Computer Whisperer
Things that interest me, inspired me, made me laugh, or taught me something.
I’m a fan of Dr. Admiral Hopper. Funny, with all my years of enjoying Battlestar Galactica and Dr. Hopper, I’m surprised that I never connected “Cobol”, Dr. Hopper and the Lords of Cobol.
So, here’s a bit of fun whipped out in Photoshop.
Below is a brief history of Cobol. A critically important programming language.
For me, this is a famous and well-known quote. However, not everyone spends as much time with martial artists as I do. This came up in conversation today, and my friend hadn’t heard this quote. So, I thought it would be valuable to share.
I think this is particularly relevant today. Our fast-paced, manic, ever-shifting world being fluid and able to adjust is a critical career skill now. Be formless, take the form of wherever life takes you. There’s value in that.
I love xkcd comics! With the recent hurricane, I thought this was rather timely.
Me being me, if I were an inadvertent passenger on a hurricane chaser flight, I expect I’d utilize all the flights barfbags. Yes, that’s where my mind went!
Anyway, you should subscribe to them. Now!
As a long time fan of Star Wars, I delight in my discovery of this video. A fan montage, it really does a great job of taking the “The greatest teacher failure is” phrase of Yoda’s and reinforce it well. It really adds some interesting insights into The Last Jedi.
I appreciate considering the importance of failure, not only in the lives of fictional characters but also in ours.
I’ve been following Debbie Millman’s “Design Matters” for years (I’ve written about previous episodes before). She’s a brilliant interviewer with a great gift for finding interesting guests. With a focus on creatives and the life of being a creative, I find her guests to be inspiring and fascinating. I love seeing a new podcast in my feed.
Today’s episode features Fanny Singer, author, art historian, and, perhaps, most famous for being the daughter of restauranteur Alice Waters, proprietor of Berkley’s Chez Panisse.
I must confess my ignorance of Dr. Singer, Ms. Waters, and Chez Panisse before today. Even though I have an affinity for Berkeley that started in the mid-80s when I was a music student. One year we went to the West Coast Jazz Festival, hosted by Berkeley. I loved the campus and the city and seriously wanted to head there. But, well, life happened. With all that, I’m disappointed in myself for this ignorance.
I highly recommend taking the time to listen to the podcast. For some reason, the podcast is only showing up on the Design Matters Soundcloud feed. Maybe it just takes some more time to ripple out to iTunes, Google’s Podcasts, etc. But, hey, Soundcloud is awesome!
The episode references a few things that I thought I’d add links (for your convenience).
Colophon: Dr. Singer’s dissertation focused on the British Pop artist Richard Hamilton, who I hadn’t heard of before this podcast (I learned a lot this one). Their description of him makes me extremely intrigued so I intend to research him further. In particular, his cutting edge computer-generated art seems very intriguing.
I have a couple of design considerations/mediations today.
I just stumbled upon this video with iJustine and Marques with MKBHD from 2018. I don’t know where they found an unopened iBook G3 in 2018, but that’s particularly cool to me.
Anyway, what’s particularly fun for me: I had one of these! I loved this! And I enjoyed the odd stares from my techy friends. That was especially true when I used the handle. Though that was convenient, especially when I was moving a short distance (didn’t need/want to load it into my backpack), in hindsight, it was rather weird.
Kinda weird that I’ve lived so many of these historic tech moments. I’m not old!
I’ve enjoyed MrWhoseTheBoss (otherwise known as Arun Maini) for a couple of years now. I like his take on tech. As I’m an OS Agnostic (whether we’re talked PCs or mobile), I find his takes balanced and insightful.
As someone who also likes to see people find their passions, and see how they came to that realization, I find his recent video wonderful. Seeing his unconscious progress towards a certain career end with him getting the dream job, then realizing that, no, that wasn’t the dream, struck home. I’ve seen that many times in my own life. It felt good to see him have that realization, see clearly what he needed to do, feel the fear that the non-conventional paths take, and take the plunge anyway.
Give him a few minutes of your time my friends. You’ll be glad you did.
This TED Talk was just sent to me: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness | Robert Waldinger. I’ve seen this video before and greatly appreciate the insights brought to light.
Here’s the basic framework. Harvard started a study around 80 years ago looking at what makes us happy and healthy in life. Having a study like this last this long is very significant. Dr. Waldinger is the 4th director of this study. It gives us a rare glimpse into positive living, one that hasn’t existed before.
In my youth, I believed, like so others that wealth and fame were the keys to an awesome life. There are many studies showing that a majority of people think the same. Turns out, that’s wrong.
“Good relationships keep us happier and healthier”. Social connection is life-giving, loneliness kills. This isn’t the number of friends, etc, but the quality. Also, living in conflict is destructive. The people who were the most satisfied at age 50 have the best health in their 80s. And good relationships are not only good for our bodies but also our minds. Ultimately, having people in your life that you KNOW have your back, that will be there when the times go bad, this is what will make your life satisfying.
I’m glad to have the benefit of the wisdom from this study without having to have lived a full lifetime, to use this knowledge to make a better life, not simply reflect back. And I want the same for you. Take a few minutes out of your day and go watch this video.
I spent my Memorial Day morning catching up on email and reading. The scope of “keeping up” overwhelms me at times. The only solution I found to not letting this stress me? Accepting the lack of a solution, and that I must choose my focus. So, most of the stuff that comes into my inbox gets deleted.
Here are a few things that caught my eye today:
That’s where I find myself this morning. How about you? Anything inspiring and insightful come into view for you?