Back to Work

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Back to Work episodes

July 29, 2022Episode 584: Groomsman Gifts for the Funeral
Merlin has thoughts on survival, aging, and whether to bother trying to understand whatever NFTs are. Next up, the triumphant return of "Cool Thing I Learned This Week" brings updates on iOS dictation and a very Merlin video about organization.
Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.
—Nick Fury, The Avengers (2012)
Links:
5 Principles of Organization - YouTube
— via Brad Siefert (@bksiefert)
Siri: Everything You Need to Know - MacRumors
iOS 16 dictation: Much improved, but up to Google Pixel standards? - YouTube
Light as a feather, stiff as a board - Wikipedia
wisdom/wisdom.md at master · merlinmann/wisdom
— "It's only advice for you because it had to be advice for me."
Quotes to get right. #runx
— "Authoritative-ish citations are added and updated as available."
1 hr 37 min
July 15, 2022Episode 583: The Dentist Picks the Chair
Your hosts discuss dramaturgy, package managers, and monospaced fonts.
Ladies?
Links:
Ruby on Mac: Get Ruby working on your Mac in minutes with a single command.
MonoLisa - A font family designed for software developers. Font follows function.
iTerm2 - macOS Terminal Replacement
Fonts - Apple Developer
Download the Atkinson Hyperlegible Font | Braille Institute
Inconsolata - Google Fonts
The Elements of Typographic Style: Bringhurst, Robert: 9780881791327: Amazon.com: Books
wisdom/wisdom.md at master · merlinmann/wisdom
1 hr 20 min
June 28, 2022Episode 582: Dadsplaining
DISCUSSED: Dan misses going to the movies; cool ways to save your bacon in Git; and Merlin is excited about a (new to him) app for personal tracking and quantization.
Links:
Dangit, Git!?!
— Git is hard: messing up is easy, and figuring out how to fix your mistakes is impossible. Git documentation has this chicken and egg problem where you can't search for how to get yourself out of a mess, unless you already know the name of the thing you need to know about in order to fix your problem
Bearable | Mood & Symptoms Tracker App | All of Your Health in One Place
— Track anything and discover how it affects your health.
John Dickerson on Twitter: "For you sleep obsessives. https://t.co/nDlqkhWFvC" / Twitter
[OC] 2 years of my GF and I tracking the sleep quality impact of various choices/behaviours. These were the 8 most significant effects : dataisbeautiful
Exist · Understand your behaviour.
Gyroscope · Your Personal Health Coach
AFI’s 100 YEARS…100 MOVIES | American Film Institute
Amazon.com : Packer's Pine Tar Soap 3 Pack | The Original Men’s Bar Soap With Natural Pine Tar and Pine Oils | All Natural Pine Soap Bar with No Harsh Chemicals. (3 BAR PACK) : Nutritional Supplements And Vitamins : Beauty & Personal Care
merlinmann/dbf-voice-log: Alex and Merlin want to just say things into the air.
— Alex and Merlin just want to yell things into the air.
fish shell
Seconds Pro Interval Timer on the App Store
1 hr 20 min
June 21, 2022Episode 581: A Frog That No One Saw
DISCUSSED: Merlin runs the table this week with: unseasonable heat; the joy of realizing when someone obviously loved (and probably had to fight for) the thing that they made; and finally, an extended meditation on a phone charger and the decisions that seek to bridge past and future.
Links:
Blot – A blogging platform with no interface.
— Blot is a blogging platform with no interface. It turns a folder into a website.
How to use Blot - Blot
— Blot turns a folder into a blog. When you put ﬁles inside your blog’s folder they become blog posts.
Posts - Blot
— A collection of guides to formatting your posts and pages.
Metadata - Blot
Configure - Blot
Why I Went HTML Only :: Barry Hess :: bjhess.com
The most minimal blog you can find – The Jolly Teapot
SF Symbols - Apple Developer
Fonts - Apple Developer
DEWENWILS Remote Control Outlet Wireless Wall Mounted Light Switch, Electrical Plug in On Off Power Switch for Lamp, No Wiring,100 Feet RF Range, ETL Listed,Programmable - - Amazon.com
Watch Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey | Netflix Official Site
Quick Journaling | Drafts Directory
Prophet's Prey (2015) - Plot Summary - IMDb
— When Warren Jeffs rose to Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, he took control of a religion with a history of polygamous and underage marriage. In a short time, Warren managed to expand these practices and the power of his position in unprecedented ways.
