Since I left Switzerland after doing some work on the 21st of February I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep for 85 days. That’s a long time.
I wish there was a soundproof chamber into which I could go.
What if I designed and built a soundproof bed? Wouldn’t be that complicated.
Yesterday I switched from Ubuntu on the Pi5 to Raspberry Pi’s version of Debian. I experimented this because I had just moved the data from one file system to another so it seemed like the right time to switch from one OS to another.
The first step was to move my data from an Exfat volume to an Ext4 volume. The next was to mount the drive and connect both Photoprism and Audiobookshelf to their new volumes. I also copied the audiobookshelf folder from the system drive for the old OS to the system on the new OS. I then adapted the docker-compose files with the correct information and started both Photoprism and Audiobookshelf.
Photoprism is now reindexing all photographs from the photos folder. Once that is done I will migrate the photos from the import folder. I am not doing that yet, because I don’t want it to confuse which files are already in the archive, and which ones are duplicates during the upcoming import. I expect this to take several days.
With Audiobookshelf I was able to copy over the books with ease but I need to add some new books that I bought since the last update. I did not migrate podcasts. Although I enjoy using Audiobookshelf to listen to podcasts I find that it is quite fiddly. You need to login as the admin to add podcast series, and configure how many podcasts to download and how often to check.
If there was an app for iOS for Audiobookshelf then I would really enjoy using the service. It’s easier to use the default apps. If I listen to podcasts on two to three apps I need to mark them as read in one or two other places and that’s work. For now I will keep audiobookshelf for books and the most recent podcasts from one or two podcasteers.
Although the server changed from one OS to another, the hard drive where files are stored changed the applications behave as if nothing had changed. This means that I do not need to login to services yet again. This also means that I can now start duplicating a server setup between machines once I understand how to synchronise changes.
Yesterday I decided to play with the Common Unix Printing system (CUPS). I followed this tutorial and within a reasonable amount of time I had set up a pi 3 to serve as a print server for an old printer. Sometimes you use printers and scanners by plugging them in to the laptop you’re currently using. With modern macs this means finding a USB 2 to USB C connector, moving to the room with the printer or scanner, plugging in, printing or scanning and then moving on.
With CUPS you can setup the PI to be a print server. You navigate to a web page, add the printer that it detects and then you can print or scan documents, without having to move the computer or printer. During my test I connected to the printer, and scanned documents via the document feeder. With little annoyance I achieved my goal and moved on.
Although everything worked in browser as I expected to setup the printer, and then connect with a mac and a windows machine I am not sure whether I was able to print because the wifi was already setup or because CUPS installed the printer/scanner as I had requested. Rationally my experiment was a success but I should duplicate it, to be certain.
With this specific printer my old work flow was that I would get the documents to scan, and a USB key, scan the documents to the key, transfer the documents from the key to a laptop, rename them, and then use them. Now I get the post, scan the documents within five minutes and then the documents are just for archive, in physical form, and accessible in digital form.
Although printing and scanning are a chore, because you need to get the scanner and laptops to recognise each other, if you setup CUPS then they’re ready, within seconds, for you to use, with little effort or thought. It simplifies document scanning and more.
Although setting up a printer with CUPS may appear dull and boring it is very useful.
This morning, for the first time in months I used Sleepcycle manually to mark the start and end of my sleep and I noticed that they added the Cough Radar. This is a quick and easy way of seeing whether there is a lot of coughin in the region where you live, or not.
I find this to be interesting. Governments are no longer tracking COVID and other diseases so we’re flying blind. With an app like SleepCycle current beta testing coughing nearby we have an interesting incite into how clean the air is, or how sick people are.
That’s because coughing could be provoked by air pollution. If there is a forest fire, or heavy smog then people will struggle to breath and air pollution will affect whether they’re coughing, or not.
If the air is clean then people could be coughing due to colds, the flu and other diseases. It’s a good way of establishing whether a region is healthy or not. It’s also interesting to see that the tracking of coughing has now been extrapolated and illustrated with heat maps. I won’t share the heatmap I see, for privacy reasons.
The makers of SleepCycle wrote about the feature here. By aggregating this data over weeks, months, and years policy makers can look at this data and decide whether to encourage mask wearing, air filtration and more. It could be used to track seasonal and regional changes.
There are four classifications. Normal, Elevated, High, and No Data. I am not clear whether this feature is available via Test Flight or the Premium version of Sleep Cycle for me. I used to be on the Testflight version.
