Posts

How to Collect English Notes While You Read, Without Breaking Your Reading

Most advice about studying English while reading assumes you will stop and write things down. In practice you do not, and the reason is not laziness. Stopping costs more than the note is worth in that moment. You are three paragraphs into an article. You hit a phrase you half-know. To capture it you have to leave the page, find wherever your notes live, wait for it to load, type the phrase, remember the sentence it came from, type that too, then find your way back and rebuild the thread you dropped. That is thirty to sixty seconds and a broken train of thought for one phrase. Do it five times in an article and you have stopped reading and started doing data entry. So you skip it. And a week later you meet the same phrase again and have the same faint feeling of recognition, which is exactly where you were before. This post is about a workflow that removes the cost of capturing instead of trying to make you more disciplined about paying it. The rule that makes it work Capture mus...

Building a Chrome Extension with AI: 7 Weeks, 18 Commits, and the Decisions It Couldn't Make

There is a lot of writing about building software with AI, and almost all of it stops at the demo. Someone prompts a model, a working prototype appears, the screenshot goes up, and that is the end of the story. I wanted to write the other part. I built a Chrome extension called Simple Side Note with AI assistance, published it to the Chrome Web Store, and kept shipping updates to it for seven weeks. This post is the actual record of that: what the commit history really looks like, where the AI was genuinely fast, and — the part I find more interesting — the specific decisions it never made for me. If you are wondering whether AI can take you past the prototype and into something people install, this is one honest data point. What got built Simple Side Note is a notepad that lives in the Chrome side panel. You open it next to whatever you are reading, write, and it stays there as you move between tabs. It saves memos locally, lets you pin the ones you want to keep, and exports to ...

Side Panel Clock: A Clock, World Clock, Timer & Pomodoro for the Chrome Sidebar

Image
Fully revised · July 2026. This post replaces the original five-part "dev diary" teaser with a single, complete guide: why I built Side Panel Clock, how to install and use it, how the code works, and how to put it to work in your own day. I spend most of my working day inside the browser, and all day long I kept doing the same tiny things: glancing at the clock, working out what time it was for a teammate three time zones away, and starting a quick timer so a task wouldn't quietly eat an hour. None of these are hard. The problem is that each one pulled me away from what I was doing. The OS clock meant looking off-screen. A world-clock site meant a new tab. A timer meant yet another tab or a phone app I'd forget to check. Individually trivial; together, a steady drip of small interruptions. So I built Side Panel Clock — a small Chrome extension that puts a clock, a world clock, a timer, and a Pomodoro into the browser sidebar, one glance away with zero context...

Simple Side Note 1.3.0: Notes That Tidy Themselves with Auto-clean and Trash

Image
UPDATE · v1.3.0 Just keep jotting — it tidies itself up Simple Side Note — the lightweight notepad that lives in your browser sidebar — is out in 1.3.0 . In one line: "Less cleanup by hand, and every delete is undoable." πŸ“ At a glance 🧹 Auto-clean old memos — unpinned memos clear themselves after a chosen age (7 / 30 / 90 days) πŸ—‘️ Trash — deleted memos are kept for 30 days and can be restored anytime πŸ“Œ Pin = "keep this" — pinned memos are never auto-cleaned πŸ›‘️ Off by default — nothing is removed until you opt in 🧹 Auto-clean old memos — the headline feature Every lightweight notepad has the same dilemma. It's great for jotting things down the moment they pop up , but over time most of those turn into throwaway notes you no longer need — and deleting them one by one is quietly annoying . So 1.3.0 adds ⚙️ Settings → Saved...

