u/Repulsive-Branch-740

I am going back to school this year after a long hiatus. The last time I was in grad school, I was still primarily taking notes by hand and iPhones didn't even exist yet.

I will primarily be taking science classes (biology, A&P, etc). I am trying to figure out what makes the most sense for note taking in classes (lecture and lab).

I use Obsidian and Apple Notes heavily, and have used Obsidian for many years. I don't like to write by hand because after many years of using a computer for 8 hours a day, my ability to write by hand has atrophied; plus I am much faster with a keyboard.

I am leaning to use Obsidian for my classes, but am unsure if it will work for science-type classes. For those who have used it for this purpose, how did it work? What plugins or set up did you find the most productive?

Also, when using Obsidian, what devices did you find worked the best? I use Obsidian on my iPhone, iPad Air, and Macbook Air. For classes, I am thinking of relying on my ipad since it's really portable and has the pencil in the even I want to do some sketching.

Curious to hear from others on this front, particularly regarding useful plugins.

The last time I was in school was 20+ years ago during my graduate studies. I am now older and technology has changed dramatically since the last time I set foot in a classroom. My career is computer-based so I've lost the ability to take notes by hand (the main mode of note taking when I was last in school).

Professionally and personally I use Obsidian and Apple Notes heavily; basically run my job and life out of both. I have both a MacBook Air and iPad Air. I have the Apple Pencil but rarely use it because my handwriting isn't good and I am so much faster typing.

I am returning to school this year to take some science courses, starting with biology and anatomy and physiology.

For those in school or recently school, especially those taking science sources with labs, how do you take notes? Which apps, devices, and habits have you found most effective when taking notes, including during lectures and labs?

I have a Boox Go Golor 7 and generally love it. I read on a lot of different platforms and love that I can access Reader by Readwise, the NYTimes, and books on just about any platform. I do not want to be locked into any ecosystem.

However, one issue I have with the Go Color 7 is that it's slow. It lags when I open up a new app or switch between apps. I can't tell if this is getting worse or I am just too accustomed to the speediness of my other devices (new iPhone and iPad).

For those who have used a Boox Go Color 7 but also other Boox devices - is the Go Color 7 just really slow? Are other Boox devices faster? I like having a color e-reader, but I could probably live with a B&W device if that is faster. I am considering a Palma or even just the Gen 2 Go Color 7 if those are faster.

Appreciate any thoughts for people who have more experiences with Boox devices.

I have tried a bunch of these AI voice apps including all the big ones. I settled on Superwhisper for a couple of reasons - namely, the ability for on-device processing but also access to many other cloud-based models, and super easy set-up of custom modes that are very easy to switch between whether in the app or from within the keyboard. Also like how I can re-process a recording.

However, the one thing giving me a frustration is the lack of ability to sync modes across devices. The information on the website about Filesync kind of implies that you can sync modes, but it does not work for me. And it appears that syncing settings and modes is something on the roadmap.

Question for those more experienced with this app - is filesync supposed to sync modes? Also, does anyone know how far off we are from getting true sync?

I've worked around this issue for now by just copying the file of the modes I set up on my iPhone over to my iPad and Mac, but true syncing of modes would be so nice.

Really enjoyed this interview with Steph Ango.

I am looking to hear from others who have experience with rare or atypical forms of pancreatic cancers, particularly those who have been advised to monitor.

My mother is 75 and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January. It was considered locally advanced. CA 19-9 was normal at 7, but CEA was elevated at 30. Tumor was large, but contained. However, it was too close to the SMA to safely operate, so it was recommended that she start treatment. CT, MRI, and PET scans all confirmed no mets.

Biopsy revealed a poorly differentiated tumor with KRAS-G12D, MED12, and TP53 mutations. MSI is stable. We were told this meant it was aggressive. Then, further pathology review indicated tumor was an adenosquamos carcinoma of the pancreas (ASCP), which is considered aggressive and rare.

Here's where things get a little weird. Her presentation is very unusual for this rare cancer. No metastases, all contained, and no significant symptoms despite tumor being "large." Blood work completely normal (liver function, kidney function, etc). No diabetes (despite being a heavy eater of all things sweet). No weight loss prior to diagnosis. Imaging has been a challenge because of the heavy amount of inflammation around the tumor area. The surgeon said that it was difficult to even see what was going on due to all the inflammation so it's not entirely clear the extent to which this is inoperable. Surgeon described the entire presentation as "very unusual."

My mom did four rounds of chemo, two of FOLFIRINOX, two of FOLFOX. She is now doing radiation for 5 weeks to try and shrink the tumor. Following the first three rounds of chemo, the tumor did shrink a bit and pulled away from the SMA, and her CEA level came down to the 20s. However, CEA went back up prior to starting radiation. That said, they think some of the CEA increase is due to all the inflammation and not really a reliable indicator for monitoring the cancer itself.

Throughout all of this, my mom has generally felt pretty good. FOLFIRINOX was rough, but she tolerated FOLFOX much better. She's still her usual active self, a little tired from the chemo drug taken with the radiation, but no real symptoms other than some abdominal discomfort. She was prescribed Diuladid for pain, but the only thing that actually works for the pain is taking Aleve (which makes sense given the amount of inflammation in her pancreas). Pancreatic function continues to be normal. She's even gained all the weight back she lost from the two doses of FOLFIRINOX. Appetite is good. Even prior to diagnosis, she did not have significant symptoms. Just some vague/minor abdominal discomfort that prompted a CT scan.

We've been told her situation is rare, with no clear roadmap of how to proceed. We're heading to Hopkins next month for a third opinion with their pancreatic cancer clinic, because her case is a real head scratcher. Her medical oncologist wants her to finish radiation and then resume chemotherapy for at least four more rounds, and then maybe get on daraxonrasib once it's available. Radiation oncologist and another pancreatic cancer specialist (who her medical oncologist consulted) said either resume chemotherapy or consider stopping treatment and just monitoring for awhile and see what happens, as it's possible she could remain stable for some time. There's also the option of continuing on oral chemotherapy (capecitabine) which she is taking now with the radiation. We're also going to discuss whether, given the extreme inflammation, something like a COX-2 inhibitor is worth adding to her regimen (if only for pain management). And we're going to discuss with Hopkins whether despite being MSI-stable, whether an immune checkpoint inhibitor could be of benefit given that MED12 mutations are likely to respond to ICIs even with MSI stability.

My mom is not really interested in surgery, as she does not think she could recovery from it.

Has anyone else experienced a situation like this? On one hand, we're grateful she remains stable and feels so good. On the other hand, we feel like we're being left to try and find answers ourselves, as the doctors are just so perplexed.

I started using this planner app, Finalist, a couple of months ago. I wasn't completely sold on it initially, as I usually use Apple Reminders and Apple Calendar just fine, but thought it was kind of cool.

But in the latest beta version, the developer added the ability to pull out tasks in Markdown notes, including from your Obsidian Vault! This feature is only in the beta version of the app at the moment, but it's pretty cool. You can either set it to use the note title as the due date (so would pull in tasks that appear in that day's daily note) OR to use the inline date of the task added via the Tasks plugin as the due date.

What I like about this as opposed to something like Task Forge, is that the app still also displays my reminders from Apple Reminders, which is primarily what I use for task management. However, sometimes tasks get added into a note in Obsidian and I like that I can pull those into Finalist too.

I really like how this developer implemented something that leverages Markdown and Obsidian. Hoping more app developers do this.