Canvases: Finally Real Widgets for Apple Shortcuts
Aug 30, 2026AppleShortcutsAppTest
Before Obsidian: A Short History of Networked Knowledge and Markup
May 22, 2026ObsidianPKM
You've reached the end.
Apple Shortcuts capture states, but showing them as a widget? Not a chance. The beta app "Canvases" by @simonbs@mastodon.social now makes it possible with a few shortcuts actions.
Obsidian did not emerge from nowhere. This article traces the decades of ideas behind it, from Vannevar Bush’s Memex and Ted Nelson’s Xanadu to the web, wikis, knowledge management, and Markdown. It shows how Obsidian combines networked thinking, backlinks, transclusion, and plain-text durability into a practical personal knowledge system.