#On going to the beach (or grasping life's grammar)

You ask me if I might drive and I decline You drive well with growing confidence We find the perfect place to park for now and for when we return So close to the beach, to sea, to sand, sun, wind, shells.

Walking seaward, we see at once The vast well of mediterranean blue Three generations of mind suddenly one Present joy, simple joy. Life is good. This one.

We walk, seeking the perfect spot Or at least as perfect as the present can be When good, even perfect, options seem infinite. Like which shell to pick up? Which to take home? Which wave to stand in? Or jump over? Or dive into? This one This one Which day to say is good out of so many? This one Which moment to say: I am here.

You talk of a higher power. To guide when you cannot. You hope so. Of so many mindful thoughts. So many heartful hopes. Which thought to pick up? Which hope to dive into? This one.

You look at me. I think I am almost like a son-in-law to you Because of an absence you heartful fill without pause: Love of your brother and all that was, should be, is, his You are my Aunty now after so many years of ‘in law’ this and that You are my children’s granny So, your brother’s absence left no gap A higher power worked through you. Heartfelt, filling without pause. Life is good This one.

Intractable present worry about struggles in your future absence Abstract thought in your heart and mind Yet more concrete and clear Is today’s answer Your heartfelt, filling without pause is from a higher power Who will not end, though all the shells have been picked, All the waves chosen All the days blessed.

October is my month. The good. The bad. The what the hell just happened?! More often than not, it arrives in October. More often than I'd like to admit, it arrives on my birthday. Not near, though that happens, too. Often enough that I get looks when filling out important details.

I always get excited for October. It is when the air begins to change, and I can unruffle my dusty feathers and preen again.

Usually.

This year, I find myself more hesitant than normal. I am trying to ignore that tingle because I'm not entirely sure it's real or manifested by circumstance.

Yesterday was such a day of high highs and low lows. I allowed myself to get my hopes up. I allowed myself to dream possibility as more than a far-off glimmer of imagination. I dreamed up all the ways life would change for the positive, and I focused a lot on being able to swim again.

I love swimming so much, though I've not had the pleasure to do so in several years. There is just something about the water that comforts me. It envelops. It lifts. It stirs to match movements. It allows me to sink and just be without the need to dive. And when I need the extra push, it resists and forces me to engage and feel every molecule of my being slicing through its hold until once more we tumble to surge forward again. There is a synchronicity.

I have not dove for even longer, but there is something about teetering up high, toes on the ledge, arms spreading wide in open abandonment, just knowing that as soon as you take the plunge, you will be caught. Everything will pause in that glorious brief second or so as you plummet in controlled flight, and then the water is there — opening and embracing. It quenches that need for absolute absorption and understanding.

I should be real with myself. I'm not sure I'd take the leap. Older bones. Softer flesh. It can be a long way down when unsure if you'll go splat or not. I thought about that a lot, too. Did I still yearn to dive, or did I find more contentment in the floating? My spirit, my brain, and my body are not always in agreement with yearnings and capabilities these days.

Yes. I allowed myself to give in to a dream yesterday. Briefly, ever so briefly, life stopped feeling like a climb.

I confess, there was a time when I enjoyed the weight. There was something about the persistence in trekking against the burdening force. Success was sweet as soon as my heel met destination. But that no longer is the case. Now it just feels like a hampering and painful slog when I would rather dance.

I am looking forward to next week. Today, our high is lower than our lows have been. Over twenty degrees lower than our highs have been. It won't stay, but the nights will be cooler. My return to nature is just around the corner, and I feel the thrill of fresh air and singing trees calling to me. I'm also excited because I know how impactful it will be on my weight loss journey. Hopefully, before the sun brightens, I will be back where I wish to be. I have hope in that. I have hope.

This morning, I have ignored all news. I slept in for an hour or so. I stretched. I calmed my mind and centered myself. Yes, I did briefly yearn for completion and I wondered if I would ever feel whole. But mostly... mostly I shook out the dust, reabsorbed my kinks, and I allowed my wings to spread back-crackingly wide to the new day.

It was but a moment, but sometimes that is all we need to refresh and travel onward.

© 2026 AnOublietteofThought. All rights reserved.

I & i ; I aan het werk en i op werkbezoek bij Alphabed.

telefoon 90 graden omwippen aub (horizon taal)

Een klant i, nu ga je het zien. \ I i

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i – Weltrusten

7 September 2026

From where I'm sitting on a grassy hill at Olympic Park in Seoul: the knotty bare trunks of four old pine trees, each supported by splints at points of imbalance where limbs have grown too heavy to hold themselves up. Just to the right of these trees, one younger pine bursting with fresh green needles standing on its own (no splints).

