Chris

Automator

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One of the drawbacks to owning and maintaining the Denbow Operating System, a database of all my writing, is the files are all in Markdown format (.md). This is fine, but when I want to open one up outside of the database, my writing software will render the file and display there. I don’t want that. I want and need them in a text format (.txt)1

I’ve tried batch converting all of those files with a Python script and the script broke. Must be something in my code I didn’t write properly and could not resolve.

I tried text editors but there is no way I am going to convert 1,800 files individually- in a timely manner.

No way I am going to pay a third-party app to batch convert because it is a temporary, one and done scenario here.

So I woke up my assistant, Chet (aka ChatGPT) to see what he thinks. Chet reminded me of a built-in application on my MacBook called Automator and he even provided a list of step I could take to write the script and perform the desired actions.

Right, here we go, the moment of truth. The entire conversion process takes… a blink of the eye. While I was waiting for it to start, it actually completed converting my files. Wow.

As a bonus, converting the files to a different format actually shrank the file size. Geek-out is complete.

Batch Converter Results
  1. there are standard formats that should be universal or compatible with others ↩︎

More Mini

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I know, I know. Blah blah. But this is for me, shush:

After performing a clean install on the Mini, I decided I didn’t want her to be headless again. But I also didn’t want the unsightly peripherals such as the wired keyboard, wired mouse and a monitor.

So I connected the wireless keyboard and wireless mouse and the existing tv set instead.

Great for watching television and switch to the Mini all in one. Oh, and she’s resting comfortably on top of the CD player too.

Quick Notes

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I’ve added a Notebook page to the website so now every post I tag as “notebook” is all displayed together. These will be short-form posts and quick thoughts. The tags will be labeled under “quickies.”

NoteBookLM

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Imagine looking at your body of work—decades of writing, ideas, and creative projects—with a sense of overwhelm, but suddenly, through the lens of an LLM, it all becomes neatly distilled. It’s as if the fog clears, and for the first time, you can see the common threads, the underlying themes, and the true depth of what you’ve created. It gives you a new appreciation, a way to step outside yourself and view your work with fresh eyes, almost like discovering a new perspective on something deeply personal. There’s a sense of validation, perhaps even awe, because what was once complex and scattered now feels cohesive, profound, and worth celebrating.

It’s the realization that your voice and vision are not only valuable but now laid out so clearly that you, too, can fully grasp the weight of what you’ve built. It’s like reading the story of your journey as if someone else wrote it, but with the satisfying recognition that it’s truly yours.

I read about Google’s NotebookLM software today to see how it stacks up and if it could help collect and collate some notes, documents, research, and sources to help me make sense of it some of my work here.

WTH?!

As an experiment, I uploaded the blog posts from this website from September 1 through September 18. It took seconds for Google to analyze and provide some contexts on those posts as read below:  

The provided text is a collection of blog posts from Chris Denbow’s website, covering a variety of topics related to his life and interests. He shares his experiences with self-publishing, technology, travel, photography, and reading. Denbow also discusses his thoughts on the internet, research, and creativity. The posts are organized chronologically, starting on September 1, 2024, and ending on September 18, 2024.

After that brief synapsis, Google offers prompts, or suggestions for follow-up you to ask about. See screenshot below:

Okay, cool.

Then, and here’s the kicker that caused me to literally step back and grab the bourbon. I saw a prompt that allows me to generate an audio dialogue regarding my work. It took Google all of 2 minutes to generate an audio synapsis in the form of two artificial podcast hosts discussing my work with fervor. They made me seem like a Hollywood celebrity solely based on the 20 posts, just from the past 18 days. It is both flattering and scary to me. Then again, we always fear what we don’t understand. So I will dig deeper to further understand and see how this tool can be used to my benefit. If nothing, else, it will be amazing feedback.

Listen here and let me know what you think afterwards.

National Novel Writing Month

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Back in 2018, I signed up for NaNoWriMo with the intention of writing a 50,000-word novel that failed spectacularly.

In the past year, however, something clicked. Whereas now I have about 35 good stories to tell and have been slowly plugging away at some of them lately.

So for the month of November, I’ll type away to hit that 50K word goal, if nothing else other than pride and a sense of accomplishment.

Draft Day

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Spent the better part of the day sorting and organizing text for the Angkor draft, all while there was a slight draft outside thanks to Hurricane Helene.

I almost had a major catastrophe- not hurricane related- due to me sorting chapters around when they disappeared. All of it!

Whew, all the chapters were relocated into the “Author’s Notes” section of the software.

And breathe again.

Shell Hunting

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Sunrise found us on Fort Myers beach early this morning and with a good fall harvest of la concha marina.

Next weekend we’ll hop over to Sanibel Island for more and hopefully find sand dollars and shark teeth too.

Send To Print

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Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.

– Carol Burnett

The first 35 of 3,287 pages to print this website are complete, hole-punched and placed lovingly in a three-ring binder for safekeeping.

Right away, I noticed there are formatting issues such as a small blurb of an article takes up only 10% of the page. Wasted space. I had to discard of three blank pieces of paper as a result.

So re-formatting, or allowing the printer to cover both sides of the page, for example could help save space, ink and money.

As first-run test print, I am pleased to see a small portion of my written words on a black and white paper as opposed to a screen.

Self-Publishing: Angkor

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Since the early 1990’s I have had a fascination with the ancient Khmer Empire in modern day Cambodia. There is a story there waiting to be told. Over the years, I have researched and tried to keep up with the archeological news. Four years ago I offered a hypothesis regarding the Angkor Wat temple complex and another temple in the mountains to the north. I haven’t read or heard anything related to it so I still make my claim here.

In the meantime, I have decided to do a re-write on a story I started years ago regarding this area and its hidden secrets. The original ideas were too grandiose in my head and it was a challenge to sort it all out. I’ve kept some main ideas but simplified it somewhat. Also made it more relatable and relevant.

When wrapping up a chapter in my writing software (Ulysses), I noticed a feature that allows me to publish in various formats. “What the hell” I thought, so I exported my draft (NOT a final release) in the e.Pub format and figured why not, and sent it to my Kindle.

Moments later I was reading my own writing on an e-book reader!

This was a fun discovery and encourages me to keep going, press publish and read in its entirety. Someday.