A Well-Intended Idea, But an Impossible Execution: My Thoughts on the Environmental Responsibility Initiative (Vote on February 9th Weekend)

I’ve looked at the initiative text for the new bill, which was proposed and is up for a vote this weekend (“Volksinitiative
Für eine verantwortungsvolle Wirtschaft innerhalb der planetaren Grenzen (Umwelt-verantwortungsinitiative)”1). Reading it leaves me feeling sad.

Read 7 remaining paragraphs...

A large snail with an extended body and outstretched tentacles moves along a piece of wood inside a terrarium. Its shell is textured and slightly weathered. The enclosure contains soil, plants, bark, and other natural elements. The glass surface of the terrarium has smudges and dirt.

I’ve seen the big snails again - they are around the size of a hand and somehow cute :-)

The cargo cult metaphor is commonly used by programmers. This metaphor was popularized by Richard Feynman's "cargo cult science" talk with a vivid description of South Seas cargo cults. However, this metaphor has three major problems. First, the pop-culture depiction of cargo cults is inaccurate and fictionalized, as I'll show. Second, the metaphor is overused and has contradictory meanings making it a lazy insult. Finally, cargo cults are portrayed as an amusing story of native misunderstanding but the background is much darker: cargo cults are a reaction to decades of oppression of Melanesian islanders and the destruction of their culture. For these reasons, the cargo cult metaphor is best avoided.

The origin of the cargo cult metaphor.

I don’t like front matter as it puts a big ugly block of code at the front of my notes. But nobody seems to be talking about postmaster, which would be an acceptable compromise for me. From a technical point of view, I can understand that having the metadata at the beginning of the file makes it easier and faster to read and ignore. But then again, just read the file from the end instead of the beginning. We are in 2025, so this should be possible.

A bacon burger with caramelized apple slices and a toasted bun sits on a blue plate, accompanied by crinkle-cut fries. The top bun is slightly lifted, revealing the layers of ingredients. In the background, small bowls with sliced cucumbers and red bell peppers, along with a red cutting board holding an avocado, are visible on a wooden table.

Apple burger with bacon. The bacon was to overpowering and made the apple disappear. Need to try without bacon. I wonder if adding cinnamon would help.

And once more I got confirmed in my opinion that the MongoDB Cloud Atlas UI is not really usable. Was trying to setup a sync schema and it took way longer than it should have due to cryptic error messages :-(.

Without really meaning to, this week I’ve posted a few related articles around the theme of how to survive the next four yea

How to Weather the Storm.

This is a good one to keep in mind. He also links to a lot of good resources.

Cover

🍿 Definitely, Maybe (2008)

When Will decides to tell his daughter the story of how he met her mother, he discovers that a second look at the past might also give him a second chance at the future.

TMDB.

I liked this movie a lot and it was not what I was expecting when I started watching it.

Do you also have this? You are watching a great show. Which you love a lot. And then there is a turning point in one episode and from one moment to the other you can’t watch the next episode anymore.

I think for me it happens when the turning point which could potentially lead to lot of emotion or trouble. One example would be a protagonist cheats on his partner. But not always. Right now I’m having this with season three of “for all mankind“. Although it is not because of cheating in this case.

Cover

🍿 Wicked (2024)

In the land of Oz, ostracized and misunderstood green-skinned Elphaba is forced to share a room with the popular aristocrat Glinda at Shiz University, and the two's unlikely friendship is tested as they begin to fulfill their respective destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

TMDB.

I liked it, of course ;-) Also found out now that they used quite a lot of real sets.

Woke up to a power outage today – it was a short one (around 2 hours).

I attended a beautiful funeral ceremony yesterday. It was a sad event – the person went way too early. I’m glad I could be there, and it got me thinking about what I would wish for myself in such a situation. It surprised me.

I am testing my belief that I can live a full and abundant life, even while owning nothing. And I’m inviting you to experience this with me, whether by observing or by taking part.
The concept of ownership is considered by most a given, but the reality is, it’s just a concept. Ownership is a relatively new societal construct and it is simply a concept. There is no such thing as ownership. In some cultures, there is not even a word for ownership.

The Experiment in Non-Ownership - Robin Greenfield.

I follow him loosely on Youtube, and today I stumbled of this blog post of his and I found it interesting.

A slice of purple cake is placed on a green, leaf-shaped plate with a fork resting beside it. Next to the plate, a cup of purple-colored latte with white latte art sits on a wooden tray, accompanied by a small glass of water. The items are arranged on a wooden table with visible grain patterns.

Visited a new coffee shop yesterday and had Ube cake and a tea – very tasty.

A fox stands on a concrete surface near a house, facing the camera. The area is lit by warm light from the windows, which are framed by wooden shutters. Behind the fox, there is a small patio with a table and chairs on patterned tiles, decorated with a heart-shaped wreath, string lights, and potted plants. A drain runs along the edge of the concrete, and a small lantern is placed near the wall.

I’ve seen a fox yesterday evening - I was never this close to one!

I’m not quite sure yet what I should think about the new autocomplete in Xcode 16.2. At times it is magical (writing init functions) but then again it proposes completely wrong stuff.

Had a good day today, meat some new people in the afternoon and had a good talk. And we got some unexpected snow in the evening.