I do enjoy a sweet gadget! I tend to always look for alternatives to distractions built into devices with Internet connectivity. I appreciate the single use technology, with a simple interface and no pop ups or obtrusive vibe-hijacking "suggestions" like computers and phones have unless you take bold steps to mitigate it. My gadgets are mostly inexpensive and bought used.
Alphasmart Neo
This is the best device! A simple keyboard, running Palm software. There is nothing to fiddle with, and it's a good keyboard. Not as comfortable as a mechanical keyboard, but it beats the pants off of any modern laptop in my opinion. I love it for journaling and writing when I really want to clear my head and not have anything popping up
IPod Classic from 2005
My parents gave my brother and me each an IPod Classic around 2005 (a very generous gift!) and they both floated around over the years. After a decade of not using it, I realized that simple MP3 players are great.
The original IPod is an awesome device. 256 GB storage and all it does is play music. I like to keep it by my pondering table, and have a simple speaker that it plugs into, to listen to music while I drink tea in the morning. If and when it fails, I would get another, or an equivalent MP3 player.
Since I use Linux, I use Rhythmbox or Clementine to add music to the iPod. Side note for Mac and Windows users - apparently if you use iTunes and you plug your iPod into your machine, it will automatically start syncing and remove any songs not in your iTunes library. I mention this in case you have an old iPod with music not already on your computer, it would be easy to lose those songs.
Edit to add in 2025: I have had trouble using Linux for iPod management lately. I had to get my old Macbook up and running, and use it only to manage my iPod library. This is a bummer!
The Supernote E-Ink Tablet
This may be my only gadget I've gotten new. Generally I just buy used or refurbished, both to save money and to be less wasteful. I really appreciate the eink screen. It is a writing tablet, which is very cool. I have the Lamy pen to go with it, and the handwriting recognition is pretty good. I love paper notebooks and fountain pens though, so this is not a paper replacement for me. I also use it with a bluetooth keyboard sometimes. Sadly it cannot open .md markdown files (maybe that will be added as a feature eventually), but .txt files work. I may root it so I can sideload apps, but I prefer not to do hack my good devices for fear of something going wrong. The company is responsive though, and they do update the OS and features regularly, so there is still hope for more features as time goes. That support and ongoing development is one of the reasons I chose the Supernote over the Onyx Boox eink tablet.
Kobo Clara E-Reader
Nothing fancy, but it works. I've had this for a few years now. I mostly use it for library books because it works with the Overdrive library ebook system.
Old Samsung S2 8" tablet
It runs Android 7, but actually works fine. I will occasionally watch a show on it, or use it for Zoom meetings and other little things. I appreciate that with Android, I can still use this old device and install apps on it, it hasn't been shut out of the ecosystem even though it's outdated. It is such a wasteful system if a piece of equipment becomes a paperweight after three years because you can't update or install software, even if it still works. That was a prime reason I switched from iOS to Android a few yars ago.
Palm M500
A classic piece of technology! I have a little Palm foldable keyboard to connect to it, and I use it for some writing. I also play Wordle (the Palmdle app is the best) and Sudoku on it. Fun. I intentionally got a Palm that uses an SD card to plug into it. I have never had luck setting up sync with Linux. I can do a basic sync with JPilot, but never have been able to sync text documents using various command line tools. One of the situations where other folks have explained how easy it is, but I could never get it to work. Ah well!
What does work is plugging the SD card into the Palm, editing text files using Cardtxt, and then using a problem like FreeFileSync to sync changes from the card to a folder on my computer. Plus! If I neglect my Palm and it runs totally out of batteries, the files won't all be lost. The Palm will revert back to its original system if it loses power, so storing the only copy of important files on it is a bad idea, which goes without saying anyway. Always have backups!
