Weeknotes 2023 W52: Year in review

Quick bits:

• I wrote up my 2023 in review. Go read it! My key takeaway: 2023 was a year of major change for me.

• My bank (ING) has an ongoing problem where some VISA transactions are charged twice. They are aware of the problem and are working on a fix, but it has been more than a week. Bizarre that this can happen.

I made a bunch of changes to my web site:

• I have a blogroll now. Take a look at my People and blogs note.

• I have a thing for fonts, and so I also added, ehh, a Fontroll. It’s like a blogroll, but for fonts. “Fontroll” is a term that I made up, in case you were wondering. I suppose “Typefaceroll” would technically be more correct but I’m beyond caring.

• The sidenotes are now positioned with pure CSS — no more JavaScript to prevent overlap. It is using float: right with a negative margin to move them out of the way, and clear: right to prevent overlap. This is a much nicer solution.

• My web site is now compiled with Ruby 3.3. It just works. No changes needed.

I bought Scrivener, which I think is going to be a game changer for my fiction writing.

I used to have all the material for stories I was working on (outline, brainstorming, character sheets, loose ideas, scene spreadsheet, the manuscript itself, …) in a Finder folder, but it inevitably requires switching back-and-forth between different apps. Worse, I found it useful to print out material and make changes by hand, because it was somehow easier than working in multiple apps at the same time. Despite using “distraction-free” apps, the process felt so convoluted that I often felt like throwing up my hands in defeat.

The workflow that I had dreamed of, I could implement in Scrivener quickly and easily.

There is also a chance that it might replace my usage of D★Mark. I have ideas for upcoming articles and perhaps I’ll use Scrivener next time around.

Writing is still hard, mind you. It is still torturously difficult at times, and Scrivener doesn’t (can’t) remove that pain. But having the right tools makes the job a lot lighter.

Entertainment:

• I bought the Quake remaster¹¹¹ Quake (id Software, Nightdive Studios, MachineGames, Bethesda Softworks, 2021), published by Bethesda Softworks.  after watching Noah Caldwell-Gervais’s video on Quake (linked below). The highlight of the remaster is the new “Dimension of the Machine,” which is incredibly well done.

• I bought and played most of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood,²²² Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (MachineGames, 2015), published by Bethesda Softworks.  but I am rather not fond of it. The gameplay is rather gimmicky, and the final boss got me bored/annoyed enough that I’m going to leave the game unfinished.

• Fight Club³³³ Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, written by Chuck Palahniuk and Jim Uhls (Fox 2000 Pictures, New Regency Productions, Linson Films, 1999).  was worth a rewatch. I also now realize that this is the movie that popularized the phrase “I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.”

• I’m two decades behind, but I watched Millions⁴⁴⁴ Millions, directed by Danny Boyle, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Fox Searchlight Pictures, Pathé Pictures International, UK Film Council, 2004).  just now. It is funny, yet heartwarming and profound.

Links:

• Playing Quake for the Story (A Franchise Retrospective) (Noah Caldwell-Gervais)

• no one knows who created skull trumpet (until now) (Jeffiot): What a trip!

• The Best Movie Posters of 2023 (Jason Kottke): Pretty!

• You Are The Latest Version of You (Patrick Rhone, via Inneresting): I think this is a fantastic mindset to have.

Tech links:

• Stop Using AI-Generated Images (Michelle Barker)

• “Me” and “We” Contributions (Todd Grotenhuis): I used to be firmly in the “only-talk-about-we” camp, then realised that I couldn’t get promoted if I didn’t have personal achievements too.

• The Web is Fantastic (Robb Knight): Yes!