On Being Able to Choose

The ability to choose the tools you use in your job make a big difference. It’s true for surgeons who select the best tools for each task, sometimes going as far as using custom-made instruments. It’s also true for car mechanicians who often bring their toolset from place to place their work.

For me, being able to be fully invested in the Apple ecosystem for my job is a must. I wouldn’t want to be forced to use a Windows machine or an Android phone. I would rather move to another job instead. Salary, vacations, or insurance aren’t the only incentives for working for one company or another.

I might sound obvious here, but this was my thought for today anyway.

Are you lucky enough to be able to choose?

#musing #job #tools

Discuss…


Don't Call Them Soldiers

Each time I get news from the war in Ukraine and I read or hear the expression “Russian soldiers,” I want to puke. These guys aren’t soldiers; they aren’t part of an army but a gang. They are criminals, rapists, cowards, looters, stealers, hypocrites, dumb, and stupid, to name a few adjectives. They are everything but soldiers or, even worst, humans.

#ukraine #war

Discuss…


Ask Me Something

Friday is coming. Fast. Each Friday, I publish a new edition of the Friday Notes Series. As I’m writing this, I don’t have a subject for this week’s edition, but I have this simple idea: ask me something, and I’ll try to answer in the next edition. Don’t be shy. Time is running up. 😅

#writing

Discuss…


Smoke & Mirrors

If I summarize what we saw today from Moscow, it was a smoke & mirrors show. Even the Putin’s speach was a let down, and felt uninspired. He used fake news to justify the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. He didn’t do what the west was afraid of: declaring conscription or a full out war with Ukraine. He didn’t because he probably knows that he couldn’t. Declaring a war would have been a sign of failure of the “special military ops”. Conscription wouldn’t bring combat effective resources soon enough anyway. Russia is simply failing at so many levels.

Again, for me, and probably for many military pundits, Russia is showing a pale version of its past. We shouldn’t be afraid of them. And we must keep the pressure on them, so when they lose, they will remember their losts for a long time.

#ukraine #russia #putin #ukrainewar


I Should Read More Books

📚 Today, after opening Apple Books on my Mac, I concluded that I’m not reading enough books. Why is it so hard for me to sit down regularly and read a book is beyond me? I do read a lot during the day, but only fragments of things like articles, tweets, and RSS items. I started to read The Phoenix Project a long time ago but didn’t finish it. However, it was amusing and in line with my job!

A friend of mine shared a draft of a book she is writing; I’m only halfway into it. I cannot finish it. Pathetic. 😒

Am I alone with this?

#reading #musing

Discuss…


Giving

🇺🇦 Today, I gave 100 US$ to the just recently crowdfunding platform United24. I chose to donate to the defence and demining of Ukraine. This comes after giving 200 CAN$ in the first few weeks of the war. What did you do today? 🤔

#ukraine #war #donate

Discuss…


Some Facts About Engagement

💡 Interesting facts: about 5%-10% of visitors to my blogs will click on outbound links (links pointing to the stuff on the internet). Less than 1% will drop a comment on a blog post.

#blogging #musing #writer


Russia, GTFO of my blogs

🚫🇷🇺⛔If I could block any IP addresses from Russia from visiting my blogs, I would do it.

#ukraine #war


War Games

🇺🇦 It’s fascinating how the war in Ukraine makes me think about many video games. Let me explain. Looking at some Telegram channels feeding the results of attacks with anti-tank missiles or other means. You’ll find many short video clips with music and animation while a tank is destroyed. It makes things look like they aren’t real, only a game, which is far from the case for obvious reasons. Yet, there is the gamification of some aspects of what is filtering out of this ugly and devastating war. 😟

BTW, many tidbits flowing on Telegram are utterly disgusting. Is this the first war to feel so close to the action?

When the coalition attacked Iraq during the Gulf War, I remember people saying it was the first war to be televised. The war in Ukraine is probably the first one made public on social media.