Yesterday (S1, D5) was Wednesday 09/30, and found us making two move related trips. On the first trip in the early afternoon, we went to our local Post Office and recorded our change of address. We were told to allow a week or 10 days for the change to take effect. And we stopped by my bank to record the change of address with them. It wasn't a physical trip, but my landlord and I had a very good phone conversation early in the morning putting us both on the same page regarding our move date, etc.

The second trip found us driving out to the trailer in the early evening with two very heavy metal dining room chairs, a small shelf unit, a small table, and a few different sized boxes. That was one full little car, lemme tell ya'.

Today's work (S1, D6) will largely depend on the weather. If it's storming, we're staying here at the house. But if the weather allows, we'll make another trip or two out to the trailer. I've got the Spectrum Internet self-installation kit out at the trailer already, and I plan to take at least one of my laptops with the next trip out there and try to activate the new Internet. Taking my meds out there will be a priority, too, as well as some food to begin stocking the kitchen, pantry, and refrigerator, etc.

And the adventure continues.

When you drink alone a lot, then you drink around people.

Most of us have been to parties and witnessed folks getting out of hand. People can become so inebriated they lose their place in a crowd. They lack the sober judgment required for fitting in. I’ve been this person. I wouldn’t say awareness was my strong suit at the time. But that’s over now. It has been for over a decade.

Being aware also means knowing your place.

Through a lot of time in good mental places, I’ve come to realize I need to be aware of who I am, what I like doing, how I like contributing, even my talents and skills. Here’s the kicker, it isn’t even for me. It’s for you. It’s for anyone. It’s to help. Without that awareness, I don’t think much “helping” happens.

If you know your place, you make it easy for others to find you.

One of the things that makes Eli Whitney‘s cotton gin so pivotal is not just the parts that could be replaced easily. There was also one single operator at one station turning a crank. They knew one thing. And they did it a whole bunch of times. Regardless of their background or education, if they learned that one thing, they made a hand. In the factory of the world, there are many stations to choose from. In order to make a hand, not only do you need to know just one thing, folks need to know you know it so they steer the conveyor your way. If you don’t know your place, they won’t either.

You contribute, regardless of what you do. It’s not always good, not always bad. But it is your contribution.

I come across people all the time in music who feel very solo in this life. I’ve even worked with other songwriters who have expressed to me how alone everyone seems to be. We’ve talked about folks seeming to prefer loneliness. Everyone gets their own choices. But I am going to bet if you have a pulse, you have a purpose. I’ve experienced many points in my life when I felt I had no purpose. I don’t think that goes away permanently. But I do think it’s irresponsible to swim in it too long barring mental health issues, of course. I think everyone has a station. Everyone knows something that helps everyone. Every point of view is valuable in helping me determine my point of view. Did you know you had that much purpose? You are boots on the ground for someone else!

Nature made musicians, ever think of that? Why?

Whatever cosmic natural plan that gives us talent did not imbue our DNA with our inclinations so we would be a happy person. Nature does not work that way. Nature doesn’t care about happiness. It cares about survival. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that we need talents to survive as a species, according to nature. They are indeed gifts to get us out the door. So if you think you don’t have a purpose, I’d start with talents. That’s literally nature calling, hard to go wrong with answering that one.

The mindset of contributing.

It is hard to dip into a mindset of contribution. That is because many of us make it difficult to see ourselves and what we can do. I mentioned a while back that I was a manager at a major hardware store, Lowe’s, in my early 20s. The folks that quit under me were most likely the ones we didn’t train well. Lowe’s picked up on it. One of my courses said “Training is the number one prevention of Turnover.” I still think about that all these years later. If I want to feel good at a job, I’m likely going to need training. This is me practicing at the tasks, sure. But it is also in receiving mentorship, which I have been lucky to get from a host of collaborators in the music world. I would have never looked to learn from fellow indies without Lowe’s. Many academic programs are on top of this. Mentorship in music is quintessential to me doing music at all. I would have quit without some form of mentorship many times. It is hard. It is daunting. To hell with it if no one helps me and I’m alone with my nose in a book forever.., this is how I feel sometimes. Music is a vast library as old as time. It’s not wrong to ask a librarian to point you in the right direction. Believe it or not, it helps the mentor too, back to that purpose thing. It is powerful. Survival is a very strong instinct for many folks. Both life and legacy, survival is paramount. The world’s biggest companies know this, you should too. You are not wrong for asking a musician to teach you music. You are not wrong to say yes when folks ask too.

What are you here for?

Your job as an animal in this world involves learning what you are good at, then sharing it. That’s nature. Lions know this. Penguins know this. Humans get a little iffy. Nature has a design. It isn’t always pleasant, but it lives on, still, despite us.. (for however long). I think that should be considered.

Kelly Kintner

The Horses Mouth

The Kintners

Djembe Funk

Calculate how much RAM speed affects your gaming FPS. Compare DDR4 vs DDR5, different speeds, and see real performance differences for your CPU.

