Asked once

146 questions have been asked exactly once

Peter Lewis 8

  1. What software & hardware do you use?
  2. What routines or habits help you get your work done?
  3. Keyboard Maestro is a phenomenal automation tool for the Mac. I used to cut down on endnote errors in a book I was working on (and also speed up their creation). What are some ways you use it for yourself?
  4. Your development Keyboard Maestro is unique in that it was first developed by Michael Kamprath before you acquired it in 2004. Still, it’s a 20 year old tool at this point. What are some challenges that were unique to working on a pre-existing codebase?
  5. As a follow up, what’s it like working on a ~20 year old codebase now? What are some things you wish you did differently?
  6. Before Keyboard Maestro, there was Interarchy/Anarchie in the early 90s. You’ve been a Mac user since the 80s. How has the Mac, and the development experience on the Mac, changed since you started? How has it improved & how has it gotten harder?
  7. What can Apple do to make developing for the Mac easier or better going forward?
  8. How else do you automate?

Matthew Bischoff 6

  1. You design & develop apps at Lickability. This reminds me of the comment Steve Jobs made in 2000 about Aqua: “We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.” What are the tangible & intangible qualities of a “lickable” app?
  2. Could you give an overview of how you go from idea to app? What are the most important decisions to make?
  3. Much of your professional focus seems to be on the Apple ecosystem. What do you think Apple is doing right? And what could they improve?
  4. What are some examples of well-designed apps (that you haven’t worked on)?
  5. People often conflate good design with just looking nice. What are the essential qualities of something – anything – that’s well designed?
  6. What are some non-software products that you think exemplify good design?

Tyler Hall 5

  1. Your apps are elegant and simple in that they do their respective jobs well. I think a lot of people have a problem with trying to put all their ideas into a single app and delaying shipping it. When do you figure that enough is enough and it’s time to ship? (I imagine you’re going through this now, with Iris?)
  2. I love the app icons, especially for Fastmarks & Ears. What are the qualities of a good app icon?
  3. You’re slowly encroaching on 500,000 words over 16 years. Why do you blog?
  4. What do you enjoy about developing macOS and iOS apps?
  5. I enjoyed the “A Pirate Looks (Nearly) at Forty” post, though unfortunately, I think the media space has only fragmented further since then. I notice you mentioned Plex on your Now page (talking about your most listened to albums). How do you manage your media?

Ben Street 9

  1. You’ve written an eminently readable & enjoyable book, How to Enjoy Art. What’s your process for enjoying art and has it evolved from when you were just getting interested to now, as an art historian?
  2. How important is authorial intent in an artwork vs. what the viewer interprets?
  3. Some of the marble sculptures we see today used to be painted or gilded. It’s a layer that’s been stripped over centuries. You noted in the book that “…art history is a story about the misinterpretation of the past as much as the continuation of it…” Some misinterpretations, by virtue of being so long un-corrected, have added to the discourse around any given work of art. How does the art world go about correcting the record? Is it even possible?
  4. Art has, for a long time, been entwined with money – as something commissioned or bought for value. Do you think the high prices some art works command are a positive or negative for the art world?
  5. I’ve used “art world” though I believe, as you do, that art is for everyone to enjoy – and can be enjoyed by anyone. What would you say to break the barrier of one who thinks art is impenetrable or something they just might not “get”?
  6. During restoration, does a work of art become a Ship of Theseus? Is it more meaningful to let a work of art degrade over time, or to restore it for future generations?
  7. What impact will AI art have on art as a medium? As a form of expression?
  8. You mention on your site you’re writing your PhD on the late work of Philip Guston. Who was Philip Guston, and why did you choose his late work?
  9. What are some art works you’re particularly fond of, or enjoy, or think others should probe?

