Sunday Thoughts 02
Some quick thoughts for a Sunday morning.
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Why do I listen to the Writing Excuses podcast? I don't write fiction, and have no intentions on doing so. I don't have a special desire to go "behind the scenes" of writing and figuring out what authors are doing; or at least I don't have the realization while I'm reading to know what they are doing as I'm reading.
I've thought about this before, and that last line is what I originally thought I was listening to the podcast for. Maybe I think that getting general writing tips and expert help is good in the long run for any type of writing, fiction or non-. I haven't really figured that out, but nevertheless I listen.
I will say that on occasion I get some good insights and share them, and sometimes apply them to my daily life in some form or another.
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Recently I did some "typing" using my Apple Pencil on my iPad to write an email. The handwriting mode does a decent job of translating my handwriting to typed text. I tried the same thing this morning on my Microsoft Surface, with the Surface Pen; the experience was dreadful in comparison.
The translation is slow, and there aren't any useful buttons on the screen beyond delete and enter. How has the Surface product line been around for so long and stink so badly compared to Apple's implementation? Perhaps I need to make more use of it to figure out how to use it effectively. Another tech rabbit hole to fall down.
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Speaking of tech rabbit holes. I wonder if it would be worth it to set up a self-hosted server at home for something like Plex. I have never really expressed a particular desire to use Plex, since I don't rip DVDs to my computer. But what if I did?
Some movies I would rather pop the DVD into my PS5 and watch that way, but sometimes there's a movie you might just want to pull up on a whim and stream. A movie that doesn't necessarily benefit from upscaling. Who knows; I have two desktop PCs to spare, one of which I intend to install Linux Mint Cinnamon, the other I was going to dispose. Maybe that one would be an ideal candidate for a local server.
This would be a different project than my current OpenBSD server, which functions as a secure portal to various self-hosted things (like an RSS reader).
Quick thought to the above: I already have a Windows computer, and a macbook; other than for the purpose of tinkering for the sake of tinkering, is there a reason I need or want to install Linux onto a spare desktop?
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I swear there was one more "thought" I meant to add to this post today, but I got sidetracked by the awful Surface Pen issue (as well as trying to use touchscreen gestures in Win 11 - which are apparently not available). Ah well. Might as well use my time this morning to get ready, take my dog out for a walk, and get groceries done.
Happy Sunday!
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