The most productive thing I’ll do all week: Organized the giant box of cables by taking out anything we no longer need, had no idea what is was for, or already had at least three backups. The photo is of the discard pile

A tangled pile of various electronic cables and chargers is spread out on a surface.

🎧 20 album covers that shaped my musical preferences

Last month, I posted a series of album covers for music that shaped my preferences. The gimmick was that there was no context or explanation, just an album cover. Now, I’d like to provide a few notes. As part of the overall framing, these are influential albums for me. They aren’t all necessarily my favourite albums by these artists or ones that I still listen to frequently. Rather, what I listen to and enjoy now, are strongly connected to these albums.

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🔗 The Problem with Sci-Fi Body Armor // Bret Devereaux

I want to focus on rigid science fiction armors because they offer an interesting lens to consider their design: how to armor a human body in a rigid substance is an exceedingly solved problem: quite a few cultures have tackled this particular problem with a lot of energy and ingenuity, attempting to balance protection, mobility and weight. And the “problem with sci-fi body armor” begins with the fact that most of these futuristic ‘hardsuits’ utilize little of any of the design language of those efforts.

🔗 My Experiment to Eliminate Read-It-Later Backlog Stress

Every so often, I audit every information source I’m subscribed to. I ask three simple questions I picked up from the late Jim Rohn:

  1. Who am I allowing to speak into my life?
  2. What effect is that having on me?
  3. Is that ok?

There are a lot of things I subscribed to a long time ago that I just never bothered to unsubscribe to. And every once in a while, I get annoyed and ask myself, “Why am I still consuming this?”

Good advice. Obvious? Perhaps, though we often need reminders to do what’s good for us.

🎧 Having switched back to Albums (again) for music, I’m discovering what a mess my Apple Music library has become. I’ve got duplicate tracks within albums, duplicate albums, incorrect metadata, and all sorts of nonsense. Really tempting to just delete my entire music library and start over!

🪓 We had great fun at last night’s Axe Pancreatic Cancer event. We started the event ten years ago to raise awareness and funds, after my Mom’s short battle with the disease. So gratifying and amazing to see what the event has become, especially under the stewardship of Pancreatic Cancer Canada.

Four people are smiling and posing together indoors with string lights and a netted background.An axe is embedded in a wooden target with colored rings.

Finished reading: For You by Patrick Rhone is full of wisdom in short chapters. I read one every couple of days to let the ideas percolate before rushing to the next chapter📚