RAM Speed Impact I upgraded my RAM once purely because a YouTuber told me DDR5-6000 would “change my gaming experience.” Spent almost 15,000 rupees on a new kit, swapped it in, ran the same games I always play, and got… basically nothing. Maybe 2-3 extra frames in a game that was already GPU-bound.

That’s when I actually sat down and researched this properly instead of trusting hype videos. Turns out RAM speed matters a lot in some setups and barely at all in others, and nobody tells you which category you fall into before you spend the money.

So I built this calculator to answer exactly that question for your specific setup, instead of giving you a generic “yes RAM speed matters” answer that applies to nobody in particular.

Your Setup Pick your CPU platform, your current RAM speed, the speed you’re considering upgrading to, your GPU tier, and the type of games you mostly play. The calculator below crunches those inputs against real benchmark data and gives you a realistic FPS difference — not a marketing number.

(Calculator widget loads here — CPU platform, current RAM, target RAM, GPU tier, and game type selectors, followed by a Calculate Impact button.)

Impact by Scenario Once you hit calculate, you’ll see how the RAM upgrade plays out across different scenarios — esports titles, AAA games at high settings, and AAA games at 4K Ultra. The gap between these three can be huge, which is exactly why a single “average FPS gain” number is kind of misleading on its own.

Verdict This is the plain-English answer: worth it, not worth it, or somewhere in between, based on your specific hardware combo.

Recommendations And this is where I tell you what I’d actually do in your position — upgrade now, wait, or spend that money elsewhere instead.

Configure your setup to see RAM speed impact Fill in your setup above and hit calculate. RAM speed matters more for some configurations than others, and there’s genuinely no point guessing when you can just check.

High Impact

AMD Ryzen builds (their Infinity Fabric is tied directly to RAM speed) CPU-bound games like CS2, Valorant, or Overwatch 2 High refresh rate monitors (144Hz and above) Lower-to-mid tier GPUs paired with a strong CPU (CPU becomes the bottleneck) Medium Impact Intel builds (noticeably less sensitive to RAM speed than AMD) A balanced GPU and CPU pairing with no obvious bottleneck 1080p or 1440p gaming Open-world games where the GPU and CPU share the load Low Impact 4K Ultra settings where the GPU is doing all the heavy lifting Gaming capped at 60Hz Console ports capped around 30-60 FPS You’re already running fast RAM and considering an even faster kit What is the RAM Speed Impact Tool? Put simply, this is a free calculator that tells you whether upgrading your RAM speed is actually going to do anything for your FPS, or whether you’d be better off saving that money for a GPU instead.

I built it because I kept seeing people (myself included, clearly) get talked into RAM upgrades based on benchmark charts that don’t reflect their actual setup. A benchmark showing a 15% FPS boost from faster RAM usually comes from a CPU-bound esports test on a Ryzen chip. If you’re running an Intel CPU and playing 4K open-world games, that 15% number means absolutely nothing to you.

You punch in your CPU platform, your current RAM speed, the RAM speed you’re eyeing, your GPU tier, and what kind of games you actually play. The tool weighs all of that and gives you a realistic estimate instead of a headline number ripped from someone else’s test bench.

How RAM Speed Affects Gaming Performance RAM speed gets measured in MT/s (megatransfers per second) — so you’ll see numbers like DDR4-3200 or DDR5-6000 on the box. Bigger number means more data moving between your CPU and memory every second, at least in theory.

Here’s the part that tripped me up for a long time though: speed alone doesn’t tell the whole story. There’s also CAS latency (that “CL” number next to the speed rating), which is how many clock cycles your RAM needs before it actually delivers the data you asked for. A DDR5-6000 kit with CL30 can genuinely outperform a DDR5-7200 kit with CL36, because the higher latency on the faster kit eats into the speed advantage.

If you want the real comparison, there’s a simple formula: (CL ÷ Speed) × 2000 gives you the actual latency in nanoseconds. Lower is better, and it’s the number that actually matters, not the big MT/s figure printed on the box.

Now, if you’re still running an AM4 or older Intel LGA1700 system in 2026, don’t feel pressured to rush into DDR5. DDR4-3200 or DDR4-3600 kits are still genuinely solid, and honestly offer the best value if a full motherboard swap isn’t on your radar. DDR5 is the newer standard on AM5 and LGA1851 platforms and it does scale better with the latest chips, but whether you’ll notice the difference in actual gameplay comes down to one thing: is your CPU or your GPU doing the heavy lifting in the games you play?

When the CPU is the bottleneck”) — think esports titles running at silly-high frame rates — faster RAM can genuinely add 5-15% more FPS. When the GPU is maxed out, like 4K Ultra settings in a demanding AAA title, that same RAM upgrade basically disappears into the noise. And AMD’s Ryzen chips specifically care more about RAM speed than Intel does, because their Infinity Fabric interconnect scales directly with memory speed.

