bookmark_borderApp Trends

It started with Evernote. When I first started using it I was delighted with such a simple, fast loading, feature rich note app but over time it ended up a slow, bloated product focused on ‘teams’ and ‘work’ (neither of which I needed).

The email app I use, Spark, appears to be headed the same way, adding ‘teams’ and ’email delegation’ to the list of features which is of no use to me for my personal email account.

And recently it seems Dropbox is headed that way too. When it was first launched it was a godsend, a very simple file/folder storage app that sync’d and integrated with many different applications. It did what it did brilliantly well and became very popular. Yet it too is now looking bloated and looking to focus on business use first and foremost.

I get it. All these apps start by solving a simple problem and then get stuck trying to evolve further and further. As their companies and revenues grow they look around for what else they can add, which is natural as they have to keep earning, they have employees to pay after all. Each of the above examples (there are more) all look to be headed the same way, adding more and more features and starting to alienate the users who got them there in the first place.

I’m an early adopter, I try lots of apps and if one sticks, great. If not I move on. But time and again I find myself using an app for a while only for it to evolve away from the core offering they started with and, given there are a few million apps around, there is always a competitor to take up the slack.

I ditched Evernote ages ago and after several other trials have landed back with the default Apple Notes app – I also have the secure S.Notes app but that’s primarily as a conduit for web entry at work.

I’ve tried to move away from Spark but until the Snooze features of other apps catch up I’m staying (but the time is coming… as it’s getting more and more bloated.

And now I’m looking at Dropbox versus iCloud. I use Dropbox purely for storing files that I want to access anywhere. I rarely share folders and as that functionality is coming to iCloud later this year anyway, it might be time to ditch Dropbox as well.

I’m sure this cycle will repeat. Apple are notoriously slow at updating their own apps which gives third parties time to innovate and leap ahead, but it looks like there could be a time when I’m back using Mail, Notes, and iCloud folders instead of third party apps. Which is exactly what Apple want, of course, but makes me sad that there doesn’t seem to be much room for small, simple apps, that do one or two things very well.

Such is the nature of the beast, and no doubt there will be another cycle soon. Already apps like Bear (note taking) are gaining ground by offering a superior, simple, notes application (alas these all seem to be headed into Markdown usage which I just don’t need/want), and with the last change from Dropbox, it too will like see other competitors (Box?) step up.

I guess this is the joy of being an early adopter, being at the start of these cycles is always a little exciting but man oh man do the ends suck.

bookmark_borderThat was America

Back home after two weeks of travelling around parts of the East Coast of the USA, which went a bit like this…

We flew in to Stewart International Airport (courtesy of Norwegian Airlines who we recommend) we picked up our hire car and headed up to Framingham, just outside Boston.

The following day we spent wandering round the gorgeous city of Boston, doing nothing much except enjoying the sights and sounds of a new city. It really is a lovely place to stroll around, with a nice mix of old and new buildings and areas. Thankfully it was a little overcast, perfect for a day of walking around being a tourist. My second visit to Boston and I think it warrants a third, longer, visit in the future.

The next day we headed to Six Flags for some rollercoaster fun and WOW they didn’t half deliver! From the 77mph Superman, to the looping forwards then backwards beast that was Goliath, to the absolutely wonderfully terrifying Cyclone. I have no idea how much adrenaline was generated that day but every time I came off one of the rides my legs were shaking, AWESOME!!

The next day was a bit more relaxed, a wander round Springfield (no, not that one) visiting the enchanting Dr.Seuss museum, and the NBA Museum and Hall of Fame before we headed up to Provincetown in Cape Cod.

We were in Provincetown for one reason, to go kayaking and what a glorious day it was. We booked with Cape Kayaking and I’d highly recommend you do the same if you are ever in the area. A few hours spent pootling around the bay, looking at the horseshoe crabs, navigating channels through the reeds, with an informative, friendly, relaxed guide, it was wonderful and we will definitely be back.

Provincetown itself was delightful, in the throes of a post-Pride weekend it was all rainbow flags and banners, but with plenty of little restaurants and a nice beach location I can see why it’s so popular. Alas we only had a morning before we headed down the coast to Manhattan, New York.

Having never been to New York the entire time was magical. We visited the Empire State Building, Central Park, the Flatiron, Times Square, Madison Square Garden, the Guggenhiem, the Met, Bryant Park and more. We walked the Highline, stepped inside the Vessel, and drank in dive bars (hat tip the amazing Trailer Park, and the welcoming Nancy Whiskey). I loved every minute of busy madness, wandering street after street for block after block, never once feeling uncomfortable despite the sheer volume of people and noise.

We will be back, so it was nice to have a relaxed pace to a city break, rather than the usual mad dash of ‘must see places’ we just wandered around in various areas and saw whatever we saw.

