Sawyer Paul's Blog, page 26
March 25, 2019
75% of Apple News+ Magazines in Canada are already free
These are the Canadian magazines Apple News+ (formerly Texture/Next Issue) is offering. I’ve been reading magazines with my Library Card through Press Reader and Flipster, and noticed a good amount of overlap. So I went down the list to see just how many you could get for free (and read on your phone/tablet, just like Apple News+). Turns out, most.
Magazine
Press Reader
Flipster
Apple News
Our Canada
Yes
Yes
Ottawa Magazine
Yes
Yes
Sélection
Yes
Yes
Canadian Cycling
Yes
Yes
Yes
The Walrus
Yes
Yes
Yes
Mon Parent
Yes
Best Health
Yes
Yes
Maclean’s
Yes
Yes
Today’s Parent
Yes
Yes
The Hockey News
Yes
Yes
Toronto Life
Yes
Yes
Yes
House and Home
Yes
Chatelaine
Yes
Yes
Canadian Running
Yes
Yes
Yes
Readers Digest
Yes
Gripped
Yes
Yes
Hello! Canada
Yes
FASHION Magazine
Yes
Zoomer
Yes
Yes
Mieux être
Yes
Triathlon
Yes
Yes
Cottage Life
Yes
Ricardo
Yes
L’actualité
Yes
Yes
Véro
Yes
Yes
Home
Yes
Yes
Toronto Star
Yes
Yes
Out of 27 magazines, only 7 weren’t available from the library. That’s 74% (so I’ll round up to 75%). That’s not bad for free.
March 24, 2019
More Things, March 25, 2019
It wouldn’t be a personal blog without a link list of stuff I liked around the web.
Your brain cleans itself best with the right kind of sleep
We know more every day, but we’re dumber than ever
Reality Is a Drag: I’d Rather Live In Lesbian Pulp Fiction
Good enough to eat? The toxic truth about modern food
China’s new social media craze: Paying random people to shower you with over-the-top compliments
Dangerous Liaisons: The Fallacy of the Modern-Day Coffee
These 90’s Commercials Are Absolute Nightmare Fuel
March 21, 2019
Podcast Recommendations, March 22, 2019
Here are some podcast episodes I’ve enjoyed lately. Links go to Overcast.
Unattended Consequences - Sixty Six Thousand and Six Thistle Sticks
This week Max and Pat talk about fame, magic tricks, and their toilet paper buying habits.
Tangentially Speaking with Christopher Ryan 356 - Karley Sciortino (Slutever)
Karley Sciortino is a writer, television host, and producer. She is the founder of Slutever, a website that focuses on sex and sexuality, and executive producer and host of the Viceland documentary series of the same name. She also writes Vogue’s online sex and relationships column, Breathless. Karley is @Slutever on Twitter, @KarleySlutever on Instagram.
Hurry Slowly - Anne Helen Petersen: Errand Paralysis
BuzzFeed’s Anne Helen Petersen on errand paralysis, fake burnout cures, and why we’re all obsessed with being better workers.
Wrestlesplania - 01 - No Condoms Extreme Rules Match (NXT TakeOver Philadelphia)
Episode 1 of the Wrestlesplania podcast where Kath Barbadoro explains wrestling to enthusiastic newbie Rachel Millman. In this episode, we cover: Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole - and - Johnny Gargano vs Andrade Cien Almas from the January NXT TakeOver.
Weird iPhone XR habit.
Weird iPhone XR habit. I never used to close the app I was on before. But now I always swoosh it away, go home, then turn the screen off. Just me?
Holedown on iOS kept my mid-game save state while moving from one phone to another.
Holedown on iOS kept my mid-game save state while moving from one phone to another. Meanwhile, every other app is like “howdy stranger, this is how you scroll on an iPhone.”
March 20, 2019
Fran’s Not Here is on Spotify!
Listen here or just search for “Fran’s Not Here” or even “frans not here” if you’re an animal.
Name us Toronto’s best podcast you cowards.
March 19, 2019
Cura, March 20, 2019
Note: The playlist embedded above will always be the most recent playlist and might not match the list below.
Cura is my Spotify mixtape. You can listen to it and subscribe here. I keep it as one playlist so it’s easy to subscribe to. I update it fairly frequently, but I also keep an archive playlist so you don’t have to miss a thing.
I hope you like it. I made it for you.
Here’s the track listing for this week:
I Wanna Keep Yr Dog By illuminati hotties
Only Friend By Approachable Members of Your Local Community, Tamara Dream
Title Holder By The Interrupters
Brain Freeze By The Voluntary Butler Scheme
Turn The Light By Karen O, Danger Mouse
March 12, 2019
Routine Shortcuts
I use Shortcuts on my iPhone every day. I like gimmicky shortcuts as much as anyone, but the ones that give me the most value are routine-style shortcuts, the type you likely hit once a day around the same time. Here are the ones I’ve made. Clicking on the header while on your iPhone or iPad will install the shortcut. Some of them have sub-shortcuts, also linked.
