Huberman mentioned Paul Conti’s view that envy is what kills personal development. Not anxiety or fear. Envy.
That tracks with what I see online. Someone’s life looks better than yours on Instagram and suddenly you’re either tearing yourself down or posting something designed to make them feel worse about theirs. You see someone’s project launch and instead of starting your own, you either convince yourself you’re not good enough or you start picking holes in what they’ve built. Both responses come from the same uncomfortable place. Neither helps you.
I quite like what Brent Simmons has done with his ‘What I Do’ page to explain his mysterious and important work:
I know I’m a big nerd and what I do must seem all super nerdy and vague — and it is pretty nerdy but it doesn’t have to be vague. I’ll explain what I do and why. 😀
I do two main nerd things: write a blog and make an app.
A fun way to reveal the non-obvious parts of what you do for curious friends and family, and squash misunderstandings. A candidate for a new @robb@social.lol Slash Page?
Marcin Wichary calls attention to Wakamaifondue’s excellent file dropping experience—you can drop it anywhere and it’s accepted:
Why is all this important? Because dropping a file into a browser is a notoriously frustrating experience. If the tab doesn’t claim the file, left to its own devices the browser will do anything from replacing the current tab with the contents of the file, through opening a new tab, to… starting to download the file you just dropped and ask you for its new location!
I ran into this very problem today in Micro.blog. Wakamaifondue gets it right and looks good doing it.
Manton Reece explains how Panic’s hard stance of limiting games on their Catalog that were created with AI assistance stands in contrast with Apple’s iron grip on the App Store because of one thing — the Catalog isn’t the only place to legitimately get games for your Playdate:
Panic has achieved that balance with the Playdate. Catalog is a curated store. Seasons are even more limited, only the select games Panic wants everyone to have. Developers who don’t want to play by Panic’s rules can distribute games elsewhere. If only Apple would adopt the same approach.
This is the way.
Love opening the ADK rock season with the classic Pete’s Farewell. Great day out with @bbrianandersonn!
Happy retirement, Dad!
That last day of work pic! Happy retirement to my dad, who helped establish the family business 43 years ago with his dad, grow it into the community staple it is today, and is now leaving it in capable hands to spend more time with his grandkids. A local success story!
He has always demonstrated the qualities that I think make a good businessman: put in an honest day’s work without complaint, provide a quality product at a fair price, and, above all, treat your coworkers and customers with kindness and respect.
Very proud of you, Dad! Enjoy your well-deserved retirement with Mom! 🫶
Kicking off the NEU8 with the Taconic Crest Trail
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of starting a new journey with Todd: the Northeast Ultra 8. After completing his winter 46ers, Todd wanted a new challenge, and the @northeast_ultra8 is it. 8 of the most challenging through hikes in the Northeast, each done within 24 hours. Our first, the Taconic Crest Trail, stretches ~38 miles across New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont with ~8000 feet of elevation gain (depending on who you ask) and we got it done in 16.5 hours.
We encountered rain, wind, fog, sun, porcupine, cow, deer, mouse, bear(!), countless PUDs (pointless ups and downs), and (still) some snow. 😅 We even got some views since the tree cover hasn’t come in yet! It was a grand day covering tons of terrain with a good friend, and it clued us into what we’re up against with the rest of the hikes.
The Devil’s Path is up next in May! Can’t wait. 💪
Restarted: Shrinking Season 1 📺
Guess we’re going back to the start!
Started reading: Artificial Condition The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells 📚
Okay, let’s see where this story goes…
Started watching: Slow Horses Season 5 📺
Almost forgot there was another season out!
🔗 ‘On becoming a day person’ herman.bearblog.dev
Greg Morris: ‘The Sidelines Are Sterile’
That’s the sideline nobody talks about. It doesn’t look like sitting still. It looks like preparation. It looks like being sensible, doing your homework, waiting for the right time. I’ve lost count of how many things I’ve “nearly” done. Nearly applied for that job. Nearly published that post. Nearly signed up for that race. Nearly is just the sideline with better branding.
AKA “workcrastinating” — something I’m exquisitely good at. 😬
Watched: For All Mankind S5E3, Home 📺
😢 Outstanding performances across every season. At ease, Admiral. 🫡
Nick Heer, Pixel Envy: Macworld: ‘Use Apple’s App Store at Your Own Risk’
Price calls the App Store “rotten” — is there any other word? — and says Apple should “give iPhone users the freedom to install from other places. Or just stop pretending the App Store monopoly is about anything other than revenue” if it cannot effectively police its wares. I imagine Apple would argue it enforces its rules all the time and sometimes things just get through.
I sense we’re nearing a boiling point on the App Store’s governance. I’m hoping for some radical change, challenging as it will be at its scale.
Terry Godier argues that App Store ratings are fundamentally broken:
But sometimes they’re impactful in a way that doesn’t match the reviewers intent. For example, if you have a 4.1 star rating in the App Store, any 4 star review is going to decrease that average. In other words, leaving a 4 star review is essentially leaving a negative review.
I agree with Godier’s premise and conclusion, but not totally with the point above. A 4 star rating is still a good one, but perhaps not a great one. So pulling down the average might be justified. Still, other systems are better.
Finished reading: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan 📚
I highly recommend this one! It goes down quick and smooth, but will keep you thinking about it long after you finish the final page. Keegan captured the inner dilemma of human morality here.
Watched: Outcome 🍿
A weird one. Felt more like a long YouTube, or rather Vimeo, film than anything else. The A-list cast and their skill kept me watching cause the story sure didn’t. Oh, and Jonah Hill was unrecognizable until he spoke! A rare miss from Apple TV.
One of my favorite-ever days of guiding was taking Ian rock climbing! He was so brave while doing something brand-new, and showed the world that nothing will stop him from achieving his goals!
Jason Snell loves his Aqara UWB Smart Lock U400. I can’t wait to get mine installed. 🔒
I think I’ve figured something out that has been nagging at me for a year. Some people are only selectively empathetic. This sounds fine if you are “on their side”, so it’s easy to miss unless you look closer.
We should treat everyone with more respect, patience, and honesty. There are exceptions — people who have truly lost their way — but those are rare, far fewer than we tend to imagine. Most people are good, even the people we disagree with.
Just noticed that @gruber@mastodon.social made a 15-years-early prediction in his day one iPhone first impressions:
One of the knocks against the idea of a screen-based keyboard is the lack of tactile feedback. (It might be nice if a future iPhone offered some sort of subtle force feedback while typing, sort of like modern video game controls.)
Haptic feedback for typing debuted in 2022 with iOS 16 on phones with the Taptic Engine. (Each one since 2015’s iPhone 6S.) 😝
Started reading: Apple - The First 50 Years by David Pogue 📚
Got it as an audiobook via my library/Libby. I just love it when books are read by the author themselves. They get the names and cadence of everything right. I can already tell it’s going to be a fun — and well-produced — listen!
Winter work pics and reflection
A few pics from the end of March as I reflect on this awesome winter we were blessed with. 31 hiking days, 17 skiing days, and 35(!) climbing days between December and March. (Not including a few bonus ones in November!) Eternally grateful for the work, and for the clients and friends I was able to share these outdoor adventures with — you make even the less-than-ideal days fun! ❄️🏔️🧊⛷️
I’ll be happy to see the snow fly again next winter, but now I’m ready for pulling on rock, moving fast in the mountains, sleeping in tents, and gliding a paddle through water. 🧗🥾🏕️🛶
