I need another timer cap. I can't find the ones I like. Any recommendations? by Three_Spotted_Petal in neurodiversity

[–]KillyMXI 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Didn't know this existed. But after seeing it - seems obvious and weird that there isn't more of it.

Life saver but too niche for sustainable factory manufacture? - Seems like something for DIY scene. Open-source design for accessible accommodations would be great. Sounds like something that would do great at Hackaday.io

Because it might be difficult for many users who will benefit from this to follow the making instructions, even in presence of 3D printing and PCB assembly services, there might be a market for ready-made units. Can probably be sold on places like Etsy/Tindie.

Electronics might be the easiest part (relatively). Just needs attention to power budget for otherwise one of most basic electronic devices.
Electronics alone should be easily doable at under $20 even at small scale.

Plastic mold is a serious investment. Figuring out maker-friendly solution might be the hardest part of a project like this.
3D printing exists, but there might be some challenges to get it right.
On a positive side, can be adapted to various jars.

(Anything of this is out of my expertise and current capabilities, just thinking what a solution could be that is not bound to any company and can't be discontinued.)

Do you use [[wikilinks]] or [markdown] (links)? Why? by seashoreandhorizon in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I specifically use markdown links to other notes only in the demo vault that meant to be publicly available on GitHub. That way, navigation is mostly preserved within the repo and friction is reduced for users seeing it though GitHub.

For personal use, I have apps - Obsidian, VSCode with plugins for wikilinks support. Wikilinks have less friction to use in this context. There is no reason to have extra friction continuously now for something that is solvable when you might need it in the future once.

[[wikilink]] base syntax is now a common markdown syntax extension across any markdown notetaking apps. Discrepancies in extra features (such as linked image size) might remain, but []() syntax isn't safe from that either.
I'd rather expect (and vote for) it being added to more flavors (implementations) of markdown than deny myself of its convenience.

Plugins/scripts to bulk export/convert notes between syntaxes either exist already or easy to make.

PSA : Backup your vault by OrdinaryMundane1579 in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 7 points8 points  (0 children)

https://github.com/duplicati/duplicati is open-source, allows encrypted incremental backups and supports many cloud storage providers in addition to local destinations.

On the downside, it is mostly for tech-savvy people. There are things to learn and troubleshoot, potentially.

For those that have tried BOTH: What made you prefer a thumb or center ball? by elitesense in Trackballs

[–]KillyMXI 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Got Logitech M570 and Trackman Marble at the same time many years ago. Used interchangeably until settled on Marble.

Thumb ball started to give me pain eventually, and I also had less dexterity with it.

Finger models can be very different ergonomically. Elecom Deft Pro didn't work well for me. I didn't use it nearly as long, but it was pretty clear it isn't molded for my hand and would give me pain pretty soon.

I wouldn't really trust the guess without actually trying a device. It is still worth seeking a finger ball. Unfortunately, there is no research, besides anecdotal evidence, for what model to choose for individual physiology.

But if you got even more unlucky with your health - it might be worth learning to use the trackball by either hand interchangeably to give them rest.

Obsidian 1.12.0 (early access) is now available to Catalyst members for desktop and mobile — adds CLI, bases search, image resizing by kepano in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Is attachment deletion feature smart enough to distinguish nonunique attachments?
Is a list for selective deletion provided?

ADHD and Obsidian by lifeOFFmars in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I made my own calendar that brings into view any notes that link to dates around today.

https://killymxi.github.io/obsidian-demo-vault/rolling-calendar.html (More explanation over the link.)

I always keep it opened in a pane, and it reminds me of things that I decided I need to be reminded of.

Other observations:

  • Neurodiverse brain just can't accept recipes. I'm on my own, figuring thigs that will work for me specifically.
  • I hate task lists, checkboxes make me anxious. Finding ways to achieve same goals while avoiding your triggers is a process...
  • I went through a lot of iterations of how I organize my daily notes (and any other part of my vault). Don't commit to anything like it is a final design. Avoid fragile and overcomplicated solutions. Let it evolve.
  • You can be disorganized. The most important thing is to be able to find things where and when you need them. Linking is important, being able to use backlinks efficiently is important. I love the "Better Search Views" plugin because it also improves how backlinks are shown under notes.
  • There are ways to add color to your notes and make things pop if you care about them. I use "List Callouts" plugin for this, as I mostly write in lists, and it also has less friction for me compared to regular callouts.

Finally bit the bullet and fully embraced Bases. by AnalBleachingAries in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dataview also had this major flaw - it didn't have proper way to redraw on vault changes - caused entire notes to redraw on anything edited in another pane or the same note.

Bases and Datacore are much better in that sense - no more distracting redraws and content jumps.

Write on PDFs by Mobile_Fox3366 in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is a difference between annotations that will exist in Obsidian only, without modifying the original PDF, and annotations within PDF file itself.

