2020 Year in Review — TV Shows

January 1, 2021
3 min read

With nothing else to do in the spare time because of the pandemic, TV shows became go-to entertainment. The most interesting thing this year is that most of the TV shows I will be recommending were documentaries.

Ted Lasso

This is the best TV show of the year. Apple had some good shows in the beginning, but Ted Lasso is in the league of its own. If you think of the premise — comedy about American becoming a coach of the Premier League team which is actually based on the character from the ad — you’d think creators are mad. But it works on so many levels.

It is delightful, smart and compassionate in the time when we are all fighting and hating each other on Twitter.

I watched it from the begging to the end three times, I can’t think of a better way to recommend it.

The Last Dance

I’m not a basketball fan and this documentary didn’t change that. But I loved watching the story of Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls. I knew about them since the childhood, but mostly about their existence, what I didn’t know was the story itself.

It is as much about motivation, teamwork and leadership, as it is about sports. Highly recommended.

Drive to Survive

After watching The Last Dance, I decided to start another documentary on Netflix. The first season, which actually came out last year was amazing, before it had a success it had and both Mercedes and Ferrari participated in the next season, which was good, but not as good. As this documentary is about current events it gave me a very nice reference point for races themselves.

I watched all the qualifications and races this year and actually enjoyed them. I would recommend everyone who is not a fan of F1 until now if you want to start — Drive to Survive is an amazing starting point. You will get to know teams, drivers, how it very uniquely combines team and individual sport. After that watching races is much easier.

Also, another thing that helped me was a friend who is a fan for a long time with whom I could discuss races and ask for clarifications if needed.

Tiger King

It’s hard to believe that it was this year when Tiger King blew up. It was everywhere. This is the most surprising documentary. When you think it couldn’t get any weirder — here you go, they show you some totally messed up shit.

The Office

Obviously, not something from this year, but we’ve watched an American version of The Office with my wife and enjoyed it a lot. It’s so much fun, if you didn’t watch it until now I would totally recommend you do, you’ll have to stick with the Season 1 because it’s bad, but after that, it gets much better.

2020 Year in Review — Movies

January 1, 2021
2 min read

This was the worst year for movies. The only 2020 movie I watched was Sonic The Hedgehog — we went to the cinema just before the lockdowns started, it was entertaining, but not “the best movie of the year” quality. So, here are a couple of movies I enjoyed watching this year (all of them on Netflix)

The Two Popes

The cliché of “the movie which makes you think” could be easily applied to this one. Amazing story about old and new, with just outstanding actors. I started watching it late evening not suspecting much and had to stay for half a night to finish it because I couldn’t stop. Highly recommended.

Baby Driver

It was well-received when it first came out, but I somehow missed it. And I’m glad I watched it, it is fun, with some great action and amazing music. Everything you would want from a movie.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Like many I liked it more than the old three parts. This one is funny and simple. I don’t enjoy Marvel movies which try to be very serious, this one doesn’t.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Great animation, sometimes hilarious story which in some cases is over the top, but it was probably the best Spider-Man movie ever.

The Big Short

While being an amazing movie based on the true events it describes in the basic words what happened during the mortgage crisis of 2007-2008. I think everyone should watch it because it’s not just documentary it is a movie with great actors, story and style.

Sunday Endorsement – 21.06.2020

June 21, 2020
2 min read

📺 Dirty Money – Payday

Because this is a series of documentaries, I recommend starting from the second episode, because the first one was very bad. I will write about it another time.

This though is very interesting. I can’t judge the example itself, looks like they were really misleading. But looking at the payday loan scheme itself, I think the companies providing those are not the only ones to blame. I agree that the rules have to be clear, but customers have to assume some of the blame also.

Oh, and also – the same way, half of banking industry has to be in jail because of the 2007 mortgage crisis, but I didn’t hear about a lot of sentences given.

📱 ExpressVPN

I’ve been looking for a VPN service for a long time. I’ve tried a couple and realized – first, you can’t get a decent one for free, second they don’t work well with streaming apps. This one is a great exception. I’ve been using it for half a year already and love it.

Believe me when I say Netflix in different countries is like a completely different service all together. In Latvia, I can still watch Friends and have all but last season of Modern Family, as well as a lot of Marvel movies, some just two years old. In USA, on the other hand I have The Office, Flash (which I’ve stopped watching) and more.

The ExpressVPN works great, I have it on my phone and iPad, as well as on Apple TV. I’ve had an issue once with Apple TV and Netflix, but support was very fast, they’ve explained the reason and gave me a timeline, how they are fixing it. It is pricey, but you get the great service in return.

