moved from 4TB drives to 10TB drives
Eargasm High Fidelity Earplugs - I might be getting old, but it’s really nice to carry earplugs with you. You never know when you’ll want to use them
iPhone 17 Pro Max (Orange) - I don’t usually make purchases based on color, but this orange spoke to me this year

Favorite apps

Here’s some of my favorite apps that I used this year, along with the platform where I personally use these apps. Some of these apps are available on other platforms.

Obsidian (macOS/iOS)
Claude (macOS/iOS)
ChatGPT (macOS/iOS)
Cursor (macOS)
Things 3 (macOS/iOS)
Raycast (macOS)
Ghost (Web)
Tailscale (macOS/iOS)
Ghostty (macOS)
Umami (Web)
AutoSleep (iOS)
Copilot (iOS)
Tap Force (iOS)

Random highlights and accomplishments

Lost 22 pounds and ended the year below 165 lbs (one of my goals for 2025)
Officially made more from “content creation” than I did at my first full-time job after graduating college
Added 84 new subscribers to The Dann Chronicles (well below my goal of 400 new subscribers, lol)
Published four blog posts to dannb.org (missing my goal of 10 new posts)
My YouTube channel had 2,000 new subscribers. I can only imagine what this might be if I focused on creating more content.
Migrated my newsletter from Substack to Ghost
Ditched Google Analytics in favor of Umami.
Attended Burning Man for the first time. Survived!
Attended my first Broadway opening night for The Queen of Versailles
Continued hosting FinOps Foundation virtual Community Calls (five times per month) for regions across North America
Successfully averted crisis when our cat had a serious urinary blockage, thanks to VEG Williamsburg and pet insurance

Plans for 2026

Continue growing the FinOps practice at Squarespace
Figure out some automated workflow to transform newsletter content (which I’m already writing) into additional content (YouTube? TikTok? Social Media? Podcast? Other?)
Open-source the custom Ghost theme that I built
Revisit my custom Hugo theme for this website and add improvements
Find collaboration partners for either my newsletter or YouTube channel (or both)
Publish more articles on my blog in 2026 than I did in 2025 (at least five posts)
Add 400 new subscribers to The Dann Chronicles newsletter

Have a great new year! 🎊

Building a custom Ghost theme w/AI (and leaving Substack)

Sun, 07 Dec 2025 12:38:25 -0500

Visit my new newsletter site at thedannchronicles.com

I’ve wanted to move from Substack to Ghost for years and decided to really get serious about it a couple of months ago. After way more work than I expected (isn’t it always?), the brand new The Dann Chronicles website is live!

To celebrate the launch of the new website (which I’m super excited about), I wanted to give a tour and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of. I built a new custom theme for my Ghost website (which is the reason it took so long) and there are a ton of little Easter eggs and fun sprinkled about that I don’t want you to miss.

Additionally, by documenting my thinking and decision making, I may be able to help others who want to do a similar project or adjacent work.

Choosing Ghost

The reason that I’ve stuck with Substack for so long is because it’s free. Substack monetizes its service by taking a percentage of subscriber revenue. As a totally free newsletter with no paid tier, this means Substack is completely free.

I’m not, however, the biggest fan of the company, and that made me want to find a reasonable alternative. I researched competitors, but most other options cost a decent amount of money for a subscriber list my size.

Substack’s free offering newsletter without a paid tier is fairly unique. Most Substack competitors offer a generous free tier, but my newsletter was already over that limit in most cases. And, while the monthly cost of these services is very reasonable for a publisher monetizing their blog, it’s a shocking sticker price for someone self-funding a fun hobby/side project.

The one exception is Kit (formerly ConvertKit), which launched a free tier up to 10,000 subscribers recently. I considered migrating to Kit after that announcement, but 1) limitations in website design and 2) required participation in their “creator network” ruled it out for me. For most others, I think Kit is probably the best choice if you want to get up-and-running with a beautiful newsletter with zero headache. But for me, I want a little bit more control (and headache).

The single platform that consistently shows up at the top of “best newsletter platform” lists is Ghost.

Ghost is an open-source CMS designed specifically for newsletters. The fact that it’s open source means you have the option to self-host the service on your own servers for free, or you can pay for Ghost(Pro) and have Ghost host your website for you.

Ghost was my top pick since I first started exploring Substack alternatives, but the price always gave me pause. I have experience self-hosting, which really means I know the real value of a managed service. But Ghost(Pro) was going to cost me $46 per month and bump to $63 per month once I crossed the next subscriber count threshold. That’s hard for me to justify for a free newsletter.

Alternately, I explored self-hosting. Getting a dedicated Virtual Private Server seemed overkill and also just as expensive as Ghost(Pro). I considered a DigitalOcean Droplet, which would be a much more reasonable $5 per month. But after some reading on Reddit, I discovered PikaPods.

PikaPods offers Ghost hosting for ~$2.50 a month, and user feedback is very positive. In the spur of the moment, I created an account and spun up a Ghost instance. It took about two minutes. That’s the moment I officially decided to switch to Ghost. That was three months ago.

The next task was to find a Ghost theme for the site. I spent a ton of time browsing both free and premium themes, but nothing was quite right. I had a very specific idea of what I wanted in my head, and I couldn’t find that prebuilt.

My main website, dannb.org, is a Hugo website that uses a custom theme I built. And that was well before AI coding assist tools. I decided I might as well build my own custom Ghost theme and get exactly what I want.

AI-assisted Ghost theme development workflow

I utilized artificial intelligence heavily in the making of my custom theme. I plan to write a different post sharing my process in detail, but here’s a quick overview of how I worked:

Used the Ghost Starter Theme as a base, opened it in Cursor
Used a Claude project with custom instructions to brainstorm and generate detailed Github Issues based on a template I created
Picked a single issue I wanted to work on and instructed a Cursor Agent to pull the issue details via the CLI, create a new Git branch, and work on completing the requirements
Iterated with the Agent and tested each feature on a local Ghost install
Once everything was working, tell the Agent to commit changes, push remote to Github, and open a Pull Request that closes the Issue.
Manually reviewed the Pull Request on Github, and merged if everything looked good.
Returned to Cursor and told the Agent that the merge was completed and instructed it to checkout the main branch and pull changes
Commits to the main branch in Github auto-deploy to my Ghost instance in PikaPods. Visited my Ghost PikaPods instance for final testing of each feature.

Typically, I would batch work on feature brainstorming and issue creation, generating a long list of issues added to the Github repo. Then, I’d jump into Cursor and work on those issues one at a time.

Working this way made it super easy to test and track individual features and roll back when I needed to. Utilizing AI allowed me to work at 10x - 20x the speed of non-AI-augmented development. It allowed me to build in a ton of fun features into the site (which I’ll share with you in this article).

This was my second time making a custom theme for a website (the first being dannb.org), but the first time utilizing AI for development assistance. It really feels like having a super power. And identifying this solid solo-developer workflow made the process feel clean and organized.

Homepage

One of the reasons I wanted to create a custom Ghost theme is because I had a strong image in my head of what I wanted the homepage to look like. Mainly, I wanted a hero section followed by the full content of my latest newsletter. Since this is a free newsletter, I wanted the latest edition to be available to anyone and everyone visiting the site.

Hero section

I knew I wanted two things for my hero section: 1) a strong call-to-action to sign up for the newsletter and 2) a fun and playful vibe that matches the voice of the content.

I created the Dann Chronicles circle logo two years ago as a way to teach myself the design tool Figma. Branding on my old Substack site centered more around my Hollow Eyes logo, which is fun but not specific to The Dann Chronicles and not quite the right match for the new site.

I spent a good amount of time noodling on the copy in the hero section. I wanted to write something that would accurately reflect the reasons people read the newsletter rather than why I write the newsletter.

I drafted several versions and shared these with a few close friends for feedback. Additionally, I added a short survey to my latest newsletter to solicit feedback and hear why people stay subscribed. I used this data to iterate on the copy before finally landing on the text you now see.

But I still needed to add some fun. I took inspiration from my own newsletter, plus I browsed several other newsletter websites, pulling out elements I wanted to add to my hero section. This included an emoji in the headline (matching the style of headlines in my newsletter) plus a delayed underline effect to emphasize part of the header.

Next, I added a subtle pulsing light behind the email submission form in order to draw attention. And, if you’re viewing the site on desktop, you can move your mouse around the circle logo for an interactive animation.

Lastly, I wanted to draw people’s attention to the fact that the latest edition can be viewed in full directly on the homepage. I used a handwritten font and found a doodle arrow, creating an SVG file in Figma to add to the bottom of the hero section.

These little details are what give the site a little personality.

Testimonials

My newsletter has a small¹ but loyal following, earning an email open rate well above industry average (~40%). As I mentioned above, I sent out a short survey to learn more about why people like my newsletter and use that information to drive the design and copy of the new site. Plus, with people’s permission, I wanted to use that feedback as social proof to encourage others to sign up.

The survey I sent out had several open-ended questions, such as, “What’s your favorite thing about The Dann Chronicles?” “If you were describing The Dann Chronicles to a friend, what would you say?” and “What makes The Dann Chronicles different from other newsletters you read?”

Aside from usable content for the site, this feedback was an absolute pleasure to read. Often, sending out my newsletter feels like releasing content into a void. So hearing people’s thoughts and the reasons why they subscribe really reinforced my love of publishing every month.

With that said, responses didn’t really yield many direct cut-and-paste quotes. Instead, each survey response was filled with valuable information that needed slight grammatical and structural reforming to really work as a testimonial.

Once again, I used AI to help with this. I provided the form responses in CSV form and explained the full context. I then iterated on each testimonial, staying as true to the original responses as possible while creating testimonial statements that would work well for the site.

Then, for responders with reformed quotes I wanted to use on the site, I sent a follow-up email thanking them for responding to the survey and confirming the use of the slightly tweaked quote.

I used a Cursor agent to design the testimonials section on the website, providing layout and structure feedback until I had something I liked. I also made sure that these testimonials could be updated in the Ghost Admin theme settings, allowing me to add/remove/update quotes without editing the custom template itself.

Both the hero section and the testimonials are only shown to unsubscribed or logged out users. Once a person subscribes, and is logged into the website, both these sections are replaced with a small circle logo at the top of the page followed by the full content of the latest edition of the newsletter. Nifty.

Miscellaneous fun

I won’t go over every single fun detail that I added to the site (they’re plentiful), but I want to highlight a few of my favorites.

Confetti surprise!

When a user scrolls to the very bottom of the page, they’re treated to a confetti explosion animation. It only triggers once per page load and adds a fun bit of personality to the website.

I can’t figure out if this will be annoying/distracting in the long term or if it’s a value-add to the site. I should probably give this effect a toggle option in the theme settings, but for now it’s hardcoded into the theme.

Claps

This was one of the more complicated features to add to the website. I really like how my Substack site had a simple heart reaction button on each post, similar to the Clap button for Medium posts. This is not a feature that’s native to Ghost, but it’s fairly simple to build.

Using AI assistance, I built a serverless backend for a custom clap/applause button system for my newsletter, powered by Cloudflare Workers and KV storage. Unless something goes horribly wrong, this feature should stay in the free tier and not cost a dime.

Archive page

I played around with the design of the Archive page a lot before settling on something I liked. The standard grid layout didn’t quite look right, so I switched to a single column design and increased the width.

Additionally, instead of pagination, I wanted a “Load More” button to load older posts on the same page.

Footer text

I copied the footer copyright text from dannb.org to this new site.

As a childfree adult who is not a Disney Adult, I haven’t seen a Disney movie in decades. Still, this Lion King reference feels like a fun easter egg, and I’ll continue using it on my various websites.

Final thoughts

It brings me a lot of joy to have fun on the internet. I do this by publishing my monthly newsletter, creating occasional YouTube videos, and building websites full of delightful (hopefully) little surprises.

My biggest takeaway from the development process of this new custom Ghost theme is that Artificial Intelligence greatly improves my skills and ability. It also has a reverse exponential impact on development time—what would have taken weeks in the past is now just an hour or two.

The Dann Chronicles newsletter is a passion project that’s been going for five years strong with no end in sight. It is, and always will be, free. If you like the new site, and the content interests you, you should sign up. And if not, don’t.

I’m pleased with how this website turned out. If you like certain elements, feel free to copy them on your own site. Let’s all build a little bit more fun into the internet.

You can join my newsletter at The Dann Chronicles.

I understand that 1,000+ subscribers isn’t necessarily “small” to many people. I, however, do think of that number as small compared to 1) other similar newsletters I follow and 2) my ambitions. ↩︎

This AI 2027 prediction terrifies me (but we're just along for the ride)

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 06:58:09 -0700

Photo from AI 2027

❗ This is an excerpt from the ~~upcoming~~ April 2025 edition of The Dann Chronicles newsletter. Usually, newsletter content isn’t published on my website (and vice versa) but I wanted to share this post in a less ephemeral way. If content like this is interesting to you, consider subscribing to my newsletter.

I’m in a strange headspace since reading this new prediction about AI. I think this feeling is…terror? I feel compelled to share this with a wider audience (which is what I’m doing here) while recognizing that sharing this report likely won’t change anything. There are literally only a handful of people who have the power to influence this prediction, and the rest of us are just along for the ride.

It’s called AI 2027, and it was created by a non-profit called the A.I. Futures Project. The project is led by Daniel Kokotajlo, a researcher with a compelling track record in AI:

In 2021 (before ChatGPT), he published What 2026 Looks Like. From our vantage point in 2025, he was largely correct—about everything—with what were crazy-sounding predictions at the time
A year later, OpenAI hired Kokotajlo to their policy team. It was a smart move: the company gained access to his continued research while limiting his ability to speculate publicly
In mid-2024, Kokotajlo and OpenAI had a dramatic split when he refused to sign a non-disparagement clause (which at the time threatened his $1.7M in vested equity, although this led to a policy change at OpenAI)
Shortly after leaving, he founded the A.I. Futures Project with other leading experts in the AI space, dedicated to forecasting the future of artificial intelligence
This month, they published their first release: AI 2027

The scenario is written as an extremely compelling fictional narrative (thanks to Scott Alexander of Astral Codex Ten). But it’s really the supplemental research that elevates this from cool story to research-based debate contribution.

Right now, the tech world is split into warring factions debating the future of AI while the rest of the population goes about their lives as normal. If you’re in the latter camp (dabbling with AI here and there but not following the news), you may be horrified to learn where we are today and what some of the brightest minds in the space think is right around the corner.

That’s because none of the scary predictions that gained wide audience attention after ChatGPT’s launch have yet been proven wrong. In fact, the pace has been accelerating even faster than most of those timelines predicted.

I recognize that doomsday predictions have been around since the beginning of time—divine intervention, natural disasters, Y2K computer collapse, astronomical events, or aliens. The human brain is programmed to latch onto such stories.

It’s possible that AI 2027 is another prophecy that will fail to materialize. I certainly hope so. But unlike those other scenarios, this prediction is based on extensive research and data, which makes me concerned that this one might just be the winner.

Supplemental reading: for anyone who gets sucked down this rabbit hole like I did, you might also enjoy this New York Times (gift) article about AI 2027 and Scott Alexander’s personal takeaways from the project.

My honest Function Health review: 100+ tests and what I discovered

Sat, 08 Mar 2025 14:46:35 -0500

🎬 This post is also a YouTube video!

The healthcare system in the United States sucks for a multitude of reasons. At its core, many of these issues stem from a system that disempowers both patients and doctors. For-profit insurance companies act as middlemen, often making essential care unaffordable—or completely out of reach—by overruling the decisions of highly trained physicians.

In January, I signed up for a service that feels like a revelation: Function Health. For $500 per year (plus a few hundred dollars for lab work, depending on your state), Function Health provides access to over 100 blood tests that would otherwise be nearly impossible for the average person to obtain. The results are then delivered in a “first-of-its-kind” Health Dashboard.

Now that I have all my test results back, plus detailed clinician notes, I feel more empowered regarding my health than ever before. Plus, I’m more motivated than ever to make lifestyle/diet changes, since I know I can check in on these numbers regularly.

In the system we have today, people need to be their own health advocates. That means keeping track of your own health data and verifying its accuracy, getting second opinions as necessary, and ensuring different doctors are sharing information with each other. Doctors are human and can make mistakes and our system is imperfect. No one will care about your health as much as you.

This article is both an explanation of my reasons for joining Function Health as well as my experiences with the platform. I am a full-price paying customer myself and this is my honest review.

If you found this article interesting and decide to try Function Health yourself, you’re welcome to use my referral link to skip the waitlist. Full transparency: the “waitlist” is mostly a startup growth tactic, and you can also bypass it by filling out a quick survey without using my affiliate link. But my link is a great way to say “thank you” if you enjoyed this article. Completely your choice.

Let’s start zoomed out and talk about how I see a service like Function Health fitting in to my life.

My general life philosophy

My general life philosophy boils down to two principles:

Find the minimum amount of effort that outputs the greatest results
Identify experts in various fields, and use their vast experience to drive my actions and decision making

If I’m interested in a new topic, I’ll look for a single book or article that’s well-respected in that area. By reading that content, I’ll gain the greatest amount of knowledge with the least amount of effort, relying on the expertise and research of the author to reap the greatest knowledge gain.

A recent example might be The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli, a fantastic dive into science’s current understanding of time as a part of quantum physics. Another example would be Wirecutter, the product review website owned by the New York Times.

This is also why I’m so drawn to Bryan Johnson, the tech entrepreneur spending millions to reverse his aging. He publishes all his data as part of Blueprint, a health and longevity experiment where he boils down his plethora of research into specific action steps for others to follow. Readers can reap the benefits of his millions of dollars of testing and research without spending the same level of money themselves.

The foundation of all these experts is data and transparency.

As I near my 40’s, I’m thinking more and more about my health and fitness related goals that will carry me through the second half of my life. To that end, I want to identify the minimum effort that will provide the maximum benefits towards achieving these goals. And I want it to be backed by data.

And that brings us back to Function Health, a service I feel provides exactly that.

Before Function Health

I’ve been getting an annual-ish Physical since my mid-20’s. Part of these physicals is blood work, which is typically the most enlightening part of these exams.

In 2023, my Lipid Profile results showed a few components that were out-of-range: Cholesterol, LDL Cholesterol (Calc), and Non-HDL Cholesterol. These numbers weren’t dramatically high, but they were something I knew I wanted to address, despite a followup note from my doctor saying he wasn’t actually concerned with these results.

For the next few months after the test, I made some minor dietary changes that I hoped would help address these numbers. Then, my motivation waned and my healthy eating habits slipped. Throughout the year, I’d slip in and out of these positive habits, never knowing if they were actually impacting my Cholesterol levels or not.

A year is a long time to stay motivated when there are no indicators of positive progress. I don’t feel any difference when my blood markers are in range versus out of range.

Blood test results feel important when you get them, but urgency dissipates as the year progresses. That, paired with a lack of concern from the doctor, makes it easy to slip into past habits.

Despite these hurdles, my 2024 blood tests showed only one component out-of-range: LDL Cholesterol (Calc). I felt accomplished, but also more in-the-dark than ever. I felt zero difference in my day-to-day life, so what else might be out-of-range but could be easily fixed with minimal effort?

Joining Function Health

The main value proposition of Function Health is access to over 100 blood tests that are typically unavailable to the average person.

From their FAQ:

The traditional insurance route typically requires a specific symptom or condition to warrant comprehensive testing. (We find it backward to require the existence of a condition to test for that same condition.)

To get all the tests included in your Function membership, you would need to work with a doctor willing to request these 100+ tests. Doctors rarely have the time needed to review this many tests, let alone to understand and explain your results to you. They also want to avoid creating financial burdens on their patients who may be billed for any advanced lab tests. You would also likely miss out on insights from the world’s top doctors based on your specific results.

The company’s medical team curates tests they judge to be “both valid and important for revealing the deepest understanding of your health.”

This perfectly matches rule two of my general life philosophy: utilizing expert opinion to drive my actions and decision making. I’m not a doctor and have no idea what blood tests are helpful in determining overall health. It is appealing to me to have access to this thoughtfully-picked collection of tests that could provide the biggest bang for my buck.

Signing up is a two-step process: first, you need to join Function Health and pay the $499 annual cost, then you need to find a place to get your blood drawn.

The first part is super easy—Function Health will gladly take your money with only a few clicks. When you join, you also take an intake survey that asks about your primary health goals and reasons for joining.

The second part was also super easy for me, as a resident of Downtown Brooklyn. There is a Quest Diagnostics within walking distance from my apartment, allowing me to pop in and get my blood drawn with very little effort.

In terms of timeline, here was my experience with the platform:

January 11th: Signed up for Function Health and paid the $499 fee
January 20th: Blood draw 1 of 2
January 21st: First results appeared on my Dashboard
January 24th: Blood draw 2 of 2
February 17th: Clinician Notes available

This first blood draw set is the first half of what’s included in an annual Function Health membership. Six months after this initial test, you have a second round of tests to check your progress in each category. Additionally, you can retest any of these biomarkers at any time throughout the year for an additional fee.

I joined Function Health three months ago, so I’ve only done this first round of tests. I plan to do my next round in another three months, but wanted to write up my experiences so far.

Let’s dive into the details.

The drawing of the blood

Function Health membership includes two sets of tests over a 12 month membership period: 100+ lab tests at the start of each year of membership, and 60+ lab tests 3-6 months later to see what’s changing.

Performing 100+ tests requires a lot of blood, at least compared to your typical annual physical. That means the initial test is split over two visits, spaced within ten days of each other (I scheduled my first on a Monday morning and the second on the following Friday morning).

Each visit took ten vials (compared to two vials taken at my annual physical). Function Health, however, is quick to put this amount into context:

35mL of blood is typically drawn at one time to keep things easy. For context, a blood donation is 14x more at ~500mL.

That means each blood draw took 5x more than my annual physical but 14x less than a standard blood donation. I did find that knowing these numbers helped with the mental aspect of the blood draw.

Function Health has very specific instructions to help members prepare for their blood draw:

72 Hours Before, stop taking supplements. Many common supplement ingredients can interfere with your results. However, you should continue medications as prescribed by your doctor.
48 Hours Before, start avoiding seafood before your lab visit. You will be tested for mercury.
8 Hours Before, start fasting. Be sure to eat a light, healthy meal before you start your fast and avoid drinking alcohol. After that, no food or drink for 8 hours, which includes black coffee in the morning. The one exception is water, and we recommend drinking plenty of it before and after.
Morning of Visit, drink at least 1 liter of water before your lab visit, because good hydration makes blood flow faster. And don’t exercise until after your lab visit.

