Automating a monthly link roundup: January 2024

I'm trying something new! I'm starting a new monthly series to round up all the links and websites I've collected on my /bookmarks page the previous month. This series is inspired by Local Ghost's Good Links and Jelly Teapot's Blend of links. I love a good old link list, especially when it's curated by fellow bloggers.

I already have a /bookmarks page where I capture links and highlights; it even has its own RSS feed! I’m not sure how many people are subscribed to that, but I thought doing a roundup for regular subscribers might be a good idea to bring those 2 feeds together! If you are subscribed to my bookmarks feed please let me know if this type of post is too redundant.

This should not add any extra work to my existing link-capturing workflow. I currently use a Shortcut that extracts the Title, URL, Highlight, and Comment from a website and adds it to a Notion Database that is then synced into my /bookmarks page with a Make automation.

For this roundup, I added a step in my existing Clip Webpage shortcut that formats the URL, author, and commentary in Markdown and appends it to my Craft document for the corresponding month. Publishing the actual post still needs to be fully automated, but we'll get there.

Let me know if you want me to share and write more in-depth about link-capturing workflow!

Anyhow, here are the Links & Bookmarks that I captured during January 2024:

• How to Make Lists, by Nash — On his weekly newsletter, Nash goes over his Things 3 setup. He shares a great tip to remove any todos or projects that are aspirational out of Things and into other apps so we can prioritize actionable things.
• My updated Things 3 Setup, by Stefani Weifel — Another fantastic Things 3 setup overview. Stefanz is optimizing his setup so the Today view does not get too cluttered, and he can just go into any time and pick something if he has free time. Since reading this post, I've been trying to tweak and simplify my setup.
• Your Small Imprecise Ask Is a Big Waste of Their Time, by Stay Sassy — This post made me rethink every Slack message I send to coworkers. What seems like an insignificant task might derail someone's entire day, even more so if you are in a leadership position.
• Humonize!, by Robb Knight — This is as deep as it would get for Podcasts easter eggs. Robb created a site that allows you to play a sound the hosts of Connected used to make.
• How I Modded My iPad Pro with a Screen Protector, iPhone Holder, and Magnetic Stereo Speakers, by Federico Viticci — These are the type of stories why I subscribe to Club Mac Stories. I love crazy workflows and more if they involve hacking hardware.
• Speculative Calendar Events, by Maggie Appleton — Maggie shares how her ideal calendar app would handle events. I wish there were an app like this. I love time tracking but hate manually adding and updating my workout blocks. Amie seems on the right track, but it would need to support something like Apple Journal's suggestions.
• The MacStories Team's iPhone Home Screens, by Federico Vittici — I've been experimenting as well with the native podcast app for the same reasons as Federico but also for the new integration in the Tesla. So far, so good, but I'm also confused by their up next and the podcast episode detail screens.
• RSS is the Best Way to Consume News and Blogs, by Vikrant — Long live RSS.
• Neglecting the scrollbar: a costly trend in UI design, by Blake Watson — This post made me empathize even more with why designing for accessibility is essential. Scrollbars get overlooked, but they are one of the main ways of navigating sites and web apps.
• Roborock brings Matter and Apple Home support, by Jon Ratcliffe — I hope this happens soon. I'm tired of going through hoops to make robot vacuums easier to automate. Cambridge, Home Assistant, Shortcuts...
• How to make your team read your mind, by Anton Zaides — On the importance of setting clear expectations for your direct reports and team members.
• Organization – Office, by Christopher Butler — I love an excellent workplace setup post. Christopher goes into depth about his organizational methods.
• iPad Pro 10,5-inch, by Toni Lampela — Toni shares my excitement and anticipation for the rumored upcoming iPad Pro. I also have been hanging on the original iPad Pro 2018
• Six things we want to see from LEGO in 2024, by Matt Yeo — Similar to Matt, I also want to see more prequel sets, especially Episode I sets.
• How To Check Your App Store Subscriptions with Reminders and Shortcuts, by Matthew Cassinelli — Matthew shares a helpful tip on how to stay on top of your subscriptions. I want to start leveraging Reminders more for this type of thing to unclutter my Things Today view.
• Technical Skills Are Overrated. Focus on Your Attitude, by Dave Anderson — I could not agree more with Dave's point of view. A person's good soft skills and attitude will help them learn any technical skills they are missing, but it never works the other way around. People skills, to me, trump everything else when hiring.

Additionally, here are some similar link digest-style posts:

• Good links: 21 January 2024 • Localghost
• 131 / Cold-blooded software
• Weekly Bookmarks 4: CSS Edition • Roma's Unpolished Posts
• December blend of links • The Jolly Teapot

I hope you liked this first edition of the monthly link digest. Let me know if one or more of the links are interesting to you! Check out my /bookmarks page to see other links I’ve saved.

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