Info refinery #6: Focusing your attention, microwaves, and come back to old technology
Hi, how are you doing? Here is another issue of Info refinery, hope you enjoy it and I am always happy to receive feedback :)
🤯 What have I learned this week
Each microwave has a different radiation pattern: Evil mad scientist analyzed the patterns of 4 different microwaves by putting some Indian crackers, which made the patterns visible. (Link)
Recipe to learn anything: By using a concept borrowed from surgical training. See One, Do One, Teach One (SODOTO). First, observe how other people work. Second, do the work yourself. Third, show somebody else how to do what you just did.
Computer-supported thinking: Taking notes is not an end by itself, the focus should in making sure you think effectively. Andy Matuschak and his evergreen notes concept make a great case for why you should take notes, and how you should take them. (Link)
😮 Interesting things
Marriage of old and new technology, remember the Teletext? Now you can have it in your apple watch. App
I am terrible at drawing, but check out this amazing compilation of tricks to improve your drawing:
Accessibility is an important factor for any web so that people with disabilities can also perceive, understand, and navigate through a webpage. Well, somebody had the idea of creating a webpage that passes all the accessibility tests but that is as inaccessible as possible. It is great to understand more about this important topic (Link).
An airplane that managed to land without the roof in 1988 (Link)
🍴 Food for thought
📊 Visualization of the week
🧠 What’s on my mind
We are overwhelmed by information, it is just unmanageable. There are thousands of movies we would love to watch, books to read, podcasts to listen to.
It is funny. When it comes to material possessions I have understood that having many more things will not bring me much more happiness, call it minimalism if you want. However, in my digital live I approach it totally differently. Why? I mean is absurd, there is absolute abundance, and even if we consume already a lot we want to consume more.
Sometimes this is just to avoid working in some task (everything else looks super interesting, so we just read it or put it in a read later folder), other times we are just thinking that maybe somewhere there is one idea that will change our life.
In the online world, the product is your attention, and we should be very protective of it. But everything is not relevant for us, how to ensure we filter it through our own lenses? I highly recommend doing the "my favorite 12 problems" exercise.
Basically it is just asking yourself: What are the questions (dormant or active) that are always with me? Sit down and think about that. You will get a new pair of glasses to look at the world by focusing on those questions. I did the exercise recently, here are some of my favorite problems (in no order):
How can technology assist us for a better future?
How do I make a positive impact on the world w/o compromising my principles and values?
How can I assist other people in making better decisions?
What would it be like if I was to become a great writer/communicator?
How can I live a balanced healthy life, both mentally and physically?
How do I strike a balance between achievement, play, social/relationship, and personal/spiritual growth?
Will I ever be completely alright with myself and if not, can I be alright with that?
What would it be like to be able to shape my habits?
How can I create periods of sustained focus and deep work where I am less distracted and accomplish meaningful work?
How can I nurture my friendships and build solid new friendships?
How do merge the great passions of my life with my talent?
How can I work in a way that insights passion and sustained energy?
Try it yourself, if you want to get a longer list of such problems, contact me and I can provide it if you are looking for inspiration.
Have a great long weekend!
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