Excursions

I hate shopping - especially shopping for clothes. Especially clothing for myself. I would argue so much mental energy in “wasted” on making decisions for clothes.

Is something wrong with the link between webmentions.io and micro.blog? I used to get replies on m.b as webmentions - but have stopped getting them recently. Just me or anyone else is observing the issue? I believe I had seen @Eli too brought it up recently. cc @manton

This story from John C Dvorak is indeed a cautionary tale - for both writers with publishers and the readers of the large publications. Especially this “Native advertising is a most insidious concept and should be rejected by every publisher.”

Best thing I like about Castro is how it handles chapters. It lists down all the chapters (with easy access to sponsors links), how much time each chapter runs for and also let’s you select which chapters you are interested in. Such a well thought out app this.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Such a wonderful read. I wonder how the hell have I not yet read this a hundred times. King teaches as he shares fascinating tidbits from his life. There’s so much to learn, about him and mainly about writing. About being honest.

There is a huge deviation in battery performance on Android devices with and without data connection on. In a way tells you how lenient the platform is in terms of pinging back home. This difference is observed even when the devices are on standby. Terrible wastage of resources.

Every time I hear someone say “no normal person gives a damn about privacy”, I cringe out of helplessness. No one cares about their data is such an insular view. Tell them what that data actually is, inform them what they are losing and then see them make an informed decision.

The best thing about Siri Shortcuts is that it can be triggered via text - swipe-down and search. I am always anxious using voice assitants in pubic - I don’t want to broadcast what I am doing on my phone. Though I still can’t “chat” with Siri, this is a good start.

Sometimes you behave with others, especially your close ones, in a way that you know just isn’t right. And it is times like these that I find are best spent alone. I distract my mind, not letting it wander. I give it what it likes. And then more often than not do I think clear.

I was a guest today in the pretend home of my daughter. She invited me to her pretend kitchen to make a pretend roll from a piece of napkin which I wasn’t prepared enough to do. I told her so to which her only response was “at least try dad before giving up”. Boy, kids are smart.

I was a guest on this week’s episode of @monday - it was a fun experience. Frankly, I was a bit nervous and a lot worried. But then @macgenie is a wonderful host and it was pleasure talking to her. Do give it a listen, and I hope doesn’t bore you down 😬

I‘ve decided to get inspired by my dad and strictly follow a daily routine - doesn’t matter then if I get called a bore. I believe it would be worth it if it lends some time to procrastinate at that odd moment and if am a tad more satisfied. The current lifestyle isn’t healthy.

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.

I read this interesting perspective from Bálint where he argues that “Chrome is a Google Service that happens to include a Browser Engine”. I understand where he is coming from, but I believe the thought process needs to be dealt with and curbed before it gets commonly accepted.

Sure, Google would want to believe that Chrome is just one of their many services — it suits their business model. When they can move their trackers (and eventually ads) right to the tool that people access the internet with, they would know what everyone’s doing on the internet. But Google should not be allowed to get away by dumping the idea down its user’s throat. Sure, normal people may not be able to differentiate how logging in to a service and to Chrome is different. Or how login/session cookies for Google may screw up the security model on a shared computer.

But that exactly is the reason why people who understand better need to voice their disapproval. It is easy to say that it’s not a big deal as I am already better informed to not use Chrome. But it is also reckless — Chrome has already become a de facto browser for mainstream users. It’s a wrong precedent then to let people who cannot fully grasp (or aren’t inclined to out of sheer neglect) the basic underpinnings of the open web to drive what’s acceptable for a browser, and on the web. If that was allowed, Net neutrality would already have been a lost battle worldwide. Such decisions tend to be uninformed and harm the community in the longer run.

An internet service is a different entity, it serves a specific purpose. It solves a specific problem that an end user has. Gmail is an email client. YouTube is a video sharing service. Google Search is… well, it has long since stopped being just a search engine. But, one gets the idea. You access a URL and it brings you to the service.

Chrome is not that. Chrome is a tool that allows users access these different services. And it is better if it stays that way. It’s already bad that all browsers come with an incognito mode by default. It would be important that we do not introduce another mode just to go incognito from the owners of the browsers.

I am sure Bálint will agree and his final thought kind of sums it well.

Part of me feels that this Chrome shared computer issue that Googlers mentioned is real, but it’s also just too convenient to solve this by tieing Chrome closer to Google, you know?

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.