Who says the world has to make sense?… See it like a child for a day. Or more often if you like😃

I recently met a child of about seven years old, and the first thing he said was "You've got a big tummy." They were dancing around with blinking LED shoes when they said this. I thought to myself "What a joyful honest answer." I couldn't help smiling.

There was absolutely no malice in what they said, rather there was honesty and the simplicity of how they interacted with people. No judgements, no negativity, lots of playfulness and above all, simply direct. I don't's can learn a thing or two from this encounter between the old and the new.

As adults, perhaps it is time to look and think a little bit like a child. When you next open your front door, take just a moment and look around your surroundings as someone much younger. Not only will you go down memory lane, I'm betting you will realize just how many layers of complications and considerations grown-ups tend to put on themselves. Most of the time this is good, but if we begin to do it subconsciously without thinking there is a chance we can lose touch with the simple pleasures of life. Things need not be complicated. And it could be quite refreshing 😄

I'm reminded of a time when I was very young in Trail British Columbia when my brother had received a miniature working steam engine, complete with a boiler, and a flywheel. I was fascinated by this little gizmo. So I asked my dad if we could build one out of a coffee can. He looked at me and said "I don't think that would work." The more he tried to explain why this would not be a good idea, the more my young mind went wild with ideas on how to fix each of his stated issues. You see, he was looking at it as an adult, and rightfully so, but I was looking at it as a child and coming up with solutions, albeit based on the cartoon logic of the Coyote and RoadRunner" (Thank God I was exposed to those cartoons, back then). Even though we never built this steam engine. I have learned something very important from the experience and lingering memory. "Keep your mind open to the possibilities--Even If They Are Ridiculous. Because from that ultimately not so ridiculous answers may emerge."

Today's lesson then is to remember to think like a child on a regular basis. Just stick your head out the door, or a look around the corner with the attitude you had when you were five or seven years old. The world is about exploring and some of the best toys come from being open to the simple ways of seeing things. Take it a step further if you find this enjoyable. Do it regularly. Don't worry about limitations, details, or whether you may make a mess 😉....  If it puts a smile on your face then you have gained something magical.

Most of the really creative and free people I know stand touch with their childlike perceptions and frequently revisit their own mental playground. Leaving behind all the considerations and the judgements that adults have.

Is matter-of-fact I'm have put a few days on my calendar right now and if I can find a way to do this regularly I may go off and fly a lollipop and dunk it in my chocolate pudding!


Have a great day everyone.
Patrick

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI.  As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public.  However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Buying The Ephemeral

I sat down, to get an idea of just how many subscriptions and other payments are made in one year to services and products which are totally ephemeral. I don't mean in the classical definition of the word ephemeral, that is things which lasted only one day, rather I mean purchased items which have no physical shape. Take for example a movie subscription on Netflix. Then their software, it to today has no physical product and even if you're lucky enough to have a box which the product came in I bet that's all it is an empty box with perhaps a license key.

When you start to add all of the items up, it can be quite a shock. Not only is there nothing physical to show for the money you are spending, it is the fact that we have moved very quickly in this direction. I can't help thinking that this is a "Sucker's Game" in the end.

It used to be that everything you spent money on you came home with. As the late
George Carlin used to say in his standup routine "You Have so Much Stuff! And you need more places to put it." Now we don't need any place, and in that I find an issue. I Miss My Stuff!.

When I first got into computing, the software came with huge binders of information. It cost an arm and a leg, but you had something physical. Even though it had a software license there was no time limit. As long as you had a computer that could run whatever the product was. It would work… Fast forward to 2026 and every time major software is launched on your machine it connects to a remote server run by the company who made the package. If it doesn't make that connection your software doesn't run. Here's the kicker, and nobody seems to mind.

So what we are witnessing is a huge change in the mindset of the consumer, and from my perspective, this puts a layer of abstraction between the very products you use and the knowledge of what you need in order to use them. If your Internet connection goes down how many of these products you know will stop working? Probably many more than you think. Recently, I worked was someone whose printer was not working. It turned out that the printer needed to be hooked up to the Internet so that he could call home approximately once a week. It was doing this because the owner had joined a subscription ink service. To make matters even more interesting, when they decided to cancel their subscription the printer shut down again because the ink cartridges were parked of that subscription. Ultimately the person I had to go to the store and physically by new cartridges to get things going again. Even though the subscription cartridges had plenty of ink left and they had been fully paid for.

Not too long ago this would have resulted in a complete consumer revolt. As I recall a mini revolt was generated when Windows 95 and Windows 98 implemented a crude version of automatic updates. People were really put off by the fact that Microsoft could scan their computer. If they only knew, back then what was coming… Back then as well you had to go to the Microsoft update webpage to do the scan so it was quite different than it is today, but it was the beginning of a transition from the physical product to the ephemeral.

It is so easy to lose track and receive a surprise Subscription Renewal notice saying something like "Thank You! Your subscription has been automatically renewed." It adds up collectively very quickly. Personally that is why I have every auto payment option in my bank account turned off. On the occasion where a store requires the authorization for automatic payments, once the transaction is complete I go in and it disable that authorization.

