Joyously brutal
Sinister satisfaction
Crushing all delight
Author: Carl Setzer
Distraction
Laying upon my couch this lovely sick day, Twitter has been a dear friend (autocorrect changed “sick” to “suck”; might be something there). Yet, there’s a tyranny present. I grab my tablet to look up self-publishing options (Kobo vs. Amazon). Then I came back to myself some time later, trying to remember what I was doing. Just one tweet popped up, and my mind was gone.
So, exploring those options, I struggle. Amazon has a larger audience. However, do I want to align myself with them? What are my expectations of a company? I interviewed with Amazon a few years ago, plus I did several projects with them back in the mid-90s. So clearly I find then tolerable. Yet, they are getting gargantuan, which I suggested find concerning.
Writing-wise, at this point I’m planning on assembling a collection of my poetry. It’s been requested of me, and it sounds rewarding. Plus, I’ve been meaning to put side short-stories out, too. So I think this would be an interesting and viable channel. The main limiter of my success is time, and not getting sidetracked by the scatter of modern life. Sick-days challenge me enough without Twitter and it’s kin absorbing my attention and creating suck-days.
Impressive Demonstration Of Fitness
I SO want to be able to do this:
The amount of fitness growth needed is hard to imagine. But, hey, who knows? I think it’s doable, just whether I have the gumption to pull it off. Still, I find it inspiring.
Thoughts on Chrome, Firefox and Open Platforms
I’ve noticed over the past few days that Chrome became boggy and SLOOOOW. There are things I love about Chrome, but it’s propensity to hogging resources and, thus, degrading my machine’s performance have long bugged me. Being deeply enmeshed within the Google ecosystem might play a big part in that. But, the more I think about things, the more I’m concerned about my personal trend towards the Chrome/Google system.
I highly value the Open Source community and what they bring to the table. Even though I’ve worked for several large corporations, I really appreciate all that this community brings to the world. It’s more than simply free software, but also open standards. To me, it’s critical that corporations cannot lock out access to our data. So, utilizing open standards is critical.
With that, though, I look at tools such as Gimp, Open Office, and Scibus and see so much potential. For, say, image editing, wouldn’t it prove better to the world that the default image system wasn’t Photoshop, or desktop publishing InDesign? Dependence on one company causes me great concern. I really want to start pushing towards the adoption of open standards as the default for most industries. I don’t mean to disparage Adobe, Microsoft, or any one else. It should just scare the crap out of us to have only one real player in an industry.
So, going forward, I shall find open alternatives for my work (see the links above to start with). First, today, FireFox for browsing. I know this will also improve my system performance. And will I really notice any of the missing features. Heck, other than drag & drop attachments from Gmail to Windows Explorer, is there anything that is in Chrome but not available in Firefox? I’m not too concerned.
Thinking on Migraines
“Thought not found, neural pathway non-existent and/or corrupt. Rebooting to last known safe condition.” One way I look at my migraines.
It’s not the pain that’s the worst. For me, that would be the “grey fuzzies”, the unfocused blurring of my mind. That blends with the ringing/hum that fills my senses. This inability to think is what distresses me the most.
Fortunately, my life only dives into this realm on rare occasions. And this trip is about done. Time to drift of to sleep.
Transportation and Accessibility To Opportunity
Later today I’ll be giving a lift to one of the teens at my taekwondo studio, and tomorrow to one of my son’s friends for a rugby game. I’m often pinged for last minute rides, sometimes that involve a fair amount of driving. A few friends question why I make myself that accessible for such, “am I just being a sucker”? The short answer is “no”.
One of the things that I deeply value is helping people connect with their passions. The thought of someone not being able to participate in a passion out of a simple transportation issue bothers me greatly. Well, sometimes the easiest way to assist with that is simply facilitating presence. If my gift of a few minutes of driving helps connect someone to their passion, then it’s a glorious investment in the communities that I love.
Growing Healthier
A few years ago, my weight crept past 220 lbs. With clothes tight, belts tighter to the point of needing replacement, I felt fear. In my mid-40s, all the diseases associated with obesity stared me coldly in the eye. Even more frightening, I noticed a few people, slightly older than me, with major mobility issues. All that lead to a call to get healthy.