I followed these instructions dutifully, although I forgot about the seafood fast and had a piece of fish three days before my test (outside of the recommended 48 hour window, but I was trying to avoid it more broadly). More on the impact of that slip up later.

Also, you’re specifically instructed not to provide insurance to the lab testing facility, even if you have insurance. Looping in your insurance company negates the special pricing that Function Health negotiates on members’ behalf.

When I arrived at Quest Diagnostics, I signed in on their iPad scanned my photo ID, and sat in the lobby to wait to be called. It took about ten minutes.

Once I got into the blood draw room, the phlebotomist reviewed my information and I confirmed that I was there as part of Function Health. She commented that Function had been getting more popular recently, and this location now gets about five members per week as part of this program. Good job, Function Health! That piece of information alone made me feel more confident in my decision to join. Thank you, social proof.

I then had to pay Quest Diagnostics for their services: just over $200 for each of the two visits. This is on top of the Function Health cost, and the price varies from state to state.

The blood draw itself was uneventful. The phlebotomist prepared ten vials, tied off my arm, and inserted the needle. Then she filled each vial up one by one, all while making conversation with me to try and distract me from the unpleasantness (which was appreciated).

The blood draw itself took maybe three or four minutes total. Then I was on my way.

Initial results started appearing in my portal the next day, approximately 28 hours after my appointment.

That first blood draw was on a Monday morning and I had my second appointment of that series the following Friday morning. That second appointment was almost exactly the same as the first, with the addition of a urine sample collection.

The results

As I mentioned, initial results started appearing in my Function Health portal the day after the initial test. I got an email notification when those first results were available, but no further notifications as additional tests drip dropped into my account.

I found it easier to check my results on my phone, although the same information is all available on their website as well.

When you open the app, you’re greeted to a summary of your results, the numbers in which update as the tests are completed.

For every test, you can see your results as compared to the optimal range.

Each biomarker also has a detailed description in a section titled “Why it matters?” (sic). This provides information about the function of each biomarker, what impacts the biomarker, as well as the consequences of being out-of-range.

Did I use all of this information? Definitely not. The sheer amount of information about each marker feels overwhelming.

But I understand why it needs to be there. If you search Google (or Kagi!)for any individual one of these biomarkers, you’ll get a barrage of information to sift through. Some of it will be more accurate than others. Instead, having a one-stop-shop for results and information about said results is the ideal UX design.

At the bottom of the Function app home screen is a summary of all your results by category. It’s easy to see how you’re doing in each.

The very first out-of-range biomarkers that started coming in were all related to Male Health: Estraiol (E2), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG). These were each barely over the threshold, and further reading said that these can be effected by the exact type of fish I had three days earlier. Phew.

Clinician notes

Having this abundance of raw data is all well and good, but it’s really the expert opinion that’s the true value of this service. As you can see, I have several biomarkers that are out-of-range, but it’s hard to know which ones are urgent and which ones matter less. Twenty eight days after my initial test (exactly four weeks) I had my clinician notes available in my dashboard.

This is the meat of membership—the thing we’re paying for. More than the raw data, this is the action plan. But also, this sort of data is only as valuable as one’s ability to use it to make positive changes.

By the time the physician’s notes arrive, you’ve had time to watch each biomarker result roll in and research your deficiencies on your own. You’ve tried your best to read the tea leaves yourself using the generic information that Function Health provides. This note sheds light on the aspects of your health you’re already thinking about.

For me, these notes are worth the cost of membership. It feels like the type of information and advice I always wanted to get from my doctors, but never did.

The clinician’s note contains a summary section followed by details specific to each category. The summary is particularly useful, since it hits on all the same points that you’ve been wondering about (worrying about?) yourself. The summary section text feels totally personalized, with only touches of stock phrases that really just serve to ensure accuracy and professionalism.

For my clinician report, this summary section was split into three paragraphs totally 415 words. The first section touched on the areas requiring attention as well as biomarkers that were out-of-range but aren’t actually worrisome. The next section is the positives, and how each tie together to make a greater whole. The final paragraph is an overall summery with specific action steps.

The category-specific sections of the physician’s note is also personalized, but much more generic feeling (especially in categories where there are zero out-of-range biomarkers. Personalization comes from the note mentioning specific goals of yours from your intake survey, which means the clinition actually read my responses.

For categories with biomarkers that are out-of-range, the clinician notes provide detailed context for these results and how each component impacts the others to tell a broader story. These include possible recommendations for diet change or supplements to consider, with a disclaimer that all changes should be discussed with one’s doctor.

“Your Action Plan”

There’s a section of the app/website adjacent to the clinician notes called “Your Action Plan.” This section is currently marked “ALPHA”, implying that this feature is in a preliminary stage and subject to change and updates. Function Health needs to walk a find line with this section, in the same way a lawyer might say “this is not official legal advice” before providing their thoughts.

The fine print at the bottom of the Function Health website makes it clear that all information provided is “strictly for general information purposes” (captured March 8, 2025):

Function health does not offer medical advice, laboratory services, a diagnosis, medical treatment, or any form of medical opinion, through our services or otherwise. Function health’s services are not a substitute for medical care, medical advice, and/or a detailed discussion with your primary care physician or other licensed provider.

With that legalese expressly stated, the Your Action Plan section includes both foods and supplements to enjoy and limit. Each section shows a personalized “top five” followed by a long tail of other substances in each category.

While these recommendations are personalized based on your specific test results, I imagine they remain relatively similar for all members. But it’s a nice reminder of changes one can make in order to improve one’s results for next time.

Overall, I found this information useful and have started incorporating minor adjustments into my diet. I’ll be interested to see how these changes impact my results in subsequent follow up tests.

Changes I’ve made

Joining Function Health was part of a larger goal of being healthier and more active in 2025. It’s being paired with tracking my caloric intake in Lose It! and tracking my weight in Happy Scale.

So far, three months into the year, I’m still on top of all my health-related goals. I’ve lost roughly ten pounds so far this year, which is more than half way towards my goal weight.

What role did Function Health play towards this achievement? It’s hard to say. But I’m definitely still actively thinking about my results and the recommendations and I’m excited to get my followup tests in another three months.

There are two main components that occupy brain space as a direct result of Function Health: heart health and the need for supplements.

My annual physical highlighted cholesterol as an area that needs focused attention, but the followup test showed things had improved. Function Health told me that this is still a good area to focus my energy, since seven of the fifteen Function Health heart biomarkers were out-of-range (compared to one out-of-range from my annual physical blood work). I’ve cut red meat out of my diet entirely and am trying to eat more heart-healthy foods.

I also have started taking taking some daily supplements, including Bryan Johnson’s Longevity Mix and Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega. The desire to add both of these to my diet is a direct result of my Function Health results.

I’m feeling optimistic about sticking with these new habits. A strong motivator, for me, is my access to follow-up tests through Function Health to see if any of my biomarkers improve over time. I think it’s super interesting to have hard data to support these behavioral changes.

Beyond that, however, life is still largely the same. Did I need to purchase Function Health in order to make these changes? Maybe not. But what I do know is that I didn’t make these changes before these tests, so it’s seems straightforward to attribute this to my membership.

The argument against Function Health

Last week, I had my annual physical. It was my first time seeing my primary care physician since doing Function Health, and I was excited to share my results with my doctor. I had them all pulled up on my phone, ready to share.

I was shown to my room by a medical assistant, who took my weight and blood pressure. I asked if she’d ever heard of Function Health, since the phlebotomists at Quest Diagnostics were definitely familiar with the company. She said she hadn’t.

I explained the value proposition: that it gives you access to over a hundred blood tests that typically aren’t available to patients. You can then test every six months to track your progress in each area.

She seemed skeptical but intrigued, though she had other work to do, so told me the doctor would be in soon and went about her business.

When my doctor arrived, I started to ask him the same question, but he stopped me before I could finish. He told me not to waste my money. In his opinion, patients having more and more access to tests like these is a huge problem, since totally benign conditions are suddenly perceived as significant problems that need to be addressed.

He told me the story of his rich friend who decided he wanted to get a full-body preventative MRI. This isn’t what Function Health does, but the value proposition of the two companies is the same: making typically out-of-reach medical tests available to paying customers.

My doctor encouraged his friend not to do the scan, saying it was totally unnecessary. But the friend was determined.

The full-body MRI discovered a cyst in his pancreas. He had no symptoms and his bloodwork was totally clean, but since they found the cyst, it had to be removed. He ended up in the hospital for five days due to complications with the surgery. It turned out the cyst was totally benign, and thus the procedure and accompanying risk were totally unnecessary.

After the story, my doctor emphasized that the blood tests he orders for his annual physicals are enough to catch important issues. When you test for everything, you’ll inevitably find something, and you can drive yourself crazy trying to fix things that don’t actually matter. Everyone’s body is different—some people will have naturally higher levels for certain biomarkers—and casting a net as wide as something like Function Health does more harm than good.

I pushed back, saying I was less interested in individual results than I was in the trends over time. I agreed that a full-body MRI is unnecessary, but having access to a time series of information on my own personal biomarker trends can be incredibly useful.

But his eyes were already glazed over, and I knew I wasn’t going to change anyone’s opinion. I had my normal annual physical exam and then my doctor was on his way to his next patient.

After he left, the medical assistant came back in for my blood draw. The first question she asked was how much blood Function Health needed to draw in order to do all these tests. I told her that it was two appointments with ten vials each.

She laughed, and said she couldn’t imagine her patients’ reactions if she had to grab ten vials for a blood draw. People have a hard enough time with two.

I told her about the doctor’s reaction, and that he didn’t seem to be a fan of the concept. She responded that she wasn’t surprised. “He’s old school,” she said. But she seemed intrigued and I wondered if she might look into the service after I left.

So, is Function Health worth it?

All the points my doctor made against Function Health are valid. I think there’s a fine line between collecting useful data and overanalyzing insignificant metrics. Just as I don’t think exploratory surgery on a healthy person is useful, so too can over-testing be problematic.

To measure the value of Function Health, it’s important to weigh the positives and negatives. These will vary from individual to individual, since how one responds and reacts to this information is an important aspect of the value it provides.

At the end of the day, collecting health and fitness data is all about behavior change. When deciding whether or not Function Health is right for you, ask yourself the following questions:

Do you believe that the data that Function Health provides will help you drive positive change in your life?
What is preventing you from making those changes now, without Function Health?
Are you the type of person who might drive yourself crazy by having this type of information?
Are you mentally prepared to incorporate this data and Action Plan into your life and mindset?

Ultimately, Function Health is just an expensive way to tell yourself: eat healthy and exercise more. Sure, the personalized results are way more granular than that, but when you abstract all those details away, the action items are no different than any other health journey.

For some people, the Apple Watch is a huge motivator. Closing the daily rings, having competitions with other Apple Watch owners, and getting hourly reminders to stand can all drive positive action in a certain type of person. But at the end of the day, each of these Apple Watch functions are all driving towards one thing: a more active lifestyle. If you can motivate yourself to be more active without an Apple Watch, you’ll get the same results.

Likewise, Function Health is a motivator for a certain type of person. Before purchasing, ask yourself: am I the type of person who will be motivated by this?

For me, the answer has proven to be yes. At least, that’s my perspective three months in. The real challenge will be next year, when it comes time to decide if I want to drop another $500 (plus lab fees) on another year or not.

If you, too, feel like you’re the time of person to be motivated by something like this (and you have the money) I say go for it. But know that data is only as useful as you make it, so signing up and doing the testing is only the first step towards positive change.

As I said at the beginning, you’re welcome to use my referral code if you’ve found this useful and want to try Function Health for yourself.

Here’s to a healthier you. Cheers.

Watch this on YouTube

My stats and more in 2024: a year in review

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 10:20:00 -0500

This past year, 2024, was both unique and momentous. For the first time since I was 18 years old, I took an extended break from full-time work. From January through November, I did part-time community work for the FinOps Foundation and spent the rest of my time 1) relaxing and 2) working on whatever personal project inspired me that day.

This opportunity was a real blessing. I absolutely love the people I work with at the Foundation, and this setup allowed me to remain active in the community while also working on various fun projects on my own.

During this year, I was also able to focus on my mental health. This included weekly in-person therapy sessions, which ultimately resulted in a diagnosis of Persistent Depressive Disorder (previously known as Dysthymia). Although initially hesitant, I decided to try a low dose anti-depressant (Sertraline aka Zoloft), and it was possibly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Today, nearly eight months after starting, I enter 2024 with a renewed state of mental health that I didn’t even know I needed.

This year was difficult in profound ways as well. In September, I lost my mom after a lengthy battle with Multiple Sclerosis. It’s a horrible, progressive disease, but I’m thankful for Washington State’s Death with Dignity Act, which allowed her to be empowered up to the very end and provided us with the ability to be present and supportive (both to her and to each other) through the whole process.

So, what’s this post? My stats and more of 2024 post is a continuation of a long tradition (see 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). of yearly reflection and analysis. The format has changed over the years, but this year will largely follow the same structure as last year. This includes details about the performance of my online presense (website, newsletter, YouTube), in addition to fun and interesting media and content I consumed.

Traffic across my web properties

This year, I saw huge¹ traffic increases across all my web properties, from this website to my newsletter and YouTube Channel (all of which I’ll touch on later). All this traffic is intrinsically linked.

Before we dive into the actual numbers, here’s my understanding of traffic flow in 2024 at a high level:

dannb.org begins the year receiving a moderate amount of traffic, mostly from Google Search, and mostly from a few articles related to Obsidian
I start posting regularly on YouTube, converting all of these blog posts into videos and creating some new content. These videos did well, and drove traffic growth to dannb.org
I stop posting regularly to YouTube and traffic everywhere mostly plateaus, but at the new high level
Newsletter subscriptions (which had remained largely flat for roughly three years) starts growing thanks to the popularity of the YouTube videos
I had a Substack Note go minimally viral, driving a large increase in Newsletter subscribers but no additional traffic to this website or YouTube

My biggest lesson is that consistency is super important when traffic is being driven by Google (ie a personal blog or YouTube). When you post more, you get rewarded with traffic because Google identifies you as an active creator sharing valuable content.

For newsletters, the lesson is a bit different. I’ve been publishing monthly for years with no real growth. I got a bit of a bump from posting to YouTube, but it was really when I started interacting with the Substack community via Notes that I saw a big bump in growth there.

Note: none of the content I write is really “viral”—it’s all pretty niche. If my newsletters were more generally appealing or highly-sharable, I may have seen more growth from simple consistency.

Instead, most users discover me when searching for note-taking help. If they find that content engaging enough, they may discover the other content I create and possibly become a subscriber.

I have no desire, however, to optimize for growth or newsletter signups—everything I publish is for fun and for the love of sharing. But if I were to want to increase views or subscribers, the data collected from this past year would definitely help me do that.

That’s enough high-level talk. Let’s get into the numbers.

This website: dannb.org

Let’s start with the most-viewed content by me.

The top five blog posts by traffic are all content that I’m super proud of, which is exciting:

My Obsidian Daily Note Template - This continues to be the star of my Obsidian portfolio of content. It’s not the most complex setup, but it’s what I still use to this day and is a solid foundation for anyone starting with Daily Notes
Obsidian Meeting Note Template - Like a Daily Note system, a Meeting Note system is super helpful to have. I like to think that I explain the process in an easy-to-understand why, which is why people find it so useful
My Obsidian People Note Template - What Obsidian Stack is complete without notes for People? This is another guide, in my style, about creating a People Note system
5 ways to actually use the notes you take - This did pretty well on Hacker News back in March. This idea came to me as I was thinking about my own biggest challenges with having a large note database and wanting to help others. I’m glad I resonated
Obsidian Physical Object System and Template - Very similar to the other systems I built and shared, this one is for physical objects, which is way more useful than it sounds
Daily Driver Task Management System - I’m glad to see this getting traffic still, since it continues to be the bedrock of my own personal productivity. This is due for a massive update, since I feel like it’s unclear at parts. I want to make an ambitious video about this system, but that ambition is daunting to me
How Kagi finally let me lay Google Search to rest - I’m an admitted Kagi fanboy, and this post shares some of the reasons why. It blew up on Hacker News in 2023 and continues to rank high in the Google search for “Kagi”
10 tips for smart Obsidian usage - This is at the bottom of the top 10 for blog traffic, but is far-and-away my most popular YouTube video. I’m so glad people found this useful

And here’s what that traffic looks like over time.

Another Hacker News bump

That massive spike you see, just like the spike last year, was from Hacker News. It’s hard to understate just how powerful that website can be for startups and small content creators. In fact, some companies might even build entire content strategies around hitting the Hacker News front page².

For me, as someone who isn’t selling anything³ and doesn’t have an “optimized funnel” to anywhere, this traffic just came and went. I didn’t see an associated bump in newsletter subscribers or YouTube views.

I see my website, and the other content I create, more like a billboard or magazine ad. Someone from Hacker News might see an article I wrote, think it was valuable, and then immediately forget me. But months later, they may see my name again on a different piece of content and also enjoy that. Eventually, they’ll recognize me.

I’m not sure exactly what to do with that end-goal of niche-based name recognition. But that’s what I’m loosely shooting for, rather than any sort of meaningful income stream from my content.

Google Search Console

Another interesting bit of information about this website’s performance is from Google Search Console, which shows the Google queries that are driving traffic to my site.

This chart shows the number of search result impressions and clicks. This is for people searching for any keyword, where my website shows up anywhere in the viewed results.

So, what were people searching on Google in order to find my website?

Just like last year, every single query that leads to my site is about Obsidian. I rank pretty high for several of those searches, which explains the traffic to this website.

If I were to want to feed the algorithm (and give people more of what they want) I’d be churning out more and more Obsidian content. But I’ve mostly gotten to a place where I’ve said all I want to say about Obsidian. I’ve shared my systems and how I think about note taking. My own vault is pretty set at this point—it works well for my own devices and I don’t really spend any more time tweaking things or adding new functionality.

Honestly, I think that should be the end goal of any productivity system: find what works for you and stick with it. I don’t want to force myself to make more Obsidian content just for clicks. Instead, I’ve created my system and now I just use it.

Maybe I’ll write more about Obsidian if I have more to say, but without a content stream of new Obsidian content from me, I expect my Google Search traffic to drop in 2025.

YouTube

Earlier this year, I felt inspired to create some new YouTube content. I was surprised at just how well it was received. I mostly just turned existing blog posts into videos and tutorials, but created a few stand alone videos, too.

I started the year at 1,410 subscribers, and it grew to almost 6,400 by the end of 2024.

I started the year without monetization, since it had been a few years since I last uploaded a video. In order to re-join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), my channel needed to meet the following eligibility requirements:

1,000+ subscribers
4,000 public watch hours in the past 12 months

I had the subscribers, but not the watch hours activity. I hit that watch-hours threshold in April, and flipped on monetization the moment it was available.

So, what sort of money does a channel like mine make? Let’s take a look at the chart:

Estimated revenue from 2024 was just shy of $600. The daily average was just over $2, with some days peaking as high at $5. Not bad!

I think my upload schedule is also worth detailing here, as well. I uploaded a total of 16 videos in 2024. The first was published January 30th and the last one of the year on May 20th. I averaged about one per week during that timeframe, but lost steam in the entire last-half of the year. So, it’s pretty cool that I continued to get views and earn money despite being inactive for the past six months.

If I had kept up the momentum, I’m sure those numbers would be much higher. But YouTube is more a hobby for me than a career. I like making videos when I have something to say or teach, and it felt weird to try and force myself to film topics just to push our more content.

Substack really doesn’t make it easy to export your Growth Over Time chart, so I had to do some screenshot-and-photoshop hack to show only the past ~12 months of growth.

This year, I went from roughly 500 subscribers to just over 1,000, effectively doubling my audience for The Dann Chronicles. Pretty damn impressive for not really trying to grow my audience!

You’ll notice two bumps in growth, one in roughly March and one around November. In March is when I started making YouTube videos, and have one video in particular that got a lot of views.

The November bump is from a Substack Note that went mini-viral. That’s really when I learned the power of Substack’s built-in community features. Last year, I was considering moving to Ghost or Behiiv, but I just really like Substack. It’s free (since I don’t offer a paid subscription) and has fostered an active audience of readers⁴.

I have a lot of fun with my newsletter each month, and I’m happy that it’s resonating with more and more people. That’s always been my main goal (have fun, connect with people) so I’d say it’s succeeding wildly.

Favorite books read

The pandemic did a number on my reading habits and I’m just now getting back on track. Before 2020, I did all my reading on my daily commute to the office and I just didn’t read at the same levels when working from home. This year, however, I both worked from home and read a decent number⁵ of books. Granted, several of these “books” are graphic novels, but I’ve been meaning to read more of those, and this year I succeeded.

Bill Watterson’s Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue - A wonderful meditation on the creative process by an artist who is notoriously reclusive and never speaks publicly
Bryan Johnson’s DON’T DIE - Read this out of curiosity, rather than some cult-like believe that it provides secrets to live forever. What I found was an interesting philosophy book that—while it isn’t for me specifically—I’m happy exists in the world
Jason Pargin’s I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom - Jason Pargin previously wrote under the pseudonym David Wong (Cracked, John Dies at the End). Now, he’s a beloved geriatric TikToker, and I had to check out his new book. It was fun
Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Sons of El Topo Omnibus - The movie El Topo is…challenging, to say the least. Jodorowsky’s vision in comic form is much more palatable. Enjoyed this more than I expected

Favorite Movies

This year, according to Letterboxd, I watched 72 movies. At an average of around 1.3 films per week, that’s right about where I like to be. I both 1) have the Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass and 2) live above an Alamo Drafthouse. I feel spoiled.

Often, I’ll wake up Saturday morning and check the day’s showtimes. If a movie I’ve wanted to see is playing, I’ll grab the first showing of the day. I caught great films Opening Day Weekend while simultaneously missing all the annoying crowds.

As of early December, these were my favorite films of the year. I may update this list if warranted, prior to New Years Eve.