It has been quite a year. For me it was overtaken by baby life, as I got pregnant in February and had our new baby in November. So most of the year I was just trying to roll with the physical experience, take care of myself (pregnancy is exhausting!), and make preparations for the little one. Since November I have been in the new baby haze, because newborns are relentless and don't leave much brain power for anything else.
Side note: Be sure to acknowledge anyone you know having babies, because pregnancy and childbirth is a seriously hardcore marathon of an intense experience. Any sweet looking mom wearing pink in the grocery store surrounded by kids is tough as nails. Just so you know.
Anyway! Here's my technology:
Devices:
System 76 Gazelle 12 running Linux Mint Debian.
I bought this used off of EBay in 2017. The hinges to the screen are crapped out so I treat it as a desktop, but it's a good machine otherwise. I am reminded of how when I bought it it smelled like cologne and had a photo of its previous owner's drivers license in the downloads folder. Wipe your data people!
Lenovo Thinkpad X280 running Vanilla Ubuntu
I understand now why the Linux community loves Thinkpads. It was cheap on Ebay and it is a great machine. I had been using a refurbished, cheap 11 inch Macbook Air running Ubuntu. It was cute, but slow as molasses. I spilled hot water on it it and it was toast. Now I'm glad I did, because I got the Thinkpad to replace it and it's a great machine. Fast, portable, I love it.
Operating Systems
Nothing exciting here - Vanilla Ubuntu and Linux Mint Debian. These distros work, and things are just fine. My distro hopping days are over as far as I can tell, and I just want it to not be a big deal. Every time I deal with a non-Linux operating system though, I am reminded why I love Linux and plan to use it forever - like watching my husband struggle to start windows without making a Microsoft account - so invasive and annoying. I appreciate the unobtrusiveness of Linux and am quite content.
Linux Apps
Zim Wiki It's a classic and always at the top of my list, just for journaling (with the journal plug in) and notes. It's a solid piece of software for managing text files that has served me well for many years.
Firefox is just a good browser, and I like to support a browser that isn't a part of Google (through Chrome-based browsers) taking over every corner of the internet. I've been using Firefox for twenty years probably, since the old Mozilla suite days with the dinosaur logo. I've tried other browsers and keep coming back.
Zola is the static site generator that I use for this blog. It works well, doesn't struggle with software dependencies (not a problem for everyone, but a problem for me with other SSGs).
Publii I am not using Publii right now, but I want it listed as an honorable mention, for building static web sites. It's a local app that gives a nice visual interface for creating web sites and then you can publish to your server or Git repository.
Recoll is a good search tool, for searching documents for key words and such, for when the file manager search doesn't quite do the job.
Geany is fine as a code editor, and I use it for markdown and text files too. I don't know if it's the best, but it works fine. I still kind of miss Smultron on Mac and PSPad on Windows. But that is probably nostalgia, not functionality.
FileZilla for FTP transfers, which I use to update this web site. Yes, I know some folks would say to learn Git or whatever. But hey, this is a small project and FTP is just fine for me.
FreeFileSyc is a great little program for syncing to folders. I use it for web site updates too, because you can sync to a folder through FTP. Or on a flash drive or SD card. Very handy.
A Lame Google Pixel 3a Phone Bought Refurbished
It's boring, it's fine, there are newer ones out there, but I'll just use this one till it becomes a problem. I switched from an iPhone a few years ago, mainly to transfer data more easily between phone and computer, and to generally have more control of my device. I don't think Google is any better than Apple, probably worse in terms of privacy, but Apple products are hard to work with if you don't embrace the ecosystem and use Apple all products, and I switched from Macs to Linux computers back in 2016. Plus my iPhones always ran up against the updates that would make apps incompatible as the phone aged sooner than I wanted to replace it, which was just a pain.
I originally de-Googled my phone, but I'm sorry to report that I re-Googled it a while back. I wanted to connect to my orchestra and string ensembles' google calendars, and there were apps I wanted to use that were not on FDroid. It's kind of the core problem of computers these days - having to choose between useful functions and ease of use, and ethics and privacy. I hate it, but sometimes I have to choose my battles for the sake of my own sanity.
