§1: A Totally Normal Interview

There is, in fact, a specific reason we’re doing this interview, which is that you have been having trouble getting Wikipedia to recognize your divorce. Can you tell me about that Sisyphean trial?

A long time ago, I want to say 2012, I gave an interview to Publishers Weekly where I talked about my marriage. So there was this fairly major publication wherein I’d talked about being married, and it turned out that worked against me when trying to get Wikipedia to recognize my divorce. According to a Wikipedia editor, I needed a comparable citation to get the change made on the page.

A Totally Normal Interview With Author Emily St. John Mandel, Slate Magazine, December 17 2022

It’s always good to be reminded what Wikipedia is and What Wikipedia is not

1.1 Wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia
2.1 Wikipedia is not a dictionary
2.2 Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought
2.3 Wikipedia is not a soapbox or means of promotion
2.4 Wikipedia is not a mirror or a repository of links, images, or media files
2.5 Wikipedia is not a blog, web hosting service, social networking service, or memorial site
2.6 Wikipedia is not a directory
2.7 Wikipedia is not a manual, guidebook, textbook, or scientific journal
2.8 Wikipedia is not a crystal ball
2.9 Wikipedia is not a newspaper
2.10 Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information
2.11 Wikipedia is not censored

§2: I wrote this blog post on Monday

Authentic human results

AI-generated text will only accelerate the move “from pages to people”.

§3: Adding Zotero links to Obsidian

I’ve recently to only use Obsidian for my Personal Knowledge Management needs. I’ve been very happy with my decision to subscribe to Obsidian Sync because it now allows me to access and add to my notes, both at work and home and, more importantly, I can access these documents with my iPad.

Zotero also has a great syncing system and with Zotero 6, is now the means by which I read PDFs on my iPad.

There are many complicated workflows out there that promise to connect texts in Zotero to writing in Obsidian, but I have opted to keep my own workflow as simple as possible.

I’ve learned that the easiest way to add links to Zotero items into Obsidian involves two steps.

The first step is to turn off the option to Auto convert HTML in Obsidian’s Advanced Settings

The second step is to add the Zutilo plug-in to your Zotero.

Zutilo is so great. While it adds a bunch of additional functionality to Zotero, I primarily use it for just two things: 1) the quick removal of tags that are automatically imported and 2) adding the ability able to copy notes from Zotero with links that will take me back both to the note in question and the PDF in question using its QuickCopy ability:

Then it is as simple as selecting QuickCopy for a note or annotation in Zotero…

… and pasting that copy into Obsidian:

§4: Obsidian Canvas

And if you need another reason to try Obsidian for your note-keeping, you might want to make note of it’s new functionality: Obsidian Canvas.

I can’t wait to start connecting my notes this way. CANNOT WAIT.

§5: The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation 10th edition is expected to be published in Spring 2023.

The McGill Guide is updated every four years except when it’s not.