Hello, quarantined world!
As I write this, the world is facing really critical times because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic unleashed in Wuhan, Hubei, China past December. A late response by Chinese health authorities and World Health Organization in securing borders and adequate preemptive measures has led to a tragic worldwide outbreak that took humankind by surprise.
After many deaths the WHO finally declared pandemic alert in march 11, and since then we got into this global quarantine which we would have never imagined could happen, until now we thought this could only happen in apocalyptic movies or documentaries but now it is a hard reality.
Even so, this reality is changing everyone of us deeply from the innermost part of our being, we know that something must change in our human core as a society. This "reflexive phase" is taking place right now, you can feel it too.
I perceive many have started a sort of reflexive process to change that something, some others look a way to become a better selves and others at least are trying to use their time for positive, productive personal or community actions. (yeah, I know there is a whole bunch of people who got in the lazy-netflix-armaggedon-sluggish-survival mode on, but let's not highlight them very much right now)
The thing is that we know our world keeps being a great and amazing place to live in, just that we hadn't notice it enough before. We also know that we'll get out of this pandemic soon and when we do, we'll live our lives differently.
I personally started some kind of journey, it's like a long postponed adventure that will finally start.
It all began when one of these nights my thoughts were absurdly positive and optimistic, some internal voice, maybe myself from a distant future or an ancient master sage that wants me as apprentice for some reason.
The fact is, now I find myself studying various subjects and trying to use my time wisely while learning all that I possibly can.
So I started practicing my kana skills again and found that my hiragana hasn't faded away (just have to solve my long inner battle to differentiate さ from ち)
Now in katakana, things are a bit different (same battle, but more enemy sets シツ、ンソ、タク、スヌ) but well, practice do wonders and that's what I have been doing with some apps i had collected a way before.
Both are obscure programs from another era, one is a program called Kana 1.0 (it seems the only trace left is that it was written by Ante, thanks Ante btw cool app) and the other one is DreamKana by Dreambreed (which dissapeared too) they do mostly the same, display a Kana character and ask for your romaji input. I had several other PC apps but are more advanced or never used, so I'll ignore them for the moment and only focus on Kana.
If you need to get started in kana, I suggest you use mnemonics, books like Remembering the Kana by professor James Heisig or Kana Pict-o-graphix by Michael Rowley. Another nice way is learning using one of the thousand apps in play store (Obenkyo by Atomusk, Kana by TenguLogi and Get Kana by Jair trejo are some of the best IMO)
Something has always intrigued me (since the era when I was starting kana) is how one does get to read fluidly all kana in sentences like reading a news ticker/crawler? how do exactly we get from point あいうえお to read these lines on Japanese TV news?
I think found an answer a couple of nights ago while watching YouTube tutorials.
It seems that for me (and maybe for you) what it actually helps the part of brain which associates kana sounds with kana characters is simply reading. And not just reading alone, but with an aid, in this case what better than narrated tales for children with a kana script?! Well here YouTube offers another great tool, time control!! with this, one can just simply play and listen/repeat as slow as you can feel it engraving into your neurons.
That will be my focus by now on the kana side of the language until I feel comfortable enough to enter into Kanji (btw I'm gonna keep some advice about not getting into kana stroke order mess for now but just getting to read it fluidly), in the other side (grammar, pronunciation, etc) I count on tons of materials I've downloaded and hoarded compulsively a long time ago, one of them is legendary series Let's Learn Japanese from The Japan Foundation (it was filmed in the 80's!!) another cool one is NHK Japanese: how to survive in Japan? or the new Erin's Challenge also from The Japan Foundation.
If you're more into audio (tapes) type of learning you could also try something neat like Earworms Japanese, the fine japanesepod101, the traditional Genki, Pimsleur or even the classy Assimil - Japanese with ease.
Also some days ago, I found the awesome people of Rosetta Stone are giving 3 free months for students as contribution to every quarantined student out there (so, all of us hehe..) so there's no excuse for not learning Japanese.
That being said, everyone who has lurked teh internetz enough knows that Linux fanbase is growing exponentially and getting more and more attention.
