James Wilson is upset not because Lewis is “rogue” but because Lewis knew how to handle Wilson

he more I read into the tweetfests (or “storms”) of Wilson, the clearer it seems to me that Wilson’s obsession with Lewis is due to hurt.

Yes, Lewis really hurt him.

In a nutshell, and in chronological order:

• Wilson said some darn things
• These darn things led to backlash
• Wilson threatened to sue over those bouts of backlash (over the above-mentioned darn things)
• Wilson filed a lawsuit he can barely afford against people who had insufficient assets to cover his legal bills
• Wilson soon realised he would not manage to settle the matter
• Wilson spent all his money trying to “win” the case (a pyrrhic victory)
• Wilson “won” but received nothing (could not and still cannot even recover the money he lost in litigation)
• Wilson now protests against the solicitor and barrister, as a distraction from the fact his lawsuit was redundant, misconceived, and fruitless

Sounds familiar, right?

Barack Obama was no hero

he former US President Barack Obama is probably across the road from us right now, as he’s talking there in a few hours.

I have mixed feelings.

He did many bad things.

Only relative to the current President is he a “good” person.

“Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.” — George Bernard Shaw

he (former) President Barack Obama will be here this week to give a talk. Across the road from us.

I have had many bad things to say about him (the drone strikes, NSA spy programs etc.), but he was nowhere as bad as the mobster who came after him.

One thing I liked about Obama’s attitude is that he didn’t fall for bait from Faux Noise (Fox News), e.g. heckling over the colour of his jacket.

Obama was “smooth” enough not to be easily provoked, not even by Putin.

The current demented dictator is like a marionette with temper and attitude.

If the current dictator changes the rules to end a two-term limit, then Obama can become a US President again.

Tomorrow

oday we expect to see some tourists from France around here, as there’s a big opportunity for ManCity to show that it’s better than the two-times (in a row) champions of Europe, PSG.

It’s going to be partly sunny today and tomorrow.

This coming weekend we’ll need to do further testing of new improvements to sites, as there are long-overdue things in the queue and procrastination prevents further work on further extensions.

I recently managed to split my writings across more sites. It helps keep the signal-to-noise ratio higher.

This year Rianne and I found a good rhythm and have managed to stay highly productive and focused.

For ManCity, sooner or later the negative press will fade away and people will talk about the football.

Aim high

Last month: E.ON (E.ON Next) Tried to Force or Trick Me Into Talking to a Chatbot, Not Staff of E.ON

he other day (or night rather) I phoned a support line; the thing to note is, some companies outsourced to call centres overseas, some hired on the cheap domestically, some experiment with voice menus (that lead to the “right” person/department), and some try chatbots (which are offensive). If one tries hard enough, there’s a domestic team over the phone (upon escalation), but it is not available 24/7. If you can reach it, things will be resolved quickly and effectively.

If we value or strive for “full employment”, we’ll collectively do our best to reject the “cheapening” or support line and always demand local workers with ample knowledge of what they support.

This isn’t about nationalism, it’s about time savings for customers. Subpart support leads to time-wasting and frustration.

Less so over time

he driver’s licence in my possession says 2026, so this isn’t sour grapes. I can still drive, but I’d need to rent or buy a car to do so.

But would I?

Last time I checked the process of renting a car (paperwork etc.) and costs, I was immediately amused. How would that save any time? Even if driving somewhere could save time, why would I spend 3 hours dealing with forms, refilling the tank, returning the car?

Buying a car? Forget about it. Purchasing price aside, consider all the toil associated with monthly paperwork (insurance, MOT etc.) and maintenance, repair, clean-up and so on.

I simply fail to see how cars would save me time. They can enhance mobility, sure, but at what cost?

Phoning a taxi isn’t hard. In relative terms, they are not so expensive either.

The mental burden spared by “renting a driver” (not a car) is already invaluable.

Have fun

quite liked this new take on why to “Make More Websites” – it is sometimes obvious and something along the lines of “do what you like…” (it’s not about money). To quote someone who in turn quotes John Gruber:

I was listening to the episode “Make Your Own Thing” from the Off Protocol podcast where Jim Ray interviews John Gruber.

They cover a variety of topics, including Gruber’s thoughts on the dilution of personal brand by publishing through “chain” platforms like Substack (I quite enjoyed the metaphor of a personal website where you publish your stuff to that of a chef/restaurant, but that’s a separate post).

Around ~1:13:00, Gruber quotes Walt Disney who said, “We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” And he goes on to argue that when you’re forced to choose one of these priorities over the other — because you will undoubtedly face decisions where the two sets of values come into direct opposition — the company that prioritizes making movies over making money is fundamentally a different company than the one that chooses making money over making movies.

If you ultimately prioritize making money, then what’s going to be ultimately great about your company is you make a lot of money (for shareholders, for owners, for yourself, for whomever).

I never did any site to make money. It’s never about money. Money is made to be disposed of. It’s to be used for something one believes in, not to hoard.