LJPUK

Growth above all else

May 11th, 2022

As I feared growth above all else wins and this’ll be the straw that broke the camels back for my use of Twitter should it happen.
Is Twitter just for complaining?

May 6th, 2022

I’ve taken a few breaks from Twitter over the years but most recently I see a trend – it’s where people complain. Now I’m guilty of this too, when I’m annoyed at a particular company or service my instinct is to jump on Twitter and complain. I’ve curbed this over the last couple of years (I think!) but looking at my timeline it’s 70% talking about things people don’t like about a particular TV show or app or product.

I try not to complain about TV because I don’t want to take the enjoyment from other people that liked it but I’m guilty of other complaints especially around apps or services.

I’m going to do my best to stop and if I don’t have something nice to say I won’t say anything at all on Twitter in a bid to put out a big more positivity.
Apple putting profit over the environment?

May 5th, 2022

Disappointed to see this but there are plenty of third party places to sell your tech. I wish Apple would offer the most out of them all, it’s such a seamless experience trading in devices with them.
Apple shows how us how Star Wars sounds are created

May 4th, 2022

Great watch for those Star Wars fans like me!
How The Book of Boba Fett was made

May 4th, 2022

Disney+ have released their gallery series for The Book of Boba Fett. Power rangers aside I really enjoyed this series so looking forward to this 1 hour behind the scenes documentary.
Star Wars art show

May 4th, 2022

First off, happy May the 4th (I hope you’re planning to watch some content today). I wanted to share this celebration art show post. There are some great wallpapers in this post and I may be ordering some prints for the office.
Halo Infinite Season 2 thoughts

May 4th, 2022

Halo Infinite season 2 dropped on us yesterday and I’ve got about an hour into it and have some initial thoughts I wanted to share. First off last Spartan standing is a lot of fun, I managed to win my first game but it’s been a lot harder since then… at first I thought having multiple respawns was silly vs one but now I’ve played it I get why. The game lasts longer and it gives you time to level up to gain the better weapons.

Here’s a good write up on the individual changes but it’s nice to see reduced melee damage. Even a reduction by 10% has made a difference.

However I’m disappointed that there aren’t many new maps. I would have thought in six months 343 could have given us something more and given the apparent lack of players I do worry that it’s slowly being wound down for the team to focus on something else. With Microsoft money I’d hope they would have two development teams, one for online and another giving us another campaign or sequel to Infinite.

I shouldn’t complain given I’ve not paid anything but when they want to compete with other free to play I feel they need a focus to roll out features faster.
Twitter is where the community is

May 4th, 2022

I’ve been thinking a lot about my stance on leaving Twitter for a bit but I’m discovering that it’s where the community is, especially readers of my content. I now feel that I’m writing for no one.

Matt wrote up a great post over at Birchtree and after using Discord for a bit and setting up my own Slack I’m of the same mind.

I’ve had little to no interaction in my own Slack, which I thought could be a good alternative but at the end of the day I need to stick to where the community already is. I do get readers from general web searches, it’s where the majority of my traffic comes from but when it comes to interaction, it’s 90% via Twitter.

It was thanks to the friends I made via Twitter that I freelance wrote, got support when I needed it to keep my site going and get comments on my writing.

Managing the negative of Twitter is something I’ll need to do via mute and managing who I’m following.

Regarding it’s owner, well they don’t own it yet and I’ll continue to take a wait and see approach.

I’m so conflicted but serving the readers of my content is taking priority and I’ll be patient (I’m not great at this) with this whole thing.
A battery powered HomePod Mini

May 2nd, 2022

I’m one of the few that seem to have purchased full sized HomePods and use them as a home cinema system, I really like the HomePod product. Siri isn’t great but the sound quality is superb. In my home office I’m limited with space and plug sockets so I’m using a battery powered Bluetooth speaker, an ultimate ears that’s actually pretty great.

It got me thinking about how good it would be to have something from Apple the size of a HomePod Mini that’s battery powered, just like this one. This UE one I’m using also has the advantage of being very durable and waterproof but I don’t think a new HomePod would need to be.

Maybe I’m alone here but what do you think about a HomePod that you can charge and take with you?
Replacing the Twitter addiction

May 1st, 2022

It wasn’t until I actively stopped using Twitter that I realised how much I was using it. Those few minutes between doing things I’d reach for my phone and scroll to check the latest.

I’ve also noticed I’m a bit less bothered about stuff. Twitter is where mostly I’ll see things that have a negative effect on my mental health.

Since stopping I’m using my phone a bit less, writing posts like this one or using apps I enjoy like looking at my photos or catching up on smaller communities in Slack or Discord.