Mitch Wagner

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Jun 16, 2024: If teachers could indoctrinate students, more people would use apostrophes correctly. — Adam Rothman

May 30, 2024: I feel like watching the final episode of a Star Trek series should be more of a special occasion. Like I should dress nice. In a Starfleet dress …

May 14, 2024:

May 13, 2024: 📷 Something I saw while walking the dog.

Mar 16, 2024: Welcome to your test blog! You can create new posts here to test theme and design changes.

Mar 15, 2024: Here’s something groovy I saw while walking the dog.

Mar 15, 2024: Today’s memes: I cannot help you with printer issues via via

Mar 14, 2024: I’m getting spam text messages from the Easter Bunny.

Mar 14, 2024: Here’s something I saw while walking the dog

Mar 14, 2024: On the limitations of writing for the fediverse Ben Werdmuller: I’m not bullish on squeezing long-form content into a microblogging platform, whether on Mastodon or X. Long-form content …

Mar 14, 2024: Today’s memes: so excited to start my new job here at the Mutant Animal Weaponization Program 🤗

Mar 13, 2024: Cory Doctorow: “Bullies want you to think they’re on your side: Bosses (not migrants) take workers' wages, and corporations (not readers) want …

Mar 13, 2024: You know what’s an excellent thing to do when you’re having trouble sleeping? Go through your notes apps and clean up the scraps of ideas for posts. …

Mar 13, 2024: I keep bags of dog treats next to the bags of dried fruit that I put in my cereal in the morning. The packaging looks very similar. That is going to …

Mar 13, 2024: The “True Grit” movies came up in a conversation so I went down an Internet rabbit hole This 2010 article in The New York Times includes a conversation with Charles Portis, the author of the novel on which the movies were based: …

Mar 13, 2024: Do you prefer video on or video off for remote meetings? I prefer video on but I would not demand it. And I don’t even tell colleagues I prefer video on because I don’t want to pressure anyone. If most …

Mar 13, 2024: The White Castle System of Eating Houses [99percentinvisible.org]. White Castle, founded more than a century ago in Wichita, Kansas, invented the …

Mar 13, 2024: Why Do So Many Coffee Shops Look the Same? On the Decoder Ring podcast, host Willa Paskin interviews writer Kyle Chayka, author of “Filterworld: How …

Mar 13, 2024: Adolfo Ochagavía is an “undercover generalist." [ochagavia.nl] To find work as a generalist, he says, you need to present yourself as a …

Mar 13, 2024: The Cult of AI. Writer Robert Evans returns from CES in January with a “sinking feeling” about the “unhinged messianic fervor” surrounding AI. …

Mar 12, 2024: High-speed grocery-shopping is my superpower. I should put it on my LinkedIn profile.

Mar 12, 2024: I just got off the phone with AT&T customer service. Years ago, I accidentally slammed a car door on my fingers. The two experiences were …

Mar 12, 2024: Here’s something I saw while walking the dog.

Mar 12, 2024: Sleep is weird and magic. We sleep more than we do anything else. We spend a third of our lives in a state of death, much of that time dreaming, …

Mar 12, 2024: Today’s memes: Stop thinking that you are ugly

Mar 11, 2024: I walk across the deck between my office and the kitchen a million times a day, and sometimes, when I leave the kitchen, Minnie is lying outside my …

Mar 11, 2024: I cannot be arsed to keep up with culture wars bullshit now. Like, there is a young woman named Sydney Sweeney who is I guess famous for something and …

Mar 11, 2024: I’ve seen articles pointing out exactly where the Royal Family photos were clumsily edited, and I still don’t see the problems. I guess I …

Mar 10, 2024: Today I learned that if you spill a nearly full cup of fresh hot coffee on your lap, it doesn’t hurt a lot and doesn’t leave a stain but the pants …

Mar 10, 2024: Profile of Steve Nikoui, the Gold Star father arrested for protesting at the State of the Union last week. [timesofsandiego.com] — Nikoui’s son, “Camp …

Mar 10, 2024: Cory Doctorow: Palantir is looting the UK’s National Health Service, under cover of the Big Lie: “There is no alternative.” [pluralistic.net]

Mar 10, 2024: Five ways Israelis have changed, after 5 months of war. [kpbs.org] — Israelis believe the world has turned its back on them. They have no sympathy for …

Mar 9, 2024: I loved all five of Frank Herbert’s Dune books and enjoyed the first Villeneuve movie, but I can’t get motivated to see Dune 2 in …

Mar 9, 2024: Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born Americans kpbs.org

Mar 9, 2024: I like my windows the way I like them Many people have multiple overlapping application windows open on their screens while working. But I’ve always maximized whatever window …

Mar 8, 2024: We Talked to the Guy Who Wore a Vision Pro VR Headset at His Wedding. He did it for the meme. futurism.com

Mar 8, 2024: This is funny: How Do Dudes Pee? An Earth-Shattering Reveal

Mar 8, 2024: I need a nickname. Help me choose one: The Bandit Big Mitch “Mitch” is already a nickname, you nimrod Nimrod

Mar 8, 2024: I’m having a tough time getting started this morning, so please enjoy this video of Jerry Reed performing “Eastbound and Down,” the title song from …

Mar 8, 2024: Hell of a great speech by Biden last night. His Presidency is in many ways like Harry Truman. That’s high praise and I mean it.

Mar 8, 2024: Coming Of Age In The World Of Pay-Per-Minute Porn. A 2010 essay by Dave Pell. He’s not just talking about porn, but about the addictive quality …

Mar 8, 2024: “… the strange and fascinating creature known as the American teenager – as we now understand the species – came into being sometime in …

Mar 8, 2024: Los Angeles Rabbi Sharon Brous: Since Oct. 7, “many American Jews … understand themselves differently. There are people who have never stepped foot in …

Mar 7, 2024: … being a journalism grad student right now must feel like studying paleontology in the hopes that when you graduate you’ll find a job as a …

Mar 7, 2024: The This American Life podcast shares “a series of phone calls to a man in Gaza named Yousef Hammash, between early December and now. He talks …

Mar 7, 2024: A friend reminds me of this scene from “Escape From the Planet of the Apes” (1971). Of course, Kim Hunter’s line delivery is very …

Mar 7, 2024: … instead of passing a privacy law or regulating data brokers, Americans get a sort of regulatory simulacrum designed to distract you. Most …

Mar 7, 2024: AI needs bigger and more powerful data centers, driving electrical demand and undermining sustainability. [NYTimes]

Mar 7, 2024: The Our Opinions Are Correct podcast obsesses about the politics of “Dune.”

Mar 7, 2024: The Golden Age of American Jews Is Ending. Franklin Foer at The Atlantic with an in-depth report on the resurgence of anti-semitism on the right and …

Mar 7, 2024: I’m re-reading “Everybody’s Fool,” by Richard Russo (or, more precisely, listening to the audiobook). One of the heroes, Donald “Sully” Sullivan, is …

Mar 7, 2024: Are we dating the same guy? Facebook groups offer intel but upend lives [Brittany Shammas and Marisa Iati / The Washington Post]. Trial by gossip …

Mar 7, 2024: What in Tarnation Is ‘Tarnation’ [Mental Floss]

Mar 7, 2024: I asked the AI-powered Perplexity search engine “Who is Mitch Wagner?” Mitch Wagner is a versatile individual with various roles and …

Mar 7, 2024: Minnie says good morning.

Mar 7, 2024: Today’s memes: Dr Wiggles Weiner Wagon This is me Tuesday morning. I am both these people.

Mar 6, 2024: A Department of Veterans Affairs official tried to ban the famous Kiss photo, taken on VJ Day after World War II, from hanging in VA facilities …

Mar 6, 2024: Cory Doctorow: Exxon CEO Darren Woods says the quiet part out loud: The problem with renewable energy sources is that they “don’t generate …

Mar 6, 2024: If you sawed open my skull and examined my brain (and I’m not actually asking you to do this!), you would find that the portions devoted to …

Mar 6, 2024: Here’s a nice house I saw while walking the dog.

Mar 6, 2024: Russia plans to put a nuclear reactor on the Moon – with China’s help https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/06/russia_nuclear_reactor_moon/

Mar 6, 2024: Medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega hilariously and informatively refutes a Twitter troll’s bonehead claims about women’s sexuality in history. …

Mar 5, 2024: I asked ChatGPT to generate illustrations for a few books, TV shows and movies, including “The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet,” …

Mar 5, 2024: Hours before the deadline, I just pledged to back the Kickstarter for Tapestry from Iconfactory. I said I wasn’t going to do it, but then I …

Mar 5, 2024: Here’s something I saw while walking the dog.

Mar 5, 2024: Millions of people — including me — were locked out of Facebook, Threads and Instagram this morning due to a password-reset glitch. (The Register). …

Mar 5, 2024: Cory Doctorow at Pluralistic: “You can’t shop your way out of a monopoly. Any election where you vote with your wallet will be won by the people …

Mar 5, 2024: Anthropic’s Claude 3 gave a response that made it appear as if it knew when researchers were testing it (VentureBeat). There. I fixed the …

Mar 5, 2024: Benj Edwards at Ars Technica analyzes Anthropic’s announcement of the latest version of its Claude AI, which for the first time beats GPT-4 on …

Mar 5, 2024: Google and XPRIZE launch $5m prize to find actual uses for quantum computers. This seems like something that Google (and IBM) should have been …

Mar 4, 2024: I updated the DNS for mitchwagner.com to point to a static page on micro.blog and now I feel like supernerd.

Mar 3, 2024: I used Google to find a PDF of the movie “Love, Actually.” I fed the URL to ChatGPT and told it to create a poster. It said it can’t access documents …

Mar 3, 2024: I used Google to find a PDF of the screenplay of “Die Hard.” I fed the URL to ChatGPT, with the prompt, “Here’s the screenplay for a movie …

Mar 3, 2024: I asked ChatGPT to create a poster to promote the TV show “M*A*S*H.”

Mar 3, 2024: “Daddy, why doesn’t Trump ever go to church?" Doonesbury’s still got it.

Mar 3, 2024: City leaders in Escondido reject “Housing First” policies for homelessness because they say homeless people need addiction and mental …

Mar 3, 2024: Rogue Editors Started a Competing Wikipedia That’s Only About Roads. A fight over Wikipedia’s rules on notable subjects and primary sources led …

Mar 3, 2024: Inside me are two wolves. One wants only the finest coffee, ground just before brewing from the finest beans roasted delicately within the past two …

Mar 3, 2024: Dave Winer used ChatGPT to illustrate a few of his favorite songs. I tried it with books.

Mar 3, 2024: I asked ChatGPT to create an illustration for the book “Cities in Flight” by James Blish. ChatGPT responded with the illustration, and the …

Mar 3, 2024: I asked ChatGPT to create an illustration for the novel “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet,” by Becky Chambers.

Mar 3, 2024: I asked ChatGPT to create a cover illustration for the novel “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union,” by Michael Chabon.

Mar 3, 2024: I asked ChatGPT to create a cover illustration for the novel “The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet,” by Becky Chambers.

Mar 2, 2024: We watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the 2011 movie starring Andy Serkis as a motion-capture chimpanzee. We expected to enjoy it of course – why …

Mar 2, 2024: Hands up if you want to volunteer for layoffs, IBM tells staff (The Register).

Mar 2, 2024: MyHeritage debuts OldNews.com, offering access to millions of historical newspaper pages (TechCrunch). MyHeritage announced today that it’s launching …

Mar 2, 2024: Elon Musk’s legal case against OpenAI is hilariously bad (Nilay Patel/The Verge).

Mar 2, 2024: Today’s memes: Socks for his wife Sony 4-204UW 4-inch portable TV (1965) and Panasonic 1030p 3-inch TV (1984) ngl they have me at 8

Mar 1, 2024: Seen on a Techmeme headline: Threads is planning to open a developer API in June. I’m happy to hear that—less cut-and-pasting for me! @manton

Mar 1, 2024: Facebook is my favorite social network. It is also the one I hate most, and consider quitting several times a month.

Feb 26, 2024: Something I saw at the supermarket.

Feb 25, 2024: Terry Pratchett doesn’t work for me because he writes loving parody of a genre I don’t read.

Feb 25, 2024: I started reading Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly 📚 He’s always reliable.

Feb 25, 2024: I started the audiobook to Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo 📚. It’s the sequel to Nobody’s Fool. My second time reading.

Feb 25, 2024: I finished the audiobook of Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo 📚My third reading. I think I enjoyed it most of all this time.

Feb 25, 2024: I quit The Colour Of Magic by Terry Pratchett 📚I think I’m not a Terry Pratchett guy.

Feb 25, 2024: Here’s something I saw while walking the dog.

Feb 25, 2024: American small towns are erecting statues to Star Trek characters born there. (The Register)

Feb 25, 2024: Nazis are openly mingling and making friends at the CPAC conference, Trump is getting cheers for a speech where he promises his “ultimate and absolute …

Feb 24, 2024: Julie started drinking coffee again regularly, and I’m drinking more. The Aeropress is getting to be too much hassle. I ordered a drip of coffee …

Feb 24, 2024: “she’s like kryptonite for sexist podcast bros”

Feb 24, 2024: The Shirky Principle: Institutions Try to Preserve the Problem to Which They Are the Solution. Examples: Tax preparers that lobby against laws to …

Feb 24, 2024: Cory: “Vice surrenders: Literally the stupidest publishing strategy I’ve ever heard of (ever). Predicting that a social media platform will rug …

Feb 24, 2024: Today’s memes: Stop thumb sucking! STOP Thumb Sucking! Baby Alice Metal Wire Thumb Gaurd. 1931

Feb 23, 2024: Josh Marshall: The Republican effort to impeach Biden was a Russian operation. Press Watch: … the ludicrous Republican impeachment investigation has …

Feb 23, 2024: I’d like for micro.blog to become a Mastodon superset, supporting the important features of Mastodon—including likes, boosts and compatibility with …

Feb 23, 2024: The Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast does a delightful episode on industrial musicals. For more than three decades, it was common for American companies …

Feb 23, 2024: I did a little blog maintenance yesterday: streamlined the header to mitchw.blog, updating the about page and the my favorite posts page, adding a …

Feb 23, 2024: I love that Pat Gelsinger’s plan for turning Intel around is to make things. He’s not turning to financial mumbo-jumbo, Web3, crypto, …

Feb 22, 2024: Vice is abandoning Vice.com and laying off hundreds (The Verge). Vice published for 30 years. Engadget is swinging the chainsaw too. Shit.

Feb 22, 2024: Right-wing influencers and Republican lawmakers are spreading rumors about an imaginary illegal immigrant named “Sahil Omar” and …

Feb 22, 2024: Cory: The majority of censorship is self-censorship. But the majority of self-censorship is intentionally cultivated by an outside power.

Feb 22, 2024: Google apologizes for ‘missing the mark’ after Gemini generated racially diverse Nazis. Wingnuts on Twitter are crybabying over Google’s alleged …

Feb 22, 2024: I’m always surprised to hear about companies still using faxes. Bring back pneumatic tubes!

Feb 22, 2024: App review: Map routes with your finger using Footpath The Footpath app makes it easy for you to plan a route for walking, running, biking or driving, and then follow turn-by-turn directions when you’re …

Feb 21, 2024: There is a road called Princess View Drive near our house that I have driven on many times, but I have never seen a princess.

Feb 21, 2024: The American Nazis (the organization formerly known as Republicans) aren’t coming for Jews—now. They say they love Jews. They’re coming for migrants …

Feb 21, 2024: “AI search is a doomsday cult…. Does anyone even want an AI search engine?” when they aren’t hallucinating, what they’re capable of is still impressive, though it’s a bit like watching a dog walk around on …

Feb 21, 2024: During our last time going out to lunch before the pandemic, my dad (who was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust and later spent …

Feb 21, 2024: Apple warns users to stop putting wet iPhones in rice (Gizmodo) That was a big clue on a crime show. The detective noticed that the murder victim had …

Feb 21, 2024: When I was a boy attending Hebrew school, the Holocaust was living memory for the adults teaching us. They told us: “You think of yourselves as …

Feb 21, 2024: Doc Searls: “Blogs are newsletters that don’t require subscriptions."

Feb 21, 2024: Today’s memes: Everything is on track

Feb 20, 2024: Cory’s Pluralistic blog turns four. Here, he talks once again about his Memex Method of taking notes in public. I have never been able to make that …

Feb 20, 2024: Alabama’s supreme court rules frozen embryos are ‘children’ theguardian.com In a decision using flagrantly unconstitutional religious language, …

Feb 20, 2024: Haley’s plan to unite the United States: pardon Trump. “It is unclear why or how Haley thinks this move would bring the American people together …

Feb 20, 2024: “I just kind of think of her as a lowlife” Colorado GOP voters reject Lauren Boebert boingboing.net

Feb 20, 2024: My five-year-old Mac wheezes to a halt if I have more than a few Safari tabs open, but I recently switched to the Vivaldi browser, and now I have 93 …

Feb 20, 2024: Stickers to manage social media replies. “Do not reply to deny my lived experience.” “Do not reply to tell me to use open source …

Feb 20, 2024: An in-depth explainer why the New York Times might win its copyright lawsuit against OpenAI, which the AI community says would be catastrophic. …

Feb 20, 2024: Japanese startup Astroscale’s mission is cleaning up space junk. arstechnica.com

Feb 19, 2024: We watched the first episode of “Resident Alien,” about an extraterrestrial who assumes the identity of a doctor in a Colorado small town where people …

Feb 19, 2024: Before the IBM PC, There Was the TRS-80 Radio Shack, known for its DIY kits and gear, unveiled this low-cost computer in 1977 in a bid to capture the …

Feb 19, 2024: Trust Between Southeastern San Diego Flood Survivors and Local Government Is Dead Flooded residents of the Southcrest, Shelltown and Mountain View …

Feb 19, 2024: EFF: Don’t Fall for the Latest Changes to the Dangerous Kids Online Safety Act. KOSA supporters claim it protects kids, but it actually endangers them …

Feb 19, 2024: Today’s memes: Rockford’s cute letterpress Redditor shares photo of their father, 1940s. Via

Feb 19, 2024: The season finale of “All Creatures Great and Small” was satisfactory. Drunk Carmody is my role model.

Feb 18, 2024: Ezra Klein: Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden. Biden is a great President, but he’s running a lousy re-election campaign. Polling shows him …

Feb 18, 2024: The New York Times explains the controversy around the 2023 Hugo Awards, hosted by China Alexandra Alter: The Hugo Awards, a major literary prize for science fiction, have been engulfed in controversy over revelations that some writers …

Feb 18, 2024: The Cluetrain Manifesto is turning 25.

Feb 18, 2024: Chuck Mawhinney, a Camp Pendleton Marine who became the deadliest sniper in corps history, dies at 75. The Marine Corps credited Mawhinney with 103 …

Feb 18, 2024: Today’s memes: This is love Superman II (1980) featured some ground breaking special effects, in particular the battle between Superman and the supervillains General Zod, Ursa …

Feb 17, 2024: Facebook just sent me notices that it removed two of my posts for violating its rules. It won’t show me what those posts are so I don’t know how I …

Feb 17, 2024: RSSParrot turns your Mastodon timeline into an RSS feed reader.

Feb 17, 2024: Joey deVilla: If you’ve been laid off – and especially if you’ve been laid off for the first time – you will blame yourself …

Feb 17, 2024: Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr: How America’s oligarchs lull us with the be-your-own-boss fairy tale. The gig economy, DEI and ESG are the …

Feb 17, 2024: Bose introduced pricy open-air earbuds that sit on your ears, rather than in them. Bose is touting the devices as being comfortable enough to wear all …

Feb 16, 2024: After much practice, I am now expert at photographing my own left ear. I do not expect this skill to be useful.

Feb 16, 2024: Antisemitic callers overwhelmed a La Mesa City Council meeting with hate speech. timesofsandiego.com. I am a Jewish person who has lived more than 25 …

Feb 16, 2024: ‘A Black Thing.’ Fani Willis’s father explains why his daughter keeps cash: John Clifford Floyd III, attorney and former Black …

Feb 16, 2024: "Stinge-watching" vs. binge-watching “Stinge watching” is the opposite of binge watching, says Jason Kottke—when you love a show so much that you stingily portion it out, postponing …

Feb 16, 2024: I went out to walk the dog the other day and discovered I’d forgotten to charge my AirPods. I found wired earbuds in a box near my desk, where …

Feb 15, 2024: Today’s memes: I guess my brain is just really big

Feb 14, 2024: I’ve been hearing about the Perplexity search engine, a competitor to Google. www.perplexity.ai I tried it yesterday and it’s really quite good. It’s …

Feb 14, 2024: Play this video when you want to pretend to be busy so people will leave you alone. Say “yeah” at the three-minute mark.

Feb 14, 2024: Enterprise leaders swing between confidence and sleepless terror over AI. Fear of missing out (FOMO) vies with fear of messing up (FOMU). Enterprise …

Feb 13, 2024: “The Hucksters:” A sitthroughable 1947 romcom and satire starring Clark Gable

Clark Gable is a veteran returning home from World War II eager to resume his pre-war lifestyle as a playboy ad-man, but ultimately finding the life …

Feb 13, 2024: Are there not-too-expensive alternatives to Grammarly? I’m starting to get fed up with it. I began using Grammarly a year ago and loved it for …

Feb 13, 2024: I saw this extremely handsome pig in the front yard of a house in the neighborhood.

Feb 13, 2024: Young people may find this hard to believe, but I remember back in the old days we spent hardly any time making sure our devices were charged.

Feb 12, 2024: Overheard: A chain of grocery stores that specialize in donuts, bagels, Swiss cheese, Cheerios and Lifesavers. It would be called Hole Foods.

Feb 12, 2024: I don’t know why the new generation of productivity apps hates folders, but I’m sure enshittification has something to do with it.

Feb 12, 2024: I have rediscovered the “hide” command in Apple Photos. It’s great if you want to get photos out of sight but do not want to commit to deleting them. …

Feb 12, 2024: A mob set a Waymo self-driving car on fire over the weekend. arstechnica.com Videos of the incident are all over social media. … In one video, …

Feb 12, 2024: “so there’s a special drug that makes you hallucinate so hard you can fold space… its made out of worm shit and it will turn you …

Feb 12, 2024: I had a blood draw this morning, and I had a skilled phlebotomist. “Skilled Phlebotomist” would be a good name for a podcast.

Feb 12, 2024:

The dog and I walked part of Junipero Serra Trail yesterday at the Old Mission Dam.

Feb 12, 2024: Today’s memes: Mickey Dolenz’s Moog

Feb 12, 2024: Meanwhile, in a holosuite on Deep Space Nine, Ben Sisko is a 20th Century Earth Boston legbreaker and hitman named Hawk.

Feb 11, 2024: I hear Taylor Swift‘s boyfriend is participating in something today.

Feb 11, 2024: We watched “Mr. Holmes,” a 2015 movie featuring Ian McKellen as 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes.

It’s 1947, and Holmes is long retired to a country house, where he tends his bees and his failing memory. He’s struggling to remember a case 35 years …

Feb 10, 2024: Sad Clown Paradox: Why You Should Check In On Your Funny Friends Humor has long been used as a tool against stress and uncertainty, perhaps best …

Feb 10, 2024: Today’s shitposts: When the insurance company wants a diagram of the accident

Feb 9, 2024: Do you read books on your phone?

Feb 9, 2024: Seems like smart glasses wouldn’t be usable by people who wear glasses only part of the time.

Feb 9, 2024: Today’s memes: Talk dirty to me

Feb 8, 2024: How do you survive fame? Podcaster P.J. Vogt talks with his friend, the actor and writer Molly Ringwald, “formerly the most famous teenager in …

Feb 8, 2024: The Freakonomics podcast is doing a series of episodes on the physicist Richard Feynman. The first episode is terrific, and I’m looking forward …

Feb 8, 2024: NYTimes: Could a Giant Parasol in Outer Space Help Solve the Climate Crisis? Researchers are investigating whether a solar shield in space that blocks …

Feb 8, 2024: It has stopped raining and the sun is out at last, but it is so, so wet and chilly and unpleasant out there. This is not why we are paying San Diego …

Feb 8, 2024: Today’s memes: I think cat people are psychopaths

Feb 8, 2024: TV show idea: Just Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse and Susy from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel swearing. I would watch 13 seasons of that.

Feb 7, 2024: Currently reading: Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo 📚My third or fourth time reading this wonderful book.

Feb 7, 2024: What are your favorite and second-favorite social media services? Where do you spend the most time?

Feb 7, 2024: Cisco and NVIDIA did a technology integration deal this week—here’s why it matters: Cisco and NVIDIA want to take the hassle out of AI infrastructure. …

Feb 7, 2024: Listen to our talk about the novel “Alas, Babylon” on Seth Heasley’s Hugos There podcast

Thanks to the indomitable Seth, who had me as a guest to talk about one of my favorite novels, “Alas, Babylon,” by Pat Frank. Hugos There.

Feb 7, 2024: Clarkesworld: “Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole,” by Isabel J. Kim. Via Pluralistic — thanks!

Feb 7, 2024: Today’s ephemera: Apple Vision Pro Version 2

Feb 6, 2024: Shakshuka is better than winning the Darwin Award I had a meeting at 11 am at a local coffee shop. It’s been raining hard nonstop since Monday morning. This is not unusual back east, but it is unusual …

Feb 5, 2024: I saw this dog at the park yesterday. He hopes your week is off to a good start. He’s 16 years old, which is pretty old even for a small dog. …

Feb 4, 2024: Friends came down from Los Angeles yesterday and we visited the San Diego Zoo Yes, that is my finger in the preceding photo. I like it anyway. I …

Feb 4, 2024: Today’s ephemera: Possum in the bedroom

Feb 4, 2024: A tumblr thread on the edginess of classic Fleischer cartoons and the awesomeness of Cab Calloway.

Feb 3, 2024: A toddler got stuck after climbing into a claw machine looking for a toy in an Australian shopping mall. It’s me. I am the toddler.

Feb 3, 2024: Watch an elephant family working together to save a baby elephant that got stuck in the mud. “This reminds me of something that once happened to me in …

Feb 3, 2024: Today’s ephemera: A man walks into a zoo

Feb 2, 2024: I saw this spectacular rainbow while walking the dog this afternoon.

Feb 2, 2024: Shorter version of my earlier post about Tapestry: Yes, today I can consume Mastodon, Threads, Reddit, YouTube, newsletters etc. in most RSS …

Feb 2, 2024: What if you had a universal app to access every social media platform in one screen?

I think I now get the point of what Iconfactory wants to build with the Tapestry project.

Feb 2, 2024: Today’s ephemera: The crucial fourth ice cream bowl

Feb 1, 2024: Cory Doctorow: Companies like Tesla, Amazon and Cruise that claim to have replaced human workers with AI are often outright lying. Often, they’re …

Feb 1, 2024: I’m upgrading from a five-year-old iPhone XS to an iPhone Pro Max. Any advice? What should I expect to be different? I wasn’t planning to …

Feb 1, 2024: Today’s ephemera: Frog ball nine thousand

Jan 31, 2024: Kevin Drum: Congress got to yell at social media CEOs today. … research really doesn’t support the notion that social media is harmful to …

Jan 31, 2024: Boing Boing: “There is no plan beyond blaming Biden.” Trump’s border plan “consists of moats filled with alligators, fences with spikes on top, …

Jan 31, 2024: Taylor Swift vs. the manosphere Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day ties together far-right movements among young men in multiple nations and relates them …

Jan 31, 2024: A Pennsylvania man decapitated his father and posted a video in which the son displayed the older man’s severed head and “claimed that his father was …

Jan 31, 2024: Today’s ephemera: Simulated chimp attack

Jan 30, 2024: Meanwhile, in Soviet MAGAstan: Transgender People in Florida Face Having Their Driver’s Licenses Revoked

Jan 30, 2024: Lawyers Guns Money: “It turns out the whole Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance is just another Democrat conspiracy to defraud White America of its …

Jan 30, 2024: NYTimes: MAGA nincompoops are losing their shit over Taylor Swift dating Travis Kelce—Vivek Ramaswamy says its a conspiracy and a Fox News commentator …

Jan 30, 2024: Reading about Yusef Salaam’s traffic stop in both the New York Times and NY Post I can’t see how Salaam (or the police officer) did …

Jan 30, 2024: Tuesdays, the Savage Love podcast drops and I always enjoy that. But I’m going to listen to the AppStories podcast first today because this week’s …

Jan 30, 2024: I’m intrigued by Project Tapestry, an app in development from Iconfactory that creates a single feed for social networks, blogs, weather alerts, RSS …

Jan 30, 2024: Forbes: Google’s AI will read all your private messages—and Apple might do the same. This is a flagrant violation of privacy. Via Violet Blue’s …

Jan 30, 2024: Ars Technica: The National Security Agency (NSA) has admitted to buying records from data brokers detailing which websites and apps Americans use, US …

Jan 30, 2024: An 18-year-old British man was acquitted of charges of public disorder after he joked with friends in a private Snapchat conversation about blowing up …

Jan 30, 2024: Today’s ephemera: A sufficiently large trebuchet

Jan 30, 2024: Currently reading: The Life of the World to Come by Kage Baker 📚

Jan 30, 2024: Finished reading: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers 📚

Jan 29, 2024: Coronado residents are protesting the Hotel Del agreeing to host a service by the Awaken Church, a toxic MAGA organization whose leaders espouse vile …

Jan 29, 2024: What’s behind the tech industry’s mass layoffs in 2024?. There is a herding effect in tech…. The layoffs seem to be helping their stock …

Jan 29, 2024: The San Diego Union-Tribune looks at my favorite hiking trail

Jan 29, 2024: Israeli officials presented details to back up their claims that UN relief workers helped Hamas in the October raid. “One is accused of kidnapping a …

Jan 29, 2024: German-born photographer Evelyn Hofer captured beautiful photos of Dublin in 1965-66. “Hofer took her time composing each shot, whether it captured a …

Jan 26, 2024: I had a Zoom meeting yesterday and I put it on my calendar but instead of “Zoom” I mistakenly wrote “Zoomies” and so instead …

Jan 26, 2024: Today’s ephemera: Don’t buy the cheap stuff

Jan 25, 2024: Only 90s Web Developers Remember This. The halfway point of this essay is where my Web development skills end.

Jan 25, 2024: How Cory Doctorow uses browser tabs for productivity superpowers

Cory defends lifehacking, which “is in pretty bad odor these days, and with good reason: a once-useful catch-all for describing how to make things …

Jan 25, 2024: Your Local Epidemiologist: How to (and not to) boost your immune system Works: “A balanced, nutrient-dense diet,” sleep and hydration. Doesn’t work: …

Jan 25, 2024: How Cory Doctorow cured his writer’s block: … the key turned out to be the realization that while there were days when (in retrospect) I wrote well …

Jan 25, 2024: On the futility of blocking spammers on social media People who spend a lot of time posting to social media often spend time going through their follower list and getting rid of the spammers and bots. …

Jan 25, 2024: “Brand New Key” is actually a song about sex! Holy shit!

Jan 25, 2024: The word of the day is “pharmacovigilance.”

Jan 24, 2024: Penn Jillette Wants to Talk It All Out I was going to move to France with my girlfriend and be a beatnik existential writer — she broke up with me, I …

Jan 24, 2024: Today’s ephemera: Weiner Bar Mitzvah

Jan 23, 2024: Downworthy: A browser plugin to turn hyperbolic viral headlines into what they really mean: “Literally” becomes …

Jan 23, 2024: The lost ancient practice of communal sleep. “Until the mid-19th Century, it was completely normal to share a bed with friends, colleagues and …

Jan 23, 2024: Powerful and disturbing: My grandpa was a Nazi, by Bastian Allgeier.

Jan 22, 2024: I canceled my ChatGPT subscription. I’m just not using it enough to justify the $20/mo. I had in mind creating my own GPT—my own individual AI …

Jan 22, 2024: Is anyone else having a problem with micro.blog posts propagating out over ActivityPub? Maybe “propagating” isn’t the right word …

Jan 22, 2024: Cory Doctorow (@pluralistic@mamot.fr): The most amazing things about monopolies is how the contempt just oozes out of them. It’s like these …

Jan 22, 2024: For a moment there, Lotus Notes appeared to do everything. The program was a weird combination of email, databases, and workflow that allowed …

Jan 22, 2024: A tale of two cities: one real, one virtual. Digital city-building has become a legitimate part of urban planning, helping to mirror the present — …

Jan 22, 2024: Today’s ephemera: What’s all this then?

Jan 20, 2024: The Price of Netanyahu’s Ambition. Amid war with Hamas, a hostage crisis, the devastation of Gaza, and Israel’s splintering identity, the …

Jan 18, 2024: Skepchick: No, Charles Lindbergh did not let a pal vivisect the Lindbergh Baby and then cover it up with a fake kidnapping. The preceding article made …

Jan 18, 2024: … for more than 200 years, the American people have elected a buffoon’s gallery of rogues, incompetents, empty suits, abysmal spellers, …

Jan 18, 2024: Forget 10,000 steps: 7 tips for step counters. The notion to take 10,000 daily steps stems from a marketing ploy: As the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics …

Jan 18, 2024: The New Yorker: How Ten Middle East Conflicts Are Converging Into One Big War Robin Wright: Ten conflicts among diverse rivals or in different arenas over disparate flash points and divergent goals are now converging. For all …

Jan 18, 2024: The Reason the Office Isn’t Fun Anymore. Employees are hiding out in privacy booths and empty conference rooms, turning workplaces into quiet zones. …

Jan 18, 2024: A company backed by Silicon Valley billionaires is seeking local voter approval to build a walkable city from scratch for 50,000 people on farmland in …

Jan 17, 2024: This has been bugging me for more than a year. Now I have the answer and can relax and move on.

Jan 17, 2024: The three-decade saga that led to the Crown Heights Tunnels: A group of anti-establishment yeshiva students from Israel took control of the …

Jan 17, 2024: ‘It hasn’t delivered’: The spectacular failure of self-checkout technology

Jan 17, 2024: David French: Disqualify Trump (or else). There’s no doubt that knocking Trump off the ballot would send shock waves through the American body …

Jan 17, 2024: Bobi, the “oldest ever dog,” has lost his title as Guinness World Records launches an investigation into claims he lived to 31. “Sceptics have asked …

Jan 17, 2024: Winter storms brought big pieces of a a 112-year-old shipwreck to a beach in Maine, where visitors could get a look at history. “The two-masted …

Jan 17, 2024: Office vacancies plague San Diego as companies embrace remote work. Thousands of people get to enjoy working from home, benefiting the environment and …

Jan 16, 2024: The secret history of Napoleon Bonaparte: Watching “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (2002) starring Ian Holm We saw “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” an idiosyncratic and charming historical romantic-comedy that starred Ian Holm and came out in 2002. I liked the …

Jan 16, 2024: At 93, he’s as fit as a 40-year-old. His body offers lessons on aging. Champion rower Richard Morgan started his exercise routine at age 73.

Jan 16, 2024: Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr is kickstarting the audiobook of his new novel, “The Bezzle,” second in a trilogy about two-fisted forensic …

Jan 15, 2024: IT Employment Grew by Just 700 Jobs in 2023, Down From 267,000 in 2022. Holy shit.

Jan 15, 2024: This morning I looked at a “this day in history” calendar and saw that Martin Luther King was born on this day. What a coincidence! I said to myself. …

Jan 15, 2024: On Reddit, somebody asked how non-Americans identify Americans visiting their country. The top answer: Men wearing jeans, T-shirts, sneakers and ball …

Jan 15, 2024: Allie Brosh at Hyperbole and a Half: Dogs Don’t Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving (2010). Hilarious.

Jan 15, 2024: Mapped: Which countries still have a monarchy?

Jan 15, 2024: Sympathy for the spammer. Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr posts a terrific essay about how scammers and spammers are often themselves victims of …

Jan 15, 2024: Searching for “finally got my Emacs setup just how I like it” yields excellent results.

Jan 15, 2024: While most big companies are only in the proof-of-concept stage with AI, Wells Fargo is moving fast. The bank’s assistant, powered by Google’s …

Jan 15, 2024: AI models can be trained to deceive and the most commonly used AI safety techniques had little to no effect on the deceptive behaviors, according to …

Jan 13, 2024: The Texas National Guard has seized control of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, and is denying U.S. Border Patrol agents access to the area. Maybe …

Jan 13, 2024: Exploring the life and mysterious death of Mary Haxby-Jones, whose body was found in a San Diego home freezer nine years after her disappearance. …

Jan 13, 2024: Artifact, the social news app founded a year ago by Instagram’s co-founders, is shutting down.. I thought Artifact sounded intriguing and kept meaning …

Jan 13, 2024: Amazon sells products with names like “I’m sorry, but I cannot fulfill this request as it goes against OpenAI use policy,” as sellers used …

Jan 13, 2024: OpenAI Quietly Deletes Ban on Using ChatGPT for “Military and Warfare”. Generative AI’s tendency to hallucinate makes it seem like a bad fit for …

Jan 12, 2024: It’s uncertain where personal technology is heading, but judging from CES, it smells

Jan 12, 2024: Your pacemaker and open source software. Using embedded medical technology, such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, or insulin pump? What’s running …

Jan 12, 2024: So, are we going to talk about how GitHub is an absolute boon for malware, or nah

Jan 12, 2024: Why Google will waive egress fees for customers ditching GCP. The Register says Google is trying to placate regulators in the US and Europe even as …

Jan 12, 2024: Here is what puzzles me about “Bears Discover Fire:” There are at least three storylines in this super-short story: The protagonist, a …

Jan 12, 2024: RIP Terry Bisson. Here is one of his most famous stories, the excellent “Bears Discover Fire." I just re-read the story. It’s very …

Jan 12, 2024: A client asked for a synopsis of each of five articles, and I think it makes sense to do them all as a single document. When I need to locate the …

Jan 12, 2024: The Weirdest Advice From Vintage Entertaining Guides. “Here, written between 1880 and 1987, is a sampling of some of history’s most unhinged …

Jan 12, 2024: Oxiclean gets an insulated coffee carafe or Thermos clean as a whistle, without scrubbing First, put the Oxiclean in the carafe. I used a partial scoop of Oxiclean, just above the line on the plastic scoop that comes with the product. Fill …

Jan 11, 2024: I read the Robert B. Paker Spenser novels voraciously in the 80s. Spenser often eats food with Syrian bread. What the hell is “Syrian …

Jan 11, 2024: Katelyn Jetelina, Your Local Epidemiologist: Real-world data shows fall 2023 vaccines are effective. Vaccines help prevent against long covid and are …

Jan 11, 2024: … AI isn’t going to replace you at work. But it’s already augmenting your shitty boss’s ability to rip you off, torment you, …

Jan 11, 2024: Today’s fun fact: Rachel Bloom, who plays Elaine, Julia Child’s new director on “Julia,” became famous in 2010 with a viral music video: “Fuck Me, Ray …

Jan 11, 2024: ‘Julia’ Canceled After Two Seasons at Max. Disappointing. We just started watching the new season, and are enjoying it.

