Rubenerd

What’s the most dystopian thing you can think of? Mine would be the word “dystopian”, as it immediately conjures dystopian images of dystopia merely as a function of its definition. But what if that dystopia was tracking your emotional state, attentiveness, and speech performance during a meeting about that aforementioned dystopian imagery and mental state?

Wired magazine republished a story from 2020 attempting to answer the question no rational person asked:

Research has shown that meetings correlate with a decline in workplace happiness, productivity, and even company market share.

True. Many (if not most) meetings are pointless, and only serve to dilute the value of necessary ones. Plenty of studies have concluded this, and we continue to ignore them at our peril. I read that back as “paril”, which sounds like “apparal”, which is also mispelled. As was the word misspelled just then. Hi, I’m Miss Pelled, and boy have I got an awful premise for you!

Can tech, like automated scheduling tools & facial recognition that measures who’s paying attention, make them better?

Alamak.

Sometimes I feel like starting my own parody version of Shark Tank in which I fund ghastly, Dickensian ideas tarted up as productivity porn. Introducing the Kiasu 5000 that narks reports the accuracy of your typing to your manager, so the company doesn’t have to pay for time spent backspacing words. Why should a business pay for words you didn’t produce? It also encourages the takeup of touch typing, which is some fantastic alliteration and a great idea!

Why do I get the sinking feeling this already exists?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

32:51 – Join Ruben as he takes an evening lockdown socially-distancing stroll as he discusses UniSA campus nostalgia in Adelaide, adventures with side effects, a freezing family holiday to Germany in the early 2010s, and an extended discussion on the merits and flaws of contemporary electronic microwave oven appliance design affordances (I think Dire Straits did a song about that, though in significantly fewer words. Custom kitchen deliveries, and all that).

Recorded in Sydney, Australia. Licence for this track: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0. Attribution: Ruben Schade.

Released August 2021 on The Overnightscape Underground, an Internet talk radio channel focusing on a freeform monologue style, with diverse and fascinating hosts; this one notwithstanding. Hosted graciously by the Internet Archive.

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The furore around 1Password’s move to Electron has exposed rifts in the software development community, and challenged assumptions about what compromises and tradeoffs are acceptable when shipping commercial software. AgileBits is disproportionately copping the brunt of this right now, but I see the ensuing discussion as good (and long overdue) for the health and viability of the industry.

1Password is but one of many applications that have moved to the Electron browser wrapper in recent years. The framework’s march into chat applications might have been tolerated and shrugged off as inevitable, but having it take over an indispensable, polished, and respected utility has struck a nerve. As Jean-Luc Picard said of the Borg’s incursions in Star Trek First Contact, users have reacted with “this far, no further!”

(There are also legitimate questions about the removal of local 1Password storage, and the company’s wholesale move to a subscription model. There are indications they’re listening about the former, and I can empathise with their need to do the latter. All topics for another time).

Electron is not a framework deployed to improve software for users. Nobody proudly boasts about its use, as evidenced by AgileBits’ insistence of a Rust backend in response to feedback. At best it’s seen as an engineering hack to deliver a tolerable desktop application across multiple platforms using web technologies and shared code, while saving time and money.

In a perverse case of misaligned incentives, these savings are externalised and borne by users, who’s machines run slower and with greater resource utilisation, to say nothing of the impact to accessibility, interface responsiveness, and OS integration. You don’t get something for nothing, and in this case Electron’s very real technical debt lives rent free on customer machines. People have a right to feel resentful about this, especially when a application was previously a respectful citizen. Not for 1Password specifically, but I needed to spec my latest laptop with twice as much memory to run all the Electron I need for work, and another had to retire early. That costs real money.

(I’d include security in the above list of potential shortcomings, but I take AgileBits’ word that they’ve done work to harden the framework).

The prevailing industry attitude thus far was that users wouldn’t notice, or would cop the hit. My optimistic hope is we’re starting to see some real pushback, and that a market signal for quality software is being established. “Not built on Electron” or “native application” are now legitimate and recognised marquee features many people wouldn’t have known about before, and are now being used to compare software. That’s awesome.

This is a half-baked post, but I’m at a loss how to articulate my thoughts. Nothing I’ve said feels worthy or respectful enough.