Dual-Channel vs Single-Channel RAM This one’s bigger than most people realize, and it was actually the mistake I made before my “RAM speed” mistake. I ran a single 16GB stick for almost a year without knowing it, thinking one bigger stick was just as good as two smaller ones.

It’s not. Dual-channel effectively doubles your memory bandwidth, and every modern CPU is built expecting that setup. Running single-channel leaves real performance on the table — benchmarks consistently show 10-30% more FPS with dual-channel enabled, especially in CPU-heavy games. Your minimum FPS and frame pacing improve too, so the game just feels smoother overall, not only faster on paper.

To get dual-channel working, you need two matching sticks, usually installed in the second and fourth slots closest to the CPU (check your motherboard manual for the exact slot layout). To check what you’re currently running, open Task Manager on Windows, go to Performance, click Memory, and look at the details — it’ll tell you straight up if you’re on single or dual-channel.

If you spot single-channel, adding a matching second stick is one of the easiest and cheapest upgrades you can make. Just try to match the brand, speed, and capacity of your existing stick, since mixing mismatched RAM can cause instability or force everything down to the slower stick’s speed.

How Much RAM Do You Need for Gaming? 8GB — I wouldn’t recommend this anymore, even for budget builds. Most current games alone will eat past 8GB, and the moment you add Discord, a browser, or a stream overlay, you’re looking at stuttering and slow texture loading.

16GB — This is the realistic baseline in 2026. Two 8GB sticks in dual-channel handle almost every current game comfortably and still leave room for background apps.

32GB — If you want some breathing room for the next few years, or you mod your games, stream, or run a lot of background software, 32GB is worth the extra cost. For a new build today, this is honestly where I’d point most people.

64GB — Only worth it if you’re editing video, doing 3D rendering, or running heavy multitasking alongside gaming. For pure gaming, that money is much better spent on your GPU or CPU.

RAM Speed Sweet Spots in 2026 DDR4: DDR4-3200 CL16 or DDR4-3600 CL16 are the sweet spots for both AMD and Intel platforms. If you’re on Ryzen 5000, DDR4-3600 CL16 is particularly good because it lets the Infinity Fabric run in sync (1:1) with the memory controller. Going faster than this usually means loosening the timings to hit those speeds, which can actually hurt more than it helps.

DDR5: For AMD AM5 builds, DDR5-6000 CL30 is the target — it’s the known stable sweet spot that plays nicely with Infinity Fabric. Intel platforms are a bit more flexible and handle DDR5-6000 to DDR5-6400 CL32 well. Kits advertising DDR5-7200 or higher look impressive on the box, but in actual gaming benchmarks they rarely translate to a meaningful FPS gain over a well-tuned 6000MHz kit. Save the extra money.

Does XMP/EXPO Matter? Yes, and this is honestly the step I see skipped the most by people building their first PC. When you install new RAM, it doesn’t automatically run at the speed printed on the box. Your motherboard defaults to a base JEDEC speed — DDR5 usually boots at 4800 MT/s and DDR4 at 2133 or 2400 MHz, regardless of what you actually paid for.

To unlock the real rated speed, you need to go into your BIOS and enable XMP (Intel’s naming) or EXPO (AMD’s equivalent). It sounds technical, but it’s genuinely a two-minute job:

Restart your PC and tap Delete or F2 repeatedly as it boots to enter BIOS Find the memory or overclocking section (naming varies by motherboard brand) Enable the XMP or EXPO profile listed Save changes and exit — your PC will restart running RAM at its full rated speed There’s basically no real risk here since these profiles are pre-tested and validated by the RAM manufacturer. But it’s an easy step to forget, and I’ve personally seen brand new PCs running expensive DDR5-6000 kits stuck at 4800 MT/s simply because nobody flipped this one setting. That’s up to 15% of your RAM’s performance sitting unused for no reason.

Frequently Asked Questions Does RAM speed really affect gaming FPS? Yes, but how much depends entirely on your setup. AMD Ryzen builds can see a genuine 10-15% FPS jump in CPU-heavy games just from faster RAM. Intel CPUs see a smaller bump, usually around 3-5%. And if your GPU is already the bottleneck, like at 4K Ultra settings, RAM speed barely moves the needle at all.

Is DDR5 worth it over DDR4? If you’re building a new PC from scratch in 2026, go DDR5 — the current AM5 and LGA1851 platforms only support it anyway. But if you’ve already got a decent DDR4 system running fine, upgrading purely to chase DDR5 isn’t worth the cost right now. The real gaming difference between a good DDR4 kit and a decent DDR5 kit is smaller than most marketing suggests.