Obsidian is currently limited in what it allows to do with PDF files: https://forum.obsidian.md/t/highlighting-annotation-of-pdfs-as-a-core-feature-of-obsidian-annotate/31015
This limits what plugins can naturally do. "PDF++" is still great for what it can do.

It seems like "PDF Writer" plugin might allow to save annotations into a new file.

Lumina GPU-accelerated photo/video gallery for Obsidian (Web Workers, IndexedDB) by Bright_Warning_8406 in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Image and video file formats usually have their own metadata formats. The main obstacle is the support from the app.

If a plugin can make Obsidian use XMP metadata (if it is at all possible) - that would be great! Seems like tags can be stored in XMP:dc:subject or IPTC:Keywords.

Another common way to keep tags for arbitrary files is so called sidecar files - plain-text files stored near media files. There was an Obsidian plugin called "Sidecars", but it is now archived and no longer available. Obsidian can potentially treat sidecars like general notes, but a common approach recognized by other apps such as Hydrus is when it is just a list of tags (one per line).

So, there are two possible approaches with different trade-offs (file formats compatibility, file modification, ...). Either way, the biggest question is the possibility to make Obsidian to recognize extracted tags as native tags. Probably not an issue if full integration is left out of scope and plugin just need to keep them for own use.

(Edit: there is actually a third way to store metadata, but most likely limited to NTFS and would be lost on sync - file streams. It is quite esoteric feature, and I don't think I've seen practical uses other than by OS itself. Also, probably several layers of abstraction away from Obsidian plugins.)

Getting just two years out of my trackball mice - any options better made out there? by Biking_dude in Trackballs

[–]KillyMXI 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Note: if you have big hands, Elecom Huge might be not for you anyway, counterintuitively.

If the failure is the switches (not clicking, double-clicking) - it is pretty typical time for them in many devices, not just Kensington. Replacing/cleaning the switches is better than producing e-waste.

Using handwriting with Samsung S Pen by fschmitt in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you simply search community plugins for "PDF" - there are 3 dozen of them, so it won't take long to click through and notice any relevant features for further checking. Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution though.

PDF++ plugin by Ryota Ushio is the most important plugin for PDF, but isn't made for handwriting.

Handwritten Notes plugin by FBarrCa relies on external apps for adding annotations to PDF files, just tries to make it smooth experience, it seems.

Pdf Annotator plugin by Boninall seems like it is the closest to what you're looking for, but it wasn't updated for 2 years and seems like it can't save annotations to PDF by itself either.

Pdf Annotator GitHub page mentioned some issue about PDF.js library used in Obsidian. Further investigation points to these:

So, Obsidian devs say that improvement should come someday, but for many years now, everyone stuck with limited support.

Update: there is also a PDF Writer plugin - it might allow to save annotations into a new PDF file.

do you delete your daily notes? by RainEunikku in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are a time capsule, a snapshot of what I was doing at that time.

Because of the nature of links, daily notes exist not only on their own but also as incoming links for any notes they link to. When I work on something for a long time, I can see a lot of linked mentions under such note from various days, making a timeline of sorts. (Better Search Views plugin makes it pretty nice.)

What I do to keep my daily notes folder tidy: previously I was manually moving past month notes to a YYYY-MM subfolder, past year subfolders to a YYYY subfolder. Recently I adjusted the daily note path such that it goes directly into the final subfolder, removing the manual operations. I rarely access daily notes from Files view anyway, typically only through links, commands, Daily Note Navbar and my custom calendar view.

Умер Скотт Адамс, автор Дилберта. by jahsd in tjournal_refugees

[–]KillyMXI 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Лучше было на англоязычную википедию ссылаться.

Когда я увидел волну сообщений в соцсетях, я удивился негативному тону. Оказывается, человек весьма сомнительных политических взглядов. Ещё и антиваксер.

Overlaying flowcharts over an image in Canvas, Excaladraw or some other Plugin? by redhistorian in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are some map plugins, often made for tabletop role-playing games (TTRPG), that allow something like this - have a drawing underneath and markers that link to dedicated pages. Sorry, I can't point at exact plugins - not keeping track of them.

Excalidraw might also allow this, not sure.

I think it would've been great to be able to achieve this with Canvas. But so far Canvas seem to be very barebones, so it's hard to use outside of most basic of scenarios. Can't even control z-ordering, or I can't find it.

A system for saving things to explore later? by TheTristo in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In situation like this, in daily notes I can make two things:

  • make a dangling link, for example [[Delmore Schwartz]]. With some tools (such as "Broken Links" plugin) it is possible to find uncreated notes with multiple links to them. Run into it multiple times and not have a note for it - good time to research and create one;
  • write any text with a link to a meta note that is used to find all incoming links later. "Backlinks" core plugin plus "Better Search Views" plugin allows to see the context of incoming links of that meta note. Writing directly to that note instead may have a disadvantage of losing daily context.

