How are you ?

It's the Easter long weekend in Australia and circumstances meant that I have the full 4 days off! Given last weekend was pretty chilled out as well, this marks the first time in nearly 6 months that I've had 2 full weekends off in a row! I almost don't know what to do with myself!

How are you spending your time off? Let me know!

This weeks email has a bit of a crypto/bitcoin/blockchain-y feel to it. Mainly because of last week's podcast and also because it's stuff I was researching recently and tried to find a good starting point.

Now, a small ask (as always!). If you have a friend who you think would enjoy the this email, maybe forward it on? It helps A LOT! If you're the friend reading this, click the link below to join! Glad to have you here!

In this week's email...

• Week in the Life - read on the blog
• Read - NFT's weren't supposed to end like this
• Listen - Echolily - Under the Clocks (Stay)
• Gadgets & things - Sennheiser Momentum Wireless v2
• Watch - Where did Bitcoin come from?
• Quote - If code scripts machines, media scripts human beings, even in ways that we don’t fully appreciate.

Week in the life

Last week was relatively short, but odd. I had taken my second dose of the Pfizer vaccine just before sending the email last week and felt...odd most of Monday and Tuesday. No hard symptoms, but really fatigued. Like, REALLLY tired to the point where other people were commenting that I didn't look right.

By Wednesday, after a lot of sleep, I felt 99% back to normal and as I write this, feel totally back to normal. I'll write up a quick post about it over at raffyhalim.com at some point.

The long weekend meant that I also had time for an impromptu get away! I'm writing this from the lovely Movenpick Hotel in Hobart, Tasmania.

It's been lovely having 2 full weekends off in a row. It's literally been months since that's actually happened for me! Hobart has been a very nice and chilled out place to visit for these few days. The state has almost no rental cars to hire given how popular it is at the moment, which meant that I've essentially been relegated to walking around town.

In my walks after dinner on the first day here, I saw a bunch of people just staring at the water in the harbour. I was wondering why they were emptying their water bottles when I realised there was bioluminescent algae right there! It's been something I've ALWAYS wanted to see in person since it looks like something out of a movie (it kinda is!) and I had accidentally stumbled on to it!

Anyway, more on the Tassie trip so far and photos on the blog...

PxR / randInt() update

randInt () Youtube

https://www.photosbyraffy.com/randintyoutube

Over the last week or so, I've been slowly editing the videos of all our podcasts and putting them up on their own Youtube channel, just in case you needed yet another avenue to listen to them on!😂

I haven't caught up yet so only EP 001 and EP 002 are up there. EP 005 has just been released a few days ago on other platforms.

Now, Ramadan is about 10 days away and just like last year, I'll be doing a vlog series and raising money to help the homeless and less fortunate in the community. Having gotten the basics of the video and audio sorted, I'll try to make them a bit more entertaining/educational this year. If you have any questions/suggestions/thoughts, drop me a line as I prepare!

Gadgets & tech

Sennheiser Momentum Wireless v2

https://amzn.to/3wwZqhV

When the version 1 of these earphones came out, I ordered them immediately. To date, they are the best sounding truly wireless earphones I've tried to date.

Unfortunately, the other tech in the version 1 was...ordinary. There was no noise cancelling, the bluetooth connection was a bit iffy but the deal killer was that occasionally you'd put them back into the case and the earphones wouldn't turn off meaning they'd be flat next time you wanted to use them!

All those problems have now been fixed, ANC added and they've even improved the battery life! I noticed they were significantly discounted at the moment on Amazon too.!

PREVIOUS/OTHER PRODUCTS

Some people keep asking about previous recommendations etc so I'm going to link a few that have come up in conversation in the last week below:

• CHOETECH Wireless Charging pad- Like the Nomad & Zens chargers but far cheaper!
• Lumos Ultra Helmet - Along with the e-bike, this helmet with built in stop light and headlamp should make my bike trips much safer.
• DJI Mini 2 - It's easy to fly and takes excellent pics. Best of all, it charges over USB-C so no need for a ton of chargers!

Read

NFT's weren't supposed to end like this (~8min)

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/nfts-werent-supposed-end-like/618488/

If you've been paying any attention to the news, NFT's seem to have taken over from Bitcoin as the new crypto craze.

This article from The Atlantic goes over the history of the original art project and just what NFT's were meant to achieve.

So if you have about 10 mins up your sleeve, this a good primer on the topic.

Watch

Where did Bitcoin come from?(~23min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W15A7Lf0_fI&t=628s

This email has a decent crypto bent to it since the Tim Ferriss podcast last week has (finally) got me into seeing what it's all about.

This video is a 2 part affair that goes into how/why Bitcoin was created and the origin of the technology that is actually decades old that has slowly been refined until the GFC, when the monetary policies of the times alarmed enough of the crypto/tech community into taking things into their own hands.

What surprised me about this video is just how long ago the original idea and early technology was created (over 20+ years ago!) and just how dysfunctional political/financial were the motivations for creating it as a possible answer to unfairness in the current system.

Quote I'm pondering

“If code scripts machines, media scripts human beings, even in ways that we don’t fully appreciate.”

- Balaji S.

This is a statement from the podcast mentioned last week. The podcast then went on to describe how/why that statement might be true. It struck me as an obvious truth that had been lurking in my own subconscious in that media or information that you know directly shapes your world view, your idea of what's possible and what your priorities are.

If all you hear about are disasters, you tend to expect bad things all the time and heighten your anxiety. If all you hear about are people around you founding amazing companies, you probably are more inclined to act on your own idea and build one.

This has a decent amount of impact on your entire outlook and should make you look at your own media consumption. If nothing else, it's made me audit what I'm paying attention to...

That's all for another week so stay safe and stay random!

- Raffy

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