The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Happy Independence Day! Remember the movie? Surgeon General’s warning label on social media? All because of TAXES?! I’d concur! Now on Threads, trying it out for the language vlog. Spent three hours this morning posting content, there needs to be an easier way to do this, but it was all creative content. Difference between creative and content? Creative is unique and not repurposed, content is jus...

Cooled down! nice! Chinese stonks a tanking, why is the US soaring?? Earnings season about to begin. Google Drive issues: shared is not the same as owned by. And something going on with YouTube n TikTok. Internet issues? Oh that’s why. Euro2024 still going, England is still in?? And how do you tell who’s gay in China? Oh… that’s funny. Substack article: https://stevensirski.substack.com/p/canada-d...

Hmmm… spreadsheet idea’ing… selling templates?? Notion templates?? Rainy n cool, but still hot inside. Still need this fan running! Looking ahead to classes for the rest of the year, and this MYMYM challenge is still sitting in the back of my mind. Received the tax refund, is it enough for Canada?? Hey you can donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA...

Happy Canada Day! Is that okay? Newsletter out! Productive weekend, even though it’s uncomfortably humid. Tickets to Canada STILL expensive.. can fly to Sydney THREE TIMES for the same cost as going to Canada ONCE! Communist Party of China Day, 103 years and counting! Oh THAT’S why the debate was scheduled last week! Julian Assange was moved! And setting up Episode 47 already?? Hey you can donate...

Back to work? Are client meetings the same as having a work schedule? Working on a few long form content ideas. Here’s the issue: how do I do extensive listening in Chinese and Russian if I have to concentrate on creating content? Working with freelancers Maybe I’ll have to wade into this. Aaaaaand finally! Episode 45 is up! William Griffith of Live China Music fames joins me on the podcast to tal...

Hmmm, work slows down, so why am I not in Canada? Canada Day this weekend, many years since I first entered the bar scene! Episode 45 has been edited and cut up, so we’re looking for a tomorrow release date! Language vlog continues, I think I may have swamped my editor with a bit too much! Might have to get a second video editor in to handle the workflow! And the thought… if this was my job, would...

Chatbots are the teacher of the future, your teaching career regardless of the subject depends on you developing an automated system that will teach people on their own time and in the subject they are interested in. Sales, business, marketing, communication, bye bye generic drunken English teacher trying to sleep with their students. Got paid, yet it doesn’t feel like enough! Not a bad thing, sim...

Florida wins, congrats goes to Paul Maurice Edmonton will have to try again next year. Watched the live stream, I haven’t seen commercials in English in a very long time! No workout today as I kinda just kept working. Was trying to figure out ChatGPT’s API. Bought a ChatGPT subscription through Apple thinking I’d get the API, I didn’t. Still need to get that. There is Perplexity AI that is bundled...

Episode 46 done and recorded! Episode 45 getting edited right now! Why am I not in Canada yet? Newsletter out, all about expat vacations! Workout in, 7km in 45.30 And the tax app says my refund has been processed, so where’s the money?? Lumafusion vs Final Cut Pro vs Capcut Hey you can donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks...

It’s the solstice! First sponsor! $30! Sheeeit! What do I do? They said it was for Blue Frog, but since it went through Paypal, this will go to production costs! Thank you! Edmonton Oilers into the Stanley Cup, did not even realize this. The team had a huge dynasty in the 1980s and lasted until Calgary Flames took over. And then Gretzky left for more money is Los Angeles. Another half day, these a...

Second longest day of the year! Tomorrow is the solstice! And it’s 20/2024! Oh chuckle chuckle 🤭 Feeling MUCH better, but still sniffly. Got some automation done, how fast can I do this? About four hours. BUT it works: bulk uploading to TikTok BUT using Zapier to autofill the spreadsheet! Standing desk = broken! 麻烦了！Did try to sit for a while and now I remember why I got one in the first plac...

Cicadas are back! Summer is here! How am I feeling? Still good enough to go for a run + workout at lunch. 6.45km in 40m 04s. Slam ball too, but moving slow. First four hours of the day marketing… can you imagine? How is Paris? Or CDG? Or, is it even safe to transfer through France this year? Made a CRM, or customer relations management tool, never had one so watched a YouTube video on how to creat...

COVID 3.0??? NOOOOOO! About Apple’s Intelligence: they will have their own proprietary LLM function which will no doubt be connected to Siri. Two things about this: -How can you get Siri to automate tasks for you? Hello Automator and Shortcuts? -Will this be the death knell to the language teaching industry? (No.) BUT, think of this: ChatGPT + Blockchain + NFT = have I just lost my job?! -secured...