Anora (2024) - This film has so much talent, richness, nuance, empathy, action, humor, sadness, and oh-so-much heart. Easily one of this year’s favorites
The Substance (2024) - I walked into the theater opening weekend without knowing anything about this film. I had no idea it would be so special. And that’s all I’ll say about it
Queer (2024) - This is easily the gayest film I’ve ever seen, and I loved it. I was obsessed with Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch in high school (also a Burroughs biopic of sorts) and it was fun to get back into that world through the eyes of a different filmmaker
I Saw the TV Glow (2024) - This is a difficult watch, and I can’t say I enjoyed it or that I’ll watch it again. But it’s haunting and stuck with me, and makes it onto my Best of 2024 easily
Kinds of Kindness (2024) - Yorgos Lanthimos is the GOAT for following up Poor Things with this polarizing gem. Sometimes it’s best to just let a movie wash over you

Honorable mentions: Y2K (2024), Sasquatch Sunset (2024), Snack Shack (2024), ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! (2024), Saturday Night (2024)

Favorite TV Shows & Specials

I didn’t watch many TV shows this year. Nothing really spoke to me. But here are some highlights from what I did catch:

Baby Reindeer (Netflix) - Enjoyed this series more than I expected. Went way deeper than I expected. The public aftermath was a bit too much drama for me, but I mostly just ignored that
Alex Edelman: Just for Us (HBO) - A masterclass in storytelling. Wish I could have seen this live, but I didn’t even know it existed until the TV special was released. Loved this
We Were Once Kids (2021) - Hosted a movie night where we all watched Larry Clark’s Kids. Felt inspired to watch this the next day, making the film all the more powerful
Chimp Crazy (HBO) - The last show I watched together with my mom. Tonia Haddix is such a character

Favorite Podcasts

The list of podcasts that I regularly consume is fairly established at this point, so this year was spent keeping up with existing shows and not really adding much new (with the exception of Darknet Diaries).

Your Kickstarter Sucks - I listen to every episode, yet couldn’t name a single Kickstarter project they’ve talked about. The show is so much more than that
Search Engine - PJ Vogt is a fantastic curator of interesting topics and rarely does an episode of Search Engine disappoint
Tangle - An ingenious format (choose a topic, share takes from the left and right, then synthesize an opinion). I feel smarter and more empathetic by listening to this podcast
Darknet Diaries - Over the summer, I took long walks around DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights and binged this podcast. It was lovely

Notable Objects

The right objects or tools can have an outsized impact on quality of life and productivity. Looking back at 2024, I want to highlight a few of the things that particularly stood out to me.

Persian Carpet Style Mouse Pad - Beautiful and surprisingly high-quality mouse pad, for those who like that sort of thing
Scrub Daddy Sponge Daddy - Discovered this elevated dish sponge this year, and now I’m never going back
250W Anker Prime Charger - This may be overkill for most people, but I’m obsessed with this desktop charging hub and associated app
Anker 45W/Anker 67W USB-C Charger - Fantastic size-to-output ratio. I have several of these around my home and in my bag
NeeDoh Nice Cube/NeeDoh Dream Drop - The ultimate stress balls. So satisfying.
Exped MegaMat 10 Duo - Camping mattress technology upped it’s game while I wasn’t watching. This thing is fantastic
Manta Pro Sleep Mask - A great sleep mask. Worth the price? Debatable.
NEEWER Portable Desktop Mini Tripod - Purchased a number of new items to support my YouTube video production. This one in particular is fantastic: high-quality, great design, very functional
Proton Mail/Kagi/Orion Browser - My Internet-Stack of choice
Obsidian - Continues to be my digital note-taking app of choice and I don’t see that changing any time soon
Moleskine Classic Notebook, Hard Cover, Large, Square/Grid - The perfect notebook, in my opinion. My productivity increased substantially once I started my Daily Driver Task Management System
Vintage Cross 10KT Gold-Filled Pen - Far and away my favorite pen. Pairs wonderfully with a Moleskine notebook, and can occasionally be found as low as $15 on Etsy
Hardwood iPhone Stand - I’ve got two of these: one for home and one for the office

Accomplishments

Joined Squarespace in November! Excited to be back in a FinOps Practitioner role
Published seven new posts on dannb.org and updated several others, plus twelve newsletters
Published 16 YouTube videos
Added 452 new subscribers to The Dann Chronicles, up from just 59 new subscribers in 2023. That’s a 666.10% increase(!)
Hosted five virtual FinOps Foundation Community Calls per month (in regions across North America) and two in-person meetups in NYC
Attended both FinOps X in San Diego and FinOps X Europe in Barcelona
Noticeable improvement in mental health thanks to talk therapy, a diagnosis of Persistent Depressive Disorder, and a low-dose perscription of Zoloft (Sertraline)
Hosted seventeen movie nights in our apartment building

Plans for 2025

Knock my new role at Squarespace out-of-the-park
Start hosting a local FinOps meetup at the Squarespace office
Continue publishing The Dann Chronicles each month
A rough draft of FinOps for Startups book
Add 400+ new subscribers to The Dann Chronicles newsletter
In addition to the newsletter, publish at least ten posts to dannb.org
Attend Burning Man for the first time

Thanks for reading! I hope you’ve all had a successful year (however you define success).

These days, I publish on three main platforms, so if you want to follow me in 2025, subscribe to 1) this site via RSS, 2) my newsletter, or 3) YouTube.

Have a great year! 🎊

Huge to me. You may disagree. I’m sharing all the numbers and stats, so you be the judge of what’s “huge” or not. ↩︎
If the tool is targeting engineers, I’d give it a >50% change they’re actively trying to hit the HN front page. And if they’re not, they should be. ↩︎
My “store” linked at the top of this website is largely a joke. I’ve made one “sale” over the past four years, and it was to a friend. ↩︎
Substack had a bit of controversy for it’s “neutral” stance as a publisher—ie allowing many hateful voices on its platform. I have no idea if that’s true or not, as I’ve not stumbled upon a single one during my time there (unlike my time spent on The Website Formerly Known As Twitter. I liked John Gruber’s take, even if my own conclusions were slightly different than his. ↩︎
Nine. I read nine books. I admit it’s sort of sad that I find nine books read over the course of a year to be “decent,” but that’s just where we’re at right now. ↩︎

How Dann sets up new computer

Sun, 24 Nov 2024 08:26:45 -0500

Photo from Usplash

What’s New (November 2024)

- Switched from Brave to Orion as my primary browser
- Add Proton Mail, ChatGPT, FreeTube, Slack, Discord, Plexamp, FindAnyFile, Hazel
- Add App Store apps: Amphetamine, Tailscale, Paprika, Deliveries
- Add Adobe Creative Cloud
- Remove: Garageband
- Add video conferencing audio improvement stack (Vocaster Hub, Loopback, Audio Hijack)
- Replace Mailplane with Edison Mail
- Replace Meeter witih MeetingBar
- Enable Show Volume in Menu Bar
- Simplify Github CLI setup
- Set Nano as default text editor for terminal

Over the years, I’ve tweaked and customized my laptop to perfection. Everything is in the perfect place, and everything works exactly how I want it to work. Which means every time I get a new laptop (either through work, or otherwise), there is a ton of small adjustments that need to be made before it really feels like mine.

Several years ago, I decided to document every single action I took when setting up a new laptop, in order to have a set of instructions for the next time. Then, I got into the habit of tweaking and adjusting this document every time I made a change to my setup.

I was recently setting up my old FullStory laptop as a personal computer, and I was reminded about how absolutely wonderful it is to have a document like this.

I’m sure there’s a way to automate this more (through dotfiles or some other automation template) but I enjoy doing everything by hand. Setting up a new laptop is not something I do very frequently (or I would spend more time trying to automate it), and it just feels fun for everything to start coming together piece-by-piece.

In this post, I’m documenting how I set up a new MacOS computer in 2023. I’m sharing this because 1) I thought others might find it interesting or useful and 2) it’ll be fun for me to look back on this post and see what’s changed/evolved.

Notes:

Tasks are grouped by category rather than written chronologically¹. This means that you may need to jump around a bit, rather than just work your way through from top to bottom.
Many applications are going to require you to explicitly grant permissions. Each of these apps will make it clear during the install process, so I’ve omitted those details here.
Some minor details may be obfuscated for security or privacy reasons.
Some application settings are simply imported from backups. This article details the import instructions, but not the settings themselves.

Home Network Setup

Before we begin, I wanted to touch on my home network setup. The important thing to note is that I have a server running headless Debian Linux and a Synology NAS for storage. Both these devices are backed up the the cloud.

All important files and documents are stored on the NAS (or in the cloud) and all important processes are running on the server. This means that there are no files that need to be transfered from one device to another — everything lives in central storage that can be accessed by any device on the network.

The only exception to this is a few application settings files, which are stored on the NAS and need to be imported to a new computer during setup. Those details are noted below.

Applications

There are two foundational apps that we’ll install first (browser and password manager), before jumping into apps categorized by licensing and destination.

Browser - Orion

Install Orion Browser and perform the following actions:

Copy over application settings from existing comptuer (located ~/Library/Application\ Support/Orion)
Change Bookmark Bar setting to only show icon
Log into Kagi as primary search engine
Go to Settings -> Tabs -> Disable Always show website titles in tabs

Browser (Secondary) - Brave

Install Brave Browser to use as secondary browser (in addition to Safari)

Set up Sync to import existing extensions/bookmarks/settings/history

Password Manger - 1Password

Install 1Password 8 from website (not App Store)

Authenticate with existing vault
Install Browser Plugins (Orion, Brave, Safari)
1. Enable Incognito
Set up Keyboard Shortcuts
1. Show Quick Access: Command-Shift-.
2. Autofill: Command-Shift-Space

Standalone Apps

Software Licenses in 1Password

Bartender
- Hide Menu Bar apps as they’re installed
Hyperkey
- Set capslock to Hyper Key (include Shift in hyper key)
Little Snitch
Retrobatch
Downie 4
Sublime Text
- Help -> Install Package Control
- Settings > Browse Packages. Quit Sublime Text and copy over Packages from NAS backup.
- Change defaults of all text files to open in Sublime Text
Alfred
- Connect to settings backup in Dropbox
- Enable clipboard manager
- Disable MacOS default Spotlight shortcut
  - System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Spotlight (left menu) > Uncheck shortcuts
- Set Alfred to Command-Space
Adobe Creative Cloud
- Photoshop
- Adobe Premiere
- Adobe After Effects
- Adobe Lightroom
Keyboard Maestro
- Enable Sync in Preferences, file saved in iCloud Drive
- Make sure Obsidian Sync to Github is working
iStat Menu
- CPU, Battery, Clock (display seconds)
- Disable MacOS default time and battery
- Disable default battery in Battery System Preferences
Transmit 5
- Import connection settings for Namecheap hosting & dedicated server
Hazel
- Sync Download folder rules from iCloud Drive Sync folder
Photomosh
- Current up-to-date link from Gumroad
Cleanshot X
Video conferencing audio improvement stack
- Vocaster Hub, Loopback, Audio Hijack

No software license

iTerm2
- Preferences -> General -> Preferences -> Load preferences from a custom folder or URL -> Dropbox folder
- Preferences -> Profiles: select loaded profile
- Install homebrew: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
- Install ZSH: brew install zsh
- Install Oh-My-ZSH: sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
VLC
- Preferences: Hotkeys Short jump left/right arrows and Medium jump to up/down arrows
Skyfonts
- Connect fonts.com and MyFonts
- Settings -> Google Fonts -> Browse Google Fonts -> Check Add Entire Family -> Install
  - Roboto
  - Fira Sans
  - Montserrat
  - Rokkitt
- Other Fonts, from NAS
  - Source Code
  - Novecento Sans
FreeTube
ProtonMail - Primary email
Edison Mail - Secondary email
- Set to Full Screen view
ProtonVPN
ChatGPT (Apple Silicon Only)
Dropbox
Zoom
Slack
Discord
Steam
PlexAmp
Handbrake
Obsidian
- Vault located in Documents filter, sync through Obsidian Sync
Find Any File

Install from App Store

Xcode
- Apple’s Developer Tools: xcode-select --install
Fantastical
- Use Apple ID to log in
- Generate Apple app-specific password
- Disable notifications from Apple Calendar in System Preferences > Notifications
- Settings > General > Remove keyboard shortcut for Mini window keyboard shortcut
- Settings > Advanced > Open Maps in Google Maps
The Unarchiver
- Set as default for Zip
Magnet
- Change Left Half to Hyper Key + <-
- Change Right Half to Hyper Key + ->
Things 3
- Make sure the Fantastical keyboard shortcut has been removed (see above)
- New To Do: Control-Space
- New To Do from Website (requires helper install): Control-Option-Space
Amphetamine
- Launch at Login
- Keep display on during working hours
Filebot
- Right-click on Match, navigate to Format
  - TV: /Volumes/Media/{plex}
  - Movies: /Volumes/Media/{plex}-{vf}
Tot
CarrotWeather
Reeder 5
- Connect to self-hosted FreshRSS feed aggregator
MeetingBar
Deliveries
Tailscale
Paprika

MacOS

System Preferences

Set Orion as default web browser
- System Preferences - Desktop & Dock - Default Web Browser
Sign into Google account in Apple’s System Preferences
- Sync calendar, nothing else
Set up touchpad
- Enable Tap to Click²
- Enable Three-finger drag
  - Accessibility -> Pointer Control -> Trackpad Options -> Enable Dragging: Three Finger Drag
- Enable Mission Control gesture
  - Trackpad -> More Gestures - Enable Mission Control with Swipe up with four fingers
- Disable Chrome Back/Forward with two-finger swipe by opening Terminal and entering: defaults write com.brave.Browser AppleEnableSwipeNavigateWithScrolls -bool FALSE
Set up mouse
- Connect Bluetooth Mouse
- Set speed to max
Set up keyboard
- Connect Bluetooth Keyboard
- Laptop Touchbar (if applicable)
  - Shows: Expanded control strip
  - Edit Touchbar, drag off Siri button
Set up Apple Watch to unlock laptop
- Touch ID & Password > Enable Apple Watch
Enable Text message forwarding (phone to laptop Messages app)
- On iPhone (must be signed into same iCloud account): Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding > Enable new computer
Disable Siri
Show Volume in Menu Bar (Control Center)
Desktop & Dock
- Scroll to Mission Control section, uncheck Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use
- Click Hot Corners, set bottom right to Lock Screen
Customize the Keyboard shortcut for “Paste and Match Style” to be Command-Shift-V
- In System Preferences, click Keyboard then the Keyboard Shortcuts... button.
- Go to App Shortcuts on the left menu and click the plus to add.
- In the “Menu Title” field, enter “Paste and Match Style” (including capitalization and spaces). In the “Keyboard Shortcut” field, type Command-Shift-V.

Finder Settings

View > Show Path Bar
View > Show Status Bar
Finder Menu -> Settings ->
- Advanced -> Show all filename extensions
- Advanced -> When performing a search: Search the current folder
- Sidebar
  - Uncheck Recents, Airdrop, Shared, Recent Tags
Right-click on tool bar to customize toolbar³
Show all hidden files in Finder
- In terminal type: defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles true
- Restart Finder: killall Finder
Connect to Synology NAS
- afp://192.168.1.[XXX]
- Login/Pass are in 1Password
- Go to Folder /Volumes and drag it over into sidebar
Connect Airpods Pro and Airpods Max.
- Go to Settings > Bluetooth and change Connect Automatically to Connect when this device last used

Developer Settings

Set up Github CLI
- brew install gh
- gh auth login
- Login in browser
Create Code folder in /Users/dannberg/
- In terminal ls into Code and git clone https://github.com/dannberg/dannb-org.git to pull down that directory from GitHub.
- Pull down other desired repos
SSH Key
- Generate new SSH key
- Add SSH key to GitHub
- Add ssh key to home server for passwordless login ssh-copy-id dannberg@192.168.1.[XXX]
Install Homebrew
- /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
Install Hugo
- brew install hugo
Set Nano as default text editor, add email
- git config --global core.editor "nano"
- git config --global user.email "[email]"

For example, the password manager 1Password is one of the first items you need to download, as it stores relevant information (login info, software licenses) for the rest of the process. In this document, however, 1Password is in the section Install from App Store rather than at the top of the post. It’s organized this way to make it easier to pick-and-choose piece you want to take for your own process, rather than optimizing for lifting the entire process for yourself. ↩︎
Tap-to-click is vastly superior to click-to-click. Fight me. ↩︎
Here’s how I like my Finder Toolbar: ↩︎

How Kagi finally let me lay Google Search to rest

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 08:40:27 -0400

Originally published 2023-10-01.

I’m a Kagi convert, having switched from Google Search in July of 2022 and never looking back. I’m also a vocal supporter of Kagi, frequently mentioning it in my newsletter and encouraging people to give Kagi a try whenever the opportunity arises.

For those unfamiliar, Kagi is a search engine with a novel¹ business model: end users pay for a service. Instead of monetizing users through advertising and affiliate marketing (like every other search engine), Kagi charges a monthly fee.

I’m both a user and vocal supporter of Kagi, and I also have big thoughts and opinions. Both on the state of search today, where it’s going in the future, and why it’s important to support companies like Kagi. Additionally, I was blown away by the quality of Kagi’s search results, which is what first encouraged me to make the switch, and I wanted to dive into the details in case anyone reading is on the cusp of trying this new search engine.

This post is not an ad; I’m just a happy customer. And I’ll gladly pay for products I like and actively hope others support these products, too, so that the companies that make them can survive.

With that said, let’s kick things off with a little background on Internet Search as it exists today.

Wow, Google Search sucks

It may be easy to miss, but Google Search is dying. Search results are dominated by ads and SEO-optimized junk. More and more, people append words like “reddit” to the end of their search to try and bubble up any semblance of a useful response.

According to the author above blog post (with whom I agree): “serving ads creates misaligned incentives for search engines.” It’s impossible to both provide the best search results and try to optimize for the highest amount of ad-clicks. And if you’re a public company with an ad-based business model, you are legally required to optimize for the latter. Ads inherently create misaligned incentives.

But Google continues to dominate as the most-used search engine worldwide. I think part of this has to do with the fact that it’s so ingrained into people’s lives that its flaws go unnoticed or overlooked. People just amend their behavior (like adding “reddit” to the end of a search, or immediately scrolling through pages of SEO-junk to get to a recipe) to compensate for Google’s shortcomings.

Google reigns supreme, too, in no small part because historically all its competitors all suck even more. Let’s take a quick look at the mainstream alternatives. As of August 2023, US desktop search engine market share is as follows:

Google (78.96%)
Bing (14.42%)
Yahoo (3.89%)
DuckDuckGo (2.11%)

That’s rough. If a user gets fed up with Google Search’s flaws and tries one of these big competitors as their default search engine, it’s only a matter of time before they come crawling back to Google.

This was best tested en masse in mid-2020 when rumors were swirling of Apple purchasing DuckDuckGo. I, like many others, saw the news and figured that maybe DuckDuckGo was possibly more of a competitor to Google than I originally thought. I made it my default search engine.

That only lasted a few months before I switched back to Google Search. I valued the privacy aspect of DuckDuckGo but the search results were straight up lacking. A vast majority of the time, the article or piece of information I was searching for was completely missing from the DuckDuckGo results. Other times, it was buried in the muck. I’d then switch back to Google search and find the result I wanted almost immediately. It wasn’t long before I switched my default back to Google to simply save time and effort.

I’ve experimented with Bing and Yahoo, but never felt inspired to even attempt either as my default search engine. As I result, I felt trapped by Google Search — painfully aware of its flaws but without a reasonable alternative.

I first heard about Kagi in a tweet from indie gamemaker Zach Gage, and the value proposition was instantly appealing: search as a service I can pay for. This solves the misaligned incentives that hamstring Google (and other search engines), which in theory should produce a better product. But historically, I had never used a search engine that matches in quality, let alone exceeds, even the low bar that Google sets.

I want to say² that I experimented with Kagi on an informal basis for maybe a week before feeling confident enough to set it as my default search engine. Initially, I’d frequently do side-by-side searches on both Kagi and Google to compare results, but stopped after another week or two. Kagi has been my daily driver workhorse search engine, on both my personal and work computer, as well as my smartphone, ever since. I’ve not looked back once.

Why Kagi is better

I don’t think side-by-side comparisons of search results from different providers is the best way to qualitatively compare quality (although they are sometimes compelling). This is because most results can look relatively similar at first blush, and nitpicking the small differences can come off overly critical and exaggerated.

Instead of providing screenshots from different search providers for different search terms, and delving into the differences and how they impact search quality, I’m instead going to talk about how I think about search, and provide you a foundation to think about your own search experiences. Then, I encourage you to give Kagi a try (and also test a few other Google Search alternatives) and come to your own conclusions.

Framework for thinking about search

Almost every search engine you use will eventually serve a satisfying answer. Instead, the quality of a search engine depends on how long it takes to get to this end state, how complicated the journey to this end state, and the quality of user experience (UX) of the whole process.

Most online search queries fall into one of the following categories:

Instructions (ie coding, recipe, how to)
Event (ie past or current news)
Fact (ie movie run time, celebrity age)
Solution (ie product recommendation)
Exploration (ie research, education)

A search has succeeded once you find a piece of information or reference that satisfies the original query. The more steps it takes to get to that final success state, the worse the search engine’s quality.

These steps include modifying the original search query (ie adding extra keywords or search operators), clicking through multiple results and comparing information, browsing through multiple pages of results.

Searches can be undertaken with either a specific success state in mind (ie How old is Tom Cruise? How do I apply a gaussian blur in Figma?) or have a non-specific success state (What should I do on my vacation in Istanbul?).

Measuring the quality of search engines

In addition to different search categories, there are two main contexts for search: ad hoc or relaxed.

Most searches are ad hoc — you will be performing some work or a task and hit a knowledge-based road block. In these cases, you want to be able to immediately execute a search, quickly find a satisfying result, and return to your previous context.

Alternatively (and less frequently) searches can be relaxed, which is to say exploratory and meandering. You might be researching a vacation to Istanbul, or coming up with activities for kids on rainy days. The goal is to look at several different websites and sources, collect data, and process it at a leisurely pace. There is no right or wrong answer, per say. Your goal instead is to have a greater understanding of a topic based on multiple sources.

When attempting to kick the tires of a search engine, often times we’ll input a more relaxed search query and attempt to measure the quality of the engine by the results. Instead, it’s really ad hoc searches where the differences in quality are most apparent.

This is why setting a new search engine as your default is really the best way to measure its quality. It’s those times when you’re working on something else and need a quick answer from a search engine when you’ll really be able to tell which results are up-to-snuff and which are lacking.