AmazonSmile: Anker 633 Magnetic Battery (MagGo), 10,000mAh Foldable Magnetic Wireless Portable Charger, 20W USB-C Power Delivery for iPhone 13/13 Pro / 13 Pro Max / 12/12 Pro and 12 Pro Max (Black) : Cell Phones & Accessories
— Merlin likes this.
Assemble diary | Drafts Directory
Prophet's Prey (2015) - Reference View - IMDb
Notes - Blot
wisdom/wisdom.md at master · merlinmann/wisdom
— "It's only advice for you because it had to be advice for me."
Merlin Mann on Twitter: "You can tell when somebody really loved what they were making."
— "You can tell when somebody really loved what they were making."
T. Rex Dinosaur Fossil Exhibition 76940 | Jurassic World™ | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US
Bro Thor’s New Asgard 76200 | Marvel | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US
LEGO® Friends Toys | Official LEGO® Shop US
Peoples Temple - FoundSF
Bacon Ray - "Dance of the Monotremes" (The Swab, 1999)
— On Merlin' band's last record, they made a song that included every fact they knew about the platypus—ultimately celebrating the distinctive parenting skills of a loving monotreme mother.
1 hr 39 min
June 14, 2022Episode 580: Not All Avenues
A classic odds n' sods episode. Merlin needs help with a journaling via voice solution; your hosts look at password enhancements in the Apple betas; praise for Apple's SF fonts and SF symbols; a trippy video about paper sizes (and the universe); and, oh, those whacky Mormon sects.
Links:
A-Series Paper Size Dimensions (inches, cm, mm) - Neenah Paper
A5 in Inches
Charles and Ray Eames - "Powers of Ten" (1977) - YouTube
CGP Grey - "Metric Paper" - YouTube
Powers of Ten (film) - Wikipedia
— Charles and Ray Eames
Move beyond passwords - WWDC21 - Videos - Apple Developer
Apple Passkey Demo with Hanko Authentication API
Fonts - Apple Developer
— These typefaces offer the control and flexibility to optimally display text at a variety of sizes, in many different languages, across multiple interfaces.
SF Symbols - Apple Developer
Meet the expanded San Francisco font family - WWDC22 - Videos - Apple Developer
What's new in SF Symbols 4 - WWDC22 - Videos - Apple Developer
Quick Journaling | Drafts Directory
Windsor (typeface) - Wikipedia
1 hr 23 min
June 07, 2022Episode 579: Memento Morey Amsterdam
Dan & Merlin are live from the show floor, sharing their thoughts on the WWDC 2022 keynote address.
Links:
Apple Events - Apple
ATP 486: Field Day at Apple Park — Accidental Tech Podcast
Upgrade #410: Apple Park Vibe Check - Relay FM
Can Stimulating the Vagus Nerve Improve Mental Health? - The New York Times
This Optical Illusion Has a Revelation About Your Brain and Eyes - The New York Times
The Office Monsters Are Trying to Claw Their Way Back to 2019 - The New York Times
Apple WWDC 2022 keynote in 24 minutes - YouTube
Apple Events - Apple
Body Language Behaviors From a Retired FBI Agent to Improve Confidence
Former FBI Agent Explains How to Negotiate | WIRED - YouTube
Former FBI Agent Explains How to Read Body Language | Tradecraft | WIRED - YouTube
MacBook Air 2022 vs MacBook Pro 2022: Which new MacBook should you buy? | Tom's Guide
1 hr 17 min
May 31, 2022Episode 578: Raft of Anchors
On memory, security, and sleeping injuries.
Links:
The apps I use to read and write for this blog (Interconnected)
Working Copy, Git on iOS
1 hr
May 24, 2022Episode 577: Transylvanian Meditation
Considering the value of finding something new to suck at.
Runner-Up Titles
Stop Trying to Meditate and Just Breathe
I’m That Guy in My Own Head
The Confidence of the New Idiot
Links:
Willem Dafoe Breaks Down His Career, from 'The Boondock Saints' to 'Spider-Man' | Vanity Fair - YouTube
Reconcilable Differences #182: Disapproval Has a Scent - Relay FM
Celery and Cum - After Show | Do By Friday on Patreon
AudioDharma
Amazon.com: Mindfulness in Plain English: 9780861719068: Gunaratana, Bhante: Books
Sleep Hypnosis for Anxiety Reduction & Reversal - YouTube
— Welcome to this guided self hypnosis experience for helping you reduce and reverse your symptoms of anxiety, along with allowing you to create your best and easiest bedtime sleep.
