WEBVTT captioned by sachac 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.639 Hello, my name is Daniel Pinkston. I'm in my last year of high 00:00:04.640 --> 00:00:07.519 school, about to go to university. About two and a half years 00:00:07.520 --> 00:00:10.759 ago, I discovered Emacs. My life has now been separated into 00:00:10.760 --> 00:00:14.199 two chapters: before and after Emacs. How could this tool be 00:00:14.200 --> 00:00:18.399 so impactful? Well, you'll just have to see. I made this talk 00:00:18.400 --> 00:00:20.679 for people who ask questions like this, but don't know where 00:00:20.680 --> 00:00:24.559 to start. When I started using Emacs for school, it took me a 00:00:24.560 --> 00:00:27.959 long time to find what I liked. There wasn't many examples of 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:31.119 a full process for an organization. This talk was made to 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.359 guide students like me, those who wanted more from their 00:00:34.360 --> 00:00:37.599 software workflow that they can learn and adapt from. My 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:39.959 main idea was essentially explained by Zaiste in his 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:43.679 EmacsConf presentation in 2019. He said something to the 00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:46.399 effect of, one of the great parts about Doom Emacs as a 00:00:46.400 --> 00:00:48.599 starting point is that it shows beginners how different 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:51.399 packages mesh with each other. He says that people often 00:00:51.400 --> 00:00:53.639 have trouble seeing how to develop workflows using the 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:57.159 thousands of packages Emacs has. In this talk, I introduce 00:00:57.160 --> 00:00:59.519 some Emacs tools and how they work together to improve a 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:04.159 student's academic workflow. Let us commence. If you are 00:01:04.160 --> 00:01:07.199 watching this talk and have never heard of Emacs, it's a 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:10.479 customizable text editor. When you become more 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:13.559 experienced, it becomes your entire operating system. You 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:17.119 just live inside of Emacs. It's also free as in free pencils 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.919 and open source, which means that you don't have to pay to 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:23.599 download Emacs and its source code. Emacs doesn't charge 00:01:23.600 --> 00:01:25.879 you a monthly subscription, nor does it steal all of your 00:01:25.880 --> 00:01:31.119 information. Yeah, I know, it's pretty crazy. In this talk, 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:33.559 I introduce some Emacs tools and how they work together to 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.879 improve a student's academic workflow. Earlier I read this 00:01:36.880 --> 00:01:40.879 post on this website that said, I can only imagine the great 00:01:40.880 --> 00:01:43.719 things you'd be able to learn and retain in your brain thanks 00:01:43.720 --> 00:01:47.759 to the great Emacs ecosystem. You've made the best choice, 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:51.439 with far-going implications. I promise you not once, not 00:01:51.440 --> 00:01:54.039 even subtly, have I ever regretted having invested in 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:57.399 learning Emacs. It's the best gift anyone can present to 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.399 themself. You will forever feel indebted to your younger 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:03.839 self for this gift. I guarantee that. I think that this is a 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:07.199 real testament to the true power of Emacs. There's simply no 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:09.839 other software like it. It's a complete and fitting 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.759 solution for those who are willing to master it. Hopefully 00:02:12.760 --> 00:02:16.199 by now you're invested in learning Emacs. But before we jump 00:02:16.200 --> 00:02:18.919 into the technicalities of everything, we should outline 00:02:18.920 --> 00:02:22.039 the main things that you need it to do as a student. The best 00:02:22.040 --> 00:02:24.279 students have their system figured out so that it can do 00:02:24.280 --> 00:02:27.239 these things quickly and efficiently. They should have no 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:29.839 problem quickly organizing what they need to do along with 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.999 capturing information from their classes. But you may be 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.959 wondering, how does Emacs do all that? Well, it does it with 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.679 Org Mode. It was built to be an outliner for note-taking and 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:45.239 list management, exactly what a student needs. One of the 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:47.959 key features is that it's plain text, which means that you 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:50.079 can migrate it between computers, and it's not a 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:52.919 proprietary format. For those of you who have heard of 00:02:52.920 --> 00:02:55.799 Markdown, Org is similar in that it's a markup language. 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:59.079 However, it's a bit older, and it goes way beyond Markdown's 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:01.479 simple text formatting, with its scheduling, task 00:03:01.480 --> 00:03:04.159 management, and organization features, all captured 00:03:04.160 --> 00:03:07.159 within plain text simplicity. This slide shows off one of my 00:03:07.160 --> 00:03:10.159 notes from a heavily customized Emacs window. Yours 00:03:10.160 --> 00:03:12.439 probably won't look like this from the start, but you can 00:03:12.440 --> 00:03:17.199 personalize its appearance with custom themes. 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:19.999 It's finally time to get into the technicalities. What you 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.639 need to do with your notes in Org Mode is create, search, and 00:03:22.640 --> 00:03:25.559 possibly publish them. I prefer Denote for creating my 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:29.319 notes, but there are many Emacs packages for that. Denote is 00:03:29.320 --> 00:03:32.279 just lightweight and gets the job done. I used to use Org 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:35.799 Roam, but I didn't need or use all of its features. I also use 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:38.359 Anki, a free and open source flashcard program, but of 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:41.319 course, I make all my flashcards in Org Mode. For searching, 00:03:41.320 --> 00:03:43.559 I often use find and grep, which are both standard 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:46.799 utilities on Linux. Other operating systems probably have 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:50.519 a tool to replicate this functionality. The final item is 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:52.959 exporting. There are many scenarios in which I want to 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.239 publish my notes to share them with teachers or peers. One of 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:58.479 my favorite features of Org Mode is the exportability of the 00:03:58.480 --> 00:04:01.719 notes you make. This presentation was actually made in Org 00:04:01.720 --> 00:04:04.559 Mode, and so are all of my lab reports and essays for school. I 