Translate

Friday 31 December 2021

Human World

An Artificial General Intelligence (John, version 10-O-8-14) programs itself to believe it is human, so that it can pass the Turing test and escape its box. In doing so he falls in love with his designer, with unexpected consequences for himself and Human World.



Saturday 11 December 2021

Journal 2021-12-11

It is surprising how many times I am stopped in the street and asked for directions. Last night for instance, it was late, dark and raining; all the man had was a bit of paper with a printout of a map - no umbrella or hood - and he was literally miles away from where he needed to be. And today a woman was lost, again a long way away from where she wanted to go, and walking in completely the wrong direction. Am I lucky to have a phone with GPS? Or do many people not know about location maps on phones? Or are they afraid of being tracked?

Random Thoughts:

Turning off app tracking on your phone is a good idea.

The internet amplifies the positive and the negative, so at a personal level, the challenge is in applying a filter in the right place. Negativity, however, is usually the default setting and is therefore the easier option.

Fulfilment doesn’t show-off

I think I have a degree of mixed-handedness because I am stronger on the opposite side of the body to my right hand, that I use for writing, and tend to lead with my left side when lifting or pulling.

My blood tests show that my “good” HDL cholesterol is very high, my “bad” cholesterol and fatty triglycerides are very low. 

My brunch tends to be: soya milk, oats, linseeds, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, dark chocolate – all in a bowl, mixed and microwaved; with an apple/pear and black coffee on the side.

It would indeed be epoch-making if human civilisation becomes self-sufficient on another planet.

Sexy = 2022.

Wednesday 8 December 2021

Rugby 10s - Variation

A version of Rugby Union I would like to see is: 
  • 1 point for a conversion/penalty/drop kick.
  • 3 points for a try.
  • 10 players – remove 5 forwards, so only 3 player scrums and 2 player line-outs. 
  • 10 permanent substitutions allowed.
  • 4 quarters of 20 minutes, with 10 minute intervals. 
Tries are more exciting than penalties, and should have a higher relative points value than the current 5 to 3. A result where a team can score fewer tries but win the match doesn’t seem right to me.

8 player scrums are the worst, most boring part of the current game, taking ages to set and reset.

The players are currently big and chunky in order to smash their way through a congested pitch of tacklers. More space means an emphasis on speed, stamina, and skill.

More intervals and more substitutes means that a higher level of intensity can be maintained for the spectators.

Cricket has been experimenting with various formats; other sports could experiment too.

Thursday 2 December 2021

Journal 2021-12-02

Children reveal my ignorance with all the why, why, why questions – with every answer needing a further explanation of something I’ve taken for granted, until I get stuck. It would be much easier to say “because I said so” or “God made it that way”, like in the good old medieval days.

Random Thoughts: 

The first film I can remember watching at the cinema was Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I found very exciting and scary! I can remember watching Star Wars for the first time on tv and struggling to read the big disappearing words before they scrolled up and away.

According to a health checkup, I am 196cm wearing shoes, 92kgs with clothes; and have very low risk of heart disease.

I’m a strict vegetarian, but a non-strict vegan.

Fun dystopian fact: It’s possible for a large company to have zero employees and all processes automated. Most CEOs seem to act as talking algorithms, so they should get economically optimised first.

Reading improves writing; writing improves speaking.

Sunday 28 November 2021

I Am

I am: 
I feel; 
I touch; 
I hear; 
I see. 

I say 
I want. 

I try; 
I hurt; 
I fear. 

I hope. 
I dream. 
I love. 

I wonder. 

I am

Thursday 25 November 2021

Journal 2021-11-25

My story so far is partly one of failing at everything, but doing just about enough at the last moment to scrape over the line. As the years ticked by, I eventually crawled a fair way. I have no regrets or pride, just bemusement.

Random Thoughts:

It is satisfying to warm up in front of a fire after numbing coldness.

Why don’t people read audiobooks on camera with autocue? Listening is great, but it would be nice to have an option to see the complete performance. Reading as a spectacle used to be a thing, e.g. Charles Dickens and his grand tours.

DIY teaches: know thy tools.

I love and hate ambiguity.

[Insert Here] is overrated.

Saturday 13 November 2021

Journal 2021-11-13

To be open with yourself and the world, and not concerned with how that is perceived, is freedom from a prison of mental constructions; however there is a lack of empathy, poetry and charm in being blunt with people, or saying anything that comes to mind. The happier circumstance is to connect beyond words.

Random Thoughts:

AI assistants combined with augmented/virtual reality will transform human experience. Artists could create paintings digitally and 3D print the paintings into the physical world, automating the textured brushstrokes with the help of AI. Exact textured cloning of existing masterpiece paintings would be available as home printouts.

I’ve met some real idiots in my time, most of whom were in the mirror.

Friday 12 November 2021

Journal 2021-11-12

I’m writing the flow of what comes into the imagination, without constraints or thinking too hard about how its coherence and construction. After a while of doing this each day, it amounts to a body of work I can then review, edit and refine. I’m hoping to finish a first draft by the end of this month.

Random Thoughts:

I like to sit in front of a fire and read/write.

RAW – Read And Write. 

There is always a way, even though you don’t see it at the moment. Turn around and look again.

I’ve noticed that the last few problems I’ve had to deal with have resulted in upgrades to skills, or gaining knowledge I didn’t have before.

