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Thomas Frank

@TomFrankly

Jan 30

I use my voice for about 95% of my text input on computers now.

And I don’t pay any monthly fees to do it.

I’ve also spent hundreds of hours testing voice-typing tools and building my own.

So I’m gonna make a thread with my current recommended setup: mics, apps, etc.

Mic options:

Right now, I think the DJI Mic 2 is the best option for voice typing.

I specifically like the older 2nd-gen model because it has a 3.5mm mic jack for a lav. The new 3rd-gen model removed it.

Normally I just clip it to my shirt, but the jack is a nice option (explained in next post).

I've tested other mics as well:

- Podcast mic on a boom arm
- Shotgun mics boomed above my head
- Built-in mic on my laptop

All will work. But all these options are attached to the desk.

A wireless, clip-on mic lets you pace around actively and talk while thinking. It's great.

If you're in an office or coffee shop and need to speak really quietly, you will want a head-mounted mic like the one pictured.

You can get one of these for $20, and it'll plug right into the DJI Mic 2.

If you're on a budget, skip the DJI mic and just get a 3.5mm-to-USB mic adapter. I have an old Sound Blaster X-Fi card that lives in my backpack for this purpose.

The headset gets the mic very close to your mouth, which will actually let you whisper (seriously!) while keeping accuracy high.

I also find that I can wear over-ear headphones like this without any discomfort.

One other huge benefit of using a separate mic vs. Airpods mic: Your music won't switch over to that horrible, low-quality Bluetooth mode like it does when your output and input device are the same.

Read 15 tweets

Thomas Frank

@TomFrankly

Jun 28, 2023

I've designed over 500 YouTube thumbnails.

Today I'm going to share all my tricks for making thumbnails FASTER:

- How to get hundreds of high-quality poses of yourself
- How to create a consistent look
- A sprinkle of thumbnail strategy (especially in the last tweet)

Here's the main hack right up front:

I have a gallery with tons of poses I took over a single session.

Nearly any emotion or reaction I'd want to use in a thumbnail is in it.

Here's how to make your own:

Set up a green screen if you can.

This makes cutting yourself out from the background easier.

If you can't, try to shoot against a flat background.

Read 14 tweets

Thomas Frank

@TomFrankly

May 10, 2023

Another extremely useful ChatGPT prompt:

"What additional questions would a person seeking mastery of this topic ask?"

This helps with unconscious incompetence – i.e. the things you don't know that you don't know.

@ctrlaltdylan

I had this idea today after @ctrlaltdylan rewrote some of the code for my voice notes-to-@NotionHQ automation.

His new code uses a JavaScript library called Bottleneck, which vastly improves the code's speed.

I'd never used Bottleneck, but it seemed like something that would be very worthwhile to learn for other coding projects.

So I checked out the docs, and also asked ChatGPT for a basic example, which it helpfully provided.

Read 7 tweets

Thomas Frank

@TomFrankly

May 7, 2023

I started learning how to code only 10 months ago.

I am NOT a very talented coder. But with the help of:

- AI tools
- Automation platforms
- No-code tools

...I can build nearly anything I want.

Here are the exact tools I used to learn how to code (all are free):

@freeCodeCamp

TL;DR version:

(For context, I chose to learn JavaScript.)

- JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures by @freeCodeCamp (start here)
- The Modern JavaScript Tutorial by @iliakan
- That Weird JavaScript Course by @fireship_dev
- The MDN Web Docs by @MozDevNet
- ChatGPT 😉

@freeCodeCamp

Best place to start:

JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures by @freeCodeCamp

I started with this course. It goes from the absolute basics all the way to very advanced problems.

Best of all, each lesson is interactive and makes you write code.

freecodecamp.org/learn/javascri…

Read 15 tweets

Thomas Frank

@TomFrankly

May 6, 2023

ChatGPT pro-tip:

You can do a LOT with ChatGPT output if you add this to your prompt:

"You only speak JSON. Do not write text that isn't JSON."

JSON is a structured way to store and represent data.

It stands for JavaScript Object Notation.

Once you have JSON output, it's easy to write functions that process it any way you want.

The name of the game is getting output in a consistent format that doesn't change.

Here, I asked GPT-4 to summarize a voice note as a tweet thread.

The tweets themselves are in an array:

Read 6 tweets

Thomas Frank

@TomFrankly

May 5, 2023

@NotionHQ

Send tasks to @NotionHQ with your voice

This can automatically set due dates, assignees, and even projects.

And you can create multiple tasks at once!

@NotionHQ

@NotionHQ This automation uses:

- Shortcuts + Siri (MacOS, iOS)
- @OpenAI's ChatGPT API
- @pipedream for all the code and steps
- @NotionHQ as the destination

Tutorial coming soon (see the last tweet in this thread), but here's the gist:

@pipedream

First, I set up a shortcut in the Shortcuts app:

- Dictate Text
- URL (pasting in the HTTP/webhook trigger URL from @pipedream)
- Get Contents of URL

The final step sends a POST request containing the dictated text to the Pipedream webhook URL.

Read 6 tweets

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