Check-In: 2015-09-29 (Tuesday)

Sorry for the long delay again. The last several days went by really quickly.

Diet: WIN! (fruit, vegetables, moderate added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking)
Sleep: PASS (regular and adequate sleep)
Mindfulness: PASS (general mindfulness and irregular meditation)
Love and Support: PASS (visiting with friends, corresponding with family)
Learning: PASS (French, news)

The scores here are hitting a bit of a lull and that's being reflected in my mood, in that I'm feeling a little stressed out and down today. Though that may be partially due to my current frustrations with the market: I want to liquidate some stock and the prices keep dropping. In the long term, the stock market will be fine, it's just annoying that it's doing this right now.

That's risk I suppose.

But to focus on the positive, I'm heading out for French class shortly, I just did a little meditation and some very brief but nevertheless endorphin-releasing exercise, and had a good text-chat with my mom. If I can pay attention to the categories above and push one or two in to the win column, I'll probably be back to my chipper self by tomorrow. In fact, just what I've done in the last hour or so is already helping.

Jane McGonigal, who has popularized the idea of gamifying mental health and other real-world challenges, was on the CBC yesterday morning, and it was interesting hearing her take on things again. In particular, she uses more gamey elements like creating a "secret identity" and identifying "power-ups" and "monsters". The categories I list above are essentially my power-ups.

I think I'll play with these ideas a bit. Maybe I can bring in the vision board notion when dealing with the secret identity.

Back In Business

[ David Rose | Innovations in Capital Formation | www.singularityu.org ]

Three events occurred this week which have me thinking about business models.

The first was running across the above video, where David Rose talks about that the internet is doing to the way businesses get finances. It's well worth a look if you're curious. The short version is, it's getting easier and easier for new businesses to get starting capital.

The second was a visit to the website Jobbatical, where in about 2 minutes of browsing (literally), I ran across a job add for software QA in South Africa. The global job market is getting extremely connected.

The third was a conversation with a man named Shannon, an entrepreneur at a local web company called Mediashaker. Gerry, the environment artist on our game project, arranged the meeting to talk about jobs, careers, and related opportunities. But Shannon's perspective is that of an entrepreneur, and his advice was that people who run business don't really know anything special--they just try things.

All of this is adding up to me thinking a lot about businesses. In today's super-connected marketplace, it's reasonable for someone with a good idea, but not necessarily the right skills for that idea, to find the financing and talent required to turn the idea into a reality.

This isn't something I intend to do immediately, but it is something I'll be watching for during the next few months.

Check-In: 2015-09-25 (Friday)

Whoops! Though I had another check-in already this week.

Diet: WIN! (fruit, vegetables, and low added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking, some stretching and other exercise)
Sleep: PASS (getting reasonable sleep, could get a little more)
Mindfulness: PASS (meditation, general mindfulness throughout the day)
Love and Support: PASS (socially quiet, but correspondence with friends and family)
Learning: WIN! (research, French class, AI course, writing, Crash Course in economics)

Managed to get the fruit and vegetables back into the diet. I'm still working on sleep, but it's in a reasonable state.

I've been doing a lot of online research. Sadly, I've been a little distracted by the election, the most troubling part of which is the sudden surge of racism and media manipulation I've noticed on social media. But I'm making an effort to avoid getting caught up in that, and sticking to my much healthier intellectual diet of self-education. In particular, I've added Crash Course's economic videos as entertainment when I'm doing chores or taking a stretch break.

This weekend is the Edmonton Comic Expo, so there should be a fair bit of socializing.

Check-In: 2015-09-22 (Mardi)

Diet: WIN! (fruit and vegetables)
Exercise: WIN! (walking, spontaneous movement exercise)
Sleep: PASS (some hits, some misses--need consistent betimes yet)
Mindfulness: PASS (ongoing mindfulness)
Love & Support: PASS (visiting with friends, corresponding with family, game meeting)
Learning: WIN! (reading books, studying French)

Aujourd'hui, j'étudie the français. Hier, j'ai lu le livre, Le Deuxième Age De La Machine. Je regarde des vidéos d'information.

