Friday 13 January 2017

Healthy living AD 2017

I've been skimming the new-year-new-you articles that keep popping up everywhere in January. In 2017...

We should sleep for 8 hours a night.

Exercise for about 30 minutes a day.

Cardio!

And slow stretching.

Meditation is also very good for you.

And some exercises in mindfulness.

And spending time on your own to do these...

...but also being social every day with people you care about, because you never know.

Not online, that's bad. 

Oh, there's these brain training games & apps, to keep your brain plasticity going.

Reading books also keeps your brain healthy.

And sudoku.

And jigsaws.

And crosswords.

Let's not forget to eat, three meals and two snacks a day, balanced.

Preferably prepared from meat from the butchers, fish from the fishmongers, local organic fruit and veg, muesli made from scratch, bread baked at home etc.

Oh and don't forget to use reusable containers for your shopping.

And shop every day to eat fresh.

And do the soup diet every month for three days. Because, you know, soup.

And don't think about the money, stress is bad, stress kills. Bad money!

It's also healthy to sit down at the end of the day and write down what was awesome that day and what you are grateful for, like a diary. Pen and paper.

Not on a computer, blue light will mess up your 8 hour sleep.

Not in front of the telly, blue light!!! 

Seriously, stop thinking about the money.

And it's best to go for a walk after dinner to keep your fitness tracker ecstatic. 

Then sleep.

Sleep!!!

While I'm hunting organic aubergines, dragging jute bags full of organic goodness steadily stewing in the car fumes around me, doing my cardio at the same time and listing all the things I'm grateful for today in my head while trying frantically to make plans to see everyone important to me in the next month, I realise that I will miss facebook and blogging and Netflix and other 21st century escapist pods. Oh well, I might live to a hundred instead.

Saturday 7 January 2017

Jobs of the future

After reading on some of the scientific breakthroughs that quietly happened last year in the background of loud political turmoil I reckon... 

It now seems inevitable that robots will take over a lot of boring repetitive tasks in our lifetime - self driving cars are on the roads, Volvo trucks crossed Europe all by themselves and caused no havoc, robot fridge keeps track of best before dates and re orders food automatically and Boston Dynamics little four legged robot can now do things like loading a dishwasher or handing you a drink. There's drones and VR headsets on the market that are cheaper than a new TV or you can buy Lego robots and steer them with your mobile and that fitness tracker on your wrist can alert you about a glucose dip or an irregular heart rate. 

And so it's probably time to start planning for the future where many people will find their job positions simply disappear - but all these new jobs, that we can't even imagine right now, will appear instead. I don't believe in a future where we will all just sit around playing with our robots, each day every day, on guaranteed basic incomes, bored and unfulfilled. So what could the future job openings be?

'Puppy' robot trainer - you know, the same way guide dogs have to be trained from a puppy, robots will also learn their duties over a course of weeks.

Drone collector - of all these drones with failed batteries, halfway home. 

Nano - herder - cause you know, you don't want them stray nanos getting any wild ideas...

VR experience tester - this job probably exists already, but with a true boom in VR technology still around the corner, there will be a need for people with strong heads and stomachs to test drive scenarios, games, adventures, experiences and movies before they get released to clients/a wider audience.

Gene planner - gene editing is a thing now, so is epigenetics and so there will be a need for someone to explain the processes involved and guide people, who wish modifications for themselves and/ or their children, to genetic perfection.

What are your ideas?

Sunday 1 January 2017

Inevitable New Year resolves

In 2017:

I will get happy drunk more often than once every quarter. In company, obviously. *sigh* Yes, human company.

I will make one Brexiter/Trumpist/socialist utopian cry every month by destroying them with logic on social media.

I will read 103 books.

I will attempt to curb my trolling tendencies towards stupid people on social media.

I will visit one new European country. This one is easy for any geeks out there, all you have to do is keep an eye on locations of annual Eurocons and Worldcons. Worldcon in Finland this August, anyone?

I will write something not for work at least once a week. To flex the old brain.

I will make peace with there being not enough hours in the day to run a business, keep house pristine, socialise, travel, write blog posts and read 103 books.

...

I might hire an accountant and a cleaner. It's called 'prioritising'. 

Happy New Year, may your resolves be resolute and reasonable.