I was the curious kid in school.
Not just in terms of wanting to explore and find out more, but also in the other sense - a bit of an oddball and, though some find interesting, most find difficult to understand or relate to.
It never really bothered me that people didn't "get" me, because I didn't really "get" people either.
I remember writing (in a now-lost exercise book) that I found it frustrating to be unable to discuss things with my peers. I can't remember the exact words, but I recall something about nuclear fusion and the future of human civilisation and energy use.
And that being pre-Internet days, it took a lot of effort to find information in the library.
The good thing was that I learned to refine search terms.
It was an old search system (was it a Dynix?), and our libraries had an octopus mascot on the welcome page. Not sure if anyone else remembers this. It was quite similar to the picture attached to this post.
And when the Internet became widespread, the search term practice I've had since I was a kid turned out to be incredibly useful.
Instead of learning to communicate with people, I somehow learned to communicate with computer systems instead.
And today, with AI and machine learning, more and more people are learning to communicate with computer systems.
Who would've thunk?
Of course, I eventually learned to communicate better with people, but that's a story for another time. Though I say so myself, it's a pretty interesting one.
Post Your Thoughts Without Pictures
Posting more regularly now, I find that one of my posting blocks has always been finding / making the pictures that are supposed to "enhance" my text.
It's such a waste of time.
I can't remember where I picked up this erroneous idea that, without graphics, nobody is going to read your post.
To demonstrate how pervasive this is, all you have is look at your own feed and count the number of boring stock photos being used that have little to nothing to do with the post.
Sure, quite a number of people are first attracted to interesting graphics, but if you're spending more time on finding or making an "attractive thumbnail" than what you're actually sharing / producing, you need to re-think your priorities.
And IF nobody reads your post because you didn't put up a graphic, it kind of shows what kind of audience you've been cultivating and contributing to.
Seriously, cut the graphics, unless you're actually talking about them or using them to make your point.
Words alone are fine.
P/S
If you're one of the rare few who also posts without pictures, I read your posts when I come across them.
I've Been Listening To Podcasts And Audio Info, Wondering If I Should Do Some Podcasting Too...
I used to teach a podcasting workshop.
But this was a long time ago. Mobile devices already existed, but they weren’t anywhere as feature-packed and powerful as they are now.
My students had to find a quiet spot (at least as quiet as a school could be), record their podcasts on to a laptop using a small plug-in microphone, and save the file before submitting it for evaluation by the teachers.
A large part of the time was spent on activities other than the actual recording: writing and perfecting the script, as well as practising. I would have liked to give them the freedom to do off-the-cuff recordings, but time was very tight and the school wanted specific results.
Nevertheless, some of the groups of podcasters did very well.
During the slowdown in Singapore, I had the opportunity to listen to a rather large number of podcasts. In some cases, they were videos of the interviewer/ees in the studio. I also listened to a number of audiobooks (though I still prefer reading physical ones).
And all of this started to reignite my thoughts on potentially taking up podcasting again.
It’s surprising how affordable a proper microphone and shield are these days. You can have a decent set up for under $150.
I’m still not certain, though.
As with a lot of things, I’m not entirely sure what I would talk about.
I’ve had suggestions of just having conversations, talking about subjects that come up, and just working through them.
For that, I’m going to need to either have regular fellow podcasters or else a list of people to interview.
And, of course, a list of subjects to cover.
That’ll take some work, but it may be worth exploring.
Your Opinion Doesn't Matter (or Does It?)
A number of things have been hitting our headlines in the past week or so, while I've been out of Singapore.
The most intense bit of news (at least based on the frequency it seems to be appearing) would be that of the now-publicised Lee family dispute. While I have my views on the matter, I will not speculate or discuss them until more facts arise.
It's always tempting to grab any bit of information that supports one's worldview and shoot off a quick opinion piece or blast a scathing reply on the comment sections. However, it's almost never the best thing to do. Without calmly sifting through the information, putting the pieces together or asking more questions, how can we expect to form a well-informed opinion?
Of course, this is an unavoidable consequence of our ever-connected world of social media. Everyone has an opinion and many people think that their opinion is as valid as anyone else's, so everyone else should listen to what they have to say.
This, of course, cannot be further from the truth.
First of all, not all opinions are equal. Some opinions are more valid than others.
As an example, a doctor who has been practising medicine for 20 years is far more qualified than even, say, a highly-regarded lawyer to say whether or not Vitamin C helps us recover from a cold.
An experienced electrician would be a far better person to ask about your flickering lights than an insurance agent.
A trained chef will be able to give you better advice on how to keep your steaks moist while grilling them than an IT professional will.
Experts in a field are far more qualified than the general population when it comes to their area of expertise. As such, it stands to reason that their opinions in those areas are far more valid than ours.
Secondly, the freedom to express does not equate to a freedom from responsibility.
Yes, we are able to post what we want where we want. Some people take this to mean that they should speak or type thoughtlessly without regard for others or for their own image.
Anything you post on social media or in a public setting is now part of public domain. You cannot suddenly decide that you are no longer going to take responsibility for what you say/do there. Neither can you blame a moment of folly or a 'slip of the tongue/thumb' for your comments or writing.
If you are going to put up information or opinions, then you will have to take responsibility for them. If you can't or don't want to, then keep them to yourself.
Thirdly, we can agree to disagree.
If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.
Just because someone does not agree with you, it doesn't mean that you have to always convince them to agree. It's fine to question and debate. Let's not degrade a possibly fruitful discussion to name-calling and insults.
Every disagreement can be an opportunity to learn instead of a mere bone of contention. We can learn of different viewpoints as well as how different people think.
Just as we want to be heard, shouldn't we allow others to be heard as well?
