{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "Kinopio Blog", "home_page_url": "https://kinopio.club/blog", "feed_url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/feed.json", "description": "What's new in Kinopio, the thinking tool for building new ideas and solving hard problems", "author": { "name": "Pirijan", "url": "https://pketh.org" }, "items": [{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/37/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/37/", "title": "Bulletin № 37, Year-End Investor Report", "content_html": "

Dear Shareholders,

\n

As you may know, Kinopio is organic software that's completely community funded. But if you're reading this, as far as I’m concerned, you’re invested in the future of Kinopio.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

Being funded this way means that Kinopio can be built in the best interest of the people and teams that use it – especially for the long-term. But this also comes with major financial hurdles early on, which is why you can count the number of solely customer-funded software companies on one hand.

\n

Comparing % increases to key biz metrics to the same period last year paints a rosy picture:

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n
PeriodMRRGrossNew Subscribers
Last 12 months↑ 30%↑ 23%↑ 56%
Last 6 months↑ 34%↑ 42%↑ 86%
Last month↑ 34%↑ 125%↑ 500%
\n

\n \"90s\n Sidenote: because of server-side optimizations and a move from Heroku to Railway this year, even with increased usage, costs have largely stayed the same.\n

\n

📈 Midway through the year, the MRR and subscriber graphs really started climbing. TBH I'm not entirely sure why though.

\n

\n\"MRR\n

\n

Searching through the changelog, a couple potentially related things happened around this time:

\n\n

Silver bullet explanations are enticing because they whisper that you can repeat success by shooting at the same thing. But that's a trap. You can't predict virality, and chasing it is cringe. Even performance improvements eventually hit a point of diminishing returns.

\n

I prefer to think of these things as the cumulative result of all the work that came before. Doing a single push up won't change your life, but a steady thankless sequence of workouts just might.

\n

While progress is positive, in terms of absolute $ numbers, it would still take a couple years at the current growth rate for Kinopio to be minimally economically sustainable. But now that the technical foundations are firm, there are a bucketload of promising ideas I'm looking forward to building in the new year. Both the product kind, and the getting-the-word-out kind.

\n

\n\"chart\n

\n

It’d be awesome if the last 6 months marked the beginning of a hockey stick growth inflection point, but it's really too early to tell right now. As long as people love using Kinopio, and new users continue to subscribe, then I'd like to keep building it.

\n

New Stuff

\n

Line Dividers. Mark pages, sections, slides, and other large variable height areas that can be cumbersome to manage with boxes alone. Jump between lines, and make room in busy spaces with the 'Select All Below' button.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n
\n

Drawing. Doodle on your spaces to add a unique personal touch to your spaces.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n
\n

About Page. First time visitors to Kinopio (and search engines) will see the new marketing page when opening the root site URL. For everyone else, opening the site/app, or a specific space URL, will load a space, just like it did before.

\n

I wrote more about the code and design details here

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n
\n

Minimap. Get a birds eye view perspective and jump around big spaces with the minimap by holding the space-key or the right-mouse-button. (You can also open a persistent minimap from the Sidebar)

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n
\n

Boxes Also Got a Lot More Powerful. You can add background images to them, they expand to encompass items dragged onto their sides, and they can shrink to fit what's inside them.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

New Personal Blogposts

\n
\n\n
\n \"\"\n

\n The Lo-Fi Art and Human Tools Era\n Why the journey to master a skill matters as much as the end result, and why the time that takes is a blessing in disguise.\n

\n
\n
\n \"\"\n
\n

Saying Bye to Glitch

\n

Looking back at my previous job where I co-created a widely beloved web development tool, and reflecting on why taking VC funding too early was the beginning of the end.

\n
\n
\n
\n \"\"\n
\n

How I Do Support and Community

\n

The philosophy and techniques I use to handle support requests and community as a solo creator, without resorting to frustrating automated helpdesks and chatbots.

\n
\n
\n
\n \"\"\n
\n

Dialing Up the Internet Phonebook

\n

An interview with the authors of the internet phonebook – a collection of poetic, interesting, personal websites, and essays about websites.

\n
\n
\n
\n \"\"\n
\n

Why Sell Lifetime Plans, in a Default Subscription World?

\n

The thinking behind Kinopio's pricing strategy, and why I think many subscription-only products should consider also offtering a lifetime plan option.

\n
\n
\n
\n

Secret End of Year Sale

\n

Thank you for reading this far. If you’re still on the fence about upgrading, now's a good time to jump in by using code INVESTOR-REPORT at checkout for 50% off the first year of a subscription plan.

\n

The code will expire Jan 2nd, and only works for new customers. Feel free to share it with anyone, including your friends, family, and team.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

I’ll Be Taking a Semi-Break for the Rest of the Year

\n

Of course, I’ll still be active in the discord, and replying to forum posts, and emails. I also need to prep a talk I’m doing in Montreal in early Jan.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n", "date_published": "2025-12-24T00:00:00Z", "summary": "If you're reading this, as far as I’m concerned, you’re invested in the future of Kinopio.", "image": "https://cdn.kinopio.club/8OP3YCyga-tcL0jxuaRbF/GuM-ixjXkAAwcVL.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://cdn.kinopio.club/8OP3YCyga-tcL0jxuaRbF/GuM-ixjXkAAwcVL.jpg", "video": "", "color": "lightskyblue" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/for-agencies/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/for-agencies/", "title": "Case Study: Kinopio for Agencies", "content_html": "

Reading comments from happy users is so much more fulfilling for me than any amount of social media likes. So it totally made my day when I received this email from Deepak at Pearl Lemon, an SEO agency in London.

\n
\n

Over the years, my team and I have used Kinopio across a range of client and internal campaigns (sometimes directly, sometimes through team accounts).

\n
\n
\n
\n\n\n\n

I asked a couple questions about how Kinopio works for agencies and got some amazing feedback:

\n
\n

How We Found Kinopio

\n

We discovered it through a mix of Product Hunt browsing, Reddit threads, and a couple of internal team members who love visual thinking tools.

\n

What caught our attention was its loose, non-linear, “thought playground” feel, very different from the rigid structure of mind-mapping tools.

\n

From an agency perspective, anything that makes async ideation faster and less “template-heavy” tends to get adopted pretty quickly.

\n

Alternatives we considered (and why we chose Kinopio):

\n\n

Kinopio Won Because

\n\n

How We Use It Internally (And With Clients)

\n

Kickoff Ideation

\n

We dump everything from goals, user profiles, SEO angles, outreach hooks, competitor notes, constraints, and campaign ideas into a single space.

\n

Strategy Shaping

\n

We cluster insights into early “directions,” e.g., SEO themes, PR angles, funnel ideas, messaging buckets. This saved us ~50–70% of the time we’d normally spend in Google Docs trying to force structure too early.

\n

Client Onboarding

\n

When we present initial thinking, clients love moving things around themselves. It creates a shared mental model instantly, faster than slides or documents.

\n

Async Collaboration

\n

Team members leave cards, riffs, comments, and reactions over a 24-hour cycle since we work across 10+ time zones.\nKinopio functions like a roaming whiteboard that’s always “alive.”

\n

Creative Exploration

\n

We use it to capture angles for PR stories, content clusters, niche research, or quirky ideas before they get formalized.

\n

Impact We’ve Seen

\n\n

Who We Recommend It To

\n\n

Clever or Unexpected Uses Inside Pearl Lemon

\n\n

What I Liked Most

\n

Kinopio fits our culture extremely well, fast-moving, highly async, and comfortable with chaos during the early strategy phase. Most agency tools are built to organize you, but Kinopio is built to liberate you mentally before you get organized.

\n

And that’s where the value sits for us. It supports agency agility, the ability to turn vague client goals and scattered research into something coherent quickly. It lets junior team members contribute without worrying about formatting, and senior strategists can shape direction visually rather than writing long briefs.

\n

On a personal level, I’m a big believer that creativity happens in motion, walking, talking, sending voice notes, capturing half-formed ideas fast. Kinopio acts as the perfect landing pad for those fragmented thoughts. Instead of losing ideas in WhatsApp or Slack, they land in a space where they can actually evolve.

\n

What Could Be Improved

\n\n
\n

Thanks again Deepak! That feedback is super helpful for shaping Kinopio, and I’ve got some ideas, and even some early prototypes, to address those areas for improvement.

\n\n", "date_published": "2025-12-10T00:00:00Z", "summary": "It totally made my day when I received this email from an SEO agency in London.", "image": "/assets/posts/for-agencies/img4.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "/assets/posts/for-agencies/img4.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#f4cc57" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/about-page/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/about-page/", "title": "About Page", "content_html": "

New visitors to kinopio (and search engine robots) will see a new static About Kinopio page when visiting the site.

\n\n

For everyone else, opening the website, or the app, will open your last space, just like it did before.

\n

\n\n

\n

Philosophical, this is a big change from the original behaviour of greeting new users directly with the Hello Kinopio space. So I wanted to write a bit here about why and how we did it.

\n

Radically removing friction by skipping the marketing page helped some people fall in love with the app, but had some issues:

\n\n

Technical Details

\n

Over the last month, Lucas and I re-architected the app to be able to compile static pages that could be crawled by search engines.

\n

Just like how succinct, clear, writing takes more effort, it took a lot of time to find the right approach that didn’t compromise the clarity of the Vue/Vite codebase.

\n

We captured our goals and findings in a space,

\n\n

Then we built prototypes using different approaches:

\n\n

Designing the Marketing Site

\n

I have a long history of making marketing pages. Years ago, when I worked at Freshbooks, I coded up the marketing sites for their small business accounting software. These were based on the desktop sized mockups made by their design team. Later on, at FogCreek/Glitch, I designed and built the last versions of their corporate homepage, and did the marketing pages for new products.

\n

It’s another challenge entirely to build a marketing website for your own product though. Ironically, the more passionate I am about something, the harder it is to explain it to other people.

\n

The design goals for the Kinopio marketing website were to:

\n\n

An Easter Egg in the Intro Video

\n

I really wracked my brain on what to show in the intro/hero video at the top of the page. I wanted it to be a video of the real UI in use, rather than something polished but fake created with a professional video editing tool.

\n

For the video, I recreated the space from the first mockup of Kinopio I ever made:

\n\n\n\n

Then it was just a painful process of trial and error to make a series of smooth specific edits.

\n

\n\n

\n

Special Features

\n

One of my favorite things about using Vite-SSG is that I can mix in components and features from the real app, like the Apps and Pricing dialogs.

\n

I especially like how the Explore/Live buttons in the footer shows > tells new users about the awesome Kinopio community way more than words ever could.

\n

P.S. Toggling dark mode works on the page too.

\n\n
\n

Anywho, although we’re doing all these technical backflips to reach new people, there’s still nothing better than word of mouth. So if you enjoy using Kinopio, be sure to tell your friends about it!

\n", "date_published": "2025-10-14T00:00:00Z", "summary": "New visitors to kinopio (and search engine robots) will see a new static About Kinopio page when visiting the site.", "image": "/assets/posts/about-page/overview.webp", "_meta": { "image": "/assets/posts/about-page/overview.webp", "video": "", "color": "#f0dba8" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/36/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/36/", "title": "Bulletin № 36", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

I get sick at least twice a year: when the seasons change from fall-to-winter, and from winter-to-spring. I can’t imagine living somewhere without seasons, I’d be invincible. But for now, my nose is still snotty, and I’m hoping this bulletin will be coherent.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

Over the last couple months, I’ve spent more time coding and less time writing – basically the opposite of what you should do to grow and gain awareness for a new product.

\n

Instead, I dug deep into the mines of improving stability, reliability and speed. So now the app is over twice as fast, and uses half as much memory. But software performance is hard to hype, because you feel it more than see it.

\n

Maybe more crowd-pleasing is all the New Stuff listed below. Not just things people have asked for, but also what they’re likely to use regularly because it solves recurring problems for them.

\n

\n \"\"\n Relatedly, if you use Kinopio for work I’d love to know what kinds of tasks you use it for, and what you find most helpful about it. (You can reply to this email)\n

\n

What’s New

\n

Details on new features and bug fixes have been moved from the blog to the Changelog space. Adding cards is way easier than blog posts. The space is also easier to skim through, has more personality, and lets you add comment cards.

\n

You can follow the Changelog, by ♥ing the space to get email notifications when new cards are added, or subscribe to the RSS Feed.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

(Even after leaving a lot out, this is going to be a long list of New Stuff)

\n
\n

Groups. Keep spaces together and share them with the same set of people. Each Group member can see and edit all of the spaces in a Group. Use Groups for projects, teams, or like personal folders – it's really up to you.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n
\n

Sort Spaces By Created At. To make it easier to flip through past journal spaces, you can sort your spaces list by date created instead of by most recently updated

\n
\n

Connect Boxes. Just like how it works with cards, drag from boxes to create connections to cards, and to other boxes.

\n

\n \n

\n
\n

Box Expanding. When you drag cards to the edge of a box, hold, and release, the box will grow to envelop them in it's bosom-y embrace.

\n

\n \n

\n
\n

Box Shrink. Double-click on a box resize handle in the bottom right to shrink a box around its contents.

\n
\n

\n \n

\n
\n

Auto Align Cards Below. When editing cards, the vertically aligned cards below will automatically adjust positions to stay aligned and prevent overlapping.

\n

\n \n

\n
\n

Surround Selected Cards in Box. Press B to Surround Selected Cards in a Box [New Quality of Life Feature]

\n

\n \n

\n
\n

Shift-Drag to Snap to Grid. Hold Shift while dragging or resizing cards and boxes snaps them a grid. Helpful when you want to line things up perfectly – or make your own calendar

\n

\n \n

\n
\n

Box Focusing. Keep your focus on a set of cards and tasks by wrapping them in a box and clicking the box filter button to fade everything else out.

\n

\n \n

\n
\n

Eiko header font. An elegant header font for the very finest of spaces.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n
\n

Snap Guide Lines. When shift-dragging an item to snap its position to a grid, handy guide lines are to shown to help maintain horizontal or vertical alignment across a long drag distance.

\n

\n \n

\n
\n

Momentum Panning. While holding space or right-click to pan, making quick movements and letting go will momentum scroll the page to make it easier to cover long-distances

\n

\n \n

\n

New Personal Blogposts

\n

Digging Into PlantStudio, a Bit Late

\n

\n \n

\n

Towards a Better Whiteboard

\n

Making the Kinopio Source Code Public

\n

Up Next

\n

I’ll be continuing to explore how Kinopio could best be used by teams. This will also involve learning more about how small businesses find and buy software.

\n

Now that I’m out of the mines, I’ll hopefully be doing a lot more writing too. Including rewriting the help docs, and maybe publishing a user interview or guide.

\n

Work has already begun on the much anticipated Lists. According to the forums, we’ve been discussing and planning this out since 2021.

\n

Look forward to a new Producthunt launch, probably to be announced in the next bulletin. Kinopio originally launched as the #1 product of the week, it’d be cool to do that again. (wink).

\n

And … after i’m finally done writing this bulletin i’m going to clean out my fridge of all the weird foods and strange cheeses bought last month that I know I will never eat again.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n", "date_published": "2025-01-17T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Over the last couple months, I’ve spent more time coding and less time writing.", "image": "https://cdn.kinopio.club/IuL2ghJrWJvhxK21mm1GC/original-2465ebc8353ff261a28a0127d7aa25e4.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://cdn.kinopio.club/IuL2ghJrWJvhxK21mm1GC/original-2465ebc8353ff261a28a0127d7aa25e4.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#92ffff" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/35/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/35/", "title": "Bulletin № 35", "content_html": "

Kinopio is 5 years old now :0

\n

I'm dusting off my e-quill to share the fan art that Tony made for the Kinopio Tabletop Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) campaign he started, and that 5 of us have been slowly playing over the last few months.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

In a TTRPG, you create a character and make choices through a campaign you're all guided through.

\n

As the creator of Kinopio, it's really cool to see people using spaces in ways I never expected. But also, I winced when I saw performance buckling under the weight of 500 card long connected conversation trees, giant images, organized across 30+ boxes, card voting, colors, and six or so different header fonts in use.