Sunday Endorsement – 14.06.2020

June 14, 2020
2 min read

🎞 The Big Short

I wanted to watch this movie as soon as it came out, but somehow forgot and now found it on Netflix. I already recommended it probably dozens of times. It tells about the whole 2007 collapse in a very easy to understand way.

Although I didn’t care for the “almost documentary” style, the cast is astonishing – Bale, Carnell, Gosling, Pitt and more.

Also, there was Antoine Bourdain (a small link to my last week’s post).

🍷 Pasqua 11 Minutes Rosato 2018

Rosé are my favorite wines. They are just perfect, especially in summer. This one is rated among 1% wines on Vivino. I didn’t know it when I bought it, but I totally agree. Right now it is probably my favorite Rosé.

📺 23 Hours To Kill

I’ve been seeing a lot more stand-up specials in my Netflix recommendations. Not the funniest one I’ve seen, but a good one to watch.

💡 30-day Sabbatical From The Social Networks

Definitely recommend to do it. The idea is from the book I wrote about last week – Digital minimalism. After deleting all the social apps from the phone for 30 days you will realize how little you get from them. And it is true. On day 30 I reluctantly installed Instagram back on my phone, opened it and immediately unsubscribed from a lot of people – I didn’t even think about them in this month, so why should I follow their every step.

Sunday Endorsement – 31.05.2020

May 31, 2020
5 min read

📱 Tot Pocket

I was very skeptical at first. I mean, who wouldn’t be – €21.99 for a very limited note taking app. But after much consideration and keeping in mind the possibility to refund (yay Europe) I decided to give it a try. I’ve been trying to find an easy to use note app for a long time and nothing could come close to what I wanted. Notes.app was where I kept all my notes and didn’t feel like simple jotting app, I’ve tried Bear for a year, but it just replaced Notes and I never was a Markdown fan, I wanted something with rich text support. Drafts came close, but I always felt overwhelmed by it and after a week there would be tens of notes which I couldn’t remember what they were about.

Tot is light, colorful (it even changes the color of keyboard to match the dot and what surprised me most – even 3rd party keyboards get colored). I didn’t like icon at first, but recently they’ve added Mobius, which is now my favorite. I use all but one dots for something already and love it.

One disclaimer I have to add – I’ve had a data loss with the app. Just yesterday I was walking around town, listening to the audiobook and adding some notes, including citations I’ve transcribed myself. When I came home and opened an app – there was nothing. Just one word I’ve put as a placeholder when I created the note. And now I can’t shake the feeling of distrust. I hope it was a one time thing, but I’m not sure when I will be able to trust the application fully again.

I can’t recommend an app costing €21.99 to everyone, but if you look at screenshots and read the description you will know if the app is right for you. It is for me.

📺 Drive To Survive – Season 2

“Netflix are a bunch of cunts, aren’t they? I would love for them to play that.”

At the beginning of the season two they immediately let you know – this time it’s bigger, we have Mercedes and Ferrari now, but that somehow ruins it a bit. It became more pristine. The most controversial things were mostly when drivers and principals mentioned the documentary or Netflix.

But I still would recommend watching it. And I feel like it is much more interesting to those who have never watched F1, because otherwise you would already know what happened.

One additional note – I was the victim of advertising. After watching the show I went for a walk and had such a strong desire for a Red Bull I went to the store and bought one. Marketing works.

📜 Stratechery – The Google Squeeze

Half a year old article, but still very interesting. I never though how much advertising there is on Google. The screenshot which shows the results, where you have to scroll 3 pages in order to get to the organic results is worth the read alone.

I’ve compared the article with my own usage and it is the same in some instances and completely different in others. I hate the hotel module of Google. It always feels like some shitty websites want to give you a very bad deal. When I’m looking for a hotel I always go to booking.com. Always. And, as it turns out, that’s what they’ve tried to do – incentivize people to go straight to them. I guess it works.

⌚️ Pride California Watch Face

With the most recent update of the Apple Watch there are a couple of new Pride watch faces. One of them is California with Pride colors. It is my favorite watch face right now. I’ve been meaning to write about watch faces and how they all are bad for some reason or other. There are customizations, but it always feels like there could be more. But in terms of look – this one is just amazing.

One note – the process was a bit cumbersome. I had newest update on my Apple Watch, but new colors weren’t there. I updated my iPhone to iOS 13.5 and could choose a new California color, but it wouldn’t show up on my Watch. Only after restarting the watch did it work.

📚 Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight

I’ve laughed a couple of times while listening to the book. It is probably the best memoir by a businessman I have ever read. It is more about motivation and drive and less about the decisions themselves. I’m sure that in order to build such a monumental company there have to be more controversial stories, but this book is not the place for them.

