Author: Fabio Fiss

A great insight to start the New Year

Think about that for a minute, because it’s really important. Somewhere along the way, we’ve all bought into the idea – without consciously realizing it – that to be motivated and effective we need to feel like we want to take action. We need to be eager to do so. I really don’t know why we believe this, because it is 100% nonsense.

Yes, on some level you need to be committed to what you are doing – you need to want to see the project finished, or get healthier, or get an earlier start to your day.  But you don’t need to feel like doing it.

Heidi Grant

I believe this is such a simple concept, that sometimes it feels too easy to think about, and we want to look for a better idea, hack things and find a more complex explanation.

The fact is that the “act of doing” things consistently, regardless of inspiration or motivation more often than not leads to better results. Maybe not better, but definitely to results. I think the “better” part comes from perfecting the act by repetition or iteration.

In 2020, I want to experiment the idea of producing more and more, and see if the aggregate will lead over time to something greater.

2019

It’s been two years since I wrote a post about resolutions and the new coming year. At that time I was concentrated on seven things I wanted to accomplish or improve.

I got some things done, and some didn’t even get a chance. These days I feel resolutions alone are not enough. Even if you are committed in starting something new, that’s not enough. The real challenge is sticking with it, because results will not materialize for a while.

In 2019 I learned that consistency is the most powerful thing we can do to achieve something in our lives. Regularity, steadiness, iteration, continuous improvement are the keywords that define successful results.

In the 2007 documentary “The Pixar Story“, Steve Jobs appears to talk about those early years of Pixar. He said:

If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.

Steve Jobs

I think this is the key lesson I want to take with me for this last year, and for life, to be honest. Achieving something meaningful will always requires hard work and it has to be done consistently. Some will say this is obvious, but I think there’s not a lot of people that actually do it.

So before thinking about what I want to do in 2020, let’s talk about what I’ve done in 2019:

  • Work: I worked for 10 different projects at my current job, and 8 other projects in my spare time. I like the number 18. It means life in Hebrew. I’ve always felt my work and my life were combined. I’m grateful that I still find joy in the work that I do, and still can’t see myself doing anything other than working with web design and web development.
  • Travel: I traveled twice this year. I went to Brazil, where I got to participate and celebrate the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends. I also got a chance (just the next day) to celebrate my birthday with my entire family and friends. Then, a short month after that I had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco and visit the Facebook campus! I was invited by another dear friend and we spent an entire week there. I visited other companies in the Valley and had a magical time. I should probably write a post about that experience later (note to self here!).
  • Finance: I learned a lot about the stock market this year (way more than I expected), and started investments that hopefully will pay off in the long run. Investing and finance are topics that require continuous learning and commitment. Thankfully, I think I got exposed to the best person I could in this matter: Warren Buffett. I learned about his life, his investment teachings, his influences, his views of the world, and more importantly, about value investing. I feel that his wisdom will definitely stay with me for a very long time.
  • Health and Wellness: This was the first year in my life that I committed to exercise on a weekly basis, with the help of a professional (another dear friend). I kept going and I started to see the results, until I stopped a few months later. It was probably the worst decision I made this year. But I intend to get back at it and put more effort. I’m already feeling the pain of not sticking to that routine. The body keeps scores and it always wins.
  • Life: In 2017 one of my personal resolutions was to build meaningful relationships. The next year I met my girlfriend and we’ve been together ever since. It has been a real building process, in the best sense. Step-by-step we’ve been discovering each other, and we’ve been developing a deeper connection. I’m learning a lot, making mistakes and doing things right at the same time. Love is not a straight line for me like it seems to be for some people. It never has been that way for me, and I don’t think it will ever be. But I believe in building, and it’s much easier if it’s with someone you love.
  • Learning: Outside of investing, I learned a lot of other things in my field of expertise, and in multiple other topics. There are too many items to put in one list, but that would includes a range of subjects: from WordPress with WooCommerce and subscriptions methods, to relationship mechanisms with Esther Perel and Brené Brown. I read two wonderful books (back to back) on these topics, and countless articles and notes online.
  • Entertainment: I watched 16 new movies (that I actually kept track). 5 of those were documentaries. I also fully watched 5 different new shows (mostly on Netflix), and at least 3 new specials (comedy and life related).

When I think of it, this all seems a lot to me. To some it will mean very little. But this is a self-reflection post, so who cares?

Now for 2020, here’s what I’m thinking…

Honestly, I just want to improve and have more consistency in all these areas. But I’ll try to be more specific and add some color to things along the way (no particular order here):

  • I want to start a new project. My goal is to start a website to talk about the Open Web. I believe it is a topic that I can write with some experience. I think we need a plethora of voices and opinions in this subject. I don’t know if my voice will have any impact or make any difference, but I believe it’s something I can contribute. I already have a name and domain. I just need to kick things off.
  • I want to reduce my “side hustle” projects (in web development) to focus on new things. This has always been a difficult one for me, but every year I feel this is something I need to strive more and more.
  • I will move to a different place in a month. With luck, that move will bring about some needed change in some areas of life. It will also force me to think more consciously about minimalism and getting rid of things (something I started to focus back in 2017).
  • Read more books than news. This one can be difficult with all the distractions and attention grabbers, but I intend to put real effort there. Plus, with a heavy political scenario and things happening in the US (and a crazy election year), I feel the news will be more toxic than anything. I think shifting my attention will not only be healthier, but almost necessary to focus.
  • Spending time with the people that mean the most. Finding balance between the time spent with my girlfriend, friends and family has been a massive challenge for me in the past two years. I believe discovering the right balance here will be essential for my own sanity moving forward.
  • Focus more on optimism than pessimism. “There is no positive in being negative”. I heard this one in the beginning of the year and it stuck with me. Not easy, but again, essential.

