Fritz @daremo@fosstodon.org

I think we are feature- and bug-complete for the first part of the #vtracker UI, which is the pattern editor. I'll get this ready for release and push master.

This makes vtracker a bit more usable, but it still needs an instrument editor and track editor before it has a complete user interface.

New post on the motivation behind my vale8x64 #homebrewcomputer project, and an overview of its technical details: http://www.mahnke.tech/blog/2019-04-09-introducing-the-vale8x64-computer.html

Yes, I'm describing problems that specialized software or even HTML alone can address to some degree. For me, those introduce enough issues around management, portability, obsolescence,
friction to data entry, and general distraction that I haven't yet been compelled to move my primary note-taking from paper to an electronic method.

It's to be seen how well I'll solve these problems with a zettelkasten, but there's solace in seeing them more clearly than before.

@sbanwart Do you have first impressions on zettelkasten, yet?

A third difficulty is managing a piece of information common to more than one topic. How do I choose where to put it in my notes? I could write the same note in my notes on multiple topics. But that creates the elaboration problem again. If I want to correct or elaborate on a redundant piece of information, I have to find and change all the different places.

How can I have notes on different topics both refer to each other and grow over time? If I have a note on a calculus problem that relies on a rarely used algebraic trick, I should have that note refer to my algebra notes on that topic. I could use page or section numbers in my notes and refer from one to another that way. If so, how do I elaborate on an existing note that may be referenced elsewhere without renumbering pages/sections to keep references intact?

Another problem is a difficulty building connections between my notes on different topics with a degree of overlap.

One problem is difficulty elaborating on existing notes. When taking paper notes in notebooks on letter size paper, which is the method I've used to this point, it hasn't been clear how to elaborate on existing notes. If I want to add some clarification or an example to an existing note, I'm forced to rewrite at least a whole page to do so.

It's been 2 days since I started my zettelkasten, so time will tell if it's effective for my use case: improving the effectiveness of my learning.

One benefit I've already seen, though, is I'm more aware of some of the problems I've been facing in my learning efforts over the past few years.

Paper has obvious disadvantages. Still, being able to effortlessly change print layout, quickly add drawings and color, arrange many pieces of paper and look at them at once, and carry paper from location to location without worrying that a failed or obsoleted device will make the system crumble are advantages I can't ignore. I guess I'll stick with paper for awhile.

I learned about the zettelkasten through a neuron release announcement yesterday. I installed neuron to try it out, then changed course and decided to start a zettelkasten on index cards instead.

I just don't like the current state of user interfaces for digital tools for note-taking and list management, and I like it less and less the more I try to use them.

My morning. Those 4 bends are the first time I've run conduit with big changes across 2 planes. I was a bit out of my comfort zone and learned some things while I did this.

Some conduit bends I did for a panel room we're working in.

Spent quite a bit of time in the heat working in the yard and lifting weights (also in the yard) over the last few days. Then I went to a new job site for a new employer today with no A/C. Testing the benefits of sauna therapy in my own way, I guess.

We've had a lot of hot days lately, but it looks like the number of 105F+ days in Phoenix is going to dwindle over the next week or so, and we might be getting some rain.

I've still only a passing familiarity with kakoune, despite having used it daily for a few weeks now. Today, I practiced with all its keys and spent time with the documentation. I really like the editing model.

In the process of migrating my finances from gnucash to beancount. The beancount documentation is a pretty good read.

@kev @mike You guys are really cranking out the blog posts these days. 😆

I really want to start a computing history/homebrew computing podcast. It's a sticky idea of mine.

I've only just started experimenting with a software ADSR envelope in my 6502 computer's music tracker software, increasing or decreasing the channel volume one or more times per note to create effects. I'm looking forward to trying these other techniques.

I would think you should also be able to create triangle, sawtooth, and other types of waveforms with this technique, too. The 4-bit volume register is logarithmic, so every 2 steps makes the volume 2x louder or softer. For this reason, using the volume register technique on one channel is not really as good a 4-bit linear DAC.

The Atari STe (for example), added special hardware to officially support using these techniques on the volume register while making them less CPU intensive.