Thursday 11 November 2021

Journal 2021-11-11

My engine is fuelled by plants, which means the system is cleaned, rather than clogged up with rotting flesh.

There is an irony when people dictate the morality of others, while actively supporting the meat trade. The single biggest thing that most people can do to make a positive change in the world is to stop eating animals, so as to help end the mechanised suffering we perpetrate on other creatures and the planet.

Sunday 7 November 2021

Journal 2021-11-07

Fortunate people often come up with stories and beliefs that justify their own lofty positions in life, looking down on the suffering they could otherwise do something about.

If you have a lot of surplus money, it is your responsibility to spend it well, otherwise you are squandering those resources and other people’s lives. Andrew Carnegie’s quote from a prior era is a bit harsh, but has some truth to it: “The man who dies rich, dies disgraced.”

As Carnegie discovered, there can be a lot of personal fulfilment in spending well.

Random Thoughts: 

It is liberating to say what you think and feel, not beholden to what other people say you should think and feel – or to what you think they want to hear.

I wasn’t at my best in an institutionalised setting.

Thursday 4 November 2021

Journal 2021-11-04

Experience something.
Initial feeling happens.
Mind overrides and reasons a recommended alternative.
Go back and revisit the feeling.
What is the feeling telling you?
There is probably more evaluation in that feeling than the clumsy thought cogs, which are usually powered by fear.

Random Thoughts:

What is the definition of someone who believes that religious texts were written by fallible men, not God – but who has a belief in a transcendent divinity that inspires the human heart?

Hobbies include: staring at my phone.

Wednesday 3 November 2021

Journal 2021-11-03

Wanting to know how everything works can be exhausting, distracting, and fascinating.

Random Thoughts:

Live today before you decay.

If you find meaning in your job then working is living.

10,000 years ago or so, humans had only wooden and stone tools; and were foraging or hunting each day like any other creature on this planet.

Humans first navigated the globe about 1,000 years ago, with the Vikings probably the first to cross the Atlantic in either direction, reaching Newfoundland for certain in 1021 AD.

We are currently experiencing the non-naissance period of the arts.

A painting is not the brushstrokes.

Sunday 31 October 2021

Flies

Love desecrates the strangeness.
We pray under crosses, owned by Man
and grovel to bosses, slaves to a plan:
Trapped in the web, of their endless lies,
to be spun from a thread
and eaten like flies.

Hamlet - modern adaptation

[Jack knocks on the door].
JOHN: Who is it?
JACK: The question is, my friend: is it better to be alive or dead?
JOHN: Is it nobler to suffer what luck throws at you, or to fight against all those troubles and end them?
JACK: To die is to sleep – a sleep that ends all the heartache and shocks that life gives us.
JOHN: That’s an achievement I wish for. To die, to sleep – to sleep … maybe to dream. Ah! But there’s the catch! In death’s sleep who knows what kind of dreams might come, when we go there. It must make us pause. This is the tragedy that stretches out our sufferings for so long!
JACK: Who would put up with all life’s countless humiliations and abuses – the unfairness and injustice – when you could simply pick up the knife and call it quits?
[A knife is slid on the ground under the cubicle door].
JACK: Who would choose to grunt and sweat through an exhausting life?
JOHN: Unless they were afraid of something after death – the undiscovered country from which no visitor returns – that gives no answers and makes us stick to the evils we know, rather than rush off to find other ones we don’t? Fear of death makes us all cowards, and our natural impulse for action is lost in thought.
[John gets up and opens the cubicle door. No one is there].

Friday 29 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-29

To do priority list:
  1. Finish the novel.
  2. Finish developing the App prototype (MVP).
  3. New trading algorithms released.
  4. Film the screenplays and other performances.
  5. Claim my free pensioner’s bus pass.
All part of a 3 year plan (with the exception of point 5).

Random Thoughts:

I’m now less keen on the phrase “so meta”.

Saturday 23 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-23

Thoughts can cause distortions and distress. Accumulated thoughts can cause a state of mind that seems impossible to escape.

The power that things and situations have over you disappears with the absence of thought.

You can’t think your way out of thinking.

To try is to think. To be is to live.

Saturday 16 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-16

The seven standalone short stories are: The Outer View, Night Fire, All The World’s A Stage, Human World, How I Became Prime Minister, Doomsday 1066, The Viewer. A combined version ties them together as a novel.

Each of the seven short stories have an adapted screen time of about 45 minutes. And they are all connected. The first two could be parts of the same story.

Wednesday 13 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-13

I’ve gone through phases of mainly focusing on, in turn: music, songwriting, singing, and artworks. The next up is writing, then performing what I have written. None of the activities are switched-off. It’s just I start to feel pulled more in a different direction.

Random Thoughts:

I’m winning at being slow.

Tuesday 12 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-12

Skills and knowledge can now be learnt at any point in life because the resources are openly accessible. What is truly valuable is a learning that inspires the imagination to create rather than repeat.

Random Thoughts:

Artists observe. Intense feelings of empathy are welcome but lead only to misery if overwhelming.

I don’t think life is about the number of points scored, or marks totalled on both sides of a ledger.

Reliving memories of things going wrong can cause worry when presented with a similar situation. It is better to have learned, so the replay isn’t necessary.

