Matisyahu's Blog

"When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick'"

recent posts

  • One more day to go.

    I was going to write a more ‘heavy’ blog post but I’ve decided to hold off until Monday or Tuesday after I’ve had a good night sleep rather than trying to construct a half decent argument after a long shift. The weather has just been plain crazy over the last few days so I’ve decided to focus on my calorie intake and making use of the free weights when I have some spare time. The main focus has been around building up muscle and maintaining that muscle so that as I get older I’m in a better position physically rather than waiting until it is took late and then finding it is a lot harder to regain that lost muscle mass.

    I’m going to start also doing some squats and lunges then from there I’ll start adding weights – although walking does build some muscle I think that a little extra muscle on the legs to help with mobility and stability. It is the reason that I’ve kept it up so far is because I can see the benefits in my every day life where just simply doing every day activity rather than being a struggle or an arduous task. After living a life for 14 years a certain way then having a major lifestyle change, it is the small things you notice and I think it is the appreciation of those small things that keep me on track.

    It is interesting to see how with CES there was an observation made by Dell (I’m sure others will sure to follow) that consumers don’t actually care about AI. Yeah, I know, that is self evident statement but unfortunately for many in the corporate world they create a bubble, an echo chamber if you will, then convince themselves that such views represent the mainstream when in reality they’re listening to a very small audience that make a lot of noise. Are there some interesting features that fit under the umbrella of AI? sure, upscaling, frame generation to improve performance, editing photos such as removing something then having the missing part of the photo regenerated, they’re all great but I don’t think they’re features that are people are making their purchasing decisions around – nice features to have but not something that would compel people to upgrade.

    This is something I noticed regarding tech YouTubers with many of them disconnected from what the average person wants eg the constant barracking on about wanting small phones only for them mediocre sellers once they hit the real world (regardless of who makes them). Something you’ll see non-stop on Apple forums of people demanding a small phone and when Apple does sell one the sales are mediocre just as Apple has found out with the iPhone Air – the reality is that very few people care about ‘thinness’ (something like 7% of iPhone buyers care). Then there is the usual excuses to explain away why it wasn’t a success – at the end of the day if you want a small phone or a thin phone then compromises need to be made to ensure all the core features fit into the form factor – if you want a thin phone there will be compromises, if you want a small phone then it’ll come with it’s own compromises.

    Regarding the holiday in June, I’m deciding whether I should have 2 weeks off or three weeks off but I do know that the first week I’ll be enjoying WWDC 27 with the rumour being that version 27 will be a Snow Leopard release. There are rumours about an Apple pin device but I think that for a lot of people they jump from rumour to believing it’ll be an actual product when in reality, having worked in large organisations in the past, there are plenty of things that are worked on behind the scenes that never actually make it to market. In many large organisations it isn’t uncommon to have a ‘proof of concept’ then see whether firstly there is a market for it and secondly whether it can be developed into a useful product. I remember working in the bank, they would have trial runs of technology – sometimes it worked and went onto being rolled out while other times the underlying technology just wasn’t mature enough so it was shelved till a later date.

    On a side note, there appears to be a trend of CDs coming back into fashion these days – we first got vinyl then cassette tapes and now it is time for CDs to make a comeback. I think it is due in part to subscription fatigue where everything has been turned into a subscription, money disappearing every month to multiple streaming services and given the way the economy is going at the moment the first thing to cut back on are those things that aren’t essential. When I wanted to get my cost of living under control the first thing I did was evaluate everything I was spending terms of subscriptions and the thing I found is that it was easy for money to go out the door in small amounts vs buying music as a once off purchase where you have to consciously think about whether to purchase it.

    For me, I started off purchasing music many years ago and gradually built up a library and that doesn’t included the DRM free FLAC albums I have purchased over the years – Daptone records selling physical copies as well as DRM free FLAC versions available for download. Maybe this is the pendulum swinging back in reaction to everything becoming virtual and no one owning anything, people are now seeing value in actually owning something tangible, the idea of owning an album and the stories that go with how and why you bought the album along with the memories one associates with the music on the album.