\n

As usual, I'll list the big new features below. But the updates I'm most proud of are the extensive performance optimizations that collaborating in these gigantic spaces pushed me to do.

\n

If you use Kinopio everyday it's easy to not notice now because it's the new normal, but every interaction, from clicking to create new cards, paint selecting, and editing cards is easily over 2✕ faster than it was a year ago.

\n

What's New

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

Up Next (Or at Least Soon-Ish)

\n

Paraphrasing what I wrote in the last bulletin, because it feels truer now than ever.

\n
\n

Although I didn't design Kinopio primarily for work, I've noticed that the most use happens during work hours. The use-cases here are taking notes, planning, and collaborating. A couple of people have asked about team plans where many people can easily share team spaces and be billed together.

\n

This path also prioritizes long-planned features like Lists, and other collaborative workflow features.

\n
\n

The good news it that work on teams has begun. Those in the Kinopio for Teams beta program can create teams, invite and manage team members, and assign team spaces. If you're interested in using Kinopio to brainstorm and think through ideas and plans with your colleagues, you're more than welcome to join the beta by replying to this email.

\n", "date_published": "2024-09-04T00:00:00Z", "summary": "It's really cool to see people using spaces in ways I never expected.", "image": "https://cdn.kinopio.club/PLbO__574kK9BLmSgdizP/IMG-0267.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://cdn.kinopio.club/PLbO__574kK9BLmSgdizP/IMG-0267.webp", "video": "", "color": "#b1cd80" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/compact-space-users/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/compact-space-users/", "title": "Compact Space Users List", "content_html": "

When people join a space, either as spectators or collaborators, they’ll do a little bow to introduce themselves

\n

Once a space has too many spectators or collaborators to display comfortably, they'll nest inside a button that lets you view and manage the full list of users.

\n

\n\n

\n

\n

The specific conditions for showing the users list button are:

\n\n

Just like before, both spectators and collaborators are listed separately because it's an exciting event when spectators hop into your space, so the two types of user counts convey very different things.

\n

\n\n

\n

\n

In the collaborators list, users who are currently online will bounce up and down and be displayed with the 'live' camera icon.

\n", "date_published": "2024-07-08T00:00:00Z", "summary": "When a space has too many spectators or collaborators to display comfortably, they'll nest inside a button", "image": "/assets/posts/compact-space-users/compact-space-users-list-thumb.webp", "_meta": { "image": "/assets/posts/compact-space-users/compact-space-users-list-thumb.webp", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/open-sourcing-kinopio/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/open-sourcing-kinopio/", "title": "Making the Kinopio Source Code Public", "content_html": "\n

The kinopio client application source code is now public so anyone can read it's code and contribute to it.

\n

I wrote more about what this means and the reasons why I did this in https://pketh.org/open-sourcing-kinopio.html

\n", "date_published": "2024-06-27T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The kinopio client application code is now open source", "image": "https://pketh.org/images/2024/oss/disk2.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://pketh.org/images/2024/oss/disk2.webp", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/collaborator-pings/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/collaborator-pings/", "title": "Collaborator Pings", "content_html": "

When you need to exclaim "Hey look over here!", right-click to ping your position to everyone else in a space. They'll be able to see it no matter where they are.

\n

\n\n

\n

\n (The window on the right shows someone pinging the person on the left who then scrolls towards the ping) \n

\n
\n

\n", "date_published": "2024-06-18T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Right-click to ping your position to everyone else in a space", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "/assets/posts/collaborator-pings/sonar-ping-thumb.mp4", "color": "coral" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/header-font-sizes/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/header-font-sizes/", "title": "Header Font Sizes", "content_html": "

Make titles and headlines stand out – or Really stand out – with new size options for card and box header fonts.

\n

\n\n

\n

Backstory

\n

Being able to increase header font sizes was a very recent community suggestion on Discord, stemming from some experiments simulating how this could look using custom CSS.

\n\n

But I wasn't sure if I should ship this tbh. There's a tight-rope to walk between flexibility and ease. Too much flexibility adds friction to the thinking and writing experience because you lose momentum tweaking things to look just right. But being too rigid isn't great either because creativity is a fun and integral part of making spaces and being productive with Kinopio.

\n
\n

So my advice is to use large sizes sparingly. Like salt, just a little pinch is all you need to season a dish. Use too much and you can make a meal (or the readability of your space) hard to digest.

\n
\n", "date_published": "2024-06-12T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Make titles and headlines stand out – or Really stand out", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "/assets/posts/header-font-sizes/header-font-sizes-compressed.mp4", "color": "pink" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/header-fonts/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/header-fonts/", "title": "Header Fonts", "content_html": "

When the name of a card or box contains a headline, the fonts button will appear, allowing you to find the right font for your

\n

ＡＥＳＴＨＥＴＩＣ

\n

\n\n

\n

I've been collecting fonts over the last year. But there was a lot of trial and error needed to find the ones that worked well together, and could set an atmosphere while still being flexible enough to cover every use-case.

\n

These aren't the standard google/adobe fonts that you'll find everywhere else – each one is special in it's own way:

\n

Apris

\n

Foundry: Schick Toikka, Berlin, Germany

\n

Funky, energetic, channeling the spirit of 1970s design, Apris has a real "let's go!" kind of energy.

\n\n

Gaya

\n

Foundry: Writtenshape, Paris, France

\n

Wavy, soft, and inviting, if you were writing with a pen filled with honey you might end up with something as sweet as Gaya.

\n\n

GroteskRemix

\n

Foundry: bb-bureau, Paris, France

\n

Not gonna lie, I discovered this font from the end credits of Mr. and Mrs. Smith on amazon. GroteskRemix is unlike anything else, but in the right contexts, especially on dark backgrounds, it can be really sophisticated and technical.

\n

(p.s. don't sleep on the ## h2 variant of GroteskRemix)

\n\n

GT America

\n

Foundry: Grilli Type, Lucerne, Switzerland

\n

I also wanted to provide a modern, professional sans-serif font that's ideal for use in serious planning and work spaces. It's authoritative without being authoritarian – a surprisingly fine line in the world of fonts.

\n\n

Microgramma

\n

Foundry: URW Type Foundry, Turin, Italy

\n

Technical, space-age, utopic – microgramma is from a past where people were optimistic about the potential of new technology to improve our lives, like microchips and microwaves. If you're trying to make a better world, it's a fun place to start.

\n\n

Migra

\n

Foundry: Pangram Pangram

\n

Migra has brush-like edges like the kind you'd find in ornate monastic texts – but because those edges are also geometric, it works well in modern spaces too.

\n\n

Recoleta

\n

Foundry: Latinotype, Chile, Peru

\n

This is the previous/current default header font so it's probably the most familiar. It's still a great choice that really shines in personal spaces.

\n\n

Shinka-Mono

\n

Foundry: Aeiou Tools, Passenans, France

\n

Originally, Kinopio used a version of Osaka-Mono that I hand-customized to work better with english punctuation as it's only font. But I eventually let it go so the app would work better for people in Asia and other non-latin countries. Shinka-Mono, designed to look like the english glyphs in Japanese fonts, is reminiscent of those experimental days.

\n

Monospace fonts aren't just for programmers, they're for every creator.

\n\n", "date_published": "2024-05-20T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Change card or box h1/h2 fonts", "image": "/assets/posts/header-fonts/thumb.webp", "_meta": { "image": "/assets/posts/header-fonts/thumb.webp", "video": "", "color": "#609ea0" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/early-may-bug-fixes/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/early-may-bug-fixes/", "title": "Early May Bug Fixes and Enhancements", "content_html": "

A summary of all the bug fixes and little improvements from the last two weeks:

\n

\"Card

\n

[Improved] Added a handy link in About to the Roadmap space

\n\n

[Fixed] Added unread badges to Explore, following, Everyone sections to better connect the unread count to the section(s) it's referring to

\n\n

[Improved] Paint Select dialog redesigned to be less fiddly based on feedback

\n\n

[Fixed] Cards are correctly paint selectable even while zoomed out

\n

[Fixed] When another user made any kind of edit to a card (like renaming, moving or resizing) the original card user is maintained

\n

[Fixed] Redesigned card TagPicker dialog and fixed a bug causing the page to scroll too much when the picker was opened

\n

[Improved] Database upgraded from postgres v10 to v16 for long-term maintainability

\n

[Improved] display usernames and relative times added in Sidebar → Comments

\n\n

[Improved] Card vote counter starts at 1 (instead of 0), to make it better to use as a +1/upvote on cards

\n

[Fixed] When marking a space as a template, they now immediately show up in the Templates dialog

\n

[Fixed] When toggling on/off card(s) checkbox(es), any connected connection line positions correctly update

\n

[Improved] The Themes and Accounts panes in User Settings got some mild design improvements to make them a bit easier to visually skim. For developer convenienece, you can now copy your userId from Accounts → Developer Info

\n

[Improved] All unsubscribe-able emails (notifications, weekly reviews, etc.) now include unsubscribe headers to allow clients like gmail/yahoo to provide 1-click unsubscribe buttons

\n

[Improved] Added support for copying and pasting images into cards, the same way you can for copied text

\n

[Fixed] Changing the url in a card now correctly updates it's url preview

\n

[fixed] Text in codeblocks correctly display in dark mode

\n

[Improved] Instagram url preview images no longer stop working. Basically IG invalidates old image urls after a couple days, so now i'm saving all url preview images directly into kinopio. besides fixing this issue, this may also improve load times for all new url cards)

\n", "date_published": "2024-05-14T00:00:00Z", "summary": "", "image": "/assets/posts/early-may-bug-fixes/ig-url-preview-card.webp", "_meta": { "image": "/assets/posts/early-may-bug-fixes/ig-url-preview-card.webp", "video": "", "color": "#70bd81" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/journal-date-images/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/journal-date-images/", "title": "Journal Date Images", "content_html": "

New journal spaces now start with date images generated each day for you.

\n

I have a long history with starting my day with this MOMA perpetual calendar…

\n

\n\n

\n

I so enamored with when I bought it that I built a little web version of it 10 years ago at http://pketh.org/perpetual-calendar

\n

\n\n

\n

Yesterday, I ported the code to generate daily images for new Kinopio journal spaces

\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2024-04-30T00:00:00Z", "summary": "New journal spaces now start with date images generated each day for you", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/journal-date-images-thumbnail.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/journal-date-images-thumbnail.webp", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/april-bug-fixes/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/april-bug-fixes/", "title": "April Bug Fixes and Enhancements", "content_html": "

A summary of all the bug fixes and little improvements from the last two weeks:

\n

\"Marqueyssac

\n

[Fixed] Sidebar → Inbox: Dark colored cards rendered black text, instead of white text when looking at the space.

\n

[Fixed] Links to spaces that have long names without spaces had their text render outside of the card if it isn't explicitly widened.

\n

[Fixed] (( at the beginning of a card didn't add the closing parentheses on Windows.

\n

[Fixed] Ctrl-Shift-F shortcut on Windows to search all spaces wasn't being triggered.

\n

[Fixed] When editing a card, pressing esc to close the edit dialog and then b would not toggle Box drawing mode.

\n

[Fixed] Hide URL button did nothing when Kinopio is unable to get any URL preview information. e.g.: When linking to something on a private intranet that isn't publicly accessible

\n

[Fixed] Card, space, and website URLPreviews in cards now only appear if the card name still includes the url. So if you add a URL and then remove it, then the URL preview will no longer render

\n

[Improved] URLPreview website name and favicon are now clickable in CardDetails to visit that URL

\n

[Fixed] signing in was creating duplicate copies of Inbox and Hello Kinopio space

\n

[Improved] You can now upload multiple files at once through the Card → ImagePicker → Upload button

\n

[Improved] Added more robust support for localhost urls with :port numbers instead of TLDs. So stuff like http://localhost:8080/foo or https://bastion.alionscience.com:8080/index.php/Autogen are now recognized as urls too

\n

[API Docs] attr user.shouldShowMultipleSelectedItemActions replaced by user.shouldShowMultipleSelectedCardActions and user.shouldShowMultipleSelectedLineActions

\n

[Improved] Updated max card length for cards with code snippets (using triple backticks ```) to 4000 chars

\n

[Fixed] Selecting transparent colors in the Colorpicker correctly updates the transparency slider

\n

[Fixed] Card votes by non-signed-up users were not being saved

\n

[API Docs] The route PATCH /card/update-counter has been added

\n

[Improved] Improved the robustness of checking if the space in your browser is out of sync with the latest version

\n

[Fixed] If you visit a favorite space that you no longer have permission to view (which can happen when a public space later becomes private), that space would remain in your favorite spaces list

\n

[Improved] Added user Setting → Controls → 'Invert Zoom Direction' to change the behaviour of zooming in/out of a space via mousewheel. This setting is not synced, instead it's saved per device

\n

[Improved] You can now tilt a card by dragging in any direction from the bottom-right (before tilting was adjusted by dragging along the x-axis only)

\n

[Fixed] The vertical position of text on Linux rendered incorrectly

\n

(Cover Image from Marqueyssac Topiary Gardens)

\n", "date_published": "2024-04-26T00:00:00Z", "summary": "All the bug fixes and little improvements from the last two weeks", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/bug-fixes-april.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/bug-fixes-april.webp", "video": "", "color": "#70bd81" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/following-and-everyone-feeds/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/following-and-everyone-feeds/", "title": "Following and Everyone Feeds", "content_html": "

To make it easier to find cool new spaces and people, Explore has a new design with Following and Everyone.

\n

I like the way that creator names and larger preview images work together to create that lively, messy, human feeling of community.

\n

\n\n

\n

Favoriting Spaces Also Streamlined

\n

Favoriting spaces is now as easy as single clicking the ♥ button in the header. And you can find your favorite spaces and people in the Sidebar.

\n\n

Completing the Social Loop

\n

Going forward, I want to use this to improve the Weekly Review emails, to make them more compelling and more readable. If you have any suggestions, definitely let me know.

\n", "date_published": "2024-04-21T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Explore has a new design with Following and Everyone", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/following-thumb.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/following-thumb.webp", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/paint-select-card-and-line-options/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/paint-select-card-and-line-options/", "title": "Paint-Select Card and Line Options", "content_html": "

Little quality of life updates for bulk actions on cards and connections:

\n\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2024-04-13T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Little quality of life updates for bulk actions on cards and connections", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/paint-select-card-and-line-options-thumb.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/paint-select-card-and-line-options-thumb.webp", "video": "", "color": "#aace76" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/server-issues-and-performance/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/server-issues-and-performance/", "title": "Server Issues and Performance Upgrades", "content_html": "

\n\n

\n

Last week, I reported a Kinopio service outage:

\n
\n

🚑 Kinopio service will be unstable for the next few days as we work to diagnose some really tricky race-condition bugs that are crashing the server. I'm really sorry for the issue, and I'll write up a full retrospective of this issue in the next bulletin or blog post

\n
\n

Three days later, the problems were fixed, and since then Lucas and I overhauled the server and database to make them substantially faster and more reliable.

\n

For example, downloading a space used to take ~5s, and now takes ~100ms. And issues with cards and connections not correctly saving their positions were fixed, so no more errant connection lines.

\n

More Details

\n

This whole affair was a big learning experience for me, especially in the low level details of how databases work. Including some painful lessons about the dangers of relying on Sequelize's automatic sync.

\n

While I worked with Lucas to understand the problem, I captured all my notes in this space. But basically, two totally separate bugs worked together to take down the server:

\n

1. A Client Sync Bug

\n

In some conditions, the client app would send update operations in the wrong order (e.g. trying to create a connection, before the connectionType it belongs to being created), causing the database to throw errors.

\n

These thrown errors weren't being properly catched and would crash the server. When the client found out that it's operation request failed, it would retry it, again causing the server to throw the same error and crash repeatedly.

\n

The solution was to overhaul the logging and error handling systems.

