Just for myself. Helps me consolidate my own thoughts and learnings. Sometimes I google something and my own blog comes up. That gives me a bit of a laugh (and is sometimes useful).
This doesn't really seem like a competitor to OP? I think it might solve different needs. One looks like a straightforward tracking app and yours looks like some kind of training/lifestyle program.
I really like the initiative.
I've been using a free app on Android for many many years. My favorite things about it are that it's simple, no social media integration that I know of, nothing fancy or trying to suggest a routine - just record set/reps/weights and that's it. Backs up data via Google Drive or plain file export if I need to switch devices. It's so nice to have years of history in terms of PRs, volume, etc.
Do I have to pick? I moved to a university town last year and started registering for whatever sounds interesting. There are so many fascinating things to learn about! My first ever university course ended up being about nuclear weapons. I just finished the second, about the research front in life sciences. Next term I'm hoping to take a cosmology course. And just unofficially dropping in to some philosophy paper reading sessions. I'm only taking one course per term, always part-time evening classes as I work full time so this is purely a recreational thing. I want to study _everything_.
Just curious how do you manage to register those courses? I figured they must need some prerequisite? It would be a boon if they don’t ask for prerequisites.
These are entry-level courses that don't require previous university studies. There are some basic eligibility requirements, but those are just high-school level. As I gain credits over time there'll be increasingly more options, but even without there are plenty of interesting ground-level courses across different faculties to take.
Aside from the challenges you mentioned I just want to say that this looks really cool, and at first glance looks like a great way to also just bond with your partner while learning.
I'd love an app like this. I usually go through my Anki deck in bed before sleep and in the morning and am always on the lookout for other language learning methods. Being in bed, I don't want anything too gamified or exciting during that time. Just some calm/chill practice before I sleep.
Immersion's best in my experience... and you can create immersion
Things I do more and more often as time goes in Spanish
- Subtitles in Spanish always on whenever possible
- Audio (music (just bought some Bad Bunny), television, sports broadcasts)
- Order in Spanish
- Interfaces in Spanish (computers, televisions, phones)
- Text friends
- Consume news
- Read wikipedia when I need information
- Take notes for work and life
- Play videogames
It really starts compounding, my goal is to stop using the Anki decks entirely in 2026. At that point I should be able to start learning whatever my next goal is in Spanish so that I can continue using my Spanish while working on... cooking or whatever it is I want to focus in on next
* What made it worth it was just the act of blogging itself. For me writing down what I've learned is a great way to consolidate that knowledge for myself. And making it public also inspires me to spend a bit more time thinking about it and double-checking some things before putting it out there. Sometimes I get a nice comment on a years-old blog post and that's also rewarding. Additionally, sometimes I search for something and have my own years-old blog post come up, reminding me that I already solved that thing before and can reuse the solution.
* All posts have worked to consolidate knowledge and help me think.
* Since you're just trying to build a public notebook, what are you trying to lower the bar to? Your own writing motivation or something else? If the former, just write to the length/cadence/themes you're interested in and don't write what you're not interested in.
* Maybe I'd go back and tell pretty-much-teenage-me to stop being so cringe because this stuff will still be there 20 years later.
At work I'm working on autonomous agents for web application testing, and in my spare time I've been taking some part-time evening courses at the local university for the first time.
Last term I did a course on nuclear weapons and disarmament (and learned to write my first ever academic report!)[0], and this term I'm just about to give a final presentation for an introductory life sciences course (actually just posted a runthrough recording [1]). Next term I'm hoping to get into a course about cosmology!
Icarus - the way it went from a semi-interesting topic of a guy doing steroid self-experimentation to blowing open a whole Russian doping operation brought me joy.
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