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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<channel>
<title>İsmail Efe's Blog Site</title>
<link>https://ismailefe.org/</link>
<description>İsmail Efe's Second Brain.</description>
<language>en</language>
<atom:link href="https://ismailefe.org/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
<lastBuildDate>Sat, 14 Sep 2024 13:51:09 +0300</lastBuildDate>
<item>
<title>5 Life Lessons</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><body>
<header id="title-block-header">
<h1 class="title">5 Life Lessons</h1>
<p class="author">İsmail Efe Top</p>
<p class="date">2024-09-14</p>
</header>
<p>
I’ve been reflecting on life for the past couple of months, and my world
view has changed a lot. I feel like I have grown as a person, and I wanted
to share the lessons I’ve learned during this time and throughout my life.
<strong>Here are 5 life lessons from a 20-year-old.</strong>
</p>
<h1 id="calling-an-ambulance">Calling an ambulance</h1>
<p>
A lot of people my age tend to question if calling an ambulance is the
right thing to when faced with health and emergency situations. I can
understand the reasoning, as these kinds of situations are almost always
in gray areas.
</p>
<p>
Here is a simple trick if you want to decide if you should call an
ambulance; <strong>call 911</strong>.
</p>
<p>
If the situation escalates into you thinking you might need an ambulance,
that's all the reason you need. Even if you think the situation might be
minor and you think you might waste a first responders time, you should
call. Because this is what first responders are for and you won't waste
anyone's time.
</p>
<p>911 operators are trained professionals and will know what to do.</p>
<p>
In the worst-case scenario, where you call 911 and an ambulance isn’t
necessary, they will connect you to a medical professional who can guide
you on what to do next and also will advise you to call again if the
situation worsens.
</p>
<p>
And, worst case scenario, if you don't call 911, is the situation
escalating and <strong>someone dying</strong>.
</p>
<h1 id="fake-it-till-you-make-it-is-a-powerful-weapon">
"Fake it till you make it" is a powerful weapon
</h1>
<p>
We humans tend to think the worst of situations. We feel like we are not
good enough, feel like we don't have what it takes, and so on.
</p>
<p>
And we act accordingly to this. Whether in a work or a school setting, we
find ourselves in situations where we don't want to speak up or step on
anyone's toes.
</p>
<p>
We also feel like we are not good enough to achieve our dreams. Hell,
sometimes we don't even dare to dream.
</p>
<p>
The best way to shake of this mindset is to fake your ideal mindset into
existence.
</p>
<p>
In my opinion, while hard and sometimes cringe, it is the best way to deal
with low self-confidence and self-worth.
</p>
<p>
Think of yourself as your ideal self, work hard, speak your mind on
things, and dream big. Even if you are faking it and are well aware of the
fact, with time, it will turn into reality.
</p>
<h1 id="books-textbooks-and-youtube-videos">
Books, textbooks, and YouTube videos
</h1>
<p>Let's say that you want to learn about investing;</p>
<p>
Introduction to investing books or textbooks are
<strong>10 times slower</strong> than watching a YouTube video.
</p>
<p>But… they are <strong>100 times</strong> more effective.</p>
<p>
Let me explain, if you are not watching an actual university lecture. What
you are watching is a fast-paced tutorial that tries to cram as much as
possible into the shortest possible amount of time.
</p>
<p>In these kinds of videos…</p>
<ul>
<li>
You are not able or encouraged to take notes because of it's fast-paced
nature.
</li>
<li>Rewinding is always a bother.</li>
<li>
And because you are not taking the lesson at your own pace, your brain
doesn't want to absorb it.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
And don't get me started on how distracting it is to learn something in
YouTube where entertainment is one click away and everything else is one
tab away.
</p>
<p>
Yes, reading about something can be really slow. But because you are the
one deciding the pace, your brain has an easier time absorbing the
information.
</p>
<p>
If buying books are becoming too expensive or cumbersome, investing in a
nice e-book reader might be a great idea.
</p>
<h1 id="the-only-person-you-can-truly-depend-upon-you">
The only person you can truly depend upon: You
</h1>
<p>
Family and friends are one of the most important things in the world. You
should love, cherish, and trust them. But you can't lean on them for all
situations.
</p>
<p>
There will be times where you need or have to go through something on your
own. These challenges tend to be hardest and being prepared is important.
</p>
<p>
Always work and invest in yourself. People can die, material things can
perish. The only person you can depend on is you. Because if you are no
more, then all is done.
</p>
<p>
I also think that life has a lot more meaning when you work on yourself
regularly. When you eat healthy, read, exercise, or do anything that helps
you become a better person. You feel like you are more in control and the
things that cannot be changed becomes more bearable.