\n

2. And a Database Sync Bug

\n

In prior jobs, I've had to use things like Rails' Active Record Migrations anytime I needed to make any change to the database. It was a manual and laborious process. So when I learned that Sequelize could automatically sync the state of the database to reflect it's model files it felt like a magical slam dunk. And it was, until now.

\n

For better and worse, there is nothing magic about databases. Turns out that whenever Sequelize was doing those automatic syncs on boot it was adding new table indexes each time. When the server started crashing and restarting, more and more of these indexes kept getting generated. Eventually reading and writing to the database became so slow that Heroku would restart the app thinking it had crashed... which of course caused even more indexes to be created, until the app could no longer even start under it's accrued weight.

\n

The solution was to clean out all those garbage indexes, and build the infrastructure to use safer but slower manual migrations for db updates going forward.

\n
\n

The lessons I learned from this week won't soon be forgotten. We're monitoring the server and aggressively scrubbing out bits of gunk and cobwebs to prevent something like this from happening again.

\n

But also, it feels good to know that everything in the machine is humming along nicely now, and that my server debugging skills have really levelled up.

\n", "date_published": "2024-04-04T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Overhauled the server and database to make them substantially faster and more reliable", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/anime-tape-reels.mp4", "color": "#f0dba8" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/performance-up-33/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/performance-up-33/", "title": "Performance Up ~33%", "content_html": "

The latest Kinopio release brings ~33% faster interaction performance on actions like selecting, moving, and editing cards, and scrolling through big spaces. This results in a smoother and more responsive feeling experience.

\n\n

Continuing from the last big performance improvement, the new speed is a result of going through the code behind the most common interactions with a fine tooth comb and an eye towards reducing, delaying, and batching expensive Vuex state updates.

\n

Kinda like boring out and tuning an engine, to squeeze those precious last horsepowers out of it. It's meditative work, but I'm looking forward to picking up the pace.

\n", "date_published": "2024-03-20T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The latest Kinopio release brings ~33% faster interaction performance", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/porsche-overhead-small.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/porsche-overhead-small.webp", "video": "", "color": "#e04b29" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/json-canvas/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/json-canvas/", "title": "Import/Export JSON Canvas", "content_html": "

Kinopio is the first app to support the open JSON Canvas format, so you can easily import/export spaces between a growing number of spatial apps like Obsidian.

\n

\n\n

\n

Backstory

\n

I've been following progress on the .canvas file spec from a distance for a while. In the past people have requested .opml support for similar reasons. But while .opml is great for outliners and simple mindmaps, it falls apart when you use it to represent multiple trees that can share child nodes.

\n

The canvas spec is a much better fit because it can represent these structures. I think it'll function a lot better as a unified open base for people to build their own converters for other spatial tools too.

\n

While not every feature is supported by .canvas, the core content of cards, connections, and directions are. Some people would prefer the spec to support everything, but IMO they might not be considering that:

\n
    \n
  1. Specs work best when they're simple and easy to understand and implement. Most people adding .canvas support right now are doing so altruistically, so it's important that those devs have a good time.
    2. \n
  2. There's a huge delta between tools in terms of feature sets and personalization capabilities, so focusing on the parts that they all share is a lot more productive.
    3. \n
\n

If you're curious here's a code snippet showing how the app converts .canvas files into kinopio's json space format.

\n", "date_published": "2024-03-14T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Import and Export spaces in the open JSON Canvas format", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/import-json-canvas.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/import-json-canvas.webp", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/tilt-cards/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/tilt-cards/", "title": "Tilt Cards", "content_html": "

Angle cards for fun and emphasis by dragging their bottom-left corners. Double click the corner to reset rotation.

\n

\n\n

", "date_published": "2024-02-23T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Angle cards for fun and emphasis by dragging their bottom-left corners", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/tilt-cards-thumbnail.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/tilt-cards-thumbnail.webp", "video": "", "color": "#91ffff" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/space-list-previews/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/space-list-previews/", "title": "Space List Previews", "content_html": "

Do you have lots of spaces, like 100s or 1000s (like I do)? Little preview images next to each of your spaces, and community spaces, make it easier to visually find the space you're looking for.

\n

\n\n

\n

Power-User Tips/Caveats

\n\n

\"\"

\n", "date_published": "2024-02-17T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Preview images next to each of your spaces, and community spaces", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/space-list-previews-thumb.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/space-list-previews-thumb.webp", "video": "", "color": "#609ea0" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/space-invite-email/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/space-invite-email/", "title": "Invite by Email", "content_html": "

Email space invites out to one or many people at once. Takes a bit of the friction out of collaboration so you can spend more time working together on spaces.

\n

Share → Email

\n

\n\"invite\n

\n

Your recipients will receive an email with the name and preview image of the space\nFriends you invite will receive an email with the name and a preview image of the space

\n

\n\"invite\n

", "date_published": "2024-01-31T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Email space invites out to one or many people at once.", "image": "https://kinopio-updates.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/space-invite-email-thumb.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-updates.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/space-invite-email-thumb.webp", "video": "", "color": "#a9c5a2" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/offline/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/offline/", "title": "Offline Support", "content_html": "

The latest release of Kinopio lets you work offline while in a subway, plane, or uncharted rainforest. When you come back online, your changes will be synced back up. And because the app no longer needs to wait for a network before loading, it starts up a lot faster too.

\n

\n \n

\n

If you're interested in learning more, I've written about The Building Blocks of Offline Support

\n", "date_published": "2024-01-23T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The latest release of Kinopio lets you work offline.", "image": "https://pketh.org/images/2024/offline/ss1.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://pketh.org/images/2024/offline/ss1.png", "video": "", "color": "pink" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/34/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/34/", "title": "Bulletin № 34", "content_html": "

This year-end bulletin will be a little different. I hope this look forward is interesting.

\n

Sometimes it blows my mind that I made Kinopio, and it works, and that people use it everyday. As glass-blowers, pottery-makers, wood-workers, and farmers already know, it's life-affirming to sell something you created with your own hands to someone else.

\n

That said, "I've built a lot and I'm super tired" is the only real feeling in my head right now. But I'll push myself just a little bit farther and tell you about the paralyzing fork in the road that I find myself at.

\n

\n

One possible path forward is towards the potentially more profitable B2B needs of small teams. Although I didn't design Kinopio primarily for work, I've noticed that the most use happens during work hours. The use cases here are taking notes, planning, and collaborating. A couple of people have asked about team plans where many people can easily share team spaces and be billed together.

\n

This biz path prioritizes features like Lists, and other collaborative workflow features. But going too far, too fast, down this road risks compromising the cool parts of Kinopio for everyone else.

\n

The second path focuses on the consumer-side that's starting to work, with more writing, memorable marketing, and great documentation. You'll see more community and personalization features like user pages, frames, and physical swag/stickers.

\n

The choice is paralyzing.

\n

Fortunately there's another path forward. obscured by brambles, snaking right between the two extremes. The fork isn't completely divergent and there's a lot of overlap between them.

\n

Now that we've firmly arrived in metaphor town, lets stop by the local coffee shop:

\n\n

Most people are here to buy coffee, one small cup at a time – kind of like a subscription. A much smaller group of people love coffee but prefer to pay more for a large bag of beans that they can brew on their own terms – kind of like the lifetime plan added this year.

\n

But most coffee shops don't stop there. They also sell pastries, sandwiches, and sweaters. Critically, adding these to the menu doesn't make the coffee worse.

\n

Similarly, I believe that there's room to make Kinopio appeal to different markets, like teams, without compromising the qualities of the core product.

\n

Stretching this analogy till it snaps, over the last 4~ years, the beans have been planted and grown, and the cafe building has been constructed plank by plank, chair by chair. I'm behind the counter now and it's immensely rewarding seeing new faces come in.

\n

Some will become regulars and stay for years, some will visit once in a blue moon, some will peek in and immediately turn around.

\n

But all are welcome.

\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-12-30T00:00:00Z", "summary": "This year-end bulletin will be a little different. I hope this look forward is interesting.", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/33-1.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/33-1.webp", "video": "", "color": "coral" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/linked-space-previews/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/linked-space-previews/", "title": "Linked Space Previews", "content_html": "

When you link to a space (either with the / command, or by pasting in it's URL), you'll get a visual preview of the space

\n

\n\n

\n

Power-User Tips

\n

The need for space links that felt like space links (akin to portals to another world) was originally requested on discord and in the forums.

\n

The previous design for space links was as inline badges inside the card name, but to make this design work, the design of these links was changed to be more like regular web links. This comes with some implications that power-users who are already using space links should know about:

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-12-05T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Reposition connection labels to get them just right", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/linked-space-preview-thumbnail.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/linked-space-preview-thumbnail.webp", "video": "", "color": "#fdba9d" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/draggable-labels/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/draggable-labels/", "title": "Draggable Labels", "content_html": "

Reposition connection labels to get them just right. Labels will re-position themselves when you drag things around.

\n

Really handy for diagrams, and for guiding people around your spaces.

\n

\n\n

\n

On mobile, you'll need to long-press to drag labels (just like dragging cards)

\n

Power-User Tips

\n

When it comes to interacting with them, dragging labels have a lot in common with cards:

\n\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-12-01T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Reposition connection labels to get them just right", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/drag-labels-thumbnail1.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/drag-labels-thumbnail1.webp", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-dragging-performance-up/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-dragging-performance-up/", "title": "Card Dragging Performance Up", "content_html": "

In a complex space, moving cards could skip frames and go out of sync with the connection lines. Today's release significantly improves the speed and smoothness of card dragging.

\n

\n\n

\n

Technical Details

\n

For those who asked how this was done:

\n

You never know when ideas will come to you, so when they do I collect ideas for optimizations that come to me in this space. This performance improvement was one of those.

\n

As you may know, the kinopio-client app that runs in your browser uses Vue.js to manage and update state.

\n

The x,y position of cards in the currentSpace is tracked in state so that when card positions change, the computed methods in many other components that depend on the position of cards can automatically recompute themselves. (aka data-binding)

\n

But the magic of data-binding becomes a liability when an item is updating it's state 60 times a second (60fps) – such as when you drag a card around the screen. And if 10 cards are being dragged together, that's 60 × 10 updates a second.

\n

As you might imagine, all this dependency recomputing and repainting can overwhelm the browser causing frame rate hitches.

\n

The way to get around this issue is to just not update state during these kinds of events. So while a card is being dragged, it's position is directly manipulated in the DOM in a very lo-fi way:

\n
moveWhileDragging: (state, { cards }) => {\n    cards.forEach(card => {\n        const element = document.querySelector(`article[data-card-id="${card.id}"]`)\n        element.style.left = card.x + 'px'\n        element.style.top = card.y + 'px'\n    })\n},\n
\n

And only after the drag is complete is the Vue state updated with the new card positions. Which means that all that expensive data-bound recomputing only needs to happen only once at the end.

\n", "date_published": "2023-11-22T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Significantly improved smoothness of card dragging", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/please-wait.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/please-wait.webp", "video": "", "color": "#f0dba8" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/33/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/33/", "title": "Bulletin № 33", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

So for the last couple months I've been experimenting with cross-posting all my social media posts to see what kind of energy I'd get back on each site. I figured I had nothing to lose. (Except my time, and sanity).

\n\n

I occasionally got good feedback and discussions on 𝕏 (general audiences), Mastodon (technical), and on Posts.cv (designers). But I only ever got crickets on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn, so I probably won't use those anymore.

\n

Thankfully, besides word-of-mouth, what seems to work best is old-fashioned blogging and email newsletters (like this one). Every time I blog on my personal site, 200~ new people decide to subscribe to new posts by email, which is really cool. As you might imagine, a blog post takes a lot more time/effort to write than a Tweet ('𝕏cretion'?), but it also feels more real somehow.

\n\n

To spend even more time in blog-world, I'm thinking of adding a simple comments system. I've roughly planned it out, let me know what you think.

\n

And as always, thanks for reading ☻

\n

what's new

\n\n

\n\n

\n\n

\n\n

\n\n

\n\n

\n\n

Works in Progress

\n\n\n\n

A Call for Friends of Kinopio

\n

If you've read it this far then you must be quite special.

\n

If you're interested in building an audience by blogging, video-ing, or podcast-ing about Kinopio – and getting an exclusive user badge and cool stickers – then maybe the Friends-of-Kinopio Ambassador program is for you.

\n\n

Check out this space to learn more and join the club.

\n", "date_published": "2023-11-15T00:00:00Z", "summary": "So for the last couple months I've been experimenting with cross-posting all my social media posts.", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/wizard-walk.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/wizard-walk.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/generated-backgrounds/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/generated-backgrounds/", "title": "Generated Backgrounds", "content_html": "

If you're like me, one of the first things you do when creating a new space is picking juuust the right background. Generated backgrounds make getting started off right a lot easier.

\n

They're also unique – no two are the same.

\n

\n\n

\n

To take less attention from your content, UI buttons also now blend into the background.

\n

\n\n

\n

However, if you prefer high contrast buttons without any translucency, you can toggle that in User → Settings → Controls → Increase UI Contrast

\n

Backstory

\n

This was first requested about a year ago. But in the spirit of measuring twice and cutting once, it took me a while to figure out how best to build it.

\n

My implementation was inspired by Shelby Wilson's gradient technique where 6 different radial gradients are layered on top of each other with alternating opacities. I recommend checking out her other web experiments too.

\n

But actually drawing the gradients turned out to be the easy part. The Kinopio background system was originally built with two implicit assumptions:

\n
    \n
  1. a space background is an image URL.
    2. \n
  2. if no background is set, the space should use the default background image. This is because originally, backgrounds weren't customizable.
    3. \n
\n

Which was upended to:

\n
    \n
  1. spaces can have a background image url, but they can also have a backgroundGradient JSON object which describes the gradient layers. The space backgroundIsGradient boolean determines whether to draw the background with an image url or gradient. More info on these attributes is in the API docs
    2. \n
  2. If no background is set, the space uses a blank background instead. I think this is a more intuitive behaviour for new users.
    3. \n
\n", "date_published": "2023-11-10T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Generated backgrounds make finding the right vibe a lot easier", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/generated-background-thumb.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/generated-background-thumb.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#91ffff" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/lifetime-plan/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/lifetime-plan/", "title": "Lifetime Plan", "content_html": "

If you want to add unlimited cards – or support my work – but don't want to pay monthly or yearly for Kinopio, you can now purchase a liftetime plan for $200.

\n

The lifetime plan is a perpetual license for as long as Kinopio operates. Which is planned for many years, likely decades.

\n\n
\n

As always, your support is deeply appreciated. Upgrading helps kinopio be economically-sustainable, bootstrapped, organic software.

\n
\n

Backstory

\n

A one-time purchase option has been requested a number of times, but I've gone back and forth on whether I should provide it…

\n

On one hand, because Kinopio is web software that uses a server to enable things like sharing and collaborating on spaces, and that server has an ongoing cost to keep running, recurring subscriptions are the most sustainable option.

\n

However that being said, subscriptions carry a negative connotation for those who've been burned by Adobe and similarly greedy companies that use dark patterns to hold your data hostage with hidden cancellation fees – while also continually raising prices.

\n

That Kinopio subscriptions have never, and will never, do these things isn't something you'd assume if you've been screwed over before.

\n

So this new plan exists in the spirit of inviting people in and giving them options. It's my hope that this encourages more people to pay for Kinopio, but also to tell their friends about the cool new tool they bought. And maybe in the farther future, if they wanted to purchase some swag, or make a donation, that could be cool too :)

\n\n

About the Price

\n

My initial plan was to charge $150, 2.5× the yearly price. But when I put the number into the actual Upgrade UI I was worried that it felt too low. So I asked what people thought on Discord. In response, thomasyo posted this, which captured the user perspective better than I could have and pushed me to $200.

\n
\n

Take this with a grain of salt because it's more of a feeling than something I have evidence for.