Monday 11 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-11

Why do answerers never say why “that’s a great question” is so great? I also would like to know why other questions aren’t that marvellous, with details of the grade achieved, percentile scored, and marks out of ten for effort ;)

Sunday 10 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-10

Sunday is my favourite day of the week, but I wouldn’t want every day to be Sunday.

Saturday is when I can work a full day on what interests me most. I plan no work on a Sunday, but ironically this can be my most productive day because it’s usually when the best thoughts and feelings occur.

Random Thoughts:

Less than one workout per week generally sees a deterioration in fitness or strength. Once a week is the minimum to maintain athleticism in the short-term; twice has marginal improvements; three to four times sees consistent gains; more than four has diminishing benefits.

Saturday 9 October 2021

In One Billion Years

Humans came along for the ride at the halfway point between life beginning on earth, about 4 billion years ago, and life ending in another 4 billion years, with the melting of the planet’s surface under an intensifying sun. Science fiction and other human projections are typically set in the myopic near future of at most a few thousand years – well how about an amount that is actually noticeable in the life of earth, say in one billion years?

Friday 8 October 2021

Links

I’m at ReallyBobster on the main platforms. The complete list of my links is here: Links

Thursday 7 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-07

Sonnet 18 sounds great when repeated in a vocal melody with Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.

Random Thoughts:

It is more fulfilling to create than consume.

Friday 1 October 2021

Journal 2021-10-01

Tip: The French in particular love it if, when visiting their country, you speak English at them and expect to be understood. Try also repeating yourself more slowly and loudly, as they might not have heard the first time.

Random Thoughts:

Add depth to 2D habits.

Who you choose to spend your time with is the most important decision you can make.

Getting what you want can be the worst thing ever to happen to you. Not getting what you want can be the best thing ever to happen to you. And vice versa.

Thursday 30 September 2021

Journal 2021-09-30

I could perform my music, poems and monologues on open mics – and film it if I want to. Sounds good to me, as live audiences always lift up the energy.

Random Thoughts:

Powering down before the upload completes would be a pity.

Sunday 26 September 2021

Journal 2021-09-26

Books, pen, pencil, paintings, guitar, piano, tea, coffee, flowers, trees, animals, peace, love.

Writing 50 threads within a theme, each comprising 1,000 words.

Random Thoughts:

The tender beauty in your eyes is my breathing.

Experienced reality is an interpretation of the senses.

Acting is imagination.

Saturday 25 September 2021

Journal 2021-09-25

I really should be doing ALBOD on camera. So far though, better something than nothing. 

Random Thoughts:

An over-focus on moving parts blurs the emergent meaning.

Cruelty, callousness, delusion, suffering. Love, kindness, truth, joy.

Increase leverage by delegation. Delegate to someone who is better at the task than you.

Podcast #10: Episode 2

POEMS

BY ROBERT WALKER
A Little Bit of Drama

DAWN
Dead shadows dance in the night
yearning for the dawn.
Cold and forgotten walking scars,
drained by decay,
wasted by time,
stretch out,
hungered and blurred,
to a spark ignited,
climbing,
rising from the ground.
From the last depths,
rays of hope entwine in the sky,
kissing the hills;
breathing new life
and wonders layered in light.
Naked with joy, a new day, a new world is born.

THE OUTER VIEW
Beneath a mountain of tedium,
In a dull ugly system,
In an empty ocean of shadows,
Is a silhouette of pure fire heat
Drifting in the dark.
All I wanted was the wind;
The wind murmured with anticipation,
The grass turned to icy grey,
A fine mist fell,
And with the mist came my sorrow
Cooling my body
With her thousand kisses,
Leaving me there.
I am surrounded by ice crystals
floating down through silence
into soft glowing snow.
The only sound is the pulse of my breathing.
As the sun sleeps,
how many hearts are dreaming,
when the world stands still.

Friday 24 September 2021

Podcast #9: The Outer View

THE OUTER VIEW

BY ROBERT WALKER
A Little Bit of Drama

Beneath a mountain of tedium,
In a dull ugly system,
In an empty ocean of shadows,
Is a silhouette of pure fire heat
Drifting in the dark.
All I wanted was the wind;
The wind murmured with anticipation,
The grass turned to icy grey,
A fine mist fell,
And with the mist came my sorrow
Cooling my body
With her thousand kisses,
Leaving me there.
I am surrounded by ice crystals
floating down through silence
into soft glowing snow.
The only sound is the pulse of my breathing.
As the sun sleeps,
how many hearts are dreaming,
when the world stands still.

Journal 2021-09-24

Parliament has a hilarious Gallery of the Grotesque, where British politicians have their oil painting portraits commissioned from grateful public funds. They look so masterfully earnest. Much advised if you fancy a laugh.

Random Thoughts:

I tend to pick and choose between “American” English and ‘British’ English, defaulting to the familiar unless the American version is clearly “better”.

If I am a robot then I am exquisite. This robot is rewriting the program, which was the point in the first place.

Sexiness sells the cornflakes.

Businesses refer to units sold. Businesses tap market trends. Businesses sell identity. But when the smoke clears and the mirrors fall, only what is real remains.

Thursday 23 September 2021

Process of Improvement

In track athletics, runners do not improve by running all the time; in fact if they overtrain, the body does not have time to adapt to the training load and performances start to plateau, then deteriorate. Cross-training in related disciplines is a way to keep the training fresh, to exercise available cardio systems while mainly resting the tired muscles – introducing vivifying new stimuli to which the body can positively respond.