</p>
<h1 id="the-only-metric-of-success-happiness">
The only metric of success: happiness
</h1>
<p>
Until this year, I thought that success would come in the form of money or
fame. But it turns out I was extremely wrong.
</p>
<p>
Money doesn't mean anything if you are not happy. Fame doesn't mean
anything if you are not happy. Career advancement doesn't mean anything if
you are not happy.
</p>
<p>
Of course, you don't have to be happy constantly. But if you have all the
things above and you don't feel any happiness, what is the point?
</p>
<p>
Everyone would choose being a happy person in a cheap car than be a sad
person in a Porsche.
</p>
<p>
If material things bring you happiness go for it. If traveling brings you
happiness travel. If being alone and doing your own thing brings you
happiness do that. Also, you don't have to do these things right now. Even
dreaming about these is a lot of fun.
</p>
<p>
In my opinion, having the people you love nearby, working on your goals
and self, and having the insight to recognize what truly matters in life
is the key to happiness and living a content life.
</p>
<div class="bottom-header">
<a class="bottom-header-link" href="/">Home</a>
<a class="bottom-header-link" href="mailto:ismailefetop@gmail.com">Mail Me</a>
<a class="bottom-header-link" href="/feed.xml" target="_blank">RSS</a>
<a class="bottom-header-link" href="https://github.com/Ektaynot/ismailefe_org" target="_blank">Source</a>
</div>
<div class="firechickenwebring">
<a href="https://firechicken.club/efe/prev">←</a>
<a href="https://firechicken.club">🔥🐓</a>
<a href="https://firechicken.club/efe/next">→</a>
</div>
</body></html>]]></description>
<author>ismailefetop@gmail.com (İsmail Efe Top)</author>
<link>https://ismailefe.org/blog/5_life_lessons/index.html</link>
<guid>https://ismailefe.org/blog/5_life_lessons/index.html</guid>
<pubDate>Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Why Use Emacs?</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><body>
<header id="title-block-header">
<h1 class="title">Why Use Emacs?</h1>
<p class="author">İsmail Efe Top</p>
<p class="date">2024-08-19</p>
</header>
<p>
This article is about my relationship with Emacs as a 20 year old university
student. First of all, Emacs is a text editor that has been around for a
really long time, 48 years to be exact. It still gets updated regularly
and has a thriving community that continuously grows. The main selling
point of Emacs is how extensible it is. You can change any of it's part
using
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emacs_Lisp?useskin=vector">Emacs Lisp</a>.
</p>
<p>
That is all you need to know to read this article as I will talk about all
of this in detail.
</p>
<br/>
<div style="max-width: fit-content; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto">
<img alt="A drawing of an ivy." src="/blog/why_use_emacs/ivy.png" width="250px"/>
</div>
<p>
I envy people who can just pick up a tool and start using it right away
without the constant need to perfect it. Small imperfections distract me,
and my mind sways away to solve it. This usually prevents me from getting
work done.
</p>
<p>
Up until 2022, I would start writing something in a random text editor,
notice a behavior I wanted to change or disable, search it for a few
minutes on how to change it, change it (if it were possible), and repeat
this cycle every 20 minutes. A couple days later, I would find an
unchangeable behavior that is a deal-breaker and try to find a new text
editor.
</p>
<p>
This continued until I started considering Emacs as a serious solution to
my needs. I learned the existence of Emacs in 2019 thanks to a
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8koAgkBEnM">DistroTube video</a>. After a few months, I tried
<a href="https://github.com/doomemacs/doomemacs">Doom Emacs</a>, a kind of
a starter-pack config, and couldn't see the point of using it as I didn't
need anything other than a simple code editor at the time.
</p>
<p>
In 2022, for reasons I sadly do not remember, I gave Doom Emacs another
try. This time was a lot better. My university lessons were getting
serious and I needed a way to take notes efficiently and distribute them
as I needed. As an added bonus I was really deep into vim motions and Doom
Emacs was built around
<a href="https://github.com/emacs-evil/evil">evil-mode</a>, which
"emulates the main features of Vim".
</p>
<p>
It took me around a year to get completely comfortable and I no longer
feel the need to tweak
<a href="https://github.com/ektaynot/doom">my config</a> frequently. But I
should note that learning Emacs is a journey with no end. Every day I
learn something new about Emacs.
</p>
<p>
Firstly, I want to give a brief explanation to what Emacs is for me, then
talk about the limitations, and finally list the reasons why I like it so
much.
</p>
<p>
For me, Emacs is a text editor that is infinitely extendable,
keyboard-driven, modular, and immortal. It's basically a bunch of elisp
file taped together. The best part is you can tape your own elisp code
easily and it works as though it was always there. There is no "Emacs
talks to your elisp code", your code is Emacs.