    Daily writing prompt
    Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
    View all responses

    I guess it depends on how you define ‘close to home’ but I’ve never been to Waiheke Island although I’ve travelled up to Auckland many times in the past but it was mainly to travel through on the way to Kaikohe. In the middle of this year I’m going to head up to Auckland on a holiday, see the sights and sounds of Auckland, maybe go for a walk along the water front etc. I’ll also pop into Ikea and maybe even Costco while I’m up there as well. The other part of New Zealand I’d love to visit would be Stewart Island (at the bottom of the South Island).

  • Back to working from home.

    I had my two days working in the office and now I’m back at home for work on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday the schedule is going to be a bit hectic but Sunday should be pretty quiet. I think that the first week back in the office has been a bit disruptive to the usual flow of things but next week I think things will settle down and I’ll get into the groove of things so that eventually it becomes a normal routine again. On a good side though the availability of a good coffee machine makes working a whole lot more enjoyable with the quality being similar to that of getting one from a barista.

    I was watching a video about the male loneliness and I think that is not being discussed is the lack of meaning, purpose and/or validation unless one has a partner. If your whole existence is predicated on the idea of having a partner to give you meaning then it shouldn’t be surprising that there are men angry at the world because they’re unable to get the very thing they believe will give them meaning. Maybe what is required is maybe introducing young people to philosophy from an early age, celebrating healthy forms of spirituality and religious communities.

    This is the problem I have with the ‘angry atheist’ movement where the community that may have existed in traditional religious structures is slowly disappearing and now there is a void being filled by political opportunists who see these angry Gen Z men as foot soldiers in their culture war. Steve Bannon talked exactly about that when talking about angry gamers as being an untapped political force that could be mobilised for Trump. Well, they went out, voted for Trump and a year later these Gen Z men are realising that they’re just as miserable as before if not worse with the only ones benefiting are those at the top end of town.

    The right are still trying to stoke the fires of culture wars and scapegoating but at some point I think even the most devout are quickly going to wake up to the fact that all the distractions aren’t going to change the fact that their material conditions have gotten worse not better. Maybe like an alcoholic we’ll see Gen Z men who fell for the chauvinism of the right will realise that they were used but the question is whether there is there is a health alternative created instead. Part of the reason why I’ve talked about rebuilding unions, social clubs and having a work/life balance so that relationships outside of work can be maintained.

    When you’ve been working all week and by the time the weekend comes you’re absolutely exhausted both physically and mentally. We’re working longer hours for less pay and the quality of life is suffering so in the limited amount of time we do have then it shouldn’t be surprising that people engage in the few bits of self indulgence they can afford – a streaming service, maybe ordering some take aways a few times but other than that the ability to socialise by going to a social club or a group created around a particular interest eg stamp collecting is almost non-existent.

    That doesn’t even touch on the bigger issue of how ever hobby cannot apparently remain as a hobby – it has to be turned into a side hustle resulting where social clubs coming together around a shared interest cease existing as those involved see the other as competitors to their side hustle rather than friends who share a common interest. Yes, and I’ll say it, it all comes back to capitalism.

  • First day back in the office.

    It has been ages since I’ve been back in the office and the first day back feels really good – free coffee, plenty of fresh fruit to snack on for morning tea and afternoon tea. I’m going to have a quiet night tonight rather than going for a walk but I’ll go for one tomorrow night because I’ve got the extra time up my sleeve because of the later start. I’ll see how it goes for the next month or so and whether I may want to up it from 2 days per week to 3 days per week but before I make any sort of commitment I’ll see how it turns out.

    The train ride into town was enjoyable as I listened to some music and observing how things are slowly developing particularly along the connection between Petone and Wellington with the bike path that is being built. There is a tendency to get down in the dumps and feel as though nothing happening, that things are stagnating when in reality things are progressing if one looks around at what is happening locally. I think a good amount of the doldrums are in part due to what is happening outside of New Zealand, a sense of chaos in the world, the sort of optimistic future had disappeared at the end of Obama’s second term and with the election of Trump then the reelection of Trump – many had hoped that the Biden presidency would mark a reset back to normal.

