PTPL 044: Running Obsidian on an E-ink Device Might Not Be All You Were Hoping
PLUS a secret code for writing numbers, and a new Bible side project
This week —
A space saving and brain expanding system for writing numbers from the Middle Ages
E-ink devices running Obsidian
How processing notes in my new (mostly) folderless Obsidian vault is going
Side project: an English | French side-by-side wide margin Bible PDF
Productivity Tips and Inspiration
Space saving number system from the Cistercian Monks
Here’s a nerdy, compact way to write numbers 1–9999 that I first heard about from Clive Thompson. I can’t think of many practical uses for it other than saving horizontal space in your handwritten notes, but it’s worth a look if you want to expand a few more synapses this week. It’s very quick to memorize. If you fall in love with it and like building things, this Cypher of the Monk’s clock kit looks very cool.
More on secret-code-like writing systems:
How to Safely Write Private Notes in Public Places
5 surprisingly useful writing systems for adults (and adventurous kids)medium.com
Are E-Ink devices worth it?
Emily Hokett had high hopes for the e-ink devices she tried out, but poor performance and high prices mean it’s a solid No from her.
My opinion: it depends on your expectations. I haven’t used an e-ink device since my first Kindle (the one with the keyboard), but if performance and price improve markedly, I’d be interested to try one. For now, my iPad is just fine. Distraction on that device hasn’t been an issue for me, and I like how I can bring pictures and other files into what I’m working on.
The Boox is an Android device, so yes, you can install Obsidian on it. Someone on Mastodon who’s done that mentioned that it’s rather slow, however. Here’s a Reddit discussion where people are discussing their Boox to Obsidian workflows. Pixel Leaves has a detailed video on how she takes academic notes on her Supernote and transfers them to Obsidian.
Obsidian When You Don’t Care About Knowledge Graphs
Jason had me at this opening line:
I am not an Obsidian expert, productivity expert, or anything related to that. I just want to keep track of stuff in a way that makes sense to me.
That’s my kind of expert, no matter what he says! In this article Jason explains how he’s handling the sync and backup of his Obsidian vault, and why he uses the (small) number of plugins he’s listed. He also has a link to some alternate Obsidian app icons in case you want to make yours a little prettier.
Adventures in Plain Text (and a little paper)
Processing notes in my new Obsidian vault is going well
Nearly a month after moving to a my-thoughts-only note taking system, I’m even more satisfied than I was at the start. The folder structure for life-stuff works well, and it’s still good to see all my seed/sprout/evergreen notes underneath them on one flat level.
Every day I pick one or two unprocessed notes from days/months/years past and format it according to my new atomic note template, including adding links to other notes that come to mind. I’m quietly optimistic that useful connections will build over time, turning these thoughts of mine into a fruitful knowledge garden.
Side project: an English | French version of the Bible
You might remember that last year I put the King James Version of the Bible into Markdown, with navigation links and basic study index pages. This year I’m creating a letter sized, wide margin PDF format Bible with two columns per page: French and English. I’m hoping it will be available in two different translations: KJV with Louis Segonde, and NASB with Semeur. Just waiting to hear back from Biblica for copyright permission for the latter.
I can’t imagine too many people being interested in this, but I’ll set it free once it’s done just in case it can be of use to someone else. You can subscribe to my Gumroad store to be notified when it’s ready to download.
So far I’ve almost completed stage 1: the four gospels. I’ll be importing it into Noteful on my iPad, and continuing to sketchnote in the margins as I study.
Coming Soon
How I’m organising my browser bookmarks in plain text
Keeping a health log in Obsidian (with graphs)