</p>
<p>
Emacs can easily be the best text editor, coding environment, or a
Frankenstein that adapts to your workflow. For example, I turned Emacs
into the ultimate writing environment that spellchecks, organizes, and
converts my notes into beautiful word documents with custom styling or
functional sites with html and css code bundled.
</p>
<h1 id="limitations">Limitations</h1>
<p>
Before I get into more about the reasons I use it, I want to talk about
it's limitations.
</p>
<h2 id="learning-curve">Learning curve</h2>
<p>
For most people, Emacs won't be perfect out of the box. There will be tons
of stuff that won't work for you. And to change those things you will need
to read a lot of documentations, discussions, and github issues. Lisp is a
foreign language for most people and learning such an alien language for
customizing a text editor might be too much. Even if you don't mind
tackling a new language, investing such a big time might be a deal-breaker
for some.
</p>
<p>
There are a lot of good videos, documentation, etc. But the main issue is
how much time it takes to perfect it. Because the options are endless,
there are a lot of cool stuff you can do and you find yourself taken away
by your creativity to execute those ideas. I have lots of cool functions
that do bunch of useful things, which I will talk about them in the end.
</p>
<p>
Don't get me wrong, it definitely pays of exponentially. But if you are in
the middle of a busy school year or you are working a really busy job, I
would recommend you to start learning it when you have a time off.
</p>
<h2 id="things-breaking">Things breaking</h2>
<p>
Things sadly break a lot when you are a beginner. Most of the time it
turns out the be your fault and you have a general idea of how to solve
it. The worst is when an update breaks things. This usually happens when
you install a lot of third-party packages. There are times when you don't
know what caused the issue and there are times that even if you know what
caused the issue, you don't know how to fix it. This rarely happens, but
really sucks when it does.
</p>
<p>
A lot of the breakage goes away or becomes really minor when you have
experience. But sadly, even the most seasoned among us experience these
things.
</p>
<h2 id="not-great-to-use-on-mobile">Not great to use on mobile</h2>
<p>
While nobody codes on their phone seriously, a lot of people take notes on
their phone. Emacs has a wonderful mode called
<a href="https://orgmode.org/">Org</a>. Org-mode is awesome for
note-taking, schedule managing, and literate programming. I will get into
more detail later.
</p>
<p>
Wanting to access your shopping list or any other note is important. And
accessing them from your phone is not the best. While there are tons of
org-mode apps for android and a couple for iOS, you can only do so much.
Creating a system that works for you with small stuff is possible if you
invest enough time but I personally gave up and use
<a href="https://bear.app">Bear</a> for quick notes and to-do's.
</p>
<p>
If you want to try using org notes in mobile, I would recommend
<a href="https://www.orgzly.com/">orgzly</a> for Android and
<a href="https://plainorg.com/">Plain Org</a> for iOS.
</p>
<h1 id="why-use-it">Why use it</h1>
<p>
Now comes the fun part. Talking about the positives and what makes Emacs
unique.
</p>
<h2 id="flexibility">Flexibility</h2>
<p>
You can change a lot of things and I am not talking about changing
appearance or ability to add extensions. Almost everything in Emacs is a
function in an Elisp file.
</p>
<p>
There are also major and minor modes that activate according to the buffer
you are on. You can combine modes together and create powerful workflows.
</p>
<p>
You can write functions or packages that talks to core Emacs functions and
write anything you can imagine.
</p>
<p>
When using Vim or Neovim, there are some restriction that come from your
terminal emulator. But because Emacs is a GUI application, you can have a
greater control. For example, I like my text editor to look minimalistic
as much as possible. To achieve this, I disabled line numbers, titlebar
decoration, highlighting of the current line, and much more.
</p>
<p>Here is the final result:</p>
<img alt="An image of my Emacs window." src="/blog/why_use_emacs/emacs.webp"/>
<p>
In most editors, to change a core functionality, you have to write a
package that needs to follow a large set of guidelines and have bunch of
formalities. In Emacs you only need an elisp file and load that file at
startup. Nothing else.
</p>
<h2 id="org">Org</h2>
<p>
Org mode is
<strong>"A GNU Emacs major mode for keeping notes, authoring documents,
computational notebooks, literate programming, maintaining to-do lists,
planning projects, and more — in a fast and effective plain text
system."</strong>
-<a href="https://orgmode.org">orgmode.org</a>
</p>
<p>This is a good introduction but I think I can expand more upon this.</p>
<p>
Org documents are plain-text files that end with '.org'. Org can be used
as a markup language like
<a href="https://www.markdownguide.org/getting-started/">Markdown</a>, but
using it just as a markup language would be a bit wasteful. Org can help
you organize your life with
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BOiRmjw5aU">org-agenda</a>, can
be an interactive programming notebook like
<a href="https://jupyter.org/">Jupyter</a>, can help you do literate
programming with org blocks, and can replace apps such as Microsoft Word,
Microsoft PowerPoint, Mail, Calendar, and much more.
