Using the Pomodoro Technique for more energy
Utilize your natural attention span to maintain your daily energy.
ovidem blog
Latest posts
Finding space for a new habit
Increasing your chance of maintaining a new routine.
2025 year in review
What I worked on, blog posts, and recommendations for 2025.
Physical and mental stress
Being aware of the stress put on our body and mind.
The indie web
Being indie means being scrappy and taking a lean approach to doing things, including being on the web.
The benefits of walking
Not just for physical health, but mental health, and problem-solving.
2024 year in review
Blocks Edit for landing pages, Indie Aisle relaunch, and a bunch of content!
2023 year in review
AI, driving an electric car, and side projects.
Why I got a cheap, used electric car
How electric car technology is so much better than gas cars.
2022 year in review
Pandemic fatigue and the new normal.
A decentralized Twitter
Is a decentralized alternative the way to go? And what does that look like?
Product design ideas come from iteration
How we got our cool new Blocks Edit feature to work.
Computer upgrade
I've had my iMac that I primarily used for work for over six years now. I just recently replaced it with the new iMac that came out last year.
Gilbert Gottfried, the greatest comedian ever
Gilbert Gottfried died a couple weeks ago. He was my favorite comedian. The best comedian ever, no hyperbole.
The amazing, Amazing Jonathan
Amazing Jonathan died recently. He was one of the funniest comedy magicians, and even one of the funniest comics without the magician part.
2021 year in review
A lot like 2020, but we've adapted to the state of pandemic.
Curse of the bell curve
The real reason people are choosing not to get vaccinated
HEY for email done right
A new approach to email that has turned managing my email from a feeling of dread, to a feeling of joy.
2020 year in review
A year to remember, even if you don't want to remember this one.
The pandemic and plant-based
The biggest lesson to learn from the pandemic.
2019 year in review
The pre-2020 year in review. Things I did, blogged about, read, watched, and played.
Plant-based, the lazy way
Developing taste and habits, and embracing side dishes
Tribute bookshelf
It’s the content of the media that’s important, not its physical form.
2018 year in review
...I highlight the good stuff of the books I've been reading, along with comics, what movies and shows I've enjoyed, along with videogames, and even music.
Doom and videogames 25 years later
Doom came out 25 years ago. Doom was one of the first video games I was really into as a kid.
Getting over the hump
Stress and anxiety comes from the unknowns. Having a way to put them into perspective I think greatly helps you alleviate some of the unnecessary worry and get past the hump.
How airport security should work
I showed up an hour and a half early to the airport, because you know, the security theater one has to go through. And this time, it sucked even more than usual.
Plant-based eating and eating what you want
...if you want to feel better now, feel better later, and live longer, then plant-based nutrition is the way to go.
Buttons and switches
The way the buttons and switches affected these virtual worlds, made me look at my interactions with objects of the real world differently, or, more carefully.
Myst meditation
The Myst video game series is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The web of diminishing returns
how posting your content on other websites is a bad idea reposting may be okay but ultimately keeping it on your website leads to increased returns over time permanent urls that go to you from Google Facebook usage is in decline; there's a new serious contender, Vero if you intend to reach an audience, don't run after every channel available and let them control your message, own the channel and…
Driving
In about five years, I’ll probably end up getting another new one. What would that look like five years from now?
2017 year in review
This year I've had my head down in work. I wrapped up my Lifehacks comic book series. And I launched Blocks Edit, my new web app startup for email marketers.
Horror movies
Since around 2009, during the month of October, I would decide to watch a handful of horror movies that I would preselect from a list that I kept adding to.
Lifehacks
Detective stories are about solving a mystery, which comes from our inherent need to figure out and resolve things.
How we change
Every once in a while I decide to rewatch certain movies that come to mind. Usually the ones that have stuck with me and which seem to come up because they relate to a particular mood I'm in.
Mass Effect series
It’s been five years since the last Mass Effect videogame series ended, four years including its additional content and since I played it last.
2016 year in review
To keep track of the stuff I enjoy, I use a basic mobile web form I developed. My goal for 2017 is to release a full-blown app version (developed by a real programmer).
#Scoop16
Last weekend I was in Las Vegas for ScoopFest, an event held for fans of the podcast, Matt & Mattingly’s Ice Cream Social.
Bullshit!
I've been rewatching some episodes of Penn and Teller: Bullshit! on Hulu and man does that show still hold up despite running back in 2003 through 2010.
The shift in politics and media
This election is showing us how the Republicans and Democrats continue to make sure they are the only choices for president as traditional media continues to decline to media on the web.
Letting motivators lead the way
Practicing the process of understanding my motivators has helped me figure out the things I should focus my attention on.
Music discovery
A couple of months ago I found three burned CDs in a box somewhere labeled ‘Mix 2005’. I apparently made them over ten years ago at a time when I listened to music on a portable CD player that played MP3s.
Let's vote for sanity
It turns out that libertarian ideas are very much for everyone. Whether you consider yourself Democrat or Republican.
How the sausage gets made
It’s always interesting to see how something is done. I’ve tried to be conscious of this and show how I make my comics.
The FBI vs Apple and our civil liberties
You may have heard about the FBI demanding that Apple crack into the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California shooters. Apple has refused because they feel that it is a huge security risk to their customers.
Designing interfaces and writing comics
...the process for writing is very similar to the process for interface design.
2015 year in review
At the end of every year I go through the list I keep of various things I enjoyed and pick out my favorites. Here are my faves for 2015.
Past, present and future
This year, fans of Back to the Future celebrated the year of the future based on a date in the second film in the series.
The virtues of being lazy
Laziness is viewed as a negative characteristic. It's something I've always struggled with myself since whenever I felt lazy, I would feel guilty and often force myself to try and do something about it.