Ian Feiggen 9

  1. What’s so interesting about shoelaces – or knots in general?
  2. Beside the Ian knot, what’s your favorite knot?
  3. The Shoelace Site has been up & running since April 2000. The web’s  changed a lot in the past couple of decades. What changes stand out to you?
  4. It takes effort to keep any project running for so long. How do you keep it interesting?
  5. Do you have a favorite shoelace? And a favorite pair of shoes?
  6. How has the web gotten better over the years? And how has it gotten worse?
  7. You started programming in the 1980s. PCs had already been introduced and were becoming more commonplace. You described the time as “incredibly interesting and thoroughly rewarding”. Has it sufficiently sustained your interest all these years? Has anything rivaled it?
  8. I enjoyed reading Ian’s Rant 07) – Music Industry vs. The Internet – one of just 12 rants published over 24 years. This one was published in August 2003 and the music industry has changed a lot since then. A lot more people are creating music now, but most music is streamed. While convenient, do you think it’s an overall positive move vs. owning a CD & being able to rip it?
  9. This is more of a bonus question (that I’d be happy to leave off for privacy reasons). I saw you also keep a family tree that extends to the 1600s. Are there any amusing finds or anecdotes you’d be willing to share as you were creating it?

Protesilaos Stavrou 8

  1. You’ve written a lot about Emacs and publish or manage several Emacs packages. What is it about Emacs that appeals to you?
  2. There’s a prevailing belief that Emacs has a steep learning curve and requires plenty of setup, whereas something like VS Code can get you started on your work quicker. Why invest the time to learn Emacs?
  3. What are some changes you’d like to see that you think would improve Emacs?
  4. Which package (or packages) or bit of code that you’ve written are you most proud of?
  5. Your commentaries, interpretations, critiques, and other published writing is a joy to read. Over more than a decade, you’ve made more than 1,000 entries. Why write so much and often?
  6. In your About, you write that “What I wrote in the past may not represent my current views.” What are some views that have changed or evolved over the past decade?
  7. Are there any views that you thought wouldn’t change, but did change?
  8. You describe yourself as a philosopher. What is it to be a philosopher, and to do philosophy?

Shawn Hickman 9

  1. You mention in the About page that you started working on Sofa as a designer and then, later on, a developer (and now both!). What was the transition to developing like and how did you learn the necessary skills?
  2. How did you organize your media before Sofa?
  3. How do you think Sofa fits in with specialized trackers like Letterboxd for film, Trackt for TV, and Bookly for books?
  4. What interested you in tracking & organizing media at all in the first place?
  5. As the sole person working on Sofa, you have to wear a lot of hats – design, dev, marketing, support, etc. How do you juggle all of this?
  6. What do you enjoy the most about working on Sofa? And the least?
  7. How do you decide & prioritize on features to add? Is it mostly a personal choice or what the users want (which, I imagine, can vary quite a bit).
  8. Marketing is probably one of the hardest things for someone that creates a product. How do you get the word out about Sofa?
  9. How do you relax or take a break? (Including, obviously, working through what you’ve saved in Sofa).

Jay Hoffmann 6

  1. What resources could you suggest to people who want to learn how to do what you do?
  2. You show the history of the web through your aptly named project, The History of the Web. What started you down this path?
  3. What do you think are some of the most important events in web history?
  4. This seems like a labor of love. In addition to the wonderful timeline, there’s also ~180 posts. What inspires you to keep going?
  5. What’s your research process for the timeline & posts like? And how do you decide what to write a post on?
  6. What do you think is the future of the web? And are you optimistic about it?

Ruben Schade 7

  1. You already have a comprehensive list of the software and gear that you use on your Omake, so I won’t ask what you use. But amongst the software & gear that you do use, is there anything that you find particularly delightful or worth highlighting?
  2. You’ve written nearly 8,400 entries for your blog since 2004 – 19 years this year (congratulations!). How has web changed for the better in that time? And how do you think it’s changed for the worse?
  3. What advice do you have for people that want to start blogging, but don’t know where to begin?
  4. I particularly enjoy your anime posts. What interests you about it as an art form vs. other TV shows, movies, etc.?
  5. You also collect figures. How did you get into that?
  6. What’re the essential qualities of a high quality figure?
  7. You’ve also been podcasting – and listening to podcasts – for a long time. How do you think podcasting has changed over the years?

Tito Ferradans 5

  1. What is it about anamorphic lenses that interests you?
  2. Photography and filmmaking are easily accessible now thanks to phones. When do you think is the right time for someone to transition from using a phone to more specialized equipment? Or is there even a need to?
  3. What are some movies or scenes that do anamorphic shots particularly well?
  4. What are some improvements you’d like to see lens manufacturers make?
  5. Marketing is probably one of the hardest things for creators. How do you get the word out about your work?

