Hi !

Welcome to another edition of the Sunday Surprise from a rainy Sunday. Firstly, apologies about last weeks double email. Small issues with the the software I use led to the first one not sending and then when I sent it the second time, you ended up with 2 copies.

Sorry about that!

Today' surprise features my very first Kickstarter campaign and many new things. Hope you like them and as always, I'd LOVE to hear your feedback!

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

What happens when you reply to SPAM mail?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdPW8JrYzQ

After the more "educational" videos of the last few newsletters, here's 10 mins of something that I had never wondered, but am glad a comedian indulged in: answer back to spam/scam emails.

James Veitch does an awesome job in transforming something we genuinely never want to think about into something pretty funny!



Listen

How Innovation Works

https://amzn.to/2CPMXyz

Have you ever wondered why it seems like all the new things seem to come from Silicon Valley most of the time?

I came across this audiobook (also available as a normal book!) after listening to a podcast with Naval Ravikant, who is quite a famous start-up investor who was talking to the author about what was so special about Silicon Valley that it happens to be the current epicentre of innovation.

The book explores common innovations from the lightbulb, flight and even farming and the various forces that got them to be the stables of modern day societies. It also explores how the "hubs" of innovation changed over the centuries and why.

It is a long-ish book but well worth a read/listen to see what goes into making innovation happen.

Hope you enjoy it and I'd love to know what you thought of it!

Gadget

Samsung Note20 Ultra

https://amzn.to/3l7FuMB

Well, I just got my shiny new phone and this is probably the toy I'm most excited about at the moment: the Samsung Note20 Ultra. I've been using the Note series of phones for the better part of 4 years and I haven't looked back. My main reason is a small feature that this specific phone has called "Screen off memo" where you can pop the stylus out and start writing on the screen to take a note and it saves it into the note taking app. It sounds like a small thing, but when I'm on call or needing to write something down in a hurry, it helps to have a virtual "piece of paper" on me. Especially one that always ends up in the same spot rather than getting lost!

Other than that, the phone is a true flagship (it's expensive!) but has top notch cameras that I'm enjoying taking photos on. The stylus also comes in handy when editing the photos on Lightroom Mobile (which seems to come included with the Note!) or Snapseed.

I did a quick unboxing video of it too which you can see via the link below.

See Also:

• Samsung Note20 Ultra 5g Unboxing

PxR update

PxR Kickstarter campaign is live!

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

After sending it for approval, the Kickstarter campaign is finally LIVE! If you're new to Kickstarter, here's a brief rundown of the site and crowd funding. The site works with the creators trying to start a project and figuring out the approximate costs. Then they ask the "crowd" (ie general population) to help fund it.

If they hit their designated funding target, the project is considered "launched" and your credit card/way of money transfer gets charged for the project and the funds go to the creators to make the thing happen. If it fails to reach the threshold, then you don't pay anything.

Just as a reminder, the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle is of one of the Antarctic iceberg images from my 2014 trip. The final jigsaw will measure approximately 68 x 48 cm (or thereabouts).

I went with Kickstarter since we need to have about 100 puzzles ordered to be able to do a limited manufacturing run. This way, if I'm wildly optimistic and we don't meet the minimum numbers, then there's no refunding of money etc because it wouldn't have been charged at all! On the flip side, if it's nearly there and we still don't hit the target, then it also flops.

If you're interested, I urge that you pledge early because it helps promote the project higher on Kickstarters algorithm.

If you're someone I see relatively regularly, feel free to select the "Work staff only" option since I can probably drop it off at work or hand deliver once Stage 4 Lockdowns in Melbourne are lifted.

It's all looking good so far with nearly 10% of the goal already pledged in the first 12 hrs!

Quote I'm pondering

"Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot. Seek the path that demands your whole being."

― Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi aka Rumi

While on the surface it seems like another motivational style quote, I found it interesting for 2 reasons. Firstly, it acknowledges that we seem to trip ourselves up more than anything else (my interpretation of "untie your knot"). Secondly, unlike the standard "follow your passion" style advice, it advocates for seeking a path that demands your whole being. Things that demand your every being are rarely easy or without hardship and I love that this quote subtly expresses this.

From a personal point of view, it's a basic summary of every unfinished project or unachieved goal for me. I think things will very complicated in order to do that random thing (be it start a newsletter or a Kickstarter campaign ;) ) but I don't realise that projects that demand the most are usually the most worthy.

Do you think the quote applies to your own life? Let me know how.

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

Hope you're staying safe!

- Raffy

PS - I'll be adding some of the puzzles if we're successful in the Kickstarter as prizes for newsletter subscribers!

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.