Sneak Peek! Nutshell, or, “Expandable Explanations” (Patreon)

[Patreon's still paused; you won't be charged until further notice]

Howdy! I prototyped this a year ago, but then I went on burnout-hiatus. But last week, I re-designed & polished it up so that you can get a sneak peek:

🥜 Nutshell! (or, “Expandable Explanations”) 🥜
👷(work in progress, sneak peek) 👷

Why I've wanted this tool for so long: I like sharing what I've learned, but sometimes I'm learning stuff that's not beginner-level, but I want my writing to stay accessible to all levels. Re-explaining the basics each time would be a pain (and boring to those who already know it), but "go click this link to catch up on X" would break the flow of reading (and waste time, if you only need to know some of X, not all of it).

Hence: expandable explanations! Don't know a thing? Click it, and you'll learn just-in-time, not just-in-case. (Don't know a thing inside that thing? Keep on expanding that explanation!)

The best part? It works across pages, websites, and authors. The bestest part? Blog posts from the past already work with Nutshell! (it just scrapes sites for sections of text to embed) This way, any explanations anyone writes in the future – or have already written in the past – can be cross-embedded like a big ol' potluck dinner.

It's not ready for public use yet, but for now, you can play with writing your own articles with Nutshells: (demo linked above)

Finally, a personal point – this is all part of Possible Plan #2 For What To Do Once I Come Back From Burnout-Hiatus. (Plan #1 is the queer/furry lewd Patreon. Which is still going! Thank you to the 30+ pervs who've signed up so far.)

Plan #2 is "just become a blogger". Well, a blog with Nutshell's expandable explanations, some interactive diagrams, and hopefully Spaced Repetition with Andy Matuschak's Orbit. But other than that, I become just a good ol' fashioned blogger.

(And there's so many mini-explanations I'd love to blog about, with high re-use value via Nutshell. High school algebra! Causal inference! Systems biology! Etc.)

The two big reasons for my burnout were 1) not being with people I care about, and 2) the work no longer being fun. Becoming "a blogger" would let me work way, way less (freeing up time for people & hobbies), and each blog post can be a low-cost exploration into a new thing.

I've had that plan years ago, but my biggest turn-off was that it'd feel like "one damn thing after another", each blog post another disposable disconnected distraction on the internet. But hopefully, with Nutshell, each blog post's explanations can be re-used not just by future me, but by everyone.

(Well, it's either that or the furry lewds. Or both.)

Anyway, play around with Nutshell, try writing something in it, and let me know HONESTLY what you think so far, and what you'd personally want to use it for!

Deez Nuts,
~ Nicky Case