A Cold Walk In The Wind

A Cold Walk In The Wind

Byrichard

Today I went for a cold walk in the wind. The wind was blowing from west to East so for at least half of the walk I had it in my face. This was a good day to wear a cagoule and to wear the face mask, even when people were not around. The windchill made walking unpleasant and I even considered skipping my daily walk but didn’t. I am disciplined enough to walk, even when it is unpleasant. This weather is frustrating because we have the cold, without any of the beauty. It would be nice to have this cold, with snow and ice, rather than just ice.


Linux Mint On an EEEPC


Last night I installed Linux Mint on an EEEPC quite easily. I downloaded a 32bit OS, flashed the ROM to a USB key, booted the OS from the SD card, and then installed the OS. So far I have done very little. The eeepc feels slow. It is an old machine, and even when it was young, a few years ago, it felt slow. It would be nice to install Linux on a newer machine, to take more advantage of the OS. I actually like Linux but most computers are either windows or macOS.


And Finally


I should re-work my website so that it is KaiOS friendly. For now the top bar navigation and images are not friendly for the OS, especially not on a phone such as the one I am playing with. I find that it refuses to load the blog section of the website, and it struggles with the drop down menus. I should turn that feature off for tiny screens, and just let people scroll down to the relevant content. I have an opportunity to think differently.


I think the old WML format, Wireless Markup Language would be better suited, than the modern multi-display farce.

Reviewing EcmaScript 6

Reviewing EcmaScript 6

Byrichard

Recently I have spent time focusing on JavaScript and EcmaScript to make sure that I understand it. By now it is over a year ago since I felt that I wanted to study Angular but felt that I didn’t have enough knowledge to resolve the challenges so I decided to return to basics. My return to basics involved a number of courses and books but it also led me to study this Linkedin Learning Pathway. It is easy to study, get a certiciate and move on, especially for extroverts or outgoing people who find interacting with people easy.


If I know people then I do find it easy. In other scenarios I struggle. I am working to ensure that if and when I say that I have certain skills, that I have those skills. I want to understand what I am doing and why.


A while ago I managed to get my instagram feed from Instagram JSON files to Wordpress via a number of steps and this felt good but I felt that I did not fully understand what I had done. Since then I have studied JSON, JS and other related technologies so I should be able to accomplish the same task more easily, and with fewer tools. I have to decide whether I want to import this data into wordpress or whether I want to run it outside of the CMS.


Such a project will encourage me to conceptualise and then realise my goal, without the skeleton of a course behind it to provide me with guidance. I want this to be a self driven project. It will indicate my progress. When I decide to take the plunge I should find the task easy.


I always find new things to learn, during this pandemic, and these new things keep me occupied and distracted from the eternal return that are these days.

The Old Habit of Walking In The Rain
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The Old Habit of Walking In The Rain

Byrichard

A Walk In The Rain


Today it was meant to rain for the entire day but there was a brief window which it stopped raining so I went for a walk. I expected not to be rained on but within minutes I could feel a small spray of water falling on me. I walked anyway. It was nothing to worry about. I did the usual walk and although groups of people were walking they were easy to avoid. The rivers are nice and full today so rain is having an effect. Rain has melted the snow that had covered the landscape and filled the rivers. In some places there are traces that the water is slightly polluted.


Reading and Projets


I am listening to The Age of Wood as I walk. I am struggling to get into it. I did read about the Chemin De La Mature and that does sound like an interesting place to visit. It is a path cut through the rock. They didn’t cut through the rock from top to bottom though. They cut through it horizontaly. It looks like an interesting experience to walk along that path. In some images it looks narrow, but in others it looks comfortable to walk along. I need to find more information about the GR-10 walking route, to see whether it would be interesting to see the larger context.


Tracking, Without Charging


I tracked the walk the usual way, with a gps watch, but I also tracked it with the Core-S4 and so far the results are good. I have tracked two walks over two days, without charging between the two walks and the phone is still fine. I don’t need to charge it every day. I like this. I like that I have a watch that I charge once a week or less, and a phone that I don’t need to charge every evening. This means that I could travel away for a weekend carrying less weight. I could go without chargers for the first time in years.


We will see what I play with tomorrow.

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Initial Thoughts on the Crosscall Core-S4

Byrichard

Not for FB or Twitter


Today I started to play with the Crosscall Core-S4 and my impressions of it so far is that the Facebook and Twitter apps are not optimal for this device. They do not consider that with a small screen you should prioritise text over images. For those reasons I think that FB and Twitter are a reason to avoid this phone. This might actually encourage you to buy this phone.


Good for E-mail, FM radio, Whatsapp etc.


The purpose of a phone is not necessarily to provide you with social media. Sometimes the aim of a phone is to check your e-mails, look for quick information, and communicate via whatsapp and other platforms. In this case the phone is fine. It also has an FM radio, which is nice, for when you want to listen to local, rather than international content.


Environmentally Friendly Packaging.


I like the packaging. It is brown cardboard with a simple diagram of phone phone, black print on brown cardboard. It is functional and environmentally sound. It emphasises that the box can and should be recycled. For some reason I can’t fix one box back into the other.