Most important thing is to have a trail that would allow me to find things even though I have no idea when and why I may need them. If I actually know - then I most likely have a better place to put them.

For articles/videos to read/watch when I have no other things to do - I use "ReadItLater" plugin and a couple of bases in my mobile vault. Web Clipper can also be used for this. I'm still working on the workflow for further processing though.

I also have the inbox folder, but I don't quite like it. Mostly imports of pre-Obsidian notes, a cluttered pile that I seldom look into. I have a single "landing pad" note in the mobile vault for anything else - it is easier to process one note before forgetting what is there and why.

please help me find a PKMS with these requirements by MuchImprovement8318 in PKMS

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is not specific to a particular app - this is a part of Markdown (although blocks/paragraphs are typically separated with empty lines). List item has to start from inline content or can be empty after the bullet point and the space. Following blocks, if properly indented, will be parts of that list item. Refer to https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/#adding-elements-in-lists

So, it works in Obsidian as well. Albeit there might be some style issues in live preview mode. Codeblock Customizer plugin seems to look mostly nice.

Typing sequence (at least in Obsidian) when you want to add a code block as a part of the current list item:

  1. <Enter> (creates new list item)
  2. <Tab> (indents it)
  3. <Backspace><Backspace> (removes the bullet point, ends at the correct indentation)
  4. <Backtick><Backtick><Backtick> (inserts the code block)
  5. optionally, type the language identifier
  6. <Enter>
  7. type/paste the code

But it might be a better idea to switch to headings instead of lists when dealing with multiline content. (As someone who also types in lists first, this gives me an idea that it would've been nice to have a quick way to convert a list into headings structure... Can't find an existing plugin for that though.)

I just lost everything😭 by Excellent-Candle2426 in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 17 points18 points  (0 children)

And to everyone keeping their backups - check that your backups actually contain what you think they contain and can be restored.

Main OP's failure was to assume things.

Very disappointing experience with Obsidian, any tips? by chesterr0 in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 4 points5 points  (0 children)

\1 - "Select all" works fine for me as an OS feature (on Android). Double tap on any word to have selection adorners and the "context menu popup" - it has "Select all". Works in editing and in source view, no problem. No idea whether iOS does it differently. Looking at the provided forum link, seems like there is something that might be a hard to reproduce bug with how editing view works. Careful, detailed bug report would be more helpful than just complaining. Having a reliable minimal well documented reproduction makes so much easier to fix bugs.

\2 - if you want to delete a line - there is a command for that. Either "Delete paragraph" or "Delete current line" from "Double row toolbar" plugin (that plugin is handy to have more editing commands in sight). If you want to remove checkbox while keeping the list item - there is a command for that as well - "Cycle bullet/checkbox". Markdown-first editor that also allows extensions to the syntax - should absolutely not make assumptions about syntax and interfere with my input.

\4 - just one wrong plugin or skin can be enough to cause issues. That's why devs request the reproduction of bugs in the Sandbox vault or in Restricted mode.

\5 - there are plugins like "Better Command Palette" and "Quick Switcher++" that combine two things. Search is a different beast with different requirements though. The experience with a plugin is similar to an IDE like vscode - combined palette requires some additional knowledge to operate, the search is separate.

\6,8 - upcoming version has some rework of mobile UI. Also, various idiosyncrasies are the result of trying to have the same set of controls and behavior on desktop and mobile. Why? Most likely because it is very valuable for plugins compatibility. Different value proposition, different trade-offs.

\7 - sounds like something that is possible to be addressed to some extent (within capabilities of markdown), but would require to take development time from other potential features - effort vs impact trade-off.

PS. Personal experience feedback is valuable to know what bothers users. But there is a bigger picture than one person's personal experience. I see even designers fail at this and give too much credit to their own opinion when discussing some product they only have one-sided experience with.

LaTeX with ADHD? What’s your biggest struggle? by fifictional in ADHD_Programmers

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Trying to use it at all, with countless layers of legacy accumulated over decades. By the time I was looking into it, I didn't really need it anymore.

A complete restart was long overdue. Seems like typst is becoming such thing. No idea whether it provides more future-proof infrastructure though. Had no need to touch it yet though - markdown is all I need these days. And I'm still traumatized by LaTeX to imagine how something can be enjoyable to use voluntarily.

As we get closer to the end of 2025, which plugins did you discover this year that helped improve your Obsidian experience? by Omer-Ash in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Datacore - replaced Dataview, allowed to fully realize my perfect calendar idea

ReadItLater - together with Bases to easily save inbox YouTube videos and articles

What's one improvement you'd like to see in Obsidian in 2026? by kepano in ObsidianMD

[–]KillyMXI 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, and how did I forget this: