> Notes...

Today I learned about José Mujica, because he died. It seems he was a good man, with plenty of “interesting” takes, friendships, and connections; all enough to cause concern. This phrase attributed to him, though, resonates:

“No soy pobre, soy sobrio, liviano de equipaje, vivo con lo justo para que las cosas no me roben la libertad.”

Robot chefs, LOL. They are as much chefs as our pressure cooker, microwave, or oven. I am sure they will get better.

“When a customer orders a bowl of dumpling ramen at a kiosk, a robot activates. A steel nozzle swirls boiling water and spicy broth paste into a pot. Dried noodles drop from a dispenser. Cradling heat and spice, the pot glides onto a burner. An overhead chute sprinkles dried vegetable flakes. The ramen simmers.”

I am finding out that I repeat myself quite a bit. Is that good, or bad?

If you use Phanpy as your Fediverse client, I am sure you will agree with me that Catch-up is one of its best features. I love everything about that client, though.

Now that that’s done, I can resume watching this. So much to do, so little time! 😅

Finished watching “Severance” last night. Had to renew for another month to watch the last episode, but $10 for all the available episodes was worth it. Can’t wait for season 3, for sure!

“Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me and only in me shall their stain live on. I am thankful to have been caught, my fall cut short by those with wizened hands. All I can be is sorry, and that is all I am.”

I want Apple to do something like this on the iPhone. That is, connect the iPhone to a display, and make it emulate a desktop UI. I don’t think it will happen, though, as it would dent their other computers sales.

When I go to the loo at work, I can tell the gender of the person who “visit” it before me without even seeing them. Such lack of consideration.

I don’t have a “buying domains on impulse” problem anymore. That issue is resolved, behind me now, and for that I am glad. Yet, a (new?) problem remains: which domain, of the few I have, to let go?

When I walk with my co-worker I do it at a slower pace. Usually when the walk is over, we have around 4,000 steps in our pedometres. He is out this week, so it was me along. I walked longer, and faster, and, still, my tally is 3,400. What’s going on here?

Really tired of being included in class action lawsuits I don’t want to be part of, and having being forced to go through hoops I don’t want to, to exclude myself from them.

Came across Alephic’s Writing page on Hacker News. I almost agree with everything, but this:

“A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences—just as a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”

Yes to the sentence, and paragraph and, perhaps, machine. But a drawing? There are no unnecessary lines in a drawing. Slightly off tangent, first time I heard of Alephic. There is a first time for everything, though.

George’s blog Terms of Service always makes me smile. The latest revision has a subtle, but ever-present, touch of AI to it.

Listening to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, and, more importantly, reading about his beliefs on medical-related conspiracy theories, is as jarring as seeing a medical doctor smoke—or worse.

It rains so gently this morning, that I could almost distinguish music within the sound of it hitting my car roof while driving to work. I had to turn off the radio to enjoy it. It felt so nice, I even stayed at extra 10 minutes inside the car at the parking lot, hearing it a bit longer. I need more days that start like this.

The “thinking”, “reasoning” AI models make me anxious, and test my patience to the highest degree. Every “thinking” model should come with something similar to Qwen’s 3 /no_think prompt toggle.

This isn’t a complain. It has been overcast the entire day. Not a drop of rain, but just close enough to tease. This week I will have to mow the lawn. Yes, it is that time of the year again.

I can’t believe it is almost 19:00, in our marvelous Sunday. Accomplished just about everything I wanted to this weekend, but buying my vitamins. Maybe this week. Off I go!

Mum’s Day today. Kim gets to do whatever she wants today. Pretty much as she does each day. Yay! LOL.

Watching “Severance” (★★★★★) for the first time with the kid. We are using a week’s free AppleTV+ subscription from Amazon Prime, so it truly is an against-the-time binge. The series are awesome, and I wonder how come I didn’t see it before. All works out, though, as I enjoy watching series with the boy.

Today was a busy day. Busy days are productive, to certain degree. That’s good. They also go by relatively quick, at least in our minds. That’s bad. So, today was a busy, good/bad day.

A new Pope has been elected, just on the second day of conclave. Three Popes (counting this one) have been elected on the second day of conclave. Now the world waits to know who he is, and the name he has chosen to bestow upon himself.

Update: 24 Jun 2025 @ 17:14:13

The new Pope is ex-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the US. He has chosen the name Leo. So, he is Pope Leo XIV.

