Habari !!!

That's Swahili by the way. Thanks for joining me on another email of randomness. Welcome to all the new subscribers from the SendFox recommendation system. It's GREAT to see you here and I'd love to know where in the world you're joining from! It's a gorgeous Spring day in Melbourne with gorgeous blue skies. I hope you're staying safe in these turbulent times.

The Kickstarter project is up to just over a week away from finishing with over 70% raised! If you're considering getting one, this is probably your (second) last chance! Nowis the time to pledge for your own Sixty Degrees South 1000 piece jigsaw.

Also, 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...

Watch

Melbourne CBD Falcons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW57aosxMjA

I don't know how I didn't find out about this earlier. Turns out, huge skyscrapers and cityscapes look just like canyons to falcons and so they've actually built a nest (with quite a view) over Melbourne right on one of the skyscrapers!

Eagle-eyed (ha!) people saw this and installed a webcam and some niceties to make them feel at home and there's a live stream that operates 24 hours a day in case you want to check in and see what they're up to.

Read

How China uses AI to influence it's 1.4 billion citizens

https://www.engadget.com/hitting-the-books-t-minus-ai-michael-kanaan-benbella-books-153007408.html

Now, before you read this, just realise that ALL countries do this to some extent. Mostly because of businesses with access to huge amounts of data like Facebook and Google. In China, this happens to largely be done by the government but as you can see in the US and even in Australia, there are nudge units in the government dedicated to tweaking our behaviour.

China just happens to be many steps ahead and very obvious in its use of AI technology serves as an interesting and somewhat unsettling example. This isn't meant to be an "AI is going to destroy everything" or "China is evil" link. Rather, look at this in terms of what one society is able to do and also the pitfalls.

I mean on the one hand, surveillance and AI helped China suppress Covid-19 quite quickly, but the same tech is also leading to the plight of the Uighur's in East Turkmenistan. The latest Netflix documentary on social media, "The Social Dilemma" is a good look at where Western societies are at when the same tech is used as a part of capitalism.

Thought provoking stuff.

See also:

• 21 lessons for the 21st century - Amazing book by Yuval Harari on these topics. Came out a few years ago and I'm relistening to this right now to refresh my mind.
• The Social Dilemma - If you haven't been keeping up to date on the state of social media and how it all works, a great intro to the digital world YOU inhabit.

Listen

David McCollough Jr - You are not special

https://youtu.be/_lfxYhtf8o4

Given last week's speech, here's another commencement speech that I found thoroughly entertaining and inspirational. It's one of the best ways to spend 12 mins of your day.

The main theme is what the title suggests: you are not special. Rather, it's what you decide to do that defines who you are. Everyone has some strengths and weaknesses but most of the greats that you admire become that way despite the hardships in their way, not because they didn't have any.

So as mentioned last week, be worthy of your advantages!

See Also:

• Mark Manson: Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope - If you enjoy some cynicism in your self-help books, this doesn't disappoint. It's a bit in your face and definitely more blunt with the messaging, but I found it entertaining none the less!

Gadgets & tech

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds

https://amzn.to/3iRybHq

Holy moly! If you know me at all, you know that I have an usually high number of earphones/speakers/headphones lying around. Every since I first heard about these a few years ago, I have been waiting for these earphones to come out and now they're only weeks away.

I haven't heard them in person and no reviews are out, but at $100 off for pre-order, I'm willing to give Bose the benefit of the doubt. They promise to be the best noise-cancelling in ear buds out there with the best sound quality for calls.

It's the last part that I REALLY want them for given I normally make a lot of calls on my commute on the train or while going for walks and if what we've seen on the Bose Headphone 700 is anything to go by, these should be stellar. Again, I haven't tested them, but oh boy am I excited for these!

SEE ALSO

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:

• SuperStrata e-bike - Just the design on the e-bike had me sold. Being made with a custom 3d printed way specific to you!
• Lumos helmet - Going with the bike theme, these guys are getting close to release. As the weather heats up, I'll be riding more and I can't wait to use this helmet with the lights and indicator lights built in
• chargeASAP - This ones from a Melbourne/California based company that I have backed on Kickstarter. Tiny 100w charger and the one that's about the size of my current charger puts out 200w!!!

PxR & Kickstarter update

PxR Kickstarter campaign is in the final stretch

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/photosbyraffy/sixty-degrees-south-antarctic-image-jigsaw-puzzle?ref=6nwuqk

With just over a weeks to go, we're over 70% of the total! We're so close! I'm putting out all the stops in trying to get the last 30% and will be seeing if any last minute friends and family can make it happen.

So if you or anyone you know are interested PLEASE share the project!

On a PxR photography front, I've had 2 requests for prints this week, which makes 8 this year. One is a giant 1.5m print of the photo used on the jigsaw. If I hit 10, I'll add an online store to the website and see how that goes. It's such an honour to have people want my photos to display where ever they chose! If you'd like a print shoot me an email and I'll be even more chuffed!

Quote I'm pondering

"That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing"

―David Foster Wallace

This passage means so many different things to me at once that I'll explore one of my interpretations. Everytime I listen, I get a slight variance on what it means to me at the time.

Anyway, the quote references the commencement speech from last week's newsletter that David Foster Wallace gave. After listening to it many MANY times, this passage is something that strikes me every time: the fact that most of adult life does involve routine and repetition and the "following of convention without question".

Societal stereotyping, expectations, social media (as mentioned above) and many other factors contribute to more and more people opting for the "default" life without thinking and then getting busy to the point where the time to reflect on their choices diminishes to almost zero. You once had fantastical aspirations and they've been replaced by the everyday.

Not to say that the everyday is bad and everyone should start having mid-life crises, but rather, you have the ability to chose the things you do, so maybe do that consciously.

Truly random

This is a new section I wanted to try out, which is a mix between random updates and truly unrelated things that I found interesting. Would love feedback if you liked this.

PomaBrush

So yeah, I wanted a USB-C charging electric toothbrush for travel and in the modern day, something that specific exists. I'm not sure if it's going to be super effective, but the main thing I like is the fact that it vibrates for 2 mins so I know I'm brushing for an appropriate amount of time.

Random riddles

Some one suggested adding puzzles or riddles to this newsletter so here's the first one. Answer will be in next weeks email, so no cheating! (This is from the Art Of Manliness website FYI in case you ARE cheating).

"What five letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?”

Thanks again for joining me on yet another week of randomness!

Stay safe while enjoying the weather!

- Raffy

PS - I want to know what part of the newsletter you like the most! Or if you have any suggestions to what to include? Please take a literal 30 second survey?

Sunday Surprise uses affiliate/referral links in the newsletter. While this does not influence the product recommendations or verdict, if there are any that are likely to lead to Photos by Raffy receiving any sort of compensation from, they will be marked in orange. Non affiliate links will appear as blue.