2020 Year in Review — Books

January 1, 2021
3 min read

This year I’ve made a public commitment of reading 20 books. I finished those in April and made my way through 19 more before the year ended. Mostly those were audiobooks, which were perfect fit for 2-3 hour walks with my daughter while she was sleeping. Here are the best out of 39.

I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons by Kevin Hart

Didn’t expect much going into this. I tried watching Kevin Hart stand-ups and couldn’t finish even one, although I enjoyed movies and some YouTube videos with him. But this book is so good, I think it should be taught in school. Seriously. It is that good. It’s about life and decisions you have to make along the way. And of course it is funny as hell.

No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings

Great read if you want to find out about an unconventional company culture and how it works even in a big company. There is just a bit of Netflix history (for that you will be better off reading another good book — That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph).

This one is mostly about how culture and processes were made. What’s even better — the book was written together with Erin Meyer, who studies company cultures, and she was given full access to the company.

Hitler by Ian Kershaw

At some point I’ve realised that I’m not very good at history. Of course, I know some major points, but dig just a little bit under the surface, and I’m lost. I decided that the best way to learn about World War II was through the lens of the most crucial figure. And as I understand this is THE biography. It covers everything available from the birth to the last breath of Hitler and shows how the decisions were made.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

This book was in my “want to read list” for a long time and finally, I found it on Audible read by the author himself. It is so good, it’s hard to explain. He writes with humour, without hiding anything. It’s as much a biography as a look into some of the best and worst kitchens in the world. And it is one of those times when the author is great at reading his own book, which is rare.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight

It’s a feel-good memoir by Phil Knight. There is very little controversy in this book, it actually reminds me of Ted Lasso. But I liked it, great story and humour.

The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger

Same as the Shoe Dog, this is a very feel-good biography. But it is very interesting to read about the recent history of Disney. How decisions were made, especially regarding buying up all the competition. “Disney own entertainment”.

Now writing this — what would be even more interesting is to read a book about Disney during the pandemic. How it gets through and is it as loyal to their staff as it was before?

2020 Year in Review — Music

January 1, 2021
2 min read

This year I tried to listen to more music, as for a last couple of years I was listening mostly to podcasts. And 2020 was a good year for that.

Plastic Hearts — Miley Cyrus

She is back and better than ever. Electric pop paired with punk sounds together with her voice, it’s just the recipe for success. If you still think of Miley based on her previous albums (which I actually enjoyed) give her another chance. She really has changed.

Music To Be Murdered By — Eminem

Didn’t like the his last album, so wasn’t expecting much and got blown away after the first listen. It is the same old Eminem I loved, before he mostly became a Trump hater.

He plays with words and sounds in this one like before and that is his talent. Was surprised by the release of the second volume, but didn’t enjoy it that much.

girlfriends — girlfriends

This was a surprising hit, a new band with a first album, and it is everything I could wish for form and alternative album. I added every song to the library and that says a lot.

folklore — Taylor Swift

I was surprised as much as anyone when this came out. But played it on repeat for a long time. Great album, made in isolation during the pandemic. Unfortunately can’t say the same about her second one — evermore.

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.

2020 Year in Review — Podcasts

January 1, 2021
2 min read

This wasn’t a good year for podcasts. Previously I was listening to them mostly during commute, of which there was almost nothing left in 2020. I had to unsubscribe from a couple of shows, but also found some new ones — mostly in Polish, just to listen to the language. I will mention three podcasts I enjoyed the most this year, but only one of them started in 2020.

Dithering

I like reading and listening to John Gruber and Ben Thompson, so when they announced they are launching a podcast together I immediately signed up. It is the first paid podcast I subscribed to, but I think it is totally worth it, for just $5 a month (or $50 a year, which I paid for after a couple of months in).

The premise is simple, two people you know, talking for 15 minutes three times a week. They mostly take one subject and discuss that, but sometimes they just have fun.

If you want to understand if it is something you would like — listen to the episode of The Talk Show with Ben Thompson as a guest, or they put out snippets on Twitter.

Cortex

I’m listening to this from the start and this year subscribed to the paid version called Moretex, for some extra content. They talk mostly about productivity, but not in a “life hacks” kind of way. The biggest thing I got from this podcast over the years is the concept of Yearly Themes. Instead of New Year’s resolutions you decide on the yearly theme through which you make decisions throughout the year. They even created a journal for that. I recommend listening to the podcast and trying out the Yearly Theme concept.

Zavtracast

My favourite podcast in Russian (one of the three I listen to) and which immediately goes up the queue. Guys have a great chemistry together and a lot of the time their recommendations are in line with mine. They also somehow score amazing guests from time to time, like a guy from Us Two talking about Assemble with Care and Monument Valley.

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.

