from Hacker News

Sending messages as I drift off to sleep

by dbieber on 1/8/22, 5:18 PM with 17 comments

  • by dbieber on 1/9/22, 1:45 PM

    This has been a multiyear journey -- and this "sending messages" piece is new in just the last few days. The main thrust of this effort started with being able to get thoughts out of my head so I could sleep easier back in 2014.

    The original project was just for sleep typing, called Shh Shell: https://davidbieber.com/projects/shh-shell/ https://github.com/dbieber/shh-shell

    When I moved out west, I expanded Shh Shell to shower typing too, so I could capture those precious shower thoughts, otherwise fleeting.

    A few months ago I rebooted the project as Go Note Go, this time with a focus on driving and camping, rather than showering and sleeping. New hardware (Raspberry Pi 400) in the project lets me use it on the go. https://davidbieber.com/projects/go-note-go/ https://github.com/dbieber/GoNoteGo Lots of improvements over the original project, noted in the post linked here^.

    Even though I designed GNG for driving and camping, the old sleeping use-case is still useful for me, and I've continued to delight in keeping the headless keyboard at the bedside. Being able to queue up messages in this state (as well as just from my daily note-taking workspace) has only added to the delight.

  • by handsarebags on 1/9/22, 8:42 AM

    Ahh. I’m glad I saw this. Thank you for sharing. I didn’t know anyone else did this.

    I started taking headless notes with a Bluetooth keyboard, using accessibility features to talk back as I typed (or emacspeak on pc).

    Initial goal was to see if I could learn to type almost automatically - and then try type while lucid dreaming! That didn’t work, though the attempts did add a new twist to some dreams.

    Ended up finding it nice for note taking. Why strain your eyes if you don’t need to use them?

    I found adding extra dimples to the keyboard (little blobs of epoxy) helped me locate my fingers on the keyboard better/quicker. Particularly that number row.

    Next obvious pain point for me would be handling navigation behind simple text entry, and being able to create some structure as I type. Sounds like you have a solution for this. Nice!

    Next time I have enthusiasm to play with this set up I’ll be looking over your project for sure.

  • by dark-star on 1/9/22, 10:32 AM

    I used regular pen and paper to record the dreams (or other interesting stuff) as I drifted to sleep.

    a) find a comfortable environment that helps you sleep in a sitting position. For me it was sitting in a train late at night (I used to commute a lot at night for a while)

    b) start writing. I usually just copied stuff from something, like a newspaper or book or whatever was available

    c) let the sleep take over but do not stop writing. At some point you will find words or sentences between the text that you're copying

    d) practice, and you'll write longer and longer sentences

  • by dbieber on 1/8/22, 10:22 PM

    This post is also about sending messages from directly within Roam Research, and sending messages while driving and camping, all while using a wireless keyboard but no monitor.

  • by nmeofthestate on 1/9/22, 10:08 AM

    I ended up skimming the entire post, looking for the examples of weird half-asleep messages implied by the title.

  • by twobitshifter on 1/9/22, 3:14 PM

    I understand the need to avoid distraction but think that I’d still want visual feedback, even if it’s just a one line display. You could conceivably make this tool launch in full screen too.

  • by deknos on 1/9/22, 8:50 AM

  • by unstatedAnswers on 1/9/22, 11:16 PM

    Would you ever consider making this a product?