Weeknote for 6/2/2024

Learning

🤔

I collected more miscellaneous ideas and resources for my memory system.

I found out interpreters have a visual note-taking approach similar to sketchnotes to give them a basis for translating a speech, which I could use as another source of ideas for my mnemonic language.
Thinking more about using familiar bodily movements for mnemonics, I realized I’m already very familiar with one kind—playing an instrument.
Inspired by the AI VTuber Neuro-sama I’d discovered, I contemplated creating an AI character I could chat with to explore and learn the world of my mnemonic language.

Productivity

🧐

I learned about Make.com automations while developing a scenario that will let me easily register in Notion that I worked on a task on a particular day. I find the Make platform cryptic, so I’m having to understand its visual programming language by experimentation. I didn’t finish the automation by the time I decided to move on, but my copious notes should prepare me for the next attempt.

I started exploring alphabetic shorthands that will be quicker to learn than Gregg and let me both write and type faster. In contrast with symbolic shorthands like Gregg that redesign the letter shapes, alphabetic ones use regular longhand letters and focus on abbreviating the words. It turns out there are a lot of the alphabetic kind to choose from, so it’ll take some time to evaluate them and decide on one.

Fiction

😎

My questions about the mysterious original Backrooms photo were answered when I found out Internet sleuths had finally tracked down its source (Broogli announcement video, Know Your Meme article).

Q: What kind of business was it? A: Formerly a furniture store, then a hobby store at the time of the photo.
Q: Where was it? A: Oshkosh, WI.
Q: Why was the photo taken? A: To document the process of remodeling the space because of water damage and plans to convert it to an RC car racing track.
Q: What would the photographer think of what became of their photo? A: The people involved are taking it in stride. The manager said, “I find it a little fascinating that a picture that was taken over 20 years ago has created as much interest as it has” (The Northwestern).