My self-inflicted browser conundrum

Am Von In Apps

Arc – My first Love In recent years, I’ve written here repeatedly about the apps I use for my work. Things have changed here and there, but one constant was the browser: Arc – a Chromium-based browser with many clever UI and UX ideas, including vertical tabs. I loved it. Unfortunately, then came the big AI boom and every software company with venture capital suddenly had to integrate AI. This included the Browser Company, the makers of Arc.At first, they succeeded surprisingly well. Instead of simply integrating a chatbot, they built in small functionalities like automatic tab organization based on …

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iPhone Day!

Am Von In Hardware

Finally! After using my iPhone 13 Pro for four years and having to charge it several times a day recently, my new iPhone finally arrived today. And that makes me very happy right now. Of course, you could buy a new one every year and sell the old one for a considerable sum. Financially, that would only make a small difference. But the anticipation after such a long time is on a whole different level. My old iPhone doesn’t have Dynamic Island, 48 MP cameras, or Apple Intelligence. So it’s quite a leap. This year, I went for the Pro …

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How to Use the Kindle Scribe Premium Pen

Am Von In Hardware

After much deliberation, I recently decided to get myself a Kindle Scribe. I will write a separate article about the background and my assessment. For now, I just want to give a little tip that would have helped me a lot and that might help some people in the future: It’s about the Kindle Scribe Premium Pen or actually the little extra button it has. The purpose of this is to make it possible to operate an additional function quickly, e.g. to write and then quickly access the highlighter or note function. So I configured the settings so that the …

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A spiral-bound notebook titled “My Personal Journey to Time Tracking” lies on a wooden desk alongside a black pen, a classic alarm clock showing 10:09, a small potted plant, and a notepad, symbolizing productivity and time management.

My Personal Journey to Time Tracking

Am Von In Workflows

The year 2018 marked a significant turning point in my life: I graduated and embarked on my first job, while simultaneously considering the pursuit of a PhD. This period was fraught with challenges, as I juggled the demands of starting a new role as the associate to the president of a private university in Berlin—an endeavor that proved to be overwhelming due to the immense responsibilities thrust upon me—and my lack of experience and work structuring. My approach to work at that time was unstructured, a carryover from my university days, and I found myself dissatisfied with my productivity and …

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Instant Focus Boost: Tap into Mac & iOS’s Hidden Soundscapes!

Am Von In Workflows

In a world where distractions are just a notification away, finding focus can sometimes be a tall order. Whether it’s for work, study, or just some quiet reading time, the presence of background noise such as White Noise or the soothing sounds of ocean waves can be the concentration aid many individuals need. This is not just anecdotal; a study published on the British Psychological Society’s Research Digest reports that white noise can boost attention and creativity, albeit the improvements are modest. Here’s the link to the study for those interested in the details. Now, if you’re a Mac or …

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My Paper Reading Workflow

Am Von In Apps, Workflows

Streamlining Academic Research: A PhD Student’s Guide to Efficient Literature Management In the realm of academic research, an efficient workflow for handling scholarly literature is invaluable. As a PhD student and migration researcher, I have developed over the past years a workflow that allows me to efficiently search, download, read, and annotate my research literature. Although this process can be complex, it has proven to be extremely beneficial in my work. Thus, I am eager to share this workflow with others, hoping it can assist you in your endeavours as well. It might sound complicated, but I assure you, it’s …

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State of the Apps – 2024 Edition

Am Von In Apps

In January of this year, for the first time I published an overview of crucial apps that my professional life couldn’t function without. Inspiration stemmed from the ‘State of the Apps’ segments within the Cortex podcast, hosted by CGP Grey and Myke Hurley, a title I found fitting to take up. This year, I managed to get a head start. In the following, I will showcase to you the apps I use spanning various domains including browsing, mail, task management, writing/thinking/note-taking, research, file and literature management, reading, and more. Many of the apps presented here are also integrated with a …

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Back-Up Basics: Your Guide to Secure Digital Memories on macOS

Am Von In Workflows

A couple of days ago, I received a mail with a question that touches the core of our digital lives: How to backup photos? Shockingly, quite a lot of people do not back up or secure their photos, let alone the remainder of their digital work. Thankfully, that leads to no issues in 95% of the cases. However, for the remaining 5% of cases where it does lead to trouble, the outcry is intense. And understandably, so. Therefore, everyone should implement a backup strategy to secure the things most important to us: Memories and one’s own work. Why should I …

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On the value of flip-flopping

Am Von In Thougts

From the outside, it admittedly looks a bit ridiculous when someone changes their to-do app or notes app every few months. Especially if this one new app is supposed to make everything better. I’ve dealt with the issue here on the blog in the past, as of course, it affects me personally. If not, I would not be writing this blog. The specific reason for this article is that I am using OmniFocus again after a long abstinence. In fact, I haven’t done so for well over a year. First I tried GoodTask, then I managed all my tasks in …

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Childhood Cancer Awareness Month – Relay for St. Jude

Am Von In News

It is the ultimate horror for every parent that their own child becomes seriously ill. No family in the world should suffer such a fate. That’s why I would like to support the fundraising campaign of the podcast network Relay FM for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Children with cancer from all over the world are treated there free of charge. In addition, St. Jude has been researching better cures for decades. I can hardly think of anything more worthy of support. Relay FM has been doing these fundraisers for several years now and you can be sure that …

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