It will come in the guise of reputable companies, politicians and influencers. It will come in the form of SEO content for YouTube and TikTok. There will be entire courses taught by AI-generated tutors. There will be viral flashpoints designed to stoke outrage in which every ‘person’ involved is AI. There will be substack newsletters and hot takes and deepfake videos of famous people doing and saying things they didn’t do or say.

Much of it will regurgitate and amplify the biases and misinformation already present in our society.

Here’s some advice from Chat-GPT:

There are several steps that individuals can take to protect themselves from the potential harms of AI-generated content:

1. Fact-check information: Before sharing or acting on any information, verify its accuracy by checking multiple sources.
2. Be skeptical of content that seems too good to be true: AI-generated content can be highly polished and convincing, so be wary of any information that seems too perfect or unbelievable.
3. Promote media literacy: Educate yourself and others about how AI-generated content is created and how to identify it.
4. Support organizations that are working to combat misinformation: Support organizations that are working to combat misinformation, such as fact-checking websites and media literacy initiatives.
5. Be cautious about personal information sharing: Be mindful of the personal information you share online, as it can be used to create deepfake videos or other AI-generated content that can be used to harm you.
6. Keep software and systems updated: Keep your software and systems updated with the latest security patches to protect yourself from AI-based cyber-attacks.
7. It’s also important to remember that AI is a tool: It can be used for good and bad, so it’s important to have a regulation and ethical guidelines in place for AI development and usage.

To that I would also add: if you have a job that is part of the content-creation ecosphere, you need to either reskill or learn how to use AI. All those gigging jobs on Fiverr about writing SEO content? Redundant.

The post Survive the AI Revolution appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

What should be on the roadmap – a deep- dive article for project & product managers about how to put together a roadmap. It gave me a lot to think about.

Most people think in solutions-oriented ways. They skip over defining the opportunity and get straight to a proposal. If you let them, they’ll follow up with two or three more proposals. When someone comes to you with a brilliant idea that you should work on, it often takes a couple of questions to get to why they think the idea is so brilliant and what problem it solves (if any… too many companies today seem to be solutions in search of a problem). Only then, when you’ve gotten to the “but what’s the problem” stage, can you have a real conversation about if that’s a problem worth solving, and if there are other possible solutions to that problem.

Emergency on Planet Earth – everything you could ever want to know about climate change. Look, I know it’s depressing, but also avoiding reality rarely ends well.

The UK Met Office warns that British summers are going to keep getting hotter, on average 3°C warmer and 18% drier. By 2050, the UK is predicted to see a trebling of heat-related deaths – with 7,000 dying due to excess heat each year – and the climate of Leeds is predicted to become more similar to that of Melbourne, with scorching summer heat waves like in 2018 every other year. These are conditions that no UK infrastructure is designed to withstand, nor that any of the wildlife and ecosystems of Northern England are adapted to.

The Art of Frugal Hedonism (affiliate link) – an upbeat guide to experiencing life fully without all the deadening convenience of modern consumerism with the uprise in online shopping.

A lot of stuff we spend money on actually makes life less enjoyable in the long run. And a lot of cheap and free stuff is very enjoyable indeed. So why choose the stuff that requires us to work all the time and get stressed about bank balances? The stuff that leads to looking in the mirror and seeing your dear face grown all puffy from too many pad Thai takeaways eaten mid-commute, because finding the energy to cook at the end of the day often feels impossible. To gazing at your house full of random possessions that seemed wonderful when you bought them but now seem to demand more care, organising, and storage space than you have the capacity for. To finding yourself at the gym, or maybe on the therapist’s couch, suspecting that you wouldn’t need to be there if you just had the time to sleep in more, or to go out dancing, like you’d love to.
“This is not a good scene!” declares the Frugal Hedonist, and opts for ditching some pricier habits and lifestyle expectations in favour of less stress. They focus their spending where it provides maximum bang per buck, and become connoisseurs of free pleasures. Then they kick back and reap the rewards.

What have you been reading this week?

The post Weekly recap appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

Like a lot of people, I struggle with climate doomism, and a vague feeling of powerless bewilderment. I wrote about How to Deal with Climate Change (Without Getting Overwhelmed) back in 2019, and then again in 2020 when I wrote This is the Way the World Ends. As time goes on, the scale of the crisis continue to grow and society continues to run along its tracks, straight for the cliff.

Except it’s not a cliff, and the Apocalypse myth is just that: a myth.

Most people would notice something odd if two meteorologists, discussing tomorrow’s weather on a wet autumn day, ignored all possibilities except clear weather or a sudden snowstorm. Yet the same sort of illogic goes unchallenged in debates about our future. Thus it’s crucial to set aside our assumptions, and look at what actually happens when civilizations run into the limits of their resource base. That’s happened many times in the past, but technological spurts and sudden collapses are rare. Far more common is a process nobody thinks about nowadays: decline.

