I’ve also started a micro-blog on the https://scribbles.page/nicola (RSS).

I’ve started to dislike some of the Automatic’s decision on the WP.com dashboard and my content management, so that’s … after 18 and three months of usage, I’m quitting the platform (for the foreseeable future). Please update your RSS subscription – if you’d like so – and see you elsewhere!

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I’m talking with some new people from all over the countries so I though it would be nice to have an introduction page, and then some contents to explore, if they want. Having 18 years of history this is not an easy task, but I will found a way.

Expect some other changes in the next couple of days. Thanks for your patience

Did you miss me? December and January were a wild ride, with lots of things going on on my personal life. In February things at least are getting a clear direction so I can be back at my MacBook Pro, writing down something for work or pleasure. Like here today.

A personal site is—or at least it should be—a reflection of whoever you want to be. It could be the complete you, one of the many versions of you, or even an aspirational you. Just be comfortable in your digital home. It’s all that matters.

Here’s mine (as of 7 nov. 2023).

• Mail Client: Thunderbird and Apple Mail (I’ve started using Outlook since a couple of months ago since my employee has moved to M365);
• Mail Server: Google Workspace with (free) custom domain (while it lasts), Gmail, iCloud, my hosting one;
• Notes: Notes.app and my beloved SimpleNote;
• To-Do: Reminders.app and Things (which I use less than I’d like to)
• iPhone Photo Shooting: iOS Camera
• Photo Management: Photos.app
• Calendar: Calendar.app
• Cloud File Storage: Dropbox, iCloud Drive, NextCloud which I’m slowly moving to OneDrive (as for Outlook above);
• RSS: Feedly (free plan) with Reeder
• Contacts: Contacts.app
• Browser: Firefox, Safari and Edge/Chrome just for work’s issues;
• Chat: Discord, Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp (and also Instagram private messages), Skype for work. Teams sometimes but I try to avoid it;
• Bookmarks: Firefox locally with a periodic, manual, sync over iCloud. I do have a Pinboard account (which I also love)
• Read It Later: Pinboard and a private email address;
• Word Processing: Byword, Bbedit, MacDown;
• Spreadsheets – Presentations: I avoid them whenever I can;
• Shopping Lists: Reminders.app
• Meal Planning: n/a
• Budgeting and Personal Finance: Money Pro;
• News: Mastodon, my network of friends;
• Music: Spotify (family plan) and also Apple Music
• Podcasts: Podcast.app (tried Marco Arment’s Overcast … but I do listen very few podcasts so I’ve stopped using it);
• Password Management: 1Password Family, a shared Keepass for work;
• Terminal: Terminal.app … tried to use iTerm but my usage is basic so I don’t need it and stopped using it

Breaking the 5 items rule since I was a bit too silent here, and to keep at pace with the listing on my Italian blog. Hope you’ll enjoy the readings.

Generosity is luck going in the opposite direction, away from you. If you are generous to someone, if you do something to help him out, you are in effect making him lucky. This is important. It’s like inviting yourself into a community of good fortune.

(shared by my friend zBrando)

A more resilient mindset might be something like:

• I’m inspired by what I want to create
• I’m committed to this for the long-term, because I care about what I’m creating
• I also love the activity that I’m doing to lead to my long-term goal
• Getting stopped is a part of this growth process, and I simply need to start again

I should be clear that mindset takes practice. We don’t just decide to come from a new mindset, and it happens instantly. We will get stuck in the old mindset, and the practice is to recognize it, and practice the new one.

I created, some time ago, an ad-hoc email account to collect these emails … and the temptation to mark everything as read is great. At the time, though, I carefully selected the newsletters I wanted to be subscribed to, and before I delete something I want to take the time to read something and figure out if the topic (or the author) still has something actually interesting to tell me or if it is better to end our ‘relationship’ here.