Crucial Track for June 7, 2025
"Fantasy '82" by Azymuth
New album drop from Azymuth.
Get out in the world
“Often, the achievement of a grand life goal is dependent upon a serendipitous discovery—of the sort that cannot be unearthed while sitting in front of the television set. This is why consistent daily action is so essential. Because it is only by walking the path that new paths will emerge. If you remain stagnant and cease your forward movement down life’s winding road, then the adventures that lie beyond the next bend will never be revealed to you.” 📚
I did a 20km meandering cycle this morning and got home just before the rain arrived.
Komoot Enshittification Incoming
Jan-Lukas Else brought to my attention that Komoot, a cycling (and other sports) app I had been trialling recently after seeing good reviews, has been acquired and many staff have been laid off.
I was led to this article, Komoot Acquired: History Says This Won’t End Well
today, March 20th, the company has announced that it’s been acquired by Bending Spoons, which bills itself as a technology company (rather than a private equity or other investment apparatus). Though, in reality, history shows otherwise.
As soon as I saw Bending Spoons mentioned, I knew I was out. They have a history of buying and hollowing out companies; most notably Evernote.
Komoot is now deleted. Plenty of other app options out there. Sad though that such a good team was shown the door after doing all the hard work building a good app.
I’ve finished editing Episode 138 of Hemispheric Views podcast. That’s a lot of episodes!
The TRMNL device I ordered several months ago has arrived. Jury remains out on its long-term usefulness but for the moment I’m having fun playing with it.
I’ve never been a Pocket user, but did use Instapaper for years. Micro.blog offers an excellent Read it Later option. An optional AI layer simply provides a synopsis - nothing more. Plus you can highlight text and commence a blog post from the save quite easily.
Black Swan on the Swan
Don’t tell USA but I got my annual flu vaccination the other day. 💉
Finished reading: Juice by Tim Winton 📚A tale I could almost imagine to be true, but as with most Winton books, I get to the end and find myself saying, “huh?”
Finished reading: Keep It in the Family by John Marrs 📚A gripping page-turning thriller.
While commentating the Perth Redbacks game against Warwick Senators, I caught a deflected ball from the commentary position, then managed to catch my MacBook Pro as it was about to tumble off the table. Reaction speed is still good! 🏀 🤲🏻 🎤
Tonight while commentating Perth Redbacks v Warwick Senators I caught the deflected game ball in mid-flight, then held the ball in my left hand while catching my MacBook Pro with my right hand as it was falling off the table. Still have my reflexes! 🏀💻🥷🏻
Finished reading: Time Surfing by Paul Loomans 📚I’ve adopted some of the advice but I can’t give up my beloved OmniFocus.
I’ve been taking my 9 year old son to the driving range. It’s wonderful. Incredible bonding time. As a bonus, I think I’ve finally resolved my slice! Practice makes… better. 🏌️♂️
45 kilometre e-bike ride today. Not bad! 🚲
Bought Folder Preview, a macOS extension to Quick Look into folders. Where has this been all my life? 🤓