Kagi has cool features, too

In addition to solid search results, Kagi also has several features that are just icing on the cake. Some of my favorites include:

Website Ranking Adjustment

Kagi search results are already good, but users have powerful options to tweak and adjust to fit their needs. This takes the form of blocking or boosting certain domains. On the off chance that a Kagi search returns some SEO-garbage site, you can de-prioritize that domain for future searches. Likewise, boosting trusted sources and make those results rank higher for you.

This is really powerful. By subtly tweaking and adjusting my website ranking preferences over the past year+, I can almost guarantee that the search result I’m hoping for is near the very top of my results.

Lenses

I recently started using Lenses more frequently, and it has helped me refine my searches quickly and reliably, with as little extra work as possible.

Essentially, Lenses allow users to pre-set search parameters — narrowing results by domain(s), region(s), keyword(s), date(s), and more. With Google, you can do this with search operators (which also exist on Kagi), but lenses allow you to pre-set frequently-used operators and thus easily narrow your search to various online worlds. Best of all, lenses are sharable!

The two I use most frequently are a Reddit lens and a Hacker News lens. Both are incredibly simple (effectively the same as adding site:reddit.com or site:news.ycombinator.com after a search term).

Additionally, I’ve found several of the default lenses to be useful and interesting, especially PDFs, Forums, and Small Web.

Universal Summarizer

I also find myself using the Universal Summarizer feature all the time. Often, an article or blog post will look interesting but I don’t have the time or mental capacity to read it immediately. I use Omnivore as my read-it-later service of choice, but my reading queue there is long and grows faster than I read.

If I’m not sure if the article is worth saving to read later, I’ll use Kagi’s Universal Summarizer to get a gist of the article. This will either convince me to save it, or at least allow me to make peace with releasing it back into the wild unconsumed.

But one of the coolest parts of Kagi’s Universal Summarizer is that it works on YouTube videos and podcast episodes. Feed it a YouTube URL or a podcast mp3 and within seconds you’ll get a detailed, high-quality summary. I know this is available through other third-party services, but Kagi makes it so easy when you’re fully integrated that I use it way more.

Assistant (Closed Beta)

Kagi is continuing to grow in the direction of AI search augmentation with tools like Assistant. Currently in closed beta, Assistant is a research tool backed by Kagi Search and large language models.

This is a alternative to the recent announcement that ChatGPT would have real-time access to internet search results (as opposed to the dataset of large language models being limited by the training data date cutoff). This is only available to $20/mo ChatGPT Plus subscribers.

This functionality isn’t super useful to me — TypingMind connected to my OpenAI API key is perfectly sufficient for 99% of my AI queries. However, this is a cool bonus feature for premium Kagi users who don’t want to additionally pay OpenAI $20/mo and want access to multiple different LLMs for more robust answers.

Orion Browser

I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Kagi’s web browser Orion. I haven’t put in the work to switch default browsers (which feels like a more Herculean task than switching search engines) but Orion seems like a compelling choice. Both speed and memory usage stats are compelling, and it’s compatible with both Chrome and Firefox extensions, giving users “users access to the largest extensions ecosystem in the world.”

UPDATE August 2024: I’ve been using Orion for MacOS and iOS as my primary browser for eight months now. There are a handful of bugs but development happens fast, the team is very active, and overall I’m super happy with these products.

The not-quite-there

Maps

Kagi does have Maps functionality, but I find it’s still lacking compared to Google Maps. As a result, I still use Google Maps for both searching points-of-interest and getting directions. I don’t blame them because mapping is hard — there are still iPhone users who refuse to use the now-superior Apple Maps, instead opting for Google Maps, due to a botched launch eleven years ago. To be fair, Kagi is not claiming feature parity with competitors, but it’ll still be a while before I personally switch from Google Maps to Kagi Maps.

Deep integration is complex

This part isn’t Kagi’s fault — to the contrary, I feel like Kagi has made deep integration as easy as it possibly can given the constraints.

But search engines are so deeply ingrained into different parts of our lives that it becomes complex for one of the new kids on the block to become as deeply embedded itself.

For example, setting Kagi as your default desktop search for Chromium, Firefox, or Safari browsers requires a browser extension and post-installation settings changes. Kagi makes it easy, as installs go, but it’s definitely a more advanced process than, say, switching from Google Search to DuckDuckGo.

Likewise, using Kagi in a Private Browsing window requires a Private Session Link, a URL that can be found in your Kagi settings, which needs to be entered into the plugin. It’s easy when following instructions, but otherwise may be unintuitive for those who like to plow ahead without reading documentation.

Setting Kagi as your default search engine for Safari on iOS also involves a mobile browser plugin. I got this to work immediately, but David Pierce at The Verge mentioned that he’s had trouble doing the same. I guess YMMV?

Should you switch?

A paid search engine is definitely a luxury item that’s not for everyone. Free search democratizes the internet, and will always be a necessary. But I’m happy that there’s now a viable alternative that has a more traditional business-to-consumer monetization structure.

If the value proposition of Kagi is compelling, I recommend giving it a try as your default search engine. The 100 free searches is definitely enough to give it a spin and see how the quality stacks up in your opinion. Then, if you have the means and believe in it philosophically, you may be inspired to switch.

All I know is that I’m a happy user, and there must be more people out there like me just waiting to discover a solution like Kagi.

It’s novel — unthinkable! — for search engines to be a paid service, but that’s really the oldest business model in the world. ↩︎
Forgive the fuzzy language around these details. It was over a year ago, and I wasn’t taking close notes on what I thought would be a short-lived experiment. ↩︎

Dann's Unofficial Guide to Finops X

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 09:04:20 -0400

(Disclosure: I’ve been working part-time in a community support role for the FinOps Foundation since early 2024, which means I’m definitely a bit biased. But everything in this article is my own thoughts and ideas. For more information on my background and more disclosure, see my About page.)

FinOps X is next week (June 19-22, 2024). That’s so soon. I missed last year, so I’m excited to be going back this year. I’m looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new people!

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking about the conference and doing some of my own preparation. I decided to write this post to document my process in case it could be useful to anyone else.

But as I started writing, I realized just how much I had to say. What began as a simple post documenting my own process turned into more of an unofficial guide for anyone attending the conference as a practitioner.

First, to give some background for anyone unfamiliar, FinOps X is the event in the FinOps world. “FinOps” is a relatively new technology discipline that serves as the bridge between Engineering and Finance. The focus is on all things related to cloud infrastructure costs¹.

Now in its third year, FinOps X is a half-week conference organized and hosted by the FinOps Foundation, a non-profit organization that’s part of the Linux Foundation. The Foundation works hard all year to “advance the people who manage the value of the cloud.” FinOps X is where all the people who work in this small-but-growing field can come together, network, and share knowledge.

Needless to say, it’s an extremely valuable conference to attend for anyone in FinOps or FinOps-adjacent roles.

There are several things that I do before, during, and after the conference to help me get the most out of my time/money investment. If you’re attending FinOps X next week (or any other conference in the future), here are some conference tips.

Before the conference

Consider your intentions

What’s the overarching reason you’re attending this specific conference? Are you trying to bring specific value to your company? Trying to answer a specific question? Trying to grow yourself professionally?

You may have more than one intention, so make a note of each and in what priority they rank.

Next, imagine yourself at the end of the conference, looking back at your time at FinOps X. With your intentions in mind, what are the activities or conversations that this future-you is most happy that you had? Prioritize these interactions.

Does this future-you want a specific project you can bring back to your company and deploy? Then you should prioritize attending specific sessions and taking good notes, or finding and talking to people who have done something similar. Does this future self want a new role? Prioritize as many conversations as you can, and get comfortable with selling yourself.

Plan your time

The full agenda for FinOps X is posted online. Each day consists of a morning keynote followed by a full day of breakout sessions and chalk talks.

My advice is: plan to attend the keynotes. Then, look at the agenda to see what breakout sessions and chalk talks catch your eye. Prioritize the chalk talks over breakout sessions, since the breakout sessions will be recorded and can be viewed later. But only prioritize them slightly—there’s definitely value to being in the room watching a breakout session live.

If you view this agenda website on your phone, you can mark the sessions you want to attend and save them (assuming you don’t clear your browser session or clear cookies). Then, during the event, you can use this website as a live reference. Note that this doesn’t work cross-device, however.

Alternately—and this is what I’m doing—you can add the sessions you want to attend to your calendar, and use that as your source of truth during the event. Personally, I’m (trying to) keep my schedule light in order to prioritize 1) the hallway track² and 2) keep myself open to word of mouth.

Think about after-hours

FinOps X offers a full day and evening of activities. But there are also tons of after-hours, both official and unofficial. Start thinking about how you want to be spending this time.

The official FinOps X agenda lists several afterparties. These sponsored events on on the conference grounds, so they’re all easy to attend. My advice is to RSVP to all of these³, that way you have the flexibility to attend the events that you want to attend in the moment.

Outside of these events, there will probably be people milling around anywhere that alcohol is served. This unofficial gathering type may be more your speed, so keep an eye out for that if you so choose.

Additionally, rest and recovery is also a very valid option. Sometimes you just need to recharge, or to take care of personal matters. If that’s you, then don’t be afraid to say “no.”

But… I urge you to err on the side of “yes.” There’s a reason that you traveled all this way to attend this conference in person. Don’t lose sight of that.

Pre-planning your networking

There are two things you can do to help maximize your networking effectiveness at FinOps X.

First, make a list of all the people or companies you’d like to meet or interact with while there. Maybe there are certain FinOps names you keep seeing everywhere that you want to meet in person⁴. Or there’s a company that has a particularly advanced practice and you want to meet the team.

Write down a list of names. Or you can keep it in your head, but I recommend writing it down. Then, at the conference, seek these people out. This conference is the perfect size to allow you to actually be successful in this pursuit.

Next, think about how you plan to grow your network. Meaning, how do you want people to contact you? How do you want to contact other people? What sort of tangible connections do you want to make?

For example, maybe you’ll want to connect with people on LinkedIn. From what I hear, each attendee’s badge will include a QR code on the back that links to their LinkedIn profile. These can be scanned with any smartphone’s camera app to navigate directly to someone’s profile. You may also want to review how to pull up that QR code yourself, just in case. (Pro-tip for other conferences: take a screenshot of that QR code and keep it handy in your phone’s photos.)

I personally like using LinkedIn, but maybe you want to connect with people a different way. You can generate your own free QR code that links whereever you want. QRCode Monkey is a great website to generate basic QR codes that don’t expire.

Whatever system you choose, I recommend also have a place where you can jot quick notes about people you meet. This will make your post-conference life so much easier, since you’ll be meeting a LOT of people.

During the conference

Navigating your schedule

Each morning, look at your schedule that you prepared (see “Plan your time” above). Does this plan still appeal to you?

If there are any sessions you know you 100% want to attend, set an alarm on your phone five minutes before the scheduled start time. These will be gentle nudges to remind you of your priorities throughout the day.

These alarm reminders can make a huge difference. Not only will you be able to attend all the session you want to attend, it will also help you stay in the moment throughout your entire day, since your brain will never be wondering if you actually need to be somewhere else.

Taking notes

Everyone will have a different strategy when it comes to note taking. If you already have a system that works well for you, just do that!

Here’s what my system looks like:

During the events, I take notes in a physical notebook
I don’t try to write down everything a speaker says. Instead, the goal of my written notes is to trigger a memory of a concept or idea
All my notes are in bullet-list form
Jot down both ideas from the speaker and your own ideas inspired by the talk
Process these notes within one week of the event (see section below for more details)

Keep in mind that the breakout session will be recorded. This means that you can put a timestamp next to notes that you take in order to quickly find that section again once all the talks are posted.

Hallway conversations

FinOps X is unlike any other tech conference that I’ve attended. The difference is that the niche subject matter (FinOps) means you can have meaningful conversations with literally everyone.

There are two ways that you’re really going to be initiating conversations with people. The first is chatting up somebody who is alone for a one-on-one conversation and the other is joining an existing group conversation.

For one-on-one interactions, I recommend pre-planning a few conversation starters that you can easily use. These can be more general, like “what is your connection to FinOps?” or more specific, such as “what talks have you attended?” or “what has been your favorite part of the conference so far?” Don’t be afraid to start a conversation with anyone who is standing alone because everybody is at this conference for the same reason. Plus, everybody in this community is super friendly.

Jumping into existing group conversations can feel a little bit more intimidating, but don’t be afraid to do that, too. You can either go up to the group and just start listening and add when you have something to say. Or, don’t be afraid to just ask “do you mind if I join this conversation?” when you hear a lull in the conversation.

Finally, here are a few miscellaneous pro-tips:

Looking at your phone signals “do not talk to me.” If you’re alone but open to conversation, keep your phone away and look around the room, seeing who else is open to eye contact.
This part of the conference can feel awkward, even to people who attend lots of conferences. The best way to overcome your own sense of awkwardness is to actively work to minimize others’ sense of awkwardness.
Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself people who have familiar names/faces. The reason why some people are well-known in the community is because they’re friendly. Just try it!
Plan to be “on” the moment you step out of your hotel room. You’ll definitely bump into people in hallways and on elevators.

Mental and physical health

Lastly, make sure you’re taking care of yourself while at the conference! This will look different for each individual person, but there are three main areas you’ll want to maintain balance:

Sleep/rest
Diet
Movement/exercise

Take breaks from the conference when you need to, and make sure you’re getting enough sleep each night. The reason that you’re physically at this conference is to be mentally present, so take the rest you need to make sure you’re fully there.

Also, it can be easy to let your diet slip at conferences. Between catered lunches and fancy vendor dinners, these events often lead to overindulgence. I try to make sure I’m consuming at least one vegetable each meal. It’s a low bar, but sometimes harder than I expect.

Lastly, make sure you’re moving enough for your body. Maybe the default amount of walking between sessions is enough for you. Maybe you’ll want to add in a morning run or trip to the gym. Whatever it is, don’t let it slip while you’re attending the conference, and you’ll find yourself much better equipped for each day.

After the conference

Congrats! You made it through the week. Unless you’re a vendor trying to process leads quickly, you should take a few days after the event to just relax and reflect on your experience.

Did you do everything that you wanted to do? Did you meet the people you wanted to meet? Learn things you were hoping to learn? Share things you were hoping to share?

After FinOps X, there will be two categories of work you’ll want to do: internal and external. Internal work means processing your notes and internalizing what you’ve learned. External means connecting with people and companies that you met at the conference.

Internal Work

Tools matter less than process. In terms of tools, I use Obsidian (in case you couldn’t tell) but you should whatever note-taking system that works for you. Apple Notes or even a Google Doc works just as good.

In terms of my process, schedule some time with yourself to process your notes from FinOps X. An hour should be good.

Go through your written notes and digitize them. But don’t just copy word-for-word from paper to digital. Instead, your digital notes should be richer and more fleshed out. Your handwritten notes may just be a word or phrase to trigger your memory—when you’re processing these notes and digitizing, capture full ideas and thoughts.

Also, don’t just write down things that the speaker said. You should also be writing down your own ideas inspired by the speaker. For example, don’t just document a speaker’s process for re-tagging their infrastructure⁵. Write down some of your own re-tagging challenges and your thoughts about how you might solve them.

Another exercise you might want to do (although this might be a bit overboard) is some sort of personal retrospective. Even just three questions can really help you make the most out of the time you spent at the conference:

What went well?
What didn’t go well?
What should I do next time?

Just down a few answers to each of these questions. Then, keep it in a handy place so that next time you’re attending a conference you can quickly review.

External work

The most valuable part of attending any conference is the connections you build and the relationships you make. After the conference ends, you should make sure you’re doing your part to help foster these relationships and help them grow.

After a conference, there will be both 1) people who reached out to you and 2) people you want to initiate contact.

That first category easy to manage. Just make sure you’re responding to the people who message you. Most of these messages will be coming through email, LinkedIn, or Slack.

The second category, people you want to contact, requires a bit more effort. If you’ve been diligent during the conference, you may have a list of names of people you want to contact. If that’s you, you’re already doing better than me.

Instead, I’ll look back through my recent connections on LinkedIn and see if there’s anyone I want to follow up with. I may also have a few business cards in my pocket, and I’ll shoot off an email or two to specific people.

Final thoughts

If you work in the field of FinOps and you haven’t yet been to a FinOps X conference, you’re missing out. It’s a fantastic way to network, build community, and advance your career.

If you’re attending FinOps X this year and you see me, please say hi! It’d be great to meet people.

Happy conferencing!

If you’ve read this far, you might also really enjoy my free monthly newsletter. Each month, I share five cool new things I found. These can be products, articles, apps, movies, concepts, and anything else. Feel free to check out the archive to see if it’s something you might like, and subscribe to get each edition in your email.

This definition is my own, and way over simplifies things. If you want to learn more about FinOps, check out finops.org. ↩︎
The hallway track is the term that communicates the value of those in-between session conversations that you have with other conference attendees. Sometimes, these can be more valuable than any session. ↩︎
RSVPing is “free” but also not free—you’re exchanging entrance to their party in exchange for being added to their lead list. This is totally a fair trade in my mind. Even if you’re not actively looking for a new FinOPs product now, you may be in the future. And hearing different companies’ pitches will help you stay on top of what’s happening in the industry. ↩︎
Or maybe blogs you read *cough* *cough* where you want to meet the author. ↩︎
Or whatever. ↩︎

5 ways to actually use the notes you take

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 09:12:40 -0400

This post is now available as a 📺 YouTube video! Watch 5 Ways to Actually USE the Notes You Take instead of reading, or go wild and do both.

Congratulations. You’re now a diligent note-taker. Your Obsidian Graph makes internet strangers green with envy. You’ve got systems upon systems, and specific homes for every piece of information you want to squirrel away.

Now what?

It’s easy to take notes but much harder to actually use your notes. I can’t count the number of meetings I’ve had where I diligently took notes only to never look at them again. What’s worse, there’s often information in there that would be super useful to my current self, but I just have no way of knowing.

I won’t claim to have all the answers. I have, however, found a few different methods for actually making use of this giant information database that I’ve worked so hard to put together.

1. Always “process” article, book, meeting notes after writing or importing

I’ve developed a practice that I call “processing” a note. It’s loosely based on Zettelkasten as outlined in How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens. But I’ll save you the trouble of reading that whole book or diving into Zettelkasten. Here’s what to do:

At some point after you finish writing a note (whether that’s after a meeting or once you’ve finished a book) you’ll want to return to that note to do additional work:

Re-read the notes you took and fix them up: flesh out ideas, add additional thoughts, clean up and organize
As you go through your notes, make certain words or phrases bold or italicized. This formatting is a gift to your future self—what words or phrases do you want to jump back at you in the future?
After you’ve finished, add a new section to the top of the page and re-write the main takeaways in your own words. Two or three bullet points is usually enough
Add tags to other relevant notes in your vault
(optional) If you’re note had a Summary property, write a one-sentence summary there

Processing a note greatly increases its value to your future self. The amount of time and energy it’ll take you to reacquaint yourself with that information is greatly reduced. Plus, the extra time you spend thinking about the information will help you internalize it.

2. Start doing Random Note Fridays

There’s a button on the left-hand sidebar of Obsidian that you may or may not already be acquainted with. It’s the Open Random Note button, and it looks like a five-pip die. As the name suggests, clicking on that button will open a random note in your vault.

This button can be super powerful if used the right way. It can bubble up notes that you haven’t thought about or touched in a really long time, helping you re-integrate that information back into your brain.

Starting a weekly habit, like Random Note Fridays, can help you actually re-visit notes after you take them.

But don’t just re-read these old notes. You’ll want to actually work on them. Flesh out the ideas based on the knowledge that you have now. Link them to other notes in your system. Or even move the information in the old note to a different, more relevant note and delete the old note.

If you have a big vault, and the randomness of the Random Note button isn’t really helpful, you might want to try a community plugin like Smart Random Note instead. It won’t be quite as random as the built-in Random note, but it may be a lot more useful to your system.

3. Use Graph View to find lone notes, make them less lonely

Finally, an actual productive use for the graph view!

The graph view can be mesmerizing, and is a particular draw for people new to Obsidian. It’s empowering to see the graph grow as the size of your vault grows. It’s a wonderful way to visualize your notes.

However, as vaults grow and the novelty wears off, I find people using the graph view less and less. It’s just not a high value part of the application. Except for one use case.

As an alternative to the Random Note, the Graph View can be very illuminating. Look through your graph and find all the nodes that aren’t connected to anything else. These are the notes that you want to be working on.

Click into these unattached nodes and think if they should be attached to anything else in your vault. Add those connections and link those ideas to other notes. Or add that information to a different note and delete the unattached note altogether.

As a digital gardener, this is grooming your tree.

4. Add a Summary property to all applicable notes

I mentioned a Summary property in the first section, as an optional step when processing your notes. Sure, this can be a useful tool when processing notes, but it’s value can actually be much broader.

The value comes when you start thinking in systems. I define a “system” as three parts: an MOC (map of contents) page, a template, and a Dataview table. You can build systems for various parts of your vault: daily notes, physical objects, meetings, people, etc. Those three elements keep all your notes connected and organized.

One of the powerful things about the Dataview plugin is it’s ability to work with properties. If you start adding Summary properties to all applicable notes, you can then get high value out of creating Dataview tables that show this summary.

Instead of clicking into every note each time you want to revisit it, you can just read the summary you wrote to yourself. This will be an indicator of whether the information in that note is relevant or not.

Also, the simple fact of whether you have a summary or not can be an indicator that this note needs more love before it gets lost in your sea of notes. You may develop a fantastic habit of always adding a summary to your notes immediately, but I certainly don’t.

Instead, a note summary becomes an indicator that I’ve done the work on that note. And a missing summary means I want to go back to that note at some point soon.

5. Publish your writing

Don’t just take notes, publish your writing. I think that publishing is one of the most valuable things you can do—for your thinking, for your online presence, for your career.

As I mentioned in another post, you should be publishing even if no one is reading. Write posts to flesh out your current understanding of different topics. Write for your future self to read and enjoy. Write so that you can see how far you’ve come in your thinking.

Eventually, if you keep publishing, that value grows like compound interest. A post you barely noticed writing will get some random SEO juice and start getting decent Google traffic. Someone will one day search your name and discover a trove of content that will positively impact their impression of you. You’ll soon have a library of content to point people to when the need arises.