Je marche beaucoup et également exercer, mais j'ai besoin de plus de sommeil.

A bien tôt!

Yesterday I Went Downtown To Buy A Bag Of "Green Stuff"

Weekly News: 2015-09-19 (Saturday)

Yesterday, I picked these up from the Edmonton Public Library. These are my first experiments in 3D printing, which is one of the many technologies likely to dramatically change the world economy in the next few years.

This object was printed with moving parts. 3D printing is able to make things like spokes and sockets right on the print bed. No assembly required.

The plastic used at the library is PLA, which is apparently biodegradable and made from corn. This could become important when every household starts manufacturing hundreds of plastic tools, toys, and other objects.




These objects represent more than just a technological curiosity. New innovations in 3D printing are allowing for objects to be created out of multiple materials, and they are rapidly getting faster and cheaper. One company called 3D Systems claims they can manufacture plastic objects faster than injection moulding, the current cutting-edge for mass manufacturing.

These objects also represent what I've decided to do with the next few months of my life.

A big problem that I've encountered during my recent job hunt is the fact that I plan to go to Victoria for the winter (January and February). It's hard to apply for a job knowing that I plan to disappear in a few months.

At the same time, I've been diving into education in a big way, what with French classes, an AI course, and Toastmasters. Given what I've learned about how the economy is likely to be disrupted in the next few years, I feel it is strategically important to educate myself in critical areas like AI, programming, and communication.

The result is a plan I'm calling "Self-University". I've put together a tuition budget of about $16,000--which I can finance without risking financial security--as well as a list of objectives:

• Complete the Stanford AI course
• Continue French language training (complete 2 courses, counting the one I am in)
• Create a YouTube Channel and professional blog called A Point On The Wave
• Learn C# and continue to work on the game project with my friends
• Maintain my health and wellness (using this blog, Not Quite Ninja)

This budget gives me living expenses through to the end of March and buys me plane tickets to and from Victoria. I'll emerge with some programming skills, AI skills, and communication skills--a good start to making my skills valuable in a time of increasing automation. I'll also be able to turn A Point On The Wave into a portfolio piece, something this blog is not ideal for. And who knows, the game project may also start to pick up at that point.

Most importantly, I'll get to spend another great winter with Mark, Karen, and Luna while taking care of my health and learning lots of new things.

Life is, and will be, good.

Check-In: 2015-09-19 (Saturday)

Diet: PASS (low added sugar, but moderately low vegetable & fruits as well)
Exercise: WIN! (walking, yoga, chin-ups)
Sleep: PASS (making an effort to sleep more, but a couple more early nights are needed)
Mindfulness: PASS (some meditation after yoga or during exercise, ongoing mindfulness in the day)
Love & Support: WIN! (visiting with friends, good conversation with family)
Learning: WIN! (French, AI, reading The Second Machine Age)

I've been a little bit low-energy at times in the last couple of days. I think this is largely due to a need to improve my diet and sleep, but I'm confident I'll get it under control. I just had a banana-strawberry smoothie made with fresh ingredients, so that should go a long way to restoring my brain juices. A good night's sleep tonight will likely bring me up to full power again.

Not that I've been idle. I've been getting lots of exercise, and I've been doing some cool things that I'm going to discuss in my weekly news blurb in a few minutes.

I had a great conversation with my parents yesterday about possible plans for finances in the near future. They were very supportive--as they have always been--and offered some good advice.

Check-In: 2015-09-16 (Wednesday)

Diet: WIN! (fruit and vegetables, relatively little added sugar)
Exercise: WIN! (walking, yoga, chin-ups)
Sleep: IMPROVE (adequate sleep, but needs to be earlier)
Mindfulness: PASS (meditation after yoga, practising presence in daily life)
Love & Support: PASS (visiting with friends, Facebook)
Learning: WIN! (Toastmasters, French)

I gave my first speech with Toastmasters (since 10 years ago, anyway) this afternoon and it went really well. I introduced myself and hopefully convinced everyone that it's worth thinking about robots. :)

I've been doing yoga semi-consistently for several days now and it's already starting to feel really good. I'm also up to about 3 (ish) chin-ups on a good run, which is the best I've ever done, I think.