#ukraine #war

Discuss…


Suddenly Missing Mikhail Gorbachev

This morning while reading the news, I suddenly remembered about Mikhail Gorbachev. He’s still alive, which I didn’t know. His birthday was March 2th. He’s 92. I vividly remember his presidency and what he brought to Russia and the world. One big and hard lesson we’re currently learning is that we cannot take anything for granted regarding democracy. Does he know what’s happening in Ukraine? What’s his take on all this shit? I would love to see him in an interview. He certainly wasn’t perfect, but Russia seemed to have a much more prevalent “human side” under his tenure. Under Putin, I just want to puke. 🤮

#ukraine #war #musing

Discuss…


On West Europe Surprising Weak Stance

🧐⁉️ It’s surprising to see European countries’ weak stance against Russia and the dire situation in Ukraine. I mean, world war II is not that far in history after all. Doesn’t Germany remember anything from fascism or Hitler? What about Austria? Their inaction speaks for themselves. I would have thought they would be more proactive in supporting Ukraine and trying to prevent another European war, if not another world war. What will it take to make them change their action cadence? 😮


About TAGS

🤨 Question of the day: are TAGS a sign of bad or weak content indexing in any computer-based systems? TAGS should be inferred, no?

#thinking #musing

Discuss…


The Price To Pay

“(…) And we’re likely going to see skyrocketing prices if we did put a complete ban on oil.” — US treasury secretary

Well, what is the price of thousands and thousands of people dying, tortured, raped? I can live with rising energy prices. For fuck sake, support the oil and coal embargo against Russia NOW! We cannot escape any impact of this war without some form of sacrifice.

#ukraine #war


On My (Lack of) Medium Readings

📖 This week, I received my revenues report from Medium for last year (for taxes purposes). I made less than 500 CAN$. It reminded me that I was a much more active publisher last year than now. My last publication on Medium was on February 12th.

This morning, I spent a few minutes on Medium. I can’t remember when was the last time I visited the homepage. I was curious about the web experience changes introduced since my last visit. Another reminder is that I don’t spend as much time on the platform as I used to.

I’m wondering if I should keep my Medium account. 🧐

#medium #reading #writing


Europe's Future

“…the fate of the whole Eastern and Central Europe and the Black Sea region is being decided on the territory of Ukraine. Therefore, to protect the freedom of Ukraine and Ukrainians is to guarantee the security of Europe.”.

Nothing more to add, your honour.

#ukraine #war


How Low Can They Go?

🇺🇦 What is it that Russia doesn’t like about life, love, freedom, everything that makes us humans? 😞

#ukraine #war #warcrimes


On Ukrainian's "Special Operation"

💥Today’s news about a possible attack by the Ukrainian army on Russia’s land is potentially game-changing in this war between Ukraine and Russia. A few thoughts.

First, Russia doesn’t have the exclusive right to use “Special Operation” when referring to war-related actions. Second and more seriously, Who did this? If indeed it is Ukraine, was it to test Russia’s defense? If so, Russian again failed miserably from a military perspective at protecting its territory as, surprisingly, helicopters didn’t face any shots from the ground. Is someone paying attention to the sky in Russia? Another point goes in the column of “weak army.” Mind blown. Or is it that Ukraine wants something else, drag deeper Russia into war and force the west to intervene? Is this scenario too twisted?

What if it is Russia? I wouldn’t be surprised at a deliberate act to help build even more momentum and justify what they are doing against Ukraine. This momentum will be needed when Russia returns on the east front once they finish regrouping and replenishing their units.

The next few hours will be interesting to watch. 📺

#ukraine #war

Discuss…


Already a Routine

🇺🇦 For more than a month now, Ukrainian has been fighting to defend themselves against the invaders. This is a watershed moment of history, happening just before our eyes. Sadly, we can already see the routine of war being in place. Emphasis on the events during the news bulletin is decreasing already. We are so easily bored. Unless there is a significant turn of events, we will move on to the next crisis. I’m so sorry for that. 😞

#ukraine #war


Keep The Pressure on Putin

🤨 As diplomatic talks progress, don’t be fooled by Russian words. The only viable solution is for them to leave what was known as “Ukraine before 2014”. Nothing less. We must keep pressure on Putin and our respective governments! Oh, and why do we feel so bad about recent Biden’s words about Putin? I mean, a lot of people are wishing for much more than simply “not stay in power”.

#ukraine #war #stopputin #resist


Killing Quality

🧐 Thought of the day: the narrative about having to publish on a regular basis to build an audience is killing content quality.

#musing #writing