It doesn’t matter how you publish. You can launch a Hugo static site (like me) or just throw everything on Medium. Go with Wordpress or pay for a Squarespace. There are very minimal differences between the platform you choose. What really matters is that you publish.

Want more Obsidian content?

How I back up my Obsidian vault to Github (free & cheap options)

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 08:25:27 -0400

By the end of this post, you’ll have your entire Obsidian vault backed up to Github for free, and have the option to schedule recurring backups either for free or using a method with a one-time $36 fee (the way I’m currently doing it).

This post is designed for a full range of technical experience, from those new to the command line to those with am already-colorful Github contributions graph.

I back everything up to Github in addition to Obsidian Sync (which is what keeps my Obsidian vaults in sync across two laptops, my iPad, and my iPhone). This Github backup is exactly that: a backup. It’s totally free and provides extra peace of mind that all my notes are safe from any accidents or unforeseen data-loss catastrophes.

The best thing about backing up your vault to Github is that it’s a set-it-and-forget-it process. Once you do the work to set this up the first time, you’ll never need to think about it again. It just works in the background, uploading all your notes to a private Github repository that you can review, access, or re-download at any time.

There are three steps we’ll take:

Create two files: a sync script and a .gitignore document
“Upload”¹ your vault to Github
Schedule recurring sync task (free and premium way)

Let’s walk through each step one at a time.

📌

These instructions are for MacOS, since that's what I'm using. If you're not using MacOS, you may have to modify several steps.

Create sync script

First, open a text editor (I use Sublime Text) and add the following code:

#!/bin/bash

gstatus=`git status --porcelain`
if [ ${#gstatus} -ne 0 ]
then
git add --all
git commit -m "Automated snaptop: $gstatus"
git pull --rebase
git push
fi

In case you’re curious, this script:

Checks if there are any changes in your local git repository
If there are changes, it stages all changes
Commits these changes with a message that includes a summary of the changes
Rebases any changes from the remote repository to ensure there are no conflicts
Pushes the committed changes to the remote repository.

Save this file in your root Obsidian directory with the name sync (just the word sync. You don’t need to add an extension like .sh, .txt, or .md or anything else).

Next, we need to make this script executable. This lets our computer actually run this script.

This is going to involve the Terminal, but don’t worry if you don’t have much experience in the command line. Everything we’re doing is both straightforward and low risk.

Open the application named Terminal and navigate to your Obsidian Vault.

If you don’t know how to navigate in the terminal, type cd followed by a space, and the click-and-drag your Obsidian vault folder from Finder into the Terminal window. Return to the Terminal and press Return to navigate to that folder.

Once you’re in the correct directory, run this command to make sync executable:

chmod -x sync

Now there’s just one more file we need to make, which is the .gitignore file. This is going to explicitly state certain files that you do not want to sync to Github.

Things like DS_Store and other system files that are often in MacOS directories but that we don’t want on Github.

Back in your text editor, create a new file and copy/paste this:

# macOS system files
.DS_Store
.AppleDouble
.LSOverride
# Thumbnails
._*
# Files that might appear in the root of a volume
.DocumentRevisions-V100
.fseventsd
.Spotlight-V100
.TemporaryItems
.Trashes
.VolumeIcon.icns
.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent
# Directories potentially created on remote AFP share
.AppleDB
.AppleDesktop
Network Trash Folder
Temporary Items
.apdisk

Save that file as .gitignore (yes, starting with a period) in the root directory of your Obsidian vault.

💡

If you do not want to back up any of your Obsidian settings and preferences, add the line `.Obsidian/` to the very bottom of your gitignore file. I like backing up my settings, so I'm excluding that line.

Now, you should have two new files in your root directory: sync and .gitignore

Next, let’s move all this to Github.

“Upload” your vault to Github

Next, we’re going to be using a command line application called Git in order to push (or upload) our vault to Github. It’s actually fairly straightforward.

Sign up for a free Github account if you don’t have one yet. Then, at the top right, click the plus button and choose New Repository.

Choose a repository name (it can be anything you want) and make sure to change the repo visibility from Public to Private (unless you want all of your notes to be public).

Leave everything else as it is and press Create Repository.

And just like that, we have an empty Github repository ready and waiting for our vault. You’ll be navigated to the repo itself, which (since it’s empty) will show instructions for uploading content. You can ignore that and just continue with these directions here.

Next, we need to use Git to send our vault to Github.

Going back to the Terminal, you should still be in the correct directory as long as you haven’t touched anything. If not, navigate back to your Obsidian vault in the Terminal.

Once you’re in that directory, type each of these following commands followed by Return:

git init

That initiates a new local git repository on your computer.

git add .

This adds your entire vault (excluding the files we added to the gitignore) to the local repository.

git commit -m "initial commit"

This readies your vault to be sent to Github, and adds a comment (“initial commit”).

This next line will be unique to your Github repo, so you’ll need to get it from Github. Look at your Repository’s instruction page for a line that starts with git remote add origin and copy that full line into the terminal. For me, it’s:

git remote add origin git@github.com:dannberg/obsidian-vault.git

Finally, let’s send everything to Github!

git push -u origin master

Go back to Github in your browser and refresh the page. If you did everything correct, that page of instructions should be replaced with your complete Obsidian vault.

Schedule recurring sync task

There are two ways I’m going to show you how to set up a recurring sync task so this backup task is both regular and automated. A paid way (the way I do it) and a free way (which I’ll explain, but you may need to do some additional troubleshooting).

The paid way to sync

The good news about “the paid way” is that is an application called Keyboard Maestro that’s just a $36 one-time cost. Plus, the app does way more than just running scripts on a schedule, so you get a ton of extra functionality if you can find uses. If you can afford it, I think this is the way you should go.

Once you have Keyboard Maestro, create a new macro and for the trigger, select Periodic Trigger. Choose how frequently you want this to run. For me, that’s repeating every 48 hours running sometime between 8:30am and 5:30pm on all seven days of the week.

Below, where it says “will execute the following actions,” press the New action button.

Find Execute Shell Script and click and drag it from the lefthand actions menu into the action block. There’s one default dropdown that we want to change: switch “Display results in a window” to “Ignore Results.”

You’ll need to modify this script, changing the path (the part after cd) to match your own Obsidian path.

#!/bin/bash

cd /Users/dannberg/Documents/dann_obsidian
./sync &

Again, replace /Users/dannberg/Documents/dann_obsidian with the actual path to your vault.

Hint: if you don’t know your path, go back to Terminal and verify that you’re still in the directory of your Obsidian vault. Then, type pwd (which stands for Print Working Directory) and press return. That will output the path to your vault, and you can copy and paste it into the script.

All this script does is navigates to your Obsidian vault and runs the sync script.

To test that everything is working, make some changes to your Obsidian vault and then click the Try button at the bottom of the window. Then, return to Github and refresh your repo.

If you’ve done everything correctly, you should see updated now for the directories that contain edited files.

The free way to sync

If you want to go the free route, you can use something called cron. Cron is a time-based job scheduler for Linux and Mac. It allows you to do (almost) exactly what we did above, all via the command line.

I imagine this statement will make many strangers (and also many close friends) seethe with anger, but I never really liked cron. Sure, it’s super powerful, but it’s also very manual. I can’t count the number of times I’ve thought I’ve set a cron job and it just didn’t run (or stopped running at sometime later), and figuring out what happened and then troubleshooting is just annoying. That’s why I prefer just paying $36 for Keyboard Maestro.

But maybe you, reader, are a cron master. Or, buying an app just it’s financially or philosophically viable for you right now. Here’s how to set it up.

Cron jobs are defined by writing a line in a specific format to a file called crontab.

Let’s open crontab in a basic command line text editor called Nano:

EDITOR=nano crontab -e

Assuming you don’t yet have any other cron job defined, you’ll be greeted with a blank page.

Next, let’s define what your cron job command should look like. Let’s use this as a base:

0 10 */2 * * /Users/dannberg/Documents/dann_obsidian/sync

There are two sections you want to replace in this line. First, you’ll want to choose a schedule for this job to run. For me, that’s 0 10 */2 * *, which (in cron-speak) says to run the script at 10am every two days.

You can create your own cron-speak code with this handy CronMaker tool. Or, feel free to ask ChatGPT to write it for you.

Next, you want to replace the path with the actual path to your sync script. It will be the same directory path that we used before (after running the pwd command) but make sure you add sync at the end so that it actually runs your script.

To exit Nano, type control-X, then press Y to confirm you want to save the changes to crontab, and then press enter to save.

And that’s it! Your script will start running on the schedule you defined.

A note about cron: if your laptop (or any computer) is powered off or in a sleep/hibernation state at the time a cron job is scheduled to run, the job will not execute. There’s no notification and there’s no trying again later.

If that’s a concern, there are more advanced task schedulers that you can use, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.

The word “upload” is in quotes because the correct term is actually “push,” as in: “we’re going to push your vault to Github.” ↩︎

Dann's Gear

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:29:38 -0500

“Gear” content like this is my weakness. It can take many forms, from What’s in your Bag articles to videos to Every Day Carry posts. Even holiday Gift Guides are basically the same genre of post. They’re a guilty pleasure.

These types of post are a perfect storm of consumerism and procrastination. Each post or video is a chance to avoid doing actual work by yearning over shiny new toys. Maybe you’ll find that one magic item that will boost your productivity or efficiency!

And honestly, I have found lots of great new gear that I’ve grown to love myself! That’s why I keep consuming this content. It’s like hunting for pearls—one of those oysters is going to have a big fat jewel inside.

So, here you have my own Gear page. For ease of reference, I’ve included links to the products where I could. Many of these links are affiliate links, which means if you click that link and purchase an item (even if it’s not the item I linked to), then I’ll get a small percent of that sale. Using these links is a great way to show your appreciation for this content, but in no way should you feel obligated to click.

My Hardware

Computers

16-in 2019 MacBook Pro, 2.6 GHz Core i7, 16GB RAM: Work laptop
13-in 2020 Macbook Pro, 2.3 GHz Core i7, 16GB RAM: Personal Laptop

Tablets & Readers

12.9-in iPad Pro: mainly media consumption, gaming, workout videos
ZryXal New iPad Pro 12.9 Inch Case: basic case, love this one
Apple Pencil Gen 2: mostly for when I’m inspired to draw
Kindle Oasis E-reader

Mobile

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max: 512GB storage, daily driver
Apple 12 mini: extra mobile, primarily video, love this phone

Wearable

Apple Watch Series 4: old, but still works great

Home server

Intel NUC i7 4.5GHz 16GB RAM: runs various automation services
Synology NAS DiskStation DS416j: storage
3x Western Digital 4TB WD Red

Desk

Uplift Desk, Rubberwood Solid Wood 48"x30”: standing desk, the largest that fits in my space
Apple Studio Display Nano-texture Glass: purchased with a company WFH stipend. Nice, but too expensive, would not have purchased for myself
VIVO Single LCD Monitor Desktop Mount (similar): holds the Apple Studio Display
Gas Spring Laptop Arm Mount (similar): holds my laptop
Apple HomePod Mini: this is almost good
Echo Dot (3rd Gen): Mic off permanently in favor of HomePod, mainly used as a link to my family
iPhone Continuity Camera Mount: for using my iPhone as a webcam
Wood iPhone Stand: home for my iPhone while working
Under Desk Drawer 2 Pack: small bit of extra desk storage
2-in-1 Magnetic Charging Station: next to my bed for StandBy/Nightstand mode
TotalMount Headphone Hanger: mount for Airpods Max on wall next to desk
Apple Magic Keyboard
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Airpods Max: for desk use and flights
Oriental Rug Style Mousepad
Adhesive Cable Clips Clear: great for cable management
elago W2 Apple Watch Charger Stand: home for my Apple Watch

Everyday Carry

Mokeskin Classic Hard Cover Notebook, Squared/Grid: daily driver, catchall for notes of all kind
17oz S’well Bottle, Onyx: always with me
Airpods Pro Gen 2: only gen2 because my gen1 broke
Bentgo MicroSteel Leak-Proof Lunch Box: love this lunch box
FireTV Stick: lives in a travel pouch for hotel stays
Anker 45W USB-C Charger: have four or five that live in different locations
Cosmetics See Through Bag/Organizer: great for keeping things in my bag organized

Content Creation

Sennheiser MKE 600 Shotgun Microphone: got this as a gift, all recorded audio goes through here
Neewer Professional Microphone Pop Filter
Vocaster Two: XLR to USB mixer
H4n Digital Multitrack Recorder (new model): audio recording on-the-go
Neewer Portable Desktop Mini Tripod
NEEWER Metal Phone Tripod Mount Adapter
Sony a6300 Mirrorless camera: for video when I want greater depth-of-field
Lume Cube Lighting Kit: ad hoc lighting as needed

Other

Beautyrest Sleeptracker Monitor: sleep tracker that lives under my mattress
Anker PowerCore III Elite 25600 mah: it’s like always having an outlet with you
YubiKey 5C Nano: one for each laptop, plus a couple spares
YubiKey 5Ci: lightning on one end, for iPhone
Orbitkey: a decade old now, and oh so soft

10 tips for smart Obsidian usage

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 11:38:31 -0500

This post is now available as a 📺 YouTube video! Watch Use these 10 Obsidian tips to level up your note taking productivity instead of reading, or go wild and do both.

As I’ve been creating more content about my various Obsidian systems (not just here, but on YouTube, too!), I’ve been thinking about my overall philosophy about note taking and productivity.

I put together ten tips for smart Obsidian usage, based on my own experiences building and using my note taking system.

Do you have any additions of your own you’d want to see on this list? Let me know!

1. There’s a difference between working on your note taking system, and using your note taking system to do real work. Always know which you’re doing.

With a tool as powerful and fun as Obsidian, it’s easy to spend all your time tweaking the system and perfecting your set up. This can feel like work, but it’s not real work.

It’s okay to spend time working on your system instead of in your system, but just be consciously aware of which you’re doing. What is your current ratio and do you want it to improve?

2. Obsidian is super powerful when you start thinking in systems

An Obsidian system consists of three things: a MOC (map of contents), a template, and a Dataview table.

The MOC is a centralized note that organizes all additional notes and information related to the system¹. You can use templates to create new notes that follow a uniform format, and use the Dataview plugin to automatically curate these notes on your MOC.

I’ve written about several of my Obsidian systems: daily notes, meeting notes, physical objects, and more. I’ve also got a system for my newsletter and another for writing articles.

When you start thinking in systems, you can increase your productivity, speed, and note recall.

3. Build systems based on how you’re working. Don’t create a system first and then try to change your behavior to fit the system

The best way to build a new system is to just start creating and taking notes. Figure out what information is important to you, and in what format. Pay attention to how you’re working.

Then, build a system that automates aspects of how you’re currently working: a template to keep notes uniform and an MOC so you don’t need to manually track all related notes.

When you create a system first, and try to predict how you’ll use it, you’ll inevitably guess wrong. And you’ll either use the system much less, or spend time fixing it anyway.

Let your real work drive your Obsidian tweaking work, not vice versa.

4. Taking notes is easy, actually using those notes is hard.

The biggest challenge with complex note taking systems, and “building a second brain,"² is actually using the notes that you’re taking. Most people take notes and then never look at them again. This is default behavior.

You need to make a conscious effort if you want to change this default behavior. You might want to start doing a weekly/monthly notes review, or create a series of Dataview tables that you regularly review, or even frequently use of the Random Note button.

Find a habit that works for you.

5. Productivity ebbs and flows—build systems that support this

The Seinfeld Strategy isn’t for everyone. It certainly doesn’t work for me. Instead, the best advice I have for people like me is that it’s okay to be unproductive. Forgive yourself. Productivity naturally ebbs and flows, and the best way to harness it is to try and create as much tangible output as possible when you’re in a productivity phase, and to allow yourself to rest when you’re just not feeling it.

If you’re reading this right now, there’s a good chance you’re actively in a productivity phase and you’re taking lots of notes and building new systems. Congrats!

As you’re taking notes and designing your Obsidian systems, keep your future self in mind. Take notes about how things work and why you’re doing things a certain way. Imagine coming back to your notes in a few years, having forgotten all the nitty gritty details. Make onboarding back into your system as easy as possible.

Build your productivity systems that gracefully stop and start again. If you fall off the wagon, forgive yourself, rest, and pick back up when you’re ready.

6. Your notes are a living knowledge base, not an archive.

Sometimes when I’m reading an old note, I’ll feel a strong urge to just leave it be, keep it as-is to preserve it’s natural state.

That’s nonsense. It’s your note and everything is mutable. You should always be cleaning up as you use your system—re-arrange information, link notes together, clean things up, add new text.

Remember to use your notes, don’t just archive them.

7. New ideas come from the intersection of existing ideas

If you take notes on two different articles, then those ideas are from those respective authors. If you find some interesting way that those different ideas connect, that’s something new.

The best way to come up with new ideas is to try and figure out how two seemingly unrelated ideas intersect.

8. Writing is thinking

Most people think that writing is something you do after thinking up a new idea. This is incorrect.

Instead, the act of writing is thinking. Putting your ideas into words helps you identify what knowledge you actually have, and (more importantly) where your knowledge gaps are.

Be quick to write about a topic, even if it’s just for you in your private note taking system. It’s the best way to think.

9. Publish, even if no one is watching

You should be publishing your writing. You’re doing 90% of the work anyway, if you’e built out an Obsidian system and regularly take notes.

Publishing is a way to force yourself to write more, and as I said in the last section: writing is thinking. Even if no one is reading your words, you’ll start holding yourself accountable to get things right and flesh out your thoughts thoroughly.

All of my professional success I attribute to sharing my writing online. Even my very first non-retail job after college was due to a personal Wordpress blog I self-published.

As you learn new things, share what you’re learning. There’s always going to be someone out there who doesn’t yet have that information.

10. Mimicry is a shortcut to success

Whenever you’re starting a new project or learning a new skill, first identify the masters in the space. Look at their output and think about the details and aspects that make it look so professional and high quality.

Then, when you’re working on your own version, try and get as close to that level of professionalism and quality as you can³.

When a master does something a certain way, it’s because of years of experience and knowledge driving the decision making. When you mimic a certain look/feel or tactic, you’re gaining the full benefit of that expertise without doing any of the background work.

Learn from others as much as you can, instead of re-inventing the wheel over and over again. Most of the problems you’re working through already have elegant answers from established experts, you just need to figure out what those answers are.

Use their knowledge as a foundation for your own doing and you’ll be taking a shortcut on your own path to success.

Want more Obsidian content?

Start Here

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 09:39:35 -0500

As I create more content, I feel like it’s easier for certain things to get buried or forgotten. Likewise, I share content across this website, an email newsletter, and YouTube, so it can be hard to get a full picture of all the things I’m putting out into the world.

My solution? A “Start here” page for this website. This will be updated as necessary to keep it relevant, and will contain links to places of interest for anyone new here.

Places I publish

How I work

Every time I set up a new MacOS laptop (not often, but enough) I always tend to do the same tasks to customize my digital life. Here’s what they are.

Every year since 2012 (with a few exceptions), I’ve done a Year in Review post. You can find them here: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012.

My Productivity

My daily TODOs and tasks are managed in a physical notebook, in a system I’ve dubbed the Daily Driver Task Management System. I started doing this sometime in 2019 and still use it daily today.

I use Obsidian as a second brain, syncing across all my devices with Obsidian Sync ($4/mo) and backing everything up to Github for free.

There’s a tour of my personal Obsidian vault on YouTube, and I’ve shared various systems both on my YouTube channel and here:

FinOps

FinOps is a relatively new engineering discipline that serves as a bridge between engineering and finance. Professionally, I’ve worked as a FinOps Practitioner at several companies and have been active in the FinOps community for many years.

I’ve also published FinOps content sharing what I’ve learned. Here are my favorites:

I’m in the process of writing a book called FinOps for Startups and I’m documenting the entire book research process in an effort to Learn in Public. You can subscribe to follow along.

Obsidian Physical Object System and Template

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 14:14:38 -0500

❗ Feel free to skip the fluff and navigate directly to the Physical Object Template or the Physical Object MOC template.

This tutorial is now available as a YouTube video! Watch 🛍️ Obsidian Physical Objects System and template to see me set up this system from scratch.

One of the most useful Obsidian systems I have is for tracking physical objects. It’s actually a system that I built slightly later than my others (such as my Daily Note, Meeting Notes, and People Notes). It’s also a system that largely fell into place over time, rather than being fully designed from the outset.

I think the reason that I had some resistance to this Physical Object system was because I didn’t feel like I needed an inventory of my stuff. I’m not a retail store, nor am I a minimalist (or aspiring minimalist) trying to keep track of every item I own.

It all started in early 2021 when I was in the market for a new television. Our one-bedroom, New York City apartment is decently sized, but not so big that it would support the largest-sized TVs available.

As I was doing research, I started using Obsidian as a way to keep notes and save reference articles and other links. I also had an existing TV, but it was a cheap model from Walmart, and I didn’t remember the dimensions or model. I looked these up and jotted the information down in Obsidian as well.

As I continued my research, I found myself tending my digital Obsidian garden—organizing and re-arranging notes as I go, rather than trying to build a perfect structure at the outset.

By the time I pulled the trigger on a television (the 49-in Sony X950H, in case you were wondering), I had a lovely formatted “physical object” note that I could use as the foundation for a new Physical Object template.

So that’s exactly what I built: the Physical Object Obsidian system outlined in this tutorial.

Designing the system

The goal of this Physical Object Obsidian system is to capture specific physical objects, not every physical object. I wanted a system to store objects where:

Price or purchase date may someday be relevant
There are item specs or dimensions I may need to reference one day
The item has a specific model number you want to remember
The object relates in meaningful ways to other objects or notes
I had specific notes about the object I wanted to save (instructions, guidelines)
I wanted to track how often all or part of an object needs to be replaced

Additionally, I decided to build this system around objects that I actually physically owned. Often, I’ll create a new Obsidian note when I’m researching a product or category. These notes are not stored in this Physical Object system. Once a purchase has been made, then I’ll create a Physical Object note for that item.

You may find that these guidelines work for you, or you may want to design your system slightly differently. Feel free to modify the Physical Object template file to fit your needs.

