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By

WhatsthePONT

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An Experiment for 2016 #TiL253

This is an Experiment. I’m having a go at recording some of the interesting things that cross my path. It’s called #TiL253. Today I Learned (TiL), I’ll explain the # and the 253 in a minute. Why Bother? Most days I; read about / get told / overhear / observe / randomly discover interesting things…

This is an Experiment. I’m having a go at recording some of the interesting things that cross my path.

It’s called #TiL253. Today I Learned (TiL), I’ll explain the # and the 253 in a minute.

Why Bother?

  • Most days I; read about / get told / overhear / observe / randomly discover interesting things
  • Most days I forget them by bedtime
  • I want to see if I can record them (the most interesting ones) in a reasonably organised way
  • If I share them, people can then have a look to see if they also find them interesting
  • At some point, I can have a look back to see if the ‘interesting things’ add up to anything useful, or ‘interesting’

How will it work?

  • I’m going to use Twitter to share the interesting things I’ve collected
  • This means I have to keep it short – it don’t want to burden anyone
  • A twitter hashtag means I can keep track of what I’ve been doing
  • #TiL253 appears to be an uncommon hashtag

Why #TiL253?

  • TiL = Today I Learned
  • 253 = a number of TiL’s I’m aiming for
  • Why 253? (there is a bit of logic to this)
  • I didn’t want to be tied to a time period – like a year
  • But, there are 365 days in a year
  • I don’t want to be committed to ‘working/thinking’ about this all of the time
  • There 52 weekends and 8 Bank Holidays when I can ‘rest’
  • 365 minus weekends and Bank Holidays = 253
  • It’s a challenge to reach 253, but achievable (I think) – time will tell
  • 253 could be a ‘Goldilocks Number’
    • Not too big (unachievable)
    • Not too small (a bit trivial, not enough of a challenge)
    • ‘Just Right’ (ha ha ha, ‘The Goldilocks Zone’ will be my first #TiL253)
  • As I go along I might turn some of the #TiL253’s into blog posts which I’ll post on this page

It might all go horribly wrong………

My first #TiL253 – The Goldilocks Zone – ‘something in just the right place’.

Also known as the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ), see NASA , The Goldilocks Zone for more details.

There’s more about the CHZ / Goldilocks Zone in this Wikipedia Article where you can also find this image from the European Southern Observatory.

IMG_4517

 

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Responses to “An Experiment for 2016 #TiL253”

  1. Mark Gannon

    Brilliant idea. I’ve often wondered how to corale all the things I learn / discover through the year. Will look forward to your posts on this. Good luck! @markgannon

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Mark
      It’s an attempt to pull things together, and see if I can draw anything out of it.
      An experiment, so it might or might not work…..
      Have a great 2016
      Chris

      Reply
  2. Caroline

    Great idea but 2016 is a leap year – 366 days.

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Caroline,
      Good Point
      I’ll claim Feb 29th 2016 as another ‘bonus’ rest day.
      Chris

      Reply
  3. janetavillars

    Great idea! Look luck, looking forward to following your progress.
    Happy New Year. X

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Janet,
      Happy New Year to you too.
      It’s an interesting challenge so far.
      I’ve had some conversations about new things with people I didn’t know.
      The main benefit has been to record some things I might have otherwise forgotten quite quickly.
      A bit of a summary every 7 or 10 might also help me to find them again in the future.
      Thanks
      Chris

      Reply
  4. Dr. Damian Roland

    HI Chris – this is a great idea and I really like the story behind the hashtag. I think the key will be the thought process that goes into what you regard as interesting and how often you will realistically get back to review what’ on the #TiL253 line. I have been doing “What I learnt this week” #WILTW (www.rolobotrambles.com/wiltw) for nearly two years now (85 without break!). My learning is that it is actually quite difficult to define what you able actually learnt (rather than just reflected on) and the same may apply to what is ‘interesting’. The other thing I noticed originally was how difficult it was to find the time to do it. Recently it has now become so embedded in my weekly routine that I make time for it. For something like #TiL253 I suspect you will have to be quite tough with yourself that you make sure you do the review or otherwise you will be collecting but not curating! All the best – will follow with interest…

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Damian,
      One thing you’ve share that immediately struck me is the challenge of finding the time to do this.
      I was hoping that a Tweet Length summary would be easier that a blog – it is, but not without a bit of effort.
      One bit of learning so far, I’ve decided to try a summary of the TiLs every week or 7 (whichever comes fits in with the weekend).
      It will hopefully serve as prompt for a blog post which will help with the disipline.

      7 TiLs in and I’m genuinely pleased and surprised by some the things – todays gem was ‘Extensivist’.
      An astonishing bit of new jargon to describe what a few people have claimed to be an old practice.
      I wonder how many times that sort of thing happens?
      This weeks summary and reflection is due for the weekend.
      Thanks for taking an interest.
      Chris

      Reply

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