0:00:01.360,0:00:05.520
hello and welcome to my
0:00:03.040,0:00:07.120
Emacs conference lightning talk today
0:00:05.520,0:00:09.840
I'll be talking about
0:00:07.120,0:00:13.360
my journey into Emacs as a high schooler
0:00:09.840,0:00:13.360
and how it has changed my life
0:00:14.400,0:00:19.520
right so who am I I am a senior at
0:00:17.359,0:00:22.800
stanford online high school
0:00:19.520,0:00:24.320
and I am also a violinist
0:00:22.800,0:00:26.960
I started violin when I was two and a
0:00:24.320,0:00:29.119
half and I have been
0:00:26.960,0:00:30.240
keeping it up ever since violin is a
0:00:29.119,0:00:33.360
huge part of my life
0:00:30.240,0:00:36.239
and I am very much a musician at heart
0:00:33.360,0:00:37.840
I am also a somewhat capable programmer
0:00:36.239,0:00:39.280
I've done a lot of informal programming
0:00:37.840,0:00:42.559
in the past
0:00:39.280,0:00:44.079
and this year I'm taking my first ap
0:00:42.559,0:00:47.440
compsci course
0:00:44.079,0:00:51.039
in my high school and so
0:00:47.440,0:00:54.239
I've done a lot of side projects
0:00:51.039,0:00:56.800
mainly in python and some very short
0:00:54.239,0:00:59.840
scripts in e-lisp
0:00:56.800,0:01:02.879
and last but not least I am a tinker
0:00:59.840,0:01:06.720
I love to play around with things and
0:01:02.879,0:01:10.240
see what I can do better and just
0:01:06.720,0:01:10.240
have as much fun as possible
0:01:10.880,0:01:14.479
so how did I find Emacs
0:01:15.040,0:01:18.880
I discovered it actually through a talk
0:01:17.600,0:01:21.360
funnily enough
0:01:18.880,0:01:23.520
at a vim conference given by aaron
0:01:21.360,0:01:25.840
bieber
0:01:23.520,0:01:28.320
titled evil mode or how I learned to
0:01:25.840,0:01:31.439
stop worrying and love Emacs
0:01:28.320,0:01:33.360
I watched that talk a couple times over
0:01:31.439,0:01:35.759
just marveling at all the wonderful
0:01:33.360,0:01:38.799
things that he could do in Emacs
0:01:35.759,0:01:41.680
and being a previous vim user myself
0:01:38.799,0:01:42.399
I found it very enticing to be able to
0:01:41.680,0:01:44.960
have
0:01:42.399,0:01:47.040
the evil mode package and very quickly
0:01:44.960,0:01:48.799
switch to Emacs
0:01:47.040,0:01:51.040
at the time I was also in my sophomore
0:01:48.799,0:01:54.640
year and so
0:01:51.040,0:01:56.320
I had had sort of a note-taking system
0:01:54.640,0:01:59.360
in the past
0:01:56.320,0:02:01.680
but it was not good um and I needed a
0:01:59.360,0:02:03.759
more organized note-taking system
0:02:01.680,0:02:04.960
my parents had suggested paper for a
0:02:03.759,0:02:08.160
while and
0:02:04.960,0:02:10.959
there was the whole organization
0:02:08.160,0:02:12.080
part of that but that did not really
0:02:10.959,0:02:14.000
work out for me
0:02:12.080,0:02:16.239
and so I was trying to find this better
0:02:14.000,0:02:19.440
note-taking system
0:02:16.239,0:02:22.239
and it was very hard
0:02:19.440,0:02:23.520
I had two main criteria which I did not
0:02:22.239,0:02:25.360
define at the time
0:02:23.520,0:02:26.640
but I realized was really what I was
0:02:25.360,0:02:28.720
looking for
0:02:26.640,0:02:30.959
first of all it had to be flexible
0:02:28.720,0:02:33.920
enough and second of all it had
0:02:30.959,0:02:34.959
I had to have control over the data and
0:02:33.920,0:02:37.519
so
0:02:34.959,0:02:39.680
through this process I actually went
