Latest posts from Focustivity
Over the past couple of weeks, I spent some time pulling all of my notes from various sources, converting them to Markdown (if not already) and then using Claude Cowork to clean up and organize these notes. I removed duplicates, updated metadata, fixed links, and applied an assortment of other fixes. Claude Cowork made the process quite simple. While I still have a local copy in Markdown, I did…
I came across this iPhone case on Amazon that has an e-ink display on the back where you can use an app to add any customizations you want. While I’m not paying $70 for a case, I thought it was pretty slick. https://a.co/d/0j1btAlK
Over the past couple of weeks, I've dabbled with Claude Code and Claude Cowork to see what it's all about. I love tinkering with technology, after all. Claude Cowork is essentially a less technical way to do the same thing Claude Code can do. It can be used to manipulate files in specified folders as well as connect to the many online services you may have. You can then automate tasks, do…
Claude Code I've been seeing many posts and videos talking about using Claude Code to manage their local Obsidian vaults. I played around with this and found it potentially very valuable for someone (like me) who enjoys making notes but doesn't enjoy the organization of said notes. Or for processing meeting notes and other work-related data and acting as a project manager assistant that handles…
Below are some apps, services, and hardware that I currently use. The idea became popular through the Hemispheric Views podcast Episode 97 and then further through Robb Knight's App Defaults directory. This time around, I copied my previous default apps post and updated it, striking through things that have changed. Hopefully, it's still readable. I find it useful to see what changes over time. AI…
The Plotter Notebook I favor technology, though something about the feel of paper appeals to me. It’s the feel, the sound, even the smell of paper that keeps me coming back, not the efficiency. In fact, paper systems don’t work for me. I’ve tried bullet journaling, planners, and other approaches. I love the writing part, but after it’s written, it gets abandoned. The index card system, where I…
If you're getting ice cream at the grocery store, take a look at the packaging. You'll notice that most say “frozen dairy dessert” and not ice cream. Apparently, this is because the quality no longer meets FDA requirements for what is considered ice cream, which requires at least 10% dairy milk fat and must weigh at least 4.5 pounds (2.04 kg) per gallon. Today's “ice cream” often contains skim…
Dispatch is a game/episodic comedy where you manage a team of dysfunctional misfit heroes. You send them on missions while navigating workplace dynamics. I loved this game! The pacing, humor, action, and voice acting were excellent. You can be terrible at this game (and I was) but still finish. You could not touch the keyboard, and everything would time out and progress forward, and you’d still…
I keep telling myself to stop reading “self-help” books and pick up more interesting or work-related ones. Yet, I found myself with Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell , a book about time management for entrepreneurs. Before starting the book, I looked up Dan Martell and found his channel. His videos kept appearing in my feed, which I routinely ignored. I viewed him as another successful…
I've switched all my newsletters over to my Feedbin address instead of my main email. There are a few stragglers; as they come in, I'll update them. Feedbin is such a great RSS reader and is also great for newsletters. You can see the newsletter in the original format, which I love. It's so clean and straightforward—a pleasure to read. I don't understand why I didn't do this so long ago.
Introducing Kagi Assistants | Kagi Blog Kagi’s Research Assistant happened to top a popular benchmark (SimpleQA) when we ran it in August 2025. This was a happy accident. We’re building our research assistants to be useful products, not maximize benchmark scores. I continue to be more impressed by Kagi Assistant as I use it. While not a full replacement for something like ChatGPT or Gemini, it…
AI language models are quickly becoming a key part of knowledge work. They handle many of our administrative tasks, allowing us to focus on the unique work that adds real value. Microsoft is leading this shift, and many companies now treat AI agents like regular employees, giving them their security, management, and job roles.¹ Experts predict there will be 1.3 billion AI agents by 2028. ² These…
Just for fun, I created a Google NotebookLM notebook and set this site as its only source. I then listened to the podcast Deep Dive. The results were quite interesting. One of the main discussion points was how “the author”—me—seems obsessed with finding the “best” app, constantly switching between blog hosting platforms, browsers, notebooks, e-ink devices, etc. Yeah, already knew I had a problem.…
A few weeks ago, I created a dedicated page that lists all the apps and hardware I'm currently using. I decided to move that page into its blog post. The idea is to repost this content (whenever I'm in the mood) with an updated list. This approach allows me (and you) to look back over time. Below are some apps, services, and hardware that I currently use. The idea became popular through the…
I recently started using a Supernote Nomad for writing notes, journaling, and light task management. I wrote about my thoughts on the hardware recently, and in this post, I wanted to think about the Digest feature. After all, this feature is one of the main reasons I went with the Supernote. For the longest time, I've enjoyed writing on paper, but it never stuck. I enjoyed the process of writing,…