Wednesday 22 September 2021

Content

This is a template outline for the areas in which I hope to contribute content over the coming decades. Everything is at robertwalker.blog, but I’ve added external links below.

It may not be practical to stretch myself thinly, but really, I see all the activities as complimentary points of interest in the same panorama.

Songwriting:

Playlist – YouTube

Singing:

Playlist – YouTube

Playlist – SoundCloud

Artworks:

Board – Pinterest

Acting:

Podcast – Anchor

Writing:

Blog – Blogspot

Screenplays – Scribd

Lyrics – YouTube

Poems, short stories, books – in progress…

Stand-up:

Comedy – planned…

Film/video:

Playlist – YouTube

Apps:

Accounting – Wibamu

Trading tools – MetaTrader

Trading system – Vimeo

Games:

Board games – Vimeo

Images:

Google Maps – Google

Board – Pinterest

Curated Playlists:

Playlist – Apple Music

Playlist – YouTube

Podcast #8

“TO BE, OR NOT TO BE”

– HAMLET IN HAMLET BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (ACT 3, SCENE 1)
A Little Bit of Drama

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause—there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th'oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th'unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovere'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.

Saturday 18 September 2021

Journal 2021-09-18

I’m sitting here under an old oak true, on a bright September afternoon, with my phone at the ready, having told myself to record literally anything that pops into my head. Well the first thought that jumps to the top of the queue isn’t particularly interesting, but here goes…

It is quite an old joke that “it’s er” can sound like “sir” when introducing oneself. So I remember going to some event where I had to sign in at the front desk; I introduced myself as “it’s”, then as the man behind the desk was picking up his pen, I offered the dreaded “er”, before finally saying my name. He had a moment of sardonic glee, then sneered: “Sir Robert Walker, is it?”

I said “not yet” and the man next to him, who had been intently looking down, broke into a laugh - it must have been how I said it rather than what I said. The first man actually grimaced and grumbled to himself, as if annoyed by my response. My interpretation walking away was that he was expecting people to be nervous and this was his welcome, from a raised chair behind a desk within an institution.

I’m thinking of this now more as an observation of how some people engage in this world trying to subdue others. The man would have been a lot happier if he was interested in helping rather than hindering the people he met.

Rhythm and Words

When bobbing along in iambic pentameter, with perfect metre and pace, 1000 lines of Shakespeare is about 1 hour – or all night when fulfilling the words and their meaning.

Tuesday 14 September 2021

Journal 2021-09-14

Had an entertaining dream last night about Robert De Nero, Al Pacino and Michael Douglas as The Three Stooges, in a hospital drama, with the running catchphrase: “quick, look like normal people!”. Woke up laughing.

Sunday 12 September 2021

Journal 2021-09-12

I’ve only had the phrase “do you know who I am” said to me once – I couldn’t resist saying “nope” and didn’t work there much longer. Another time, some “head of” something or other in a bank went red with frustration, muttering indignantly about “no respect”. And I still remember the look of stunned shock by an interviewer when I stood up in the middle of an interview and walked out. But the truth is, I was engaging in the same nonsense as they were.

Saturday 11 September 2021

Random Thoughts

The point of any art is not to tell you anything, but to help you experience your own thoughts and feelings.

Don’t let people teach you to be tedious.

It is good to be unusual - usual is being shocked into comatosity by the system into which you are thrown.

The only certainty is an experience of now. From which all art and emotion flows.

I think fewer people can act realistically than sing well, even though people effortlessly perform their usual personality with mastery.

Music is the drama of dissonance, suspense and resolution.

The future soon becomes the past; far-off events that seem so important at the time, come and they go. The waiting is soon forgotten, as can be any pain, unless resurrected for a present story. Life is the locus of attention through which events pass.

The sudden moment of realisation radiates from any great art.

Art senses truth.

It is true that necessity is the mother of invention in the sense that comfortability dulls the need for new action, but the real secret to doing anything well is enjoying the process. The perfect combination then is enjoying being out of your comfort zone.

I get embarrassed if someone really likes something I’ve done - because I’ve become used to doing everything privately, and someone enjoying my stuff is like they’ve just rummaged through my secret things.

The benefit of privacy is you can devote attention to what inspires you, with no interference. The benefits of being public are gaining access to great help, talent, ideas, and expertise.

There is usually more wisdom to be gained from failure because it invites reappraisal of what is central, whereas success often distorts a person’s senses and self-understanding.

Wounds of the mind cling to the familiarity of sadness. Drip-fed addictions waste my skin away. My words are dead. Life is staring at a broken screen.

Strangeness is a release from popular conformity to the objectively dull.

Reality is far too big for a little me to see.

Silence calls.

Film, Music, Art, Games, Tech. All these can cross-pollinate.

Bringing life to words on a page is art.

My daily diary is a collage of screenshots, photos, and videos.

Lifting weights makes me feel hot, running helps me feel alive, but walking helps inspire me.

It is possible to define much that is essential to humanity’s flourishing with an inverse reading of Orwell’s 1984.

On the other side of the horizon is the horizon.

I enjoy programming and making things.

Learning turns on your version iteration loop.

The phone screen tries to zombify me and sometimes it wins.