Tim Cook and Marques Brownlee - less time on your phone in the future? Newsletter out! All about automation. https://stevensirski.substack.com/p/an-update-on-automation Wondering, can I build a language learning bot? -Text, voice, video - all tailor made? Did you know the USD is no longer used as the settlement currency for oil? Euro 2024 has started. And the gf busted her phone, so we had to get...

Eesh half day! A bit of a technical incident. Old phone back, battery seems to be short lived and all the data is gone. Why do I even need this thing? Automation… not working. Will have to find another way to get this done. Website updated but Notion doesn’t allow embedding so can only link out. Maybe time to hire a website guy. Cooler, but still humid. Workout in, 6.79km in 1hr 2m 1s, plus all th...

I forgot what high humidity feels like! Thunder rumbles… but nothing! Automation working, got LinkedIn connected! Out for coffee, new language vlog! Xiaomi phone fixed but data is gone! Still not in my possession. Where’s Episode 45?! Hey you can donate to the show! PayPal link below! Pay Steven Sirski using PayPal. Me *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com And on Notion: https://stevensir...

Heat is up, run is on! Work is half! YouTube polyglots, truth or lies!?! "Exposing fake polyglots: Warning signs and red flags" on languagejones https://youtu.be/JoUXT2uuS38?si=wiI5w0HWwU0YgyiL Did you know you can change the size of the YouTube captions?? Loom and Gling AI video editors, something else to try, possibly even cheaper than other alternatives. Thinking, could I create a Notion templa...

Half days seem like a nice amount of work to do. Will have time to work on Episode 45! Substack article BLOCKED on Facebook page, violation of what? Doldrums… do you know the word comes from? Lunchtime lifts in! What a thunderstorm! Official holidays are over, but summer vacation coming up! New tracks up on STVSKRSKI! Hey you can donate to the show! PayPal link below! Pay Steven Sirski using PayPa...

Happy Dragon Boat! Or is it Have a safe Dragon Boat Festival? Substack out! All about the festival. Looking at computers: new computer or just hire people? But how do you study and learn? Getting hot, but still got the lunch time run done, 7 km in 40.45, seems fast. Plus rope work and other add ons. Got some gear at Decathalon, but can I use it? And… good news? Old Xiaomi phone can be fixed! Free!...

Hope I don’t get sick! New burger from Blue Frog but I selected “rare” beef burger… it was very rare. PROBABLY should have cooked it a little more. Oof! Traditional Chinese class done! zhi and variations of cai: 支 - zhī - support, branch 枝 - zhī - branch, twig 补班 补课 - bǔ bān bǔ kè - make up work or class 菜 - cài - vegetables 採 采 - cǎi - pick, gather 彩 - cǎi - colourful 踩 - cǎi - step, s...

It’s Dragon Boat this weekend, does that mean we actually get some time off? Chinese class, how was it? Took me an hour to write! Language vlog a ticking up, new vid should be up tomorrow. Episode 45 in the works, need to book another episode soon, too! Looking for some help on this now. Hey you can donate to the show! PayPal link below! Pay Steven Sirski using PayPal. Me *** Show notes n tracks u...

Alright, break time, looks like things will start slowing down over the next few weeks! Had a tinge of anxiety like I should be doing more, the problem was that it’s not easy to settle down in the evening when it’s dark because I’m still staring at everything around me. Day time natural light and it’s a lot easier. Had to re-cut my long form vid for the language vlog should have that up this weeke...

Russian class done! Cantonese class done! Booked too much for myself, son! Getting hot in here, hun! And where’s episode 45, manh? Traditional characters, automations, and boy that ChatGPT API would be nice… looks fancy, or is there something else I could use? Hey you can donate to the show! PayPal link below! Pay Steven Sirski using PayPal. Me *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com And on...

We’re into June! How are plans coming along to go to Canada? I wish I knew! Traditional Chinese yet again, do I even need this class? Or do I just need to start writing out Traditional characters? Will complete this week of language learning and then take a break to plan some other things. Do Oh, it’s THAT time of year again! Don’t talk about it! Lunch time run and work out! Getting hot out there!...

There, we done with May! Language vlog, tried to get a long vid up but it just took too long. Need to rethink my scheduling. Cantonese class done, re-learning sound associations! Lunch time run: 7.02km in 1 hr and 29s. Ran much quicker overall, complete with pull ups, push ups, squats and lunges, etc. the days you don’t want to work out can be some of the strongest. Oh, and Trump got indicted on s...