Good Morning
Starts a Toggle timer for “Morning”
Runs my “Battery Check” Shortcut, which changes brightness and turns on and off radios based on battery level
Runs my “Fitbit Weight,” shortcut which I wrote about here
Runs my “Morning Workout” Shortcut.
Transit
Starts a Toggl timer for “Transit”
Opens Google maps to commute
Opens up the app “Rocket Man” to show streetcar times.
Turns “Do Not Disturb” off
Ride
This is for when I’m riding my bike instead of taking transit.
Runs “Battery Check”
Asks if I’m starting or stopping a ride
If I’m starting, Sets “Do Not Disturb” to on
If I’m stopping, Sets “Do Not Disturb” to off
Adds a calendar item
Starts playing Overcast
Opens up “Map My Ride”
Opens up “Biko”
Opens up “Fitbit”
Morning Prep
For when I’m at work but haven’t started an actual task yet.
Starts a Toggl timer for “Morning prep”
Pomo
Sets a timer for 25 minutes
Starts a blank timer in Toggl
Adds a calendar event for “Pomodoro”
Opens “Freedom”
Sets “Do Not Disturb” to on
Pomo Break
Starts a Toggl for “Pomo Break”
Starts a timer for 5 minutes.
Sets “Do Not Disturb” to off
Meeting
Starts a Toggl for “Pomo Break”
Sets “Do Not Disturb” to on
Lunch
Starts a Toggl for “Lunch”
Sets “Do Not Disturb” to on
Afternoon Prep
For when I’m coming back from lunch but haven’t started an actual task yet.
Starts a Toggl timer for “Afternoon prep”
Home
Start a Toggl timer for “Evening”
A menu choice between “Elliptical workout,” “Evening Workout,” and “I’m feeling lazy.”
“Elliptical Workout” adds a calendar event for “Elliptical,” and turns off bluetooth (so I can easier connect my Airpods to my Surface)
“Evening Workout” adds a calendar event for “Evening workout,” turns on my hip hop playlist, and begins my “evening routine” in Strong
GTS Routine
Starts a Toggl timer for “Yoga”
Sets bluetooth to off
Sleep
Starts a Toggl timer for “Sleep”
Opens “Sleep Cycle”
Waits 20 seconds, then dims the screen to the minimum amount.
Weekend
Starts a Toggl timer for “Weekend”
Using these shortcuts allows me to keep Toggling running 24/7, which means my weekly email from them is far more useful. Mainly, though, these were things I was often doing manually before Shortcuts showed up. It’s actually what led me to make them like this. It’s the advice I give people who are having trouble thinking of ways Shortcuts can benefit them: think of the things you do over and over and automate that. It’s boilerplate advice about computers, sure, but it’s true here. Your iPhone is a computer. Let it help you.
More Things, March 13, 2019
It wouldn’t be a personal blog without a link list of stuff I liked around the web.
Rob Delaney Still Wants to Make You Laugh
Spotify’s podcast ambitions involve exclusive shows, better discovery, and lots of ad money
Punk and All the Sex and Love and Gender Bending We Forgot About
Post-work: the radical idea of a world without jobs
What Is Cognitive Fatigue? Exhaustion Isn’t Just A Physical Issue, Psychologists Say
ji32k7au4a83 is a surprisingly bad password
Pac-Man: The Untold Story of How We Really Played The Game
Are we building a city for lonely people?
How I fell out of love with the internet
How Street Photographers Gain an Audience on Instagram
It’s Been 20 Years Since “Cruel Intentions,” And There’s Never Been Another Movie Quite Like It
You May Have Forgotten Foursquare, but It Didn’t Forget You
March 11, 2019
Gradually adding music to a library
A few months ago, my dad mailed me a hard drive with music. Lots of music. I’m already working on a project where I make playlists for every year (check my Spotify for what I already have) and this will definitely help that. I’m always hungry for more music, and I was happy to get the hard drive. There’s so much stuff on it. Hundreds and hundreds of gigs. Way more music than my actual computer can hold. So, how am I supposed to filter through it all?
Sure, I could just copy some of it into my iTunes folder, but that would be messy and scattershot. And since I’m doing year playlists anyway, I should import the music by year. Here’s how I did that.
I use iTunes to organize my collection (iTunes Match is still the best service Apple provides). You can point iTunes at a folder (even an external drive), but there’s no way to say “only find songs from 1979.” There’s also no way to point it to a folder as well as your own internal organized iTunes Library, so I’d be dealing with two libraries, like an animal.
So I used the Zune software.
I pointed the Zune app’s music library to the external drive and let it organize. Then, I made smart playlists based on each year. Last, I used this nifty third party app to export the playlists’ files into a folder. After five minutes of work, I had a new folder with only songs from 1979.
I took that folder and added it to iTunes, and synced it with my iPhone. After I rate the songs, I’ll be able to archive the ones I don’t like into iTunes Match, and keep the ones I do like local. And when I’m done with that, I’ll move onto 1978. And so on. Good project. Thanks dad.
