I found The Strange Order of Things by Antonio Damasio surprisingly difficult to read. This Mindscape episode was a much more accessible introduction to the topic via a good conversation with Sean Carroll

The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene is a fascinating and clearly written tour of the many multiverse theories. Really mind bending stuff 📚

Backups

I’m very keen on backups. So many important things are digital now and, as a result, ephemeral. Fortunately you can duplicate digital assets, which makes backups helpful for preservation.

I have Backblaze, iCloud Drive, and Time Machine backups. I should be safe. But, I wasn’t.

Most of my backup strategy was aimed at recovering from catastrophic loss, like a broken hard drive or stolen computer. I wasn’t sufficiently prepared for more subtle, corrosive loss of files. As a result, many videos of my kids’ early years were lost. This was really hard to take, especially given that I thought I was so prepared with backups.

Fortunately, I found an old Mac Mini in a closet that had most of the missing files! This certainly wasn’t part of my backup strategy, but I’ll take it.

So, just a friendly reminder to make sure your backups are actually working as you expect. We all know this. But, please check.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie is a great book with an intriguing main character, compelling plot, and fascinating world building 📚