Excursions

Finally watched The Big Sick. It’s refreshing to see some real couples, doing normal couples’ stuff. Performances are patchy throughout, but heartfelt.

A fresh, unpredictable treatment to the plot makes this romcom a good watch.

It’s been a very hectic week, loaded with work and hobby projects. Sleep is affected. Life with family is affected.

Weekend is marked for the recovery - quality time with family, and lots of rest!

@manton I started working on an app based on Micro.blog APIs — started as a project to learn and explore. I do want to open it up to others now, in case if it helps them.

Is there any process? I did generate an app token, not using login API as of now.

I look at some people and heartily feel the society does not deserve them. I am confounded as to what covert energy drives such lot.

There is no way your regular earthly diet can prepare you for the routine assault marring your senses.

Dave Winer wrote about Google’s recent strike on non-https sites.

When big companies try to force you to change your web site, say no. The web does not belong to them. Defend the web. The answer to Google is no.

I am torn on this. On one hand, I absolutely hate that Google wants every website owner to go through the hassle of obtaining certificates and enabling https — even if it’s a plain simple text blog. But on the other hand, I realise that it’s too much to expect that regular users understand the technicalities of which sites have to be secure and which are ok if they are not.

Making all sites secure will shift the onus to the site owners rather than the readers. Those who know how to, will find a way to do so. Those who don’t are hopefully with platforms, like Wordpress, that are making it simple to enable https. It can’t be a loss for anyone, can it?

Ben Thompson of Stratechery has published a (another) great post on understanding AMP and the reasons behind its lure for publishers and success amongst users on web. It’s a must read to better understand how (and why) Google is aggressively pushing AMP across its product lines.

And of course, he also talks about the core argument against AMP - it’s an open, but still a proprietary standard from Google. And they are blatantly exploiting their monopoly in search and online advertising while promoting it.

The problem with Google’s actions should be obvious: the company is leveraging its monopoly in search to push the AMP format, and the company is leveraging its dominant position in browsers to punish sites with bad ads. That seems bad!

There is no better example than Google’s actions with AMP and Chrome ad-blocking: Google is quite explicitly dictating exactly how it is its suppliers will access its customers, and it is hard to argue that the experience is not significantly better because of it.

Yes, clearly Google wants to improve the end user experience by giving them a “better, leaner web” with AMP. Are they being monopolistic along the way? Definitely. Uncompetitive? Absolutely.

What happens when protecting consumer welfare requires acting uncompetitively?

Now that’s a loaded question — given that web is spoilt deeply with horrific and utter garbage ads spewed across, what other options remain than such hardball tactics?

I do not believe there is a convincing answer to that yet. I am sure the proponents of the open web, myself included, simply do not like Google’s utter disregard for standards in AMP. There are abundance of examples/opinions on problems with AMP.

What’s worrisome for me though is the fact that Google is markedly focused on elevating AMP’s experience on its own browser and in its own search. What if this experience of the web served by Google’s platforms turns so much better that eventually that becomes the only web user know of?

Yee-haw! Alto’s Odyssey is here. Farewell to some hours of productivity. And welcome some hours of relaxing glides. 😊

You code. Or you write. Rarely can you do both together. That context switching is not so seamless.

I guess it has to do something with that left brain-right brain thing 🤓

On my IndieWeb Journey, there are few things I haven’t sorted out yet.

To set up a media endpoint for micropub.

To (auto) send webmentions to the linked sites.

To get mentions from Twitter on syndicated microposts. Bridgy’s sending webmentions only to the ones with explicit URLs.

I had been displaying the webmentions on the posts for some time now. Idea was to validate if things were setup correctly. Once I had an idea on which mentions needed to be surfaced and how, I got to work today.

Finally, I feel I have something I am satisfied with.

I got a JSON feed setup for my site. When I began, I did not think it would be this simple. I love this format, I am comfortable playing around with it.

And here’s another reason why I serve this as a static site. I can quickly take such small custom projects & roll them.

Another day, another playground. It’s a feed fixing day — I need to decide how I want to serve my feed. In addition, prominently display the links to feeds on the site.

