Craig Constantine

§4 – Handy Items in a Grab Bag

Published May 2, 2018 · All posts on May 2

This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series Travel Gear

The bag

http://www.cumberlandconcepts.com/shop/medium-zipper-bags-2/

Cumberland Concepts “medium” bag (available in a slew of colors).

This bag is quite small. That’s the point: It’s it’s easy to grab and easy to stuff into whatever it is you’re carrying that day.

What and why

This little bag provides convenience and a bit of insurance. (Its exact purpose depends on what you decide to keep in the bag.) It is easy to prepare this bag, and it requires very little maintenance to keep it ready-to-go. By purposefully setting it up, you will beginning thinking intentionally about packing. You will begin building the habit of thinking about why are you packing, what do you need, what do you want, and balancing the answers against how much you want to carry around.

Following is a list of ideas intended to spur your thinking. I have no idea what you will want to put into this bag. There are surely some items you’ve wished you had, but which would be impossible to individually remember to always bring, and there are some important-in-a-pinch items that could be priceless insurance in rare situations. As you read this list, imagine scenarios where you would smile when you realized, “oh! I have [item] with me!”

Small notebook and pen/pencil
Epi-pen
Pocket knife
Medication
Micro flashlight
Pack of tissues
Some spare cash
Something to eat
Spare identification

You begin to see common threads

Published May 1, 2018 · All posts on May 1

The core of the philosophy seems to be this: To have a good and meaningful life, you need to overcome your insatiability. Most people, at best, spend their lives in a long pursuit of happiness. So today’s successful person writes out a list of desires, then starts chasing them down and satisfying the desires. The problem is that each desire, when satisfied, tends to be replaced by a new desire. So the person continues to chase. Yet after a lifetime of pursuit, the person ends up no more satisfied than he was at the beginning. Thus, he may end up wasting his life.
~ Peter Adeney from, What is Stoicism and How Can it Turn your Life to Solid Gold?

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Mr. Money Mustache is fun and chock-full-of challenges to re-think, and shrug off the western, consumerism mindset. (Which I, at least, have grown up with.) Here he is discovering Stoicism back in 2011. It pleases me greatly when I find common threads appearing in the various people and places that I follow.

Tipping the scales

Published April 29, 2018 · All posts on Apr 29

Since you can’t do everything, you have to choose the things that are most important. That’s where a task management system can really help. By allowing you to filter out the things you shouldn’t be doing right now, it limits the scope of what you are thinking about and makes it easier to choose the right thing. By choosing the right tasks to work on, you can tip the scales of imbalance in your favor and achieve your personal and professional goals.
~ Mike Schmitz from, How to Achieve Your Goals with Any Task Management System

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I suppose it is possible that one day I will manage to let go of all the things I want to achieve. I say that only because the alternative — what I’ve been doing my entire life, chasing goals — is completely and utterly hopeless. Down that path lies madness.

Vast willpower is, well, not one of my powers

Published April 28, 2018 · All posts on Apr 28

I dunno. But I don’t think of myself as working hard at any of the things I am good at, in the sense of “exerting vast willpower to force myself kicking and screaming to do them”. It’s possible I do work hard, and that an outside observer would accuse me of eliding how hard I work, but it’s not a conscious elision and I don’t feel that way from the inside.
~ Scott Alexander from, The Parable of the Talents

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True story:

Long ago, I worked with a boy who was dating a girl. Boy goes to girl’s house for a dinner with her parents. Turns out that the girl’s father is a professor at College. The boy mentions he has a co-worker who went to that College, and mentions my name. Girl’s father says, “Oh! Craig was one of my students… He could have done well if he had applied himself.” Turns out father was one of the professors in my major. I had many classes with him, and he went on to be Department Head for a while. So he did, in fact, know me well.

I didn’t do the bare minimum. But to be fair to that professor, I didn’t really work super-hard either.

It was all, more or less, easy.

What would have been hard, would have been being in the Arts college and trying to do art-type-things. Hell, I would NEVER have even gotten accepted into the Arts college at that same university.