Lunch hour is quickly approaching, which translates to my first walk of the day. With a Sun that can crack rocks, the feels like 30°C, and the humidity at 69%, it is going to be anything but fun. Yet, must clock the first 5,000 steps, or walking the 10,000 after work will feel like they did yesterday: an absolute torture.

Saw “Past Lives” (★★★★☆) this weekend, which got me with a knot in the throat a few times. Just what I needed after a relatively full-of-game-playing weekend.

“There is a word in Korean: In-Yun. It means “providence” or “fate”. But it’s specifically about relationships between people. I think it comes from Buddhism and reincarnation. It’s an In-Yun if two strangers even walk by each other in the street and their clothes accidentally brush. Because it means there must have been something between them in their past lives. If two people get married, they say it’s because there have been 8,000 layers of In-Yun over 8,000 lifetimes.”

Found the FIDO News article, which is missing on the Microsoft blog I mentioned on the previous note. Now, “15 billion online accounts” is more likely!

“According to the FIDO Alliance, more than 15 billion user accounts can now sign in using passkeys instead of passwords. But we need billions more to make every sign-in passwordless.”

Does that makes any sense at all? I mean, 15 billion accounts, sure. But 15 billion user accounts, not a chance. They quote the FIDO alliance, but provide no link their alleged statement.

“IKIGAI - The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life”, reads the cover of this book. Can it be called a secret, when it’s written in a book? I figure it’s a secret, if you don’t buy the book. Lucky for me, Martin gifted me this one.

Here I go, to live a “long and happy life!” Well, at least to read about it. One must start somewhere, right?

I wrote elsewhere about mum’s chicken, and her adventures: how she came to be a guest in mum’s house, how she left one day, and how she came back to roost. Now it’s the time to write, with sadness—yes, mum and I were quite fond of that chicken—that the chicken has died. She was a good chicken, and kept mum entertained, and active. She will be missed.

On this month alone I have 20 birthdays in my calendar, including 2 of people I care about who have already died. I have written about it before; as long as someone remembers them, they are not fully gone. So, yeah, 20 birthdays. I think this is one of the busiest months when it comes to that.

One can find quite a few interesting websites listed at this Blogroll, this Blogroll, and this Blogroll. I am still missing one, but can’t find it. Just a note to have the URLs handy, as I have “lost” them more than once.

I have a strong feeling that, though Abrego Garcia might not have the infamous “MS13” tattoo on his nuckles, he might be about to get a fresh one.

Encouraged by George I have started to watch “Star Trek: The Original Series” (will rate later), which were released before I was born. Yep, I am watching them for the first time, that many years after. 😅

I truly love the series “Star Trek: Voyager” (★★★★★), which I just finished watching—for the fourth time—with the boy last night, but I had forgotten how extremely bad is its finale. Extremely anti-climatic.

Watched “The Conclave” (★★★★★) last night, as I hadn’t watched it, and I though it was the suitable thing to do, considering current events. I liked it very much.

“Have I gone mad? I’m afraid so. You’re entirely Bonkers. But I will tell you a secret, all the best people are.”

I just don’t want to be. Mad, that is. Now I understand the reason for flagelation; mine is walking. Off to it!

Finished bingeing “Crash Landing on you” (★★★★★) for the third time last week. This week will be a break away from the tely week, then next week I am planning on revisiting “The Borgias” (★★★★★).

Using Google Maps for casual journaling is a neat idea, and I have to say, I wouldn’t know where to start. Maybe it is time to reach out to Claud, exchange hellos, catch up a bit, and ask her!

“Don’t put it in your pocket, sir. Don’t put it in your pocket. It’s your lucky quarter. Where do you want me to put it? Anywhere not in your pocket. Where it’ll get mixed in with the others and become just a coin. Which it is.”

I came across this sentence—and quote—today on the Fediverse, and the more I think about it, the more I realise how much truth it carries.

“All cruelty springs from weakness.” — Seneca

From Claudine’s last entry (as I type this):

“Today in thoughts triggered by doing laundry: I have enough. I have what it takes to live an operable life that I actually enjoy.”

Such a wonderful, liberating though: “I have enough”. Wow, that ought to make my Sunday better. No, really. Because that’s the thing: I, too, have more than enough. And it’s not just socks!

It has been quite a while since I came by. Right now sick. A cold, or a flu (feels like the second). Didn’t get either for the last 4 years or so. Hurrah for not using masks anymore.