And then it was on to Staten Island. A ferry trip past a big statue of a lady, and on to a family wedding. Then, all too soon, it was time to come home.

What a wonderful holiday, full of great food, plenty of booze, not to mention laughter and wonderful memories. I can’t WAIT to go back! Until then… where next?!

bookmark_border20 Years

In 1996 I attend a day long training course to learn how to use a new technical language to publish text on the internet. I was working for a small firm in Helensburgh at the time, the internet was still new, we’d only just upgraded to Windows 95, and I was put in charge of creating their website.

That technical language was called HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and still powers the bulk of the internet today. The default browser of the day was Netscape Navigator, and webpages looked very basic consisting of little more than black text on a grey background with some oddly placed images. In the last hour of the training course we were taken through some new developments in HTML which added the ability to make the background a different colour and then how to create clickable imagemaps. Exciting times!

Eager to experiment with this new knowledge I created my own little website, all hand coded in HTML. It was only a few hyperlinked pages kept locally to begin with, and mostly just lists of my favourite websites. As it turns out that is pretty much what many other people were doing at the time,but only a handful were publishing these on the internet for others to see but I was soon to join them quite simply because I could (ahhh memories of angelfire).

I had no grand plan, no burning desire to do much with this knowledge, it was (and still is) a curiosity and a level playing field. I had a website, just like the BBC had a website, just like Microsoft had a website. Were they my peers now? Of course not, my own little website was little more than a handful of pages of not much else of note.

Zip forward to 1997; I’ve built the company website (Crossaig) and I’ve started using the internet more and more, mostly exploring various strands of the Yahoo Directory or following webrings to discover new websites. Some of these had started offering more content, unique content, content written by the person behind the blog. Some were curated list of interesting websites, some were almost like diaries, I was fascinated.

Needless to say you can guess what happened next, I followed suit and in June 1999 I purchased a domain name – www.snowgoon.co.uk – and some webspace and uploaded my own random little website and started writing content. I was mimicking what I’d seen other do (I’m an early adopter, not a culture maker) and having fun doing it.

That website is long gone but the posts still exist here in the archives. I didn’t know what a blog was back then (no-one did) but soon enough an online tool called Blogger came along and made it much much easier to publish content online and the rest, as they say, is history.

It was 20 years ago today that I published a piece of nonsense about Sunglasses to my own little website. Who’d have thunk I’d still be posting nonsense here 20 years later. I may have been going in and out of style, but I hope I’ve at least managed to raise a smile.

bookmark_borderCurrently

I am:

  • Trying to figure out how we are almost at June.
  • Spending too much time on the Monzo Community forums.
  • Getting excited for our upcoming holiday.
  • Pondering my next tattoo (I know where it’ll be but as of yet, not what).
  • Walking dogs, playing with dogs, loving life with dogs.
  • Planning some changes when we get back from holiday, that gym membership is in for a fright.
  • Slowly easing myself back into that novel I ‘wrote’ in 2015 during NaNoWriMo (and picking up Novlr to do it in).
  • Happy.

bookmark_borderThe Dogs

If you don’t follow me on social media then, dear reader, you will probably not have noticed that I now co-habit with two dogs (and their Mum, it was a package deal).

Their names are Sasha and Dave, they are Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and they are the most adorable weird furry little things and I am utterly smitten with both of them.

I grew up with a golden retriever. My parents got her not long after I was born, photos of me crawling to steal and chew on the young pups bones exist, and for the first 15 years of my life there was always a dog around, mooching for biscuits, and generally falling asleep and lying in the most unhelpful places possible (and then standing up when you went to step over her). I loved her dearly and have so many fond memories of her.

I’d forgotten how much fun it was having dogs around. Having a dog hop up on the sofa (where they are allowed) and curl up next to you is wonderful, having a dog stand silently right behind you in the kitchen less so but that’s all part of the fun. One of them is a wee grump who will always make sure you aren’t giving anyone else any love, so much so she’ll force her way between you to make sure you realise she is there, the other is the most chilled out little weirdo I’ve ever met, a handsome guy that sits happily watching TV with you, ‘talking’ to all the animal friends that appear on the screen.

They’ll sit when told, they won’t touch their dinner or Kong treats until they are allowed, and they know which rooms they are allowed in and which they aren’t, even if they do continue to test that boundary. They are not allowed upstairs, but Sasha can frequently be found with two front legs on the bottom stair, which technically isn’t ON the stairs… right?