Dual Sim or Microsd and Sim


You can have either one sim and a microSD card (max 64Go) or you can have two sims running in parallel.


Repairable, by Screwing and Unscrewing


One of the unique selling points of this phone is the image that shows the component parts of this phone. It is adertised as repairable, with screws to loosen and tighten again, rather than glue and suction cups, like with iphones and other devices. It is meant to be durable and this is good for climbing, extreme conditions and more. You could fall in a river with this phone, or use it in the rain, without a decrease in usability.


When I read the manual it says that we cannot change the battery ourselves.


Long Standby


In theory the standby time on this phone is 240 hours, ten days. With many other phones the standby time is hours, especially with a user like me. This one is different. 240hrs of standby, 13-14hrs of talk time, and it has the old familiar keyboard that some of us spent our teens using. Typing on the keyboard is fast and easy. I found that the keys actually felt soft, rather than hard. It feels like phones used to feel.


Why This Phone Rather Than Others


In my experience you can buy expensive flagship phones and be dissapointed by a number of things. Either apps don’t run as well as they should, or they crash. Sometimes the phone is so slippery that you drop it once, get it fixed, drop it again, and get it fixed again, and eventually give up. New iphones and new Android phones are big and fragile, which means that they’re fragile. Fragile phones break and you need to replace front and back covers. If you don’t they may feel much farmer.


With cheap Android phones you may have problems with 3G or other antenna issues, you may get constant app crashes and you may get older versions of Android.


I was tempted by feature phones but they don’t have access to whatsapp and other essential communication tools of this day and age, so unless you call actual phones they are of no value. With KaiOS that problem is resolved. With devices starting at 80 CHF it is worth taking the risk.


Two Steps For It To Be A Viable Primary Phone


For this to be a viable primary phone it would need two things. The first of these is access to Signal. This is an app I use regularly, and if it had it then I could think about dropping the iphone. The second would be a better podcast app, and audible. With these three apps the phone would reduce my need for a second phone.


And Finally


If you want to develop for KaiOS you need knowledge of html, CSS and JavaScript. If you don’t find an app you want then you can write it yourself with a little bit of effort. This is great for those who feel like experimenting with a phone without developing for Android or iOS.

On Long Drives

On Long Drives

Byrichard

In Switzerland a three hour drive feels long, but in France or Spain it does not. I drove from Switzerland to Spain and from Spain to switzerland. The drive to Spain is easier because traffic gets lighter as you get further south. Most of the time this is true. This time, as I drove from Spain to Switzerland I came across the opposite. From the moment I started driving I encountered traffic.


The problem with traffic is that some people are driving above the speed limit, while others are driving below it. You have to decide whether you want to slow down behind the car that is blocking you, or go out, blocking the fast car behind you. I usually let my speed go, rather than risk a high speed rear collision, flashing lights and other unpleasant behaviour.


This time when I arrived at La Jonquera there were plenty of cars so I stayed in the car and skipped this refueling stop, to refuel at the next petrol station in price. The difference in price was big but I thought that saving time was more important than money. I wasn’t wrong.


At the first péage in France I lost 20 minutes, and then I had regular traffic jams until 20 minutes or so before Grenoble. From there traffic was easy, and I even began to find driving between Grenoble and France easier. I have driven that route regularly enough. It has become a relaxing part of the drive.


This was especially true, because of how quiet the road was compared to the rest of the journey. I drove from around 0910 or so to 2220, so a thirteen hour drive. Yesterday I was tired from the drive.


Horses grazing, with the alps behind
Horses grazing, with the alps behind


Recent Reading


I read two books during the drive. I listened to them with Audible. I listened to The Jewel That Was Ours by Colin Dexter and finished part two of three of The History Of the Ancient World. The Jewel That was Ours is a reasonable book, although I do not feel that it is ideal for road trips. It requires focus and attention, two things that driving in heavy traffic also require.


I think that listening to books where you can half listen are better suited to long drives. Big Mile Cycling by Sean Conway was a better choice for the drive down. I will see about finding similar books for my next long drive.


Recent Listens


Today I listened to two Le Cours De L’Histoire podcasts. One was about Cretinism and Iodine deficiency, and the other, which I still need to finish is about vertical exploration of the mountains. For a while I found that I had no interest in listening to podcasts but for once I felt ready. I try to find pandemic friendly content, that explores ideas, concepts and history, rather than self-pity. I don’t think self-pity is the right term, but something along those lines. I like to read and listen to things that distract me from pandemic solitude.


JavaScript


It has taken a while, and some effort but I finally feel that I am getting to understand JavaScript better, and that I am more confident with it. I am not rushing, but rather seeing the code, and re-writing it with my own terms, words and more. I am pushing the envelope slightly, to deepen my learning. Today I played with encoding letters to learn about functions. Tomorrow I will experiment with something else.


And Finally


Tomorrow I get my booster, so we will see how it affects me. I want to eat a raclette, to see whether my dreams are more interesting, afterwards. 🙂