Some say that it can be good therapy to have conversations with those that are no longer with us. Working out your problems talking to someone who is not there, keeping the gone close in your mind.
Or are we slightly mad to talk to someone that isn’t there? Talking to ourselves. Even if you wear headphones or hold a phone to your ear that isn’t active to disguise the madness. Are we mad?
If it helps you then I say no. You may work out problems, recall something you needed to remember, or bring some form of inner peace within yourself. After all it’s just talking. We talk all the time. To others, to electronics, to animals. What’s the harm in talking to someone that isn’t there any more?
If it helps.
At what point do you stop spending money on something?
I love my printer.
I took ages buying it. I researched the market, narrowed down to a handful of options then selected the one I wanted. An all-in-one office printer with a discrete loading tray for the paper, quiet operation, flatbed scanner, effortless double-sided printing and cheap ink options.
Then things started to fail after many years of good service. I learned how to clean the heads. Inks stopped working after firmware updates. I had to replace the maintenance box. Inks lasted only a few pages. Money kept trickling through my fingers spent on paper, maintenance tools, and ink.
At what point do you stop spending money on something? When do you decide enough is enough? You are just throwing more money away. If it can be fixed then it’s beyond your skillset or an amount that you are willing to spend.
I hate throwing things in landfills so I’ll probably gift it to someone in the hope they can make use of it. Then disposing of it becomes their problem. Their landfill karma.
I loved my printer.
Childhood seemed easier
Childhood seemed easier when you only had to think about who to play with, and what to play with: Action Man or Star Wars toys today? None of this adulting stuff. Career planning, frenemies, bills, knockbacks, constant health problems: yours, family, friends.
Everything was in front of you, but not that important. Playing, eating, sleeping, were the priority. Leave the adult stuff to the adults. Simpler times.
Home is where my backpack is
I’ve lived out of one backpack or another for many years. As an IT Consultant I had a custom backpack with compartments for laptop, accessories, office equipment, adaptors, chargers, plus overnight necessities, food, water, etc. All waterproof, lightweight, and sturdy. Travelling for pleasure long distance I had a larger capacity bag and a small day bag.
Wherever I was my backpack was my home. Like a human snail. Wherever I stopped for the night or even a few hours, my backpack was my home. You learned to carry only the essentials and nothing else. No luxuries or extras. No backups (that’s what cash and credit cards are for). You have to carry it so you learn to be picky about what you carry. If it can be digitized then do it. A digital copy has zero weight. Books, entertainment, data.
I got homesick a few times. Not just for people I missed but for the familiar. Your own bed, garden, space. It passes though.
These days I still carry backpacks. I have a go-bag for any emergency and a professional backpack for contract work.
Home is where my backpack is.
End credits
Sat in the cinema at the end of a movie. Or is it? In a bid to get viewers to actually look at the end credits, film makers started to put bonus material right at the end, and sometimes during the credits. Out of FOMO, a Fear Of Missing Out, viewers remain in their seats long after the movie has ended in the hope of seeing additional content, maybe a hint at a sequel or plot twist.
This time we are all rewarded and A Minecraft Movie delivers a bonus few seconds. I’m not a Minecraft player though so my kids explain it. Worth waiting ten minutes of my life for? Probably not.
The team player
It’s a great feeling when you find yourself being part of a great team. Brought together for a common goal, working towards a target, an achievement. Day by day working alongside your comrades achieving each milestone, constantly learning and evolving, enjoying the work.
Time ticks along and friendships grow as you fight on in the trenches together, still delivering, often under tight deadlines with limited resources, yet you hit the targets and the client is pleased. They hired a great team.
But everything must come to an end. Projects complete. Budgets run out. Priorities change. The team is disbanded and everyone goes to the four winds. Temporary ronin until a new master calls, a new team, a new challenge.
Some of us keep in touch. The occasional comms. A brief how are you, where are you working these days? Not the same as when you were in the trenches together working on that fun project up against the clock, delivering, with a happy client.
Nothing remains forever.
Here’s to all those great teams out there. Enjoy the flow while it lasts.
