Howdy Traipsers,
 

An image-themed newsletter today, as you'll see. Let's get right into it.

This round includes:

A blog post I wrote about developing a piano practice routine, AI images, check your sources, never been seen, and some bonus links.

Thanks for reading,
Dakota

Creating a solid piano practice routine

In June 2020, Chelsea surprised me with a thoughtful birthday gift: a digital keyboard. Starting from scratch, I’ve managed to progress from “where the hell is middle C?” to “hey, this is going somewhere!”

When a reader (hi Kim) recently asked about my piano practice routine, I adapted my notes into this blog post. It's for anyone seeking to learn how to play or feeling aimless or bored with their current piano practice.

To develop my routine, I spent hours reading online, watching YouTube videos, and testing paid courses. I also received feedback from an online piano instructor to help fine-tune things.

Check out the full post here.

Putting a face to a...

We all know it’s coming: the day when artificial intelligence does all our cooking. One can dream…

Until then, we’re chopping our own veggies and there’s just This Person Doesn't Exist, which showcases computer-generated images of “people.” They’re fake, though I couldn’t tell the difference. (Reload the page to see more.)

Related to that, AI can even create fake graffiti. I have no idea how we’ll combat video deep fakes – which already exist – but the world sure isn’t getting less complicated.

Check your sources

Speaking of fake images, this Poynter Institute article about spotting fake images is insightful and full of quick, actionable advice. (Thanks, Tammy!)

A good reminder to check instant outrage at the door and delve deeper. Especially into images mayyyybe only posted to manipulate our feelings. Wait, did I just sum up the internet?

Never been seen

Gone are the days where “show me a random article” on Wikipedia feels worth it. There’s so much to keep track of.
 

Maybe that’s why I liked the Science Museum’s experiment “Never Been Seen” so much. The project took digitized museum objects in their collection and created an online database of them. The important part: the item needed to have zero page views. Any item you see has only been viewed by museum curators.

I wonder how this concept could be applied to give unknown artists, creators, or content a chance to find eyeballs. TikTok factors this into their algorithm, which must add to the allure of creating on there (“what if I get discovered?!”). Perhaps other companies will consider it as well.

(BTW, I found Never Been Seen via Humane Ingenuity, which digs up some fascinating stuff!)

Three more totally unrelated links

-Benedict Evans’ yearly summary is always thought-provoking. For all you business trend watchers, check out his 2021 presentation, The Great Unbundling. (TL;DR: things are changing.)

-Watch Danny MacAskill once again sparkle and shine on a bike. Initially I thought, “I could ride that,” which was quickly replaced by “OH DEAR MTB GOD IN THE SKY, WHAAAAAT?” (The behind the scenes video really puts it in perspective.)

-I’m digging the Relentless Groove Spotify playlist that my friend Brady created. 

Thanks for stopping by! Catch you next week.