The Knowledge...
ThePolaroidNowcertainlylookslikea
Polaroidcamera,witha lookdirectly
inspiredbythe 1977 OneStepLand,and
justlikeitsancestorit printsdirectlyonto
instantfilm.Therearenofrills,noscreensto
fightwith,andthankstothetechnological
improvementsmadebythisnewestrevived
editiontheoutputis evenlesshit-and-miss
thaneverbefore.Thatsaid,youstillget
whatyouget,butover-exposedshotsare
allpartofthefun.
Master your mind and
be ready for any crisis
..ȭȭȭʑʑʑɞɞ FFɪɪɪʙəə ʋʋQQQQɍ FFʋʋUUʢʢʢɨ ʝʝɚ
T
heworldis a crazything,andit
canbetoughtocopewith.
There’snoreasonwhyyoucan’t
helpimproveyourselfusingyour
computer;infact,it’stheperfecttool.
Wewould,though,adviseagainst
searchingonlineformedicalsymptoms.
Therearebetterplacestogetyour
advice,andDoctorInternetis an
unlicensedquackthattendstoleadone
downa darkpathmoreoftenthannot.
Whetheryoubuy
intotheheavy
philosophybehindit
ornot,a mindfulness
bellis a good
remindertotake
threedeepbreathseverysooften
minutes.Deepbreathingtriggersyour
body’srelaxationresponse,reducingthe
adrenalineandcortisolcoursing
throughyourveinsandhelpingto
refocusyourmindonthemoment.If
youusea browserlikeChrome– orif
you’vebeenupgradedtothenewest
versionofMicrosoftEdge– youcan
searchouttheBellofMindfulness
browserextension,ortrythe
installableMindfulClock(www.
mindfulclock.org)oritsonline
counterpartatwww.awakeningbell.org.
Youmightalsowanttotrya little
guidedmeditation,whichtakesthe
principleofdeepbreathingtothenext
level.Headspace(headspace.com)offers
a numberofroutines,andhasopened
uppartofitsusualpaywalltohelp
peopleduringtheongoingcrisis.
YouTubeis,asyou
mightexpect,
awashwithsuch
material,andthere
areactuallyplenty
ofmeditations(as
wellasmusictosuitparticularmoods)
onSpotify.
If you’restrugglingtosleep,theCalm
appforphonesprovidesaudioroutines
whichcanhelpyoudriftoff,alongwith
a wholehostofothermeditative
materials.It’sratherexpensive,costing
£29peryear,thoughthat’scheaperthan
Headspace’s£45peryear,andCalmalso
offersa seven-dayfreetrial.How PC-based mindfulness and meditation can
help make a crazy world a more welcoming place
Folding@Home
Is this about laundry?
Oh, you. No. It’s about science: Folding@
Home is a program which can harness
your computer’s unused resources to aid
a global research effort, currently focused
on studying Covid-19. The program’s
name refers to the way proteins fold in
the human body, and running it on your
own PC simulates and iterates through
those myriad different ways, giving
scientists valuable data.Is it just my computer?
You’ll be one of a great many, as the
Folding@Home team is looking to build
its number up to a million individual
folders. Even with its current
110,000-strong user base, the vast
network of computers running it means
its overall power has far surpassed even
the fastest supercomputers on the planet.
In fact, it is at least as powerful as the top
25 supercomputers combined.Are there any downsides?
Folding@Home tends to push your PC
to its limits, which means your electrical
bill is likely to suffer, although the
warmth emanating from your computer
might lower your heating bills somewhat.
You can dial it back, and have it only
activate when you are not using your
PC, but we’d still not recommend running
it on a laptop.What do I have to do?
Simply head to foldingathome.com
and hit the ‘start folding now’ button.
Download the software, and you’re
away -- if you have a machine with a
graphics card, Folding can take
advantage of that; use the taskbar
app, and you can choose the volume of
system resources you want to dedicate
to it.Can I research anything else?
Folding@Home isn’t your only option. If
you’d rather your computer was put to
work training a neural net to play chess
really, really well (and probably thereby
enable it to bring down civilisation in a
nuclear fireball) then Leela Chess Zero
(https://training.lczero.org/) is the
program for you.LOAD IT UP The newer Polaroid i-Type photo
paper comes in classic slot-in cartridges.DIGITAL? PAH There’s an improved flash and USB
charging, but the core is still an analogue camera.FOCUS TIME The Polaroid Now has autofocus, but
a straight-through viewfinder retains the mystery.
SNAP HAPPY Classic instant photography is back
“There’s no reason you
can’t improve yourself
using your computer”
Discover
Mindfulness and analogue snaps
May 2020 | |^7