Implementing the system

There are three steps we’ll we taking to implement this system:

Creating the new notes (Physical Object MOC & Physical Object template)
Installing the proper Plugins
Creating a button on the MOC to create a new Physical Object note from our template

In case you haven’t seen it before, MOC stands for Map of Content, and is taking from Nick Milo’s Linking Your Thinking. Basically, it’s a single note that ties together related notes, providing a map to that content in your database.

We’ll be creating a Physical Object MOC page that links to each of our physical object automatically (using Dataview). And each of our physical object notes will link back to this MOC.

Now, let’s walk through each of these steps one at a time.

Creating the new notes

Before creating your Physical Object MOC and Physical Object template, you’ll want to think about the directory structure that you want to use. For example, you may have an existing folder where you keep all your templates and a different one for all your MOCs.

For me, this Physical Object system touches three different directories:

Extras/
├── Templates/
MOCs/
Spaces/
├── Physical Objects/

If you don’t yet have these folders in your vault, create them now by right clicking (or control-clicking) in your Files sidebar and selecting New Folder. You don’t need to use the same directory structure as me, but if you use something different, make sure you review and update the templates and code blocks to match your system.

Create your Physical Objects MOC file Inside your MOCs directory, create a new note. I like all my MOCs to start with an emoji, making it easier to recognize these special notes at a glance. If you want to follow my same naming convention, title this note 🛍️ Physical Objects MOC.

For the content of the note, you can copy and paste my MOC template from Github. This template is super simple: a tag linking it back to our +Home page (included on all MOCs), a header with the note name, a button to create a new Physical Object note from our template (ignore for now), a link to our template file, and a Dataview table listing all our Physical Objects (also ignore for now).

Create your Physical Objects template file Next, we’ll create our Physical Objects template file. In your Templates directory, create a new note. Give this note a title—if you want to follow my naming conventions, then you should use Template, Physical Object.

Once again, you can just copy/paste the template content from Github, or modify it to better fit your needs.

Unlike our MOC file, this template includes Templater code that will dynamically execute when our note is created. This includes:

<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") %>

Which replaces the code block with today’s date in the format of YYYY-MM-DD.

The other two code blocks give the file a new name (date + filename) and moves it to the correct directory location. This latter function isn’t necessary if you create new notes using the button we’ll create later in this tutorial, but I keep it there just in case I want to manually add and execute the template at some point.

Installing Plugins

There are three plugins necessary for this system:

Dataview
Templater
Meta Bind

You’ll want to install these plugins directly in Obsidian. Open Obsidian Settings (the gear button on the lower lefthand side). Once there, click on Community Plugins and make sure Restricted Mode is disabled.

Click on the Browse button and search for the above apps. You may not even need to use the search function for Dataview and Templater—they’re so popular they may be at the top of the results already.

For each of these plugins, you’ll want to click the Install button, followed by Enable.

Close out of the Community Plugins modal, and you should still be in your Preferences. Click on Templater in the lefthand menu, and enter the Template Folder Location field with the directory location where you keep your templates.

After that, you can close out of Preferences. Everything in our Physical Object system should be ready to work!

Creating New Physical Object button

On your Physical Objects MOC page, the meta-bind-button code block should now be rendering as a real button. If you followed this tutorial to the letter, it should work out-of-the-box. But it probably won’t. So let’s re-create that button from scratch.

First, delete the entire meta-bind-button code block. Type Command-P to open the Obsidian Command Palette and type Meta Bind. Select Open Button Builder and press enter.

For the button’s name, type “New Physical Object.” Then, look for the Actions section and choose templaterCreateNote and select Add Action.

In the Template File field, choose the Physical Objects template file we just created: Template, Physical Object. For Folder, select the directory where you want these physical object notes to live—for me that’s Spaces/Physical Objects. For filename, I just use TKTK¹.

Click Copy to Clipboard to close the Button Builder modal, and paste the code into your Physical Objects MOC note.

Click the button, and if everything was done correctly, it should be working! Congrats, you now have a Physical Object system in Obsidian.

Building out your Physical Objects system

Now that you have this new system in place, you may feel tempted to dump everything that you own into Obsidian. I’d actually encourage you not to do that. If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get distracted by tasks that feel like work, but don’t actually make progress towards any actual big goals. For me, creating a digital inventory of all my physical objects falls into that category.

Plus, going slow will help you evaluate and customize the system for you.

Instead of trying to add everything to your vault all at once, pick a few specific categories that will have either immediate or near-term usefulness. For me, this meant adding in several pieces of furniture, including actual dimensions of each of these items. I also initially added several tech products, because the information was fairly easy to locate in my online shopping history, and model names/specs is useful information to have.

Once you get a baseline set on information in there, go about with other business. Eventually, you’ll buy a new item that will be perfect to add to the system. Or you’ll remember an existing item that you have, and will have a reason for wanting it to exist in your vault.

As you add each of these items one at a time, notice what information you’re adding, and what fields you’re leaving blank. Make tweaks to your template file as you go. Over time, make your system reflect the ways you actually use it, rather than the ways you aspire to use it.

Liked this post?

Check out my other Obsidian posts:

Prefer video content? Check out the above video tutorial version of this post. It shows you exactly how to set up your own Physical Object note template system.

In case you haven’t seen TKTK before, it’s an abbreviation often used by writers as a way to quickly denote “I’ll come back to that” and keep writing. I picked it up during my years as a journalist and now use it all the time. ↩︎

My Obsidian People Note Template

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:00:00 -0400

❗ Feel free to skip the fluff and navigate directly to the raw People Page template.

UPDATED FEBRUARY 2024. Updated guide to use Meta Bind plugin to trigger the creation of a new people note. Updated the process a bit to better represent how I actually use the People Note system today.

This tutorial is now available as a YouTube video! Watch 👥 Obsidian People Note System and Template to see me set up the system from scratch.

This People Note Template post is part of a series of Obsidian content I’ve created to document my various productivity systems:

People Note Template (this note)
Daily Note Template
Meeting Note Template
Book Note System
Physical Objects (coming soon…)

Why might someone using Obsidian want to create People Notes? For me, it’s a great way to tie individuals to bits of content about or connected to that individual.

Maybe 95% of the time, for me, that’s Meeting Notes. Every time I have a meeting for work, I’ll fill out the Attendee section with a list of individuals who were in that meeting, linking back to each’s People Note.

Then, just by adding their name to the Meeting Note, I’ll be able to view a list of all meetings that person has attended on that individual’s People Note page thanks to the Dataview plugin.

A useful People page should contain the following information:

At-a-glance information about who a person is
How to contact them
Additional notes (maybe a fun fact?)
List of all meetings we’ve attended together

We’ll be setting up two new notes for this People Note system:

The template file is the template we’ll use to create each new People note. People MOC stands for People Map of Contents (h/t Nick Milo) and will be a centalized note to view all our People notes and create new People notes from our template.

In this post, I’ll first walk you through the template itself, and then share how to set up the system and use it in your day-to-day life.

Setting up the People Note System

These are the plugins you’ll need:

Templater
Dataview
Meta Bind - to create a New People Note button

Step 1: Install the plugins

You’ll want to install all three plugins directly through Obsidian and make sure they’re enabled.

In Templater, you should make sure the template settings point to the correct template folder directory (I use Extras/Templates).

Step 2: Create the People Note template file

Create a new note and title it Template, People. The content of this note can be copy/pasted from Github directory, or make any changes to match your system better.

Move this file to the directory where you store your other templates (this should be the same directory you just added to the Templater settings. For me, that’s Extras/Templates).

Step 3: Create the People MOC file

Finally, create another new note and paste in the contents of my People MOC file.

Move this file to the directory where you keep your MOCs (I use MOCs/).

If the New People Note button doesn’t work, you should use the Meta Bind Button Builder to create a new one:

Delete the entire Meta Bind code block
Press Command-P to open the Palatte
Type Meta Bind and select Open Button Builder
The Label should be New People Note, and under Actions, select templaterCreateNote and click Add Action
In the Action settings, select your Template file, People directory, and default file name (I use Enter Name Here)
Click Copy to Clipboard and paste the code into your People MOC file

If you did everything correctly, clicking that button should create a new People Note!

People Note template walkthrough

YAML Metadata

At the very top of the page, as YAML metadata, I like to include all the at-a-glance information I might need about a person. For me, this includes:

company
location
title
email
website
aliases

Additionally, if you want more of a CRM-style system, you can add the following items here:

date_last_spoken:
follow_up:

I don’t fill in all this information for each person, but I try to immediately fill out as much relevant information as I can when I first create the note. Usually this means filling in company, title, and email at a minimum. Location is also useful, since so much of life happens remote these days.

The aliases section isn’t just for nicknames. Aliases are a powerful Obsidian-specific tool that allows you to refer to the same note as different names, in different contexts. For example, if I have a People page with the name Dann Berg, I could add aliases: [Daniel Berg, Dann] to the YAML metadata and then [[Dann Berg]], [[Daniel Berg]], and [[Dann]] would all link to the same People page.

Templater Plugin organization

The next two lines are specifically for the Templater plugin. When Templater processes this note, each line here will perform a different action.

The line # [[<% tp.file.title %>]] will take the file name and make it a H1 headline in the note. You’ll notice that the title is in brackets, which means it links back to the note itself. This is a cool little trick so that when I change the file note, it will automatically update this headline in this note.

The line <% await tp.file.move("/Extras/People/" + tp.file.title) %> moves the note into a specific directory. For me. it’s /Extras/People/, since that is there I keep all my People notes.

Notes

This is pretty straightforward. Each new People note has a Notes section, with an empty bullet point waiting to be filled in. For me, this is optional — I probably fill out the Notes section for 40 - 50% of my contacts.

When I do fill this out, it’ll be with either some fun fact, or otherwise interesting note that I feel might be interesting to recall at some point in the future.

Meetings

(Easily copy-and-paste this code from Github)

For me, this is the real meat of the People note. Using the Dataview plugin, I draw a table that lists all the meeting notes from meetings I’ve attended with this person.

There are three columns in this table: the File name, the file creation date, and a meeting “Summary” that I write in the YAML of each meeting.

If you want to build your own system for Meeting Notes, where each Meeting Note populates in their respective People Note, you can follow my Meeting Note Template post to set that up.

In order to get the Dataview table in this template to populate correctly with meeting notes, as it is currently written in my template, each Meeting note needs the following:

To be located in the directory Timestamps/Meetings (you can use a different directory, just make sure you update the Dataview code)
To have a bi-directional link to the People Note (where contains(file.outlinks, [[<% tp.file.title %>]])
A summary: section in the YAML

A note taking system is only as strong as your ability to recall information. If all you’re doing is taking notes, but never using these notes, then it’s the same as never taking notes at all.

For me, information that’s on the tip of my tongue is often linked in my brain to a conversation with an individual. Being able to traverse all the meeting notes linked to a given person, each of which include a brief summary, greatly increases the usability of my note-taking system.

Using the system in real life

Any time you want to create a new People note, press Command-O and type People MOC. Then, click the New People Note button to create your new note, and add any relevant information.

In a meeting

This is where I mostly create new People notes. Before, or at the start of, a meeting, create a new meeting note and add the names of each attendee to the Attendees section.

If people in your meeting already have a People note, add brackets [[ ]] around their name to link to their page. Their name will show as a bright, valid link if they have an existing page tied to the name you typed.

For creating new People notes for people in a meeting, you have two options:

Option 1: Manually create from Meeting note

I mostly create new People pages manually from my meetings. This method is not the most optimized, but I’ve got the muscle memory so it’s what works quickest for me at the moment.

If there’s someone new that you want to create a new People page for, add brackets [[ ]] around their name. Since their page does not yet exist, their link will show is slightly greyed.
Command-Click their name to create a new note from their name (holding command while clicking will open it in a new tab)
Type Command-P to open the Command Palette, then type “template” and select “Insert Template” then type “People” to select the People Template
Type the person’s name at the note filename
Type Command-P to open the Command Palette again, and type “templater” and select Replace Templates in the active file. This expands all the Templater code

From there, you can fill in the People note as desired.

Option 2: People MOC during meeting

You can also just use the New People Note button from the People MOC page during a meeting to create new People notes.

Create your new Meeting note, then open your Meeting MOC file in a new tab
Click the New People Note button to create a new People note
Fill out any relevant information
Return to your Meeting note, and use double brackets to link to the People note you just created

Congrats! You now have a new People note system.

Dive deeper for Obsidian

Did you find this post useful? Check out my other Obsidian posts:

Prefer video content? Check out the above video tutorial version of this post. It shows you exactly how to set up your own People Note system.

If you’ve read this far, you might also really enjoy my free monthly newsletter The Dann Chronicles. Each month, I share five cool new things I found. These can be products, articles, apps, movies, concepts, and anything else. Feel free to check out the archive to see if it’s something you might like, and subscribe to get each edition in your email.

Found this useful? I also wrote about my Daily Note template, as well as how I use Obsidian to recall books I read.

Obsidian Meeting Note Template

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 08:59:00 -0500

❗ Feel free to skip the fluff and navigate directly to the raw Meeting Note template.

UPDATED FEBRUARY 2024. Updated guide to use Meta Bind plugin to trigger the creation of a new meeting note, instead of the rarely-updated Buttons plugin.

Also, this tutorial is now available as a YouTube video! Watch 🗣 Obsidian Meeting Note Template Tour and Tutorial to see me set up this system from scratch.

Obsidian is the perfect place for meeting notes. With the right type of organization and template, you’ll be able to instantly take notes at the click of a button, and then have those notes available to you whenever you need them.

I’ve written in detail about my Obsidian Daily Note Template as well as my People Note Template. But these are only 2/3rds of the trifecta, with Meeting Notes forming the final piece of my productivity puzzle.

I designed this Meeting Note system with the following criteria in mind:

Ability to just as easily create notes ahead of time for pre-meeting planning, or instantly in-the-moment for ad hoc meetings
Every note needs space for both the date of the meeting and who attended
There should be designated space for an agenda (pre-meeting planning) and meeting notes
Meeting notes should be easily¹ accessible in multiple contexts²

I’ve developed both a Meeting Note template as well as a system that satisfied all the above criteria for me. I wanted to share it, because maybe it’ll work wholesale for you. Or maybe you’ll be able to pick and choose individual pieces that fit into your existing workflow.

The big meeting-note picture

When you want to create a new meeting note page, you click Command-O and type “Meetings.” Select your Meetings MOC to open it.³

On that page, click the New Meeting button to create a new meeting from your Meeting template. The new note will already include today’s date in the title (which you can edit if the meeting is in the future/past) and will automatically move to the correct directory.

You immediately change the title of the meeting note, and jot down any pre-meeting agenda items in the existing Agenda section.

At the beginning of the meeting, make sure you write down everyone’s names in the Attendee section. Put double brackets around the important names to either link to an existing People page for that person, or remind yourself to create a new People page later.

During the meeting, take notes in the Notes section. Next actions can go in the dedicated Next Actions section.

Once the meeting is complete, make sure you enter a short summary in the YAML section of the note, to make this meeting easier to find later. Process the note (filing away important information, adding action steps into another system) as necessary.

Set up

These are the plugins you’ll need:

You’ll want to install the plugins directly through Obsidian.

Additionally, there are two separate pages that make this system work: a Meeting MOC page, and the actual Meetings Template page.

❗ Feel free to jump directly to the Obsidian Meeting MOC template or the Obsidian Meeting Note template if you don’t need any of the supplementary setup help.

Directory Organization

First, let’s take a look at my directory organization as it relates to timestamped notes:

Timestamps/
├── 2021/
├── 2022/
├── 2023/
├── Meetings/
│ ├── 🗣 Meetings MOC.md
│ ├── 2023-10-25 meeting title.md
│ ├── ...
├── +Daily Notes.md

The Timestamps directory contains both meeting notes and Daily Notes, but this post will only cover meeting notes. I’ve done a deep dive into my Obsidian Daily Note in the past, so please refer to that for more info if you’re interested.

Within the Timestamps directory, I have a top-level Daily Note MOC called +Daily Notes and several sub-directories of years that contain all of these daily notes. Additionally, within Timestamps, I have a Meetings directory, which contains its own MOC called 🗣 Meetings MOC, and all those meeting notes live within the top-level of that Meetings directory.

You’ll also notice certain naming conventions that help me tell different file types apart at quick glance. All of my MOC files start with an emoji or special character — in this case either 🗣 or +. Meeting filenames all start with a date followed by the meeting titles.

Emojis come before numbers when viewing files alphabetically, which means that this naming convention will always show your MOC file above your meeting notes files in the left-side file browser panel.

The meeting note naming convention ([date] [meeting title]) is automatically created by the Templater template we’re using.

The “meeting title” is usually three or four words that describe the meeting at a super high level (like an email subject). This is separate from a meeting summary, which should be longer, and is part of the YAML in each meeting note.

Meetings MOC

My Meetings MOC is fairly simple, with three specific things I use:

A filename with an emoji (🗣 Meetings MOC) so it’s alphabetical in the directory and easy to find at-a-glance
A Meta Bind button to create new Meeting notes from my template
A Dataview list of all my meeting notes, with date and summary

I’ve added my full Meetings MOC file to Github for people to borrow and lift for their own use, with a few caveats:

Your meeting note template (which we’ll create below) will need to be named Template, Meeting, or else you’ll need to update this note so that it links to your actual template
Copying and pasting the Button code may not work. You should instead use the actual Button Builder function of the Meta Bind plugin.
For the Dataview table to work, your meeting notes will need to be located in the Timestamps/Meetings directory. If you use a different directory, update the Dataview query to reflect your path.

Quick Note: Title vs Summary

In our 🗣 Meetings MOC file, we’ll build a Dataview table that shows the filename, created date, and a short summary. Some of this data is redundant (the filename contains the date, so a separate column for Created Date is unnecessary) but this is how I like it. Feel free to modify the Dataview table for your needs.

Likewise, the Dataview table shows two separate descriptions of the meeting: the filename (Title) and the summary. These might seem redundant, but have the potential to be powerful. When naming your meeting notes, and writing your summaries, think of the Title as an email subject, and the summary as a tl;dr. It makes browsing your meeting notes via the 🗣 Meetings MOC page a breeze.

Meeting MOC Dataview Table

On the 🗣 Meetings MOC page, we want a button to create a new Meeting Note (described below) and a table of all our meeting notes for easy browsing. We’ll create that table using Dataview.

Check out the Meetings MOC to see the full code block. Essentially, what this renders to is a table of all your notes, with three columns (File, Created, summary) in order from most recent to least.

Creating New Meeting button

I like being able to create a new meeting note by clicking a button directly on the Meetings MOC page.

In order to create the button on the Meetings MOC page, you’ll need to create the template first. So for now, create the Meetings MOC page, in the designated directory, and leave the button section blank. We’ll come back and create the button after we’ve created the template.

Meeting Note Template

This Meeting Note is designed to be created at the beginning of a meeting. This is a personal preference for me, as I’ll click the button to create the meeting note and start filling in details while everyone is saying hello in the first few minutes. You might want to create a Meeting Note before a meeting, taking time to fill in metadata and prepare for the conversation. Others still might create the Meeting Note after a meeting — taking notes on a blank page during the meeting, and then organizing everything after-the-fact. You should make adjustments to the template as needed to optimize for your preferences.

Most of the time, I’m hopping into a Zoom call or jumping into a conference room, and then creating this note. Because this is my preferred workflow, this template is designed to automate essential metadata, and create the structure that I need to immediately start using the note.

Let’s walk through the template, line by line.

---
date: <% tp.file.creation_date() %>
type: meeting
company:
summary: " "
---

At the top of the note is the metadata. This will help us sort and organize our notes. What’s more, this metadata automatically transforms into the new Properties feature of Obsidian. If you format your template like this, it will automatically turn into Properties when the note is created.

A few things of note:

The code date: <% tp.file.creation_date() %> is used by the Templater plugin to insert the date and time that the note is created into this document.

I include type: meeting in the metadata as well, although I don’t actually use this field at all. When I first created this template, I thought it might be useful to distinguish between different types of meetings (one on ones, sales, personal) but didn’t end up implementing this.

In the company field, I typically link to my company’s MOC page if the meeting is related to work. Then, on my company’s MOC page, I include a Dataview table that shows all meetings related to my company.

Then, outside the metadata:

tags: [[🗣 Meetings MOC]]
Date: [[<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD-dddd") %>]]
<% await tp.file.move("/Timestamps/Meetings/" + tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") + " " + tp.file.title) %>
# [[<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") + " " + tp.file.title %>]]

Let’s walk through what this is doing:

The only tag that’s default is the [[🗣 Meetings MOC]] tag, since that’s what identifies this note as a Meeting Note. When I’m setting up this note at the beginning of a meeting, I’ll add additional tags, such as my company (redundant), the company I’m meeting with, and the topic of the meeting (if applicable.)

You’ll also notice Date replicated here (it was also in the Metadata), but they’re actually two different things. In the metadata, it’s just date and time of note creation. Here, the date format, and the inclusion of brackets, means this note now links to that day’s Daily Note.

The following code (<\% await ... %>) does two things: moves the note into our Meeting directory, and renames the note in the proper format (2023-10-25 meeting title.md).

Finally, we’re creating an H1 tag (#) that links back to this page (notice the same filename format here as in the await code above). Making this H1 title a link to the page, rather than just text, means that when I change the file name, the H1 title will automatically update. This is quality-of-life formatting, rather than anything functional. But I find it incredibly useful.

And finally, there’s the meat of the note:

**Attendees**:
-
## Agenda/Questions
-
## Notes
-

There are three sections here, each pre-seeded with an initial dash (-) that formats to a bullet point. With these bullet lists pre-started, I can just click into any section and start typing.

First we have attendees. This is one of the sections that I fill in as soon as the meeting starts, when people are greeting each other. If I’m being really good, I’ll put every name in double brackets to link to that person’s unique People Note Page. If a person’s people page doesn’t yet exist, I’ll create it after the meeting (or not, depending on the person).

Next is Agenda/Questions. I’ll use this section throughout the meeting, adding details I want to discuss in the meeting, or questions that I have. These are all notes-to-self so I can make sure I remember the things I want to say in the meeting, while freeing my mind to actually listen to the things other people are saying.

Finally, Notes is where I take notes throughout the meeting. These are just your standard meeting notes: things I want to remember, notable comments, etc.

