Matthew Lang

Just finished watching Greyhound on Apple TV+.

A great watch and goes straight into the action. Tom Hanks is brilliant as always and Stephen Graham is also great as the Greyhound’s executive officer.

I also think I’ve found myself a book to add to the reading list. The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester, the book on which the movie is based.

EA is bringing Colin Kaepernick back to Madden. Starting today, Kaepernick will be available as a QB who can be added to any team in Franchise mode in Madden NFL 21, which was released in late August. He can also be selected in the game’s Play Now mode.

— EA adds Colin Kaepernick to Madden NFL 21

You can play as Kaepernick! That’s all I need to know.

It’s just me and my boy out on the course tonight. He’s playing well and finished with a superb 4 from the blue tee, which is about 150 yards out.

Oh look. The big tech companies are now all just passing on the new digital services tax straight to their customers. Who could have predicted that? All in a sarcastic tone of course.

Many small businesses and entrepreneurs will have received an email the other day from Google which informed them that from the 1st November 2020 Google will be passing the UK’s new 2% digital services tax straight onto their customers.

They are even adding a line item on their invoices for DST (Digital Services Tax) alongside VAT.

That means they are joining the likes of Amazon and others who are simply passing this tax straight onto small and medium businesses and consumers in the UK. Exactly what every online business owner knew they would do.

— UK scores an own goal with its Digital Services Tax

Two things I’m taking from this.

1. The UK goverment are fools if they thought that the big tech companies weren’t going to do this. It’s decisions like this that make me wonder if I should change my vote. I didn’t vote for an independent Scotland the first time, but I’m considering it now.
2. I’m of the mind that the big tech companies exist now only to serve themselves. And yes, I’m including Apple in this one. The big tech companies face no competition and can call the shots in most countries. Of course they’ll just pass a tax onto their customers. With the amounts of money they are commanding, they can afford to do so.

Spent tonight refereeing our last junior semi-final match at the golf club. Looking forward to finals day to see all our finalists play again.

Jen timed picking up these new caramel crunch biscuits from Aldi perfectly. #mbaug

Looks like I removed the Instagram app from my phone at the right time.

As if Instagram weren’t addictive enough already, the company is adding a new feature that’s intended to keep you scrolling through your feed even longer. Starting today, Instagram will load ‘Suggested Posts‘ at the end of your feed, once you’re all caught up with updates from friends and other accounts you follow.

— Instagram’s new ‘Suggested Posts’ feature will keep you scrolling forever

Like Facebook, Instagram is doing everything to keep your eyes on the app. Suggested users, copying features from other trending apps like TikTok and now suggested posts. These features aren’t designed to help the users, they’re designed to keep you attached to your timeline.

Without an open API though, the options to viewing your timeline on Instagram are restricted. It’s not the kind of platform that I want to be a part of.

Our Japanese maple in the back garden is starting to change colour. A change of seasons is upon us. #mbaug

Nicholas Bate’s Tools of Excellence for a Brave New World series continues with The Master List.

I had no idea Unsplash had an iOS app. Found out this morning after continuing my process of updating accounts with my new email address.

Almost stationary. To be fair, I envy this little guy’s pace of life.

This is a silhouette of Ethan playing at Gleneagles last year in the junior open. I like this type of picture. I hope to get more shots like this when golf competitions return next year.

Nicholas Bate’s 14 point productivity primer is a great place to start if you need to get back on track.

I was optimistic about Mozilla yesterday. Today, I’m not so sure after reading various posts and tweets. Without Mozilla, we lose a big big fighter for the open web. I really hope Mozilla can bounce back.

My Soundcore Life 2 headphones were a great buy. They produce good sound and have noise cancelling.

They also work nicely for online gaming, although I never thought about using them when I bought them. #mbaug

Looking out the window from one of the buildings at Paisley Abbey. I would love a window like this to work from every day.

A moment of peace and quiet as I walked off the golf course a couple of weeks ago. #mbaug

Made the switch from Apple Music to Spotify today. So much easier to move about in the app and there’s the addition of the web player as well.

Senior minister Michael Gove has said he does not think face coverings should be compulsory in shops in England, saying he trusts people’s common sense.

Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Mr Gove said wearing a mask in a shop was “basic good manners”.

— Coronavirus: I trust people’s sense on face masks - Gove

The problem with this approach is that by and large, people will ignore what’s common sense and just do what they think is right by them.

I don’t always agree with Nicola Sturgeon’s politics, but I agree wholeheartedly with the move to make masks compulsory in shops in Scotland. It keeps the staff safe, it keeps the customers safe and it removes any grey area in between where people wonder whether they should wear a mask or not.

I’ve been enjoying watching Picard on Amazon Prime for the last couple of nights. Just a few episodes in, but really enjoying it.

A paid tier on Twitter? If the benefits were right, I’d definitely go for it.

Nicholas Bate gives us a productivity system so simple it can fit on a single index card.

A fresh 3 by 5 card taken from the stack. One side is work. One side is home. Each side is divided in half with a vertical line. On the LHS side are things you need/have to do. E.g. at work return a client’s call; at home buy some pasta. On the RHS are things you don’t have to do but you will do because they will make your future life easier by reducing the things you have to do on the LHS.

— The Tools of Excellence for a Brave New World, 8: The 3 x 5 card

We had a new deck put in the back garden to give us more seating space. Up until that time, Scotland had been enjoying a wonderful sunshine. Since the deck was finished, and coincidentally lockdown restrictions eased, it’s been pretty much grey and wet.

That’s Scotland for you.

Sat down with the rest of the family tonight and watched Hamilton on Disney+. Absolutely amazing, loved it!

Today’s plan was to get in a round of golf with my son, my dad and my uncle at my dad’s golf club. I’ve been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks. As always though, the weather has scuppered these plans.

Taking the day to instead work on my product for a few hours.