“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.

Less for more

used to joke that sooner or later the 150ml tubes, which became 125ml tubes, will become 100ml as ‘standard’. In “COVID times” they shrank that to 75ml and finally, yesterday, I saw 50ml tubes. They make these seem bigger than they are.

So we all pay more for packaging materials, not products.

It’s not only Colgate; other companies do the same. It’s just that Colgate became “household name” (or brand).

In some markets they use sachets for toothpaste too.

10cc – Art For Art’s Sake

never truly pursued money (I still don’t). I didn’t see the point. Tennis, for instance, was more fun. Computer games were fun too.

In my entire lifetime, or in my adult life as a student, I didn’t think I’d pursue a “career path” (ludicrous term, conflating life path with “career”) that nets me the most money I can possibly amass. It would be foolish to do so and it would not bring happiness, it might even accompany evil eyes, stress, and too high an expectation.

Yesterday in Geminispace I saw “Work for the sake of work” and today a friend sent me the HTML/HTTP version of the same. It makes some good points. When people do art they typically do it out of passion. As for money? Think about it. As 10cc put it, “for God’s sake…”^*

Money can sometimes come if you do what you like. Sometimes it won’t come. And that’s OK. At least you do what you like and what might serve society best, with or without reward/compensation for it.

Sometimes the best paying jobs are jobs that actively harm society. True story!

The reason everyone is forced/pressured/shamed into work (as in salaried activity) is the assumption is that without this “social norm” people would be lazy and society would not improve. It would become “unproductive”.

Work that you go to (e.g. office, workplace) out of fear or pressure is a thing that leads to misery. But capitalism does not think in terms like Maslow’s.

_____

^* Lyrics:

Gimme your body
Gimme your mind
Open your heart
Pull down your blind
Gimme your love, gimme it all
Gimme in the kitchen, gimme in the hall
Art for art's sake
Money for God's sake
Art for art's sake
Money for God's sake
Gimme the ready's
Gimme the cash
Gimme a bullet
Gimme a smash
Gimme a silver, gimme a gold
Make it a million for when I get old
Art for art's sake
Money for God's sake
Art for art's sake
Money for God's sake
Money talks so listen to it
Money talks to me
Anyone can understand it
Money can't be beat, oh no
When you get down, down to the root
Don't give a damn don't give a hoot
Still gotta keep makin the loot
Chauffeur driven
Gotta make her quick as you can
Give her lovin' make you a man
Get her in the palm of your hand
Bread from Heaven
Gimme a country
Where I can be free
Don't need the unions
Burying me
Keep me in exile the rest of my days
Burn me in hell but as long as it pays
Art for art's sake
Money for God's sake
Art for art's sake
Money for God's sake
Art for art's sake
Money for God's sake
Art for art's sake
Money for God's sake

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