Pro Tip: There’s one section that I do not include in this template, but makes it into maybe 50% of my meeting notes: Next Steps. If there are any action items that are a result of this meeting, I’ll add this section below Notes and include both 1) the action item and 2) who is responsible for completing this item. Bonus points if you then move your action items into your Daily Driver Task Management System after the meeting. :)

Creating New Meeting button (continued)

Now that our Meeting Note Template has been created, we can make a button in our Meeting MOC file that creates a new meeting note for us. The cool thing about creating this button is that the button will both 1) create the new note using the template and 2) automatically run the Templater plugin code to fill in the dynamic metadata and move the note to the proper directory.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for making a Meta Bind button that will create a new meeting note and execute the template script:

Navigate to your Meeting MOC file, and place the text insertion point where you want the button to go
Press Command-P (Mac) to open the Obsidian Palette, type Meta Bind and select “Open Button Builder”
For the Button Name field, type: New Meeting
Under Actions, select templaterCreateNote and click Add Action
Next to Template File, click Change and select your template file (ie Template, Meeting.md)
Next to Folder, click Change and choose the directory where you want your meeting notes (ie Timestamps/Meetings)
For File Name, I use TKTK⁴ but you can use whatever you want.
Click Copy to Clipboard to close the modal, and paste the contents of your clipboard into your Meeting MOC note

When you paste the contents of your clipboard into your note, you’ll get a big code block. Click out of that code block, and it should automatically render your New Meeting button in place of that code.

Once you have your button, click it to test. If you did things correctly, it should create and open a new note, using the template you created with all the Templater code expanded.

Tip: If you’re getting a Templater parsing error when trying to create a new Meeting note, make sure you don’t already have a note with the same name, in the same directory, as the one you’re trying to create. This can happen if you’re testing the button multiple times without deleting or renaming the Meeting note you created.

You did it! Congrats.

Building Obsidian Habits

When trying to build a new productivity habit, it’s important to focus on two things: build your minimum viable system, and then iterate.

By this I mean: don’t get distracted spending hours upon hours trying to set up the perfect system to anticipate every single possible future need. Instead, get working minimal version of your system running, and then just start using it. Don’t be too precious about it. Then, iterate on this system, and change it as you go.

It makes more sense to copy this system wholesale, and then continue on with actual work. Then, when you have your next meeting, click the button, use the note, and then modify them template then based on your needs.

Productivity work is fun, and it feels like you’re doing work. But you’re not really doing work. You’re just futzing around. Try not to get so distracted by the system that you’re not doing any real work.

Liked this post?

Check out my other Obsidian posts:

Prefer video content? Check out the above video tutorial version of this post. It shows you exactly how to set up your own Daily Note template system.

Making notes easily accessible is the hardest part. When browsing through a lengthly list of different meeting notes, I’ve found that giving each meeting a summary is the best way to improve find-ability. ↩︎
Multiple contexts, for me, means that I can quickly find the meeting notes by person or by company. ↩︎
Alternately, you can type Command-P to open the command palate and create a new meeting note from there, but I like creating it from the Meeting MOC (map-of-contents) page. It’s all a matter of personal preference. ↩︎
“TKTK” is a an extremely useful writing tool I picked up from my years as a journalist. You should use it, too, if you’re not already! ↩︎

Apple's Vision Pro future, as told in three parts

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 09:30:59 -0500

I.

The Apple Vision Pro isn’t the first AR/VR headset, but it still feels like the beginning of something new. I’ve been trying to pinpoint why it feels that way since first trying it on, and I think I finally figured it out. And it’s not really something I’ve seen discussed in any other tech reviews.

There were three epiphany moments I had when using the Vision Pro. The first occurred when using the controls (eye and hand tracking). The second happened while watching an immersive show produced by Apple TV+. And the third epiphany came to me the moment I connected my laptop to the headset via virtual display.

Epiphany 1: Why this feels like the future

When Apple first announced the product, they immediately let reporters at the keynote try the upcoming headset. A comment from many was that the experience felt like a peek into the future. I was both skeptical and intrigued by this comment. “Skeptical” because we already had VR (ie the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PS VR), so why would the Vision Pro be a peek into the future that wasn’t already clear from these other headsets? And I was “intrigued” for pretty much the exact same reason—because most of these reports had tried other VR devices and were still making that comment.

After using the headset for myself, I can report having the exact same thoughts. Using the Vision Pro is like peeking into the future, in a novel way I never felt with other devices.

It took me several days to really pinpoint why. But I think I finally figured it out. And a big part of that is Vision Pro controls.

Unlike previous VR headsets, which use physical controllers that have buttons and joysticks, the Apple Vision Pro uses eye tracking and hand tracking to control the device. You look at a button and tap your thumb and index fingers to tap. And like the touch screen on the first iPhone, it just works.

In fact, the only thing to compare this to is the first iPhone, because the first iPhone also felt like the beginning of something new—the end of the old era of cell phones. And, like the Vision Pro, I think a lot of that had to do with the way users interacted with the device.

The iPhone touch screen was leaps and bounds ahead of any other touch screen available. Most touch screen devices were still using styluses (think: Palm Treo) and they were fine. Those touch screens still exist today in many grocery store pin pads. You know, the ones you sometimes need to tap multiple times.

The iPhone display was both accurate and responsive to touch. Scrolling to browse or pinching to zoom for the first time was a revelation. It was the realization that a touch screen display can be good. Before then, everyone just assumed that the previous limitations were the limit of what was possible. The iPhone proved otherwise, and ushered in the next wave of technological progress.

The Apple Vision Pro makes this same level of progress with touchless controls.

Sure, it’s not perfect. In these first few days of ownership, there have been several times when I’m watching a video and unknowingly tap those fingers together and accidentally paused the video or skipped ahead (especially frequent in the third-party YouTube app Juno, which (despite its flaws) is still very much a worthwhile app). Likewise, I’ve noticed that petting my cat when he’s sitting on my lap is also often mistaken for a click.

But the controls just feel so natural that it almost feels already familiar. Like I’ve been controlling things this way for years.

Epiphany 2: Immersion correctly approached

I was watching “Highlining,” on the Vision Pro, the first episode of the new Apple TV immersive show Adventure, when I had a striking sense of deja vu. I was flying over the huge cliffs in Norway, turning my head in all directions trying to take in the view, when I realized I had almost this exact same experience before.

It dawned on me that I may be in a small group of people who have both used the Apple Vision Pro and also been to The Sphere in Las Vegas. The big immersive movie playing at The Sphere, Darren Aronofsky’s Postcard From Earth, would fit right in on the Apple Vision Pro.

With regards to entertainment, I think The Sphere and the Apple Vision Pro are both trying to accomplish the same thing in extremely similar ways. In The Sphere, you can look in all directions during the experience, and be completely immersed in the show. With the Apple Vision Pro, it’s the exact same thing.

But I also think the futuristic, immersive experience of The Sphere highlights both the limitations as well as the potential of the Apple Vision Pro.

If there were a spectrum of immersive experience devices, with the entry-level Oculus on one end and The Sphere on the other, then the Vision Pro would be closer to the left than the right. And that’s not because it’s anywhere close in quality to the entry-level Oculus (it’s not), but because it’s still super far from a venue like The Sphere.

This first generation of the Vision Pro feels like looking into The Sphere through a tunnel capped with some type of lens. The “lens” in question has a certain quality that it’s hard to put a finger on—it’s an uncanny valley of reality. Something is a little off.

The resolution of the Vision Pro, while mind-blowing compared to competitive headsets, is still leaps and bounds away from the experience of physically sitting in The Sphere.

Any yet…there’s a reason why the Apple Vision Pro has so many tech enthusiasts giddy. The only flaws in the device (and they are fatal flaws, in terms of a mass-market product) are in the execution, not the vision. And these flaws are only a matter of today’s technological limitations. As MKBHD put so perfectly in his review: “tomorrow’s ideas…today’s technology.”

At the end of Postcard From Earth at The Sphere, I walked back out onto the Las Vegas strip, fully immersed in the reality of the huge crowds, long ride-share lines, and busy traffic.

At the end of “Highlining,” with the Vision Pro still on, my living room materialized around me. But unlike in Vegas, everything was slightly askew. I was still looking at my surroundings through a tunnel capped with a lens. I appreciated the digital apps still around me, but taking the headset off only serves to highlight how far technology still has to go.

Epiphany 3: Being inside your computer

Apple’s philosophy on computing is consistent across all its different products. Each device gives you access to the same information, but the size and function of each display alters the user experience.

Working on a MacBook just feels different than working on an iPad, even with a keyboard and mouse. Despite having access to the same digital information, the differences in each interface have big impacts on what it feels like to get things done. Sure, you can do real work on an iPad, but it feels much better suited to be a media consumption device.

Taking this to a farther extreme, the Apple Watch can access your digital world, thanks to internet connectivity, but just try to write an email or do real work. Depending on the task, you’ll want your phone or laptop instead.

In fact, the size of the display is almost directly proportional to the potential productivity level and/or size of work. It varies slightly person to person, but a rough way to think about it is this:

Device and optimum work (by size)

Apple Watch: receiving notifications, sending quick replies
iPhone: doomscrolling, checking social media, texting, short emails
iPad: watching movies/YouTube, browsing internet, some productivity
Laptop: all the above, great multi-tasking and a high productivity ceiling
Laptop with external display/Desktop: maximum productivity and multi-tasking

The Vision Pro isn’t about stepping into a virtual world. It’s about stepping into a virtual display—the biggest possible display since it’s (potentially) the size of the world.

The Vision Pro adds another bullet point to this list:

Vision Pro: even more maximum productivity and multi-tasking?

Thinking about the Vision Pro as a monitor that you can step inside makes the final vision so much more clear and attainable. We’re no longer striving for Matrix-level virtual reality. Instead, we’re just placing apps around our environment, and enjoying movies/TV shows with a new level of immersion.

Stepping inside a display versus stepping inside a virtual world feels like splitting hairs. But when you actually try the Vision Pro, you see that it makes all the difference.

II.

The future Apple is selling

It’s not all about specs. In the same way it doesn’t make sense to compare iPhones vs Android phones based completely on benchmark test results, so, too, does it feel strange to try and compare the Vision Pro to other VR headsets.

Apple’s headset feels like something new. Up until now, most people thought about VR as stepping into a video game. From one of the first Oculus Rift demos (walking around a low-poly castle) to even the most modern devices, the VR experience has been shutting out the outside world and being fully immersed in a digital one.

Sure, this has been due to technological limitations, but also limitations of imagination. Even the Meta Quest 3, which has the most competitive augmented reality (AR) experience next to Apple, is still mostly focused on fully immersive experiences.

We, as a society, can’t be faulted for sharing this vision of VR. We’ve been inundated with depictions of a future with humans fully entering digital worlds: The Matrix, Ready Player One, TRON, Black Mirror‘s two-time Emmy Award-winning episode “San Junipero,” the TV show Upload. And even shows like Westworld and Inception, while not strictly depicting virtual reality, present a future of fully immersive experience.

If movies and TV shows like that are our benchmark, of course today’s headsets are going to disappoint. Today’s technology isn’t even close to that. No wonder most people look at VR and shrug it off as unnecessary and gimmicky.

The Vision Pro is Apple’s attempt to steer the ship in an entirely different direction. It’s not about putting on a headset and entering a virtual world. It’s about adding digital elements to your real world, and dipping in and out of more immersive experiences temporarily.

So, how does a company sell a new vision for humans interacting in virtual worlds?

First, it’s very careful with language. According to Apple, the Vision Pro is spatial computing, not virtual reality. You’re not actually entering a new world, just having an immersive experience. You can dip in and out (note: not out and in) to adjust immersion into digital content.

Then, it has to design a product experience (and especially demo!) that highlights that reality is first priority, and immersive experiences second. When you first put the headset on, you’re greeted by your familiar surroundings. The Encounter Dinosaurs interactive experience—pre-installed on all headsets and an important part of the product demo—begins in your physical space before opening a wall-sized window into a prehistoric world.

Users can place apps around their room, and these stick in place until physically moved by the user. It’s shocking how good this is.

The first time you feel like you’re entering a different world is when you play your first immersive experience show on Apple TV+. And even then, the experience is the same as playing any TV show or movie, so you’re very much aware that this is a piece of entertainment rather than a virtual world to explore.

Nothing about the experience of using the Vision Pro is designed to make you actually lose your sense of place. You’re still physically in the room where you first put on the headset.

The strongest way to absorb Apple’s vision is to just demo the product. So then, the question becomes, how can you make people want to demo the Vision Pro, when so many are already disillusions by all the proceeding VR headsets?

Guerrilla Marketing to sell the vision

Apple has something that no other company has: an army of loyal fans and early adopters (derogatorily known as “fanboys”) as well as a legion of forward-thinking tech reviewers to proselytize the vision.

Even ignoring the leaks and rumors, certain bubbles of the Internet have been inundated with content and speculation about the headset since its official announcement in June 2023. There was a spike in headlines early January 2024, when the pre-order and release date was announced (as a way to steal attention away from CES, as I mentioned in my newsletter), and that pre-release hype hit a fever pitch when the review embargo lifted for journalists. Then, on release date, the stream of early adopter footage helped show what it was actually like to own the device (with a healthy dose of viral shenanigans that only really pop up with Apple device releases).

It’s a content bomb that money can’t buy, and it’s a uniquely Apple way to release a new product.

By contrast, let’s think about Meta (formerly Facebook). Coverage of the company is much less kind. It’s a company constantly defending itself—its content moderation policies, impact on politics, impact on children, privacy violations, monetization strategy, etc. It’s even a common joke that founder Mark Zuckerberg is a robot, a persistent and dehumanizing meme.

As a result, when a company like Meta presents a new vision (like the Oculus VR headset), it’s already starting from a place of consumer skepticism. Meta needs to prove itself from the get-go. That’s a tough place to come from when selling a vision of the future. Especially one that it (Meta) wants to provide.

Meta’s business model also hurts its message. When a company makes money from ad revenue, the user is the product. User data and attention is sold to the highest bidder. Knowing this, it’s not unfair to wonder if the Quest is just another way to sell ads. Maybe it’s not filled with ads (yet?), but again, this is Meta starting from a place of defense.

Apple doesn’t have any of these same issues. Its business model is to sell premium products and services at a high price point. People can argue over the use of the word “premium” here, and whether the prices are justified, but you can’t argue that Apple devices and services are the product, not the users.

Additionally, Apple has a long history of releasing first generation devices that launch entire product categories. The iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch weren’t the first products with their respective features, but they were the first to make give these products mass market appeal and to make them cool.

Admittedly, just because Apple has been successful in the past with products like the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch doesn’t guarantee that it’ll be successful with the Vision Pro. But these past wins do launch this product into a market of optimism rather than a place of defense (which increases the long-term chance of success).

Still, market sentiment alone is not enough to create a breakthrough product that defines a new category. The product needs to actually be revolutionary.

And it’s here that I think Apple succeeds.

III.

There are two approaches for bringing a new product to market. Entrepreneurs can either solve a problem that users know they have, or solve a problem users didn’t know they have.

The former is incremental progress. The latter is where we get giant leaps in innovation. It’s going from zero to one.

Launching a business that solves a known problem is straightforward. There are books that literally lay out formulas to bring these products to market. It’s not easy, but it’s a known and proven path.

The real challenges happen in the second category, when potential users don’t know what they want, or they’re wrong about what they want.

If you’re creating a product in this second category, it’s easy to get stuck. Is there no existing market demand because the idea is terrible, or because it’s so revolutionary that it’s going to change everything?

In 2012, a Kickstarter campaign titled “Oculus Rift: Step Into the Game” launched. The product, created by then 18-year-old Palmer Lucky, was a VR headset designed to let gamers virtually enter their games. The campaign was a wild success. It turned out that many people wanted to “step into the game.”

Despite being a completely new product that catalyzed modern interest in virtual reality, the problem that this product solved wasn’t new. People had been dreaming of being fully immersed in video games for decades, thanks to a long history of sci-fi novels and shows. Notable attempts include Nintendo’s Virtual Boy in 1991 and Sword of Damocles dating all the way back to 1968.

The Oculus Rift was the most successful solution to this problem to date—it captured both imaginations as well as the eyes of influential people. Oculus was acquired by Facebook in 2014, and the headset was iterated on and improved in subsequent years. Seven years after the acquisition, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was so impressed with the technology that he renamed his company from Facebook to Meta in 2021, committing fully to a future of virtual reality.

The initial rumors that Apple was working on its own VR headset started popping up in early 2016, a couple years after Facebook acquired Oculus, and five years before Zuckerberg’s decision to re-name his empire to Meta. These rumors caused both suspicious and optimism.

Suspicion because:

VR headsets are primarily gaming devices, and Apple historically isn’t the strongest gaming platform
VR was only appealing to a niche audience: gamers who wanted to step into their game.
Any sort of VR application outside of gaming seemed impossible

Optimism because:

If this was really a secret project Apple was working on, it must have some new angle
If anyone can do VR in a way to appeal to a larger, mass audience, it’s Apple
Apple’s success rate with new products like this (not the first to market, but totally re-inventing the market) is high

But from that vantage point, back in 2016, it seemed like Apple had an impossible task ahead of itself. There was an existing market for VR, and it was small and niche. If Apple wanted to dominate the space, launching a VR headset that could become its next iPhone or Apple Watch, it would need to build demand where no demand existed. It would need to solve a problem that users didn’t know they had.

I was mostly skeptical of Apple’s rumored VR headset, with just a touch of optimism back in 2016. Eight years later, after actually using the Vision Pro, I finally understand why Apple decided to make this product. And I am now acutely aware of a problem I didn’t know I had.

Right now, our digital lives are trapped behind tiny screens. All our applications, digital communication, and connection feel one-step removed from us. All our lives, we haven’t questioned this, because it’s just how things were. We couldn’t even imagine it any differently.

Apple’s vision for “spatial computing” isn’t just an evolution of previous VR gaming devices. It solves a new problem that people didn’t know they had: how can I remove that distance between myself and my digital life?

The first generation Vision Pro isn’t a perfect device. It doesn’t actually solve this problem. But it makes users keenly aware that there is a problem to be solved. Once again, Apple is peering into the future in a way no one else can, and successfully solving a future problem.

Almost universally, all reviewers of the Apple Vision Pro say that people should not buy them right now. It’s just not good enough, and it’s way too expensive. I totally agree.

But trying this headset seems to also make people aware of this problem they didn’t know they had. That’s why I strongly recommend going to an Apple Store to try a demo. It’s enough to give you a taste of Apple’s vision for the future, and make you, too, aware of a problem you didn’t know you had.

My Obsidian Daily Note Template

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 11:55:30 -0400

❗ Feel free to skip the fluff and navigate directly to the raw Daily Note template.

Also, this tutorial is now available as a YouTube video! Watch 📆 Obsidian Daily Note Template Tour and Tutorial to see me set up the system from scratch.

I’ve officially drunk the Obsidian Kool-Aid. While I still think my Daily Driver Task Management System is the best way to manage your to-dos, I’ve moved my entire note-taking system to Obsidian and it’s now functioning as my second brain.

Before falling in love with Obsidian, I started using Roam Research (paired with the book How To Take Smart Notes) as a way to start shifting my note-taking strategy. Roam’s bi-directional linking, paired with a modified version of the Zettelkasten strategy outlined in the book, allowed me to build a system that supports information recall as much as note taking.

One of the things I really liked about Roam Research was the Daily Note. For me, the real strength of a daily note is to anchor one’s daily activity within the larger world of personal productivity. I wanted to design a daily note that allowed for:

Thoughtful reflection
A place for ephemeral notes throughout the day
A record of more evergreen notes that were touched that day

The template I’m currently using (and am sharing in this post) was built over a period of several months. I’d make a small change, use it for days to weeks+ to see if it stuck, and then make another change. I’ve most recently added the “Notes created today” and “Notes modified today” sections, and I finally think I’m done making changes. My daily note template is complete.

I wanted to share, because I thought others might be interested. Please steal/remix/reuse anything you like.

Setting up the Daily Note Template

These are the plugins you’ll need:

You’ll want to install the plugins directly through Obsidian.

❗ Feel free to jump directly to the raw Obsidian Daily Note template, if you aren’t interested in this fairly wordy tour.

I don’t put too much information into the YAML front matter. Just a created date, using the following Templater code, inserts the current date:

<% tp.file.creation_date() %>

Any tags (I only use +Daily Notes) are outside of the front matter. But that’s just a personal preference.

I also use Templater to insert the day’s date, in an easy-to-read format, with the day of the week prominently at the front.

<% moment(tp.file.title,'YYYY-MM-DD').format("dddd, MMMM DD, YYYY") %>

I also include some Previous/Next navigation at the top¹, powered by Templater and formatted the same as the filename naming convention. Most frequently, I’m using today’s note, which means the link to tomorrow’s note doesn’t exist. But these can both be useful when browsing older notes.

<< [[<% fileDate = moment(tp.file.title, 'YYYY-MM-DD-dddd').subtract(1, 'd').format('YYYY-MM-DD-dddd') %>|Yesterday]] | [[<% fileDate = moment(tp.file.title, 'YYYY-MM-DD-dddd').add(1, 'd').format('YYYY-MM-DD-dddd') %>|Tomorrow]] >>

Note: this Previous/Next navigation Templater code can be imperfect if you’re not creating Daily Notes every day. This can apparently be solved using this method involving DataviewJS. I haven’t tried this myself, but I’ve heard it works well.

Daily Questions

For a long time, I used the Day One iOS app for daily journaling. It’s a beautiful mobile app, and I loved storing my daily ephemeral notes there. However, I found myself annoyed every time I wrote an entry, since typing a full-length post on my phone was tedious. I experimented with voice entry, but that felt too unnatural. I explored switching to the MacOS app, but the monthly fee (vs free on a single device) kept me away.

I’ve now moved this all to Obsidian, and thought of four questions to inspire quick writing. Each question appears when I create a new note in the morning, along with an empty bullet point, ready to be filled with answers.

I write these answers first thing in the morning, right after I create the day’s note.

Ephemeral Notes

Like the Daily Questions, the Notes section has an empty bullet point ready for me to write. Writing in bullet points makes the task much less daunting. You’re inviting yourself to make a quick note. You should always make it as easy as possible to start.

Often, I’ll take notes from meetings here, and then spin those notes into their own file using the Note Refactor plugin during end-of-day processing. All that will be left is a link to the new file.

Other times ephemeral notes will juts stay here. Although I recognize that the recall process of accessing my notes from a Daily Note vs from an evergreen note is less straightforward. For some notes, that’s fine for me.