Charlie Monroe 7

  1. I found your work through Permute, which I’ve used for thousands of conversions. What inspired you to develop it in the first place?
  2. Another app you developed, Downie, lets people download YouTube videos. There’s an adage about developing things that you need, and they’ll find an audience. Why Downie vs. something like youtube-dl from the terminal?
  3. Now you’re working on CMPlayer, which’ll let people play videos (that they can download via Downie, or convert with Permute). There was also Rottenwood, an app that let users keep track of movies they saw. All of these have a media focus, specifically video. Why the interest in video-focused apps?
  4. How do you get the word out about apps you create?
  5. What do you enjoy about developing for the Mac over iOS?
  6. How can Apple make the development experience for macOS better?
  7. You also paint. How do you come up with ideas about what to paint?

Adam Linder 5

  1. Albums, as the name implies, is about listening to full-length albums. Why an albums-first approach?
  2. This Complex article talks about the length of albums and how they’re getting to be pretty long (especially in hip-hop). Do you think that’s the case?
  3. How do you decide which features to prioritize when developing?
  4. Perhaps a difficult question, but what are some of your all-time favorite albums? As many as you’d like to mention.
  5. How do you discover new music?

Mickey Petersen 6

  1. How did you get interested in that in the first place?
  2. I found your work through Mastering Emacs, a phenomenal site – and book (written in Emacs, of course) – that helped me design my Emacs workflow (more so as a writer than a developer). Emacs can be intimidating for first-time users. Why should they choose it over another text editor?
  3. What are some areas where Emacs could improve, either for longtime users or for newcomers?
  4. What are some of the Emacs specific workflows that help you get your work done (packages, changes from defaults, etc.)?
  5. Besides Emacs, what tools & gear do you use (hardware, software, or anything else that comes to mind)?
  6. Besides the tools, what habits & routines help you finish your work?

Vidit Bhargava 3

  1. My first experience with your work was LookUp, a beautiful dictionary app. I imagine there was no shortage of competition when you released it. How did you go about deciding how to separate LookUp from other dictionary apps?
  2. Something that strikes me about your work is the emphasis on design. Why is design so important for you?
  3. Is there a specific design philosophy you try to abide by?

Russ Shanahan 6

  1. What sets Happy Scale apart from other apps that track weight, and why do you think these differences are important?
  2. You’ve been developing Happy Scale independently for more than a decade now. What do you think are the most important lessons you learned between then and now?
  3. Going independent is the dream for a lot of people. The benefits seem obvious – working on your own time and for yourself. What are some of the pitfalls or shortcomings people should be more aware of?
  4. A few years ago, you used Happy Scale to lose more than 100 pounds – a phenomenal feat – which you also detailed in a tweet thread. Losing weight is probably the most popular New Years resolution, and the new year is nigh. What were some of the lifestyle changes you made to help you lose that weight?
  5. Whose work do you admire, or that inspires you?
  6. Where’s the best place for people to find you & your work?

Bozhidar Batsov 3

  1. What’s the story behind how you started using Emacs?
  2. Emacs Prelude has probably helped a lot of people get started with Emacs that otherwise might not have. By adding sane defaults and a curated set of packages, it lets users hit the ground running. Do you think it’s better to start with something like Prelude, or should users try plain Emacs first and then try to add their own customizations?
  3. Emacs has been around for more than 40 years now and is still going strong. What do you think is the reason for the longevity? And why should people prefer to use Emacs today, over something like VSCode or Sublime Text?

Keith Blount 4

  1. You were a teacher before you started Literature & Latte. How did you transition from teaching to programming?
  2. Everyone approaches their novel – or other long work – in a different way, and Scrivener allows for that. How do you approach your personal writing? Do you do a lot of research, or do you just jump into it?
  3. The act of writing seems to be one of the few “solved” (used loosely) problems. How do you ideate ways to improve Scrivener?
  4. People that write a lot tend to read a lot. What are some of your favorite books?

Michael Tigas 5

  1. For people interested in learning how to do what you do, what resources can you recommend? (Could be books, videos, podcasts, etc.)
  2. Finding the right productivity strategy is different for everyone. How did you discover what worked for you?
  3. You have a phenomenal Launching an Indie App blog series on your website, which traces the journey of launching Focused Work – complete with sketches, screenshots, and a week-by-week breakdown of what you focused on. As a team of one, how do you deal with the uncertainty of how a project might turn out or be received?
  4. You recently released Version 3 of Focused Work. How do you find new ideas for subsequent versions? Is it more of adding what you personally want, or what users want?
  5. What are some of the Focused Work timers you’ve created for yourself?