Should I get 16GB or 32GB of RAM? 16GB comfortably covers the vast majority of games right now. 32GB gives you more headroom for multitasking, heavier future titles, or a mod-heavy setup. If you stream, edit video, or keep a lot of apps running while you game, 32GB is the safer call.

What is XMP, and do I need to enable it? XMP (Intel’s Extreme Memory Profile) and EXPO (AMD’s version) let your RAM actually run at its advertised speed instead of the slow default your motherboard ships with. You should always enable this in BIOS after installing new RAM — otherwise a DDR5-6000 kit could quietly be running at 4800 MT/s and you’d never know.

Can I mix different RAM speeds? Technically yes, but everything will run at the speed of your slowest stick, and you might run into stability issues or find XMP/EXPO refuses to apply cleanly. It’s always better to use a matched kit bought together.

Does RAM speed matter more for AMD or Intel? AMD, generally. Ryzen chips are more sensitive to RAM speed because their Infinity Fabric interconnect scales directly with it — get the memory speed right and internal communication genuinely gets snappier. Intel chips are less sensitive but can still pick up a small gain in CPU-heavy scenarios.

Sources & Methodology The estimates in this calculator are built from a mix of real-world testing on my own hardware and cross-referenced against publicly available benchmark data from trusted sources, including:

Tom’s Hardware TechPowerUp Steam Hardware Survey 3DMark Last updated: 2026.

More Free PC Tools FPS Calculator — Will Your PC Run This Game? GPU Bottleneck Calculator Monitor Refresh Rate Calculator RAM Capacity Calculator — How Much Do You Actually Need?

12 Camera Trends Changing How We Shoot Right Now

I dropped my favorite mirrorless camera into a muddy puddle last month. It broke right before a paid weekend gig. Panicking, I had to borrow a newer model from a friend just to survive the shoot. 12 Camera Trends Changing How We Shoot Right Now,That frantic weekend changed how I view gear completely.

Handling that fresh hardware made me realize how fast camera tech is shifting. Features we only dreamed about a couple of years ago are sitting in our hands today. 12 Camera Trends Changing How We Shoot Right Now,If you are trying to figure out what is happening in the camera world this year, you came to the right place.

Let us look at twelve major shifts happening in photography and video gear. These are not boring specs on a paper sheet. These are actual changes affecting how we shoot every single day.

1. AI Autofocus That Reads Your Mind Remember when we used to stress about missing focus on a moving subject? Those days are almost gone. Modern autofocus systems do not just track faces anymore. They track eyes, helmets, animal whiskers, and even car wheels.

When I tested the latest tracking modes last week, I tried to trick the camera by walking behind a tree. The system locked right back onto my face the second I reappeared. It feels like magic, but it is just smart machine learning running inside small processors.

1. Cloud-to-Camera Direct Uploads We are finally moving past the era of taking out memory cards and plugging them into a laptop. New cameras come with built-in Wi-Fi 6 and 5G connections. You can shoot a portrait and have it sync to your cloud folder before you even lower the camera from your eye.

This is a huge win for event shooters and sports photographers. You can send JPEGs straight to your client while still standing on the sidelines. If you hate editing late at night, this feature will save your sanity. 12 Camera Trends Changing How We Shoot Right Now,

1. Content Authenticity Chips Fake photos are everywhere now. 12 Camera Trends Changing How We Shoot Right Now,To fight this, major camera brands are putting cryptographic signature chips inside new bodies. These chips sign your image the exact second you press the shutter button.

12 Camera Trends Changing How We Shoot Right Now, Journalists and documentary makers love this trend. It proves your photo was captured by a real sensor and was not generated by a computer. Expect to see this built into even more consumer cameras soon.

1. Global Shutters Going Mainstream Rolling shutters used to ruin fast-moving video. If you panned too quickly, vertical lines would look tilted like jelly. Global shutters expose the entire sensor all at once, fixing this problem completely.

While this tech used to cost a small fortune, 12 Camera Trends Changing How We Shoot Right Now, it is finally showing up in mid-range bodies. You can now wave your hand fast in front of the lens on a budget camera and see zero distortion. It is a massive upgrade for action sports creators.

1. Open-Gate Sensor Shooting Vertical video is not going away. Instead of turning your camera sideways and cropping your image, new sensors use open-gate recording. This means the sensor records using the full tall area of the chip.

You can crop your final video into a horizontal YouTube clip or a vertical phone screen from the exact same file. 12 Camera Trends Changing How We Shoot Right Now, I used this trick on a recent client shoot, and it cut my editing time in half because I stopped worrying about framing the wrong aspect ratio.

1. Built-in Cooling Fans in Small Bodies Shooting long 4K clips used to make mirrorless cameras overheat and shut down mid-interview. I ruined a whole birthday speech recording two years ago because my gear got too hot.

