Fix Drafts Directory

drafts/Grammarly Is the End of All Language.md

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+# Grammarly Is the End of All Language
+
+![Grammarly Logo Banner](https://i.snap.as/psg0m0F.jpg)
+
+Usually when I write about software, I've been trying it for several weeks at least.
+
+<iframe width="auto" height="auto" src="https://www.loom.com/embed/63e0049a3e194e81b5e54fa18e79f8c6" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
+
+---
+
+- [ ] Fears that Grammarly is a keylogger
+- [ ] "[Media Assets](https://www.grammarly.com/media-assets)" | Grammarly 
+- [ ] "More on why/how Grammarly and the 'Readability' Doctrine methodically (and quite rudely) destroys everything worthwhile about writing anything."
+- [ ] Compared with [Microsoft Editor](https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/microsoft-editor/hokifickgkhplphjiodbggjmoafhignh) ??

drafts/In Defense of Just Fucking Around.md

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+# In Defense of Just Fucking Around
+
+After an adolescence and early adulthood spent in flux regarding technology’s integration into my own identity; after years spent occasionally surmising that I could be adept at helping folks figure out their software, I finally got the chance, last year, to see how much I was truly capable of within the context of a real IT business. (I’ll spare you further reading: *not much*.) A friend of mine – once my manager at the second convenience store job I’ve had – managed to get me a support job at a small IT company based in a quaint suburb of Kansas City, co-owned by two old pros, who were also very much *locals who stayed* in the area. Their clientele was predominantly made up of the city’s municipal organizations – fire, police, works, etc. – along with much of the local heavy industry. Technically, two companies shared the same office (and resources… and at least one employee:) the software development company – the one my friend technically worked for – that provided bespoke, very technical management software for cement plants, and the IT company, which was almost singularly run by the older of the two partners. 
+
+That’s the extent I knew about the job when he first called me for an interview, asking a less diverse variety of screening questions than one might expect regarding my related knowledge. I cannot remember any of them specifically, but I do remember essentially answering “uh… well I don’t know, but here’s how I would find out” to many of them – perhaps too many, in retrospect. This IT boss – whom I’ll call Tim – who was known to be so discerning, was somehow convinced by my friend – whom I’ll call Jake – that I knew enough to be worth trying out, despite how poorly I felt I performed in the interview. Thank you, Jake!
+
+A few weeks later, I packed up my clothes and moved in to Jake’s little house, less than two miles from the business, under the premise of a trial period. The next three months would be a trial for all of us in more ways than we could’ve imagined. For myself, Tim’s management style – full of machismo, paranoia, and threats – would be a test of a supposition about myself: that I could work under *any* boss, no matter how technically “good” they may or may not be. For Tim, I seemed to represent some profound risk to his business because of my failure to generate “billable hours,” which is largely why I’ve begun with this story. For Jake, as immediate observer of the situation, it caused much turmoil (which I regret) considering he was just hoping to get a roommate and similarly-aged colleague out of the deal.
+
+In terms of my performance as a “support specialist,” I think all of us could agree that it was profoundly hindered by the nature of my philosophy of use regarding technology. *Just Fucking Around* does not lend well to solving IT problems in a timely, reassuring, and fundamentally billable way. In fact, I think one could even go so far as to deem it *irresponsible* in such a context, but the experience taught me a lot about myself, for better or worse. It also resulted in at least one solution which I daresay no other process could’ve found involving a privacy setting buried deep within some ancient business printing software. This, I suspect, was not worth the sum I was paid in those few months to the company, but it may or may not be some miniscule evidence that some problems necessitate a completely undisciplined/unhinged software rascal to solve. (Not enough to launch a business out of, I suspect.)
+
+## Definitions
+
+To be more specific about what I mean by *Just Fucking Around*, I know only to draw upon individual experiences. For instance: when prompted with “what are you doing?” while *Just Fucking Around*, I know I have often struggled to answer articulately.[[1\]](#_ftn1) This is perhaps the root of my problem with timesheets: while I am technically capable of walking back into a description of *what I am doing*, it feels unnatural and perturbing. How adjacent does this fact make JFA to the recent evangelism I’ve come across for re-accepting “I don’t know” in day-to-day thought? Well, *I don’t know*. Until/unless another individual contributes to this “philosophy” – by addition and/or peer review – it will remain… something less than a philosophy.
+
+**What does it actually look like?** Observe a child using just about any given application for the first time, or – if an opportunity to do so is unavailable or inappropriate – imagine yourself as a child encountering an application for the first time. More specifically, a child too young to immediately seek out a search engine in the face of a task they do not understand.[[2\]](#_ftn2)[[3\]](#_ftn3)
+
+
+
+------
+
+[[1\]](#_ftnref1) Here, perhaps we find insight into the origin of “they have no idea what they’re doing.”
+
+[[2\]](#_ftnref2) If such a child still exists, that is.
+
+[[3\]](#_ftnref3) I promise I made a valiant effort to search out online video of *anyone* using *any* software for the first time, but “[KIDS REACT TO OLD COMPUTERS](https://youtu.be/PF7EpEnglgk)” was about as close as I could dig up.

