Sending messages as I drift off to sleep
davidbieber.com
davidbieber.com
The original project was just for sleep typing, called Shh Shell: https://davidbieber.com/projects/shh-shell/ https://github.com/dbieber/shh-shell
When I moved out west, I expanded Shh Shell to shower typing too, so I could capture those precious shower thoughts, otherwise fleeting.
A few months ago I rebooted the project as Go Note Go, this time with a focus on driving and camping, rather than showering and sleeping. New hardware (Raspberry Pi 400) in the project lets me use it on the go. https://davidbieber.com/projects/go-note-go/ https://github.com/dbieber/GoNoteGo Lots of improvements over the original project, noted in the post linked here^.
Even though I designed GNG for driving and camping, the old sleeping use-case is still useful for me, and I've continued to delight in keeping the headless keyboard at the bedside. Being able to queue up messages in this state (as well as just from my daily note-taking workspace) has only added to the delight.
They are precious. I regularly purchase waterproof notepads which I stick on the wall.
The GNG project is cool. Thanks for sharing.
I started taking headless notes with a Bluetooth keyboard, using accessibility features to talk back as I typed (or emacspeak on pc).
Initial goal was to see if I could learn to type almost automatically - and then try type while lucid dreaming! That didn’t work, though the attempts did add a new twist to some dreams.
Ended up finding it nice for note taking. Why strain your eyes if you don’t need to use them?
I found adding extra dimples to the keyboard (little blobs of epoxy) helped me locate my fingers on the keyboard better/quicker. Particularly that number row.
Next obvious pain point for me would be handling navigation behind simple text entry, and being able to create some structure as I type. Sounds like you have a solution for this. Nice!
Next time I have enthusiasm to play with this set up I’ll be looking over your project for sure.
Sleep its a deliberate action and choice for me. I have a soft set time and hard set time, if I'm still dicking around on my phone or computer after that I need to justify to myself why I'm doing it. The hard set time means I go to bed and I sleep. I put my head down and think of nothing else except sleep.
what you guys are doing sounds like self imposed torture. you push yourself to keep going until you pass out from exhaustion. I doubt its very healthy, and would likely be a serious case of diminishing returns.
Appreciate the concern.
I would encourage people to look after their sleep. From personal experience, a good nights sleep is one of the best gifts I can give to myself tomorrow.
Another view; say I have a problem where I cannot stop messaging at night, and it impacts my sleep. I could use a device which lets at least my eyes rest. Is it kind of like the nicotine containing e-cigarette of bedtime phone usage? Might this then be: 1) An improvement? 2) An enabler? 3) A sign that I do have a problem (phone/screen addiction) - as indicated by the effort I would expend trying to mitigate a symptom (gazing at screen = ouch)?
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Let’s try this: There is a perspective that a project like this is an outgrowth of an unhealthy habit of messaging/writing art/beyond bedtime.
Within that view, I think this concept is still worthwhile of curiosity for its usage at other times during the day; when you have already decided you want to do a task that would normally require using a screen anyway.
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There is an idea that suggests interfaces designed to accommodate people with disabilities results in better UX for everyone. I see this as an example of that idea, and I idly believe something partially descended from this will come into common usage.
In it’s mildest form, typing without a screen approaches what a confident touch typist can achieve.
So perhaps I’d say; if your curious, try it some time when you would commit to being at your workstation - “plugged in”. And treat it just the same as your other “screen time” when it comes to looking after your health. No, I wouldn’t let this activity off on the technicality of not involving a screen ;)
Disclaimer: Im talking about my own experiments and cannot speak for OP, who has a better set up.
The setup I write about in the post -- Go Note Go -- is great for a raspberry pi 400. If you're just using a bluetooth keyboard with e.g. a laptop, you could also consider checking out the predecessor project Shh Shell https://davidbieber.com/projects/shh-shell/
a) find a comfortable environment that helps you sleep in a sitting position. For me it was sitting in a train late at night (I used to commute a lot at night for a while)
b) start writing. I usually just copied stuff from something, like a newspaper or book or whatever was available
c) let the sleep take over but do not stop writing. At some point you will find words or sentences between the text that you're copying
d) practice, and you'll write longer and longer sentences
Oh, you may be interested in my Telegroam: https://github.com/mbrock/telegroam
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