Showing posts with label archive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label archive. Show all posts
§4. Read Write eXecute Archive
Read your notes, your field, your surrounding, into your heart. Write about, on, over, and through it because you like it. Execute what you avowed, noted, edited, written, and much everything else. Archive elsewhere, anyhow, anywhere that brings you closer to peace.
§12. Don't File, Delete
The email interface helps search for archived stuff
but also for every bit of junk sent or received.
The simplest way to make sure that only good stuff
is archived and junk deleted from the get go.
But nothing prevents from deleting junk as it's being searched.
And noting keywords for junk can help filter them later automagically.
but also for every bit of junk sent or received.
The simplest way to make sure that only good stuff
is archived and junk deleted from the get go.
But nothing prevents from deleting junk as it's being searched.
And noting keywords for junk can help filter them later automagically.
§13. Schopenhauer on Method
The advice here given is on a par with a rule recommended by Pythagoras,—to review, every night before going to sleep, what we have done during the day. To live at random, in the hurly-burly of business or pleasure, without ever reflecting upon the past,—to go on, as it were, pulling cotton off the reel of life,—is to have no clear idea of what we are about; and a man who lives in this state will have chaos in his emotions and certain confusion in his thoughts; as is soon manifest by the abrupt and fragmentary character of his conversation, which becomes a kind of mincemeat. A man will be all the more exposed to this fate in proportion as he lives a restless life in the world, amid a crowd of various impressions and with a correspondingly small amount of activity on the part of his own mind.
gutenberg.org
§17. Out of the Inbox
Oftentimes, it's tough to decide where a thing should go.
To keep us from shuffling stuff around,
minimalists urge to rely on one and only one inbox.
They also advise to do, or else discard, delegate or defer.
While discarding and delegating get stuff out of the inbox,
how can deferring prevents their diminishing returns?
As long as a project is undone, some of its part will reappear.
Anything elsewhere it's supposed to be awaits in some inbox.
How to get out of the inbox, if it's anywhere we have stuff?
To keep us from shuffling stuff around,
minimalists urge to rely on one and only one inbox.
They also advise to do, or else discard, delegate or defer.
While discarding and delegating get stuff out of the inbox,
how can deferring prevents their diminishing returns?
As long as a project is undone, some of its part will reappear.
Anything elsewhere it's supposed to be awaits in some inbox.
How to get out of the inbox, if it's anywhere we have stuff?
§18. Many Boxes
Virtual inboxes:
Desktop, Documents, Downloads.
Buffer files to write elsewhere.
Notes for clients, old notes.
Anything anywhere to be processed.
All emails, incoming or archived.
Reader, pinboard, etc.
Real inboxes:
Desktop, paper tray, paper slips box.
Pocket briefcase, index cards box, pinboard.
Notebooks, a backpack full of them, closets.
The mailbox, other people, the answering machine.
We have many boxes.
Desktop, Documents, Downloads.
Buffer files to write elsewhere.
Notes for clients, old notes.
Anything anywhere to be processed.
All emails, incoming or archived.
Reader, pinboard, etc.
Real inboxes:
Desktop, paper tray, paper slips box.
Pocket briefcase, index cards box, pinboard.
Notebooks, a backpack full of them, closets.
The mailbox, other people, the answering machine.
We have many boxes.
§19. Project or Object
Methodologists may manage material with a dichotomy between items upon which we can act, and items upon which we can't, between action material that belongs to projects, and objects orbiting around the office: references, supplies, etc. Dichotomies can only be false outside the realms of logic. Mundane matters make its falsity manifest.
User manuals may belong to the project Caring for my Stuff. Dictionaries may belong to Writing Well on the Web. Tools may belong to Having Everything for Repairs. Notes may belong to Taking Note.
Let's posit instead of this dichotomy that everything from our own existence is a project. Every object near us comes to life when a project becomes active. No object stands on its own, aside any project, be it indefinite, virtual, or promised. An object may shift from one project to the next.
Multi-faceted objects can assist in many projects. Sooner or later, most objects become multi-faceted. Even invoices: they may belong to Taxes I Deadly Need to Pay, next to Meditate about Making Money Analysis, then to Taxes I Need to Keep.