Automatic cursor placement

Update Oct 2022: A commenter on the gist pointed out that you can use <% tp.file.cursor() %> to tell Obsidian where to place your cursor once Templater creates each new Daily Note.

To use this, place the code <% tp.file.cursor() %> wherever you want your cursor to appear (maybe on the first bullet point under Notes, or under the first daily question). Then, in Templater settings, make sure you have the following enabled:

Automatic jump to cursor
Trigger Templater on new file creation

Record of work

Lastly, the template ends with a few queries powered by the Dataview plugin. These output two unordered lists:

Notes created today
Notes modified today

When you create your Daily Note, and remain in Edit Mode, these will just be codeblocks (as shown in the picture). You’ll need to toggle Reading View in order for Dataview to generate the list of notes.

I personally find this information less useful day-of, so just having codeblocks at the bottom the the note is fine for me. It’s only when reviewing past notes, specifically in Reading Mode, that these sections are particularly interesting.

Where to store your daily notes

My overall Obsidian organizational structure is based largely on Nick Milo’s Linking Your Thinking. As such, I have a Timestamps folder, and all my daily notes live there.

Originally, all my daily notes were in that single directory, but I’ve since moved to a Year > Month > Day system that makes navigating old notes significantly quicker. This organizational structure is super easy to set up for new notes. In the Daily Note settings, set Date Format to YYYY/MM-MMMM/YYYY-MM-DD-dddd. Each / denotes a new directory, so new daily note files will be created within existing Year and Month folders, or create them if they don’t yet exist.

Setting up your Daily Note template

Create a new note, and name it Template, Daily Note. Move it to your templates directory if you have one (I use Extras/Templates/).

Once the file exists in your desired directory, enter the directory path in the Daily Notes settings page. Each time you click the menu button to create your Daily Note, it will use that template file, along with the Templater plugin, to generate a fully-formed, ready-to-use, daily note.

Additionally, in the Templater settings, make sure that you enable Trigger Templater on new file creation. With this enabled, you’ll have a new Daily Note, complete with the dynamic text that we created, when you click the Open Today’s Daily Note button².

Additionally, we need to make sure that the Yesterday and Tomorrow links work both to navigate to an existing note, or to create a new note from our template if there isn’t yet a Daily Note for that date.

In Obsidian Settings, go to Templater settings, and scroll down to Folder Templates. Toggle the “Enable Folder Templates” switch on. For folder, select Timestamps/ (or whereever you keep your Daily Notes) and for Template, choose our new Daily Note template³.

Dive deeper in Obsidian

Did you find this post useful? Check out my other Obsidian posts:

Prefer video content? Check out the above video tutorial version of this post. It shows you exactly how to set up your own Daily Note template system.

This Templater code was updated Oct 2022 thanks to feedback from Lopyter on Reddit. The old format would have broke if you create Daily Notes for future dates. ↩︎
An alternate option is to use <%+ %> instead of <% %>, but this isn’t the cleanest way to run code on file creation. For a longer discussion, see the comments of the gist on Github. ↩︎
Thank you to Robiton for his helpful comment on the template code to get this working correctly. ↩︎

My best of 2023: a year in review

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:48:23 -0500

Another year in the books! This was an interesting year for me. It started with getting laid off in March (a first for me), followed by a fairly big career change from FinOps to Community at Vantage. That alone has made this a year of learning new skills and pushing myself to think in different ways.

Goal-wise, 2023 shaped up a bit different than the vision I had at the end of 2022. I was originally thinking I’d pour more energy into my long-dormant local neighborhood blog, but ended up making zero progress as I focused instead on my new role. Local community still interests me, but I’m going to be more conservative with my goals there for 2024.

I feel like 2023 was, however, fairly strong in terms of friends and networking. Avi and I hosted several game nights at our apartment, as well as launched a program we called Dann & Avi Film School, where we invited friends to join us and watch a series of six seminal movies¹ that neither of us had seen. It was a wild success, and we’re now planning season two.

This best of 2023 post is a continuation of a long tradition (see 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022). I’ve adjusted the format somewhat this year (mainly, revealing more detailed about the performance of this website), which I feel better captures my year and will be more interesting to readers.

This website’s performance

This has been a good year for my website dannb.org—where “good” is defined as traffic levels that I’m satisfied with and me publishing a higher-than-average amount of new content.

In previous years, I’ve shared linked to my top content, in descending order, with a brief explanation of context. This year, I want to go a little deeper, and share some actual stats. If you, too, have a blog, you might find these details interesting.

Most-viewed content

Let’s start with the most-viewed content by me.

The top five blog posts by traffic are all content that I’m super proud of, which is exciting:

My Obsidian Daily Note Template - This is my top-trafficked post, by far. People seem to really like this post, and Google really likes this post, so that helps keep the momentum. I also actively keep this updated with new/fresh data.
My Obsidian People Note Template - Once people impliment a solid Daily Note process, it’s time to grow the system. People Notes are a great next step, supported by these traffic numbers
How Kagi finally let me lay Google Search to rest - This post was published in October and catapulted up to the #3 spot. Thank you, Hacker News.
Daily Driver Task Management System - This is the bedrock of my own personal productivity system. It makes me happy that it continues to get traffic. Sometimes, people send me notes thanking me for this post, which makes me super happy.
Recalling Books You’ve Read, Made Easy - People really like my Obsidian content. It makes me want to create more.

And here’s what that traffic looks like over time.

That Hacker News bump

In case you’re curious, that giant spike is the Hacker News effect, when my post How Kagi finally let me lay Google Search to rest hit the front page of Hacker News. It’s no wonder that startups everywhere are trying to hit the front page and get that sweet-sweet burst of web traffic. If you’re selling something, and able to convert even a fraction of that traffic, you’re feeling good.

But actually hitting the front page is finicky and inconsistent. I submitted the post myself shortly after publishing, and it got zero traction. Then, several days later, someone else submitted the same post and that submission ultimately ended up on the front page. Timing (plus a little luck) is everything. A special thank you to the submitter!

Google Search Console

One last thing I want to share is what Google Search Console looks like for this website. The previous data was from Google Analytics, which measures website traffic. Google Search Console instead shows how your website is performing in Google Search.

This chart shows the number of search result impressions and clicks. This is for people searching for any keyword, where my website shows up anywhere in the viewed results.

So, what were people searching on Google in order to find my website?

As you can see, 100% of the top queries that lead to my site are about Obsidian, and 80% of these queries are specifically about my Daily Note Template. That certainly explains all the traffic to that specific post!

I’ve used this data to inspire new Obsidian content (such as my People note, Meeting Note, and book notes posts) and Google has rewarded me with traffic.

I’m not monetizing that traffic in any way, but it’s fun to see number go up. 📈

Favorite books read

I’m still not back to my pre-pandemic reading levels. This year, it didn’t help that I decided to tacked Infinite Jest again. I’m a slow-but-steady reader, but these days it’s mostly just slow-and-sporadic. Anyway, here’s the tops:

Tim Urban’s What’s our Problem - Tim Urban’s blog-posts-turned-book, I’d been waiting for this one a long time, and was happy when it was finally released this year.
David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest - Picked this back up because Avi is reading it for the first time, and I thought it’d be fun to read together.

Favorite Movies

About four years ago, I had an epiphany: I really enjoy movies, and so I should see more movies. I don’t need to make it weirdly academic or competitive or anything. I literally have the freedom to just…start watching more movies because it’s something I enjoy.

Year four post-epiphany, my movie-going is still strong. I continued to make use of my Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass (I literally live above an Alamo Drafthouse…) and logged everything I watched on Letterboxd.

According to Letterboxd, I watched 96 movies in 2023—a slightly-inflated number, since it counts all the Oscar-nominated animated and live-action shorts as different movies.

These were the favorite movies I watched this year (some were released in 2023, others are older):

Beau is Afraid (2023) - I’m one of the weirdos who loved this movie. I saw it twice in theaters. After, I went back and watched all of Ari Aster’s short films I’ll admit it.
Poor Things (2023) - The trailer didn’t really do much for me, but I decided to give it a try anyway. Absolutely loved it.
Dicks: The Musical (2023) - It makes me so happy that this movie got made. I also saw this twice in theaters, bringing different people with me each time.
Saltburn (2023) - I agree with all the criticisms, and absolutely love the movie anyway. Barry Keoghan is a treasure, and I’ll watch him in anything.
Inside (2023) - No, not the Bo Burnham special—the movie of the same title starring Willam Defoe. I feel like this slipped sadly under most people’s radar. Superbly acted (by one person!!) and filmed, a wild claustrophobic ride.

Honorable mentions: Talk to Me (2022), Bottoms (2023), How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), Jules (2023), Totally Killer (2023), Mother (2009).

Favorite TV Shows

Looking back at my watch history for 2023, I’m realizing that this was a strong year for TV series. Once again, HBO makes the strongest showing, but this time Netflix creeps back in with several fantastic shows.

Nearly all my favorite shows ended this year, too, with the final episode of the final season airing in 2023. I’ve added asterisks next to shows with no planned future episodes, either because the series ended, or it was a limited series with no future seasons planned (to my knowledge).

Succession * (HBO) - Possibly my favorite series of the past decade+. Top notch writing, including absolutely nailing the end. Hats off to the creative team.
Barry * (HBO) - A wonderful end to a wonderful show. Absolutely loved this. Bill Hader blew me away.
How to with John Wilson * (HBO) - Sad this series is over, but happy because it happened. Thanks for everything John Wilson.
I Think You Should Leave (Netflix) - I hated this show the first time I watched it. Then it somehow squirreled its way into my brain and I love it. It’s an acquired taste?
Chimp Empire * (Netflix) - Probably the best nature documentary I’ve ever seen.
How to Get Rich (Netflix) - I’ve been following Ramit Sethi since his humble blogger beginnings. His new TV series is better than I expected.

Honorable mentions: The Curse (Showtime), Love Has Won (Netflix), Jury Duty (Amazon FreeVee), Avenue 5 (HBO)

Favorite Podcasts

For the past several years, I’ve been pouring most of my podcast-listening time into a single podcast: Your Kickstarter Sucks. It’s a comedy podcast loosely about shitty Kickstarter projects, but more just the two hosts talking to each other. It’s so niche that it’s hard to actually recommend to people (so I don’t) but endearing enough that I subscribe on Patreon and have listened to the entire back catalogue.

This “favorite podcasts” section is new this year, because I added a few additional podcasts to my listening playlist in 2023.

Your Kickstarter Sucks - I’ve listened to every episode (at 1x speed!) for years. Ain’t going to stop any time soon.
Search Engine - You may remember Search Engine from my September newsletter, and it’s good enough to make my Best of 2023 list, too.
Tangle - Everyone talks about wanting unbiased news. The Tangle newsletter and podcast is the best implementation of that I’ve seen. Informative, smart, and urgent.

Notable Objects

This year, I published my 2023 Indie Holiday Gift Guide, which is a great place to see a bunch of fun objects. I’m going to go a bit broader with this list, and list both physical and digital “objects” that were notable in my life this year.

iPhone Nightstand Mode - One of the sleeper features of iOS 17 was StandBy mode, where your iPhone turns into a clock when plugged in and horizontal. I love this next to my bed at night.
PS5/The Binding of Isaac: Repentance - My PS5 is basically a fancy Binding of Issac machine. Actually, most of my consoles are basically just Binding of Isaac machines.
Proton Mail/Kagi - This was my first full year without using Gmail or Google Search, and I didn’t miss it a bit thanks to Proton Mail and Kagi. Although I do with Proton Calendar worked with third-party clients…
Sticker Mule Deals - Each week, Sticker Mule has a fantastic deal on one of its products. And I’m a sucker for fun new stickers. As a result, I have a lot of custom stickers.
Apple Magic Mouse & Keyboard - I know that these are polarizing objects, but to me they’re perfection. Don’t @ me.
TypingMind - This is a third-party frontend for ChatGPT. The product is supurb, and so much cheaper than OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus because you’re just using the API.
Obsidian - Obsidian has been good to me. I use it heavily in my daily productivity life, I write all my website content there, and my Obsidian blog content drives nearly all my website traffic. Thanks, Obsidian!
Standing Desk - This is the year I’ve become a pro at standing and working. I now stand for 90% and sit for 10% of my work day. Honestly, I don’t really notice much of a difference, but I guess it’ll pay off in the long term?
Things - I’ve tried a ton of different to-do apps, and I can confidently say that Things is my favorite. I’m done searching. Things is the best.

Accomplishments

Joined Vantage as Director of Community
Published fourteen new posts on dannb.org, plus twelve newsletters. Holy smokes.
Added 59 new email subscribers to The Dann Chronicles, up from just 16 new subscribers in 2022.
Organized (and pulled off!) a 15-person Vantage trip to AWS re:Invent
Survived the regional Burning Man event Critical NW
Planned a successful surprise birthday weekend for Avi
Kicked off season one of Dann & Avi Film School with six movie screening hosting ~25 people total

Plans for 2024

Carry The Dann Chronicles newsletter into its fourth consecutive year (maybe with a few new surprises!)
Add 100 new subscribers to The Dann Chronicles newsletter
In addition to the newsletter, publish at least ten posts to this website
Host season two of Dann & Avi Film School
Apply to be a contestant of Survivor, again
Attend one in-person class (fun topic TBD)
End 2024 more skilled in one of these areas: vector-based design, iOS development, illustration

Season one of Dann & Avi Film School included: The Third Man (1950), The Seventh Seal (1958), Breathless (1961), 8 ½ (1963), El Topo (1970), and Wild at Heart (1990). ↩︎

Dann's Indie Holiday Gift Guide 2023

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 06:59:00 -0500

When I was younger, I loved mail order catalogues. Every time a new issue of Things You Never Knew Existed or Oriental Trading arrived, I’d spend hours flipping through the pages, despite the fact that items were largely the same issue-to-issue.

Now that we have the Internet and online shopping, those types of catalogues just don’t hit the same way. But, for me, annual Holiday Gift Guides scratch the same sort of itch. It feels like flipping through a curated list of items in that nostalgic type of way, wondering which items you’ve seen before and what’s totally new to you.

But why do newspapers and magazines get to have all the fun? I want to make my own Holiday Gift Guide, full of items I think are interesting in one way or another.

This is an indie holiday gift guide, because it’s just me, Dann Berg (in partnership with The Dann Chronicles newsletter), putting together this post.

It’s all just for fun. Browse at your leisure. Buy an item or don’t (Amazon links are affiliate, but I’ve included non-Amazon, non-affiliate links where ever possible). Maybe you’ll see something you already use and enjoy. Maybe you’ll find something new.

You’re a kid again, and a new catalog just arrived in the mail. Enjoy.


Yogasleep Dohm Uno	Orbitkey Key Organizer
Some bedrooms are quieter than others, and it can be hard to get good rest when there’s a flurry of activity around. This can be solved with a running fan, but sometimes that added breeze is too much. And most white noise machines just play digital recordings, which can feel strangely artificial. Enter Yogasleep Dohm Uno. It’s a dedicated white noise machine with an actual engine inside, producing natural sounds. Perfect for slipping into a deep sleep. Price: $36.99	For many men, a set of front-pocket keys is a source of constant annoyance. They just never sit right, and twist and poke at numerous points throughout the day. That’s because it’s literally impossible for keys on a keyring to lay flat. The Orbitkey Key Organizer is a pocket saver, by turning that mess of keys into a small rod-shaped fob that doesn’t hurt when you sit the wrong way. Price: $43.50
Yogasleep Amazon	OrbitKey Amazon


Pulsetto	Ninja CREAMi Deluxe
Everyone knows a little yoga or meditation can help calm an anxious mind, but do you know why these particular practices have that effect? Both activities stimulate the vagus nerve, the pathway with parasympathetic control of the brain and the heart/lungs/digestive tract. Now there’s a lazy-person’s way to tickle that same nerve, and reap all the benefits of a robust mindful practice without any of the exercises. Price: $289.00+	For many, it was the viral kitchen gadget of the summer, inescapable at every turn. Others have yet to hear about this wonderful gadget. It’s a consumer-grade version of the Pacojet, a much-loved ice cream device and longtime staple of high-end commercial kitchens. Now you, too, can turn protein shakes into a Wendy’s Frosty (literally) and so much more. Price: $219.99+
Pullsetto.tech Amazon	Ninja Kitchen Amazon

L.L. Bean Wicked Good Slippers, Venetian	Coravin Timeless Three+

Some say there are two types of people in the world: those who always barefoot, and those who are never barefoot. For people in the latter category, L.L. Bean’s Wicket Good Slippers are a luxurious way to keep those toes warm in the winter. Shearling lined and oh-so-soft, it’s a great way to indulge that inner voice saying keep those feet covered! Price: $89.00	Wanting a single glass of wine with dinner can be a conflicting emotion. On the one hand, it’d pair nicely with the meal, but on the other, opening a nice bottle of wine puts pressure on finishing it before it goes bad. Coravin developed a handy (albiet expensive) solution: pierce the cork to pour a single glass, and replace the air with gas to prevent the still-sealed bottle from aging. Price: $174.95+
L.L. Bean, Men L.L. Bean, Women	Coravin Amazon


Momofuku Noodle Variety Pack	Purple Harmony Pillow
Famous restauranteur David Chang has been expanding his reach beyond his popular storefront restaurants with Momofuku Goods, a series of seriously-tasty products available both online and in select stores. The latest product is a set of dried noodles: Soy & Scallion, Spicy Soy, and Tingly Chili Wavy. They’re a fun base to larger dishes, or delicious all by themselves. Price: $35.55+	A pillow is a very personal thing, so it’s impossible to tell if a favorite option for one person will also be a perfect match for another. But the Harmony pillow from Purple certainly comes close. Based on my own personal (2+ year) experience, as well as conversations with friends who also own the pillow, it’s anecdotally a crowd favorite. Price: $149.00+
Momofuku Amazon	Purple Amazon


Playdate	Ink+Volt 2024 Goal Planner
For the discerning gamer, there’s Playdate. A novel handheld gaming device by the delightful Portland-based company Panic (first famous for Mac apps, then game publishing, now handhelds). It’s not an emulator, it’s a wholly new operating system complete with fun indie games and a passionate community. Did I mention it was designed by Teenage Engineering? Price: $199.00	For those who eschew digital calendars, but still want a bit of structure, you can’t beat Ink+Volt’s robust Goal Planner notebook. It’s a place to jot down dates-of-note and deadline, and also explore weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals, and make sure your tasks are working towards your larger goals. For a certain set of people, it’s absolutely indispensable. Price: $52.00+
Play.date	Ink+Volt


Lars Von Trier - A Curzon Collection	Pocas Honey Ginger Tea
For the film lover in your life, you can’t go wrong with the most complete set of Lars Von Trier films ever released. Or maybe you can go wrong? It’s Lars Von Trier. Curl up with a loved on and throw on Melancholia or Antichrist. Or sit down and watch my personal favorite: Dogville. With 14 films, over 18 hours of special features, and more, this box set is certainly a statement. Price: £139.99	Pocas Honey Ginger tea is bursting with flavor. No joke, people’s first reaction is “wow, that’s strong,” but in a good way. If you try and get this much flavor from other teas, you’ll just end up over-steeping them to bitterness. The Honey Ginger tea granules dissolve in seconds and you’re ready to drink, warming yourself up during a cold winter. Price: $12.99+
Curzon	Amazon


Silicone Baking Mat	Mindviscosity by Matt Furie
If you’re still using disposable sheet liners, what are you even doing? Don’t you even care about the environment? Instead, you should switch to Silicone baking mats, which not only make cleanup super easy, but can also be used over and over and over. Perfect for cookie, chicken, or anything in between. Make sure you measure your pan and purchase the correct size. Price: $14.28+	Before his artwork was co-opted by hate groups, Matt Furie was busy creating a whole universe of bizarre and unique characters. His book Mindviscosity is a way to reclaim the art that is rightfully his, and provide viewers with a dizzying glimpse into the mind of the artist. A wonderful coffee table book and a crowd favorite, Furie’s colorful drawings will certainly capture your attention. Price: $26.24+
Amazon	Amazon


Bunny Kingdom	Churu Purée Cat Treats
Do you have what it takes to settle lands and field, build fiefdoms, and become the “Big Ears”? This novel European-style board game combines a fun card drafting style with strategic board plan for a fun and strategically rich game. It’s a blast with the maximum number of four players, but also works great as a two-player game (this isn’t one of those games that gets watered down with fewer players). Price: $51.99+	It’s not guaranteed that your cat will like these Churu Puréed Cat Treats, but it’s about as high of a chance as you’re going to get. The company blasted out of no where thanks to some viral social media marketing: cats go absolutely wild for these treats and humans go absolutely wild for videos of the cats going wild. Price: $13.49
Amazon	Amazon


The Mysteries by Bill Watterson	Oriental Rug Mouse Pad
Most remember him as the reclusive author of the beloved Calvin and Hobbes comic. Since ending its run in 1995, Bill Watterson has remained largely quiet and out of the public eye…until this year. Teaming up with John Kascht, Watterson has a new “fable for grown-ups,” a perfect gift for that elder millennial who grew up reading the strip. Price: $19.99	For those with an office job, work means spending hours upon hours in front of a computer. Why not spend a little money sprucing up the place? An oriental rug mouse pad is an eye-catching piece of desktop decor that’s sure to elicit comments from co-workers (or family, if you work from home). While there are several companies that make similar products, this particular brand feels soft and luxurious, and the pattern is bold and easy-to-read. Price: $11.49
Simon & Schuster Amazon	Amazon


Kasa Smartplug	Quest Chocolate Cake Frosted Cookies
Turning your house into a smart home doesn’t need to break the bank. For less than $20, you can turn traditional lamps, fans, appliances, and more into smart devices. You’ll still need a voice assistant though (such as the Amazon Echo, Google Next, or Apple HomePod), but these Kasa Smartplugs will make saying “good night” much more practical when it also turns out your lights. Price: $15.99+	Sometimes you need a little afternoon pick-me-up, but want to avoid that dreaded blood-sugar spike. Quest’s Frosted Cookies are surprisingly delicious, and amazingly don’t taste like protein (which is not something many of its competitors can claim). Packing 11g or protein with only 1g of sugar and 2g net carbs, this keto-friendly snack may start being the only cookie you eat. Price: $22.99
Kasa Smart Amazon	Quest Amazon

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