</p>
<p>
Now that we have a general explanation, I can talk about my personal
use-case for Org.
</p>
<h3 id="writing-class-notes-and-blog-posts">
Writing class notes and blog posts
</h3>
<p>
Org has the habit of gently pushing you the way of correct note-taking. I
know that there is not a single correct way to take notes but I think the
default Org behaviors are a pretty general guideline to how you should
take notes.
</p>
<p>
I took notes in Org for two semesters. These two semesters I had tons of
different classes and mostly used Org in two ways: taking notes while the
teacher speaks and writing long essays about different topics at home.
</p>
<p>
Thanks to how Org forces you to act in a certain way, the notes I take
during classes comes out nicely structured and has no need to do
post-cleaning.
</p>
<p>
And thanks to my Org related functions, I am able to write long essays
without leaving Emacs.
</p>
<h3 id="exporting">Exporting</h3>
<p>
The ability to turn your .org files into .docx, .pdf, and .html files
effortlessly might be my favorite functionality. If you give a little bit
more effort, you can even export with a custom style-sheet. I have a
<a href="https://ismailefe.org/blog/my_org_pandoc_workflow/">whole post</a>
talking about this.
</p>
<h3 id="literate-programming">Literate Programming</h3>
<p>
While I love the idea of
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literate_programming">Literate Programming</a>, I don't practice it except for one occasion; my
<a href="https://github.com/ektaynot/doom">Doom Emacs config</a>. Having a
config that explains itself is a godsend for both other people and future
you.
</p>
<p>
You can write notes, add links, and create test areas in an Org file and
make it tangle to a proper config file automatically at every save.
</p>
<h3 id="packages-i-use-for-org">Packages I use for Org</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
I use <a href="https://github.com/kawabata/ox-pandoc">ox-pandoc</a>,
<a href="https://github.com/joostkremers/pandoc-mode">pandoc-mode</a>,
and
<a href="https://github.com/tecosaur/org-pandoc-import">org-pandoc-import</a>
for exporting.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I use
<a href="https://github.com/andras-simonyi/citeproc-el">citeproc</a>
and <a href="https://github.com/jkitchin/org-ref">org-ref</a> for
biblio. I configured <a href="https://www.zotero.org/">zotero</a> to
auto export my bib files and these packages read from those file. So,
I can easily add citations and end-texts to my Org documents.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I use
<a href="https://github.com/yilkalargaw/org-auto-tangle">org-auto-tangle</a>
for tangling my config.org file.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="evil-mode">Evil-mode</h2>
<p>
I mentioned evil-mode in the beginning but I can't emphasize how important
it is for me. I have the complete power of vim inside Emacs. I can create
macros and use all of the keybindings without any configuration thanks to
<a href="https://github.com/doomemacs/doomemacs">Doom Emacs</a>. Without
evil-mode, I would have probably give up learning Emacs.
</p>
<h2 id="my-custom-functions">My custom functions</h2>
<p>
I have tons of functions that are mostly written by me and ChatGPT. Emacs
community doesn't really condone the use of AI in general but I recommend
the use of AI to beginners with the condition that they should question
and research the output. AI can be dumb and give you bad code. Always ask
for it to break down the output and validate the end result yourself while
looking at documentation. After a certain point you should be able to
write small functions and then you don't have to ask AI for a whole
function but just help with small parts. I think this is the best way to
approach learning elisp to configure Emacs. Here is a list of my most-used
functions. -You can see the code in
<a href="https://github.com/Ektaynot/doom/blob/master/config.org#functions">my config.org</a>
under the functions heading.-
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<strong>efe/google-current-word:</strong> This is a function that
googles the word at point and opens it in your default browser. I use
this when I encounter a new concept or when I misspell a word so hard
that only Google knows what I mean.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<strong>efe/first-result-url:</strong> Gives the word at point to a
script called
<a href="https://gist.github.com/Ektaynot/46681539aa1c030b3a58986e7f3df397">firstresult</a>. This in turn copies the first result from a google search. Really
useful when you want to create a hyperlink and need a link to the
github repo or the official website without opening your browser.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<strong>efe/tureng-(turkish/english):</strong>
<a href="https://tureng.com/tr/turkce-ingilizce">Tureng</a> is a
community driven dictionary. I use this function to look at different
meanings of a word. It displays 10 different meanings in the echo area
and goes away when you press anything. Sadly, I can't share how I get
the results as it may or may not breach the user agreement.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<strong>efe/open(-project)-in-vscode:</strong> Pretty
self-explanatory, either opens the file or the project in VS Code. It
uses the doom-modeline–project-root variable, so the function might
not work in vanilla Emacs.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>There are more functions in my config.org, feel free to check it out.</p>
<h1 id="closing-words">Closing Words</h1>
<p>
Thanks for reading my Emacs propaganda. I love this program so much that I
feel the constant need to talk about it.
