{"id":38404,"date":"2021-05-23T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T16:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=38404"},"modified":"2021-05-17T15:52:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T22:52:47","slug":"textsniperan-accidental-lifediscover-your-sources-of-pleasure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tkdev.kk.org\/cooltools\/textsniperan-accidental-lifediscover-your-sources-of-pleasure\/","title":{"rendered":"TextSniper\/An Accidental Life\/Discover your sources of pleasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grab uncopyable text<\/strong>
\nI often come across text on my computer that I can\u2019t copy, such as error messages, screenshots, PDFs, or Kindle Cloud reader pages. I bought a $4 optical character recognition utility called\u00a0TextSniper<\/a>\u00a0that lets me grab uncopyable text that\u2019s on my display and save it as plain text to the clipboard. (It also reads QR and barcodes!) I quickly have become dependent on it. (It\u2019s Mac-only.) \u2014 MF<\/p>\n

Strange Autobiography<\/strong>
\nCharles Platt is a science fiction writer who was also a staff writer for\u00a0Wired<\/em>\u00a0magazine. He is not well known, and does not have an extravagant life story, but for some reason I could not put down his multi-volume self-published autobiography which is subtitled: \u201cHow I Failed at Almost Everything.\u201d I found his nearly day-by-day memoirs of his struggles to be a writer and zine publisher to be page-turning exciting because he had just enough success so that his inevitable personal failures would make a rollicking roller coaster ride, like a good sitcom. How will Charles screw up next? Despite the stack of unread bestsellers on my table, I\u2019ve read\u00a0Vol1<\/a>,\u00a0Vol 2<\/a>, and\u00a0Vol 3<\/a>\u00a0of his\u00a0An Accidental Life<\/em>, and look forward to the soon to be published Vol 4 and 5. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n

Coupling pleasures with chores<\/strong>
\nI beta-tested one of\u00a0Clearer Thinking\u2019s mini-programs<\/a>\u00a0to help identify my greatest sources of pleasure, which is important to know, because \u201cpositive emotions are one of the pillars of well-being. By identifying your Sources of Pleasure, you can pursue them on those times you are feeling a bit low, our use them as a reward for engaging in other activities you do not feel like doing.\u201d My sources of pleasure were mostly sensorial and not surprising to discover: animals, nature, humor. But what was surprising was the genius advice that could apply to everyone: \u201cCoupling\u201d to come up with ways to incorporate pleasure into your daily life. \u201cCouple boring activities, like vacuuming your home, with something you really like to do such as listening to your favorite podcast or singing out loud.\u201d I do love listening to standup comedy while stuck in traffic, I had never thought of listening to it while I cleaned the house. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n

Take a “golden hour” photo any time of day<\/strong>
\nI try to veer away from using filters on photos, but there are times when the scene I am seeing is so much more vibrant than what comes out in a picture. I tried out the\u00a0\u201cTikTok\u201d iPhone photo hack<\/a>, which is a specific formula for making a photo taken in natural light look like it was taken during the \u201cgolden hour,\u201d and I love the effect. Here is a\u00a0before and after picture of my dog Pablo wading through water.<\/a>\u00a0The exact formula is: Exposure and brilliance to 100. Highlights to -32. Shadows to -26. Lower the contrast to -30. Brightness to -15. Black point to 10. Saturation to 10. Vibrance to 8. Warmth to 10. Push the tint up to 29. Up the sharpness to 14. Definition feature to 23. Finally, slide the exposure back down to 0. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n

Web-based music toy<\/strong>
\nBeepster<\/a>\u00a0is a website that lets you make synthesizer music through experimentation. It has four tracks. You can change the waveform, speed, volume, pitch, and scale by clicking buttons. It\u2019s configured in such a way that anything you do produces a pleasant tune. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n

Art to follow<\/strong>
\nInstagram has become one kind of art museum for me. I like to get my art in diverse small doses. Among the artists I follow, I seek these accounts because they keep me surprised.<\/p>\n