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Data Highways and Information Overload

A while back, I posted about how I was using Evernote to manage information in my house and life. Probably a year ago, Evernote decided to change their user terms, and limit how many devices can use their free plans. So essentially, I can use it on my phone, and have to use the web version (which absolutely sucks) on everything else.

A while back, I also posted about how I was moving towards my own self-hosted cloud server, which has been actually working quite well. But as great as it is, ownCloud has a few limitations- namely, the lack of add-on features. Especially ones that work with my phone.

As a result, I’m sort of stuck in limbo with my data. I don’t have any really good solutions yet. I may go back to Evernote, but only if I feel like ownCloud isn’t meeting my needs. More than likely, though, I’ll just keep using ownCloud. I’m not sure the convenience is worth the cost, or risk of data breaches.

But at the end of the day, I’m in control of my data, and I am responsible for what happens to it. I’m not really comfortable with any large company selling my personal information for profit. Not to mention they’re obligated to hand my data over if the government decides they want to look at it.

Really, I don’t like the idea of Big Data to begin with. Sure, the information is easier to find and store. And I don’t have massive stacks of filing cabinets. But you want to know the truth? Once I’m gone, that information means nothing. How much of it do we really need in the first place? Continue reading “Data Highways and Information Overload”

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The Plan

I have thoughts on things.

My head is always full of thoughts on all kinds of things. Lots of things. Always.

Most of the time, it’s not important stuff. Such is the life of an adult ADD’er.

But sometimes…. sometimes, God gets a hold of me and I think about things that are important. Like “How am I going to multiply the gifts God has given me?” Or sometimes “How can I call myself a Christian when I fail all the time?” (I get this one quite frequently.)

Sometimes I get a wild idea to create something. And most of the time, before I can do anything about it, there’s a voice inside my head saying “Don’t bother. You won’t have time to do it the way you want. And you’re too distracted to finish it anyway.”

Sigh.

I have been asking God to give me clarity on this. I will always fight the battle of distractions, but I know God wants me to get through that barrier.

This is not for me… not to prove anything. I’ve already proved I can do things on my own. I need to rely on God for this.

I am getting to the point where I’m ready to do things again. I have a lot of things I want to do that I need to get out. And it’s going to require me to go into ADD Beast Mode© to get them done.

Continue reading “The Plan”

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The Nine Laws: Part Four

If you haven’t read them, start with my review of The Nine Laws, and subsequent part One, part Two, and part Three.

The Fourth Law is Endurance.

The word “endure” comes from the Latin root word “indurare” which means “to harden.” To Endure means to go through something “difficult, painful, or hard.” As opposed, of course, to not going through it, i.e. giving up.

Endurance is what separates good athletes (or warriors) from great ones. Most people have the capability to run, or to lift heavy things. But when you can do it repeatedly, or for extended periods of time, then you have endurance.

There are millions of websites that can show you how to develop physical endurance. It’s not that difficult, actually- the human body is phenomenal at adapting to a repeated exercise. If you progressively push yourself longer and longer, your body will gradually learn and adapt.

What there isn’t much information on, sadly, is Mental Endurance. And the most tragic thing about this is that without Mental Endurance, your physical endurance is practically worthless.

The principle of Mental Endurance can be embodied in the trait of Psychopathy: a complete removal from emotions. It is acceptance: not wishing things were different, but accepting them as they are.

Let’s ponder on this for a moment. Continue reading “The Nine Laws: Part Four”

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What I learned from Shounen Manga & Anime

“Shounen” is a term coined to describe Japanese comics and cartoons that are aimed at young men. The majority of these shows are targeted at teenage boys aged 12 to 18, and they all tend to gravitate around a common plot point: the ordinary main character becoming stronger and overcoming some seemingly impossible obstacle, and eventually unlocking his inner warrior/strength/purpose/champion.

These shows almost always center around competition- sometimes actual fighting, as in Boku No Hero Academia, and sometimes in sports, such as Haikyuu!! or Yowamushi Pedal. Sometimes it’s goofy stuff like Beyblades, or even cooking, like Shogekogu No Soma.

The idea, though, is that in each of these shows, they focus on sportsmanship and healthy competition. They don’t shy away from topics like ethics (in fact, there’s almost always a character who “bends” the rules and is frowned upon and shunned as the Bad Guy). They address things like motivations, purpose, personal development, strength, and training. And even in the case of the “Bad Guy” that nobody likes, their own motivations are usually revealed to be not entirely selfish. They also just want to win, they just don’t care what other people think of their methods (which is why nobody likes them).