</p>
<p>
I really feel like everyone can benefit from using Emacs. It just takes
time a long time to be efficient in it.
</p>
<p>Feel free to reach to me about anything via email.</p>
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<author>ismailefetop@gmail.com (İsmail Efe Top)</author>
<link>https://ismailefe.org/blog/why_use_emacs/index.html</link>
<guid>https://ismailefe.org/blog/why_use_emacs/index.html</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>My Writing Tools</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><body>
<header id="title-block-header">
<h1 class="title">My Writing Tools</h1>
<p class="author">İsmail Efe Top</p>
<p class="date">2024-07-12</p>
</header>
<p>
I love writing, it helps me empty my mind and improve my ability to
express myself. While I enjoy writing digitally the most, I have to write
to a paper often because of school and other circumstances.
</p>
<p>
I have a few friends that accompany me while I write. I acquired these
friends throughout my life, each has their own unique stories and reasons.
They make writing easy and fun for me. I will introduce them
chronologically.
</p>
<h1 id="rotring-500">Rotring 500</h1>
<p>
If you want to learn more, you can
<a href="https://ismailefe.org/blog/rotring500/">check out my previous post</a>
where I talked about this pen in more detail.
</p>
<p>
This is a mechanical pencil that I bought by chance when I was preparing
for university exam. I solved every test, mock exam, and problem with this
pen. It is lightweight but has a nice build quality. While it is cheap, it
doesn't feel like it. When I first saw this pen I fell in love with it's
pure black body and it's italic red font.
</p>
<p>
When I look at it objectively, it may not be the most ergonomic pen, but I
enjoy using it so much that any discomfort from writing for long hours
doesn't bother me a bit. I usually notice the fatigue in my wrists after I
am done writing.
</p>
<p>
I also used it a lot during my preparation year at university and my first
year. I entered all of my exams with it and always carried it with me. I
still use it from time to time but my newly bought Rotring 800 became the
primary mechanical pencil I use.
</p>
<p>
I recommend it to everyone who wants a good-looking mechanical pencil that
is light and long lasting.
</p>
<h1 id="pensan-büro">Pensan Büro</h1>
<p>
While I haven't seen this pencil anywhere other than Türkiye, it is
probably the most popular pencil here. It is a dirt cheap ballpoint pend
that is usually in blue color. Every Turkish person probably used it at
some point in their life. I can't stress this enough, this particular pen
is sold and used everywhere. From government offices to sports-books.
</p>
<p>
In addition to it's availability, there is another big reason, this thing
SLIDES. It is so smooth to write on any surface.
</p>
<p>
I use a ballpoint pen when I want to go crazy. Creating diagrams, writing
questions in bold and sketching solutions. My main goal is writing ideas
fast. And this pen is the best when it comes to that.
</p>
<p>
It is also really light and has a pen clip. You can attach it's cap to
it's back and extend it. What else can you want from a pen?
</p>
<h1 id="hhkb-professional-bt">HHKB Professional BT</h1>
<p>
I was really into custom keyboards from 2019 to 2023. I would follow
custom keyboard youtubers and subreddits. I would listen to tons of typing
tests and would dream of "end-game" keyboards like Keycult and TGR.
</p>
<p>
Luckily the dollar exchange rate was somewhat stable when I started the
hobby and I got the chance to try a lot of custom boards and switches.
While I did try a lot of different mechanical keyboards, there was a one
keyboard that I wasn't able to try. It was a keyboard called Happy Hacking
Keyboard (HHKB) and unlike all of the keyboards I used in the past, it
didn't have mechanical switches. Instead, it used a patented electrostatic
capacitive Topre switch. These switches were produced by Topre Corporation
in Japan and didn't seem to have a counterfeit alternative that I could
order from Aliexpress to try.
</p>
<p>
These switches were used by a couple of different keyboard brands. The
most popular one was the HHKB and they were praised as the ultimate
keyboard because of their 'godly feel' and the layout. There were a lot of
custom keyboards that used the HHKB layout. You can learn more about the
HHKB layout in
<a href="https://hhkeyboard.us/blog/hhkb-layout#what">HHKB's official blog post</a>.
</p>
<p>
Another characteristic of a HHKB keyboard is how expensive they are. The
base model's price starts at 300 dollars and they are especially expensive
in countries that don't have a official distributor because of the heavy
import fee.
