I picked up this comic from a former co-worker (@evans_comics) - Lani! It is excellent. Interesting story based in San Diego, and the artwork is well done. The stickers are fun also!
You can check out his online store here: https://evanscomics.etsy.com/.
I have been curious about the differences between artificial intelligence (AI) image creation tools, and I saw this prompt on Midjourney in the daily theme thread:
Pixar, Beautiful Korean queen focus on front with smile, Hanbok, blue, red, gold, elegant, gorgeous, cute cats, queen of the pink moon, hyper realistic, fliry vibe, fantasy, elaborate, radiant, --no moon --ar 16:9 --v 5.1 - Variations by @jingwen0404 (relaxed)
And this is what was generated:
I put the following into Bing Image creation:
Pixar, Beautiful Korean queen focus on front with smile, Hanbok, blue, red, gold, elegant, gorgeous, cute cats, queen of the pink moon, hyper realistic, fliry vibe, fantasy, elaborate, radiant
And this is what I got:
Very different outputs IMHO.
I had a hunch the way this car was driving that "he" was going to come into my lane.
Photo by Frank Holleman on Unsplash
In a recent episode of Cal Newport's The Deep Life Podcast -- Episode 238: The Joys Of The Reading Life -- Cal provided his well-thought-out ideas on how to have a deep reading life and how that intersects with our digital technologies.
I agree with Cal that reading deeply needs concentration and is free from distraction. Physical books are excellent for those that want that experience.
I also agree that reading on the Kindle (or other dedicated eBook readers) can be a deep reading platform. My Kindle Paperwhite is my primary device for all my reading with my eyes. [NOTE: Listening to audiobooks is reading. Don't get me started.]
He is also correct that reading on most people's standard mobile phones or digital tablets like an iPad is not a deep reading platform.
If you do end up reading on a phone or tablet, here are my recommendations.
My phone already has very minimal alerts, but with a quick swipe, I turn on "Do Not Disturb." And in my Kindle application on the phone, I have changed the background color (Layout > Page Color) from white (default) to green. The other options are: tan, white, or black. I'd choose tan if you don't like the green color.
I find having that green background - uncommon like the tan - tells my mind that I am now in reading mode and not scanning mode (like with a white or black background). This lets me read more deeply when I don't have my Kindle and only my phone. Once I finish reading, I turn off "Do Not Disturb."
Reading on my iPad is more straightforward, as I have 'Do Not Disturb' always on. And I am only reading content on my iPad with colors: comic books, WWII books with maps, Star Wars guides, recipe books, etc. I don't change the background color on my iPad.
Thoughts? Comments? Feedback is always welcome!
I learned a lot about Adam Smith that I didn't know about in this three part podcast from Freakonomics.com: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Here are a few examples:
My current personal external Getting Things Done (GTD) brain/tool is Nirvana. I recently decided to move some of my "content" related items in my Someday/Maybe list to external list options in tools that are native for that type of content.
For books I moved them to an Amazon Book Want To Read List. This is using Amazon's Wishlist option.
For movies and TV shows, I am using the Watchlist feature in IMDB.
One of the benefits of this approach was it got each of these content types into a more "non-text" list in Nirvana with more visuals, and it helped to speed up my review of my Someday/Maybe items during my GTD Weekly Review.
I also have a Wishlist on Amazon for physical things I might want to purchase. When something new comes a long that looks interesting, but I don't know for sure that it will be useful, I put them in this list. And then I review it every month or so to see if any items are really something I need. Not just something I wanted at the spur of the moment.
If you have any suggestions on other types of list tools for content, then please let me know.
You can find out what I'm up to in near real-time via: Twitter (@sholden) Instagram (@sholden), or Facebook (sholden). I also recommend checking out my AztecMedia.net produced sites: Chvrches Fan Podcast (@chvrchespodcast), ThePodCraft Beer Show (@thepodcraft, @techguysteve, Untapped, @techguysteven); Tech News Radio (@technewsradio), Air Gapped Networks (@airgapnet), Jersey Boys Podcast, and Veteran Stories. [Updated: May 9, 2021]
This photo is part of my Blurry collection.
CURRENT HAPPENINGS
January seemed to be on cruise-control here at our home. All is good health-wise and no major COVID-19 impacts. One super great blessing is that Christy's school where she teaches has been able to hold classes since September with no major issues.
The attack on the Capital was horrific. It is shocking to me that so many in the Senate and the House are so supportive of the Cult of Trump. I'm not confident much will change with the impending Impeachment #2.
The kids are back in school, and we are back to juggling spaces, times for video calls, etc. But we are getting pretty good at that!
LOOK FORWARD TO
Conrad is turning twenty-two this month and seems to be enjoying SDSU. He and a friend did a fun video recently called "The Shed" (YouTube)!
It looks like Christy and I are going to be headed back to The Oaks (our photos from our 1st trip) in April which should be a great retreat as we celebrate our 27th Wedding Anniversary.
I am going to be Dungeon Mastering (DMing) for my Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) group two little side adventures over the next month or so. One is an "epic" battle and another is going to be a "snatch-&-grab."
