Excursions

Maya narrates an annoying annectode involving iMessages.

By buying my mother a gift, I have now made it so that her contacts with iPhones, who all have her email saved, will – by default – send her messages that she cannot access on her phone, and they won’t know that they’re doing this when trying to text her. This seems terrible.

This is terrible. I recall I had gone through a similar frenzy when I had switched from my iPhone to Android. Getting back my messages from the clutches of iMessages was so painful. I had to go through this again when I bought my iMac and Apple decided I want messages with my email. It’s frustrating to see the limits Apple goes to to decide on its user’s behalf what’s best for them. I really resonate with this thought from Maya (emphasis mine).

If they’d just built their own thing in a separate app that needed both sides to explicitly opt-in to use in their communication, I wouldn’t be writing this!

Amen! Only saving grace is there are not many in my family or friends circle who use iPhone.

At the start of every year, I read posts from people where they set goals for themselves. I love the theme, but setting goals or resolutions doesn’t work well. I am not a stickler for goal tracking.

Recently, I read a couple of posts where people put out a list of their hopes for the year. Latest from mei. This inspired me to pen one for myself. I thought I might struggle to create such a list when I started writing this. It was surprisingly simple when I put them in buckets - self, health, relationships and interests. So, here we go!

1. Write more than I did in 2023 - target 365 posts
2. Read one book in a month - target 12 books
3. Publish one short story
4. Find a medium that helps me be social on the web
5. Find a place for music in my life again
6. Make a journal entry at least once a week
7. Keep stories on my website updated with one new photo every week
8. Go on a date with my wife once a month
9. Go on a play date with my daughter once a month
10. Family dinner with my wife and daughter once a month
11. Take one picture of my daughter and one of me & my wife every week
12. Meet my two friends circle once a month
13. Inspire interest in Curious Bee to create again
14. Find and connect with people whose ideas resonate with me
15. Improve physical fitness by walking 5 days a week
16. Improve mental fitness by meditating 5 days a week
17. Do Pranayama and Surya Namaskar at least 2 times a week
18. Take care of my face
19. Achieve better work-life balance, minimize life during work
20. Learn to cook roti
21. Visit a cafe alone once a month
22. Speak up my mind, even if it disappoints others
23. Learn to use the calendar to structure day and week
24. Learn to use my smartphone better for reading and writing

I accept it’s slightly late to publish such a list. But I have already been working on a few of these. Plus, it’s better late than never.

I haven’t posted anything since I last wondered “why I even write anymore in public”. This question still crowds my mind. But I read what other folks write, which, in turn, makes me want to do that. So, I am not going to stop writing on my blog anytime soon.

What do I write about? Well, about nothing and everything. That has been my mantra.

I usually do not have a set template for my posts. I start writing, and the thoughts pour themselves out. The only thing I have to do is sit down at my desk and start hammering on my keyboard.

Recently, I read some excellent posts on blogging versus social media. The first is Robb Knight talking about how the web is fantastic. This feeling resonated with my current state of mind.

Blogs and RSS never died. Some of us just took a little break from it while we all shitposted on Twitter for likes, retweets, and validation. While we wrote long, unfindable threads instead of blog posts. I’m as guilty of this as anyone.

It’s been some time now since I posted to any social network. 20 days to be exact. It’s freeing to not worry about how my posts look on different timelines or how people react to them. I write on and for my blog. I have also accepted that I won’t get any reaction on even my most thoughtful posts.

I have yet to find a frictionless way to respond to a post I read. I want that.

The second post is Chris McLeod vouching for the resurgence of blogging.

[S]tumbling into such a trove of active blogs has enthused me about blogging as a medium again. It’s sparked a thought that through a combination of increased blogging activity, declining platforms, and increasing adoption of open standards to glue everything together, that maybe — just maybe — we can swing the web back towards the blog again.

I share Chris’s optimism – posting micro thoughts on social media led to the discovery of many good bloggers. I maintain my apprehensions about micro posts on the blog – I cannot write and post them. But I am okay with others doing it.

Anyway, I continue to read blogs through RSS. I continue to write on my blog. All’s well.

A long time ago, I had bookmarked an article on the story behind the new search engine Neeva. I came across that article again today only to find that the search engine is no longer publically available. Is there any point of reading it anymore? Yet I did.

Reading the article now made me realize most often, the reasons that the makers of a technology give for its existence and their plans for its long term survival is all just hubris.

I received yesterday the Galaxy 24 Ultra that I had preordered. A quick opinion after a day’s use – I am mighty impressed. Stunning display. Monstrous battery. And a brilliant camera – I have taken a few shots in low light and portraits, and boy, am I impressed. This is the basic feature set that matters to me.

With a place now for my snaps on my website, I am going to have so much fun taking pictures with this set of cameras.

Coming from a smaller screen size of Galaxy S22, I was very worried that I might not like the massive size jump. But I think I am going to love this size. It has a lot of space for all the elements on the screen. One that also renders a lot of crisp words – I am now on the lookout for more to read.

The overall experience feels buttery smooth. The feel in the hand is light, yet premium. Plus, did I say that I love the larger screen on the phone!?

Shade without the sun! #stories

Love the games shadow plays #stories

Water and sun! #stories

I wish every blog post had a footer with easy ways to respond, preferably via email. The early days of blogging were simple, with a plain comments section. All one had to do was add details about themselves and comment. Spam ruined the simplicity, and accounts were required to be created just to add a comment.

I yearn for those simpler days. I recently added a way to comment below my posts, powered by Commento. The simplicity of this system does have a price associated with it. But I want to keep that option around since I stopped syndicating posts to the social timelines.

Plus, the readers can always respond via email. I am relieved to see responses received through both of these mediums.

At the same time, it pains me when I open a blog post looking for a way to respond, and I can’t find any. Even if there is one, it is generally via some social network, which I am not keen to participate in. Please have a link to respond via email. Someday, you will receive a thoughtful response that will warm your heart.

Interactions are beautiful. Try them!

When I upgraded to Galaxy S22 a couple of years back, I wrote this about my initial impressions about the device.

I love the design of this phone, plus the feel in the hand. It’s compact yet powerful. I also like what Samsung has done with Android. This is possibly the best compact smartphone out there. Not just with Android.

After a couple of years with a compact phone, I have decided to jump to the other extreme. I have preordered the Galaxy S24 Ultra. I want to use a monstrous phone now. Though the compact phone was brilliant for general use, two issues have troubled me a lot.

The first is battery life. It barely lasted a whole day for me. If I use it heavily, I would need to juice it up towards the evening. With a bigger phone comes a bigger battery. I require a phone that lasts at least a day now.

The second is the smaller screen wasn’t the best to read and write. Especially later. I felt constrained and generally preferred to read on my iPad and write on my iMac or laptop. I hope both changes with a larger screen.

I knew back then that Galaxy Ultra was the device I wanted next. I will have one next week.