Promises, Bats, and Guides
An unfinished book series, the AI debate from several angles, Paste's new lifetime option, trying out OpenCode, updates to Snipd, Macrowhisper, and more.
Hey guys! I took a short break and I’m happy to be back. Here’s a few things that stood out from my previous week (well, week and a half).
On Reading
While being away I finally finished The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I’d been trying to read this novel for a while, but I kept getting distracted or had other stuff going on all the time. It didn’t really click for me until around chapter five or six… and then, I finally got hooked and couldn’t put it down. I tore through the rest in a few days. The world-building, characters, and mood pulled me in. It’s been a long time since a fantasy novel had that effect on me. If you like fantasy, this one’s worth your time.
Now I’m starting book two, taking it slow. I know the third book has been delayed for years (for more than a decade, it seems). If you look up the author online, you’ll find a ton of negativity regarding this. Yeah, as a reader I get the frustration of a promised book that’s taken forever to come out. I was actually thinking about waiting before starting the second book, but after being done with the first one, I just can’t stop haha. Now I know that I’ll have that open loop until who knows when.
On Bats
I randomly found this IG post with bat portraits and had to share with you guys. It just showed me how ignorant I was on the topic. I didn’t know there were so many kinds. Some are cute, some are super creepy, but they’re all fascinating. Just sharing this here as a curiosity because it really surprised me.
After I saw the post, I checked out the photographer’s account. In another image, he shared how someone used AI to clone his work. From someone interesed in AI and all the tech behind it I found this technically impressive, but at the same time I wonder… what’s the point of using AI to recreate an image that already exists? I guess it only feeds the debate about AI in creative work.
On AI for Writing
A few days ago, after all of the backlash from his previous video (you may want to read through some of the comments on this X post for context), Tiago Forte shared more about how he uses AI for writing. This time, he focused on guiding the viewers on how to create a “style guide” and an “implementation guide” plus a list of questions that AI can ask you to help you write. I found it very useful. I already had a couple of style guides that lay out all my requirements, and I already knew that letting AI ask clarifying questions is a huge help when you’re making requests or want something more specific. What I hadn’t thought about is the idea of having AI analyze your own previous work and building a question set out of that. That way, when you sit down to prompt the AI, it’s not just random questions you’d normally think of in the moment—it’s a set that actually reflects your voice and thinking style. After a couple of tests with this I do agree that it makes the whole process feel a lot more tailored.
On the AI Debate
Last week I read this Substack AI report and it got me thinking (even more) about just how split the creative world is on this topic. They surveyed 2,000 Substack publishers, and the results are pretty much right down the middle: about 45% said they’re using AI in some way, while a little over half said they’re not. What really stands out to me, both in the report and from other articles (including some that are completely anti-AI), is how much fear there is about AI “stealing” creativity or erasing authentic voices. And yet, as the Substack report says, “the people who actually use AI seem way more optimistic and see it as a tool for unlocking new creative possibilities—not as a threat.”
In my experience, curiosity is what keeps my creative mind open. I believe that exploring these tools, instead of shutting them out, is the only way to find out where your own boundaries are and how to use them without losing your own voice. Yes. There are real ethical questions, and I get why some people are worried, but with so many different models and privacy-focused options out there, I think there’s room for everyone to find their own comfort level. It’s not just a black-and-white issue for sure. And I also think AI isn’t simply out there ripping off writers or artists and many imply. But perhaps the more we engage with these tools and talk about them honestly, the better we can shape how they fit into our creative lives. I’d love to be part of a conversation that doesn’t just shout “for” or “against,” but actually digs into how people can use AI thoughtfully, without giving up what makes their work theirs.
On Image Generation
Google’s new model Nano Banana is already on Replicate. Character consistency is getting better and better. It used to be that you could only do some of this stuff after specifically training AI with several images. It’s crazy all that can now be done with a single source image. Flux Kontext was already pretty good for some use cases, but Nano Banana still feels like a big step up. I won’t call Photoshop “dead,” as many are saying online. Manual editing still has its place. But it’s pretty cool seeing all the new options and possibilities that continue expand every time a new model gets released.
On Paste
A couple of days ago, I saw that Paste finally rolled out a lifetime plan at $90. The history with this clipboard management app is a little messy. Years back when they switched to subscriptions, people who’d bought the old lifetime license got pushed onto a “legacy” plan that stopped getting updates, so a lot of longtime users weren’t happy. After that, and for several years, the main complaint I saw online was that the only available option was a subscription.