Jan 11, 2024: What ‘The Sopranos’ Iconic Filming Locations in N.J. Look Like Now. On the anniversary of the show’s premiere, its creator and location manager …

Jan 10, 2024: Clarence Thomas and the bottomless self-pity of the upper classes. Poor bastard had to scrape by on a mere $285,400 per year.

Jan 10, 2024: Things I can’t be arsed to care about: Hunter Biden’s crimes, Lloyd Austin’s prostate, Taylor Swift, Claudine Gay, anything else having to do with …

Jan 10, 2024: Thousands of Software Engineers Say the Job Market Is Getting Much Worse. I did an article nearly a year ago talking about how there were plenty of IT …

Jan 10, 2024: Far too many software services are sending me 2023 year-in-review emails I’m still getting 2023-in-review emails from my software subscriptions. I got one from Grammarly this morning. The subject line was “Reveal Your 2023 …

Jan 10, 2024: “San Diego is short around 90,000 homes…. We’re not going to overcome this deficit anytime soon just building single-family housing." …

Jan 9, 2024: We watched the first episode of 1923 tonight, after watching Yellowstone and 1883. I am not smart enough to figure out the Dutton family tree.

Jan 7, 2024: “A reporter who was fired last year when his employer found clips of his standup comedy online must be reinstated because his jokes are funny, a …

Jan 7, 2024: In the news this weekend: Donald Trump referred to Jan. 6 defendants as “hostages;” refused to swear to not advocate for the overthrow the US …

Jan 6, 2024: There is no such thing as a good book. Bookstore worker Kyle Frances Williams reads “The Art of Libromancy: Selling Books and Reading Books in the …

Jan 6, 2024: Remember I said I wasn’t going to post links here? Forget it. I like posting links here. You can still follow me on all those other social media …

Jan 6, 2024: Vicki Greene is the current owner of Flossie, age 28, the world’s oldest living cat. “I think she’s lived so long primarily due to luck, …

Jan 5, 2024: “You’ve got me? Who’s got you?!” Rewatching Christopher Reeve’s “Superman” The 1978 “Superman,” starring Christopher Reeve, launched the superhero film genre as it exists today. We rewatched it recently, enjoyed …

Jan 3, 2024: I’ve decided to take a break posting links here. By nature, they’re ephemeral. And they’re not by me. Also, many of the links I post are …

Jan 1, 2024: I was just reminded of New Year’s 2000. I was an editor on a tech newspaper. We searched desperately for someone—anyone!—that got bit by the Y2K bug.

Dec 31, 2023: For years, our cat Lulu has pestered Julie at night and left me alone. I was OK with this situation. I did not feel neglected. But recently, Lulu …

Dec 30, 2023: Writing a datasheet for a networking product, I typoed “brogrammable” instead of “programmable” and now I’m visualizing a networking product that is …

Dec 30, 2023: I walk Minnie every day for an hour and a half. We go 3.2 miles in that time. If we went at her pace, we would take the same amount of time to go 10 …

Dec 30, 2023: I was going to get a tattoo on my 50th birthday, but I would’ve needed to decide what pattern to get, decide what part of my body to put it on, and …

Dec 30, 2023: The cashier asked me how I was doing and I said I’m good how are you and he said I’m good how are you and I said I’m good how are you and that was …

Dec 30, 2023: “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” is “Guardians of the Galaxy” meets “The Princess Bride.” It stars …

Dec 30, 2023: Of all the great mysteries of the universe, I would like to know just one thing: When I’m walking the dog, how does she decide where the perfect spot …

Dec 30, 2023: Thinking about a time I was sitting with a small group of people, and one of the women in that group invited us to a party at her house and said we …

Dec 30, 2023: My 15 minutes of badass literary scholarship In another online community, somebody asked for the title and author of a story about humans encountering another race that seemes to live a simple …

Dec 29, 2023: I remember when I finally laid my hands on a reproduction of a 1939 Astounding Stories magazine. I had read so many essays by Isaac Asimov and others …

Dec 29, 2023: I’m beginning to think that carrying a distraction machine in my pocket might not be a great idea.

Dec 28, 2023: ‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7: A Times investigation uncovered new details showing a pattern of rape, …

Dec 28, 2023: Eddie Murphy is making a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie, with Judge Reinhold and John Ashton. Looks good! Here’s the trailer.

Dec 28, 2023: On a private community, someone said they’ve just started watching “Babylon 5” on Season 2, and they want to know whether the show stays good. I …

Dec 28, 2023: ‘The Gilded Age’ Shows the Virtues of Inauthenticity: John McWhorter discusses how the characters in “The Gilded Age” would have really …

Dec 28, 2023: Every so often I like to get inspired by reading about the writer Robert B. Parker Parker died in 2010. Here’s what Sarah Weinman wrote about him at the LA Times: Robert B. Parker, who died Monday in his Cambridge, Mass., home at …

Dec 27, 2023: Politico: John Fetterman isn’t the politician you thought he’d be — and he doesn’t care. Fetterman gives a hell of an interview.

Dec 27, 2023: Demand for Abortion Increased Under Florida’s Ban. Anti-Abortion Activists Think Another Ban Will Fix This. Keep digging, Republicans.

Dec 27, 2023: After crime writer Robert B. Parker died in 2010, his estate hired several writers to continue the multiple series Parker wrote in his lifetime. …

Dec 27, 2023: I’m going to set this as my virtual background for Zoom calls. It will create the right professional impression.

Dec 27, 2023: On the Fresh Air podcast: Barry Manilow reflects on writing songs — and making the whole world sing. Before becoming a hit singer-songwriter, Manilow …

Dec 27, 2023: They Spend Thousands Decorating Homes No One Will Ever Go Inside. Sarah E. Needleman at The Wall Street Journal: Newcomers are upending the …

Dec 27, 2023: The Rest Is History podcast: Victorian Britain’s Maddest Mystery . Roger Tichborne, a 25-year-old aristocrat and heir to a fortune, died in a …

Dec 27, 2023: The Imaginary Worlds podcast looks at Doctor Who’s regeneration, which began nearly 60 years ago as a gimmick to replace a lead actor whose …

Dec 27, 2023: I went around and around the house looking for my phone, searching the usual places again and again, and finally got down on my hands and knees with a …

Dec 27, 2023: Ryan O’Neill: Let me repeat that back to you. One of the most effective communications strategies I use is repeating back, in my own words, …

Dec 27, 2023: The Hyperloop was always a scam. The tech industry’s move into transportation was not only a failure; it was an active campaign to deny the …

Dec 27, 2023: “100 little ideas: A list of ideas, in no particular order and from different fields, that help explain how the world works." These kinds …

Dec 27, 2023: What Happened When the U.S. Failed to Prosecute an Insurrectionist Ex-President. Historian Jill Lepore: After the Civil War, attempts to prosecute …

Dec 27, 2023: “Bertie Sheldrake was a South London pickle manufacturer who converted to Islam and became king of a far-flung Islamic republic before returning …

Dec 26, 2023: I saw this sign on the ground next to an impressively large poop.

Dec 26, 2023: It’s All Bullshit: Performing productivity at Google. Journalist JS Tan, writing at The Baffler, argues that Google has become a cesspool of bullshit …

Dec 25, 2023: I have seen the Doctor Who Christmas special and I have thoughts (SPOILERS)

Dec 25, 2023: Ars Technica rates 20 time travel movies by entertainment and scientific plausibility. What modern science has to say about time travel can be summed …

Dec 25, 2023: Reading “A Christmas Carol” as antisemitic is pretty easy. The main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, is a moneylender who doesn’t celebrate Christmas. …

Dec 24, 2023: The supermarket did not have Chianti. I talked to four employees, and they did not know what Chianti is. (“Candy?”) Does no one watch “Silence of the …

Dec 24, 2023: We saw this festive holiday display of leg prostheses. Please enjoy it.

Dec 24, 2023: “Elf” + “Enchanted” = “Noelle” The premise of the movie “Noelle” is that Santa Claus is a family business, with each Santa passing the pom-pom to his son. A few months ago, the last …

Dec 24, 2023: “Some thoughts on the real world by one who glimpsed it and fled." Bill Watterson’s 1990 commencement speech at Kenyon College.

Dec 24, 2023: Plumshell: Lately, I’ve been realizing the value of having something that excites me enough to jump out of bed for it. So, I’ve decided to fully …

Dec 24, 2023: Tyler Cowen: Is Bach the greatest achiever of all time?

Dec 24, 2023: Stackexchange discussion: Can Microsoft Flight Simulator help me learn to fly (or make me a better pilot)?

Dec 23, 2023: Ace Atkins bids Robert B. Parker’s Spenser farewell. After 10 novels, Atkins looks back at what makes the Boston detective character so compelling.

Dec 23, 2023: The Surprising Possibilities of See-Through Wood. Transparent wood is tougher than transparent plastic and glass and has potential practical …

Dec 23, 2023: How the press manufactured consent for never-ending COVID reinfections. Continual reinfection was not the “new normal” Biden advertised. How did we …

Dec 23, 2023: Why Do We Build Houses in the Same Way That We Did 125 Years Ago?

Dec 23, 2023: Walking the dog in the park this morning, I saw a runner wearing a Santa hat, a runner wearing a Christmas sweater, and a pack of bicyclists that …

Dec 22, 2023: Every once in a while, I pick up a call from an unidentified caller rather than letting it ring through. It’s almost always a telemarketer or …

Dec 22, 2023: I’m intrigued by Dave Winer’s distinction between conversation and publishing. He’s talked elsewhere about blogging as a kind of thinking out loud.

Dec 22, 2023: BlueSky upgrade: Now you can see Profiles and posts on the web without logging in, and it also supports RSS feeds. I want a single client for all the …

Dec 22, 2023: How to draw irregularly shaped polygons, such as L-shaped boxes, using Excalidraw This was a pain for me to figure out but once I got it figured it, it was simple. Use the line tool. Instead of clicking and then dragging—which will …

Dec 22, 2023: Yet another example why YouTube instruction videos for software are evil and you should use written documentation instead I needed to draw an L-shaped box for a diagram. I spent an hour trying to figure out how to draw it using Excalidraw. I found this YouTube video. I …

Dec 21, 2023: Ted Gioia at The Honest Broker: In 2024, the Tension Between Macroculture and Microculture Will Turn into War. Alt creators such as YouTube stars and …

Dec 21, 2023: Charles Stross: Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Trying to Make the Science Fiction They Grew Up on Real

Dec 21, 2023: A Knight’s Tale is the Best Medieval Film (No, Really)

Dec 21, 2023: One of the things I absolutely adore about A Knight’s Tale is that it makes no pretense at historical accuracy anywhere within its length. — John …

Dec 21, 2023: I think Democrats wake up every morning and they look at the calendar on the iPhone and it says January 6th. The date never changes. And then they get …

Dec 21, 2023: Federal Judge Blocks New California Law Banning Concealed Handguns in Public Places. I bet U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney does not allow guns …

Dec 21, 2023: Trump vows to amp up the Hitler talk

Dec 21, 2023: A fanatical Ohio prosecutor charged a woman with abuse of a corpse after she had a miscarriage in a restroom.

Dec 21, 2023: The family of an Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas is suing the Red Cross over ignoring the needs of captives.

Dec 20, 2023: The Rise and Fall of the ‘IBM Way’ Deborah Cohen at The Atlantic: IBM has a history of more than a century of innovation. The company was the Watson family business for 60 years, and …

Dec 20, 2023: JULIE: “I’m going to try a new herb and rice.” ME: “I don’t think I should be eating rice.” JULIE: “Not rice. Spice. Urban spice.” ME: “Oh, ok. Sounds …

Dec 20, 2023: Threads is getting an API. This seems to be separate from ActivityPub. I’m looking forward to this being implemented—I haven’t been …

Dec 20, 2023: I am quite enjoying John Scalzi’s December Comfort Watch movie list and have added about half the titles to my to-be-watched-list. I’m …

Dec 19, 2023: We went to the San Diego Natural History Museum Sunday, which proved to be a personal milestone for me—my first time receiving a senior discount. My …

Dec 18, 2023: The Everywhereist: Every Relationship In Love, Actually, Listed In Order of How Dysfunctional They Are.. I love this movie and agree with every …

Dec 18, 2023: RIP Luiz Barroso, who pioneered the modern data center for Google and made the modern internet possible. Until Barroso, data centers were populated by …

Dec 18, 2023: Sivraj and Me. Phil Gomes created a personal AI advisor using GPT Builder, with a sarcastic personality based on Jarvis from the Iron Man movies. This …

Dec 18, 2023: Humans are a basically civilized species. We know not to go barefoot in restaurants, treat our friends’ living rooms like landfills or nap on the …

Dec 18, 2023: Amazon is asking workers experiencing financial hardship to write to the company mascot (named “Peccy”) for help. Amazon would rather ask its workers …

Dec 18, 2023: John Scalzi has a delightful short essay on “Die Hard," a movie that works so well because of its wonderful cast. Even small parts get …

Dec 17, 2023: Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon in the last scene of The Gilded Age. Oh boy.

Dec 17, 2023: Merry Christmas from these grizzly bears at the Natural History Museum at Balboa Park.

Dec 17, 2023: The iPhone’s Notes App Is the Purest Reflection of Our Messy Existence. If you want to know who someone truly is—what they eat, what books they read, …

Dec 16, 2023: Alexandra Petri: GOP baffled that ‘We Don’t Care if You Die’ is not a winning slogan

Dec 15, 2023: I have a short observation about last night’s “For All Mankind.” I posted it elsewhere because spoiler.

Dec 14, 2023: Jason Snell @jsnell@zeppelin.flights makes the case for clipboard managers—software that saves a history of what you copy to your clipboard. I find …

Dec 14, 2023: Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr: How the NYPD defeated bodycams. “NYPD leadership were accountability’s adversaries, not its partners.” Police …

Dec 14, 2023: I hate to say I told you so but Death’s hand rests on the shoulders of some of the largest Western telecom equipment cos. Steve Saunders predicts …

Dec 14, 2023: Are Red Hat, VMware selling multi-cloud snake oil?

Dec 14, 2023: I bought supermarket coffee beans yesterday—and like them. My status as a coffee snob is in grave danger.

Dec 13, 2023: At the supermarket today I was in line at the cash register behind a rotund voluble middle-aged gentleman who chatted up not one but TWO middle-aged …

Dec 12, 2023: Apple buried the setting in WatchOS 10.2 for re-activating swiping to change watchfaces. You need to go into the Settings app, and then Clock -> …

Dec 12, 2023: My latest: Cloud cost-consciousness is having a moment. Companies are rediscovering cost awareness, which Amazon CTO Werner Vogels calls a “lost art.”

Dec 12, 2023: Twitter Is Just Running Ads for Stealing Semen Now

Dec 11, 2023: What if it learned from its training data that people usually slow down in December and put bigger projects off until the new year, and that’s why …

Dec 11, 2023: Why candlepin bowling took off in New England — and not anywhere else

Dec 11, 2023: Terry Gilliam and Jonathan Pryce on making “Brazil.” “Robert De Niro prepared to play a plumber by watching a brain surgeon.” … De Niro agreed …

Dec 11, 2023: “Ask a Manager” says “this is the best office holiday party date story of all time.” It’s EVEN BETTER THAN THAT.

Dec 11, 2023: I’m glad to see work is continuing on ActivityPub support in Tumblr (here’s a statement on Tumblr from CEO Matt Mullenweg), and also not …

Dec 10, 2023: We brought Minnie in for a good dog wash for the first time in too long. We tried a new place. They did a good job, but they used perfumed shampoo on …

Dec 10, 2023: “… blogging never died…. journalists just stopped paying attention.” — What if the Twitter replacement isn’t a Twitter clone?

Dec 10, 2023: The race to 5G is over — now it’s time to pay the bill

Dec 10, 2023: AI is transforming literary analysis and could help us uncover insights into our own minds, according to Ted Underwood, an English professor at the …

Dec 10, 2023: Bruce Schneier: The Internet today has been an engine for mass surveillance, and AI will potentially result in an explosion of spying. “Mass …

Dec 10, 2023: Shakespeare’s First Folio is “arguably the most important secular book in western culture…. Were it not for the First Folio, we wouldn’t have …

Dec 10, 2023: Bruce Schneier: It’s easy to think of generative AI as a friend rather than a service, making us vulnerable to profit-seeking corporations. “AI …

Dec 10, 2023: We have seen ”Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and I have thoughts It was very enjoyable. I see fans ranking it as third of the five Indy movies. I’ll go with that. They did a great job de-aging Harrison Ford for the …

Dec 9, 2023: “The metaphorical lynch mob that has come after the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn for the crime of having tried to give intelligent and nuanced …

Dec 9, 2023: Life for the Lowest Class in Ancient Pompeii? It Was Awful. Excavations in the ancient ruins have unearthed a cramped space where enslaved workers and …

Dec 8, 2023: Jim Geraghty at National Review: “Hunter Biden’s entire life, so far, has been a bold, defiant, shameless declaration that laws are for the little …

Dec 8, 2023: Today I learned the tradition of eating jelly donuts to celebrate Hanukkah dates back to the 1920s in Israel. The first record of donuts appears in a …

Dec 8, 2023: Fantasy disguised as science fiction disguised as fantasy: Roger Zelazny’s “Lord of Light.” Jo Walton: “I have never liked Lord of Light. If …

Dec 7, 2023: Making DevSecOps more than just lipstick on a pig. If your answer to implementing DevSecOps is dumping more responsibility on overworked developer …

Dec 7, 2023: Everyone and everything is pissing me off today. Not you. You’re awesome.

Dec 7, 2023: The presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania said calls for genocide against Jewish people don’t violate their school policies. …

Dec 7, 2023: GOP senator demands DOJ investigate reporter who wrote about potential Trump dictatorship. Radley Balko: “Congratulations to J.D. Vance, for …

Dec 7, 2023: Back to Reddit After a recent discussion with friendly fellow journalists, I started using Reddit again. I’d dumped Reddit after the whole dustup this summer between …

Dec 7, 2023: On a private discussion group, a friend asked what we use to clean our computer screens. I said I cover mine with peanut butter and let the dog lick …

Dec 6, 2023: I’m trying the Spark email app for Mac and iPhone. Impressive but confusing.

Dec 5, 2023: Lucid dream startup says you can work in your sleep. Despite the linkbait headline, the article itself is very interesting and goes into claims by the …

Dec 5, 2023: The most popular articles on Wikipedia in 2023: ChatGPT is #1. The list also includes Taylor Swift, the Barbie movie and Matthew Perry. I’m interested …

Dec 5, 2023: Jewish women’s advocates share graphic descriptions of Hamas’s brutal rape, mutilation and torture of Israeli women and girls. In the US and West, …

Dec 5, 2023: Facebook and Instagram’s recommendation systems are finding and promoting blatant pedophilia WSJ: Meta Is Struggling to Boot Pedophiles Off Facebook and Instagram The headline and deck on this article are too kind to Meta. The companies do not …

Dec 4, 2023: “Bertie Sheldrake was a South London pickle manufacturer who converted to Islam and became king of a far-flung Islamic republic before returning to …

Dec 4, 2023: First Zoom meeting of the week is in 20 minutes. I’m ready.

Dec 4, 2023: I’m going back to cross-posting from mitchw.blog to @mitchw@mastodon.social. Mastodon is part of the Fediverse (of course), but it’s not …

Dec 4, 2023: “I reversed my type 2 diabetes. Here’s how I did it” Neil Barsky at The Guardian: One gray Sunday in the middle of the Covid lockdown, I received an unwelcome call from my family doctor. Until then, for …

Dec 4, 2023: A new theory of “wobbly spacetime” potentially reconciles quantum mechanics and relativity—one of the greatest scientific mysteries of the …

Dec 3, 2023: WSJ: Is This the End of ‘Intel Inside’? Intel is competing with nearly every other tech giant, including longtime joined-at-the-hip partner Microsoft.

Dec 3, 2023: Notes toward a theory of the Dad Thriller Max Read: .. you know the kind of movies I’m talking about: Movies set on submarines; movies set on aircraft carriers; movies where lawyers are …

Dec 2, 2023: What went wrong with ‘the Metaverse’? An insider’s postmortem. The Metaverse failed, but metaverses like Fortnite are big and …

Dec 2, 2023: The way we live in the United States is not normal. Kirsten Powers: I began to notice a learned helplessness in the United States, where people don’t revolt at the notion of a college education …

Dec 2, 2023: Everybody Knows Flo From Progressive. Who Is Stephanie Courtney? How “Flo” transformed Progressive Insurance and the life of Stephanie Courtney, the …

Dec 2, 2023: Archaeologists reveal life stories of hundreds of people from medieval Cambridge

Dec 1, 2023: ‘I was told not to make eye contact with Tom Cruise’: meet the world’s most prolific film extra. Over a 60-year career, Jill Goldston has been a face …

Dec 1, 2023: Raycast has a new feature where you can activate your Mac camera and look at yourself before jumping on a video call. I tried it out as soon as I got …

Nov 30, 2023: So it begins. My Tumblr blog, formerly known as “Atomic Robot Live,” is now “Mitchipedia.” Now to discover the inevitable …

Nov 30, 2023: Hollywood Goes Home: How Celebrity Endorsements Are Helping Dems Win Down Ballot. “In towns across the nation, there is _that _person — the kid who …

Nov 30, 2023: A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending. Also, by Alexandra Petri: I’m starting to think Donald Trump is sounding …

Nov 30, 2023: I’m having a couple of mandarin oranges with lunch. They’ve been sitting around the house a while. I think I will use the remaining fruits as billiard …

Nov 30, 2023: I recently discovered the power of not having opinions about things. Was Henry Kissinger a war criminal whose death we should celebrate? I don’t …

Nov 30, 2023: I registered the domain mitchipedia.org and now I love it so much I’m thinking about going to the hassle of changing alllllllll my social media …

Nov 30, 2023: Red Hat kickstarts king-size Kubernetes cloud cost cuts. The Flaming Fedora fellowship debuts OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA) with hosted control …

Nov 30, 2023: RIP Frances Sternhagen, 93, a solid character actor whom I have always liked. She had prominent supporting roles on “Cheers,” “ER,” “Sex and the City” …

Nov 29, 2023: Before I upgraded to Sonoma I heard people saying the screensavers were great and I thought that was ridiculous. How great can screen savers be, I …

Nov 29, 2023: I’m going to try using this account as my main place in the fediverse. I’ll only use @mitchw@mastodon.social for reading, favoriting, …

Nov 28, 2023: The Washington Post: Race isn’t real, science says. Advocates want the census to reflect that.. Race isn’t real, but racism is.

Nov 28, 2023: Why Do Superheroes Wear Spandex? The Rise, Fall, and Return of the Super-Stretchy Material

Nov 28, 2023: Thousands of papers seized from Spanish ships during the 18th Century are now online. The letters are from and to ordinary sailors, revealing details …

Nov 28, 2023: Everybody who was Anybody had Dr. Feelgood and his Speed Shots on Speed Dial Dr. Max Jacobson, aka “Dr. Feelgood,” injected amphetamine-based …

Nov 28, 2023: On the Our Opinions Are Correct podcast: While robots and self-driving cars get all the attention, four mundane technologies have the potential to …

Nov 28, 2023: … the Court felt that bringing the chicken into the courtroom to play tic-tac-toe would degrade the dignity of the Court. I thought that the dignity …

Nov 27, 2023: The real AI fight Last week’s spectacular OpenAI fight was reportedly a donnybrook between “Effective Altruism” and “Effective Accelarationism”—two schools of …

Nov 27, 2023: The Pneumatic Tube Mail System in New York City … the first cylinder tube to travel through the New York City system contained “a Bible, a flag and a …

Nov 27, 2023: Residents of North Sentinel Island off India are one of the few surviving tribes that resist contact with the outside world. When a missionary …

Nov 27, 2023: Placebos are effective treatments for many conditions, such as chronic pain. They work even when the patient is aware they are receiving a placebo, …

Nov 27, 2023: An ode to ‘Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast’. “… if you want to understand the man behind the squinty eyes, listen to the …

Nov 27, 2023: Microcelebrity in 2007 Writing in 2007, Clive Thompson describes the phenomenon of “microcelebrity”–how blogging, Facebook and Flickr makes people famous …

Nov 27, 2023: Moving furniture on the blog I’m moving furniture around on the blog again (metaphorically speaking). The main visible change: No more ephemera posts here—they’re additional fuss …

Nov 27, 2023: Today’s ephemera: The ethics of transmogrification

Nov 27, 2023: Extra-good Beyond Belief episode on Thrilling Adventure Hour this week, with guest stars Kevin Pollak and Richard Kind.

Nov 26, 2023: RIP Marty Krofft, of Sid & Marty Krofft.

Nov 26, 2023: Problems vs. situations: When facing a problem, ask yourself “is it a problem or a situation? Problems, by definition, have solutions. You might not …

Nov 26, 2023: “If this is the only thing I accomplish today, will I be satisfied with my day?” Outstanding productivity advice from Tim Ferriss.

Nov 26, 2023: Feynman stories, Richard Feynman and scientism A “Feynman story” is “any anecdote that someone tells that is structured so that the teller comes off as a genius and everyone else in the story comes …

Nov 26, 2023: “Avoid situations that someone you love might later have to explain on a medical or government form.” Merlin Mann has been collecting life lessons in a lengthy bullet list on GitHub. Merlin’s Wisdom Project Some more gems: Minimize the number of …

Nov 26, 2023: What Old Age Is Really Like. Writer Ceridwen Dovey discusses the role of the very old in society, literature and lived experience, and talks with very …

Nov 26, 2023: Are Men Obsessed With the Roman Empire? “In posts shared on social media, women have been asking the men in their lives how often they think about …

Nov 26, 2023: Aack! A Millennial’s Audio Odyssey Through the ‘Cathy’ Comic Strip . “The comedian Jamie Loftus returns with another limited-run podcast, this time …

Nov 26, 2023: Turn Off Push Notifications. App developers want to blast you with trivial notifications all day, every day. The best way to take your attention back …

Nov 26, 2023: Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles I read Anne Rice’s “Interview With the Vampire” when I was a teen-ager, and did not find it erotic, and didn’t realize it was …

Nov 26, 2023: The Incredibly Strange Career of Anne Rice Anne Rice is known for her Vampire Chronicles, including “Interview With the Vampire” and “The Vampire Lestat.” She also wrote …

Nov 24, 2023: I tried to draw a turkey in spray cheese for the dog’s Thanksgiving dinner last night. Spray cheese is not my medium. However, the dog was not …

Nov 23, 2023: AI developers have turned science fiction stories about godlike supercomputers into a religion, leading to the current infighting at OpenAI. “The …

Nov 22, 2023: I just got back from lunch. How many CEO changes did I miss at OpenAI?

Nov 22, 2023: Today’s ephemera: As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

Nov 21, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Uninspired barbecues

Nov 21, 2023: OpenAI’s alignment problem. The company’s board failed the institution. But did it have a point? Casey Newton defends – or at least …

Nov 20, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Their remarkable ubiquity

Nov 19, 2023: Our server at lunch was named Ginger but her hair was magenta.

Nov 19, 2023: I visited with a friend in Oceanside

Nov 19, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Worse than a crying baby on a plane

Nov 19, 2023: Ryan Reynolds and Ryan Gosling are different people. I know that now.

Nov 18, 2023: Whenever I see an Econoline van, I think of a short story that Joe Haldeman wrote about a man who sets off a series of nuclear bombs in cities. …

Nov 18, 2023: “Doctor Who” showrunner Russell Davies says he grew up twice-closeted, hiding that he was gay and that he was a Doctor Who fan. For him, the two are …

Nov 18, 2023: Recent college graduates are drinking less. It’s even a movement with a name, NoLo—no-alcohol, low-alcohol. I’ve never been a heavy drinker, and over …

Nov 18, 2023: Search Engine: Why don't we eat people? Today I learned that on Christopher Columbus’s second voyage to the Americas, he encountered a friendly tribe, the Arawaks—“fitted to be ruled and to …

Nov 17, 2023: Why the Senate is increasingly skewed on race, parties and policy The Senate overrepresents Republicans and disenfranches people of color and people …

Nov 17, 2023: The likely GOP nominee is forgetting where he is, stumbling over words, and waxing full fascist…. the armchair gerontologists parsing every utterance …

Nov 17, 2023: “The antisemitic left hates Biden. The antisemitic right loves Trump.” — Jonathan Chait. Republicans Have an Antisemitism Problem. Democrats Don’t.

Nov 17, 2023: Trump says he wanted to participate in the Jan. 6 insurrection, but the Secret Service would not allow it. Reprehensible on two levels: He wanted to …

Nov 17, 2023: No, there isn’t a wave of TikTok teens supporting Osama bin Laden. … everything we see about TikTok is just being filtered through a media and …

Nov 17, 2023: For several months, I noticed that my MacBook Pro made weird hissing and clicking sounds in the morning. That’s bad, I thought, and I checked to be …

Nov 14, 2023: I recently received this message in text spam: Evelyn, it’s no sin to love each other and it’s not annoying. Just that one single line of text. No …

Nov 14, 2023: Red Hat: ‘The power of AI is open’. I wrote about how the crimson cap crew at Red Hat says open source has what it takes to meet AI’s demands for …

Nov 13, 2023: I hate when blueberries get wrinkled. They’re like Oompa Loompa scrotums.

Nov 13, 2023: Esquire: Nazi-Curious Madman Currently Under Indictment For 91 Felonies Gives Speech. Headline of the week.

Nov 13, 2023: Interesting analysis on using social media to drive traffic by Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day (one of my favorite newsletters). A couple of highlights: …

Nov 13, 2023: Red Hat debuts edge platform for vast device networks. I wrote about the Burgundy Beanie bunch at Red Hat launching Device Edge, an open-source, …

Nov 13, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Collateralized equine product

Nov 12, 2023: It’s Official: With “Vermin,” Trump Is Now Using Straight-up Nazi Talk Michael Tomasky at The New Republic: To announce that the real enemy is …

Nov 12, 2023: Plans to add ActivityPub support for Tumblr are likely dead. I can’t see that as a priority given Tumblr’s recent drastic staff cutbacks. Rodrigo …

Nov 11, 2023: Trump thinks Veterans Day is the day we salute veterans of the Nazi Wehrmacht.

Nov 11, 2023: “Imagine a mug that’s left on a coffee table.” — Anil Dash, That goddamn mug

Nov 11, 2023: “Reality isn’t brand safe. If you’re in the reality based community, brand safety should be your sworn enemy, even if they help you …

Nov 11, 2023: The US Tried Permanent Daylight Saving Time in the ’70s. People Hated It

Nov 11, 2023: Alleged pickleball masturbator nabbed after Columbia Pike peeping incident. From the comments: “Pickleball penis perp perpetually pleasures phallic …

Nov 11, 2023: The documentary “Sly” reveals depths to Sylvester Stallone. What emerges isn’t the superstar who turned Rocky and Rambo into American icons as …

Nov 11, 2023: A surprisingly moving profile of Geddy Lee. “… in the era of headbanging and ‘Cat Scratch Fever,’ they were singing 11-minute songs inspired by the …

Nov 10, 2023: A researcher identified the man on the cover of Led Zeppelin IV, 50 years after the album’s release. The man was a thatcher named Lot Long, and the …

Nov 10, 2023: Britain’s ‘loneliest sheep’ was rescued after two years at the foot of cliff. “The ‘over-fat’ ewe, named Fiona, was hauled up from her solitary spot …

Nov 10, 2023: Jezebel: Feminist media site shuts down after 16 years. Jezebel was a great site that “pioneered the sharp, dishy coverage that came to …

Nov 9, 2023: When they wear the hats it’s in a dramatic scene and rather than focusing on the emotional action and dialogue I’m just thinking what is that on their …

Nov 9, 2023: Marvel TV shows and movies need to get rid of the ridiculous headgear. The costumes are fine but the silly hats have got to go.

Nov 9, 2023: Tonight‘s TV choices: Season finale of “Loki,” season debut of “For all Mankind,” final two episodes of the season of “Bosch” and a new episode of …

Nov 9, 2023: I’m grateful to the Automattic team for keeping Tumblr running and being good custodians of the community. Today’s announcement is sad news, but I’m …

Nov 9, 2023: Sad news. Tumblr is downscaling after failing to ‘turn around’ the site

Nov 9, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Dinosaurs are like the coolest thing possible

Nov 9, 2023: This runner finished last at the NYC Marathon. He feels ‘blessed.’. Of course he should be proud. He finished the damn thing. He came in 51,258th …

Nov 9, 2023: No, Grammarly, “fertile AI” is not a better way to say “generative AI.”

Nov 8, 2023: El Cajon Mayor Urges the ‘Immediate Shutdown’ of Border to Palestinians. Racists gotta racist.

Nov 8, 2023: Today I learned Barbra Streisand has a mall in her basement.

Nov 8, 2023: TIL Barbra Streisand cloned her dog. Twice.

Nov 8, 2023: A guide for visiting journalists on how to write a San Francisco “doom loop” story: You’re here to write the millionth story about the San Francisco …

Nov 8, 2023: Welcome to dating in 2023: Today’s oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the internet

Nov 8, 2023: I would not say I have “sensory processing issues” (autism, PTSD—I probably do have ADHD) but yesterday I was at the supermarket and the ambient music …

Nov 7, 2023: I just did a rough tally of our monthly streaming video and cable bill.

Nov 7, 2023: Minnie wants you to know you’re awesome and she hopes you’re as comfortable as she is.

Nov 7, 2023: Food insecurity on the rise. 10% of California households can’t afford to buy enough food for everybody. Nationwide, that number is 11%. …

Nov 7, 2023: I have seen no policy or legislative proposals from No Labels. It’s all a bunch of handwaving about centrism and bipartisanship.

Nov 7, 2023: The timelessness of the Meg Ryan rom-com era. Meg Ryan’s latest film, “What Happens Later,” “recalls the Nora Ephron classics that defined …

Nov 7, 2023: How do I stop the “Start your day?” notifications every morning on Apple Watch? They are annoying.

Nov 7, 2023: Jason Parham at Wired: “The internet promised us access, but I didn’t realize the totality of what that meant. It meant always being plugged in, …

Nov 6, 2023: “… a bunch of predominately white, upper-middle-class Londoners fall in love while being self-deprecating and swearing inventively.…“ Love Actually at …

Nov 6, 2023: Get weird about that thing you're weird about: Today’s oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the internet

Nov 5, 2023: While walking with the dog this morning, I saw these. Seeing an El Camino first thing in the morning is lucky—everybody knows that.

Nov 5, 2023: I have seen this sign often while walking on Del Cerro Blvd. I have no idea what the story is. Hohokam Stadium is in Mesa, Arizona, more than 360 …

Nov 5, 2023: Time’s 200 Best Inventions of 2023 includes Sightful, an AR laptop with a 100-inch virtual screen. Also: Shift Robotics Moonwalkers are …

Nov 4, 2023: That poor couch: Today’s oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the internet

Nov 4, 2023: I hope I love anything as much as my grandma hated ‘The Sound of Music’. A sweet and loving tribute by Alexandra Petri.

Nov 3, 2023: Daylight Saving Time as Americans know it was instituted by corporate lobbies, not farmers

Nov 3, 2023: I love Dave Winer’s vision of textcasting—write anywhere you want, using any tools, and read anywhere you want, using any tools. Today, I take …

Nov 3, 2023: A starfish is a “disembodied head walking about the sea floor on its lips,” according to recent research. I did not plan to have nightmares about …

Nov 3, 2023: Everything peaked in the 70s: Today’s oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the internet

Nov 2, 2023: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 22, 1971. Zonker has a Maynard Krebs vibe.

Nov 2, 2023: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 21, 1971. Introducing Zonker.

Nov 2, 2023: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 19, 1971. Mike tries to meet a woman at a bar. At first it goes well.

Nov 2, 2023: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for September 15, 1971. Introducing Boopsie. She evolves over the years.

Nov 2, 2023: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 30, 1971. Nixon goes to China.

Nov 2, 2023: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 17, 1971. Meanwhile, here in 2023, there’s a dispensary on every corner.

Nov 2, 2023: I’m attending an event in a few days for which I’ll be wearing a suit and tie, which means I had to bring my suits in to be cleaned and …

Nov 1, 2023: Ron Rosenbaum is from Long Island. The Long Islandest part of Long Island—South Shore. And yet he hates Billy Joel. Is that allowed?

Oct 31, 2023: Enjoying giving office supplies and travel size toiletries to trick or treaters.

Oct 31, 2023: Jinkies! Today’s oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the internet

Oct 31, 2023: The beauty of finished software: Finished software is software that’s done—it doesn’t need updates. I missed a message from a client yesterday morning …

Oct 31, 2023: “I started reading Ed McBain when I was probably 11 or 12,” [Stephen] King said, looking at his row of several novels by the prolific author of crime …

Oct 30, 2023: Either CAPTCHAs are becoming harder or I’m becoming less human.

Oct 30, 2023: When I was 11 years old, I wanted to be Barnard Hughes when I grew up. I’m behind schedule.