Now I didn’t race for the nearest cross-fit course. I just added back some things I love: cycling and walking, also attacking some dietary “low hanging fruit” (limit soda, cut back on sweets, smaller portions) and ten pounds dropped quickly. But each additional drop presents challenges. So I adopted several smartphone tools, the main one now being MyFitnessPal. And I keep looking for better tools.
About 6 months back, I noticed my wife’s Fitbit laying unused and asked to try it out. I hated the thing! It displayed, in great detail, my sedentary life. So, I parked the thing. Then, around New Year’s, my fallow account got friends connecting to me. Funny, that motivated me to find the Fitbit and relaunch the tool. Now, though, the lack of activity challenges me to grow forward. I’ve been trying to add more activity to my life, deliberately so. Small steps, small steps; pun completely intended.
Last night I noticed the nutrition tab in MyFitnessPal and was, again, horrified. Too much fat and carbs, too little of myriad key nutrients. For sometime I’ve thought about building a menu about achieving great nutrition. Well, time to up that. So, a brand new life project. Got ideas, suggestions, etc, let me know.
Departures on Netflix
Years ago, I fell in love with a Canadian TV travel show, Departures. It’s one of the shows that made me second guess cord-cutting. Beautiful cinematography and hosts with a very unique viewpoint, I can’t recommend Departures enough. A brief summary of the show: hosts Scott Wilson & Justin Lukach along with cinematographer Andre Dupis drop everything and explore the world for a year. That year ends up extending into 3, each with it’s own season. Other travel hosts tend to have some kind of agenda, whether finding the best travel deals, exploring a certain element of a culture, or such. The guys really don’t. They travel to destinations that intrigue them and, in a rather zen-like manner, allow the location and people they meet to guide them. At least that’s how the show comes across. It’s really about human connection.
So imagine my joy when, recently, I popped into Netflix and beheld this glorious site:
I’m very, very happy to see this. Go forth and stream this one with my highest recommendations.
Automating Your Blog? No!
Just got an email that promised to “put your blog on autopilot”. Of all the things to automate, pawn off, whatever, with social media, this NOT a solution. EVER! The closest thing I will ever do is suggest a copywriter. However, this is YOUR voice. It’s better to spend a few minutes a day on this than rehash commodity content. Oh, and there are SEO considerations as well.
Personally, I’ve seen blogs that are publishing the same content as others. Occasionally the EXACT same posts. Those sites lose all credibility with me.
One person I know experimented with one of these services. Their blog’s rankings grew rapidly, for a brief time. Then, abruptly, their rankings and page views plummeted. I believe Google sees when you’re pumping out the same content as “everyone else”, and you get banished to SEO hell.
It’s better if you can just do this yourself. Blogging shouldn’t be that deep or time consuming. Share your expertise, your value add, how you see things. Really, that’s it. A copywriter can figure out your voice, your unique take on things, and create relevant and distinctive content. As someone who loves to write, and loves to help people find their place/their audience on the internet, I love to do this for folks. What’s most important is putting forth that unique voice. That’s what distinguishes you from all the others who do the same sort of thing.
More Tech Thoughts From The Sky
I’m sitting on a plane now returning to Seattle after the better part of a week away. With my trusty tablet, though, I’m pretty fully connected. My laptop is at my feet, sleeping peacefully. My phone is charging. And I’m fully in touch with the world. Well, save for the slow wifi and the fact I lost my stylus. The wifi should be excused as it looks like nearly everyone is online in some way, shape or form.
But we’re never satisfied, are we? Always want more, more speed, more power, and that’s what drives innovation and competition. The possibility to out innovate the established player drives us further.
Still, I’m struck by what I can do, right now. It didn’t seem so long ago that it was novel to just use a laptop in flight, without any connectivity. Really, if we think about it, it’s amazing.
Someone will make internet even faster, and other new glorious opportunities will arise. My biggest hope, though, is that we shorten security lines and shorten flight times. Oh, to dream!