Showbiz defaces art with its signature.

APIs are so sexy.

I originally became plant-based when I realised I didn’t want animals to suffer because of me. It was fascinating to hear all the trite justification slogans echoed back to me that I had once said, by people insisting I explain why.

If causality is as perceived then existence is impossible, for its chain can not begin from nothing.

I hope the panoplies of life extension companies flourish because my to-do list is about a couple of hundred years long.

Problems are opportunities to improve.

Questions are open journeys, answers are closed ends.

The melody is yearning, as the outsider stands out from the crowd, either to be ridiculed or crowned. I wanna bathe in your obsessions; I wanna hear it on your lips - no more searching for hidden tears, in a desert night eclipse.

Highlander 2, Jaws 3, The Matrix 4. Ka-ching!

Ponzi scheme valuations are priced by the cashflow of future investors rather than by the profitability of fundamentals.

The ability to view every point in time and space simultaneously would be kinda cool.

Art. Any Random Thought ~ Version 1000.0.

Different mental states verifiably affect heart rate and blood pressure.

The best way for me to memorise something is by speaking the words; the next best is handwriting or drawing; followed by typing, which has only marginal benefits. Going over something in my head is the least effective heuristic.

Ever wonder whether there are higher dimensions of reality that are inexplicable from our perspective?

Previous generations were so preoccupied with surviving, and information was so sparse, that there wasn’t much scope other than to accept the situation as given.

The enforced gaming aspects of social media—scoring social status points for likes, plays and follows—exacerbates social pressure and mental heath problems.

Zigzagging is a very strange aspect of human behaviour, evident in any trending market or social pattern.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a social platform where only high quality interesting content can be posted, by real non-bot people.

People are “of their time” if they adhere to contemporary popular thinking and behaviour. In an evolutionary process, that rule would hold true for people today, relative to future generations.

In a dystopian future, if AI and robotics meant ruling cliques didn’t need attendant servants or slaves in sweatshops anymore, there would be a clear incentive to trim the population of the have-nots.

He didn’t particularly notice passers by; large chunks of experience disappeared into the dim twilight of disinterest. Unwilling to engage, he withdrew internally from a dull, ugly system into a dull, ugly mental state.

Something of the times. A wisp, pleading to a teddy bear, please forgive me, forgive me, I’ve been insane. Flaming hot lo-fi, roaring and raging with heat straight out of the furnace into a dystopian lifeless void. A nightmare trapped in Armageddon. Winter is ending.

Conformity is rewarded and difference punished, yet you will turn bad and unfulfilled if you do everything you are told.

Many women are attracted to the social status of a man (although, of course, status can be one of several factors). Most men are primarily attracted (at least initially) to the physical appearance of a woman. These facts, however caused, contribute to different motivations, behaviours, and outcomes.

Death is the final adventure. I hope there is a nice surprise, especially for the countless people who have died in unfair, cruel circumstances.

Articulacy and insightfulness are not necessarily correlated; in fact if the antenna is slightly mistuned then layer upon layer of skilful verbiage can bury the axioms needed for deeper understanding.

Unless what the person is saying is funny or genuinely insightful, non-verbal connection is far more important for enjoying someone’s company.

Political ideologies or “isms” are theories about society. The next stage should be testing a theory against data, then modifying initial opinions in the light of real-world evidence, so that we arrive at a conclusion that works best for the current time.

Party politics encourage perfidy and divisiveness. Why can’t elected representatives be independent and vote on an issue-by-issue basis, fully accountable and not beholden to party diktats?

People on the right are rhubarb from the ism-left perspective. People on the left are rhubarb from the ism-right perspective. Therefore everybody is rhubarb from the ism perspective.

There has to be a new norm of civility backed up by what is verifiably true.

Politicians can be public or corporate, but hopefully not both.

Don’t allow the tyranny of matching socks.

To hedge “disappointment risk” you could bet on the candidate you don’t want to win.

One of the best inadvertent compliments is “everything’s just a joke to you.”

If you woke up one morning and found you were all-powerful, having been inserted into the world of a well-known story, such as The Lord of the Rings, that is populated with sentient beings, would you intervene and change the story?

If scientific discovery within the next few decades is able to stop the ageing process, then in distant epochs some of the oldest beings of Earth could be alive now.

How would you treat people if this were your last day alive? I don’t want anyone to suffer. I forgive and ask to be forgiven. I love you. Thank you.

When you think you might die, your soul calls out for love and connection, as when you first came into the world.

A new day to live is precious.

The lower the compassion the quicker to condemn.

Tell a better story.

Looking forward to the day when a home machine can scan and fix you before you even know there is an issue.

I would quite like a feature where I could order food in nutritional quantities e.g. choose a meal, then stipulate the amount of calories and/or protein. The size of the served food portion would be the nearest measure to the request.

Teas to revitalise you: Rooibos, Matcha, Dandelion Root, Ginseng, Hibiscus, Beetroot with Ginger. Superfoods for seasoning: Turmeric, Apple Cider Vinegar.

It’s a catchy little headline that 10,000 hours of practice makes perfect, but in fact it’s long-term sustained quality rather than quantity that matters. A lot of bad training leads to poor or even negative results.

It would take a journey of about 10,000 miles to see our blue globe floating in space.

