Kirkville

Widgets have become common as a way to display small amounts of contextual information. Widgets can display the weather, or just the temperature. They can display the time, the date, current stock prices, or the status of smart home devices. Or they can display your calendar events, emails, and news headlines.

Widgets are everywhere in Apple’s operating systems. You can use them on home screens and on your lock screen on iOS and iPadOS, watchOS now has a widget view, and macOS Sonoma, which previously only displayed widgets in a sidebar, can now display them on the desktop.

Here’s how to use desktop widgets in macOS Sonoma.

Read the rest of the article on The Mac Security Blog.

I remember, back in second grade, my teacher chastising me because I was daydreaming. She rapped a ruler on my desk and told me to come back to the world. I don’t recall what sort of thing I was thinking about at that young age. Fantasies about animals or monsters? Thoughts about getting let out of class to play? Or perhaps something related to a book I had been reading recently?

From the youngest age, at school, we’re forced to pay attention, we’re told not to daydream because it’s bad. If you spend too much time staring out a window and daydreaming at work, you’ll be reprimanded by your boss. Yet it has been shown that daydreaming can enhance creativity, and help us maintain good mental health.

Read the rest of the article on The L&L Blog.

To learn how to use Scrivener for Mac, Windows, and iOS, check out my book Take Control of Scrivener 3.

While you do all of your writing in Scrivener’s Editor, the Binder is where you organize your projects. The main advantages of Scrivener’s Binder are the ability to move elements around as you develop a project, and the ability to quickly view any section or chapter; no scrolling required.

You can organize the Binder in several different ways, and the organization you choose for your project affects how you build it as you move ahead with your writing. In this article, I will look at several options to make the Binder work for you.

Read the rest of the article on The L&L Blog.

To learn how to use Scrivener for Mac, Windows, and iOS, check out my book Take Control of Scrivener 3.

Writing an article on daydreaming and creativity, I asked ChatGPT for some examples of authors who had discussed the topic. Here are some of the results:

There are several famous writers who have discussed the role of daydreaming in enhancing creativity. Here are a few notable examples:

1. J.K. Rowling: The author of the Harry Potter series has mentioned the importance of daydreaming in her writing process. She has said that she often lets her mind wander and allows herself to daydream, as it helps her come up with fresh ideas and imaginative storylines.

2. Stephen King: In his book “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” King mentions that daydreaming is a vital creative tool for writers. He encourages aspiring writers to cultivate deliberate daydreaming as a way to generate ideas and explore different narrative possibilities.

Regarding J.K. Rowling, I was unable to find any citations for the above claim. So I asked:

Where does JK Rowling discuss daydreaming and writing?

I apologize for any confusion caused by my previous response. While J.K. Rowling has not explicitly discussed daydreaming in relation to writing in any interviews or public statements that I could find, she has talked about the importance of imagination and letting her mind wander. These statements indirectly suggest that daydreaming plays a role in her creative process. Rowling has mentioned that the idea for the Harry Potter series came to her during a train journey, and that she allowed her imagination to run wild, forming the initial concept for the story. She has also emphasized the significance of daydreaming and having the freedom to explore different ideas in fostering creativity. While she may not have directly spoken about daydreaming, Rowling’s comments hint at its potential influence on her writing.

I happen to own the Kindle version of the Stephen King book, so I searched for daydream, and found nothing. So I queried ChatGPT about that.

Stephen King doesn’t say anything about daydreaming in his book On Writing.

Its reply:

I apologize for the error in my previous response. You are correct that Stephen King doesn’t specifically mention daydreaming in his book “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.” While King does discuss his writing process and the importance of imagination, he does not address daydreaming as a specific technique for enhancing creativity. Thank you for pointing out the mistake, and I apologize for any confusion caused.

One of the cleverest things Apple did when it released the Apple Watch in 2015 was to develop a system that allows users to quickly change watch bands (or straps, in the UK). Changing normal watch bands, using little spring bars, is difficult and delicate, so most people rarely change them unless they’re worn out. With the Apple Watch, you can change your band in seconds, so you can use a different band according to your mood or activity, or to match your outfit. This is especially useful if you want a waterproof band for swimming or working out, and a fancier band for when you go out on the town.

To date, Apple has released more than 700 bands in more than a dozen different styles. Here’s a complete guide to all the Apple Watch bands that are currently available.

Read the rest of the article on The Mac Security Blog.