I've gotten back into Facebook which is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it's good to manage your online profile in the modern age. On the other, it can be distracting and sometimes discouraging--there's a lot of blatant misinformation out there, and it's hard to resist the urge to correct all of it. Or rather, any of it, because correcting it can only ever result in making people feel defensive and even more committed to the misinformation.

My favourite was a post that made it sound like the niqab ruling recently is going to allow armies of militant Islamic women to blow up half the countryside. Not one of the people sharing the meme seemed to realize that the citizenship ceremony only occurs at the end of the citizenship process, that there are security checks, and that the women have to have lived in Canada to even be eligible, rending any security concerns utterly moot.

I guess the reason this one bothers me a lot is that this behaviour, the targeting of minority groups with lies, is reminiscent with some very frightening regimes in the past.

Anyway!

I myself am good. I just need to practice my meditation and manage my emotions. There will always be, and have always been, people who are wrong on the internet. :)

In fact, I've started reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu, and I think he would advise that arguing with people on Facebook is not a particularly effective strategy, on multiple levels. Speaking of which, I'm still reading and studying my face off, and my brain has this wonderful "growing" feeling in it. That's worth putting effort into.

Check-In: 2015-09-13 (Sunday)

Diet: WIN! (ate a donair and some fries, but also a lot of salad and fruit and relatively low added sugar)
Exercise: WIN! (walking, yoga, chin ups--3 in row!)
Sleep: PASS (one early, long night and one shorter, later night)
Mindfulness: WIN! (some daily meditation, plus yoga--could be better, but still good improvement)
Love and Gratitude: PASS (rest day yesterday, will visit friends tonight and correspond with family shortly)
Learning: WIN! x2 (practising French, AI class, research)

The biggest news of the last couple of days is that I'm continuing my dive into educating myself in exponential technologies. I've been reading The Second Machine Age by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, a book that so far is doing a brilliant job of laying out some of the economic contexts and realities of what is currently happening with technology.

The authors mentioned a Stanford AI course that is available for free and has no prerequisites (though what little background I have in programming has already proven useful by Unit 2, and I may need to start learning C# or Python in the near future). Graduates of this course have used AI technologies in impressive ways. One team of three graduates managed to improve a process by 300% with little knowledge of the field, when their competitors were teams of multiple experts with over 15 years of experience working on that specific process. I'm not sure if I am explaining this well, but basically they smashed all previous records, they did it cheaply, and they did it quickly.

Anyway, I'm giving myself a x2 win for the first time because of how much I'm learning, especially since I'm practising French on-and-off all day as well.

It's worth noting that all of this is possible because I'm getting better at taking care of my health. A healthier body means improved cognition, more energy, and a stable mood.

I may not have found a magic bullet to my job situation, but I've never felt more engaged in problem solving, whether I'm working on my own problems or the world's.

Weekly News: 2015-09-11 (Friday)

Well, I've been full of activity this week.

I'm not sure that my activity has been entirely focused in a coherent direction. I'm diving into the French lessons, I'm engaged in writing Toastmasters speeches about technology in order to transform them into YouTube videos. I haven't been pursuing the yoga jobs yet, but I may start to do so this afternoon.

My instincts are telling me that these activities are all headed in a good direction. I'm figuring out ways of getting employed in ways that will allow the lifestyle I'm after.

The fact that my expenses are so low buys me both some time and some long-term options. I only need one option to work out, and I only need it to work out a little bit to gain some financial security. So maybe my strategy is coherent after all. Time will tell.

As an aside, I came across my new favourite internet video. I spend a lot of time thinking about world peace--especially as I consider what a robot war in the 2020's might look like (not fun, to put it mildly). So I did a search for "Google Talks World Peace" and found this (although the link is a TED link and not a Google Talk):


This video is inspirational in a special way, and I am feeling dedicated to helping our species win the World Peace Game for real.

