link
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Seppo, short for septic tank, which rhymes with Yank, which is slang for an American citizen. ↩︎
- I don’t know how to delegate, so I’m doing everything myself.
- I’m disorganised and can’t structure my days.
- I’ve failed to prioritise and eliminate extraneous activity.
- I’ve actually got nothing to do, but I don’t want anybody to find out.
🔗 Link Post: "Boeing 737 Max: debris found in fuel tanks of grounded planes"
“Boeing has ordered inspections of its entire fleet of grounded 737 Max planes after it found debris in the fuel tanks of some of the aircraft, in the latest setback for the US plane-maker”
Boeing seems to have forgotten the key tenets of lean manufacturing, especially the part about fixing problems at the source and not passing faults up the chain.
It used to be said that, “if it’s not Boeing, I’m not going”. Nowadays, I feel more comfortable with Airbus.
🔗 Link Post: "Donald Trump, the view across the pond"
“Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.”
Paul offers some thoughts and insights regarding Trump, from a British perspective. I think the Australian view is similar, but members of our society are more likely to say, “well, what else would you expect from a Seppo1?” Disparaging critique is a key element of our culture.
🔗 Link Post: “Clayton Christensen dies at 67 after lifetime of business, spiritual influence - Deseret News”
Tad Walsh writing for Deseret News:
“A true disruptive innovation, he taught, first appealed only to a niche market and appeared less attractive than the powerful incumbent it eventually usurped. In fact, the incumbent typically looked down on it as inconsequential until it ate up huge swaths of its market share.”
This article rightly focuses on Christensen’s impactful theory of disruption.
In my work I often crib Christensen’s case study about the utility of a milkshake as part of the ‘jobs to be done’ theory.
Rest In Peace, Mr Christensen.
🔗 Link Post: “Middle Age Is Actually Good - The Atlantic”
James Parker writing for The Atlantic:
“You’re not an apprentice adult anymore. You’re through the disorientation period”
— via Things to Click
🔗 Link Post: “Playdate December Update”
Panic writing for Playdate newsletter:
“We’re a smedium-sized crew — 25 people, 5 on Playdate.”
The Playdate gaming device is coming along nicely. Amazing what a small team has achieved, with this device and across other projects.
I like that Panic aren’t taking money in advance and that they are cash flowing the production. It’s real business.
🔗 Link Post: “Girls on Tour in Beirut — Long Distance Call”
Eliza Harvey & Geraldine Doogue: Long Distance Call Podcast E88:
“Geraldine and one of her oldest friends (and Eliza’s godmother) Mary Ciccarelli are in Beirut for new years celebrations.”
My Mother-in-Law Mary in what I’m sure must be her first podcast appearance.
In this older article, Dan outlines the benefits of blogging, but also the challenge of getting people to see beyond big social media.
It is psychological gravity, not technical inertia, however, that is the greater force against the open web. Human beings are social animals and centralized social media like Twitter and Facebook provide a powerful sense of ambient humanity—the feeling that “others are here”—that is often missing when one writes on one’s own site.
People still love the likes.
TV manufacturers unite to tackle the scourge of motion smoothing - The Verge:
Vizio’s Director of Product Marketing said that 85 percent of customers don’t bother adjusting their TVs from their out of the box settings.
This statement. How can people live like that?
WeWork's IPO: The Triumph Of Hype Over Fundamentals
WeWork’s IPO: The Triumph Of Hype Over Fundamentals:
“We Dedicate This To The Energy Of We – Greater Than Any One Of Us But Inside Each Of Us,” says the banner page of WeWork’s IPO document. I mentally added another “e” to We, and hastily moved on before I cracked up.
Sometimes it is perfectly appropriate to use toilet humour.
The Economist: America’s social-media addiction is getting worse:
FACEBOOK users in America spend about 42 minutes a day on the social-media platform.
I’m so happy not to be an active user of the Facebook platform anymore. Ditching it and Twitter has salvaged much time.
Into the Personal-Website-Verse · Matthias Ott:
Whenever you stumble upon an interesting thought on another site, write about it and link to it.
I stumbled across this article, and I liked it. It outlines why the IndieWeb should really just be the web.
As a result of finding this article on this website, I’ve subscribed to its RSS feed, so I’ll automatically get future content delivered to me. This is what makes the open web so great.
Drafts for Link Posts
I’ve been noodling around trying to figure out the most effective way to write and publish onto this Blot-powered page, especially from iOS, but also recognising that I do also use macOS.
The answer is always Drafts, isn’t it? That app that I keep trying to incorporate into my workflow, and then keep forgetting about.
Thanks to @vasta and galexa I should be able to develop a better/faster/more efficient process.
In fact, this post has been written in Drafts, utilising its share sheet extension as suggested.
Seven West Media Buys Remaining Stake in Community Newspaper Group in Wa ➜
Print and television giant Seven West Media has taken control of Community Newspaper Group in a deal that gives the company increased control over the West Australian media landscape, but has brought fears more jobs could be lost.
