Verb Noun Enter

Wish is a flawed movie, but I love its message: work toward your dreams.

How, exactly?

1. Take matters into your own hands. Simon got “boring” after giving his wish to Magnifico; Asha wishes on a star instead.

2. Seek help from your peers. At the climax, the lyric “I look up at the stars to guide me” becomes “I look out at the stars just like me”, and “I can take them on one at a time” becomes “we can take it on if we align”; Peter Pan might help that new citizen build a flying machine.

3. Anyone can make a difference. A twig becomes a magic wand; Asha is ordinary, not a “chosen one”.

All the while, the plot isn’t something basic like finding true love or killing a monster; Asha’s wish is about other people’s wishes, which is surprisingly abstract. This is the intellectual fairy tale.

This movie inspires me to work hard and believe in myself. It’s the only one that’s connected with me in that way, like my favorite song.

Really Bad Chess is actually really good chess. It’s the obvious joke, but it’s true.

I never liked chess because openings are arbitrary. If everyone played optimally, wouldn’t every match play out identically?

Well, Really Bad Chess randomizes your starting pieces based on your skill.

So every match is different, and immediately interesting. And it clicked.

Computer chess is a mental workout. It’ll push you as hard as you push yourself, so there’s no excuse for not trying my best.

And like exercise, it counterintuitively gives me more energy afterward, not less. Everything else feels easy in comparison: “oof, I tried my best and still lost. Might as well do some chores now.”

This has even improved my mental health. Zach Gage, if you’re reading this: I doubt you intended this game to treat depression, but it treats mine.

Anyway, while it’s true to say “computers beat humans at chess”, it’s both more complete and more interesting to say “humans built computers that beat humans at chess.”

I’ve done some of my best writing ever in Stickies. Seriously.

Because Stickies lets me…

Meanwhile, file editors force me to do all the opposites. What a distraction from actual meaningful work.

Computers should work the way humans think, not vice versa. Stickies does, so it’s a bicycle for my mind.

“The Boy and the Magical Robot”, composed by 40mP, sung by Chano

Okay listen. This song’s story spoke to me.

Given its title, I guessed it was an anime opening. But then I found the original music video with subtitles.

Three minutes later, I was sobbing.

The lyrics are autobiographical: as a kid, 40mP was too shy to sing in front of others. But then he discovered vocaloid software, and though it didn’t sound perfect, it let him make music. Hence, a vocaloid song about vocaloid software itself.

And that’s why I like computers.

In the ’80s, desktop publishing enabled anyone to write a book. In the ’90s, desktop video-editing enabled anyone to make a movie.

Here, without vocaloid software, this song simply wouldn’t exist, nor would the remakes and even dance choreography based on it.

Computers enabled all this creativity, and that warms my heart.

Do check out the lyrics, and the real-life story behind the song—they’re poetic. No other song has inspired me like this, so I must declare this my favorite song ever. 🩵

(See also: Introducing Songpocket 2)


Songpocket 1 repeated some info on album and song lists.

I changed that in Songpocket 2. Now…

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Songpocket 2 is an immersive viewer for your Apple Music library.

It has two key features:

  1. Crates, which let you freely arrange your library

  2. Tangible albums, which make albums feel physical

With these features together, browsing your music feels stunningly intimate. It’s personal and focused. Here’s why.

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My favorite font is Verdana, because it’s aggressively readable.

Some of its notable traits:

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I have a new writing style: word golf.

Why? Skimmability—I respect your time.

(Also, it’s nice on small screens.)

I started enjoying this on Mastodon (say hi!), even though that’s technically character golf. But I find that fewer words skims better—less visual jumping.

Here’s an example.

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good-enough.

My rewrite?

Sometimes, imperfect is okay.

Nicer, huh?

Am I overthinking it? Always.

But does it add up? Probably.

And is it fun? Yah.

Don’t talk this way—but do perhaps write this way. Always optimize for your medium.

Yup, I’m always overoptimizing something. Perfectionist here.

But worse than overoptimizing? Being unsure what to optimize.

Hence why I’ve blogged so rarely. Should I optimize detail? Accuracy? Interestingness? Now, I’m prioritizing skimmability.

Yes, the order of your priorities matters, and no, I’m not sure here. But hell, editing time matters too.

Anyway, now that I know what to overoptimize, I’ll be blogging more. Stay tuned.

(This post: 167 words)

(I recommend reading Waiting to ask for permission first.)


Neil Sardesai drew Songpocket’s icon. Thanks, Neil!

I’m about to brag extensively about how great this icon is. Blame Neil.

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(I recommend reading Introducing Songpocket first.)


One of my favorite features of Songpocket is something it doesn’t do: immediately demand access to your Music library the first time you open it.

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