kepano
Joined 14 years ago
Karma
3,786
Submissions
575
Member since
Dec 1
Recent submissions
Comment · 3 days ago
Seems to be an AI-generated ad, and not particularly well researched. Obsidian has supported links in Canvas since 1.12
> Added detection for backlinks in Canvas files. They now appear in the Backlinks view, and count as links in the Graph view.
Comment · 3 days ago
The site is incorrect. This was added in Obsidian 1.12:
> Added detection for backlinks in Canvas files. They now appear in the Backlinks view, and count as links in the Graph view.
Comment · 7 days ago
I had a similar thought a while ago:
> I find that much anxiety can be alleviated by finding beauty in transience, imperfection, and scars. If we feel judged for our scars, we become afraid to get scarred. We follow the path that results in the least amount of pain, rather than the path that leads to the most amount of learning.
from "Scars are beautiful" (2015) https://stephango.com/scars
Twelve years later I can say that thinking about scars/pain this way has made me far more optimistic, less anxious, less fearful.
Comment · 11 days ago
That looks great. I like theming and controls you added to make it feel native to your site.
Comment · 13 days ago
Thanks! Investigating...
Comment · 14 days ago
Broken in what way? It works for me. Do you have any details? Browser, errors, etc?
Comment · 14 days ago
I strongly agree, and that's why I designed Pele to only follow its syntax not its layout. See the examples https://pele.run/examples
The playground also has a Compare mode https://pele.run/playground
Comment · 2 months ago
We're in agreement. And it's not only the technological advances that came after, it's all the small life moments and personal accomplishments too. That's why I connected this to the Henry Ford example. How can we determine which of his accomplishments would or wouldn't have happened without his notetaking practice? He probably would not be able to answer that question himself.
Comment · 2 months ago
That is exactly the point I am making (echoing the author of the linked piece). Those tools did change the world. But I do not know how you go about measuring the net effect of it all. I can certainly share many anecdotes but what is the sum of things that happened and did not happen due to photography or spreadsheets or notes?
Comment · 2 months ago
I agree with you. For example, [[links]] are a useful affordance for thinking that wasn't as popular before Obsidian. However the original piece was asking:
> Has there been a meaningful increase of understanding and creation thanks to personal knowledge management systems?
My question is: in a world where photography didn't exist, how would your life have been different? How would everyone's lives be different? It's a counterfactual that's impossible to answer meaningfully. Similarly, we can't measure how the world is different as a result of the popularization of [[links]].
Comment · 2 months ago
Indeed. My point was to agree with the author in their rebuttal of the original piece.
Comment · 3 months ago
Asking "what have note-taking apps accomplished?" is like asking "what have spreadsheets accomplished?" or "what have cameras accomplished?". A tool doesn't accomplish anything on its own. A tool is a means to an end.
A few days ago, someone jokingly asked if Henry Ford had a personal knowledge base in Obsidian... Well, sort of! He had something he called "jot books", where he journaled, kept notes, grocery lists, etc. Not dissimilar to how people use Obsidian. The Henry Ford Museum has fifty of these notebooks: https://www.thehenryford.org/search?Query=%22jot+book%22
How should we quantify the impact of Henry Ford's notebooks? How should we quantify the impact of spreadsheets?
Most people who accomplish anything take notes in some form, because writing is a way of thinking. We love to mythologize the tools and methods of accomplished people because we hope it will let us absorb a bit of their genius. But a good camera doesn't make a good photographer. Taking lots of photos helps.
Should you take notes? Probably. Does it matter what your method is? Probably not. Whatever works for you. Obsidian (or any other form of notetaking) is successful if it disappears and lets you accomplish your work.
Comment · 3 months ago
This essay was published in December 2018.
Comment · 3 months ago
Obsidian Web Clipper has a nice reader mode that works for ChatGPT transcripts (disclaimer: I made it)
- CEO of Obsidian, https://obsidian.md
Blog:
- https://stephango.com
Elsewhere:
- https://github.com/kepano
- https://twitter.com/kepano
- https://mastodon.social/@kepano
Previously:
- Founded Lumi.com (YC W15)