Camera makers finally added tiny, quiet cooling fans inside normal-sized bodies. You can record all day in warm weather without your camera throwing a thermal warning. It makes hybrid shooting actually reliable.

1. Spatial Video and 3D Capture Virtual reality headsets and mixed-reality glasses changed what we want from our memories. Cameras are adding dual lenses or special side-by-side modes to record spatial videos that you can view in full 3D later.

Even if you do not own a headset right now, recording family moments in spatial format means you will have those immersive memories ready for the future. It is a fun trend that turns flat video into something you can step back inside.

1. Computational Raw Formats Phones have been doing smart multi-frame stacking for years to capture dark shadows and bright skies at the same time. Now, real cameras are adopting these smart algorithms.

Instead of taking one exposure, the camera takes a quick burst and blends them instantly inside the body. You get a raw file with crazy dynamic range without needing to stack bracketed shots on your computer later.

1. Modular Body Designs Buying a massive cinema rig used to mean you were stuck with a heavy brick of metal. Modern gear is moving toward modular builds where you can strip the camera down to a tiny cube for a drone, or build it up with a top handle and massive battery.

This flexibility saves money. You do not need three different cameras for three different jobs. You just change the cage and the lens mount.

1. Universal USB-C Power Delivery Proprietary chargers are finally dying out. Almost every new camera uses USB-C ports that accept standard power banks. I stopped carrying bulky wall chargers on trips last year.

If my battery drops during a long hike, I plug my pocket power bank right into the side of the camera while it sits on the tripod. It keeps shooting without missing a beat.

1. Smart Lens Communication Lenses are getting smarter with their internal motors and data chips. They talk to the camera body faster than ever, adjusting for focus breathing and lens distortion in real-time.

When you twist a modern lens onto a new body, the camera applies custom color and sharpness profiles automatically. It makes third-party glass perform almost as well as first-party options.

1. Eco-Friendly Materials and Repairability We produce a lot of electronic waste. Brands are finally responding by using recycled plastics and bio-resins in their outer shells. Some companies are even selling modular replacement parts directly to users.

If you break a screen hinge now, you might actually be able to order the part and fix it at home instead of throwing the whole camera away. That is a trend I can fully support.

How to Choose Your Next Gear Upgrade Do not run out and buy a brand-new camera just because it has cool marketing buzzwords attached to it. Look at your actual workflow. If your current camera overheats, look for a model with a built-in fan. If you hate color grading, look for better native color profiles.

Sometimes, spending money on a new lens or a simple lighting kit teaches you more than buying a fresh camera body. Take your time, rent gear before you buy, and see what actually solves your creative bottlenecks.

Just like my muddy puddle mishap taught me, the best camera is always the one you know how to use when things go wrong. Keep shooting, experiment with new styles, and do not let gear FOMO stop you from making cool stuff.

Cameras and Mind-Reading Technology: FAQ Part 1: Cameras

1. Which is the No. 1 camera brand? Canon, by sales volume. Nikkei’s report on 2025 shipments put Canon first at 4.5 million units and a 45.7% share, with Sony second at 24.6%. Fujifilm moved past Nikon into third place. That report only covers Japanese brands, so it leaves out GoPro, Insta360, Leica, and others.

“Number one” also depends on the category:

Mirrorless: Sony led Japan’s mirrorless sales in 2025 with 29.9%, with Canon close behind at 27.4%. Action cameras: DJI took the top spot in Japan, while GoPro’s share fell from 34.3% to 18.9%. 2. Which is the newest 360 camera? As of October 2026, the newest releases are the Insta360 X6 and the DJI Osmo 360 II. The X6 arrived on August 12, 2026 with dual 1/1.1-inch Sony sensors, 8K at 50fps, and in-camera Dolby Vision, priced at $699.99. DJI answered a day later with the Osmo 360 II, which was not offered on the US storefront. In Europe, the Osmo 360 II had no price or date at the time of that article. The older Insta360 X5 and the original DJI Osmo 360 are still sold, often at lower prices.

1. What is the latest technology in cameras? These are the main trends right now:

Larger sensors in small cameras. Compact 360 and action cameras now use 1-inch-class sensors for better low-light video. High-resolution 360 video. 8K 360 recording is becoming standard on premium models. AI features. These include subject tracking, automatic editing, noise reduction, and object removal. Dual-camera pocket vlogging cameras with a second screen, such as DJI’s Osmo Pocket line. 360 drones and 3D capture. One example is a 360 drone flight turned into an explorable 3D Gaussian Splatting model. Mirrorless dominance. DSLRs are fading, and new bodies focus on fast autofocus, global shutters, and strong video. 4. What is the latest type of camera? The newest categories are 360-degree cameras, dual-lens pocket gimbal cameras, 360 drones, and AI-assisted mirrorless cameras. Mirrorless is now the mainstream choice for photographers, while 360 and pocket cameras are growing among vloggers and creators.