I like these apps on my phone:
Feeder for RSS, but I try to not follow too many things.
Netguard to limit wifi and/or cell data internet access for apps as you choose. You can cripple your phone if you disable too much stuff, but hey, it's great to have control. I especially use this if I see an app burning through data when I don't want it to.
Data Monitor. We use a low amount of data, (1 GB per month, shared between me and my husband) both to save money and avoid temptation to use my phone too much. He barely remembers his phone exists, so it's more of a problem for me than for him. Data Monitor gives a little applet showing data use for the day, which has helped me to be aware of what apps are hogging data.
Privacy Browser. I generally search for things using Privacy Browser with javascript and images turned off, and if I actually need those functions I'll pop over to Chrome or Firefox. Sites with big images and pop ups are just the work of twisted, evil forces and I try to avoid them.
Wikipedia app. Just handy to look up little facts.
Simplenote for lil notes to sync easily between devices.
K9 for email, but I try not to check it much, and only have one account on it, the one that actually gets emails I may need to refer to when awayfrom my computer. Any online shopping and mailing lists go to a different account, because that's just not something I'll need to look up. If there is an email from anoth account I may need to refer to, I just copy it into that primary email so I can get to it on my phone.
Tusky is a good Mastodon app, but I deleted it to avoid checking stuff on my phone too much.
What I have been hoping for is a really simple web site, so I can just edit text/markdown files, sync them directly to my server and be done with it.
I am trying to use my computer as little as possible, and not to need it for writing. I find the computer rife with distractions, and want it to be as minimal as I can make it. This is why I do things like use the Supernote or Palm M500 to type and edit text documents.
This new web site is made using a Flat File CMS called HTMLy. I tried a bunch of Flat File CMSs, and found a lot of taglines shouting about how simple they were, followed by me spending hours trying to debug and customize them, or discover that they didn't have a functional RSS option. Very silly.
I tried one more, HTMLy, and was shocked to discover that it worked very quickly and well the first time and just did what I wanted. Amazing!
I had been using Publii, which is a fantastic piece of software. It is a GUI-based static site generator, where you create everything in the app and then hit the sync button to sync it to your FTP server.
This is not a criticism of Publii, which is really good software. This is about me trying to find a good workflow to maximize my focus ad minimize clutter. because I wound up with drafts in text files, and then would get tangled up about which version to edit as I was posting. What I wanted was a system where I would edit the files directly, in their file structure, and then just sync that to my FTP server. And that's what I now have!
If I write on the Supernote, I have the added step of syncing the Supernote to Dropbox, and then syncing the Dropbox folder to the FTP server. If I write on the Palm PDA, I have to sync those files from the SD card too. But that's not bad. Things stay simple and tidy. I am using FreeFileSync as a nice GUI piece of software to sync the local files to the FTP server. It works nicely.
I got a new keyboard, the Logitech TypeAway, for my Palm M500. The old one, the Ultra-Thin folding keyboard was gradually becoming less responsive, so it was time to replace it. Fewer keys seemed to work each time. So that's no good.
I liked the Ultra-Thin very much, but the fact that one failed made me hesitant to get another of the same.
I generally like Logitech devices, so that's what I chose. It was new in the package, from EBay. Though of course the keyboard is 20-some years old, just unused.
The Logitech Typeaway is nice. It took a little fiddling to get it set up. In case you are wondering, you have to uninstall any old keyboard program and install the new one, then hit the reset button to restart the Palm, before it will register. The keyboard itself feels well made, but it is pretty small. It has a funky split down the middle where the hinge is, which feels a bit funny. I can type reasonably well on it, but some of the buttons are pretty small. I have medium-large sized girl hands. If you have larger hands or thicker fingers it would likely be too small to be very fun to use.
