Data Guy (Me)

Sharing a passion for people, bringing joy to work, and data. Perpetual newbie. #LetsLearnTogether

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JegErAlan

“Getting discouraged is a total waste of your time.”

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Creativity book cover
Image from Amazon.com

On the way home from a Sam’s Club and MOD Pizza visit, I read John Cleese’s new book, “Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide.”

I highly recommend it to everyone…since every job…including for those of us in IT…can be creative (and that is where I find the most joy).

Although there are far better bits in it, the line I need most right now is, “Getting discouraged is a total waste of your time.”

https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Short-Cheerful-John-Cleese/dp/0385348274/

P.S. I like it enough that I suspect a few coworkers will be getting it as a Christmas gift from me, and a copy is on its way to a writer friend of mine. 🙂

Review: Boston Scally Cap

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Boston Scally cap video snapshotSo, I am really going to try to make sure this doesn’t just become a review site, but I love these caps so much I wanted to do a shout out to the Boston Scally Company.

I don’t like wearing hats. I have a huge, size 8 head, and even size 8 hats sometimes are uncomfortably tight. Adjustable hats are horrible, because it is almost always at the far end of their adjustability.

Don’t let them fool you. One size does not fit all. 🙂

The first time I saw a Boston Scally cap was via a Facebook ad, and I didn’t buy it because $50 seemed too much for a hat. However, when they came out with the ‘Black Rose’ Plaid Peaky Boston Scally Cap, I couldn’t help myself and grabbed my first. The rest, as they say, is history.

Please check out the review to see four different styles…and please forgive me for not using a wind muff. 🙂

Oh, and grab one for yourself at https://bostonscally.com.

P.S. The Boston Scally Company also has awesome customer service.

Review: Cycorld Mountain Bike Shorts

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Lest you all worry, Data Guy (Me) is not meant to be a review blog. However, especially when reviews are about things that connect with work or work/life balance, I like putting them here.

Additionally, I should note that this I got these shorts to review free as part of the Amazon Vine program. Trust me, that didn’t influence the results and they deserve 5 stars. 🙂

Why?

They are:

  • Light
  • Stylish (my wife keeps telling me how much she likes them)
  • Well built (fabric, stitching, etc.)
  • Very functional (great pocket design, ties with protectors on the end, stretching material in all the right places, and more)
  • Un-constricting

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Review: Smatree Hard Carrying Case for the DJI Mavic Air 2

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Snapshot of case with items in itPlease watch the video for a more complete review, but I gave the Smatree Hard Carrying Case for the DJI Mavic Air 2 five stars on Amazon because:

  • It has a great design and sturdy build quality
  • It is functional and stylish
  • It securely holds the DJI Mavic Air 2, Fly More kit, and more

One con:

  • The charging brick doesn’t fit as well as it should in the area intended for it

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Don’t Fear Not Knowing

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Robust learning requires humility and the ability to accept ambiguity…

Feynman Quote

You see, one thing is,
I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing.
I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing
than to have answers which might be wrong.
I have approximate answers and possible beliefs
and different degrees of uncertainty about different things,
but I am not absolutely sure of anything
and there are many things I don’t know anything about,
such as whether it means anything to ask why we’re here.
I don’t have to know an answer.
I don’t feel frightened not knowing things,
by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose,
which is the way it really is as far as I can tell.

From The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman.

Image hat tip to: @ProfFeynman on Twitter

“Universe, Life, Consciousness”

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Horsehead Nebula and Flame NebulaEarlier today, I ran into an interesting article, “The Ultimate Mystery? –‘Consciousness May Exist in the Absence of Matter’ (2019 Most Popular).” It, in part, discussed Andrei Linde‘s paper, “Universe, Life, Consciousness.” I’ll admit the majority of Linde’s piece was basically over my head, but it was a great read on the way to Wendy’s for lunch. Although you should both the article and Linde’s paper, this probably was a summary of what I found the most interesting part:

Is it not possible that consciousness, like space-time, has its own intrinsic degrees of freedom, and that neglecting these will lead to a description of the universe that is fundamentally incomplete? What if our perceptions are as real (or maybe, in a certain sense, are even more real) than material objects? What if my red, my blue, my pain, are really existing objects, not merely reflections of the really existing material world? Is it possible to introduce a “space of elements of consciousness,” and investigate a possibility that consciousness may exist by itself, even in the absence of matter, just like gravitational waves, excitations of space, may exist in the absence of protons and electrons? Will it not turn out, with the further development of science, that the study of the universe and the study of consciousness will be inseparably linked, and that ultimate progress in the one will be impossible without progress in the other? After the development of a unified geometrical description of the weak, strong, electromagnetic, and gravitational interactions, will the next important step not be the development of a unified approach to our entire world, including the world of consciousness?

Thoughts?

P.S. In my opinion, the article went downhill once Deepak Chopra entered the picture…