Link – Page 5 – Jason Rehmus

I only keep one app in my Mac’s dock

Marked is a previewer for Markdown files. Use it with your favorite text editor and it updates every time you save. With robust features for previewing, reviewing and exporting beautiful documents, you can work in plain text while reveling in rich formatting.

via Marked 2 – Smarter tools for smarter writers

I hate clutter on my computer, so I removed every app from my Mac’s dock the day I got it, except one. Marked lives in my dock because I use it every day. Marked allows me to write in Markdown and export beautiful PDFs for all sorts of business documents, no word processor needed.

If you write in Markdown, pick up a copy of Marked for yourself today.

Why does an app that shows which planes are in the sky above you make a difference?

‘Why would anyone need to know what planes are flying above your head?’ I muttered. Gus replied without looking up: ‘So you know who you’re waving at, Mommy.’

via How One Boy With Autism Became BFF With Apple’s Siri – NYTimes.com

Philip K. Dick’s Upon The Dull Earth

Upon The Dull Earth is a fun read for this time of year about an angel encounter. Sort of.

Weight, privilege, numbers, and meaning

For now, all I want to say it that I keep my life beautifully peaceful through conscious choices that keep the broader culture from filtering into my life.

via Wish 277: join the resistance! on The Fluent Self

Read this article about why choosing to ignore your weight is a very good thing. Also, check out the list under “Just some of the crap I don’t deal with as a thin person.” It’s a refreshing dose of self-awareness from someone conscious of, grateful for, and mindful about the privilege they’ve been granted.

Publishing’s Unsung Heroes: Copy Editors by Holly Robinson

And for those of you who are self-publishing books, some advice: if you have any extra funds, do yourselves a favor and hire a copy editor. Your books — and your reputation as a writer — will be better because of it.

via Huff Post Books

Yep.

How the Gun on the Original Duck Hunt Game Worked

If you’ve ever played Duck Hunt or any of the other NES games that used the NES Zapper gun, you probably at one point or another wondered how the game actually knows where on the TV you are aiming the gun when you pulled the trigger. It turns out, the method for accomplishing this is incredibly simple, as is the gun itself.

via Today I Found Out

This is pretty cool. Click through to find out for yourself.

Free Books For Getting Into The Spirit Of The Season

Open Culture has kindly collected some of the scariest books available and made them available to you through their site. You’ve still got time to get in the mood by enjoying some Edgar Allan Poe or H. P. Lovecraft stories before Halloween.

Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating this lawsuit is approximately 3,720 to 1.

Lucasfilm is attempting to block a trademark on one of Empire Brewery Co.’s, signature beers, “Strikes Bock.”

The bock beer’s title when combined with the bar’s namesake makes for a pun on the 1980 “Star Wars” sequel (or fifth film in the series, depending on who you ask) “Empire Strikes Back.”

via Lucasfilm disputes brewery’s ‘Star Wars’ beer name – CNN Money

The real odds that Empire Brewing will be able to keep that beer’s name are probably much worse than that.

No Logos — First Today, Then Tomorrow

I agree with Randy on this one:

But I’ll be damned if you think that I’m going to pay top dollar to buy your stuff or to display the name of a celebrity or some corporate message on my body.

via No Logos — First Today, Then Tomorrow

U.S. elected officials don’t actually control the government

The ultimate problem is the pervasive political ignorance on the part of the American people. And indifference to the threat that is emerging from these concealed institutions. That is where the energy for reform has to come from: the American people. Not from government. Government is very much the problem here. The people have to take the bull by the horns. And that’s a very difficult thing to do, because the ignorance is in many ways rational. There is very little profit to be had in learning about, and being active about, problems that you can’t affect, policies that you can’t change.

via Vote all you want. The secret government won’t change. – Ideas – The Boston Globe

Real change isn’t going to come from simply voting. Whenever someone gets in your face about doing your civic duty on election day, remind them that casting a vote is the bare minimum an American citizen should expect to contribute.