    It is something I think many Gen Z ask online (particularly on Reddit) why millennials are the way they are. As a millennial I lived through two terms of George W Bush, 9/11, the war on terror, war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economic collapse then Obama was elected on a message of ‘Hope and Change’. With the election of the first black president in the United States that it symbolised a new beginning – some calling it a post racial United States while others saw it as a culture shift, a generational shift etc. This sort of hope and change spread beyond the United States which is why so many outside of the United States looked to it as maybe it representing something new whose influence through popular culture (soft power projection) could be extended beyond the United States.

    There was also social media before enshittification where there was an optimistic vision of social media not being a replacement for real world relationships but being able to create connections with friends, maintain friendships with those who had moved away or maybe traveling so they could share photos etc. There was this naivety that the world could be made smaller through technology, that social movements could start online and translate to real world impacts be it democracy, climate change, social justice etc. etc.

    I think that for many the election of Trump shocked people who had convinced themselves that the divisive politics of the past was in the past, the days of culture wars was in it’s last death throws, that the Republican Party would move to a place where the debates were centred around policy rather than culture wars. The problem is that during that period before Trump the Republicans had conventional candidates such as John McCain and Mitt Romney but they were let down by a party that never had moved beyond reactionary politics. The net result? the tea party then the tea party morphed into Trump’s MAGA movement – reactionaries all the way down. I think for many liberals they convinced themselves that those making the noise were louder than what their numbers suggested – like an empty cat with a stone inside it makes a lot of noise when falling down a flight of stairs.

    As for what is happening at the moment, I hope that this reactionary period is short lived and much like a pendulum what we’re going to see it swing back to somewhere near the middle. It may not happen immediately but I’m hoping that the the behaviour of Trump has forced those outside of the United States who ran on an anti-establishment platform suddenly realise that the brand of politics Trump is espousing isn’t a viable long term political strategy. As Anthony Scaramucci pointed out in a YouTube short, Trump is a narcissist and has no interest in creating a political movement that outlasts himself – the movement either exist because he exists and whether it exists after he is gone he doesn’t care about.

    I also think that when Trump was speaking on the campaign trail many who voted for him convinced themselves that what he was engaging in was bellicose rhetoric but his governing style would ‘normal’ while others convinced themselves that they were ‘one of the good ones’ – they were happy for bad things to happen to other people. Those very people act surprised that when the Republicans were talking about ‘waste, fraud and abuse’ that the Republicans were talking about them. Maybe this is going to be the harsh lesson that some will have to learn first hand after decades of the Democratic Party working to smooth the rough edges of Republican policy when the Democratic Party were not in power only to find that it doesn’t result in them winning any votes from those who voted Republican.

  • Another uneventful day.

    Finished work tonight at 10pm then went for my nightly 11.6km walk, came home, did some free weights while watching some YouTube videos, had a shower and now I’m in bed relaxing. I’m looking forward to getting back into the office on Thursday and I’ll head in on Friday as well since I need to turn up in the office at least twice a week. I may get a scone when I go into the office but I guess I’ll make that decision when I get there – whether I’m in the mood.

    I was having a look at my Kiwisaver and because I’ve got all my debt paid off I allowed my Kiwisaver contribution to start up again but I’ve also had a look at making some extra contributions on top of what automatically comes out of my salary and what my boss pays into it. I did some number crunching and if I made an extra contribution of $100 per week it would translate to around $450,000 to $500,000 by the time I an eligible to retire (I’ll probably end up working beyond 65 because doing nothing will drive me crazy).

    Although retirement is a long way away it is good to think about these things because what I hear all too often from people is how they believed they had plenty of time only to find that time goes in a blink of an eye and then look back with regret. God knows I see people who live for the day and then regret later on in life because they realised although they got some momentary fun it did come at the expense of comfort later on in life. This is one of the reasons I am focusing on doing free weights and getting myself in better shape so then as I get older I can enjoy a quality of life into my old age rather than barely surviving as I struggle a long each day with the help of a zimmer frame.

    At the moment it is currently raining and based on the 7 day forecast it appears that there will be some rain every day for the next 7 days although I have a feeling we’ll be avoiding the sort of extreme rain that other parts of New Zealand may end up experiencing. I’m hoping that it is just over night so then I don’t have to run to the train station but that being said I was smart enough to top up my Snapper card today so when I get to the train station I don’t have fumble amount trying to top it up.