But what's great is the small folding size, so it's very portable. It does not require its own battery, so that's even better.
Since this is nerd stuff, here is a rundown of my technology.
Main computer: System 76 Gazelle running Pop OS 21.10.
It’s a great laptop, I’ve had for about four years, after buying it used on EBay. It works well. I like Gnome now (took me a while to warm up to) and it’s a nice machine. It’s a bit big and clunky so I don’t carry it around that much.
Backup laptop: 2009 13” Macbook Air running Ubuntu 21.10.
It’s slow, and the battery is lousy, but it fits in my bag more easily, so I’ll take it out to cafes some times for writing with fewer distractions. When I go to cafes, which hasn’t been that often for the last two years. (Oh my gosh. I am so ready for the pandemic to end. I’m vaccinated and boosted, so we’re done, right?)
Studio Computer: A desktop running Manjaro XFCE.
Runs well. Manjaro is my default second choice OS. For some reason I could not get this desktop to work with any Ubuntu-based USB installation medium. But it works well with Manjaro!
Phone: Pixel 3A.
I let my iPhone go a couple of years ago in favor of the Pixel and I appreciate being able to manipulate my data so much more easily, as in plug it into my computer and transfer files, do a simple text message backup, etc. I am no fan of Google, so I don’t have it connected to a Google account, and I use NetGuard to lock down some of the internet access on the part of various apps and system processes. I install apps using FDroid and Aurora Store. I hope that makes it a little more secure, but there is no easy to use phone that’s even semi-secure without installing your own OS, as far as I know. This seems like a bad situation, but I can’t fix it.
Ebook: Kobo Clara E-Reader.
It’s pretty good. I like that I can load EPUB (if they don’t have DRM) directly onto it, unlike a Kindle. I do miss the Kindle page turn buttons though. I always like more physical buttons. It works with OverDrive, so I can sync library books to it, which is what I use it for the most.
Distraction Free Typing: Alphasmart Neo, my favorite.
Simple for typing offline, with a good keyboard (better than any laptop). You plug it into your computer and it pours your writings into a text document. I love it for brain dumps and journaling.
RIP Tiny Netbook
Sadly, my 2009 Dell Inspiron Netbook no longer boots. I miss that little buddy for writing out in the world. I am craving a new tiny netbook to run Linux, but am trying not to be frivolous and ridiculous. Salute to my old friend Barry who is now suffering early Alzheimers, but helped me get that netbook set up as a Hackintosh, and dual boot it with Linux Mint. Such a kind, nerdy soul.
Other cool gadgets: Palm M500 and foldable keyboard.
![Palm M500 PDA with Palm keyboard and bonus, Wancai Mini fountain pen][1]
For writing offline, but with more ability to control multiple files. Also plays a few cute games. So fun and portable. It packs down into a little pen holder pouch and I take it in my bag on the go.
Music: A fifteen year old iPod.
The old kind with the wheel and the 250GB capacity, which plugs into a simple logitech speaker. That is the superior iPod, by far. Holds a ton of music and doesn’t fall prey to the nightmare that is apps, software updates, software obsolescence and so on, with limited harddrive space.
Cables Vs Wireless
Overall, I use cables as much as I can instead of wireless, plug my laptop into Ethernet, and avoid bluetooth. I do use a bluetooth keyboard once in a while with my phone, but I find that wireless is usually slower and more of a hassle to manage, so I just like to plug stuff in.
Okay. Tomorrow I’ll talk about how technology makes me feel insane, and maybe fountain pens and notebooks another day. Hasta mañana!
It’s been a rough year and a half, not even counting the pandemic. Not to go into all the stuff, but I’ve had a life threatening ectopic pregnancy, done IVF (through the bulk of it, but it’s a long process and still underway) and had a miscarriage. So not super fun. We are still working on this procreation project (not so easy as we were led to believe!), but feeling calmer and more grounded and better at taking care of ourselves in the process. I could talk endlessly about that experience and its lessons, but this is not the place.