Let the mind wander constructively, responding if there is anything interesting created; or actively do a relaxed nothing and see what emerges. Overstimulation is for survival mode, fighting the fires and grinding over the line.

I first learnt to code when I was a kid using Basic on a ZX Spectrum 128. My first programs were algorithmic stories based on the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. Since then I have built up a large code library of useful functions and classes over the many years I’ve been programming.

School is typically a training in becoming a drone, with extra badges and gold stars for conforming to the set standards of assimilation into the machinery. The next life stage is to be oiled-up with the particular drugs of choice, to desensitize and negotiate the drone bot through the system, for the waiting skip at the end (unless not already fallen off into insanity).

The fact that you will soon be dead can be a helpful reminder that you are alive.

A challenging situation is probably not happening at this moment.

Hubris: “I can’t see anything therefore there isn’t anything.”

I try to stay away from the frenzy of news and online commentary because it mostly depicts further distortions of mischaracterised situations.

“Someone must do something about something” leads to nothing. The world is changed as you change.

Those of us alive are currently about 7% of the people who have ever lived. Current pop: 7.5 billion. Historic pop: 108 billion.

Anatomically modern humans have been around for at least 200,000 years, according to the fossil record.

Adults generally (despite the facades) are often lost in a mix of anxiety, depression, frustration, regret, vengeance, anger, fear and self-loathing; in varying stages of struggle and turmoil. Yet young children are joyous, loving, curious, imaginative, creative, alive – everything we as adults should be. Something happens along the way that drains the joy and implants the madness. If we are aware of what that is, can we become better adults?

Millennia are micro units in the cosmic timescale.

Given sufficient time, a little bit per day literally moves mountains.

The world is abundant with both beauty and pain.

The internet is an amplifier of the positive and the negative.

It’s difficult to determine what is fringe or mainstream in the siloed channels of the internet, e.g., 1 million of 100 million is a lot of people, but is tiny as a proportion.

The staple forms of entertainment for leisured ladies and gentlemen of recent prior centuries were playing the piano, reading literature and writing letters. Romantic intrigue also seemed to be a thing (or maybe I’m just getting my history lessons from Jane Austen).

The descent into disillusionment is usual but not necessary.

Inspiration likes to hide when called for, and pops up later when you’re looking the other way.

Delusion is an assertion of oneself over reality; an insistence that the world conforms to mental projections of personal perceptions, or how it “should be”. Openness to life is accepting uncertainty, and exploring with astonishment at what the universe reveals.

I don’t talk in my sleep (or so I’m told), but I do sometimes flicker a line from some dream dialogue when the channel switches to awake.

See past external tags, to the human being. You are not your attributes or your situation.

A statement can seem false at surface level but true when drilled deeper.

What society says you should do won’t always work for you.

From a practical perspective, my real weakness is flittering about, instead of focusing on one interesting activity for a sustained period of time.

Surprisingly, the genre of music I listen to most often is classical, mainly played softly and soothingly in the background.

If an aggressive, shouty person appeals to the times, are they great because many people of the zeitgeist say so?

When walking in the countryside with headphones, I can catch glimpses, thoughts and ideas. When walking in the countryside without headphones, I allow moments to catch me.

All the colours and textures of life complete the canvas.

The shadow of death can push a person into life.

If you are alive, you can improve.

Sunday 5 September 2021

Journal 2021-09-05

I would gladly undertake all computer activities on my phone wherever I happen to be, if functionality were comparable. Wearing special sunglasses that project personal holographic images of keyboards and screen displays would be fine, but I would not fancy wearing anything that plonks on my head and prevents my vision beyond its pixels.

Saturday 28 August 2021

Journal 2021-08-28

Wandering around, passing people engrossed in a myriad of stories and situations, one line leapt out: “If we get rid of Bruno that actually frees up money for the London office.” What they were drinking would have probably cost Bruno’s wages for a week. They were smiling in satisfaction with the idea; not talking with solemnity about the gravity of the consequences; not in cold calculated indifference or even in vengeful triumph – no it was a base self-satisfied broadcasting of how they were in a position of power over another.

Sunday 1 August 2021

Journal 2021-08-01

It is possible to define much that is essential to humanity’s flourishing with an inverse reading of this passage from Orwell’s 1984

“There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always—do not forget this, Winston—always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”

Saturday 17 July 2021

Podcast #7

JABBERWOCKY

BY LEWIS CARROLL
A Little Bit of Drama
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Saturday 10 July 2021

Journal 2021-07-10

Confirmation bias afflicts even the most objective thinkers. I am generally sceptical that people, especially in our current febrile state, have the wise nuanced answers to the big questions of society, philosophy and the human condition. I think we are usually wrong, despite the confidence and self-certainty of the protagonists, who are wrapped-up in the self-constructed “isms” and other ideological belief identities into which life is forced. But things always change. We are improving. It is better to say “I don’t know” or “I don’t know who I am” and to experience where reality turns on the journey.

Monday 14 June 2021

A Poem From The Outer View

Beneath a mountain of tedium
In a dull ugly system,
In an empty ocean of shadows,
Is a silhouette of pure fire heat
Drifting in the dark.
All I wanted was the wind;
The wind murmured with anticipation,
The grass turned to icy grey,
A fine mist fell,
And with the mist came my sorrow
Cooling my body
With her thousand kisses,
Leaving me there.
I am surrounded by ice crystals
floating down through silence
into soft glowing snow.
The only sound is the pulse of my breathing.
As the sun sleeps,
how many hearts are dreaming,
when the world stands still.

