Tom Lieber

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 23:38:41 -0700

Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusion

I feel like I can figure anything out when I create a file with the lab notebook template.

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:35:27 -0700

I used to wait 3 hours for incremental Time Machine backups to finish, but now they take 30 seconds w/APFS on a solid state drive. Sometimes, computers DO get faster over time.

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 17:15:49 -0700

current status: undergoing this year’s rediscovery of reactive documents

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:26:10 -0700

You know how Netflix search returns random recommended shows that have no relation to your query?

I just saw my 5yo kids on the search page, having typed “fs”, earnestly considering each of the results.

… Netflix search is designed for kids who can’t spell! 😂

Obsidian customizations that just make sense!

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 00:07:14 -0700

These streamline linking:

⌘⌥C copies the path to the current note, but strips .md
⌘K pastes whatever link is in the clipboard, using the selected text as the link title
⌘O opens a fuzzy-file-finder that matches filenames, aliases, and level-1 headings; pressing ⌘K in it works
⌘N creates a unique note, turning the selected text into a link to it, and using the selected text as the new note’s heading

This is the only AI-powered command, but it’s ridiculously versatile:

⌘⌥G sends the currently selected text to Gemini and writes the result in a new note

These help me bring data into Obsidian:

The “Insert Due Tasks” command inserts all my due Google Tasks at the cursor location, and marks them complete
The “Sync Feed Items” command downloads the RSS feed linked from the note’s properties, and adds links to any items that aren’t already linked
The “Insert Inbox Links” command moves files out of the inbox subdirectory into the root of the vault, and adds links to them in the current note
The “Cleanup Text” command makes imported Markdown more Obsidian-y, like deleting the blank lines before and after headings

These gently nudge me when I’m about to introduce a partition in my graph 😱:

⌘W closes the current tab—unless it’s pinned, or it’s not linked directly or indirectly from Home.md
The “Open Random Orphan Note” command opens a random Markdown file that’s not linked directly or indirectly from Home.md
New tabs automatically show Home.md and ⌘⏎ opens Home.md

Finally, some GUI customizations:

Any link to a YYYY-MM-DD shows the day of the week and a countdown next to it, like “Thu; ←1mo”
.third-time files hold the JSON state for a Third Time timer and are rendered by Obsidian with a custom HTML GUI

Sun, 09 Nov 2025 12:57:00 -0700

Check out this video’s comment section and be amazed at how Zanzlanz got people excited about dot products. A mere 60-second explainer embedded in a 12-minute tale of programmer vindication has people saying, “Dot product is so cool” and “normalized vectors and dot products are truly OP lol”.

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 23:29:25 -0700

My Obsidian vault is officially my music library :}

You know how ![[foo]] transcludes a note? Well in my vault, +[[foo]] transcludes media.

I wrote an app that lets me browse my vault and “play” a note, which recursively enqueues all its transcluded media.

I’m breaking free from designer GUIs!

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 22:01:47 -0700

I’m over here just speaking Obsidian features into existence daily

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 11:21:52 -0700

alltom.com finally has SSL and I want to shout about it!

It used to be hard, so I procrastinated even after every major browser started throwing up scary warning messages about how hackers could see if you were reading my blog.

But now it’s a few clicks on AWS if your site’s just a public S3 bucket!

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 21:25:19 -0700

I asked Claude about structured logging libraries for Python and when I saw the options I was like “that is so over the top for this project, I love it”

The status changed to “Chuckling…” as it installed several deps, connected my 4-line script to jaeger, and wrapped every line in a separate span

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 07:51:53 -0700

When a cable modem fails in such a way that it produces persistent, high-pitched squealing, that’s a pretty good Father’s Day gift. 😂

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 21:20:00 -0700

I love my Peak Design Everyday Backpack, but when I take it to work, the main compartment is almost always completely empty. I’d love to get by with less.

Can anyone recommend a backpack that’s great for days when all I have is a laptop? A laptop sleeve with shoulder straps? 😂

Thu, 08 May 2025 07:22:33 -0700

The frustrating thing about building AI software is how it’s like pulling an engine’s starter cord only for it to cough a few times without starting. “What’s the answer?” “42!” “Are you sure?” “You’re right, it’s 41.” You hear the engine turning over, but it won’t catch. I’m glad to be a mechanic! 🔧

Sat, 03 May 2025 23:16:33 -0700

I love asking AI to “find a restaurant that’s equidistant from these two places.” Stuff in the long tail of UX that FAANG teams are never going to get to.

I’ve still never vibrated my way to code I’m happy with, but I <3 tool use.

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 11:49:37 -0700

Banger from Claude this morning:

Have you consumed anything besides stress today?

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 11:49:20 -0700

Sat, 26 Oct 2024 09:44:25 -0700

I think it’s funny that tapping repeatedly and long pressing are mapped to power user features because that’s what kids do first and it just wreaks havoc on computer systems as a result.

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 06:34:09 -0700

The wild thing about programming with LLMs is documenting a function’s runtime cost in big-O notation and USD. “Costs $0.50 when N is 40.” I have faster and cheaper versions of that one, but I haven’t figured out how to make them as good yet, and that choice filters all the way to the UI. 🫠

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 06:56:41 -0700

“Do I have any events this week that it looks like I forgot to add to my wife’s calendar?”

😭 The future is beautiful.

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 23:27:05 -0700

I keep finding new uses for letting LLMs generate calendar files, but today I wanted to close the loop! I want it to read and write to my calendar directly.

So to start, I provided the LLM a “tool” to access Google Calendar’s ListEvents API. Just being able to read my calendar is pretty neat:

Q: What events do I have today?
Tool use: Get today’s events
A: A bulleted list of event names and times, followed by a summary like, “Looks like it’s your usual daily routine, with a trip to the museum in the morning.”

Q: Of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which do I already have blocked out?
Tool use: Get today’s events
A: Breakfast for the kids is on there, and the drive to the museum has a note about stopping for your breakfast, but there are no lunch or dinner events.

Q: Do the kids have something planned for every weekday this week?
Tool use: Get this week’s events
A: Yep, they have X on Monday, Y on Tuesday, …

I could get used to this…

Sat, 06 Jul 2024 13:12:02 -0700

Thing I did with AI today:

Uploaded a photo of the calendar for this school year
Asked for a list of all the events
Requested a few rephrasings
Asked for a copy in ICS format
Imported it into my calendar