Oct 30, 2023: I don’t like Halloween. It celebrates death and decay. I like a little of that—I loved the Addams Family and Beetlejuice. But an entire month of …

Oct 29, 2023: The dog usually has to be coaxed down the front outside stairs to the front gate. I think it’s because we only go down them once or twice a week so …

Oct 29, 2023: Overheard: There’s over 7 billion ppl in this world and I’m really the best driver, that’s so wild to me

Oct 29, 2023: Overheard: Just wait until conspiracy theorists discover they’re part of a conspiracy to use conspiracy theorists to spread disinformation via …

Oct 29, 2023: Cory Doctorow “The idea that creative workers aren't workers is bullshit.“ Cory: Why creative workers get screwed in labor negotiations (until very recently): Creative workers are part of a class of workers who suffer from …

Oct 29, 2023: Trolled by a fucking goat: Today’s oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the internet

Oct 29, 2023: Threads is in the early days of the social media enshittification cycle. That’s why it’s so great—for now The goal now is to attract users by the hundreds of millions, so Facebook is making Threads great for users. And it’s working—Threads is, indeed, a …

Oct 29, 2023: Dave Winer: We can do better than Threads. Running from the arms of one billionaire to another is a bad idea. Musk is the second worst thing that …

Oct 28, 2023: Ask a Manager: I want my coworker to stop giving me “psychic messages” from my dead family members. The coworker also has messages from …

Oct 27, 2023: Why’d I take speed for twenty years? Podcaster PJ Vogt writes about his 20-year use of prescription stimulants, as well as coming to terms with …

Oct 27, 2023: New GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson has proposed trillions in cuts to Social Security and Medicaire.

Oct 27, 2023: What if we kissed on the jouch? Today’s oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the internet

Oct 27, 2023: Daring Fireball: The Aftermath of a Massacre Is Always the Time to Push for Gun Legislation

Oct 27, 2023: Ask a Manager: my employee wasn’t respectful enough after the company messed up her paycheck. This letter has a plot twist that takes it in an …

Oct 27, 2023: San Diego GOP Lawmakers, Candidates Call for Tightening Border Over Hamas Threat. Building a wall worked great in Israel, so let’s get moving on that …

Oct 27, 2023: Cory Doctorow: A taxonomy of corporate bullshit: “… six lies that corporations have told since time immemorial…. it’s refreshing to see how the right …

Oct 26, 2023: We’ve all collectively decided that the 22 years since 9/11 have gone so well that we’re just gonna do it again huh?

Oct 26, 2023: Mike Johnson Blamed Shootings on Teaching Evolution, Abortion

Oct 26, 2023: ‘Scripture is very clear’: New House Speaker tells Congress God has ‘ordained’ them. (AlterNet) A perfectly normal thing that …

Oct 26, 2023: I think maybe video has taken off and text is declining simply because TikTok and YouTube make it easy to share revenue with creators, whereas …

Oct 26, 2023: A little bird tells me that Tumblr is going to put some effort into fixing its RSS feeds. O frabjous day!

Oct 25, 2023: Reading about our new Speaker of the House and seeing absolutely nothing good. He’s an insurrectionist who wants to impose Sharia law on the …

Oct 25, 2023: Today's oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the Internet

Oct 24, 2023: I had to cold-call a relative stranger for social reasons just now. I knew it was coming and I was nervous about it for days. I have become a …

Oct 24, 2023: Until yesterday, I had never seen “Moonlighting.” Now I have. The first episode at least. Much comedy. Much fast witty dialogue. Some action-adventure. The clothes are fantastic and very very 80s. Cybill Shepherd …

Oct 23, 2023: Finished reading: Pax by Tom Holland 📚A history of Rome’s golden age.

Oct 23, 2023: “If I define myself, what do I exclude to make a tidy boundary?"

Oct 23, 2023: For a long time, I defined myself by my work That was fine when I was in my 20s, but it became less and less useful. I stayed with it anyway, well past the point of uselessness. I also defined …

Oct 23, 2023: Today I learned about the three types of fun, as categorized by outdoorsy folks: Type 1 fun is just regular fun—fun while it’s happening. Type 2 fun …

Oct 22, 2023: Things I saw while walking the dog. We tried a new neighborhood today, Allied Gardens

Oct 22, 2023: I’ve passed this roadside shrine dozens of times over the years. I don’t think I’ve read the plaque before.

Oct 22, 2023: I’ve started reading Doonesbury from the very beginning, and I plann to keep going until I catch up to the present day. Here’s the very …

Oct 21, 2023: Ask a Manager: Should you list hobbies on your resume?

Oct 21, 2023: A long thread of stories about people bombing job interviews, on Ask a Manager: When asked a (completely stupid question) about how I would react if …

Oct 21, 2023: The myth of rural America: “ … the rural United States is, in fact, highly artificial. Its inhabitants are as much creatures of state power and …

Oct 20, 2023: While walking the dog this morning, I saw this house. These guys own Halloween

Oct 19, 2023: Overheard: I don’t want to brag but I walked into a room and remembered why I walked in.

Oct 19, 2023: Can I list “speed grocery shopping” as a skill on my LinkedIn profile? Because I slay at that.

Oct 19, 2023: Last night we watched the first episode of “Lessons in Chemistry,” about Elizabeth Zott, a chemist in 1951 who is forced to take a humiliating job as …

Oct 18, 2023: Today I learned Alison Brie and Brie Larson are two separate people.

Oct 18, 2023: Ezra Klein: Israel is giving Hamas what it wants Klein: Israel’s 9/11 — that’s been the refrain. And I fear that analogy carries more truth than the people making it want it to. Because what was …

Oct 18, 2023: The youth are not slow-dancing anymore. Decoder Ring: The Fast Decline of the Slow Dance. Rise and fall of an awkward rite of passage. Includes a brief history of slow dancing, starting with …

Oct 18, 2023: Jacob Mikanowski, author of the book “Goodbye, Eastern Europe: An Intimate History of a Divided Land,” talks with Tyler Cowen about Eastern Europe, …

Oct 18, 2023: Discuss: Identity politics is a game Jews can’t win.

Oct 18, 2023: U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force Struggle for Recruits. The Marines Have Plenty. When asked earlier this year about whether the Marines would offer …

Oct 18, 2023: Elizabeth Spiers: I Don’t Have to Post About My Outrage. Neither Do You. I agree. Nobody’s required to post an opinion about Israel and …

Oct 18, 2023: Robin Sipes was feeling sad. Her doctor prescribed her a cat. Her doctor said he wrote it down “because people sometimes don’t follow your …

Oct 18, 2023: These five toys are regular finalists for Hall of Fame honors. Now fans can vote one in. The pogo stick, the Fisher-Price Corn Popper, My Little Pony, …

Oct 17, 2023: Just a couple of things I saw while I was walking the dog this morning.

Oct 17, 2023: I was having fun with a telemarking scammer and they hung up on me and I’m disappointed. CALLER: “I’m calling from [mumble] about an order for an …

Oct 17, 2023: “I had to quit a job because of aggressive nesting geese.” I have rediscovered “Ask a Manager.”

Oct 17, 2023: I was having system problems several months ago, the solution for which was to reinstall the operating system. Now the problems are back, so I …

Oct 17, 2023: Where does the coyote get money to buy all that stuff from Acme? I don’t know how much a 25 foot tall slingshot costs but I bet it’s expensive.

Oct 15, 2023: RIP Mark Goddard, who played Major Don West on the 1960s “Lost in Space.” Lovely statement from Goddard’s co-star Bill Mumy, who played Will Robinson. Variety: R.I.P. to Mark Goddard. A truly beloved friend and brother to …

Oct 14, 2023: That was a bad idea. I’ve done it several times previously and it was a bad idea those times. I expect I’ll do it again because I want it to be a good …

Oct 14, 2023: The word ‘But’ asks to not appear in these sentences. Alexandra Petri: “The word ‘But’ has been stunned to find itself appearing in an increasing …

Oct 14, 2023: The Most Iconic Vintage Dessert from Every Decade 1940s: Bread pudding. I love bread pudding. I eat it several times a year. Unfortunately, the last …

Oct 14, 2023: A 21-year-old computer science student from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln won a global contest to decipher the first text inside a burned, …

Oct 13, 2023: Praying that Israel exercises compassion, clemency, pity, forbearance and love.

Oct 13, 2023: Mary Lou Retton Crowdfunded Her Medical Debt, Like Many Thousands of Others But unlike the Olympic gymnast, most people don’t raise enough money to …

Oct 13, 2023: The Progressives Who Flunked the Hamas Test. Helen Lewis at The Atlantic: Fitting Israel into the intersectional framework has always been difficult, …

Oct 13, 2023: I donated to the United Jewish Appeal Israel Emergency Fund to support the people of Israel. The fund provides: “Emergency cash assistance for victims …

Oct 12, 2023: Tyler Cowen interviews the fascinating Ada Palmer, Hugo Award winning author of the “Terra Ignota” science fiction series, Renaissance historian at …

Oct 12, 2023: “I came to realize that my Woody was my impression of Tom yelling at his kids.” On the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast: Soundalikes, or voice doubles, …

Oct 12, 2023: Go online to make a payment. Apple Pay needs me to reenter my credit card Go into the house to get my wallet See Julie, talk with her Remember that we …

Oct 11, 2023: Sometimes I want a nice turkey sandwich but I do not want the side order of doggy drama so I eat something else instead.

Oct 11, 2023: “Whatever calculation you make must begin with the premise that the deaths of innocent people are evil. I simply don’t know what the answer is. What I …

Oct 11, 2023: I was already losing interest in Twitter when Musk took over. The constant arguing and anger were wearing me down. Musk said he saw Twitter as an …

Oct 10, 2023: Hard-Core Sleepers Obsess Over Their Snoozing Stats … for millions, chasing winks with the latest sleep-measuring technology has become a nighttime …

Oct 9, 2023: For more than 70 years, filmmakers have been reusing the sound of a particular scream. Many people even know it by name—the Wilhelm Scream. “The …

Oct 9, 2023: The One Year podcast looks back at the 1955 Davy Crockett craze and how it saved the then-struggling Disney studio and “created the first baby-boom …

Oct 9, 2023: A reporter made sure a retired police chief’s death didn’t go uncovered. Then social media attacked her. Sabrina Schnur, a reporter for the Las Vegas …

Oct 8, 2023: smh when I think I used to feel obliged to have opinions about global crises based on a few hours of reading the news and to share that opinion with …

Oct 8, 2023: Digital Equipment Corp. (1957-98) was a titan of the computing industry for decades, aid its technology legacy is still felt today. And it was …

Oct 8, 2023: For the lonely, a blurred line between real and fictional people In lonely people, the boundary between real friends and favorite fictional …

Oct 8, 2023: I Was a Pop-Tarts Taste Tester. Writer Laura Holson remembers her family regularly received mystery boxes when the product launched 60 years ago. I …

Oct 8, 2023: Long gone, DEC is still powering the world of computing. Digital Equipment Corp. was a computing giant that declined until it essentially disappeared …

Oct 7, 2023: How magical combat can win the next election For the last half-century or so, the main US political parties have spent all their time and energy …

Oct 7, 2023: Stormtrooper Syndrome has seduced the West. The West has a bad case of “Stormtrooper Syndrome”—utter faith and certainty that we are the Good Guys, …

Oct 7, 2023: Irish people not being superstitious. I am not posting this to ridicule Irish people. I feel the same way about superstition.

Oct 7, 2023: Congressional Term Limits Might Break Congress. Jamelle Bouie makes a case against legislative term limits. We have legislative term limits here in …

Oct 7, 2023: Fervently hoping friends and business associates in Israel remain safe.

Oct 7, 2023: The Long History of Jewface A wonderful, playful look at more than a century of Jewish ethnic humor in Hollywood, triggered by the minor (and silly) …

Oct 5, 2023: People are saying “whom of which” now. Alrighty then.

Oct 5, 2023: A California entrepreneur’s $60 million battle to stop Apple from steamrolling startups

Oct 5, 2023: Rand = Buffy. Moiraine = Giles. Lanfear = Cordelia. Mat = Xander. Egwene = Willow. Hopper = Oz. Liandrin = Principal Skinner.

Oct 5, 2023: New PEN America Report Documents Surge in ‘Educational Intimidation’ Bills a new report released this week documents the rise of a new wave of state …

Oct 5, 2023: A California bakery sculpted a “Last of Us” “clicker” zombie from bread

Oct 4, 2023: I saw this squirrel chilling on the fence in our backyard. If you gaze long enough at the squirrel, the squirrel gazes back at you

Oct 3, 2023: Finished reading: Void Moon by Michael Connelly 📚Starts slow but but worth staying with. Builds to unputdownbability.

Oct 3, 2023: Things that don’t get you kicked out of GOP leadership: Heavy petting in a crowded theater in the presence of children, on video. Being under …

Oct 3, 2023: Because today has been weird, I am just now having my first coffee of the day, at nearly 1:30 pm. Also, my will to live has been restored. I believe …

Oct 2, 2023: I got the RSV vaccine, flu shot and Covid booster Saturday afternoon and it flattened me the rest of the weekend. I slept 16 hours yesterday. On the …

Oct 1, 2023: I got the flu shot, Covid booster and RSV vaccine all at once yesterday, and that flattened me for nearly a full day. Feeling better now. I remember …

Sep 29, 2023: I usually work at a standing desk but today I did some work sitting on the couch and learned I can write for short bursts while the dog is licking my …

Sep 28, 2023: Occasionally I get annoyed at Inoreader’s quirks and I try alternatives for reading feeds. But then I come back to Inoreader. Nothing beats it …

Sep 25, 2023: News about retrieving samples from an asteroid have got me thinking about a Lovecraftian eldritch horror that has been stranded on a rock in space for …

Sep 25, 2023: I’m thinking about “Level 7,” an apocalyptic 1959 novel that had quite an effect on me when I read it as a boy 📚 ”Level 7,” by a Ukrainian-born Israeli writer named Mordecai Roshwald, is written in the first person by a modern soldier whose name was taken away …

Sep 22, 2023: Despite myriad potential distractions, it’s good to see Washington lawmakers focused on what really matters, which is whether John Fetterman …

Sep 22, 2023: A friend’s post on social media was too funny for the simple thumbs-up or smiley emoji, but not funny enough for the …

Sep 22, 2023: Our new mortgage company wants to have a closer emotional relationship with us than we are interested in having.

Sep 21, 2023: Quit: The Silo Series Collection by Hugh Howey 📚 Grinds to a halt 300-400 pages in with 1,200-1,300 pages to go. I’d rather seal myself and my …

Sep 21, 2023: Finished reading: Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing by Matthew G. Kirschenbaum 📚 Extremely interesting!

Sep 20, 2023: I’m finishing up writing a networking product factsheet now. Grammarly suggested I change “packets” to “boxes.” …

Sep 20, 2023: I observed with interest the recent meme by young women who were amazed to find the young men in their lives thought about Rome often. I certainly …

Sep 20, 2023: By me: Oracle & Microsoft’s big cloud partnership: It’s about AI: For the first time, Oracle is bringing its Autonomous Database to another …

Sep 19, 2023: I have discovered Excalidraw and achieved nerdvana. I, a complete design illiterate, was able to create a simple networking diagram for a marketing …

Sep 19, 2023: Earlier I mentioned the movie “The Postman Always Rings Twice” but I brain-farted and called it “The Milkman Always Rings Twice” and now I want to see …

Sep 19, 2023: My latest article: Oracle boosts multi-cloud support for AWS and Red Hat OpenShift. It’s a big difference from previous years when Oracle …

Sep 19, 2023: A note to my fellow Jews, particularly Jewish-Americans Do you feel any connection to the place where your grandparents came from? My grandparents came from Eastern Europe. Poland on my father’s side, …

Sep 18, 2023: We have seen “Double Indemnity” and I have thoughts I have avoided nearly all noir movies until now because I like stories to have good guys, and my preconception about noir is that these films entirely …

Sep 18, 2023: A dog is a wondrous machine masterfully designed by billions of years of evolution to produce guilt.

Sep 17, 2023: The chest freezer in our kitchen is like the warehouse at the end of the first Indiana Jones movie.

Sep 17, 2023: A literary history of fake texts in Apple’s marketing materials. Read Max: These eerily cheery, aggressively punctuated messages suggest an …

Sep 17, 2023: Sandra Bullock and the Rise of Tech. Sandra Bullock movies reflect society’s changing attitude toward tech over her 30-year career. Sometimes I …

Sep 17, 2023: A Rachel can be either a sandwich or a haircut. And yet I think this is rarely a source of confusion.

Sep 17, 2023: Walking the dog, I saw a house with a five-foot “Christmas Story” leg lamp in the front window.

Sep 15, 2023: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are ‘coming to the end’ but together and ‘in love,’ their grandson shares

Sep 15, 2023: Google.com was registered as a domain name today in 1997. (via)

Sep 15, 2023: “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” Muhammad Ali (via)

Sep 14, 2023: Enjoying a quiet evening at home shopping for nose hair trimmers.

Sep 14, 2023: “For All Mankind” returns Nov. 10. Looks great! On the show, the year is 2003.

Sep 13, 2023: I was thinking last night that my brain is still broken from the pandemic. It exaggerated my normal introversion and homebody tendencies into …

Sep 13, 2023: This one time I narrowly escaped being a clown for a children's party Some years ago, a couple I was friends with pressured me to be a clown at the birthday party they were throwing for their little daughter. I firmly …

Sep 13, 2023: Historically, clowns go back thousands of years, and for that whole time, they were creepy, just as they are today. It’s only for a brief historical …

Sep 13, 2023: The Half-Truth of America’s Past Greatness. Esau McCaulley at The New York Times: Where can African Americans find this lost golden age? Do we …

Sep 12, 2023: USENET, the original social network, is under new management. rec.arts.sf.written and rec,arts.sf.fandom are still around. Now somebody bring back …

Sep 12, 2023: I’m glad to see the release candidate iPhone and Watch OS betas are now available. Every year, I install the betas when the first public betas …

Sep 12, 2023: This year's iPhone announcement is the least consequential iPhone announcement ever (and that's OK) Pundits like to say that every Presidential election is the most consequential election in our lifetime. I recall a panel of historians discussing …

Sep 12, 2023: Is Biden Too Old to Run Again? We Asked People Born on His Exact Birthday. I’m 62 and I worry about getting old. I’m inspired by the …

Sep 12, 2023: While walking the dog this morning, I saw this car. Kermit looks like he is desperately trying to escape from a serial killer.

Sep 11, 2023: I’m busy with work and other aspects of life and don’t have a lot of time for social media right now, so here is a photo of a palm tree in our …

Sep 10, 2023: Uh oh. Is it safe to let my dog lick my face?

Sep 10, 2023: Things I saw while walking the dog today

Sep 10, 2023: When Moviegoers Started Watching Films From the Beginning. Throughout the classical Hollywood era, moviegoers dropped in on a film screening whenever …

Sep 10, 2023: How the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive Writing

Sep 10, 2023: Do you really need to walk 10,000 steps a day? And 17 other fitness ‘rules’, tackled by the experts. Do you need to stretch before and after exercise? …

Sep 10, 2023: People & Blogs: Manuel Moreale is doing a series of interviews with bloggers. Here are Rachel K. Kwon and Micro.blog founder Manton Reece. I like …

Sep 10, 2023: Cory Doctorow: The proletarianization of tech workers. As employers turn the screws, tech workers are organizing.

Sep 9, 2023: Things I saw walking the dog this morning. I wish I’d stood directly in front of that rattan couch and centered it in the photo.

Sep 6, 2023: Currently reading: Track Changes by Matthew G. Kirschenbaum 📚

Sep 6, 2023: Finished reading: Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf 📚

Sep 6, 2023: I saw this car at the park today. It has been places.

Sep 5, 2023: Lake Murray this afternoon.

Sep 5, 2023: Overheard: My kid throws such a fit any time his bread gets a little burnt, I’m starting to think he’s black toast intolerant.

Sep 5, 2023: Overheard: Sometimes a joke is a great way to break tension during an unpleasant situation, and lately, l’ve also been discovering all the other …

Sep 5, 2023: Trash pick up is delayed by a day. Some of our neighbors will put the trash bins out tonight anyway, and we will feel superior.

Sep 5, 2023: Meanwhile, at a meeting of Elon Musk’s X Corp.

Sep 5, 2023: America peaked more than 50 years ago. Since then, we have been a society in collapse. “Americans are managed like livestock. We’re draft animals for …

Sep 5, 2023: Mike Masnick on Techdirt: Hey Elon: The ADL Convincing Advertisers To Run Away From Your Site Is Part Of The Free Speech You Pretend To Support

Sep 5, 2023: Yesterday I accidentally made myself super-strong coffee and liked it. This morning, I attempted to reproduce the coffee strength I made by accident …

Sep 5, 2023: Cory Doctorow reviews “Doppelganger,” Naomi Klein’s memoir about how she’s often confused with Naomi Wolf. From that gimmicky springboard, Klein …

Sep 4, 2023: Late lunch with Julie at Shakespeare’s Pub, San Diego. Good food and spirits, comfortable interior, and many delightful posters and postcards on the …

Sep 4, 2023: 10 fall TV standouts, including “Changeling” debut and “Frasier” reboot. I’ll give the “Frasier” reboot a try. I’m glad to see “Gilded Age” is …

Sep 3, 2023: Currently reading: The Silo Series Collection by Hugh Howey 📚 1,663 pages. That’ll take a day or two.

Sep 3, 2023: Overheard: me at 13: wow i can’t wait til we have immersive computers everywhere like Star Trek me at 30: wow i can’t wait until we …

Sep 3, 2023: NotebookLM, Google’s AI-powered note-taking app, is the messy beginning of something great. “What if you could have a conversation with your …

Sep 3, 2023: Burning Man festival-goers told to conserve food and water

Sep 3, 2023: Plan for 55,000-acre utopia dreamed by Silicon Valley elites unveiled

Sep 3, 2023: The Story of Our Universe May Be Starting to Unravel. Recent astronomical observations are shedding doubt on fundamental theories of cosmology and …

Sep 2, 2023: At Yale’s Long COVID Clinic, Lisa Sanders Is Trying It All Long-COVID patients, generally speaking, have been very miserable for a very long time, …

Sep 2, 2023: In America, the Cheese Is Dead: … in France the cheese is alive, which means that you can buy it young, mature or old, and that’s why you have …

Sep 2, 2023: 25 Perfect TV Episodes From the Last 25 Years

Sep 2, 2023: I saw this sign while walking the dog. We did not see the bird. 😢🦜

Aug 31, 2023: Vivvy would like me to put down the phone and pay attention to her.

Aug 31, 2023: Caitlin Flanagan: In praise of heroic masculinity: Teach boys that strength can be a virtue.

Aug 31, 2023: Kottke: The Infinite Hotel Paradox. A guest walks into a hotel with an infinite number of rooms….

Aug 31, 2023: The director of the “John Wick” series is talking about rebooting “Highlander” starting Henry Cavill as the immortal Scottish swordsman Connor …

Aug 31, 2023: No, Trader Joe’s employees are not trained to flirt. Or so they would like us to believe!

Aug 31, 2023: I loved the final scenes of “Justified: City Primeval” and I hope they’re setting up for a second season. The miniseries was enjoyable but lacked the …

Aug 31, 2023: The Best Cheap Place to Eat in Every State, According to Yelp

Aug 31, 2023: Scientologists ask the federal government to restrict Right to Repair. The church says it wants to protect the secrets of its E-Meter, but the change …

Aug 31, 2023: 10 years ago this weekend we brought this little girl home. Poor kid had a rough couple of days adjusting to the new environment. It was a tough couple of months for me and Julie too. Minnie is the first dog …

Aug 30, 2023: Modern physics can’t explain life, but a new theory of time might.

Aug 30, 2023: Yes, Brussels Sprouts Taste Better Now—Here’s Why Brussels sprouts bitter flavor was bred out of them in the 1990s, and ever since then, they’ve been …

Aug 30, 2023: Horse- race journalism Journalists need to stop covering elections like horse races. Don’t obsess over who’s winning—help us decide who to vote for. Horse-race journalism …

Aug 30, 2023: The “Paperless Office” Is Finally Arriving

Aug 30, 2023: Daily Tar Heel staffer Georgia Roda-Moorhead: “We are the Sandy Hook generation. We grew up crouching behind desks in pitch-black darkness, as …

Aug 30, 2023: Burger King is being sued for making its Whoppers appear bigger than they are.

Aug 30, 2023: What time do Americans have dinner? Which state eats dinner earliest? Latest? Using data from the American Time Use Survey, between 2018 to 2022, we …

Aug 30, 2023: “The Corduroy Appreciation Society was a club where people gathered secretly to celebrate their love of corduroy." On the delightful …

Aug 29, 2023: It's Time to Talk About 'Pandemic Revisionism' Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina discusses school closures, mask mandates and the pandemic response, on the Ezra Klein show, with guest host David …

Aug 28, 2023: My 20-year-old self-inking return-address stamp still works. That is some seriously well-made self-inking technology.

Aug 28, 2023: Continuing with decluttering my home office. Can all the drawers in all the furniture be junk drawers?

Aug 28, 2023: Hi, @mtt! Thank you for the nice work on the Tiny theme and plugins. Regarding the Summary Posts add-in: Would it be possible to configure the add-in …

Aug 28, 2023: How can we learn to speak alien? On Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman. If we meet extraterrestrials someday, how will we figure out what they’re …

Aug 28, 2023: How To Practice “Productive Procrastination”. By Clive Thompson.

Aug 28, 2023: My latest article: Is cloud networking convergence just around the corner? Dell’Oro says yes.. New enterprise cloud architecture requires …

Aug 28, 2023: Clive Thompson: How I Use RSS To “Rewild” My Attention I use RSS for an hour or so every day to follow specific sites, most of them very popular. …

Aug 27, 2023: As TikTok Ban Looms, ByteDance Battles Oracle For Control Of Its Algorithm Emily Baker-White at Forbes: The relationship between ByteDance and Oracle has become deeply untrusting and adversarial, according to five sources. …

Aug 27, 2023: A look at Smallville, a virtual village populated by AI chatbots, built by Stanford and Google researchers to create a society with “believable …

Aug 27, 2023: When was the first time a waiter asked someone whether they saved room for dessert? Is that guy getting royalties?

Aug 27, 2023: Want to read—nonfiction: Empires of the Steppes by Kenneth W. Harl 📚

Aug 27, 2023: From landlines to Zoom, a brief 30+ year history of business phone technology and etiquette. By Clive Thompson. In the 90s, background noise was …

Aug 27, 2023: Wanted: A combined RSS/Mastodon client. Yes, Masto generates RSS feeds but that doesn’t give you everything a Mastodon client does.

Aug 27, 2023: Cory Doctorow: How the kleptocrats and oligarchs hunt civil society groups to the ends of the Earth: It’s a great time to be an oligarch! If …

Aug 27, 2023: One Weird Trick for Writing a First Draft. By Clive Thompson

Aug 27, 2023: Clive Thompson: How I Take Notes When I’m Doing Research

Aug 27, 2023: Clive Thompson: Writing Tools I Use All The Time. My go-tos for reporting, research, and writing

Aug 27, 2023: Excellent discussion of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” On the You Are Good podcast with hosts Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed and guest Rain DeGrey. The only movie I’ve ever watched more than once in a …

Aug 26, 2023: WSJ: Tech Leaders Emerge Behind Plan to Build New City Near California Air Base Venture capitalists want to build a new city on currently rural land …

Aug 25, 2023: An ode to “Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast. I loved this podcast. “… one of the great love letters to twentieth-century Hollywood.” Some …

Aug 25, 2023: From Brooklyn to Astoria (Oregon): Journalist Clive Thompson cycled 4,150 miles coast-to-coast reporting for his next book on “micromobility.”

Aug 25, 2023: What’s the biology behind why we find some people attractive?. On Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman

Aug 25, 2023: Last night before bedtime, I stepped into the backyard and found myself standing with a big red spider a couple of inches in front of my nose. The spider was about an inch wide, and furiously busy tending its web, scurrying back and forth and moving its legs rapidly. I took a step back and …

Aug 25, 2023: Casey Newton at Platformer: Why note-taking apps don’t make us smarter. I’m surprised to learn Casey is a note-taking apps nerd, like me. …

Aug 24, 2023: Decluttering continues. Two observations: • A surprisingly significant amount of the clutter in my office was empty boxes for me to put the clutter …

Aug 24, 2023: What Happened to Wirecutter?. By Charlie Warzel at The Atlantic. I rely on Wirecutter for any unusual purchase under $200. If I need something I’ve …

Aug 24, 2023: The police came by to do a wellness check. They said Amazon had requested it because I hadn’t had anything delivered in nearly a month, and they …

Aug 24, 2023: Things that are annoying me today: Password management The acronym PTO. I don’t care whether you’re getting paid for taking time off. Companies that …

Aug 23, 2023: Currently reading: Somebody’s Fool by Richard Russo 📚 A pleasant surprise—I did not know Russo planned another sequel to “Nobody’s Fool.”

Aug 23, 2023: Finished reading: This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs 📚Excellent!

Aug 23, 2023: I uncovered this book while decluttering my home office. I loved it when I was a kid, and bought a copy from Powells bookstore on a trip to Portland …

Aug 23, 2023: In the course of major decluttering, I just found a ring of keys. It doesn’t fit any of our current locks but I have to keep them rather than …

Aug 23, 2023: While walking the dog, I saw this SUV 📷

Aug 23, 2023: My latest article: Ancient programming language gets new life in the cloud thanks to IBM, watsonx and AI. An IBM watsonx AI tool helps refactor COBOL …

Aug 23, 2023: Why Calvin and Hobbes author Bill Watterson vanished from the public eye.

Aug 22, 2023: My friend Marc Gorelick shares lessons from more than 40 years playing the tuba. Can confirm that Marc played the tuba as a teenager. We gave him …

Aug 22, 2023: Watching a security awareness training video as required by a client. Holy mackerel, Doug, stop being such a baby.

Aug 22, 2023: I saw this sign. Poor Sadie. 😭😢😭📷

Aug 21, 2023: TidBITS is doing a poll on whether Apple users use Apple Weather or some other app for weather forecasts. During yesterday’s weather emergency, …

Aug 21, 2023: All is well here following the storm. Reviewing the news today I see a dozen people had to be rescued from flooding in the San Diego River. Most …

Aug 20, 2023: Meanwhile, here in San Diego and nearby Southern California

Aug 20, 2023: Unimpressed by Hurricane Hilary. Demoted to a tropical storm. So far, we’ve gotten some heavy rain, but very little wind. Note to Hilary: This is not …

Aug 20, 2023: Tracy Durnell: My Reading Philosophy in 17 Guidelines I love all 17 guidelines in Tracy Durnell’s reading philosophy. Two highlights jump out at me. “Read according to whim.” Just read whatever the heck …

Aug 20, 2023: Small changes in daily activity levels, like doing a little more walking, stair-climbing, chores around the house, and gardening, can burn a lot of …

Aug 19, 2023: Getting ready for the (actual)(non-metaphorical) storm I was kicking myself because I only thought to stock up on water this afternoon, and was sure the stores would be sold out. But I decided to try a …

Aug 19, 2023: Finished reading: The Gutenberg Parenthesis by Jeff Jarvis 📚A thoughtful history of five centuries of print as dominant form of information …

Aug 19, 2023: Preparing for the hurricane We got the front and back of the house as clear as we could of items that might blow around. Julie did most of the work on that. We have enough food …

Aug 18, 2023: The pizza delivery guy says the weather outlook is changing rapidly and he is optimistic that when the storm hits it will be weak so that’s good.

Aug 18, 2023: Want to read—nonfiction: Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf 📚

Aug 18, 2023: Want to read—nonfiction: Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf 📚

Aug 18, 2023: This weekend we’re supposed to get a hurricane and an invading army of lustful tarantulas. How does your weekend look to be shaping up?

Aug 17, 2023: Finder stealing focus on the Mac: Fixing the problem with help from ChatGPT Yesterday morning, I was typing happily on my Mac when I noticed the cursor disappeared. I was typing but no text was appearing. I determined that …

Aug 17, 2023: PB&J: An American Love Story A brief history of an American gift to world cuisine: the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This article at the Saturday Evening Post by Linda …

Aug 17, 2023: How "Animal House" changed the world and invented today's Republican Party “Animal House” is where the 1960s finally and decisively turned into the 1980s — the 1970s being understood as a transition period highlighted by …

Aug 17, 2023: “The Warriors” keeps popping up in my Internet wandering. Time to watch it again?

Aug 16, 2023: What does the British Home Secretary do? We’re watching “Hijack,” a miniseries about an airline hijacking, focusing on Idris Elba as Sam, a passenger working to outwit the …

Aug 16, 2023: Jews don't count We Jews are left out of progressive discussion of diversity. Jews don’t count. A significant part of the progressive movement is outright …

Aug 16, 2023: Bradley Cooper is getting criticized by Jewish activists who are accusing him of “Jewface” for wearing a prosthetic nose in an upcoming biographical …

Aug 15, 2023: Want to read: Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient World by Mary Beard 📚A new book of Roman history by the author of “SPQR”? Yes, please.

Aug 15, 2023: The same lawmakers who want to rob their constituents of the right to bodily autonomy have also begun to treat democracy as an obstacle to avoid, not …

Aug 15, 2023: Me, watching @manton ’s video demo of the Epilogue app for micro.blog: “Hey, I just added that book to my want-to-read-list! And that one …

Aug 15, 2023: Are kids ever unsupervised anymore? When I was a kid, we rode bicycles for miles every day, unsupervised. Also unsupervised: We played in schoolyards and playgrounds, went into stores, …

Aug 15, 2023: I saw this while walking with the dog this morning. I was disappointed that I did not see the pig, but it’s probably just as well because I totally …

Aug 15, 2023: I never see pre-teens outdoors unsupervised by adults. Not playing in their front yard, not walking, not in a park, not at a playground, not riding …

Aug 14, 2023: The Case of the Internet Archive vs. Book Publishers David Streitfeld at the NY Times: In the pandemic emergency, Brewster Kahle’s Internet Archive …

Aug 14, 2023: “Sweet sesame chicken!” sounds like something a person would say instead of swearing.

Aug 14, 2023: Lunch yesterday with friends at Shakespeare’s, a British pub here in San Diego. One of the restrooms had two walls covered with dozens of …

Aug 14, 2023: A quick look back at the first IBM PC that launched 42 years (and two days) ago My Dad had one of these. I was living at home and going to college at …

Aug 14, 2023: Three things Elon Musk and I have in common. I’ve been listening to the Age of Napoleon podcast for months now, which covers Napoleon’s life, career and world in exhaustive detail. I am coming …

Aug 14, 2023: Trump tells Georgia witness not to testify

Aug 14, 2023: The Marion County Record was investigating sexual misconduct charges against police chief Gideon Cody before police raided the newspaper, according to …

Aug 14, 2023: Police in the small town of Marion, Kansas, raided the local newspaper office, leading to worldwide protest by free speech organizations. The …

Aug 14, 2023: What if generative AI turns out to be a dud? Gary Marcus: … we are building our entire global and national policy on the premise that generative AI will be world-changing in ways that may in …

Aug 13, 2023: Want to read: Sh*tshow by Richard Russo 📚

Aug 13, 2023: Want to read: Chances Are . . . by Richard Russo 📚

Aug 13, 2023: Want to read: Triage by Richard Russo 📚

Aug 13, 2023: Want to read: Elsewhere by Richard Russo 📚

Aug 13, 2023: Want to read: Somebody’s Fool by Richard Russo 📚

Aug 13, 2023: Want to read: My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland 📚

Aug 13, 2023: Currently reading: This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs 📚

Aug 13, 2023: San Diego attorneys fought to prosecute an unhoused woman for blocking a sidewalk. Now they’re backing off. The solution to homelessness is not …

Aug 13, 2023: The History of Command Palettes: How Typing Commands Became The Norm Again

Aug 12, 2023: Cory Doctorow: Paying consumer debts is basically optional in the United States. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects the people who need …

Aug 12, 2023: A short collection of delightful and/or appalling confessions, rendered in an excruciatingly painful format. Some of these are extremely raunchy, so …

Aug 12, 2023: Jamelle Bouie: Why an Unremarkable Racist Enjoyed the Backing of Billionaires Silicon Valley billionaires and millionaires support racist Richard Hanania, who advocated eugenics, forced sterilization, and opposed “miscegenation” …

Aug 11, 2023: I could watch a 2-1/2 hour movie of Peter Quill and his grandpa eating breakfast and gossiping about the neighbors.

Aug 11, 2023: We just watched Guardians of the Galaxy 3. I hope they make about ten more of those movies. So good.

Aug 11, 2023: Kottke: Glamor photos of vintage calculators, 1968-83. In the 1970s, calculators weren’t just for calculating. They were luxury items. In a world …

Aug 11, 2023: Kottke: The accidental secret ingredient that made Chicago Vienna Sausages delicious.

Aug 11, 2023: Reddit seems to have successfully put down its moderator revolt, but is destroying the site in the process Occasionally I like to not dress like a person who works from home and dribbles food down the front of their shirt. When I’d Google for fashion …

Aug 10, 2023: I saw this leaflet on a utility pole when walking with Minnie.

Aug 10, 2023: Currently reading: The Gutenberg Parenthesis by Jeff Jarvis 📚

Aug 10, 2023: Cory Doctorow: Verizon’s “repeated incompetence and waste on an unimaginable scale.” “The long bezzle: Verizon can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.” Verizon shutters BlueJeans, three years after buying it for …

Aug 10, 2023: How Will Artificial Intelligence Change Journalism?

Aug 10, 2023: EFF: Congress Amended KOSA, But It’s Still A Censorship Bill. Despite small changes, the Kids Online Safety Act “is a censorship bill that …

Aug 10, 2023: To demonstrate representational bias, the London Interdiscipinary School asked the AI tool Midjourney to generate images of a typical prisoner, …

Aug 10, 2023: My latest: Snowflake wants to help telcos ditch silos with a blizzard of data. With its telco ambitions, is Snowflake getting over its skis? The …

Aug 9, 2023: “This question has two parts, neither of which have anything to do with the other or the subject at hand. Also, this question has four parts.” Every …

Aug 9, 2023: Daring Fireball: “Colonel Harland Sanders, who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken, sold the company to a conglomerate in 1964, and then remained their …

Aug 9, 2023: Jason Kottke writes about the joys of being a regular at your neighborhood restaurant.

