Soul, 2020 - ★★★★★
A beautiful surrealist movie that was pitch perfect. Elements of Mr Holland’s Opus in the story.
Fixing the Big Sur proxy icon delay globally
I had previously bemoaned the fact that the proxy icon is now hidden behind a hover delay in Big Sur.
Listeners of Hemispheric Views will be aware of my love for the macOS proxy icon.
I am overjoyed to learn that macOS-magic-man Brett Terpstra has found a way to have the proxy icon ready for action without delay. Thank you, sir, for fixing what Apple broke.
Look at this wally, repping the @hemisphericviews merch.
Crap. I think I’m getting into Obsidian. Just when I thought I’d settled on Dynalist and DEVONthink.
Donnelly River in the south-west of Western Australia features kangaroos and emus that are not at all fussed with people.
I had my first drive of a Tesla. It was the Model 3. I want one now.
I’ve discovered the ability to install GUI-based apps via Homebrew Casks. Saves mucking around with .dmg files, dragging and dropping to the Applications folder. Still fun to learn new things about computing!
Discovered my internet was slow. After factory restores and firmware updates for all my networking devices, I’m back to full speed. I wonder for how long my network had been non-optimal?
My Version of the MacSparky Status Board
Recently David Sparks has posted a number of blog entries about his status board creation1. This takes the form of a kanban board of significant projects that he manually updates, providing a graphical overview of his work and life.
I’m a big fan of tools based around the lean methodologies, so I was immediately taken by his idea. I’ve done similar things in the past, but David inspired me to build one with a new approach.
HyperPlan is my Preferred Software
Whereas David uses OmniGraffle, I have chosen to use HyperPlan. I have previously written about my love of HyperPlan.
What makes HyperPlan great for the construction of a status board is that it is data-driven and dynamic. David takes time each week to edit and change his status board in what is effectively a graphics application. By using HyperPlan, I can change database entries and the software intelligently reconstructs the status board. I have freedom to change the variables I want to ‘pivot’ the table around.
I can create and save ‘views’ of my data, which allow me to construct a status board that has the three key elements of my life: work, family, and me — and elect to view all or some of these. I can focus only on work by hiding the others, or I can view them all together in one kanban board, but still split by these roles.
The following image shows the card layout of a status board displaying key projects across all three of my areas of responsibility:
Whereas this redacted image shows my work projects, and demonstrates how the fields can be shown on each card:
System-based URLs for Contextual Computing
HyperPlan has the ability to add hyperlinks to each card. This enables me to adopt David Sparks' contextual computing linking. I am able to add links to OmniFocus projects, Hook references, or DEVONThink locations all within the relevant card. A right-click on the card allows me to jump straight to any of these locations.
Fun and Engaging
I appreciate David sharing his thoughts and ideas around the construction of a status board.
In building my own, it has been a reminder of how I can make work fun and engaging. The efficiency and pure project-processing of OmniFocus is great, but it doesn’t do visualisation. This status board is nice to look at, easy to update, and allows me to consider how loaded up my life is at any particular point in time.
I’m going to make this a key part of my personal management approach.
Alice, 2019 - ★★★★
Brilliant performances from the cast. An emotionally impactful film.
Cooked perfect steaks on the barbecue tonight. Delicious!
Frenzic
Frenzic: Overtime – Coming Soon to Apple Arcade • The Breakroom
All of us here at the Iconfactory have dreamt of creating a sequel to the original Frenzic, which first debuted on the App Store thirteen years ago. Thanks to Apple Arcade, that dream is about to become a reality.
Has it really been 13 years since Frenzic? I played it constantly on my iPod touch taking the bus to work. Excited to see it returning. I like this new approach from Apple Arcade.
Back to the Future Part II, 1989 - ★★★½
Not as tightly managed as the original but still fun. The Almanac is a classic MacGuffin.
World Autism Awareness Day
Today is World Autism Awareness Day.
Our eldest son, now 9, was diagnosed with autism at age 5. This was young enough for him to benefit from early intervention support which has made a huge difference to his life. It was not, and cannot be, a cure. There is no such thing, nor would I want there to be one. Being on the autism spectrum is part of what makes him, him.
Yet if you suspect your child of having autism, push for an early diagnosis because it unlocks help and support pathways. Most of all, it helps build an understanding of what is going on with your child’s lived experience.
Autism doesn’t go away. My boy continues to face struggles. Likely, these struggles will impact him throughout life. The effects often appear cyclical. We have good weeks and bad. The last few weeks have been tremendously difficult for him. It has been hard for him getting through a school day, without a rift appearing. It’s hard for us as parents to get the loving and supportive parenting right all the time. It’s not easy for anybody. For our son, emotional disregulation is a daily challenge. We have learned to always be on the lookout for triggers. That might be a loud environment, or too many stimulators inputs, or the need for him to make consecutive decisions.
We are sure to get through this current difficult phase, but we have the knowledge that this is a challenge that will always be present for him. Our job as parents is to equip him with the skills and tools necessary to be able to have a good life, whatever the definition of that might be for him.
We keep working at that. Days like Autism Awareness Day help remind us of this important task.
My second trial of HEY is ending and I’m happily retreating to my Fastmail/Sanebox combo.
🎙Coming in at less than 7 minutes, a show that’s highly relevant to our situation today. I would go so far as to call it a must-listen. Hemispheric Views 024: The Truth about Big Avocado!
I like the idea of imputation - too many businesses miss this vital component.
Dealing with my 9-year old’s autistic meltdowns is hard. 😓
🔗 Link Post: "{macro}Dungeon"
“Up to 4 players take turns drawing cards and making movements through one of four caves in an attempt to outpace their competitors on the way to the treasure room.”
This board game has been designed by my friend Jason Burk. It’s on sale today; grab it while you can!
Hannah Beazley MLA
I am immensely proud of my wife, Hannah Beazley, who has been duly elected as a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, representing the District of Victoria Park. As the WA Labor Party won the State Election, she is now a member of our State Government.
While the result was known on the evening of the official polling day on 13 March 2021, the WA Electoral Commission cannot formally declare a result until it has done a full count and exhausted all the preferences of those candidates who did not win. This is a complex system so counting the complete set takes some time, at which point the election is declared.
For the District of Victoria Park, that time has come and the result has been officially declared and published.
Victoria Park was previously held by the State’s outgoing Treasurer, Ben Wyatt. Before him, the seat was held by Premier Geoff Gallop. Now, my wife, Hannah Beazley, has the opportunity to represent the people of Victoria Park in the State Parliament.
Hannah has worked for many years towards this goal. She has previously fought and lost elections, but never given up. Now, she is a winner, and it’s fantastic!