Software & Tools#
LocalSend#
File transfer tool. Free, open-source, cross-platform. Connect to the same network to quickly transfer videos, files, and photos with high efficiency.
Perplexity#
AI search tool. Fast search speed, clear citations, able to quickly answer questions. Its discovery page is also well done, providing selected news daily, which I often check. Similarly, I used to frequently browse exemplary entries on Wikipedia.
Xiaohongshu#
Solves some search scenarios. I started using it heavily this year; you can almost find the information and tips you want on it, very timely. Sometimes when I don't know how to operate something and can't find a clear tutorial, I post a note, associate some tags, and often within ten minutes, enthusiastic friends will come to answer and interact, which is quite terrifying in terms of efficiency.
Immersive Translation Plugin#
Bilingual translation browser plugin. I have it installed on both my computer and mobile (Kiwi for Android), allowing me to quickly skim through information, videos, blogs, and web pages to determine if a deep read is needed, such as the hacknews list. (As a side note: the current icon is something I suggested and provided to owenyoung during the early development stage; I thought this tool was useful but didn't expect it to have such great potential.)
Obsidian Web Clipper Plugin#
A browser plugin for highlighting and saving content locally. I've been a user of Obsidian for several years, and this plugin better meets the needs for highlighting and bookmarking web pages. Previously, I used MarkDownload for clipping, which is also very useful.
Kindle Oasis 2#
E-ink screen reader. Besides this, I have two other e-ink screen readers: Kindle Paperwhite 3 and BOOX Poke 3. The reason I bought this one is firstly for the physical buttons, and secondly for a longer "non-use" standby time—the Poke 3 often runs out of battery when I pull it out, as Android still struggles with standby control.
English Related#
Gradually picking up discarded English, wanting to see a bigger world. I haven't deliberately studied it; it's more of a relaxed and casual approach, sharing some small experiences:
- Start from interest, such as reading favorite news, listening to favorite podcasts, etc.
- Believe in the power of subtle influence, like using podcasts as background sound.
Here are some tools or services I frequently use.
Podcast AntennaPod for Android#
AntennaPod is an open-source podcast tool that supports subscribing to any RSS feed podcast. I lost some earlier records, but in the latter half of the year, I mainly listened to two favorite American TV shows: Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. I often use it as white noise; much of it is hard to understand, but gradually I have started to comprehend some. One of my favorite features of this tool is the ability to set a timer to automatically stop playback after a certain period, for example, playing from 22:00 to 6:00 will automatically pause after 30 minutes.
Youtube#
Regarding English, I often watch several channels:
- Ariannita la Gringa: Beautiful and kind, introducing various aspects of life in English.
- Rachel's English: An English teacher, explaining in detail, but I haven't watched it for a long time.
- Teacher Leah Teaches English: Also introduces daily life.
- Cleo Abram: Speaks very quickly, but the topics are interesting.
- Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: Popular science with beautiful animations and simple words.
- Lex Fridman: Podcast, often interviewing tech giants, speaks slowly, videos are long, suitable as background sound.
Reddit#
Follow interests first, I subscribe to some Subreddits of software or tools I currently use, such as r/cursor, r/samsung, r/rav4club, etc., as well as r/NoStupidQuestions, r/legaladvice, r/SideProject, r/whatisthisthing, and so on. You can learn many authentic expressions, and since it revolves around a topic of interest, it continuously reinforces related words or phrases.
YouGlish#
Input a word/phrase, this service searches for videos on YouTube that contain the word/phrase and accurately locates them, helping to deepen understanding of pronunciation and usage scenarios.