I’m about to set up my home-office desk again after taking three weeks’ leave from work. Proper leave; I haven’t checked my work email for two weeks (except briefly and by accident), and I’ve only responded to questions that have come directly to me through personal social media channels (I don’t think I’ve had a […]
Author Archives: cafedave
assumptions made about communication
Much has changed this year in terms of communication norms. I think I’m reaching a point where it’s not entirely awkward not to shake hands when I see someone, but there are still times where even that lack of contact is a window into all that has been lost. While zoom fatigue is increasingly documented, […]
Time passing
Two weeks ago Mum was still at home, breathing with difficulty, moving around only with significant help. One week ago we were getting ready for her funeral. Today.
unsolicited advice
If you are looking for something in your house, and you finally find it, when you’re done with it, don’t put it back where you found it. Put it back where you first looked for it. Read all sixty-eight bits of advice.
having a conversation online
Much has changed in terms of how we move around in the world at the moment. What does this mean for the way we communicate? We’re doing a lot more communication online. Here are a few resources that might help you improve your skill at communicating online, especially in a video conference setting. 7 Hints […]
flickr was down for thirty minutes
Flickr was down for about 30 minutes. I think I might be the only person on social media who noticed. I spoke too soon. It’s down again, or was mostly down the whole time. flickr was a social media site for sharing photos before Instagram and before facebook; they never really embraced mobile photography, and […]
high school reloaded
One of the familiar science fiction (and even Harry Potter) tropes is for a scene to play out, and then the same scene plays through again from another character’s point of view. This week, it was starting high school, but this time I was the parent. What did I remember about my interactions with my […]
fundraising lessons learned
It’s been a long time since I have participated in any formal event, or fundraiser, but we had the opportunity to go along to the Sydney “walk to d’feet MND”; my sister and I decided to frame our fundraising as a competition, rather than a collaborative effort, and that seemed to resonate with some of […]
lessons in balance from law and ethics
I’m studying a subject on law and ethics at the moment, and we’re trying to work out answers to complicated questions. What does it take to keep people doing the right thing? What consequences can be built in to a system so that people are motivated to do the right thing? We build giant, unaccountable […]
near end
There is much to be grateful for in the palliative care ward, which makes those moments that deviate from this path the more noteworthy. Take, for example, this interface decision that was taken on the display of this morphine pump: essentially, a device that pushes down very carefully and consistently on a syringe until the […]