Phrase Hero 1.2.0 — 5개 μ›”λ“œ μ™„μ„± · λͺ¨λ“  μ›”λ“œ 자유 μ ‘κ·Ό

Image
UPDATE · v1.2.0 μ˜μ–΄ ν‘œν˜„ ν•™μŠ΅ κ²Œμž„ Phrase Hero 의 μƒˆ μ—…λ°μ΄νŠΈ 1.2.0 이 λ‚˜μ™”μŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. 이번 λ²„μ „μ—μ„œ μ›”λ“œ 5κ°œκ°€ λͺ¨λ‘ μ±„μ›Œμ§€κ³  , μ›ν•˜λŠ” μ›”λ“œλ₯Ό μ²˜μŒλΆ€ν„° 자유둭게 λ„˜λ‚˜λ“€ 수 있게 λμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. 총 100개 의 ν‘œν˜„μœΌλ‘œ ν•™μŠ΅ λ²”μœ„κ°€ 크게 λ„“μ–΄μ‘Œμ–΄μš”. 🌏 μƒˆ μ›”λ“œ 2개 · ν‘œν˜„ 100개 (μ‹ κ·œ) κ·Έλ™μ•ˆ "μ€€λΉ„ 쀑"이던 πŸ“š ν•™μŠ΅/연ꡬ 와 ⚡ κ²½λ ₯/이λ ₯ μ›”λ“œκ°€ μ •μ‹μœΌλ‘œ μ—΄λ ΈμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. 각 μ›”λ“œμ— Level 1·2 ν‘œν˜„μ΄ μ±„μ›Œμ Έ, 이제 5개 μ›”λ“œ × 20개 = 총 100개 의 μ‹€μ „ μ˜μ–΄ ν‘œν˜„μ„ 읡힐 수 μžˆμ–΄μš”. πŸ“š ν•™μŠ΅/연ꡬ — figure out , sum up , read up on , sit in on … ⚡ κ²½λ ₯/이λ ₯ — turn down , take over , live up to , follow up on … λͺ¨λ“  ν‘œν˜„μ€ ν•œ·μΌ·μ€‘·μ˜ 4κ°œκ΅­μ–΄ λœ»ν’€μ΄ 제곡 πŸ”“ λͺ¨λ“  μ›”λ“œ 자유 μ ‘κ·Ό μ˜ˆμ „μ—” μ•ž μ›”λ“œλ₯Ό 클리어해야 λ‹€μŒ μ›”λ“œκ°€ μ—΄λ Έμ§€λ§Œ, 이제 λͺ¨λ“  μ›”λ“œκ°€ μ²˜μŒλΆ€ν„° μ—΄λ € μžˆμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. μ˜€λŠ˜μ€ λΉ„μ¦ˆλ‹ˆμŠ€, 내일은 일상 ν‘œν˜„ — κΈ°λΆ„κ³Ό ν•„μš”μ— 따라 μ›ν•˜λŠ” 주제λ₯Ό λ°”λ‘œ 골라 ν•™μŠ΅ν•˜μ„Έμš”. ☁️ μ‚΄μ•„μžˆλŠ” μ½˜ν…μΈ  이번 버전뢀터 ν•™μŠ΅ μ½˜ν…μΈ λ₯Ό μ˜¨λΌμΈμ—μ„œ λ°›μ•„μ˜€λ„λ‘ ꡬ쑰λ₯Ό λ°”κΏ¨μŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. μ•žμœΌλ‘œ ν‘œν˜„μ΄ μΆ”κ°€λ˜λ©΄ ν™•μž₯앱을 μƒˆλ‘œ μ„€μΉ˜ν•˜μ§€ μ•Šμ•„λ„ λ‹€μŒ μ‹€ν–‰ λ•Œ μžλ™μœΌλ‘œ λ°˜μ˜λΌμš”. λ°›μ•„μ˜¨ μ½˜ν…μΈ λŠ” 기기에 μ €μž₯λ˜μ–΄ μ˜€ν”„λΌμΈμ—μ„œλ„ κ·ΈλŒ€λ‘œ ν•™μŠ΅ν•  수 μžˆμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. πŸ› 버그 μˆ˜μ • & 닀듬기 Level 2(μˆ™μ–΄ μ™„μ„±)μ—μ„œ 이전 선택지가 화면에 남아 보이던 문제λ₯Ό μˆ˜μ •ν–ˆμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. μ„€μ • 화면을 정리해 더 κΉ”λ”ν•΄μ‘ŒμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. μ„€μΉ˜ & μ—…λ°μ΄νŠΈ μ†ŒμŠ€λ‘œ μ„€μΉ˜ν•΄ μ“°κ³ ...

Simple Side Note: Never Lose a Note Again

Image
UPDATE · v1.2.0 Never lose a note again Simple Side Note — the lightweight notepad that lives right in your browser sidebar — is now on v1.2.0 . In one line, this release is all about "keep your data safe, and keep your hands on the keyboard." πŸ“ At a glance πŸ’Ύ Backup & Restore — export all your notes to a single file and import them back anytime ⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts — ⌘/Ctrl+S to save, ⌘/Ctrl+F to search (toggle in Settings) πŸ–₯️ OS system fonts — San Francisco on Mac, Segoe UI on Windows, applied automatically πŸ› Small fixes — unified color-button tooltip language, and more πŸ’Ύ Backup & Restore — the star of this release As your notes pile up, one worry grows with them: "What if I lose all of this?" Until now you could export notes one at a time as HTML or Markdown, but there was no way to back up everything at once. Delete the ex...