The deal brings several of Perth’s major suburban newspapers under the same company that owns The West Australian and Sunday Times newspapers, and top-rating TV news destination Seven News.
Well, this is depressing. As if our local media scene was not already enough of a monoculture.
Reading in the Age of Constant Distraction
Reading in the Age of Constant Distraction:
Horizontal reading rules the day. What I do when I look at Twitter is less akin to reading a book than to the encounter I have with a recipe’s instructions or the fine print of a receipt: I’m taking in information, not enlightenment. It’s a way to pass the time, not to live in it. Reading—real reading, the kind Birkerts makes his impassioned case for—draws on our vertical sensibility, however latent, and “where it does not assume depth, it creates it.”
This article provides an interesting insight into the value that reading can offer the mind; how it can engage in a way that the shallows of the internet’s social platforms cannot (and will not, because they’re optimised for engagement, not consideration).
‘I’m Busy’ Isn’t a Badge of Honour
It’s common within Australian business culture for people, when asked the question of ‘How are you going?’, to respond with something along the lines of, ‘I’m really busy’, or ‘flat out’.
This might be a reflexive response to avoid having to provide a more substantive answer, or it may be bluster to hide the fact they are anything but busy. Mostly, I think the response is given in the belief that “busy-ness” implies importance, worth and value. I think this is misguided.
When I hear somebody say they are busy, I tend to interpret it as:
Being busy is not a badge of honour. It’s a cry for help. Either you’ve got too much going on, or not nearly enough. Either way, there’s going to be a lack of focus on the projects and activities that really matter, and deliver true value.
Customers don’t pay for busy-ness; they pay for value provided. A customer doesn’t care how much work went into something; they care if it solves their problem.
If you find yourself busy all the time, don’t accept it, and don’t feel good about it. Identify how to eliminate, automate or simplify the tasks that are eating away your days. Gain back some time that can be put to better use, such as long-term planning, blue-sky thinking, or relaxing by the pool.
People are not machines. Our lives should be balanced. Sacrificing some busy time for a chance to pursue enjoyment, self-development, or diversification is a trade worth making. If you’re not busy, these alternative activities will fill your time in productive ways and build knowledge and capability over time. If you’re too busy, rebalancing and jettisoning the things that don’t add value will help you to concentrate on the things that matter.
Bluey
One of the joys of parenting is being exposed to children’s television. Much of it is as you would expect, which is to say, execrable.
A new Australian Show, Bluey, bucks the trend. It successfully encapsulates typical family life within modern Australia.
This article with the show’s creator goes into great detail about what makes the father character particularly great:
Equally refreshing is Bluey’s take on fatherhood. Bandit is a laid-back but resourceful dad who’s heavily involved in the day-to-day childcare. In his home office, he sits on a yoga ball at his desk because, as he explains to Bluey, “I wrecked my back changing your nappies”. From cleaning to washing to school runs, Bandit navigates the drudgery of household life with calm assurance. “He’s actually really competent,” Brumm says. “He’s a good dad.”
Jason Kottke runs about the best and most popular link blog on the web. This one featuring Freddy Mercury’s vocal doppelgänger, however, is one I have to share.
Australian Politics Is the Best
A fish kill of this scale from algal bloom is a serious issue.
I give full credit to Jeremy Buckingham for bringing it to our attention in this way.
Phil Nunnally’s “Hotbrain” ➜
Sometimes, in meetings, I have to scribble down a non-work-related thought or question to hunt down later just to get it out of my head so I can pay attention to what’s going on in person.
Phil nails the exact problem I have right now, as I trial using The Brain, consider how it fits into my existing usage of DEVONthink Pro, and consider whether I persist with my Wiki.
If the Australian dollar wasn’t so weak against the US dollar right now, I’d probably just purchase The Brain to relieve myself from the cogitation.
Jack Baty's Wiki
Jack Baty is a great member of the Indieweb community. He continually tinkers with online tools and services. His latest experiment is in publishing a wiki - specifically a TiddlyWiki instance he has set up at Rudimentary Lathe.
Jack’s enthusiasm has inspired me to throw up my own wiki to play around with — even though I have a local installation of DEVONthink that does a perfectly fine job of capturing and managing my knowledge and notes.
I didn’t have a super quick and easy way to install TiddlyWiki on my web host, but I did have the option to one-click create a DokuWiki. So I’ve done that and published it at my domain.
Federated Wiki Is a Strange Beast ➜
After seeing a micro.blog post by Frank McPherson about the Federated Wiki, I took a look at it.
Created by Ward Cunningham, who happens to be the inventor of the original wiki, the Federated Wiki system appears designed with a more fluid, attractive front-end, supported by the concept that each author should host their own content, rather than relying on a central ‘owner’ of the content - who could go away and take your content with them.
I get the ideal, but I find the implementation confusing. Despite its allure, I don’t think this system is for me.
Allowance for Ynab ➜
This iOS app, Allowance, is the first application I have seen using the new YNAB API. It’s quite a helpful little app, just bringing front and centre a small selection of budget categories.