Sleep Hypnosis for Calming An Overactive Mind - YouTube
— Welcome to this guided hypnosis for sleep and sleep meditation experience, with spoken suggestions for relaxation accompanied with a soundscape of soothing background sleeping music.
AudioDharma - Andrea Fella
Buddhism Plain and Simple: The Practice of Being Aware Right Now, Every Day: Hagen, Steve: 9780804851183: Books
Buddhism Is Not What You Think: Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs: Hagen, Steve: 9780060730574: Books: Amazon.com
William Ackerman - "Bricklayer's Beautiful Daughter"
Outkast - "Roses" (Official HD Video) - YouTube
"I forgot my mantra." - YouTube
1 hr 23 min
May 17, 2022Episode 576: People Who Don’t Want to Talk to a Lamp
It's a very special "Oops! All Automation Check-ins" episode. But, of course—as always—there's also a philosophical component.
Links:
Black Bear Head Mask Full Face Plush Bear Costume Deluxe Halloween Party Animal Head Masks : Toys & Games
Defining a Hyper Key · GitBook
— BetterTouchTool (starting with version 3.540) allows you to use Caps Lock as a Hyper Key. A Hyper Key is a magical key which automatically presses all the standard modifiers (ctrl+shift+cmd+opt).
Why would you need that? Because on macOS many of the easy to reach shortcut combinations are already used by the system or by some app. By using the Hyper Key can can define shortcuts in BTT that are pretty much guaranteed to not be used anywhere else (who would want to press e.g. ctrl+shift+cmd+opt+ P). This makes room for tons of easy to remember and easy to use shortcuts.
Celery and Cum | Do By Friday
— This week's challenge: Catch up with Bunch.
StopTheMadness
StopTheMadness for Safari Support
HomeControl Menu for HomeKit on the Mac App Store
Controller for HomeKit – Your Smart Home Companion
insidegui/PodcastMenu: Put Overcast on your Mac's menu bar
— PodcastMenu is a simple app which puts Overcast on your Mac's menu bar so you can listen to your favorite podcasts while you work.
BrettTerpstra.com
Markdown Service Tools - BrettTerpstra.com
Charlie Parker - A Night in Tunisia (featuring the Famous Alto Break) - YouTube
folivora.ai - Great Tools for your Mac!
Keyboard Maestro 10.1: Work Faster with Macros for macOS
Use macOS keyboard shortcuts – Apple Support (AU)
— You can customise some keyboard shortcuts by changing the key combinations.
Stream Deck | elgato.com
1 hr 35 min
May 10, 2022Episode 575: You're Being Scared Wrong
DISCUSSED: Dan's new tenants flip him the bird, and Merlin has strong feelings about email.
Runner-up titles:
Glass Surfing
I Don't Believe in a Lizard Binary
A Game Stop and a Bathroom
A Mother Son Relationship That Is Weird
The Allergies of Childhood
Medium-Sized Important Breakthrough
The Cultural Installation of Fear
Links:
Stories Behind Some of the Weird Stuff on ‘Severance’ - The New York Times
The complete FUN TO IMAGINE with Richard Feynman - YouTube
Busted! How to Handle the Police Until You Get a Lawyer - by Mary Griego - YouTube
Google Search Operators: The Complete List (42 Advanced Operators)
Welcome to Bunch - Bunch.app
Introducing Bunch - Bunch.app
Fonts - Apple Developer
— Get the details, frameworks, and tools you need to use system fonts for Apple platforms in your apps. These typefaces offer the control and flexibility to optimally display text at a variety of sizes, in many different languages, across multiple interfaces.
BBC - Richard Feynman: Fun to Imagine
— Gifted physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) was known as the 'great explainer' due to his ability to help non-scientists imagine something of the beauty and order of the universe as he saw it. In this series, Feynman looks at the mysterious forces that make ordinary things happen and, in doing so, answers questions about why rubber bands are stretchy, why tennis balls can't bounce for ever and what you're really seeing when you look in the mirror.
1Password 8 for Mac | 1Password
— The world's best password manager is now even more powerful. Designed for uncompromising protection and productivity on macOS.
StopTheMadness
— StopTheMadness is a web browser extension that stops web sites from making your browser harder to use.
StopTheMadness for Safari Support
Blue Ruin (2013) - Reference View - IMDb
Green Room (2015) - Reference View - IMDb
All About Swallows' Nests and Nesting Habits - Birds and Blooms
— An open cup made of pellets of dried mud mixed with grass and lined with feathers.
1 hr 9 min

About Back to Work

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Back to Work is an award winning talk show with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discussing productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more.