Luca Sartoni

I had the privilege to have Kellie as my team lead for the last two years at Automattic.

I recently switched to a new role, but I could not agree more with her about how great is working in such an inclusive environment at Automattic.

We are hiring!

Two years ago, in April 2017, Katie Bouman gave this presentation on how to take a picture of a black hole. Yesterday, two years later, the picture has been revealed to the world.

In a few hours, the first ever image of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* at the center of the Milky Way galaxy will be released. What should we expect to see? How will it look like?

Here a video to explain what we expect to see:

From now on you can follow this blog on Telegram too.

Join the channel https://t.me/LucaDotBlog and you won’t miss any of my updates!

See you there!

After 85 days of sabbatical, tomorrow I’ll be back to work.

As much as I feel rested, after such a long break, it was one of the most intense period of my life. I’ve done a lot, I’ve seen a lot, and definitely I have lived a lot!

Letizia and I combined our sabbatical breaks with our honeymoon and we spent 50 days camping in a van in New Zealand. We drove for 6 thousand kilometers, and explored nearly every corner of that beautiful country. We went hiking, kayaking, caving, stargazing, swimming, climbing, and much more.

We then spent two weeks in Fiji, heavily testing the resistance of the hammock outside our bungalow. We went free-diving, kayaking, we learned how to open a coconut, and how to get mellowly inebriated with Kava. We also fed baby turtles.

After we got back to Europe, I took a couple more trips, taking advantage of my empty calendar. I went five days to Lisbon with my mom, and five days to Ireland with my dad. I don’t see them as often as I should, and it was a great opportunity to connect with them.

I deliberately avoided to update this blog during my trips because I wanted to disconnect from the ordinary as much as possible. I will post pictures and stories about my travels in the weeks to come.

I feel ready to get back to work with a renovated energy, and I’ve also lost 6kg in the process. What else to say… bring it on!

A great video by Smarter Every Day on how to verify your content on social media.

Letizia and I have been in New Zealand for almost a month, and we love it.

We hike and swim almost daily and we rest a lot. We hired a campervan, and we move often, exploring mountain trails, and beautiful beaches.

I haven’t checked Instagram, Twitter, or emails since we arrived here and I don’t feel any pressure in doing so. However, we have data SIMs in our phones so sometimes I find myself entrenched a little too much into reading news here and there, mostly on Reddit and Facebook.

I’m taking a whole lot of pictures, which I publish on Flickr every time I find a solid Wi-Fi.

We still have a couple more months in front of us before going back to work and we are going to make the most out of them!

For the first time in my life I set an Out of Office for my email accounts.

All my social accounts have been disconnected, I removed most of the social apps from my phone, my email is deactivated too.

See you in April 2019!

Take care, bye!

I’m not a fan of new year’s resolutions but I took some time to reflect on the year that had just passed.

Three things I did well in 2018

I got married

In September Letizia and I got married. It was the very best day of my life and I had the chance to experience something unique. For the first time ever, all of my friends and family gathered under the same roof to enjoy a day together.
The preparation for the wedding kept us busy for the previous 7 months, but it was totally worth it. We’ll always cherish this memory together.

I got a coach

In august I started a professional development path with a coach, and it was really great. I realised how important it find someone who can help move up to the next level. The same way it happens in sports, a coach is not going to do the work for you, and it’s not giving you a magic potion. A coach helps finding new directions, opportunities, and answers, simply asking questions, exploring arguments, and focusing the conversation on what matters. A good coach does not leave any stone unturned and forces you face fundamental questions about yourselves. It was empowering and somehow liberating.

I picked up free-diving

In March I signed up for a free-diving course that ended in June. It was an amazing experience that opened up a new world of opportunities. I am fascinated by my aspects of this discipline and I definitely got hooked to it. I’m just at the very beginning of this adventure, and I can’t wait to developing it further.

Two things I did not well in 2018

I gained weight

I’ve struggled with my weight since I can remember. I’ve had these 10kg of extra weight on me for my entire adult life, but now getting closer to my 40s things won’t get any easier in trying to get rid of them. This year, on the contrary, I gained a few kilos more, and it’s not good.

I neglected photography

This year I did not take as many pictures as I wanted, and definitely not as good ones as I wished. For many months my camera collected dust on a shelf, while I was busy at something else. Photography has given me great opportunities in life, and amazing joy in the past. This year was definitely bad, on that aspect.

One thing I’ll focus in the next three months

In just 9 days I’ll take a sabbatical leave from work. Letizia and I will leave for three months, exploring New Zealand and the pacific islands. The plan is the hike and dive for the entire time, not bothering with anything else. I already deleted Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook from my phone. I’ll delete more apps as soon as the sabbatical kicks in.

I won’t post regular updates of the sabbatical, and until mid April 2019, this blog will fly in autopilot, with a few scheduled posts. I will probably read email once a week or so, or even less frequently.

I’ll have my camera with me, but I’ll select and publish photos only at the end of the trip.

Until then, take care, and be well!