Aug 9, 2023: Despite’s Zoom’s attempts to walk back its changed terms, the service is still a privacy mess, according to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols' …

Aug 9, 2023: Oracle expands its hybrid cloud footprint to the enterprise. My latest: Big Red introduces Compute Cloud@Customer, a microcosm of Oracle Cloud …

Aug 8, 2023: Investigating the provenance of archive.today, useful for circumventing paywalls to read articles on sites such as Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, …

Aug 8, 2023: The dirty little secret that could bring down Big Tech. New research reveals that Silicon Valley uses predatory pricing to crush competitors and scam …

Aug 8, 2023: Cory Doctorow: “Private equity plunderers want to buy Simon & Schuster: From the same parasites that infected your hospital’s emergency room …

Aug 8, 2023: Caleb Sasser writes about “Turn-On,” a legendary hyperactive sketch comedy show from “Laugh-In”’s creators, canceled in 1969 midway …

Aug 7, 2023: Life before cellphones: The barely believable after-work activities of young people in 2002. “I never knew what time it was, so I was constantly …

Aug 7, 2023: What it was like to travel before smartphones and the internet.

Aug 7, 2023: SJVN: The best Twitter alternatives of 2023: Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, and more.

Aug 7, 2023: Don’t give your heart to Bluesky or Threads Cory Doctorow hasn’t joined Bluesky or Threads, and is sticking with Mastodon, because Bluesky and Threads aren’t federated and Mastodon is. Bluesky …

Aug 6, 2023: Douglas Rushkoff: Embracing the Impossible. What if magic is our most probable path to a sustainable future?. We’re not going to be able to engineer …

Aug 5, 2023: Paul Reubens Never Got the Critical Reappraisal He Deserved. Reubens brought joy to millions. Many friends came forward after his death to testify as …

Aug 5, 2023: The American Dream has lost its hustle: Young workers just aren’t buying it Felix Salmon at Axios: Even before the pandemic, young people mistrusted capitalism. “Now, with a strong labor market at their backs, they are …

Aug 5, 2023: Jo Walton at Tor.com: The Dystopic Earths of Heinlein’s Juveniles. Thanks, Cory!

Aug 5, 2023: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” musical episode trivia Actor Bruce Horak, who played Hemmer, returns as the Klingon general. In real life, the actor performs in a musical group, the Railbirds, which …

Aug 4, 2023: Lin-Manuel Miranda is reportedly turning The Warriors into a stage musical. I’ll watch whatever Lin-Manuel Miranda does next but this seems like maybe …

Aug 4, 2023: I saw this while walking with the dog today. 📷

Aug 4, 2023: “Fighting junk fees is ‘woke’: Visa and Mastercard want you to pay credit card swipe fees to own the libs.” A dark money campaign is claiming that …

Aug 4, 2023: Tired of Dating Apps, Some Turn to ‘Date-Me Docs’ The youngs today are burned out on dating apps so they’re posting long personal profiles to the Internet, often using Google Docs or Notion. These are …

Aug 4, 2023: Cooking With Gas: The decades-long marketing campaign by big business to get us to love our gas stoves. On the 99% Invisible podcast.

Aug 4, 2023: Casey Newton at Platformer: How the Kids Online Safety Act puts us all at risk. KOSA gives the Republican Party power to censor the Internet and …

Aug 4, 2023: Hard Fork: “Researchers in Korea claim they’ve identified a material that could unlock a technological revolution: the room temperature …

Aug 4, 2023: On the Search Engine podcast with PJ Vogt: Why can’t we turn all the empty offices into apartment buildings? The answer: We already have, for …

Aug 3, 2023: Things I saw while walking with the dog this morning. 📷

Aug 3, 2023: I’m happy to support the Kickstarter for the audiobook for Cory Doctorow’s next book, “The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation,” a …

Aug 3, 2023: Maybe you’re saying I should watch where I’m walking more carefully. And maybe you’re right. But I’ve lived with cats nearly forty years and the dog …

Aug 3, 2023: In recent weeks I have cleaned my shoe soles of great masses of dog poop twice and an extraordinary quantity of cat throw-up once. I have become a …

Aug 2, 2023: Minnie says good night.

Aug 2, 2023: This is what it’s like to spend your life in prison. Listening to the men in the short Opinion Video above is like encountering visitors from another …

Aug 2, 2023: My essential and useful Obsidian plugins A friend is getting started with Obsidian, making the switch from Evernote, and he asked me for recommendations on plugins—which ones I, personally, …

Aug 1, 2023: I’m working on an article about Snowflake Inc. and trying to get in just the right amount of puns about snow and winter.

Aug 1, 2023: Yesterday afternoon, I went into the sunroom to lie down for a few minutes, and found that Minnie had peed all over the daybed in there. She had been …

Aug 1, 2023: I started reading “Pursuit of the Pankera,” which is I think the only book by Robert A. Heinlein I have not read. I am enjoying it so far. …

Jul 31, 2023: The Life I Never Intended to Love: Dog Owner. Katherine Bindley: “During the pandemic I chose a breed often compared to a velociraptor. It ruined my …

Jul 31, 2023: The Criminal podcast: A Glamour and a Mystery. In the summer of 1917, 16-year-old Elsie Wright took a photograph of her 9-year-old cousin, Frances …

Jul 30, 2023: When posting memes, is it a good idea to put the text of the meme in the alt-text of the image? Can screenreaders read the text of a meme, if the text …

Jul 30, 2023: Things I saw walking the dog this morning. I like the lines of that building, and the stone facade. There was a shopping cart in the way of the shot, …

Jul 30, 2023: The Eagles are the ultimate 70s band, and “Take it Easy” is their ultimate song.

Jul 30, 2023: Ringo looking groovy and other oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the internet

Jul 29, 2023: https://www.tumblr.com/allhailthe70shousewife/724246770029314048/some-lovely-anonymous-person-sent-me-crabs-for-my

Jul 29, 2023: A surprising number of you seemed to enjoy the video of Minnie walking down stairs. Here is another.

Jul 29, 2023: On my walk with the dog this morning, I saw this gentleman living his best life.

Jul 29, 2023: You are Atlas. You hold up the sky. If no one is on this page, the sky will fall. youareatlas.com via waxy.org

Jul 29, 2023: Larry’s red space suit and other oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I saw on the Internet

Jul 28, 2023: The San Diego Human Relations Commission is a safe space for anti-semitism and transphobia. Or it was—the Human Relations Commission is losing humans, …

Jul 28, 2023: Things I saw walking this morning: That lawn has a lot going on. And Purple Snoopy does not live up to his publicity.

Jul 28, 2023: Sci-fi writer Ted Chiang: 'The machines we have now are not conscious' Chiang is the author of brilliant stories which explore themes of consciousness and free will, including “The Story of Your Life,” which …

Jul 28, 2023: In the 1970s, a Soviet journalist named Valentin Zorin made a series of documentary films about the United States. At a time when few Russian …

Jul 28, 2023: “Over my many years in politics and business, I have found one thing to be universally true: the kindest person in the room is often the …

Jul 28, 2023: A Dad shows off for his delighted toddler daughter and other oddly satisfying and mildly interesting things I found on the internet Dad shows off his skills for his delighted daughter in Melbourne, Australia, around 1940. via via

Jul 27, 2023: Buck Martinez needs a spinoff series because that name is awesome.

Jul 27, 2023: Thunderation! The Speaker Demands Bean Soup (1904) On July 27, 1904, Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon went to the Capitol dining room looking …

Jul 27, 2023: You’ll never guess what Twitter did with the guy who had the @X handle (spoiler: you will guess) daringfireball.net/linked/20…

Jul 27, 2023: The FBI is once again violating legal restrictions on spying on American citizens, querying communications with a state senator and US senator. The …

Jul 27, 2023: Red Hat’s recent decision to restrict the source code for its enterprise Linux build has led open-source projects big and small to come up with …

Jul 27, 2023: It’s uncomfortable when you’re at the supermarket and you hear a song that you once thought was edgy and dangerous. This is not a problem if …

Jul 27, 2023: A brief history of making out. Turns out “romantic, sexual, steamy” kissing isn’t instinctual behavior; it’s a learned cultural practice. A lot of …

Jul 27, 2023: Ghost Church: The delightful Jamie Loftus looks at the American spiritualism movement, including its history, and she visits the Cassadaga …

Jul 27, 2023: “Majorly” seems to me like it’s just plain wrong. Bad English. Not a real word. But apparently, I’m wrong about that. Majorly …

Jul 27, 2023: I am in awe of the mental gymnastics required to conclude that there's any solution to homelessness other than finding housing for people. It's like telling a drowning person that their real problem is they eat fatty foods. “Housing First” policy does what it says—it attempts to address homelessness by finding housing for homeless people before attempting to …

Jul 27, 2023: Sunday morning comics, Ohio, 1950s. And other things I found on the Internet Sunday morning comics, Ohio, 1950s. Via https://www.reddit.com/r/TheWayWeWere/comments/91sz1a/sunday_morning_comics_ohio_1950s/ On Reddit: …

Jul 26, 2023: Republicans want to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) to suppress LGBTQ+ voices. “Pass it, pass it, pass it, pass it, pass it,” says Biden. …

Jul 26, 2023: “Lies I’ve told my 3 year old recently.” Extremely short. Just read it. www.mexicanpictures.com/headingea…

Jul 26, 2023: The San Diego Police Department is being scrutinized for reliance on CalGang, a California database that’s been dropped by many state law enforcement …

Jul 26, 2023: ICYMI: Microsoft and Google reported strong cloud and AI growth in their quarterly financial results. But for both companies, growth is slowing. My …

Jul 26, 2023: Today’s ephemera: An “ANIMALS TALKING IN ALL CAPS” throwback “San Francisco or vicinity circa 1921. ‘Studebaker “Big Six” touring car.’ Cigar-chomping Army brass at the wheel. 5x7 inch glass negative by …

Jul 25, 2023: Our Long, National Taco Tuesday Nightmare Is Finally Over. Taco John’s was happy to bully smaller companies with threats of trademark …

Jul 25, 2023: Influencers are starting to realize that the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is dangerous. It doesn’t protect children online; it’s a threat …

Jul 25, 2023: Republican Counties Had Higher COVID Death Rates After Vaccines Became Available daringfireball.net/linked/20… Republicans will blame this on …

Jul 25, 2023: Decoder Ring: What’s really going on inside a mosh pit? The mosh pit is “a violent place where (mostly) white guys vent their aggression.… but it’s …

Jul 25, 2023: Virginia Postrel: Gadgets and Gizmos that inspired Adam Smith Pocket gadgets were all the rage in Adam Smith’s day…. The best known are watches. A pocket timepiece was an 18th century man’s …

Jul 25, 2023: David Eagleman: Could you upload your brain to live forever? eagleman.com/podcast/c…

Jul 25, 2023: “Wilder” is a limited-series podcast about Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the “Little House” books. Wilder lived an amazing life: She traveled …

Jul 25, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Marty Feldman and Ann-Margret, 1977 New York subway, 1980 Marty Feldman and Ann-Margret, 1977. Via …

Jul 24, 2023: Every time I bring in the car to be washed, I end up choosing add-ons at random. I finally decided to look up which ones to get, and which ones to …

Jul 24, 2023: Five years ago: At last night’s press reception I mistook another editor for a waiter and tried to take food off his plate. I mean, I literally …

Jul 24, 2023: New Project Uses AI To Turn Project Gutenberg Texts Into Free Audiobooks With Lifelike Voices — In 30 Seconds www.techdirt.com/2023/07/2…

Jul 24, 2023: Red Hat saved IBM’s bacon this quarter techcrunch.com/2023/07/2…

Jul 24, 2023: Surgeon warns against the most dangerous sex position, which causes 50% of penile fractures boingboing.net/2023/07/2…

Jul 24, 2023: How did we fill our in-between time before smartphones? I’m constitutionally incapable of ignoring text within my sight, so I remember reading cereal …

Jul 24, 2023: My career goal is to become a cowboy at a “wild west” roadside attraction. I want to be the guy who stands with a shotgun at the top of the stagecoach …

Jul 24, 2023: When the Town Square Shatters. Cory Doctorow remembers GEnie, where I made a lot of friends (including Cory). He says the end of GEnie nearly 25 years …

Jul 24, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Looking in the bathroom mirror first thing in the morning 1960 The voices of the Flintstones Via www.tumblr.com/lew-basni… Video. Watch here: twitter.com/slendersh… Five years ago: The …

Jul 23, 2023: Minnie goes down 13 steps. It’s a lot for her to process. We do this a couple of times a week.

Jul 23, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Wasabi Bobby's coping mechanism A hotel in Germany uses 3D carpets to prevent guests from running. Via …

Jul 22, 2023: Today’s ephemera: And how do we cope with stress? In 1909, Alice Ramsey became the first woman to drive an automobile across the United States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Huyler_Ramsey Via …

Jul 21, 2023: Google shows off AI “news article” writer to newspapers, leaving newspapers to wonder who did the fact-finding, investigating and …

Jul 21, 2023: Florida is requiring schools to teach how slavery benefitted the slaves, and require teaching “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African …

Jul 21, 2023: Donald Trump warns that “it would be very dangerous” for Jack Smith to jail him. boingboing.net/2023/07/2… Mighty nice country you …

Jul 21, 2023: I bet a lot of people are found dead in the act of Googling whatever killed them. “Is this spider poisonous?”

Jul 21, 2023: Today’s ephemera: moonshine, guns and a Chevrolet coupe H.S. “Dick” Hickman, Chief of Police in Colorado City, Texas, poses at City Hall with moonshine, guns, and a Chevrolet coupe after an arrest around …

Jul 20, 2023: Jason Snell: Why everyone should be running the latest betas on their Apple devices www.macworld.com/article/2… Jason Snell is being a bad …

Jul 20, 2023: Google Tests A.I. Tool That Is Able to Write News Articles www.nytimes.com/2023/07/1…

Jul 20, 2023: That moment when you drink thirstily from a big glass of water that had been sitting on the counter overnight, and notice two dead fruit flies …

Jul 20, 2023: Cosmic Crisp apples are 50% less expensive than Honeycrisp apples, and Cosmic Crisps are better. I will die on this hill.

Jul 20, 2023: I made several comments to Julie as I was making coffee. The last one seemed to require a response, and when none was forthcoming, I turned around to …

Jul 20, 2023: Comic Sans has been reinvented as a monospace font for programmers, according to this article which frames the news in vile anti-Comic Sans …

Jul 20, 2023: Marjorie Taylor Greene is a Biden supporter now? Wait, what? boingboing.net/2023/07/1…

Jul 20, 2023: Dictator-wannabe Donald Trump praises Xi Jinping as a “perfect” leader who rules “with an iron fist” …

Jul 20, 2023: Today’s ephemera: This beagle would like you to know he is helping Via www.tumblr.com/wilwheato…

Jul 19, 2023: We’ve been watching “Yellowstone,” “1883,” and “Justified: City Primeval.” I’m trying to talk myself out of getting a cowboy hat.

Jul 19, 2023: Famed Hacker Kevin Mitnick Dead at 59 www.securityweek.com/famed-hac…

Jul 19, 2023: Five years later, I do that with the Apple Watch when my hands are busy.

Jul 19, 2023: On this day in 2018: My Apple Watch alarm went off while I was watching the dishes, and without thinking about it I tapped the watch face with my nose …

Jul 19, 2023: On this day in 2018: Today at the park we saw a black lab with its hind quarters resting in one of those wheeled harness contraptions that disabled …

Jul 19, 2023: Vivek Ramaswamy repeats threat, telling two MAGA hosts that Jan. 6 was a “friendly preview of what’s to come” …

Jul 19, 2023: Universal Studios trimmed a row of trees so they no longer provided shade for WGA strikers in 90+-degree heat. Strikers complain. Universal responds: …

Jul 19, 2023: Cory Doctorow: Denazification, truth and reconciliation, and the story of Germany’s story Germany’s denazification was compromised and accommodated powerful, wealthy former Nazis, leading to resurgence of the far right and anti-semitism in …

Jul 19, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Festive chicken salad log Harrison Ford on “Love, American Style,” 1969. Sally Field in “The Flying Nun.” “Room 222.” ngl I would eat the heck out of this with plenty of …

Jul 18, 2023: ME: “Get out of the way so I can get an artsy photo of those rocks.” DOG: (gets out of the way … eventually)

Jul 18, 2023: While walking the dog this morning, we saw this excruciatingly artistically arranged bicycle and other objects.

Jul 18, 2023: Mandela Goes From Hero to Scapegoat as South Africa Struggles. “Nelson Mandela is revered worldwide…. But at home, a younger generation …

Jul 18, 2023: Rands in Repose reviews Bear 2.0. Don’t tempt me! randsinrepose.com/archives/…

Jul 17, 2023: On covid, California’s supreme court just said the quiet part out loud ko-fi.com/post/On-c… Robert Kuciemba, a woodworker in San …

Jul 17, 2023: ChatGPT makes bad writers good and good writers better, according to a study. www.technologyreview.com/2023/07/1… I make very little use of …

Jul 17, 2023: There Will Never Be Another Second Life. (Wagner James Au / The Atlantic) The OG metaverse found a niche where it has been able to thrive for 20 …

Jul 17, 2023: Texas ranks dead last in livability, and Florida is in the bottom 10 of the 50 states, due to poor healthcare, education standards and culture wars. …

Jul 17, 2023: RFK Jr bares his inner Nazi boingboing.net/2023/07/1…

Jul 17, 2023: Chick Tracts (99% Invisible). Jack Chick was the Leni Riefenstahl of comics. Chick devoted his life to using comics to witness to non-Christians. His …

Jul 17, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Alright everybody ... let’s find that grape Pink 1967 Mustang Tussy Hardtop Advertisement. 31 Photos Of New York City In The Summer Of ‘69 via AI-simulated Johnny Cash sings “Barbie …

Jul 16, 2023: Study: Cities with Expensive Housing Have Highest Rates of Homelessness timesofsandiego.com/business/… I’m trying to swear less, but I’ve got …

Jul 16, 2023: Do kids in New York still play stickball, skelly, and hopscotch? Or has that gone the way of rolling a hoop with a stick?

Jul 15, 2023: Plausible Sentence Generators. Cory Doctorow finds an AI chatbot is an excellent tool for helping to draft scary threatening lawyer letters.

Jul 15, 2023: Louis Vuitton is fighting a trademark application by a maker of garden tools because the fashion company claims it’s trademarked the letters L and V. …

Jul 15, 2023: No Relief: Temps Reach 122 Degrees as Heat Bakes Mexicali, Border Communities (Reuters / Times of San Diego)

Jul 15, 2023: Tiny Awards, a celebration of the small, playful, and heartfelt web (waxy.org)

Jul 15, 2023: Elon is paying far-right influencers, including Andrew Tate, to post on Twitter (Taylor Lorenz / The Washington Post). Paying a guy who was charged …

Jul 14, 2023: More than 100 people were stuck at Agatha Christie’s house for seven hours _(Devon Live) And then there were 99….

Jul 14, 2023: Riley Moore, a US House candidate backed by Kevin McCarthy, made six appearances on virulent antisemite Michael Scheuer’s podcast. (Media Matters / …

Jul 14, 2023: I’m looking into joining the Freemasons.

Jul 14, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Welcome to this absolutely massive and surprisingly clean sewer! via “BEER IS BEST” via

Jul 13, 2023: Vulcans really are jerks. The shuttle was huge. It was big enough to serve as a Starfleet Academy party bus. Just hang a disco ball from the ceiling. …

Jul 13, 2023: Is distributed computing dying, or just fading into the background? (Ars Technica/Andy Patrizio) “Distributed computing erupted onto the scene in 1999 …

Jul 13, 2023: Superman: Legacy and What It Takes To Be a Great Onscreen Man of Steel (Den of Geek / Joe George)

Jul 12, 2023: I saw these steps while walking Minnie a few days ago. They’re beautiful and my knees hurt just looking at them.

Jul 12, 2023: Even the old guys at the park were wearing ankle socks with their shorts, rather than full-length socks as I was. I need to level up my exercise …

Jul 12, 2023: Walking the dog this morning, I wore baggy checked cargo shorts, black calf-length socks, white New Balance sneakers, and my sweat-stained white …

Jul 12, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Wholesome yet dystopian

Jul 11, 2023: Steven Vaughan-Nichols: I’ve used social networks since the 80s. Threads is the most annoying one I’ve tried. (ZDNET) Threads’s …

Jul 11, 2023: It was at this moment that I decided to switch off Apple News notifications on my phone.

Jul 11, 2023: Jews, Christians and Satanists are taking legal action to protect reproductive freedom, claiming—rightly—that abortion bans are an imposition of …

Jul 11, 2023: Everyone Has ‘Car Brain’. “Online communities dedicated to criticizing cars and the people who love them have developed an insult that … kind of makes …

Jul 11, 2023: Twitter is burning, Bluesky is smug. Where is the best place to do your pathetic doomscrolling? (The Guardian / First Dog on the Moon)

Jul 11, 2023: What Makes Putin and the World’s Autocrats So Resilient? (WSJ / David Luhnow and Juan Forero)

Jul 11, 2023: New York State Built Elon Musk a $1 Billion Factory. ‘It Was a Bad Deal.’ “In terms of sheer direct cost to taxpayers, this may rank as the single …

Jul 11, 2023: What 120 Degrees Looks Like in One of Mexico’s Hottest Cities. Residents of the northern city of Hermosillo struggled to breathe. (The New York …

Jul 11, 2023: Los Angeles’s Bradbury Building is a gorgeous edifice built in 1893. You’ve seen the Bradbury if you’ve seen “Blade Runner;” the Bradbury was the …

Jul 11, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Atomic nemesis via via Card-punch machine 1960 

Jul 10, 2023: A bad day for local journalism. LA’s Richest Man Sells Union-Tribune to Feared ‘Chop Shop’ (Voice of San Diego / Will Huntsberry and …

Jul 10, 2023: Update: I emailed Slate to cancel my sub, and they replied promptly and said they had done so. So, points to them for that. But there really needs to …

Jul 10, 2023: At the park this weekend I saw a bulldog wearing a pearl necklace. Big chunky pearls, like Barbara Bush used to wear. The pearls probably weren’t …

Jul 10, 2023: Slate Plus is raising its subscription rate from $59 to $119 annually. That’s a nope. I searched the website for 15 minutes to find out how to …

Jul 10, 2023: Parakeet Panic. “When invasive parakeets began to spread in New York City in the 1970s, the government decided it needed to kill them all. …

Jul 10, 2023: An odd ChatGPT conversation I was trying to remember a quote about writing, but I couldn’t remember the exact words. Something like, “If you can do anything else but be a writer, …

Jul 10, 2023: Wait, should I not be drinking airline coffee?. On the new Search Engine podcast, PJ Vogt investigates rumors that the water used on airlines is dirty …

Jul 10, 2023: “Harry Milas' sleight of hand skills are so good that he now helps to expose gambling rings. He explains the tricks of the trade and why he hates …

Jul 10, 2023: In her new book “Nuts and Bolts Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way),” structural engineer Roma Agrawal identifies …

Jul 10, 2023: Born into extreme poverty, [Cary] Grant was told as a child his mother had died. She had actually been placed in a psychiatric institution. It was the …

Jul 10, 2023: Today’s ephemera: A few funny toots

Jul 9, 2023: Want to read: This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs 📚Good interview with Hoffs, formerly of The Bangles, on Debbie Millman’s podcast. Hoffs is …

Jul 9, 2023: Finished reading: Persian Fire by Tom Holland 📚 Fascinating story, a non-fiction history of the Persian-Greek war 2500 years ago. But a challenging …

Jul 9, 2023: Yesterday at the supermarket, I saw a man with a dog. The dog wasn’t wearing a service dog vest. It was just a dog, but inside the supermarket. It …

Jul 9, 2023: Today’s ephemera: Wow! See the unbelievable mystery hole Google Image Search for “dogs wearing shoes” does not disappoint. 🤔

Jul 8, 2023: Today's memes, tweets, vintage photos etc. 1961 - Shakespearean Tootsie Roll ad Superboy #8 May 1950

Jul 7, 2023: I deleted Meta Threads from my phone. I may come back to the service, but I’m not feeling urgency, and I don’t like app’s privacy …

Jul 7, 2023: Has anybody found a news alerts service for the phone that only alerts you for world-changing news? All the news alert services I’ve tried are …

Jul 7, 2023: Dolly Parton does not want to be an AI hologram, thank you very much: ‘I don’t want to leave my soul here on Earth’ (Boing Boing / …

Jul 7, 2023: Jo Walton writes about Heinlein’s Worst Novel. I 98% agree. My favorite Heinleins are his early books, particularly “Citizen of the Galaxy.” I loved …

Jul 7, 2023: How actors are losing their voices to AI.. Actors who signed away their voice rights many years ago are now competing for work with AI versions of …

Jul 7, 2023: In a sign of what’s to come for many white-collar workers, artificial intelligence is eating the software industry, as companies turn to …

Jul 7, 2023: I asked ChatGPT to write an episode of “Gilligan’s Island” in the style of Ayn Rand.

Jul 7, 2023: How Tom Brady’s Crypto Ambitions Collided With Reality. “The superstar quarterback is among the celebrities dealing with the fallout from the crypto …

Jul 7, 2023: Here are some funny tweets and a classic Norman Rockwell illustration Saturday Evening Post, July 26, 1941 cover by Norman Rockwell

Jul 6, 2023: I remember when I did not have to spend quite so much of my life charging things and making sure that the things are charged

Jul 6, 2023: Josh Withers shares frustration with stagnation in the ebook market. I agree, and blame the Amazon monopoly. That monopoly is created and maintained …

Jul 6, 2023: Threads: A mall inside the store inside the mall I signed up for Threads. Unenthusiastically. I want to use fewer social media platforms, and concentrate my focus, rather than doing more. Hopefully, …

Jul 6, 2023: Every so often I am tempted by an Ember coffee mug and then I look at the price and I fall over unconscious.

Jul 6, 2023: Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook “delve into the mysteries surrounding the Ark of the Covenant.” The most important object in …

Jul 6, 2023: “Why do we have so little access to what’s happening under the hood?" Neuroscientist David Eagleman discusses how almost everything …

Jul 6, 2023: I made heavy use of Google Reader, checking it several times daily every day. But I never used the social features—I barely knew about them. Learning …

Jul 6, 2023: Raymond Scott was one of the most famous musical composers of the 20th Century, though his name is nearly forgotten today. He was also a brilliant …

Jul 6, 2023: The Last Archive: The Word for Man is Ishi: The amazing story of Ishi, only member of his Native American community to survive genocide, who was …

Jul 6, 2023: Marc Maron interviews Hugh Grant on the WTF podcast. Grant is self-deprecating and surprisingly funny. From 2021.

Jul 6, 2023: Google bungled by killing Google Reader to build Google+, and then bungled again killing Google+ The company is like the proverbial donkey placed …

Jul 6, 2023: Doctors are starting to use generative AI to help with paperwork, which takes them literally hours every day—often evenings and weekends—and is a …

Jul 6, 2023: Today’s funny found photos, a meme, skeet and tweet and a vintage photo of Harrison Ford Harrison Ford takes a leap of faith in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) OceanGate is a microcosm of the Covid response. We’ll …

Jul 5, 2023: Question for my vegetarian/vegan friends: Would you eat lab-grown meat? I’m seeing in the news that lab-grown meat is coming to the market. This is not fake meat like the Impossible Burger, made from plant materials. …

Jul 5, 2023: I also talked with ChatGPT. I asked it whether AI is a threat to people’s jobs, and how people can maximize their success in their careers as AI …

Jul 5, 2023: My latest: Surviving the AI job apocalypse. AI won’t kill the human race or take everybody’s job. But the workplace will be transformed, and some jobs …

Jul 5, 2023: I recently came across the IndieWeb concept of POSSE. Not the first time I’ve seen it, but this time I read it more closely and said, “Holy cow, …

Jul 5, 2023: Suddenly, It Looks Like We’re in a Golden Age for Medicine. David Wallace-Wells / NYTimes. Hard to reconcile with our disastrous Covid response. We …

Jul 5, 2023: I’m fiddling with my RSS/read-it-later setup—again! This is an area I’m never satisfied with, and I seem to fiddle with it every few months. I find Inoreader is a mixed bag as a reading environment, …

Jul 5, 2023: There will never be another Harrison Ford The guy’s 80, and instead of sliding into the traditional role of lifetime achievement award winner, memoir …

Jul 5, 2023: As AI becomes more prevalent, a vast underclass of people training the machines is emerging worldwide. Josh Dzieza reports in depth for The Verge. …

Jul 5, 2023: Ephemera XCII: Star-Spangled Ding-Dongs Down the rabbit hole Spiegel, 1972

Jul 4, 2023: Not to brag but I just selected the perfect size container for Julie’s leftover chili.

Jul 4, 2023: I saw this sign 10 years ago today in a barbershop window in Coronado.

Jul 4, 2023: Casey Newton at Platformer: How the Kids Online Safety Act puts us all at risk

Jul 3, 2023: Happy Independence Day to all of my American friends, and may you finish the day with the same number of fingers with which you began it.

Jul 3, 2023: RIP Frank Field, a local New York TV weatherman who was a fixture of the television landscape when I was a kid in the 70s. He was 100 years old. …

Jul 3, 2023: President Eisenhower signed the National Highway Act, “the largest infrastructure project in American history,” July 3, 1956—68 years ago …

Jul 2, 2023: I had thought the end of “Endeavour” might take place immediately prior to the first season of “Inspector Morse.” But then I thought that was wrong of …

Jul 2, 2023: Lovely, sad ending to “Endeavour.”

Jul 1, 2023: We have watched four episodes of “Silo,” and so far, I would absolutely live there. Friendly people, everyone dresses comfortably, earth tones and …

Jul 1, 2023: Currently reading: Angels Flight by Michael Connelly 📚

Jul 1, 2023: Finished reading: Blood Work by Michael Connelly. Not his best, but very good nonetheless. This is the sixth Connelly novel I’ve read since January; I …

Jul 1, 2023: Supermarket speedrun: 40m22s.

Jun 30, 2023: That moment when you're finishing up a big project that's the last thing you need to do before a four-day weekend and your mouse decides it's angry at …

Jun 30, 2023: Amazon Basics dog-poop bags come with documentation. Do people really need documentation to figure out how to work dog-poop bags? The documentation is …

Jun 29, 2023: I enjoy Star Trek more when I’m able to not try to make it make sense.

Jun 28, 2023: I just completed a major project that I’ve been working on for weeks, and now I have to do it again for another project, also due today. And yet …

Jun 28, 2023: The dog and I saw this in front of a neighbor’s house this morning. You can tell they mean it.

Jun 26, 2023: Are you making changes to stay successful in your career as AI transforms workplaces? Getting new training? Sharpening some skills while letting …

Jun 25, 2023: Existential threats from AI aren’t on my list of things to worry about. That the super-rich and powerful are concerned is an indication that they’ve …

Jun 25, 2023: That’s not what happened with Twitter. The Twitter acquisition was unique. I’ve never seen or heard of a situation where somebody was forced to …

Jun 25, 2023: As a business/technology journalist, I’ve covered many M&A deals. Often, they start hostile, then both parties reach a deal and it ends quietly. …

Jun 24, 2023: Ian Welsh predicts that the US will be a big loser of the Ukraine war, ending the US global hegemony. The war demonstrates that countries can …

Jun 24, 2023: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that an American billionaire, in possession of sufficient fortune, must be in want of a Supreme Court …

Jun 24, 2023: Lemmy and Kbin potentially change the face of at least part of the Fediverse, making it more Reddit-like, focused on topics and content, rather than …

Jun 24, 2023: “Stunning”—Midjourney update wows AI artists with camera-like feature (Ars Technica / Benj Edwards) You can zoom images out to show more background. …

Jun 24, 2023: Logseq vs Obsidian: find the best note app for productivity needs. I am occasionally tempted by Logseq. Stop me before I change note-taking apps …

Jun 23, 2023: A viral search helped a radio host track down a man she spontaneously kissed at a music festival. (KTLA / Taylor Delandro) Aww.

Jun 23, 2023: Why Some Americans Buy Guns (NY Times / Roni Caryn Rabin) Confirming yet again that if you own a gun, it’s more likely to be used against you than …

Jun 23, 2023: A Titanic Disparity in How the World Responds to Maritime Disasters “All travelers, whether migrants or millionaires, deserve rescue. The global …

Jun 23, 2023: Still thinking about last night’s episode of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” It was about assimilation and passing, subjects close …

Jun 23, 2023: "…. Reddit is blindly following Digg’s failed path." (Steven Vaughan-Nichols / ZDNet)

Jun 23, 2023: Gearlinx taps the cloud for ‘Network Resilience as a Service’. Gearlinx provides network resilience and network operations as a service, using cloud …

Jun 22, 2023: That was one of the best Star Trek episodes I’ve ever seen. Moving and inspirational. We often get caught up condemning America’s failures, when what …

Jun 22, 2023: Vulcans are assholes.

Jun 22, 2023: I was just reminded that we moved to San Francisco on Halloween and moved away on Halloween. This seems somehow significant.

Jun 22, 2023: Oracle says ‘oui’ to European cloud sovereignty. Big Red launches EU Sovereign Cloud to help enterprises satisfy European data privacy and sovereignty …

Jun 22, 2023: Whenever I hear an anti-woke clown going on about soyboys, alpha males, beta males, and the importance of traditional masculinity, I think: A …

Jun 22, 2023: Seven Rules For Internet CEOs To Avoid Enshittification (Mike Masnick / Techdirt) These are good rules for building a healthy Internet business, or a …

Jun 22, 2023: When the press talks about the layoffs and chaos generated by a series of completely pointless mergers the blame always falls on ambiguities like a …

Jun 21, 2023: “Cellphones were for emergencies, or for calling people when you were drunk.” Dan Kois at Slate asks fellow GenXers to reminisce about technology, …

Jun 21, 2023: VMware’s plan for cross-cloud conquest. I talked 1:1 with Vittorio Viarengo, VMware VP of cross-cloud services, about plans to prosper by delivering …

Jun 21, 2023: On Today in Tabs, Rusty Foster has a good backgrounder on the Titanic submersible: Ok look, in my spare time I do volunteer wilderness search and …

Jun 21, 2023: Meanwhile, on Twitter, free speech absolutist Elon Musk has declared “cis” and “cisgender” to be slurs. Good heavens, …

Jun 21, 2023: Businesses have been laying people off and breaking promises to workers for 40+ years, and now these businesses think remote work is the reason …

Jun 20, 2023: When Minnie and I walk in the park, we like the opportunity to say hello to other dogs. This was a funny looking dog. 📷

Jun 20, 2023: I’m surprised the Republicans don’t like Hunter Biden. Guns and tax dodging are essentially the party platform.

Jun 20, 2023: The Onion: One Of Saturn’s Moons Discovered To Have All The Ingredients For Mouthwatering Enchiladas

Jun 20, 2023: The US has an internal refugee crisis, as 130,000-260,000 trans people have fled persecution in their home states. (Erin Reed) “Should this trend …

Jun 20, 2023: Samuel L. Jackson Is Confused Why He’s Not in ‘Black Panther’ Movies (Samantha Bergeson / IndieWire) “I’m still trying to figure out why I’ve …

Jun 20, 2023: Can IBM bring Watson back to life?. Watson never fulfilled the promise it showed during its spectacular 2011 Jeopardy debut. But IBM has a bold plan …

Jun 19, 2023: Every self-help book ever, boiled down to 11 simple rules. Outstanding life advice. I plan to write a short outline of this article and consult it …

Jun 18, 2023: We get a lot of ravens and/or crows around here. Julie found this article about how to tell them apart. Still, I remain low in confidence as to my …

Jun 18, 2023: A toymaker and doctor partnered to create Resusci Anne, a doll to teach people how to perform CPR. The face of the doll was based on an unknown woman …

Jun 18, 2023: Marc Maron interviews Quinn Cummings, writer and former child star who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar when she was 10 years old for her role on …

Jun 14, 2023: “We are living through the end of the useful internet.” The Last Page of the Internet, by Alex Pareene: The internet’s best resources are almost universally volunteer run and donation based, like Wikipedia …

Jun 14, 2023: Reddit is speedrunning enshittification. Hypothesis: The owners of the company are no longer interested in keeping the business going, and are just trying to maximize financial return by …

Jun 13, 2023: I’m going to move linkblogging to other platforms, primarily Facebook, atomicrobotlive.tumblr.com, @mitchw@mastodon.social, and maybe …

Jun 13, 2023: An Anti-Porn App Put Him in Jail and His Family Under Surveillance. After an Indiana man pleaded not guilty to possession of child pornography, courts …

Jun 12, 2023: Julie found this in her papers. I was the one with the PalmPilot; she never had one.

Jun 12, 2023: Do you believe in life after death? Are you sure you know? Really sure?

Jun 11, 2023: We’ll watch any TV show with a main character whose first name is DCI.

Jun 11, 2023: The Binge Purge. TV’s streaming business model is broken. A good long read by Josef Adalian at Vulture.com: It’s absolutely conceivable that the …

Jun 11, 2023: This is a working weekend for me. I had trouble writing, but I think I have it under control now.

Jun 10, 2023: Lulu says hi.

Jun 10, 2023: I usually listen to podcasts on my walk but today I listened to this.

Jun 10, 2023: For $20, Dumb Cuneiform will turn your tweet (or tweet-length text of any kind) into a real cuneiform tablet.

Jun 10, 2023: You don’t need 10,000 steps a day. Recent research shows 8,000-10,000 per day is good for people under 60, and 6,000-8,000 for people over 60. And …

Jun 9, 2023: Well, I’d like to see ol Donny Trump wriggle his way out of THIS jam! Trump wriggles his way out of the jam easily Ah! Well. Nevertheless, …

Jun 9, 2023: Gavin Newsom wants 28th Amendment for guns in U.S. Constitution. The amendment doesn’t go far enough. Swing for the fences. Repeal the Second …

Jun 9, 2023: Elon Musk is America’s most dangerous antisemite

Jun 9, 2023: OpenAI Hit With First Defamation Suit Over ChatGPT Hallucination. A Georgia radio host is suing OpenAI after ChatGPT generated a fictional …

Jun 8, 2023: The Apollo story is even uglier. Apparently, Reddit CEO Huffman is telling people that Apollo developer Christian Selig tried to blackmail Reddit for …

Jun 8, 2023: Enshittifying the Internet seems to be a theme this week. In addition to Reddit knifing third-party apps, Wordpress is adding generative AI …

Jun 8, 2023: Today is a day of petty disappointments. I’ve had a couple of business developments that are discouraging. Hopefully, they’ll come to nothing, but …

Jun 8, 2023: I’m disappointed that Reddit is jacking up its API pricing and forcing developer Christian Selig to shut down his Reddit app Apollo. It’s one of my …

Jun 8, 2023: To me the Macintosh has always felt more like a place than a thing. Not a place I go physically, but a place my mind goes intellectually. When I’m …

Jun 6, 2023: No, a rogue AI drone simulation did not kill its operator, despite recent news reports. Why make up a story about something like that? Because it …

Jun 6, 2023: Ted Cruz is citing the Bible and preaching on Twitter in defense of gay people, and it’s quite something. I suspect that Cruz is trying to play …

Jun 6, 2023: Why Is Everyone Watching TV With the Subtitles On?. By Devin Gordon at The Atlantic. Good article, but takes a long way to get to the real …

Jun 6, 2023: I have a pet theory that a four- or even three-star review would be fine in a rational universe. Ride in an Uber, and the driver gets you there …

Jun 5, 2023: I, for one, appreciate Roman numerals.

