I don't care about likes, comments, and shares. I don't care how many people subscribe to my blog.
Sounds pretty bold. Of course, it's a lie. We're all human. We all want to be liked.
I don't want those metrics to change my behavior, however. I don't want to be manipulated, however subtly, by algorithms and the faint praise of fake online friends. I'd rather be underappreciated than sell out. I'd rather be ignored than say things I don't believe.
After honing them for many years, I've finally open-sourced my dotfiles. For those unacquainted, dotfiles are small files that customize a computer and its programs, as well as a set of utilities that make day-to-day operations easier. If a computer is a workshop, dotfiles are the shelves, pegboard, and carefully crafted tools.
I've actually never thought of dotfiles that way until writing that sentence. I'm reminded of my papou's workshop, which he loved just as much, if not more. I guess his skills really do live on in me, albeit in a different form. I also have no doubt he would cry if he could read this. He was extremely sensitive and sweet, a WWII teddy bear. I inherited some of that from him.
In any case, I'm open-sourcing my dotfiles because I hope they can be useful to others. I've shared them under the MIT license, which basically means anyone can use them for any purpose as long as they give me credit. It's another departure from my past ideological support for the GPL, which enforces something like mandatory cooperation. I definitely admire and see the value in the GPL, but I don't think it makes sense for a simple project like this. Use my code! I'm just glad it may be helpful.
On the technical side, I'm really proud of my shell scripts, Bash functions, and methods of organization. I started using docopts in shell scripts about one or two months ago, and it's a real game-changer. I encourage everyone to check it out. It may even help others reuse my code.
What is clickbait? Some people define clickbait as any headline, thumbnail, or similar (let's call them teasers) that is factually incorrect. I don't agree. I don't think correctness is the point. I think clickbait is any teaser that is psychologically manipulative, that uses our emotions against us to win engagement.
Here's something I never expected would happen. Apple says it plans to support RCS. Does this mean Apple is done with its dirty tricks in messaging and elsewhere? Of course not. It's a baby step in the right direction, though.
Don't get me wrong. I have a love-hate relationship with Apple. They build great products, but they also refuse to play nice with others, even admitting it's for their own selfish gain. As the article explains, software executive Craig Federighi once wrote in a private email that publishing iMessage on Android, let alone supporting an open standard, would “remove obstacle [sic] to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.”
Here's something I never expected would happen. Apple says it plans to support RCS. Does this mean Apple is done with its dirty tricks in messaging and elsewhere? Of course not. It's a baby step in the right direction, though.
Don't get me wrong. I have a love-hate relationship with Apple. They build great products, but they also refuse to play nice with others, even admitting it's for their own selfish gain. As the article explains, software executive Craig Federighi once wrote in a private email that publishing iMessage on Android, let alone supporting an open standard, would “remove obstacle [sic] to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.”
In most music apps, I inevitably leave shuffle mode on for longer than I'd like. I might enable it when listening to a playlist. When I later listen to an album, I might get halfway through before realizing shuffle is still enabled and the songs are playing out of order.
This never seems to happen on Spotify, however. Spotify seems to automatically disable shuffle whenever it's no longer wanted. I don't know what heuristic Spotify uses to determine when shuffle should be disabled, and as a user, I don't really need to care. All I know is that shuffle never seems to be on when it shouldn't be.
It is my opinion that Windows, macOS, and other desktop operating systems should not allow users to save items to the desktop. Saving to the desktop is the equivalent of carelessly throwing papers on a desk. It also inhibits learning. Why use bookmarks, folders, or search when everything can just be thrown on the desktop?
Whatever convenience or advantages the ability offers, it's not worth the confusion and frustration it inevitably creates. As just one example, I know someone who has a half-broken monitor and who could replace it, except that a new monitor with a different resolution would cause the desktop icons to move, a price he's not willing to pay.
The flip side of this complaint is a tech tip: If you want to get better with digital file organization, make a commitment to stop saving files to the desktop.
I dislike when online platforms are split into multiple sub-sites (sometimes called servers, instances, organizations, or groups), such that each user has one profile on each sub-site and each profile has its own settings. Slack works this way, as do Meetup and Stack Exchange. For example, if I change my personal Slack settings in one organization, my settings for other organizations do not change.
Why do these platforms work this way? I see no upside for the user. Even if there is some esoteric benefit, I suspect most users find it incredibly confusing. I certainly do. Sure, there may be cases where I want settings to be different for different sub-sites, but that should be the exception rather than the rule