Let me know your thoughts on this topic. If you feel like it please also feel free to relay some personal experiences.

Have a great day!
Patrick

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI.  As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public.  However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Compartmentalization Of One's Place In Society

As many of you know, I live in a supported living environment, which simply means the due to my physical disability I have 24 hour care. On the whole however I am quite independent and am always up to some activity. I really do have a curious and thoughtful mind. This is in sharp contrast to many of the people in my building who for lack of a better phrase, regardless of the severity or mildness of their condition don't have a "life" outside of the institutional framework. That is everything about their existence revolves around this facility. They may go outside but only to the local shopping mall or occasionally a movie theatre. There was a constant complaint that they are board or in other ways disgruntled and yet they do nothing to alter that state. As you can imagine, this results in a very routine life. For them every day is essentially the same as the one before it and frequently the names of each day don't seem to matter. A Wednesday has just as much importance as a Friday, which anyone working a standard week would know is definitely not the case. Friday is the beginning of the beloved weekend, and it still issomething I get excited about 😃

I've been in this facility for about seven years now and many times I've tried to encourage people in the building to broaden their horizons and do more. I mean we live in a day and age where we are simply flooded with information and opportunities… How could one not have an outside interest or opinion upon which to expand their life upon? Whenever I bring up this point, people asked me what they should do instead of looking inside of themselves to consider what they want to do. 

"You will never be satisfied with life, if you ask others what to do. You must ask yourself, what you want to do with life."

This cyclical behaviour of people asking others what they should do and then rejecting the suggestion, only to go back into the same routines repeats constantly. Honestly this is now something I find a little annoying, because many of the people living in my building could be doing something more rewarding with their lives, but there is always something that has blocked them. I think, I might have an idea now what that issue might be.

Is it possible that they have locked themselves into a social caste like system? Perhaps they believe that because of their condition and because of where they live that they are compartmentalized into a limited set of opportunities. Very much like the caste system in other countries. You are born into a level of society and that is where you must state. That may sound like a ridiculous thought, but I am reminded of a friend who during a meeting of one of the groups I belong to, and I'm paraphrasing said "We are the elites, of the disabled in our age group. "At the time I thought this was a very arrogant statement. But now I am reconsidering this, although not from such a literal point of view. At the time the group I was attending we were talking about the geriatric disabled. People born in the early 1960s. The group grew up in a totally different culture especially in the early days, there was an implied social caste: "You are not normal. You are different. The opportunities in life for you will be very limited." While this is an exaggerated statement, we did take subtler messages like this to heart and even to this day at 66 years old I still have to fight the occasional belief that I feel pulling me into this limited set of opportunities. I think that is what my friend meant. Analogous to electrons trapped in the valence rings of an atom. Each electron stays within its own orbit until forcibly nudged out of it. It is not a perfect analogy and I am by no means a chemist so please take only the very general concept of this idea, in other words don't shoot the writer of this article for being inaccurate. What I mean to say is our people locked in their own or mental orbits in my facility? Do they just feel that they are part of this caste system and must stay within their own orbit.

As we all know, even though we are thinking beings of emotions can override logical thought. And if you think you belong in one orbit, or one caste you emotionally hold yourself to that level. This way of approaching the problem does make a lot of sense to me. I am not sure of the solution, aside from nagging everyone around me to death to get off their butts and do something with their lives. Which I will continue to do, so not to worry. But, if what I propose here is true, then there are undoubtedly others who are equally compartmentalized and limited by the very nature of the way they are feeling and thinking about their lives. So this is no small matter and I shall take it with me as I moved through my various activities moving forward.

Down the road there will likely be a video companion to this article because it is rather profound from my perspective. Videos however take time to get right and in the meantime I would love to hear from you, dear reader.

 As you can see the, I have created a companion video. The more I think about this topic, the more profound it becomes. I really do believe that a lot more emphasis needs to be placed on it. Being visible issues are easy to see and therefore simple to focus resources on, but it is ultimately the subtle beliefs and behaviours which have the long term impact.

While I was making the video there was a concern in the use of the word "Caste" was inappropriate, but I think it is perfectly accurate. It describes an involuntary classification placed on the individual-based only upon the situation they were born into. More importantly, as the person grows up this often becomes a self reinforcing belief so that it is fundamental in everything they do. If we step back and take a wider perspective you can see the limits and judgements being placed on many people.

To a greater or lesser extent I think everyone knows about this but I think it is been vastly underestimated. Just because something is subtle only means that it may go on unnoticed by the larger public. It does not mean that it is any less deserving of attention and ultimately resolution.

Do you think the ideas put forward in this article have merit? Let me know your experiences and thoughts. In the meantime of course have a great day and take care.

Patrick

** NOTE: The pictures and the thumbnail of the video are from the service Ideogram AI.  As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public.  However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement. 

 

Change May Bring Discomfort But...