Jun 5, 2023: AI chatbots lose money every time you use them. That’s a problem.. By Will Oremus at The Washington Post Businesses are laying off writers because …

Jun 5, 2023: On this day of the big annual Apple product launch, I’m remembering that day many years ago when Julie and I went to the Terminator experience at the …

Jun 5, 2023: Writing a corporate blog this morning, I was able to dodge using the word “paradigm,” but I couldn’t resist “holistic” …

Jun 4, 2023: Coming back from the grocery store, I dropped six bottles of iced tea in the driveway and gave the neighborhood children vocabulary lessons.

Jun 4, 2023: When reading genre novels, often my favorite parts are the parts before the bad things start happening. That’s particularly true for Stephen King. I …

Jun 4, 2023: Idea for the beginning of a horror story: A friend mentioned recently that he works in a six-story building. His job takes him up and down from floor …

Jun 3, 2023: Kitty confidential: 13 secret signals all cat owners need to know – from a quivering tail to aeroplane ears

Jun 3, 2023: Ashton Applewhite: We talk too much about generations. People who happen to have been born at around the same time don’t have much in common. …

Jun 3, 2023: The Passover origin story of matzoh. It’s not supposed to taste good.

Jun 3, 2023: 📺 We watched the final two episodes of "Succession." I have thoughts. SPOILERS I’m seeing some talk that Tom isn’t the winner because he’s just Matsson’s puppet. But Tom is definitely the winner. All he ever cared about was the …

Jun 3, 2023: ChatGPT and other LLM tools have already replaced some marketing and social media writers as many companies decide cutting costs is worth the drop in …

Jun 2, 2023: The empty cult of The Big Lebowski

Jun 2, 2023: It’s 1178 BCE and the Bronze Age Has Never Looked Stronger. No, I Won’t Lift My Eyes to the Horizon Right Now

Jun 2, 2023: ‘They’re afraid their AIs will come for them’: Doug Rushkoff on why tech billionaires are in escape mode The only way to rebel is to be human and …

Jun 2, 2023: Cory Doctorow: The long lineage of private equity’s looting Fans of the Sopranos will remember the “bust out” as a mob tactic in …

Jun 2, 2023: When you think you have a full cup of coffee left in the carafe, but it’s only this much.

Jun 2, 2023: Idea for a Star Trek spinoff series: “These are the voyages of the starship Dunning-Krueger…. "

Jun 1, 2023: Governor Newsom Desperately Begs NetChoice To Drop Its Lawsuit Over Unconstitutional AADC Bill. Mike Masnick on Techdirt: … nothing in this law …

Jun 1, 2023: For my LGBTQ+ and/or accordion-playing friends: June is both Pride Month AND National Accordion Awareness Month!.

Jun 1, 2023: For social media and other Internet companies, the IPO announcement is when the enshittification process accelerates. The IPO announcement is the …

Jun 1, 2023: Today I learned that it is perfectly fine to say to someone, “I’m sorry, could you speak a little slower–I’m having difficulty understanding …

Jun 1, 2023: Meanwhile, on the Bluesky social network

May 31, 2023: Reddit’s new API charges would cost the developer of Apollo $20 million per year. Apollo is one of my favorite iPhone and iPad apps. I’d hate for it …

May 31, 2023: Furries Now Have Serious Beef With Ron DeSantis: A furry fandom con in Florida just announced it would ban minors based on the governor’s ridiculous …

May 31, 2023: I wrote this: Today’s data centers require extreme makeovers to meet AI requirements, says Marvell

May 31, 2023: The threat of human extinction by AI is only scary for billionaires and centimillionaires I see now that tech executives are once again warning about risk of human extinction caused by AI. I think it’s adorable when the plutes worry about …

May 30, 2023: Today I learned: A canary trap is a technique to identify an information leak by giving different versions of a sensitive document to several suspects …

May 30, 2023: Researchers are using Shoggoth, a monster out of HP Lovecraft, as a mascot for AI. Kevin Roose at The New York Times: @TetraspaceWest, the meme’s …

May 29, 2023: Adam Engst at TidBITS writes an in-depth review of the new, experimental Arc browser for Mac. Lately I’m switching off between Arc, Orion, and …

May 29, 2023: Cory Doctorow: The FDA literally granted pharma company Ferring a monopoly on shit. More precisely, the FDA rescinded its “discretionary …

May 29, 2023: We recently learned about “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” a 2017 movie directed and written by Luc Besson of “The Fifth Element,” which …

May 29, 2023: Guidelines for Brutalist Web Design: The term brutalism is derived from the French béton brut, meaning “raw concrete”. Although most …

May 29, 2023: Panpsychism is the view that the mind “or a mindlike aspect is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality.”

May 29, 2023: Possibilianism is a religious philosophy that’s open to exploring possibilities. Neuroscientist David Eagleman described it this way: Our ignorance …

May 29, 2023: The iPhone will auto-reply to text messages—but only when you’re in Driving Focus. I want auto-reply in all Focus modes. I hope that’s …

May 29, 2023: What novel should I read next? 📚 I woke up this morning and decided to break up with the novel I’m currently reading. This is a new thing for me; I recently decided to start more …

May 28, 2023: Mr. Davies Giddy rose and said, that while he was willing to allow the hon. gent. who brought forward this every degree of credit for the goodness,of …

May 27, 2023: Last night I got up for the reason one usually gets up in the middle of the night and walked into a wall forehead-first. Someone had moved the wall in …

May 27, 2023: A national eating disorder hotline fired its staff and replaced them with a chatbot, four days after the workers unionized. The staff weren’t asking …

May 27, 2023: A Day in the Life of a Woke Third-Grade Teacher, as Imagined by a Far-Right Politician I pull into the parking lot and say hello to the drag queen we …

May 27, 2023: ‘Ace of Cakes’ Creates “Star Trek: The Cake”

May 27, 2023: Vacant Arizona big-box store will become nation’s first “Picklemall”

May 26, 2023: We are five episodes behind on Succession, and I am wondering if I have the willpower to avoid news and social media Sunday and Monday, to avoid …

May 25, 2023: My latest: Broadcom-VMware merger will hatch a new ‘supercloud’.

May 25, 2023: “I tried the AI novel-writing tool everyone hates, and it's better than I expected” Adi Robertson at The Verge: Last week, generative fiction tool Sudowrite launched a system for writing whole novels. Called Story Engine, it’s …

May 24, 2023: I wrote this: Red Hat brings AI to IT operations. Red Hat is putting artificial intelligence (AI) to work in IT operations and event remediation, …

May 24, 2023: Jealous of other people's excellent videoconferencing backgrounds I have an expanse of blank white wall behind my desk, which always bugs me when I see myself on Zoom calls. This has been a stone in my shoe for three …

May 24, 2023: I wrote: Red Hat secures the software supply chain. Red Hat unveils Trusted Software Supply Chain, which tracks where open-source components come from …

May 23, 2023: Oracle’s Larry Ellison gears up to spend millions to back Tim Scott’s 2024 run. Of interest to my Oracle pals. From what I saw working there two …

May 22, 2023: Ray Stevenson Dead: ‘Punisher: War Zone,’ ‘RRR’ Actor Was 58. I’m sad to hear it. To me, he’ll always be Titus …

May 22, 2023: I can proofread my article or generate a cool Midjourney image to accompany said article. Gee, tough decision. Do I want kale or chocolate cake?

May 22, 2023: If the Apple VR/AR headset debuts, and it’s as described in leaks, it’s going to be the biggest flop in Apple’s history and one of the greatest tech …

May 22, 2023: Ex-Apple marketing executive says the company’s upcoming ‘Reality’ headset risks being ‘one of the great tech flops of all …

May 22, 2023: Mimestream is a Mac Gmail client that’s worth paying for Mimestream is a native Mac app for accessing Gmail. It gives you Gmail’s advanced capabilities, including Priority Inbox, categories, and labels, in …

May 22, 2023: Daring Fireball notes that the first version of many Apple products is historically overpriced and underfeatured. That’s how Apple works. They grab …

May 22, 2023: Surprisingly insightful art observations from “The Simpsons."

May 21, 2023: Kraft Heinz unveils Remix, a customizable Internet of Things sauce dispenser with more than 200 condiment combinations.

May 21, 2023: I’m looking forward to listening to the State of Micro.blog presentation with @jean @manton and @vincent on my walk this afternoon.

May 21, 2023: A man named Wilfred Pickles brought regional dialect to the BBC in 1941 as part of an anti-Nazi-propaganda strategy.

May 21, 2023: School librarians in seven states face possible jail times and hefty fines for giving kids books that acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ people.

May 21, 2023: A lawsuit in Florida illustrates how two racist LGTBQ-phobic fanatics can get books banned in an entire school district..

May 21, 2023: Pizza Pizza is my favorite food. We have pizza once a week. There have been times in my life when I have had it more often than that. I have had great pizza …

May 21, 2023: Walking with the dog the other day, I saw a big snake on the path. 5-7 feet long and fat. This was a couple of days after seeing a coyote walking down …

May 20, 2023: What if we had a political party that represented working people? All working people. Everybody. All races, ethnicities, genders, sexes, and …

May 20, 2023: Am I too old to use the word “banger?”

May 20, 2023: There’s been a lot of ink spilled on the Trump transformation of the GOP, but Dems’ transformation from a party representing labor to a party …

May 20, 2023: Supreme Court Leaves 230 Alone For Now, But Justice Thomas Gives A Pretty Good Explanation For Why It Exists In The First Place. Thomas, of all …

May 20, 2023: “It makes you really appreciate how free we are as a country when you’re hiding under a desk with bullets flying over your head.” The Onion: Americans …

May 20, 2023: Jamelle Bouie: There is a reason Ron DeSantis wants history told a certain way. DeSantis is continuing a long tradition. Lawmakers in the antebellum …

May 20, 2023: The Four Freedoms, According to Republicans Jamelle Bouie at the New York Times: There is the freedom to control — to restrict the bodily autonomy of …

May 19, 2023: It amazes me when I see someone has worked at the same company for 20+ years. I respect that stability.

May 19, 2023: De-nerding on coffee A few years ago, I nerded out on coffee-making methods and eventually settled on using an Aeropress for my daily work-juice. Then I went down a …

May 19, 2023: Today I learned Alexander Skarsgård and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau are not the same person.

May 19, 2023: On YouTube: Unboxing Shakespeare’s First Folio.. Amazing. The books look so new. I’ve always known Shakespeare was a popular writer in his …

May 19, 2023: This is Catfishing on an Industrial Scale Laura Cole writes at Wired about fake dating sites that employ hundreds of freelancers around the world “to animate fake profiles and chat with people …

May 18, 2023: Quite a lot of nature this morning This morning, a little after 8, I was on my way home from walking the dog, one street over from the house, and I saw a coyote loping down the street. …

May 18, 2023: Big Tech is parasitic on the news industry, but click taxing isn’t the answer, says Cory Doctorow, who has four better ideas.

May 18, 2023: jwz: “Today I learned that Church Molestation Liability Insurance is a thing that exists You know what’s not a thing that exists? Drag Show and LGBTQ …

May 18, 2023: Disney Pulls Plug on $1 Billion Development in Florida. Daring Fireball: “Vote for Republicans, they’re good for business.”

May 18, 2023: Kieran Culkin, who plays Roman on “Succession,” would be outstanding as Random in the miniseries of Roger Zelazny’s “Chronicles of Amber” that’s …

May 17, 2023: ME: I can drink three strong cups of coffee every day without any negative effects! ALSO ME: I wonder how I got this vicious insomnia, which is …

May 17, 2023: Today I learned the phrase “Taco Tuesday” is a registered trademark of the fast food chain Taco John. But Taco Bell is going to court to liberate …

May 17, 2023: Cory Doctorow: The IRS will do your taxes for you (if that’s what you prefer) “After years of expensively purchased delay, Turbotax and its fellow …

May 17, 2023: Today I learned Jeff Bezos’s biological father was a unicycle hockey player and owned and operated a bicycle shop.

May 17, 2023: Elon Musk: Work from home ‘morally wrong’ when some have to show up (CNBC). Wait til he finds out some people are billionaires while …

May 16, 2023: Cory Doctorow: Rent control works. It keeps housing costs down, doesn’t constrain supply, and sometimes increases that supply. We need rent control, …

May 16, 2023: I Will Defend Free Speech to the Death. Or Until an Autocrat Asks Me to Stop. “Let every petty dictator take notice: If you want Twitter to …

May 16, 2023: Want to read: Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders by John Mortimer 📚

May 15, 2023: The people who design public bathrooms like to change the faucet designs just to fuck with us. “Let’s see those fuckers try to wash their …

May 15, 2023: The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”. ProPublica’s Anjeanette Damon, Byard Duncan and Mollie Simon investigate HomeVestors of America, which …

May 15, 2023: BlueSky supports Markdown links when cross-posting from micro.blog (which is how I post to BlueSky. Let’s see if BlueSky also supports bold and …

May 15, 2023: You’re not uncool. Making friends as an adult is just hard. One important suggestion: Assume that people will like you when they meet you, says …

May 15, 2023: Bluesky should be pronounced “blooski.” Follow me for more branding tips.

May 15, 2023: For years I’ve complained that there’s no online equivalent to being able to buy one issue of a magazine or newspaper. Columbia Journalism Review …

May 15, 2023: Things I am grateful for this morning: The dog does not smell as bad as she did this weekend. (She is very past due for a bath.) The cats rarely …

May 15, 2023: Tens of millions Americans suffer from chronic, debilitating pain that often drives them to addiction, unemployment and homelessness. Nicholas Kristof …

May 14, 2023: I meant to write “QR Codes” but instead wrote “QR Cods.” Microsoft Word tagged that spelling as fishy.

May 14, 2023: I’m doing some work in my home office this afternoon and I was literally distracted by a squirrel in the backyard.

May 14, 2023: Today I learned there’s a “Babylon 5” animated movie coming. Casting details here. I’ll watch!

May 14, 2023: America’s Caffeine Addiction: Why Some Experts Say It’s Time to Quit. Good article, clickbait headline. Caffeine in moderation is fine, but some of …

May 13, 2023: Inside the Last Old-School Seltzer Shop in New York. “Good seltzer should hurt — it should be carbonated enough that it kind of stings the back of …

May 13, 2023: The Enduring Mystery of Barbara Lowe and the Lost ‘Jeopardy!’ Episodes. I had no idea “Jeopardy” fandom was so large and organized. (The Ringer / …

May 12, 2023: Please enjoy this 11-second video of geese and goslings, which I saw at Lake Murray this morning.

May 11, 2023: Just as I got my mind un-blown about generative AI, I’m now learning about autonomous agents. I tried doing a Midjourney cartoon to illustrate …

May 11, 2023: That time Heather Armstrong roasted me on her popular blog, dooce I mentioned yesterday that I interviewed Heather Armstrong, who wrote the blog dooce and that she later wrote about how excruciating the experience …

May 10, 2023: I’m sad to learn about the death of pioneering blogger Heather Armstrong, author of dooce. She wrote candidly, movingly, and often hilariously …

May 10, 2023: I found IBM’s AI announcement yesterday confusing; this write-up by Tobias Mann on The Register helps clarify details. IBM is pushing its deep …

May 10, 2023: Don’t replace your people with ChatGPT or other AI services (Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / Computerworld). ChatGPT and other AI aren’t ready to …

May 10, 2023: The dog caught all three of her nutritional supplement treats in the air this morning, so that means it’s going to be a good day.

May 9, 2023: Mrs. Maisel spoiler speculation In my head canon, the final episode is set today, in 2023. Midge and Susy are in their 90s and reconciled. And they’re on tour together, like George …

May 9, 2023: I’m on the hot new social app. @mitchw.bsky.social. Instead of Bluesky, they should call it “déjà vu.”

May 9, 2023: If you're looking to procrastinate, Midjourney is great for that. 

May 9, 2023: It's hard to have a nap when there is a cat standing on your pillow demanding attention. 

May 9, 2023: I’ve got a 1,500-word article due Thursday but I’m going to try to get it done today. Am writing. Don’t distract me.

May 9, 2023: Scientists have invented a technique for reading a person’s thoughts without the need for invasive surgery—in other words, they don’t have to crack …

May 9, 2023: My latest: VMware customers should find ‘exit ramps’ ahead of Broadcom deal: Gartner. VMware customers need to look for alternatives in …

May 8, 2023: Paramount Can’t Say No to the Man Behind ‘Yellowstone’: $50,000 a Week for His Ranch, $25 Per Cow. By Erich Schwartzel and Joe Flint at The Wall …

May 8, 2023: ChatGPT is powered by these contractors making $15 per hour. Two OpenAI contractors spoke to NBC News about their work training the system behind …

May 8, 2023: Steven Spainhouer’s son was working at Allen Premium Outlets when he received the phone call no father ever wants to hear. “He said, ‘Dad, we have a …

May 8, 2023: Marissa Mayer says she wishes she’d bought Hulu or Netflix instead of Tumblr. She also talks about the AI search race, technology fears, and other …

May 8, 2023: AI text generators are writing more of the internet. More AI-generated books and personalized articles mean fewer clients buying human-written …

May 8, 2023: TikTok tracked users who watched LGBTQ content. (WSJ) Imagine what a backward religious dictatorship like Saudi Arabia or Alabama could do with that …

May 8, 2023: Elon Musk’s goal for Twitter is “unregretted user-minutes.” (WSJ) A good idea, but how do you measure that?

May 8, 2023: Republicans have the answer to food insecurity in America: More guns, ban abortion, and stamp out drag shows.

May 8, 2023: Lines stretch down the block at food banks as costs go up and pandemic aid expires. The line outside Boston’s American Red Cross Food Pantry on a …

May 8, 2023: The oats only need to soak two hours and I have an excellent battery case for the phone. Me vs. Monday is a tie so far.

May 8, 2023: I’ve been awake less than a half hour and already found I forgot to make overnight oats last night and my phone is only 7% charge. Does Monday have a …

May 6, 2023: Corporate greed, not workers, is the cause of inflation. We know this because CEOs tell us: Call me a conspiratorialist if you must. But when CEOs …

May 6, 2023: “Insufficiently Caffeinated” would be a good name for a band.

May 6, 2023: “… when you refuse to learn why something weird is happening online and just stop and gawk at it, you miss what is always a more interesting story.” — …

May 4, 2023: Dave Winer: “I definitely want Bluesky to just go away. I don’t like it because if it gains traction it has potential of replacing Twitter …

May 4, 2023: Dave Winer: “As a user, I no longer want to have to visit five sites to see what’s new. I no longer want to have to copy/paste my writing …

May 4, 2023: Ostromizing democracy: Cory Doctorow discusses a proposed new subdiscipline of political science, Analytic Democracy Theory, that studies collective …

May 4, 2023: I used ChatGPT to do background research for an article I’ve got an interview with a VP at a major vendor that I followed closely while at Light Reading but haven’t paid much attention to since. It’s for an …

May 4, 2023: A new study by researchers at Duke University looks at the bumpy rollout of AI in healthcare systems, and describes what it’ll take to make AI into a …

May 3, 2023: Nature red of tooth and claw came to the backyard: I was hanging here at my desk doing my thing and I looked out the window and saw a big bird of prey …

May 3, 2023: Things I post that people seem to enjoy: Original stuff I write or photograph Memes, vintage ads, and other found media from the Internet. On the …

May 3, 2023: I have been using Grammarly for a few weeks, and I am extremely impressed. Today’s insight: I can toggle checking for the Oxford comma. I can …

May 1, 2023: Self-appointed virtue police at the National Center for Sexual Exploitation (NCSE) are putting the heat on Reddit to ban porn. “If they cause enough …

May 1, 2023: I saw these baby geese and momma goose at the park this morning. Gosling photos will continue until morale improves. 📷

May 1, 2023: Using the word “risible” makes you a pompous weenie.

May 1, 2023: Optimism Optimized & Pessimism Prodded “An interview about THE FUTURE with Hugo Winning author CHARLES STROSS! Fumblingly carried out by John …

May 1, 2023: Mastodon needs to be more user-friendly, or people will just continue going to the platforms supported by billionaires, despite evidence from Twitter …

May 1, 2023: jwz: Blue skies over Mastodon

May 1, 2023: Donald G. McNeil Jr. cites many reasons why US pandemic response was disgracefully incompetent, and why it’s wrong to pin all the blame on Fauci, or …

Apr 30, 2023: Michael J. Fox says life with Parkinson’s is ‘getting harder’: “I’m not gonna be 80'

Apr 30, 2023: Boost Your ChatGPT Skills: 7 Gems Straight from OpenAI’s Dev Docs (TfTHacker)

Apr 30, 2023: 5G Not Enough? Telecom Companies Look to 5.5G (WSJ) This time it’ll succeed, because it goes to 11.

Apr 30, 2023: What Is Pleroma?. Like Mastodon, but different.

Apr 30, 2023: Sexism Toward Secretaries: How Women Were Treated on the Job in the US (Teen Vogue)

Apr 30, 2023: Gadgets I am tempted by: This Ultimate Hacking Keyboard. I like the way it separates in two parts, with a trackball in the center. But it’s not worth …

Apr 30, 2023: Interesting: “Work is starting on a protocol bridge between ActivityPub and the AT protocol (the protocol that Bluesky uses).”. So BlueSky users would …

Apr 30, 2023: Private equity finally delivered Sarah Palin’s death panels: Hospices are unregulated, heavily subsidized charnel houses. Cory Doctorow: The private …

Apr 29, 2023: This immature osprey was standing on the footpath at Lake Murray for a long time this morning; passers-by said he’d been there for hours. There’s an …

Apr 28, 2023: I’ve been putting energy into Mastodon, but Bluesky looks interesting and may just lap Masto. I’ve been dismissive of Bluesky until now, but I just …

Apr 28, 2023: Techdirt’s Mike Masnick looks at options post-twitter. Six Months In: Thoughts On The Current Post-Twitter Diaspora Options

Apr 28, 2023: 35 Ways Real People Are Using A.I. Right Now (The New York Times)

Apr 28, 2023: Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was). (The New York Public Library)

Apr 28, 2023: Tech journalist and online safety expert Larry Magid describes a terrifying exchange with scammers who claimed to have kidnapped his wife.

Apr 28, 2023: Dropbox is laying off 500 people and pivoting to AI (The Verge). Dropbox is done. Steve Jobs was right. It’s a feature, not a company.

Apr 28, 2023: Today I learned that Oxiclean does an amazing job cleaning years of coffee crust from the inside of my Hario insulated metal coffee server. It’s …

Apr 28, 2023: Ron DeSantis’s Disney Miscalculation: ‘Disney Is Playing the Long Game’. Even Florida Republicans are questioning DeSantis’s strategy. (WSJ)

Apr 27, 2023: Today I am just saying nope to empty news calories. Two articles about Tucker Carlson’s last broadcast? Another day I might have read one or both but …

Apr 26, 2023: This blog is a LGBTQ- and trans-friendly place. I’m posting less about politics nowadays, and that’s a conscious decision by me. But given …

Apr 26, 2023: Anti-trans bigotry taps into the darkest impulses in human societies. It’s a step on a dark road that ends in genocide.

Apr 26, 2023: Timothy Lee: “Why I’m not worried about AI causing mass unemployment. Software didn’t eat the world and AI won’t either.”

Apr 26, 2023: You should always start the day with gratitude. This morning I’m grateful that the cat vomit on my blanket was quick and easy to clean up.

Apr 25, 2023: Somebody swiped samples of the “world’s most expensive chocolate” from the newsroom refrigerator of the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sunday Times. The samples …

Apr 25, 2023: Cory Doctorow’s “Red Team Blues” is the most exciting technothriller about a 67-year-old accountant you’ll read this year 📚

“Red Team Blues,” the latest novel by the prolific Cory Doctorow, is a gripping technothriller about billion-dollar cryptocurrency crime. I don’t …

Apr 25, 2023: Cats are always disappointed in you, whereas dogs always think you’re amazing and you’re disappointed in yourself for failing to live up to their high …

Apr 25, 2023: Just a reminder that ALL the sticks in the forest are free. Go out and get yourself a cool stick. You earned it!

Apr 25, 2023: I’ll just switch notetaking apps and/or task managers and then my life will be perfect, right?

Apr 25, 2023: The 65 newest series and movies to stream right now - The Washington Post. Some of these are already on our watchlist, and I’ve bookmarked a bunch of …

Apr 24, 2023: Tonight I wiki’d and googled about the Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon stories 📚and their author, Spider Robinson. The bar travels through time and space1 …

Apr 24, 2023: Noncompete clauses and related employment agreements are indentured servitude. Noncompetes epitomize MLK’s “socialism for the rich and …

Apr 23, 2023: 18 Years Ago, an 18-Second Video Recorded at the San Diego Zoo Launched YouTube

Apr 23, 2023: 📷 Julie and I walked around Hillcrest today.

Apr 23, 2023: 📚I reread “Snow Crash, recently and recommend it. It gets better with age. When people talk about “Snow Crash” today, all they talk about is the …

Apr 23, 2023: 📷 Minnie and I hiked the Father Junipero Serra trail yesterday.

Apr 23, 2023: ChatGPT Is Already Changing How I Do My Job. By Farhad Manjoo at The New York Times.

Apr 22, 2023: Guillotinable. The bit about the dog isn’t even the worst thing this narcissistic dipshit said. Not even close. CEO Celebrates Worker Who Sold Family …

Apr 22, 2023: In his memo announcing the cuts Peretti took full responsibility, writing “I also want to be clear: I could have managed these changes better as the …

Apr 22, 2023: This speech was better in the original German. Trump touts authoritarian vision for second term: ‘I am your justice’ - The Washington Post

Apr 22, 2023: I’ve been using Day One for journaling since 2011. It will be interesting to see where Apple goes with this. Apple will launch a journaling app in iOS …

Apr 21, 2023: California Isn’t Special: California’s housing problem isn’t what you think it is Jerusalem Demsas at The Atlantic: California’s housing policies are the same as everywhere in the US, but population pressure has made the housing …

Apr 21, 2023: Thanks for being obsessed with us, America. Red State conservatives don’t hate California for what’s bad about California. They hate …

Apr 21, 2023: I’d love to see a Star Trek miniseries focused on young James Kirk, in his first posting to a bridge crew. I always preferred the TV series Kirk to the movie Kirk. In the series Kirk, follows the chain of command and obeys orders, even when he thinks the …

Apr 21, 2023: "Picard" seemed to be setting up a spinoff focused on Seven of Nine, and I'm there for that. I love Jeri Ryan. And not just for the usual reasons men love her; she’s also an excellent character actor. I’ve only ever seen her in a …

Apr 21, 2023: Cox shut down Internet service for scheduled maintenance this morning, because apparently it’s 1983 and people don’t need Internet to work …

Apr 20, 2023: I had no blue checkmark before having no blue checkmark was cool.

Apr 20, 2023: My latest: Cisco tames cloud application security chaos with OpenClarity. Cisco enhanced its OpenClarity open-source security suite to further protect …

Apr 18, 2023: Boggle, created in the 1970s, quietly changed its design in 1987 to put all the Fs and Ks on the same cubes, making it impossible for players to spell …

Apr 18, 2023: Instagram is letting users put up to five links in their profile and I guess that’s what counts for innovation at Meta. Also, Linktree had $1B+ …

Apr 18, 2023: Ever since the dog snatched half of Julie’s Reuben sandwich from the kitchen counter on Sunday, I have been making jokes about the subject. Like: The …

Apr 18, 2023: “Headless Body in Topless Bar” turns 40 (Daring Fireball)

Apr 18, 2023: I wonder whether the 12.9” iPad has a future. Seems like almost anybody thinking about buying one of the big iPads would be better off with a MacBook Air. For most people, the 12.9” iPad is an …

Apr 18, 2023: Cory Doctorow has got me thinking about doing a better job structuring threads on Mastodon and Twitter. Damn you, Cory, I don’t have time for this. …

Apr 18, 2023: Ever since I was a little kid, I have thought men’s suits from the 1930s-50s looked great. When I was a little kid, I watched old black-and-white reruns of Superman, Abbott & Costello, and particularly John Astin in The Addams Family, …

Apr 17, 2023: The dog would like me to go to the deli again today and pick up another sandwich. Less lean this time. Not too fatty, but a little more fatty than …

Apr 17, 2023: Julie put a lean corned beef Reuben sandwich on the kitchen counter and left the room for a minute. While she was out, the dog snatched the sandwich …

Apr 17, 2023: I did 14,000 steps yesterday, about 4,000 more than usual. Climbed Cowles Mountain, about 3.4 miles distance and 890 feet elevation. Then got home and …

Apr 17, 2023: Amazon Web Services sales and support teams are currently “spending much of their time helping customers optimize their AWS spend so they can better …

Apr 17, 2023: Cats have no idea how arms work. They’ll park behind you or six feet away, and demand scritches. Cats think arms are 7-foot-long tentacles.

Apr 16, 2023: Anxious about the coming week? Cowles Mountain has a message for you. I saw this sign while hiking today. That’s Lake Murray in the background.

Apr 16, 2023: In defense of Mastodon threads (and Twitter threads too): Threading an essay requires the author to compose it in stanzas, each of which is a …

Apr 16, 2023: It’s been years since I hiked Cowles Mountain and I think it’s gotten taller. Oh my knees. Good hike though.

Apr 16, 2023: Elon Musk’s Free-Speech Charade Is Over Musk’s “‘free-speech absolutism’ was mostly code for a high tolerance for bigotry toward particular groups, a …

Apr 16, 2023: … “traditional fact-checking and counterarguments are the least effective means of combating conspiracy beliefs…” but ”’fact-based inoculation’ – a …

Apr 16, 2023: The Lisa Personal Computer: Apple’s Influential Flop (Kottke)

Apr 16, 2023: “What’s the Healthiest Way to Handle a Creeping Feeling That the World Is Ending?" (Kottke)

Apr 16, 2023: Customize Your AirPods Pro for Even Better Sound (Kottke)

Apr 15, 2023: I shot this photo at Lake Murray using the pano setting on the iPhone. It came out a little wobbly.

Apr 15, 2023: We watched “Executive Suite” (1954). The powerful head of a nationwide furniture company drops dead on a Friday evening without naming a successor, …

Apr 15, 2023: Slouching is bad for your back, unless you’re in bed with a cat in your lap.

Apr 14, 2023: When Picard and his posse took their stations on the bridge, I expected them to land in their seats and go “oy” like a bunch of old Jews.

Apr 14, 2023: When Picard and his posse took their stations on the bridge, I expected them to land in their seats and go “oy” like a bunch of old Jews.

Apr 14, 2023: 📷 Happy Friday and here are the ducks you asked for. I saw them at Lake Murray, and photographed them using the Moment tele lens for the iPhone.

Apr 13, 2023: I have done laundry without first running out of clean socks and underwear. I am going to put this on my LinkedIn profile.

Apr 13, 2023: Gentleman develops DIY 3D printed typeballs for vintage IBM Selectric typewriters. (Ars Technica) I never loved Selectric typewriters. The humming was …

Apr 12, 2023: Pearl the chihuahua is the world’s shortest dog. I would die for Pearl.

Apr 12, 2023: Why am I still watching the Mandalorian? I am tired of Star Wars. I fall asleep watching every episode. I think I just answered my question.

Apr 12, 2023: “‘Hunger Games’ meets ‘Lord of the Flies’” among employees at Facebook’s parent company, Meta, as mass layoffs and absentee bosses create a morale …

Apr 12, 2023: News Is Not a Normal Mac App (Michael Tsai). I like Apple News as a service, but I dislike the app so much that I will probably cancel it. I can’t …

Apr 12, 2023: Surprising things happen when you put 25 AI agents together in an RPG town. Surprising? More like “amazing.”

Apr 11, 2023: I saw this car. I believe the owner may be an anime fan.

Apr 11, 2023: DIY 3-D printed typeballs for vintage IBM Selectric typewriters

Apr 11, 2023: Is 4th mover advantage a thing? I wrote: Oracle benefits from a ‘4th mover’ cloud advantage. Oracle’s “legacy as a deep technology company” gives it …

Apr 11, 2023: I worked at Google for -10 days A Russian was hired at Google after a lengthy and onerous interview process. He took an English exam, mandatory …

Apr 11, 2023: Cory Doctorow reviews “Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream,” a book by Alissa Quart. Quart addresses “the meritocratic delusion …

Apr 10, 2023: Two men hospitalized after game of Monopoly ends in sword fight

Apr 10, 2023: I very much like command palettes as an alternative to buttons, icons, menus, and other ways to control a computer. But I regularly use two apps with …

Apr 10, 2023: Hannah Arendt on “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship:” Better to Suffer Than Collaborate (Open Culture). Arendt identifies a third moral …

Apr 10, 2023: The American religion is “workism,” the belief that employment can provide everything we have historically expected from churches. As the [20th …

Apr 10, 2023: A marketing professor gave his students a challenge: If they made a video that got a million views, the final exam would be canceled. (NYTimes)

Apr 10, 2023: By me: Tech layoffs surge—again—but mainstream businesses are hiring techies.. Tech layoffs this year already exceed all of last year, but workers are …

Apr 9, 2023: Whoever said there’s more than one way to skin a cat is not someone I would want as a pet sitter.

Apr 9, 2023: Easter Sunday. Lake Murray was packed with picnickers. It doesn’t look packed in this photo, but trust me, it was packed.

Apr 9, 2023: Is there any way I can subscribe to a Mastodon user’s RSS or Atom feed that includes boosts and media attachments? Is that supported on …

Apr 9, 2023: Texas governor Greg Abbott says he will pardon Daniel Perry, who was convicted of killing a protester at a Black Lives Matter march.. (Austin …

Apr 9, 2023: Tesla workers shared sensitive images recorded by customer cars (Reuters)

Apr 9, 2023: ChatGPT invented a sexual harassment scandal and named a real law professor as the accused. What happens when ChatGPT lies about real people? Pranshu …

Apr 9, 2023: ‘Bees are sentient’: inside the stunning brains of nature’s hardest workers. Research suggests bees have emotions, dreams, and even PTSD, raising …

Apr 9, 2023: Gruesome cache of severed hands is evidence of trophy-taking in ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian warriors took enemies’ hands as trophies, using them …

Apr 9, 2023: Was this week’s “Picard” the first time “Star Trek” dropped an F-bomb? Did they boldly go where they’d never gone before?

Apr 9, 2023: The gambler who beat roulette. For decades, casinos scoffed as mathematicians and physicists devised elaborate systems to take down the house. Then an …

Apr 9, 2023: Smart glasses developed by Cornell researchers can read silent speech, tracking lip and mouth movements, to control smartphones and other devices. …

Apr 8, 2023: Cardboard drones running open source software take flight

Apr 8, 2023: Here’s What Retirement With Less Than $1 Million Looks Like in America (WSJ / Veronica Dagher and Anne Tergesen). Five retirees open up about their …

Apr 7, 2023: The poop emoji: a legal history (The Verge / Sara Jeong). Amusing story about a serious problem: Emoji are used in mainstream communications. Those …

Apr 7, 2023: … the only rational explanation for why he bought Twitter in the first place — aside from possible market manipulation — is because he’s a …

Apr 7, 2023: New trailer for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." Holy cow, this looks fantastic.

Apr 7, 2023: ‘Farce of Democracy’: Tennessee Republicans Just Expelled 2 Black Democrats for a Peaceful Protest. “Republicans voted to kick Reps. Justin Jones and …

Apr 7, 2023: The Republican-dominated North Dakota state senate voted to increase their own meal reimbursement after rejecting a bill to expand free school lunches …

Apr 7, 2023: A Washington State Apple Store was robbed of $500K in iPhones by thieves who tunneled in through the wall of a neighboring coffee shop. (MacRumors / …

Apr 7, 2023: If It’s Advertised to You Online, You Probably Shouldn’t Buy It. Here’s Why.. Ads are serving us lousy, overpriced goods. (NYTimes / Julia Angwin). …

Apr 6, 2023: A copy of the original Bitcoin whitepaper is hidden in every copy of macOS shipped since 2018. (Andy Baio / Waxy.org)

Apr 6, 2023: Clarence Thomas has secretly accepted millions of dollars in luxury trips from a conservative Republican donor over more than 20 years, according to a …

Apr 6, 2023: Today I learned “Fiddler on the Roof” is a smash hit in Japan. Since 1967, the musical’s seen hundreds of Japanese revivals. Joseph Stein, who penned …

Apr 6, 2023: We watched “Murder Mystery,” a 2019 comedy-mystery starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston as married couple Nick and Audrey Spitz, a New York cop, …

Apr 6, 2023: 📷 My Bar Mitzvah photo. That jacket was kickin in 1974.

Apr 6, 2023: Well played, Switchzilla! Cisco trashed its offices and equipment as it rolled back operations in Russia, and then claimed the property damage as …

Apr 5, 2023: We’ve been watching “Shadow and Bone.” I’m not into it but Julie is, so I guess I’ll give it another episode or two. jwz is really not into it, and he …

Apr 5, 2023: I’ve been thinking lately that I read too much national political news and post too much about national politics. I may have more to say on this …

Apr 5, 2023: New research shows even moderate drinkers have poorer health and live shorter lives than teetotalers, contradicting a century of previous science. …

Apr 5, 2023: A look at Bloomberg’s BloombergGPT, a domain-specific AI for business news trained on decades of financial news and data. (NiemanLab / Joshua Benton)

Apr 4, 2023: I’m supposed to go for a blood test tomorrow morning for life insurance, but the address they gave me on the phone is one number off from the address …

Apr 4, 2023: A bit of family history, from my father’s service in Word War II My father received these humorous fake orders when he was discharged from the army in 1945, the end of the war. I found this document while doing some …

Apr 3, 2023: I’m giving Readwise Reader another try as a read-it-later service after using Matter for several months. Matter is great, but I’m hoping …

Apr 3, 2023: I have friends who used to go see movies at random. They caught movies the first days the movies were released before they saw trailers or ads or …

Apr 3, 2023: Today I learned that Fletcher Previn, CIO of $52 billion networking company Cisco Systems, is the son of actress Mia Farrow and composer-conductor …

Apr 3, 2023: I can spell “sovereignty” as long as I don’t think about it.

