guonlin

Monthly Journal:#

May Day Harbin Travel Notes
This May Day, I went to the ice city of Harbin with Teacher K, but we avoided the peak times. The reason is that my impression of May Day in popular cities in China is that it is always crowded, and winter is a peak 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 Northeast taxi drivers left us both feeling a bit overwhelmed. As a Northerner, although the architecture here is quite similar, there are always unique surprises in each place upon closer inspection, including food and culture. The Northeast plain also nurtures the rugged character of its people. During the first two days of our trip, we witnessed four instances of sudden arguments among Northeast people, usually over issues like not queuing or inadequate service, all culminating in the tangible expressions of "What are you looking at?" and "What about you?".
As for the crowd situation, after this May Day holiday, I finally realized that popular tourist spots are always crowded with visitors. After spending two hours in a long queue on the second day, only to ride the aerial cable car for just 5 minutes, I decided not to visit the 731 Memorial Hall and Northeast Tiger Park, which I saw were also overcrowded on Xiaohongshu. After changing my plans 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 conducted a unified update of 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 portable SSDs. It feels much more comfortable after the organization.

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

Monthly Record#

1. Efficiency Tools#

dia Browser
I had always thought that arc was quite useful, so I never actually tried it out. Recently, I couldn't resist giving dia a try, and I 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 supports Chrome accounts & bookmarks. The chat feature in the right sidebar is incredibly convenient and smooth. The downside is that it is still in beta testing and has some bugs.

AI Color Match
A one-click tool to replace the filter style of 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 on over 50 websites like Zhihu, JianShu, and Shaoshu. Previously, I was often annoyed by having to click to confirm after being redirected.

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; just 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., quite comprehensive.

MagicQuit:
Automatically closes software that has not been used for a long time, suitable for people like me who forget to close a bunch of applications.

2. Text Insights#

We Overestimate the Importance of Intelligence
Lu Taonan (Randy Lu)
A good article where the author believes 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 ordinary people enduring cycles. The next golden period for the world is between 2040 and 2050.==

Discussing a Thought-Provoking English Word: untrain
Cai Tong
Reflecting on my understanding of "untrain" as "habit reshaping," whether in 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. However, subtraction and division are always 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 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 focus on doing the right things and realize when you're wrong, you quickly correct it. Over thirty or forty years, if every decision is made based on this logic, you will find that you can save a lot of effort.==

A Survival Guide for Internet Professionals
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 regarding anti-aging: ==Actually, endogenous aging accounts for only about 30%, while 70% is photoaging. Therefore, all beauty bloggers know one thing: having children does not necessarily prevent aging; applying sunscreen does. So, it is essential to use sunscreen. Physical sunscreen means covering up, wearing hats, using umbrellas, etc., while chemical sunscreen means applying sunscreen lotion. It is recommended to use sunscreen in all seasons, indoors, and especially when flying.==
There is also similar content in this article: A Complete Guide to Human System Optimization, which also seems to provide practical insights.
Postscript: After reading these two articles, I bought Omega-3 EPA Fish Oil and Sam's Lutein and Aolewei's Astaxanthin, corresponding to brain health, eye health, and anti-aging.

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 saw called WOMP, with surprising features for liquid 3D modeling.

Best Designs on X
Daily collection and updates of interesting designs on X, timely updates with a rich volume.

4. Other Interesting Finds#

• 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 code looks sparser than one with a purely lowercase URL.
• Maitian Art A website that collects famous paintings from around the world and provides high-definition downloads without watermarks.
• App Icon Auto Exporting - Figma Plugin Exports app 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 where I referenced an app that only keeps one page, while the rest are stored in a resource library.
• pollo - Model Collection Website A website that features some of the best raw photo 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 encouragement.

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