Similar Posts
Laptop Backups – anticipated battery failure
Laptop backups are an integral part of my daily routine. I backup to the cloud with crashplan as well as to an external hard drive. I also back up files as they are every few days or weeks so that if a drive fails I have at least one or two backups. In some cases I have more backups.
Imminent battery failure
Recently I was backing up the files from my most recent mac book pro because I noticed that the mouse was starting to fail every so often. When this happened on other mac book laptops it meant that the battery was starting to fail and to inflate. The battery was in a critical state so I expected it to fail and to take it to the apple store. I created a login just so that the Apple Maintenance team could fix it without having to log in to my main profile.
Stolen
A few days ago I took this machine to Geneva to collaborate on a project. We didn’t work much so I left the computer in a room, out of view and where I expected very little people traffic. After half an hour or so I decided to go and recover my laptop bag. When I arrived I saw the flask next to it. When I lifted the laptop bag it felt stupidly light. I checked the bag and the tables around. No sign of the laptop. The machine I had backed up just minutes before going to Geneva was stolen. I reported it to the location where I was and within fourty minutes I reported it to the police.
I am really happy with the Swiss Police. Within fourty minutes the crime is reported and you can get on with preparing insurance details. A few years ago when I was mugged I was told to “come back tomorrow.”
I have been going to conferences, events, universities, schools and offices with my laptops for close to 20 years without a single theft. It’s ironic that it was stolen from a place where I have seen dozens of laptops unattended over the weeks. I should have left it in a room with a lot of people.
For another perspective and point of view: Benefits of Unlimited Cloud Backup for SMBs
The 3g golden Goose and it’s noose.
You see, 3G is the golden goose for wireless carriers. It’s technology that turns their networks from boring voice systems to multi-functional data systems. They’re going from being a diner offering three specials/day to a restaurant with a huge buffet. This buffet is enticing and offers something for pretty much everyone but you’ll have to pay for it.
source
And that’s the part I like. The phone has never been my medium of choice. Too disruptive, too many factors to take into consideration.
Looking forward to when the golden goose has de-valued data to such a point it’s as cheap as broadband has become.
The Global Action Day For Burma – London
Today was the Global Action day for Burma. The event was centered around a march from the Tate Britain, via the Houses of Parliament before arriving at Trafalgar Square at which point several speeches were made.
You can recognise those who were part of the protest for the red ribbons they wore and the t-shirts.
I met two friends who were taking photographs, Danfung Dennis and Crina Boros. Danfung has had quite a few interesting assignments. Crina was doing an MA whilst I was completing my final year of studies.
A Year Without Handshakes and Hugs
We are over a year into the pandemic that I wrote about for the first one hundred days, and stopped writing about because I thought that the Swiss Government was getting close to eradicating the disease, or at least getting it down to 0 new cases per day. Do you remember June 2020, when we actually thought the pandemic could be over by August? Unfortunately we’re no in April of 2021 and the pandemic is nowhere near over.
Today, upon news that a royal individual died, and upon realising that the Social media landscape and British media would be filled with this news I decided to take a twitter break, while morbid twitter marked the passing of this individual. I may seem apathetic and cold, uncaring, or even unsympathetic because I do not want to mark this event but I’d like to bring something to people’s attention. I’m between work contracts. I haven’t hugged or shaken hands with adults in over a year. If I was to grieve a stranger who had a full life, and lived to a good age, then how should I feel about my own life, and my own age? If I was to feel empathy, then I would destroy my own ability to cope with pandemic solitude.
A year with hardly a meal with others, with hardly an evening drink with others, a year without a single climbing trip, with no hiking trip with strangers, with no activities. The pandemic is not over, and neither is the solitude. We are still a year away from a normal summer, if we’re being optimistic.
Normally I would have spent the last three or four weekends going hiking and climbing with people, but this year I have done none of those things. I have walked in solitude, in loops of 10-15 kilometres where I live and in the process I have seen interesting things.
Today I saw a sign that gave the distance between Geneva and Lausanne in terms of Lieues (leagues). I walked down to the lake because I thought the high wind would give nice waves but no such luck. It’s funny to see the distance measured in such units.
