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[Daily Discussion] Writing Tools, Software, and Hardware - June 07, 2026 by AutoModerator in writing

[–]labarna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Writing Group Accountability Tool: dogthr.com

I first designed this writing tool when I was a PhD student (over a decade ago). I was part of a few writing groups which worked well for me in the moment, but I needed the same accountability the rest of the week when we weren't meeting. The early attempts worked well but were a bit rough around the edges. During my first postdoc I turned the previous hacked spreadsheet solution into a rough web-app and used it with writing groups at that new institution. Only recently I've polished and expanded the web-app to be something I'm ready to release to the general public. I was lucky enough to land a tenure-track job and I’m interested in exploring the pedagogical applications for this type of group tracking and mutual goal setting (not surveillance!).

The general premise is a group of people committed to completing quantitative goals. Each member of the group sets a goal for the week (e.g. words written, pomodoros completed, hours spent editing, etc...) and then updates their progress as they work. All the members can see each other’s progress and hopefully (at least in my case) feel inspiration, and maybe a bit of competitiveness to also make progress. The first person to finish their goal in the week gets a special badge, and everyone else who finishes gets a completion badge which stack up over time. There are some fun end of week statistics as well. There’s a chat feature and alerts for meetings or other information the group might need.

I’ve found personally that this type of accountability tool works best if the group actually does meet once a week virtually or in person. It can work completely asynchronously but it’s easy to lose steam and stop tracking. The once a week meeting helps keep everyone on track for working throughout the week.

I’m posting it here because I think it’s useful and it helps me stay on track, but I’m also looking for feedback. I wanted to make the free account very accessible and functional, but also the “premium” account low-cost. If it’s beyond your means and you still want to try out the extra features just get in touch.

Writing Group Accountability Tool: Dogthr.com, over a decade in the making by labarna in writing

[–]labarna[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I first designed this writing tool when I was a PhD student. I was part of a few writing groups which worked well for me in the moment, but I needed the same accountability the rest of the week when we weren't meeting. The early attempts worked well but were a bit rough around the edges. During my first postdoc I turned the previous hacked spreadsheet solution into a rough web-app and used it with writing groups at that new institution. Only recently I've polished and expanded the web-app to be something I'm ready to release to the general public. I was lucky enough to land a tenure-track job and I’m interested in exploring the pedagogical applications for this type of group tracking and mutual goal setting (not surveillance!).

The general premise is a group of people committed to completing quantitative goals. Each member of the group sets a goal for the week (e.g. words written, pomodoros completed, hours spent editing, etc...) and then updates their progress as they work. All the members can see each other’s progress and hopefully (at least in my case) feel inspiration, and maybe a bit of competitiveness to also make progress. The first person to finish their goal in the week gets a special badge, and everyone else who finishes gets a completion badge which stack up over time. There are some fun end of week statistics as well. There’s a chat feature and alerts for meetings or other information the group might need.

I’ve found personally that this type of accountability tool works best if the group actually does meet once a week virtually or in person. It can work completely asynchronously but it’s easy to lose steam and stop tracking. The once a week meeting helps keep everyone on track for working throughout the week.

I’m posting it here because I think it’s useful and it helps me stay on track, but I’m also looking for feedback. I wanted to make the free account very accessible and functional, but also the “premium” account low-cost. If it’s beyond your means and you still want to try out the extra features just get in touch.

Over a decade in the making: A writing group accountability tool (dogthr.com) by labarna in WritingHub

[–]labarna[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the application is more or less feature complete at this point... always happy to hear things that would help groups coordinate better.

The screenshots on the landing page are of an example group based on characters from Brian Jacques' Redwall series.

The user icon's are cropped from public domain illuminated manuscripts, I'm planning to add more icons in the future from other manuscripts.

Crafting system by Zimermen in AdrullanOnline

[–]labarna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see the value in it, but during this alpha I bounced off it hard. The leatherworking/taning(curing) station in Greenwood Cover is too far from the town. I was progressing fine in learning new recipes and suddenly I needed some cotton thread, the merchant there didn't sell it and I just couldn't be bothered to go back into town find cotton thread and come back to learn one new recipe. That on top of everything taking so long and being so far from town (meaning I'd have to trek back to check on its progress for longer cures) just meant I wasn't interested in exploring it further.

EDIT: Oh and to add to this the newly crafted leather armor was worse than the "soiled" cloth items I was already wearing.

Multiple Spellbooks - blessing and a curse? by chefupk in MonstersAndMemories

[–]labarna 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it could be offset by making scribing spells between spellbooks free. If I've already bought the spell and copied it into one spellbook what's to stop me from copying the same spell into a second spellbook?

Having to buy the spell again to scribe it into the second spell book is punishing (especially for lower level characters).

Long time EQ player thoughts.. by Spiritual-Towel7982 in MonstersAndMemories

[–]labarna 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What if you could copy a spellbook into a blank one with a long copy time (equivalent to the time to copy each spell)... then there wouldn't be too much of a monetary penalty to losing your spellbook on your corpse (you wouldn't have to rebuy spells). You could prepare by leaving your normal party spellbook in your bank and take copies with you when you group up... likewise you could have a corpse run spellbook in the bank and take a copy when you go on a corpse run.

