guonlin

Front row tips: Since next weekend is the Qingming Festival, I'm sending this out a week early~

Monthly Notes:#

• Computer Replacement Note
  The original company computer was too slow. I initially just wanted to replace it with a slightly faster MacBook, but at the beginning of the month, I was given a 40,000 yuan Mac Studio and Apple Studio Display🫠 and transformed into a high-end workhorse...

• Three Visits to the Hospital
  March was a month of running to the hospital. In the first half, I went for a scheduled nasal electrocoagulation surgery, and then in the middle of the month, because my cat had been having blood in its urine, I took it to the hospital on the weekend. The vet diagnosed it with bladder stones. The next day, Teacher K had to go to the emergency room due to a ruptured cyst and stayed for 7 days before being discharged... Thankfully, it could be resolved, and everything is silent, hoping for peace.

• An Increasingly Strong Minimalist Thought
  It started when I was looking for reference images on Pinterest and was attracted by interesting pendant material designs, which reminded me of my profession. So, I asked Deepseek: "I am a brand creative designer; how can I use design to make my daily life better?" The response included a bunch of things I could do, the first being, to organize my living space using the 'subtraction thinking' of brand design. I thought about how messy my current room is, which doesn't align with my personal signature on Weibo for many years: "Manu Moreale: 'Because to me, minimalism is not an objective. It's a tool to achieve a goal.'" So, I plan to declutter this weekend, just like I recently organized my computer files using the PARA method, starting from the initial framework logic to tidy up my room. I hope this organization reflects the externalization of my habits (I recommend a previous episode of a podcast about organization that mentioned some organization methods: 1. If it can be stored vertically, don't store it horizontally; 2. Use uniform storage tools (hangers, storage boxes); 3. Use trays; 4. Snack space). I believe the key point of decluttering is, if I don't have this item, will my life fall apart? If it is just an enhancement or seasoning in my life, or if its cost-effectiveness in my daily life is low? If not enough, then disappearing from sight will increase the pleasure brought by reducing entropy. So, I took action, bought four storage boxes, and during the weekend when Teacher K was hospitalized, I started decluttering, throwing unnecessary clothes and miscellaneous items into the trash, and then began organizing systems for the medicine cabinet, toolbox, pet items, etc. During the organizing process, I thought of a sustainable method for storage: everything should have its place. Regardless of how clean it is at first, everything at home needs to be maintained. Starting from awareness, let's cultivate it into a habit. The satisfaction from the tidiness of my home is immense, and my mood has improved.

Monthly Record#

1. Efficiency Tools#

Deta Surf
A new type of browser in the AI era, its highlight is that it can save everything (tabs, media, files, etc.) in "stuff," which can be automatically categorized by AI and easily switched to open saved "things." The browser has built-in AI that can converse and screenshot for communication anytime, anywhere. I just realized I got the beta code last December, and it has now been updated to version 0.4.3. I tried it out, and it's okay, but the shortcut keys and plugin features are not yet complete. Looking forward to future updates.

Image Color Extraction Gradient Tool
A tool that extracts colors from images and generates blurred gradient images. It looks quite interesting and is suitable for certain possible scenarios.

Pixelated MacOS Icons
A set of pixel-style custom macOS icons, still not complete, and the author is updating it.

Folder Clipper
A quick access tool that resides in the upper right corner of the status bar, making it easy to find commonly used folders and providing a series of professional features such as design asset previews, video workflow enhancements, and format conversions. This software is good, and the customization options are rich.

SumBuddy
A browser plugin that uses its own AI model to customize its assistant prompt, just right to use the API key from Deepseek that I bought earlier to answer some English articles I see. This human language translator that also uses Deepseek is quite interesting, as it can interpret content that I don't understand by right-clicking and using the plugin.

PostSpark - Beautify Screenshots
An online tool to generate beautiful screenshot cards, which can also automatically screenshot uploaded links. Looks good; the image above is one I customized, much more exquisite than the one taken with hapigo, but unfortunately, it’s only a browser plugin. If there were software, it would be great to quickly open and use it with a shortcut key on any interface.

reve.art
A recently released AI image generation tool that focuses on aesthetics. I tried it, and it's quite good. New users can generate 100 images for free.

Recommended Items List
A list shared by a netizen of products they are using, covering kitchen supplies, digital products, fitness, daily necessities, and more. With patience, you can find some good products. Additionally, they shared their virtual product subscription list.