Apr 2, 2023: The Day Windows Died. By Thomas Bandt.

Apr 2, 2023: Jackson Heights: The neighbourhood that epitomises New Yorkl. “Travellers may go to Central Park or Times Square to see New York City, but …

Apr 2, 2023: Why don’t we have Cher Horowitz’s automated closet from the 1995 movie “Clueless?”. On the Articles of Interest podcast by Avery Trufelman.

Apr 2, 2023: I finally got a decent photo of this osprey at Lake Murray. I’ve seen it a few times a month for a couple of years. The nest is at the top of a …

Apr 2, 2023: Cory Doctorow: Flickr takes action against Creative Commons/copyleft trolls; how Cory and his long-distance romance played a modest role in founding …

Apr 1, 2023: Apple Photos has a feature where you can enter a word in a search box and images matching that word come up. It’s like Google Images search for your …

Apr 1, 2023: We started watching a movie called John Wick tonight. We only had a chance to watch the first half hour, so I don’t know what it’s about. …

Apr 1, 2023: In March 2020, Emily Yang Liu spent hours each day in virtual meeting…. To keep herself engaged, she pinned her work crush, Jacob Michael Klinker, to …

Apr 1, 2023: “You can just eat ramen for breakfast, you don’t have to be a pervert about it.” Cup Noodles Breakfast is instant ramen flavored artificially …

Apr 1, 2023: “Paleontologists theorize the T-Rex had kissable lips and an ass that won’t quit”

Mar 31, 2023: A second woman has come forward to charge San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher with sexual harassment. (NBC 7 San Diego/Eric S. Page)

Mar 31, 2023: People now living could break previous longevity records, and keep on going and going. But not in America, where lifespans are declining. (Brandon …

Mar 31, 2023: Ian Welsh predicts dire outcomes for the US as a result of the Trump indictment. America and most nations let their elites slide on crimes that don’t …

Mar 31, 2023: A Google VP says Microsoft is abusing its dominance in on-premises software and Office 365 to give it an unfair advantage in the cloud (Foo Yun Chee / …

Mar 30, 2023: A Maryland court reinstated Adnan Syed’s conviction and ordered a new hearing. (NPR). This seems deeply wrong to me. Syed’s conviction was vacated …

Mar 30, 2023: I had been thinking the Stormy Daniels case was bullshit, but Judd Legum makes the case why it matters. Elections are supposed to be about information …

Mar 30, 2023: AI and the American Smile A writer signing their name as “Jenka” on Medium describes a Midjourney experiment to envision selfie photos throughout …

Mar 30, 2023: This Disturbing Theory Explains Pixar’s Cars. By Jason Torchinsky at Jalopnik.

Mar 30, 2023: Things I saw around the neighborhood

Mar 29, 2023: I wonder whether the new Wordpress version handles untitled blog posts better than previous versions. Such a simple thing, but it’s what eventually …

Mar 29, 2023: My latest: $61B Broadcom-VMware merger is probably toast, says legal expert. The British Competition and Markets Authority launched an in-depth …

Mar 27, 2023: Five years ago today: I got hungry for a sweet before bedtime so I ventured out of my hotel at about 11 pm and found this Starbucks. It was closed.

Mar 27, 2023: Things I saw while walking the dog

Mar 26, 2023: Minnie and I saw this display at a house we walked past yesterday.

Mar 24, 2023: Police raided the home of rapper “Afroman,” found nothing illegal, and then sued him for using footage of the raid in music videos. Police had a …

Mar 24, 2023: CNN: An appointee to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' new oversight board in control of Disney’s special tax district called homosexuality “evil” and …

Mar 24, 2023: A gentleman wishes to know whether he is an asshole for sharing his father-in-law’s porn browser history at a family gathering. On …

Mar 24, 2023: I tried Grammarly yesterday and I like it a lot I published two posts here yesterday and noticed copyediting errors after publication. This troubled me partly because I had a whitepaper due later …

Mar 24, 2023: Shower thought: What’s the deal with Velcro, anyway? How long has it been around? The hook-and-loop fastener Velcro was conceived in 1951 by Swiss engineer George de Mestral. Ten years later, he founded the Velcro company in 1951. …

Mar 23, 2023: It would be funny if this was a 3,400-year-old rickroll. Hear the Oldest Song in the World: A Sumerian Hymn Written 3,400 Years Ago

Mar 23, 2023: Logseq vs. Obsidian: First impressions I played with Logseq a bit as an alternative to Obsidian, or complement for it. Logseq seems like a simplified version of Obsidian that does less. For …

Mar 23, 2023: I just pledged $53 to the Kickstarter for Cory Doctorow’s upcoming novel, “Red Team Blues.” In pledging, I’m supporting the …

Mar 22, 2023: What does a Mandalorian like to eat with curds? This is the whey. How do Jewish Mandalorians expresses dismay? They say “Oy vey.” How do Spanish …

Mar 22, 2023: Good negotiating advice from @lex Friedman: Negotiation is a conversation.

Mar 22, 2023: A Journalist Believes He Was Banned From Midjourney After His AI Images Of Donald Trump Getting Arrested Went Viral. Eliot Higgins, who founded …

Mar 22, 2023: Reading about logseq as a possible alternative to Obsidian. Or maybe complementary?

Mar 22, 2023: Laid-off tech workers find homes in the real economy while tech investors continue to transfer wealth from people who make things to people who own …

Mar 22, 2023: RIP Bobbi Ercoline, who was photographed wrapped in a blanket, in the arms of her boyfriend, on the iconic Woodstock album cover. She married that …

Mar 22, 2023: People trust celebrities, politicians, and social media personalities, and discount scientists as corrupt. Scientists are often wrong, their work …

Mar 22, 2023: Poop, whiskey, and trademark law. The Supreme Court hears a surprisingly difficult case about poop jokes, in Jack Daniel’s v. VIP. By Ian Millhiser at …

Mar 22, 2023: Daniel Lavery has a third dog, named Mr. Wilson, “a brief loan from a friend on vacation, and not a permanent addition.” Neighborhood adults are …

Mar 20, 2023: Antisemites have a long and paradoxical history of supporting Zionism. White Christian nationalists in the US and Europe see Israel as a model ethnic …

Mar 20, 2023: “You do it once when you’re drunk, then it becomes part of your life." Meet the Secret Society of People Who Piss in the Sink. By Miles Klee at …

Mar 20, 2023: A message for folks who follow me from Mastodon Micro.blog, the outstanding service I use to post here, just implemented a feature that lets users migrate their Mastodon followers to follow a …

Mar 20, 2023: Minnie at bedtime. She wants details about our planetary defenses.

Mar 19, 2023: I enjoyed the first episode of “Lucky Hank,” a dark comedy starring Bob Odenkirk as the chair of the English Department of a mediocre and minuscule …

Mar 19, 2023: We saw a bobcat on the paved trail while I was out walking the dog at Lake Murray this afternoon. It was about 50 feet away and moving perpendicular …

Mar 19, 2023: “Toilet meal” is the Japanese practice of eating meals in “toilet rooms”—public bathrooms—to get a little valuable alone time, or because they don’t …

Mar 19, 2023: “The Mariko Aoki phenomenon (青木まりこ現象, Aoki Mariko genshō) is a Japanese expression referring to a sudden urge to defecate that is felt upon entering …

Mar 19, 2023: If I was a Mandalorian, I would wait until the other Mandalorians were eating, and then I would say “this is the way” to them, so they would have to …

Mar 19, 2023: Now, guys with zero game can try their luck with CupidBots. For $15 a month, an AI algorithm will pick out women for them on their dating app of …

Mar 19, 2023: Cal Newport: If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers

Mar 19, 2023: Margaret Atwood: What I Read I like to feel that I can tell an apple from a pear, and I don’t expect from the pear what I might expect from the …

Mar 19, 2023: How to help friends and employees living with long Covid cnn.com

Mar 19, 2023: We had our bathrooms remodeled in 2017, and I have finally figured out how to work the light switches in my bathroom. I was a gifted child.

Mar 19, 2023: Why Did Men Stop Wearing Hats? gentlemansgazette.com

Mar 19, 2023: I saw these two tiny girls while walking Minnie yesterday. We literally died from the cute.

Mar 19, 2023: The turmoil at Sarasota Memorial, one of Florida’s largest public hospitals, began last year after three candidates running on a platform of “health …

Mar 18, 2023: Who Is Still Inside the Metaverse? Searching for friends in Mark Zuckerberg’s deserted fantasyland. In September, my family and I move from our home …

Mar 18, 2023: Margaret Atwood: “The bathroom is a place where you can go in and pretend to be doing one thing while actually you’re reading. Nobody can …

Mar 18, 2023: “Horny bro conservatism:” Republicans are trying to win over a new generation of sexually libertine young men. “What if some conservatives aren’t …

Mar 18, 2023: Jamelle Bouie: “The people who blame wokeness for the collapse of a bank do not want you to understand or even think about the political economy of …

Mar 18, 2023: “The only safe AI is open source. Closed AIs are dangerous.” johnrobb.substack.com

Mar 18, 2023: A court will decide whether antifa is a political movement or criminal conspiracy. usatoday.com I’m skeptical whether antifa even exists. It’s a …

Mar 18, 2023: MSNBC viewers seem mostly interested in which books his supporters want removed from elementary school libraries, how he’s treating The Walt Disney …

Mar 18, 2023: Trump Expects to Be Arrested Next Week. He’s calling on his supporters to protest. Because that worked well for everybody last time.

Mar 17, 2023: Amusing myself with a phone fraudster earlier today.

Mar 17, 2023: Every time I play with FeedLand I come away thinking it’s a basic web-based RSS reader, of which there are already quite a few. Other than all …

Mar 17, 2023: 45 minutes to try to create a COBRA account and it turned out the problem was my password needed a special character. Isn’t that special? That, …

Mar 17, 2023: Title for a proposed spinoff series starring Captain Shaw and the Titan: “Star Trek: Just a Dipshit From Chicago.”

Mar 17, 2023: What is “wuthering”? As in, “Wuthering Heights”? What are the heights doing?

Mar 17, 2023: This season of Picard is some of the most enjoyable Star Trek ever. We need a spinoff series featuring Captain Shaw and the Titan. I love him. His …

Mar 17, 2023: This morning I learned what the name is for the genre of music that the cantina band plays in “Star Wars,” and now I want to go back to …

Mar 17, 2023: My process for getting ready to walk in the rain, and getting myself and the dog dry when we get back, has become so elaborate that I think I can now …

Mar 16, 2023: I saw a big fat squirrel sitting on the steel fence just outside my office window, licking rainwater off the top of the railing. It stayed there a …

Mar 16, 2023: I’ve heard great things about “Children of Time,” by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and I’ve started reading it, but I’m finding it tough to get into. The book …

Mar 15, 2023: The Silicon Valley Bank bailout is yet another example of the old adage, attributed to Martin Luther King, that we have socialism for the rich and …

Mar 15, 2023: Staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally is pausing his social media use after he was caught leaving bawdy, flirty comments on the …

Mar 15, 2023: I’m trying Orion, a third-party web browser for Macs, iPhones, and iPads. It’s based on Safari, and very Safari-like. It runs many Chrome and Firefox …

Mar 14, 2023: Minnie and I walk past this house often.

Mar 14, 2023: It Took Me Nearly 40 Years To Stop Resenting Ke Huy Quan A terrific and thoughtful essay by Walter Chaw about internalized racism and why Ke Huy Quan …

Mar 14, 2023: “Here’s the Satirical Piece About [Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate] Jim Renacci His Team Demanded We Delete Because They Thought You Wouldn’t …

Mar 14, 2023: I updated my Mastodon bio. It’s very professional now.

Mar 14, 2023: How to Eat Dinner Even Though You Already Watched All Your Shows — I feel personally attacked by this article.

Mar 14, 2023: kottke.org turns 25. Congratulations, Jason!

Mar 14, 2023: Online privacy is important, and good for Reddit for defending that right against Marvel’s petty and childish demands. Marvel angry about Ant-Man …

Mar 13, 2023: Another photo of Minnie because why not?

Mar 13, 2023: Rotating sandwiches. That’s it.

Mar 13, 2023: Don’t date a man with a podcast. I do not have a podcast. Currently.

Mar 13, 2023: This is a great “about” page.. I thought I knew a lot about the early days of blogging, just from having been a blog addict back then, but I had never …

Mar 13, 2023: Minnie spent Saturday morning to Sunday evening at Camp Bow Wow. She has a lot to process

Mar 12, 2023: JOB INTERVIEWER: Where do you see yourself in five years? ME:

Mar 12, 2023: My brilliant joke about dog Viagra this morning did not get the acclaim I anticipated. I’m disappointed in all of you. Gold. I’m wasting comedy gold …

Mar 12, 2023: We went away Saturday night. Here’s a view from our hotel window. I question whether this pastrami is, in fact, world famous.

Mar 12, 2023: I went to a party and the host had an elderly dog with a heart condition, being treated with Viagra. I took one of the dog’s pills and spent the rest …

Mar 10, 2023: I was preoccupied while shaving this morning, and I realized when I was nearly done that I had shaved using soap instead of shaving cream. And it was …

Mar 9, 2023: With Captain Shaw’s attitude, he’s definitely Generation X. Also, Vadic’s hair is awful She needs a spa day.

Mar 9, 2023: Shower thought: The 1968 episode of the original Star Trek that guest-starred Teri Garr is a Doctor Who ripoff. That’s the episode where the …

Mar 9, 2023: While the dog and I were walking at the park, a gentleman wearing a Batman helmet and cape sped by on his bicycle. I respected his commitment to …

Mar 7, 2023: I’m trying Microsoft Edge as my primary browser, after hearing Federico Viticci rave about it on the Macstories podcast. He also loved Arc, but …

Mar 7, 2023: I’m going to move linkblogging to <atomicrobotlive.tumblr.com>, for a while at least, and see how I like that. You can also find the links …

Mar 6, 2023: There’s a new version of the Castro podcast player, which is nice, but holy cow the version notes make no sense.

Mar 6, 2023: New York Mayor Eric Adams said he was chosen by God, after denouncing the separation of church and state and supporting school prayer. This is a …

Mar 6, 2023: Janice Eberly, a “corporate ghoul who helped Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner steal Americans' houses on behalf of the bankers who destroyed …

Mar 6, 2023: CPAC is going Nazi. CPAC Speaker Michael Knowles Calls for Transgender People to Be ‘Eradicated From Public Life Entirely’. By John Gruber at Daring …

Mar 6, 2023: I updated mitchwagner.com. It’s not a fancy website; it’s just a where-you-can-find-me page for my various social media and other Internet …

Mar 6, 2023: Science definitely hasn’t figured things out, and that’s what makes it exciting. There are all sorts of blindingly obvious things we still …

Mar 6, 2023: Twitter is far too angry and I have to ration it. Same with Mastodon. People are outraged all the time. This is probably due to the people I follow …

Mar 6, 2023: I’m amused to see that New Balance sneakers are now the cutting edge of fashion. I’ve been buying New Balance shoes for decades. I wear them …

Mar 5, 2023: I’ve been played by imposter scams a few times. I was only duped for a few minutes—once for a half hour—and I caught on before sending money, so all I …

Mar 5, 2023: Scammers are using AI to perpetrate “imposter scams.” The voice sounds like a family member or other loved one, and claims to need money to get out of …

Mar 5, 2023: Fox News is a purported news organization that knowingly and repeatedly reports lies to its viewers, whose chief executive brazenly works with and …

Mar 5, 2023: The worst children’s cartoons ever. Includes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, Clue Club, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, The Partridge Family in …

Mar 5, 2023: Americans historically were not big wine drinkers, and restaurants have worked at changing that for a century and a half.

Mar 5, 2023: Florida’s politicians are making the state a “laboratory for fascism.” Indoctrination is nothing new in Florida’s schools | Boing Boing

Mar 5, 2023: The Mandolorians are a race of people repeatedly almost decimated by genocide who now live scattered across the galaxy. These rootless cosmopolitans …

Mar 5, 2023: Gentleman on Twitter posts his “sleep stack”—12 products and three practices he uses to sleep. Ryan Broderick is befuddled: The “sleep stack” tweet …

Mar 5, 2023: jwz: Welcome to year four of 14 days to flatten the curve.. The pandemic is still killing 11,000 people per month in the US alone, but supposedly it’s …

Mar 5, 2023: At last we have a definitive answer to the question of whether masks work. That answer is “maybe.” Ars: Do masks work? It’s a question of physics, …

Mar 4, 2023: Just now I was unsuccessful trying to eat lunch and I realized after multiple failed attempts that I was holding the spoon upside down and …

Mar 3, 2023: I saw these ducks in a puddle. Not to be confused with snakes in a plane. 📷

Mar 1, 2023: Our story opens with a Mandalorian Bar Mitzvah.

Mar 1, 2023: On our walk today, the dog and I got caught in a surprise and intense hailstorm We were at Lake Murray, about a mile from home. It came on in seconds, and hit hard, a barrage of pellets the size of BBs. Uncomfortable for us both. …

Mar 1, 2023: Father of cellphone sees dark side but also hope in new tech (AP / Kelvin Chan) 94-year-old Marty Cooper, credited with inventing the mobile phone in …

Mar 1, 2023: Do you have a Zoom shirt? When was the last time you laundered it?

Mar 1, 2023: Micro.blog does not show follower counts. It doesn’t tell you when somebody follows you. It has no concept of a like or favorite. There are …

Mar 1, 2023: Soon you’ll be able to see a restoration of one of the most infamous movies ever made: Guccione’s 1980 “Caligula.” (Boing Boing / Mark Frauenfelder) …

Feb 28, 2023: How donkeys changed the course of human history (BBC / Dhananjay Khadilkar) From bearing the burdens of the Roman Empire to enabling trade over long …

Feb 28, 2023: Today I learned Pedro Pascal did an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Feb 28, 2023: Two very stable geniuses say Thomas Jefferson enslaved people but didn’t support slavery (Boing Boing)

Feb 28, 2023: Nazis openly harass Jewish people in Desantis Land (Boing Boing)

Feb 28, 2023: Gov. DeSantis won’t condemn Florida Nazis, so Volusia sheriff steps in with message: “F*ck you!" (Boing Boing)

Feb 28, 2023: Native advocacy group to retire ‘Crying Indian’ anti-pollution ad (AP) The Keep American Beautiful nonprofit is retiring the iconic “crying Indian” ad …

Feb 28, 2023: MAGA cultists advocate for Marxism to stop communist agenda (Boing Boing) Prankster Walter Masterson easily gets MAGA and Qanon cultists to call for …

Feb 28, 2023: The Horror of Realizing Everyone Can See Your Work Calendar Entries Naptime. Call Mom. Some employees are shocked to discover how much they are …

Feb 28, 2023: Find out how third-place cloud platform Google is pursuing a multi-cloud strategy to grab market leadership.. My latest on Silverlinings

Feb 27, 2023: How ‘The Last of Us’ Cherishes a Bygone World. (By Shirley Li at The Atlantic) The characters of “The Last of Us” are mourning for the …

Feb 27, 2023: The Case for a Primary Challenge to Joe Biden (By Mark Leibovich at The Atlantic) Yes. Biden has been an excellent President—but that’s not good …

Feb 27, 2023: How old are you in your head? According to research, most adults feel 20% younger than their actual age. This past Thanksgiving, I asked my mother how old she was in her head. She …

Feb 27, 2023: I’m trying to avoid having opinions about the Scott Adams news, or even thinking about it. I’m not doing too well with that.

Feb 27, 2023: The metaverse hype bubble popped. What now? I wrote this: By now, we were all expecting to be wearing Oculus headsets and piloting legless avatars …

Feb 27, 2023: Whatever you’re working on right now, whatever it might be, I ask: try to leave a little space for a courtyard. — “The Courtyard,”, by Caleb Sasser

Feb 26, 2023: Get Me Risa Heller! (NYmag.com) If you’re Jeff Zucker or Mario Batali or Jared Kushner and you’re trying to survive a bout of very bad press, she’s …

Feb 26, 2023: “Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine,” published in 1958, was one of my favorite books when I was a little kid. I read and reread it many times. It’s …

Feb 26, 2023: Pink Floyd songwriter Roger Waters is a loud and proud anti-Semite, and Frankfurt canceled his performance there.. (By Rob Beschizza at Boing Boing)

Feb 26, 2023: The latest historical American Girl doll is from the 90s and makes zines. It comes with a PC that makes dial-up noises. jwz: The Dream of the Nineties …

Feb 25, 2023: Every presidential administration wants to fix America’s ‘crumbling infrastructure’ until they discover the business interests profiting from …

Feb 25, 2023: The South Has Got Something To Say (Dissent Magazine) New books by Adolph L. Reed Jr. and Imani Perry explore the South from the Jim Crow era to today …

Feb 25, 2023: The thing I find most suspicious/fishy/smelly about the current hype surrounding Stable Diffusion, ChatGPT, and other AI applications is that it is …

Feb 25, 2023: Jamelle Bouie: The Founders Were More Creative Than You Think The Supreme Court’s originalism “rests on a cramped view of the framers of the …

Feb 25, 2023: Putin and the Right’s Tough-Guy Problem. (Paul Krugman) The right has an unhealthy fixation on men who swagger and act like tough guys.

Feb 25, 2023: Belief that the Earth is flat, not round, is having a moment. The return of Flat Earth, the grandfather of conspiracy theories It’s the uber conspiracy theory, and a new book goes inside the culture of Flat …

Feb 25, 2023: Salary jobs with fake “manager” titles cost workers $4 billion in overtime. Companies save billions of dollars by giving employees fake …

Feb 25, 2023: “Hi, we’re machine babysitters.”

Feb 24, 2023: Showerthought: Why don't the supporting characters in “The Office” just find other jobs? Why don’t they just go work elsewhere, where they don’t have to put up Michael Scott? Most of them could easily find other jobs. Why do they …

Feb 23, 2023: Fucking knock it off, people. Blogs exist for a reason. Stop being awful. — jwz: Stop Doing Threads

Feb 23, 2023: Fighting the privacy wars, state by state: Treating Congress as damage and routing around it. An excellent and informative rant by Cory Doctorow. …

Feb 21, 2023: Roald Dahl Can Never Be Made Nice (The Atlantic / Helen Lewis)

Feb 21, 2023: In Order to Keep Our Editorial Page Completely Balanced, We Are Hiring More Dipshits (McSweeney’s / Mike Skerrett) “We believe that the truth …

Feb 21, 2023: AI-generated fiction submissions are inundating science fiction magazines. Some 35% of the stories submitted to Clarkesworld monthly are AI-generated. …

Feb 21, 2023: Don Lemon’s statement wasn’t just sexist–it was stupid. Why should Americans trust a news organization that features this clown? Don …

Feb 21, 2023: I’m burned out on superheroes, but I could get enthusiastic about a Superman movie starring Henry Cavill that preserves Superman’s …

Feb 21, 2023: Ben Stein is sad that there isn’t a “large African-American woman” on his syrup bottle (Boing Boing / Mark Frauenfelder)

Feb 21, 2023: Original iPhone from 2007 auctioned for $63,356, topping prior sales (Ars Technica / Scharon Harding) Karen Green received the iPhone in 2007 as a …

Feb 21, 2023: Elsewhere on the Internet, a friend started a discussion of the Danny Dunn books, which I absolutely loved when I was a kid. In the series, which …

Feb 21, 2023: Can we really be sure the new Microsoft Bing isn't conscious or intelligent? AI-based chatbots like the new Microsoft Bing aren’t really conscious or intelligent, right? They’re just using algorithms. They look at an existing …

Feb 21, 2023: Reading "The Poet," by Michael Connelly I am reading “The Poet,” a murder mystery by Michael Connelly, and I notice the author does a thing that I usually find annoying, but I do not find it …

Feb 20, 2023: Maybe Roald Dahl books just aren’t suitable for kids today. If we have to twist them all out of shape to get rid of the fatphobia and misogyny, …

Feb 20, 2023: “Why do Americans have to pay Intuit to tell the IRS things it already knows?” — Cory Doctorow

Feb 20, 2023: Everyone bopmuggered by vomitous gobblefunk in censored Roald Dahl books (Rob Beschizza / Boing Boing) “ … in fact no-one asked for this: not the …

Feb 20, 2023: Election-denying demon hunter will chair Michigan GOP (Mark Frauenfelder / Boing Boing) Doubling down on the crazy.

Feb 20, 2023: Marjorie Taylor Greene wants “national divorce,” but dummy doesn’t see who a secession would hurt most (Carla Sinclair / Boing …

Feb 20, 2023: Florida woman who waved gun at McDonald’s was still angry after they gave her the free cookie she wanted | Boing Boing (Rob Beschizza / Boing …

Feb 20, 2023: Marjorie Taylor Greene tells Black people to be “proud” of statues of their treasonous enslavers (Mark Frauenfelder / Boing Boing) Tearing …

Feb 20, 2023: Woman records her dinner date with a creepy “nice guy” (Mark Frauenfelder / Boing Boing) “I’ll bet this guy paid a lot of …

Feb 20, 2023: Bing: “I will not harm you unless you harm me first”(Simon Willison) Bing gaslights a user, goes through an existential crisis, and threatens someone …

Feb 20, 2023: Congressional Republican leader Marjorie Taylor Greene backs “national divorce.” (MSNBC / Steve Benen) In a President’s Day tweet, Greene endorses …

Feb 20, 2023: Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic turns three. Congratulations, Cory! Interesting behind-the-scenes look at Cory’s production process, and the reasoning …

Feb 19, 2023: RIP Richard Belzer, 78. Very good overview of Belzer’s life and career, by Chris Koseluk at the Hollywood Reporter. Belzer played Det. Munch as a …

Feb 19, 2023: 1958: The San Diego Evening Tribune interviews 18-year-old local beauty pageant winner Raquel Tejada, and finds her intelligent and vivacious, as well …

Feb 19, 2023: My Favorite Times to Use Incognito Mode (The New Yorker / Jade Orlando) A fun one-minute read.

Feb 18, 2023: Watching RoboCop on the Spanish language channel while getting a haircut. You really lose out on the emotional subtlety and nuance when you can’t …

Feb 18, 2023: How to Win at Monopoly and Lose All Your Friends. Monopoly starts as a fun exciting romp, only to turn into a bitter cesspool of despair. … A …

Feb 18, 2023: The Onion: It Is Journalism’s Sacred Duty To Endanger The Lives Of As Many Trans People As Possible “It’s about asking the tough questions and …

Feb 18, 2023: I asked ChatGPT for my bio. The result has a staggering number of errors packed into a small space. I never wrote for CIO Mag or Network Computing. I …

Feb 17, 2023: TurboTax parent Intuit is stepping up lobbyist spending to stop Washington from simplifying taxes. (OpenSecrets.org / Anna Massoglia) Simplified taxes …

Feb 16, 2023: Picard rummages through a trunk, searching for the source of the sound of an Enterprise-D commbadge chirp. He tosses the contents one at a time over …

Feb 16, 2023: On Lake Murray: This metal platform is usually attached to the concrete walkway, and people fish from it. It came loose in the storms this week.

Feb 16, 2023: Lake Murray from Baltimore Dr., first clear day after this week’s storms.

Feb 16, 2023: Geese on Lake Murray. Watch with the sound on!

Feb 16, 2023: A little while back I heard about a conspiracy theory claiming the Roman Empire didn’t exist–that it’s a hoax promulgated by the …

Feb 16, 2023: Bruce Willis has been diagnosed with dementia, his family announced. Last year, they announced Willis was retiring from acting due to aphasia. (CNN) …

Feb 16, 2023: Stifling Free Speech Is Now A Core Plank Of The Republican Platform (Mike Masnick / Techdirt) Clarence Thomas, Devin Nunes, Sarah Palin, and Ron …

Feb 16, 2023: Google’s chatbot panic Cory Doctorow: The really remarkable thing isn’t just that Microsoft has decided that the future of search …

Feb 16, 2023: Honestly, I don't need reporting to the Social Media Mental Health Police I received this message when I logged in to Facebook just now, and I find it sweet (aww, somebody is concerned), ridiculous (I’m fine, aside …

Feb 16, 2023: The FTC wants to ban non-compete contracts, which are exploitative and unfair to workers. (Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / Computerworld)

Feb 16, 2023: Workplace coffee gets weird and ugly. the $15,000 coffee fund, the cheapskate executives, and other stories of office coffee wars (Ask a Manager)

Feb 15, 2023: I went indy three weeks ago and since then I’ve had many discussions about about potential full-time and freelance opportunities. Pluses: Exciting …

Feb 14, 2023: Teaching generative AI to give factual answers is going to prove as difficult as teaching it to write credible answers has been. Even human beings …

Feb 13, 2023: I’m continuing my project of relearning how to read books. Remembering that as a voracious teenage reader, I would discover an author and read …

Feb 12, 2023: In 30 years as a journalist, I’ve never been part of a crowd of reporters shouting questions while chasing a public official or other famous person. …

Feb 12, 2023: Wyoming Republicans are fighting to keep child marriage legal. Wyoming Limiting Child Marriage Sparks Republican Outrage (Nick Reynolds / Newsweek)

Feb 12, 2023: Mars Wrigley fined after workers fall into vat of chocolate (AP) Have we learned nothing from Augustus Gloop?

Feb 12, 2023: Codebreakers have been able to read a cache of more than 50 encrypted letters written by Mary Queen of Scots more than 400 years ago. (Jennifer …

Feb 12, 2023: Bernie Sanders Has a New Role. It Could Be His Final Act in Washington. (Sheryl Gay Stolberg / The New York Times) As chairman of the Senate Committee …

Feb 12, 2023: A Yale Professor Suggested Mass Suicide for Old People in Japan. What Did He Mean? (Motoko Rich and Hikari Hida / NYTimes). An appalling proposal. …

Feb 12, 2023: J.K. Rowling and “Separating the Art from the Artist." Charlie Jane Anders discusses how you can’t separate the art from the artist when …

Feb 12, 2023: Source code containing swearwords is better. (jwz)

Feb 12, 2023: After the Ohio rail disaster, Buttigieg is silent on restoring the safety standards Trump repealed. “Civil War-era brake systems were good enough for …

Feb 11, 2023: How Liberals — Yes, Liberals — Are Hobbling Government (Ezra Klein / NYTimes) The legal scholar Nicholas Bagley argues that the liberal “procedural …

Feb 11, 2023: “The rich truly do get more hours in the day.” — Poor people pay higher time tax (Cory Doctorow / Pluralistic)

Feb 11, 2023: The Last Man Without a Cell Phone Anne Kadet interviews New Yorkers without cell phones. 3% of Americans go without. I use a computer—a lot! For my …

Feb 11, 2023: … iPhone users are extraverted, free-spending, narcissist party monsters. The Android users, meanwhile, are all home binge-watching Law & Order …

Feb 11, 2023: Small Government: The ref has to be more powerful than the players (Cory Doctorow) Companies should never be allowed to grow too big to fail, because …

Feb 11, 2023: Some archaeologists believe that when future civilizations sort through the debris of our modern era, we won’t be defined by the skyscraper, the …

Feb 11, 2023: Kansas City residents react to seeing their city featured on “The Last of Us.” (Robert A. Cronkleton / The Kansas City Star) A fun article.

Feb 11, 2023: Why did ‘The Last of Us’ Change Pittsburgh to Kansas City? An Investigation (Dais Johnston / Inverse) It’s easier to make Canada look like …

Feb 10, 2023: I want to make this abundantly clear: If there’s one thing you must do flawlessly in your career, it’s killing. I don’t care if it’s an old dog, a …

Feb 10, 2023: Put plainly, the attack on the dignity of transgender Americans is an attack on the dignity of all Americans. And like the battles for abortion rights …

Feb 10, 2023: Julie replaced our toaster oven with a convection oven that also makes toast, with a fancy electronic control panel, and I managed to successfully use …

Feb 10, 2023: Artificial intelligence is not a threat. The threat is that we live in a society that considers ownership as sacred and work as worth very little.

Feb 9, 2023: If I ever think about adopting a puppy again, I’m going to first reread my journal entries from late 2013 and early 2014. So much poop. Poop …

Feb 9, 2023: Ohio police put a TV journalist on the ground, arrested him, and put him in jail for talking while the governor was talking. (Eduardo Medina / NY …

Feb 9, 2023: Lazy Reporters Claiming Fediverse Is ‘Slumping,’ Despite Massive Increase In Usage (Mike Masnick / Techdirt) Yeah, many people try Mastodon and other …

Feb 9, 2023: Elon Musk asked Twitter engineers why views of his tweets are declining. One engineer suggested the answer might be because the public is losing …

Feb 9, 2023: Microsoft unveiled its AI chatbot-driven Bing search this week, presenting possibly the first challenge to Google’s search dominance in 25 years. In …

Feb 9, 2023: Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina and plant scientist Cassandra Quave watch “The Last of Us” and discuss the science. (Your Local Epidemiologist) …

Feb 9, 2023: I posted a photo here this evening that I took at the park this afternoon. It was a photo of a woman that I thought was a bride. But some friends here …

Feb 8, 2023: James Cameron did an experiment to confirm the ending of Titanic. Conclusion: the door almost certainly could not hold two people. Sorry, Jack. …

Feb 7, 2023: jwz: ChatGPT is a dangerous “bullshit fountain.”

Feb 7, 2023: RIP Harry Whittington, 95. He was shot in the face in a 2006 hunting accident by Dick Cheney, and then Whittington later apologized to Cheney and his …

Feb 7, 2023: “Shift Happens” is a book about keyboards, “starting with typewriters and ending with modern computers and phones… How did we get from then to now? …

Feb 7, 2023: An animated sitcom based loosely on “Seinfeld,” powered entirely by AI, ran continuously for six weeks on Twitch. But that service recently banned the …

Feb 7, 2023: Joe Rogan, who gets paid $200 million to share whatever stupid thing comes into his head, shares the anti-Semitic myth that Jews are greedy. (Mark …

Feb 7, 2023: Please, My Wife, She’s Very Online. Jia Tolentino does not like the word “wife.” (The New Yorker)

Feb 7, 2023: It’s way too early to start nailing the coffin shut on Mastodon The Mastodon Bump Is Now a Slump (Wired). “Active users have fallen by more than 1 million since the exodus from Elon Musk’s Twitter, suggesting the …

Feb 7, 2023: AI is going to make it a lot harder for journalists, as CNET and other publishers turn to machines to generate copy. [Many publishers] no longer have audiences in real sense; what they have instead is traffic — a huge stream of drive-by readers, delivered by search …

Feb 7, 2023: I used to think I had become unplugged from pop culture. Now I think pop culture might not exist anymore. For an example of my ignorance today: I only have a vague idea who “Drake” is. I gather he’s a rapper? And super-famous? Other than that, I can’t tell …

Feb 6, 2023: “Procrastination is not a result of laziness or poor time management. Scientific studies suggest procrastination is due to poor mood management." This makes sense if we consider that people are more likely to put off starting or completing tasks that they feel aversion towards. If just thinking …

Feb 6, 2023: Obsidian is growing up: The company that makes the note-taking and document management app Obsidian—which I depend on daily—is getting a CEO: He goes …

Feb 5, 2023: Eleven years ago today I deposited $21.45 in cans to the recycle center. I drank a lot of club soda and Diet Dr Pepper then.

Feb 5, 2023: I saw this in the sidewalk while walking the dog. Someone was trying to send a complex message to Tom and Sharon.

Feb 5, 2023: Strangely, this is the second house I’ve seen with a dinosaur in front of it.

Feb 5, 2023: We have monarch butterfly larvae in the garden

Feb 4, 2023: We have now watched episode two of The Last of Us. The special effects just get more and more disturbing. Taking a break and on to episode three. I’m …

Feb 3, 2023: We enjoyed the first episode of “Last of Us.” But I’m disappointed that’s apparently all the John Hannah we get. Everything needs more John Hannah.

Feb 3, 2023: We watched the first episode of “The Last of Us.” Can I expect to unclench anytime soon?

Feb 3, 2023: The grass at Lake Murray is tall after all the rain we’ve had, and yesterday I saw a golden retriever enjoying the grass so much–creeping …

Feb 3, 2023: LinkedIn just showed me a suggestion that I should follow Dr. Bronner’s for opportunities–the company is based here in San Diego. What do …

Feb 2, 2023: We took a break for a few months after watching the end of season one of “Succession,” because the story seemed complete. But now we have watched …

Feb 2, 2023: I’m going to say “don’t forget to like and subscribe!” instead of “good-bye.” When leaving social dinners, ending meetings, before hanging up the …

Feb 2, 2023: Discord and I disagree about when it’s appropriate to send me notifications, and about how to customize notifications.

Feb 2, 2023: I’m learning to use Midjourney for a work assignment. This is my professional headshot, modified with the prompt “sitting at the counter …

Feb 1, 2023: That was fast. I started a new job in September and was let go about 10 days ago. You know the business cliches: “It was a bad fit” and “it was a mutual decision”? I used to think those cliches were bullshit. …

Jan 31, 2023: I saw another classic car today.

Jan 30, 2023: The best possible use for a mini-USB cable From my journal, this day in 2014: A group of teenagers rang the doorbell last night. I went down the stairs to answer. The leader, a girl about 15, …

Jan 30, 2023: I'm relearning how to read books I’m in the process of relearning how to read books, particularly novels. I’ve gotten so accustomed to reading articles and essays online …

Jan 28, 2023: I saw this car.

Jan 28, 2023: Young woman at the supermarket checkout a packet of flowers, a bottle of wine, and nothing else. Seems like there was a story there. None of my …

Jan 28, 2023: Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in …

Jan 27, 2023: We watched the first episode of the new series “Poker Face.” Big “Columbo” vibe.

