Rise ball versus drop ball

 A nice overlay video showing the difference in Montana Fouts's pitches.


Tell me about plot and character

 A good tip about the link between plot and character. 

✍️ #screenwriting tip of the day:

 Here is something from Astronaut Shane Kimbrough.


If being one of Christ's disciples was easy, everyone would be doing it

 Instead everyone is writing about it.

A review of the plethora of discipleship study materials and courses suggests the volume of content may not be that good a situation.

Main point: Information overload because "The waves of discipleship materials that have swept over the church in the past sixty years have in many cases caused people to be more confused than ever when they think of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ."

More about it:

  • As a result, "... discipleship as we know it in the church today is influenced by other forces, near and far" that make it more of a program rather than a way of life.
  • Formats:
    • The mind-centered format. "The Learner...a disciple is the person who is dedicated to an intense study of the Bible."
    • The heart-centered format. "The Committed...a disciple is supremely committed to Christ."
    • The other-centered format. "The Mentor...only when we are involved in such a relationship can we say that we have experienced true discipleship."
    • The community-centered format. "The Small Group...true discipleship occurs today when a person is involved in a small group."

Takeaways:

  • While anyone who becomes a Christian becomes a disciple, "the point is whether or not they are obedient disciples."
  • The process probably blends all the formats because it's a holistic "ministry of the church in helping all believers to grow in their discipleship to Jesus and reaching out to bring non-Christians to Jesus to become his disciples."
  • There is practical advice in the linked article, so you'll want to read it.


A physicist popularizes string theory

 An article recorded some musings from a well known physicist. It looks like he's promoting a new book, so he's getting some coverage. 

Main point: "His latest book, The God Equation, is a clear and accessible examination of the quest to combine Einstein’s general relativity with quantum theory to create an all-encompassing 'theory of everything' about the nature of the universe."

More about it: 

  • Theory of everything still being worked out: "I think we actually have the theory but not in its final form. It hasn’t been tested yet and Nobel prize winners have taken opposite points of view concerning something called string theory."
  • Where we are in the process: "The destiny of science is to become like grandmasters, to solve this puzzle that we call the universe. There are outstanding questions that the public wants to have answers for."
  • Like a 2-horse race: "Sometimes, the mathematics and the ideas are ahead of the concrete experimental data."
  • Anyone who watched Independence Day knows it's a bad idea: "I think the chances are quite high that we may make contact with an alien civilisation. There are some colleagues of mine that believe we should reach out to them. I think that’s a terrible idea."
  • Finding where religions are consistent with each other: "According to string theory, big bangs are happening all the time. Even as we speak, Genesis is taking place somewhere in the cosmos. And what is the universe expanding into? Nirvana. Eleven-dimensional hyperspace is Nirvana. So you can have Buddhism and Judeo-Christian philosophy in one theory."
Takeaway: A theory of everything may in fact be consistent and even supportive of a Christian worldview. The doctrine of common grace holds that God provides the means for a fallen world to continue to function in good order. A theory of everything may be a scientist's explanation of a religious concept.

Hardcover

Kindle

Audible

Robots in restaurants

A prediction from Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford about using robots in the restaurant industry: "Once one of the industry’s major players begins to gain significant advantages from increased automation, the others will have little choice but to follow suit. 

More about it:

  • "Automation will also offer the ability to compete on dimensions beyond lower labor costs." 
  • "Robotic production might be viewed as more hygienic since fewer workers would come into contact with the food."
  • "Convenience, speed, and order accuracy would increase, as would the ability to customize orders."
  • "Once a customer’s preferences were recorded at one restaurant, automation would make it a simple matter to consistently produce the same results at other locations."

Has it aged well? A fairly recent article indicates the automation of restaurants is proceeding as predicted.


Hardcover:
 
 Kindle:
 
 Audio:

Tips for reading your Bible

The CS Lewis Institute published a sermon by Charles Spurgeon about getting the most out of reading one's Bible. It's directed to Christian ministers but can apply to any Christian.

Main point: "They [Christian ministers] must read much if they are to be profitable to others as preachers."

