Subtitle: Omnivore Closing: Inherent Risk of Open Source Software
Earlier this year I fell victim to the allure of switching from a paid tool to free, open source tool. I switched from Readwise Reader (herein, Reader) to Omnivore.
I figured they were similar enough (though I always maintained Reader is better and I’d just “get used to” Omnivore), and the truth is I don’t make heavy use of my RSS reader.
While they say they remain committed to the “Developer community” and Omnivore will remain 100% open source, this exposes a considerable risk for anyone who doesn’t want to fork (copy) and maintain their own version of all of their favorite software: Free, Open Source Software is risky business.
Sure there are some successful projects — though one of the biggest is currently embroiled in a lot of drama at the hands of a capricious and litigious leader — but most can’t answer a simple but crucial question.
Imagine walking into a room with a wall full of switches. The wall is broken up into columns, and you need to choose 2-4 switches from each column.
You can choose any combination, but some will be better than others.
That’s what making a membership website is like.
There are a million things to consider, from deciding on the levels and benefits, to figuring out how to get people to join. It can be overwhelming.
And let’s not forget about marketing – that’s a whole other ballgame. But fear not! I’ve got a solution for you. Uscreen is an all-in-one platform that makes it super easy to create a stunning website for your membership. And today, I’m going to show you how.
I’m experimenting with the Due app for iOS. What makes it interesting is the persistent reminders — which will repeat until you mark the task complete.
I started using it for crucial medications for my kids (usually amoxicillin, the miracle drug that apparently cures most common kid ailments), and decided to expand it to things I want to make sure I do.
I want to try to use it judiciously. Right now I have 3 task managers:
Things 3 for projects and most business related tasks
Reminders for most home/family relates tasks, shopping lists, and anything my wife and I need to share
And now Due for nagging reminders.
We’ll see how it goes. If it works well for a limited set of tasks, I can see myself use it for forcing certain habits, like working out, writing, journaling, or anything else I really want to make sure I do.
When I left Twitter last week, it wasn’t on a whim. I had been considering it for a long time…like middle of the pandemic long.
As people jumped ship from Twitter, Mastodon seemed to be the clear front-runner for replacing Twitter.
I’m hesitant at best, but Tapbots (from the makers of the incomparable Tweetbot), have put out a Mastodon client called Ivory, and I’ve decided to give it t try for a bit.
The app is really, really nice! It has most of the things I love about Tweetbot already, without the ridiculous API limitations that Twitter started to impose over the last 6-7 years.
Something especially nice is how it “consolidates” the Fediverse, abstracting away the server names from the usernames1.
One of the most frustrating interactions is that when you want to follow someone on a different server2, you need to copy their username and paste it into your server’s search.
If I keep using Mastodon, it will through this app. It’s big if though.
You probably know by this point that I love apps and trying new tools. So even though I was pretty happy with Feedbin as my RSS service, earlier this month I went on an RSS service sojourn to Inoreader…mostly because of their support for syncing YouTube subscriptions.
I call it a sojourn because the same week I switched, I got invited to a private beta of Readwise’s long-awaited reading app, Reader.
The “Unseen Feeds” view
To call Reader an RSS service would be a gross understatement though. It’s a library for everything you read: RSS, PDFs, Emails, Tweets, and even ebooks (though definitely still prefer my Kindle Scribe for that).
YouTube video with transcript
It will also transcribe YouTube videos in-app.
All of this is in the service of being able to highlight, save, and tag anything you read. And I love it.
It’s still a beta app1, so it’s a little rough around the edges, but it’s such a fantastic experience that I’m confident in saying I’m all in.
Here’s what I like:
The ability to easily import basically anything I read, and highlight it
Tagging and organizing highlights
Creating views for the types of content I want to consume. I can, for example, create a “personal” and “business” view.
The daily digests so I don’t miss anything.
The app (especially swipes) is really customizable for a beta.
SO many keyboard shortcuts!
Here’s what I’d like to see improved:
Viewing emails is still a little rough. They (rightfully) focused on the text parser for easy highlights, but as a result, if I want to view a properly formatted email, I have to hope they include a web link2.
On a similar note, I’d like to access an email archive…which may actually be the case. Since I’m in the app for just over a week, I haven’t had much opportunity to see if all sent emails are archived.
The ability to sort feeds by source. This one is the biggest pain point for me. I usually end up marking all new articles from a source as read if I’m uninterested. I’d like to be able to glance at all new articles from a single source quickly.
In the iOS app, I want to be able to set the default behavior to opening links in Safari. Right now they open in the web viewer, and then I need to open them in Safari from there. I understand why — they want you to save articles in the app so you can highlight them — but one less step to open in-browser would be great.
Ultimately, I love how polished Reader is for a freshly-minted public beta. The team is super responsive, the iterations are super fast.
Highlights from Cocktails with Suderman
I can’t wait to see where this app is in 2-3 months.
My long-time favorite calendar app1, Fantastic, is raising its prices come January from $40/year to $60/year.
Now, $40/year is already steep for a calendar app, but I love their natural language processor, the calendar sets, the 2-week view, and the widgets.
I’ve also defended charging for good software. But $60/year feels like they are trying to move into a new type of customer. For example, they’ve added scheduling features that are supposed to compete with Calendly (but definitely don’t).
All of this is to say, unless they reverse course, come March, I’ll be using a new calendar app2.
My requirements are probably more than what most people need, which is why I’ve happily paid for Fantastical these past several years. They:
Natural language input
Calendar sets, or an easy way to display specific calendars
Focus mode support
Widgets on iOS
A 2-week view would be very nice to have, but I can live without it.
The apps I’m going to try out are:
Apple’s native Calendar app, though Calendar Sets are a bit of a must-have for me
BusyCal, which I’ve tried and didn’t like
Outlook, which I’ve heard great things about.
If you’re a macOS/iOS user and have a calendar app you love, sound off in the comments. I’m game for pretty much anything right now.
It seems that increasingly, more software companies are moving to a subscription model, where instead of paying once to own the software (or app), you pay monthly, or annually, to keep using it at the latest features. Adobe was perhaps one of the first major companies to do it with Creative Cloud. Now we see it in WordPress plugins, and increasingly, iOS apps. Fantastical did it this year, and this week Deliveries announced they are moving to subscription.
But before I tell you why this is a good thing, I want to tell you about buying jeans.
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and apparently the weeks before and after, nowadays, are a great time for you to pick up TVs, Appliances, and…software? Indeed, lots of online companies offer great deals (some even lifetime) around Black Friday. This can be very good for your business. Here’s a great toolkit you can make for cheap, thanks to Black Friday deals.
Moving into 2017 I knew I needed to do more to increase engagement on social media for both WP in One Month & How I Built It. Simply promoting isn’t a great strategy; while I convert most listeners and students through my personal Twitter, I want change that. I tried doing it manually for a while, but it was too time consuming. After toying with the idea, I decided to upgrade to Buffer Pro for a year to see if it would help me while also saving time. About a month in, I have some thoughts.
