Anthony Caruana

The era of the big city is ending

Nov 4, 2025Anthony CaruanaBits of Life

Barely a week passes without mention of the pain being felt by traders in central business districts. Workers are now embracing hybrid work and work from home, and many employers are discovering that productivity doesn’t come from having everyone working in a central office. Coupled with the increased focus on four-day work week, with extensive experiments taking place in England and Iceland, it’s time to challenge the assumptions we have about urban centres and the nature of cities.

The 2022 Australian Federal Election gives hope to liberal democracies

May 23, 2022Anthony CaruanaPoliticsAustralia, democracy, election, voting

It’s been said that in a democracy, people elect the government they deserve. For the last 20 years or so, there has been a trend towards major political parties, typically described in polar opposite terms such as conservative and progressive, capitalist or socialist, or along some other similarly binary language, becoming increasingly focussed on more extreme left and right wing views.

Apple Fitness, Exercise Streaks and Health

Apr 20, 2022Anthony CaruanaHealthApple Health, exercise, fitness, health, nutrition, rest

I really enjoy exercising. I commit to being active every day. While there are days when my energy levels feel low and exercise feels like the last thing I feel like doing, I always feel better after. I’m also a user of Apple Fitness. And one of the things it does to encourage regular activity is create monthly challenges. And the user community, particularly on Reddit, is into focussing exercise streaks. But are these effective tools?

My Three Rules Of Writing

Aug 12, 2021Anthony CaruanaAdvicewritng

Over the last two decades I’ve written hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of words. For every word I’ve written I’ve probably read ten times as many. Through that, and my own efforts at learning to become a better writer, I’ve learned a few things about the craft of writing.

That’s not to say I’m the next Hemingway, C.S. Lewis or JK Rowling – far from it. But I think I’ve learned enough to improve myself from a fair writer into a pretty good one. It’s my firm belief that anyone can become a good writer if they are prepared to make some effort. And I think it only takes following three simple rules to get there.

What the pandemic has taught us about work

Apr 6, 2021Anthony CaruanaWorkcovid-19, work, work life balance

The COVID-19 pandemic has been enormously disruptive. Personal freedom has been curtailed with many cities imposing travel restrictions locally and the ongoing limits on interstate and international travel. Science has been moved from the back room or basement into the spotlight as the world endeavoured to first understand the SARS-Cov-2 virus, and then create a vaccine within a year. All these, and many more, changes have been disruptive. But I want, for a moment, to focus on how work has changed.

Sales teams are slow to digital transformation

Feb 25, 2021Anthony CaruanaWorkcovid, digital transformation, sales

It’s been about a year since the pandemic escalated from “This could be serious” to “Red Alert” status. By March 2020, the Sars-Cov-2 virus had crossed national borders and went from a regional epidemic in China into a full international pandemic. Everyone has had to adapt in some way. But one group have struggled according to some recent research. Some sales reps are finding they are way less effective working online.

Back to the future – why I listen to vinyl

Feb 18, 2021Anthony CaruanaCultureentertainment, music, vinyl

As I type this in my office, I’m listening to classic 1980s tracks by George Thorogood and The Destroyers. That’s not so unusual I guess in this era of Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and other streaming services where we can listen to whatever we want whenever we want. But every 20 or 30 minutes I have to get and turn the record over. Returning to the world of vinyl records has not only taken me on a journey into history but it offers a much richer way of listening and really enjoying music.

Thoughts on real, designed and perceived obsolescence

Feb 8, 2021Anthony CaruanaWorkapple, computing, laptop, Software

I’m typing this post on a MacBook Air – a pretty common device for writers, journalists and other people who need a slim, light and powerful portable computer to get their work done. But how many people do you know who use a computer that’s homing in on ts tenth birthday? My 2011 11-inch MacBook Air is still a great workhorse. Sure, it doesn’t do everything the latest models do. It passes the good enough test but keeping this laptop working has taken some effort.

Balancing structure and flexibility for productivity

Dec 29, 2020Anthony CaruanaWorkbusiness, freelancing, productivity, tools

Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time looking at how to be more productive. I’ve looked at more task management apps that I can remember, read about many systems and tried all sorts of different tools and techniques. The problem has always been the same. They, I assume, must work for large cohorts of people. It’s just that I’m never in those cohorts. And I think I’ve finally understood why those systems and apps don’t work for me.

Consumer tech companies are terrible at user security

Nov 2, 2020Anthony CaruanaAdvice, Workgaming, Nintendo, security

It should have been the easiest of transactions. I wanted to play old-school Doom on my Switch. So, a quick look at online reviews suggested Doom 64 was the version to grab. And, sitting on my smartphone, I could see this would cost less than $8 – cheaper than coffee and a muffin at the local café when we didn’t see such things as a special treat in the days before COVID.