 ...It Is Guaranteed to show you something positive you didn't expect.

It is always wise to remember that no matter who you are and how observant you are there will be many times in the life where one becomes, quite accidentally, a little too comfortable.

That is, in the absence of an external force acting on the human being, we have a tendency to stop our own evolution by becoming a little too comfortable with whatever the current situation is. This stops most people from developing further. That is until something comes along and shakes them up a bit so that they continue on the road of life.

Everyone falls into this trap many times over a human being's admittedly short lifespan. When people become content for a long period of time they inevitably stop evolving. Which  is a shame, because that is the very time to undertake something new and shake up the tree. To be clear I don't mean you have to do this every day, but I do you mean that it should be frequent enough that you are keenly aware of the benefits. And what might the benefits be you ask?… Far too many to mention, and for each person the list is unique. I can tell you however that it keeps you engaged with the very process of life. Allowing you to notice things you might otherwise have not seen. I bet you as a matter of fact that when you see something new especially if it's unexpected, there is always something deep within that feels a little uncomfortable. That feeling of being "uncomfortable" is an extremely important sign because it means that you are looking at an opportunity to change. You may not like what you perceive as the change, and indeed there may be a fair bit of resistance to the new concepts you are confronted with, but I promise in the end you will gain more than you lose. Usually in ways that are imperceptible to other people. But you know what has occurred.

Click picture to view / download full
resolution printable copy.

This artwork is hereby placed in the
public domain and is based upon material
in the public domain. Patrick Clark

So please don't allow yourself to become overly comfortable or complacent. You should always try to shake each day up a little bit. Because the only meaningful constant in one's life is "change itself".

 So go out and do something you were not quite expecting today. Shake up the day!

Feel free to let me know in the comments if you had any Eureka moments 😉

Take care Patrick 

 

** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI.  As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public.  However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

 

 

Moving video and pictures from a Android phone to a USB stick and back

One of the scenarios I hear from people frequently is regarding their phones storage filling up. The phone call or discussion goes something like this:

They are getting messages from the phone that they can no longer take any photos because there is no storage space left… Usually at this point there is also a message suggesting that they pay for more online storage as well.

These two messages totally confuse the issue for most people who are not technically savvy. If they buy more online storage, the problem on the phone seems to go away for only short amount of time and then there is another message asking them to upgrade.

So my purpose in this article and accompanying video is to attempt to untangle this mess of running out of room on the phone for photos.

First off let's make clear what online storage is and why the phone is using it. When you take a photograph with your phone it is stored in two places. 

1. Inside your phone as you would expect, and this does take up physical storage space. 
   
   
2. The phone also sends a copy of the photograph to online storage. So you have a backup of the photograph. 

Great, except unless you're paying extra the amount of photos which can be stored online is rather limited. So you start getting messages about running low on storage pretty quickly after sitting up your new phone.

This behaviour of automatically backing up photographs is pretty much the default configuration for phones now days. Some phones however are configured a little bit differently and they will not display this message about running low on storage until both the online storage and the phones physical built in storage are full. If this is the situation a phone is in then it's a real mess because usually the phone cannot do software updates since there is no room to actually put the update.

So what do you do?

Answer: Transfer your photos from the phone's physical memory to another device, usually a USB memory stick or an external hard drive, for safekeeping. This does mean that you won't be able to look at all your photos on your phone, but because you now have the photos stored somewhere else you can use other devices to look at them. And if you really want to you can transfer them back to the phone at any time.

The video goes into greater detail of the transfer process but here in brief are the steps, just so you get some idea of what is going on and how to do it. These steps are specific for the Android Operating system for phones. With iPhones the procedure is considerably different. If I can get my hands on a current iPhone I will make a video and article for those as well.

Before proceeding… Phones and anything related to the Internet changes frequently. It is quite possible that the procedures outlined below no longer match your phone. These instructions are specifically geared toward android-based operating system phones and tablets. Use them at your own risk. When in doubt Do Not guess. Take your device to a professional who can provide specific guidance.

1. Buy a USB memory stick with a Type "C" plug as shown in the picture below. The USB stick will connect to your phone using the same connection as the one used for charging. If the phone does not have this style of USB connector take the phone to the store when you are purchasing the USB stick and see if you can get a compatible USB stick or an adapter. (In the video I recommend a USB stick with at least 32 gigabytes (GB) of storage. But after thinking about it if you can get 64 GB that would be preferable. Pictures and videos can be quite large now days.)
   
   

   

   A suitable USB stick with a "Type C" connection on the end.
   This represents 90% of all new cell phones. 
   
   

2. Plug the USB stick into the phone. If you get a message indicating that the stick must be "formatted", click "yes" to proceed. This will only occur the first time you use the stick and may not occur at all.
   
    Be aware though that this formatting process will erase anything previously put on the USB stick. So when in doubt always use a empty stick. 
   
   However once the initial format is complete the next time you use the same stick the phone will not go through this process and you can add more photos to a partially filled stick.