Reading
Robert Greene's "Daily Laws". Halfway through February, and I enjoy this book less and less. It is described on the cover as 366 meditations, and an effort has been made to collate and curate excerpts from across the author's extensive catalogue of text. A few times now, I've found myself unsure as to whether I've lost my place, as the day's entry feels familiar. But no, it's simply that today's meditation is remarkably similar to yesterday's, and in fact, the previous day's too. I'm soldiering on, but Mr Greene faces an uphill battle to get me back onside.
"The Trading Game" by Gary Stevenson. This is a great read. The author was an extremely successful market trader for Citibank. This book chronicles his career, its end and his understanding of how the world of finance really works. Now, I won't pretend to be an economist, nor a savant, but there are things in his thesis that ring true. I recommend this book.
I'm into "The Courage to be Disliked" by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga at the moment. An exploration/explanation of Adlerian Psychology. Interesting.
Booze
I'm still on the wagon. Yesterday, I received a letter (by e-mail) from a liquidator. One Year No Beer (OYNB Ltd) has gone into voluntary liquidation. In 2020, when I was in the midst of taking the whole year off, I remember lots of invitations to invest in OYNB. I thought then that there was something mildly worrying about it. I don't know the detail, but I have a vague recollection that the company raised seven figure sums, which I guess they have now spent. For the moment at least, my challenge videos are still available to me (I'm about halfway through), so there's no personal impact. If I lost access, then I would be entitled to put in a claim for at least half my recent payment, although I suspect I might be in a long queue for a share of a small pot. I hope that not too many small investors are taking a loss. That would be a shame.
Water
Cyprus is desperately short of it, which feels impossible given the amount of rain falling from the sky this week. I'm most definitely spoilt and probably see less annual rainfall than anyone reading this post, which is my great fortune and probably also the reason that I have become almost allergic to precipitation. Dog walks are cancelled (the hounds like the rain as much as I do), no Padel (which also means no gym), in fact you're hard-pressed to get me out at all. As I write, the power has been out all morning, and I'm huddled over a laptop trying to keep warm.
Tech
I have an embarrassment of computers. A desktop from Apple, a laptop running Linux from Tuxedo and a Surface laptop from Microsoft (let's not mention tablets or we'll be here all day). Naturally then, I have been lusting after a new laptop.
One from Apple.
For heaven's sake.
While I wait for it, I have opened the Windows machine for the first time in ages. This post was drafted on it. Oh my.
This is really nice! The screen is gorgeous, the keyboard too. I downloaded a "Fountain Pen Theme" for the desktop and wallpapers, deleted all the shortcuts and my task bar autohides. Typing in Typora, the operating system disappears. I'm just typing on a gorgeous machine. It has the wedge shape that Apple dropped from the Air. It's a stunning metallic blue and right now - it just works. Yesterday, however, it just updated and restarted. All day.
Why will the MacBook supersede it, when it arrives? Continuity. My main machine is Apple, and the laptop works as an extension of that. If I'm presenting to an audience something that was created on a Mac, it's easiest to use a Mac. If I'm writing in an application, and want to continue remotely, then it's easiest to continue in that application. Sure, there are applications that are cross-platform, but some are better than others. Scrivener for Windows, for example is different from Scrivener for Mac.
All things being equal - I could work on an all Linux-setup, an all Windows setup or an all Apple setup. I can work cross-platform too. The operating systems are converging on mediocrity. They're all as bad as each other.
I daresay the new MacBook will be lovely, and I intend to optimise for its purpose (i.e. keep as much crap as possible off it), but a part of me really wants to keep a hold of this Surface laptop too, even with its German keyboard.
What does all this mean for digital sovereignty? Well, you'll have to sign up to be a paid member to read my thoughts on that later this month.
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