Cold Start

Jan 29, 2022 | Photos, Stationary Work and Travel, Updates

One month goes by quickly.

More so, when you constantly experience something new. And this month is not one that’s lost in time, quite the opposite.
I think I have done many things for the first time, in a way, and have taken unexplored paths inside my brain.
This might be the key to time: The more memories (memorable moments) you have, the more you have made of your time.

It is exciting to live in a different place and shape your life around new circumstances. And I have to say: Those circumstances are pretty neat and that I am grateful for.

Even though being in a new city, I have not gone out as much as I would have liked.
That is because of the cold and the grey that waits for you outside. But still, I have done a fair share of wandering and loved it so far.

I even went through the struggle of keeping my hands out of my pockets and on my camera.
The discomfort and pain paid off, which I would like to share with you today:

The days are still short, but on some there is enough light left after work to explore the sights around.

And oh, what sights they are!

I also have a nice hill to climb right on my doorstep and after going up in the dark once, I knew what would be a nice view in the day.

This one goes out to those who like to look at the stars and beyond.

 

In the end, the fierce winds blew me back inside, but I will face it again anytime for this!

Some technicalities

Jan 11, 2022 | Stationary Work and Travel, Updates

We all laughed at that app called “Download SD Card 32 GB”.
Because there is one constant in the hardware we use: The available storage, which can be extended, too, but is then again fixed to a certain value.

Since I used Android smartphones, I liked to tinker with them and understand the inner workings of that operating system more and more.
The recent years I only used the devices and didn’t put too much effort into modifying and tweaking them.

So, now that I wanted to pull it off again, I decided to buy a new device. A tablet, because I would only use it inside the house. I went for the newest model, the freshly released Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 on Android 11 with the mere 32 GB internal storage space, as I didn’t want to overload it. Trusting it would bring me the benefits I wanted.

I got it, set it up and imported all the data I usually do and it was fine and a nice experience and then the storage was full.

This early? I barely surfed on it or downloaded anything! But the evidence showed I had a tremendous amount of so-called “System data”. So much, that I couldn’t install another app or receive another file via Bluetooth (for some instances it is still used).

It looked like this on the widely known app “DiskUsage”, before it was quickly fully blocked:

 

I might add that my device has only 32 GB of internal storage, which are reduced by about 10 GB of the core Android system data.

So 22 GB free to use, right? Right.

Now, I was at my wits end, deleting apps to make room and decluttering my WhatsApp Images by about 4,5 GB.

Nothing helped and one night I was certain I would go to the store and make an elaborate scene and switch to another device.

Though one thing, besides the unaccountable for “System data”, didn’t quite add up. And that was, that my tablet was still running smoothly, even though it shouldn’t, given the “full” storage space.
Some caches were still being written, some apps still worked, even though they shouldn’t. As if only a few operations really asked about free storage and others just wrote away.

Then I looked for one of those carefree options to exploit this and see what would happen.
My Nextcloud client seemed to be the right choice. So, on full internal storage, I downloaded over 13 GB of data from my Nextcloud.

It looked like this:

So, I accomplished it! I successfully expanded my storage capacity! 😀
And in the end, there were some different notifications and I felt that I really reached the limit of the internal storage. The tablet couldn’t even save a screenshot anymore…

Many forums I have roamed and many research only led to an understanding that this behavior (before the exploit) has been around for many years and affects several brands of Android devices.

Whyever Media Storage decides to allot twice as much data, I don’t know.
But after brutally overbooking the storage like that and then deleting all the downloaded data, it went to normal and didn’t fill up like that again.

All my hopes are towards the next software release, Android 12 namely, which might or might not fix this bug for whoever else is affected.

That is all for today, some technical breakthrough where no hope was left. 🙂

 

Edit, 15.01.22: It happens again, gradually, and is fixable the same way. Let’s hope the update makes it right…
Edit, 03.02.22: The Update X200XXU1AVAB/ X200XXM1AVAB seems to have fixed it.

Pulling it off again

Dec 27, 2021 | After The Great Journey, Thoughts, Updates

We spend our time awaiting, scrolling, reloading, checking.

I, with dread, often catch myself making checking my smartphone my main activity.

But what are we waiting for? Why do we feel that responsible for this black mirror?

In short, I think that it has become an integral part of us, of humans and the society.
Just as we have mastered controlling our bodies at a young age and learned to react to sensory input, we now have another source of input we have to incorporate into our minds.
And just as we used to go to places for views or news or literally had to ‘get our hands on’ information, all of that is now much easier and practically unified through a certain window, a portal that carries us anywhere and gives us anything.

With this potential, we can communicate much faster, work together from different places in the world, we can access knowledge beyond comprehension and don’t have to worry to much about our physical situation to achieve that.

But what does it matter, where you are or who you meet, when you have anything and anyone in your pocket already?
Surely, it matters still. But it gets less and less every day. Look around you in the subway, at a train station, in a waiting room at the doctor’s.

We are getting used to it. It is part of our everyday life, as much of it actually happens inside our smartphone.
We even expect swift replies, updates and reports in a manner which would have brought down the best organised postal system of the past.

But what happens to us humans and to our society, when noone just looks beyond their screens anymore and beyond what is happening in that strange place called ‘the internet’?
We might not have arrived at that point yet, but I intend not to find myself there.

Instead, I want to pull something off, one more time.
Just as I banished all communication from my smartphone when I went to New Zealand.