I think one of the funniest things about the dialogue is when one character says “I will defeat you!” and their nemesis (usually the main character who is coming up through the ranks) says “I will defeat you, too!” It’s preposterous, but also kind of cool how their resolve allows them to each say “I will win” even when they both know one of them won’t. Maybe that’s a Japanese thing, but I like that it shows how each character honestly believes in their chances of success. Continue reading “What I learned from Shounen Manga & Anime”

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Free Speech As We Know It Is Dead

In the recent fallout after Gab.ai was banned from both the Apple App Store *and* Google’s Play Store, things have gotten interesting, and dangerous. At the same time, a well-known, notoriously antisemitic Neo-Nazi website was effectively erased from the internet without due process. During this whole debacle it was revealed that the entirety of the internet is controlled by only a few companies who can essentially censor the internet with impunity. And no one can stop them. (I’ll probably post more on this soon.)

Fast forward a few weeks: the “internet refugee” who was essentially erased from posting anything on the internet ends up on Gab.ai, which bills itself as a “Free Speech” platform. But when you look closer, you discover that the Gab.ai Terms of Service exclude posting content that is illegal, as subject to different jurisdictions. “But muh Freeze Peach!” you can hear the trolls crying. Sorry, but if you post something straight-up illegal, Gab.ai cannot protect you. And of course, everybody who could think more than a few steps ahead knew this was going to be tested (and proven) at some point. We’re not that surprised.

Now, this recent incident with the Neo-Nazis and Gab (and an unnamed Sci-Fi author) has sparked flames of indignation with the trolls: “How dare we get sued for posting whatever we want about anybody we want! Isn’t this a Free Speech site?” To which the answer is, There is no such thing as completely 100% free speech without consequences.

It means Free Speech, as they *thought* it was defined, does not exist. And the interesting part is, it really never did.

So what does that mean for people like me and you, who don’t necessarily espouse the ideals of radicals on either side, but still want the freedom to speak our mind? Continue reading “Free Speech As We Know It Is Dead”

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Intermittent Fasting

Not too long ago, I was struggling to get back down to my ideal weight. You’ve probably been there: not starving yourself, but still working out, and can’t seem to lose any more fat. And much like we talked about recently, I was already doing portion control to keep my calories within reason.

I wasn’t too sure about it at first. I was already eating pretty healthily, and I felt like if I cut back my calories more, I wouldn’t be getting enough nutrition. I wasn’t working out as much as I’d have liked, but I couldn’t change that, either… so I was looking for something, some way to change my diet to lose weight and stay healthy.Then I stumbled across a phenomenon called Intermittent Fasting. I first heard about it from Danger and Play, but something about it intrigued me. What if you could lose weight just by something simple… by just by changing when you eat??

What is intermittent fasting?

Basically, it’s changing your eating schedule to optimize how your body burns food. This is not a diet, in that it’s not changing what you eat, or how much. (I’m assuming you’re already eating fairly healthy food.) But most people never take into account that our bodies were designed to process food in different ways, based on what our needs are. Continue reading “Intermittent Fasting”

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Becoming The Character: Sun Wukong

Over the last few months, I’ve been sucked into the show RWBY, produced by Rooster Teeth, the same guys who made Red Vs. Blue and Lazer Team. In essence, the show takes place in another world where monstrous Grimm roam the countryside, and evil threatens to rip the world apart.

Besides it being animated, the fight scenes are extremely well done. Most of the fighting was choreographed based on actual martial arts skills, which gives the show a wonderful real-world quality. Several of the martial arts scenes were actually motion-captures of the show’s creator, Monty Oum. There are several excellent heroes and villains in the show, but when I was thinking of candidates for whom to emulate, the first one that came to mind wasn’t one of the main characters, but a supporting character: Sun Wukong.

Sun is a laid-back kind of guy (a large part of why I like him) and is also a faunus, which are part-animal humanoids. He’s a bit of a scoundrel, but we also see him being very devoted to his friends. He fights with at least two distinct martial arts disciplines, and executes several slick parkour and gymnastic moves as well. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he’s got killer abs and nice hair. He’s mischievous, but not rude or mean. He’s confident, smart, and loyal. The area he hails from isn’t big on dressing up, and he’s not overly concerned with impressing people. He’s comfortable with who and what he is. In short, he’s the kind of guy I would want to be. (Some would say we have a lot in common: sadly, abs and nice hair aren’t among those things). Continue reading “Becoming The Character: Sun Wukong”

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Monday Isn’t My Favorite Day

I’ve been encouraged in the last few days, only to feel defeated again this morning. I am going to have to throw myself back into the pursuit of God if I’m going to manage to keep my head on straight.

