I have a shell alias which opens a specific PDF in two different PDF viewers. Not any PDF, just one specific PDF which I need to reference every few days.
I got fed up with constantly digging through my files to find it, even though it's stored where it should be. The standard solution to this problem is to save the file on the desktop for quick access, or maybe use file search, but I don't use my desktop and search has issues in this case.
Besides, I live in the terminal.
This is a bad solution. One of them isn't even a good PDF viewer, but I couldn't figure out how to open it in the same viewer twice and wanted a second window. My browser PDF viewer is better and faster, I should be using that instead. I should make an application shortcut, it better matches my mental model of what's happening than a random shell alias.
Technically, this is the rare case which is canonically worth the time, unlike most of the automation I do. Chart says I'm safe to spend another 5 minutes figuring out the shell command to open the PDF in a new browser window.
But honestly, I can't be bothered.
The chart doesn't matter to me in this case. I needed to get rid of the feeling of why am I opening this again and again. Tedium is death.
Now I don't have that problem.
So, stupid shortcuts. If it works, it works.
- Rew
Nightly Notes
This is one of the rare PDFs which has carefully designed page layouts. This is the ideal file format for this information being displayed in this way. Someone's job was to make it well organized, and they did.
But I don't like that I need to use it. I don't like the fact that I need to use a lot of things.
There's a moral somewhere in there.
Or I need to stop staring at screens all day.
Anyway.
I was poking through the archive and there's already posts I barely remember writing. I knew daily posts go fast, but it was surprising nonetheless.
I think I need a break from something, but I don't know what. Not this, not yet.
I'll be back tomorrow,
- Rew