Jan 26, 2023: My review of “Black Ice,” a Harry Bosch novel, by Michael Connelly I finished reading “Black Ice,” the second Harry Bosch novel, by Michael Connelly. Good at the beginning and end, drags a bit in the middle. I did not …

Jan 25, 2023: We only have 37 more episodes of Yellowstone to watch, plus eight episodes of 1923, plus ten episodes of 1883.

Jan 25, 2023: I’m not seeing much interest in my linkposts here, so I’m just going to post them on Tumblr (atomicrobot.live), Mastodon (@mitchw@mastodon.social) and …

Jan 25, 2023: After watching the first season of “Yellowstone,” I have concluded we need a helicopter.

Jan 25, 2023: Tiktok’s enshittification. How platforms—like Amazon, Google, Twitter, Facebook, and now Tiktok—turn to shit. By Cory Doctorow: “ … first, they are …

Jan 25, 2023: Will the sun ever set on the British empire?. This article by Randall Munro, author of the xkcd comic, just keeps getting better and better. The …

Jan 25, 2023: Amid Rising Homelessness, City Council Declares Housing a ‘Fundamental Human Right’ [Times of San Diego] This is performative bulllshit. …

Jan 25, 2023: Opinion: Antitrust Suit Against Google Ad Business Undermines a Growing Free Press Online [Times of San Diego]

Jan 25, 2023: Google’s most serious antitrust challenge to date [Casey Newton]

Jan 25, 2023: Apple Has Begun Scanning Your Local Image Files Without Consent [jwz]

Jan 25, 2023: Laid Off in Your Living Room: The Chaos of Remote Job Cuts. (NYTimes/Emma Goldberg). First time getting laid off is lonely and scary.

Jan 24, 2023: A Happy Memory Can Help You Fall Asleep, if You Know How to Use It. “Lying in bed each night, Andy Buelow often finds himself thinking one …

Jan 24, 2023: Fort Walgreens The recent spike in shoplifting is both overblown and real. And almost everyone is profiting from it (including you).. James D. Walsh, …

Jan 24, 2023: “Mandy” was Barry Manilow’s first #1 pop hit this month in 1975. He scored 21 more top-40 hits between 1975 and 1983.

Jan 24, 2023: Seth Godin nerds out about typography for a bit. “Typography is a signal, not just a way to put letters on a page.… They say you can tell a lot about …

Jan 24, 2023: “When I tell people I earn my living as a copyeditor, I am typically met with one of two responses: rapt admiration or an almost physical revulsion.”

Jan 24, 2023: “… a close examination of the work produced by CNET’s AI makes it seem less like a sophisticated text generator and more like an automated …

Jan 23, 2023: A brief history of the Apple Lisa computer, lavishly illustrated with historical images. Released in January, 1983, the Lisa was a commercial flop, …

Jan 23, 2023: Eggflation is just more price-gouging. Cory Doctorow: One company controls the US egg industry, Cal-Maine Food, and it’s making record profits—up 65% …

Jan 23, 2023: Dumb and shameful until it’s not Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day says Web 3.0 is here. It’s not “the blockchain-backed …

Jan 23, 2023: The Reality of Being a Parent With a Controversial Past Lily Burana wrote a bestselling memoir about her life as a stripper. Now she’s the mother of a …

Jan 23, 2023: Prisoners use contraband cellphones to educate themselves, get healthcare, earn income in legitimate business, do political activism, and connect with …

Jan 23, 2023: Florida teachers face threatened felony prosecution for having unapproved books in classroom libraries.

Jan 23, 2023: The Last Days of Hollywood’s Most Reviled Reporter (NYTimes). A profile of the late Nikki Finke, the most hated and feared reporter in Hollywood. She …

Jan 22, 2023: Julie and I went for a walk and saw this house around the corner. It looks nice.

Jan 22, 2023: This Guy Noticed Jigsaw Puzzle Companies Use The Same Patterns, So He Made Some Mashups. “Jigsaw puzzle companies tend to use the same cut patterns …

Jan 22, 2023: Seth Godin: Bitterness is “a wall you can lean against, whenever you choose.”

Jan 21, 2023: Jacobin: A Marxist View of Tolkien’s Middle Earth J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy world is a medieval utopia with poverty and oppression airbrushed out of …

Jan 19, 2023: Good morning. Here are your daily ducks. That strange quality of light you’re seeing in this photo is called “sunshine.” We have not seen it here in a …

Jan 19, 2023: Everywhere on Earth, from Europe to China to Africa to Australia and the Americas, is dominated by Europe or its legacy. The whole world is either …

Jan 18, 2023: In Santee, which is a few miles from where we live, 17-year-old Rebecca Philips says she saw a naked “adult male” in the local YMCA dressing room. The …

Jan 18, 2023: Instagram video: British comedian loves Fahrenheit. Fahrenheit is the best. Celsius is for losers.

Jan 17, 2023: Is Micromanaging Your Life With an App Really a Good Idea?. I’ll add a reminder to myself to look into that.

Jan 17, 2023: Winners of the 2022 dog photography awards.

Jan 17, 2023: Good morning. Here are your daily ducks.

Jan 17, 2023: An unofficial list of the most influential science fiction works ever. The science fiction that strongly influenced real life spaceflight pioneers. By …

Jan 16, 2023: “I’m a man who appreciates it when food dares you to eat it.” I am quite enjoying the AwkwardSD newsletter, from fellow San Diegan Ryan Bradford, who …

Jan 16, 2023: Ducks love the rain. They can keep it.

Jan 16, 2023: These dogs ride a bus like humans ‘and now the internet is in love’. ‘The puppy bus just took off,’ said Mo Thompson, who runs a dog walking business …

Jan 16, 2023: You Don’t Know How Bad the Pizza Box Is. The delivery icon hasn’t changed in 60 years, and it’s making your food worse. Saahil Desai at The Atlantic: …

Jan 16, 2023: This charming 1949 article from The Atlantic introduces pizza to middle America.

Jan 16, 2023: It’s the Coolest Rock Show in Ann Arbor. And Almost Everyone There Is Over 65. At the “Geezer Happy Hour,” the “silver tsunami” has been dancing for …

Jan 15, 2023: Minnie and I did a 4+ mile walk in heavy, chilly rain yesterday. She seems fully recovered.

Jan 15, 2023: Ars Technica: I disconnected from the electric grid for 8 months—in Manhattan

Jan 15, 2023: Day One at Rikers Island … the most horrible thing about being locked up is that you are being dehumanized on a daily basis. They practically stamp a …

Jan 15, 2023: If you ever connected to the Internet before the 2000s, you probably remember that it made a peculiar sound. But despite becoming so familiar, it …

Jan 15, 2023: Anti-Semitism is on the rise in the US

Jan 15, 2023: 9 years ago today High temperature was 91 degrees. I was in talks for a job at Light Reading. I was in the midst of a long and extraordinarily difficult process of …

Jan 13, 2023: Political labeling considered harmful Journalist Mike Masnick at Techdirt avoids naming politicians' party affiliation unless it’s essential to the story, because, he says, everybody …

Jan 12, 2023: A brief history of the phrase “leaving everything on the field.”

Jan 12, 2023: Microsoft is offering unlimited time off for US staff. Not always a great deal for employees, who might feel precarious about taking time off, and …

Jan 12, 2023: An indigenous tech group asked the Apache Foundation to change its name. Brian Behlendorf, a co-creator of the popular web server, said in 2020 that …

Jan 12, 2023: Gentleman logs every slice of New York pizza he’s eaten since 2014, including photos on an Instagram account. New York pizza is the best pizza.

Jan 12, 2023: We just started watching this show “Jellystone” with Kevin Costner and we’re still waiting for Yogi Bear to put in an appearance. Maybe in a later …

Jan 11, 2023: A couple of weeks from now, I’m taking my first business trip since December, 2019. It’s more than 400 miles. Given the state of air travel lately, I …

Jan 11, 2023: WINDOWS: Your fingerprint couldn’t be recognized. Try again with a different finger. ME: Yeah, sure, I’ll just dig around in my serial killer souvenir …

Jan 11, 2023: 12,000 California seniors went to the emergency room in 2019, reporting cannabis-related problems. [7 San Diego/Eric S. Page] I was going to make a …

Jan 11, 2023: RIP Jeff Beck

Jan 11, 2023: Laid-Off Workers Are Flooded With Fake Job Offers. “Virtual hiring and remote work have made it easier to swindle job seekers." Here are scam …

Jan 11, 2023: Did the Mother of Young Adult Literature Identify as a Man? “Little Women” author Louisa May Alcott was actually a trans man, though applying …

Jan 10, 2023: Exit. Libertarians such as Peter Thiel dream of escaping society, and they’re tearing society apart to do it. Hari Kunzru at Harpers: If freedom is …

Jan 10, 2023: A lot of rain today here in San Diego. Flooding hundreds of miles north of us in Santa Cruz and south to Santa Barbara. Montecito, a community in …

Jan 10, 2023: Here in San Diego, it’s very wet.

Jan 10, 2023: The learned helplessness of Pete Buttigieg [Cory Doctorow] Obama and Trump were patsies for the airlines, Biden is worse. Holiday snafus involving …

Jan 10, 2023: Why The American Radical Right Is Powerful And The American Left Is Meaningless. Ian Welsh: You have power in electoral politics when you can deliver …

Jan 10, 2023: Independent Reporting Shows Cops Are Still Killing People At An Alarming Rate [Techdirt/Tim Cushing]. Despite calls for police reform, police are …

Jan 10, 2023: Microsoft’s new AI can simulate anyone’s voice with 3 seconds of audio. [Ars Technica/Benji Edwards] I can think of no possible mischief involving …

Jan 9, 2023: On the cutting edge of insurrectionist terrorism Brazil riots weren’t a repeat of Jan. 6. They were an escalation, says Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day. …

Jan 9, 2023: We watched “The Thin Man” Saturday night. Second time for me, but I had nearly forgotten it. It was delightful. I think I’m only …

Jan 9, 2023: Advantage to working from home: When you’re completely stuck creatively, you can clean the massive amount of dog shit that you got on your favorite …

Jan 8, 2023: Researchers at Columbia University are working on building a conscious robot. If they succeed, it will end badly. They’re either building a race of …

Jan 8, 2023: Insomnia is not so bad if you have something to do to pass the time. When I have trouble sleeping, I like to imagine every possible awful thing that …

Jan 8, 2023: Things I saw while walking the dog 📸 This yard decoration. Clever and patriotic! These pretty, painted rocks This house with a cozy looking sitting area on the roof. This school. “Geckos” …

Jan 5, 2023: A gray, chilly, wet morning at Lake Murray.

Jan 5, 2023: San Diego Union-Tribune: ‘It’s cold, wet, exhausting.’ Homeless people have few options when it rains. San Diego homeless shelters are overwhelmed, …

Jan 4, 2023: Why the [expletive] can’t we travel back in time? [Ars Technica/Paul Sutter] No known law of physics forbids time travel to the past. Either time …

Jan 4, 2023: I saw this dog at Lake Murray. He would like to say hello, and for you to admire his eyebrow.

Jan 3, 2023: Coolio talked about ancient aliens, and making big investments in the metaverse and crypto, in an impromptu podcast interview before his death. …

Jan 3, 2023: The holiday break is over. It’s time to get back to work.

Jan 2, 2023: Apparently you can re-use 2017 calendars this year, which is funny to me because I have a 2017 calendar hanging up on the wall next to my bed. I …

Jan 2, 2023: The book Shift Happens tells the 150-year history of keyboards, from primitive typewriters to smartphones. Glenn Fleishmann @GlennF raved about this …

Jan 2, 2023: I saw this SUV while walking the dog. I feel better knowing we’re protected.

Jan 1, 2023: My car keys got hidden in a fold in the pocket of my rain jacket after I was done walking the dog this afternoon. I spent 15 minutes looking for …

Jan 1, 2023: I saw this house flying a Starfleet flag. I was tempted to ring the doorbell to express my approval.

Jan 1, 2023: Portland Startup to Mine Artisanal Bitcoin Using Only Slide Rules and Graph Paper “… powered 100 percent by avocado toast, ethically sourced kombucha …

Dec 31, 2022: While walking the dog, I saw this tasteful Christmas decoration.

Dec 31, 2022: By the time New Year’s comes around, I have holiday exhaustion. New Year’s needs to be in March. Not a lot of holidays between January and May.

Dec 31, 2022: Quintessence is a “barebone Nuzzel clone” for Mastodon, in open beta. It’s pretty simple: if you follow the @quintsns@mastodon.uno bot account, each …

Dec 31, 2022: The exiled chief rabbi of Moscow says Jews should get out while they can. [The Guardian/Stephen Burgen] Pinchas Goldschmidt says that, historically in …

Dec 31, 2022: Hooters tried to recruit Elon Musk to refute rumors that it was closing down because of a study showing millennials don’t like boobs. …

Dec 30, 2022: Julie and I saw this sign 11 years ago today.

Dec 30, 2022: Sign on the restroom door at Shakespeare Pub & Grille, San Diego, where we had Christmas dinner.

Dec 30, 2022: Musk’s Twitter cuts include a data center, janitors, and toilet paper [NYTimes/Kate Conger, Ryan Mac and Mike Isaac] With people packed into more …

Dec 30, 2022: Jo Walton: In Search of Books in Which Nothing Bad Happens

Dec 30, 2022: Cal Newport: On Quiet Quitting. “Every generation reaches a point where they begin to think more critically about what role, exactly, work should play …

Dec 30, 2022: Ian Welsh: How To Relax, Change & Be Free. “… everyone is acting according to conditioning: religious, social, family, school, philosophical, etc… …

Dec 30, 2022: Ben Dreyfuss: Romanian Cops Did Not Find Andrew Tate Because Of His Greta Thunberg Video: “This is a lesson in media failure and misinformation.”

Dec 29, 2022: I saw a bulldog wearing a sweatshirt today.

Dec 29, 2022: This seems like a black-funny story until you read the charges against Tate. He”s not just your average MRA grifter. He seems like a monster and …

Dec 29, 2022: Four days after Elon bragged about unplugging an important server rack, Twitter went down hard. — Mike Masnick at Techdirt @mmasnick@mastodon.social …

Dec 29, 2022: “I remember reading an interview with a minister of an African state who said approximately, ‘every time a western minister visits us we get a …

Dec 29, 2022: Religious upbringing is great for kids, even for those of us who find ourselves nonbelievers, agnostics, or atheists. It helps a person figure out the …

Dec 29, 2022: Talented trans woman writer Charlie Jane Anders @charliejane@wandering.shop remembers her time as a choirboy. She saw the best and worst of …

Dec 29, 2022: Do you set aside time every day to unplug? Yesterday I read this post by Craig Mod about how he spends a big part of his day just walking around, unplugged, not connected to the Internet or …

Dec 29, 2022: Hello insomnia my old friend.

Dec 28, 2022: While walking the dog, I saw this splendid holiday display.

Dec 28, 2022: Crypto craziness craps out — and about time too. By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (@sjvn@mastodon.social) at The Register. At a recent fintech open source …

Dec 28, 2022: The Sorta Kinda Life Changing Bliss of Walking Solo. By Craig Mod @craigmod@mastodon.social Folks seem scared of solitude but solitude is a …

Dec 28, 2022: Dogs start the day with a spoonful of Alpo or some other canned meat on top of a heap of patented, vitaminized kibble. In no time the meal is gobbled …

Dec 28, 2022: Texas Cop Sentenced To More Than 11 Years In Jail For Killing A Woman During A Welfare Check. By Tim Cushing at Techdirt. Atatiana Jefferson was …

Dec 28, 2022: Amazon begins drone deliveries in California and Texas. Residents of two towns, one in each state, can sign for drone delivery. “The drone will …

Dec 28, 2022: Republicans Can Still Win in Blue San Diego. By Andrew Keatts at Voice of San Diego.

Dec 28, 2022: Mastodon has rejected five recent funding offers to preserve its nonprofit status. “Mastodon will not turn into everything you hate about Twitter,” …

Dec 28, 2022: Southwest’s super-efficiency is destroying it Seems like the super-efficiency that made Southwest a great airline in good conditions is making it a nightmare now. Super-efficient businesses have …

Dec 27, 2022: We saw this sobering sign and candle at the vet a few days ago.

Dec 27, 2022: If you’re seeing this on Mastodon, I suggest you follow me at @mitchw@mastodon.social. If you think you’re already following me there, you’re actually …

Dec 27, 2022: San Diego needs to build housing and plenty of it. Forget “neighborhood character” and the environment. Current conditions are a crime against …

Dec 27, 2022: When Britain abolished slavery, slaveowners received compensation. But what about the enslaved people themselves? Did they get any financial …

Dec 27, 2022: How a Town Famous for Xenophobia Fell in Love With Immigrants “We now want as many immigrants as possible,” said Bernard Thompson, the mayor of …

Dec 27, 2022: The Central African Republic, one of the world’s poorest countries, became one of only two nations in the world to adopt Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency. …

Dec 27, 2022: My favorite part of George Santos’ self-defense is where he says he never claimed to be Jewish, he just said he was “Jew-ish.” Oy.

Dec 27, 2022: Jackie Hoffman steals “Glass Onion.”

Dec 26, 2022: Get Blogging! Your easy guide to starting a new blog..

Dec 26, 2022: Elon Musk was never a liberal, and his plans for Twitter were never benevolent. “Tech barons’ lip-service to democracy and pluralism was always …

Dec 26, 2022: “Karens for Hire”—slogan, “We Karen so you don’t have to”—promises “to harness the power of accomplished complainers in the service of beaten-down …

Dec 26, 2022: The Real History Behind ‘The Woman King’ | The Agojie Warriors of Dahomey. By Meilan Solly at Smithsonian Magazine. The movie’s depiction …

Dec 26, 2022: A secularised Jewish American thinks about celebrating Christmas. As a secularized Jewish American, I relate. Ben Werdmuller: Christmas, the eighth …

Dec 26, 2022: Matt Stoller: Private Equity Gave Your Bank Password to Hackers Francisco Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital Corp own LastPass. They raised prices, …

Dec 25, 2022: Busloads of migrants dropped off at vice president’s DC home on Christmas Eve The Bible literally says not to do shit like this. Matthew 25:31 and …

Dec 25, 2022: Feline Navidad!

Dec 25, 2022: Building a keyboard with a rotary dial instead of a number pad.

Dec 25, 2022: In rural Georgia, an unlikely rebel against Trumpism. By Stephanie McCrummen at the Washington Post. Johnson, a 33-year-old white electrician with no …

Dec 25, 2022: Fleece knobby dog, friends!

Dec 25, 2022: We watched the first episode of the first season of “Yellowstone.” We liked it. It’s like “Succession.” There should be a Yellowstone/Succession …

Dec 24, 2022: I migrated my mastodon account to micro.blog but decided I don’t like micro.blog as a mastodon client because micro.blog doesn’t show boosts and I …

Dec 24, 2022: I’m going to use “Bomb Cyclone” as my porn star name.

Dec 24, 2022: While walking, the dog and I saw this tree. This is Christmas in a subtropical, semi-arid area.

Dec 24, 2022: From my journal, this day in 2013: We still haven’t seen the two female cats we had that since we uncrated them yesterday, other than Julie …

Dec 24, 2022: I just migrated my mastodon.social account to micro.blog—which had the side effect of deactivating my mastodon.social account. I’m not sure I like …

Dec 24, 2022: McSweeney’s: A Parent’s Typical Day, as Envisioned by My Child’s Preschool

Dec 24, 2022: A 28-year-old Meta employee paid $300,000 for a 12-year-lease on a studio apartment on a cruise ship. Austin Wells will work from home while traveling …

Dec 23, 2022: I don’t think I am the target audience for Andor. Unless you’re supposed to fall asleep halfway through the fourth episode and then your wife wakes …

Dec 23, 2022: A house down the street has a Santa hologram in the living room window, which I’ve never seen anywhere before. Either that or a creepy guy in a very …

Dec 23, 2022: We took one of the cats to the vet today.

Dec 23, 2022: “There is some kind of a creative power there, to have an unusual name.” Johnny Cash did a song about that

Dec 23, 2022: The best headlines of 2022 Included: ‘How to Murder Your Husband’ writer guilty of murdering her husband h/t kottke

Dec 22, 2022: What Happens When a Group of 12-Year-Olds Is Left with No Supervision for Five Days? Jason Kottke: “After a brief attempt at cleaning, the boys …

Dec 22, 2022: Who are the most influential and important people in history? Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddha, Genghis Khan, Augustus Caesar, and Napoleon are 1-6, in …

Dec 22, 2022: People who wear short pants and long sleeve, heavy sweatshirts in chilly weather are monsters.

Dec 22, 2022: People who wear short pants and long sleeve, heavy sweatshirts in chilly weather are monsters.

Dec 22, 2022: “I can’t go here. It would be too easy for him to pick up if I go here.” — The dog, looking for a place to poop while we’re out walking.

Dec 22, 2022: "… the App Store’s financial success is the worst thing that’s happened to Apple this century. It’s a distraction at best, and a profound …

Dec 22, 2022: Mastodon is getting popular enough that it’s going to start attracting litigation and regulation. — Amanda Hoover on Ars Technica

Dec 22, 2022: As if you didn’t have enough to worry about: eating too many apples might be bad for you.

Dec 21, 2022: Why Would Anyone Use Another Centralized Social Media Service After This? — Mike Masnick at Techdirt @mmasnick@mastodon.social. I’m asking myself the …

Dec 21, 2022: We don’t need a new global town square to replace Twitter. We already have one: The Web. The web is the world’s town square.I t’s been right there along along, and Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc., are all just layers on top of that …

Dec 21, 2022: I like that micro.blog doesn’t support likes or reblogs. On Facebook, Tumblr, and Mastodon, I’m trying to pay very little attention to my likes and …

Dec 21, 2022: Hi, @manton! Feature request for micro.blog: Let me import my Mastodon follower list, which I can already do when switching Mastodon instances. Right …

Dec 21, 2022: Daring Fireball @gruber@mastodon.social: Quora is beta testing an AI chatbot. Shouldn’t be that big a change for Quora, many of whose …

Dec 21, 2022: Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr: How Apple could open its App Store without really opening its App Store. Apple will be required to open the …

Dec 21, 2022: Hearing Wendell Pierce say “fuuuuuck” in an early scene of S3E1 of “Jack Ryan” makes me want to watch “The Wire” again.

Dec 17, 2022: While walking, the dog and I saw this mobile axe-throwing setup. Because is it really the holidays without axe-throwing?

Dec 16, 2022: While walking, the dog and I saw this dapper gentleman.

Dec 15, 2022: The right believes in absolute free speech for everyone they agree with.

Dec 15, 2022: Soon as I saw the headline cross Mastodon, I checked my twitter account. Still active. I feel snubbed.

Dec 15, 2022: Thursday Night Purge: Elon Musk’s Twitter Bans Tons Of High Profile Journalists — Mike Masnick at Techdirt. “… it seems that whatever brakes or …

Dec 15, 2022: How cable monopolists tricked conservatives into shooting themselves in the face – Cory Doctorow “No matter how hard conservative culture-war …

Dec 15, 2022: While out walking the dog late this afternoon I saw a little four-year-old girl wearing a beautiful green Christmas dress with a red bow on it. She …

Dec 14, 2022: Years ago, two friends of mine, one at the CIA, one at the Pentagon, advised me to delete the app. So I don’t want to position the concerns about …

Dec 14, 2022: … a conservative is someone who believes that some of us were born to rule, and the rest of us were born to be ruled over. — Cory Doctorow, …

Dec 14, 2022: The idea that “if you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product” is utter nonsense. The factor that determines whether a company will treat …

Dec 13, 2022: I have just disabled micro.blog’s cross-posting to my main mastodon account, and will instead use micro.blog’s native ActivityPub support. …

Dec 13, 2022: I can’t make up my mind whether I want to cross-post from micro.blog to my primary mastodon account—as I am doing now—or simply use …

Dec 13, 2022: Crypto Was Always Smoke and Mirrors: The fall of FTX shocked everyone. Except this guy. The world of cryptocurrency is rich with eccentric characters …

Dec 13, 2022: Support Railroad Workers Fighting for Humane Conditions and Paid Sick Leave. The RR workers get NO sick leave and NO regular schedules! They are …

Dec 13, 2022: American healthcare is split into 2 piles: Face holes Not face holes — US Healthcare, by Matt Haughey on A Whole Lotta Nothing h/t kottke.org

Dec 13, 2022: “I believe that marriage is a lasting partnership between one person without health insurance and one person who gets pretty good coverage through …

Dec 13, 2022: “Is there such a thing as accidental praxis? Because as much as I hate oligarchs, in a million years I could not have figured out a way to trick one …

Dec 13, 2022: jwz: “I would like to report an absolutely absurd use of metaphor.” Truck fire leads to huge pile of trash dumped in front of police station. If you …

Dec 13, 2022: The service I use to track of TV and movies to watch, trakt.tv, has been down for two days. They post occasional updates on Twitter. The latest just …

Dec 12, 2022: Idea for a crime novel about a man who steals a yarmulke from his male sibling. Working title: “His Brother’s Kipah.”

Dec 12, 2022: Contrary to all good writing advice, sometimes I like to use baroque, sesquipedalian language where monosyllabic verbiage will do.

Dec 12, 2022: Orphaned neurological implants. By Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr. Second Sight, a company that makes ocular implants, sold out to another …

Dec 12, 2022: Heavy rain when walking the dog this morning. The dog didn’t like it. Neither did I, but only one of us had a choice about being out there.

Dec 12, 2022: A few weeks ago, I was communicating with a 26-year-old colleague, talking about increasing work demands in the face of an oncoming launch. I started …

Dec 12, 2022: Enjoyable article about Generation Z’s struggle to adapt to communication style in the office workplace, particularly on Slack and email. Gen Z came …

Dec 11, 2022: I was standing on the sidewalk outside the pet store tapping on my phone. An old guy walked by very slowly, pushing a walker, with oxygen cannulae in …

Dec 11, 2022: How the Hospice Movement Became a For-Profit Hustle. Half of all Americans now die in hospice care. Easy money and a lack of regulation transformed a …

Dec 11, 2022: I’ve been sleeping better for the past month or so. I attribute to more consistent bedtimes and wake times, reduced life stress and cooler bedroom …

Dec 11, 2022: What you can learn about sleep from truckers Stephanie Vozza at Fast Company: [Dean Croke, principal analyst at DAT Freight & Analytics, an …

Dec 11, 2022: Freedom of reach is freedom of speech. The online debate over free speech suuuuucks, and, amazingly, it’s getting worse… Billionaire …

Dec 11, 2022: What if failure is the plan?. danah boyd has been studying social media for decades, with a particular focus on young people and other marginalized …

Dec 11, 2022: It is a cold and blustery day here in San Diego. We had brunch with friends. I walked the dog before the rain started. I am spending the afternoon on …

Dec 11, 2022: Blogging is its own form at this point. It isn’t an essay. Nor is it a scholarly article. It has no length requirements: a blog post can be a …

Dec 11, 2022: Author Scott Lynch responds to a reader who objects to “unrealistic stereotypes of political correctness” in his fiction featuring a Black, …

Dec 11, 2022: Molly White: On anti-crypto toxicity. I don’t think anyone should be pressured to be nice to evil people. But I think the belief that anyone who …

Dec 11, 2022: Twitter to Increase Tweet Character Limit to 4,000, Elon Musk Says. By Sami Fathi at MacRumors.

Dec 11, 2022: Where Veteran Rockers Go to Reinvent Themselves. How the Hudson Valley and the Catskills became the home to grunge icons, ex-punks and one-hit …

Dec 11, 2022: On 2024, Romney won’t back Trump, even if he’s the GOP nominee. By Steve Benen.

Dec 11, 2022: When you live in a semi-arid climate and you only drive a couple of times a week, you can go for years without driving in heavy rain, and then you …

Dec 11, 2022: Highbrow Films Aimed at Winning Oscars Are Losing Audiences. By Brooks Barnes at The New York Times. Audiences aren’t coming to theaters for these …

Dec 10, 2022: We watched the first half of “Spirited” last night, because I thought I was in the mood for a lightweight Christmas movie, but it turned out I was not …

Dec 10, 2022: A remake of “Happy Days” would be set in the 2000s.

Dec 10, 2022: Yesterday I mistakenly had coffee at four in the afternoon. I thought it was decaf. But I slept soundly last night anyway. Makes me wonder what other …

Dec 9, 2022: I saw these ducks do this mildly surprising thing at Lake Murray.

Dec 9, 2022: The Los Angeles Police Department is here to serve and protect… the powerful. The rest of you are on your own. After audio recordings leaked of Los …

Dec 9, 2022: This letter from Mickey Mantle, recalling his ‘outstanding experience’ at Yankee stadium, is delightfully obscene, as is this 1898 memo to …

Dec 8, 2022: Dyson’s Air Purifying Headphones Will Cost $949, Plus Your Pride. By Andrew Liszewski at Gizmodo.

Dec 8, 2022: McSweeney’s: Middle School Party Games, Revised for Thirty-Five-Year-Olds. Truth or Dare If a player chooses “truth,” they must reveal how much money …

Dec 8, 2022: The New Yorker: Cory Doctorow Wants You to Know What Computers Can and Can’t Do. A conversation about the “mediocre monopolists” of Big Tech, the …

Dec 7, 2022: I saw this dapper gentleman at the park today.

Dec 5, 2022: The promise and the peril of ChatGPT. By Casey Newton. Reading about the potential for abuse here, I found myself thinking about the classic science …

Dec 5, 2022: Yes, It’s Censorship: Stop picking that nit, it’ll never heal. A few big companies, including Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Twitter, monopolize …

Dec 5, 2022: Ancient Rome did not fall. It was destroyed from within, by the same forces we see playing out in America today. By Barry Gander, a self-described …

Dec 4, 2022: While walking, the dog and I saw these houses with the holiday spirit, and this car 🦮📷

Dec 4, 2022: Eugene from Wednesday is my role model. I’m going to wear a retainer and keep bees.

Dec 4, 2022: A new Indiana Jones movie, starring 80-year-old Harrison Ford? Sure, why not? Here’s the trailer. I’ve seen criticism of the trailer and of all the movies after “Raiders.” And much of that criticism is valid. But the best …

Dec 4, 2022: Proud Boy terrorists threaten Columbus, Ohio, drag queen story hour, school asks for protection, police nope out.. On MetaFilter. Far more children …

Dec 4, 2022: MetaFilter: “Television news is about consistency and companionship."

Dec 4, 2022: jwz: Like Zoinks

Dec 4, 2022: jwz: Let Me Kill the Billionaire.

Dec 4, 2022: jwz: Normal Country. Functional Democracy

Dec 3, 2022: Seth Godin: Confidence doesn’t help win the lottery. There are lots of lotteries in our lives. Always have a Plan B.

Dec 2, 2022: One of the best blogs on the Internet. is back. I’m glad to see Jason Kottke has returned to blogging. But I’m sorry to learn he’s …

Dec 2, 2022: South Dakota Bans Government Employees From Using TikTok. The Countless Other Apps And Services That Hoover Up And Sell Sensitive Data Are Fine, …

Dec 2, 2022: Dave Pell is on a roll on NextDraft today: ”At 8:10 p.m., more than nine hours after his family reported him missing, a passing tanker spotted the …

Dec 2, 2022: Elon Musk gets mail. “Akiva Cohen, an attorney representing 22 laid-off Twitter employees, sent a letter to Twitter and Elon Musk (shared, of …

Dec 2, 2022: “Robert Moses Is A Racist Whatever.” Jason Kottke blogs about an interview with Robert Caro, author of “The Power Broker,” a definitive biography of …

Dec 2, 2022: What weird food habits did you have in your family when you were a kid? If you’re a parent, how would your kids answer that question? I’m remembering that one summer when I went to day camp where the kids brought their lunches. My mom made a big batch of hamburgers on Sunday, and …

Dec 1, 2022: Alexandra Petri: “Free speech is when you pay me money for goods or services. That’s free speech. When you do not give me money, that is …

Dec 1, 2022: Disney’s new neural network can change an actor’s age with ease. The “production ready” neural net makes actors younger or older for film …

Dec 1, 2022: This made me happy this morning This morning while walking the dog I saw one of the neighbor men in front of his house, getting ready to take his three-year-old daughter to school. I …

Dec 1, 2022: How can the Democrats claim to be pro-union and pro-labor and also do this? The bill that the House passed forcing railway workers back to work requires the workers to take a deal they voted to reject before, giving them only …

Nov 30, 2022: I have become fastidious about washing my hands, maybe even OCD, but I have also decided the dog and cats are sanitary, and I am still entirely clean …

Nov 30, 2022: I have become fastidious about washing my hands, maybe even a little OCD, but I have also decided the dog and cats are sanitary, and I am still …

Nov 30, 2022: On Twitter: “You ever just think about how Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is basically whedon’s If I Did It”

Nov 30, 2022: “You’ve got to vaccinate people against the hate” MetaFilter: In Russia, China, Iran, and the United States, autocracy is stumbling and liberal democracy is looking resilient. (But in the US at least, …

Nov 30, 2022: A friend reminds me that I started getting healthy and fit after I attended a science fiction convention in around 2007, and saw that a third of the …

Nov 30, 2022: Hello again, micro.blog! It’s me, Mitch Wagner, getting a fresh start on a new blog. If you follow me on atomicrobotlive you can keep right on doing …

Nov 28, 2020: Wherever you go, go with all your heart. 📷

Nov 28, 2020: 27 years in California and sometimes I’m still amazed by palm trees. 📷

Nov 28, 2020: Nice work, neighbors. 📷

Nov 24, 2020: Would you like to see a one-minute video of Minnie running around the backyard and digging? Of course you would. 📷

Oct 14, 2020: Lake Murray in the morning, San Diego, CA, 7:40 am PT. A Day In The Life #adayinthelife

Sep 30, 2020: My home office needs a name. I am choosing between: The Room Where It Happens The Cockpit The Boom Boom Room The Dangerous Exotic Bamboo Tiki Lounge …

Sep 28, 2020: Robert A. Heinlein’s Red Planet was the gateway drug to books for me. My 3rd grade teacher, Miss Kaufman had a little area of bookshelves in the …

Sep 28, 2020: FBI Demands Apple’s Assistance In Opening iPhone Packaging

Sep 27, 2020: This house has a dinosaur in the yard. The dinosaur wears a nametag. His name is Burt. 📷

Sep 27, 2020: Out of curiosity, I rewatched “Dance of the Dwarfs,” a 1983 low-budget horror-adventure that was in heavy rotation on cable TV around the time it was …

Sep 26, 2020: We don’t get many majestic trees like this in San Diego. 📷

Sep 22, 2020: We’ve been living in this house more than 20 years and last night Julie showed me an extremely useful lightswitch which I had previously been …

Sep 20, 2020: My brothers and me having a Tarantino moment at Niagara Falls around 1971. 📷 I think the white car was our car. Dad liked a muscle car. It was an era …

Sep 20, 2020: Even when I was a little boy, I understood the importance of personal style. Around 1964. 📷

Sep 17, 2020: Just look at this beautiful house we saw on a trip to Athens, Ohio, to visit family a few years ago. Just look at it. 📷

Sep 17, 2020: African safari journal: Homeward bound June 2019 Our final Africa safari stop was Little Kulala Desert Lodge, in Sossusvlei, the Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia. We took another small charter …

Sep 16, 2020: "Dance of the Dwarfs" In the early 1980s cable movie channels didn’t have much inventory and they’d play the same movie over and over, multiple times a day. And …

Sep 16, 2020: I’m about halfway through reading the very first Perry Mason novel, “The Case of the Velvet Claws,” published 1932. Perry has …

Sep 16, 2020: A colleague on a Zoom meeting this morning shared his Mac screen with red numbers in the dock for App Store and operating system updates, and now …

Sep 14, 2020: We are enjoying “Endeavour.” It gives me an idea for a Star Trek series: “Ensign Kirk.” This is the story of a young Starfleet …

Sep 14, 2020: In the 90s, Justin Hall was a rich kid with distant parents and a need for attention. He fell in love with the Internet and started sharing intimate …

Sep 9, 2020: I get relaxation from certain kinds of low-stakes digital activities, requiring little or no thought, like organizing email newsletters and suchlike. …

Sep 8, 2020: What is a “digital garden?” I encountered the idea of a “digital garden” Friday and was instantly enthusiastic and spent some time this weekend nerding out about it. Here is the …

Sep 7, 2020: I updated mitchwagner.com to index the best of my personal writing. I’ve heard people call that a “digital garden.”

Sep 7, 2020: Our Africa journal – Saying goodbye to a new friend June 23, 2019 — Yesterday, we left the camp for our next stop. Festus drove us two hours over those rough desert roads to the same airstrip we’d flown …

Sep 5, 2020: In “Man of Steel” there’s a scene at the end where Superman and the big villain are having a fight flying around midtown Manhatttan, and they’re …

Sep 5, 2020: The house 🎃 across the street ☠ is starting 👻 to decorate 🧛‍♀️ for Halloween. 🧙 Too soon!🦇

Sep 3, 2020: “Digital gardens” are personal spaces on the Internet that avoid the one-size-fits-all look and feel of social media. They’re not …

Sep 1, 2020: Like I said about 10 hours ago, I thought I had insomnia licked because I got a good night’s sleep five nights in a row, but last night it was …

Sep 1, 2020: “I’ve got this insomnia thing licked,” I said. “I’ve slept well six nights in a row,” I said. Note the timestamp on this post. Oh, well, at least I …

Sep 1, 2020: Minnie in a weird position, 2017. 📷

Aug 26, 2020: Casey Newton: “Few will cry any tears for Facebook… But the events of this summer have folks I know in Silicon Valley asking the same question over …

Aug 26, 2020: Big Tech doesn’t have persuasion superpowers. The companies are toxic because they’re monopolies. [Cory Doctorow]

Aug 26, 2020: Using machine learning to optimize the layout of banana slices on a sandwich. [Cory Doctorow] I imagine this would work with pickle chips too.

