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Howdy there !

Hope you're doing well and staying safe where ever you are! IF you happen to be in Melbourne, hey we're already in week 2 of Stage 3 lock downs. Just like last time, it's not present but (hopefully) it's not as bad as you remembered either.

As always, this is a new newsletter and if you've enjoyed it or found any of it useful, please let your friends know so they can subscribe to it! And also, thank YOU for reading along too!

Anyway, on to this weeks surprises...

Inform

Dan Mace's Both Sides: Bill Gates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R87KQ7RRO2U

As traditional media becomes more and more polarised, I found it interesting that small and independent creators were starting to try and make balanced contect. While this is the first in the series, I thought it was an interesting concept: take something topical and present the views from both sides of the arguement.

And for that episode, it's Bill Gate's who is either the mordern day Nostradamus who predicted Covid-19 or the evil genius who is using 5G to spread the virus.

Music

Andrew Bayer - In my Last Life

https://open.spotify.com/album/3evqkO2utxZNNxnB2qSJLb?si=0sAT2uDPSDCZQL06XA9xqg

For this week, I went with the last whole album that I've listened to on repeat for ages and it would have to be Andrew Bayer's 2018 release, In my Last Life. It's a very lush and atmospheric album for the "dance" music genre and there's tons of edits and remixes (including a remix album) all of which I've listened to. This is a testament to its popularity and also to just how many ideas the man must've thought through to get to the final album.

Even if you're not normally a fan of the genre, give listening to this and the remix album a try. You might just be pleasantly surprised.

See also

• Andrew Bayer - In My Next Life (remix album)

Gadget

Superstrata Ion

https://superstrata.kckb.st/photosbyraffy

So this is most likely the most expensive crowd-funding gadget I've ever bought but damn, it's a gorgeously designed bike that's mostly joinery free because it's CUSTOM 3D PRINTED to your height/specs! It's one of thoe gadgets that makes me go "we're now in the future".I've been toying with the idea of getting an e-bike for a while now and this is around half the price of the Lekker e-Amsterdam GT that I was going to get. And at around 12kg, it's super light weight. It'll go well with the Lumos helmet from the other week.

It has a few potential issues, of course. Firstly, it's crowd funding, so inherent risk of campaign failure (last I looked they were fulled funded and as a company have been operating for >4yrs already with Series B funding). Secondly, because of unibody design, battery isn't removable which means you need have access to a power point close to where you're going to keep the bike and (eventually) maybe a problem getting a replacement battery easily. Thirdly, the unibody construction may mean you need to look harder to find comaptible accessories (but again, future problem!).

All in all, I'm pretty excited by this one! Also note, the link is orange because it's a affiliate link!

App

C41 Photo competition

https://c41app.com/

So this is a new photo competition app made by one of the subscribers on here (hey Chandra!). After watching how much time and effort went into making this thing and helping beta test it, I couldn't not share this.

At the moment, it's your average photo competition aimed squarely at beginners with great prizes. What I'm most excited about is the future tweaks designed to give you better feedback and tutorials to really get your photography skills leveled up. Oh future update may include a redesigned app icon tweaked by yours truly...

PxR Update

Ramadan in the time of COVID-19

https://youtu.be/SBgCZGgDLWk

Well, last weeks video is up and hence linked up there. I'll be releasing this weeks one soon.

Also, I have finally set up my new laptop and installed Luminar 4 just after the new update came out. IT's been fun going through and editing some of the Antarctica shots (like the one at the end of the email!)

Quote I'm pondering

“Cynics don’t want results; they want an excuse to not take action.”

― Ramit Sethi

I'm sure similar quotes have been said by many, but its worth repeating anyway. There's a lot that's wrong with the world as it currently stands, but it is a better place than a few hundred years, if not a couple of decades ago (more on that next week). There will always be things that don't go to plan, governments that do things differently than we'd like or workplaces where you're inclined to say "if only they just did it this way..."

But here's the thing: all the progress you see around you has happened with EXACTLY the same constraints, if not more. If you ask anyone who's managed to do even the smallest thing you'd regard as progress, you'll find at leart triple the amount of resistance/issues, but they found a way anyway. As someone who identifies as a cynic, this was a bit of a realisation to me. Progress happens because of those who try despite the pitfalls/challenges and hence is almost always an imperfect solution. Just poitning out the flaws doesn't really help.

Also, if you haven't checked out Ramit Sethi, he's a great author and an excellent commentator on human psychology. His email newsletter is one of the few I personally read almost weekly. And he has a very atypical (but good none the less!) presence on social media.

Thanks for joining me on yet another week of randomness!

Stay safe and remember: you're awesome!

- Raffy

PS - Referral system for the newsletter should actually be working now!

PPS - Look out for the competition in next weeks email!