Jacob.Earth 👨🏻‍🦰🌍

Welcome to the thirteenth edition of my Every Day Stack Updates.

Oops a year went by since I last did one of these. Where did the time go?

Off we go.

Removed from the stack

• Linear: Meh. Don’t get me wrong, it is designed wonderfully and looks great, but like, using it is.. just fine? Don’t think I have a serious enough need for this type of software anymore as I’ve simplified my systems a lot.

• Cursor: That’s the IDE for typing code into the code editor tab part sometimes right? We don’t do that around here anymore. We type to Claude Code (sometimes from my phone), Claude Code conjures the code, we merge the PR. LGTM.

• iPad Pro: Don’t worry, I can’t believe it myself. I’ve been a huge fan of the iPad Pro line for a long time. Ever since I got one, it quickly took over almost all of my personal “laptop” usage. A deal breaker for choosing photo editing software was that it had to work on iPad without the stylus so I could edit photos while on holiday. Well, I also realised that over time, because of the fantastic quality display, it really just became a wonderful device to consume content on. Usually, in bed when I should either be reading or sleeping. I decided that if I want to be serious about reducing time spent watching stuff there’s no way around it. Just like Instagram, it’s too good and too slippery to self-regulate, so it had to go. So far a +9000% time spent reading and thinking has been observed.

Added to the stack

• Claude Code: You know, one day when you were a kid you went to go play outside and then that was actually the last time you ever played outside - never knowing that it would be the last time? That’s how I feel about actually writing code right now. Some day sometime in the not-so-recent past I typed my last line of code and I had no idea it would be the last time. I could probably find the exact line since it’s all in git, but maybe it’s better not knowing just in case the last line is a terrible hack with a // todo: temp fix. All I know is Claude Code is the cause. Claude was down the other day and instead of manually writing code I went for a walk instead.

• iPhone Air: My favourite phone since the still unbeatable 5s. It’s a real taking point when people see I have one oddly enough. Good form factor. The camera notch/mountain is less annoying now that it’s across the full back, so it’s somewhat symmetrical at least. Battery really isn’t an issue, I haven’t run out of charge yet even with a full day of music and podcasts and GPS use and travelling. My only complaint is the mono speaker. If the upcoming Apple flip phone sucks, I’ll probably stay with this forever, or until they eventually (hopefully?) release an Air 2 with that sweet sweet wide-angle camera.

• TickTick: This has quickly become my go-to to-do app, pomodoro timer, and habit tracker. Super simple yet not annoyingly so, works well, and syncs across devices. 10/10 would recommend.

Proving grounds

• reMarkable Paper Pro Move: I gave it a try as I had the larger Paper Pro on my radar for a while. This device was quite the letdown; the screen isn’t nearly as responsive as you’d imagine, even compared to other eInk devices I own. The biggest disappointment, however has to be the software. I can’t understand how a device for “thinking people” doesn’t have the ability to make your own custom templates right on the device. Or, at the very least, using their website. Has no one thought of this!? I don’t want to use your stock page layouts; that’s not how my thinking process works. I also don’t want to have to buy random ones from Etsy that are actually weird PDFs where the normal add new page gestures don’t work because it’s not your special template format. Having to hack the device just to make custom layouts is insane. I will say their return policy is great, I could send the device and accessories back no questions asked for a full refund.

• Perplexity: They gave out a year of free Pro and so far it has been good. I often run the same query in Claude and compare the results - some weeks Perplexity comes up with more accurate answers and others Claude does. Originally (in Jan to mid Feb) their Research mode was really good, often better than Claude’s. Then somewhere mid Feb that flipped and as of now Claude is still miles ahead. The UI Perplexity has for showing links and sources is really good, something other AI tools should also adopt.

• King Jim Pomera DM250: Do not look up r/writerDeck. DO NOT. I’ve been tracking this device for a while as a cultured nerd™ interested in obscure Japanese technology and stationery. It does not disappoint. I’m writing this article from it right now. I’ve got the Japanese version for those interested, as they are quite a bit cheaper via eBay import and the only real difference is a slightly wider space bar which I don’t notice. You can set it to English in the settings, no hacks needed.

• Plaud: AI everything, all the time, more, more, more, AI, upload into the matrix. Go go. It’s great. Don’t worry.

That’s all for now, see you in three months, maybe.

Thanks for stopping by