ldstephens

MereCivilian

I do not want analytics to influence my writing.

[…]

Obviously, it’s nice to see that my blog posts are popular. On the other hand, it’s disheartening to see that some of my blog posts have been super quiet in terms of viewership. However, I do not write because I want viewers. I write for myself first and foremost.

Therefore, I am removing this additional dataset from my knowledge bank. Therefore, from today, I will not know which blog posts are popular and which ones are not. Frankly, I do not need to know.

I like this post by MereCivilian. It serves as a reminder of why I write this blog. It's the space where I can freely express my thoughts, ideas, and passions. The keyword here is “freely.” We should write whatever the fuck we want without being influenced by whether our content will garner views or not.

Hey friends, the Biden administration has selected the first 10 drugs that will be subject to price negotiations in Medicare. These drugs include several popular blood thinners and diabetes medications, such as Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, and Januvia.

The medications treat a variety of conditions, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and blood clotting disorders. Medicare enrollees paid a total of $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs for these drugs last year. I take a blood thinning drug and I am hopeful that these negotiations will help to lower the cost of these medication and make it more affordable for everyone taking them.

President Biden has said that the negotiations are a “new deal for patients” and that they will help to lower drug prices. He has also criticized the pharmaceutical industry for charging Americans more than three times what they charge other countries.

The negotiations are expected to begin in the coming months and could take several years to complete. However, they have the potential to significantly lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries.

Source: CNN

Published first to ldstephens.net – August 31, 2023

Hey friends, it's a slow period for Apple News, so the pundits are revisiting the perennial issues they have with the iPad. Notably, Jason Snell's piece “Giving up the iPad-only travel dream” has sparked the latest discussions.

In the battle between iPad and Mac, I’m a longtime member of Team Both—I use my Mac most of the day at my desk, but when I write elsewhere in the house or backyard, I switch to an iPad Pro in the Magic Keyboard case. And that iPad (in a regular case) is my primary computing device when I’m not in work mode.

I’m not at all ready to declare the “use iPad to get work done” experiment dead. With the forthcoming release of iPadOS 17, Stage Manager has thrown in a bunch of improvements that suggest the iPad’s progression to more functional status continues, albeit at a pace that’s a bit too slow for my liking.

But here I sit at my mother’s dining room table, typing on a MacBook Air. Something has changed in my approach to travel, and I’m trying to understand just what it is and what it tells me about the trajectory of the iPad as a productivity tool.

[…]

On the iPad, advancement doesn’t work like that. Instead, it’s decided in various meetings inside Apple where specific features will get prioritized or deprioritized for the next operating system cycle. Once every year or two, we will hear about some (legitimately exciting!) new features that will extend the usability of the platform. And that will basically be it. The waiting begins again.

I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of creating more inconvenience for myself in order to push the iPad past the boundaries Apple has set for it. For the cost of an extra 2.75 pounds in my backpack, I can travel with a MacBook Air knowing that more or less anything I need to do while on the road can be accomplished without requiring weird workarounds or risking a catastrophic tech failure.

I want to do it all on my iPad. I hope that one day I’ll be able to. But for now, I’m done pushing the envelope. Apple will determine what I can do with my iPad, and when that changes, I’m sure they’ll let me know. Until then, all any of us can do is wait.

John Gruber's commentary:

The reason this topic remains evergreen is that I want to use my iPad more. There’s something ineffable about it. It’s a thrill when I use my iPad to do something that an iPad is actually best at. I honestly think I’d be more productive if I owned no iPad at all, yet I keep trying to find ways to use it more.

Matt Brichler's commentary:

I have an 11” M1 iPad Pro, and I use it daily. It’s a good device for doing a number of things in my life, but I sadly think it’s going to always live as a secondary device. I’m happy to have it, but yeah, I was an iPad-only guy from 2018-2021, and for me, life is better on the Mac + iPad train.

Denny Henke's commentary:

Pundits, podcasters, it's okay to just move on, use the Mac and be happy. Remember, not every tool is made for you or will be useful to you. You can trust that there are those of us out here that find the iPad to be the perfect computer for us and what we need to do with our a computer. We'll leave you to your Macs and hope that one day you'll be able to turn your gaze away from the iPad and learn to be happy with your Mac.

