Finished reading: A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle 📚

I’ve been looking for a markdown editor that’s nice to use, keeps everything in sync and plays well offline. I frequently work across macOS, iOS and Linux. The fact I use Linux on my old Surface Pro when out and about throws a spanner in the works and narrows my options somewhat. Decided to give Obsidian... www.olisharman.com

Finished reading: Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken 📚

Finished reading: Vulture Capitalism by Grace Blakeley 📚

I’ve been comparing Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro with OpenAI’s GPT-4o. The consensus from my research seems to be that most people think that ChatGPT is by far the better product. However, I find Gemini offers a better experience for me. I use it to help with lesson planning, learning Italian, studying iOS de... www.olisharman.com

Finished reading: The Cold War by Odd Arne Westad 📚

Finished reading: The Collected Poems by Robert Frost 📚

Finished reading: Poetry in the Making by Ted Hughes 📚

This is a great short book about poetry and the craft of writing it.

Finished reading: The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe 📚

Finished reading: The Inferno by Dante 📚

This quote from software engineer Kent Beck pretty much sums where I keep going wrong.

“By far the dominant reason for not releasing sooner was a reluctance to trade the dream of success for the reality of feedback.”

Dreams of future success may be a comfortable place to hang out, but they’re a complete waste of time.

Finish the work. Put it out there. Listen to what other people think about it.

Source: Approaching a Minimum Viable Product (August 2009)

Spotted in James Clear’s newsletter this week.

Young vines preparing to soak up the summer sun.

Finished reading: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 📚

Finished reading: Bright Wings by Billy Collins 📚

Drawings of birds and poems about birds. What’s not to love?

Over recent months this website has morphed into a public log of my reading. I’m ok with that. I guess the beauty of having a personal website is that you can use it as you want, and it’s ok if that changes over time as it rides life’s ebbs and flows with you. With no hunger for likes or algorithms to ap... www.olisharman.com

Finished reading: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris 📚

Funny and beautifully written.

Finished reading: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 📚

Finished reading: Regenesis by George Monbiot 📚

Finished reading: Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon 📚

The people who know me the best and love me the most tell me I should start teaching English.

I feel a bit guilty doing this without being fluent in Italian, but if I sit around waiting to be fluent I might never start teaching.

Think I’ll throw myself into this and figure out how to swim.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you just are who you are, forgetting the power you have to take action and become who you want to be. Let’s not let the challenges of the past and the present hold you back from moving forward towards where you want to go. Keep taking those steps, no matte... www.olisharman.com

Finished reading: Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller 📚

Apple recently shared a great Q&A with its UX writing team from last year’s WWDC. Lots of good insights here. If you’re a writer it’s worth checking out the article in full, but I want to share their advice for explaining technical concepts in simple terms: "First, remember that not everyone will have your level of understanding. Sometimes we get so excited about technical details that we forget the folks who might be using an app for the first time. Try explaining the concept to a friend or colleague first — or ask an engineer to give you a quick summary of a feature. From there, break down your... www.olisharman.com

Interesting to hear Malcolm Gladwell talk about his writing process on MasterClass. He shared how he breaks every piece of writing down into small, numbered sections before stringing it all together and figuring out what goes where and working on transitions. He didn’t mean sections like chapters in a boo... www.olisharman.com