I like learning new skills and starting projects. I regularly undertake such things with varying results. However, if they don’t work out that’s not a problem. You have to try something to see if you like it. I’ll add “within sensible parameters” as a caveat to the last statement. And it’s perfectly fine to discover that something isn’t for you. I like certain genres of video games, music, films and books. I am comfortable wearing certain types of clothes and not others. I’m picky about colours. I’ll even go so far as to say that I won’t drink out of any mug that’s just lying around. If I don’t like the joke, logo or overall aesthetic of it, I ain’t using it. However, I digress. Let’s get things back on track and talk about projects. This year I have wound down several websites and have decided not to move forward with making YouTube videos. I have focused my energy on improving my website and adding functionality. I am also trying to broaden the scope of my writing. Learning new skills and trying to teach yourself requires researching reference material. This has become a lot easier of late due to AI tools. ChatGPT has been invaluable for collating information and troubleshooting technical issues. I’ve been trying Zorin OS for a few months to reacquaint myself with Linux. I installed it on a partition of my C drive and had a dual boot GRUB menu at start up to choose which operating system I wanted to boot into. Zorin OS was the first item on that menu and if you didn’t make a choice the PC would boot into it. ChatGPT helped me edit this menu so the Windows 11 was the default option. I could have figured this out for myself but it would have required reading a few posts on Linux forums and spending sometime double checking that any course of action I took was the right one. Using AI speed this process up. I’ve used ChatGPT to write some Python scripts to audit posts on my blog. For example, I wanted a list of published posts that had images below a certain resolution, so I can replace them. My ongoing project to divest my PC of software produced by major corporations continues. I’ve replaced my email client, office suite, web browser and media player over the course of this year. The differences between the new and the previous software have been minimal and most of the time it simply comes down to just familiarising yourself with a new UI. A few minor problems arise from time to time. eM Client recently resurrected some default emails signatures that I haven’t used for years but it didn’t take long to remedy the problem. As for replacing Windows, I am currently looking to see if the Steam OS in desktop mode can provide a suitable replacement. It’s not as if I have any “exotic” requirements, so it’s certainly worth investigating. I shall install it on a spare SSD that I have recovered from my junk cupboard. I’m even toying with the idea of buying a second hand gaming PC and using that as a test unit for all further experimentation. Another vague and somewhat nebulous project I’m looking into is trying to find a means to easily communicate with my good friend and former podcast co-presenter, Brian. He is in the US and his job keeps him busy and requires a lot of travel. Long, rambling emails (which are my want) are therefore impractical, as he can’t respond quickly and easily. Brian has an iPhone and is not a WhatsApp user by default. Hence, the obvious solution is to use SMS messaging as my phone tariff has unlimited texts. Sadly, when I checked it’s only for the UK. Texts to a US number cost about £1. Therefore an exchange of text in a manner similar to how you would use WhatsApp, could cost anything between £5 upwards. I am currently looking at Signal as an alternative to WhatsApp. It does the same but it’s open source and is not run by a big, sinister corporation. I’ve even considered the DM facility that’s available in Discord, although who knows how much longer that will be free? Aside from my technical projects, I am currently trying to return to drawing and sketching with a pencil, as a hobby. It’s something I used to do a lot in my teens but like so many things, it fell by the wayside with the spectre of adulthood. I was taught some techniques by one especially good art teacher at school but I still need to learn more and just get back in the habit of drawing. Like anything its a question of practise. There is a wealth of videos regarding this available on YouTube but sometimes I don’t want to be didactically instructed. So I bought a couple of books on the subject including You Will be Able to Draw by the End of This Book by jack Spicer which has proven quite beneficial. I not quite up to the standard of Frank Frazetta but I making progress. There are many benefits to drawing. Apart from the artistic expression, it’s something I can sit and do with my grandchildren who happy to express themselves creatively. I guess my ongoing weight loss regime is another project of sorts. I need to shed about 28 lbs pounds but the initial goal is 14. I hate diets, health regimes and all the associated culture surrounding them. I have started numerous weight loss plans in the past but chose to end them. Exercise may well be good for you but unlike others, I do not find it interesting pursuit or especially enjoyable. I consider it dead time when I could be doing something else. Something productive. My biggest problem with dieting is that I like food, especially good quality cuisine. I also enjoy drinking. I find dining out and the associated good company that so often comes with it, makes me very, very happy. Fixed meals, smaller portions and not eating things that I enjoy just antagonises me. The propositions seems to be, lose weight and make yourself miserable in the process. But I have to offset this with the fact that I’m not ready to die yet. I have things to do. So I’ll try and get by. Not all projects are fun. Permalink