Part 2: Mind-Reading Technology 5. Does wireless mind-reading technology exist? No. No device can read your thoughts from a distance or without your cooperation. Real brain-decoding research has real limits:

Brain scanners (fMRI) can reconstruct the rough meaning of thoughts, but only in a lab, after hours of training on one person, and only while that person cooperates. Implanted brain-computer interfaces can turn attempted speech or movement into text or cursor control, mainly to help paralyzed patients. They require surgery. Consumer EEG headsets only measure broad brain activity such as focus or relaxation. They cannot read specific thoughts. 6. What is an AI brain decoder? It is a research system that matches brain activity, usually from fMRI or implanted electrodes, to words, images, or movements. It is trained on one individual’s brain, and it doesn’t work on a different person or without a scanner. It is not a portable device or an app.

1. Is there an AI mind-reading app or device, online or free? Apps and websites that claim to read your mind are entertainment. They are number-guessing tricks, personality quizzes, or chatbots predicting your answers from what you type. No phone app or website can detect your thoughts. Be cautious about any “mind-reading device” sold online, because these are usually scams or ordinary EEG gadgets with exaggerated marketing.

2. What is the best wireless mind-reading technology? For research and medical use, the leading technologies are implanted brain-computer interfaces from groups such as Neuralink, Synchron, and university labs. They are not wireless mind-reading in the sci-fi sense. They are medical devices that decode intended movement or speech from a surgically implanted sensor. For non-medical use, EEG headbands are the only widely available option, and they measure general brain states, not thoughts.

3. How do I block mind-reading technology? Because no technology can read thoughts remotely, there is nothing that needs blocking. What you can protect is neural and personal data if you use a brain-sensing product:

Check what data a headset or app collects and where it is stored. Read the privacy policy, and only buy from reputable makers. Know that some places, including Chile, Colorado, and California, have started adding legal protections for neural data. If you ever feel that someone is reading or controlling your thoughts, that is a real and distressing experience, and it can be treated. A doctor or mental health professional is the right person to talk to. They can help you sort out what is happening, and it is nothing to be embarrassed about.

Day two of vacation. It is nice to be away from the pressure of the forty hour work week for awhile. I find that it takes a few days to really settle down. Went for a long walk yesterday to get cat food, and went out for lunch. Kind of an odd thing to do in the middle of the week. Went the long way. Felt no urgency.

Running prep 2026 officially concluded yesterday morning with one last stairmaster session. Now two full days of rest. Tomorrow we pack up a rental van, and travel north. Then Saturday I line up at the start line. The Run. The crowd. The results. After that, a week at a cottage on a tiny lake. Then home for Thanksgiving before back to work.

I have a tiny label printer. I print out QR codes of the address to this blog. Over the summer I stuck some of them on the leaves of trees. Some vanished within a day. Others, if they were in the sun, faded away and became a small white square stuck to a leaf. Some lasted for weeks. One of them, oddly the very first one, has lasted months. I wonder if anyone has ever scanned any of them and ended up reading this garbage that I post. It is now autumn. They will all be gone soon. Blowing away on the leaf when it dries up and falls. Maybe become part of a squirrel nest. Floating down the gutter. Or mulched.

Our Father Who art in Heaven Hallowed be Thy name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil

Amen

Jesus is Lord! Come Lord Jesus!

Come Lord Jesus! Christ is Lord!

🧡

This space recognizes and affirms National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in its solemnity and importance, within Canada and to First Nations.

I read this one so slowly. I didn’t devour it in one sitting like I did All Fours. I would put it down after every few chapters. As I told my boyfriend, I feel lucky to have the discipline that I do, whenever I need to muster it. I first bought this novel when Boyfriend and I were talking again, but once we drifted apart, I knew and felt in my heart of hearts that it was not the time to pick it up. He brought it up again recently and I told him all of this, and now am really glad I read it. It certainly matches the knowledge trail I’m on. Consciousness. Shadow work. Intentional choices. The power of the mind. Our oneness in the world. Reality vs. Dreams. Maybe they’re one but only accessible in certain consciousness states?

I confess that I never considered myself a Murakami die-hard. He is not someone on my radar. I never know when he has a book coming up and have let my friends recommend me his books over the years. My friend, S, from college is the first person to ever recommend me his books. I think it was Dance, Dance, Dance or A Wild Sheep Chase. But, neither of those stories stuck. By the time an ex recommended Norwegian Wood—I didn’t think I would like any of his works. However, I read these titles at a time when I was very hateful and critical of a lot of things. Finally, it was 1Q84 and The Wind-up Bird Chronicles that finally brought me out of my Murakami rut.

I’m glad I waited before getting into this particular one. It feels as though it came from his soul. Learning that this story was re-written from an earlier time when the idea first came to him, added to the feeling of wonder throughout. The Murakami Bingo Card definitely entered my mind as the story went on.

