Excursions

Google would like us to believe that Chrome is just one of their many services, not a tool  —  it suits their business model. But I think they shouldn’t be allowed to push that idea into mainstream. It is important we voice our opinion.

I had no idea DuckDuckGo had such a vast list of categories for Instant Answers. It has become the default search engine for me, and it seems am not alone. It is extremely rare these days that I try a search on Google and even then it mostly turns up to be an activity in vain.

I am a serial procrastinator, I am not proud of it. Any hint of a distraction and I go crazy running behind that.

I also lack the skill to follow a routine. I lack the drive to not miss the day-to-day “schedule” every day, weekday and weekend alike. I think I have been shaped by the societal dislike for any thing routine. “Routine is boring”, I have been told since childhood. But I am slowly coming to realise that a daily routine may be the best solution to my procrastination problem.

My dad loves his routine. He wakes up at exactly the same time daily, carries out the same morning choir. He goes for his morning walk. Follows that up with his morning tea and a newspaper. He gets ready for his office. He has his lunch and drives to his office. Spends the same amount of time working. Comes back at home at exactly the same time. A serial or two on television, then dinner. Plan and prepare for the next day. Gets his end of day dose of news. Finally, he goes to bed just as he wakes up, at same time daily. And I have seen him following this routine of his at least since I remember. And even being close to sixty, he looks a lot less tired and a lot more fresh than any of us in thirties do.

Procrastination is a blanket idea all problems are swept under. But it’s the lack of routine which causes most of the issues in the first place. A routine may lend that time to procrastinate at that odd moment.

And the current lifestyle of mine is largely at fault. I tend to spend time in office till the work is done, which rarely gets done in time anyway. All that causes is random office hours. I do things which do not fit in the regular schedule - I would watch a live match or binge watch a new series late into the night. Weekends are marked for getaways, that means just lazy around, neither being productive nor relieved. I never go to sleep on time, so I never wake at the same time.

So, on this birthday I decided to stop leading my life so. I am going to follow a routine. I have been sleeping on the same time, getting up on the same time. Reaching office and leaving for home at the same time. I next need to plan the rest of the day too, fit my other interests around the routine tasks.

I need to get inspired by my dad. Doesn’t matter then if I get called a bore. I believe it would be worth it if I am at least a tad more satisfied.

Though a bit old, this post from Bron Gondwana is such a fascinating view on emails. I’d never looked at them as a memory, your personal copy of what was said. Bron’s right, the immutability of an email made it an accepted standard for communications of all forms. h/t @fiona

I am surprised to read the pushback against Marzipan and the extremely new Apple apps ported from iOS — especially they being ugly. Didn’t Apple mention it is still new and not yet fully baked? It’s a work in progress and am sure things will significantly change before release.

Nice, this post from @vasta got a mention from @leo on this week’s episode of MacBreak Weekly — especially “the automation offered in Shortcuts, Drafts, Things, and Launch Center Pro”. Your empty screen inspired many people, Sameer 👍🏽

“Manyverse is a social network mobile app (…) not running in the cloud owned by a company (…) all your social data live entirely in your phone”. Mark me curious on how it works and what’s Secure Scuttlebutt. If nothing else, FB/Twitter debacle has opened up the social space.

This sucks, Google’s screwing with it’s most indispensable services i.e maps — “if you want to save a home or work address in Google Maps, you now have to allow activity tracking throughout Google services.” Another episode in Google’s constant quest for more data.

I wonder if anyone successfully follows the Pomodoro Technique - I have attempted the approach so many times and I keep failing at it. I guess it requires extreme focus and control over one’s thoughts which I wished I had. I tend to work in bursts.

Played a game with a shared AR experience and, oh boy, did we enjoy it! It was a great family timeout — of course ignoring how funny we looked jumping and scampering around an empty table. In a way, the others enjoyed the scene too. This would be so much more fun without the need to hold any devices in your hand. And I think we will reach the state soon.

This was the first time I actually found AR alluring. Shared experiences has the potential to change the space significantly.

Frustration dwells in the void between planning and implementing - unfortunately, “just do it” is underrated.

There are times when I wish I can mute a thread on m.b - make all the discussions around a topic to not appear on my timeline. Arguments tend to get repetitive, fog your perspective when stretched for too long. Better to just hold back and let the time crystalize your thoughts.

Smartphones have enabled capturing the fascinating games the light plays.

I’m done with Chrome — doesn’t matter if the default signed-in mode is actually that bad or just an indication of a valid session. Intent’s clear from Google, their thirst for data won’t be quenched. They can convince themselves its for greater good, but I won’t be part a part.

I hate spiders. Smaller they are, creepier they get. I think that man with a suit has just made them scarier.

I’ve now switched to Castro — this is a wonderful app with some thoughtful design choices. PocketCast is too “formal”, bland but perfectly functional. Overcast has some design elements which just don’t make sense - its indecision on how to display show notes always bugs me.

As I enter the 35th year of existence, I am made to realise that my health is my most priceless possession, one I need to focus on closely. And this time I am serious. So here’s to a year of health, and hopefully this’ just a beginning.

Woke up to find that Amazon just brought a bag full of “things”, untied it on stage and started throwing it against the wall. No one has any idea if what try hurled is genuine or shit and if it will ever stick. Bezos feels he has found a way to be successful with devices.

I find it fascinating that Hello Internet is placed under Education category in Overcast. In the company of Ted Talks, Simplify etc. It would be interesting to know what @BradyHaran thinks about it, of course there’s so much to learn :-)

This is a month of change - I was forced to change the desk I work from. And I thought this is a good opportunity to take it a step further. Change is something I always like. It gives your brain that extra incentive to work more, to kick yourself out of your comfort zone.

Tranquility of a lake amidst the idling mountains never fails to mesmerise.

To be frank, I am left a bit disappointed with today’s event. May be it is about wrong expectations, but nothing that is launched excites me. Not that the device iPhone Xs and the max one are not marvellous — they indeed are. But not something I want — may be an October event?

So, iPhone SE is dead then for Apple? Why do these companies keep hating us people who want smaller phones? And they do not ship their “low cost” iPhones till October, only shipping $999 ones in September? Wish there are some answers to these in few hours.

The fact that Chrome is the only one among the top browsers that does not have a native reader mode tells you about Google’s priorities (others being Safari, Firefox which do). Chrome will never do what’s best for its users because it will not be good for their business.

I’m seriously intrigued by Pinboard, the feature set looks promising. And it’s another of those well-supported services run by a single person. I am coming across too many of these recently. However, every time I am left unconvinced that I need a paid option just for bookmarking.