The Long Road Down, John Michael Greer

I think about the future a lot — in part because it helps to plan for those things we can plan for. But also because there are three kids I care a lot about, and they will be living in a very different world. This article definitely added to my understanding and thinking.

The post The Long Road Down: Planning for an uncertain future appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

2022 was a doozy: it saw us spend an extended period of time in the USA, so that P could spend time with his family; most importantly his Dad, before he passed away.

It saw me job hunting (properly) for the first time in a long time. The last job I got via applications & interviews was back in 2012. Every job I’ve had since then has been through my connections. I will say that job hunting is stressful, but I landed on my feet–and in December I celebrated 7 months at my new workplace.

2022 also saw us properly establish ourselves in Liverpool, after moving here in November 2021.

So lots of new beginnings and change last year–which means that I’m looking forward to 2023 being a year of stability.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what my life needs to look like going forward, and one thing I want to do is get back to blogging more regularly. I have lots of thoughts, but without the discipline of writing them out they tend to just evaporate into nonsense.

Social Media is not what it was — I got locked out of my twitter account in December, and can’t be bothered to try and figure out how to get back in. But blogs are forever! And now that my routines are more established, I can write more frequently.

So what’s on the old to-do list for the New Year?

Financial Goals for 2023

• 12 months in one job. It will be good for us to have a year of stability in income.
• Emergency Fund back to £12k by April – that’s 6 months of (frugal) expenses.
• Additional £4k into the LISA – to keep topping up our house deposit fund.
• Spend <£900 on takeaway/eating out – this is our biggest vice, and the one that can most quickly spiral out of control.

Health & Fitness Goals for 2023

• Average 2x cardio sessions a week – To achieve the average I need to aim for three – cycle to work twice a week + 1 rowing session a week. This means if I miss a week due to holiday or sickness, it won’t be so bad.
• Average 1x Yoga class a week – I love my yoga classes. So I will aim for 2 a week, and hope to average 1.
• Average 7k steps a day (i.e. 49k steps a week) – I need to aim for 50k a week and hope to average 49k

Quality of Life Goals for 2023

• Read 2 magazines a week – I get a New Yorker magazine every week and I have a PILE and the only way the pile is going to get smaller is if I read more than 1 a week.
• Declutter & organise – Give every area in the house a declutter, deep-clean and organise. That’s the bedroom, den, bathroom, living room/office, dining room, kitchen and backyard.
• Go away 6 times – This could be a weekend camping, a holiday, an overnight stay at my parents etc. The point is to get away from my house and do something different (and hopefully fun).

I also have some bigger ‘mental improvements’ to make around managing my time and boundaries but those are harder to define as ‘SMART’ goals!

The post The View from 2023 appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

As a millennial, I have survived the death or slow collapse of many a social site. I started socialising way-back-when using MSN Chat, AIM, IRC and the like. Graduated to MySpace, LiveJournal, FF.net… all gone now (well, except LiveJournal, that was just sold to the Russians and became a shell of its former self).

Back in the day, the internet was this incredible place. I ran a little fan forum for the Turks, from Final Fantasy 7, and somehow met a group of people who would go on to become life-long friends. So much so that they are coming to Thanksgiving next week <3

But various things have turned the internet into this stressful, wretched, angry place where everyone is either trying to get your money or your attention. The quirky little hobby websites have been replaced by soulless SEO articles… sorry, ‘listicles’. Online stores are a mess of pop-ups, count-down timers, upsells, cross-sells and limited time offers. Amazon is a disaster of random third party merchants who may, or may not, send you the item you asked for.

I’m lucky to have had the internet. As mentioned before, I met some of my closest friends online. Heck, I met my husband online!

But now? My email inbox is a swamp of spam, my twitter feed is full of strangers shouting at each other, and I’m honestly just kind of done.

The post Watching Twitter Die appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

On the personal front, I accomplished a lot. I moved to the North West. I quit my job, and spent three months in the USA with family. And then I started a new job.

I also became more active within the Green Party, attempting to put my advice about how to deal with climate anxiety to work.

In the world at large we saw record breaking heatwaves, Russia invading Ukraine, wildfires, droughts, skyrocketing inflation and other fun things.

Despite all that, I feel happier than I have done in a long while. Here’s why:

• I committed to yoga. Yoga teaches me to be in the present and be grateful for each breath. Right now I’m okay. Right now I’m warm. Right now I’m safe. I don’t know what the future holds, though I can see a range of possibilities, but giving into doom and anxiety isn’t going to make the future any better and will make the present worse.
• I have a garden! Well kind of. I have an outside space, with a few pots, a bench and a bike and I love it.
• I’ve hit a level of solid confidence in my own skills and abilities. Developing expertise in a bit of a niche area is great, and I’m sliding into that late-thirties part of my career where I’m no longer taking just any job because money, but rather being choosy about where I go.

