Intel + Graphy

I've been quite more often than before. Is it a good thing? Maybe. But I won't be too quite tho :)

I did a nmap scan specifically for my iPhone. I saw two ports open: one for 'iphone-sync' and the other one is an 'unknown' service running on port 49152/tcp.

Why is it 'unknown'? This is very suspicious.

I tried to figure out – via search – what is that open port on my device for? There was some conflicting answers which was confusing.

But then I came across a blog page by Michael Horowitz. He argued that the 'unknown' open port could very well be a deliberate ongoing privacy breach by Apple.

His internal IP addresses – as opposed to gateway addresses – were being sent to the internet when they should have been discarded by the gateway router. Many suspicious requests on his iPhone and iPad were made in seconds every once in a while.

Another thing I found out from the author is that iPhone systems basically have no firewall in place. If that's true, then it's really alarming.

Thank God I stopped logging into some of my important accounts on my phone a while ago, and I changed the passwords just to be safe.

It seems I've been overstimulating myself with my racing thoughts much like external stimuli.

I realized that if I'm not doing any active activities to keep myself focused, my mind enters 'wandering' mode which is basically the Default Mode Network. I learned that the DMN is particularly hyperactive in ADHD brains.

If that's the case, then I should stop being so passive this whole time. I should at least be active physically and mentally during the day, and be passive in the night before sleep.

Perhaps the biggest enemy to my attention and mental health isn't social media or other distractions. It's my own hyperactive and aimless impulses.

I need to stop fixating on the past and the future, because the past is not there anymore, nor does the future exist right now. I need to think and feel what's already here right now, and what I can do at this very moment.

It's just pointless to do so, and I won't go anywhere if I keep up this habit. But it's difficult to completely be in the present right now. Which is why I need to train myself to be present and enjoy the natural pace and beauty of where I am.

No more dwelling, and no more overthinking. Just do what you want to do right here and now.

Should I fully stuck to only a few things and sacrifice everything else?

My attention and time may be very crucial, especially during a time of societal distress by technology.

So then, what should I keep and discard?

Obviously, the IT field is one I should keep. What about Japanese language/culture? That too. Writing and drawing? Absolutely.

OK... I'll have to try and reduce irrelevant noise, and hopefully prevent them for good.

(Log via notebook during outdoor activity)

When I'm physically active or when I drink milk tea, I feel the most motivated and alert. Right now, I could only achieve this by visiting places outdoors like parks or malls.

After I come home, the energy remained until bedtime. That time is where I can use that energy to be creative and productive (not in a capitalistic kind of productive, so don't get it twisted).

I even want to do something creative while in outdoors. I often have many ideas flowing in my mind as I explore the world and get my body moving.

I want to move more, and I want to consume good food and drinks more often. These things give me the energy. That energy is what I need to pursue my personal goals.

After walking and drinking that delicious drink, I feel pretty zen right now.

I replaced the broken Kali OS on my other laptop with Parrot. Unlike the last install, I was treated with a desktop environment via my USB stick. The install went well and I'm happy :)

One thing I remember was that my older laptop's BIOS could not detect my boot USB after formatting it with the OS image, no matter what methods I use. Perhaps that BIOS was just too old to recognize many different boot devices.

I discovered an old flash game called ‘2112 Cooperation’ on a random flash game website (I assume it was Y8 games since I used to use the site a lot). It’s how I discovered the flash game series ‘Hostility UF2’ which was created by 3DBBQ.

The game 2112 Cooperation is basically a dual-screen rail gun shooter with pre-rendered cell-shaded 3D visuals and a spy-thriller plot. The visual style, and the character designs of the protagonists and other characters looked so appealing to me personally. The gameplay mechanics were also impressive and innovative at that era.

As an autistic person, I’ve been addicted to that particular game for a long period of time. I was even hyper-fixing about it during middle school, and I couldn’t wait for break time to start so I could go on the computer and play that game again.

Since discovering that game, I looked into the other games of Hostility UF2, including Hostility UF (original games), Cyber UF2, Time Bomb 90 seconds, Battle Garden, and Street Skirmish. These games were awesome as well. The games were in Chinese, but most of them had important English text as well as subtitles for dialog.

It’s so impressive how one guy did the programming, game design, art design, and 3D graphics by himself. These games ultimately impacted my taste in art as well as my personal artistic style. It’s also why I love the colors blue and orange so much (Cyan’s color scheme is blue and Alma’s is orange).

Video playlist of the Hostility UF2 series

We've been hearing ongoing trends of 'AI' systems being used for writing school essays, documents, or apology letters, as well as create half-assed content on many platforms like YouTube or TikTok. It's likely that LLMs will be pushed into a standard for language learning and interpretation between people of different tongues.

I just heard from The Atlantic that learning for languages other than English in North America are in a decline since the last decade. Along with that, people are slowly adapting 'AI' for language purposes.

I really dread for that potential future where almost everyone who communicate with foreign people would only do so with 'AI' translation software on their small devices.

The major problem with this is that you can't just learn the logical systems of a language, you also have to learn the cultural nuances of said language in terms of grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation. There are so many words and phrases in different languages that have major cultural or social roots in those countries. So only learning the surface level rules and words of a language would only limit your comprehension of the culture and it's people.

Imagine a future where American politicians and corporate execs use LLM software instead of a native or fluent interpreter to communicate to their counterparts or civilians in a given country. It'd be quite a disaster on a diplomacy standpoint.

I personally do not intend to use 'AI' to speak to people in a different language. I currently have a passionate goal of learning Japanese, Esperanto, and even some Mandarin too in the future. I feel it is vital to learn new languages, especially in this insane sociopolitical era we are living in right now.

I think I found a key to do productive and relaxing activities on a daily basis:

Activities that involve action at daytime (ex: cleaning routine, self-hygiene, walking/jogging outdoors, learning activities, etc).

Relaxing activities at nighttime (ex: reading books, watching or listening soothing media, journaling or doodling, etc).

For my ADHD mind, I need to be active in the morning in order to give myself energy for the day.

And during nighttime, I need to rest my mind and body to avoid over-stimulation.