What was hard for me? I took a literature survey class once — ONCE. I took a journalism course… that was so hard I think I hallucinated most of it(*). I spent years trying to learn to play the piano, and the guitar– fail. And, I’m out of superlatives, but losing fat is really hard for me. And, controlling my disfunctional relationship with food is really REALLY hard. Also, languages are hard — I’ve been trying to stuff French into my head for 5 years now…

So:

That thing you’re doing that you find easy? …I’m — or someone else, you get the point — thinking, “HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!”

(*) On the other hand, it was the only course my now-wife and I were ever in together, so while I worked very hard, I was probably a little distracted.

Too grandiose an aspiration

Published April 27, 2018 · All posts on Apr 27

To be sure, understanding the whole of the universe seems like too grandiose an aspiration when we are continually struggling to understand the tiny subset of the universe that is ourselves.
~ Maria Popova from, Carl Sagan on Mystery, Why Common Sense Blinds Us to the Universe, and How to Live with the Unknown

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As with many things Maria Popova creates, anything I add would simply detract. Click. Thank me later.

What to do with your life?

Published April 26, 2018 · All posts on Apr 26

If you’ve read this much without turning away, then your awareness is already too high for you to be happy living like the sleeping masses. It’s time to wake up. The bright light will hurt your eyes at first, even make your eyes water, but you’ll get used to it. And then you’ll receive your own high-powered awareness flashlight. And I have to tell you that it’s oodles of fun shining that thing in people’s eyes when they least suspect it…
~ Steve Pavlina from, Deciding What to Do With Your Life

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If you are seeking entertainment instead of education… wake up!
If you frequently say, “I have to…” … wake up!
If you can no longer read… wake up!
If you can no longer write… wake up!
If you can no longer move… wake up!

( …remember that comment I made a few days ago about the line? )

Pidgeon holes and simplifications

Published April 24, 2018 · All posts on Apr 24

Something beautiful happens when you develop and build a close relationship and friendship with someone. The closer you become with someone, the more you can zoom in past their story to the person they really are, and see them as someone just as complex, vulnerable, and rich as yourself.
~ Chris Bailey from, When a person becomes an idea

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This is a great way to sneak up on a mistake I make all the time.

In order to keep track of so many people, I have to distill them down to some sort of narrative; where are they? what do they do? in what context do I normally interact with them? …and so on. This leads to me summarizing people, and that’s good because it enables me to push my monkey sphere to a much larger number. The problem comes when I then expect (or worse, require) that the person also fit into that summary that I’ve created.

I’d like to say I learned to not make this mistake through years of thought and self-reflection. But that’s not how it happened.

I learned about this when I slowly, finally managed to make some HUGE changes in myself — and people kept jamming me into the same story. This was— well, “annoying,” would be a polite way to put it— “pushing down on my head while I feel I’m already drowning”, would be another way.

…and then, as with pretty much everything, I looked into my self-perception and realized, “oh crap! I too am doing this to everyone else.”

What the phatic?!

Published April 23, 2018 · All posts on Apr 23

Douglas Adams once said there was a theory that if anyone ever understood the Universe, it would disappear and be replaced by something even more incomprehensible. He added that there was another theory that this had already happened. These sorts of things – things such that if you understand them, they get more complicated until you don’t – are called “anti-inductive”.
~ Scott Alexander from, The Phatic and the Anti-Inductive

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A couple decades ago — I still say I have mild Asperger’s syndrome — I would have said, “I do not understand small talk. Stop jaw’in and transmit some useful information.” S-l-o-w-l-y, as I learned how to listen, I’ve come around to the view that there are many useful layers of communication. So, new word for 2018 (for me anyway): phatic.

Maintaining trust in our democratic process

Published April 22, 2018 · All posts on Apr 22

We’re not just worried about altering the vote. Sometimes causing widespread failures, or even just sowing mistrust in the system, is enough. And an election whose results are not trusted or believed is a failed election.
~ Bruce Schneier from, Securing Elections

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Bruce Schneier has been a voice of reason for a long time. I’ve been reading what he’s written since I joined his email list in — I think it was — 1998. Generally, your life will go better if you pay attention to those things which he says are of security concern.

Click over on this one and weep at how laughably insecure our voting systems are currently. Yes, doing security well is difficult, but the manufacturers of our current voting systems aren’t even putting in a token effort.