I hope your past 12 months has been as good to you as it has to me.

The post On being 38 appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

I completed week three at my new job, and moved out of ‘induction’ mode and into ‘do real work’ mode.

Due to the commute, I bought an electric bike and have been adjusting to the wonderful world of cycling. Recently I took a course with Bike Right to gain confidence in managing junctions and roundabouts as a cyclist–I would definitely recommend them to anyone thinking about getting back into cycling. The instructor went over my bike, made a few adjustments to seat position and my brakes, and then talked me through cycling safety and watched me tackle various junctions and gave me tips.

Due to my concerns about climate change and general political awfulness everywhere I started to volunteer with the Green Party. Because if not us, then who?

The post Join the dance appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

I’ve switched jobs a few times now, and worked in a variety of situations; fully remote, global start-ups that span several time-zones as well as with large, highly regulated, extremely local and on-site organisations. Tools and onboarding processes vary widely, but there are a few consistent things to be aware of.

1. You Will be exhausted, so book time in for recovery

Starting a new job is hard! You’re learning people’s names, being exposed to a lot of information, managing a new commute, a new routine, learning new systems and processes… it goes on. Your brain will get tired.

You will want to avoid adding to your stress during this time. Make sure you schedule in down time, avoid signing-up for lots of social events outside of work, and forgive yourself for vegging out in front of the TV when you get home.

Some things to make it easier:

• Prepare dinner for the week in advance, or plan for easy ‘stick it in the oven’ type meals. I have no shame in admitting I am planning to eat oven pizza and veggie burgers for a few days.
• Figure out your commute in advance of your first day and practise it.
• Consider scheduling in self-care activities such as a massage, gentle yoga session, spa visit, or trip to the park for quiet time at the weekend.

2. Focus on people first

One of the biggest things in any new job is understanding how things get done, which generally means understanding the people. Befriend your colleagues, take up any work-related social invites in the first few weeks, and get to know what motivates them and what people’s jobs ‘really’ are (often much more complex than their job description).

How to learn people’s names when starting a new job:

• Repeat people’s names back to them when you are introduced and ask them a question/engage in Active Listening. You want to understand their role and a bit about them. If you don’t hear someone’s name clearly, ask for it be repeated.
• If you can say someone’s name three times in your initial conversation, you’re much more likely to remember it later. Try: “Nice to meet you [Name].” “What do you think about this project, [Name]?”, and “Looking forward to working with you, [Name]”.
• Write people’s names down after you meet them, along with a couple of memory prompts.
• Ask for introductions in meetings.
• Follow up with the people you are introduced to, after you meet them, to say thanks for their time.
• If you forget someone’s name, apologise and note that you’ve met a lot of people over the past few days and ask them for it again. (Try not to forget it twice!)

This is one of those things that’s actually easier when you’re partially or fully remote, because people’s name will appear on the screen when you talk to them!

You should start to figure out who are the movers-and-shakers in your organisation over time and work to develop relationships with them. Remember that influence is not always correlated with job title! People are always more likely to go above-and-beyond for people they like; do others favours, bring in cookies, offer to make tea, be genuinely interested in who they are and their hobbies.

If you’re an extrovert this will all come naturally, so don’t worry about it! But if you’re an introvert (like me) you’ll need to work a bit harder at it. Try and schedule in one-on-one time with people such as by inviting someone to lunch.

3. Make yourself visible

You want people to have a good impression of you and remember who you are. You can do this by:

• Asking 2-3 strategic/intelligent questions in meetings. This will help show you are actively listening and engaged.
• Communicating clearly with your manager/any other stakeholders. Let them know what you’ve learned and any areas you still feel uncertain about.
• Filling out profile information in any remote-work tools of choice, intranets, employee directories etc.
• Attending any social events that are organised.
• Volunteering for any ad-hoc tasks that come up.

4. Set yourself some achievable work goals

These will almost certainly arise naturally from discussions with your manager and colleagues, but it really helps to identify some quick wins you can make.

Achieving a few small things, alleviating a pain point for your manager, pushing a stuck project over the finish line–whatever you decide, write it down and then do whatever you can to achieve it.

This will show that you’re delivering value for the team and the business, and help your manager feel justified in hiring you!

5. Start tracking your successes (and your learning moments)

Something that is incredibly useful for when it’s time to attend a performance review, ask for a raise, or re-write your CV for the next new job is keeping a daily or weekly log of the work you accomplished and the things you did that were successful.

Even better, is keeping a log of ‘learning moments’. These are times when something goes wrong and you learn a valuable lesson to apply in the future! Taking regular time out of your week to review your performance will help you be a better, more actively engaged employee.