\n
\n
\n

Basically I think you kind of want to incentivize people to subscribe rather than take the lifetime option right? $150 is still high enough that it probably achieves that, but I think $200 doesn't sound outrageous and would give you more leeway in the long run maybe? My perception of people who want lifetime options aren't so much looking for discounts as they are religiously against subscriptions, so they'd be willing to pay more. I'm not suggesting this to soak your customers but rather to make sure that you have enough revenue to keep it going. Like what if a bunch of people take the lifetime option and new subscriptions stall after two years? I have no idea what your financials look like and I'm not an expert but it's abstractly something I would worry about as a potential customer.

\n
\n
\n

From my perspective as a user, if I'm going to invest my time and energy into Kinopio then I want to feel confident that it won't go away. Having too low of a lifetime price for something kind of makes me uneasy about its long term viability. That's usually fine for something that just fulfills a specific function, but in this context I sort of assume that I keep paying for the service and you keep improving it.

\n
\n
\n

Also, to be clear, I'm mostly speaking generally about how I perceive subscriptions and lifetime options. I was following your work long before I started using Kinopio and I really appreciate how candid you've been about it so I do not personally feel concerned the way I might if I didn't know anything about it.

\n
\n", "date_published": "2023-10-31T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Purchase a liftetime plan for $200", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/sweet.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/sweet.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#e04b29" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/bigger-better-code-blocks/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/bigger-better-code-blocks/", "title": "Bigger, Better Code Blocks", "content_html": "

Kinopio makes it easy to save code snippets and give them context for reference spaces, engineering diagrams, and decision trees.

\n

When you paste code into cards between triple backticks, your code will get syntax highlighting. You can either type the language name after the backticks (e.g. ```js), or select it from the list.

\n

\n\n

\n

Relatedly, to accommodate larger code snippets, cards with ``` triple backticks can hold more characters (2000).

\n

(Also new is a Copy code button for easily pasting code into your text editor)

\n

\n\n

\n

Backstory

\n

Implementing syntax highlighting was not straightforward. Initially, I thought I had two choices:

\n
    \n
  1. Use a robust syntax highlighting library that runs in the browser. Which is the fastest and most-straightforward solution, but these libraries are usually 250kb or more – so significantly larger than the rest of Kinopio (and computationally heavy).
    2. \n
  2. Use that library on the server instead. This would keep the bloat out of the browser, but I'd have to deal with the lag-time between updating code and having it's highlighted syntax. This would also put more strain on the server.
    3. \n
\n

I didn't love either solution, but was leaning towards #2 because it kept things fastest for the user. Design is often about choosing the least bad tradeoffs.

\n

Then, I received an email from David Francisco, whom I'd once interviewed for a job at Glitch. I'm glad he kept in touch because he gave me a suggestion that led me to macrolight, a tiny and not-at-all robust syntax highlighting library.

\n

This made me rethink my whole approach.

\n

Syntax highlighting in Kinopio doesn't need the vscode-level accuracy that the popular libraries provide – speed and size matter more here.

\n\n

So combined with some of my own custom language grammers, I was able to add the good enough + very fast syntax highlighting support that I didn't know I was looking for.

\n", "date_published": "2023-10-23T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Save code snippets and give them context", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/bigger-better-code-blocks-thumb.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/bigger-better-code-blocks-thumb.png", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/read-only-invite/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/read-only-invite/", "title": "Read-Only Invites", "content_html": "

Invite someone to view a private space – but not edit it.

\n

Share → Invite → Read Only

\n

(Invitees don't need an account)

\n

\n\n

\n

Backstory

\n

Over the last year, I received a lot of requests for the ability to give read-only access to private spaces by people wanting to share reference diagrams and plans at work. I love that people are using Kinopio for both personal and work stuff. I think more than being a consumer tool, or a professional tool, Kinopio is a place you can live in and think in, whatever the context.

\n

Adding extra business-y features without adding friction for everyone else is a delicate tightrope. To that end, a big part of this work was also redesigning the Share menu to present a new way to invite people, without making things annoying or confusing for everyone else.

\n", "date_published": "2023-10-12T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Invite someone to view a private space – but not edit it", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/share-invite-read-only-crop2.png?a=1", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/share-invite-read-only-crop2.png?a=1", "video": "", "color": "#f5c2cb" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/32/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/32/", "title": "Bulletin № 32", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

A couple months ago, I promised that the next bulletin I'd write would be about Kinopio for iOS. Well, now it's out!

\n\n

You can download Kinopio for iOS on the App Store. And – if you're so inclined – you can read about how it was made too.

\n

Besides the new app, it's been a packed couple of months. There's a couple new features, a bunch of little performance and quality-of-life improvements, and a lot of boring-but-fundamental infrastructure improvements that'll keep Kinopio running fast and reliably for years to come.

\n

Also New

\n

\n\n

\n\n

\n\n

\n\n

Improvements

\n\n

\n\n

\n

Fixes

\n\n

Works and Experiments in Progress

\n\n

A Call for Friends of Kinopio

\n

If you've read it this far then you must be quite special.

\n

If you're interested in building an audience by blogging, video-ing, or podcast-ing about Kinopio – and getting an exclusive user badge and cool stickers – then maybe the Friends-of-Kinopio Ambassador program is for you.

\n\n

There's only 5 spots left though, so check out this space to learn more and join the club.

\n", "date_published": "2023-09-20T00:00:00Z", "summary": "In the last bulletin, I promised that the next time I wrote you would be when the then-in-progress Kinopio for iOS was out. Well, now it is!", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/ambassador-space-thumb.png?a=1", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/ambassador-space-thumb.png?a=1", "video": "", "color": "#609ea0" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/connection-highlighting/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/connection-highlighting/", "title": "Improved Connection Highlighting", "content_html": "

Painting or hovering over connection lines will highlight connected cards – and painting or hovering on cards will highlight connections.

\n

This helps guide your eye and visually untangle busy spaces.

\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-09-18T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Visually untangle busy spaces", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://kinopio-updates.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/connection-highlighting-thumb.mp4", "color": "#aace76" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/ios-app/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/ios-app/", "title": "iOS App", "content_html": "

Whether you're hanging off the side of Mount Everest, or on the toilet, Kinopio for iOS is here to capture your ideas and turn them into notes, plans, and mood-boards.

\n

Swipe-to-scroll and pinch-to-zoom like you normally would, press and hold to drag cards and paint select.

\n

Download on the App Store

\n

\n\n

\n\n

You can now read about the backstory of the app and how it was made

\n\n \n", "date_published": "2023-08-31T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Kinopio for iOS is here", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/ios-app-thumb.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/ios-app-thumb.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "coral" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-text-editor/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-text-editor/", "title": "Card Text Editor", "content_html": "

Sometimes it's easier to make edits and review things linearly. For those times, open the sidebar to edit cards like text blocks.

\n

Editing a space in two different ways at the same time is both analytical and creative – like using both sides of your brain at the same time.

\n

\n\n

\n

Text Editor Pro-Tips

\n

The same keyboard shortcuts that work in cards work in the text editor. Enter makes a new card, Shift-Enter makes children, Ctrl-Enter for line breaks.

\n

You can really quickly scaffold outline-y structures this way.

\n

\n\n

\n

Because cards are text, pasting links and urls into the text editor works just like it does inside cards

\n

\n\n

\n

Hold the down arrow key to navigate through your cards to edit a specific card, or for no other reason than it's fun and cool looking

\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-07-10T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Open the sidebar to edit cards like text blocks", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://updates.kinopio.club/card-text-editor-thumb-small.mp4", "color": "#a9c5a2" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/dark-backgrounds/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/dark-backgrounds/", "title": "Dark Backgrounds", "content_html": "

When dark mode is enabled, grid backgrounds will display new dark versions

\n

(p.s. you can toggle dark mode with 't')

\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-07-03T00:00:00Z", "summary": "When dark mode is enabled, grid backgrounds will display new dark versions", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/dark-backgrounds-thumbnail.mp4", "color": "#fdba9c" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/31/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/31/", "title": "Bulletin № 31", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

While I was in Bali last month, I had lunch with Lucas and asked if he'd be interested in making a Kinopio iOS app. Over the last month we've been making steady progress on the app, which you can preview here.

\n
\n

Because of the way Kinopio has been designed, most of the work to improve mobile will also benefit Android users too.

\n
\n

\n\n

\n

Anyways, the next bulletin will probably announce the official release – alongside a ProductHunt launch to help spread the good word to everyone else.

\n

See you then ~

\n

What's New

\n

My personal favorite update this month is the ability to Embed Any Site, like Spotify, Bandcamp, or code Gists. Just paste the URLs and if there's a media player or something fancy for it, you'll be able to use it inline.

\n

\n\n

\n

Music sharing spaces like Music by bernat really come alive when you can listen to albums from cards.

\n

Related Pro-Tip: You can make some cool looking embeds by customizing card colors

\n\n

Also new,

\n

Journal Prompt of the Day generates a new journaling prompt each day.

\n

\n\n

\n

Card Counters let your collaborators vote on ideas.

\n

Public Presence and Painting broadcasts spectator cursor position and paint strokes out to everyone viewing the space.

\n\n

I also wrote a new blog post: A Tool for Those Who Dream of Being Understood.

\n

Improvements

\n\n

Fixes

\n\n

Mobile Fixes

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-07-01T00:00:00Z", "summary": "While I was in Bali last month, I had lunch with Lucas and asked if he'd be interested in making a Kinopio iOS app", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/dog-pixel.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/dog-pixel.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#609ea0" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/public-presence-painting/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/public-presence-painting/", "title": "Public Presence and Painting", "content_html": "

When viewing a public space, your cursor position and paint strokes are broadcasted to everyone else viewing that space. Spectators can point things out, or just noodle around to bring their own fun and liveliness to Live spaces.

\n

\n\n

\n

(And of course if you need more focus, just make your space Private)

\n", "date_published": "2023-06-23T00:00:00Z", "summary": "When viewing a public space, your cursor position and paint strokes are broadcasted to everyone else viewing that space", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/public-presence-painting.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/public-presence-painting.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#f5c2cb" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/embed-any-site/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/embed-any-site/", "title": "Embed Any Site", "content_html": "

Bring more of the web into your spaces by pasting in songs, albums, and document links.

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

This replaces the previous youtube-only embed support with a general solution that works for any site supported by iFramely.

\n

The reason you have to click play to start the embed is primarily for privacy and performance reasons. When loaded, most embeds execute dozens of tracking scripts. The last thing I want is for spaces to slowdown as you add links to them.

\n", "date_published": "2023-06-22T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Bring more of the web into your spaces by pasting in songs, albums, and document links", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/embed-any-site-thumbnail.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/embed-any-site-thumbnail.png", "video": "", "color": "#e04b29" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-counters/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-counters/", "title": "Card Counters", "content_html": "

Add a numerical count to your cards for voting on ideas, to assign meanings like priority or status (eg 1 = x, 2 = y), or just to count things. It's a flexible tool for a muddy world.

\n

\n\n

\n

Relatedly, you can now vote for your favorite features on the official Kinopio Roadmap

\n\n

Implementation Notes

\n

This feature was based on requests, feedback, and use-cases in the support forum. I love paving desire paths to make them easier for everyone else to walk as well.

\n", "date_published": "2023-06-12T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Add a numerical count to your cards for voting on ideas, to assign meanings like priority, or just to count things", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/card-counter-thumbnail.mp4", "color": "#efdba8" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/journal-prompt-of-the-day/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/journal-prompt-of-the-day/", "title": "Journal Prompt of the Day", "content_html": "

“What do I need to do to be the best version of myself?”

\n

“What can I do today to make myself feel proud and capable?”

\n

“What step can I take today to build my confidence?”

\n

These are just some of the prompts generated each day for your journal spaces. Everyone shares the same daily prompt, which is also posted in #prompt-of-the-day in Discord.

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

Daily prompts completely replaces the original prompt packs feature, launched 2 years ago, which let you manually pick groups of pre-made prompts to randomly add to new journals. The original intent of prompt packs was to add a bit of inspiration and spontaneity to daily journals – particularly for bullet journalers.

\n

The new prompt of the day system fixes the issues with prompt packs:

\n\n

Whether you do it everyday or occassionally, journaling is such a helpful tool for getting your bearings around life and work. So I hope these improvements make journaling easier, more fun, and more engaging for more people

\n", "date_published": "2023-06-09T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Inspiration and introspective prompts generated each day for your new journal spaces", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/journal-prompt-of-the-day.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/journal-prompt-of-the-day.png", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/30/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/30/", "title": "Bulletin № 30", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

This month I spent time in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Detroit. Would it surprise you to hear that Detroit might be my favorite of the three? Maybe once I'm here for a little longer I'll write a review of the city.

\n\n

What's New

\n

The big new release is Card Links: Every card now has it's own URL you can share anywhere,

\n\n

So what happens if you paste a card link into another card? You'll get a live preview of the card – which you can even edit right there

\n\n

\n\n

\n

I noticed that people often paste invite URLs into cards to invite collaborators to join their other private spaces.

\n

To make inviting easier, invites in cards now display information about the space so you be more confident about jumping in

\n\n

New Community Backgrounds One of the first things people do when creating a new space is choosing a background for it. The right image sets the tone for what follows.

\n

\n\n

\n

Also,

\n\n

Improvements

\n

\n\n

\n\n

Fixes

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-05-22T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Starting a couple weeks ago, I've paused making big new features in favor of fixing bugs and polishing details", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/birds-eye-street.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/birds-eye-street.png", "video": "", "color": "#aace76" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/community-backgrounds/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/community-backgrounds/", "title": "Community Backgrounds", "content_html": "

The space backgrounds list now pulls from a community channel on are.na to provide cool new backgrounds on a regular basis.

\n

One of the first things people do when creating a new space is choosing a background for it. The right image sets the tone for what follows.

\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-05-16T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Now every card has it's own URL that you can share with other people directly", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://updates.kinopio.club/community-backgrounds.mp4", "color": "#91ffff" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-links/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-links/", "title": "Card Links", "content_html": "

Now every card has it's own URL that you can share with other people directly. Helpful when referencing a specific thought or kicking off a conversation around a specific idea.

\n\n

Preview and Edit Linked Cards

\n

So what happens if you paste a card link into another card? You'll get a live preview of the card – which you can even edit right there

\n\n

\n\n

\n

(／^)／ 　　　●　＼(^＼)

\n

Pretty Invites

\n

I noticed that people often paste invite URLs into cards to invite collaborators to join their other private spaces.

\n

To make inviting easier, invites in cards now display information about the space so you be more confident about jumping in

\n\n
\n

‘Just’ a URL

\n

Other apps with the ability to edit content from one document in another document give this feature a variety of names. From transclusion, mirroring, portals, block references, synced blocks, and even (I kid you not) Synced Figure Instances.

\n

But the last thing I wanted to do is build something impressive sounding that only power-users would understand. Everyone knows what a URL is so I just used that. Being just a regular link, you can paste it anywhere.

\n

The format is also pretty simple, so you can even construct it yourself:

\n

https://kinopio.club/SPACE_ID/CARD_ID

\n

I'm hoping that, because card links are so flexible and approachable, people find creative and surprising new uses for them.

\n

Building on Vacation

\n

Most of the development work for this happened over 3+ weeks while I was on vacation in the Phillipines. With all the client-app refactoring and server plumbing involved, this probably wasn't the smartest project to tackle while constrained to a small laptop screen.

\n\n

But now that it's finally out there, I can breathe a sigh of relief. This release also includes additional enhancements and bug fixes:

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-05-16T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Now every card has it's own URL that you can share with other people directly", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/pretty-invites.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/pretty-invites.png", "video": "", "color": "#f5c2cb" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/updated-hello-space/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/updated-hello-space/", "title": "Updated Hello Space", "content_html": "

A new editable space that welcomes new users, saying less and showing more.

\n\n
\n \n
\n", "date_published": "2023-04-20T00:00:00Z", "summary": "A new editable space that welcomes new users, saying less and showing more", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/hello-thumb6.webp", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/hello-thumb6.webp", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/magic-paint-select/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/magic-paint-select/", "title": "Magic Paint Select", "content_html": "

Painting to select cards, boxes, and connections is faster and more responsive. Both fine detailed selections and quick broad strokes feel natural.

