guonlin

Monthly Journal:#

May Day Harbin Travelogue
This May Day, I went to the ice and snow city of Harbin with Teacher K, but we avoided the peak time. The reason is that my impression of popular cities in China during May Day is that they are always crowded, and winter is a popular tourist season for Harbin. Perhaps going in spring might help avoid some of the crowds. Plus, Beijing had just warmed up recently, so I booked 4 days of train tickets and accommodation, heading north to experience the Northeast in spring.
Once we arrived, we were indeed attracted by the cool and clean air, and the enthusiasm and chatter of the Northeast taxi drivers left us both feeling a bit overwhelmed. As a Northerner, although the architecture here is quite similar, upon closer inspection, there are always unique little surprises in each place, including food and culture. The Northeast plain has also cultivated the rough character of the Northeastern people. During the first two days of our trip, we witnessed four sudden arguments among Northeasterners, whether it was about not queuing or inadequate service, it all boiled down to "What are you looking at?" and "What are you staring at?" in a very tangible way.
As for the crowd situation, after this May Day holiday, I finally realized that as long as it’s a popular scenic spot, it’s inevitable that tourists will gather. After experiencing a two-hour long queue on the second day, only to ride the aerial cable car for just 5 minutes, I decided not to go to the 731 Memorial Hall and the Northeast Tiger Park, which I saw were also overcrowded on Xiaohongshu in real-time posts. After changing my ticket and buying some delicious kvass and specialty red sausage, I headed straight to the high-speed train station to conclude this brief trip to the Northeast.
Finally, outside the bustling Central Street, a moment of tranquility belongs to the sunset over the Songhua River.

My File Management System
This month, I made a unified update to my file management system, consistently using the PARA system I mentioned before, including on my work and home computers as well as two commonly used external SSDs. It feels much more comfortable after organizing.

4o Raw Image Experiment
At the beginning of the month, ChatGPT's latest 4o model became a hit, so I spent 20 dollars to purchase a basic membership. Following the principle of not wasting, I used Teacher K's photos and my logo to try out some interesting raw image styles found on the internet:

Monthly Record#

1. Efficiency Tools#

dia Browser
I had always thought that arc was quite usable, so I never actually tried it out. Recently, I couldn't resist giving dia a shot and fell in love with it. It uses the same shortcuts as arc, allows you to chat by selecting text, and you can share answers with one click. The new window can be customized to determine whether it's chat or search, and it uses the same Chrome account & bookmarks. The key is that the chat in the right sidebar is incredibly convenient and smooth. The downside is that it's still in beta testing and has some bugs.

AI Color Match
One-click replacement of filter styles in reference images, which can efficiently process images. (But I don't use it much)

QuickGo
A browser extension that automatically skips the security center redirection restrictions of over 50 websites like Zhihu, JianShu, and Shaoshu. Previously, I found it annoying to be redirected and then have to click to confirm again.

XiaoHongShu.day
A very convenient tool. I currently use a similar Tampermonkey plugin, but this one supports one-click downloading of text, images, and videos from notes. You just need to change the com in the URL to day.

SeedHub
A sharing platform for film and television resources from various channels, including magnet links, Baidu, Quark, etc. It's quite comprehensive.

MagicQuit:
Automatically closes software that hasn't been used for a long time, suitable for people like me who open a lot of programs and forget to close them.

2. Text Insights#

We Overestimate the Importance of Intelligence
Lu Taonan (Randy Lu)
A good article where the author argues that as AI develops to a certain extent, intelligence levels can be compensated for, and at that point, the strength of "self-efficacy" will create differences between people.

We Are Experiencing a Once-in-a-Lifetime Historical Change
Guang Yu
Saving money and mindset; 2040 is the beginning of the golden period. ==He once predicted historical trends on a large scale over 500 years in his book "Principles 2". I have also repeatedly summarized this in articles, and I will write it again here, as it has guiding significance for us ordinary people to endure cycles. The next golden period for the world will be between 2040 and 2050.==

Discussing a Thought-Provoking English Word: untrain
Cai Tong
Reflecting on my understanding of untrain as "habit reshaping," whether it’s cognition or tools, one can reshape after seeing better habits. ==“Learning is not just about addition; it also involves subtraction, multiplication, and division. You need to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Subtraction and division are always a bit harder than addition and multiplication.”==
Postscript: I came across a quote from Duan Yongping that is similar in meaning: ==Some say diligence is the most important. I say no, doing the right things is the most important. Because if diligence were the most important, would you become more diligent? You wouldn’t. At least I wouldn’t. But if you think about doing the right things and realize you’re wrong, you quickly correct it. Over thirty or forty years, if every decision is made based on this logic, you will find you can save a lot of effort.==

Survival Guide for Internet People
Liang Kaopu
A basic version of habits and systems for maintenance, health checks, and common disease diagnosis summarized by a doctor with over ten years of experience. One technique about anti-aging: ==Actually, endogenous aging accounts for only about 30%, while 70% is photoaging. So all beauty bloggers know one thing: having children does not necessarily prevent aging; applying sunscreen does. Therefore, it is essential to use sunscreen. Physical sunscreen means covering up, wearing hats, using umbrellas, etc., while chemical sunscreen means applying sunscreen. It is recommended to use sunscreen in all seasons, indoors as well, and especially when flying.==
There is similar content in this article: A Complete Guide to Human System Optimization, which also looks like practical insights.
Postscript: After reading these two articles, I bought Omega-3 EPA Fish Oil and Sam's Lutein as well as Aolewei's Astaxanthin, corresponding to the brain, eyes, and anti-aging respectively.

3. Design Related#

materials | BlenderKit
Blender asset library

Selected Midjourney Prompts and Reference Codes
Midjourney prompts and reference codes

3D Freedom
A 3D online modeling website I came across WOMP, the feature of liquid 3D modeling was quite surprising.

Best Designs on X
Daily collection and updates of interesting designs on X, timely updates and rich content.

4. Other Interesting Things#

• wukong-minimap: A built-in real-time map plugin for Black Myth, easy to install and free.
• Why are QR codes with capital letters smaller than those with lowercase letters? You can convert all URLs to uppercase letters and then generate QR codes. The benefit is that the processed QR codes look sparser than those with purely lowercase URLs.
• Wheat Field Art A website that collects famous paintings from around the world and provides free high-definition downloads without watermarks.
• App Icon Auto-Exporting According to Specifications - Figma Plugin Exports application icons in the correct sizes for Android, iPhone, iPad, watchOS, macOS, Flutter, and PWA.
• A Minimalist Recording System that Refreshes the Mind and Body A minimalist mobile system; I referenced an app that only keeps one page, while everything else is stored in a resource library.
• pollo - Model Collection Website A website that uses some of the best raw image models available on the market for easy comparison.
• How to Learn Design Scientifically, a simple and clear explanation of design principles and how to learn, mentioning that the core of design ability is implicit knowledge, which is quite interesting.

That's all. Thank you for reading. Feel free to subscribe, and I recommend using follow to read my rss. Of course, I also appreciate likes and comments for some encouragement.

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