LifeHacker has a more detailed guide to what this tracking might look like.

6. Use that first pay-cheque to ‘Treat yo’self’

Job hunting and the first month of a new role is hard. Don’t blow the entirety of your first pay cheque (you’ll want to make sure you’re following your budget, contributing to your pension, and hitting any savings goals too) but do take a chunk to reward yourself.

I haven’t yet decided what my reward is going to be when my first pay cheque lands at the end of July, but you can bet I’m starting to think about it!

I hope these tips help you if you’re preparing for a new job, and feel free to share any additional advice you have in the comments!

The post Preparing for a new job: Advice for success appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

On Tuesday I collected my new e-bike. The New Job has a commute that’s a little tricky by public transport and too far to walk. Since I am committed to staying car free, for financial and environmental reasons, I decided to bite the bullet and finally buy a bike. I haven’t cycled properly for 15 years or so, but the e-bike made it easy to ride around for an hour.

On Wednesday I went to a candlelit yoga session that was immensely relaxing.

On Thursday–a bank holiday–we travelled back to my parents for the weekend. The trains were surprisingly non-crowded. Friday I went for a long walk around a country park with a friend, and then my parents and I watched My Fair Lady in the evening.

My brain is buzzing with thoughts about going back to work. Excitement about the return of a regular pay cheque. Anxiety about new people/new expectations. Happiness at getting stuck into something new. I’ve been reading a lot of work related posts, ruminating on project management, and thinking about what direction my career might head over the next few years.

cool things this week:

How to Use Food to Help Your Mood – no surprises here (oily fish, fibre, fermented foods, plants) but a well written article.

When Everything is Important but Nothing is Getting Done – great article about change management within an organisation.

Vegan Banana Bread – we’re reducing the amount of meat and dairy we consume (slowly and mindfully) and this vegan banana bread helped me use up a few bananas on the verge of turning black.

The post Weekly Reflections #7 appeared first on Cinnamon Sunrise.

At the time I remember being delighted with making a few quid from selling books I was unlikely to read again. It was an Internet Win.

Recently, I have started to declutter my books, and recalling how easy it was to do before, I decided Amazon would be my selling platform of choice.

The process went something like this:

1. Did a search for the book I wanted to sell on Amazon.
2. Found the book and clicked on ‘Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon’. So far, so good!
3. Taken to a log-in screen. Makes sense. Log in to my Amazon account
4. Told my account was not an ‘Amazon Sellers’ account. Okay, fair enough.
5. Taken to a registration page which informed me that signing up as an Amazon Seller would cost £25 a month. That… seems expensive?
6. Googled ‘Amazon Sellers Account’. Ended up on Amazon.com (the USA version) which had an individual sellers account and a professional, both with prices listed in dollars. At least it told me that Amazon should have a non-professional Sellers Account?
7. Googled ‘Amazon Sellers Account UK’. Found the pricing page for Amazon Sellers. There was an individual account that didn’t cost £25 a month. Hurray! Now we’re getting somewhere!
8. Clicked on Register for an Individual Sellers Account.
9. Website tartly informed me I already had an Amazon account. I mean, I knew that, Amazon, this is where the trouble started. It was the wrong kind of account.
10. Amazon insists I log in rather than register. Fine. You know your own website best, I’m sure.
11. Sign in with my Amazon account.
12. Taken to a beautifully designed page that informed that my Sellers Account had been terminated.
13. Mutter a few choice swear words.
14. Email the Amazon Sellers support
15. Amazon Sellers Support respond that I could register a Sellers account, but it would need to be with a different email address.
16. Okay. Fine. Deep breaths. I can do this.
17. Register an Amazon Sellers Account with a different email address.
18. Asked to input my mobile number for 2 Factor Authentication. No way to bypass this.
19. Put in my mobile number. Amazon crosses its arms and sneers. An Amazon account is already using this mobile number, stupid!
20. Sadly, I do not, in fact, have a second mobile phone. Attempt to explain this to Amazon, but it’s having none of it. There’s no way to bypass the request for a mobile phone number.
21. I email Amazon Sellers support again.
22. Amazon Support as been replaced by a Robot. The Robot extremely cheerfully informs that “It sounds like you want to close your account! Click here to read instructions on closing your account and have a great day!”
23. Dig out a book on curses and curse Jeff Bezos and every web development ‘expert’ that helped build Amazon.
24. Give up, make tea and sit in the garden.

All-in-all, quite an unsatisfactory experience. But let’s be honest. This is just how online life is now.

My bank for example. There is stuff I can only do on the website and other stuff I can only do in the App. It is always unclear what the right choice is until I google it.

And 2FA–it’s great! Until I go the USA for three months and can no longer receive text messages.

I swear this stuff used to be easy. Did capitalism ruin it, or am I just getting old?

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