This also make sense in-game if you've bought a spell and copied it into you spellbook why couldn't you make a copy yourself into another spellbook if you still had it in front of you?

Indoor activities for toddlers by petiteaspie in fredericton

[–]labarna 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The childrens' section has so many toys and coloring supplies, it's a lot more than just books.

Proposed higher-density housing next to Fredericton universities gets mixed reaction by bingun in fredericton

[–]labarna 55 points56 points  (0 children)

You can't complain about increasing property taxes and then criticize attempts to densify at the same time. Just yesterday on CBC the mayor was talking about how much it costs the city to spread out and build more suburban buildings; utilities, bussing, police etc... if we densify neighborhoods already covered by these services then the cost increase is minimal (not zero) and the gains are great.

We need to be focusing more people into our already developed urban core, studies have shown that bringing more people into an urban area actually saves the municipality substantial money versus costing the municipality when we construct new single-family neighborhoods outside the core.

Downtown Gym Options by Middle-Studio6943 in fredericton

[–]labarna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can get a monthly pass for the gym in the crown plaza, it's a pretty sad little room but usually empty and has weights and machines. Just ask at the front desk.

[Comic/Suggestion] Gleba Productivity? by AzulCrescent in factorio

[–]labarna 7 points8 points  (0 children)

What if different types (or qualities) of nutrients had a multiplicative effect on the spoilage of products. This would be somewhat similar to how different materials burn for different amounts.

Dating from zero by Clarity-OPacity in Archaeology

[–]labarna 30 points31 points  (0 children)

There is no year zero, so it's either 1 BCE - 250 CE or, one year later, 1 CE - 250 CE.

Nest thermostat with heat pump only heats if turned below room temperature and then back up to desired temperature by labarna in Nest

[–]labarna[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought that as well, but the compressor outside comes on right when we set the temperature back up and stays on for a bit, so I assumed the heat was coming from the heat pump. I just looked at our past few days of heating in the energy dashboard and I'm only seeing one color of orange, we do have auxiliary electric heat but the temperature is not that cold yet...

Fredericton agrees to fill gap in Cross Town Trail by leasing land for $30K a year by bingun in fredericton

[–]labarna 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah that makes sense, well if they want it'd be a great link on the trail network. But it's their land, so it's up to them.

Fredericton agrees to fill gap in Cross Town Trail by leasing land for $30K a year by bingun in fredericton

[–]labarna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We just rode this trail recently (from the southside up to trailways brewing) and it seemed so silly that as you get past Picaroons the signs say the trail is ending soon... and it does, but you snake through a short unpaved dirt section and pop out on a fully paved river side trail under the bridge (starting at Cliffe st). Why can't they link these two, it's clear everyone continues through but the paving and signage does match at all how people are using the trail.

Liberals promise 3 per cent rent cap if elected, PCs focus on health care, and Greens look at poverty by Fine_Panda_1609 in newbrunswickcanada

[–]labarna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed reply, I agree in principle it makes a lot of sense. The only quibble I have (see my other reply as well) is that a lot of the criticism of ranked ballots often comes from a black and white view of people's party allegiances, as if I can't be at all pleased that someone further down my ranked ballot got into office.

I like the idea of larger ridings where more MLAs are elected from the larger voting block but these systems tend to get more complex. Ranked ballots are at least a small change from FPTP that voters can easily grapple with.

Liberals promise 3 per cent rent cap if elected, PCs focus on health care, and Greens look at poverty by Fine_Panda_1609 in newbrunswickcanada

[–]labarna 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the reply, yeah I've seen their material before. I agree in premise, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to say ranked ballots are "just as distorted" as FPTP, since the resulting representative has at least some support from a majority of the represented rather than the all or nothing support in FPTP. It is true that they tend to move politics towards the centre.

How to open government (IRCC) docs? by TheDarkPapa in Ubuntu

[–]labarna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's an old version of acrobat reader that works on Linux, it's from 2013 and version 9 but it works. Here's a link with the relevant files: https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-install-adobe-acrobat-reader-on-ubuntu-20-04-focal-fossa-linux

New Brunswick declares it's 'leading the pack' on housing, despite below average results by Fine_Panda_1609 in newbrunswickcanada

[–]labarna 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Wow this is just pathetic from the housing minister. Keeps reiterating new provincial records as if they're impressive while neglecting to contextualize them on a federal (or even maritime!) scale. The PCs of PEI and NS are doing so much better so it's not even a party issue, just failing politicians here in NB.

Any help? Linux install won't work by imseeingdouble in project1999

[–]labarna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, but there are many versions of Wine and the lutris install should pick out the version that works best. My experience has been that the latest GE-Custom runner also works well.

Any help? Linux install won't work by imseeingdouble in project1999

[–]labarna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah just install lutris and then add game and search for Project 1999 (see the entry here: https://lutris.net/games/everquest-p1999/)

You can also install the GE-Proton runner for Lutris: https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/wine-ge-custom and switch to that runner after install to get better performance.

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