Even with that bumpy history, Paste is still the most polished clipboard manager I’ve tried for Mac. I’ve tested all the big names. Pastepal, Maccy, CleanClip, Copy 'Em, etc., seriously, just about everything out there. Paste feels fast, looks great, it isn’t overloaded with features, and fits right in with macOS. It’s minimal without being basic, and everything works smoothly. If you want something simple and well-made, it’s a solid pick.
The only reason I’m not switching to it right now is because back when I was testing it, I also disliked the subscriptin-only option and settled on Alfred’s clipboard manager. By now I’ve set up so many workflows with Alfred, and its clipboard tool just fits how I work. But if it weren’t for that, I’d be seriously tempted by Paste’s new lifetime deal. Just know that they did make some moves in the past that rubbed people the wrong way—especially legacy users. I’m hoping the developers learned something from that, and maybe this lifetime option is their way of making up for it.
Either way, wanted to share about the new lifetime plan in case you’re looking for a clipboard app.
On Snipd
Snipd doubled storage for user’s content to 20GB. I use Snipd daily to listen to Podcasts/YouTube lectures/interviews and highlight as I go. For YouTube links and user’s it doesn’t rely on the video’s transcript; it downloads and transcribes itself, which is usually better quality. Fits nicely into my workflow with Readwise/Reader.
On Tot V2
Just saw that Tot version 2 is out. Back when I first got deep into note-taking, I considered Tot because I wanted something simple for jotting down ideas that worked on both my Mac and iPhone. I already was using Bear, though, so running both at the same time felt kind of redundant. I did give Tot a real try (I liked it a lot), but in the end I stuck with Bear and later figured out how to set up a scratchpad workflow using Bear and Yabai together. If I were looking for a scratchpad app right now, Antinote would probably be at the top of my list. Antinote has more features than Tot, but it’s Mac-only for now—an iOS app is supposed to be coming later this year.
On OpenCode
When I started building Macrowhisper, I was just copy-pasting code from Alter (which really isn’t meant for coding). After the project became bigger and I switched to Cursor, I finally got why these new agentic tools are so popular. Everything got WAY easier. Cursor was a big upgrade, it felt quite revolutionary and I was happy with it… up until their recent pricing changes and new limits made the basic plan not really worth it for me anymore.
So I tried Claude Code, which is great—just a bit too expensive through the API. I haven’t paid for Claude’s Pro tier (I’m still considering it, whenever I have a big feature to implement or something big to build). A few days ago, though, someone suggested OpenCode, which is kind of like a clone of Claude Code but works with different models. I’ve been running it with some of the options from OpenRouter (Kimi K2 is pretty solid). It feels like a great budget-friendly alternative that doesn’t tie you down to a single provider. I haven’t done any perfect side-by-side tests with Claude Code, but OpenCode’s results so far are great. I’m curious to see how far I can go with this.
On Macrowhisper
Superwhisper pushed out an update a few days ago, bringing the new Parakeet v3 voice model. This one’s multi-language and probably the fastest transcription model I’ve seen so far (though its accuracy is often far-off). Thing is, with the update, Superwhisper also changed how it saves results to the meta.json files. Because of that, I had to make a quick change to Macrowhisper too. So if you’re running Macrowhisper in your setup, just a heads-up that we’re now on version 1.33. If you don’t update, you’ll probably run into issues whenever you try to insert results to your front app. It’s a pretty essential update.
By the way, I just opened up the discussions section on the Macrowhisper repo. If you’re using this, jump in and share how you use the app or any ideas you have for features. Real-world examples or suggestions are helpful for everyone—not just for me as the creator. There’s so much you can do with Macrowhisper that it’s easy to either get overwhelmed or miss out on possible ways other people are using it. Swapping ideas may help everyone to get more out of the app.
On Cinema
Blue Eyelids (2007). What a surprising film. A very different kind of romantic comedy. I loved it. Synopsis: Marina wins a paradise vacation for two, but when she realizes that she has no one to bring along, she decides to invite a stranger named Victor. The pair soon discovers that true love depends more on compatibility rather than idyllic scenery.
Together (2025). I was so looking forward to this. The ending did disappoint a bit, but was still worth the journey. Synopsis: With a move to the countryside already testing the limits of a couple’s relationship, a supernatural encounter begins an extreme transformation of their love, their lives, and their flesh.
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