As I will go to live in another place now for 6 months, working for the same company remotely, I have the chance to shape parts of my life differently.

So this is the plan: I will rid my smartphone of any instant messaging service, of every entertainment application, of every social media element and only keep the bare necessities to go places.
Of course I will keep all access to all communication channels on another device, but that one will be restricted to one place, maybe one room only.
I might even look at this other device only at fixed times each day.
Yet my work will be all digital and I will not stop indulging in digital entertainment in my spare time. But I want a clear border between the so-called ‘real world’ outside and the digital, online world.

This will allow me to keep all of my thoughts outside of my pockets. I won’t spend a single thought on whether there is something new inside that pocket. I will walk the streets and I will be there, in those streets. Undivided and without an alternative digital reality and without the chance of fleeing into the warm bosom of the infinite scroll…

But I am a little afraid, too: Where will I find myself then? What will happen when I am bound to my natural means of communication?
One thing is certain: It will be another grand adventure! And I am thankful to embark on this voyage!

Maybe I will find out what it means to be a single organic person, instead of a fused being: Half in the flesh, half floating in cyberspace.
Wouldn’t you want to know as well?

Hope and Anticipation

Oct 31, 2021 | After The Great Journey, Thoughts

Many times I have said those words to myself, but the occasions were always similar. I used it as some kind of verdict.
I believe: This is the meta reason of what drives us, believing in something to come.
Let me share:

 

Where do we experience it?

From the very beginning of our lives we longed for the next breath, for the next meal, for the next relief of uncomfortable circumstances.
Even those who were there for us in those times did anticipate these next steps with us.
More over, they waited for us to learn all new things until we were old enough to anticipate breakthroughs or even trivial joys of the everyday life ourselves.
Since then, we spent much of our lives waiting, anticipating, hoping:
The first day of school, the last day of school, the first day on the job, maybe even the last day on the job, driving a car, finding a partner, going on a holiday. Even most pieces of music are directly playing with the concept of teasing and rewarding. Or maybe before a date, before biting in that burger, before watching the next episode after a mean cliffhanger.
We always have something to look forward to. Literally.

 

What does it mean in life?

I want to outline the fact that there is always something in the future, and never in the past, that we can anticipate, that we can carve our path towards, that we can hope for.
There is always something we wish for, that we will be happy about, that we would like. Even if we don’t actively look at it, it is there and bound to happen.
The concept of forward moving time is that the future will have happened eventually. And just like we can shape our reality, we can decide on the things that make us happy in that future.
If there wouldn’t be anything in front of us, there would not be a reason to live. But there is always something. And thus, always a reason to venture forward.
How many boys have set new records in cleaning their room only because a girl mentioned coming over? Why do deadlines motivate us? Why do we shave?
Because there is something coming. Something that matters to us in some way.

 

What if it is bad, or not even there?

I just assumed one would want to be happy. That being happy is the main goal in life. Even though it might not be this simple, I still decide to live in that reality where ultimately we want to be happy. Each individual their way.
Still, some things we feel coming are not pleasant. For me a dentist appointment I would anticipate for one reason only: So it is over after. How easy would it be to obsess over the unpleasant part? If I could avoid it without causing harm, I would not have to go. But if there is no way around something like that, we can look even further forward.
Also, when you don’t see anything that would make you happy, you are either locked up in a dark cell or you are overlooking something. Which brings me to the next point:

 

Big or small? Important or irrelevant?

I go by a very simple equation:

The more things make you happy, the happier you are.

My equation doesn’t account for the nature of thing or its size (sounds familiar?), though it is subordinate to causing no harm.
That means, you can allow yourself to put your hopes in the next sandwich, the next run in the sunset, the next legal high. Though all of these same things are perfect reason to keep your hopes up and anticipate them with all our hearts, there are even bigger things.

What about our relationships? What about work? What about our life?
Many of those parts affect each other. They even amplify or hinder each other. Sometimes we seem to fly, because there are so many next steps happening across the board. Sometimes we are holding back and seek comfort in the familiar surrounding.

Sometimes we go through sour patches, only hoping, anticipating even, it would make something else better again. Whether that is a good strategy, the future will tell. Or has told already? This is why we rely on experience so often, despite surprises surprise us ever so often.
Sometimes we care only about ourselves, which is right, but as humans we usually care about others as well. And that’s where it gets interesting: How are we setting hope and anticipation there? Do we hope together? Do we anticipate the same things? Can we talk about it? Be honest about it?

Do we have arrived? Are we stuck? Do we know where to go? Do we sometimes take care of ourselves first, so we can help the other one better?

Good news: You don’t have to worry too much. Because there simply is a next step, be it little or big, waiting for you. And it is always important and never irrelevant. Because you are looking forward to it. And that makes you go forward.

 

Where does it end?

To be honest, it could just end when something has come true, has passed or is no longer an option to hope for.

Or it could go on forever when you do look forward and spot another thing. Any thing. Any next step. May it be big or small, it will be worth going for. Some people live their entire life anticipating just one thing. And what strong drive they have!

But even when you are legally lost, you can decide on a direction. The direction you think you’ll like. You can take baby steps or bold strokes. But there is always something coming.
Do you see it? Do you want to see it? Do you long for it? Do you want to go further from there?

Fitting the topic my heart was set to this month, I also just had the great opportunity to take pictures of a friends baby bump.
And what a great example of a thing to anticipate! <3