\n

\n\n

\n

A Short History of Magic Paint

\n

Paint selecting is a unique feature of kinopio, it enables really flexible selections/bulk editing in a way that feels both intuitive and creative.

\n

The painting interface actually started it's life at Glitch, where it was something to keep you occupied for the 2-10 seconds it could take for a project to load. People would often try to sweep their mouse around the viewport to fill the screen with color before the loading was complete.

\n\n

Whether you identify as an artist or not yet, painting is a naturally fun interaction.

\n

Years later, when I first started prototyping Kinopio, I reworked the concept to work for selecting items.

\n\n

Of course, things have evolved since then, although mostly under the hood. The magic painting system features numerous <canvas> painting and collision detection optimizations to feel fluid and responsive at any size space and with any number of cards.

\n", "date_published": "2023-04-10T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Painting to select cards, boxes, and connections is faster and more responsive", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://updates.kinopio.club/magic-paint-select-small.mp4", "color": "DarkKhaki" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/29/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/29/", "title": "Bulletin № 29", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

Icy chill has graduated to mere wind and rain, which means it's probably spring, which means it's time for spring cleaning.

\n

Starting a couple weeks ago, I paused making big new features in favor of fixing bugs and polishing details. There's lots of ambitious new interactions to come in the farther future – but holistically speaking, Kinopio is a feature-packed tool with everything you need for working through ideas in creative and expressive ways.

\n

We've got the community fabric, it's tightly knit and full of good feels. The technical foundation is solid and reliable. All that's left is to stitch all the pieces together.

\n\n

What's New

\n

\n\n

\n\n
\n

Because of the focus on polish and fixes, I thought you might be interested in details. It's a lot though, so feel free to skip it.

\n

Improvements

\n\n

Fixes

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-04-01T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Starting a couple weeks ago, I've paused making big new features in favor of fixing bugs and polishing details", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/shoes-fabric.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/shoes-fabric.jpg", "video": "", "color": "coral" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/notifications-v2/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/notifications-v2/", "title": "Notifications v2", "content_html": "

The recipe for a good life is something like: create → share → ♥

\n

To help with that last step, the redesigned notification system will let you know when someone likes your spaces and follows you

\n

\n\n

\n

A similar interface is used whether you access your notifications through the email or in the app:

\n\n

And just like before the bottom of the email lets you unsubscribe from receiving notifications from specific spaces, or all notification emails. You can also adjust your email settings in User → Settings → Notifications

\n

Design Notes

\n

When I originally designed the old notification system, I was more pessimistic about ♥ notifications. In Twitter and Instagram, likes and follows are a way to keep you anxious, addicted and coming back – and that's not what I want anyone to feel using Kinopio.

\n

But implementation matters. In toxic systems, where the value of a post or a person is communicated primarily by popularity, it's pretty normal to feel lesser-than when your ♥ numbers don't measure up.

\n

But when likes aren't presented as social currency, you aren't comparing your likes against someone elses. So ♥s can simply be a little bonus positive affirmation.

\n", "date_published": "2023-03-31T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Redesigned notifications will let you know when someone likes your spaces and follows you", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/notifications-v2.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/notifications-v2.png", "video": "", "color": "#a9c5a2" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-urls-hidden-by-default/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/card-urls-hidden-by-default/", "title": "Card URLs Hidden by Default", "content_html": "

When you paste into cards, URLs are now be hidden by default so that just the preview info displays. (When needed, you can use the 'URL' button to show the full URL).

\n

Thank you all for the feedback on how you've been using Kinopio so far.

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

Originally requested on the community forum as an optional a user setting, and evolved to become the default for everyone.

\n", "date_published": "2023-03-17T00:00:00Z", "summary": "When you paste into cards, URLs are now be hidden by default so that just the preview info displays", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/card-urls-hidden-by-default.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/card-urls-hidden-by-default.png", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/transparent-color-slider/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/transparent-color-slider/", "title": "Transparent Color Slider", "content_html": "

More creative controls to get your cards looking just right (also works with boxes, and background tint color too)

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

While building Ways to pass time inside this room, I heavily relied on the secret ability to use transparent as the card color to improve the presentation of cards on this space.

\n

\n\n

\n

I figured more people would benefit knowing about this feature so I updated the color picker to add a transparent shortcut button

\n

\"\"

\n

It was cool that more people knew about transparency, but I didn't love how the extra button seemed to make the ColorPicker dialog feel overly technical. Ben in the Community Discord suggested a slider, and I think that approach turned out great.

\n

In addition to a couple other color math functions, I'm using colord here to convert colors from hex to rgba and apply the alpha channel dynamically.

\n", "date_published": "2023-03-09T00:00:00Z", "summary": "More creative controls to get your cards looking *just* right", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://updates.kinopio.club/transparent-color-slider.mp4", "color": "#609ea0" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/search-all-spaces/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/search-all-spaces/", "title": "Search All Spaces", "content_html": "

🔍 Forgot which space you put an idea in? Search all spaces for your cards.

\n

Try it now with with ⌘/ctrl–shift–F

\n\n

Implementation Notes

\n

When you start to accumulate lots of spaces, even if you name things well, it's natural to forget where exactly you put some fleeting thought. To ship this first release out to people as quickly as I could, the search is a very straightforward 'substring' search, sorted in order of cards more recently updated.

\n

So for now, there's no "did you mean" type sophistication. Additionally the search will only return cards that you yourself created, so content created by collaborators won't show up here.

\n

That said, now that I can evaluate the real demand and usecases, global search will get even better from here.

\n", "date_published": "2023-03-06T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Forgot which space you put an idea in? Search all spaces for your cards", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/search-all-spaces-small.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/search-all-spaces-small.png", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/28/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/28/", "title": "Bulletin № 28", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

I’ve been thinking for a while about how to grow awareness for Kinopio, and I keep coming back to the same problem. People start using Kinopio primarily because they enjoy the design and the interactions, and secondly because of the problems it solves for them – but to draw new people in, this also needs to happen the other way around. Something like,

\n
\n

Kinopio solves problem X that you have, by doing Y

\n
\n

Leading with the reason to use something makes it easier for people to invite themselves in. One of my favorite examples of this is “Readwise helps you remember what you read, by periodically surfacing your highlights”.

\n

I like how tight and focused this is. But I struggle here because people use Kinopio to take notes, plan, mood-board, journal, and even make webpages in. Does choosing to highlight one of these as the primary use turn the others into second class citizens?

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

Another way to go is aligning with an established productivity category, like white-boarding or mind-mapping. People already know if they need these and what problems they solve. But again, there’s not one category that completely fits.

\n

But also I’m not really interested in productivity as the end-goal. I didn’t create Kinopio to be a better whiteboard, or a better Miro/Mural/etc. This all started because I noticed that I felt mentally and creatively free when I wrote and moved my thoughts around using the text tool in design software. I thought that other people might enjoy this too, in a streamlined and more approachable form.

\n

It’s not a grand vision, there’s no market disruption, there’s not even any AI, I must be a loser.

\n

So back to the original question, what’s the problem to be solved? If Readwise helps you remember, then I think Kinopio helps you express yourself and make sense of your ideas.

\n

Express yourself how? Here’s what I’ve seen,

\n\n

So after all that, here’s what I’ve got:

\n
\n

Kinopio helps you express yourself and turn ideas into understanding

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\n What's New\n

\n

\n \"\"\n

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-03-03T00:00:00Z", "summary": "I’ve been thinking for a while about how to grow awareness for Kinopio, and I keep coming back to the same problem", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/28-3.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/28-3.png", "video": "", "color": "#fdba9c" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/search-backgrounds/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/search-backgrounds/", "title": "Search Backgrounds", "content_html": "

Find the perfect background for the tone of your space.

\n
\n

Pro-tip: Searching for just a color (e.g. 'pink', 'dark blue') works really well too

\n
\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-02-24T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Find the perfect background for the tone of your space", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/search-backgrounds-thumb.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/search-backgrounds-thumb.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#a9c5a2" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/refer-a-friend/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/refer-a-friend/", "title": "Refer a Friend", "content_html": "

Share Kinopio with your friends through Share → Earn Credits. For every person you refer that signs up, you'll both get a $6 credit that'll be applied to your next bill.

\n

(Also, credits stack, so you could in theory invite everyone you know and earn enough to use Kinopio free for life)

\n

\"\"

\n
\n

When you find something sweet, it's even sweeter when you share it with a friend.

\n
\n", "date_published": "2023-02-20T00:00:00Z", "summary": "When you find something sweet, it's even sweeter when you share it with a friend", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/refer-thumb.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/refer-thumb.png", "video": "", "color": "#f5c2cb" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/connections-to-comments/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/connections-to-comments/", "title": "Connections to Comments", "content_html": "

To make it easier for your eye to follow connected ideas in busy spaces, connection lines appear transparent when connected to a comment card.

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-02-13T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Connection lines appear transparent when connected to a comment card", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/transparent-connections-to-comments-small.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/transparent-connections-to-comments-small.png", "video": "", "color": "#efdba8" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/27/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/27/", "title": "Bulletin № 27", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

It's been a while since I've sent one of these bulletins out, looking back over this very long list of changes it feels like I built a whole other app in that time.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

But there's a flip side of this all progress, there are tons of people who would really enjoy using Kinopio to solve problems and sort out their thoughts – but they've never even heard of it because I've mostly been coding.

\n

To help with that, I've brought on Ola part-time to grow awareness. If you see her in the Discord (as @kohola) do be sure to say hi!

\n

\n What's New\n

\n

\n \"\"\n

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-01-30T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Looking back over this very long list of changes it feels like I built a whole other app in that time", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/original_4fb0dd85fd78d811605f59798d48eda5.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/original_4fb0dd85fd78d811605f59798d48eda5.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#91ffff" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/streamlined-backgrounds/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/streamlined-backgrounds/", "title": "Streamlined Backgrounds", "content_html": "

The UI for changing space backgrounds has been streamlined to be more direct and intuitive to use.

\n

Applying backgrounds and colored tints are a big part of what lets your spaces reflect your personality

\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-01-29T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The UI for changing space backgrounds has been streamlined to be more direct and intuitive to use", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/streamlined-backgrounds-thumbnail.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/streamlined-backgrounds-thumbnail.png", "video": "", "color": "#e04b29" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/dark-mode/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/dark-mode/", "title": "Dark Mode", "content_html": "

Whether you're a night owl or into the mysterious and cool, dark mode is here for you.

\n

User → Settings → Theme Colors

\n

Or press t to switch themes

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

I've made dark themes for apps in the past, but it's another level of complexity when card/connection/tag colors and backgrounds can be completely customized.

\n

Dark Mode Principles

\n
    \n
  1. User customizations are respected first. If the user sets a color for something (cards, boxes, tags etc.) then that color (or a dark tinted variant thereof) is used. This keeps the spirit of personalized spaces intact.
    2. \n
  2. Default colors are based on current theme. so if you're in dark mode then by default the colorpicker , new connection, new tag, and new box colors will be dark colors. The assumption is that if you're using the dark theme you'll most likely prefer using dark colors for things, and vice versa.
    3. \n
  3. In cases where a color creates legibility issues, (primarily the paint select dialog when you're in dark mode but have a really light user color), then slightly darken that color where needed.
    4. \n
\n", "date_published": "2023-01-24T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Whether you're a night owl or into the mysterious and cool, dark mode is here for you", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/dark-mode-thumb-small.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/dark-mode-thumb-small.png", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/pen-pals-frame/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/pen-pals-frame/", "title": "Pen Pals Frame", "content_html": "

The perfect frame for your missives and manifestos,

\n

Sculpted out of plasticine by cobcris

\n\n

Implementation Notes

\n

I didn't realize this when I reached out to him, but unlike the other frames which are 3d modelled using software like Blender, cobcris' art is all hand sculpted from plasticine, giving it a unique texture and depth that works really well in tiny frames.

\n

This is also the first 'dynamic' frame: the wider the card, the more elmeents (i.e. dogs) are displayed. Making frames work visually in a wider range of conditions helps them adapt to your content and not the other way around.

\n", "date_published": "2023-01-20T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The perfect frame for your missives and manifestos", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/pen-pals-thumb.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/pen-pals-thumb.png", "video": "", "color": "#609ea0" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/raycast-extension/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/raycast-extension/", "title": "Raycast Extension", "content_html": "

Quickly capture ideas to your inbox with the Kinopio extension for Raycast on macOS

\n

You can install it from the Raycast Store

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

Raycast Extensions are each little self contained React/Typescript web-apps which you build locally and then submit to a Github Repo as a new folder. There are automated review stages that ensure your package.json file has all the right info, among other things. And then there's a manual review where a staff member checks your app to see if it works.

\n

It's all conceptually straightforward and would work well with a future Raycast for Windows and Linux.

\n

That said, React is still as annoying as I remember (it's almost as if it was made by facebook to solve problems that mostly affect facebook), and as a first time Typescript-er I had trouble getting my code to stop throwing irrelevant type errors for basic things. It would've saved me a lot of time if I could've just wrote regular javascript instead :(

\n", "date_published": "2023-01-18T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Quickly capture ideas to your inbox with the Kinopio extension for Raycast", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-inbox-1.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-inbox-1.png", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/box-snapping/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/box-snapping/", "title": "Box Snapping", "content_html": "

Drag boxes close to each other to snap them together.

\n

Helpful for building simple grids and tables that you can use for illustrating sequences and whatever else

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

This'll make more sense later but I built this as a prerequisite for an upcoming re-positioning/re-launch of Kinopio. To that end – inspired by this computer case assembly guide – I wanted the ability to build a grid for displaying sequences of step-by-step instructions.

\n

As humans we intuitively know when two things are close to each other. But programming closeness presents many little problems, like:

\n\n\n

I'm using a combination of proximity (the distance between two matching side points, such as the center-left side of one box and the center-right side of another), as well as x or y axis distance. It ends up looking something like this:

\n\n\n

In typical design software, vertical or horizontal snapping guidelines are used to indicate when you can align things.

\n

In the context of Kinopio though, encouraging content to be geometrically aligned or conform to the grid is not the goal. In the context of thinking, feeling like things have to be neat and orderly is oppressive friction.

\n

After a couple public iterations, I made the snapping sides of each box undulate together. It's a very simple ease-in-out animation but I like the impression of yearning that the boxes appear to have for each other – it's pretty cool/romantic.

\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-01-11T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Drag boxes close to each other to snap them together", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/box-snapping-thumb2.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/box-snapping-thumb2.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "coral" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/z-toggle-zoom-out/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/z-toggle-zoom-out/", "title": "Z-Toggle Zoom Out", "content_html": "

Press Z to instantly zoom all the way out or in. A little feature that gives you big perspective

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

This replaces the previous minimap feature which was implemented by drawing a representation of the cards and connections to a single <canvas>. It was a totally seperate renderer optimized for high speed and low interactivity, basically like a micro-Figma inside of Kinopio.

\n

\n\n

\n

While the minimap demo-ed really well, I decided to remove it because:

\n\n

I guess the lesson to myself for the future: It's feels bad saying no, but it feels worse building cool-looking big features that very few people very rarely use

\n", "date_published": "2023-01-07T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Press Z to instantly zoom all the way out or in. A little feature that gives you big perspective", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/z-toggle-zoom-out-thumbnail.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/z-toggle-zoom-out-thumbnail.png", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/inbox-cards-list/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/inbox-cards-list/", "title": "Inbox Cards List", "content_html": "

The inbox is great for quickly capturing ideas – now it's just as easy to get those cards out of your inbox and into your current space

\n

Inbox button → Select a Card

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n

The idea for this feature came from a forum thread that started as being about how Kinopio could be integrated into Obsidian.

\n

But after peeling the layers back a bit, the fundamental desire seemed to be capturing text from a linear text document (which the inbox could already do), and then being able to place those thoughts in a specific space for processing and thinking through.