Ending is just beautiful. The book itself is very personal, but ending takes it to the new level. I didn’t want for it to end. One of the strongest recommendations I can give. Everyone should read it.

[TV Show] The Last Dance

May 18, 2020
3 min read

I’ve never watched a basketball game from start to finish in my entire life. I have never seen Michael Jordan play. This is still one of the greatest TV shows I’ve seen at least lately.

When I was about 10 years old my parents bought me a Chicago Bulls T-shirt. I knew it was an NBA team and I knew Michael Jordan was one of the greatest, if not the greatest player in basketball. I didn’t know those two were connected.

Imagine creating such a public persona, without even social media. He became famous by being the best at his sport (just look at the player stats from Chicago Bulls, he still holds almost all of the records).

I was watching this documentary and it was like living through those moments. I didn’t know the results of the games or series, so it was almost like watching live sports. Hell, I was just 8 years old when Chicago Bulls had won their last Championship (and I turned 1, when they won their first).

What I’ve learned is that Michael is an amazing leader. I actually enjoyed watching old time sport players, they know how to talk, they can construct sentences. This is a bit rare in today sports.

I agree with what M.G. Siegler wrote, there is too much emphasis on MJ being a jerk. I remember when Steve Jobs died and everyone started reading his biography, regardless of the interest in tech, it was the common knowledge he was the best leader there is. And a lot of managers, after reading a book, got only one piece of advice from it – in order to be great, you had to wear the same clothes all the time and be a jerk to everyone around you. It’s like they never read the part about his talent, about his hard work, inspiration for others.

The thing that stood out the most for me, was how often did Jordan say “it became personal for me”. Although the basketball is a team sport and Jordan couldn’t have won the Championship by himself, his personality still was bigger than the team.

The greatest moment of the documentary was when Chicago Bulls lost, MJ instead of having a vacation immediately got to training. He didn’t tell anyone to do the same, but “if the best player in the world trains so hard, you have to train at least as hard”. Leading by example. Although he is a jerk a lot of the times, he always was leading by example. He worked harder than anyone, he played to win and that gave him the right to demand the same from his teammates.

Sunday Endorsement – 17.05.2020

May 17, 2020
3 min read

Starting today I will write weekly post about things I’ve enjoyed over the week. It could be a movie, TV show, book, article, photo, app, experience, absolutely whatever.

This week is mostly about TV shows as I’ve finished a couple.

📺 Westworld – Season 3

I’ve finally finished the latest season and the thought I had throughout it stayed with me by the end – it became a victim of its own success. The story is a bit too much. Almost like a matryoshka, a story, in a story, in a story with “holy shit” and “turns out” moments all the time. A bit too much for my taste, but still the picture is great, actors are amazing. Worth a watch.

📺 Outlander – Season 5

We’ve started watching this TV show a couple of years ago with my wife. In the beginning it was great for both of us. My wife liked the love story and story about old times, I liked battles and violence. In the last two seasons especially there is just too much of a love story. Series became very slow, there are whole hour long episodes with nothing happening at all. Story became too simple and predictable. Although picture in 4K HDR is stellar.

📺 Narcos: Mexico

I’ve watched all two seasons in a couple of weeks. Great show, almost as good as the original Narcos. The one thing that surprises the most – it’s based on the real events. And it scares you all the time. I’ve caught myself watching the show thinking, “very nice imagination those writers have”, just to be surprised by a narrator and historical footage. I can’t even imagine people living the way it is portrayed in the show.

📚 Deadpool: The Adamantium Collection

This is a collection of all the comic books about Deadpool from the very beginning until the year 2016. 25 years of stories about my favorite superhero. After watching the second movie about my favorite superhero, I’ve bought the comiXology version of the collection. I’ve started reading it about a year ago, but somewhere along the line just stopped. Picked it up this week and finished all of it. This is the first comic book I’ve read as an adult and probably the first series I’ve finished.

I’m not sure this is the medium I enjoy a lot, but some issues were fun. Also, reading comic books on the 12.9’’ iPad is amazing.

[TV Show] Inside Bill’s Brain

March 31, 2020
4 min read

I’ve recently got a new OLED TV and wanted to see something in 4K, so I started with Netflix and the first thing that popped out was this three part documentary about Bill Gates. It is interesting how it was divided in parts instead of making just one movie, sure there were three different stories, but I don’t think anyone would watch this documentary one by one in a span of couple of weeks. My guess you would either binge it or you would stop whenever.

The visual quality was indeed great, it looked very real on the big screen, although there was some historical footage, which was so blurry you couldn’t recognize faces (but it was very rare).

I’m not a movie critic and I don’t watch a lot of documentaries (unfortunately), but I’ve had a couple of thoughts while watching this I wanted to share.

