Thinking

( My reviews are aimed at helping you decide whether you should read something, rather than assuming your meaning of “good” or “bad” is anything like mine. ) The Internet, and more traditional bookshelves, are full of advice on when to start something, how to start something, and how to beat procrastination or self-limiting beliefs or imposter syndrome or whatever the author thinks is stopping you from reaching your full potential. But there’s much less content on when you should quit, on why you should consider not spending time on a project at the expense of other projects, and how to sensibly work through those decisions. With that opportunity cost being one of the few concepts I’ve kept from my O’level economics, I was particularly interested in Seth Godin’s The Dip - with its subtitle of “The extraordinary benefits of knowing when to quit ( and when to stick ).” ...

( My reviews are strictly aimed at helping you decide whether you should read something, rather than assuming your meaning of “good” or “bad” is anything like mine. ) As per my last 'weeknotes' I finished reading Rory Sutherland’s “Alchemy” recently. The overall point of the work, for me, is that economics and marketing ( in general, so with exceptions ) have failed to understand human nature and desire, and therefore their models are incorrect. These points are well made, well illustrated, well supported; I do like Sutherland’s use of “psycho-logical” to describe the approach he advocates for. The only place where it gets a bit wobbly in places is where he argues that free markets are good for most effectively indicating what people want - which is fair - but those neo-liberal capitalists have ruined it by being more profitable. But extrapolating the benefits of certain strategies within a market regardless of their overall effect is a conversation for another time. ...

Once Upon A Time I’ve updated a small interactive game I wrote, you can play the Lost Key game in a browser window. There’s a feedback form at the end, but any constructive thoughts are welcome on Twitter or similar platforms where I know you. Why? Why a fairy story? I can save space, which helps maintain the player’s interest, because the tropes are so familiar. Also I can save time by not doing any research, because there’s very little I need to explain to the player, but also the setting is so vague. As for the “lost key” theme… ...

Looking forward and back, 9th August 2021 I’m very wary of journals and journalling, but “work out loud” keeps being recommended more and more, and I’ve seen friends and contacts manage to navigate the line between self-promotion and bluster successfully. Last week Kept fighting software, won as often as I lost this week I think. Contined playtesting of an online game set in the Vietnam War, had to change my initial plans immediately. Continued discussions of what a general course on strategy would look like with some contacts. Continued thinking around bots, either written in code or “card based”. These would be for my own games, or as an unauthorised addition to other’s games. But this looks like a deep area that should be a sole area of study, and I’m not sure its financially viable. Discussions of applicability of traditional Business Continuity Management and Disaster Recovery principles to a modern organisation based on cloud services. Had that weird freelancer thing when opportunities look bleak, and then three people contact you in the same morning ( and therefore laughed at the Law of Attraction once again ). Moved and resized some logical volumes and re-learnt just how easy that can be. Learnt the difference between microboredom and existential boredom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQTrW9NP68 Watched Alita Battle Angel, which was underwhelming, but I was temporarily intrigued by how the sport of Motorball would work - for example, how to stop it just being a fight but on a track, what strategies teams would use, how to balance teams but allow variation, and so on… I’ve an initial idea together. Watched Ted Lasso, still too dangerous to watch while eating. Finally finished a little “game” in Inky: Lost Key This week Keep fighting software, mainly rdiff-backup I expect. More chats with the consultancy umbrella. Other work opportunities are “hovering”. Try to take off more items from my “to do” lists than I add - that didn’t go so well last week. Read a book, again

Looking forward and back, 2nd August 2021 I’m very wary of journals and journalling, but “work out loud” keeps being recommended more and more, and I’ve seen friends and contacts manage to navigate the line between self-promotion and bluster successfully. Last week Fought backup software - rdiff-backup - ongoing Fixed, mostly, Manjaro blanking a screen by default Continuing playtesting of an online game set in the Vietnam War, I particularly like the double-blind play Being an “external security brain” for a customer Put in some technical restrictions to stop me playing “just one more game” until too early in the morning Mashed my sleep schedule because of how Linux handles fonts Fought Linux and poor IO handling… still fighting Started discussing red team thinking with a new-ish contact, I have my usual doubts that organisations are interested in this kind of service without it being bundled with many others, if at all Continued thinking around bots, either written in code or “card based”, for either my own games, or as an unauthorised addition to other’s games. But this looks like a deep area that should be a sole area of study, and I’m not sure its financially viable I learned that YouTube advertising is in-stream now Spent far too long trying to make some old hardware useful Finished all of Ape Out… at the “softer” level. If you’ve played it, you’ll know how important that last level is Tried the Long Journey Home, an interesting idea but really dissauded by the training mode before I even started the game Replaced some hard disks on a server like some kind of 20th Century IT version of the Sealed Knot This week Keep fighting rdiff-backup More chats with the consultancy umbrella Catch up with some old friends online Try to take off more items from my “to do” lists than I add Read a book, again

Looking forward and back, 26th July 2021 I’m very wary of journals and journalling, but “work out loud” keeps being recommended more and more, and I’ve seen friends and contacts manage to navigate the line between self-promotion and bluster successfully. Last week Tried to figure out the antonym of terrorism Thought about a “kind insurgency” organisation and how it would work Made inroads into an umbrella consulting organisation Had a great conversation with a CISO about their career plans, and where the cyber security industry is going Caught up with an old friend who’s a CISO now, and the difficulty of finding the right position, even when you’re in demand Helped umpire an influence modelling wargame, impressive in terms of Control and attendee engagement Attended DSTL’s “Supercharging Science” event, which confirmed a few opinions, and led to useful conversations Attended the CardStock meetup, thought provoking and useful Been rather impressed at the creativity in the Masters of the Universe release Caught up on a lot of newsletters, closed a few tabs This week Act as an “external security brain” for a customer Various dull technical projects Slightly more interesting technical projects, looking at automating some things More chats with the consultancy umbrella Catching up with others… I’ve taken a step back recently and, as naff as it sounds, realised just how many really smart people I know…

The ( former ) subtitle of this blog is a bit much isn’t it, “I am the coxswain on my boat of thought”. But the phrase “train of thought” is common, implying something that travels from one station to the next, on well established and solid tracks, to exact destinations. And if it goes off the rails at all, everything is lost. Whereas I have a “boat of thought”, it goes in a general direction from one port to the next, but it’s buffeted by waves and storms, and sometimes is forced to take interesting diversions. Wikipedia says that the coxswain is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of “boat servant”, which I kind of like. ...