A life ordinary by Amit Sarkar - Issue #31

Author

Amit Sarkar
March 05, 2023

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

I had a blood test done last week. This is a regular check-up every year since I turned vegan in Dec-2019. I get my Vit D and Vit B12 checked along with my bone profile and full blood count. This helps me gauge whether my vegan diet is working or not. Being on this diet can sometimes mean I restrict myself to very specific items only. So I need to make sure I am nutritionally not compromised.

The Mandalorian Season 3 is also out and what an amazing start to a great series. Episode 1 is out so far and can’t wait for the next episodes.

I also ran another sub 24mins 5K at my local Parkrun. It means all my regular runs are now slowly paying off. I am trying to do two runs per week plus some strength training to help increase power in the legs.

At work, things are finally picking up momentum and I am encouraging my team to start using ChatGPT for their daily work. I'm already seeing the benefit of it and I've given a demo to the team so let's see what happens.

🍄 Cordyceps fungus

I recently started watching the TV series The Last of Us and absolutely fell in love with it. It’s not your typical zombie series where there is no real science behind the zombies. In this series, though they actually discuss the science behind the zombie.

The TV series itself has been inspired by the hit video game of the same name.

In the series, they talk about a future where humans get infected by a fungus that normally infects animals, and are turned into zombies. There is a possibility that this can happen.

But to understand the science behind it and decide for ourselves is the best way forward.

I am really amazed by the number of media outlets that have tried to cover the science behind this fungus and discuss the possibilities of a fungal outbreak in humans.

Cordyceps is a real fungus—but is it dangerous?

The zombie-creating fungus in The Last of Us is real, but there are many other fungi to fear. Of the 5 million fungal species in the world, a few hundred are dangerous to people.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/parasitic-fungus-evolve-to-control-humans

💾 Software creation

I have been reading a lot about ChatGPT lately and how it’s going to change some of the jobs I am closely in touch with. One is software development and the other is software testing.

There are a lot of predictions about programming in the future and what it really means. The article below summarises it really well.

Programming is the process of solving problems using a computer. Writing code is just one aspect of this process. It’s a necessary part, but it’s not the whole picture.

If all you can do is write code, you are not a programmer, you are a coder and you are bound to get replaced.

The problems and ways we spend our days solving those problems may change. But there will always be problems for humans to solve.

Once writing code will become obsolete, problem solvers would become more valuable.

Programmers in the future will be far more productive than programmers today, capable of feats we can only dream of.

Coding Won’t Exist In 5 Years. This Is Why

Those who won’t adapt would cease to exist.

https://javascript.plainenglish.io/coding-wont-exist-in-5-years-this-is-why-6da748ba676c

The next topic I want to discuss is software testing. There have been countless articles about tools replacing humans when it comes to testing. But so far no tool has been able to do that successfully.

But what tools like ChatGPT and other automation tools can do is enhance our productivity and help us focus on more cognitive tasks.

The below article summarises some of the ways in which testers can leverage the tool to their advantage.

Revolutionizing Test Engineering with ChatGPT: Exploring the Possibilities of AI in Testing

Attention Test Engineers! Are you looking for a new and innovative way to approach testing? Look no further than ChatGPT.

https://www.awesome-testing.com/2023/02/revolutionizing-test-engineering-with.html

🎤 Voice typing

I recently thought I would write an article about improving my typing speed but then I thought typing is so old-fashioned. The new way to type is by using your voice. So for this particular section of my newsletter, I'm actually using my voice to type and the article mentioned below in the link is going to show you how to do that.

Technology has come a long way and we should figure out ways to use it so that we can become more productive. And I think this is one of the fastest ways to do that.

Use voice typing to talk instead of type on your PC - Microsoft Support

Use dictation to convert spoken words into text anywhere on your PC with Windows.

https://support.microsoft.com/windows/use-voice-typing-to-talk-instead-of-type-on-your-pc-fec94565-c4bd-329d-e59a-af033fa5689f

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - 7 Kinetic Sculptures in Lego is an amazing video from an amazing Lego channel I follow on YouTube. The guy builds some amazing stuff using only Lego.

📝 Article - Simple tips to prevent running injuries is a very important article for me since I have been running a lot lately and trying to prevent any sort of injury is a must. 131.2 km already done this year.

📱 App - I have been using Maps.me ever since me and my wife went travelling to South America in 2018. This app was actually recommended to us by another traveller we met during our trip to Portugal. It’s perfect for offline navigation both for driving as well as hiking.

📝 Article - Tech’s hottest new job: AI whisperer. No coding required. Prompt engineers are becoming the most sought-after role recently, especially with the boom in AI.

📺 TV show - Fleishman is in Trouble another series we finished recently. It is about a divorced couple and how they end up in that situation. Also, we see the story from both sides of the couple.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

Until we meet again next week, get productive, be sustainable, laugh often and enjoy nature.

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