An entire decade is over, but I have a sense that this next one will have a lot in store. What I have to do is to keep swimming.

Democracies, Digital Dictatorships, and Corporate Autocracies

Yuval Harari’s has an incredible insight during his talk at the World Economic Forum – His vision is that in the future, with the increase development of AI, our societies might be at risk for the rise of digital dictatorships.

He talks about the intrinsic difference between democracies and dictatorships, from the perspective of making decisions, and processing information – making a direct connection with the way that digital systems are designed.

In that sense, he compares distributed systems with centralized systems, a concept that is used all the time within computing and Internet-related systems.

This kind of perspective and insight reminded me of another interesting video by Hank Green (Vlog Brothers), in which he talks about the idea of corporate autocracies dominating digital spaces and communities.

Another thinker that has been considering this massive shift in our societies is Amy Webb. Her book, “The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity” (https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/amy-webb/the-big-nine/9781541773752/) brings a great deal of knowledge and observations for us to digest on some of these ideas moving forward. Webb’s research in this book is primarily focused on the immense role and influence that big tech companies already have in our present, and will continue to have in our future.

She was interviewed recently by Leo Laporte (TWiT) on the show Triangulation. The full interview can be watched below.

These early perspectives into the impact of AI in our societies are quite fascinating and will continue to shape the public discourse for many years. It seems imperative to continue these conversations in the future.

Better Angels

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Abraham Lincoln

You Do What You Are

Alex Cross: You do what you are Jezzie.

Jezzie Flannigan: You mean you are what you do.

Alex Cross: No, I mean, you do what you are. You’re born with a gift. If not that, then you get good at something along the way. And what you’re good at, you don’t take for granted. You don’t betray it.

Jezzie Flannigan: What if you do, betray your gift?

Alex Cross: Then you betray yourself. That’s a sad thing.

— Along Came a Spider (2001)

 

Song of myself

The past and present wilt—I have fill’d them, emptied them.
And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.

Listener up there! what have you to confide to me?
Look in my face while I snuff the sidle of evening,
(Talk honestly, no one else hears you, and I stay only a minute
longer.)

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

I concentrate toward them that are nigh, I wait on the door-slab.

Who has done his day’s work? who will soonest be through with
his supper?
Who wishes to walk with me?

Will you speak before I am gone? will you prove already too late?

— Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass.

Blockchain, Explained [with Lego]

Blockchain is extremely interesting, but it can be difficult to understand. This video by PCMag is an attempt to visually show how the blockchain works, using building blocks as an analogy.

It does not fully explain how the technology side works, and it doesn’t go into full details in regards to cryptography. However it is a good first step if you are curious about decentralized networks, cryptocurrencies and online trust.

Plus, it has Lego, so I had to share it 🙂

It Should Be Easy

A son takes what should be a simple tech support call from his mother in the middle of his workday. Have you been there?

I came across this short animation by Ben Meinhardt from an email sent by Mozilla a few weeks ago.

On Saturday, July 29, Rooftop Films and Mozilla presented a screening of thought-provoking short films about our favorite shared resource, the Internet. Hundreds of film fans and Web lovers gathered in Brooklyn, NYC for Net Positive, Internet Health Film Shorts to get a filmmaker’s view on what’s helping and what’s hurting the Web.

You can find the complete list of films here. I highly recommend watching these gems that speak so much about the Internet and our lives today.

 

The power of vulnerability

If you don’t know anything about Brené Brown, start here. She will help you expand your perception in so many ways, I can’t even describe. Plus, she will do it (as she always does) with a rare combination of research and humor.

Personally, this talk led me to read and look for more about her research, however if you just watch this talk alone, it should fundamentally change many of your ideas and conceptions about vulnerability, courage, shame and connection.

In fact, one of my favorite quotes in this talk is this:

by the time you’re a social worker for 10 years, what you realize is that connection is why we’re here. It’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. This is what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter whether you talk to people who work in social justice and mental health and abuse and neglect, what we know is that connection, the ability to feel connected, is — neurobiologically that’s how we’re wired — it’s why we’re here.

With more time I’ll write more about her research and published books. For now, enjoy this insightful TED Talk.

Barbara

Where there is sunrise, there is Barbara, only Barbara clothes that way,
Where there is laughter, there is Barbara, always Barbara warm and gay.
And when there’s music, she is the song, the song I’m singing my whole life long.
There’s no one just like her, like Barbara, only Barbara is so rare.
Wherever she is, I’ll be there.
There’s no one just like her, like Barbara, only Barbara, she’s so rare,
Wherever she is, I’ll be there.

— Frank Sinatra

10 reasons why WhatsApp sucks

I’ve always been fascinated by the evolution of the web and the impact that mobile devices had on its development. Although we had amazing innovations on the way we browse, search, consume content, find locations and share content, there is one area that can still benefit from innovation, opportunities and technical improvements — and that is messaging apps.

Don’t get me wrong, I know we had significant advancements in the way we communicate via text, audio and more importantly video over the years. However, there is one huge leader in this space that we really need to talk about: WhatsApp.

Continue reading 10 reasons why WhatsApp sucks

Secret world

Someone once told me to say the following words, and they have been stuck with me ever since. 

“I will be there, in that blank space with you. That is our place and you are mine”.

Terms and Conditions

I have been thinking a lot about the way the internet works now, primarily with social networks and advertising.

There is a tremendous amount of articles, videos and discussions on these topics, so this post will first start with a (constantly updated) list of resources I recommend reading and watching. Eventually I’ll expand on each of these topics into separate posts (and I’ll update this post with more links). Continue reading Terms and Conditions