    Chrome 144 received an update today so if you haven’t updated then I suggest you do so since there is a security bug that has been fixed. It is funny how since I disabled ‘prevent cross-site tracking’ that the problems I had in the past with Safari has disappeared. I wish I had known that a simple setting change would solve so many problems. Oh, and the fact that uBlock Origin Lite is available for safari makes life so much better.

  • Back in the office tomorrow.

    Well, that was a bit of a nuisance, I setup the alarm on my phone but I forgot to enable it so it would go off at 11:30am but luckily I woke up before 12:30 so I guess tomorrow will be my first day back in the office. I’m currently at the half way point of my shift and I’m enjoying a cup of coffee and catching up watching some news – the craziness continues and the American public sit on their hands which reminds me of this comic:

    The most powerful nation on earth inhabited by citizens who are completely and utterly clueless about what is happening in the world. It wouldn’t be something I’d care about if the United States were some backwater whose scale of power projection was no greater than a backyard paddling pool but here we are dealing with the mad king. The whole international order that was built up post-WWII is falling to pieces thanks to the American people deciding that fixating over trans people competing in sports and using bathrooms, whining about ‘woke’, ‘DEI’, ‘CRT” and other culture wars along with complaining about the price of eggs was a sound basis on which voting decision should be made.

  • Getting ready to go to bed.

    I finished watching the first season of Pluribus and I can’t help but get ‘The Borg’ vibes from the whole way in which individuality disappears, it also gives MAGA cult vibes of how eventually MAGA types eventually end up repeating something they heard online without consciously thinking about what they’re saying. The idea of not having a moment of privacy, a moment where I can be alone with my own thoughts without anyone else listening in makes the whole idea of Pluribus as a horror movie. It reminds me of a discussion I had many years ago at university regarding the idea of idea of organising a society in a particular way which produces the most efficient outcome but at what cost does it come at – is a utilitarian argument a good enough reason to do something? is it better to have a society that isn’t ideal and has it’s problems but people have the freedom to able to live as they see fit even if it means that there is a price paid that some may choose to live a lifestyle that results in a shorter life span.

    This one of the reasons I’ve never been keen about politicians who make it their life’s work to go on moral crusades, a sort of “I don’t know what is best for you” paternalism that has always rubbed me the wrong way. Yes, I sit on the left but that being said I’ve retained many of the social libertarian ideas from my days at university primarily because the idea of telling people what to do with he force of the state behind it undermines the idea of individual freedom to live ones life as one see’s fit as so long as it doesn’t harm anyone else in the process. Yeah, a bit rambling but I thought I may as well throw my thoughts out there before I settle in for a good night sleep.

  • Back to work and back in the office on Wednesday.

    Had a relaxing day today, slept in until around midday then pottered around the house watching some television episodes then for dinner I ordered a mixed grill salad from the local Turkish restaurant because I really wasn’t in the mood to do any cooking but wanted something that was healthy. I’ve got the rubbish out for pick up tomorrow morning as well as setting the alarm for 11:30am so it gives me at least an hour before I need to catch the train into work. I’ll have a shave and shower before going to bed – tonight I’ll get to bed by 1am and then asleep by 2am which will give me a good 9 hours or so sleep. The big focus I’d like to make is to maybe start each day at the same time of 11:30am which will give me a good amount of time before work when working from home – maybe even go for a walk around the block before starting work in the afternoon where the shift starts at 1:30pm.

    uBlock Origin Lite 2026.118.1828 has been released and it is available in both the iOS and Mac App Store – when you update it you’ll need to remember to open up the browser and let the extension refresh the converting of filters from Decorative Net Request (DNR) format to the native content blocking format that Decorative Net Request (DNR) sits on top of which comes part of macOS. I also checked to see whether there was a 26.2.1 update but the rumours of it being released hasn’t come to fruition but then again we may see it tomorrow because there is still plenty of time for them to push out an update (I guess whether they do or don’t I guess depends on the urgency vs. just waiting for 26.3 to be ready for release).

