May 2019
It’s growing.
Review of Walkaway
To the first days of a better nation – or not, I just finished reading Walkaway: A Novel by Cory Doctorow 📚. Walkaway is the second book I read from this author, some years ago I strumbled upon Little brother which I liked. I’ve seen some parallels from that book to Walkaway, but you also notice that the author has grown in his writing style. At the start of the book, I was expecting something lighthearted and less dense to read – more like from what I remember Little brother to be – but I’ve got something entirely on the other side of the spectrum.
Saved some nice flowers from the lawnmower.
Working on a conversion script for my project homepage.
Pl@ntNet (pronounced plant-net) is the only social app that always makes me happier. Likened to Shazam for plants, it was developed a decade ago by a consortium of computer science and botanical research institutions in France. In almost every way, Pl@ntNet is unlike other social networks.
⤑ Pl@ntNet is the world’s best social network (via Techmeme).
Dark Forest of the Internet is an exciting idea on the further development of the internet. However, it is also in opposition to the IndieWeb, as what you write on your blog is public. On the other side, I notice the trend that status updates inside a family are done more and more inside private channels, so I think this theory has its merits.
Moreover, this is the second time this week that I stumble over the name Liu Cixin. It looks like I need to put The Three Body Problem onto my reading list.
Podcast are getting more mainstream with everyday.
Review of Pitch Anything
I just finished reading Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal by Oren Klaff.📚 I’ve heard about this book from multiple sides. And I was interested in the topic to broaden my horizon. It took me quite some time to get into the subject of the book. And I have problems believing the content; it’s not that’s something is with it, but the author does feel strange to me.I love these pictures! ⤑ Alvaro Naddeo - Selected Works (via Kottke).
Not sure what to think about this. It somehow feels false. But in the short term and if not overused, it could effectively help with making work more interesting. The issue is that it then hides the real goals of your work, and allows for secretly changing them.
⤑ ‘MissionRacer’: How Amazon turned the tedium of warehouse work into a game.
Selling secondhand items.
Desserts!
Ten years married.
I just started reading Walkaway: A Novel by Cory Doctorow.📚
⤑ A Conspiracy To Kill IE6 (via iosdevweekly).
The tree is starting to look a lot healthier than last year.
Algorithms used for a good cause.
Review of Freeze-Frame Revolution
The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts📚 was a book proposed by Amazon. The plot description sounded excellent and captivating, and I’ve tried the free reading example. I had some issues to get into the story and understand what’s going on, but once I passed this, the book was terrific, a good idea and perfect execution of it. The main character is a member on a starship cursing through the universe building gateways for faster than light traveling.The system goes so far as to track “time off task,” which the company abbreviates as TOT. If workers break from scanning packages for too long, the system automatically generates warnings and, eventually, the employee can be fired.
⤑ How Amazon automatically tracks and fires warehouse workers for ‘productivity’ (via Techmeme).
Review of Murderbot series book two to four
I finished the Murderbot (📚) series, should have done it earlier but somehow lost sight of these books. I review the following books here: Artificial Condition: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells Rogue Protocol: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells Exit Strategy: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells The story expands on the concept of the first book, but it starts a new story arc over the next three books. Each of the three books is rather short and are directly connected with each other.I’ve so far never thought about this topic, but since I’ve read the article, it is stuck in my head. The main issue I see with it is the question of quality and health with the ordered food.
One thing that’s bad about this trend, though, is that when you outsource food preparation (and everything that goes into it) into Cooking As A Service, then you turn all aspects of food into something that’s being sold to you. And that includes healthiness.
But this is also covered in the article as well. It is as always the healthy option will be more expensive. I’m not yet sure where I stand on this whole “As A Service” topic no matter in which industry. I used to be quite pro for it but this has changed recently, and I’m a lot more critical now about it.
⤑ Cooking As A Service (via Kottke).
I hate being ill — but it looks I’m past it now; Not yet back to 100% but getting there.
Random drops of tee on my desk.
The plan for our planet is remarkably simple. Reduce our impact by making sure that everything we do, we can do forever. ⤑ How to Save Our Planet (via Kottke)
I just started reading Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal by Oren Klaff.📚
Relaxing in the desert. Building stone towers with the camp in the background.
Tent in the desert. Our place for the night from Sunday to Monday.
I just started reading The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts.📚
The hotel lobby.
I just started reading Exit Strategy: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.📚
On a rooftop in Marrakech.
Let the adventure begin!
I just started reading Rogue Protocol: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.📚
@V_ I’ll be very curious what you thought of it when you’re done.
by Cheri on
@cheri I’m also curious about that. The first chapter is read, and I liked it so far. I’m not yet sure in which direction the story will develop itself.
by V_ on
@Cheri Btw not sure if you've seen it but I've finished the book now: vmac.ch/microblog...
by V_ on
@V_ I hadn’t seen! Thanks. I felt similarly in that I liked the idea of the book, but the story didn’t hold up. I loved the first third, but the rest was a preachy, complicated mess. I hadn’t thought of Atlas Shrugged but that’s a smart comparison. 🙂
by Cheri on
@Cheri I think preachy is a good adjective for this author. He certainly gets his message across.
by V_ on