Hi and welcome back to Tiny Sparks!
How time flies… We’re already one third into August. Which also means that my first day of uni is getting closer and closer (if you don’t know already, I’m going to study Computer Science as my major and Social Sciences as my minor at the University of Bern). I still have roughly a month left until I’m back in study mode, but I’m already in full-on preparation mode. It feels like a sort of “transition month” between only working and going back to working & studying simultaneously.
For starters, I’ve now reduced my working hours at the web agency I work at to around 20 per week. For this month, it means that I have a sort of “decompression/preparation” phase where I can take things a little slower. But it also gives me some headspace to figure all this uni stuff out. Like how I have to sign up to lectures (do I even have to sign up to all of them or does it depend?) and making sure, I have a broad overview and plan of how my four years at university will play out. Apart from that, I’m also brushing up on my math skills to make sure, I’m not completely lost in my first lecture. Because this semester will be math-heavy, and I’m equally nervous and excited about it.
Enough about the future, let’s dive into edition number four of Tiny Sparks:
🗓️ Personal Updates
Here’s a quick rundown of the things that happened in the past two weeks:
After my vacation in Belgium, I’m back in the running game: I’ve started training again and am currently logging around 40 kms per week. Unfortunately, the temperatures outside are pretty high, so I often have to do my runs either early in the morning (which I don’t really like) or at dawn (which is actually quite enjoyable). Apart from that, I’ve also signed up for a 10k race that takes place in 2 weeks. I’m gonna mostly treat it as a training for my race in Lausanne in October.
I also got a Remarkable 2 tablet! If you don’t know what that is, it’s essentially a “digital notebook”, kind of like an iPad but with no apps (just a folder system & notebooks) and an e-ink screen (like an e-reader). I bought it as a distraction-free studying device for uni because my iPad a) has not the best battery live anymore and b) is just too distracting for long periods of studying. The Remarkable has the advantage of truly feeling like writing on paper, but without all the logistical mess of having to carry physical notebooks. I like it so far, will report back when uni has actually started.
On the coding side, I have finally started to properly work on my Forever Diary. I’m calling it “zeitlos”, which means “timeless” in German. I like the sound of it, and it really fits the idea of the product. After all, the diary should be a timeless tool for documenting your life. If you’re interested in the technical shenanigans, the code is Open Source on GitHub.
Last but not least, here are the blog posts I’ve published since the last newsletter – in case you missed any:
- Re: To Read or Not to Read: A reply to Alexandra about reading (or not reading) books and my final entry for #JulyReply2024
- Learning all the Countries in the World (Part II): Asia: My second chapter in my quest to learn all the countries in the world. You should definitely read it if you are keen to learn some interesting facts about many of the Asian countries!
- Re: Finding my Blogging Voice: A reply to an unknown blogger, whose first blog post really resonated with me.
🔮 Tool Recommendation
One app I’ve used on and off over the past year but always really helps me calm down when I’m stressed or want to wind down in the evening is Oak. It’s a simple mindfulness app that features a handful of meditations, breathing exercises and wind down practices. It’s the best free meditation app I’ve encountered so far and certainly worth a try!
These days, I mostly use the “Guided Breath” exercise for falling asleep (I never listened to the full exercise, which is a testament to how great it works I guess).
You can download Oak for free on the App Store.
📚 Content Piece
Although the Trump assassination attempt has already disappeared from our collective memory (at least partially), I wanted to share this interesting Video by HowTown: How the Trump shooting was twisted on X:
It’s essentially a comparison of the covering of the event between Legacy and Social Media (particularly X). In the video, the two hosts show a timeline of how the events were reported online, how X fills the void when newspapers are still trying to verify the information to ensure that no fake news spreads (posters on X fail miserably at that as you’ll see) and what the commercially available blue checkmarks have to do with it.
Even if you’re not into US politics at all, the video highlights the issue with our current attention economy and unregulated tech giants in a particularly interesting way. Plus, the two hosts are pretty charming – I instantly subscribed to the channel when I found it.
Well, that’s it already, thanks for sticking around. If you have some feedback, a recommendation of your own or just want to say hi, don’t hesitate to reach out! All the contact options are listed over on my /hello page.
And if you enjoyed this particular issue, consider forwarding it to your friends. That would mean a lot.
See you in two weeks!
Cheers ✌️
Dominik
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