Amit Gawande @am1t@mastodon.technology

#Introduction

Hello! I am coder by profession, who loves to read & write to keep myself inspired. I have been a blogger for more than 12 years, but lost touch with writing when Twitter was at it’s peak. May be I lost love for my words.

Anyway recently IndieWeb got my love for the technology and also writing back. So been working on a lot many Indie projects & writing my heart out at my blog since then. My only hope is this place does not kill my drive for reading, writing and coding; rather inspires it.

I am done binge-watching all the seasons of Brooklyn 99 - it was a refreshing time-out at the end of a work day. I am back sifting through the list of the shows recommended here earlier. I started Sherlock and How to get away with murder again. I may stick with later.

Do people use Anti-virus software, especially on Windows? I never used one on Mac, but since moving to Windows, that is one aspect I am pretty split on. I have been primarily using Windows defender, but every one around suggests that might not be enough.

Most people have some filler word they fall back to during public speaking/presentation. I have worked hard to reduce my usage of "actually". However, I came to the realization that "apparently" has to be one of the worst ones out there. Try it for yourself and you'd agree.

I see iA Writer for Windows finally supports the much needed feature, Library of posts. It's the one feature that I missed the most from its versions from Apple platforms. I just hope that there would be a way to share the Library across platforms -- mainly Windows and iOS.

It is so easy to screw easy to screw up one's YouTube experience. Just watch something you aren't interested in, but are because you need to just this moment. All it shows for days is things related to that, as if you have no other interests. Terrible recommendations engine.

Does anyone use the Brave browser? I always hear it is just like Chrome, without the ugly parts around privacy and security. That also the reason why I never tried it, I don't like Chrome's interface. But advantages mentioned in the comparisons are pretty strong, if true.

Today's Apple event was the first one where I have no opinion on. They showed many services that can potentially be great one day. But that day is not anytime soon. And I won't even be able to use some of them. Cynicism, though, will be pretty prevalent in the tech outlets.

People need to stop cribbing incessantly about the unending missteps of the existing services. Put these same old rants to rest now and crib about the new services. At least, the normal users would know there exist other alternatives and the developers would know what they need to work on.
https://blog.amitgawande.com/discussing-social-networks

When I had found Stoop, the newsletter app, I instantly became a big fan. But I have realized the issues kept piling up as I could hardly get a chance to scroll through them on the small mobile screen. So much potential, but it needs a desktop reader to be useful.

When you have a mind not too clogged with some insignificant thoughts, one can get things done. I managed to add support for syndicating posts to Twitter from Blotpub. A minor update, sure. But an update nonetheless after a long time. Good to have the focus back.

I've been using Spotify for a couple of weeks now. I still hate the interface -- it's barely usable. So difficult to browse around, find what you want. But it overcomes that need with its brilliant list of playlists. I can select one and just let it play what I want.

It's been almost a month that I didn't read or write anything significant, I intend to change that today. I was caught up with too many activities, both at and off-work. I'll soon go through a transition phase, change of job after 12 years. Too many thoughts crowding my mind.

I realized on this day a year back, I had opened Micro.threads to all. It was the first project built ground up that I had made available for every one to use. The earlier projects were either customized or personal. It has been a wonderful learning experience.
It was also an opportunity for myself to gain confidence. It kick-started my journey to more hobby projects, inspired me to even write more. Funny how few small beginnings can turn into significant projects.

The homepage design of almost all news publications look very similar these days -- rows and columns of jumbled text. I am yet to come across a design that manages to clearly serve the important articles without too much of clutter around. Quantity ranks higher than quality.

I agree with Brad Frost's suggestion to stay boring while desiging login forms. I have indeed dislike every example of don'ts he puts out -- wish sense prevails soon.
> TL;DR; create login forms that are simple, linkable, predictable, and play nicely with password managers.

Dave Pell on Amazon buying Eero
> So now Amazon can run your router, your home security camera (Blink), your doorbell (Ring), your TV (Fire), and listen to your every word via Alexa as you enjoy a nice dinner from Whole Foods. We recently learned that Jeff Bezos is good at protecting his own private parts. Who’s going to protect ours from him?

Also, we should look out for the repeating sponsors on podcasts -- that looks to be the sure shot way to acquisition now. Many of the recent acquisitions have been a sponsors of some technology podcasts. I think advertising is no longer for the end customers.

Amazon acquiring Eero is a nice reminder of the risk of the technology players getting too big. It becomes extremely difficult for any small players to survive -- the limited set of 5 companies compete in every space. It's bad for innovation, everyone works towards acquisition.

Dear Internet, stop throwing more links to Eleventy at me now. It strains my resolve to not try another engine out there to build site with. I am satisfied with what I have got running -- or so I have convinced myself. Don't make it more difficult than it already is.

I agree with Gruber here[1]. Sure, you should be *careful* while you access the Internet. Or else some can indeed take control of your *machine*. But the words I highlighted matter -- you should be careful while accessing any machine.

[1]: https://daringfireball.net/2019/02/on_covering_webcams