That's probably caused by a couple of factors, first one: Gamers! yeah, the awesomest of online communities has started to look at Linux with nice eyes, mostly because Linux Gaming FINALLY Doesn't SUCK! and no one can actually deny there are more than 10 ways Linux is just better! and Microsoft Should be VERY Afraid to think about it. But if you observe clearly what's going on, it's really easy to realize that resource efficiency and the immense benefits of an open, editable kernel are incredibly attractive for game developers, and if they get poised enough, the whole e-gaming industry could give real headaches to some people in certain OS Headquarters. Knowing those facts explains why they started to become more "open" 2 years ago by bold moves like Microsoft completes GitHub acquisition but that's a story for another time.
The second factor should be pointed to another community (definitely not the awesomest but most sure one with big bucks) the Crypto guys! they have been using every open source tool known to man to develop even more the massive platform (and the madness) called blockchain and everything it implies, from nodes to bridges in the distributed web of tomorrow.
Cryptocurrency world has been a massive news source everyday for more than a decade.
So getting started in Linux once and for all, is one of the best preparatory move anyone can do like right now!
Anyways, I almost forgot to mention my setup, which is the trusty Debian.
I choose debian because after trying several other distros (fedora, mint, ubuntu,arch cough, cough, etc) it was the only one I got really comfortable with. (even though I admit my sin to never have decently tried centOS, gentoo, suse and none of the bsd family) but this could change soon.
For now I'll focus on tattooing Linux mindset on my brain and keep exploring the wondrous intricacies of such mighty OS.
Because I really need the money right now, I live in Venezuela!
This sounds cool, but first I know have to make a whole portfolio from scratch and organize my ideas about priorities, define styles, then I'll have to forge good reputation and happy clients bit by bit, it takes some time but is doable.
I've got enough resolution to make it through.
So this pretty much rounds up what is my life right now in this quarantined world and what motivates me to keep going.
I created this blog today as a personal journal or even a diary to both leave evidence of my path and to reassure my motivation with each entry.
Feel free to comment.
Take care, everyone!
See ya in next post.
Hugs, (for now digital ones ;))
LL
After many deaths the WHO finally declared pandemic alert in march 11, and since then we got into this global quarantine which we would have never imagined could happen, until now we thought this could only happen in apocalyptic movies or documentaries but now it is a hard reality.
Even so, this reality is changing everyone of us deeply from the innermost part of our being, we know that something must change in our human core as a society. This "reflexive phase" is taking place right now, you can feel it too.
I perceive many have started a sort of reflexive process to change that something, some others look a way to become a better selves and others at least are trying to use their time for positive, productive personal or community actions. (yeah, I know there is a whole bunch of people who got in the lazy-netflix-armaggedon-sluggish-survival mode on, but let's not highlight them very much right now)
The thing is that we know our world keeps being a great and amazing place to live in, just that we hadn't notice it enough before. We also know that we'll get out of this pandemic soon and when we do, we'll live our lives differently.
I personally started some kind of journey, it's like a long postponed adventure that will finally start.
It all began when one of these nights my thoughts were absurdly positive and optimistic, some internal voice, maybe myself from a distant future or an ancient master sage that wants me as apprentice for some reason.
The fact is, now I find myself studying various subjects and trying to use my time wisely while learning all that I possibly can.
Retaking my Japanese learning spirit
Let's say the initial point was retaking my Japanese learning project, which I had put in stand-by some years ago. Learning Japanese is one of these goals many of us have because (let's not hide it) we love Anime, Vidya and all the amazing stuff Japan has developed.So I started practicing my kana skills again and found that my hiragana hasn't faded away (just have to solve my long inner battle to differentiate さ from ち)
Now in katakana, things are a bit different (same battle, but more enemy sets シツ、ンソ、タク、スヌ) but well, practice do wonders and that's what I have been doing with some apps i had collected a way before.