Imposter syndrome… for the win!

Published April 21, 2018 · All posts on Apr 21

while it is always a good idea to question one’s own work, and to be open to outside criticism, if you are a professional in a given field there probably are good reasons to think you know what you are doing, especially when your work gets repeatedly validated externally.
~ Massimo Pigliucci from, Stoic advice: impostor syndrome

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One of the things I particularly LIKE is the imposter syndrome aspect of the Movers Mindset podcast.

“…wait. wat?”

Yes.

You see, there’s an entire universe of “perform interview” skills that I don’t have, and I’m loving learning something entirely new. It’s also pretty much orthogonal to my previous life experience — “listen,” had to learn that. “empathize,” had to learn that. Even this weird thing you have to do to imagine everyone who is listening and try to read the minds of people you are imagining… it’s bonkers. I love it.

The great teacher

Published April 19, 2018 · All posts on Apr 19

How can you improve your conception of rationality? Not by saying to yourself, “It is my duty to be rational.” By this you only enshrine your mistaken conception. Perhaps your conception of rationality is that it is rational to believe the words of the Great Teacher, and the Great Teacher says, “The sky is green,” and you look up at the sky and see blue. If you think: “It may look like the sky is blue, but rationality is to believe the words of the Great Teacher,” you lose a chance to discover your mistake. Do not ask whether it is “the Way” to do this or that. Ask whether the sky is blue or green. If you speak overmuch of the Way you will not attain it.
~ Eliezer S. Yudkowsky from, Twelve Virtues of Rationality

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If you don’t think intentionally… If your ideas and beliefs don’t produce a working model of reality… well…

When an honest person discovers they are wrong, they stop being wrong or they stop being honest. It’s your choice.

Data ethics

Published April 18, 2018 · All posts on Apr 18

This is like lashing a rope around the cracking foundation of a building. What we need is for an ethics of data to be engineered right into the information skyscrapers being built today. We need data ethics by design. Any good building must comply with a complex array of codes, standards and detailed studies of patterns of use by its eventual inhabitants. But technical systems are today being built with a minimal concern for compliance and a total disregard for the downstream consequences of decades of identifiable data being collected on the babies being born into the most complicated information ecology that has ever existed.
~ Colin Koopman from, How Democracy Can Survive Big Data

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Presented without commentary.

So obscure it confused _ME_

Published April 17, 2018 · All posts on Apr 17

I think the problem is more subtle. It’s an example of two systems without a security vulnerability coming together to create a security vulnerability. As we connect more systems directly to each other, we’re going to see a lot more of these. And like this Google/Netflix interaction, it’s going to be hard to figure out who to blame and who — if anyone — has the responsibility of fixing it.
~ Bruce Schneier from, Obscure E-Mail Vulnerability

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I had to read the entire thing twice.

I’m on a “security” tirade here for a few days, so here’s my strategy for security: Get off the peak of the bell curve.

If someone wants your stuff, they will take it. Actors can always, if sufficiently motivated, apply more resources than you have available for defense. Therefore, one should not bother defending (worry, spending crazy amounts of resources,) against a “motivated” attacker. Instead, deploy defense in depth and then make incremental improvements everywhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_in_depth

Don’t give away details about yourself

Published April 16, 2018 · All posts on Apr 16

I hope readers don’t interpret this story as KrebsOnSecurity endorsing secret questions as a valid form of authentication. In fact, I have railed against this practice for years, precisely because the answers often are so easily found using online services and social media profiles. But if you must patronize a company or service that forces you to select secret questions, I think it’s a really good idea not to answer them truthfully. Just make sure you have a method for remembering your phony answer, in case you forget the lie somewhere down the road.
~ Brian Krebs, from Don’t Give Away Historic Details About Yourself

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“Two Factor” authentication (2FA) is best. “Two Factor” means two DIFFERENT methods of interacting with you — so a web site login, which requires also sending you a code via a message to your phone is “Two Factor”.

…and 2FA via your phone is a TERRIBLE idea, because you can easily lose it or have it stolen. There are better methods of 2FA, but I won’t bore you here.

So asking you “security questions” does not in fact increase security. But you’re stuck with it because you have no power of the entities you have to interact with. So what to do?

