Excursions

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.

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