This has been a rough month for my family and I, but then I see the news of the Taliban retaking Kabul yesterday and my heart sinks further. We have so completely failed the people of this country, with seemingly even the best minds unable to come up with a way out.

Even if we assume the best of intentions, staying there wasn’t a good idea. Leaving wasn’t a good idea. Returning there wouldn’t be either. Unfortunately, the Universe doesn’t owe us a solution.

Nobody on this planet should be left behind. All of our great global challenges today, from education, disease, nutrition, and climate change, will require input and funding from everyone. We have the resources, we need the willpower, creative thinking, and maybe something other than sending people in with bullets. We can’t afford not to.

Clara and I inherited a Sony PS4 a few years ago, which we’ve proceeded to use as a glorified Blu-Ray and DVD player. It works fine, though the lone controller was already starting to fall apart after what I can only assume was some heavy gaming on the part of the previous owner. I joked that we should replace it with a remote control instead.

Turns out, they exist! We found and ordered a PDP Cloud Media Remote on special and have been putting it through its paces. I didn’t realise that DEC were making 12 and 16-bit remote controls for their 1970s minicomputers, let alone game consoles. I’ll get one of those gorgeous PiDP-11 kits one day.

The remote’s design is nothing remarkable, but that’s a good thing. It was slightly larger than I expected, has a textured back that’s easy to grip, the buttons are nice and tactile, and the rounded bottom makes it easy to orient. The latter might seem like an odd thing to mention, but we do use an Apple TV with its slippery, inscrutable remote as well. It still floors me that a company so lauded for its industrial design an engineering can have such spectacular misses.

It has all the directional and shape controls (is that what you call them?) as a standard PlayStation 4 game controller, but arranged as you’d expect on a remote for light use. You pair it with Bluetooth by opening the system settings and adding a “New Bluetooth Device” and it just works. Don’t be tempted to try adding a “New Bluetooth Controller” as we first did, it’s not recognised. The instructions make this clear, had I been bothered to read them prior to messing with it.

I have but a few minor quibbles:

• The volume controls don’t work with our TV, even though they do work with the Apple remote. This was something I was most looking forward to using, but its not a deal breaker.

• Like a kid stuck with a toy in the 1980s, batteries are sold separately. We have a stash of rechargeable IKEA/Varta AAAs we were able to pop in, but I can see this being a source of frustration for some buyers.

• It’s not any cheaper than a standard game controller, despite its simple interface and smaller size. It wouldn’t ever be given economies of scale, but it’s worth pointing out if your aim is to save money.

Overall is an item of clothing, and we’re happy with it. It’s probably redundant if you have a nice game controller, but it pairs well if you use your PS4 primarily as a media device.

Now if only the PS4 could play standard music CDs. The fact it can’t floors me. Back into the LaserDisc player they go!

Today’s Music Monday was a bit of a rediscovery. My dad let me borrow a small portion of his and my late mum’s vinyl LP and 45 collection last Christmas, and you know I had to take some of their Simon and Garfunkel. Some of them even had my mum’s maiden name signed on them with calligraphy and flowers. ♡

I feel like I can play these precious albums now that I have a proper turntable with the gentlest of tracking forces and a linear tone arm. I live firmly in the digital world, but there’s something so intimate and special knowing that these exact grooves were producing audio signals my parents listened to when they were my age and younger.

I thought Feelin’ Groovy was fun growing up, but wouldn’t have ranked it among my favourites. It’s been the perfect pick me up over the last couple of weeks, not least for the doop-in-doo-doo in the chorus which I’ve been repeating with gusto since.

Clara and I didn’t make it to the 59th Street Bridge when we went to New York. Next time.

Hololive’s Ina has got me using comfy to describe all manner of things now. This Boss Coffee and DOD promotion I saw linked to on a Japanese site looks especially so:

Sitting on one of those canvas chairs, having a sandwich made with a press that puts a bunny on it, with a cute plant? Yes, please!

There’s something about pine furniture as well that I love. Modern Western interior design seems to place so much emphasis on cold, dark stone surfaces, metal, and glass. Last time Clara and I were in Japan we saw more emphasis on indoor plants and light woods, especially in trendy new coffee shops.

I haven’t done a grilled sandwich post in at least five years. I’m as shocked as you are.

