Archive
Sunday Mornings
Sunday mornings is my time. I wake up early, usually around 5am, so that I can have a coffee and prepare my things for a morning ride. I’m a (Sunday) cyclist and have been cycling for many years. It’s a ritual that is not only good for physical health —I have a resting heart rate of someone may years younger— but it is very good for the mind too.
Some Sundays I’m rewarded with the most beautiful scenery. This morning was no exception. Taken at the foot of the volcano, you can’t help but enjoy the site and simultaneously awe at the potential power.
8 September 2019, F.W.I
Missed opportunity
On the horizon this morning, a beautiful scene of rising Cumulus clouds being lit by the warm sunrise. I couldn’t take a photo. I tried, but I couldn’t, because of a technical problem.
No. Battery.
My DSLR’s battery had died overnight, apparently from my stupidity. Not switching it off and placing screen down with the lens pointing up, pressed buttons that eventually ran the battery down.
Reaching for my iPhone to take the photo only resulted in disappointment. So much so, I dare not share the image here.
Maybe tomorrow morning.
6 September 2019 — French West Indies
(Un)LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great resource for professional use. Links to colleagues (if you’re working in an international company), articles and insights in your domain of work and of course the potential of career advancement.
However, lately I’ve noticed that the platform has started to become filled with inane postings and uselessness posing as wisdom. I’ve even seen conspiracy theories being propagated, and of course, the inevitable cancer of junk advertising.
I don’t have an answer to the problem currently, but scaling back use seems to be a rational decision.
Social Media poisons everything seems apt in 2019.
5 September 2019 — French West Indies
West Indian September Sunset
One of the most beautiful periods in the year, September, gives us stunning sunsets almost daily, like tonight’s you can see above.
But we know that a storm is often around the corner and that September is the most deadly period of the hurricane season, that runs from June 1st through to the end of November.
3 September 2019 — French West Indies
Dorian
The scenes coming out of the Bahamas are just heartbreaking. I fear we haven’t seen the worst yet. What used to be the airport looks like the Atlantic Ocean, reports of a storm surge of around 20 feet (6 metres) affecting some areas, it’s just apocalyptic.
My heart goes out to those impacted.
2 September 2019 — French West Indies
A love letter to RSS
You may be wondering what RSS is, however, if you listen to podcasts regularly then you’re using it every time your app renews the list and downloads new episodes for you to listen to.
RSS is the unsung hero of the Internet and is getting bigger and bigger, largely thanks to the podcasting boom. But it has another usage, one that it was originally intended for that has a knock-on consequence that might just save your sanity. The original intent was to simplify the discovery and reading of news articles from popular websites.
RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, allows websites, like this blog to publish some basic information to a feed that a reading application will update on a regular schedule. Once updated the user can simply browse the articles and blog posts either online or off. You “subscribe” to the feed and its free. And with that, you have an ever-updating list of things to read.
If you’re more Social Network inclined and are dealing with the problem of drinking sewage from the firehose — let’s not fool ourselves, that’s what most of Twitter and Facebook is —, switching to a curated RSS feed will bring a breath of fresh air to your internet experience.
As an added bonus, the RSS is clean. What I mean by that, is that there is no corporate spying technology builtin to RSS, which explains why the Facebooks and Twitters have shunned it, because they can’t track your usage.
Try it out for yourself, its easy and you’ll feel better for it. Why not start with a newly released bit of software, NetNewsWire, it’ll make you love the open web again.
I’m glad I never left RSS and I’m glad for applications like this. Thank you.
1 September 2019 — French West Indies
La rentrée
Here in the French West Indies, next week is La Rentrée, or Back to School. It’s a big deal not just for the kids, but also it’s a marker in the year that signifies starting a new year and turning a page. It neither aligns with the financial year, not the calendar year. But it is important in its own right.
I’ve decided to do my own “Rentrée” and I’ve removed all the old content, spruced up the look and feel and decided the use of this blog would be for more personal endeavours. Thoughts, links, ideas and general writing.
I have multiple blogs over the years with nothin really sticking. I started a newsletter that is starting to get traction and this serves as one of my creative outlets, but I have more inside. I’ve always been attracted to writing, I’ve even had articles published in long-dead magazines, but I’ve never really pursued it as a career or primary occupation.
This blog will hopefully help me do just that.
I’m promising nothing, but I hope that what I publish may be interesting and worth your time. I respect that you have millions of blogs to choose from and I’ll ensure I don’t forget that.
One last thing.
I have another creative endeavour in photography. I’m not very good at it, but now and again I capture a nice image or two. My photos used to be heavily sports oriented, but nowadays I seem to be taking a lot of sunset pictures. The sun setting never fails to amaze me. A giant ball of fire, up there, just hanging around, burning itself out, and it produces such amazing scenes of beauty.
Bonne journée.
31 August 2019 — French West Indies