ASCII text generator - Or how Alfred helped me today

[Floating.Point]

I just wanted to share my moment with Alfred today.

 

As Ive started to do more things with code, I started using big old blocks of ASCII text to make my code more fun and browse-able. For example:

 

So I had been using this web site (https://ascii.today/) where I would type out my heading, then scroll to find my preferred typeface, then click copy, switch back to my text editor and paste.

 

So many clicks!

 

Today I realised I'd done this enough times and it was inefficient. Time to put Alfred to work. So I went to the source and found that website was built on figlet.js. Within about 10 minutes I had it installed (along with its CLI) and a tiny little Alfred workflow that puts it to use. Now sure, one might argue that 'it's going to take a few headings before I break even on that 10 minutes spent', but its not just about time. Now I have this capability at my fingertips, I can perform the task without breaking flow. That's the magic, that's the Superpower!

 

 

Anyway, I just wanted to post this as a little anecdote. Ever since I started dabbling in the command line / scripting / Alfred node based workflows – my time spent on the computer has become way more rewarding. I have styled Alfred to suit my personality, and every time I invoke Alfred to do something unique to my workflow, I am utterly delighted.