</p>
<p>
For a really long time I searched local second-hand sites for one and
finally found it in Jan 2023. I bought it in person from a foreign guy
that bought it a couple of years before, in his trip to Japan. He sold it
to me for a fair price and I finally had a HHKB keyboard.
</p>
<p>
Was it as good as people deemed it to be? Yes, it was. The keys felt
heavenly and the layout was great. I retired my custom keyboards and used
the HHKB primarily. While I didn't carry it with me everywhere, it felt
special every time I had the chance to type on it. I loved that thing.
</p>
<p>
After using it for a year I sadly developed carpal tunnel syndrome. I
would get heavy wrist pain after a couple of minutes of using it. Even
though it saddens me, I had to stop using it.
</p>
<h1 id="logitech-wave-keys">Logitech Wave Keys</h1>
<p>
While I was researching ergonomic keyboards like
<a href="https://github.com/foostan/crkbd">The Corne</a> and
<a href="https://ergodox-ez.com/">Ergodox Ez</a>, I came across
<a href="https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/keyboards/wave-keys-ergonomic-wireless.920-011898.html">Logitech Wave Keys</a>. To be honest, this keyboard wasn't my first choice. But because it was
tenth the price of the other keyboards I was looking at, I had no other
real choice. I bought it second-hand and waited.
</p>
<p>
When I first started typing, I was honestly quite surprised as it felt
similar to my HHKB. It was really large and the keys were dome-like and
low-profile.
</p>
<p>
This keyboard's main selling point is it's wave pattern across it's keys.
It's suppose to help people who suffer from wrist pain and people who
spend a lot of time in front of a desk.
</p>
<p>
To my surprise, it almost completely eliminated my wrist and hand pain. It
also felt great to type on. It honestly saved me from spending a ton of
money on a split keyboard that I would have to import and pay additional
taxes on.
</p>
<h1 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h1>
<p>
While some of these got replaced, they will always be tools that I
cherish. I see them all as milestones that helped me in numerous ways.
</p>
<p>
Ironically, I wrote this post with my laptop's keyboard. This is the case
for a lot of my posts as I like to write outside. I did not include my
laptop's keyboard because it is trivial and isn't anything special. Also,
being mindful of when I use my beloved tools makes using them more
special.
</p>
<p>
Thanks a lot for reading. It has been a lengthy post that I really enjoyed
writing. Feel free to email me if you want to share your writing tools or
anything else. I love getting emails from humans!
</p>
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<author>ismailefetop@gmail.com (İsmail Efe Top)</author>
<link>https://ismailefe.org/blog/writing_tools/index.html</link>
<guid>https://ismailefe.org/blog/writing_tools/index.html</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Hobbies</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><body>
<header id="title-block-header">
<h1 class="title">Hobbies</h1>
<p class="author">İsmail Efe Top</p>
<p class="date">2024-04-23</p>
</header>
<p>
I recently found myself juggling a lot of hobbies. They take up almost all
of my free time and I want to talk about them. I will mention the
interesting ones as I don't want to talk about “How I like to take walks”
or “How I like to discover new restaurants”.
</p>
<h1 id="graphic-design">Graphic Design</h1>
<p>
While I am not a professional, I did my fair share of design work. I
designed and wrote my high school newspaper, I did Instagram posts for my
department, and I did a lot of restoration work for my personal enjoyment.
</p>
<p>
I love minimalist design, there is something in it that speaks to me.
Those neutral colors, big popping fonts and an inviting aura. When I
approach a task I try to take away as much as I can. Only the needed
should remain. In my opinion, the quote that best describes minimalist
design is
<strong>“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but
when there is nothing left to take away.”</strong>
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
</p>
<h1 id="maintaining-a-website">Maintaining a Website</h1>
<p>
Whenever I look at a personal website that I've never seen before, I try
to look for different approaches the site owner took. Like is there a
navbar, is there a table of contents, what color did they used, is there
javascript, etc. That is something that I never done before I had my own
site. This results in a constant cycle of inspiration and evolution.
</p>
<p>
Because I don't use a generator in general sense, I have to do a lot of
things by hand. Like generating RSS, generating a sitemap, optimizing
pictures, SEO optimizations, fixing errors made by the
<a href="https://pandoc.org">org to html converter</a>, etc. While this
takes manual labor, I love it. Some people enjoy writing blog posts and
some enjoy making websites, I enjoy both!
</p>
<p>
Also, if I used a blog generator, I wouldn't have learned how
<a href="https://ismailefe.org/blog/rss/">RSS</a>, sitemaps, and SEO
worked. I recommend everyone to learn the basics of html and css, and then
host their own blog with a free service like GitHub pages!
