I've been playing this little geography-meets-history quiz for about six months now, and it's become a part of my daily routine I guess. 

If you're not familiar, it's kinda like Geoguessr (yes, another name taking part in the vowel dropping trend that feels rather passé now) in that you have to locate where you are on a world map. However, Timeguessr adds in another fun wrinkle — you also have to figure out when the image you see was taken.

I've just recorded me playing my latest session (there's a daily challenge). I'm not amazing at it, but I found it fun to talk through my thought process as I go. 

Here it is:

If you want to give it a go you can play here: Timeguessr.

Hugo Barra (a former Head at Oculus) shares his nuanced thoughts on Apple's Vision Pro. 

It's a superb read if, like me, you're curious about the device (I've yet to try it). 

He rightly notes that the Vision Pro is something of a Northstar for the VR industry now — setting new standards. But also highlights how this first stab at things is very much a devkit of sorts (my rule of never buying a gen 1 Apple product strikes again). The novel positioning of the product, the real lack of focus on traditional VR stuff from Apple, and the "disheartening" software story is also explored.

A really solid, well informed overview of this new 'spatial computer' thing.

Ryan Broderick, in talking about the subscription 'death cycle', highlighted how there are probably three different models to such recurring income businesses: binge, access, and parasocial.

As someone exploring around the edges of subscription models (primarily as a way to support ongoing content creation) this framing was particularly interesting to me. If you're a creator trying to navigate this space I recommend you giving it a read to.

..and this is a great run through as to why:

On a much older version of this blog that's been lost to time, I shared a seemingly little-known tip for how to get the degrees (°) symbol quickly when using an iPhone keyboard. 

As it's currently been rather cold here in the UK, I've been using it more than normal, and was reminded of this old iPhone tip — as such, I figured it may be worth sharing again. 

To insert the degrees symbol on an iPhone, you just need to hold down on the 0 (zero) key on the iOS keyboard. Once you hold on the zero key you should see a pop-up option for the degrees symbol — move to select it, and you're good. Handy, whether you use the ever sensible celsius or baffling fahrenheit. 😉

For what it's worth, the day started at a chilly 2°C. 

Curb Your Enthusiasm is a show I have a lot of love for. 

I can't entirely recall when I first got into the HBO show, but I started picking up the DVDs around the time of season three or four I think. The fact I'm even talking about DVDs at all should give you a good idea of how long ago we're talking about here.

Anyway, the show, fronted by the now 76 year old Larry David, is finally coming to an end after a two decade plus run. 

As with any show, some seasons are better than others, and Curb is no different — but on the whole its presence has been an occasional fun distraction and something of an indulgence to the question of "what if I said what I was really thinking here?".

With the show wrapping up, two of the stars have come together for the inevitable tie-in podcast. Jeff Garlin and Susie Essman are running through the 120 episodes of the 12 seasons. I've just got done listening to the first, and it's looking like it's going to be a treat for any die-hard fan. 

The rewatch podcast is called 'The History of Curb Your Enthusiasm', and there's also a related YouTube channel if you'd rather watch things. 

I dig it. Here's hoping the new season is pretty, pretty good. 

I've been following Mr Bingo for years now — he's an artist who does whatever he pleases (having decided to stop taking client work and instead just do whatever amused him). 

I've got a few pieces from him, including this tea towel (bought when I was still angry at those who bought about the fundamental, awful change to the UK that is Brexit), and his concrete gravestone reminding me to have fun — something I need to listen to more. 

Anyway, all of this is to say that Mr Bingo took last year (2023) off — and instead just went traveling, with no plan. It's a serendipitous approach to seeing the world that I'd like to replicate. 

He's recently just shared a bunch of observations from his travels (55 to be precise) and they're worth checking out I'd say. Who doesn't like a list. 

Here are a few that spoke to me:

• The wrong decision is better than no decision.
  
• The limited options of a village can be kinder to your brain than the often stressful ‘choice paralysis’ of a city.
• It’s nice to spend your money while you’re alive rather than constantly save for an uncertain future.
  
• If you go travelling for a year, you might not ‘find yourself’ but you will certainly find out quite a few things about yourself.
  
• There is no such thing as a boring person, you just don’t know how to extract the right information from them.