Hi there!
Welcome to the 2nd newsletter of 2020 - can't believe it's nearly the end of January! Looking forward to the lighter and longer days ahead. In this week’s newsletter there is quite a mixture - a documentary, behind the scenes of the film 1917, a great simple little game and a tip off on the top 40 scams that go around.
Also this week I headed over to Bristol, great city with tons to do. Went and saw the Wildlife Photographer of the Year - some amazing photos, makes you realise that photography is such a waiting game. Hope you had a good few weeks - on to the newsletter!
Clever Tools
If you’re like me and use Chrome and end up with about 38 tabs open, then this extension might help. I often have about 3-4 windows open all with separate projects, but it does eat up the memory and slow things down. What One Tab does is put all your tabs under (yes you guessed it) one tab, but in a neat little list that saves on the memory.
Whereby is a video conferencing software that's a bit different. It works in browser so you don't have to download anything, plus their site looks really nice. It’s supposed to be for people who work remotely so they can talk to each other, but I don't see why it couldn't be used for families who live far apart?
If you’re travelling abroad and not sure of the local culture you’ll probably stick out. Here is a list of the most common scams that might happen when you’re a tourist. Don't let it spoil your enjoyment though - just be aware!
Brain Food
Bolder is a lovely website, newsletter (and now book) about being older but celebrating the great things that come with age. Each newsletter they interview someone who we might consider older but is actually kicking ass in life.
We all know that Apple pretty much changed the world when they brought out the first iPhone, but what I didn't know was the backstory to how a lot of the technology started. Heard of General Magic? Well I hadn’t, it turns out they had a lot to do with where it all begin. This documentary about General Magic has got 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, I'm going to download it and watch it this week.
Watched 1917 this week - enjoyed it very much, very immersive as it puts you right there in the trenches. Although I didn't find the film had as much emotional punch as say Saving Private Ryan, the filming techniques used in this film haven't been seen before. Take a look at this Youtube video (11 mins) that shows behind the scenes what they had to do to get the film on screen. Having watched it I can appreciate the film even more now!
Fun stuff
This is great, it's a realtime view of Stonehenge and the sky around it. So go on at sunrise or sunset and see what's happening. Plus it shows the moon, sun and planet alignment.
This is lovely and silly - this guy on twitter was asked by his child how to use photoshop - so they photoshopped life boats into old paintings. Sound weird, but it's a sort of 'boat treasure hunt'
Game time! This is a little game where you have to move your character Up only, they can't go side to side. Give it a go - it's strangely relaxing and irritating. Also, looks like something you would have played on a Spectrum/Commodore 64 - but without waiting for it to load!