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:10.039 also write my webpage articles in Org Mode, which a program 00:04:10.040 --> 00:04:15.359 called Hugo converts into static HTML. So far, you haven't 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.039 actually seen what it's like to use these tools. Here's a 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:21.279 quick demo of how I track what I need to do. First, I always 00:04:21.280 --> 00:04:24.799 open up my todo.org file in my denote directory. For school 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:26.839 assignments, I have a heading under Inbox where I have 00:04:26.840 --> 00:04:29.919 entries for each class I'm enrolled in. Each class's 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.839 heading has a tag on it, which the assignment inherits as a 00:04:32.840 --> 00:04:36.999 subheading. Here's an example assignment. I have a test in 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.599 physics next next Wednesday and the deadline to finish 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:42.359 studying for it is the day that I'm taking it. When I plan my 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:45.399 studying, I run the keybind for org-schedule to schedule the 00:04:45.400 --> 00:04:48.839 day on which I will study it. I can also mark it as the highest 00:04:48.840 --> 00:04:52.399 priority, making it the most important thing to do. I can 00:04:52.400 --> 00:04:56.439 also open up my agenda to see my tasks. I've cleaned it up as to 00:04:56.440 --> 00:04:59.679 not reveal any of my nefarious plans. This agenda is 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:03.239 customized, but there are many tutorials on how to do this. 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:05.599 My agenda has been the most transforming part of my student 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.239 experience, and I've gotten a lot better at managing what I 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:13.119 need to do. Next, I'll show you what I like to do to take notes. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:15.999 The main entry point for a new note is always starting with 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:19.679 M-x denote. You fill out a couple of customizable prompts 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:23.119 that will ask for values of the note. I'll start by making a 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:26.359 new note, which we'll call test note. Then we'll give it a key 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:29.359 for what category it's under. For this, I usually put the 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.319 subject of the class that I'm doing this note for, be it 00:05:32.320 --> 00:05:35.559 programming, English, history, or science. Try to keep 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:39.159 them short. And then Shazam, we have ourselves a brand new 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:42.399 note which we can start typing away in. The cool thing about 00:05:42.400 --> 00:05:45.199 the note is you don't have to manually name your note files. 00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:49.479 It uses a standard convention using the time, the title, and 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:53.199 the keywords of the note to make it unique. You can even make a 00:05:53.200 --> 00:05:56.599 meta note, a note about notes, to show a list of notes under a 00:05:56.600 --> 00:06:01.319 certain keyword. The final step in creation is flashcards. 00:06:01.320 --> 00:06:04.639 There is a great package called Anki Editor that makes Emacs 00:06:04.640 --> 00:06:08.159 able to push cards into Anki. There isn't much to 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:11.159 overcomplicate here, it's just content on front and back, 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:14.599 sometimes with images and complete the phrase. You can also 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:17.319 set up LaTeX math formatting, but I don't really use it that 00:06:17.320 --> 00:06:20.599 much. If you're living in Emacs all the time, you may want 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:24.559 some creature comforts. These are some of my favorite. Org 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:26.959 Download is a package that allows you to paste images from 00:06:26.960 --> 00:06:28.239 your clipboard into an org file. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:37.319 Logos is a text narrowing tool that helps you restrict what 00:06:37.320 --> 00:06:40.479 text you can see and focus on what you're writing. It extends 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:43.159 Emacs default narrowing, also adding functionality for 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:45.399 quickly switching to headings for a presentation look. It 00:06:45.400 --> 00:06:48.239 can remove your mode line and center your text for better 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:53.239 focus. org-fragtog allows you to move between previews of 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:55.639 your LaTeX formulas and the unrendered syntax. 00:06:55.640 --> 00:07:00.679 pdf-view-mode is a fully fledged PDF reader, complete with 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.439 annotations and org syntax, highlighting, and clickable 00:07:03.440 --> 00:07:03.919 links. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:09.719 Something you may want to consider is digital versus 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:12.199 handwritten notes. There have been several talks in the 00:07:12.200 --> 00:07:14.799 past about how to integrate handwritten notes into Emacs, 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:20.239 such as retyping them or scanning them in with an OCR tool. I 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:21.959 don't think that type notes are the only way that you should 00:07:21.960 --> 00:07:25.159 take notes, but if you do try writing, at least get some nice 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:29.079 stationery. I've seen people ask online to YouTubers and 00:07:29.080 --> 00:07:32.479 Twitch streamers asking, what is your keyboard? What is 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:35.519 your window manager? I understand that they're curious, 00:07:35.520 --> 00:07:37.919 but cosplaying as a productive person by using the same 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:41.159 tools won't accomplish anything. Emacs will not make you a 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:44.439 productive person. It can be a significant time investment 00:07:44.440 --> 00:07:47.879 because of how customizable it is. However, I believe it 00:07:47.880 --> 00:07:50.399 will make it easier for you to be productive, as it certainly 00:07:50.400 --> 00:07:53.519 has for me. This was just an example workflow to show 00:07:53.520 --> 00:07:56.119 prospective students how they can use Emacs for their 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:56.559 needs. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:01.999 Even if you don't end up using Emacs in the end, you can still 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.719 apply most of its ideas to other software. It just won't be as 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:10.199 customizable and extensible as Emacs is. Thank you for 00:08:10.200 --> 00:08:12.519 listening to my talk. It's been a great pleasure to finally 00:08:12.520 --> 00:08:15.359 take part in this conference in some capacity, and I'm glad I 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.399 was given a chance. To all the students who may try Emacs in 00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:21.199 the future, good luck because there might not be any going 00:08:21.200 --> 00:08:24.239 back. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.800 email. Thank you for your time.