I’ve deactivated my LinkedIn profile and deleted all my social media apps (except Mona and Micro.blog). I’m done with big social media.
RIP Warnock and the Hollowing of the Tech Industry
The passing of John Warnock brings to mind how few current tech “leaders” have technical prowess. Zuckerberg might be closest but he stole stuff to get ahead, Gates is retired, Musk is a snake oil salesman, Cook is a business guy. I wish the tech industry would get back to making useful things instead trying to get rich.
I know this is not a new insight, but the older I get the quicker life goes. Enjoy each moment because none of it lasts long.
I am so not ready to start my day.
This is a test post using Scribe, a web-based text editor for micro.blog, developed by @amit. He is continually making new and interesting projects. The pop-over bubbles when text is selected is a nice touch.
Three Years of Hemispheric Views Feedback
Three Years of Hemispheric Views Feedback:
040 I am furious Andrew doesn’t use “Grand Canion” as a username everywhere because that is so fucking good
Let’s face it, I probably should use that username everywhere.
This is just one of the many things I’ve rediscovered about myself and Hemispheric Views after reading this epic blog recap by @rknightuk. I am incredibly appreciative of the work Robb invested through his committed listening project of reviewing the entire back catalogue of our podcast.
I think Hemispheric Views is a special podcast and I’m glad others think that too.
The Value of Rest
This article was originally written for the September 2022 edition of Hemispheric News, delivered as part of the Hemispheric Views podcast member bonus program, One Prime Plus.
Beck Tench is a person whom I follow online. Beck has produced a range of content pertinent to her areas of interest as an academic. One of the topics Beck has written about includes the power of rest and what makes a restorative environment. I’ve always found this interesting. I’m not an academic but I do have a brain that grabs onto new and interesting thoughts, philosophies and approaches.
Rest by definition is restorative. If the body and soul are not being restored in a period of rest - then what is the point? But in this modern world, what is rest?
I think mental rest is almost more important than physical rest for many of us. That is not to diminish physical rest - especially hours of sleep - but many of us as modern knowledge workers are not destroying our bides daily in the way the majority of the workforce once did.
We are, however, pressing our minds so much more, whether that be through higher-level thinking or information absorption. How many RSS feeds, podcasts, news articles, and social networks do you imbibe daily?
The point is, we need to give our brains a break. We need a chance to restore.
Recently I enjoyed a week away in Exmouth - a remote town of Western Australia. Exmouth has bad internet. You may have surmised this when I called into Episode 064: Nested Jackets. On this holiday I was able to step away from the daily hosepipe of information. I allowed my mind a rest from the the thoughts of others and gave it a chance to focus on the here and now, and my own thoughts.
In addition, I gave my body more activity and motion than it usually gets - but an amount that is more healthy than what I typically achieve. This may seem opposed to my thoughts about rest. But what it meant was that I went to bed hours earlier than usual and got more sleep each night.
This additional rest was restorative.
Another element of Beck Tench’s thesis (as best I can tell) is that water is restorative. I experienced this to be true on my holiday. Between pool swims, ocean splashing and reef snorkelling seeing coral fish and turtles, being in and around water was restorative.
What am I trying to say through this essay? Apart from corroborating what I’ve noticed Tench write about, it is an exhortation to myself to not lose touch of the value of stepping away; and to you, to encourage you to take a rest yourself.
The best podcast you’ve never listened to is 3 years old! Happy birthday @HemisphericViews
The Bear is great television. 📺
No Meta apps (Instagram, Threads) load when IPv6 is enabled. Vanguard website doesn’t load when IPv6 is disabled. Argh.
Even when I’m not on Hemispheric Views, I’m on it. Episode 089
Week One Done & Finished With a Flourish
Today I completed my first week at my new job. It’s been a whirlwind, but every day has been better than the previous one.
It’s been so many years since I started a new job that I wasn’t match fit in the process. I’d forgotten how to ‘start over’, so that in itself has been an experience.
Learning what is expected of me, and figuring out how to implement that without getting lost in the minutiae becomes the next challenge. I need to keep my head elevated and focus on the strategic objectives, without getting too deep into the weeds of daily tasks. An interesting juggling act to think about over the coming weeks.
Today, however, as part of NAIDOC Week, a bunch of the team got together to work on an indigenous-style artwork. We were provided with the starting template and then as a team we “completed the dots”. It was a great way to get to know everybody and bond while doing an activity that was quite meditative.
The team is a wonderful group. I haven’t done a team activity for such a long time, and this was a perfect way to end a first week at a new job.
I am also proud of the painting. I think it looks fantastic!
Browser-based Apps Just Aren't as Nice
I can’t believe that 40 years of computer software design has led us to a world where we are all reliant on a range of entirely bespoke browser-based apps. The tech world has really ended up in a basket-case of UI design.
I don’t mind server-based stuff, but I love a native front-end. It’s such a shame that market economics has resulted in us running complex apps in an app that was never designed for that purpose. It’s such a massive kludge, retrofitting entire platforms into a web browser.
Native code kits are sitting right there, and simply not being used.
It saddens me.
Half-way through the first day of a new job. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to go through the rigamarole of induction. 💼
Wordle 739 2/6
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It’s going to be a good day!
That feeling when you’re enjoying the job of being a basketball commentator. 🏀
When the struggle is real, a walk can be the remedy. 🚶🏼♂️
I’m liking Tinylytics - a new project from @vincent. Giving me what I want to know, and nothing more, about site stats for my micro.blog site.
Binance ordered out of Nigeria
This could be a headline from The Onion. You know things are bad when Nigeria decides your business is too scammy to be allowed to operate in its country.
Binance ordered out of Nigeria:
Nigeria…has ordered Binance to “immediately stop soliciting Nigerian investors in any form whatsoever”.
I bet there are many Nigerian Princes happy to once again have a clear run at the market.
Thinking about Slack’s fall from grace. Acquired by Salesforce. 🤮 Squeezed on the business side by Teams with typical Microsoft embrace, extend, extinguish. Squeezed by Discord from the casual side. Slack will probably keep limping on as a sad brand, Yahoo!-style, for years.