I infrequently talk about wristwatches. This is such an occasion. If that topic doesn’t interest you, look away now, and tune back in for my broad-appeal tweets about… mechanical keyboards… or grammar, I guess, or… well, this has been a voyage of stark self-discovery. ANYWAY:
Happy new watch day to me. Check this out. It’s a Seiko, as almost-always for me, and another automatic 4R36 calibre (hackable, can be wound, day-date, 41hrs reserve). This time, though, a field watch instead of a diver! Behold the SRPG35K1.
This one is the khaki variant (that’s the 35 part of the model), which to my eye is by FAR the most striking. Colour-matched Arabic numerals in usual field style, and a nato strap. There are also green and grey natos, plus bracelets and leather strap options and colourways.
This one is unusual in that it has dual-colour lumibrite, unlike almost all its siblings. Crap lume photo as ever; blue hands! Slightly domed hardlex this time, inverse dual-language date window. 10 bar.
The other interesting thing is that the case finish is different depending on the strap model. Fabric ones like this are bead blasted to hell, which really sets off the rugged look. 40mm diameter, 13 thick, 20 lug width — so a real sweet spot for wearability in a modern style.
It’s incredibly affordable for the calibre. Yes, there are field watches at this price point with sapphire instead of toughened glass, but I don’t think anyone remotely hits the style without doubling the cost or more.
I have a standard style nato with khaki stripes on black coming that I think will perfect it. A modern Bond grey on black would pop too. I think Seiko knocked this particular redesign way out of the park. I love it to bits. Instantly added to my everyday rotation. 👍
And here it is with the khaki nato strap. Perfection, I’d say. Amazing match.
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Every year or two I remember what’s probably the most scarily/stunningly impressive linguistic feat I’ve ever seen. Every time, I think I must be mistaken, then I read the thing, and I just shake my head in disbelief. It’s been twenty years. Let me tell you about it.
Two of the things I like most are writing and video games. I especially like reading things people have written about games, which includes game guides. The most amazing thing I’ve ever read is a guide to the SNES game Super Metroid. Stay with me here, ok?
The guide is pretty good, and complete. There are plenty of spelling errors, but nothing that gets in the way. The content isn’t the thing, though. That’s not what makes it unbelievable. And 99.99% of people would look at it and never even see or understand the genius/madness.
A brief thread about the grim reality of writing fiction, and how you can make your iPad help you with focus (and avoiding procrastination). 👇
First, good news: creativity is a skill that can be practised and cultivated. You don’t need to rely on mysterious inspiration striking. You can pretty much train your brain to produce on a schedule. That’s great!
The bad news is that you, yourself, will stand in your own way.
If you’re like me — and my solipsism and egocentrism conveniently confirm that you are — then you’ll procrastinate. You’ll get distracted. Distractions are so damned good. Garbage on youtube. Nonsense on this hellsite. Your stupid neighbours out the window. So enticing.
In better IKEA news, though, I did find pretty much the perfect sofa bed to keep in the office. It meets all my preferences:
✅ Minimalist style, in neutral colours
✅ Not click-clack (don’t like the rear protrusion)
✅ Has storage
✅ Sofa small as possible
✅ Bed ideally UK double, or near as possible
✅ Not a pull-out-to-front bed
✅ Sofa width becomes bed length
✅ Not a floor-level/low bed
✅ Can be against wall as sofa, and not need moved to change into bed
✅ Very quick change to bed
✅ Firm sleeping surface
✅ Not like £1k
The winner by a mile was the Asarum: ikea.com/gb/en/p/asarum… . I love the clever mechanism, and assembly was just screwing in six legs and putting in four small bolts. 5 mins! Pic of it (not in final position). The grey cushions were included. Purple ones and blanket are mine.
Second, making entirely new apps on the store for what’s really just a new version brings a host of annoyances for both users and developers. It’s possible, but it’s extremely sub-optimal. Option 3 is free upgrades forever, which Apple wants but which kill indie dev companies.
Option 4 is subscriptions, which Apple wants MORE because it’s more revenue over time, accrued across multiple accounting years. And yes, subscriptions as a business model is always PARTLY going to benefit from people who sign up then forget to cancel. People, huh? 🤷♀️
Quick vid of @GoodNotesApp’s killer features for note-taking. In order of demo, and continuing to further tweets below:
1. Strokes are all vectors, so scaleable/zoomable, and remain so in PDF output.
2. Eraser can erase conventionally, or entire strokes at once (so handy).
3. Highlighter always paints BEHIND text, rather than the stupid Notes way which just washes-out the text you’re trying to emphasise. 🙄
4. Highlighter can be set to auto-straightening mode, for neatness.
5. Eraser can be set to erase highlighter only. Ultra useful!
6. Plus of course multiple notebooks, tabs, paper types, vertical or horizontal paging, auto-moving zoomed-in writing window, searchable handwriting and text, text box tool with style defaults, PDF import/annotation, handwriting-to-text conversion, shape detection, etc.
One common way to categorise writers is those who plan/outline first (planners), and those who just wing it (pantsers). I'm a planner, so really I'd say: hey, plan a lot before you start. But it's already 1st November, so I'm a bit late with that advice.
That said, I do highly recommend outlining. Broad strokes first, then iteratively refine until you're sick of doing so. I usually go down to the granularity of groups of a few scenes, and sometimes further. I also recommend reading about the three-act structure.