TECHNOLOGY, TIPS, & SUGGESTIONS
Here is a great visualization of the Pomodoro Technique for breaking up focused work into time slices that I've found to be pretty effective especially when working a big project:
I also ran across this graphic on tips for camera settings that I've saved off in Google Keep for easy access:
This article -- "Comic-Con 2019: Former CIA agents explain 6 ways to conduct and evade surveillance" -- has some technology tips worth reading from a perspective of how to be more private and secure with your phones and devices.
QUOTE I'M THINKING ABOUT
“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. - Mary Engelbreit
This photo is part of my Nature Collection!
CURRENT HAPPENINGS
Over the past month we have been celebrating outdoors & socially distanced the Holidays, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. Best of all is that we continue to be blessed with a hedge of protection with regards to COVID-19 and health in general.
Unfortunately I do have some bad news -- on Saturday morning (December 26) we found out our elderly black lab Kaley escaped our yard, and we have not been able to find her. We are all very concerned and sad. But we continue to hold out hope she will be found:
SUPER FUN ADVENT CRAFT BEER CALENDAR
Chris and Charlie -- the hosts of ThePodcraft Beer Show -- gave me this awesome customized Advent Calendar filled with twenty-four excellent craft beers:
You can see photos, descriptions, and top 3 list here!
HOLIDAY SCAVENGER HUNT
The NAVWAR Enterprise had a fun virtual scavenger hunt for employees and their families over the weekend of December 18-20, 2020. The family had a good time working on it. We didn't finish in the Fastest Top 30, but we got everything done!
TECHNOLOGY, TIPS, & SUGGESTIONS
If you are looking for a great coffee mug, tea kettle, desk/garden creatures, or unique stickers/t-shirts/etc. then check out Skeletal Dropkick! I am enjoying my new Bear Mug, and custom D&D stickers! I also got an original custom drawing on my box! FUN!
If you are doing "family" tech support for folks on multiple platforms, then check out the free Chrome Remote Desktop tool from Google. It works cross platform, and also works on Chromebooks. I personally use this nearly on a daily basis to get from my Chromebook to my Windows 10 PC for Windows-based activities.
This site puts some things in perspective on what has changed since you were born - https://neal.fun/life-stats/. It includes a lot of positive data, and not so much on data that might be controversial, but definitive worth trying out.
This great calendar visualization of 2021 continuous year from Kairos Cognition (a productivity consulting & consulting firm associated with David Allen's Getting Things Done) inspired me to create my own version in Google Docs which I published in PDF. This is what mine looks like:
In discussing this continuous year calendar on the GTD Connect forms, a fellow member shared his own horizontal version. I copied it (PDF) and here is what it looks like:
QUOTE I'M THINKING ABOUT
“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” — George Carlin
Photo by Steve Holden. MORE LIKE THIS!
CURRENT EVENTS
No big change for us on the COVD-19 front. We continue to be vigilant and focused: #wear_a_mask; #wash_your_hands, #social_distance, and #stay_home_if_sick. The good news is that Christy's school as been able to go back to teaching kids in person with a host of safe guards which is a blessing and an answer to prayer.
Tour de France 2020. Who doesn't want to watch 4 to 5 hours nearly every day during September seeing some of the best athletes in the world do what most people would consider completely impossible? I am all in. I am watching via NBC Sports via YouTube TV.
My candidate for President of the United States in 2020 is Jo Jorgensen (#letherspeak, #letherdebate). While I don't agree with everything she is advocating, she is in my humble opinion the best option for a President Of The United States who believes in and will fight for:
OTHER THINGS THAT ARE GOING WELL
EXPERIMENTING WITH MEDITATION
The book "10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works"
By: Dan Harris (#meditation) got me to do a little experiment over the last month since finishing the book. I've been doing five minutes of unguided meditation using the Apple iOS app Oak from Kevin Rose before I stretch in the morning. Nothing bad has happened (Ha Ha!) I actually now think a little "mind exercise" is a good thing. My monkey mind is strong! More updates as time goes on.
If you are interested in guided meditations, then the only examples I've had experience with are Mike Foster's Guided Meditations. The Oak app has them but I haven't used them before.
TECHNOLOGY, TIPS, & SUGGESTIONS
I have just started using this new Google Chrome browser feature for organizing tabs. So far it is an awesome new feature.
This what I've been listening to on Audible (you can try Audible for free for 30-days and get two free books if you want). Over the last month:
I am currently doing all my Audible listening on my cell phone Samsung Galaxy S10+.
I also managed to finish a few Kindle books (I am currently using a Kindle Paperwhite for nearly all my reading):
One of my "newer" (I've heard in the past that this isn't a word, but I still use it all the time) favorite bands is Lo Moon. They opened last year for several shows that the CHVRCHES did, and I'm super impressed with them. I recently bought their album Lo Moon on Amazon so I could load the MP3s on my AfterShokz Black Diamond Xtrainerz as I really wanted to listen to them while swimming. Other specific albums I listen to frequently while swimming are: CHVRCHES (Bones of What You Believe, Every Open Eye, Love Is Dead) and Maggie Rogers (Heard It In A Past Life). I will also drag a lot of 80s New Wave to a folder for 'random' mode listening.
Def Con (the yearly hacker conference I've been going to since #18) was completely virtual this year. A ton of solid cybersecurity content is readily available if you are interested.
QUOTE I'M THINKING ABOUT
"We are what we repeatedly do, therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle