No simple fix

ough people – typically men – like to make noise to get noticed when they work out. They can groan, they can dump heavy equipment, they can even play loud music (many “modern” phones can do this without external boosters). Any of those things can get them attention from people nearby. It might even give them a thrill or a power (motivational) boost if people look at them while they exercise.

Many people, however, keep it to themselves. I’m one of these people. I’m very quiet in gyms.

Older people tend to want a quiet gym. I’m not that old. Yet I’ve always liked calm atmosphere.

Gyms are typically shared (it’s too expensive to maintain and repair one at home, especially with very advanced equipment). The gym is rented, at least the bits and pieces in it (a company is contracted to provide and update the contents). It wasn’t always like that, but times have changed. It’s the same with movies and music.

One last resort when gyms get loud is to get headphones and self-isolate, but that tends to interfere with intense exercise (wires everywhere, lack of spatial awareness) and isn’t necessarily good on the eardrum. A health hazard.

Perhaps some people manage to find noise-free gyms. Even the ones that ban the use of a mobile phone (out of concern for the peace of others) have no policy on groaning and loud weight-dropping.

Well put

he Cyber Show has just responded to something I published about WHO and mental health. Knowing the text there is transient (the front page) or volatile, I wanted to reproduce it below, then comment at the end:

Bad work places turn you ugly inside

Roy at Techrights posted this reminder: “Saturday 10 October has been designated world mental
health day. The WHO defines that: Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables
people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and work well,
and contribute to their community. It has intrinsic and instrumental value and is integral
to our well-being.

On mental health, Frank Zappa had some very important and insightful things to say:

The biggest problem in the world today is mental health. If
everybody had good mental health then all the other problems would
be solved. In order to take care of practical problems you have to
have good mental health. If people have motives that are not
worthwhile those motives are always going to creep into their
activities, and you see that every day from the way the political
people behave. – Frank Zappa

“There’s no reason to assume that my idea of what’s better would really be better. I resent it when
other people try to inflict their ideas of betterness on me. I doqn’t think they know. And I can’t
see any authority on the horizon that’s got any answers that seem worthwhile. Most of the things
that are suggested are probably detrimental to your mental health.” – Frank Zappa

All work that requires collaboration and disputation is demanding. Interpersonal relations
need working at but that should bring joy and connection to life.
That sounds like a fair definition of any group or community with clear social goals,
not run by “professional managers” or primarily for making money.

The best of Free Open Source people that I’ve encountered take each other seriously
as actual people. So let’s remind volunteer
developers out there who struggle to make sense of the
madness and pressure in tech right now – that you are loved and appreciated. Please
try to remember to only work for the
right intrinsic motivations of self-growth and never to supplicate the power structures
and ambitions that arise around the mission.

The WHO website also includes a section on mental health at work and
a list of causes of misery which include:

• under-use of skills or being under-skilled for work
• excessive workloads or work pace, under-staffing
• lack of control over job design or workload
• organisational culture that enables negative behaviours
• limited support from colleagues or authoritarian supervision
• violence, harassment or bullying
• discrimination and exclusion
• unclear job role
• under- or over-promotion
• job insecurity, inadequate pay, or poor investment in career development
• conflicting home/work demands

This is literally the blueprint and the aims of every crappy university
I ever worked in, all of which were bad places for mental health, for staff and
students. They may well provide a place for smart people to work, they also
stifle and frustrate intellectual growth and creative innovation. They
may educate a nation but also poison it with what Zappa would call bad
attitudes and ideas.

I previously commented, even in lengthy articles, about the deterioration of universities and academia.

To give one example, they’d give very mechanical, pointless tasks to people who are better off doing research and teaching.

It seems like the point of some of these tasks was to demoralise the staff.

No matter “whose side” they were on (many felt conned/misled/cheated)

HE COVID-19 pandemic made people sceptical of pandemics and vaccines. I cannot blame them. 7 years ago COVID-19 broke out and it was mishandled by media, governments, medical professionals, and corporations that only saw “dollar signs”. People were meant to comply and agree with almost anything told to them, except the “bad things”.

Right now there’s media “chatter” regarding illnesses and deaths in Russia. Some people rush to compare that to 2019, asserting there’s some biological warfare in the mix. Whose? Russia’s? Against Russia? Evidence related to this is thin, but uncritical media rushes to exploit the uncertainty or drama, clicks, Putin bashing etc.

I don’t miss anything about the pandemic. It did, however, give me more “computer time”. I still wear a mask in crowded places.

Lazy Panda still open

azy Panda Pan Asian is still open! Phew.

The other week Rianne was a bit startled by what seemed to be a shut down local eatery, where we had brought family members and where we often celebrated special occasions.

Upon closer look, it was only closed for that day, as usual.

We don’t eat “out” all that often (taking out food from home is another matter). When we do, we’re loyalists who stick to what we know to be reliably good.

Sadly, many restaurants shut down in recent years. We’ve lost track.

Gettint cold, sun low

‘ve just slept in the sun, maybe for the last time (for this year), as it rapidly gets cold(er) and if clouds cover the sun, then it is too much to bear for a long time. Eyes shut, with music on, it’s all turning into a rather deep sleep. Within seconds, not minutes. Controlling a Discman is easy without seeing anything (mechanical buttons).

Somehow it feels increasingly certain this was the last for the year.

In some sense, “goodbye, 2026.”

2013

e recently decided to go on a diet to shed of extra weight. In wintertime it’s not too bad to have more ‘padding’, but it’s generally healthy to have no spare fats.

We’re gradually getting older (like everybody else) and keeping conscious of fitness is critical for a lifetime of happiness, not physical hardships.

We recently began going to the park twice a week. It’s good exercise and it helps the birds there. The stadium nearby improved a lot, so it’s also a pleasant journey.

Can we reach our weight goals by year’s end? Stay tuned.

Where did time go?

wo more months before we have December, hence Christmas and the whole lot. I still remember last Christmas like it was only several months ago.

The old sayings about time passing by faster when you’re having fun (or conversely, time moving slowly when you suffer or feel bored) seem true.

I bet 2030 is just around the corner. I struggle to accept COVID-19 started 7 years ago. Yes, 7 years.