However, I’m living through it and trying to reconnect with some creativity, painting, and fun projects for fun. Some of these random projects:
Escapism
I am deeply terrible at video games, and I married a dedicated gamer, so it’s a trick finding games to play together. Lately my husband and I have been playing a lot of Nine Parchments on the Nintendo Switch. It’s a coop fantasy monster fighting game. It was a cool advancement in my gaming skills to be able to press the right buttons most of the time, without having to stop and think which button does what. I know, pretty sweet. Nine Parchments is great because of the combination of looking at beautiful fantasy scenery and using fireballs and spells to fight monsters. Plus it doesn’t require too much button pressing precision, you just blow shit up. It is just delightful. Selius is my favorite character. I like to be the tank and just go jump into the mayhem. It isn’t open source or anything cool like that, just a fun, proprietary game.
Technology
I have been thinking about a small computer for writing out at cafes and outside. I just ordered a Palm m500 PDA from the year 2000. (Well, I ordered it from eBay, but you get the idea). That may sound silly, but I have been looking for a non-backlit writing gizmo for years. I thought the Onyx Boox would be the answer to all my dreams, but it was actually pretty bad and I sold the one I had. I have the Alphasmart Neo and I love it, but it is not so good for editing. So I am excited about trying this new PDA approach. We’ll see how it goes! Sounds very promising.
For computer use, I have been a very lazy nerd, for a while now. I still use exclusively Linux of course (currently Pop OS) but I want things to be simple, workable, and not have to do much of any debugging or configuring. I know that’s not very nerd-tastic of me, but that’s where I am. I haven’t done any distro hopping, sticking with a low-maintenance Ubuntu-based distro.
Same with my phone. I still have the same Google Pixel 3A. I use it without a Google account connected, and I try to use it as little as possible. I also keep Netguard turned on. For software I use FDroid and Aurora store. It is all pretty easy and works well.
I am still using Publii for my web site, and I think it is pretty good. Though I’d like to simplify the theme a bit. Too much visual clutter on the internet, and I don’t want to add to it. But I enjoy the simplicity of just writing and posting. I like a CMS with a GUI, and am not in the mood to fiddle with command line apps. I tried Hugo, Jekyll and some others but they were too fiddly and I always had problems and things to debug. Plus I love that Publii is offline, so I can do the work without internet if I want, and just upload my site when I’m ready.
I’ve been doing genealogy research for my family. It is fascinating, compelling, and so hard! I have some mysterious ancestors whose origins are so murky and I haven’t figured out where they come from yet. One day! My inner Miss Marple can’t resist. The intersection of history and my personal family is intriguing too. It makes history feel real and personal. For that I am using Gramps for genealogy records, and my beloved Zim for notes.
Trying to Get Away from Technology
Alongside my love of technology, I am also always trying to feel more grounded and clear out distractions. I still spend too much time on the computer and kind of wish I never had to use them at all. I would possibly be a better version of myself. But also I love technology? I know. It’s a contradiction. Really the goal is just balance and maintaining mental focus while using technology as a tool. Easier said than done.
I write a lot by hand, always using fountain pens. I journal every day, and use a paper planner, and rant to my notebooks when I want to clear my head. The tactile experience of writing by hand is very satisfying and grounding, plus it’s naturally “distraction free.” Favorite pens: TWSBI Eco, vintage Parker 45, Noodlers Ahab, vintage Platinum pocket pen, Delike brass pocket pen. Lamy Safari, Kaweco Sport and Moonman M2 are nice as well.
I may do some posting about fountain pens too, now that I’ve used them non-stop for a couple of years.
I’ve been reading Agatha Christie novels and they are so wonderful, witty and well done. I love the focus on details and human idiosyncracies.