\n
\n

p.s. If Obsidian gains traction on their proposed .canvas file format, it'd be trivial to add support for it in Kinopio

\n
\n", "date_published": "2023-01-06T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The inbox is great for quickly capturing ideas – now it's just as easy to get those cards out of your inbox and into your current space", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/inbox-cards-list-thumbnail-2.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/inbox-cards-list-thumbnail-2.png", "video": "", "color": "#fdba9c" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/color-swatch-cards/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/color-swatch-cards/", "title": "Color Swatch Cards", "content_html": "

If a card is named as a color – like pink or #5e978b – then it'll become that color.

\n

This can be really helpful for moodboards, where sampled colors can be listed right next to image inspirations.

\n

(Supports all color formats, including HEX, RGB, HSL, and CSS names)

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n\n

The idea for this feature came to me while making a moodboard for the upcoming dark theme, it felt natural to sample colors from image cards (using a native app), and then paste those colors right next to the original card.

\n

Implementation-wise, I'm using the colord library to determine when a card name is a color.

\n", "date_published": "2023-01-04T00:00:00Z", "summary": "If a card is named as a color – like `pink` or `#5e978b` – then it'll become that color", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/color-swatch-cards-2.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/color-swatch-cards-2.png", "video": "", "color": "#f5c2cb" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/presentation-mode/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/presentation-mode/", "title": "Presentation Mode", "content_html": "

Share → Present to hide the Kinopio UI and put the focus solely on your content.

\n

Requested by people presenting their collaborative Kinopio spaces and plans at work,

\n

(Also useful as a zen-like 'focus' mode)

\n

\n\n

\n

Also,

\n\n

\n\n

\n", "date_published": "2023-01-03T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Share → Present to hide the Kinopio UI and put the focus solely on your content", "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/presentation-mode-thumbnail.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-blog.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/presentation-mode-thumbnail.png", "video": "", "color": "#a9c5a2" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/positional-zoom/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/positional-zoom/", "title": "Positional Zoom", "content_html": "

Drag the zoom slider or hold cmd/ctrl while scrolling to zoom out for perspective on large spaces.

\n

And of course, you can still comfortably add and edit cards while zoomed out – no squinting required.

\n

\n\n

\n

Implementation Notes

\n
\n

From now on this blog is the canonical place where new feature announcements live (before it was Twitter). This'll make it easier to add additional notes for the technically curious and inclined.

\n
\n

Regarding zoom,

\n

While this update is a big improvement on the previous zoom system, there's still a lot of kinks to iron out.

\n

But you might wonder, why is zoom so hard? There's plenty of other apps that have zoom afterall. The short version is that there's different styles of zoom: center 0,0 and top-left 0,0.

\n\n

Center zooming allows cards to have negative coordinate positions and is fully unbounded and unlimited. The advantage of this system is that content can be put anywhere you want and the math is relatively straightforward.

\n

One downside though is that you're more likely to lose your position and need a minimap to reorient yourself. But the biggest impact of losing the constraint of a traditional page is … losing that constraint. The boundaries of a page is familiar and reassuring – they shape how we organize information, and make it easier to create share-able spaces.

\n\n

Top-Left zooming relies on the principles of regular webpage document. But having a viewport inside a page with an origin that changes based on where you zoomed from introduces brain twisting challenges…

\n\n", "date_published": "2023-01-02T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Drag the zoom slider or hold cmd/ctrl while scrolling to zoom out for perspective on large spaces", "image": "", "_meta": { "image": "", "video": "https://updates.kinopio.club/positional-zoom-thumbnail.mp4", "color": "#efdba8" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/26/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/26/", "title": "Bulletin № 26", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

Many weeks ago, when we still lived in the area, I went to a pottery event in Brooklyn.

\n

\n

I like eating soup from cups, and I'm sick of having to think about how to hold a hot cup – so I made a cup with a Saturn-esque rim that can be held from any angle.

\n

\n What's New\n

\n

\n\n

\n\n

\n

Generate AI Images. Can't find just the right card image? Try using AI to build an image for you by telling it exactly what you want

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n\n

\n Community Question\n

\n

If you use Daily Journals, do you also use the randomized prompt packs (eg 'Everyday', 'Sleep Well' etc.)? I'm considering whether to keep or remove this feature. Thanks!

\n

\n", "date_published": "2022-11-14T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Many weeks ago, when I still lived in the area, we went to a pottery event in Brooklyn", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/cup.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/cup.gif", "video": "", "color": "#e04b29" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/team-planning/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/team-planning/", "title": "Plan With Your Team", "content_html": "

Why plan with your team in Kinopio?

\n

I've invited my coworkers into this space as collaborators. We use it to track team-related notes and happenings.

\n

My instinct is to use Kinopio for everything. The fact that Kinopio is fun, non-linear, and easy to collaborate on was important for this use case.

\n

I appreciate that a space is a freeform canvas that is flexible for a lot of uses. I also like the chaotic energy Kinopio has. It's such a welcome contrast from the other boring software I use.

\n

How do you plan in this space?

\n\n

I use boxes to delineate different regions in the space. One is called the Share Zone where I invite my teammates to post pictures or links that are interesting to them. What they did on the weekend, something they watched recently, how are they feeling, etc.

\n

Next is the Daily sync-up,

\n\n

We typically meet everyday over Webex. We look at this Kinopio space and have an area share status, accomplishments, plans, questions.

\n

I use it as an order to coordinate who talks, and I might also take notes for these sections while people are sharing.

\n

How do you collect and organize info for your space?

\n

This space is like a digital bulletin board that I use to put up items relevant to our team. It's great to be able to easily mix in screenshots, text, and links.

\n

Any other tips or advice?

\n\n

We also keep other team related things on the same space to help with context, such as administrative stuff, like when people will be off. We use tags with our names to make it stand out.

\n

Oh and make it fun and personal. I change the background every week. Make it feel like someone lives here. It's like a digital bulletin board that we all virtually walk by every day.

\n", "date_published": "2022-11-01T00:00:00Z", "summary": "", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/WvzfgyzBKtiSRl9EHY14T/1431564206268.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/WvzfgyzBKtiSRl9EHY14T/1431564206268.png", "video": "", "color": "#91ffff" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/track-media/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/track-media/", "title": "Track your Media", "content_html": "

Why use Kinopio to track the TV shows you've watched and want to watch?

\n

The goal of my TV and Movie spaces is to have a quick place to see what’s out and available to watch and what’s coming out over the course of the year.

\n

There are a lot of blogs that do lists by month or things that they are anticipating, but I wanted something more comprehensive and tailored to my own tastes so I had to make it myself. I also wanted something that would be super flexible, visual, but also easy to update and re-organize, all while being connected to a broader web of note-taking and tracking.

\n

Now that I have these spaces, it’s also become a place to track what I’ve watched, and start to formulate ranked lists that will lead to my end of year Top Tens. As a bonus, because of the flexibility Kinopio offers, I can carve out a little room in the TV space to show a little weekly schedule of what’s currently airing and on what day.

\n

What are some important parts of a media tracking space?

\n

\"\"

\n

Tagging has been a wonderful way to keep track of all of the shows and movies over the years and where else I might have touched upon them in another space.

\n

If I talk about a show or movie in another space, or log when I’ve watched it in my journals, I can use the tag to be able to cross-reference and see the history of my viewing, where else it might have come up, and then easily jump to those other spaces.

\n

How do you collect and organize info on your space?

\n\n

\"\"

\n

Headers and color were two things I never thought I would ever really use on Kinopio, but they have been critical to organizing the spaces.

\n

I can use the Headers to lay the space out and organize it in a way that’s relatively easy to track and follow.

\n

I even use colors a little bit in the headings for decoration, but where colors have been even more useful is in color coding shows or movies, by my interest level and if I’ve watched it yet or am planning to.

\n

Any other tips of advice?

\n

The alignment buttons have been absolutely critical to keeping my sanity and spaces neatly organized. I can quickly move things around and reorder on a whim without having to worry about organization. Then with a quick highlight and press of the alignment button, poof, neatly organized once again.

\n

Lastly, I can’t talk about these spaces without talking about Links. Links have allowed me to build a personal wiki around media and my life. Both my TV and Movie space are linked to in my Media hub space, which links to other media spaces, and is also linked to from even more spaces.

\n

With the new sidebar it’s now super convenient to bounce around spaces, going higher or deeper in the hierarchy, making connections, and keeping track of things in a detailed, but easy manner.

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/NsD0a-_W9Fm0efAiN0Wqe/original-d275ff849851d43d1236ce36b6e21944.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/NsD0a-_W9Fm0efAiN0Wqe/original-d275ff849851d43d1236ce36b6e21944.gif", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/present-research/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/present-research/", "title": "Present Research", "content_html": "

Why present your research in Kinopio?

\n

I am a researcher in fluid mechanics and during my current project, I felt like I got a little lost in what I was doing. I needed to take stock and organize everything I had seen, heard and produced. The idea of a road map, almost in the form of a mind map, corresponded well to the way a research project is organized (a guideline that breaks down into ideas). Kinopio is a perfect tool for that. Its simplicity allows to build very quickly something that works in its content as well as in its form.

\n

The text limits encourage you to be concise in what you want to write and adding links, images, colors or GIFs makes the place feels nice. As I worked on my road map, the idea of doing something shareable came up.

\n

Now I think I will put a link to Kinopio in my project report. A tool that served as a help for me, will also be a good tool for future readers to get an overview of the project.

\n

What are some important parts of a research presentation?

\n

\"\"

\n

First, the look. This initiative is something that has been added to the mass of work I already have. I wanted a tool where globally only the content takes time and where the style is very simple to format. Secondly, I wanted a very malleable tool where I could move things around as I wanted to. And third a web page that can be available in almost every device!

\n

How do you collect and organize info for your space?

\n

\"\"

\n

Most of the info and images come from me. But I love to use the GIF finder, it brings life to the page.

\n

Any other tips or advice?

\n

I think that you should not hesitate to test things with Kinopio. Move the blocks! Try different layouts and styles! After a while you will find your page appealing and you will be a little proud of what you have done!

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/4beIktLVjg8NZOAAS1c2q/photo-baignade-vilette.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/4beIktLVjg8NZOAAS1c2q/photo-baignade-vilette.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/plan-routine/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/plan-routine/", "title": "Journal Your Routine", "content_html": "

Why make a space for your skincare routine?

\n

\"\"

\n

\"\"

\n

I am very interested in skincare and I've been doing it seriously for three years. I post a lot about it on my personal Instagram account, but because Instagram is so messy and a lot of the content disappears after 24 hours many of my friends don't have the opportunity to properly catch up with my skincare lore.

\n

On a space I can make it visually clear what my current routine is, and what I think of each product I use. That way when people ask me about my routine I can just redirect them to that space, its extremely convenient.

\n

What are some important parts of a routine space?

\n\n

First, it must be simple to update because the thing about skincare is that you change products and impressions about the products all the time.

\n

Second thing is structuring the skincare routine between day and night.

\n

I think third is offering honest reviews if you are interested in sharing the space with publicly.

\n

How do you collect and organize info on your space?

\n\n

I got all the images from my are.na personal skincare channel. I think the most important Kinopio feature for organising information on this space is the filter.

\n

I got the idea of making a filter by brand thing from a space made by @humdrum and I think its brilliant.

\n

Any other tips of advice?

\n

I think adding comments is super useful because skincare has a lot of nuance and adding the comments make your impressions, intentions, and details about the routine clearer. I started adding the comments only a month after I was done with the space because I felt like some information could be misunderstood.

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/w8u3i1DkndBjZK_zTrcMx/original-ec2a9485be78ff188621d5f74b4596e5.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/w8u3i1DkndBjZK_zTrcMx/original-ec2a9485be78ff188621d5f74b4596e5.gif", "video": "", "color": "#91ffff" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/personal-homepage/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/personal-homepage/", "title": "Make a Personal Homepage", "content_html": "

Why make a personal homepage?

\n

I needed a space where I could discuss what I have been up to because I do a lot of research and work as a graphic designer.

\n

I wanted something where I could have less work then setting up a whole website, but where I could make it look like me – an environment where people would literally feel like they're in my head, so the idea for a personal space was perfect for my needs.

\n

What are some important parts of a personal space?

\n\n

First that it is highly customizable, which Kinopio definitely is. Second that's easy to update, and third, easy to navigate as well. I'm a super nest-y person and that extends to my online presence, so I like having a space that I can really give a personal atmosphere to.

\n

Where do your images come from?

\n\n

I get most of my images from are.na at the moment, and the card image search is very useful. I also got lots of stuff from my old tumblr blog haha, I think that's a very specific source tho…

\n

Any other tips or advice?

\n

I think there's a kind of understanding of the tool that you only get after you use it for a while, or if you get in touch with people who understand it better. A way to really create a visually communicative space that's also easy to navigate. After I joined the Kinopio discord and saw what ppl were doing there I completely changed my personal page layout and that was only possible because seeing other people's uses opened my mind to understanding Kinopio better.

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "", "image": "https://d2w9rnfcy7mm78.cloudfront.net/2283407/original_4de889bf96797652afaa51437353d3b9.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://d2w9rnfcy7mm78.cloudfront.net/2283407/original_4de889bf96797652afaa51437353d3b9.gif", "video": "", "color": "#609ea0" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/life-tasks/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/life-tasks/", "title": "Track To-dos and Tasks", "content_html": "

Why make a life tasks space?

\n

I created my space because I needed a place to plan and decide what to fix or build next. It's basically my 'home' space on Kinopio.

\n

Whenever I've used traditional todo list apps, I'd inevitably hit a point where it feels like I'm buried under the weight of an infinite task list – that's usually when I'd usually start looking for another app, then repeat the problem all over again.

\n

My favorite thing about using a space for this instead is how the clutter of this space reflects the clutter of my mind. When I organize my space, it feels like I'm organizing my mind.

\n

What are some important parts of life tasks?

\n

\"\"

\n

Your personal space should reflect your personality. Besides tasks and ideas, add personal photos, a background, and cool images that inspire you right now.

\n

Your system doesn't have to make sense to anyone but you, and you can use privacy options to make it as private or public as you want.

\n

How do you collect and organize info on your space?

\n

\"\"

\n

I'd start by just writing out all the tasks floating inside my head. Use checkboxes to turn the short-term actions into tasks.

\n

I like to keep my urgent cards in the top left where I always see them, and move longer-term cards outwards where I'll later decide whether to turn them into tasks, break them down into projects, or just remove them.

\n

Any other tips of advice?

\n

Besides all that, every morning I'll use card frames and colors to emphasize what I want to tackle today.

\n

If your space starts to feel a bit cramped, that's a good sign. Yesterday's aspirations can become tomorrow's burdens so it's a good idea to occasionally prune ideas and tasks that you don't want to do anymore. Paint selecting a bunch of things you no longer want to do and removing them is really satisfying, cathartic even.

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/je8YRuTxdRCot6P3kdEEE/909B725B-B8D0-4372-B96C-92BB46D1C166.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/je8YRuTxdRCot6P3kdEEE/909B725B-B8D0-4372-B96C-92BB46D1C166.png", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/diary-hobbies/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/diary-hobbies/", "title": "Diary your Hobbies", "content_html": "

Why make a crochet diary?

\n

I started learning to crochet in early 2022 as a way to continually build new skills, exercise creativity and have fun making stuff. Since there’s such an overwhelming amount of crocheting knowledge and patterns out there, I wanted to make a crochet diary to collect inspiration from around the web and document what I learned through each new project.

\n

Although popular crafting sites like Ravelry exist, I wanted my space to be more casual since I’m still a newbie to this hobby. Plus I wanted my documentation to be a mini creative project in itself! Kinopio struck that perfect balance of being playful to use, while still having robust features for organizing my ideas.

\n

What are some important parts of a crochet diary?

\n

\"\"

\n

I wanted this space to have a mix of two things: structured areas to organize my projects, and unstructured mood-boarding to casually save ideas. It was important to strike this balance, as too much structure can get bureaucratic, but not enough becomes hard to navigate. The space also had to feel fun to maintain and update.

\n

How do you collect and organize info on your space?

\n

Usually I come across crochet patterns and inspiration on Instagram, YouTube and Etsy — the algorithms are serving me endless crochet projects! I save ideas I like under my “Wishlist” card, which acts like a bulletin board. The ideas just hang out there, and once I’m ready to begin a new project I’ll pick something from that collection.