More about it:

  • Read to learn: "...he will be most fresh and original in his own thoughts who most diligently cultivates his mind by studying and pondering the thoughts of other minds."
  • Read to repeat: "He who never quotes, will never be quoted, and he who does not read is not very likely to be read."
  • Read and depend: "...to understand the word is not enough. We also need that He makes us to feel its power."
  • Read and meditate: "Reading is the gathering together of our food, but meditation is the chewing of the cud, the digesting, and the assimilating of the truth of God!"
  • Read and apply: "...endeavor in reading a page of the Scriptures, always to see how much it belongs to you...seek for the application of precepts."
  • Read and practice: "The worldling’s Bible is the Christian. He never reads the book, but he reads the disciple of Christ and he judges the Christian religion by the lives of its professors! The world will learn better and will more likely be brought to know Christ when the lives of Christians are better, and when the Bible of the Christian life shall be more in accordance with the Bible of Christian doctrine!"
  • Read and pray: "...we should pray over every passage in order that we may be enabled to get out of it what God would impart to us."
  • Read and test: "...the Christian should keep God’s Word near at hand and treasured in the soul, to test thereby all that he hears."
  • Read and repeat: "When you read a passage of Scripture and have any enjoyment therein, go to your sick neighbor [or anyone else, for that matter] and tell what God has said to you."

Takeaway: Others can reveal truth: "...if He pleases to reveal a truth of God to another man, and I will not read that truth as it has been recorded by that other man, I have neglected the teaching of the Spirit of God."

Why Coach Chris Peterson left college football at the top of his game

The Anthony De Mello parable is reminiscent of the story of Jesus's disciples who were squabbling for a place of honor in heaven. Even Mama got involved. We each have a calling we easily forget if we get caught up in the thorns and thistles of life.


Army of the Dead trailer - best yet

I enjoy movie trailers to the point that I'm upset when I don't get to the theater in time for the trailers at the start. This Army of the Dead trailer is the best one I've seen and is entertaining in its own right.


More than other trailers, Zack Snyder seems to have clearly communicated the story into the few minutes of the trailer so viewers know what to expect: Ocean's 11 meets I am Legend. The narrative seems to be this:

  • How the protagonist gets pulled into the story.
  • The assembling of the team.
  • The apparent ease of achieving their goal.
  • The change in fortune when the camera pans to show the mass of zombies. The music is timed to emphasize the this shift in fortune.
  • The subsequent anabasis as they fight their way out.
How good a job did Snyder do with the trailer? We'll tune in on 5/21 to find out.

Water shortages in the western US: Official declaration for the first time?

An article in my news feed described the possibility of a first-time official water shortage declaration for the western US. That's because "man-made lakes that store water supplying millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico are projected to shrink to historic lows in the coming months."

Main point: This risk comes as "less snowpack flows into the river and its tributaries, and hotter temperatures parch soil and cause more river water to evaporate as it streams through the drought-plagued American West."

More about it:

  • Part of an ongoing process: "Federal officials regularly issue long-term projections but use those released each August to make decisions about how to allocate river water."
  • Watching for trigger events: "If projections don't improve by then, the Bureau of Reclamation will declare a Level 1 shortage condition. The cuts would be implemented in January."
  • The study that led to the possibility of a water-shortage declaration "reflects the impacts of the dry and warm conditions across the Colorado River Basin this year, as well as the effects of a prolonged drought that has impacted the Colorado River water supply."
  • This can affect the power grid as well because the "Bureau of Reclamation also projected that Lake Mead will drop to the point they worried in the past could threaten electricity generation at Hoover Dam. The hydropower serves millions of customers in Arizona, California and Nevada."

Takeaways:

  • This has been long expected and monitored.
  • The implications go beyond being able to drink a glass of water.
  • This issue will not go away anytime soon.


How screenwriters do stories in action, sci-fi, and fantasy

Heard at a session with Marc Bernardin, Naren Shankar, and Emily Carmichael about building worlds in action, sci-fi, and fantasy at the ScreenCraft Writers Summit 2021: 

How can one keep from building a world not fully thought through? Get read backs. Think through implications of the core story elements.

How does world affect your story? World should have a connection/impact on your story. However, stories don’t always hinge on the kind of world.

Show audiences a new side of your world they hadn't seen before to make it more real.

Know your audience is expecting certain things: give them those things or subvert those things.

Don't be surprised when others introduce changes to what you created. Must be open to it.

Limitations, e.g., budget, drive you to new and interesting places.

Can standard story types from different genres work in other genres? 

With well-done worlds, you feel like there are histories. Examples:

  • Transformers
  • Game of Thrones
  • Dungeons and Dragons game
  • Walking Dead

Generally can adapt the story types to different genres. 

Horror is most rule bound genre. The horror must be very consistent. Example: characters may think horror is different things, but it must be the same. Example: shapeshifters appear different to different people but is always the same horror.

Make the setting seem very familiar to get max effect of horror, fantasy, etc.

Factoring equity issues. Think through the issues to make sure they work in the story.

Look at even small things like toilet paper that have impact because of scarcity.


Can action, sci-fi, and fantasy worlds inspire real world outcomes?

