Rambling on about Writing

So, here I am again, writing a blog post directly into WordPress’ Gutenberg editor at 2am on January 8th, 2024. I’ve been struggling to write anything so far this year. It has to do with having two different projects going on at the same time. I’m working on writing a book and getting it formatted in Scribus, at the same time I’m working on keeping this blog going.

I’m reading a book called Ultra-learning (Young, 2019). The main theme I’m getting from it so far is, focusing on one thing and total emersion in whatever subject you are studying. It’s about self-directed, independent investigation of the truth about what you are interested in.

I’m working on using Scribus to prepare my book for publication. Scribus is a free and open-source desktop publishing tool. I’ve published a book before using … I actually used Scribus to start with, but then had to use Adobe InDesign to finish it. I had to sign up for a very expensive subscription just to use that tool one time.

Now, I have a new computer and I think GhostScript was installed by default. I made sure GhostScript was installed before I installed Scribus. If you have any problems with it, just open your story in Scribus as a GhostScript document, to show Scribus where GhostScript is. You should only have to do it once.

I don’t mind using the graphical tools, like Scribus. I want to get really good at it and write stories about how to use it in your holistic home office.

I’m also interested in learning how to use my terminal. I’ve installed Neovim, Zsh and Lua so I can start using that set of tools. I’m also interested in learning how to use Latex. Latex is a programming language you can use to write with. The most important value that Latex enables is writing mathematical formulas.

Mathematics is not my favorite subject, but it is an important facet of science and business. So, learning how to use Kile and Latex is another valuable skill I am working on learning.

My plan is to write books using OpenOffice and format them in Scribus. At the same time, I’ll get in the habit of using Kile, Markdown and Latex to write blog posts. Using Kile to write blogposts is overkill. However, I will learn how to use all those tools by using them to write blog posts.

Focus on being a prolific content creator. Learn how to use the tools of your trade. Learn how to use both, the graphical tools and the terminal. Start with the graphical tools. Use Kate and OpenOffice to create lots of content. Then, use Scribus in your desktop publishing workflow. Create a lot of content, both on and off-line.

While you’re using the graphical tools, investigate and learn how to use your terminal (I’m using Kitty) and Kile and all the software that you can run in them. Actually, Kile is a graphical tool, based on the Kate text editor, and specially designed for writing Latex. The point is that Markdown and Latex are programming languages, that enable you to write mathematical formulas. Markdown is a much simpler and easy to learn language. Latex has all the bells and whistles.

I always feel like a new-comer. I know there are many people way smarter than I am about all this. I’ve been using Linux since 2004 and building websites since 2008. I like my writing style, but I don’t know if anyone else will. And I think that reading thousands of books, like I do, is not practical for most people. Which is an advantage for me, because you can read my reader’s digest compilation of all the books I’ve read.

I just hope I can help make it as easy as possible for any self-directed learners like me to get your own homelab and holistic home office setup and profitable as quickly as possible. Working with ChatGPT and reading about artificial intelligence makes me think that I still recommend using Linux as your main computer, but not exclusively. Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and Google are creating technology far more advanced than anything you can do with Linux.

My reason for using Linux as my main desktop is, I do not want Microsoft owning the software on my computer. The main reason is, I do not want them to be able to pull the plug on me, if I write something they don’t like. I thought that back in the 1990s, long before Alex Jones and Donald Trump were kicked out of the public cloud of artificial intelligence for saying things that was unacceptable to corporate leaders, who like power and authority over other people.

So, I’ll keep recommending that you use Linux for your main computer, but I’m not opposed to using the most advance artificial intelligence available. You know, the one where your house generates enough power for all of your appliances, including your EVs. Your house will have a homelab with a server with your own private version of ChatGPT running, which will be aware of your whole family and all of your technology.

Your house will have a school room with LED screens on all the walls. The walls will be the screens. Your cars will be robots on wheels. If you are a farmer, then the central computer in your house, will keep track of every animal, every field, every building and every piece of machinery. It will warn you if there is a gate open or hole in a fence. Tractors will be fully autonomous robots that you can control from your smartphone or tablet.

Your artificial intelligence will recognize your family and notify you if any of your appliances breakdown, or anyone is getting sick, or if there are any intruders in the house. Your house will be the artificial intelligence. All the appliances, like refrigerators, lawn mowers, automobiles, will be in constant contact with your homelab. You will have total control, without interference from the state or any corporation.

It’s fun!

Sources:
Photo: DALL_E
Photo: DALL-E