2023 is shaping up in the right direction. Thought I'd use it as an opportunity to share a little.

I'm never sure I'm adding enough value, or enough structure. I saw one person do a "three things" format, and I kinda like that, but I don't make the time to write consistently enough.

The thing is, I like writing. I have good ideas that people like hearing. I just have too many topic pinging around in my brain.

I found a really cool app to share that solves something that was really frustrating me - all those browser tabs zoom opens when you click their links. The rest is just my way of saying 'don't forget me'.

Best App

The best app I've found in '22: Velja. It's setup as your default browser and then routes sites/URLs to the browser or app of your choice.

It does two things very easily for me:

  1. You know all those browser tabs zoom opens? Gone.
  2. With Velja, any time I click on a google doc not only does a little part of me die, but with Velja it also opens in Arc (a Chrome browser) and so works better. I can get you an invite to Arc if you like, just smash reply. It's gorg.

It's so easy. It's free. You should use it.

Random Stuff

I started using the AirPods Pro recently. The noise canceling is eerie. I can't wait to see how that gets implemented on the AirPods Max. I also can't wait to try them on the plane... to 🇲🇽. Back to Planet Hollywood Cancun in a boot for the second time. Hoping the foot is better for 🇯🇵. By the time we get to Mexico, I'll have been in the boot for 7 of the past 12 months, with another month to go. The injury isn't as bad as the other foot was, and since I responded well-enough to the PRP for the worse injury to heal last year, 🤞🏻.

Mostly people that read this are my friends. But, in case you're not... I head to Japan every year now that I have earned the privilege of participating in an annual event called the Kyoto Taikai. Of course, annual is used loosely. I qualified in 2019, and it's been closed / closed-to-foreigners since. It's, probably needless to say, intense.

I'm glad it's open, and grateful I can participate. It takes a lot from me and the family to make it happen. And, it's a big deal but the pandemic has really shot some important plans in the head that I'll have to rebuild.

BackBox

So, you might have noticed I started a new gig. Well, specifically not a gig. A job. One with smart people. In contrast to...

Well, I've been writing a lot there not here.

Almost 4 months, 10 external posts. Here's' my author page because I know there will be an 11th by the time this is finished:

David Bressler, Author at BackBox Software
Director, Product Marketing David leads messaging and GTM for BackBox. He has held similar roles at companies with successful exits, such as TIBCO, Aether Technologies, & Actional Software. David is a storyteller with a passion for understanding customer pains, and then bringing differentiated solut…
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If you know people who care about what I'm writing about there, sharing it is helpful. The two I enjoy the most are the ones about backups. But stay tuned. I'll be writing about Service Providers, Channel, and Compliance more soon.

Interestingly, I started my career in networking. I was hired into TIBCO because they knew the right network design would move packets faster (this was 1995, and not so obvious then), and now maybe finishing it in networking too. Isn't life grand?

Twitter, Ivory, and Streetpass

I owe people apologies.

Specifically, the people that told me they 'didn't understand' (short hand for just not getting value) Twitter.

You see, I was using Twitter, but not really. I was using a 3rd party client called Tweetbot (RIP).

In short, I had a list of just a few people I followed on specific topics. I would read this list in reverse time sequence, so it made sense. A tweet thread wasn't backwards. It didn't require a lot of scrolling. In fact, my place in my feed was synced between all my devices so I could just pickup and catchup any time and anywhere.

It was a thing of beauty.

I get the challenges for Twitter. I didn't see ads for one. I don't care. I'd have paid. In fact, the second "Tweetbot for Mastodon" (Ivory) was available I paid, and chose the highest level of subscription.

The thing is that not every person I follow is on Mastodon. And, it's about the people and their perspective on topics, not just the topics.

To that end, I found a useful chrome/firefox (soon for Safari) plugin called Streetpass that keeps track of people on Mastodon who own the sites you visit. Mastodon has a little snippet you install in your site and it gets verified to your profile. It's a nice little feature. Here's what it looks like on my site:

And here's how the verified checkmark looks on my Mastodon profile:

I'm not really posting these days, mostly reading. Using the opportunity to find a deliberate voice instead of just connecting my diverse interests into one stream of consciousness.

Happy to answer any questions about Mastodon. Just smash reply.

And please follow along with BackBox on LinkedIn. It's a rocket ship, even if the engines aren't quite lit. (As for LinkedIn, I'm spending more time connecting with people there, but it's not at all a replacement for Twitter like Mastodon can be.)3e

And, I continue to LOVE Ghost for writing.