drafts/Microsoft Browsing Review.md

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+# Microsoft Browsing Review
+
+![Microsoft Edge](https://i.snap.as/CC4uOlB.jpg)
+
+## Edge and Bing have taken on a surprising new light.
+
+I touched briefly on the "new" Edge in my [Microsoft Build 2020 post](https://bilge.world/microsoft-build-2020-edge-browser), but in hard use since, I've found the Microsoft Browsing Experience to be worth talking about again. When I say "hard use," I mean usage that normally requires two browsers at least: Firefox and Chrome. For the past few years, I've used the former as my primary browser while the latter remains open with Tweetdeck and Mastodon. This is not a particularly ideal arrangement, as you might imagine, but it's a habit I've picked up because of the way Chrome renders complex web pages like these live-updating social services. I've spent the past three months using Edge Chromium as my primary browser with Bing as my primary search engine and have found the experience surprisingly competent. As of this moment, Microsoft's browser appears to be the first and best candidate to singularly replace my system, which is something I never expected to say.
+
+![Global Browser Usage - Edge](https://i.snap.as/xWiIaSn.png)
+
+*% of Global Browser Market Share across all platforms. (Via [StatCounter](https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share))*
+
+Considering the spike Edge Chromium experienced in usership in just four months after its launch, perhaps I needn't really say anything at all... And yet, I took [far too many notes](https://www.notion.so/rotund/Microsoft-Browsing-Review-87b5e53d6a354d54b4f21da5f44ac0b3) throughout these past months to let them go to waste, and [other browser comparisons](https://www.techradar.com/best/browser) include shit like "can save sites as apps" in their Pros lists. Most important to note is that Edge Chromium's [offline game](https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-edge-surf-game-214711550.html) is definitely the cutest among desktop browsers right now. I also think the new logo might be the best-looking bit of Microsoft branding since the original Office icon set. Also notable: Microsoft's entry remains the **only usable browser in touchscreen mode** on Windows 10, from my limited experience.
+
+<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">best input methodology?</p>&mdash; David Blue (@NeoYokel) <a href="https://twitter.com/NeoYokel/status/1285983594809360384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
+
+"You might not think about your browser, but we do," insists a [late-March Microsoft ad for Edge Chromium](https://youtu.be/yg5cUyPBHjI). I do, perhaps to my own detriment. A lot more thought continues to be put into browser development than one might imagine - beyond Chrome's focus on encompassing all of computing and Firefox's focus on remaining the go-to privacy-focused browsing solution, that is. On the fringe, there's [Min](https://opensource.com/article/18/10/min-web-browser) and Opera's new "[gaming browser](https://twitter.com/NeoYokel/status/1313937729403727873)," both of which I intend to write about in the near future. [Vivaldi](https://vivaldi.com/) continues to plow on, very much [doing its own thing](https://twitter.com/NeoYokel/status/1271274640900530182), as has/does [Brave](https://brave.com/blog/). Google's development literature may insist that Chrome continues to get less and less gluttonous with resources - which may very well be true - but it still remains the hungriest of all by a substantial margin, or at least, it did until this past June, when a website called *Windows Latest* [reported that a coming change to Windows would reduce Chrome's RAM usage](https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/06/18/google-chrome-will-finally-use-less-memory-on-windows-10/), among other applications. As far as I can tell, nobody has actually gone back to confirm the validity of this report after the May update.
+
+This discussion is an important one, if only evidenced by the fact that Joanna Stern - one of my longtime heroes in the Tech Journalism space and esteemed tech industry interpreter for the ancient readers of *The Wall Street Journal* - published a review in said paper a month later entitled "[Quit Chrome. Safari and Edge Are Just Better Browsers for You and Your Computer.](https://www.wsj.com/articles/quit-chrome-safari-and-edge-are-just-better-browsers-for-you-and-your-computer-11594558801)" (If you can't read it there, I have [scraped it on Notion](https://www.notion.so/rotund/Quit-Chrome-Safari-and-Edge-Are-Just-Better-Browsers-for-You-and-Your-Computer-The-Wall-Street-J-646cd52c67c645babdabb38eee516406).) Stern's article includes a lot of what I intended to say, right down to the Internet Explorer jokes. "...[Microsoft] hasn’t had a great browser [since, like, 1996](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB84066720246797500)," she reminds us. 
+

