Update on the Move
A quick update on this blog's move to a new home
Random Notes
Scott Nesbitt's public notebook
Latest posts
A Bit of Housekeeping
A few updates about this site
My Notebook System
A quick outline of how I use paper notebooks
On Opportunistic Reading
Wherein I explain what I mean by the titular phrase
A Quick Thought About Brain Augmentation Tools
A short musing on what I find wrong with so-called second brain/brain augmentation tools
Moving House
Notes about where this blog is headed and what's going to change in these parts
This Car Can …
A short paen to my EV
You Don’t Spring Forth Fully Formed
Thoughts about learning, growing, and doing that in public
On Nostalgia
Some thoughts about the past and dwelling on it
Readership
Why I turn people coming here from some sites back to where they started from
Pulling Back
A note about my intention to scale back my online presence
What I Don’t Care About as an EV Owner
Things that electric vehicle reviews focus on which don't matter to me
Personal Tools
A look at some of the little utilities that I've had various LLMs create for me
The Plain Text Files That I Use Most Days
A look at the four plain text files that I use to help organize my life
My Writing Setup
What I use, both physical and digital, to write
On Writing as a Series of Index Cards
A musing about one of the ways in which I've come to view writing
On Used Bookstores
A brief musing about the wonders of the used bookstore
If I Ever …
Giving you leave to punch me if I ever write certain things in a blog post
Do I Use AI to Write Blog Posts?
Just quickly clearing the air about this
Have I Given Up on Plain Text?
Yes, I still do just about everything in plain text even though I no longer maintain a certain website
It’s About What You Need to Do
Some thoughts about how you should use tools to the level at which you need to
Focus on the Work
Productivity is about the work, not the tool that you use
Simplifying
A thought about massive, complex personal machines versus something more streamlined
On Local Journalism
Some thoughts about local newspapers and why they're important
On the Cult of the Loud
Some thoughts about why loud people aren't the ones we should listen to
How I Publish Blog Posts
A peek at my process for bringing these scribblings to you
Why Simple Tools Matter
Simple, especially when it comes to tools, isn't a four letter word but some people seem to treat it that way
Do You Really Need to Remember Everything?
Thoughts about how to better deal with the information that you accumulate
On AI Slop
Some thoughts about AI generated content (and, yes, I use that word in the pejorative)
What Should Practice Be?
A short musing on the idea of practice
Not All Notes are Permanent
A quick thought about why some notes are ephemeral and should be treated that way
AI, Hallucinations, and Writing
A short musing on why we shouldn't trust what AI chatbots produce
On Meta-Work
Another thought about what productivity is and isn't
Thoughts About the Second Brain
Why I think the so-called 'second brain' really is nothing of the sort
The Fallacy of Saving Time
Thoughts about hacks and how they really don't save us time
On Being an Individual
Why I think individuality isn't a group activity
On Effectively Using a Notebook
The best way to use one is the way in which you're already doing it
On Privacy
A pointer to a blog post containing useful ideas
Expectations Out of Whack
Thoughts about what people want blinding them to what they actually need
My Litmus Test
A look at how I approach new things, especially overhyped new things
Do You Really Need To?
A look at the problems of assembly line productivity
Why a Text-Only Blog?
A short explanation of why Random Notes has no adornments, and why I instead dare to be dull
Note Taking Tools: A Graveyard for Ideas
Thoughts about note taking apps and they can lead to us collecting ideas and information that we never use
On Crafting The Monday Kickoff
Some notes about how I curate and write my weekly letter, The Monday Kickoff
The Idle Hands Myth
Thoughts about the need many people seem to have to occupy all of their time with work
On Lab Mode
A short reflection on a way I use to focus ideas and thoughts
On What I Really Need to Use
A short musing on software simplicity
Mirrors
A short musing on how people see us and how we see ourselves
It's Not (Quite) the Years ...
A short reflection on what happens to one's body after decades of subjecting it to punishment
Running
A short meditation on taking up a type of exercise that I've never liked