Jim Garlits

Gone are the days of the hillbilly mechanic friend who would fix it for a case of beer! 😬

Jim

Take a look, if you please, how Librivox crowdsources audiobooks with a volunteer force of readers. Maybe this is a way forward for Permies.

https://archive.org/details/librivoxaudio?tab=about

Librivox audiobooks are in the public domain. And they are free.

Permies audiobooks would be copyrighted. And they would be for sale.

However, having an all volunteer permies force recording chapters for free (or perhaps for free access to the finished product) would foster world domination, because...

With very little overhead, the audiobooks could be sold for chump change and still bank some coin.

I, for example, would be willing to record a chapter. In a quiet room. With a good microphone. Pronouncing words correctly (that is a thing in audiobook land).

I wouldn't be willing to record a whole freakin' book. But one chapter? Absolutely. I bet I'm not the only one.

Jim

John,

Go to your app store and type in "Merlin Bird ID" and the free app will download to your phone.

Also this: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

John F Dean wrote:Is there a link?

I did a sitewide search and didn't find anything on the topic, so here's something really neat for those who love birds, self-education, and getting to know your land and its inhabitants better.

Cornell University's Ornithology Lab and its Macaulay Library archives created and maintains a free "Merlin Bird ID" app. The most useful feature of the app for me has been its sound identification. It borders on magical. The creators used machine learning, training it to recognize distinct bird calls from millions of recordings. It is continuing to learn from the recordings app users are adding when they record their local bird sounds.

Tools like Merlin are so useful for self-education, helping simple people like me become more intimately acquainted with the land and all of its inhabitants. It is available for both iPhone and Android devices, so it is in your app store.

Did I mention that it is free? This is crowdsourcing at its finest.

P.S. Yes I did see this thread: https://permies.com/t/32636/binoculars-Great-Backyard-Bird-Count

It is from over a decade ago when Cornell was still in the photo identification phase of the project. They've come so far and continue to push the envelope!

Jim

They eat mosquitoes and look fabulous while doing it.

Jim

How did it turn out? I hope it wasn't something serious or seriously expensive.

Jim

Bump. I'm just here for da points

Jim

True words of wisdom.

Jim

M Ljin wrote:Depending on your situation it might be possible to cut costs by living with your family, going slow, etc. It seems to me the sorts of things that worked for young people in the recent past may be more difficult than they were, and that—maybe due to these sorts of attitudes young people are being scammed out of our lives and futures riding on these older attitudes that are no longer quite applicable.

I can’t tell you how to go forward, only be creative, be cautious, have patience, be kind to yourself (and others), and don’t deny or forget the things you know deep in your heart to be true.

Nova,

Welcome to Permies! You're in the right place.

Have you read Paul's SKIP book? That's the first question I would ask you.

You're at a community college. I don't know anything about agroecology, but I do know that you shouldn't spend money on a degree that isn't going to land you a job. Because then you don't have a job and you owe a lot of money...for something that was supposed to land you a job. I'm not saying quit community college. I'm saying acquire some skills that are going to put some coin in your pocket no matter how much sheepskin winds up adorning your wall (how many degrees you get, if you haven't heard that expression).

Learning skills that allow you to be useful, and make coin, is always a good thing. I know people who know how to do a whole bunch of stuff and just put it out on FB marketplace and they stay busy enough and have coins jangling in their pockets.

There's nothing holding you back from pursuing a degree, but there's nobody saying you can't pursue SKIP at the same time.

Here are two things I know, though. Doing beats studying. And it seems that a lot of people who get degrees in agroecology wind up staying in college teaching...agroecology, never having DONE much agroecology. Hands on. In the dirt. Some of them get picked up by non-profits. The rest go into farming. With college debt. With less value than they would have gained by working the land, with their hands, during the time they were in college studying agroecology.

Jim

Nova Stone wrote:All I know is I want to work with my hands, outdoors and not being destructive to the environment and it just feels like I have to sacrifice some if not all of those desires if I don't want to be broke.

I am currently in a community college, just kinda trying to figure myself out at this point as I am aiming for a Agroecology degree. Which was the closest thing to Permaculture I could find as a degree, but there doesn't seem to be many career opportunities (unless I already had land which I don't). Maybe I need to look more or be more creative, but it just feels like a lot of these sustainability careers assume you have upfront capital or assets for you to start a business.

Which brings me here, I would really appreciate guidance on not just the end point, but how can I transition from here to there. Maybe give suggestions on degrees I can get that could help me actually generate money so I can achieve my broader dreams like having a farm or live in a intentional community.

I am a little all over the place, but hopefully this is enough to get a sense of where I am at. My one hope is I see there is a big push for sustainability, so maybe there will be more opportunities in the future.

I use Picture This. It seems to be very accurate when it gets a clean shot.

Jim