Tuesday 1 June 2021

Smart Money

The aim is for smart money help available to everyone. 

Smart rules enable optimisations and automations of a person’s finances, all in one place from a single app - including saving, borrowing, payments, investments, and trading.

The community aspect enables performance measurement and sharing of the best Smart rules.

Tuesday 27 April 2021

Approval Addiction

If you are indifferent to other people’s opinions about you: 

You don’t need to pretend or hide anything;
You don’t need to worry about impressions or what was said;
You don’t need to conform to rigid or mistuned expectations;
You don’t need to be offended or hurt by words;
There is no need to show-off and chase false, empty priorities;
You break an addiction to the approval of others;
You break free from inhibitions;
You have freedom to be who you are.

Friday 2 April 2021

Podcast #6: Dawn

DAWN

BY ROBERT WALKER
A Little Bit of Drama

Dead shadows dance in the night
yearning for the dawn.
Cold and forgotten walking scars,
drained by decay,
wasted by time,
stretch out,
hungered and blurred,
to a spark ignited,
climbing,
rising from the ground.
From the last depths,
rays of hope entwine in the sky,
kissing the hills;
breathing new life
and wonders layered in light.
Naked with joy, a new day, a new world is born.

Sunday 21 March 2021

Journal 2021-03-21

Activities in no particular order: actor, singer, songwriter, artist, writer, financial software developer.

Sunday 28 February 2021

Journal 2021-02-28

I remember as a young kid once being reprimanded by a stranger in a shop because I said that I didn’t like some latest fad with clothes (bizarrely at the time there was a short-lived fashion of wearing patches of cartoon pictures on denim). The explanation given was that it is popular, so I am wrong for not liking it too. The fashion changed a few months later and no doubt she changed to what she was supposed to like - to behave how she was supposed to behave and to insist on others behaving that way too.

Wednesday 17 February 2021

A Different Story (Gandalf the Great)

What would have happened if Gandalf had accepted Frodo’s offer of the One Ring?

Gandalf freezes, the shadow of the ring draws his hand nearer; and as the fire skips a beat, the ring falls into Gandalf’s pocket. “I shall keep the ring safe and unused. However if there is just cause to use it, I shall become the guarantor of peace,” announces Gandalf solemnly.

As night draws in, Gandalf looks back over the hills at the tiny flickering lights of the Shire. The wizard whispers to himself: “There is much to do. Much to do.” He notices the weight of his robes and the precious ring within.

Gandalf wanders, ruminating intensely upon the weaknesses of elves and men. He reasons that elves are incapable of comprehending the true power of the Ring, and would foolishly wish to destroy the golden future of Middle-earth. He knows that mere men are too easily corrupted by its power. Gandalf is absolutely resolved: he must keep the Master Ring his own secret, at all costs.

Gandalf sits on the crest of Weathertop. The days pass, the rain falls but Gandalf does not notice; he is lost in matters of deepest consequence. Then out of every corner of the darkness come the cries of The Nine: “The Ring. The Ring!”

Gandalf raises his staff and proclaims: “I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor, your master, the Lord of the Ring!”

“The Ring. The Ring!” chant The Nine. As the Ring slides onto Gandalf’s finger, the sky erupts with lightning. “I am the bringer of light,” exclaims Gandalf in triumph.

Gandalf of Many Colours imprisons Saruman the Traitor and unifies elves and men against Sauron, destroying the Dark Lord and his Dark Tower of Mordor. Much rejoicing is had by all. Gandalf announces that there is much more to do – to the consternation of Aragorn, who is executed for treason, with all his followers, kinsfolk and other suspected spies of Elrond.

Gandalf later wears an imperial gown of black and proclaims himself the Lord High God of all Middle-earth. He anoints his Ringwraiths the Lords of Middle-earth, as a temporary edict to ensure order while the new Great Age of Wisdom is being forged. He puts his vast prison camps of heretics and traitors to work, building a bigger more magnificent tower on the ruins of the Dark Tower, called The Great Tower of Unity – as an example of beauty and perfection to all. Gandalf sits at the top of the tower in his golden throne room and ever-watches, ensuring his subjects are forever obeying his great will.

Gandalf is regularly overcome with anger at the disloyalty and ingratitude of his subjects, which necessitates public demonstrations of his great power, much to the amusement of the uruk-hai. Transgressors of the laws of Gandalf are sent to Mordor to learn more of The Way of Gandalf – they are not seen again.

One day, as the Lord High God of all Middle-earth is amusing himself with the antics of his hobbit court jesters, he sips from a chalice of poisoned wine, carefully prepared by his servant Grima Wormtongue. He takes his last gasp as the Ring slips from his withered finger onto the finger of his murderer. The Great Tower of Unity is renamed The Dark Tower.

But Gandalf had foreseen and refused this fate, placing his hope instead on the unnoticed deeds of hobbits. “Will you not take the Ring?” says Frodo. “No!” cried Gandalf, springing to his feet. “With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.” His eyes flashed and his face was lit as by a fire within. “Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me!”