And get a jsonfeed setup too. I prefer the json format to xml any day. Why shouldn’t I serve my feed as one?

I’m surprised to see the number of blogs run by blot here. I can see the attraction of a simple file-system based posting mechanism.

I guess people just do not want to handle any overheads, be it with hosting or posting. Plain files always win.

As planned, I got a /now page setup for my site. I do not want to load it with too much of text.

This is what I intend. A small write-up on what’s on my mind. Followed by a list of things that are keeping me busy.

And finally, to keep it updated. Hopefully weekly.

So unlocked one more pin with my latest post. Can I say it wasn’t intentional? Planned? 🤗

I recently read a great essay by Michael Harris where he dwells into his present-day struggles to read patiently, the old way. With focus.

Paragraphs swirled; sentences snapped like twigs; and sentiments bled out. The usual, these days. I drag my vision across the page and process little. Half an hour later, I throw down the book and watch some Netflix.

I completely empathise with this. I had realised early last year how difficult it had become for me to read, surrounded by the all-time connected gadgets. A ping here. A notification there. And out I was from my reading flow. Into the swirl of unnecessary, untimely, inconsequential “information” blurbs. What followed was a tap-swipe-scan-stare routine through the varied app icons scattered across the screen. Away from the book, the narrative.

That was also the time when I realised something had to change. First of all, the underserving notifications had to be purged.

Second, I had to start reading in a place where I am not surrounded by any connected device. So I take my kindle, walk to my balcony or to my terrace or to the garden and settle there. Without my phone. Or my iPad. Anyone needs my attention, they have to come fetch me. And I realised I was back to being more earnest while reading. Reading more regularly, speedily. Reading more. Period.

And it indeed is important that I read more for me. I realised the slackness in reading also affected my ability to pen words. I stopped writing. I knew the reason, but Michael puts it perfectly.

In Silicon Valley, they have a saying that explains why an algorithm starts producing unwanted results: Garbage in, garbage out. The idea is that an algorithm can only work with the information you feed it. Aren’t writers — all creators — algorithmic in that way? Our job is to process what we consume. Beauty in, beauty out. Garbage in, garbage out.

So maybe that change into a cynical writer can be forestalled — if I can first correct my reading diet, remember how to read the way I once did. Not scan, not share, not excerpt — but read. Patiently, slowly, uselessly.

I just couldn’t agree more. Fortunately or unfortunately, we are stuck in this information world. There is no steering clear of the frivolous interruptions we are assailed with from all sides. All I want is to pluck the opportunities I grant others to interrupt me.

There are days when her doll becomes her life. Whatever she does, it stays by her side. For her, it becomes “she”. For us, she becomes her.

Today’s one such day.

I sincerely hope the “Reply All” option is higher on @manton’s list of to-dos — I need it throughout the day, multiple times 🤞🏽

I am surprised I never tried VS code earlier. I think there’s something about dev tools that we do not want to change them often - I‘ve been a Sublime Text/BBEdit user.

Makes me think what other Source Code Editors does the community prefer?

I’m really impressed with Visual Studio Code. It works great on Mac (and of course is cross platform), has perfectly useful editor, debugger. Syntax highlighting/code completion‘s without any issues.

Integrated terminal’s amazing. Plus it’s fast, smooth. And free & open.

I plan to get a “Now” page setup for my site. I debated a lot if I would be able to keep it updated regularly. I don’t think I can if I keep it as a page for users.

Rather I want to use it to keep track of my current focus — it might be reading list, trainings or project.

The sheer number of modules available in Node can overwhelm you at times. Think of any utility, small or large, there must exist a module on Github.

It’s been that kind of day today.

“Math is math, why would they change math?”

Gosh, this Incredibles 2 Trailer is awesome. Just can’t wait for this movie to release.

I am reading posts mentioning Apple should have caught rings problem in QA. However I have a genuine question. Is it a valid test case to check effects of a hardware product involving materials against every material surface possible? Is it not a stretch?

Notifications were barging into my life very frequently, throughout the day. And night. I had to take control of this. And I have been extremely aggressive on deciding who deserves that privilege. Some thoughts.