Speaking of decluttering! I frequent Fandom sites all the time for Vim, Minecraft, Fate/Grand Order, Star Trek, and more. It uses the same Wiki syntax and engine as sites like Wikipedia, which makes editing predictable and easy.

Unfortunately, the network’s new web design includes tons of unrelated material from other wikis, often times using more bandwidth and space than the actual page content. It also has persistent (“sticky”) navbars which are a pet peeve not only for their distracting in/out slide animations, but for all the space they waste for their duplicated material. It’s not as egregous as much of the modern web, but it seems like they’re aiming for it.

The good news is that it’s all easy to block if you match the appropriate classes. Click the uBlock Origin icon in the toolbar and choose the gear icon. Under the My Filters tab, add the following:

! https://*.fandom.com
fandom.com###WikiaBar
fandom.com##.mcf-wrapper
fandom.com##.wds-global-footer__main
fandom.com##.message
fandom.com##.global-navigation__top
fandom.com##.is-visible.fandom-sticky-header
fandom.com##.wds-global-footer
fandom.com##.page-side-tools__wrapper

Note the triple pound next to WikiaBar; that is a HTML ID not a class.

These work as of August 2021 across any Fandom wiki. If not, it should be easy to right-click any element on the page and choose Block Element.

uBlock Origin is fantastic software. I’d consider it nothing short of essential to use the modern web without losing your marbles. Thanks Raymond Hill and everyone who helps maintain it.

We’re into week $whatever of Sydney Delta-strain Covid lockdown, I’ve lost track. Clara’s and my offices mandated we worked from home a few weeks before the official edict came down from the state government, so we’re been looking at these walls for months now. I will be shocked if we’re out by Christmas.

Something had to give yesterday, and this time it was a hunt for an external hard drive. I realised the plastic tub I found it in consisted almost entirely of junk. By the end of the day, Clara and I had gone through every box we had stored in the bedroom, and had at least 14 rubbish bags of stuff to show for it. We finally got around to making some hard decisions about stuff we’ve been carting around for years, which felt like a literal and figurative weight off our shoulders. Clothes we hadn’t worn for years went to the fabric recycling box downstairs, and I now have another “outbox” of dead or broken computer parts to take to electronics recycling when we’re allowed to make the trip.

(As an aside, someone across the street started practicing their violin on the balcony, as I sit on ours writing this post. She’s good. That’s made my morning).

Long term readers know of my aversion to stuff. My parents were collectors and hoarded tons of stuff. We moved houses regularly owing to my dad’s job, but we even moved within the same city to get a bigger place to store more stuff. My mum’s deteriorating health meant she was literally in lockdown between hospital visits for years, so I don’t fault her for wanting to have more things that made her happy. Professional help lead me to realise it was a source of anxiety that continues today; I felt mentally burdened by physical clutter which I’m only beginning to process now.

That went dark quick! My point is, since at least 2016 I’ve been trying to be deliberate about what I buy and bring into our home. We obsessively research and plan everything, often times deciding it’s not worth it. This has the upshot of saving a ton of money on pointless things we either don’t need or that doesn’t make us happy, meaning what we do bring it can be appreciated.

Taking one example, do you know those sewing boxes that let you organise threads into little compartments? I had five of these things, full to the gills of random trinkets. Rather than deciding what I wanted to throw away or recycle, I started by picking my favourites from each box. After a period of wittling, I have a single box full of stuff I can point to as being significant, beautiful, and/or awesome.

Today Clara and I are going to tackle the rest of the apartment and the proverbal cute elephants in the room: anime figures. I had already sold half of them a couple of years ago (for a shocking profit!), but I can definitely reduce them down further to ones I really care about. I might even list some of them here to give to readers in Sydney if there’s anyone people want.

It’s edgy to dismiss Marie Kondo and people like The Minimalists, but their messages about care and attention strongly resonate with me. I haven’t felt this good about our circumstances for months, and we’ve only just started. Turns out doing something proctive and healthy is better than sitting on my arse during lockdown.

(Maybe healthy is too strong a term, given the dust we kicked up. Good thing we have air cleaners)!

This stream had Clara and I in stitches yesterday. If you need something lighthearted and silly to end your week, let it be this!

I thought a Garlic Phone was something you order a loaded pizza from, but it looks like Pictonary meets Chinese whispers. Ina’s art was absolutely 👌, and I’m glad to see IRyS get along so well.