drafts/Min Browser Review.md

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+# Min Browser Review
+
+![Min Browser Logo](https://i.snap.as/YfNSLJR.png)
+
+After the past few months (and years, tbh) of news, [that Summer I spent with virtually zero internet access](https://bilge.world/bad-connection-insights) is starting to look better and better.
+
+I don't think of myself as having a tab problem, largely because my Main Machine at the moment is a less-than-three-pound [Microsoft Surface Laptop 2](https://bilge.world/microsoft-surface-laptop-2-review) with just 8GB of RAM and - while it technically *is* capable of running with some ridiculous number of browser tabs open - it's unable to do so unnoticeably. I could claim that I do 
+
+<iframe sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-popups allow-forms" scrolling=no width="100%" height="185" frameborder="0" src="https://embed.radiopublic.com/e?if=end-user-WdbezM&ge=s1!092530ec90c71d4bb12658802e0284034f6f240d"></iframe>
+
+
+
+
+
+---
+
+- [ ] Min blocks ads by default.
+
+- [ ] "[Browse Minimally](https://tedium.co/2020/05/12/minimal-web-browser-argument/)" | *Tedium*
+
+  > Around for a couple of years, this browser essentially takes out as much cruft as it possibly can from the experience. (...)
+  >
+  > I think the reason why the browser is so effective at its goal of minimalism is because of *how* it manages tab overload. Rather than simply letting tabs fill up, you’re encouraged to create “tasks” that let you divide different use cases up. As a writer, the way I’ve been using tasks has been to create a new one for every story I write and research, so that I can separate those ideas out without them getting in the way of everything else. (I can also hide the usual junk that sits in the pinned tabs in its own task.)
+
+- [ ] "[Let Your Unread Tabs Pile Up](https://slate.com/technology/2018/09/browser-tab-mangement-strategy-plugins.html)" | *Slate*
+
+  > An overabundance of tabs is a well-established problem among those who spend their entire days combing the internet, where distraction reigns king.
+
+- [ ] "[Min Browser Muffles the Web’s Noise](https://linuxinsider.com/story/Min-Browser-Muffles-the-Webs-Noise-84212.html)" | *Linux Insider*
+
+- [ ] "[Min: An Open Source Web Browser for Minimalists](https://itsfoss.com/min-an-open-source-web-browser-for-minimalists/)" | *It's FOSS*
+
+- [ ] "[Browsing the web with Min, a minimalist open source web browser](https://opensource.com/article/18/10/min-web-browser)" | *OpenSource.com*
+
+- [ ] "[Minimalist browsing with Min browser](https://dev.to/wangonya/minimalist-browsing-with-min-browser-1p0c)" | *Dev*
+
+- [ ] Reading view is a little slow.
+
+- [ ] "Return to your previous task" is a lot more useful than "open where you left off."
+
+- [ ] Browsing entirely centered around the search bar.
+
+- [ ] It would be nice to be able to preview hyperlinks in the left-bottom corner just by hovering on them instead of having to right-click.
+
+- [ ] Customizable hotkeys are brilliant.
+
+- [ ] You cannot move tabs around, which supports Min's minimal tab argument.

