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PTPL stands for Plain Text; Paper, Less. It’s both a philosophy and the name of my weekly newsletter.
See also:
Plain text is a human readable format for data that is free from formatting, containing only standard characters. Plain text files created in the 60s can still be read on today’s devices, and I’m confident that .txt files created today will still be readable long into the future.
Plain text can have formatting symbols added with the addition of Markdown without losing its interoperability. Markdown files count as plain text in my opinion, as they’re similarly accessible.
I’ve been writing my name as Ellane W since I was a kid. I was smart enough to marry someone with the same initial, so the habit stuck.
You can’t leave comments here because I haven’t connected any comment services to this site. Some posts have a link to their relevant Mastodon or Medium posts, so you can leave comments over there. I also welcome comments via email.
If you’re not sure what Mastodon or the Fediverse is, read this. Don’t overthink it, just join a reputable instance and remember you can change it later.
This is like a kind of public email system—lots of different providers, and everyone can talk to everyone else. All you need is a (free) address. It’s a chronological feed with no algorithms, monopolies, or attention commodification. Read more
I’m not a tech-whizz, and I don’t know how to code websites. What I do know is how to write things in my favourite Markdown app, Obsidian. This site was written in and published directly from Obsidian, via Blot. The files are stored locally on my laptop and synced via Dropbox, though I could also use Git or Google Drive if I wanted to.
Learning CSS is on my radar but for now all the styling is thanks to Blot’s Magazine template. Dark mode is possible, and one day I will learn how to make it happen! You can use the Reader option in your browser, or a third party extension to force dark mode (sorry).
No! The font you’re seeing is iA Writer Duo, and neither it not I track anything you do on or off my site.
AI has its place, but this site is not it. All words and pictures here are 100% human made.
Exceptions: AI can be a helpful assistant for things like spelling and grammar checking, suggesting connections, and generating ALT text for images. I’d be happy to have an AI lackey do that kind of work, but I will not ever let it write for me and claim those words as my own.
You can email me at hello at ellanew dot com, follow me on Mastodon, via RSS, or sign up for my brief, (mostly) weekly newsletter:
I respect your time, attention, and email inbox. Serial subscribers / unsubscribers are welcome.
Not sure what RSS is? Just download NetNewsWire and click the ➕ in the bottom right hand corner of the app. Select Add feed, and enter this URL: https://ellanew.com/feed.rss
Thank you for joining me on this journey as I learn in public! If you like what you see, the best ways to support me are one or more of the following:
If you get value from what I write and would like to offer monetary support, thank you thank you! It really helps this indie writer to feel valued, and to pay the bills.
You can use PayPal (paypal.me/ellane), my PayID ([email protected]) or Ko-fi page. One-off donations or monthly subscriptions are available on the latter (both are pay-what-you-want), and you can jump in and out according to your circumstances. Unlike other popular services, Ko-fi doesn’t take a cut.
Affiliate / Referral links to products I use and love:
Ask me on Mastodon, or send an email to hello at ellanew dot com.