Speaking of low-tech, I have been spinning wool, dyeing it with natural dyes and knitting it and it is very pleasant. I am trying to get the nerve up to knit a pair of socks. But that heel and toe is very intimidating. Regardless, it’s a calm, soothing activity, and my spinning is improving. I spin some on a drop spindle, and some on a spinning wheel that I inherited, as the family fiber arts person, from my husband’s grandmother’s house. It is wonderful.
I have again remade my web site using a new system. This time it is Publii (getpublii.com), and I am pretty excited about it for minimal web sites like this one. It's working well.
It is available as an .AppImage, .RPM or .DEB for Linux, and for other operating systems too. But Linux is the best one, obviously.
There are times when a database driven web site is needed and the right thing to use. Simple blog sites, however, do not need all that. Database sites like Wordpress (which I still use for more complex sites) are just too slow - both to develop and to use. And I don't think it should take image compression, content delivery networks and web site caching to deliver up the simple text in blog posts.
Publii is a static site CMS with a GUI. I have used Hugo, Jekyll and other static site generators, but call me a wuss - I like me a graphical user interface. Somehow with command line programs I always spend ages debugging one thing or another, and I'd rather focus on the writing I want to do.
The interface and setup is simple. You create blog posts, obviously, but also use posts as pages for use in the navigation menus. To make them into pages, you just add a link to them from the menu, and select to exclude them from the homepage, so they don't show up in the blog list.
There are paid and free themes, which seem quite customizable. I may look into building my own theme one of these days, but I'm going with the easy mode for now.
And when it's ready to go, you enter the server info, and sync it with your server - FTP, Github, or others.
There is the potential drawback of not having a web interface to access from multiple computers the way a Wordpress site does. But that doesn't bother me. I put my Publii site files in my Dropbox folder so I can use Publii on my home or studio computer, and that's all I need.
I love the speed and security of a static html web sites, and this system seems to be working well for me.
Zim Wiki : My favorite writing program. Great for journals and notes, and it saves the whole structure in plain text files so you can access them directly if you like. In every Linux distro software center that I’ve checked.
PS Notes – a charming, minimal notes editor that works with plain text or markdown.
I have a special addiction to pretty Markdown editors. My favorite is the Mac only, closed-source Ulysses (sorry). So the quest continues for the optimum thing. But these are lovely, just not the full writing suite that Ulysses is.
I know there are other note taking systems out there, but I don’t like anything I can’t edit in a different program, so that means I only like .txt or .md files. There are lovely ones out there, but they don’t meet that requirement, so I don’t use them.
Typora – Sadly, not open source. But this one is nice because it has a file list on the side, and you can edit the theme CSS files, so I can write in my favorite mono font.
RawTherapee – A nice photo editor for for detailed color and lighting adjustments. I like that I can save presets and apply them to each photo quickly when I’m touching up contrast and such on a bunch of photos. – In most software centers
Krita – Image editor.
GIMP – Image editor.
Music:
Pithos – A most excellent Pandora music player. You still have to go to the web site to do major station editing, but Pithos doesn’t play the ads (don’t tell anyone). – In the Ubuntu Software Center at least.
Finances:
KMyMoney – A very nice, solid finance program. In the Ubuntu Software Center.
ZuluCrypt - my current favorite, serves the same function as VeraCrypt.
VeraCrypt – Create an encrypted file bundle
KeePassX – Password manager
Internet Services
Posteo – Privacy-centric email service. Works great with Thunderbird or other email program.
Protonmail – Even more privacy-centric email service, webmail only at the moment.
Super Handy Utilities
GParted – Partition Management
Etcher – Making bootable USB drives for Linux installations and the like
Other Things
Open Source Astrology – if you like a little woo and want a Linux astrology program, this is great. It draws a nice chart, but leaves it up to you to know all the symbols. It’s possible this has been abandoned, but I’m leaving it up just in case.
My Thinkpad with some silly stickers
Palm m500 and portable keyboard