Can action, sci-fi, and fantasy worlds inspire real world outcomes? Heard at a session with Marc Bernardin, Naren Shankar, and Emily Carmichael about building worlds at the ScreenCraft Writers Summit 2021: 

Example. Star Trek inspired real world inventions.

Build on earlier stories because it's hard to come up with something unique.

Stephen King said about keeping in touch with the real world: Writers must be readers.

Make sure you have something to say for that world. Must do the deep thinking to make it work.

How do screenwriters create characters for action, sci-fi, and fantasy worlds?

How do screenwriters create characters for action, sci-fi, and fantasy worlds? Heard at a session with Marc Bernardin, Naren Shankar, and Emily Carmichael about building worlds at the ScreenCraft Writers Summit 2021: 

Well-written characters attract audiences.

Game of Thrones is fantasy world but never makes the fantasy elements too derivative.

The Expanse characters reflected a blend of the historical War of Roses and Lord of the Rings.

Character is important on TV. Serial nature of TV shows character development.

Start with emotional events like climax, and then go to character after thinking through emotional underlayers. 

It's not a show until you start talking about people. World is only important based on what character can see, so don't go overboard with setting.

How screenwriters create rule structures for action, sci-fi, and fantasy worlds

How do screenwriters create rule structures for action, sci-fi, and fantasy worlds? Heard at a session with Marc Bernardin, Naren Shankar, and Emily Carmichael about building worlds at the ScreenCraft Writers Summit 2021: 

Magic can seem like arbitrary solutions all the time. Don't let it feel arbitrary.

Science-based stories feel more real.

Likes zombies and vampires because rules seem more simple, consistent, and believable.

Thinks of X-Men as a magic system. There's always a cost to the powers they have. Need to include cost of having the powers.

Characters should have emotional response to situations.

Magic doesn’t make anyone's life easier.

Magic is like literature and has properties of literature. Not everyone can write a great spell just like not everyone can write great literature.

People like Harry Potter because of the emotional threads. Hogwarts is more like reform school where kids haven't gotten it right.

How screenwriters write alternative histories

Heard at a session with Marc Bernardin, Naren Shankar, and Emily Carmichael about building worlds at the ScreenCraft Writers Summit 2021: Ask what if and pull on the threads to let the story come out.




How screenwriters do research

Notes from a session with Marc Bernardin, Naren Shankar, and Emily Carmichael about building worlds at the ScreenCraft Writers Summit 2021.

If research not a favorite thing, work on story first and do targeted rather than general research.

Research depends on story.

Uses research to make the story feel real.

Make rules of the world feel consistent (not necessarily truly and fully consistent). Otherwise, audience notice.

When watching a show, the small details don't make as much of difference to enjoying show. Just shoot for audience not noticing as much.

Art analogy. Your job is not to represent the objects but to use the objects to get to your painting.

Use of experts: Ask what doesn't feel right.

Levels of research: Star Trek vs For All Mankind requires different levels of research.


Money concerns can create stress and affect our general well-being.

Lifestyle creep can lead to greater personal spending.  "...automate as many payments and contributions as possible." 

Getting your professional drone license

 Take a look at the DJI blog item that describes the licensing process and requirements for becoming a drone pilot.

Main point: "Before you can join this global community of commercial drone operators, however, you need to know the rules of the game and follow the safety regulations designed to help pilots fly safely within their national airspace. "

More about it:

  • "Each nation has its own set of regulations regarding who can fly a drone commercially."
  • Training by manufacturers and professional trainers can help you develop piloting skills.
  • There are also training programs to prepare you for the licensing exam.

Takeaway: The resources are available to help you get licensed and develop advanced skills.

Becoming a professional drone pilot

 A DJI blog item contained advice for aspiring drone pilots.

Main point: The path is straightforward - "The journey begins with a clear understanding of the rules for being a compliant, responsible operator, and ultimately – getting the necessary training to help you become a qualified drone pilot."

More about it:

  • For now, drone pilots can command higher fees because "In the U.S. alone, there are more than 100,000 certified commercial drone pilots — and as more enterprises and organizations continue to adopt drone technology, the need for skilled drone operators will continue to rise."
  • It's a growth opportunity because "...the drone services industry is projected to rise to $63.6 billion by 2025."
  • Uses include "everything from collecting visual, LiDAR, and thermal data to shooting striking photographs and films."

Takeaways: The blog item has a list of industries using drones.


AI and concerns about the workforce

 In an article about her using AI as a tool to help her with her dyslexia, Tabitha Goldstaub offered some ideas and suggestions for adapting to changes wrought by AI.


Main point: "We are hurtling towards AI, machine learning and robotics at breakneck speed and people are being left behind. This means a risk of job loss in an already struggling climate."