This is a sleep tracking app so it tracks coughing within peoples homes, not out in the street or in offices, unless someone is tracking their office siestas. It represents active users of the app rather than the situation more globally. It reflects the health of sleep cycle users.
Ingress is a game that requires a data connection, GPS data and the screen to be on. As a result of this battery consumption is high. Earlier today I took the Sony Xperia Z3 out in the rain and played for two solid hours non stop walking from portal to portal and the battery was at 50 percent. This is excellent compared to other devices.
The phone is also waterproof to a depth of one meter therefore the rain we had this afternoon was no hindrance to game play. Every so often I had to wipe the screen as the touch screen stopped functioning as well as it should due to the signals it was getting from the rain.
Rock Climbing in Virtual Reality has an interesting future because some people are afraid of heights, others don’t have the muscle tone to climb and yet more live too far away from climbing locations to enjoy the sport. Virtual reality is a great way of enabling people to get some of the sensations of rock climbing without the safety concerns.
As I watched this video I was curious to see whether it was a passive experience and then noticed the playstation controller. That’s a nice enough way to go “rock climbing but it it was up to me then I would pair this with the HTC Vive and it’s related controllers. Ideally I would go a step further. I would develop a conveyor belt system, place it vertically and program it to put handholds where the climber has somewhere to grip. As he or she climbs they would place their weight on the hand hold and it would slide down as the person climbs.
We have seen demonstrations of equipment that can emulate 3d shapes and textures. The challenge would be to take this from being flat on a table to being vertical and strong enough to hold someone’s weight. Tests should be carried out on near vertical and vertical “climbing routes” before being rotated to allow for the climbing of overhanging routes. You would definitely get a workout from such a configuration. Gamers would go from their current physiognomy to being toned and healthy. The next generation of gamers are going to be fit thanks to Virtual reality workouts.
This could also be attempted for sports like Via Ferrata, via cordata and others. Via Ferrata is a simplified form of rock climbing and via cordata is walking around a nice landscape where safety gear is available to keep you safe in case of a slip or fall whilst hiking.
I really look forward to when this gaming/fitness training experience comes of age.
Online communities and socialising in person can be a challenge for people. Either they are shy, lacking the courage to meet with strangers and start a conversation or they are introverts, interested in being in a group but not necessarily to participate in the conversations. The question was “how to go to a glocals meeting when you are really shy ?”. This applies to couchsurfing hangouts, Google+ events, Pokemon Go meetups, slow ups, critical mass and more.
Both of these present a challenge. As a shy person you want to go but you do not want to go alone. We see that almost everyone is in that situation. We see it by the number of people who do activities with a friend rather than alone. We see this when socialising in cities, on hikes, during climbing events, canyoning and doing other sports. You see it in the pre-event comments, “my friend and I”, “my girlfriend and I”, “my spouse and I” and more. You see that the difference between a shy person at an event and a courageous one is whether they have a friend to go with them. If they were alone they would not participate. ;-). That notion that people overcome their shyness is a moderate farce.
As it fits neither in to shyness nor introversion I feel that passion is very important when you are looking for people to do things with. If you are shy then meeting people for the sake of meeting people will not work. It is hard to overcome shyness without passion. Introversion benefits from passion too. The better you know a topic the more outgoing you will be, the easier it will be to block out shyness. An introvert following his passion hides his introversion very well.
When I was new to a community like Glocals I tried going to city based social events where there could be drinking and within two or three events I found the experience so dull and uninteresting that I haven’t been again. As an introvert I found that the best events were those to do with sports. Canyoning was one but so where white river rafting, rock climbing both indoors and outdoors, via ferrata, hiking and other activities. I found that I love participating in extreme sports rather than sedentary ones. Throughout the activity you can walk at the same speed as someone else and socialise or you can walk at your own speed and day dream, take pictures or just enjoy the experience.
I would encourage all shy people to participate in fun and active events. I want to see more shy single people come to try rock climbing, via ferrata and other sports. The advantage of these activities is that as a shy individual or an introvert you are pushed to interact with people for the purpose of the activity. At the beginning of the day you knew no one but by the end of it you have met a few new people and so friendships can progress as you participate at future events. In effect you were shy the first time but six weeks later you may be a core member. Don’t waste time “overcoming” your shyness at events with alcohol. Overcome your shyness overcoming your fear of jumping from 11m in to a small rock pool.