Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Prominent Women in History, Chat GPT, and St. Patty’s Day

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accomplishments, Chat GPT, Chemists, Civil Rights, leaders, Military Leaders, Saint Patrick's Day, Wikipedia, Women in HIstory, Women's History Month, Writers

1. Cleopatra (69-30 BCE) – the last pharaoh of ancient Egypt who was known for her intelligence, political acumen, and beauty.
2. Joan of Arc (1412-1431) – a French heroine and military leader who helped turn the tide of the Hundred Years’ War.
3. Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) – one of England’s greatest monarchs who reigned for over 44 years and helped usher in a new era of English prosperity and artistic achievement.
4. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) – a writer and feminist philosopher who argued for women’s rights and equality in the late 18th century.
5. Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) – a former slave who became an abolitionist and women’s rights activist, famous for her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech.
6. Marie Curie (1867-1934) – a physicist and chemist who conducted groundbreaking research on radioactivity and was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
7. Rosa Parks (1913-2005) – an African-American civil rights activist who famously refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
8. Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) – the first female Prime Minister of India, who served as the country’s leader for a total of 15 years and was known for her strong leadership and decisive actions.
9. Malala Yousafzai (born 1997) – a Pakistani activist for female education who survived a Taliban assassination attempt and became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.

For those of you who haven’t tried it, this list was generated by Chat GPT. It is an artificial intelligence used for browsing, research, and can even help you with computer code. I’ve just started using it, because I want to stay up to date with technology. There will be more to follow, but it generated this list in about 30 seconds.

Artificial intelligence is the new thing. Many are fearful of it, but frankly, it is a tool like anything else. It can be used for good and evil. It’s up to us to use these tools ethically. I plan on using it so I can learn about things quickly. My first chat with it was about the Peloponnesian War. If you’re looking or a book, you can simply ask. It gave me a list of about 20 books on this war, and I’ve already started looking for Kindle versions and versions on Scribd. Wow!

The last woman on the list intrigued me because I had no idea who she was. Here’s her Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malala_Yousafzai All I can say is: Wow!

Well, I hope you try out Chat GPT for yourself. It is a great service. There’s a paid version called Chat GPT + but I’ll stick with the free version for the time being. You can literally ask this thing anything and it will get you an answer. What a terrific thing! Anyone remember Star Trek characters talking to their computers? Well, Gene Roddenberry, we made it.

Have a great Friday, folks! I hope all of you have a terrific St. Patrick’s Day and enjoy your weekend!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Women Gamers

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Call of Duty, Endra, Escape from Tarkov, facebook, Nadia, Slapstick, Tails, Twitch, Women streamers, YouTube

I’m so happy women are playing video games! It’s so much fun. Because of the month we are celebrating, I wanted to highlight a few gamers that stream for a living. I don’t watch them all the time, but when I do it is always a treat. Below, I’ll introduce you to some of the females I follow on YouTube. Below is Nadia playing COD MW2 Multiplayer.

Here’s Endra. She’s a female streamer who plays a game called Escape from Tarkov. It falls in the genre of what we call an “extraction shooter”. Extraction shooters are unique in that you can exit the game whenever you want. Typically, there will be missions or tasks you have to complete. The catch, you have to survive to complete them, and if you do not, you fail the mission and lose all the gear you possess. It’s interesting to watch. Here’s a short clip of her below:

Here’s one more. Her streamer tag is: Tails. Her stream is hilarious. She plays a multitude of games, but most of her content is just funny. She adds humor to her streams and her audience, including me, love it. Here’s a video she dropped a while back:

Women add value to whatever they do. Here are just a few examples of women streamers that actually make enough revenue to do this exclusively for a living. I hope you enjoyed them. If you like any of them, feel free to subscribe to their streams. Most of these folks stream live on Twitch, some are on YouTube, and some are on Facebook, which also offers streaming capabilities.

Well, that’s it for today. I hope all of you have a great Friday and weekend.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Dr. Jess Wade

Tags

Science, Unique, Physics, Wikipedia, Dr. Jess Wade, Nice News, STEM, STEM fields, Physicist

Dr. Jess Wade is featured in Nice News, one of the newspapers I read that focuses on positive news, rather than the “doom and gloom” news I used to read. Here’s the article about her and her efforts to highlight the careers and contributions of little-known women in the STEM fields. She has contributed more than 1,700 biographies of these women to Wikipedia. Her goal is to help women maintain and pursue careers in the STEM fields and fill the current gender gap.

Here is the link to the news article: https://nicenews.com/science/jessica-wade-wikipedia-bios/

Here is her Wikipedia link to learn more about her: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jess_Wade

I love finding stories like this and sharing them with you, because I believe that the search is most of the fun! I’ll continue to find more folks like her this month as we celebrate Women’s History Month. I hope you enjoy learning about her story as much as I did.