This year I have already walked for over 160 hours for a distance of over 800 kilometres and the fourth month of the year has only just started. My walking has continued, despite the pandemic, and despite how theoretically unappealing walking is, around here. In fact walking in this area is nice and there are plenty of routes to be explored and with the seasons, the landscape changes with each passing week and month. Some months you see the start of one crop and the end of another. You also see mice and other rodents flee to safety. There is plenty to see. I also pass the time with podcasts and audiobooks, so although the landscape and route is the same the walk is different every single time. Contrary to popular belief daily walks, within walking distances of home can and are fun to do.
People may dislike that I don’t want to mourn a death, but in the middle of a pandemic, our ability to cope, or not cope, is based around what we prioritise, and what we avoid. By avoiding grief and mourning, we avoid undermining our own happiness and on that topic I want to take a quick detour.
A few months ago I read a number of articles that made me think of pandemics, depression and homesickness. I love the idea that people, during a pandemic, are feeling homesick for the way of life they want to return to, the friends they would like to see, and the things they miss. A pandemic is like a trip, and it takes time for people to adapt and get used to new environments.
I saw that people are meeting by a lakeside tonight, and if we weren’t in a pandemic then I would consider it, but because we’re in a pandemic, and because I want to avoid catching Long Covid I am not exposing myself to the risk. I also think that it’s easier to remain in pandemic solitude, than to yoyo into and out of it. I prefer to keep things stable. At the current rate of vaccination we may have another 70 weeks to go in Switzerland.
“Posting Dead Zones” Are Encouraged by Social Media Practitioners Taking a Utilitarian Approach to Social Media.
A few years ago we were part of social networks. These networks were based on social interests, activities, passions and more. Over time as attention shifted from Social networks to social media so the activity that people were busy with changed. With that change social media professionals filled the channels, pushed for “audience” rather than friendships and eventually created what they call the “posting dead zones”. This is both amusing and sad.
It is amusing because social networks, later called social media were entirely about conversations and sharing content and experiences of interest. In such an environment you would use social media from the moment you woke up to the moment you went to sleep. You would meet with members of your social media social networks a number of times a day. The Return on investment for having no “posting dead zones” meant that people would be attentive to what you posted.
With time, and as early adopters were replaced by mid to late adopters, as conversations became less private and less personal so the opportunities to connect with people declined. Instant messaging via Google Hangouts for Ingress, Facebook messenger for personal friends and whatsapp encourage exchanges between existing networks. The work of adding new people to a social network has shifted back to face to face meetings.  As a private user the return on investment in regards to social networks has imploded. We see this with Facebook and Twitter. Their stickiness has declined.
Social media practitioners forget that social media are about social networks. People use the social network where they connect with other people. When a social network is no longer sociable “posting dead zones” get extended so much that vibrant networks become ghost towns. Facebook and twitter spent so long focusing on getting advertising and mainstream media on board that they forgot the essence of social networks.
Finding the Vibrant Swiss Pokemon Go community.
Pokemon Go has been available in Switzerland officially since yesterday but people have been playing the game for longer than this. Some have achieved level 20 and above. There is a vibrant Swiss Pokemon Go community in the French speaking part of Switzerland.
Pokemon Go Switzerland is one place where French speaking players can unite. One thousand nine hundred people have already liked the page so if you are looking for other players this is a good place to start.
There is the Pokemon Go Lausanne group. This group has 430+ members at the time of writing. Friday they had their first event and at least elevent people were present. Another event is coming up on the 24th of July 2016.
2850 people have liked the Pokemon Go Genève page.
Ingress players from Lausanne, Geneva and other french speaking towns have had a Google Hangout dedicated to Pokemon Go for several months. At this moment there are 83 members. 50 members of the Yellow Instinct faction are also highly active on Telegram. Hundreds of messages are exchanged.
These communities form online to facilitate meeting other players offline in the physical world. By playing the game there is a good chance that you will come across other players, as would frequently happen with Ingress. Having online communities allows people to plan events and meetings, shares hints and tips and more. Factions can plan a campaign, come to my village and lets capture it from this faction or that faction. Come to that train station or event and you will find these pokemons. The game is creating new social groups and the age range according to one thread I saw today is between 15 years old and 45. I am certain that all age groups are playing. That is the range people disclosed in that specific thread.
I expect the community to grow and for events to be organised on a regular basis. If you do play the game then there are hundreds of people to meet and play alongside in the Léman region of Switzerland.