Treat those questions just like passwords — MAKE THEM UP!

However you are storing your passwords — that’s an entire other discussion — just ALSO record the questions they asked, and the REAL-SOUNDING BUT TOTALLY FAKE ANSWERS.

I repeat…

MAKE UP FAKE ANSWERS AND STORE THEM WITH YOUR PASSWORDS.

You might be AMAZED to discover my mother happens to have 42 different maiden names.

You might be AMAZED to discover how many different cars I learned to drive stick on.

…or the 42 different names for my first dog.

…you see where this is going?

Normally, I try to keep these ramblings succinct, but here’s a fun story…

Many moon ago, Tracy and I had a Blockbuster account. We were in the store, in the check out line, and the cashier says to me, “Oh, can I have your phone number?” We had been customers so long, it was before Blockbuster figured out people just keep the DVDs, and so they wanted to be able to start calling people. Someone expanded their customer database fields, added a new data field to the checkout screen and then trained or prompted the poor cashiers to gather this data. (This is called “compliance” in the industry — getting the people at the point of sale terminals to comply with the database marketing strategies of the home office.)

Anyway. Here’s this nice high school girl just doing her summer job, and of course, I can simply say “No.” But then they’re probably going to ding her “compliance” score with corporate. (In some cases, your pay, bonus and even employment are tied to compliance scores.)

So without missing a beat, I help both her (compliance) and I (privacy) and I give her my phone number with two digits flipped. I just immediately smiled and said 6 – 1 – 0 – 8 – 6 – 7 – 5 – 0 – 3 – 9 (shoulda been 5309 — you know I’m making numbers up right :)

…and Tracy says, “wait, that’s not our number,” thinking she’s being helpful.

“Exactly,” I say with a smile.

The cashier realizes I had just plainly lied to her. (Technically, I was trying to lie to her corporate overlords.)

…and I said, “oh sorry, 6 – 1 – 0 – 8 – 6 – 7 – 0 – 5 – 3 – 9”. (Same crap, just with two other numbers flipped. I always loved those ‘remember this string of numbers games’.)

“Is that really your number?”

“oh! Sorry, 6108675123… wait, no, 610876432178 … hmmm, you don’t seem to like these digits I’m saying… how about 6105551212?”

Now she’s like, “You’re weird.” (Unrelated ad hominem attack, but alas, true. But probably explains why girls IN high school never asked for my number.)

“…and Blockbuster still doesn’t have my phone number.”

At which point, she [I presume] took the compliance ding and didn’t enter any numbers.

To this day, (we have the same phone number,) Blockbuster — and whomever eventually bought their customer data because that’s the only thing they had in the end worth money — does not have my home phone number.

So there’s a little glimpse into Craig’s head.

Maybe you just realized why 2FA with your phone is really REALLY bad? You’re also giving away your phone number.

Wait, you read this far? Great, here’s how you REALLY do 2FA properly:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Authenticator

Andy Taylor: Gym building, inspiration, and build standards

Published April 15, 2018 · All posts on Apr 15

Andy Taylor: Gym building, inspiration, and build standards

What are the key considerations in designing, constructing, and sustaining inspiring gym spaces that foster exploration and play?

Andy Taylor discusses the intricacies of designing and building a great parkour gym. Along the way, we talk about what makes a gym inspiring, the evolution of build standards that are safe without limiting parkour vision, and how parkour has been instrumental in the development of a young autistic girl.

When I sit down to design a gym, I try to call to the inner child that is in us that makes us wanna play.
~ Andy Taylor (1:30)

This conversation deconstructs the intricacies of designing gym spaces that inspire creativity and exploration. Topics include the importance of tapping into a child-like desire to play, using thoughtful design to increase engagement, and ensuring safety without stifling creativity. Practical examples are shared, such as integrating features that naturally draw attention and encourage varied movements.

The discussion also touches on challenges unique to parkour gyms, such as meeting building codes, balancing budgets, and navigating regulatory hurdles. Andy and Craig explore how gym designs can range from expansive, multi-use facilities to smaller, community-oriented spaces. They emphasize the need for better standards and guidelines to support gym builders in creating safe yet imaginative environments.

Takeaways

Designing for play — Gym spaces should inspire a child-like desire to explore and interact.

