💫 Rekindling Momentum

some personal notes // vol. 8

It’s been a while!

School & work picked up and my confidence & creative energy dropped — it happens. In place of writing and building, I’ve spent the last few months becoming immersed in learning. Joining the Reboot community has no doubt played a huge role in that.

I started using Goodreads (add me!), and my reading pace sped up at least 2x thanks to seeing regular reading updates from 20+ peers. My goal is to hit 20 books completed by the end of the year; not too high, but definitely a faster pace than I’ve ever read since elementary school. So far, some favorites include Pachinko and the Art of Being.

I joined multiple book clubs & discussion groups, which has opened me up to worlds of new topics that I hadn’t previously considered. As of late, I’ve been learning more about governance and labor and how technology interplays with them. I never really ventured into the sociopolitical realm, given my 8+ years of STEM education, but I’m glad I was finally exposed to these discussions. I feel like the middle dude in the bell curve meme; I know how much I don’t know and I’m eager to learn it all.

Over all of that, I’ve finally been realizing the mental blocks that were holding me back. I was a relentless perfectionist, and this prevented me from building momentum in any of my ideas. As I work through that, I published a short piece on the invisible labor behind Google Maps. After reading Ghost Work through a Reboot book club, I got curious about the labor going behind the applications we use every day, and it turns out Google Maps used a lot of it (paid and unpaid). If you’re curious how Google was able to map the entire world, give it a read!

💫 Updates

1. Despite avoiding crypto discourse for a while, I’m going to be taking Buildspace’s NFT course starting next week. Join me!

2. I published an article on the invisible labor behind Google Maps. It was interesting learning how such a complex service was built, and concerning to see some of the practices Google used.

3. I joined Georgia Tech’s Effective Altruism Fellowship. I’m not 100% sold on effective altruism yet, but look forward to getting this deep dive (and hopefully will publish some thoughts after)!

💫 Digital serendipity

Standout content from the last few months:

1. Reboot’s magazine, kernelmag.io, was recently published! In addition to a super cool website, the first issue includes many in depth pieces from members of the Reboot community. The main thesis behind it is “examining technology’s role in shaping our collective feature”.

2. Interesting exploration of digital fashion. I thought the video was particularly relevant given all the recent conversation around the “metaverse”.

3. 💀

   Timea Tabori @TimeaTabori

   Diversity in tech be like

   

   October 2nd 2021

   15,032 Retweets122,852 Likes

That’s all for this time! Here’s to rekindling momentum in your creative endeavors.

—Vadini