Sunday Endorsement – 24.05.2020

May 24, 2020
4 min read

📚 Samsung Rising: The Inside Story of the South Korean Giant That Set Out to Beat Apple and Conquer Tech by Geoffrey Cain

“Fuck Steve. He’s dead and we were right. Samsung was right.” – this quote says quite a lot about Samsung culture. The story told in this book shows what happens when a company becomes too big to fail. When the whole country is depended on Samsung doing well.

If you’ve never been to jail, you’ve probably not worked hard enough – could be the mantra of Samsung management.

There are very interesting anecdotes and stories. But by the middle of the book you realize it’s mostly stories about mistakes, investigations, corruption charges etc. and less so the story of the company. I don’t like Samsung as a company, never owned a Galaxy phone, because I felt like they were just copying Apple, but even for an Apple fanboy, this book is a bit too much.

After finishing it, I was not sure on the history of the company, but I sure as hell knew that the dynasty has fallen.

📺 Drive To Survive – Season 1

“To finish first, first you have to finish”

Great documentary with an outstanding access to the drivers and teams, in the middle of the season, I’ve had a longer review written here, but can’t recommend it enough. And I’m already looking for ways to watch F1 season when it comes back.

📺 The Last Dance

Another great documentary I’ve finished this week. Again, never watched basketball, but enjoyed it so much. It’s about personality, team and most importantly leadership. Very different in style from Drive To Survive. It talks about the history, while Drive To Survive is more similar to the reality TV.

🎙 Dithering Podcast

Two of my favorite people in tech blogging got together and created a podcast. I had a little bit of doubt before subscribing as it is a paid podcast and there is no “demo” or even one free episode, but decided to try it out, I can always unsubscribe if I don’t like it and loose just $5. But of course I liked it. I’ve now listened to all the back catalogue and am listening as the episodes get out – three times a week. If you know John Gruber and Ben Thompson, you probably will have a feeling what a podcast is about and it will probably be correct.

This paid podcast model is very interesting and the first one I’ve tried. Almost all of the podcasts I listen to are ad supported with some help from listeners in form of Patreon or something similar. This though, paid up front subscription with no ability to try it out before is something I didn’t see before. The one time I’ve paid for a podcast was with a No Agenda show, which is totally listener supported (they even call listeners producers), but it is optional. They call it “value for value” model and I like the idea of it.

📰 Halide – Year 3

I started using Halide long time ago, probably as soon as it got released and it was on my home screen ever since. And I love reading their blog. It is interesting and honest. Reading about the struggles that current situation has brought (who would have though that nobody is traveling and using photo capturing app) made me realize that I can’t even fathom the real impact the virus had on all of us.

📸 My Photo From Thailand

This week my photo (at the top), got picked by the editorial team of Unsplash and my stats got crazy for a couple of days. More than 300,000 people saw it and some of them even saved it. An amazing result which gives the motivation to take more photos.

[TV Show] Drive To Survive – Season 1

May 23, 2020
3 min read

I’ve never been a fan of F1. I’ve heard a lot that the cars are becoming more and more the same, so I couldn’t understand why would anyone watch the same cars go around the circuit. But after watching The Last Dance, I’ve decided to pick up another sport related documentary. And I now can say I was wrong. The cars are not the same, they do look similar, but there is a lot of room in engine choice and its calibration. Drivers are very different, with individual talents and styles. And as it turns out, what happens between the races, sometimes can be even more interesting. It’s like a soap opera.

What stood out the most comparing to The Last Dance – the access. Sure there you had all the major players from that time, but it was about the past, people are more open, at least 20 years had passed since those events and nobody from them plays anymore. Here, it is a series about current events and it is really astonishing what the drivers and team principals were saying, considering they see each other at work after the show airs.

The absence of two top teams was very notable. It’s like, yeah, we here grownups are racing and winning and you – afterthoughts. can have your silly documentary.

The F1 itself is a very interesting sport. There are competing teams, but that absolutely doesn’t mean the drivers work together. It is probably the most individual out of team sports. It happens, when two drivers from the same team crash into each other in battling for position. This is madness in close to any team sport, but not unthinkable in the F1.

It is a team sport in regard to mechanics. You can be the most amazing driver in the most powerful car, but when you stop in the pit and a mechanic doesn’t tighten the screw properly, you can finish the race early because of that, unbelievable. Imagine Michael Jordan not finishing the match because a guy doesn’t lace his shoes properly.

“To finish first, first you have to finish”

Regarding documentary itself, it was a bit too focused on drama. You see all the crashes, stops and loses of the drivers and after that you realize the team is in a third place. So it wasn’t all so bad, wasn’t it? As of right now, I am looking forward to the F1 season resuming, I want to watch races. Didn’t choose which driver to support yet, will have to take a look at the whole race. Which is my main concern right now – sure, I’ve enjoyed watching highlights from the whole season, but would the 2 hour race be as enjoyable to watch?