As a random guy in Edmonton, I may not have the pull of, say, a leader of the armed forces in the United States or a UN diplomat. But I can still participate. In fact, the internet is making individuals more powerful than ever. I can use that power to spread positive messages, like the important lessons that John Hunter is cultivating in his classroom. Because I think we win the game when everyone, including ordinary people like me, play to win.

Check-In: 20158-09-011 (Friday)

Diet: WIN! (kale caesar, lots of other fruits and salad, low added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking)
Sleep: WIN! (early, long sleep last night)
Mindfulness: PASS (passively using presence to stay focused, but could be meditating more)
Love and Gratitude: PASS (visiting with friends, corresponding with family)
Learning: WIN! (French class, a little on Upwork)

A good couple of days. I have a lot to learn on Upwork, but I'm starting to dig into the community advice threads on how to get started as a freelancer. It's to be expected that my initial proposals will need some refinement. :)

I'm still really enjoying French class, and I've agreed to give a speech at Toastmasters next week. My goal is to start developing my technology interests into a new, more professional blog, and use the Toastmasters speeches as both training and genesis for some of these posts. I've messed around with a tool called FRAPS that will let me record my voice while manipulating windows so I can practice a CGP Grey or Zero Punctuation style of YouTube video.

Check-In: 2015-09-09 (Wednesday)

Diet: PASS (reasonably healthy food, relatively little added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking)
Sleep: PASS (need to start winding down a little earlier)
Mindfulness: PASS (using mindfulness casually but no specific practice)
Love and Gratitude: PASS (French class, Toastmasters)
Learning: WIN! (French class, Toastmasters)

Since my last check-in, I have mainly been involved with learning, as may be intuited by glancing at the scores. I had my first French lesson last night. The group is small, which is nice, and they seem to favour an approach of cultural relevance. They encourage attendance (though optional) to cultural events they hold like cafés and movie nights. The teacher is also attempting to speak French as much as possible, even though we are still learning.

I've been studying by listening to French pop music and using Google Translate to write short, awkward essays. It's slow going, because I want to understand the words I'm writing and not merely copy what Google is giving me, but it's allowing me to learn vocabulary for words I'm interested in, like "l'intelligence artificielle" and "robotique".

I also went to the Downtowners Toastmasters again at lunch. I won at table topics (again) and offered to do a speech next week--if I'm going to spend my time going to Toastmasters, I figure I may as well dive into the process.

A few minutes ago, I submitted my first ever work proposal to Upwork. My lack of experience will be a handicap for a while, but you never know--someone may take a chance on me, which will let me start building a portfolio. My goal is to apply to at least one job per day. We'll see.

Check-In: 2015-09-08 (Tuesday)

Busy weekend, but a good one. Let's get the check-ins rolling again.

Diet: WIN! (fruit, vegetables, moderate to low sugar)
Exercise: WIN! (lots of walking, some yoga, some random exercise and chin-ups)
Sleep: WIN! (a bit short last night, but over 8 hrs / night on weekend, often at or before midnight)
Mindfulness: WIN! (still off and on with meditation practice, but learning to be more consistent)
Love and Gratitude: WIN! (visiting with friends)
Learning: PASS (review of documentaries)

I decided to ease off the exponential tech a bit this weekend. I don't want to burn myself out by taking a healthy fascination and turning it into an unhealthy obsession. I'm getting back into the exponential tech again today, and started by doing a scribbles-to-bits conversion on the pile of papers that has been ballooning on my kitchen table.

There's going to be a lot of work taking the bits up to publishable quality, but that will be one of many interesting pursuits in the near future. I'm going to have to be careful to balance my efforts so I don't get pulled in too many directions. Already I'm considering:

1. Work for money (Upwork? Yoga instruction?).
2. Becoming a science promoter (starting a blog, writing articles for magazines, social media).
3. Starting kung fu again.
4. Taking french classes (they start tonight).
5. Volunteering at the Edmonton Public Library in order to learn more about the Makerspace.
6. Still having some kind of social life during all this.
7. Maintain my walking, meditation, and other lifestyle habits during all this.
8. Educate myself in AIs, behavioural economics, and video production/editing.
9. Keep working on the game project.