Balancing aesthetics and utility — Effective gym design combines visual appeal with practical use.

Safety through design — Safety features must be thoughtfully integrated to minimize risk without diminishing creativity.

Regulatory challenges — Parkour gyms face unique obstacles with inconsistent building codes and standards.

Scale considerations — Smaller gyms provide intimacy, while larger facilities require diversification for sustainability.

Importance of standards — Developing shared guidelines for construction and safety is crucial for the parkour community.

Encouraging creativity — Well-designed spaces enable a wide range of movements and inspire new possibilities.

Support for new builders — Mentorship and resources are vital for those new to gym construction.

Inclusivity in design — Gym spaces can support diverse users, including those with special needs.

Resources

TeachBuildPlay Facebook Page — Andy’s platform for sharing ideas and connecting with the community.

Google SketchUp — A tool used for designing and modeling gym spaces.

Tempest Freerunning Academy — An example of a large, well-known parkour gym.

SCORE — A resource mentioned as a helpful guide for entrepreneurs navigating business challenges.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

The Second World War

Published April 14, 2018 · All posts on Apr 14

Losing the War

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~ Lee Sandlin

“Where’s the pull-quote?” I don’t know how to choose one.

“What’s the take-away?” I don’t know how this could be made more succinct.

“Why should I read it?” I have no idea how to place the thing which is “The Second World War” into context. (…nor into the context of my life, and certainly not into the context of your life.)

Obviously, I don’t remember the second world war.

Obviously, I don’t understand the second world war.

But I do know that this shook me to my core. This brought a tear to my eye. I read it twice — the first time in one sitting; straight through. Somehow, it seems to grab at all the frayed, loose ends of all the things I know about the War and– well, just grabbed them all into one place.

Waking up

Published April 13, 2018 · All posts on Apr 13

Sometimes when my wife and I have conversations in public, it looks like the scene from the movie Dogma where Loki and Bartleby walk through the airport talking about their previous exploits as angels. We often look around at all the sleeping people in the world, noting that they barely register as conscious beings. They go through their lives working meaningless jobs, enduring unfulfilling relationships, and drugging themselves to avoid facing their unfaceable fears. Their conversations are nothing but trivialities in the grand scheme of things.
~ Steve Pavlina from, Are You a Bear or an Eagle?

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There is a fine line between condescendent and enlightened. The first requisite for enlightenment is awareness of the line, and another is having the courage to get precariously close to it.

An action appearing in words

Published April 12, 2018 · All posts on Apr 12

The grandeur of the Declaration of Independence… consists… in its being the perfect way of an action to appear in words. And since we deal here with the written and not with the spoken word, we are confronted by one of the rare moments when the power of action is great enough to erect its own monument.
~ Hannah Arendt from, Hannah Arendt on Action and the Pursuit of Happiness

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The foundations of the American democracy are unique, regardless wether you think it is a “good” or “bad” construction. If you would like to take your knowledge of it to the next level, I highly recommend, The Constitution.

Calm

Published April 11, 2018 · All posts on Apr 11

You have a million things to do an not enough time to do it all? Not a big deal: pick the things you can do, and get to work. That’s all you can do anyway, so it’s not worth adding some stress to the already difficult situation. Have a huge task to do that is going to be very difficult? No big deal. Just take the first step. Just get moving. You’ll deal with the difficulty.
~ Leo Babauta from, How to Be Calm

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Frenetic activity. Fits of rage. Tidal waves of guilt. Mountains of frustration. Spasms of activity. Rivers of self-doubt. Occasional moments of calm. Thank you Leo!

Craig Constantine

Presence, not pursuit.

Scree

§4 – Handy Items in a Grab Bag

The bag

What and why

You begin to see common threads

Tipping the scales

Vast willpower is, well, not one of my powers

Too grandiose an aspiration

What to do with your life?

Pidgeon holes and simplifications

What the phatic?!

Maintaining trust in our democratic process

Imposter syndrome… for the win!

The great teacher

Data ethics

So obscure it confused _ME_

Don’t give away details about yourself

Andy Taylor: Gym building, inspiration, and build standards

The Second World War

Waking up

An action appearing in words

Calm