24 Apr 2025 #writing
These days, Ben, one of my email subscribers, asked me a question about blogging using Markdown.
Here’s an edited version of his email:
I have been on a journey to start a coding blog over the past couple of months but just cannot get behind Markdown blogging in an IDE, which seems to be the most common or popular way to create a blog. I find it far easier to use some web service that essentially amounts to a rich text editor.
What would you recommend in this instance? Am I missing some obvious solutions or is getting the hang of Markdown just the way everyone recommends doing this?
Well, I’m a plain-text fan. Writing posts using Markdown on a text editor is my favorite way to blog.
Do you have to use Markdown? Short answer: No.
You could write HTML files and publish them directly to the Internet.
I’ve even seen people blogging using GitHub Gist or public GitHub repositories. They simply share file URLs from the repo.
A Markdown-based blogging engine like Jekyll is convenient. You could try editors like MacDown or Typora. These days, I’m using Notable. Or you could try a Markdown extension for Visual Studio Code.
And by the way, yesterday, I found a guy who runs his blog with Obsidian, if you’re looking for inspiration.
Now, if you’re writing for the first time on the Internet, I’d recommend to start on a “social blog.”
A social blog is a place for long-form writing with an audience and a distribution mechanism, like dev.to or Medium.
Social blogs are “slower” than social media platforms like Twitter/X or LinkedIn, but “faster” than traditional blogs or websites. It’s easier to get traction on a social blog than on a personal blog, which sits behind search engines and their bots.
I’d recommend starting on dev.to.
I have an account there where I repost some of my coding content. It has a decent built-in editor with basic formatting, but still uses Markdown.
It has a large audience of mostly beginner coders learning web development. Of course, you can share any content related to coding there.
You have nothing to lose by starting a blog. Start writing, even if it’s just one post. Choose the simplest option so you can focus on writing, not tweaking tools or writing your own blogging engine.
For more blogging lessons, read four lessons for a coder struggling to write, start writing by writing TIL posts, and how I organize my blogging workflow as inspiration.
23 Apr 2025 #writing
Last year, I challenged myself to revive my LinkedIn account by writing 100 posts.
I didn’t know what to write or how to write it. I only had good intentions.
My first posts were crap. Of course, 90% of everything is crap. I made every sin possible in my first posts: emojis, a big wall of text, external links…I’m embarrassed by those first posts.
But reading as a creator changed my writing.
I started to notice the posts I opened and read.
I collected the opening lines of the posts I opened. I created a file with my favorite openers. Then I stole (like an artist) those hooks to write my own.
Every time I clicked “See more” and found a big wall of text, I stopped reading. To avoid this mistake, I started to write shorter posts.
When I realized I never clicked on any of the external links in the posts I found, I stopped adding external links to my posts.
And I noticed how my favorite creators structured their posts. So I ditched emojis and started to add blank lines, use shorter sentences, and make my posts mobile friendly.
“Writing is learned mainly by imitation”
That’s from Writing to Learn by William Zinsser.
To improve your writing, imitate your favorite writers to develop your own style.
Notice the opening lines of your favorite books, collect headlines, and hand-write your favorite pieces. That’s how you get better at writing.
To learn to write, stop blindly consuming content. Put on your creator glasses and start noticing your behavior as a reader. That’s your cheat code to better writing.
22 Apr 2025 #writing
The definition of book has changed.
The other day, while reading James Altucher’s archive, I learned a book doesn’t have to be a 10,000-word New York Times bestseller, traditionally published.
A book could be a 20-page personal story or a summary of 10 scientific papers. And you don’t have to write it for the masses.
A book could simply be a story for our grandkids.
It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t sell thousands of copies or get 5-star reviews or get featured in newspapers. The real audience of our book is 4 or 5 people, our future relatives.
It would be great to read how grandpa found his first job, met grandma, and made it through life. I wish I had a firsthand glimpse of their lives.
You don’t need 10,000 words or a traditional publisher. You just need a story to tell. And chances are you already have one.
21 Apr 2025 #misc
A big project might seem daunting. Too many tasks, too many possible outcomes, and the fear of failure.
If you want to write a book, you might ask: What if nobody buys it? What if nobody reads it? What if it only gets bad reviews?
When stuck, answer: What’s the worst thing that could happen?
After identifying that “worst thing,” we realize all this uncertainty and fear was just noise in our heads. And that worst thing wasn’t that bad after all.
If nobody buys or reads your book, you still learned to outline a book, tell stories, choose a cover, buy an ISBN, and upload it to Amazon. The worst thing wasn’t that bad after all. You were only drowning in a glass of water. And you see how small your fear really was.
20 Apr 2025 #misc
It’s 2035. AI didn’t kill many jobs as we thought in 2025.
The world still needs coders. There are still pilots in the cockpits of airplanes. And there are still doctors and nurses in hospitals.
But AI has changed many jobs. Just like Photoshop changed graphic design and AutoCad, architecture.
One day, you’re not feeling well. And you have to rush to the ER.
Just like in 2025, a nurse receives you at the hospital.
But there’s something different this time. The hospital is run using MedAI.
As you describe your symptoms to a nurse, MedAI transcribes them and creates an initial report. It also studies your changes in intonation and breathing patterns to tell how sick you are or if you’re just looking for an excuse to skip work today.
MedAI helps the nurse in triage, making sure you receive medical attention as quickly as possible. While MedAI processes all this data, the nurse can focus on preparing you for the next steps.
After waiting for a few minutes in a room, a doctor calls you into the examination room.
By the time you get there, MedAI has summarized your records from past visits.
It has told your doctor when you visited the hospital and your diagnosis on each visit. Also, MedAI helped your doctor determine if your new symptoms are somehow related to past visits.
Your doctor doesn’t need to examine your vitals.
Using cameras and sensors, MedAI monitors your vitals: temperature, breathing, and heart rate. Are you vomiting? Shivering uncontrollably? Struggling to stand without help? MedAI quickly assesses these symptoms, allowing your doctor to focus on examining where it hurts.
After examining you, MedAI scans the hospital database for genetic conditions or recent similar cases among your relatives or other patients. Is it a family problem? A virus outbreak in the city?
That will give your doctor more clues for your diagnosis.
Your doctor gives you an initial treatment to relieve your pain and orders you some tests.
MedAI has helped your doctor prescribe any medicines based on your allergies or other health issues.
“Dr Williams, this patient is allergic to XYZ. And on a past visit, this treatment increased his blood pressure. Here are some alternatives to those medications: …“
By the time your test results are ready. MedAI has summarized the main findings. “He has low XYZ, high ABC. Everything else seems normal for his sex, age, and health condition.”
Armed with your vitals, exams, and preliminary diagnosis, MedAI has narrowed down your diagnosis to one or two issues and suggested a treatment for each one.
Your doctor has to double-check those suggestions and approve your treatment. You have to stay at the hospital for close observation.
While you are under observation, MedAI creates a daily report of your evolution.
“His blood pressure has been stable. No more signs of pain. A change of medication is needed in the next two hours.”
Also, MedAI has created a dietary plan for your visit, recommending the right food for you, given your overall health condition. “This is a patient with sugar problems. Here’s a list of recommended meals for his stay…“
Your doctor approves it and MedAI sends it to the hospital kitchen.
After a day or two, you feel OK again.
Your doctor prioritized your well-being and gave you the emotional support only a charismatic doctor can give.
Meanwhile MedAI assisted him at each step of your treatment, from monitoring your vitals to making sure your treatment was suited to your needs. MedAI was the caring and supportive assistant, but your doctor was still in charge. Just like a pilot is still in charge of a plane through the skies.
Open again in 2035.