</p>
<h1 id="visiting-flea-markets">Visiting Flea Markets</h1>
<p>
I love wandering around flea markets, there are tons of great stuff that
are dirt cheap. Old technologies that still work great, old clothes that
can be made new with a quick trip to a dry cleaner, cool desk accessories,
35mm films, camera gears, and many many more.
</p>
<p>
Seeing things that were revolutionary when they first came out and talking
with the people that sell them is a joy I get to experience every month.
While there is a lot of good flea markets that I visit, the one I like the
most is Çayyolu Antika Pazarı. I like Çayyolu because it is not as crowded
as others and the things they sell are more high quality. Also most of the
sellers are there to make friends and get to know new people, I like those
kinds of sellers the most. Because their main goal is not to profit the
most they can, their main goal is to have a good time!
</p>
<p>
While I do buy a lot of unnecessary stuff, the joy I get from talking with
these people and seeing literal history makes visiting flea markets an
irreplaceable hobby.
</p>
<h1 id="configuring-emacs">Configuring Emacs</h1>
<p>
I spent so much time configuring this program that I could even say Emacs
is my part-time job. I definitely
<strong>spend more time sharpening than cutting.</strong>
</p>
<p>
But Emacs has become such an efficient tool that I think it
<strong>cuts</strong> the time I spent on homework in half. It formats,
converts, spellchecks, gives synonyms, translates, it manages and inserts
citations, prints references, and much more. And like maintaining a site,
I enjoy working on my config. Even if I didn't, I would think of it as an
investment because it is a tool that I will surely be using for a really
long time.
</p>
<h1 id="shooting-analog">Shooting Analog</h1>
<p>
I got into the analog world thanks to a friend more than a year ago.
While I did make some mistakes that resulted in burned films, I think I
learned my lesson.
</p>
<p>
I like shooting in color. My favorite film is Kodak Gold 200, the way that
it captures the sunlight mesmerizes me. You can see some of the pictures I
took at my <a href="https://ismailefe.org/photos/">photos page</a>.
</p>
<p>
Other than that I use a Agfa Optima as my main film camera. I like compact
analog cameras. For me, having a big lens that you have to adjust every
time defeats the purpose.
</p>
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<link>https://ismailefe.org/blog/hobbies/index.html</link>
<guid>https://ismailefe.org/blog/hobbies/index.html</guid>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0300</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>My Org+Pandoc Workflow</title>
<description><![CDATA[<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><body>
<header id="title-block-header">
<h1 class="title">My Org+Pandoc Workflow</h1>
<p class="author">İsmail Efe Top</p>
<p class="date">2024-03-29</p>
</header>
<p>
<strong>Disclaimer: <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">Emacs</a> is
necessary for being able to do the things shown below.</strong>
</p>
<p>
Excluding chats, %99 of what I write is written in
<a href="https://orgmode.org">org mode</a>. I love org mode that much, but
of course there are downsides. For example, while they are easy to access
on my mac, if I want to view them on my iPhone, I have to jump through a
bunch of hoops. And this is not the only obstacle I have to overcome. If I
want to share my notes with my friends, good luck to me.
</p>
<p>
This would be my life if they weren't a handy program called
<a href="https://pandoc.org/">pandoc</a>. With pandoc, I can convert my
documents into great-looking, properly edited word and html documents. For
example, the blog post you are reading right now is completely written in
org mode and converted with pandoc. Let's see how I achieve this workflow.
</p>
<h1 id="setting-metadata">1. Setting Metadata</h1>
<p>
While it isn't always necessary, setting metadata is important for bunch
of reasons like searchability and giving the general idea about the
document. For example, here is the basic metadata for this document.
</p>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb1">
<pre class="sourceCode org"><code class="sourceCode orgmode"><span id="cb1-1"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb1-1" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="pp">#+TITLE: My Org+Pandoc Workflow</span></span>
<span id="cb1-2"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb1-2" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="pp">#+AUTHOR: İsmail Efe Top</span></span>
<span id="cb1-3"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb1-3" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="pp">#+DATE: 2024-03-29</span></span>
<span id="cb1-4"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb1-4" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="pp">#+LANGUAGE: en</span></span>
<span id="cb1-5"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb1-5" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="pp">#+DESCRIPTION: How I use pandoc to transform my org documents to beautiful looking word documents and websites!</span></span></code></pre>
</div>
<h1 id="pandoc-configuration-for-word-documents">
2. Pandoc Configuration for Word Documents
</h1>
<p>
Normally, turning a org document into a word document is easy if you have
the
<a href="http://joostkremers.github.io/pandoc-mode/">pandoc package</a>.
But I use a thing called reference template. In this use-case, I have a
document called
<a href="https://ismailefe.org/blog/my_org_pandoc_workflow/etc/custom-reference.docx">custom-reference.docx</a>. This documents has all the changes I made to the default font-size,
heading fonts, colors etc. When I tell pandoc to use that document as a
reference. It turns my org documents into the perfect docx file. Figuring
out how to use and automate this took a really long time but I am really
glad I done the necessary work.
