Luigi Mozzillo on mzll

Bruxelles 14 - On taking oneself less seriously

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 02:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Bruxelles 13 - Tintin

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 02:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Bruxelles 12 - The Tower

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 02:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Bruxelles 11 - The Marx House

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 02:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Bruxelles 10 - The Palace

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sat, 19 Sep 2026 02:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Un problema

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Hi, this is an Italian content. You can read it translated into English by clicking here.

Un problema del pubblicare in inglese per il blog, tra i vari problemi del pubblicare per il blog, un problema è che io, così, i post me li dimentico. Quando rileggo un post in italiano, pure vecchio di quattro o cinque anni, di quel post in italiano io mi ricordo tutto. E mi ricordo il momento in cui l’ho scritto, dov’ero, e il perché, e quali erano le sensazioni che provavo, pure, e le mie emozioni, le mie ispirazioni. Invece, in inglese, io i post non li rileggo nemmeno.

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Bruxelles 09 - A Serious Thing

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Bruxelles 08 - Merveilleux

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Three Strokes of Luck

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

I have three strokes of luck, in my view. Among others, mind you; and then think about it: I’m a man, white, heterosexual, western, bourgeois in practice, and there are millions of people in the world who can’t afford to have strokes of luck. I get to grumble, plenty of others don’t. Anyway, I was saying, I’m lucky. I’m lucky because in my life as a listener of alternative Italian music, from his very first album, I grew attached to listening to Caparezza¹. And I’ve seen many of his concerts since then.

And on top of that, I had the luck that several years ago (nearly twenty now), in yet another one of my lives, I worked in music. In that period, I barely remember how or why, Michele’s² number ended up in my hands for work reasons. Since then, there having never been the occasion, I never called or contacted him. I kept it like a relic, because it was my luck, and luck wasn’t to be squandered.

Last Saturday Caparezza held the closing concert of his tour in Caserta. I’d bought the tickets the moment they came out, fifteen months ago. Only last week, moved by the fact that my daughter adores him and knows essentially all his songs by heart, did I decide to send him a message asking to meet for a hug, a handshake, and a photo. And he answered that yes, there would be no problem.

Here, this isn’t my third stroke of luck. The third stroke of luck is that Michele is an anti-diva, a person out of the ordinary, of exceptional humility and availability. And he’s an enormous artist, one who moves you, makes you laugh, think, get emotional, and moves you again within the space of a few minutes. With Michele we took a photo and shook hands³. I didn’t hug him. I didn’t have the courage: seeing him so available I felt caught off guard. But it was beautiful all the same.

The concert was powerful, wonderful, exhausting, and full of imagination. As beautiful as the ones I remembered. Maybe more beautiful, given the presence of at least four generations of spectators – in that other life of mine, instead, we were just boys and girls no older than thirty.

He asked, from the stage, to be let go at the end of the concert, because he doesn’t know if he’ll come back to play again, due to personal issues. And we’ll let him go. But we’ll be waiting for him with open arms, whenever he wants to come back.

A note for you, if you’re not Italian: he’s a singer-songwriter who uses rap as a tool of expression. And he does it divinely. He’s cultured, nerdy to the highest power, intelligent and attentive. ↩︎
Caparezza’s name is Michele Salvemini. ↩︎
Actually it was my daughter who took the photo: I froze and couldn’t say a word, caught between emotion, embarrassment, and tension. ↩︎

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Bruxelles 07 - The Cat and the Mice

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Updating My Defaults

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Rereading the previous list of my default apps, I realized that, in fact, the ones on record are not, really, my default apps anymore. I’m a bit obsessive about this, I’ve probably mentioned it before, and however much more stable I feel about it compared to a few years ago, this list has far too many things that no longer reflect the current state of how I use my Mac. Here I’m listing the apps I’ve changed, and I’ll correct the list as a reminder for the future. Who knows about next year.

Mail Server: for a few months now I’ve switched, with fair satisfaction, to Infomaniak email. It’s a Swiss hosting provider, affordable, mindful of privacy (not in the “anonymity” sense that Proton rides on) and of features. The web app works very well, as do the mobile ones; the macOS one leaves something to be desired.
Mail Client: on macOS I use the web app, while for iOS and iPadOS I use the mobile apps. I have the same mail configured on Mail.app too, partly because every now and then I like to give it another chance – which it punctually fails to live up to – and partly to get notifications without having to constantly open the web page.
Notes: I’ve officially, and serenely, and decisively gone back to Bear. My notes are safe, on Apple’s cloud, and I still lick the display every time I use it. Is it limited, compared to more celebrated alternatives? Yes, probably, but that’s not my problem. For work, instead, I use Obsidian, set up as a second brain with an LLM supporting me in managing my complicated tangle of information. I use the PARA method – slightly customized – on both tools.
To-Do: I confirm Todoist, even though for a few months I’d switched back to Things 3. But there’s no history.
Cloud File Storage: I use Infomaniak’s kDrive which, surprisingly, is much faster than iCloud on mobile – where I care more about quick access to files. It has a client that syncs with macOS too, and plenty of space. Work files, instead, live on OneDrive.
RSS: SmartRSS as client (I wrote about it here), FreshRSS as server (and I wrote about that here).
Browser: Safari for personal stuff, Microsoft Edge for work.
Bookmarks: Bear, definitely.
Read It Later: Bear, but I’ve decided to use the power of postponing a read less and less, because in fact I (almost) never get back to it.
Password Management: 1Password (ta-dah!). I tried it a few months ago and, despite the price, I fell in love with it. It’s worth what it costs, no way around it. For work passwords (for the companies I manage), instead, Bitwarden with a self-hosted server.
Code Editor: increasingly Visual Studio Code, but every now and then I try to give Lumide a chance.