Sasha is the older of the two, she’s had a hip op so can get a little stiff if she’s been bounding about like a puppy (which she still does of course). She’s a rescue, and has a little bit of separation anxiety so whenever you get home she is OFF THE SCALE HAPPY TO SEE YOU! even if you only went out to get something from the car… She’s also very protective of her pack, which makes her a wee bit grumpy with other dogs (because Dave might make friends with them, god forbid!) but most dog owners are understanding when we let them know she’s just a noisy grump (very very much bark worse than bite). She is always wanting a belly rub, and is forever making sure that she is getting whatever attention and love is going, even if that means shouldering or head-butting Dave out of the way. She’s a wee grumbly girl and I just love her personality.

Dave is the ‘puppy’ and doesn’t seem to realise he’s built like a tank. He’s the gentlest, most laid-back dog I’ve ever met. In comparison to Sasha, when I get home, Dave will wander over, stretch a little, check me out and then wander off. If Dave could he’d make friends with ALL the animals he sees, especially the wee black cat he spots everyday from his window sill lookout. I don’t know if the cat can hear Dave whining and talking to him but what a racket! Dave also likes a ball. If Dave has a ball there is nothing else but the ball. We also have to make sure Dave drinks plenty of water as he’s on medication after having a few fits in the past. Dave likes to curl up in my chair, or plonk himself next to you on the sofa and watch TV with you (until Sasha leaps up as well to get in the way…).

It’s been only a few months but I already can’t imagine not having them in my life. Regardless of the 3am emergency pees, the walks in the snow – top tip Staffys don’t really like bad weather, Sasha especially who can pee in about 4 seconds before turning and heading back home as quick as she can – the worries when they choke on something, the scratches when Sasha jumps up on my lap, or Dave’s whining when he wants something late at night (usually up on the sofa cos you are in his ‘spot’), they make me smile every single day.

Their breed still suffers from bad press, not as much but it’s still there. I’ve not witnessed it often but you do occasionally get people veering away, or crossing the road altogether. To be clear, the breed isn’t the issue. If I dog attacks or bites a human it’s either badly trained, or badly provoked.

I’m lucky that these two have been well trained and well loved already, so it’s been pretty easy for me to learn their ways and the commands needed. The worst thing Sasha might ever do is ‘hold’ your hand in her mouth, which is exactly as it sounds as she doesn’t bite at all. The worst thing Dave might ever do is… well I’ve no idea cos mostly he’ll say hi and then bugger off and leave you to it. I mean, he does have a bad habit of always standing on one of my feet when he’s near me, but that’s just a paw to paw high-five, right?

It’s a complete change to all my routines; factoring in doggy dinner times, what to do with them if we are out for the night, making sure that Dave gets a good walk everyday, but I really wouldn’t have it any other way.

The other night we were sitting on the sofa, and when Becca got up, Dave quickly leaped into her spot. Not to be undone, Sasha quickly joined and there I was, on the sofa with Dave on one side, Sasha on the other. My furry little goofballs.

bookmark_borderHolidays are coming

The flights are booked, I’ve already got my packing list started, and we’re sorting out what things we might do when we get there.

We fly in to New York, and then drive up to Boston for a day or so. Then we have a couple of days to pootle around Cape Cod, Providence, Hartford et al, before we head for Manhattan. A few days in the big apple and then on to Staten Island (for a wedding). So far we’ve got a day at Six Flags booked for some rollercoaster fun, an afternoon of kayaking in the lakes near Cape Cod, and plenty of time to wander and explore the towns we will be staying in before we head for the big apple. Bliss.

I have been in Boston before, I had a day to potter around before an evening flight. I did the duck boat tour along the river, with glorious autumn foliage on a beautiful clear day, I wander the city a little and I’m looking forward to having a bit more time to explore at a more leisurely pace.

I have never been to New York and, the closer it gets, (28 days to go!) the more excited I become.

This building excitement isn’t quite what I expected though, as New York has never really been on a list of places I wanted to visit. I’m not sure why, probably because it kinda feels familiar already, and kinda because it’s a massive city which will be rammed full of tourists and I can’t stand tourists even though I’ll be one too.

Yet as we start to figure out what attractions to visit, what places to eat, and what weird and wonderful things we can try out, I can feel the excitement building. We’ll be visiting Central Park, getting on the NY Subway, blasting down the river to see the Statue of Liberty via speedboat, and crossing the river on the Staten Island ferry. There will be hotdog vendors on the streets. We will visit Katz Deli and I’ll order ‘whatever she’s having’, just like a million tourists before me, there will be Times Square, Madison Square Gardens, pretzels, pastrami on rye (hold the mayo), yellow cabs, and I’ll likely spend most of the time remembering scenes from movies and being amazed by just how big those skyscrapers are.

New York exists in my brain as a fiction, a place only read about, or seen on screen. That is the New York I know and it’s a mish-mash of names and places and cultural references that, the more I think about it, the more it starts to overwhelm and the higher my excitement climbs.

Not only that but this is my first proper holiday in a couple of years, the last was a few days in Barcelona in March 2018.

I cannot wait.