I finished watching the first season of Amazon’s Rings of Power this afternoon. I enjoyed it, but I did find it a tad slow.
With Ethan playing the last round of a competition at Longniddry Golf Club today, Jen, Drew, and I decided to wander around the surrounding area.
We had already planned to take a walk along Longniddry Bents. Despite the usual grey weather that Scotland is famous for, the walk along the beach was great. We then headed into Cockenzie and Port Seton, but with little to do there, we had a look to see what was nearby.
We decided to head there because Rosslyn Chapel was just a half hour away. We were a few minutes late for the tour’s start, which allowed us to take some great pictures of the outside of the chapel while everyone was inside getting the guided tour. The inside of the chapel was just as beautiful as the outside. Particularly the Apprentice Pillar and the many carvings on the pillars and arches inside the chapel.
All in all, it was a pretty great day.
I am trying out something new this morning. I built a small Rails app that streamlines the posting process to my blog. It automates most of the process and only requires the post content itself. If it’s working, you should see this post!
Trailer: The Last of Us
My “must watch” for 2023.
It’s great to finally see a trailer for The Last of Us, which features all the characters and locations from the game.
I must admit, I had goosebumps when it came to the clip of the skyscrapers in Boston.
Also, the clickers look fantastic and a bit different from the usual post-apocalyptic worlds we’ve seen in other films and television shows.
I just found out today that you can email your journal entries to Day One. Game changer!
Lego Marvel Venom with Light Kit
A couple of weeks ago Drew bought this Lego Marvel Venom set. We decided to try out the additional light kit for it from Light My Bricks.
I have to say, the final result looks pretty good. The LEDs and wires fitted into the build nicely, although the green LEDs that go in behind the Venom’s teeth were a bit of a pain to fit and to stay in place.
Unbeknownst to Drew, he’s got a another light kit heading his way for Christmas which will be for the Lego DC Batman head we’ve bought him. I’m looking forward to seeing how that one turns out.
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2022
I’m a sucker for all things space, even more so when it comes to anything that allows us to see what’s in space. Hence the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is something I look forward to every year.
The Andromeda galaxy captured by Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen which won Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year, is one of my favourites of this year’s winners.
The overall winner though was Gerlad Rhemann’s image of Comet Leonard which was taken on Christmas Day of last year. It captures the point when a piece of the comet’s tail becomes seperated due to high velocity solar particles.
I quite like these AirTag strap mounts from ElevationLab. Good for mounting an AirTag on all types of items. I particularly like the idea of putting one on my trusty YNOT backpack.
Future fatigue
The last few years in the UK have been a bit of a rollercoaster. We’ve had Brexit, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the rising cost of energy bills and now the death of her majesty the Queen. It’s been a lot to take in mentally.
It’s this continuing changing of circumstances that seems to be affecting people. I’ve had similar feelings about the future. As has my wife. Well, it turns out it’s actually more common than I thought.
The result is that many of us are experiencing future fatigue: “When several difficult experiences happen back to back, your mind starts to use this information to predict the future and it can appear bleak as a result,” says Cobban, which causes us to lose “a sense of hope about the future being different in a positive way”.
— Surprised by how disoriented you feel right now? You’re not the only one
As for getting over these feelings of uncertainty, it is recommended by psychotherapist Nova Cobban that you focus on things that you can see the outcome of.
As well as limiting your time on social media (“feeding the anxiety” by looking more than once or twice daily is not helpful, Duff advises), it’s important to focus on the aspects of your life that you can actually influence and shape. “Look at what you are spending your time and energy on,” suggests Cobban. “Is it things that you have no control over but greatly concern you or is it things you can actually personally have a beneficial effect on?”
— Surprised by how disoriented you feel right now? You’re not the only one
New MacBook time
After nine years with my MacBook Pro, it’s time to upgrade. I’ve been using the same MacBook Pro since 2013, and it’s been a great machine. However, it’s time to upgrade.
Over the last year, I’ve noticed an evident degradation in my MacBook Pro performance. It can usually only handle a handful of apps open at any time. I tend to have Firefox, VS Code, iTerm and Docker available anytime. Anything else I can open at the same time is usually a bonus. If I have to open a few more apps, I’ll shut down all my development apps to allow more apps to open.
I’ve been researching the new MacBooks over the last few months, and I’m pretty sure the new MacBook Air is the right fit for me. The Pro would be a good fit if I needed a dedicated machine I used most of the day. Still, as I already have a reliable work laptop, I just need a light development machine to use at night and at weekends.
I’ve only owned two MacBooks over the last 15 years, which is pretty good. I wonder how long my new MacBookAir will last me?