\n

For projects, the space is organized like a kanban board. There’s a template of several cards at the top of my space that I copy when starting a new project. For each project, I’ll add cards with the crochet pattern/instructions, the yarn used, and any customizations I make along the way. I use tags to mark projects as current or finished. Once I’m finished, I use the “lock” feature for that project’s cards so that it stays put.

\n

Any other tips or advice?

\n

Use the Kinopio browser extension and mobile app shortcuts. I’m trying to get into the habit of saving inspiring links or images to Kinopio right away when I come across them, and then going in and organizing it later.

\n

Also, join the Kinopio Discord! I really like learning about new features as they roll out, and it’s helped inspire me to use Kinopio in new ways.

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/lZpAVICJnOqNJ0H_4hNs7/maxresdefault.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/lZpAVICJnOqNJ0H_4hNs7/maxresdefault.jpg", "video": "", "color": "coral" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/25/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/25/", "title": "Bulletin № 25", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

I recently watched a short video about an illustrator who lived on a remote island in Maine, where he worked in an old wooden barn.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

I can't say the idea isn't appealing. In other possibly-related news, I'll be moving to Canada soon for a couple months.

\n

\n What's New\n

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n
\n

By popular demand, the next big feature I'll likely be building is global search. Talk to you soon,

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n", "date_published": "2022-10-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "I recently watched a short video about an illustrator who lived on a remote island in Maine, where he worked in an old wooden barn", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/barn.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/barn.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#fdba9d" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/24/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/24/", "title": "Bulletin № 24", "content_html": "

Hi friends,

\n

I recently got back from a two week trip to France, the first vacation-like thing I’ve had in years. The best thing we ate wasn’t a fancy croissant, or an upscale Parisian dish, but some wild blackberries growing by the side of the road after a short hike.

\n

\n\"wild\n

\n

Is it just me or do the way berries grow kind of resemble connected cards? Maybe it's just me? Maybe art imitates life?

\n

\n Kinopio is on ProductHunt today\n

\n

Spreading the word is the hardest part of making Kinopio sustainable, so if you want to help support it, please check it out

\n

\n What's New\n

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

Next up are features that encourage sharing and inviting (👀 Updated Roadmap)

\n", "date_published": "2022-09-13T00:00:00Z", "summary": "I recently got back from a two week trip to France, the first vacation-like thing I’ve had in years. The best thing we ate wasn’t a fancy croissant, or an upscale Parisian dish, but some wild blackberries growing by the side of the road after a short hike", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/fCEgH6uF6g6cYnuZ9PdIs/wildbackberry-01.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/fCEgH6uF6g6cYnuZ9PdIs/wildbackberry-01.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#e04b29" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/welcome/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/welcome/", "title": "Welcome Friends", "content_html": "

The Kinopio blog is open for business. Relive memories of email bulletins past, and subscribe for bulletins to come. Possibly other things too.

\n

And if you're new to Kinopio, lie back, drink deep, and catch up on what you've missed.

\n

\"\"

\n

See you around,

\n", "date_published": "2022-07-12T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The Kinopio blog is open for business. Relive memories of email bulletins past, and subscribe for bulletins to come. Possibly other things too", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/zmcFSvLiYP8rCm9JqwOMK/garden-800px-1.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/zmcFSvLiYP8rCm9JqwOMK/garden-800px-1.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#90ffff" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/23/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/23/", "title": "Bulletin № 23", "content_html": "

Hi Friends,

\n
\n

The theme of this bulletin is 'friendship'. Though I didn't know it would be when I started writing.

\n
\n

As Kinopio evolves and more people use spaces for a wider variety of things, I feel like I also need to evolve the way I describe it.

\n

How would you explain Kinopio to a friend, or maybe to someone you just met?

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n

If you asked a close friend that you haven’t seen in 3 months “what’s new?”, they’d probably reply with “not too much”. Which really means, “there’s too much to remember, and I’m not in the mood to recount everything”.

\n

But what if they did remember, and they were in the mood? Their tale would be long, with many sprawling tangents:

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

After unravelling your friend's long yarn, you stroke your newly grown beard and/or bangs in silent comprehension – while secretly you regret asking the question.

\n", "date_published": "2022-07-11T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The theme of this bulletin is 'friendship'. Though I didn't know it would be when I started writing", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/AM4GZUD6cgssQMLYHhE4m/image.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/AM4GZUD6cgssQMLYHhE4m/image.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#f0dba8" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/22/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/22/", "title": "Bulletin № 22", "content_html": "

Hi Friends,

\n

We're coming up on the Kinopio's third birthday, here's to another year of creative spatial thinking and new connections.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

To help grow Kinopio into a sustainable business (i.e. it can at least pay my rent), I'll be raising the price for new users from $5/mo to $8/mo in about two weeks. Now's a good time to upgrade if you want to be grandfathered into the current price.

\n

I'm always nervous about pricing changes but surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) everyone seemed supportive of the move on twitter and discord.

\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n\n\n", "date_published": "2022-04-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "We're coming up on the Kinopio's third birthday, here's to another year of creative spatial thinking and new connections", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/ZGjGNNlFicYqW70fPNba9/FA60D326-B00F-493C-B971-401E136D7114.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/ZGjGNNlFicYqW70fPNba9/FA60D326-B00F-493C-B971-401E136D7114.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/21/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/21/", "title": "Bulletin № 21", "content_html": "

Hi Friends,

\n

As a software maker working by myself, almost all my meetings are between the left and right sides of my brain. I'm pretty good company so I usually don't mind, but sometimes these pow-wows get nebulously pendulous:

\n
\n

"You're writing too much code, you need to spend more time promoting Kinopio!"

\n

"You haven't released anything new in over a week – code faster!"

\n
\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

Fortunately it's time to write this month's bulletin. Looking back on everything that's new this month gives me a tangible feeling of accomplishment, and maybe even determination.

\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n", "date_published": "2022-03-21T00:00:00Z", "summary": "As a software maker working by myself, almost all my meetings are between the left and right sides of my brain. I'm pretty good company so I usually don't mind, but sometimes these pow-wows get nebulously pendulous", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/vdxDMFzwAOuQJHmnpExFL/giphy480p.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/vdxDMFzwAOuQJHmnpExFL/giphy480p.gif", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/20/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/20/", "title": "Bulletin № 20", "content_html": "

I’ve noticed that people use Kinopio in two broadly different ways,

\n\n

Social-ness isn’t a boolean or linear thing though. Everyone has introverted and extroverted qualities and use-cases, so I think it’s really cool that Kinopio is helpful across the spectrum.

\n

But this also creates split priorities,

\n

Some people want more Roam-y features that are better for deep-work and deep-thinking. Other people want more Figma-esque features that make their spaces more customizable and cooler looking.

\n

Expanding on my last blog post about How I Build, sometimes I have to take a step back and ask myself “what feels like the ‘Kinopio’ thing to do”? What are the things that other tools can't do, or aren’t designed to do well?

\n

It's a longer path to walk, but I think there's still room in the world for new interactions that are meaningful and memorable.

\n

\n \n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n\n\n

\n \"\"\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n\n

It's still winter outside, but inside Kinopio I think it's time for spring cleaning and bug fixing

\n", "date_published": "2022-02-09T00:00:00Z", "summary": "I’ve noticed that people use Kinopio in two broadly different ways,", "image": "https://pketh.org/images/2021/palms.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://pketh.org/images/2021/palms.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "coral" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/19/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/19/", "title": "Bulletin № 19", "content_html": "

This is the first bulletin of 2022, so maybe you thought I was going to write something about the new year? No way – I want to talk about the FM tuner on my new radio.

\n

Maybe radio is better now that it's dead, or maybe it's because New York, but seeking from station to station and not choosing or caring where you end up is surprisingly cool. The best stations I've stumbled on so far are latin salsa, 90s hip hop, and that classical music one with the awkward teen DJ.

\n

I don't remember their frequencies though, so I may never find them again.

\n

\n \"\"\n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n \n

A "Week of Sensory Experiments" where I released something new each day,

\n \n

\n \"\"\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

The next releases will be about making your cards more personal and customizable.

\n

\n Elsewhere on the internet\n

\n \n

This week I learned about the artist Harm van den Dorpel. Navigating through Deli Near .Info a spatial website ... labyrinth? created in 2014 is disorienting and strange, I'm not sure how to feel about it – but I guess that's art for you.

\n

\n \"\"\n

\n", "date_published": "2022-01-03T00:00:00Z", "summary": "This is the first bulletin of 2022, so maybe you thought I was going to write something about the new year? No way – I want to talk about the FM tuner on my new radio", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/2YcIM5YPHUSJMCu6eUNdN/original-cba025fb0f0b2ee272ec280c0ff0c301.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/2YcIM5YPHUSJMCu6eUNdN/original-cba025fb0f0b2ee272ec280c0ff0c301.gif", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/18/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/18/", "title": "Bulletin № 18", "content_html": "

When I send these bulletin emails I kind of enjoy the out of office auto-responder messages I get back.

\n

The European ones,

\n
\n

“I’m away on vacation for the next month, I’ll reply when I’m back”

\n
\n

The American ones,

\n
\n

“I’m out of office this week, if this is urgent please message Betty or call me anytime”

\n
\n

Mentally and geographically, I’m definitely on workaholic team America. I enjoy working on Kinopio, sculpting this clay-like thing into existence, key by key. But the pressure to grow the business and be successful is always back there, lurking in the background, not so subtly.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n

It took me about three weeks to rewrite Kinopio’s low-level modules to improve performance 2-5x. But surprise surprise – when you change everything, lots can break. Thanks to all the helpful bug reports I received and fixed over the last couple weeks, Kinopio is now pretty stable again.

\n

Besides that, some new stuff snuck in too.

\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n\n\n

\n Elsewhere on the internet\n

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

I enjoyed the flower petal nav on wildflowers.garden. Besides the whimsy, this is one of those rare times where content and interface are deeply connected.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-11-22T00:00:00Z", "summary": "When I send these bulletin emails I kind of enjoy the out of office auto-responder messages I get back", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/vtS6BrXjmh2WhOHt7NEdF/image.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/vtS6BrXjmh2WhOHt7NEdF/image.gif", "video": "", "color": "CadetBlue" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/17/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/17/", "title": "Bulletin № 17", "content_html": "

\n What's New\n

\n\n

Continuing from the last bulletin, I spent the last couple weeks working on making every interaction, like loading spaces, scrolling, painting, dragging and editing cards 2-5x faster and more responsive.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

I also wanted to ship something fun this week, so I reached out to Joi Fulton about licensing some of her work for a new frame,

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

I think it turned out really well. It’s got spooky seasonal vibes but I hope you can use it year round too.

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n\n

My original plan was to email bulletins like this every two weeks – a nice regular update on Kinopio and the community. But the reality has been that these emails go out whenever the stars align.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

It gets a little stressful when it’s been a while tbh.

\n

So I want to address this by creating a new weekly email that lists new Explore spaces, info related to your ♥s, and whatever else I come up with.

\n

I haven’t designed it yet so if you’ve got any thoughts, ideas, or if you know any really great emails I should look at, please let me know.

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-26T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Continuing from the last bulletin, I spent the last couple weeks working on making every interaction, like loading spaces, scrolling, painting, dragging and editing cards 2-5x faster and more responsive", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/zBAxRD0Nf9a3Kq5EKUv_d/image.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/zBAxRD0Nf9a3Kq5EKUv_d/image.gif", "video": "", "color": "#fdba9d" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/16/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/16/", "title": "Bulletin № 16", "content_html": "

Hi Friends,

\n

The goal of these Kinopio bulletins is to be interesting. That usually means talking about some cool new feature or a pop-up shop – but this bulletin has neither.

\n

Kinopio spaces are like little spatial worlds, except for some people they’re not so little. You might’ve noticed that in big spaces with ~250+ cards, things start to slowww down.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

I’ve been working on this problem for the last two weeks. Performance tuning is kind of a dark art, you find slow routines and you squeeze milliseconds out of them – and sometimes that helps, but not enough this time.

\n

So now I’m on stage 2: full on data-model surgery. The heart is out on the operating table and every artery and vein is being cleaned out and reconnected.

\n

Early results are extremely promising. I’m looking forward to having a new light-weight race-spec Kinopio to share with you next time.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

(Animations by @JordanneChan, originally shared on Discord)

\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n\n

\n\"\"\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-10-04T00:00:00Z", "summary": "The goal of these Kinopio bulletins is to be interesting. That usually means talking about some cool new feature or a pop-up shop – but this bulletin has neither.", "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/markdown-headings.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://updates.kinopio.club/markdown-headings.gif", "video": "", "color": "pink" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/15/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/15/", "title": "Bulletin № 15", "content_html": "

A couple months ago, I commissioned the Elmer Gomer embroidery company to create 20 Kinopio patches. I’m a little ashamed at how long they’ve been sitting on my desk – but also a little proud to say that you can now buy one for yourself at the Pop-Up Shop. Sew or stick it on a sweater, hat, or bag. Or just pet its soft soft corduroy insides.

\n

\n \n \"hand\n \n

\n

I’ve never sold anything physical before, so I was wondering…

\n
    \n
  1. Will people buy real-life Kinopio stuff?
    2. \n
  2. How fast will it sell?
    3. \n
  3. How hard is it to build a store and ship stuff?
    4. \n
\n

I’m not sure yet if I’ll produce more physical objects in the future (it’s pretty stressful), but these patches won’t be made again.

\n

→ Pop-Up Shop

\n
\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n

It's been a busy month, I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labour.

\n\n

\n \"\"\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n\n

In the next month, I’m focused on improving filters, adding support for markdown h1 and h2 headers in cards, and performance improvements for extra large spaces with 500+ cards.

\n", "date_published": "2021-09-13T00:00:00Z", "summary": "A couple months ago, I commissioned the Elmer Gomer embroidery company to create 20 Kinopio patches.", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/5OsaAaMs7h5HC86xlplCX/front6.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/5OsaAaMs7h5HC86xlplCX/front6.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/14/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/14/", "title": "Bulletin № 14", "content_html": "

Kinopio is on Product Hunt today,

\n

This is my second time launching on Product Hunt. The first time was honestly pretty stressful. But the exposure, support – and eventually new customers – was a much needed help.

\n

Spreading the word is the hardest part of making Kinopio sustainable, so if you’d like to help out, come through. It's really appreciated!

\n

\n \"bird\n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n

I’ve been focused on stability and bug fixes, but also somehow released more than a few cool new things recently.

\n

(・_・)⊃══✫⌒･ﾟ✲

\n\n

\n \"live\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n\n

The next big feature will be either Image Card Resizing, or adding Directions to Connections. Which do you want first?

\n", "date_published": "2021-08-09T00:00:00Z", "summary": "This is my second time launching on Product Hunt. The first time was honestly pretty stressful. But the exposure, support – and eventually new customers – was a much needed help", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/PFUTEPJQGiAfY0Sp1CU4U/original-0ee24c4ce25cf520a1c6b3120906891c.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/PFUTEPJQGiAfY0Sp1CU4U/original-0ee24c4ce25cf520a1c6b3120906891c.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#ff7f4f" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/13/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/13/", "title": "Bulletin № 13", "content_html": "

In theory, every marketing website has the same job, "hey this thing can help you, you should use it".

\n

But writing, designing, and building the new About Kinopio page really took it out of me.

\n

\n \"\"\n

\n

I started with writing. If I can make something compelling in a .txt file, that's a good place to build from. Strangely, I think clearly describing what a product does is probably hardest for the person who made it. But all the feedback I've gotten from you has been super helpful in figuring out what themes to focus on.

\n

Aesthetically, I wanted the page to feel approachable, but also memorable and characterful. Just like with Kinopio itself, I wanted the way you interact with this page to have a little extra somethin' somethin'.

\n

So, the page paints itself. Kind of like I'm sitting on your shoulder and I'm saying "hey check this out, and also this part is really cool".