More about it:

  • The risks grow for those not keeping up. "One and a half million people in England are at high risk of losing their jobs to automation in the coming years, and a 2019 Office for National Statistics report revealed that 70% of them are women."
  • When is the right time to prepare yourself for change? "Now more than ever is a good time to become the person in your company who has learned to master the newest software."
  • It's truly time to get with the program. "Even for those who are proudly the 'least' techie, it is time to change tune."

Takeaway: It's less about becoming a data scientist and more about taking responsibility for learning how to use the new AI tools that are coming out.

AI and dyslexia

 What can't AI do? Check out an article by a successful tech entrepreneur who started out with dyslexia and found AI a useful tool.

Main point: "I think it was my dyslexia and my need to see things from a different angle that enabled me to be open to the rewards of AI. But this doesn’t mean that there aren’t risks."

More about it:

  • Tabitha Goldstaub's dyslexia "was the cause of me honing my greatest skill: learning to learn. Discovering more about different learning styles was a gamechanger – and where my love of artificial intelligence technology was born."
  • She is the "co-founder of CognitionX, a market intelligence platform for AI" and "was appointed by government ministers Matt Hancock and Greg Clark, to assemble a team of experts in AI to form a council responsible for supporting the government and its office for artificial intelligence."
  • Tabitha Goldstaub pays attention to the potential downside of AI because "We are hurtling towards AI, machine learning and robotics at breakneck speed and people are being left behind. This means a risk of job loss in an already struggling climate."

Takeaways:

  • AI may have made a difference, but Tabitha Goldstaub still seeks human support.
  • Tabitha Goldstaub is a proponent for Human in the Loop (HITL) to make sure a human is always in a position to make decisions.





Taking on robot vision

 An article about a startup working on robot vision may offer ways to enhance robot capabilities in industry.

Main point:  As important as the manual abilities of robots are, they need the ability to properly see their environments before they can take a bigger role in industrial workplaces."

More about it:

  • Building a library of images of robots' environments "uses deep learning to produce 3D images in unstructured environments."
  • Testing can be done because they "create synthetic data [data not collected by direct measurement, e.g., data gathered from simulations] and use that to test [robots] in the real world."
  • Developing robot vision is important because "without good vision it's the equivalent of blindfolded humans trying to do packaging."

Takeaways:

Follow your guide

It looks like progress on the assistive technology front with Google's Project Guideline, "an artificial intelligence system designed to help blind and vision-impaired people to run races by themselves." 

Main point: It's "an attempt to give those people more independence. They wouldn't necessarily need to rely on a tethered human guide or a guide dog to help them around a course."

Things to know:

  • "...a runner attaches an Android phone to a Google-designed harness that goes around their waist."
  • "...use the phone's camera to track a guideline that's been laid down on a course."
  • "...audio cues to bone-conducting headphones when a runner veers away from the line."
  • "...doesn't need an internet connection to work, and it can account for a number of lighting and weather conditions."

Points to ponder:

  • An external system using one's smartphone.
  • Someone will need to lay a line on the road to track.
  • Lane control for runners could be another way to look at it.
  • Entirely on the smartphone, so less vulnerable to Internet glitches at the wrong moments.

Learning from the movers and "shapers"

 It takes one to know one. I saw an article where Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, shared some things he learned from getting to know top movers and shakers like Elon Musk and Bill Gates.

Main point: "Dalio often sees common threads in these leaders’ personalities."

Things to consider:

  • "'Quite often, you have people with imagination who are not practical, and people who are practical with not much imagination,' Dalio said. People like Musk and Gates 'had both of those things.'"
  • “They were passionately, unwaveringly committed — so that it’s a high — to make discoveries,”
  • "...their real advantages come from knowing how to deal with what they don’t know more than anything they know"
What he concluded:
  • "Dalio calls these standout leaders 'shapers.' A shaper is 'someone who comes up with unique and valuable visions and builds them out beautifully, typically over the doubts and opposition of others.'"
  • "Those people with leadership qualities are often 'simultaneously creative, systematic and practical. They are assertive, open-minded at the same time.'”
  • "...shapers often display a passionate creativity and are not afraid to stand their ground, as they are 'independent thinkers who do not let anything or anyone stand in the way of achieving their audacious goals.'”
One challenge for our own personal development is how to identify the tangible things we can do to become shapers in our own right. Some thoughts that came to mind:
  • I wonder if we can weave those threads our own calling.
  • Determining our own capacity takes honest self-reflection.
  • A singular focus helps avoid discouragement.
  • Knowing what to do when you're in uncharted waters.
  • Brings sculptors and other artists to mind.
  • Artists use the right tools to realize their vision.
  • Living in the paradox of being open and unyielding at the same time.


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