Even Batman needs lunch
Chess. I forgot about it.
When I was a kid, chess appeared to be a game of magic. The mere concept of it captivated me. However, I must admit that this fascination was partly because of my limited exposure to the game, as I had primarily learned about chess through cartoon magicians, old fantasy movies, and this one artefact in my home.
The artefact in question was a small table, far too short to be useful. It was crafted from dark brown wood and had ornate, wavey legs. The top was so shiny that it resembled glass to me—it was a glossy, polished wooden chessboard. I distinctly remember that it lifted up to reveal a green felt lining that held the delicate chess pieces safe.
I have since been assured by my mother that the chess table was an ugly old thing with a loose leg and plastic chess pieces. It wasn’t highly polished at all; it was just slightly shiny because it was plastic on the top.
My dad taught me the basics of the game, although I don’t recall him ever having any interest in it. From what I understand, the table was more of a common early eighties home decoration than a sign of enthusiasm for the game. I had a feeling it was more often used to hold wine glasses it was than used to play on.
I have no idea what happened to that old table. It might be somewhere in the spider-infested loft of my home, but I’m not brave enough to embark on that quest.
Feel like it maybe time to change some things.
made a video… oddly youtu.be/Vn3KXGy3p…
The Valsalva manoeuvre is far less exotic than the Picard manoeuvre, but likely more applicable to situations which most people encounter.
LumaFusion and the Power of the Cross-Platform App
LumaFusion is a video editing application, and in my experience, it’s pretty good. But what really blows me away is that it’s an example of a truly platform-agnostic app—at least within the Apple ecosystem. I purchased it on my iPad (a 13 inch M2 iPad Air) for around £30. My main use case is editing short animation clips and using a proper video editor to manage transitions and link them together.
The Creative Gym (Learning art with no natural aptitude)
Humans make things. Whether this creative urge is unique to us or a common trait among all species that reach our level of social and technological development remains a mystery. It is also worth noting that the creative urge does not exist in all members of our species. Many people are perfectly content watching Netflix and eating cereal out of a box. Strangely, there has never been societal pressure to be creative. There is pressure to get a job and pay bills, get an education, and shower from time to time. But failing to find motivation to create does not cause any social issues at all.
Most of my friends create things. I know artists, coders, tinkerers, and writers. Most people in my life are working on a “project” or some other general creative task. I enjoy getting updates on their creations, even when I don’t entirely follow what they’re working on. There is something absolutely wonderful about listening to someone talk about what they are making. There’s an intimate passion that oozes from them when they speak of their “work.”
I have never thought of myself as creative—which is strange, considering my major pastime is writing fiction. I have published books, novellas, blogs, and even videos, and I have been doing so for years. I love storytelling. Writing has been the best way for me to do it.
People need to stop saying ‘game changer’ its got to the point of meaningless
The rise of ai tools is going to seriously effect profit’s for services like grammar and language tool soon. As of yet though, there is no good language tool alternative for my phone. It’s going to be interesting to see how it unfolds, because, LLMs are far more effective spell checkers than anything else I have used. I just wish we didn’t have all the other baggage that went with them.
Is my future offline?
As I’m sure many of you have noticed, I have recently been on something of a cleanse. Ejecting things from my life which I feel are no longer relevant. Trying my best to live intentionally and considering what adds value to my life, and what are things which I use as crouches for someone I used to be. Towards the end of this year, I am hoping to be in a financial position where I can buy a camper van and have little weekend excursions with my dog. I one day hope to retire into a mobile home of some kind and visit Europe, assuming there is a way to have my dog come with me, that is.
This pipe-dream about a small space, mobile future has been leaking into the decisions I make day to day. While I am a fair way away from having to think about the practical things, I have something of a clear thought pattern. I have likely mentioned it here before:
NewsExplorer seems pretty good so far. RSS win. I guess.
Today have learned that my RSS reader (Reeder+) doesn’t have an export. Oddly this made me want to leave, so i installed NewsExplorer. Seems pretty good so far.
Digital Minimalism?
I have spent some time reading the Cal newport book ‘Digital Minimalism.’ I’m not that far in, but I picked it up because I was feeling a ‘thing,’ the book, so far, has made me double feel that ‘thing.’ I need to write a full post about the ‘thing.’ The ‘thing,’ if anyone is wondering, is the realisation that I am unhappy with the amount of time I spend attached to the internet, and to my screens.
Few days into DAP life now. I love having a music player which doesn’t expect more from me than to hit the play button.
Do you ever make a purchase and then think “that was dumb, I should not have done that” ?
My wisdom tooth is uncomfortable this morning.
Christianity: Bible translation comparisons and thoughts, from an interested reader.
Recently I was reading the translation notes in my NLT bible and there were a few lines which made me raise an eyebrow. This led me to go on a bit of a deep dive into all the translations which I read.
I am not an expert and all information provided can be found online with ease. All I did was read and collate it with some thoughts.
To be clear, despite this information, I believe all the listed translations are reliable enough to be inspired. This is a narrative on translation philosophy, not an attempt at critique. It is intended to be a research session in which I educate myself and share my findings. I believe they are all good translations for different purposes. However, I have preferences, which I will summarise at the end.
Imagine a world where Things got worn out when you looked at them. Like erosion of viewing. I think it happens in some ways, on a personal level, the more I look at a thing the less I appreciate it. Maybe it’s me being depleted, not the things I look at.
Why doesn’t apple mail have a share sheet? It’s infuriating
It’s foggy today. I assume this is because 2025 has started loading.