0:02:37.519,0:02:42.640
through a bunch of note-taking softwares
0:02:39.680,0:02:44.080
rather systematically I went through
0:02:42.640,0:02:47.519
google docs
0:02:44.080,0:02:49.840
which very much did not work out
0:02:47.519,0:02:50.640
I also went through evernote which also
0:02:49.840,0:02:53.200
was not
0:02:50.640,0:02:55.200
great for me and one note which I
0:02:53.200,0:02:58.800
settled on for a little while
0:02:55.200,0:03:01.519
but it did not meet these criteria
0:02:58.800,0:03:02.159
particularly the second one I had taken
0:03:01.519,0:03:05.280
some notes
0:03:02.159,0:03:07.519
and I wanted to export it and onenote
0:03:05.280,0:03:12.000
did not let me do that
0:03:07.519,0:03:14.879
it was pdf horribly organized pdf
0:03:12.000,0:03:17.200
and that's when I knew I needed some
0:03:14.879,0:03:17.200
change
0:03:17.440,0:03:24.080
so I discovered Emacs through this talk
0:03:21.519,0:03:26.640
and through the wonderful features of
0:03:24.080,0:03:26.640
org mode
0:03:27.040,0:03:34.000
this is my first journal entry in Emacs
0:03:30.080,0:03:36.159
I had been playing with it for one day
0:03:34.000,0:03:38.159
and I was on the org agenda and I
0:03:36.159,0:03:40.720
happened to press I
0:03:38.159,0:03:41.599
which for the Emacs combined is the
0:03:40.720,0:03:45.440
default for
0:03:41.599,0:03:48.720
diary entry and so I was very excited
0:03:45.440,0:03:50.239
um and I shouldn't stay on the slide too
0:03:48.720,0:03:53.760
long unless you read it
0:03:50.239,0:03:57.200
um so let's move on to the next one
0:03:53.760,0:04:00.480
um so the learning curve for me I think
0:03:57.200,0:04:03.760
particularly being an xbm user
0:04:00.480,0:04:06.080
evil mode made it very easy to switch
0:04:03.760,0:04:07.439
thankfully I there was the emax
0:04:06.080,0:04:10.799
reference sheet
0:04:07.439,0:04:14.080
and having evil mode to
0:04:10.799,0:04:17.440
switch between um
0:04:14.080,0:04:17.919
texts and whether it be editing a text
0:04:17.440,0:04:20.560
file
0:04:17.919,0:04:21.600
or going to other parts of just Emacs in
0:04:20.560,0:04:24.800
general
0:04:21.600,0:04:26.840
I think vim really helped with making me
0:04:24.800,0:04:28.000
feel comfortable within this new
0:04:26.840,0:04:31.440
environment
0:04:28.000,0:04:31.919
and so having that experience I also
0:04:31.440,0:04:34.240
wasn't
0:04:31.919,0:04:36.320
new to the keybind-based world I have
0:04:34.240,0:04:40.160
been very comfortable with computer
0:04:36.320,0:04:43.520
and the keyboard for most of my life
0:04:40.160,0:04:45.520
and so it was not a totally new
0:04:43.520,0:04:47.440
environment for me
0:04:45.520,0:04:49.360
I also spent a lot of time looking at
0:04:47.440,0:04:53.040
the Emacs reference sheet
0:04:49.360,0:04:55.040
just thinking about trying to find
0:04:53.040,0:04:56.639
all of the different functions if I
0:04:55.040,0:04:59.680
didn't know what something was
0:04:56.639,0:05:01.199
then I queried it in Emacs and then I
0:04:59.680,0:05:03.759
figured out what it was
0:05:01.199,0:05:05.600
and that was one of the best ways for me
0:05:03.759,0:05:09.280
to discover
0:05:05.600,0:05:09.280
all of the capabilities of Emacs
0:05:09.360,0:05:12.800
thirdly of course the self-documenting
0:05:11.440,0:05:15.199
feature
0:05:12.800,0:05:17.120
or nature of Emacs and narrowing
0:05:15.199,0:05:20.479
frameworks such as helm
0:05:17.120,0:05:21.360
really helped find things especially for
0:05:20.479,0:05:25.919
mx
0:05:21.360,0:05:28.160
for a while I was just
0:05:25.919,0:05:29.520
I would go about my day and if I pressed
0:05:28.160,0:05:30.720
to keep mine that I didn't know what it
0:05:29.520,0:05:34.560
did
0:05:30.720,0:05:36.240
I would do the losses and
0:05:34.560,0:05:37.600
see the list of key binds that I had
0:05:36.240,0:05:40.400
pressed and
0:05:37.600,0:05:41.280
tried to find that one and query the
0:05:40.400,0:05:45.199
function
0:05:41.280,0:05:45.199
and what not so
0:05:45.280,0:05:51.759
yeah and now we jump to now so
0:05:49.120,0:05:53.280
there there is at least one moment in
0:05:51.759,0:05:55.600
each day when I think
0:05:53.280,0:05:57.680
how would I live without umax
0:05:55.600,0:05:59.120
particularly now during my senior year
0:05:57.680,0:06:02.720
in high school
0:05:59.120,0:06:05.520
things are very busy with school violin
0:06:02.720,0:06:06.400
and other side projects it's pretty
0:06:05.520,0:06:09.680
crazy
0:06:06.400,0:06:12.720
and so Emacs
0:06:09.680,0:06:14.479
and org mode has really helped me stay
0:06:12.720,0:06:16.960
on track with everything
0:06:14.479,0:06:18.840
and the flexibility of these software is
0:06:16.960,0:06:21.600
being able to have things in different
0:06:18.840,0:06:24.639
files notes within the tasks
0:06:21.600,0:06:25.840
all of that stuff has been truly a
0:06:24.639,0:06:28.400
lifesaver
0:06:25.840,0:06:31.199
and so I think I can confidently say
0:06:28.400,0:06:34.560
that I have found Emacs to be
0:06:31.199,0:06:34.560
the perfect software for me
0:06:35.280,0:06:42.240
over the past two years of using Emacs
0:06:38.639,0:06:45.039
now it is about two years and two months
0:06:42.240,0:06:46.160
I have built a fairly well organized
0:06:45.039,0:06:49.520
2000
0:06:46.160,0:06:52.160
plus line org literate config
0:06:49.520,0:06:53.840
and so I actually I started with an
0:06:52.160,0:06:56.800
e-lisp config
0:06:53.840,0:06:57.919
just the vanilla e-max with evil mode
0:06:56.800,0:07:00.319
and I built it up
0:06:57.919,0:07:02.400
from there eventually I switched to org
0:07:00.319,0:07:05.840
literate configs
0:07:02.400,0:07:10.080
and used that to organize the snippets
0:07:05.840,0:07:14.000
that I was putting in there and so
0:07:10.080,0:07:16.639
yeah this is really my workflow now
0:07:14.000,0:07:18.960
currently about 90 of everything I do on
0:07:16.639,0:07:21.520
my computer is in Emacs
0:07:18.960,0:07:22.319
the most notable things of course the
0:07:21.520,0:07:26.000
list is far
0:07:22.319,0:07:28.160
too long to put on one slide but I do a
0:07:26.000,0:07:31.280
lot of my programming in Emacs
0:07:28.160,0:07:33.759
mainly python and e-lisp
0:07:31.280,0:07:35.199
because of my ap comp sci class I have
0:07:33.759,0:07:38.720
to do java as well
0:07:35.199,0:07:41.759
and thank goodness Emacs has wonderful
0:07:38.720,0:07:41.759
support for that as well
0:07:41.840,0:07:48.800
also I do all of my school assignments
0:07:45.840,0:07:50.400
more or less in Emacs essay writing I do
0:07:48.800,0:07:51.919
an org mode and I have some template
0:07:50.400,0:07:53.919
files
0:07:51.919,0:07:55.039
template org files which I just include
0:07:53.919,0:07:58.160
at the top
0:07:55.039,0:08:01.440
and then I can export easily to latex
0:07:58.160,0:08:04.400
and a beautiful pdf
0:08:01.440,0:08:05.840
math physics same thing latex fragments
0:08:04.400,0:08:09.599
are a lifesaver
0:08:05.840,0:08:13.199
and also really pretty
0:08:09.599,0:08:15.520
and I take notes on basically everything
0:08:13.199,0:08:16.319
at first I had things separate and then
0:08:15.520,0:08:19.360
I started
0:08:16.319,0:08:21.360
sort of putting it all into onenotes.org
0:08:19.360,0:08:24.000
file or most of it into one
0:08:21.360,0:08:24.960
file and that has actually worked out
0:08:24.000,0:08:26.479
surprisingly well
0:08:24.960,0:08:28.879
especially with all the searching
0:08:26.479,0:08:33.440
features of agenda
0:08:28.879,0:08:35.680
and whatnot um and I also use mail
0:08:33.440,0:08:37.680
I recently made the switch probably
0:08:35.680,0:08:40.479
about one or two months ago
0:08:37.680,0:08:40.959
and it has been one of the best switches
0:08:40.479,0:08:44.480
I've
0:08:40.959,0:08:46.320
I've ever had especially given
0:08:44.480,0:08:47.839
connecting to tasks all of this
0:08:46.320,0:08:50.640
wonderful stuff
0:08:47.839,0:08:54.160
just putting even more in Emacs is
0:08:50.640,0:08:57.680
always a good thing I found
0:08:54.160,0:08:59.760
so reflecting back on my journey I think
0:08:57.680,0:09:01.440
one of the most important things was
0:08:59.760,0:09:04.480
just having a reason to use it
0:09:01.440,0:09:06.080
when I came to Emacs I had something
0:09:04.480,0:09:09.600
that I was looking for
0:09:06.080,0:09:09.839
and as soon as I found it I delved right
0:09:09.600,0:09:12.720
in
0:09:09.839,0:09:14.480
and I I started using it for that thing
0:09:12.720,0:09:16.959
and so I was sort of forced to
0:09:14.480,0:09:19.279
take the time to read the docs and
0:09:16.959,0:09:22.399
figure out what functions I needed
0:09:19.279,0:09:25.839
to function and how
0:09:22.399,0:09:29.519
I was going to put my workflow
0:09:25.839,0:09:29.519
and also of course the desire to tinker
0:09:30.399,0:09:36.800
and yeah so really what's next for me
0:09:33.519,0:09:38.640
is just wanting to become a more active
0:09:36.800,0:09:40.640
member of the Emacs community
0:09:38.640,0:09:43.760
I want to give back and I think this
0:09:40.640,0:09:45.920
talk is sort of the first step to that
0:09:43.760,0:09:48.000
being a more active part of this
0:09:45.920,0:09:51.040
community that has
0:09:48.000,0:09:54.000
indirectly perhaps um but just like
0:09:51.040,0:09:55.839
really helped me become a better and
0:09:54.000,0:09:58.880
more organized human being
0:09:55.839,0:10:01.920
um I have some package ideas that I'm
0:09:58.880,0:10:05.839
slowly working on and yeah I just hope
0:10:01.920,0:10:05.839
to spread the word
0:10:05.920,0:10:09.360
so thank you very much for listening to
0:10:08.000,0:10:11.360
my lightning talk
0:10:09.360,0:10:12.480
if you'd like to contact me here are
0:10:11.360,0:10:15.279
three modes of
0:10:12.480,0:10:17.120
or two modes of communication I will be
0:10:15.279,0:10:20.079
on irc more
0:10:17.120,0:10:20.560
soon and you can always email me if you
0:10:20.079,0:10:23.200
have
0:10:20.560,0:10:23.680
any questions you can also search me on
0:10:23.200,0:10:26.399
youtube
0:10:23.680,0:10:26.800
pierce wong violin thank you very much
0:10:26.399,0:10:30.000
and
0:10:26.800,0:10:30.000
I hope you enjoy the rest of the
0:10:30.040,0:10:33.040
conference
