Excursions

Lol’ed at this tweet by M.G. Siegler →

Breaking: NYT to acquire Metacritic, refocus site from movie review aggregation to critiquing Facebook.

I call things that I can’t put any name to as “meta”. I already have too many posts that are categorised as #meta. They have nothing to do with Facebook.

Here’s how Meta is defined – all so apt for what Facebook is going for in varying degree.

“showing or suggesting an explicit awareness of itself or oneself as a member of its category” - Lol! A good joke

“cleverly self-referential” - a lot less clever, a lot more self-referential

“concerning or providing information about members of its own category” - Information-shinformation, bruhh!

So, what is it. Facebook has gone Meta? Meta has engulfed Facebook? Or Facebook is Meta now?

The new name for Facebook is as vague as the future they plan with it.

When I published the final issue of my newsletter last week, I had promised I won’t send another letter to anyone, even if they stay subscribed. Even if I continue writing the essays. Here’s what I had said.

I prefer not to break your trust. You had signed up for something which I no longer intend to deliver.

I wanted the reader to provide me explicit permission to mail the essays. Today, I received the first one, with a really wonderful feedback on my writing. I am so glad the message wasn’t lost.

Both David Warner and Aaron Finch seem to have found their form today – that’s not a good news for other teams in T20 World Cup. With Maxwell and Smith already playing well, Australia is another formidable side. Interesting tournament this. 🏏

I had to connect with Google customer care today over a call. I spoke to a representative, but I am not sure if there was an actual person on the other end. I might have spoken to an AI. Crazy!

I finished listening to Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks and I instantly wanted to purchase the eBook version of the book too. This is one of those few books that are best read as both audio and text version. The audio brings out Matthew’s expertise as a storyteller — you realise how powerful the medium of storytelling is. However, as I had recently complained, it doesn’t give me enough chance to make notes from. Or to go back to those key sections and read them again.

I am not a storyteller by profession. I don’t get on a stage to narrate a story from my life to a group of strangers. Rather, I can’t even do that if I wanted to — the introvert in me shudders even thinking about it. But I do like to tell stories to the people I am comfortable with. To my family, my friends, my colleagues. And what Matthew attempts to narrate in this book is how to do that better.

But it’s not the “how to tell better stories” part that I found helpful. It is how to find those story-worthy moments from your life that had me excited. Matthew has a very natural, effortless way of conveying the methodical ways to identify, prepare and tell your stories easily. You would expect that, he is a teacher first, after all.

At the same time, he is also a writer and a renowned storyteller, though. So, listening to him tell his stories and use them as a tool to teach the process behind was fascinating. He has mastered the art over his many shows, and he lays out everything he has learnt through his experience for his readers to benefit from. He holds back nothing.

I have made so many notes, and I will make a many more when I read this book a second time. One thing, I have got homework for life now. And I don’t complain.

You should read this book even if, like me, you have no intention ever to tell your stories to strangers. Because, as Matthew says, there come moments in our life when we do tell our stories. So, instead of being terrible at it, we can attempt to do slightly better. Maybe we will not bore a few people the next time we ramble along in front of them. A must-read for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Apple is three things - hardware, software and services. Sooner they realize that services cannot follow the model of hardware and software, better it would be customers. Platform lock-in for software (like iMessages) makes sense. Why they don’t have a native app for Android for their services (like Apple TV+) is beyond me.

Apple is three things - hardware, software and services. Sooner they realize that services cannot follow the model of hardware and software, better it would be customers. Platform lock-in for software (like iMessages) makes sense. Why they don’t have a native app for Android for their services (like Apple TV+) is beyond me.

I upgraded to macOS Monterey – is it odd that I like the compact Tabs in Safari better? Sure they look jarringly different. But, boy, they are oh-so-compact. They save so much space in that area at the top.

I am not excited enough for the T20 World Cup this year. Rather, I am finding it a lot difficult to watch full cricket matches now a days. I can’t connect with this sport anymore. And I can’t say it’s just the sport that has changed.