Aussie Bird Count vs Alongside · Focus Companion

Join the Aussie Bird Count! BirdLife Australia’s Aussie Bird Count is one of Australia’s biggest citizen science events. Every October, join tens of thousands of Australians of all ages and experiences in getting outdoors and having fun getting to know your local birds – while helping BirdLife Australia collect information about the birds around us. To take part, register as a counter at aussiebirdcount.org.au and download the Aussie Bird Count app. Then, during the Count, simply spend 20 minutes at a time watching, counting and recording the birds you see in the app. You can count from anywhere: from home, at school, in your backyard or a nearby park or any outdoor space of your choosing. Each count takes just 20 minutes, and it’s a great excuse to get outdoors and connect with nature. The app even has a handy built-in Bird Finder tool to help you identify birds you’re unsure of.

Some days, the hardest part is starting. Alongside is a body-doubling focus tool. A pixel-art companion sits at a small desk and quietly works while you do. They write, or type, or read — matching the kind of work you've told them you're doing — while a timer counts down. When time's up, they stand and walk out. "Nice work." That's the whole app. No streaks. No coaching. No targets. Just the steady company of someone else doing the work too. For people who find focus hard alone. For neurodivergent (ADHD, autism, etc) students, writers staring at the page, anyone who's used a "study with me" video and wished it was personal. Alongside is built for the days when starting is heaviest. How it works: • Type your task. Pick its kind (writing, computer work, reading). Set the time. • Tap begin. The companion takes up the matching pose. The clock starts. • A small supportive thought drifts past every minute or two — written specifically for the task you typed, not generic motivation. • At zero, the companion stands and walks off frame. The empty room remains. • They come back when you do. What's in the room: • A real window with the actual current weather where you are. Sky drifts with the time of day. Clouds, rain, snow, lightning at storm. • A warm lamp glow that shifts from morning through evening. • Optional soft pink-noise hum or ambient music streamed from the cloud. • Customise the companion — hair, skin tone, hoodie, glasses, headphones, name. Yours. Focus mode: Tap the focus button for wall-clock view: a huge timer, a full-screen scene, no chrome. Prop the device on your desk and just glance over. Designed for whiteboards and shared workspaces. Quiet by design: • No accounts, no sign-in, no tracking. • Settings live on your device. • Location is used only to fetch local weather. Nothing is stored. Nothing is shared. • Notifications, when allowed, are just task-end and session-end pings — never marketing. From The Universal Sandpit: Alongside is part of The Universal Sandpit — a small workshop of tools made with care for neurodivergent learners, deep-work humans, and anyone who needs the steady company of someone else doing the work too.