This relationship between objects and projects might explain slogans like One and Only One Place and Once and Only Once. With their dichotomy, methodologists might be idealizing the relationship between objects and projects. There is no objective way to classify objects.
An object may only be what one projects to do with it.
User manuals may belong to the project Caring for my Stuff. Dictionaries may belong to Writing Well on the Web. Tools may belong to Having Everything for Repairs. Notes may belong to Taking Note.
Let's posit instead of this dichotomy that everything from our own existence is a project. Every object near us comes to life when a project becomes active. No object stands on its own, aside any project, be it indefinite, virtual, or promised. An object may shift from one project to the next.
Multi-faceted objects can assist in many projects. Sooner or later, most objects become multi-faceted. Even invoices: they may belong to Taxes I Deadly Need to Pay, next to Meditate about Making Money Analysis, then to Taxes I Need to Keep.
This relationship between objects and projects might explain slogans like One and Only One Place and Once and Only Once. With their dichotomy, methodologists might be idealizing the relationship between objects and projects. There is no objective way to classify objects.
An object may only be what one projects to do with it.
§52. _Why's Six Categories
On whytheluckystiff.net, _Why used to file his posts under:
Source: Smashing Magazine.
- Stories,
- Comics,
- Incidents,
- Quatrains,
- Hacking, and
- Five-Minute Plays for Twins Who Don’t Have Their Other Twin With Them And An Unlimited Supply of Animals.
Source: Smashing Magazine.
Fighting Broken Links
Do not cite if you do not have to.
Do not cite pages you don't know if it will stay permanently.
Permalinks is not a good enough garantee.
Keep your links at the end, like a normal list of references.
Keep your links into a database.
Do not cite pages you don't know if it will stay permanently.
Permalinks is not a good enough garantee.
Keep your links at the end, like a normal list of references.
Keep your links into a database.
Inner Path
T.S. Eliot asks good questions in **Choruses from The Rock** :
These questions will make me change the destiny of this very blog. Was a bit tiresome, lately. It always was, quite frankly, but I thought it was normal.
This blog will become something else. Stay tuned, dear reader, if you do exist.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
These questions will make me change the destiny of this very blog. Was a bit tiresome, lately. It always was, quite frankly, but I thought it was normal.
This blog will become something else. Stay tuned, dear reader, if you do exist.
Who needs to delete when you have over 7000 MB of storage?!
Those who want to remove for your eyes only information.
Those who want to clean-up useless trash.
Those who like to live with danger.
Those who want to clean-up useless trash.
Those who like to live with danger.
Bags and Buckets
My plumber came to fix some plumbing. As usual, he's bringing his big bucket, full of tools. An ordinary plastic bucket.
When questioned about it, he said: "Oh, I bought about every kind of toolbox and organizer on the market. They don't do the job: too many pockets and compartments. I keep this bucket to go in clients' house, and keep a big hockey bag in the car, for the big tools."
Sometimes, when one needs a big bucket and a big bag, one could just pick a big bucket and a big bag.
When questioned about it, he said: "Oh, I bought about every kind of toolbox and organizer on the market. They don't do the job: too many pockets and compartments. I keep this bucket to go in clients' house, and keep a big hockey bag in the car, for the big tools."
Sometimes, when one needs a big bucket and a big bag, one could just pick a big bucket and a big bag.
Clean Surfaces
First and foremost, clean up working surfaces. This is supposed to be done at the end of working periods, but it seldom is. Perhaps because there are lots of surfaces to cover.
Desktops. Inboxes. Tasks lists. Files and folders. Sticks and disks. Tools and machinery. Links and bots. Everything that stand in the way must get out. Everything, both real and virtual flavours.
The time spent enhances productivity and, most importantly, security. To backup everything before work, in case something goes wrong, crazy, or simply experimental. Freakily controling versions, at the very least forwarding yourself stable releases.
Desktops. Inboxes. Tasks lists. Files and folders. Sticks and disks. Tools and machinery. Links and bots. Everything that stand in the way must get out. Everything, both real and virtual flavours.