If you need to get started in kana, I suggest you use mnemonics, books like Remembering the Kana by professor James Heisig or Kana Pict-o-graphix by Michael Rowley. Another nice way is learning using one of the thousand apps in play store (Obenkyo by Atomusk, Kana by TenguLogi and Get Kana by Jair trejo are some of the best IMO)
Something has always intrigued me (since the era when I was starting kana) is how one does get to read fluidly all kana in sentences like reading a news ticker/crawler? how do exactly we get from point あいうえお to read these lines on Japanese TV news?
I did this one quickly with this tut.
I think found an answer a couple of nights ago while watching YouTube tutorials.
It seems that for me (and maybe for you) what it actually helps the part of brain which associates kana sounds with kana characters is simply reading. And not just reading alone, but with an aid, in this case what better than narrated tales for children with a kana script?! Well here YouTube offers another great tool, time control!! with this, one can just simply play and listen/repeat as slow as you can feel it engraving into your neurons.
That will be my focus by now on the kana side of the language until I feel comfortable enough to enter into Kanji (btw I'm gonna keep some advice about not getting into kana stroke order mess for now but just getting to read it fluidly), in the other side (grammar, pronunciation, etc) I count on tons of materials I've downloaded and hoarded compulsively a long time ago, one of them is legendary series Let's Learn Japanese from The Japan Foundation (it was filmed in the 80's!!) another cool one is NHK Japanese: how to survive in Japan? or the new Erin's Challenge also from The Japan Foundation.
If you're more into audio (tapes) type of learning you could also try something neat like Earworms Japanese, the fine japanesepod101, the traditional Genki, Pimsleur or even the classy Assimil - Japanese with ease.
Also some days ago, I found the awesome people of Rosetta Stone are giving 3 free months for students as contribution to every quarantined student out there (so, all of us hehe..) so there's no excuse for not learning Japanese.
Getting a solid grasp on Linux once... and for ALL!
The second key point in my monastic quest was the crucial (and dreaded for some) rite to daily manage a linux operating system, which I admit have always loved but never having enough determination to for example; migrate completely from microsoft winny.That being said, everyone who has lurked teh internetz enough knows that Linux fanbase is growing exponentially and getting more and more attention.
That's probably caused by a couple of factors, first one: Gamers! yeah, the awesomest of online communities has started to look at Linux with nice eyes, mostly because Linux Gaming FINALLY Doesn't SUCK! and no one can actually deny there are more than 10 ways Linux is just better! and Microsoft Should be VERY Afraid to think about it. But if you observe clearly what's going on, it's really easy to realize that resource efficiency and the immense benefits of an open, editable kernel are incredibly attractive for game developers, and if they get poised enough, the whole e-gaming industry could give real headaches to some people in certain OS Headquarters. Knowing those facts explains why they started to become more "open" 2 years ago by bold moves like Microsoft completes GitHub acquisition but that's a story for another time.
The second factor should be pointed to another community (definitely not the awesomest but most sure one with big bucks) the Crypto guys! they have been using every open source tool known to man to develop even more the massive platform (and the madness) called blockchain and everything it implies, from nodes to bridges in the distributed web of tomorrow.
Cryptocurrency world has been a massive news source everyday for more than a decade.
So getting started in Linux once and for all, is one of the best preparatory move anyone can do like right now!
Anyways, I almost forgot to mention my setup, which is the trusty Debian.
I choose debian because after trying several other distros (fedora, mint, ubuntu,
For now I'll focus on tattooing Linux mindset on my brain and keep exploring the wondrous intricacies of such mighty OS.
Getting productive in graphic design
The last piece in my new forged triforce-life-foundation is becoming a real productive graphic designer, and by that I mean generating income from making logos, banners, flyers and stuff like every other nice person with the same inclination. Its time for me to start making some money in sites like fiverr or freelancer.This sounds cool, but first I know have to make a whole portfolio from scratch and organize my ideas about priorities, define styles, then I'll have to forge good reputation and happy clients bit by bit, it takes some time but is doable.
I've got enough resolution to make it through.
So this pretty much rounds up what is my life right now in this quarantined world and what motivates me to keep going.
I created this blog today as a personal journal or even a diary to both leave evidence of my path and to reassure my motivation with each entry.
Feel free to comment.
Take care, everyone!
See ya in next post.
LL
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