Have a great weekend, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – 10 More Black American Heroes

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Alexa Canady, Alice Coachman, Bessie Coleman, Black History Month, Claudette Coleman, Gordon Parks, Harlem Hellfighters, Heroes, Jane Bolin, Marian Anderson, Robert Sengstacke Abbott, Robert Smalls, Ronald McNair

A Today article in January 2022 highlighted some Black American heroes that may be overlooked by most. I highlighted them here:

Claudette Coleman – The first black woman to refuse moving from a white seat to a black seat on a bus. Her incident happened before Rosa Parks. Here’s a Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_bus_boycott#Arrest_of_Claudette_Colvin

Alice Coachman – The first black woman to earn a gold medal in the Olympics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Coachman

The Harlem Hellfighters – They were an all-black infantry unit that saw 191 days of combat with the French Army in WWI. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/369th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

Ronald McNair – One of the first black Americans to be an astronaut. He also earned a PhD in Physics from MIT.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_McNair

Bessie Coleman – The first black woman to fly an airplain in the U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman

Alexa Canady – She is the first black woman to become a neurosurgeon in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexa_Canady

Robert Smalls – Was a slave in the South who stole a confederate gunship, took it North to surrender it to the Union Army. He was also responsible for lobbying Lincoln to allow Black soldiers to fight in the Union Army. He later became a U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_SmallsCongressman.

Gordon Parks – The first black American to work as a photographer for Life magazine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Parks

Marian Anderson – Was a singer who was famous for her low ranges in song. She was afforded the opportunity to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson

Jane Bolin – The first Black woman to become a judge in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Bolin

Robert Sengstacke Abbott – Ran one of the nation’s largest and most influential black newspapers in America. It was called The Chicago Defender. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sengstacke_Abbott

There are so many heroes across America that contributed to civil rights. These are just a few that many may not know about. I sure didn’t. As part of Black History Month, I wanted to try and find out about more of the less prominent heroes that all played their part. This list is but a drop in the bucket. I’ll try to find more before the month’s end on the 28th.

I hope you have fun reading about these folks. It was really fun for me, because I just love history. Have a great Friday, folks!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Colin Powell

Tags

Army, Black History Month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Colin Powell, inspiration, Military, National Security Adviser, Secretary of State

Colin Powell served in the Army while I served. I was never privileged enough to serve in one of his commands, but he was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the end of my military career. Here’s a link to his profile on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell

Colin is yet another great African American whose life impacted millions around the world. He impacted the soldiers he worked with, he impacted the world as Secretary of State, and he was an example to many young people around the world. He demonstrated like so many others that hard work, discipline, and focus can take you anywhere in life, even when you grow up living in conditions ripe with racism, discrimination, and other disadvantages.

My decision to join the military and serve for 20 years was one of the best decisions I ever made. It continues to provide me an income, it ingrained many habits and the self-discipline I still enjoy today.

I hope each of you has a great Friday and terrific weekend! Be sure to check in tomorrow. I’ll be going over some new things in Season 2 of Call of Duty MW 2. Boy there is so much stuff to do! I love it!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, and The Tuskegee Airmen

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Academics, Booker T. Washington, Equal Rights, George Washington Carver, Patriots, Racial Justice, Scientists, The Tuskegee Airmen, Truman

George Washington Carver is an individual I wanted to talk about today. He is one of my African American scientists that made great contributions to our society. Here’s his Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver

Booker T. Washington was another great in our American History. Here is his link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington

The Tuskegee Airmen are the next African Americans I’d like to introduce you to. Here is their link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen

All of these heroes accomplished great things, while dealing with prejudice and racial discrimination. Each one of these folks is a tremendous example of what the human being is capable of if given the opportunity. I hope you enjoyed these videos and articles. It is yet another part of my personal exploration of great Americans who fought against the odds and overcame the diversity in their lives.

I hope all of you have a great Friday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Maya Angelou, Thomas Sowell, Neil deGrasse Tyson

Tags

Academics, Astrophysics, Black History Month, Economics, Heroes, Maya Angelou, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Poetry, Thomas Sowell, Trailblazers

For this month, I’m going to highlight African Americans that I believe have been huge influencers on our culture and society in general. Each Friday I’ll post Wikipedia links for you to read and learn about these great Americans.

The first is Maya Angelou. She has carried many titles throughout her life, but the one title she is most recognizable for is her poetry. Here’s her Wikipedia link if you are interested in learning more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou

The second is Thomas Sowell. If you’ve never read him or seen any of his YouTube videos, you’re missing out. He is a terrific read and has made significant contributions to economics throughout his career. Here is the link to his Wikipedia page if you are interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sowell By the way, I’ll be adding one of his books to my reading list and begin today.