It will be easy to over-reach, but I'm confident that with a bit of self-awareness and planning I'll figure out how to balance these things.

My most recent badge on Fitbit.

Weekly News: 2015-09-04 (Friday)

So much has happened in the last week it will be difficult to sum it up succinctly.

The picture above is the profile image I added to my recently-created Upwork profile. Upwork is an online service for connecting professionals and businesses for contract work. I haven't quite taken the plunge on searching for Upwork contracts, but I could have the skills necessary to make a decent living this way, and on my own terms.

Perhaps more pragmatically, I have also put in some traditional applications to the Edmonton Public Library and even one to Singularity University in California. It's hard to say if any of them will land me some work, but the more chances I take, the more likely it is that something interesting will come up.

My wholehearted investment into exponential technology continues. Most of my entertainment is coming from lectures on technology, finance, medicine, and healthy living. I just can't get enough! I've even started training my computer to respond to voice commands, which is entertaining. The technology is not quite Star Trek yet, but it's fun to see where we are at.

On Tuesday my parents and my uncle came into the city for an appointment, and we went to the IMAX at the Telus World of Science to watch a documentary about the history of the airplane. The documentary asked the audience to see airplanes for the first time again, to really marvel at the fact that humans and products can be flying. It was good fun.

Continuing my reverse-chronological storytelling, last weekend Mark and Karen were in town, so I spent a lot of time with them, including a trip west of Edmonton to attend a barbecue. Yesterday, while out for a walk with my friend Andrew, I randomly encountered Eva, who was also at the barbecue (it's her family that was hosting the event).

This weekend I have some work to do both for the video game and to set up a VPN for my laptop (for better security when using unsecured wireless networks). There will of course be noodles as well, and possibly a visit from my friend Jim.

Check-In: 2015-09-04 (Friday)

Diet: WIN! (lots of fruit and vegetables, very little added sugar)
Exercise: WIN! (walking, yoga, spontaneous movement exercises)
Sleep: PASS (decent amount of sleep but late)
Mindfulness: WIN! (morning meditation, spontaneous movement exercises)
Love and Gratitude: WIN! (visiting with friends, practising gratitude)
Learning: WIN! (singularity university, learning about freelance writing, internet research)

Met with the video game team today. Everyone has been busy for the last few weeks, but we've touched base again and are ready to take some more steps in the near future.

I am now trying to eat even more fruit and vegetables while also doing yoga recently--I have to be practising yoga if I'm going to start teaching it.

I am also trying to do a morning and evening meditation. So far I have one morning meditation and one middle-of-the-day meditation. Actually, the morning meditation was surprisingly pleasant. It really is nice, after waking up fully, to just sit and be for a few minutes. I heartily recommend it for anyone.

Check-In: 2015-09-03 (Thursday)

Diet: PASS (reasonable amounts of fruit and vegetables, relatively low added sugar)
Exercise: WIN! (walking, yoga, chin-ups)
Sleep: PASS (one late night, a couple of good nights)
Mindfulness: WIN! (meditation)
Love and Gratitude: WIN! (visiting with family and friends)
Learning: WIN! (singularity university)

Update: Added learning category, because that's important to me, and I am now just going to title the check-in with the current date rather than worry about what specific days I'm covering. The goal is just to make sure I'm taking care of myself, not to provide a detailed log of my every move.

But what a fun time I'm having right now. Every day I'm engaging with internet learning and trying to figure out how the miracles of technology that are now being developed are going to impact my life.

I've rediscovered health in a new way, as reflected by my change in check-in format.

I had a great time visiting with my parents and my uncle. We went to see a a movie about the history of the Airplane at the Space Science Centre.

My need to start earning a living soon has lit a fire under me. I am now starting to formulate plans for self-starter businesses while trying to balance the "moon shot" ideas with the need for immediate income. Freelance writing work through Upwork or else doing yoga instruction could keep me afloat in the near future. Upwork has awarded me with a "Rising Talent" badge to indicate a promising freelancer with little work experience, so if I act decisively and carefully, I may be able to get a good launch in the freelance writing space.

All thanks to the internet and the exponential increase in connectivity.