Welcome to my blog. I write about economics, books I’m reading, Linux tools, etc.

Cron Jobs

Installation Install and enable the cron daemon. sudo pacman -S cronie sudo systemctl enable --now cronie.service systemctl status cronie.service # should be active (running) Setup To edit crontab, run crontab -e If you get an error like this, /bin/sh: line 1: /usr/bin/vi: No such file or directory crontab: "/usr/bin/vi" exited with status 127 pass the following commands: set -Ux EDITOR emacs set -Ux VISUAL emacs This defaults to emacs across different Fish sessions. Then with crontab -e add jobs like this. ...

November 11, 2026 · 316 words

Fast Navigation (Zoxide)

The previous post about fast navigation involved getting to the right directory in the file explorer. Zoxide achieves that functionality for the terminal. To install, run the following. (fzf, fuzzy finder, is optional.) sudo pacman -S zoxide fzf Next, initialize the shell. For Fish, add the following to ~/.config/fish/config.fish. zoxide init fish | source This step differs for other shells: Shell File Line Bash ~/.bashrc eval "$(zoxide init bash)" Zsh ~/.zshrc eval "$(zoxide init zsh)" Fish ~/.config/fish/config.fish zoxide init fish | source Once configured, Zoxide will note your use of cd. It will remember the places you visited. You will be able to then jump straight to the relevant directory. ...

November 11, 2026 · 170 words

Everything Is Football

While thinking about sports, I am reminded of the example of topological equivalence showing how a coffee mug is a donut. Many sports are essentially football. Some, such as hockey, ice hockey, gaelic football, american football, rugby, basketball, lacrosse, polo, water polo, etc, are obviously so. The playing conditions, the number of players, the scoring, the shape of the threshold (goal, basket, goal line) and various other details differ, but in each case, there is an object that needs to sent beyond a certain threshold by a team to score points. ...

November 8, 2026 · 375 words

Fast Navigation (Baloo + KRunner + Dolphin)

Background I have been using the Search functionality within the Dolphin file manager for KDE Plasma increasingly recently; however, the speed with which the results would show up left much to be desired. I went looking for faster options and chose Baloo indexing with KRunner, which runs a lot faster than Dolphin crawling through the directories on every search. Setup Step 1: Check the current state balooctl6 status If it says “not running” or “could not be opened,” proceed below. ...

November 8, 2026 · 386 words

Economics Before Adam Smith by Murray Rothbard (Consolidation)

Murray Rothbard begins his discussions about economics from Aristotelian times, but my main interest is in the recent era. The main lessons were around four characters: Richard Cantillon, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, David Hume, and Adam Smith. Below are my notes, consolidated from previous posts. Richard Cantillon (From Richard Cantillon, the Founder of Modern Economics.) Richard Cantillon (1680-1734), an Irish-French banker/merchant predating Adam Smith, is arguably the founder of modern economics. The book he wrote shortly before his demise, Essay on the Nature of Trade in General, officially published in 1755, was an influential and highly citied document, before it was overshadowed by the retardation of economics that would follow in the form of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776). ...

November 7, 2026 · 4914 words

Setting Up Computational Notebook Functionality in Emacs Org Mode

In the equations rendering challenge described in LaTeX With Emacs, org-fragtog came to the rescue, finally providing something to toggle between mathematical symbols and LaTeX code. But a computational notebook needs more than just mathematical equations rendered properly. It needs to be able to display and run code. Specifically, in my case, it needs to be able to run Python, R, and Julia. Code Blocks In Org Mode, #begin_src language ..... #end_src allows for code to be written and displayed correctly. For example: ...

August 21, 2026 · 422 words

Natural Limits on Free Banking Reserve Requirements

In a free banking system, various banks issue their own banknotes which are redeemable for the gold that they hold. The banks set their policies independently and compete with other banks in the free market. This is distinct from the central banking system we experience today, where a central bank dictates key requirements the chartered banks must obey, and these banks issue a single fiat currency. One important decision a bank needs to make in a free banking system is how much reserves it shall hold on to at any moment to meet the withdrawal demands of the depositors. If the reserves are less than 100% of the deposits, the bank engages in fractional reserve banking. (Setting aside the question of morality of such a system, free banks with fractional reserves have emerged in the free market and operated for a long time in the past.) ...

May 24, 2026 · 480 words

Tasks vs Calendar

Calendar A calendar is to be used for the following. Time blocking, Marking events that will occur regardless of your presence, Marking due dates. I am using the Full Calendar plugin. Every event is a separate note under a specific folder. The events appear in a calendar timeline. Task Manager A task manager is used for tracking all tasks associated with projects. Be as specific as you need to be. Tasks do not necessarily have due dates. Set scheduled dates and priority for tasks as required. ...

July 8, 2026 · 491 words

Some of My Favorite Anime

In no particular order, the following are some of my favorite anime shows. These are all completed series I have fully watched, sometimes multiple times. Avatar: The Last Airbender This is the series that really got me into watching anime. A fun story about the last airbender traveling through different lands and ultimately defeating the evil king in the fire nation. Simple, children’s cartoon with excellent characters and relatively predictable plotlines, but very well executed. ...

May 22, 2026 · 348 words

Using Obsidian

Background I have been using the note-taking software, Obsidian, for a little more than a year, and it has been a major quality of life upgrade for me. Prior to this, I used Evernote for several years, thanks to the recommendation of Tim Ferriss. Initially, I was a happy customer, but over the years, the subscription costs mounted and the quality of the app degraded. I tested Joplin and Notion but they proved inadequate for my needs. Finally, I landed on Obsidian, finding it through the videos of No Boilerplate. My usage pattern has settled down enough over the past year for me to be able to discuss it. ...

July 9, 2026 · 838 words