mzumquadrat's recent activity

  1. Comment on Digital note-taking system? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    One of the biggest pros for Obsidian is in my opinion the open system. Sure the app itself is closed source but all your notes and stuff are in the end just markdown files in folders. So, even if...

    One of the biggest pros for Obsidian is in my opinion the open system. Sure the app itself is closed source but all your notes and stuff are in the end just markdown files in folders. So, even if Obsidian will enshittify in the future, they are not able to hold your notes hostage. Also, it makes interacting with these files incredibly easy. OneNote's format is open too but a lot more complex than simple markdown files. (I think the whole Office Open XML format specification is over 6000 pages.)

    4 votes

  2. Comment on What's next for Kagi? in ~tech

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    I am currently using a combination of Google and DuckDuckGo. But I am using them very reluctantly. I am currently experimenting with setting up my own YaCy instance. The biggest problem for me is...

    I am currently using a combination of Google and DuckDuckGo. But I am using them very reluctantly. I am currently experimenting with setting up my own YaCy instance. The biggest problem for me is the abysmal quality of the search index in P2P mode vs. the need to crawl everything myself.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on What's next for Kagi? in ~tech

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    The adaption of AI was what made me unsubscribe from kagi. I want my money to go towards making a better search engine. Not wasting resources to train a complicated hallucination engine....

    The adaption of AI was what made me unsubscribe from kagi. I want my money to go towards making a better search engine. Not wasting resources to train a complicated hallucination engine. Especially because I found the AI features sub-par the few times I tried them.

    4 votes

  4. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    Comics might be a good entry point. I never thought about that. Thank you for your suggestion.

    Comics might be a good entry point. I never thought about that. Thank you for your suggestion.

    1 vote

  5. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    Thank you. These sound fun.

    Thank you. These sound fun.

  6. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    Thank you. David Sedaris sounds fun to read.

    Thank you. David Sedaris sounds fun to read.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    No problem. Thank you for your suggestions. :)

    No problem. Thank you for your suggestions. :)

  8. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    This is solid advice. Thank you.

    This is solid advice. Thank you.

    2 votes

  9. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    Thank you for the suggestions. I'll have a look at that.

    Thank you for the suggestions. I'll have a look at that.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    Yeah, maybe I am pressuring myself too hard.

    Yeah, maybe I am pressuring myself too hard.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    That is a good perspective to have, thanks.

    That is a good perspective to have, thanks.

  12. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    Thank you for your concerns. I have had therapy and am now mentally well for the moment.

    Thank you for your concerns. I have had therapy and am now mentally well for the moment.

    3 votes

  13. Comment on How to pick up reading again? in ~books

    mzumquadrat
    Link Parent
    That is a good idea. Do you have some short stories you would recommend?

    That is a good idea. Do you have some short stories you would recommend?

    1 vote

  14. How to pick up reading again?

    ~books Ask (advice)
    I have been a reader in my teens and my early youth. This all changed when I started to develop a depression back in the days. I had no will, interest or strength to pick up a book. During my...

    I have been a reader in my teens and my early youth. This all changed when I started to develop a depression back in the days. I had no will, interest or strength to pick up a book. During my university years I read a lot of textbooks but no prose. Picking up a book today feels like a chore for me. I find a lot of them bland and have to force myself to read/finish the story. So basically, my text boils down to: What helped you to rekindle your love for books/reading again? I am curious about all the answers.

    EDIT:
    Thanks to the comments so far, I have seen that I did not answer the important question why I stopped reading and why it now feels like a chore. So I'll try and give a bit more answers.
    Besides "having no strength" during my phase of depression, I kind of started to hate the worlds the books offered. I wished to be part of these worlds, where my depression would not mess with me, where I could be happy or at least experience cool adventures. But after every reading session came the hard realization that I was still in this world with my depression and all my problems. That was when I decided to stop reading.

    As to why reading feels like a chore today: I don't know. I started to read books again that I loved as a teenager/ young adult, but the magic was gone. Meanwhile, I also started to pick up more books from up-to-date bestseller lists, but I found a lot of them pretty boring, or I did not like the style of the author.

    33 votes