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Photo by Sandie Clarke on Unsplash . Most of the articles about AI in the workplace speak in high-level generalizations. There’s a promise that it will help workers in every industry do more work, faster than ever before. They’re full of predictions for the future, both good and bad ( disastrous? ) but fall short of explaining how to actually use AI to work better. This post…
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 ,…
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…
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…
🎬 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,…
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…
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…
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 novel 1 business model: end users pay for a service.…
( 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…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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,…
❗ 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…
❗ 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…
❗ 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.…
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…
❗ 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…
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…