drafts/My Darling, Typora.md

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+# My Darling, Typora
+
+## At long last, I have found the perfect writing software.
+
+![Typora Tile](https://i.snap.as/3vbelEU.png)
+
+I'm not exactly sure what set off my obsession with word processing software in 2018, though I suspect it was my discovery of the WinWorldPC library.
+
+
+
+---
+
+Typora is an infinitely-customizable markdown editor spanning all platforms that's managed to become my primary word processor (and I'm someone who demands *a lot* from word processors.) It's immensely powerful in all the important ways - my use over the past two years has stress tested it with both enormous (100,000+ words) and extremely complicated (100+ images and embeds) documents. It's able to export even these chunkos to any format you can imagine instantaneously and never crashes. I used to recommend it as an alternative to Bear, but honestly, I think it's better.

drafts/Notion.md

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+# Joining the Notion Cult
+
+![Notion Brand Tile](https://i.snap.as/gwOgiDN.png)
+
+As I did with Bear, originally, I did not fully digest Notion before several cycles of downloading it only to delete it a few days later (on both Windows and iOS.) I'd suppose this habit has something to do with feeling overwhelmed, though I'm not sure it indicates anything about the applications' design beyond myself. Unlike Bear - which should point users to its theme options from first open, in my opinion - it was Notion's *capability* that immediately sent me running. (By the way, I think [comparing the two](https://www.reddit.com/r/bearapp/comments/j2grc8/notion_has_added_backlinks/) is utterly absurd, but more on that later.) In every original instance when it'd occurred to me to open the desktop application, the reality of workspaces, pages, properties, relations, etc. and how they interact with one another again and again prompted the *now is not the time* response in my brain. Admittedly, it wasn't until I discovered that Notion (generously) **offers its premium service [free to students](https://www.notion.so/students)** (or anyone with a .edu email address, I suppose) that I made myself set aside time to full-screen the damned thing and fully engage with its introductory documentation.
+
+Evernote was genius, okay? This is a fact. Nothing like it had ever come before in notetaking and ideally, nothing exactly like it will ever come again. I say this because - while unquestionably genius - Evernote's various file management containers - notebooks, tags, notebook *stacks*, etc. - combined with its innovative email integration and first-of-a-kind web scraping browser extensions somehow led to many of us treating our accounts as a lowly fucking dump. The service had a gift for unlocking any innate desire to archive information within its users with violent consequences. When there were hardly any browser extensions worthy of pinning to our fresh-smelling toolbars in Firefox and Chrome - certainly none so regularly useful - we became addicted to slamming that clipper icon on just about ever webpage we visited because the process was thereafter invisible to us. It was only after years of this behavior that we finally collapsed all expandables in Evernote's left panel, stepped back, and saw the *prolific, heaping mess* we'd aggregated and scraped together.
+
+The vast majority of the notes rotting away in my second Evernote account, created on August 18th, 2010 (the first - a beta account - has been lost to time, thank Gourd,) will almost certainly remain utterly useless to myself or anyone else for the rest of time. Perusing through one particularly ambiguous notebook entitled *Hole*, just now, I noticed that I (no joke) clipped the Mailchimp login page at 7:29 PM on Tuesday, November 29th, 2016 (and now, I can fucking [share it](https://www.evernote.com/shard/s36/sh/ee28f42d-02b0-4aae-82c5-21b24b606a00/c6f3125a16a99c1089fc6360d47264c6)!) Accidentally, I'm sure, indicating I had yet to bring myself to remove the web clipper extension, which is all the more telling of the nature of Evernote and I's relationship.
+
+<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1tfCpq8zD_k?controls=0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
+
+Impressively, Evernote is still around - and by "around," I don't just mean that its servers are still functioning. Apparently, Evernote development *has* continued, most recently culminating in an [entirely(?) redesigned iOS app](https://evernote.com/blog/introducing-new-evernote-ios/), which I briefly tried for the sake of this discussion and was quite impressed with - namely in its tactile refinement, not necessarily its shear capability. Before I found myself living this entirely alien, listless adult life plagued with so much *fiddling*, a *very* long period of nigh-exclusivity with Evernote as my digital writing environment passed. Unless I managed to find myself in a situation where I did not have a choice, I did not discern when it came to Evernote: it was the sum of my space for digital expression of thought. Yes, I even *composed* everything there.