Phrase Hero 1.1.0 μ—…λ°μ΄νŠΈ — μ˜€λ‹΅ 볡슡 κΈ°λŠ₯ μΆ”κ°€

Image
UPDATE · v1.1.0 μ˜μ–΄ ν‘œν˜„ ν•™μŠ΅ κ²Œμž„ Phrase Hero 의 첫 μ—…λ°μ΄νŠΈ 1.1.0 이 λ‚˜μ™”μŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. 이번 λ²„μ „μ˜ 핡심은 μ˜€λ‹΅ 볡슡 μ΄μ—μš”. ν‹€λ¦° ν‘œν˜„λ§Œ 골라 λ‹€μ‹œ ν’€ 수 있게 λμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. πŸ” μ˜€λ‹΅ 볡슡 (μ‹ κ·œ) ν•œ λΌμš΄λ“œμ—μ„œ ν‹€λ¦¬κ±°λ‚˜ κ±΄λ„ˆλ›΄ 문제 λŠ” μžλ™μœΌλ‘œ κΈ°λ‘λ©λ‹ˆλ‹€. κ²Œμž„μ„ 끝내면 μ™„λ£Œ 화면에 "μ˜€λ‹΅ 볡슡 (N)" λ²„νŠΌμ΄ λ‚˜νƒ€λ‚˜κ³ , λˆ„λ₯΄λ©΄ κ·Έ λ¬Έμ œλ“€λ§Œ λ‹€μ‹œ ν’€ 수 μžˆμ–΄μš”. μ•„λŠ” ν‘œν˜„μ€ λ„˜μ–΄κ°€κ³  μ•½ν•œ ν‘œν˜„λ§Œ 집쀑 ν•΄μ„œ μ΅νžˆλŠ” κ±°μ£ . ν‹€λ¦° 문제·κ±΄λ„ˆλ›΄ 문제λ₯Ό λΌμš΄λ“œλ³„λ‘œ 좔적 μ™„λ£Œ ν›„ κ·Έ λ¬Έμ œλ“€λ§Œ λͺ¨μ•„ 볡슡 λΌμš΄λ“œλ‘œ λ³΅μŠ΅μ€ 순수 μ—°μŠ΅ — 점수·μ§„ν–‰·μž κΈˆ ν•΄μ œμ— 영ν–₯ μ—†μŒ 🧹 더 λ§€λ„λŸ½κ²Œ (μ •ν•©μ„± κ°œμ„ ) 아직 μ½˜ν…μΈ κ°€ μ—†λŠ” μ›”λ“œ(ν•™μŠ΅/연ꡬ·κ²½λ ₯/이λ ₯)λ₯Ό "μ€€λΉ„ 쀑" 으둜 λͺ…ν™•νžˆ ν‘œμ‹œν–ˆμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. μ˜ˆμ „μ—” 빈 μ›”λ“œλ‘œ λ“€μ–΄κ°€λ©΄ λ¬Έμ œκ°€ μ—†μ–΄ μ–΄μƒ‰ν–ˆλŠ”λ°, 이제 진행이 λ§€λ„λŸ½κ²Œ μ΄μ–΄μ Έμš”. μ†Œκ°œ νƒ­μ˜ 톡계(μˆ™μ–΄·μ›”λ“œ·λ ˆλ²¨ 수)도 μ‹€μ œ 데이터에 맞게 μ •ν™•νžˆ ν‘œμ‹œλ©λ‹ˆλ‹€. μ„€μΉ˜ & μ—…λ°μ΄νŠΈ μ†ŒμŠ€λ‘œ μ„€μΉ˜ν•΄ μ“°κ³  계셨닀면, μ΅œμ‹  버전을 λ‹€μ‹œ λ°›μ•„ chrome://extensions/ μ—μ„œ μƒˆλ‘œκ³ μΉ¨ ν•˜λ©΄ 1.1.0이 μ μš©λ©λ‹ˆλ‹€. πŸ’» GitHub: github.com/swyoonlabs/phrase-hero πŸ“¦ 릴리슀 v1.1.0: releases/tag/v1.1.0 🧩 Chrome μ›ΉμŠ€ν† μ–΄: Phrase Hero μ„€μΉ˜ν•˜κΈ° Phrase HeroλŠ” μ˜€ν”ˆμ†ŒμŠ€(MIT)μž…λ‹ˆλ‹€. λ‹€μŒ λ²„μ „μ—λŠ” 발음 듣기와 μ½˜ν…μΈ  ν™•μž₯을 κ²€ν† ν•˜κ³  μžˆμ–΄μš”. ν”Όλ“œλ°±·κΈ°μ—¬·λ²ˆμ—­ μ œμ•ˆμ€ μ–Έμ œλ“  ν™˜μ˜ν•©λ‹ˆλ‹€. 🦸