It's All Around You
Don't Forget to Look For It
Hi Friends,
If you haven't noticed, there is a lot going on in the sky these days: moon rovers blasting off almost every other day (exaggeration), Sun activity, partial eclipse, a no-longer-a-killer asteroid (chances dropped to almost zilch this week), shooting stars.
The event I'm currently looking for this week (tomorrow night) is seeing all the planets in the night sky lined up (not a straight line because things are round, more like a line of cats).
When I grew up, there were nine planets. Then Pluto got demoted (it still saddens me to think about).
If you don't include Earth, because we're standing on it and can't see it in the sky, then that means on Friday (2/28), we will be able to see the remaining 7 planets together just above the horizon.
Kind of like holding the solar system in your hand.
It's a reminder to take some time to look up.
So often, when we go through life, we look down at where we're walking, especially recently here in the Northeast where the sidewalks and roads are covered in slippery ice. There are a lot of things above and around us—natural and human-constructed.
Last week, on my morning walk, I noticed something I had not seen before—a harbor seal sunning itself on a rock near the beach.
Since then, the little guy (or girl) has been hanging around for a week. You can often see seals in the inner harbor, but rarely out in the open, especially so close to a beach that is usually full of dogs frolicking in the waves.
My guess is that because of the snow, there were no dogs and the seal felt safe enough to laze just off shore.
Not everyone noticed (because we were all so concerned about taking a header on the icy boulevard)—and so, it gave me great joy to see people's faces when, after I greeted them, I pointed it out.
Everyone, to a person, was excited to see it and stopped for a few moments to marvel.
Deep Fakes?
Some of you may have noticed that I've incorporated a few AI generated images into these newsletters. The image software I employ, Canva, has introduced a tool that allows the user to create pictures from text prompts.
Prior to using the tool, I would search Canva's vast library for images. It would take time, and many of the images had restrictions attached to them (as most stock photos do).
Generating a picture with AI in the Canva tool has no restrictions, and I get the image I want in seconds.
I can share the image without the fear of violating anyone's rights (at least as current rights stand, and I possess a paid subscription to Canva, so creators do get paid when I use those copyrighted pictures).
There are a lot of these image generation tools out there.
My most recent discovery is Leonardo. It's something and provides a small daily usage for free.
I've talked about AI tools in these emails. The capabilities are coming fast. And the battles have just begun.
I asked Leonardo to create a "flying cat" and got this:
Something indeed (and I don't think I hurt anyone with it—although, I'm not sure if the energy consumed in creating it was worth it). It is simultaneously a time saver and time suck—we're all adults here—so, you can do you.
I recently saw an amazing exhibit of the work of artist Fran Forman. She uses AI and photography to make amazing images. Not everything these days is doom.
Try not to forget to look around every once in a while.
Happy reading and happy writing.
David