Utilitarianism and the Death of Social Media

In 2006-2007 when Jaiku and Forums had threads, these made conversations flow. When Twitter was a chatroom conversations flowed too, until the arrival of the hashtag. The issue with the hashtag is that it brought in people who are toilet social media browsers, rather than habitual social media participants. I could have written users, but that is part of the issue with Social Media and Utilitarianism. Two decades ago, back in 2007 or so I thought about the conversation about ROI for PR firms, brands and more on Twitter and every time I asked, “But what about ROI for human beings, normal users?

Getting Around by Foot Scooter

Walking three kilometres one way, and then back is easy. It takes about half an hour for me. If I walk fast then it takes less time. For me, walking is easy. Using the foot scooter is more of an effort too because it requires the use of different muscle groups, than walking, cycling, and running. I find that when I go a certain distance on the scooter my hip muscles get more tired.

On Raclette, White Wine, and Group Rides

Sunday bike rides are not as common as Saturday bike rides so when I committed to the Eysins Raclette event I thought it wouldn’t matter. I didn’t count on having a Sunday bike ride. Before a bike ride I like to have a high protein, high carbohydrate meal. I like to have plenty of energy to burn the next morning, in the hope that my endurance will be good enough to last for the ride, with some bars or gels along the way.

A Spontaneous Ride to Mont Tendre Following the Wrong Route

Yesterday I hesitated to wake up to go for the Coffee and Croissant loop. I decided to go anyway. This ride was at a relaxed pace. It’s amusing. When I left home I could see a beautiful sunrise, with nice light, and clear skies. By the time we started the ride mist had come up and we were riding through humid clouds. It was so wet I saw drops of water falling from my glasses as they condensed during the ride.

On Driving Into Geneva and Walking

Today I had to go into Geneva to do something Initially my plan was to drive to the Parking St Antoine. As I got towards Secheron and the P&R parking I thought, “I have time, I’ll park here and walk the rest”. I did park, and then I did walk. I know that some people drive the car and park as close as they can to where they’re going, even in town.

On Instagram's Video Saturation

A day or two I opened the Instagram app and I scrolled down without seeing a single photo so I deleted the app from my phone. There was a time when instagram was a photo sharing network between friends, and friends of friends. Now it has become a video spamming platform for influencers we have never, and will never met. In essence it has become worthless, hence the uninstall. I noticed that Threads was also saturated in video.

The Up and Down Flat Ride

Yesterday I went for a bike ride. When I looked at the route I thought “this looks like a nice calm, relaxed ride. It wasn’t. I rode with group 2, which is a fast group, going uphill at 20-40 km/h on certain segments. You might look at a cycling route and think “this looks flat, it doesn’t go to the top of the Jura” but don’t let that mislead you. When you’re riding at the foot of the Jura it’s easy to climb, and then descend, and then climb again, and then descend, and then climb yet again.

AI and the Cult of the Lazy Amateur

We are all familiar with the phrase. We learn better when we write things by hand, rather than when we type them on the keyboard. For decades people have been against typing, saying “It’s cold, it’s dead, it’s impersonal”. Those same people will then say “you have awful handwriting” and yet still feel nostalgia for hand written notes. In the age of AI more is being lost. Ten Thousand Hours of Practice When people my age were growing up, if you wanted to sing, you needed to devote ten thousand hours to develop tone, timber and a good voice.

A Cold Morning Bike Ride

Yesterday morning I felt a little under the weather so I considered skipping the 07:00 ride. I didn’t because I thought that I would regret not going, if I did not go. In the process I got to ride with the autumn/winter tyres and this time they felt less laggy than before. Two days ago, when I was ready to go for a ride I noticed that the tyre was flat.

A Bike Ride and Noise Pollution

Yesterday afternoon I heard some very loud banging. I thought that it was due to an idiot driving a farming machine into something solid and they were trying to fix the damage. As it continued it made me furious. It’s for this reason that I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon on my bike. When I rode by the absurd people making a huge amount of noise I saw that they were hammering at the bed of their flat bed truck.