Western Rich

Although I’m very interested in western culture and I’m much more knowledgeable about it than most of my friends and acquaintances it was still shocking to see two of the richest people in the world talking in the car with one of them driving. I know it is part of the acting, but still, they looked very natural and I don’t see Russian richest people behaving the same way.

The Reason Behind Windows 8

It’s not a secret that Windows 8 was one of the most hated operating systems in recent time, with all those tiles and all-screen interfaces. I didn’t hate it, but it was not loved by me either, but looking at the shots of Gates working I could see how all those decisions got made. Focused management work, you read one article at a time, you write in one document – I bet it worked perfectly for him and a lot of senior management in Microsoft.

Also, as a side note, it was interesting seeing Microsoft ecosystem there, with PCs, Microsoft Outlook, Office etc. As someone who is all-in with Apple, refreshing look.

Books

I was surprised to see Bill reading paper books, I even got a desire to read couple of physical books myself. For the longest time I’m reading either on my iPad or iPhone and lately added audiobooks.

Also the amount of reading is astonishing and those are not thin novels or bullshit leadership books. They are deep and focused on something very niche and to be able to read 14 books in the span of two weeks is just amazing.

Nuclear Power

I actually like the way it was portrayed in this TV show. Because of the two big disasters in the minds of the people of course it has a bad rap in minds, but looking forward it is the most realistic source of energy from what we have available right now.

It looks more like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ad and story about it and all the work it does than a story about Bill’s brain. It’s not a bad thing, they do interesting and important work, but I was hoping for something different considering the name of the documentary.

All this talk about reading and Gates says almost nothing about it during the documentary. You hear other people describing it, but it would be much more interesting to hear the process from Bill Gates himself.

You get a glimpse of how he manages his time (or someone is managing it for him), but a more deep dive would be appreciated.

Looking at the name of the documentary and my expectations I would love a more personal story about himself and not the foundation.

How Important Is Instant

September 27, 2019
2 min read

As every company in the world and then some think that creating streaming service is easy you just need some content, I think they forget a couple of very important aspects of the successful service that are not trivial to implement.

The human brain perceives anything less than 250 milliseconds as instant. So when making Spotify, the CEO and founder Daniel Ek wanted the service to feel instant to make an illusion that every single song is right there on the users hard drive.

“We spent an insane amount of time focusing on latency when no

one cared because we were hell bent on making it feel like you had all

the world’s music on your hard drive. Obsessing over small details can

sometimes make all the difference. That’s what I believe is the biggest

misunderstanding about the minimum viable product concept. That is the V

in the MVP.” – Daniel Ek

When creating Evernote, Libin believed that responsiveness is crucial to the app experience and there couldn’t be any delay between searching for something and results popping up, so Evernote stored everything locally on the hard drive (although it was a right incentive, the implementation was bad, but it is different point).

The same point goes for Netflix, you’ve probably experienced it, when you start watching a movie or a TV show, press play and it starts playing immediately. Especially if it is something new and popular. That is because Netflix partners with ISPs and deploys appliances with the most popular content right to them, that way, when you are watching the newest Netflix original that Netflix heavily pushes, you might be streaming it not from Netflix itself, but from your ISP. And by the way, Netflix doesn’t charge the IPSs at all, so they have only technical or legal requirements to fill.

That is why Netflix has a big advantage over other streaming services, this is an expertise you gather over the years and understanding of your customers, you get only by collecting watching data. That way Netflix can predict what will people in certain regions watch and preload the appliances with the most relevant content.

You may not even realize, but you notice little hiccups in the apps you use, the instant is very important in the user experience.

Why So Many Apps Are Asking to Use Bluetooth

September 24, 2019
2 min read

Privacy became somewhat of a theme here, so continuing on this subject – with the release of iOS 13, a lot of apps are asking for the permission to use Bluetooth. Among them are Netflix, YouTube, Waze, Spotify and of course Facebook.

When it asks for the permission, in the little explanation there is it usually tells, that it will help connecting to other Bluetooth devices. Especially with media apps, users could think, that it is necessary to listen through Bluetooth headphones or speakers, but it has nothing to do with that.

Developers have access to those via other means and don’t need permissions for those. The real reason they ask for Bluetooth is location tracking. Using the Bluetooth and WiFi devices around you, app can figure out your location pretty accurately.

This has been happening for quite some time, but only this year Apple added the ability to disallow the permission. It probably tells you something that a lot of developers pulled this functionality from their apps during beta process.

The one legitimate use I did find, was for navigation apps, like Waze. They use Bluetooth in tunnels to navigate you where there is no GPS and mobile signal. But if like me, you live in a place without any tunnels even in farther proximity, you can safely deny the prompt.