    With all the craziness that is occurring in the world thanks to a country deciding that giving a reality television show host the most consequential job on the planet, I am happy that I am stuck down here at the bottom of the world. I think I’ve mentioned it in the past, it is important to keep up to date with what is happening in the world but spending too much time results in ones anxiety going through the roof which is made even worse by the fact that there is very little one can actually do about it – anxiety and helplessness is a horrible combination.

  • A relaxing day off and a hearty dinner.

    I had a good night sleep after going for that long walk on Sunday night, I woke up, went for a walk down to the local bakery to pick up some lunch. At the bakery I picked up a fresh roll and a chocolate caramel slice then asked back home to enjoy then for dinner I went to mum’s place where I updated all her computers, helped getting a few things sorted along with getting the clothes I ordered online adjusted. The dinner I had was salmon, baked potatoes and a salad:

    A tasty meal – I prefer getting the salmon tails because they have no bones and I was lucky in that the salmon was on special at the local Pak ‘n Save. A bonus tip is to sprinkle on a little flower on both sides with the result being that it creates a nice crust especially when it comes to the skin – and yes, I eat the skin of the salmon as well because my argument is that I paid for it so I may as well eat it. It was one of those meals that was filling and satisfying but without feeling uncomfortable afterwards (it looks like a lot on the plate but it is a fairly small plate and most of it is salad).

    Looking forward to getting paid this week and I may have a look through Amazon or maybe the Nick Cave online store to pick up a few bits and pieces. I’m still deciding what I’ll wear when I go into the office – I want something presentable but at the same time I want to also to be comfortable. What I’ll do on Tuesday is have a shave, shower and an early night in bed at around 1am then asleep by 2am so by the time the alarm goes off at 11:30am I’ll be all ready to get out of bed and ready to catch the train – assuming there is no maintenance magically appearing out of nowhere but I guess we’ll see on the day.

    Oh, and on a good side note, the external Blu-ray player I purchased a few years ago is working well and I’ll be making use of it soon. I am still tempted to get some Home Pod speakers for my setup but I’m still wondering whether I should wait for a refresh or will it be one of those devices that will have incredibly long upgrade cycles because the demand being placed on the hardware is minimal and thus doesn’t need to be upgraded.

  • The week is over.

    Finished work tonight and went for a walk – I decided to kick it up a notch and instead go for a 17.4km walk and I was able to get it down in around 2 hours and 40 minutes which is pretty quick when compared to the usual time of 1 hour and 50 minutes for a 11.6km walk. I came home, had a shower then I had some honey soy chicken kebabs for dinner along with some steamed vegetables. I was going to have something for dinner during my shift but I decided to hold off until the end so then I can cook myself something nice for dinner.

    According to the Metservice 7 day forecast it appears that towards the end of the week there will be more rain. Hopefully there will be a break in the rain but in the mean time I’ll make sure I take advantage of the weather to go for a walk when I can along with doing some free weights while I’m watching television. The weather is going a bit crazy these days but then again given that we’re in a world of climate change I guess things will keep getting worse given how a sizeable portion of the world have given up on trying to do something (including my own country).

  • Feeling good, can’t wait for Sunday.

    End of my second week back at work and feeling good. I’m having a looking at ordering the Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Wild God album after much procrastination along with maybe a few t-shirts I’m at it but it will be ordered through the UK store since there is a larger selection then get it delivered via the UK remaining service via YouShop.

    I’m looking forward to the weekend and then getting myself prepared for next week when I go into the office for Wednesday and Thursday. It is going to be a bit of a shock to the system because I’m so use to having a lazy start to the day but with heading into the office I’ll need to get better organised but I think it’ll be worth it. On a good side though, they do have really good coffee in the office so there is always that along with the free meals so that’ll also save me a few dollars as well although I may still want to bring in a meal from home.

    There has been quite a bit of rain over the last few days and the lime tree appears to be doing a lot better now that I’ve moved it to a new location where it is able to get a lot more sun. I am tempted to get a few more plants as well as looking at making the backyard a bit nicer. I think the next big thing I’ll have a look at is having a an awning which will provide some cover on the patio because at the moment it is quite exposed especially on sunny days.