Shutdown two, week thirteen

The situation is getting better but is still dire. We will most likely see an extension of the current lockdown while our government ramps up the vaccination efforts.

But how will our life change afterward? Let’s have a look:

  • I do not meet friends and family in person.
  • I haven’t been in an office in months.
  • I haven’t met a colleague in person in months.
  • I hardly ever go shopping anymore.
  • I haven’t been to a restaurant in months.
  • I haven’t been to a cinema or concert for almost a year.
  • I haven’t traveled anywhere for almost a year.

What, if any, of these pre-Corona habits will I take back up?

I am quite happy with social activities being digital, and I hope some will stay that way even after Corona. And once you get used to digital concerts, there’s no way going back. Or is there?

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(Techno Lieben und Leben, Twitch, 1/31/21)

2021 Goals

I’m happy to say that I reached most of my 2020 goals, except for my YouTube targets.

Here are my goals for this year:

  • Continue to support Fridays For Future and the Climate Justice movement actively
  • Maintain my weight and continue to exercise
  • Move my transport needs to a (shared) cargo bike
  • Continue regular (online) Rancher meetups in Cologne
  • Write my Bachelor thesis and finish my studies

2021 must be the year in which CO2 emissions finally begin to drop!

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(Final paper of 2020, Overleaf, 12/31/20)

Travel

I miss travel. I miss attending concerts.

I have been traveling most of my life as part of my professional career and in my free time. Once I understood the climate emergency, I started to decarbonize my life and change the way I travel.

Then came Covid-19, and subsequently the shutdown.

Now travel is pretty much out of the question, and will probably remain very limited for the next couple of years.

There are quite positive aspects: Last week I attended a book club in New York. Yesterday I participated at the Heyou Awards in Gothenburg and then later at a concert in Madrid – neither would have been possible pre-Corona. I hope that we’ll keep the online accessibility for the future!

Early October I have tickets for a concert in Madrid – will I be able to go? Or will we be in lockdown again at that time?

Only time will tell, but I feel like my wings have been clipped. And I seriously lack content for my YouTube.

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(Heyou Awards Livestream, YouTube, 8/15/20)

Patreon

I love the arts. And I try to create. But, I’m artistically challenged.

To make up for this, I support creators on Patreon. Here’s my current lineup (in historical order):

  • Jackson Bird (Instagram, YouTube) – one of the bravest voices in the struggle for trans rights
  • Abdulaziz Yusufjanov (Instagram, YouTube) – vlogging from Colorado, with a unique visual style and excellent storytelling
  • Ethan Lusby (Instagram, YouTube) – vlogging his journey in a van across the US

If you haven’t subscribed to them yet, do it today – they make great content and are fun to watch!

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1000

One goal of my New Year’s resolutions was to get to 1,000 posts on Instagram (and to 10,000 Tweets). I finally made it!

The 1k post was quite fittingly for my all-time favorite singers, Adexe y Nau, and their new single.

One thousand unique images and probably 10,000 hashtags …

I’ve also reached my tweeting goals; now, I need to get back into creating videos.

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(Screenshot, 6/15/20)

2020 Goals

Here are my goals for this year:

  • Further reduce my carbon footprint and continue to actively support Fridays For Future in the struggle to achieve climate justice
  • Reach at least a normal BMI, i.e. a BMI less than 24.9:
      • Reduce my weight below 174 lbs. (79kg) and start exercising
  • Submit at least three responses to Call for Papers / Meetup talks
  • Run regular Rancher meetups in Cologne
  • Process YouTube backlog, publish regularly on YouTube throughout the year, and improve my video and photo skills
  • Reach these Social Media milestones:
      • 10.000 Tweets
      • 1.000 Instagram posts
      • 100 YouTube videos
  • Earn enough credits to start my Bachelor thesis in early 2021

2020 must be the year in which CO2 emissions begin to drop!

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(#COP25 – posted by Aidan R. Gallagher)

Encryption

There’s been a lot of discussion lately (again) on the need for encrypted Email or Messaging, and the pros and cons of various services, from WhatsApp to Telegram, from RCS to SMS.

I am not fully on the post-privacy bandwagon, but for sure people are aware that by using a third party service for Email or Messaging their messages can be read, aren’t they? We don’t call root super-user for no reason.

In the last century the Network Working Group wrote in RFC 1855 “Netiquette Guidelines”

2.1.1 For mail:

Unless you are using an encryption device (hardware or software), you should assume that mail on the Internet is not secure.  Never put in a mail message anything you would not put on a postcard.

That’s today as true as it was then – unless you own both sides of the encryption, don’t send anything through the Aether that you don’t want other people to see!

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(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:13th_Annual_Wichita_Postcard_Club_Show,_Wichita_Postcard_Club_(NBY_17466).jpg)

Sherwood

Through the original family option of Google Play Music All Access we were migrated to YouTube Premium (YouTube Red in some geographies), and with this we also got access to YouTube Originals, which includes a variety of high-quality mini series.

One of these is Sherwood – loosely based on the legend of Robin Hood, the series is set in a world where the climate catastrophe has already happened and most of the world is flooded, it chronicles the adventure of Robin and her friends in their fight for justice and equality against the Sheriff of the upper city.

Very relatable characters, good storytelling and great animation make this a fun series to watch – highly recommended!

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(YouTube – Screenshot from Sherwood S1E7)

Red Hood Fan Series

Until recently I did not know that there were such things as fan series – boy, did I miss out!

I would like to highlight one in particular, the Red Hood Fan Series which is set in DC’s Batman Universe, following the adventures of the three Robins – Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne – in their quest to take back Gotham from the Court of Owls

With professional camera, high quality editing and great actors such as Cameron Judd (as Damian Wayne), Ian Lang (as Jason Todd),  Nadav Jackson (as Colin Todd), and Madden Zook (as 7B05), the series is a must to watch

Season 2 was financed by a Kickstarter, which I missed, but I’ll definitely be in for season 3!

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(Instagram @redhoodfanseries)