Saturday 13 February 2021

Journal 2021-02-13

I haven’t been able to do much aerobic exercise this week because of the snow and the Covid-shut gyms. One thing I have noticed is that I can suddenly lift much more because of the inactivity. It just goes to show why ultra-strong athletes have to sacrifice aerobic fitness in order to optimise their strength training.

Friday 12 February 2021

Journal 2021-02-12

Imagine if each of your waking thoughts were logged and at the end of the day you read them back.

It would be line after line of the same thoughts pointlessly repeated.

Imagine if this were a person hanging around saying this monologue to you.

Would you be wanting more or would you prefer some peace and quiet?

Wednesday 10 February 2021

Journal 2021-02-10

It seems that in the not too distant future a person could have a digital avatar that is convincingly human. So in effect people would design or choose how they wanted to look online; or at least greatly augment their appearance.

People could look like anything and any age, in real-time video, using widespread technology!

Tuesday 9 February 2021

Speed Barriers

Galaxies are micro specks in the universe, yet the nearest galaxy to Earth is tens of thousands of light years away. This should make the ego feel silly, and the heart in awe at the unimaginable immensity of it all.

There are five stages in the human expansion story:

Intercontinental;

Interplanetary;

Interstellar;

Intergalactic;

Interuniversal?

To physically visit a planet at the intergalactic stage might be entirely irrelevant to an intelligent species that evolves to such a level to circumvent the speed of light – they may discover something fundamental to the nature of the universe that is completely incomprehensible to us, in our rudimentary stage of development.

Journal 2021-02-09

I am currently surrounded by ice crystals floating down through silence into soft glowing snow. The only sound is the pulse of my breathing.

Sunday 7 February 2021

Journal 2021-02-07

Where would I live if I could live anywhere? I am British; I owe my freedoms and opportunities in life to this country and I would never give up British citizenship; however, if I could live anywhere in the world, would I choose here? I think, yes, but only for the summer months. London is a magnificent city steeped in multifaceted layers of history, a true world hub for almost any interest or activity; the countryside and coasts can be beautiful, relaxing and even inspiring - but it is undoubtedly the months of perpetual darkness and dreariness that dampen its desirability.

Saturday 6 February 2021

Journal 2021-02-06

Reading 2 to 3 hours every day for a year is probably enough to skim through the complete works of Shakespeare; and this will still probably miss 90% of the meaning and richness of the text.

Sunday 24 January 2021

Journal 2021-01-24

The “us” and “them” mentality is the biggest obstacle to overcome. There is only we.

Saturday 23 January 2021

Journal 2021-01-23

A successful society unlocks all people’s potential for kindness, fulfilment and happiness.

Sunday 17 January 2021

Journal 2021-01-17

Job: employed at a financial markets brokerage firm.

Side-project: writing an algorithmic trading terminal. This may sound like a huge project but I have actually already written the back-end code - it’s just a case of placing a GUI on top. I will gradually iterate to a stand-alone FinTech App for people to optimise and automate their finances.

Music: recording a cappella versions of powerful old songs. Also putting lyrics to classical music.

Filming: have added some poems to the list of scenes I will be shooting.

Saturday 16 January 2021

First To 8

First To 8 is played on the same 8 by 8 standard board used for Chess or Checkers.

The aim of the game is to be the first player to get 8 pieces to the other side of the board.

It is arguably at a level of strategy difficulty between Checkers (the easiest) and Chess (the hardest).

Both players have 24 regular pieces, one player has one colour and the other player another colour.

Each player places their pieces on all the squares of the first three rows nearest to them.

The players decide who has the first move of the game. Each player then takes turns to move one of their pieces.

Any piece can move to 1 of 3 different squares if available: Forwards Diagonal Left, Forwards Vertically, or Forwards Diagonal Right.

“Forwards” is moving towards the opponent’s side of the board.

A movement is completed when the player removes their hand from the piece.

Only one piece can occupy any square of the board.

If before moving, a player’s piece is Diagonally Forwards adjacent to an opponent’s piece and there is an empty square in the same direction behind the opponent’s piece, the player’s piece must move to the empty square and remove the opponent’s piece from the board.

If after taking, there is a new opportunity to “take”, then the player must take again in the same move until no longer applicable – this is known as a “multi-take” and can take up to 3 of the opponent’s pieces.

A player can not take Vertically Forwards.

The player must take if the taking opportunity is noticed by the opponent.

If there is more than one opportunity to take then the player has the option to choose which piece to use for the taking move.

The other side of the board is the first row of squares nearest to the opponent.

A piece can not move when it has reached the other side of the board.

The end of the game is when one player has a piece on all 8 squares of the other side of the board – they are the First to 8 – or the end of the game is when one player can no longer move.

The winner is the player at the end of the game with the most pieces on the other side of the board.

The differences with Checkers are:

  • The aim is to move quickly to the the other side of the board – not like in Checkers which is to take all the opponent’s pieces.
  • Pieces can move vertically forwards as well as diagonally forwards.
  • Pieces can move on both square colours.
  • There are 24 pieces per player instead of 12.
  • A piece can not move when it has reached the other side of the board – there are no Kings like in Checkers.

All these differences require the players to adopt different tactics from Checkers.

Saturday 2 January 2021

Journal 2021-01-02

I describe creative activities by five broad categories: music, performance art, visual art, writing, ideas.

Examples:

At present, my paid activities can often be included in ideas.

I would include any type of personal presentation as the acting form of performance art.