Searching for the human touch
There seems to be too much AI content. It was fun and interesting at first but the algorithms watched me consume AI content and now that’s all they seem to send my way.
On Spotify I can now identify an AI-generated music track within the first few seconds of hearing the vocals. It’s like the early days of in-car navigation systems: only a few voices were available. The few variations of male and female voices offered allows you to spot the AI singer with ease. I’m now trying to train the playlist AI to not offer AI content.
On Instagram it’s getting harder to spot the AI generated images from the real. They’ve now mastered fingers and toes and general biology. You now have to look at the shadows, facial expressions, eyes, and the overall feel of the image. Does it look too glossy? If yes, is it a filter? Also look for perfection. Perfect skin tone and musculature in every pose screams fake or manipulation. It is getting harder to tell what is real. Welcome to the Matrix.
There’s even AI videos, including short films, news articles, white papers, and podcasts all generated by AI. Ok it was cool at first but I find myself having to hunt for genuine human created content. I look for typos, grammatical errors, and human prose. I actively go out of my way to avoid AI content. Enough is enough! I want to consume something real, created with passion, interest, and human creativity.
I’m searching for the human touch.
Driving through life angry
Some people drive through life angry
They seem to wake up and are just angry from the outset. Nothing seems to make them happy. They get into their car and just drive angry. Beeping their horn at every opportunity, cutting people up, undertaking and overtaking, often over the speed limit, impatient.
When they get out of their vehicle they remain in the same mood, pushing against the crowd, slamming doors, impolite, angry at life.
It can’t be doing their mental health any good. The constant anger at the world, at life. It must cause indigestion, unease, stress, anxiety, even depression. Never seeming happy. Always rushing to the next thing, to work, to home, to sleep.
We only have one life so enjoy it. Take a leaf out of Ferris’ book and stop and look around once in a while. It’s not all bad. Don’t drive through your life angry.
Data leakage
Data leakage
Our devices and activity are constantly leaking data into the digital ether. What we choose to watch is recorded and reported to a remote server somewhere, along with the make and model of device we are using, the version of firmware it is running, and it’s IP address.
When we shop our loyalty cards and apps record our purchases as does the method of payment. Our modern cars record telematics and track our location via GPS. The in-car entertainment system tracks what we listen to and watch.
Web browsers profile our surfing habits, smartphones track our social and communication history. Smart meters track our utilities and can even tell when no one is home.
All of our smart devices connect to their manufacturer’s command and control center reporting telematics, performance, and usage data.
The photos and videos we take and upload contain metadata that shows where we took the image or video and on what device. We can be tracked via our smartphones right now and going back in time.
All this data leakage is valuable to someone. How much data are you leaking right now?
Making job applicants wait
I’ve applied for a fair few jobs recently and I’ve noticed that companies seem to enjoy making job candidates wait.
For one position the prospective employer was really keen but took a week to do anything. After applying they got back to you after a week. After the initial interview they took a week to let you know you are through to the next round. When no next round notification happened after almost a week and you emailed them, they took a week to reply to your email. The email said they’ll be in touch in a week. WTF? Is there some internal policy around taking seven days to action anything?
For another position the company said that I was the only candidate. Great, what happens next? They need to talk to the board. After ten days of hearing nothing you reach out. Nothing. Radio silence. You mention to someone you know at the company that you are now looking elsewhere and you then receive an email letting you know that they are still keen to hire you and discussions internally are ongoing. You hear nothing for weeks and continue to apply for other roles. You then receive an invite for a second interview. Hold on, I thought I was the only candidate? You are but you now have to speak to other people in the company before your application can be taken further.
Some of these companies are small, less than twenty employees yet they have so much bureaucracy and red tape. How many perfect-fit candidates are they losing due to these processes and lack of communication?
That is what it essentially comes down to: a lack of communication.
If only these companies would let you know what is going on. The equivalent of the in-progress spinning graphical animation that most software uses to let you know that something is happening and that we haven’t forgotten that you are there. To let you know where you stand, that they are still considering you but that this or that is happening and we will be in touch by so-and-so date. But no, nothing. Radio silence and the hope that you will wait on them.
We’ll get back to you, in a week.