Roy Tang 4

  1. You log a lot of personal content — your media diet, where you’ve traveled, what you’ve done, etc. What sparked your interest in logging it all for everyone to read?
  2. One of my favorite things to go through is the books, movies, TV shows, and games you’ve logged. How have your interests changed over the years? Do you still enjoy the same kinds things you enjoyed a decade or more ago?
  3. You’ve written ~1,500 blog posts and ~14,000 notes since 2002. Do you think of what you’ve written mostly as an archive, or do you often go back and read what you wrote years ago?
  4. What are some of your favorite books, movies, games, and shows?

Marijn van Hoorn 3

  1. Your website has a very interesting design and some pages have their own design. Do you have a particular design philosophy?
  2. Your decision to make the content you create public domain is admirable. Why public domain as opposed to another permissive Creative Commons license?
  3. From the wide range of pages on your site, I get the sense you have a lot of different interests. What are some of your favorite pages you made?

Wouter Groeneveld 6

  1. On your about page, the first thing you call yourself is a Baker. What sparked your interest in baking, and specifically sourdough bread?
  2. You have a variety of interests: baking, research, programming, writing, and teaching. How do you make time for everything?
  3. As a follow up, how did you discover your interests?
  4. On your video game review site, Jefklaks Codex, you write about retro games. What do you think about the current state of video gaming? Is there something to be learned from older games?
  5. You have an extensive Goodreads profile, and you cover the last 12 books you’ve read on your website. What are some of your favorite books?
  6. What are some of your favorite things that you’ve created? (Could be anything – the best bread you made, a review you think is very well-written, etc.)

Quentin Zervaas 4

  1. I track writing, reading, meditation, journaling, vitamins, as well as entertainment (trying for a book, a movie, and an album per week), and more. What habits are you trying to make or break right now?
  2. Streaks has been out since 2015 and it’s still actively updated. That’s almost half the time since the iPhone was released, and almost exactly half the time since the App Store was released in 2008. What has the journey been like so far? What’s next?
  3. As a follow-up, how does it feel to make something so long-lasting?
  4. Besides Streaks, what are some things you’ve worked on or created that you’re proud or fond of?

Marcos Tanaka 5

  1. What tools & gear do you use? (Could be hardware, software, headphones, and anything else.)
  2. As a follow-up, what kind of music & artists do you enjoy listening to?
  3. You’ve written quite a few apps, so you probably have lots of ideas. How do you decide whether one is good enough to start working on?
  4. What are some of your favorite things that you’ve created? It could be some of your apps, or it could be something else.
  5. What would be your dream setup? This could be anything — music related, ideal hardware/software, etc.

Marc Barrowclift 3

  1. I encountered your work through the Annual iOS Music Player Showcase. This seems like a labor of love, with music at the core. Some of your other projects have to do with music, too. What role does music play in your life?
  2. While you work as a full-stack developer, you design products in your studio in your free time. What sparked your interest in design?
  3. What’s your design philosophy? What does it mean for something to be well-designed?

Nicolas Rougier 2

  1. A quick look at your GitHub profile shows that more than 10% of your repos have to do with Emacs. Why is Emacs such an important part of your workflow?
  2. You’ve written several Open Access books and have an Open Heroes repo, where you list people that help facilitate science by making it easily and freely accessible. Why is Open Access & Free Software important to you, and why is it important for the world?

Stephen Floyd 8

  1. What got you interested in reading the biographies of the president & other figures, and blogging about them?
  2. How do you do your reading? Physical books, ebooks? Do you take notes?
  3. Some figures have a lot written about them (thousands, or tens of thousands, on Napoleon). How do you decide which to read?
  4. How do you make time for so much reading?
  5. You’ve read hundreds of biographies. What are some striking similarities or differences you’ve noticed between subjects?
  6. In addition to your voracious reading, you’re an investment banker. What got you interested in investment banking?
  7. In addition to both of those things, you own a farm. What spurred your interest in farming, and what’s it like managing one?
  8. A quick look at the complete list of biographies you read shows around 387 books (as of March 17, 2022). If you had to choose just 5 – presidential or otherwise – which would you recommend?