I figured this may lead to an interesting discussion in the comments.
How has your use of Technology changed in the past year? I'll start.
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Due to the rise of streaming services and Sony/discovery removing content from libraries, I downloaded all my iTunes purchases onto a 2TB SSD (which I'll soon need to get another).
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Like many, I've stopped using Reddit outside of Google search.
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I've reduced my subscriptions to just two. (Apple One and Google One)
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I've purchased DVDs/Blu rays of my favorite uncensored shows (Family Guy and American Dad) and ripped them and watch them through Cloud storage (Google Drive via Infuse for Apple platforms, and Kodi for Windows)(I've also purchased MakeMKV just because it is so damn useful)
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I've used Google App Scripts to bypass some Gmail limitations to make filters that I otherwise couldn't. For instance, in Outlook.com, you can block email addresses and domains before you have ever gotten an email from them. In Gmail, you can't. The best you can do is create a filter that deletes them. In my case, I've created a Google App Script that runs every hour and looks for (@.mil) domain emails and marks them as spam. (I am in college, and I fucking hate that they give my email to recruiters.)
Ditched centralized social media and started a personal diary
What exactly do you write in a diary? I've tried it so many times and yet can't keep it up
Really just reflect on everything that happened that day and think about how things made you feel, and just write that shit down, no filter. It might seem silly when you end up emotionally analyzing mundane situations, but over time you become so much more aware of yourself and your mind.
Excellent advice. I've sat down to write about a boring day, only to be shocked at the shit that was festering just below the surface. Like negative attitudes and resentment to people in my life, that would have just kind of hung around in the back of my head totally unknown and unacknowledged, but still there and unchallenged until I took a few minutes to consciously follow my own thoughts and feelings.
Anyway 10/10 would recommend the examined life.
Don't try, just write in it whenever you feel like it: congratulations! You have a diary! That could be several times a day, or once a month, depending what you need and want out of your diary. But realistically if you're just starting out it will probably be diary meta, like about the writing you're doing in the diary lol.
For me I find it useful for
Anyway, here's an example of me just talking about Quake 2 and having trouble focusing at work:
At the end of the day, I just like making marks on the page.
I tried something like that once. I was going to write about a weird nightmare I had. Ended up creating a “short” horror story that I write on days I'm feeling a little more angry — you can read that as violent if you want — and down. It isn't done yet, that's the reasons for the quotes, but I hope to get to the end sometime.
That's cool. And if it continues to be useful / enjoyable to you, then you don't necessarily need to "end" it ever, unless you really want to.
For sure! But i feel I'll probably make many short stories instead of just stretching one out. As an aspiring author i guess I'll use this as a kind of practice
Ah yeah that makes sense. I'm an eternal hobbyist with different creative things (art, games, stories, etc), so I get the challenge of just finishing something.
PS feel free to send me what you've got if you want a totally impartial "beta reader" or whatever that's called
Personally I like the 5 Minute Journal (and their app). It’s easy to keep up with and helps me focus on gratitude