In After Losing My Facebook Account Used for Twelve Years, I wrote about actively managing my information sources. In The August I Flared and Burned Out, I wrote about reclaiming empty space. That led me to put together this list of information sources and keep adding to it over time.
For now, most of my sources are in Mandarin, written in traditional characters. I've considered reading more in English and Japanese, but Mandarin-language creators already cover a wide range of topics. Finding and reading good resources in languages other than my native one takes more effort, too. I'll add any worthwhile ones I come across later!
Recommendations and self-nominations are welcome in the comments!
Bloggers
๐น๐ผ Taiwan-based only
- Manny's Newsletter Pro: business, technology, and trends
- Kalan: Japan, technology, knowledge, and perspectives
- Huli: life and technology
- Leafwind / midori.land: writing, life, careers, and Japan
- PJ Wu: AI, productivity, and life
- Wei Lee: life, anime, and fandom
- Wiwi (his blogroll introduces many more blogs)
- BlogBlog ๅๆจๆ
- Cheng Lap's Patreon: observations on culture and society, though I sometimes take his stronger opinions with a grain of salt
- 1% ๅฐฑๅฅฝ: candid reflections on personal thoughts and worries
- min: product management and life
- ้ ็: essays on life, exhibitions, and books
- Many writers on Substack, mostly writing about life and experiences abroad. Feel free to explore; I won't list them all here.
Podcasts
๐น๐ผ Taiwan-based only
- ่ก็
- ๅฐ็ฃ้ๅค็ฌฌไธๅ็
- ๆผๅ ฑ
Novelists
- Brandon Sanderson
- Kotaro Isaka
- Hinowa Kouzuki
- ๆๅญ
My Subscriptions
- Setapp
- Proton VPN/Mail/Drive
- Google Drive 2TB
- Wondering App
- OCAT - Shadowing App
- Claude
- Codex
- Netflix
- Bahamut Animation Crazy (๐น๐ผ Taiwan only)
- ้ป่ฒๆธๅใๅ่ ็ณปๅใcrowdfunding subscription (๐น๐ผ Taiwan only)
- midori.land (๐น๐ผ Taiwan only)
- Manny's Newsletter Pro (๐น๐ผ Taiwan only)
My Mac Productivity Tools
- Setapp
- CleanMyMac
- CleanShot X
- Session
- Raycast
- BetterDisplay
- Browsers
- Arc: everyday use
- Brave: built-in ad blocker
- Chrome: built-in Gemini
- Notes: Notion โ NotePlan โ Heptabase โ Notion โ Obsidian
- Whisper Transcription
For Development
- Wrap + Ghost
- VS Code / IntelliJ
- Claude Code / Codex
- TablePlus
- OrbStack
Mobile
I'm using a Samsung Z Fold 7 now, and I have no regrets about switching from an iPhone. Samsung One UI already has plenty of useful features, including Gemini, so I haven't needed to install many extra apps.
One app I do recommend is ScreenZen. It acts as an app lock: whenever I open a social media or entertainment app, it makes me wait five seconds. I can also set a daily limit on how many times I open those apps. I can go over the limit, but when I stick to it, ScreenZen shows how many days I've kept it up. That makes me reluctant to break the streak. My best streak was almost 200 days, though I recently broke it and am building it up again.