Popiranslate
A translation tool. Its highlight is that it can translate selected text across platforms, popping up a translation box when text is selected. However, the hapigo I'm currently using can also achieve the same requirement, selecting text and then using a shortcut key to call it up. The difference might be the translation model; currently, Pop's choices seem better, but it comes at a different price, haha.

PixZip Lite
Quickly and freely compress images. There are actually many useful online compression tools, and local applications might just be slightly faster in efficiency.

2. Text Gains#

2024 Shareholder Letter.pdf
Warren Buffett
The 94-year-old Warren Buffett has written another annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders, but he is unsure if this will be his last letter.

The Little Secret to a Happy Life: Rediscovering the Beauty Around Us
Tali Sharot
Good things come slowly, and painful things should be done quickly. ==“Conversely, when faced with unpleasant tasks, such as housework or trivial paperwork, just get it done in one go. Research shows that continuously listening to the noise of a vacuum cleaner is more bearable than stopping several times. Continuous listening numbs the pain gradually; stopping and starting again resets the annoyance each time the noise occurs. So, it's better to swallow the bad things whole and not drag it out.”==

Not Assessing Candidates' 'AI Skills'? You Might Miss Out on Future Talent!
Baoyu
Recently, many job descriptions have added "proficient in using AI tools." The author believes the following skills are necessary:
Prompt Engineering Ability: Knowing how to ask questions in the best way (Prompt) to guide AI to output efficiently.
Content Evaluation Ability: Knowing whether the content generated by AI is reliable and being able to effectively verify and optimize it.
Proficiency in Using AI Tools: Familiarity with the usage of AI tools and the ability to quickly get started with various AI tools.
Task Decomposition Ability: Knowing which tasks are suitable for AI and which aspects should be controlled personally.
Business Scenario Application Ability: Knowing how to use AI to genuinely improve work efficiency.
Rapid Learning Ability: Being able to keep up with the fast-paced iteration of AI technology.
The original text also includes several examples from specific professional fields and some sample interview questions, which are worth a look.

Understanding the Current AI Revolution - Jike
Mu Yao
An explanation of the current AI, which can be said to be quite easy to understand. ==Witnessing the large-scale skill migration between the old and new worlds in this torrent, and the emergence of new boundaries after the torrent washes away, may be the most interesting experience of this moment.==

3. Design Related#

Chenyu Luoyan Font 2.0
The free open-source handwritten font has been updated to version 2.0, great👍

TOOOOOOLS.APP
A free image effect tool that allows you to upload images and adjust them into pixel art, line art, dithering effects, retro pixel effects, and various pixel effects, supporting export in PNG format.

Branding Process — HKU, School of Computing & Data Science
BrandCraft created a complete design and promotion process for the brand image of the School of Computing and Data Science at the University of Hong Kong. A great case study in brand design.

SVG-LOGO
A collection of vector logos from domestic brands.

4. Other Interesting Items#

• AI Workflow Tool Recommendations - Jike, Master Awen organized tools used from text-to-image to image-to-video, very detailed and comprehensive.
• Regarding the topic of failure, I listened to Steve's podcast latest episode, and one takeaway is, how to face failure, how to reflect on failure, and how to gain from failure is beneficial for establishing, confirming, and validating values.
• Workspaces shares desk setups from around the world every week, elegant and inspiring.
• Ghibli Style Podcast Video using images of Ghibli-style characters generated by AI + an audio segment to convert into a voice-over video, looks good, and can avoid the issue of appearing on camera.
• Excellent Cases of AI to 3D using AI to generate exploded views, then converting to 3D and assembling in Blender, quite clever, solving the issue of further refinement.
• AI Tool Navigation a rich list of AI-related tools, focusing on convenience in finding them.
• Forever Notes an information management system based on the phone's built-in memo, if established, it seems good. The core technique is to make good use of tags and note links. Overall, after trying it, it seems to conflict a bit with my current PARA folder management method, but there are several techniques that can be adapted.
• A product development experience from being featured in the App Store to product failure has a realistic conclusion: without money, there is no motivation.

That's all. Thank you for reading. Feel free to subscribe to my blog, and I recommend using follow to read my rss. Also, thank you for likes and comments for encouragement.

WeChat: guonlin

Email: [email protected]