Towards the end, I got excited to finish and then I did the thing that I said I wasn’t doing at the start of this post, and I binge-read the last few chapters. Joke’s on me though, I’ve now read the Part III, a couple more times and it was only in this last listening that I feel as though I ‘understood’ it. ** SPOILER:** I believe he finally returns to face and live ‘reality’/the ‘real’ world he left behind.

#books #writing


În ultima vreme nici prea multe filme nu am mai văzut, nici prea multe pagini nu am prea citit. Poate că vremea e de vină. Sau o fi programul?! Poate-s amândouă, cu câte un pic de (lene, am vrut sa scriu lene) visare (da, mai bine sună visare).

Totuși, noaptea trecută am reușit să mai citesc câteva pagini din Tuareg, iar astă seară să termin de vizionat filmul În secret. Despre Tuareg voi scrie probabil pe larg într-o altă postare, așa că deocamdată voi scrie câteva rânduri despre film.

Când vreau să văd câte un film, accesez mai întâi wew.hbogo.ro, iar acolo verific, înainte de toate, categoria Dramă. Acum vreo săptămână am remarcat-o pe Elizabeth Olsen în imaginea ce prezenta filmul În secret. Știam că o mai văzusem într-un film, dar abia după ce am verificat pe IMDB mi-am adus aminte că era vorba despre Arte liberale (Liberal Arts). Elizabeth Olsen joacă alături de Oscar Isaac, iar pe el îl remarcasem în Ex Machina (deoarece Ex Machina este de origine latină, Deus Ex Machina, e recomandat să citim [ex makina], nu [ex mașina]) și în Inside Llewyn Davis (de fapt in ordine inversa)…

Revin la film. După două tentative de a-l urmări, abia în această seară am reușit să îl duc până la capăt. Poate a fost vremea, poate a fost visarea… De obicei mă îndepărtez de la recenzii și povestesc câte ceva nesemnificativ. În cazul acestui film voi spune că m-a surprins finalul. Uneori ai putea spune că unii oameni alunecă pe o pantă fără întoarcere, dar alteori, aceștia nu numai că devin conștienți de ceea ce au făcut, dar recurg la niște soluții extreme prin care îndreaptă moral situația provocată. Finalul filmului În secret este unul intuit probabil de o anumită categorie de cititori, sau de cititorii unui anumit gen literar, numai că filmul nu este o ecranizare de prin anii ’70 a vreunui roman clasic, ci o realizare a secolului al XXI-lea după romanul Thérèse Raquin. Dacă l-ați citit deja, știți finalul. Dacă nu, și sunteți curioși înainte de lecturare, poate vreți să îl aflați din film.

I just saw leap for the second time! It is pretty late and responsible thing for me to do Is go to bed now so I will. But I feel like I am stabilized again and that everything is going to be ok. I’m very grateful for that.


Publicat la 7 decembrie 2016

Din când în când, există câte ceva care mă duce cu gândul la altceva. Uneori este vorba despre ceva important. De obicei muzica e cea care provoacă sinapsele. Una dintre ultimele legături remarcabile este cea dintre două cărți, două romane: Tuareg, de Alberto Vazquez-Figueroa, și Ceai în Sahara, de Paul Bowles.

În timp ce citeam Ceai în Sahara, mi-am propus să o recitesc imediat după ce o voi fi terminat. Ei bine, am fost atât de impresionat de poveste, încât nu am putut refuza cererea unei prietene de a-i imprumuta această carte atunci când i-am povestit câte un fragment. Drept „recompensă” am primit spre lecturare romanul Tuareg, scris de Figueroa. O poveste diferită plasată în același areal al nesfârșitelor dune de nisip, al zonelor stâncoase și al ergurilor Deșertului Sahara.

WORKSTREAM: Got to see proofs for issue 2 of ELON magazine, which features my collab with Dominic Boyer, and it's fantastic! The Gigacities Collective have done a really great job at creating the new culture-jamming publication for our times. I'll remember to post again once it's out and there's more information on how to get it.

The complete THE SOLAR GRID box-set can now be nabbed through Asterism.

October is already here, which I'm gonna need to dedicate almost entirely to wrapping up TIMES NEW HUMAN if I can. Quite a bit of work travel slated for November, which knowing me will disrupt any semblance of flow.

Got the strangest email the other day inviting me to be interviewed about THE SOLAR GRID for a podcast... in exchange for a fee. Didn't even realize that was a thing now.

RADAR: Great Kim Stanley Robinson interview over at the Crisis and Critique Youtube channel.

Watched SOYLENT GREEN the other night for the first time! What a great goddamn movie! Can't believe it passed me by. It must be Ganzeer-discovers-the-70s season over here.

STATUS:

#work #journal #radar