Excursions

One thing I did well in my early Twitter days was contributing to and being part of an active #writer community. I found a few feeds at Bluesky that inspire me again.

Ages. After ages, I stayed awake late into the night. And still woke up early. Sure, the sleep cycle is screwed again.

I started watching Succession again. Nope. I am watching it for the first time. I could never get into the series earlier. No reason. This time I hope I do.

Just a few conversations in, and I am already seeing some newer ideas on BlueSky. Like feeds “responding” to me!? Hmm! May be I should spend time knowing this platform better. 🤔

Exactly a month ago, I decided to stop syndicating my posts to any social networks. What have I learnt in this month?

The interactions on my posts have significantly gone down. Every post had some replies earlier. No surprise, most were on Micro.blog. A few were on Mastodon. Both have naturally gone down to zero. I have received a few emails (and fewer comments through Commento). I responded to each of them, which is something I cannot say about the earlier replies I received on the timelines. My genuine lack of interest in checking my mentions and responding to them was why I had stopped syndication.

How about traffic (yuck!)? I have no clue. Though I have analytics enabled with Tinylytics, I don’t follow the numbers. I don’t know what the numbers were earlier and how they have been impacted. There is also a possibility that most follow my blog through RSS. Whatever the case, I don’t know, and I don’t have any interest in finding out.

The most noticeable impact has been on my writing – I have stopped writing for a timeline.

Earlier, I subconsciously filtered all my posts through the lens of how they would look on a timeline. Or to the folks who tend to reply to my posts frequently. Is this too long? Too short? Does this interest all? Or some? Or anyone at all? My mind was always crowded with such unnecessary doubts. I observed this behaviour first a couple of years ago.

Writing publicly, with the voice of your readers chirping at the back of your mind, is ineffective. You write for interaction – that’s futile. Most social media posts belong to this category. You are reined back by the voice — you write for someone else. The response you expect from them, your readers, provides you the lead. You write not what you like, you write what you think your reader likes.

I even mentioned people through their social media handles in my posts. Futile, I agree. But the whole experience felt unnecessarily limiting, and I lacked the control to not let it feel.

What does all of this mean for my no-syndication experiment? As of now, nothing has changed. I like this unshackled feeling while I write. As if no one’s watching and weighing up my every word.

How about taking my writing to the readers? I am yet to find an organic way to do that. Automatic and passive syndication is not that.

I don’t see even a single person replying to posts on Bluesky. Is this a sign of a healthy network? I am not talking about my posts either—even posts from well-known voices garner no responses. Everyone seems to be just syndicating their other posts here.

When you say a device is the best smartphone, you must be clear if it is Android or iPhone. We are way past when we can compare devices across platforms. One decides on the platform first and then chooses the smartphone they want.

If I don’t like iOS, doesn’t matter how good the iPhone is.

Ok seriously. How’s Bluesky different from Mastodon? And why should I spend time here? Is the social aspect of the network any different here? 🤔

A walk in the night! #stories

Yesterday, I was sitting with my iPad Mini on the sunny balcony, with my sister’s iPhone and my Galaxy S24 Ultra next to me. Barely able to read on my iPad, I picked up my phone and was reminded how I had fallen absolutely in love with this device. Especially the two aspects. The stunning screen. The monstrous battery life.

I don’t think I have seen a better screen than what this has. All reviews have called it out. But you must experience it to appreciate the brilliance of what Samsung has achieved. The text is crisp; the colours pop out. Plus, the lack of reflection is mindblowing. I don’t think I can go back to any other device now that doesn’t have the technical wizardry that Samsung has packaged here. It’s perfectly visible even in the harshest sunlight without losing clarity or colour.

I am surprised no one built such a screen earlier. This is much more important than the high refresh rate or crazy resolutions. Here’s a snapshot from the official product page.

The second one is also a no-brainer with its trade-off – the battery life. Since moving to smartphones in 2009 with the iPhone 3GS, I haven’t had any phone with a battery life longer than a day. But then I also stubbornly preferred phones with smaller dimensions. I never liked the likes of Notes and Plueses and Pros and Maxes. So, my decision to shift to a large phone this time was clouded by my fear of discomfort.

All my fears were washed away right on the second day when my phone wasn’t screaming at me to be plugged in. My last phone, the Galaxy S22, was the slickest of all the devices I have ever owned. But it was frustrating to put it to charging every evening. From that to now, when I am easily going through two full days without charging my phone, it is a drastic (and welcome) change. Even three days once. This might be a benefit that all large phones share. But with everything this device packs, it has to be the best amongst the best.

Even without the natural benefit of a larger screen to read and write better, I would always select a larger phone from now on just for the battery life it lends.

In addition, there are miscellaneous benefits of Samsung’s versions of Android phones for me. They have been nailing the physical design of the phones for the past few years. Without all the gloss, they look and feel premium in hand. Everyone who has held this device has commended the richness of its feel.

One UI feels slick, elevating the overall Android experience a notch higher. It’s inherently Google but distinctly Samsung at the same time. All the small touches they add across the platform are well thought through. The ones that I have found the most used are Modes and Routines. It helps set your phone for different phases of the day. I can customize all aspects, the most important being which apps I access during a particular mode. For example, in Life mode, I have set it so that I can’t use any apps from my work even if I wanted to. Neither do I get notifications from them. 

Samsung has woven a lot of such small additions into the platform. S Pen works nicely. The side Panel stays hidden, yet it is extremely useful. Dex is an absolute stunner. And the list goes on.

This post has gone on for much longer than I initially expected. And I haven’t even talked about the cameras. With Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung has indeed mastered the smartphone.