I’m Presenting at Macstock!

Mike, a man with glasses and a beard wearing a black shirt, smiles at the camera against a blurred green outdoor background. To his left is the Macstock 9 logo featuring peace, heart, and computer icons, with text announcing "I'm presenting at Macstock!" on a blue background.

I am excited to be giving my first conference presentation since 2017 at the Macstock Conference and Expo next month!

The workshop will help attendees create automated systems for their creative projects: both purposeful folder structures and project management workflows that actually get the work done.

I was interviewed on the MacVoices podcast, which you can check out here to get some more details.

If you are coming to the conference, let me know! If flying to Chicago is not in the cards, you can also sign up for a digital ticket and get recordings of all of the workshops. Consider using my code MIKEBURKE50 when you register, I’d appreciate it!

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I Deactivated My Twitter Account

A screenshot displaying a social media profile error message. The profile header shows a placeholder for a profile picture and the username "@hearmikeburke." Below the username, a bold message states "This account doesn’t exist" followed by a suggestion to "Try searching for another." The background gradient transitions from red to blue, indicating a possible error or inactive status on the social media platform.

I was hoping there were enough checks and balances, systems, and/or public pressure for Twitter to weather the storm of a megalomaniac. I was wrong.

I “deactivated” my account a few days ago, and while I appreciate the 30-day cool-down period where I can recover my account, I don’t see that happening.

While I know many are moving to Mastodon; I am not currently planning on joining the herd. Instead, I’ll be here, on my YouTube channel, and on my newly created Tumblr.

I look forward to continuing the relationships I have built on Twitter. I am experimenting with Reeder and RSS, so if you have a blog or other RSS feed for me to keep up with you, please post it in a comment below.

Zombies, Run

A man in sportswear is crouched down, tying his shoe on a foggy street. Unaware, he is near a zombie and several shadowy figures in the misty background, suggesting a scene from a zombie apocalypse. The setting is eerie with a backdrop of dimly lit trees and a hazy skyline.

You hear stories about people performing heroic feats in life-and-death scenarios: lifting a car off of a child, swimming for miles to get back to shore from a shipwreck, etc. Like most middle-aged guys, some part of my brain assumes that I would be able to do the same. A lifetime of living vicariously through action movies and video games leads me to believe that my body is just waiting to be unleashed for its superhero moment, like a Manchurian Candidate of fitness.

But, historically, I have not had many of those experiences in my life, so there is no need for an alter ego, yet. Even if I did, building a heart-healthy lifestyle around life-or-death adventures does not seem sustainable. Unless you fake it.

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The Automators

While this is probably the most niche recommendation I have in the podcast world, it might be the show which has had the biggest impact on my life.

The Automators is where I was first exposed to things like Keyboard Maestro, Hazel, Drafts, and OmniFocus. Each one has had a dramatic influence on my life. I think you should give it a chance.

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Smartere Tech Podcast

I love podcasts. I listen to so many that I look forward to long road trips so I can catch up on my backlog.

However, I have never been on one… until now!

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