04 February 2017
Conversations often bring up what seem to be the weirdest things. And then I think for a bit.
I’ve posted recently of the information overload I’ve experienced since the middle of 2016; it’s had a lot of positives and fair share of negatives, but I’ve learnt about, well, me.
Constipation is a term I first came across courtesy of @schmidt_fu on either 10Centuries.org or pnut.io and it got me thinking. I said I’d think about it, so did.
Constipation:
“irregular and infrequent or difficult evacuation of the bowels; can be a symptom of intestinal obstruction or diverticulitis” (Definition from iOS Terminology app.)
Humans have evolved to consume various edible items (and, for pleasure, some plainly inedible or noxious), to process them and convert into nutrients, and finally to expel the resultant waste. Ok, not just humans, pretty-much everything alive on the planet operates in a similar fashion. What differs between us at the top, and those below us on the food chain, is our insatiable desire to consume, process, and to, er… talk about stuff.
Yeah, a bit short of suitable metaphors here; ‘constipation’ isn’t a bad pinnacle, right?
But there’s only so far that balancing act between consumption and dissemination can take the average sane person. I gave up where someone with more confidence, more psychopathic tendencies would, has and will, advance further. I saw the effect on myself of the constant osmosis of facts and figures, and simply didn’t like where it would take me.
That’s not to say I removed myself entirely from the stimuli, that’s impossible. Avoiding Brexit and Trump though, it’s tantamount to acceptance, and I simply cannot roll over and submit to the propaganda machines rolling over pretty-much everything I’ve assumed would provide stability for me, my wife and, the reason large numbers of folks believe we’re on this planet in the first place: my 2 lovely daughters.
Though we’re not in the midst of an actual wartime, it’d be fair to say we live in times of unprecedented upheaval. And it’s all stoppable in an instant if people simply come to their senses.
Chances of it happening? I think zero.
So, constipation, a recap:
“irregular and infrequent or difficult purging of the symptoms of stress brought on by an information overload; can be a symptom of the obstruction of regular thought processes or a response to stimuli outside an individual’s sphere of influence”.
My sphere of influence?
Around 1680mm diameter.
02 February 2017
I know I shouldn’t but I did; I watched the BBC politics Q&A programme ‘Question Time’. Brexit was discussed of course, and one particular commenter stood out.
Now I know I shouldn’t categorise an entire voting side by the actions of one woman, but it’s a telling thing she said; I’m paraphrasing here:
“I was going to vote Remain but changed my mind and voted to Leave. The day before I went into the supermarket and the bananas were all straight.”
Now I know she’s referring to an EU regulation stating that the fruit must be straight, a certain minimum size, probably to ensure commonality of packaging and to cut the cost of imports and…
It’s all bollocks when viewed from any perspective, and has been since the worldwide ridicule dumped on the EU after it temporarily appeared on the statute books, before being withdrawn in 2008. So how the heck can she claim all the bananas were straight during June 2016‽ I’ve never, ever, seen a straight banana, but I’m not going to pretend I’m the ultimate arbiter of truth here.
She should be more concerned about the ridiculous waste imposed by our supermarkets’ insistence that they pay the farmers peanuts whilst mandating perfect produce to meet a requirement they say consumers demand but which, when challenged, they can provide zero evidence of.
Nothing at all to do with the hated European Union’s oppressive regulation.
So, are we living back in the nineteen-fifties yet?
01 February 2017
And then, in one smooth operation, I unfollowed all my Twitter political accounts… Which was nice.
Really, I know there’s no avoiding politics now, but I have my limits.
So, a prelude to stepping away from Twitter and eventually Facebook, and spending more time at 10Centuries (with some coding on the cards.)
And yes, dabbling in pnut.io too.
01 February 2017
My wife just called me a slag. I honestly cannot believe she meant it in connection with my unconventional delivery of ginger nut biscuits to Ruby dog; mouth-to-mouth. Surely not.
A period of self-analysis is thus required. So here I am, cogitating; ginger nuts in one hand, dog restraining the other.
31 January 2017
After a rubbish day, a tale of woe: posts detailing a short journey from pleasure to disappointment, spanning around 3 hours:
@bazbt3:
OK, it looks as though my dream to rock up in a few days with an iPhone Plus, and start messing about with Workflows is at an end.
Financially it makes no sense, we’d like a holiday this year, and other things. So I went for a OnePlus 2: an older model, running on a Cyanogen variant with the potential to not get the Nougat upgrade; but the price, for a high-spec. phone with the big screen I crave, is very attractive.
£250 (around US$315) for this:
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/oneplus-2-1300253/review
Yes, I know you don’t have time to read it. :)
(time passed…)
@bazbt3:
Well, that sucks. Scheduled to be delivered between 10pm & midnight, Amazon cancelled the order at 11:14pm, without giving me a reason. The twa
@bazbt3:
… I might as well go to bed. :(
So I did.