Excursions

I’ve got a few minor (?) feature requests for Micro.blog hosting based on my limited experience with the service. I think these features will further heighten and simplify the experience.

1. I wish the edit buttons were available on the posts in the timeline, for example, right next to the remove option. The availability of the remove option makes me believe the context is already available. Also, I understand an option to edit the original posts from blogs not hosted by Micro.blog might be tricky, but I hope Manton finds some simple solution, as he usually does.
2. I believe the edit for the replies is far simpler in comparison and should really avoid all the hoops one has to go through today, just for minor fixes.
3. Just the way, the whole site can be archived to GitHub automatically, I wish the custom theme can be too. It would help to track all the changes being made to the site design. Without the option, I need to manually set up and check-in the changes to the repository. And given how easy it is to update the custom theme from the browser, it just feels natural to allow backing up the theme as a git repository.
4. Currently, the spell checks and Grammarly plugin does not work in the post drafting textarea. I am not yet sure why, but it makes the posts very prone to errors.
5. This is way down the list (literally), but I wish the drafts are auto-saved while composing longer posts. I do not want to lose a draft just because I closed a window by mistake.

Possibly these items are already on Manton’s backlog list but just aren’t prioritized. In which case, here’s an added vote for these features.

I got into Star Wars pretty late – although I do vaguely remember watching The Phantom Menace in theaters as a child, I didn’t understand much. I’ve grown to be a fan of the universe since then. However, the Star Trek phenomenon is still puzzling to me. Where does one begin?

I had no clue about the size of iPhone 12 Pro Max until I looked at all of them together. This device is huge, even when compared to the regular Pro.

Source: The Verge

Stoop, I often to greet someone in respect. Stoop, I never to earn from someone the “respect”.

I am excited for the IPL playoffs that begin today. Even though I’ve been a staunch supporter of Mumbai Indians from the first year of this league, somewhere deep down I want a new champion this year. So, I will be rooting for the Delhi Capitals, the young team.

From whatever little I’ve learnt about the man in the last 4 years, if Trump loses the election, these are going to be a couple of tumultuous months. Some unprepared uproar. Lots of vile tweets. Kindness is unlikely.

There’s a pathway near my home that I took a stroll on today - it was so calm, and so close by that I’m surprised it took years for me to walk there. It’s never about the distance.

It’s not the extraordinary that astonishes me anymore but the usual. Such has been the year.

One would think with the lull outside, with hardly anything to do outside, it would be easier to concentrate on work or a hobby. But we human beings have mastered the art of not staying bored, rather surround ourselves with more distraction than we can handle. Only us.

Dave Winer writing on how uneasy he feels about the impending US presidential elections. Is it so bad, really?

I wish I had a big Pause button, let’s just hold here for a while. I’m more comfortable living in limbo than knowing the outcome of Tuesday’s election.

Liked a review for The Trial of the Chicago 7 – sums up my thoughts about the movie really well.

Aaron Sorkin is way too good a writer to be forced to work with such a mediocre director as Aaron Sorkin.

With the way IPL has played out this year, I’m sure the mood in many teams room is a tad dreary. Many performances picked up late causing reshuffle of the points table towards the later half. Though only Mumbai Indians have been consistent, I hope we get a new champion.

I just created an account at Letterboxd, I’ve been delaying this for no reason. I love Goodreads because I can track and get the recommendations for books. I’m sure Letterboxd will do the same for movies.

I wonder though, can I rate a movie high, yet still not like it?

On Motivation and Writing Prompts →

Prompts don’t “force” us to be creative: they give us an excuse to practice, to play with our tools, and, if we’re lucky, to make discoveries we might not otherwise have made.

I agree with Robert - prompts are to get you practice writing.

I came across this opinion from Jack Baty about static sites and I completely agree with him.

[P]ublishing a static site is like sending a document to a printer. I have to make sure everything is connected, that there’s paper in the machine, and then wait for the job to finish before seeing the output. If something needs editing, and something always needs editing, the whole process starts over.

There was a time when I enjoyed building my site with Hugo, but I never got comfortable with the writing flow then. Once I got tired and moved away, I’d made up my mind that I won’t ever sign up for a static site for my blog again. I firmly believe that blogs aren’t the right candidates for static site generators.

Blogging platforms need to be light, free - something that static site generators, with the way they are setup, can never be. Jack’s got just the right metaphor to express my thoughts. Writing does feel like priting a document with static sites.

I am not too convinced with this reverse toonification experiment of Pixar characters - every result’s too close to uncanny valley for my comfort. Especially the eyes, they look terrible wrong. The larger, rounder eyes look good only on toons.

I really enjoyed Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 - it was an absorbing account of an event I didn’t have much information about. I usually like the well-made courtroom dramas and this one was no different. And I also usually love Sorkin’s method of telling stories and, again, this one was no different.

Though debatable, Sorkin is a master of narrating true stories, keeping you glued to the screen as he unravels more details about the story. He has also mastered his signature style to blend varying and often opposing, narratives and perspectives without letting the drama drag any moment. Even though I didn’t know much about the event, I was completely involved and moved at many moments.

Also, as I was watching the trial play out, I thought Sorkin must have taken a lot of liberty in presenting the facts – especially the actions of Judge Hoffman. No human can be such an asshole, I thought. So the first thing I did was to check how closely were the event and the trial presented. I was surprised to find that most of the key moments shown were true – even the judge’s behaviour.

As unbelievable as it seems, Judge Hoffman, born in 1895, really did act with the malice shown in the film, dismissing objections from the defense before they were made and arbitrarily excluding evidence, witnesses, and even jurors.

Horrible!

Before there was Pixar, I had studied under this Pixar lamp. Those were the days when priorities were pretty clear.

There was a time when I loved using Last.fm. The recommendations were brilliant; they had also nailed the social aspects around music consumption. But once the music went streaming, I felt no need for this service. Does anyone still uses this service? For what?

I’ve been under the weather since a last few days & felt the worst yesterday evening. I haven’t fet this uneasy since a long time. I could neither sit nor sleep - walking too was difficult. I’d a terrible couple of hours - the only comfort was I was around people closest to me.

An apt reminder from John Gruber on why leaders still matter, they instill virtues.

A sense that we’re in this together, and that the quickest (if not only) way out is via short-term collective sacrifice. Wear masks, stay apart, don’t gather. Find more patience.

There are elections in US and then there are elections in India. I don’t know how it’s in US, but boy, the dance of democracy is in full flow here in India. You look at some rallies and wonder if we are really living through a Pandemic.

My quest for simplicity wins me over again. Simple is always better. It’s a lot less friction prone.

I have always¹ wondered when is it that I write the most? What makes me active at writing? Or when is it that I stop (or pause) writing? Is the ease of putting the words out? Or is it the clarity of thoughts inside? I spend a lot of time on what’s outside, the immaterial material stuff. Rarely, do I spend time to peek inwards.

May be, just maybe, it’s not the CMS. Or the the blogging engine. It is the storm within that’s causing me to halt.

I wonder if I would be ok to post mainly from mobile, but as a regular micropub post. WordPress always allowed me to post so much more. I am not sure what m.b allows. It should be good enough, but is it really? That would be a test.