My third choice is Neil deGrasse Tyson. He is an Astrophysicist, who is commonly seen on the news, Ted Talks, YouTube, and even interviewed on the Joe Rogan Podcast. He is terrific. Here’s his link to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson

I hope you enjoy all of the videos. All of these folks have written books, if you are interested in reading them. Just type their name in your search followed by books and you’ll get them.

Have a great weekend, folks! I hope you enjoy my journey this month seeking out and learning about many of the Black Americans that have made significant contributions to our culture, society, and even the frontiers of space.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Reading

Tags

BlackBirch 3, Diet, free writing, Gum Disease, Learning, Reading, The Carnivore Diet, The Keto Diet

I love the snowy months. We’ve gotten hit with about 6 inches with more in store for the next few days. Snowy days are great days for reading, writing, and all the other things I do from the comfort of my office chair. I finished a few books this week. The first was Blackbirch 3 from my friend and author in Australia, K.M. Allan. I also finished the book The Carnivore Diet. This book has been on my reading list for a while. I picked it up after seeing a YouTube video from Joe Rogan interviewing Dr. Jordan Peterson. He has been on the Carnivore diet for about a year at the time of this showing. His wife, daughter, and he have adopted this diet because of health issues in his family. Autoimmune disease, depression, and arthritis in his daughter. Remarkably, they have all come of anti-depressants, his gum disease has disappeared, and he has lost about 60 pounds.

I too suffer from gum disease and have also felt some other changes occurring that I’m not too happy with. So, I’m going to embark on my own adventure into the carnivorous diet. I don’t know if I’ll go as hard as the Petersons, which literally means they eat beef and nothing else, but salt and water, but I’ll definitely give it a go. Gum disease is incurable and is no fun. I was diagnosed in 2018 and have been dealing with it ever since. I had an appointment with a dentist to get to work on this, but when I found out the procedure would run me about $6000.00, and there was no guarantee that it would go away, I passed and have looked for more homeopathic solutions. Diet is one of them, since changing diet will also change the biome in my gut and mouth. The theory is: If you stop eating things that feed a certain type of bacteria that lives within you, those bacteria that are harmful will die off and the bacteria that is needed to digest meat will survive.

I’ve tried the Keto diet in the past and it was really effective at weight loss, but it was too hard to track. Fat is the primary food source Keto dieters use. It has been very effective for those with Diabetes, but the measuring of yourself for being in Ketosis is very difficult, not to mention, tracking all the things you need to track, so I gave it up as too unsustainable. The Carnivore diet, on the other hand, is easy. Eat meat. That’s it. So, I’m going to give it a whirl. My way of moving to a new diet is not a radical change overnight, but gradual. I’ll see what it does and how it impacts me.

I read a lot of books at the same time. I enjoy reading non-fiction, but also enjoy fiction and spiritual books. So, I always read at least three at a time. Currently I am reading: A Deadly Influence, The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad book 2, and I’ve got to find another non-fiction book to dive into. I don’t know what I’m going to read, but I’ll start looking today.

Well, I’m done for now. I hope all of you have a great Friday and weekend. Here’s to a hot cup of coffee on a snowy day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Bothie, Napoleon, and Crash Course!

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Bothie, Crash Course, family, Friday, Friends, Fun, Napoleon Bonaparte, Relax, Weekend, YouTube

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothie_(dog)

Here’s an interesting tidbit for your Friday. Bothie is the only dog to walk on the North and South Pole. I thought this was really wild! I’ve placed the link to the Wikipedia article to read more about him. It’s a short read, but a nice trivial trek.

I really love history. I was rummaging around YouTube, and I found this great documentary on Napoleon Bonaparte. Here’s the link for your viewing pleasure:

Since I talk about Crash Course World History, here’s their YouTube channel with all 40 episodes:

Well, that’s it for now, folks. I hope you all have a great Friday.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Free Writing Friday – Ikigai

Tags

family, Friday, Friends, Ikigai, passion, Profession, Purpose, Relax, Rest, Vocation, Wikipedia, YouTube

For most this word means nothing, but it is an ideal way of living. When one achieves Ikigai, they are doing what they love, serving others, making money, and they are good at this thing they’ve chosen. Here’s a video to explain Ikigai. If you are in a job that you hate, you may want to try looking for something that aligns with Ikigai, it could make a huge difference in your life.

If you’d like to learn more, here is a link from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai

I like introducing topics that you may not be aware of. It’s fun looking for them, and it is also fun to learn about them. I hope you enjoyed the video and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time…

Dave