More, outside the original list

LLM: I use Claude, with satisfaction. Every now and then I give Google’s Gemini a shot, but Anthropic, marketing or not, is the one that inspires a bit more trust in me.
Terminal: for a few months now I’ve been using Ghostty. I don’t feel the need for anything else.
(S)FTP Client: Cyberduck.
Ad-Blocker: NextDNS.
Maps: even though, every now and then, I try not to be disappointed by Apple Maps, I don’t think anyone can beat Google Maps; I also often use Waze, on routes I already know, for traffic directions.

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Bruxelles 06 - The woman and the dog

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	21/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Bruxelles 05 - Saint Catherine

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	20/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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The Greatest Exercise in Democracy

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Nicola Losito:

During my recent holiday in Spain, I found myself reflecting on the joy and the freedom I enjoyed moving from one State to another: from not having to change currency, from having my documents recognised, from not having to switch my phone plan, from not having to pay artificial surcharges. Moving between Italy and Denmark is the equivalent of a trip between Bari and Bolzano – there will be differences, and long may they live! – but there will also be things in common, the essential ones, that unite us and make us ‘one people’. .
Shutting ourselves away in our own ziggurats will bring us no wellbeing, nor will it take us far as Humanity. Our greatest progress has come whenever we moved beyond the needs of the single individual.

This summer, in Brussels, I walked through the courtyards of the European Parliament, and gazed, fascinated, at the buildings of the Council and the Presidency. I couldn’t get inside – it was a Sunday visit and the institutions were asleep – but it was moving all the same. Moving because the European Union is an enormous exercise in democracy. And democracy, as the quote goes – attributed to Winston Churchill, though who really knows – is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have ever been tried.

Bringing together the needs, the desires and the hopes of 27 different countries which, in turn, each contain needs, desires and hopes splintered into rivulets of different factions, is an ambition of the highest order. You become slow, ponderous, partial and, above all, forcedly diplomatic. The compromises are always many, and bureaucracy must necessarily govern languages, cultures, habits, customs and rules that would otherwise let the few prevail over the many.

So yes, it was moving. I therefore fully share quote¹ from my friend Nicola. I’m sorry for the citizens of Iceland. Despite the flaws, I feel proudly European. There’s still so much to do, but so much has already been done.

Let’s look ahead, but with an awareness of what lay behind us only a few generations ago. We are fortunate.

The translation is mine. The original post is in Italian and speaks of the regret at seeing that Icelandic citizens decided, by a narrow margin, not to open negotiations to join the European Union. I’m sorry too, Icelanders – and thanks for all the fish. ↩︎

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The AI Disclaimer

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Sat, 05 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

During my last trip I used Uber. I use it now and then, when I need to and (above all) when I’m abroad. I redownloaded the app on my iPhone and logged in. All good. Good service, just as I remembered it. Maybe even better than I remembered it.

A few days ago their newsletter arrived¹. At the bottom of the email it said that “Images or text may have been created or modified with AI.”

What were you trying to tell me, Uber?, I thought. Does the text perhaps mean that you don’t want to take any responsibility if the content turns out to be wrong, badly translated, or outright fake? Is it a (positive) admission of shared responsibility or a (brazen) admission of irresponsibility? Does nobody review the content you send to customers? Is the assumption of correctness of texts and images left up to the recipient of the advertising? Is it right or not that they’re informed this way, or should the message be more explicit?

But then I didn’t ask anyone.

I wasn’t subscribed to their promotional newsletter, and while using the app – which in the meantime I’ve deleted again – I’d only logged in and booked some rides. I never explicitly requested to sign up for their SPAM list. Evidently at Uber the logic around user privacy still isn’t aligned with European rules. In the meantime, I’ve unsubscribed. Oh well. ↩︎

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Bruxelles 04 - Legs

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	20/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Bruxelles 03 - Rooftop

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	20/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Camp Snap Pro

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Before last Christmas I treated myself to a Camp Snap Pro. It’s a simple point-and-shoot camera, born with the idea of being used without too many expectations.

I got it with the idea of using it on a family trip, without having to constantly reach for the phone and, at the same time, without carrying the psychological weight of a better camera. I got it, too, to let my daughter use it, to let her retire the kids-cam we bought on Amazon when she was 5, and give her something with the look of a grown-up, proper product.

Camp Snap was founded by a Canadian couple who now live in California and who developed it with the idea of creating memories from outings with their kids. The camera was designed precisely to let kids be “present”, without being distracted by screens¹.

Since last November I never really had the chance to use it seriously. I finally did this August, during our last trip to Belgium. I’m posting, among the photos, under this tag, the shots I liked best. I used it together with my daughter, and some of the photos are hers. I’ve already promised her that on our next trip she’ll be the one mainly using it. I’m giving it to her.²

I don’t mind it, as a camera. There’s better out there, and it could have been made better. It’s very dark for my taste, and I had to go back over almost every shot to bump up the brightness a bit. But without pretensions, exactly, it couldn’t have done any better. In my view, it hit its target.

Truth is, my daughter, who’s over 10, still doesn’t have her own smartphone. She has a Nokia 3310 that she uses to call and text. ↩︎
As long as she lets me take a few photos too. ;) ↩︎

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Bruxelles 02 - Duvel

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	20/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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Bruxelles 01 - Publico

lg@mzll.it (Luigi Mozzillo) — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 01:22:22 +0100

Camera	Camp Snap Pro
Data	20/08/2026
Location	Bruxelles, Belgium

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