On the subtle art of getting in touch

The best way to contact me is via email. However, my way of using it is very sui generis—which is but a fancy way of saying the following:

Rather, my use of it is much more akin to a “long form” communication medium—think (dead tree) paper letters. I.e., emails to me must resemble more a letter, and less a chat message. There are (very) few exceptions to this—the most common of which is notifying me of typos in my writings. Put differently, if you can’t be bothered to really think about what is it that you want to say to me, and write it down in a clear and proper fashion, then I can’t be bothered to read it.

Now, despite the above, I do like receiving thoughtful and interesting emails—however, I am only (one) human. Hence, the sad truth is that even if you send an interesting and thoughtful and well written email, it might still take a while for me to reply—if I reply at all. For criticising and/or commenting on stuff I have written, Twitter (of all things…) might offer some respite from this bleak reality—see below.

Nevertheless, if you still intend to email me, then the last thing you need to know is that I strongly dislike HTML email and attachments in proprietary formats—especially Microsoft’s Word and PowerPoint!!¹ Sending me such things pretty much guarantees I will silently discard your email!

With that said, here is my email address: oscar@randomwalk.eu (click to copy to clipboard).

Social (so-called) media…

As hinted above, I am on Twitter—or “X”, as it seems to be now called—as @notnotrandom—although I am not a regular user. Nevertheless, you can send feedback that way—even if the length limitation of the messages makes it somewhat unsuitable for thoughtful discussion… It is an excellent medium to share links to things written on your own web spaces, though!²

Hence, if you want to comment and/or criticise something I wrote you can, as an alternative to email, voice it in your own web space and then ping me about it. It should go without saying that you should express your criticism with decorum—for otherwise, I can’t promise I will read it and/or care about it. 🙂

Beyond Twitter/X. I am also on github, where some of the software I develop is hosted,³ and on occasion, I also put some videos up on youtube.⁴ Other attempts to find me on “social media” are, I’m afraid, futile. And while on that topic… Edward Snowden put it best:

Businesses that make money by collecting and selling detailed records of private lives were once plainly described as “surveillance companies.” Their rebranding as “social media” is the most successful deception since the Department of War became the Department of Defense.⁵