Today, I wanted to reiterate the resources I use to learn new things. I watch a lot of Ted talks and post one of them I liked on Tuesday each week. I like watching YouTube, particularly if there’s something I’m trying to figure out. YouTube is one of the best “how-to” resources there is out there. I really enjoy the college lectures by some of the best universities in the world. They offer a slew of free courses to watch.
I also like to read National Geographic, The Atlantic, Time, Newsweek, Mother Jones, and a whole host of other digital magazines. So many ideas, so many conversations, so many things to hear and learn about.
For documentaries and learning more in-depth, I watch documentaries on a streaming service called Curiosity Stream. It runs about $20/year, but is worth it if you are documentary addict like me. My favorite topics are: space exploration, computer science, artificial intelligence, military history, and history in general. There are other areas that pique my interest from time-to-time, but these are my core.
If I want to pick up a new skill, I take classes on Udemy. These courses, most of which are on sale, will run you about $12/class. They are worth the money. I’ve been taking an MS Excel course for over two years and I still have more lessons to complete before I’m done. It is terrific. I’ve taken courses on digital art, graphic design, writing, MS Powerpoint, MS Excel, Canva, and Python Programming. It is just terrific! I’ve also tried online universities like Coursera, but these aren’t as good as Udemy. I like the ability to take a course whenever I want to and not be stuck to a schedule.
Learning keeps me alive. It keeps me interested. It keeps me current. I have run across people who have lost their lust for living and it is not something I want to do. I really enjoy picking up new ideas, new technologies, and new content.
Learning to me, is like adding to myself. The more I know, the more easily I can navigate the world. Picking up new skills is also something that makes life easier for me. As we age, memory and cognitive function can dissipate to a point where you really can’t do anything. I never want to be in that position, so I exercise, read, write, and learn as much as possible each day.
One other passion of mine is video gaming, particularly Call of Duty. I play both the mobile and console versions of the game and again, I cannot stress how great it is to keep my hand-eye coordination, along with the quick reaction and other things these games keep fresh. YouTube is my primary source for learning the new things in the game, but also want to mention Twitch, TikTok, and Facebook, where the streamers of content are. I learn a lot about the games by watching others play them.
Well, that’s it for today. I hope this inspires some of you to get out there and learn something new. You may have different interests than I do. No problem, you can find literally any topic to learn about on one of the mediums I’ve presented here.
Here are some links so you can enjoy them too, if you wish:
Udemy.com
YouTube.com
Curiositystream.com
Oh! There’s one more resource I enjoy. This is Wikipedia. For those of you in college, do not use Wikipedia. It is not a good source for academic research and citations. For guys like me, however, it is a great source to find people, places, and quick hits of information I am curious about. I use Wikipedia extensively, particularly on my Wisdom Wednesday posts to highlight an individual who I’ve chose for quotes that day.
If you haven’t been to Wikipedia in a while, check out the home page. There are all kinds of interesting world news and a section called “Did you know?”. They are all great reads! By the way, if you are predominantly mobile, all of these are in the App store and Google play. I do all of my reading and watching on my iPad.
One more thing you may be interested in is ChatGPT. I use the Bing version of it, and it is really helpful. You want to do some research on a topic? Ask ChatGPT to give you a list of books or other resources on a topic you want to learn about. It’ll list them right out for you. I’ve done this quite a bit lately and it is a great tool!
Well, that’s all I have for today, folks.
Have a great Thursday!
Until next time…
Dave
Daily Ramblings... 