I don’t know why this is messing with my head so much. It’s not like I’m trying to be perfect. But something about this is just rubbing me the wrong way- there’s something there I can’t put my finger on. I guess I still have strongholds of the mind, but finding them is hard. And tearing them down is even harder.

It would be nice if I could just go back to not caring about anything again, but I know that’s not what God has in store for me. Sometimes I wonder if I ever really wanted to become something great. Maybe I’d be okay just as a regular guy, with nothing else special about me. But when I think about where God has brought me, and what He’s given me, I am encouraged. There’s a driving purpose to what He’s doing all around us, and I’m trying to look past my own shortcomings to see what’s really important.

What am I doing today? I’m going to try to find a job. I’m going to try to figure out what to do about my small business (that isn’t really a business, because I’m not making any money at it). I’m going to try to write some more on my novel, in hopes that just maybe someone will like it and I can get a publishing contract. Or something. Plus I’m working on learning music and preparing for our church’s new campus launch in 5 weeks.

I’ve got a lot on my mind, but I’m in a place where I can’t do much about it. So I have to figure out what I can do, and go in that direction.

I never could get the hang of Mondays.

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Building a (Big) Cosplay Prop

My oldest daughter is really (I mean really) into Cosplay. Usually this takes the form of dressing up as a favorite character from an animated show or video game. We’re both fans of the show RWBY from Rooster Teeth, because it has great music, a great story, and some really fantastic visuals and fight scenes. I even did an article on “Becoming The Character” for one of their characters, Sun Wukong. (I’ll be re-publishing that soon!)

One of the best parts about the fight scenes in RWBY is that they all have weapons that are both melee and powered ranged weapons, i.e. every weapon “is also a gun.” Somewhere along the line, we decided to build an actual weapon prop. I’ve been wanting to test my chops building one, anyway. After watching guys like Volpin Props and Punished Props make some amazing stuff, I wanted to see if I could pull off something even halfway impressive.

Prop scale reference

The first order of business was deciding which character’s weapon to build. Doing Ruby Rose‘s (the main character) scythe/rifle would have been doable, but it would have taken a LOT of work, and my daughter didn’t want to cosplay as Ruby (just yet). Plus it would have cost a lot to build! And it’s HUGE. If you make it even somewhat realistic looking, it will weigh fifty pounds and nearly be impossible to realistically carry.

 

There were plenty of characters that use simple gun/blade combinations, like Blake or Ren. But those could be recreated with what are essentially just modded Nerf guns. She and I finally settled on building Magnhild (a play on the mythical Norse god Thor’s hammer) while she would dress as the character Nora. This would be both a challenge to build physically, and a challenge to use simple and/or inexpensive materials.

First, I had to figure out what scale this thing was going to be. According to this render from the show, and adjusting the scale for my daughter’s height (she’s taller than the character in the show), we figured out the hammer would end up being right at six feet tall if we built it to scale for it to look right.

I started scrounging the internet for still shots of Magnhild in action, and thankfully, the RWBY Wiki had them in spades. With a little bit of magic and some manipulation in GIMP (a free graphics program), I was able to take some shots of the hammer at different angles and scale them to where I could measure them. Continue reading “Building a (Big) Cosplay Prop”

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Near-Life Experience

“We just had a near-life experience, fellas!”

Today has been 6 years since I got hit by a car. I can’t believe how far I’ve come since then, and how good God has been to me and my family.

I’ve learned so much since then! And I can honestly say I’ve heard God’s voice on these times in ways I never could have imagined beforehand. God has a way of getting your attention like that.

I’m not going to make a huge deal of it, because- you know- life goes on. But just wanted to say that every year my hip hurts less and less, and this year it’s almost completely normal. I’ve been doing a lot of cycling (more at the beginning of the year, but I’m getting back into it) and I thought it would protest, but amazingly, it’s been quite uneventful, which is good when you’re talking about potential problem areas.

Along these lines, I’m looking at starting up a bicycle-themed men’s small Bible study group. There’s tons of life applications we can learn together from it, and I’m looking forward to that possibility. All of this will happen at our new church home, of course- I’ll post more about that transition when I can put my thoughts together on it. Lots to say there, but I want to say it in a way that doesn’t come across as critical, because it wasn’t under bad terms at all.