“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
— Vincent Van Gogh
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Archive for the ‘Other’ Category
Keep Moving Monday
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, brain broke, Mondays, must.keep.moving, Thoughts on February 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Look for What’s Good
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, hope, Thoughts on February 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The forces of chaos are strong this week, especially with our neighbours to the south. Look for what’s good!
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Saturday Night Remixed
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, family, home, inspiration, music on February 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »
This one’s for my father, who introduced us to Saturday Night Live and to music.
Questlove’s Fantastic Video Mix of 50 Years of SNL Music
Oh this is just delightful: for the opening of his documentary film on the history of music on SNL he co-directed with Oz Rodriguez, Questlove produced what the NY Times calls “a high-speed, six-minute DJ mix of SNL music highlights”. So. Good.
There’s a link to the video in the article. It’s mostly blurred but the audio is still playable (you can watch the full video on Peacock if you have it; I don’t but the audio was still fun).
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Wishing You Happy Endings
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, ideas, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on January 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »
A Note on iOS 18.3 & Our New AI Overlords
Posted in Other, tagged "intelligence", #365Ways, #365Ways2025, #fyi, AI, annoying stuff, apple-intelligence, iphone, sneaky stuff, technology on January 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »
This is a brief note for any iPhone (or Mac, see note) users out there.
Apple releases iOS 18.3 with AI-powered Apple Intelligence on by default
Apple has kicked off iOS 18.3, iPadOS 18.3, and MacOS 15.3 with one significant change affecting AI. Since its debut, Apple Intelligence has required the extra step of actually turning it on or opting in. But with the new versions, Apple’s AI feature is enabled by default for eligible devices.
Sigh. I’m not a Luddite but that doesn’t mean I want AI rummaging around in my phone whenever it wants. If you feel that way too, or just want to extend your battery life, you can disable this new annoying “feature.”
Fortunately, it’s easy to do: How to turn off Apple Intelligence now that it’s on by default
Disable Apple Intelligence by navigating to “Settings” > “Apple Intelligence & Siri” and toggle off the button next to “Apple Intelligence.”
Enjoy your (temporary?) escape from the AI powers that be!
Note: The latest Mac OS (15.3 as of this writing) also defaults Apple Intelligence to *on.* Act accordingly, folks!
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The Power of Story
Posted in Holidays, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, future of civilization, history, memory, Thoughts on January 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. I do try to emphasize the brighter side of life in this blog and this is not that, but it’s important. Fewer children are taught this history and too many adults act like it never happened (and could never happen again).
As survivors pass on those of us who remain must remember what and how and why. Not only for those who died, but for ourselves and our futures. This is the power of stories.
It is right that those who committed atrocities be held responsible, but remembrance days like this aren’t primarily about blame for past guilt. They are about the political tides that make these events possible. They are about the ordinary people swept up in such times.
Most of all, they are about avoiding future repetition.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution.
‘New way of bearing witness’: one of biggest Holocaust archives goes online
Announced on Holocaust Memorial Day, the Wiener Holocaust Library’s new online platform includes more than 150,000 items collected over nine decades. Users can view letters, pamphlets and photographs that record the rise of fascism in Britain and Europe.
My grandpa chose not to speak about his Holocaust experiences – but he asked me to tell the world
I’ve been asked why I believe Holocaust education is so important, and I find it hard to verbalise. It seems so obvious to me, as the grandchild of survivors, that these stories must continue to be told – it sounds cliche to quote “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it”, but with every passing year, it’s clear we are continuing to forget the horrors humanity is capable of. Gyuri’s final message was clear: tell the world, so they can learn from it.
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Understanding Others, and Ourselves
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, brain science, brunch, science, society, Thoughts, truth on January 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »
We had brunch today with good friends. They are smart and fun and interesting and love our cat (which, let’s face it, is about the best thing you can say about a person).
We don’t all share the same politics. Why do I mention this? To point out that it doesn’t matter.
We may not be on the same page in terms of voting and algorithms, but we like a lot of the same real-life things, we share a lot of the same fundamental values, and are always curious about the others’ experience and perspectives.
It doesn’t hurt that they like my cooking;)
How to step out of your inner monologue and understand the world better – Big Think
The interesting thing about being a human is that we’re stuck inside our internal model—it’s all we ever see. But with the endeavors of science, literature, and philosophy, we’re able to step outside of ourselves and understand, “Hey, the way I see the world isn’t the only way to see the world. It’s not the only truth.” The more we get good at that, the more we can try to build a better society.
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Today, It’s Baking
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, artists, creativity on January 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »
I work in whatever medium likes me at the moment.
—Marc Chagall
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Art Is Inevitable
Posted in Other, Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, creativity, inspiration, NASA, space on January 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »
A NASA astronaut may have just taken the best photo from space—ever
Check out the article for the specific photo, but this is from the same series:
For more of Astro Don’s imagery, see his photos at the Portraits of a Planet exhibit, his book Spaceborne, or find him on social media.
“Art is an inevitable consequence of being human – even in space.”
— Donald R. Pettit
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Expect the Unexpected!
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, Thoughts on January 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Ah, the ongoing joys of adulting! Fortunately, things are pretty okay today, and there are a lot of positives to adulting, too (ice cream for dinner! voting! autonomy!). That said, I ran across this comic the other day and it felt true, or at least truer than my eight-year old self might have expected.
I’m off to call customer service, figure out what’s for dinner, and then maybe watch a little Star Wars!
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