Look, I don't give a shit whether someone uses a Mac, iPad, iPhone or all three. Personally, the iPad does 90% of everything thing that I need it to do. The other 10% I do on my Mac. Computers are tools. Use the tool that best suits the job at hand. It's that simple!

Published first to ldstephens.net – August 26, 2023

Hey friends, Apple Notes has come a long way and has become a really powerful app. It’s the app that I use for long-term reference documents and quick capture. If you’re not using Apple Notes it is worth a fresh look. And even if you are using Notes you’re going to want to check out Josh Ginter’s article the “The Ultimate Guide to Apple Notes”.

In his article, Josh discusses how Notes has grown in functionality to become a top note-taking app for Apple devices. He covers its formatting options, such as titles, headers, lists, and more. The Convert to Pages feature allows easy migration of complex notes. Tables, links, images, videos, and PDFs can be added to notes. Quick Notes enable efficient capturing across iOS devices. Notes can be collaborated on with iCloud users. Security features like locking notes and text recognition enhance privacy. Notes can be organized with tags, folders, and Smart Folders. Seamless search capabilities, sharing, and pinned notes for quick access are also available. You can check out the full guide here.

Published first to ldstephens.net – August 23, 2023

Integrating a Magic Mouse into my iPad Pro setup has been a total game-changer. Being iPad first, this transition has significantly improved my workflow.

I've always leaned towards using a mouse over a trackpad for precision and familiarity, and bringing the Magic Mouse into the equation took my iPad experience to a whole new level. It's more than convenience; it's a completely redefined interaction. The pinpoint accuracy and seamless control a mouse offers has elevated how I navigate and engage with my iPad's interface. The mouse enhances my productivity across tasks like drafting content, researching, and managing multiple apps.

If you're a fellow tech enthusiast seeking a fresh way to engage with your iPad, a mouse can transform your efficiency and overall experience.

Published first to ldstephens.net – August 16, 2023

I've been cross-posting from here and writing on Medium since 2015. My articles have racked up over 100,000 views. Over this time, Medium has gone through its fair share of changes, including some recent ones.

Here's the thing – it feels like Medium has forgotten about us writers who've been here for years. Now it's like they're chasing profits so hard that they've left behind those of us who've been posting our stuff for free and sticking around for ages. Now, it's all about the writers in the Partner Program. The rest of us? We're more like background noise now.

Medium's latest tweaks to the Partner Program have made life trickier for writers who aren't part of it. They're now requiring partner writers to become Medium Members (which costs $5 per month) and gather up a bunch of followers before they can even join the program.

Additionally, non-partner writers are no longer included in the algorithms that elevate posts. This means non-partner writers are getting the short end of the stick, with hardly any chance of growing their audience.

Because of these changes, loads of writers who chose not to jump into the Partner Program are seeing fewer people checking out their stuff. It's fucking frustrating, especially for those of us who've poured our energy into Medium for years.

So, let's cut to the chase. Medium's current trajectory? It’s not for me. So, no biggie – I pulled the trigger and deactivated my account yesterday. So now those 3000 monthly readers of my Medium pieces will get a 404 error smack in the face.

Later, Medium!

Published first to ldstephens.net – August 14, 2023

Dave Winer

A good blog exists independently of people reading it.

Even if no one read my blog, I'd still write it. Not exactly sure why. Maybe it's something like this — I would still cook even if I was the only person eating.

I write because I am a writer. It would be the same if I was being paid for writing vs doing it for free, which is pretty much how I've always blogged. There was a brief time when pieces I wrote here were edited and published by Wired. But I still wrote the same stuff.

Some people seem to feel the need to justify blogging, blogging is still alive they say, but it's actually more than alive blogging is a cultural fixture.

I really enjoyed reading this post by Dave Winer about blogging. He makes a great point that a good blog exists independently of people reading it. It's not about the number of views or likes, it's about the act of writing itself.

I've always felt the same way about blogging. I blog because I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts with others. Even if no one ever read my blog, I would still do it.

I think Dave's advice is especially important for those who are just starting out as bloggers. It's easy to get discouraged if you don't get a lot of traffic or engagement at first. But if you're passionate about writing, don't give up. Just keep writing, and eventually you'll find an audience.