The time spent enhances productivity and, most importantly, security. To backup everything before work, in case something goes wrong, crazy, or simply experimental. Freakily controling versions, at the very least forwarding yourself stable releases.
Meditating layout
Without CSS.
Without specific fonts.
Without a computer. Phone.
Without colors.
Without your browser.
Without patience.
Without context.
Without seeing images.
Aknowledgements. I would like to thank René Descartes for his ever lasting collaboration.
Without specific fonts.
Without a computer. Phone.
Without colors.
Without your browser.
Without patience.
Without context.
Without seeing images.
Aknowledgements. I would like to thank René Descartes for his ever lasting collaboration.
Fleeing from Formats
The best way to choose a format to edit texts is to ask these simple questions :
Exit. Is it possible to escape from it? No need to form a maze of new habits without knowing one's way out of a format. No graceful exit, high risk of imprisonment. Think of the many slaves of the DOC proprietary format.
Export. Can I transform my source text into multiple formats? No need to learn a new formatting tool if one can't create multiple outputs. Markdown is a good example : it helps create HTML, LaTeX and even looks neat in plain text.
Enpower. Does the format speed my work? A format is not an ideal: it's a way to work. The end result should be increased productivity. If one does better at writing in RTF, then so be it.
Exit. Is it possible to escape from it? No need to form a maze of new habits without knowing one's way out of a format. No graceful exit, high risk of imprisonment. Think of the many slaves of the DOC proprietary format.
Export. Can I transform my source text into multiple formats? No need to learn a new formatting tool if one can't create multiple outputs. Markdown is a good example : it helps create HTML, LaTeX and even looks neat in plain text.
Enpower. Does the format speed my work? A format is not an ideal: it's a way to work. The end result should be increased productivity. If one does better at writing in RTF, then so be it.
Keep Closing
Put away random notes into one pile; sort out relevant notes into separate projects. Keep close most urgent projects, take apart the next other ones. Write down notes into outlines. Carry over outlines as presentations. Burn up presentations into memory. Tidy up everything until the filing cabinet can close.
Default Directories
OSX default directories are well designed. Almost everybody could keep their stuff organized like that. Desktop represents the slate where files get processed. Downloads go into Download: texts, images, movies, everything. When processed, they go into documents' repository, or the desktop, if not directly into trash. Finally, Applications are for applications: there are security reasons to keep it that way.
That said, Documents is a bit tougher to defend. It's polluted with some applications' data. There is a diffence between archived documents and working documents. And Images, Music, and Photos are documents too.
So here are three directories of my own: Archives, Banks, and Notes. Archives are for closed archives. Banks is for data; one could also name it Databases, but my music and my photos go there too. Notebook are for notes. In french, Notebooks are in fact called "Cahiers", which gives me three folders starting with A, B, C.
Unless necessary, stick to default directories.
That said, Documents is a bit tougher to defend. It's polluted with some applications' data. There is a diffence between archived documents and working documents. And Images, Music, and Photos are documents too.
So here are three directories of my own: Archives, Banks, and Notes. Archives are for closed archives. Banks is for data; one could also name it Databases, but my music and my photos go there too. Notebook are for notes. In french, Notebooks are in fact called "Cahiers", which gives me three folders starting with A, B, C.
Unless necessary, stick to default directories.
C.I. Lewis on Method
In **Mind and World Order** C.I. Lewis divides knowledge into three elements : the immediate data of the sense, the concept, and the act that interprets the former into the latter, and maybe the other way around. Lewis further (chapter XI) details four procedures that produce knowledge : discarding, organizing, abstracting and analyzing.
Many on Method
Any given program, when running, is obsolete. If a program is useless, it will have to be documented. If a program is useful, it will have to be changed. Any program will expand to fill any available memory. The value of a program is proportional to the weight of its output. Program complexity grows until it exceeds the capability of the programmer to maintain it. Make it possible for programmers to write in English and you will find that programmers cannot write in English. If computers get too powerful, organize them into a committee and that will do them in. If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.
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