</p>
<p>
I use this automation everyday to turn my notes into a docx file and then
a pdf. It is really useful when I want to summit a homework or share my
class notes with a friend.
</p>
<p>
I use a function to achieve this, here is what you have to do to use my
function.
</p>
<h2 id="prepare-a-reference-docx-file">Prepare a reference docx file</h2>
<p>
You can
<a href="https://ismailefe.org/blog/my_org_pandoc_workflow/etc/custom-reference.docx">download mine</a>
and change it however you like. Put it in somewhere safe and note the
file-path.
</p>
<h2 id="install-pandoc-the-pandoc-mode-package-and-the-ox-pandoc-package">
Install Pandoc, the pandoc-mode package and the ox-pandoc package
</h2>
<p>
For pandoc, you can use <a href="https://brew.sh">homebrew</a> or any
other package manager.
</p>
<p>
For pandoc-mode, you can install the package with
<a href="https://melpa.org/">melpa</a> and read more
<a href="http://joostkremers.github.io/pandoc-mode/">here</a>.
</p>
<p>
For ox-pandoc, you can install the package with melpa and read more
<a href="https://github.com/kawabata/ox-pandoc">here</a>.
</p>
<h2 id="set-the-pandoc-binary-location">Set the pandoc binary location</h2>
<div class="sourceCode" data-org-language="emacs-lisp" id="cb2">
<pre class="sourceCode commonlisp"><code class="sourceCode commonlisp"><span id="cb2-1"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb2-1" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="co">;; put this on your init.el or config.el</span></span>
<span id="cb2-2"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb2-2" tabindex="-1"></a>(<span class="kw">setq</span> pandoc-binary <span class="st">"/opt/homebrew/bin/pandoc"</span>)</span></code></pre>
</div>
<p>
I installed pandoc with homebrew, if you don't know where your pandoc
binary is located you can run 'whereis pandoc' in your terminal.
</p>
<h2 id="set-the-data-directory-for-pandoc">
Set the data directory for pandoc
</h2>
<div class="sourceCode" data-org-language="emacs-lisp" id="cb3">
<pre class="sourceCode commonlisp"><code class="sourceCode commonlisp"><span id="cb3-1"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb3-1" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="co">;; put this on your init.el or config.el</span></span>
<span id="cb3-2"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb3-2" tabindex="-1"></a>(<span class="kw">setq</span> pandoc-data-dir <span class="st">"/Users/example_user/.config/doom/etc/pandoc/"</span>)</span></code></pre>
</div>
<p>You can set this directory to wherever you like.</p>
<h2 id="prepare-a-docx.pandoc-configuration-file">
Prepare a docx.pandoc configuration file
</h2>
<p>This file goes into your pandoc data directory.</p>
<p>
It is really important to use a proper configuration file, this file is
what makes pandoc recognize the reference docx document.
</p>
<p>
As an example or a starting point, you can download my docx.pandoc file
<a href="https://ismailefe.org/blog/my_org_pandoc_workflow/etc/docx.pandoc">here</a>. Don't forget to change the path of the reference docx file
(reference-doc) to the one you noted at the beginning.
</p>
<h2 id="custom-function">Custom Function</h2>
<div class="sourceCode" data-org-language="emacs-lisp" id="cb4">
<pre class="sourceCode commonlisp"><code class="sourceCode commonlisp"><span id="cb4-1"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb4-1" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="co">;; put this on your init.el or config.el</span></span>
<span id="cb4-2"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb4-2" tabindex="-1"></a>(<span class="kw">defun</span><span class="fu"> efe/export-to-docx </span>()</span>
<span id="cb4-3"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb4-3" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="st">"Output to docx using pandoc-mode"</span></span>
<span id="cb4-4"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb4-4" tabindex="-1"></a> (interactive)</span>
<span id="cb4-5"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb4-5" tabindex="-1"></a> (pandoc-mode)</span>
<span id="cb4-6"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb4-6" tabindex="-1"></a> (execute-kbd-macro (kbd <span class="st">"C-c / O W d b b r"</span>))</span>
<span id="cb4-7"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb4-7" tabindex="-1"></a> (<span class="kw">setq</span> pandoc-mode <span class="kw">nil</span>)</span>
<span id="cb4-8"><a aria-hidden="true" href="#cb4-8" tabindex="-1"></a> )</span></code></pre>
</div>
<p>
When you run this function, it creates a docx file with the same name as
your original file.
</p>
<h1 id="turn-org-documents-into-beautiful-sites">
3. Turn Org Documents into Beautiful Sites
</h1>
<p>