\n

\n \"\"\n

\n

\n Boring Programmer Talk\n

\n

To build auto-painting, I wrote some code that recorded my paint strokes, and then transforms the position and timing of those recorded strokes to auto-paint them next to specific elements on the page.

\n

Honestly, this was kind of a nightmare. I should've chosen an easier profession, like navy seal.

\n

\n \"\"\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n

With all that out of the way, I'm catching up on support issues next, and continuing on the path towards a splashy new ProductHunt launch. Hopefully we'll be talking about that next time.

\n

\n \"\"\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "In theory, every marketing website has the same job, "hey this thing can help you, you should use it". But writing, designing, and building the new <About Kinopio page really took it out of me.", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/9DNJnz13mv9CWvFg1tQFi/seal-1.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/9DNJnz13mv9CWvFg1tQFi/seal-1.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/12/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/12/", "title": "Bulletin № 12", "content_html": "

In the last Bulletin, I asked for your thoughts on how to grow the audience for Kinopio. I was surprised how many responses and helpful ideas I received, which I captured in the Ideas for Growing Kinopio space.

\n

While I work towards all this, here’s a life anecdote in the meantime. I’ve been using the same keyboard for 11 years now, a HHKB Professional 2. I’m really drawn to the ideal of using and growing with tools through your life. Using something for so long, it’s inevitably going to feel like an extension of your body.

\n

That said, a year or so ago I bought a ‘new’ keyboard. Well actually, it’s a new housing that I’ll transplant the guts of my current keyboard into. I ordered mine in Sunset Blvd:

\n

\n\"heavy\n

\n

It’s supposed to ship near the end of summer, so fingers crossed.

\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n

I’ve been slowly working my way towards a new launch. I’ve been refining the messaging around what Kinopio is, and simplifying the UI for new users.

\n

This includes the new + button that provides an upfront way to add new spaces, and integrating filters into find.

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

For more advanced users, you can now hold down shift while painting to select and unselect cards.

\n

But most importantly, we now have a Community Discord. Come chat with us, share your favorite spaces, and ask questions.

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n\n

I’ve updated the roadmap, based on Ideas for Growing Kinopio. (also with cool new graphics and music)

\n

\n\"\"\n

\n

Next on the list is building an about/marketing page for people that prefer to read about what Kinopio is, etc. before diving in.

\n

From my too-long career making marketing websites, my strategy is always to start with words. If you can make something clear and compelling with just text, then you’ve got something worth building.

\n", "date_published": "2021-07-05T00:00:00Z", "summary": "In the last Bulletin, I asked for your thoughts on how to grow the audience for Kinopio. I was surprised how many responses and helpful ideas I received", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/WWSJm2I9K3W-ed5I2M9ZY/SunsetBlvdTopDown-1024x1024.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/WWSJm2I9K3W-ed5I2M9ZY/SunsetBlvdTopDown-1024x1024.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#fdba9c" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/11/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/11/", "title": "Bulletin № 11", "content_html": "

New bulletin, new home. But this one (in Hoboken, NJ) looks like it’ll stick.

\n

It’s a weird feeling to be reunited with all your possessions after having them in storage for ~half a year. “I totally forgot I owned this”, “Huh, what’s this thing?”.

\n

But the most important part? My desk is back. Time for typing.

\n

\n \n

\n

I’m in a sunny room. If I turn my head to the right, and walk a few steps, here’s the view outside my window.

\n

\n \n

\n

\n 🐢 Sidenote: If I get reincarnated, I hope I come back as a turtle, carrying my house around with me wherever I go, just winning life.\n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n \n

\n For the first time in forever, I had almost two weeks of uninterrupted deep work time. So I typed and I drew:\n

\n \n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n I got a lot done but I think I need to take a step back and do less typing and more thinking. Specifically, I need to focus more on getting Kinopio in front of more people. It’s a perennial challenge, I think they call it ‘marketing’.\n

\n

\nI wrote a little bit more about that on the forum.\n

\n

\n I’d love to know:\n

\n \n", "date_published": "2021-06-23T00:00:00Z", "summary": "It’s a weird feeling to be reunited with all your possessions after having them in storage for ~half a year. “I totally forgot I owned this”, “Huh, what’s this thing?”", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/YmdB_Q4WgAIh6jGPukT6l/desk.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/YmdB_Q4WgAIh6jGPukT6l/desk.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/10/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/10/", "title": "Bulletin № 10", "content_html": "

Waiting for yet another plane, to yet another location. This time, to New Jersey. Supposedly this is the last move I'll have to make in a while, but it's hard for me to believe. I've got PTSD like a rescue stray, maybe you can adopt me.

\n

My dream is to spend a whole day in a dark cave nice. Cloistered away, with no obligations, moving tasks, and internet to set up.

\n

Maybe I’ll pick mushrooms of the dark stone walls and just type things all day while I munch.

\n

\n \n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n \n

\n Card seach is pretty handy for seeing what's new and jumping around your busy spaces. Also, I explored small game-making in Kinopio with\n Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?\n

\n

\n \n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n Because of all the aformentioned life moving slogs, it's probably not going to be a super productive week. Up next though is improved navigation/jumping between spaces.\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-06-02T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Waiting for yet another plane, to yet another location. This time, to New Jersey. Supposedly this is the last move I'll have to make in a while, but it's hard for me to believe.", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/8xwvOcx4tNbosDVDcFU0B/original-0b58d4b5617f0306892bf6165a6ce518.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/8xwvOcx4tNbosDVDcFU0B/original-0b58d4b5617f0306892bf6165a6ce518.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#f0dba8" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/9/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/9/", "title": "Bulletin № 9", "content_html": "

\n Have you ever heard of the Nakagin Capsule Tower?\n

\n

\n \n

\n

\n It's boxy capsules can be removed and replaced with new ones. Kind of like a USB hub. Imagine building and plugging-in your own custom home or office. Maybe upgrading them and moving them into another building later. Pretty futuristic today – even more so when it was built in ’72.\n

\n

\n \n

\n

\n Except… that because of an engineering flaw, the process for taking out a unit requires taking out all units below it. Asking all your downstairs neighbours to be cool with swinging from a crane while you plugged in your new kitchen was probably a bit awk.\n

\n

\n It’s still a cool idea though. I wonder how different the world would look today if they didn’t mess it up?\n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n \n

\n The big update is that everything touch and swipe related was reworked to make Kinopio mobile feel pretty great.\n

\n

\n \n

\n

\n (I shot a little video of me using it in the Detroit river)\n

\n

\n Also, I haven’t promoted this yet, but as you scroll or swipe around, you’ll see little moon-shaped markers at the edges of your screen. These little helpers give you a passive sense of the cards around you.\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n As I’ve been collaborating in spaces with people and teams, I’ve built up a little list of ways to improve the experience.\n

\n

\n Also I have some ideas for a history feature that’ll make it easy to find out “what’s new in this space?”.\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-20T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Have you ever heard of the Nakagin Capsule Tower?", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/yTIvU8ey_0XfEXhLSwFxu/image.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/yTIvU8ey_0XfEXhLSwFxu/image.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#609ea0" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/8/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/8/", "title": "Bulletin № 8", "content_html": "

This week I started reading ‘Ask Iwata’, a collection of essays by the late/former boss of Nintendo. When I think of CEOs, I picture people who really want to be charismatic visionaries who have all the answers. “Hang on to me, I will fly us to the future”

\n

But Iwata comes off more like a nice dork. There’s a different, humble kind of charisma around someone who schedules time to listen to every employee and strives to understand them first.

\n

\n \n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n \n

\n The big release last week was link previews. Pasting urls into cards shows you a little preview of what's on the page. I'm pretty happy with the design, it feels like a natural extension of Kinopio cards.\n

\n

\n \n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n I've started working on improving Kinopio on mobile. Being designed for small screens and touch from the beginning, it's always been usable – but weird visual glitches abound. I'm fixing each one to really make sure that the mobile app is something you can live in.\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-05-05T00:00:00Z", "summary": "This week I started reading ‘Ask Iwata’, a collection of essays by the late/former boss of Nintendo. When I think of CEOs, I picture people who really want to be charismatic visionaries who have all the answers. “Hang on to me, I will fly us to the future”", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/2sjGwYq_IfkpcOvtYAnzC/iu-1.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/2sjGwYq_IfkpcOvtYAnzC/iu-1.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#e04b29" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/7/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/7/", "title": "Bulletin № 7", "content_html": "

This month and next, I'm living in a magical attic in still-sometimes-snowing Windsor, Ontario.

\n

I found that I love living in the downtown of small towns. Having clean air, chill vibes, lots of space, but still being a short walk to the one quaint shopping street, with the one (or two) quaint cafés is really all I need in life.

\n\n

Here's a photo of a creepy cat I met – bet you can't find him though:\n \n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n \n

\n Last week, I focused on small enhancements that make everyday use nicer – like file uploads, svg image support, and glowing card connectors. These small details are my favorite kinds of updates.\n

\n

\n I also wrote about how I've collected and used\n 11 Years of Inspiration\n \n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n It's tax season, and immigration issues are compounding the complexity. Every accountant I reached out to ghosted me so I'm doing it myself. Anxiety is high, but with enough planning, all things are possible 🤞\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-22T00:00:00Z", "summary": "This month and next, I'm living in a magical attic in still-sometimes-snowing Windsor, Ontario.", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/zglDAenUej4FCGvUw06Qe/cat.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/zglDAenUej4FCGvUw06Qe/cat.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/6/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/6/", "title": "Bulletin № 6", "content_html": "

I got engaged to this cool weirdo (send help)

\n

\n \n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n \n

\n The last two weeks were focused on bug fixes and reliability. It's not dramatic, and maybe only I really notice, but when the system is well oiled and all the little details work just as they should, everything just ~feels~ better.\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n The next big thing I want to focus on is making Kinopio super great on mobile. Before that, I've still got a blog post to write.\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-04-09T00:00:00Z", "summary": "I got engaged to this cool weirdo (send help)", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/D9us9Cx7bGPQZ4Nsm5RSz/engaged.jpeg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/D9us9Cx7bGPQZ4Nsm5RSz/engaged.jpeg", "video": "", "color": "#fdba9c" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/5/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/5/", "title": "Bulletin № 5", "content_html": "

\n Lately, I've been thinking about this small farmhouse I found in the woods, surrounded only by acres of empty fields. It's all boarded up and there are never any snow prints in the ground around it.\n

\n

\n Put in some windows, set up some internet, and I could totally see myself living out here surrounded by nothing but trees and air and snow.\n

\n

\n Everyone who's seen the house thinks it's haunted, and that there's something wrong with me. I'll bet you get me though?\n

\n

\n \n

\n

\n (^ Not the actual house, but kinda looks like it)\n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n \n

\n The big release this week is desktop zooming. It feels so natural, you might feel like it's been part of Kinopio from the beginning.\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n I haven't gotten to writing that new blog post yet. Things do seem to come up. But here's hoping ~\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-25T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Lately, I've been thinking about this small farmhouse I found in the woods, surrounded only by acres of empty fields. It's all boarded up and there are never any snow prints in the ground around it", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/CMSxgF8Nj3IZdR-EZP_VN/original-7b157da1176c9fb697d5cfd3ebabe427.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/CMSxgF8Nj3IZdR-EZP_VN/original-7b157da1176c9fb697d5cfd3ebabe427.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#44b4de" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/4/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/4/", "title": "Bulletin № 4", "content_html": "

\n So I found out that I had an eye infection which was blurring my vision. Yuck, but I'm already healing up.\n

\n

\n When you can't see well, you realize just how much we rely on shape, size and position to use computer interfaces.\n

\n

\n TIL Having eyesight is pretty cool.\n

\n

\n \n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n\n

\n I added new ways to organize things in large spaces\n

\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n Sticking to the\n Roadmap, looks like I'm writing a new blog post soon (maybe something about ~inspiration?)\n

\n

\n p.s. I'm still looking for relevant creators with small audiences to reach out too. If you know anyone let me know :)\n \n

\n", "date_published": "2021-03-10T00:00:00Z", "summary": "So I found out that I had an eye infection which was blurring my vision. Yuck, but I'm already healing up.", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/u0A08VqqmK6CXPbGdbenX/original-db4687974297da479bfefa315ad6bdb0.png", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/u0A08VqqmK6CXPbGdbenX/original-db4687974297da479bfefa315ad6bdb0.png", "video": "", "color": "#febb0b" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/3/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/3/", "title": "Bulletin № 3", "content_html": "

\n My eyes have been sore lately, so to take a break from screens I dusted off my childhood keyboard, a chunky Yamaha (PSR-510) covered in mysterious and colorful buttons, knobs, and dials. Now that I'm a lot older I kinda-sorta know what most of them do, but it's still fun to push something, hit some keys and try and figure out what changed~\n

\n\n

\n What's New\n

\n

\n \n I updated the price of Kinopio to help make it more financially sustainable. When the increase was announced, I was surprised by how many people welcomed and supported it. Thank you supporting independent software, and also me.\n

\n

\n I also added new space backgrounds, including some animated ones that are fun to play with.\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n Most people who see Kinopio are intrigued by it – but also not enough people have seen Kinopio. I'm going to spend some time actively reaching out to people that might like it. If you know any cool writers, youtube-ers, or podcasters with small to medium-size audiences that you think I should hit up please let me know!\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-02-24T00:00:00Z", "summary": "My eyes have been sore lately, so to take a break from screens I dusted off my childhood keyboard, a chunky Yamaha (PSR-510) covered in mysterious and colorful buttons, knobs, and dials.", "image": "https://kinopio-email.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/anime-tea.gif", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-email.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/anime-tea.gif", "video": "", "color": "#ff7f4f" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/2/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/2/", "title": "Bulletin № 2", "content_html": "

\n \n I'm back in Toronto and fortunately I still like snow. I've got a new mac and a very suburban winter view. Time for some good typing.\n

\n

\n \n

\n

\n What's New\n

\n

\n \n I spent time on the little things that are more felt than seen. Fixed every bug reported on the forum, and improved the performance of moving cards by over 20%.\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n 💰 To help grow Kinopio to financial sustainability, in the next few weeks I'll be increasing the cost of upgrading your account to $5/mo, and also adding a $50/yr option. If you've already upgraded – or if you upgrade soon – you'll be grandfathered into the current price of $4/mo forever.\n

\n

\n After that, I'll be looking into more ways to make spaces feel social, but not distracting. And hopefully I'll also get to adding more card alignment options.\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-02-10T00:00:00Z", "summary": "I'm back in Toronto and fortunately I still like snow. I've got a new mac and a very suburban winter view. Time for some good typing.", "image": "https://kinopio-email.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/winter-suburb-view.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://kinopio-email.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/winter-suburb-view.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#cf8641" } } ,{ "id": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/1/", "url": "https://kinopio.club/blog/posts/1/", "title": "Bulletin № 1", "content_html": "

\n \n Hello from sunny winter San Diego. Although I have to go back to Canada soon... for now though, the moisture, sunlight, and fresh air is really healing me.\n

\n What's New\n

\n

\n \n In the last two weeks, I've been working on closing the loop by adding comments and notifications to make it easier to follow activity and have conversations in spaces.\n

\n

\n Upcoming\n

\n \n

\n I'll continue to close the loop in more ways, like by letting you know when your favorited spaces have been updated.\n

\n

\n 💰 To help grow Kinopio to financial sustainability, sometime in the next month I'll be increasing the cost of upgrading your account to $5/mo, and also adding a $50/yr option. If you've already upgraded – or if you upgrade soon – you'll be grandfathered into the current price of $4/mo forever.\n

\n", "date_published": "2021-01-21T00:00:00Z", "summary": "Hello from sunny winter San Diego. Although I have to go back to Canada soon... for now though, the moisture, sunlight, and fresh air is really healing me.", "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/jEcZxfrM6eLwb32Wi9Nv3/painting.jpg", "_meta": { "image": "https://us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/kinopio-uploads/jEcZxfrM6eLwb32Wi9Nv3/painting.jpg", "video": "", "color": "#f0dba8" } } ] }