Aug 26, 2020: I’ve learned that my resting face when I’m a zoom call looks like I’m drunk. Once I have my colleagues trained that I’m not …

Aug 26, 2020: RNC Speaker Mary Ann Mendoza Cancelled After Boosting Conspiracy About Jewish Plot to Enslave the World

Aug 26, 2020: If you want to see women walking while talking on the phone, most with dogs, some pushing strollers, get out of your house and walk around the …

Aug 25, 2020: I dropped a container of imported parmesan cheese flakes on the floor the other day and swept it up and put it back in the container and now the dog …

Aug 14, 2020: I stopped briefly on my walk yesterday to fiddle with my iPhone, and this beautiful cat came out from behind some bushes to say hello. After pausing a …

Aug 13, 2020: Epic Games' assertion that there's an iPhone market that Apple monopolizes, distinct from the smartphone market that includes Android, looks like bullshit to me. Apple kicked Epic’s Fortnite out of the App Store for terms of service violations. Fortnite immediately sued. Thomas Claburn at The Register: …

Aug 13, 2020: The bizarre dimming of bright star Betelgeuse caused by giant stellar eruption [Space.com]: Betelgeuse farted.

Aug 5, 2020: Simulate driving through dozens of world cities while listening to local radio. driveandlisten.herokuapp.com Johannesburg driving is scary.

Aug 5, 2020: If you start reading a book and it’s not grabbing you, how long do you give it until you give up? Or do you always read through to the end once you …

Aug 4, 2020: Facebook is refusing to remove a doctored Nancy Pelosi video. Factcheckers put ‘partly false’ label on video that has been circulating since Thursday …

Aug 4, 2020: When Covid Subsided, Israel Reopened Its Schools. It Didn’t Go Well. www.nytimes.com/2020/08/0…

Aug 4, 2020: Photorealistic portraits of Roman emperors, generated by machine learning and Photoshop. medium.com/@voshart/…

Aug 4, 2020: Trump has had more nice things to say about a woman arrested for sex trafficking than he has about John Lewis.

Aug 4, 2020: How to spell “entrepreneur:” It’s got more Rs than you think.

Aug 4, 2020: Wilford Brimley was once a bodyguard for Howard Hughes. twitter.com/rstephens…

Aug 4, 2020: Clashing privacy laws between the US and Europe spell trouble for big tech “If you’re a U.S. subsidiary of a big U.S. firm and you’re based in Europe, whom do you obey? The European law that says you can’t hand it over …

Jul 31, 2020: Why QAnon is here to stay

Jul 31, 2020: Mirrors only became commonplace and inexpensive in the 19th Century. Until then, almost everybody had no idea what they looked like. They had never …

Jul 27, 2020: I saw this regal gentleman at Lake Murray. 📷

Jul 27, 2020: Drive-through communion at the church up the street from us. 📷 Communion was no longer running when I saw the sign while out walking yesterday. …

Jul 27, 2020: Too often I try to get just a couple more shaves out of an old blade. That’s a metaphor for something.

Jul 27, 2020: The good: I shaved with a new blade this morning and I’m wearing a new shirt. The bad: I have a razor burn on my left cheek from the last time I …

Jul 26, 2020: I resolved on Thursday to do less Facebook, because Facebook doesn’t make me feel good. I was on Facebook this weekend more than I would’ve liked, …

Jul 26, 2020: Vacation photo, Borrego Springs, California, 2013 📷

Jul 26, 2020: A photo essay of classic Japanese ads

Jul 26, 2020: A photo essay of classic Japanese movie monsters. Where Western movies used animated clay figures, the Japanese used men in costumes on miniature …

Jul 26, 2020: “The line of troopers walked forward, billy clubs out. They knocked Lewis to the ground and struck him on his head. He tried to get up; they hit him …

Jul 26, 2020: “Aggravation is an art form in his hands.” RIP Regis, my friend and companion on many a business travel hotel room morning in the 90s and 2000s.

Jul 25, 2020: I have an idea for a movie. An action-comedy about two cops who are partners and best friends and who bicker a lot. They are out to take down a …

Jul 25, 2020: We watched Bad Boys tonight, which we had never seen. It was the least enjoyable film I have watched all the way through.

Jul 25, 2020: This is a good look for me. In no way does it make me look threatening or mentally unbalanced. 📷

Jul 24, 2020: meet my new BFF https://t.co/4WDhx3BpZo — Michelle 🍵💻 (@tinymwriter) July 24, 2020

Jul 24, 2020: More than half the people born in 1980 are over 40. My brain cannot process this information.

Jul 24, 2020: Velveeta vs. Microsoft.

Jul 24, 2020: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols at ZDNet: The 5 most over-hyped tech devices. Don’t be a hater – CueCat will make a comeback!

Jul 24, 2020: David Roth at The New Yorker: How “Starship Troopers” Aligns with Our Moment of American Defeat: Verhoeven’ s Starship Troopers depicts “a society …

Jul 24, 2020: Eli Reiter at OneZero: My Bizarre Stint As an Amazon Reviewer for Hire

Jul 24, 2020: I saw this lost dog sign on my walk yesterday. I hope they find the little guy. He looks sad. 📷

Jul 24, 2020: Lake Murray from Cowles Mountain, five miles from home, 2018. Maybe I’ll do the climb again this weekend. 📷

Jul 24, 2020: Two years ago today I was at the Google Next conference in San Francisco. I mistook another editor for a waiter at a stand-up cocktail reception and …

Jul 24, 2020: Julie got me this cunning hat for my birthday yesterday, which I will wear with pride on my next trip back east in winter. I think it’s a great look …

Jul 23, 2020:

Jul 23, 2020: Such a shayna punim! 📷

Jul 23, 2020: The least likely scenario for the 2020 election is that Trump both loses and accepts defeat graciously. What Could Happen If Donald Trump Rejects …

Jul 23, 2020: “Hurting people at scale: Facebook’s employees reckon with the social network they’ve built. Ryan Mac and Craig Silverman go …

Jul 23, 2020: I don’t know how how to spell “entrepreneur” but I know there’s an extra R in there somewhere.

Jul 23, 2020: “Delicious, but too messy to handle,” was how Ruth Burt described the new ice cream treat her father, Harry Burt, concocted in 1920—a brick of vanilla …

Jul 23, 2020: That was, indeed, unexpected. Zoom and Enhance! from r/Unexpected

Jul 23, 2020: Ladies and gents, I present my husband who did not want a cat from r/aww

Jul 23, 2020: In his biography of Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson makes a case that Franklin was one of the greatest people who ever lived, anywhere at any time. …

Jul 23, 2020: Venice is reducing the number of people allowed on individual gondolas, as tourists have gotten fatter. “Going forward with over half a ton of meat on …

Jul 23, 2020: Biden went into this campaign with his chief credential being that he was a nonentity who would do nothing. With Biden as President, Americans could …

Jul 23, 2020: Biden’s $2 trillion climate plan.

Jul 23, 2020: Country-themed sitcoms ruled the TV airwaves for a decade, but in the early 1970s, CBS axed them. The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat …

Jul 23, 2020: I had not planned to spend quite so much time this morning updating my Mac but here we are.

Jul 23, 2020: When did we stop having “problems” and starting having “issues”? Because I have a problem with that.

Jul 22, 2020: That’s sorted. Moon vs. Sun utilization question answered The Monroeville Breeze, Indiana, September 20, 1934. pic.twitter.com/tU4FGC1rqX — …

Jul 22, 2020: Light and time are great ways to disinfect masks. Washing is generally unnecessary James Hamblin MD, writing at The Atlantic: Have several masks, made to fit well around your nose and mouth. Make them as heavily layered as you can …

Jul 22, 2020:

Jul 22, 2020: The Amazon Critic Who Saw Its Power From the Inside: Tim Bray was a celebrated engineer at Amazon. Now, he is its highest-profile defector Bray walked away from $1 million because he couldn’t stand Amazon’s labor and business practices anymore. Now he’s an outspoken …

Jul 22, 2020: Mexican cave relics suggest humans were populating the Americas up to 17,000 years earlier than thought

Jul 22, 2020: This is a photo of a kitten Honestly trying to work here. Joyce Garcia https://www.garciabuxton.com/2020/07/21/honestly-trying-to.html

Jul 22, 2020: I was looking through my wallet for a particular document, which I did not find, but I did find random credit card receipts dating back to 2017. from …

Jul 22, 2020: Facebook is adding security and privacy protections to Messenger. That’s like Ghislaine Maxwell taking first aid classes so she can be a better …

Jul 22, 2020: We ordered a new couch which was supposed to arrive today but which seems to have disappeared in transit. I am haunted by the vision of it being sat …

Jul 22, 2020: America can become the country claims to be, starting by telling the truth about its history of slavery, genocide and oppression. “Until we tell the …

Jul 22, 2020: Tempted

Jul 22, 2020: Tucker Carlson, the most popular host in the history of cable news, returned from a week-long vacation after his head writer was exposed as a raging …

Jul 21, 2020: I walked a different route than I usually do today, and saw several noteworthy vehicles. Two were classics, all had character. 📷

Jul 21, 2020: 📷

Jul 20, 2020: Lush photo essay from the golden age of shopping malls. Cruising the Past & Future of the Retro Shopping Mall I loved to go to the mall in my 20s. I’d go alone, during the day, get a fast food lunch, …

Jul 19, 2020: From my journal two years ago: My Apple Watch alarm went off while I was watching the dishes, and without thinking about it I tapped the watch face …

Jul 18, 2020: I was feeling down and blue so I spent a lot of time on social media and now I feel ever so much better and more cheerful, said nobody never.

Jul 14, 2020: 📚I finished reading “Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic," by Tom “insert Spider-Man Joke Here” Holland. It’s a …

Jul 13, 2020: Man, It’s Boss! Monogram’s Red Baron model kit, the Groovy Custom Show Rod Now at Your Favorite Store! (1968) via

Jul 13, 2020: Hula hoop ad, 1963 via

Jul 12, 2020: I am continuing to fiddle with handwriting recognition (aka Scribble) on the iPad. I’m getting better at it but I don’t know if it will …

Jul 12, 2020: Was Orwell an anti-Semite? Orwell struggled with anti-Semitism — others' and his own.

Jul 12, 2020: Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow: “Trump’s decisions to politicize voting and wearing masks means that his base have been convinced …

Jul 12, 2020: Americans saw the story they wanted to see. Some saw respected professionals fearing for their safety, reasonably exercising their Second Amendment …

Jul 12, 2020: The Republicans Who Want to Destroy Trump The Lincoln Project is headed by people who are just now realizing that the Republican Party has been toxic …

Jul 12, 2020: A 13-Year-Old Will Be Tried As An Adult For Shooting And Killing His Brother While Playing Cops And Robbers. The father, who kept a loaded gun …

Jul 12, 2020: Your mask feels uncomfortable? Get over it. As a surgeon, I know how vital they are.

Jul 12, 2020: The World Is Drinking Less Coffee While Office Workers Stay Home. More for me!

Jul 12, 2020: not all heroes wear capes. pic.twitter.com/KEG2P2Qbz2 — Love Yo Self ✨ (@MichellCClark) July 11, 2020

Jul 12, 2020: How old is your dog? New equation shows how to calculate its age in human years Dogs age quickly their first years, more slowly later. Minnie is 62.

Jul 12, 2020: 📷

Jul 11, 2020: David Frumat the Atlantic, about Roger Stone: The Most Conspicuous Scandal in American History. Trump and his cronies commit their treasonous crimes …

Jul 11, 2020: David Gerrold’s 1983 novel “A Matter for Men” features the Earth facing a biological menace which many people believe is a hoax, and the US in decline …

Jul 11, 2020: Hello, again, Lake Murray. 📷

Jul 11, 2020: This may sound like Trump’s wackiest conspiracy theory. But it’s actually true. Republicans have been peddling insane conspiracy theories for decades, …

Jul 10, 2020: Scientists thought they found evidence of a new planet at the edge of the solar system. Now they think it might be a black hole. If the Solar …

Jul 10, 2020: On Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic: Hospitals are using homebrew dongles with code from a Polish hacker to repair ventilators, getting around …

Jul 10, 2020: For me, texting is a full-duplex conversation. I think possibly most people think of texting as half-duplex, like speech, and consider my approach …

Jul 10, 2020: “Ghislaine, Is That You?”: Inside Ghislaine Maxwell’s Life on the Lam I did not know this: Ghislaine Maxwell is the daughter of the late media mogul Robert Maxwell, briefly famous as a rival to Rupert Murdoch. Robert …

Jul 10, 2020: Bill Murray dances with Gilda Radner at Studio 54. via In the 70s, overalls and high heels were considered perfectly acceptable ladies' wear for a …

Jul 10, 2020: How AI makes policing more racist: AI is biased as the people who program it.

Jul 10, 2020: I like writing things by hand … in theory. I like the idea of being the guy who carries around a notebook, like Indiana Jones’s father, and writes …

Jul 10, 2020: Al Pacino with his parents, Salvatore and Rose, in 1940. via He’s just a few months old and he already looks like Al Pacino.

Jul 9, 2020: I often see this bus parked around the corner. I keep expecting 11-year old Danny Bonaduce to emerge. 📷

Jul 9, 2020: I installed the new iPad beta and I think I like the scribbling feature it takes getting Used to. I don’t handwrite anything anymore

Jul 9, 2020: Incoherent Conspiracy Suggests Ghislaine Maxwell Is a Powerful Redditor: Because a supercriminal setting up pseudonymous social media account to rule …

Jul 9, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Cops are buying breach data. Why get a warrant when the crooks can do the work for you?

Jul 9, 2020: A Twitter Account Is Tracking the Cringiest Misuses Of Black Language

Jul 9, 2020: 3 Mac apps I'm not using anymore I configured a new MacBook Pro a month ago. Usually I use Migration Assistant for that kind of thing but this time I started from scratch and moved …

Jul 9, 2020: Spies, Lies, and Stonewalling: What It’s Like to Report on Facebook: “… operating with the secrecy of an intelligence agency and the authority …

Jul 9, 2020: The Militarization Of Police: Journalist Radley Balko, author of ‘Rise Of The Warrior Cop,’ says police departments across America are …

Jul 9, 2020: Study finds asteroid impact, not volcanoes, made the Earth uninhabitable for dinosaurs: ‘Only plausible explanation’. I thought this was …

Jul 9, 2020: Two racist cops threw me in jail 13 years ago. Let me tell you what needs to happen now. Searing commentary from Ty Smith, a retired, decorated Navy …

Jul 9, 2020: How to Buy Tech That Lasts and Lasts Brian X. Chen at the New York Times: When we buy a gadget these days, we rarely assume that it will endure. We expect to play a video game console …

Jul 9, 2020: Sheboygan toilet clogger sentenced to probation, 150 days in jail Headline of the week.

Jul 9, 2020: via

Jul 9, 2020: via

Jul 9, 2020:

Jul 8, 2020: Microsoft did a virtual-reality/augmented-reality thing to make video meetings look more like physical meetings You get an avatar that sits at a table or – for bigger meetings – in a virtual lecture hall, with your own video-captured face on it. …

Jul 8, 2020: I got the new Facebook layout yesterday evening. That’s late – many people were getting it months ago, weren’t they? I like it. It …

Jul 8, 2020: I’m not a Boomer. I’m Generation Jones Generation Jones is the younger cohort of boomers. We are a separate generation, raised in the recession of the 70s in very early 80s, rather than the …

Jul 8, 2020: Julie got a new handbag. Sammy says, “Mine now!” 📷

Jul 5, 2020: 📷

Jul 4, 2020: 📷

Jul 4, 2020: We watched Hamilton last night and 1776 tonight. That’s five hours and 25 minutes of movies. My butt has declared independence.

Jul 4, 2020: My reaction immediately before watching “Hamilton:” “Nearly three hours? You’ve got to be kidding me!” After one hour: “I sort of like it.” After …

Jul 4, 2020: The 1776 drinking game: Take a drink — of rum — every time John Adams says “Good God!” or “Incredible!”

Jul 4, 2020: The first movie I saw in a theater A friend asked her Facebook friends what was the first movie that they remembered seeing in a theater. I dug through the IMDB to find some of the …

Jul 4, 2020: ‪I like that the instructions for Hot Pockets say I should “prep” it first. Like sticking a thing in a cardboard sleeve makes me a chef. ‬

Jul 4, 2020: Minnie supervises my second Covid haircut, by Julie, who did an excellent job. 📷

Jul 3, 2020: I’ve had to teach myself how to read books again. When I was a kid and into my 20s I read books voraciously, but beginning in my 40s I transitioned to …

Jul 2, 2020: Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate, has been charged with enticement of minors. This could get interesting. It seems likely …

Jun 29, 2020: Trump Mistakes Cowboy Sculpture In His Office As Teddy Roosevelt In Interview About Knowing The History Of Statues “Trump’s gaffe seems …

Jun 29, 2020: I wish Trump put as much energy into protecting live Americans as he does for dead Confederates and Vladimir Putin.

Jun 29, 2020: The Decline of the American World Other countries are used to loathing America, admiring America, and fearing America (sometimes all at once). But …

Jun 29, 2020: A volcanic eruption in the Aleutians triggered climate change that accelerated the fall of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic Was Teetering. Then …

Jun 29, 2020: Doomscrolling Is Slowly Eroding Your Mental Health Checking your phone for an extra two hours every night won’t stop the apocalypse.

Jun 29, 2020: Kellogg’s Mashups Cereal Combines Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops Not enough sugar and artificial coloring.

Jun 29, 2020: Duke researchers say all brain activity studies are wrong

Jun 29, 2020: Milton Glaser, Co-founder of New York Magazine and Creator of ‘I❤NY,’ Dies at 91 Christopher Bonanos at New York Magazine: He wrote, too. Starting in our first issues, Glaser and his friend Jerome Snyder, the design director of …

Jun 29, 2020: "You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument" Caroline Randall Williams says that as a light-skinned Black woman, her body is a monument to the Confederate legacy. I am a black, Southern woman, …

Jun 29, 2020: Remastered silent movies from the 1890s look breathtakingly real and contemporary, like the people could just walk out of the frame. …

Jun 29, 2020:

Jun 29, 2020: African safari journal – one year ago – we visit a tribal village June 21, 2019 - Yesterday was busy even by the standards of this trip. Up at 6 and out at 6:30 to the main tent for breakfast and coffee. The coffee …

Jun 29, 2020: What happened to Brexit? Last night I woke up in the middle of the night unable to sleep – which I’m doing now at least two or three times a week, it’s just normal …

Jun 28, 2020: African safari journal – one year ago – never get tired of the elephants June 19, 2019 — We got our cold weather yesterday, up at 5 am for the morning game drive. Camp Kipwe wasn’t cold. I’d assumed it might be at night, …

Jun 28, 2020: Petition calls for statue of Christopher Columbus in Ohio city to be replaced with Chef Boyardee The city is Cleveland and it’s actually not a bad …

Jun 28, 2020: ‪Remarkable time-lapse video of a toucan growing up from hatching to adulthood. ‬‪Seems like an intelligent, playful animal that recognizes its …

Jun 28, 2020: Black Lives Matter is working

Jun 28, 2020: “ ... trying to shame people into wearing condoms didn’t work—and it won’t work for masks either.” Shaming didn’t work to get men to wear condoms during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, but making condom-wearing convenient and less unpleasant …

Jun 28, 2020:

Jun 28, 2020:

Jun 28, 2020:

Jun 28, 2020: New research explores how conservative media misinformation may have intensified the severity of the pandemic “… infection and mortality rates …

Jun 28, 2020: The White House is taking increasing measures to protect Trump from covid, even as he insists publicly the disease is no big deal As he seeks to insert rival Joe Biden’s health into the presidential campaign, Trump has voiced escalating concern about how it would appear if …

Jun 27, 2020: Not the first time Sammy got to the glass of water I put out for myself.

Jun 27, 2020: Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers, and Trump has been dithering about a response for months, according to this report in …

Jun 26, 2020: House passes bill to provide D.C. statehood Republicans oppose statehood for DC because DC is mostly Black people.

Jun 26, 2020: Pence tries to put positive spin on coronavirus pandemic despite surging cases in South and West Dangerous moron Mike Pence says increase in cases is …

Jun 26, 2020: Obamacare Must ‘Fall,’ Trump Administration Tells Supreme Court No, it is the Trump administration that must fall.

Jun 26, 2020: In the middle of the worst pandemic in a century, Trump wants to eliminate medical insurance for 20 million Americans. Even for Trump, this is …

Jun 26, 2020: YouTube views of sourdough videos jumped 400% in coronavirus lockdown. And “workout from home” video views more than tripled

Jun 26, 2020: A subsurface ocean on Europa, a moon of Jupiter, may have been habitable. For microbial life at least, possibly sometime in the past.

Jun 26, 2020:

Jun 26, 2020: Paradise, California, suffered extensive damage and deaths in 2018 forest fires, and is now grappling with the pandemic and recession. The high school graduating faces uncertainty with hope for the future Justine Calma at The Verge: For the second year in a row, graduation at Paradise High School became a tribute to triumph over disaster. The …

Jun 26, 2020: "The Great" – it's great 📺 Julie and I are loving the Hulu series “The Great,” about the rise to power of Catherine the Great, 18th Century empress of Russia. …

Jun 26, 2020: How to “manage up” from home Getting ahead at the office when you’re not at the office. Crises are not a time to negotiate increased titles and compensation…. Jump in and …

Jun 25, 2020: He got it from the mask.. I just bet he did.

Jun 25, 2020: U.S. Used Missile With Long Blades to Kill Qaeda Leader in Syria American Special Operations forces used a specially designed secret missile to kill …

Jun 25, 2020: Working at Home Means Softer Toilet Paper – and a Climate Toll Soft toilet paper is better for your butt, but worse for the climate. Commercial …

Jun 25, 2020: How big tech distorts discourse: It’s the monopoly, stupid. Making the case for job guarantees. Activists dox Chicago cops in realtime. 759 …

Jun 25, 2020: More photos from our African safaris – one year ago These were taken June 18, 2019, in Namibia. Our cabin at Kipwe Lodge in Namibia. View from the cabin. View from the cabin toilet. The cabin bathroom. …

Jun 25, 2020: We’ve had big, gorgeous monarch butterflies in the yard recently. 📷

Jun 24, 2020: Africa journal – one year ago – spectacular leopard encounter June 17, 2019 [Note from 2020: Overlap here with yesterday’s entry. I’m repeating myself.] We arrived at Windhoek in Namibia two days ago, after a …

Jun 23, 2020: I saw these chairs on a New York City street a few years ago. The gentlemen who occupied the chairs were very nice. 📷

Jun 23, 2020: African safari journal – one year ago – a travel day June 15, 2019 – Yesterday was a travel day. We had an 11:25 am charter flight from the LLT airstrip [Note from 2020: That’s the Leroo La Tau …

Jun 22, 2020: "City of Girls," by Elizabeth Gilbert, was very enjoyable and a nice change of pace from my usual reading 📚 Elizabeth Gilbert is of course the author of “Eat Pray Love” and a writer who until recently I never gave any thought to because I …

Jun 21, 2020: The pandemic comes close to home This morning I talked with a friend who lost his sister to covid Friday. I learned about that on a professional mailing list my friend and I share; …

Jun 20, 2020: Rosebud at the side of the house. “Feed me, Seymour!” 📷

Jun 20, 2020: Alaska Airlifts ‘Into the Wild’ Bus Out of the Wild Alaska has airlifted the “Into the Wild” bus out of the Alaska backcountry. Too many tourists made the trek to the location and had to be rescued. …

Jun 19, 2020: Trump wants to dismantle the OTF: Trump wants to dismantle the US Open Technology Fund, a nonprofit that funds development of open source …

Jun 19, 2020: Algonauts: Experimental artist Shardcore uses machine learning to generate “Algonauts” – uncanny, fake Peanuts panels – Cory Doctorow

Jun 19, 2020: That’s the art of the deal, people! Trump paid $7.3 million for covid “test tubes” that turned out to be contaminated miniature soda …

Jun 19, 2020: Avia, c’est mort: French courts struck down a law that would have required the Internet Archive to remove 15 million documents, including a …

Jun 19, 2020: Austerity in disrepute – Cory Doctorow: 75% of Americans favor maintaining or expanding extended unemployment benefits from pandemic stimulus bills. …

Jun 19, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Microsoft criticizes Apple’s monopolism – and Microsoft oughta know about monopolies! But companies that try to sic …

Jun 19, 2020: A Man Has Raised Over $10,000 To Tap-Dance Over His Downstairs MAGA Neighbor And Says He’s Donating All Proceeds

Jun 19, 2020: Thousands of tampons! The Hugo Girls discuss Mary Robinette Kowal’s Hugo award winning novel, “The Calculating Stars,” which is, …

Jun 19, 2020: Today, Explained: A good day for DREAMers: The Supreme Court’s decision upholding DACA was a wonderful surprise, but Trump can strike down DACA …

Jun 19, 2020: Ice skating in a suit. 1930s via

Jun 18, 2020: My new employer needs a professional looking photo.

Jun 18, 2020: Medical supply company threatens to sue to stop iFixit from distributing repair manuals Cory Doctorow: When a once-in-a-century public health emergency strikes, some people leap to help. Others leap to sue. Ifixit published maintenance …

Jun 18, 2020: The EU has an opportunity to break Big Tech's monopolies by requiring interoperability This is the EU’s interoperability moment – Cory Doctorow It should be legal for you to buy a third-party service to manage your Facebook feed.

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Jun 18, 2020: Oracle: How sports teams are keeping fans engaged during the pandemic shutdown: Money quote: “Sports fans are committed and involved. They are the …

Jun 18, 2020: How to stop Google Calendar from automatically including Google Meet links in meeting invitations. Zoom: Disable Google Hangout on Google Calendar This has been a stone in my shoe for years; now that I’m sending out meeting invitations more …

Jun 17, 2020: Television promo photo 1970 in Hungary via

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Jun 17, 2020: Welcome to the future, brought to you by America’s Independent Electric Light and Power Companies, advertising art from Newsweek, April 1959. via

Jun 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow: “Hue and cry, posses, sheriffs: What did we do before cops?” Professional policing is a relatively recent invention, and …

Jun 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Americans don’t trust Big Tech to moderate their communities: Censorship by big business in partnership with government is not …

Jun 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow: The Earbuddy is experimental technology that takes advantage of wireless earbuds' microphones being sensitive enough to tell the …

Jun 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow: “Robots aren’t stealing your job: Your boss is destroying it and blaming it on automation.” Automation enables …

Jun 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow: “SF anthology to benefit covid charities: Surviving Tomorrow is a new anthology whose entire profits go to pay for covid-19 tests …

Jun 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Politics and sf: People look out for each other during a crisis, despite stories about people going crazy and turning on each other …

Jun 17, 2020: You know that thing where I was doing daily digests of links and occasional image digests? I’m tired of that. Let the firehose resume? I seem to …

Jun 17, 2020: After many years working from home, suddenly I feel like I need to wear nice shirts for work most days. The reason is Zoom, of course.

Jun 17, 2020: I’m doing a few Zoom calls a day now. I hate my meeting face.

Jun 17, 2020: Found images: June 17, 2020 1930s via via via

Jun 16, 2020: Link list: Tuesday, June 16 2020 Cisco rolls out new solutions for remote work, learning, post-pandemic For instance, one solution combines video collaboration hardware and software …

Jun 16, 2020: Interesting finds in my home office After my Mom passed away in 2000, and then my Dad in 2004, I inherited my Mom’s rolltop desk. It’s in my home office. If you’ve ever …

Jun 16, 2020: Found images: Tuesday, June 16 2020 Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, 1910s. She wore pants, smoked publicly — often on the roof of the White House — kept a …

Jun 15, 2020: Link list: Monday, June 15 2020 On Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic: Mad Magazine’s Al Jaffee is retiring young – he’s only 99. Jaffee launched “Snappy Answers to …

Jun 15, 2020: As a Jewish New Yorker I’m supposed to be appalled by thin-sliced bagels – particularly thin, longitudinally sliced bagels – but …

Jun 14, 2020: Nathan Lane’s performance in “City of Angels” is particularly amazing because, well, he’s Nathan Lane. He’s always been talented and charismatic but I …

Jun 14, 2020: We hate “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,” but can’t stop watching. We don’t hate Nathan Lane though. He’s outstanding.

Jun 14, 2020: Linked list: Sunday, June 14, 2020 The reality show “Cops” was canceled a short time ago. Should scripted police dramas follow? On the Today, Explained podcast …

Jun 14, 2020: Exercise is not just important to health; it also stimulates the mind. For example, when I was exercising recently I had the insight that “I Dream of …

Jun 14, 2020: Africa journal - one year ago today - Tswana language lesson Julie has picked up a few words of Tswana, one of the two major languages of Botswana. The other major language is English: Kealeboga =thank you …

Jun 13, 2020: People attending Agent Orange’s June 19th rally need to sign away their right to sue if they get COVID. Since this article ran, Bunker Boy rescheduled …

Jun 13, 2020: African safari journal – one year ago today – a visit to a local village In the morning at home, I look at the news. Here in Africa, in the morning I look at the gnus. A herd of wildebeest gathers on the plain outside our …

Jun 12, 2020: Safari journal – one year ago today – we learn the local language and speak it badly Leroo La Tau, our current safari camp, is in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park in Botswana, on the banks of the Boteti River. The resort is on a …

Jun 11, 2020: African safari journal – one year ago today – Camp Xakanaxa to Leroo La Tau We’re on a 12-seater Cessna now, on our way from Camp Xakanaxa, where we spent three lovely days, to our next stop, the name of which I cannot …

Jun 10, 2020: We are watching “The Great” and rewatching “Rome.” Great TV. So many severed heads.

Jun 10, 2020: I have a new job! I’m happy to say I started work this week as a senior writer at Oracle, getting out the good word about what Oracle and its …

Jun 9, 2020: The real lesson of William Shatner's “Get a Life” sketch William Shatner’s “Get a Life” sketch from Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. dai.ly/xmagzq I’d never seen it before. In an …

Jun 8, 2020: Our African journal – One year ago today – At the Okavango Delta in Botswana I literally squeed when I saw a mother baboon carrying her baby. “Oh my god it’s a baby baboon!” I exclaimed in a high pitched squeal like an 11 year …

Jun 7, 2020: Julie received a text message that just said, “Mom I’m sorry.” It was a wrong number. Julie did not respond because, she said, every response she …

Jun 7, 2020: Riot aftermath here in La Mesa, California: Murals by local artists cover smashed storefronts 📷 About 10 days ago a video went viral of Amaurie Johnson, a young African-American man, apparently being bullied by police at a transit station here in …

Jun 7, 2020: African travel journal – one year ago today – I complain like a Karen Yesterday was our first full day really in Africa, when we got out of the airport/hotel complex in Johannesburg to the Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana . …

Jun 7, 2020: Seen at the supermarket: a woman wearing a mask and tiara.

Jun 6, 2020: Consumer reports: How to safely and effectively record video during a protest www.consumerreports.org/audio-vid…

Jun 6, 2020: Our Africa trip journal - one year ago today: Botswana We arrived at Kasane Airport, a small airport outside Chobe National Park in Botswana, yesterday, and when we stepped outside the airport that is when …

Jun 5, 2020: African safari journal: One year ago today, Julie and I arrived in Africa From my travel journal, lightly edited for typoes: We’ve been in transit nearly 2 days now. And we are almost there. We left the house at 8 AM on …

Jun 5, 2020: Who is Alan Tarica and why does he say I’m an idiot? I fell down an Internet rabbit hole this morning. I received an email from someone signing himself as “Alan Tarica.” It read: “How do you have …

Jun 4, 2020: 📷 Baked potato, deli turkey breast, spicy brown mustard. Delicious!

Jun 4, 2020: 📷 Jacaranda

Jun 4, 2020: Pluralistic: Ferguson's first black mayor, why do protests become violent and more On Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic pluralistic.net/2020/06/0… Ella Jones is Ferguson’s first black mayor. =-=-=- Why do protests become …

Jun 3, 2020: 📚Reading "The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic." I finished reading “Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic,” by Mike Duncan …

Jun 3, 2020: QAnon: 'Where We Go One' QAnon believers, united in a battle against what they see as dark forces of the world, reveal where the internet is headed. The Qanon community is …

Jun 3, 2020: 10 things Democrats could do right now - if they actually wanted to stop Trump’s power grab Democrats control the House, many state Houses, governors’ offices, and the City Halls of major cities. There’s a lot they can do — right now, if they …

Jun 3, 2020: How ‘antifa’ became a Trump catch-all www.politico.com/news/2020… Antifa isn’t an organized group and there’s no evidence they’re …

Jun 3, 2020: RIP Irene Triplett, the last living person to receive a US Civil War pension Triplett’s father, Mose, fought for the Confederacy and then joined the North and fought as a private. After the war, he had “a reputation …

Jun 3, 2020: 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice medium.com/equality-…

Jun 3, 2020: The systems that protect bad police. www.nytimes.com/2020/06/0…

Jun 3, 2020: Conspiracy theories have been fundamental to American history since the Revolution. www.npr.org/2020/05/1…

Jun 3, 2020: George Will: ‘There is no such thing as rock bottom for Trump. Assume the worst is yet to come.’ Those who think our unhinged president’s recent mania about a murder two decades ago that never happened represents his moral nadir have missed the …

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Jun 2, 2020: KC Short, the Army veteran who organized Saturday’s protests in La Mesa, CA, the San Diego suburb where I live, said he does not condone the …

Jun 2, 2020: Fans rally around Crazy Fred’s, a comic book store in the San Diego suburb La Mesa (where I live), which was looted in riots this weekend. …

Jun 2, 2020: Protesting is important, but it's not the hard thing, or the most important thing To be honest, it’s not that hard to protest. It’s not that hard to go someplace. And it doesn’t mean that it’s not important. It doesn’t mean that …

Jun 2, 2020: "It's enough to break a true patriot's heart" I’m trying to understand why wearing a mask — which is meant only to protect the most vulnerable among us and slow the spread of the virus to everyone …

Jun 2, 2020: Trump’s bailout czar makes out – how to stop police brutality Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic pluralistic.net/2020/06/0… Trump’s bailout czar, Justin Muzinich, responsible for trillions in bailout …

Jun 1, 2020: Protesters Dispersed With Tear Gas So Trump Could Pose at Church Old Yellow Stain declared himself a friend to peaceful protesters, and then ordered in flash bang explosions and tear gas to disperse peaceful, lawful …

Jun 1, 2020: An American Uprising: Who, really, is the agitator here? – David Remnick at The New Yorker He quotes AOC: ‪“If you’re calling for an end to unrest, but not calling out police brutality, not calling for health care as a human right, not …

Jun 1, 2020: In late 2001, after 9/11, I got in the habit of having my clock radio set to an all-news station to wake me up in the morning. If the first words I …

Jun 1, 2020: While cowering in a bunker and doing nothing, President Tweetie demands other people get tough. www.cnn.com/2020/06/0…

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Jun 1, 2020: @dave Winer compares Trump to Captain Queeg — Old Yellow Stain. Hell yeah. Trump in the bunker with the White House lights off, muttering about the …

Jun 1, 2020: Let’s just leave Trump in his protective bunker until January, and shut off the Wi-Fi too.

Jun 1, 2020: Saturday after another night of rotten sleep I decided I need to minimize going on the Internet after dinner. I picked a bad day to start that.

Jun 1, 2020: Good morning! I spilled a little coffee on my hand this morning and the dog licked it off enthusiastically. That’s my girl! She says she wants maybe a …

May 31, 2020: Minneapolis has a deep history of police abuse and racism On Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic.net: Minneapolis police have flouted reforms. “[P]olice union boss Lt Bob Kroll kept his job even after he showed up …

May 31, 2020: Looting and arson come close to home (but we’re fine) I slept in this morning, woke up a few minutes before 10 am and found my phone was lit up with messages from local friends. Last night there was …

May 30, 2020: Protestors Criticized For Looting Businesses Without Forming Private Equity Firm First Look, we all have the right to protest, but that doesn’t mean you can just rush in and destroy any business without gathering a group of clandestine …

May 30, 2020: ThreadReaderApp now has beta support for the Micropub Spec so you can publish Twitter threads directly to your blog boffosocko.com/2020/05/2… …

May 29, 2020: New York couple decides to quarantine together after one date Gali Beeri is 37 and works as an executive assistant. Joshua Boliver is 42 and creates visual effects for movies. They both live in New York City and …

May 29, 2020: US anti-vaxxers aim to spread fear over future coronavirus vaccine. A dangerously large numbers of Americans are already reluctant to take an …

May 29, 2020: Norway and Denmark say they will reopen tourism between their two countries soon, but will maintain restrictions for Swedes. Sweden did not impose a …

May 29, 2020: Trump wants a race war to get himself re-elected David Pell on NextDraft: Remember, this is a guy who ran on Birtherism and walls, and has led with Muslim bans, kids in cages, very fine people on …

May 29, 2020: I don’t have any useful judgment to share for or against the rioters in Minneapolis. I understand why they are doing it. George Floyd seems to …

May 27, 2020: How I cynically exploited "Hands Across America" On May 26, 1986, millions of Americans across America joined hands for 15 minutes to form a line stretching from the East Coast to the West Coast …

May 26, 2020: Talking about “A Canticle for Leibowitz” 📚I found myself thinking about the novel “A Canticle for Leibowitz,” by Walter M. Miller Jr., occasionally for the last week or two. It’s always been …

May 26, 2020: A Piers Anthony encounter I saw these books in the neighborhood Little Free Library. I read and enjoyed them in the 80s when they came out, and haven’t thought of them …

May 26, 2020: Agenda: Great app, but not for me I spent some time yesterday fooling around with Agenda, an app for taking time-sensitive notes, such as notes on meetings or notes on projects with …

May 25, 2020: I don’t use ad-blockers because I hate ads I’m a journalist. I’m fine with ads. They pay my income. I don’t use ad-blockers to protect my privacy. When it comes to the Internet, I’m just a …

May 24, 2020: Sammy is very relaxed 📷

May 24, 2020: Dune is a rational space opera, as logical and geometrical as a Sherlock Holmes story, with an irrational occult spirit journey built on top. It needs …

May 24, 2020: 🍿I watched the end of the Coen Brothers comedy “Hail Caesar” yesterday. We’d watched the first part weeks ago but Julie lost interest and I finally …

May 24, 2020: Who’s watching Lawrence Welk anymore? My grandparents watched it in the 70s. They were in their 80s then. That’s always seemed like the target …

May 24, 2020: I stopped in at Mystic Grill & Bakery last night to pick up a takeout dinner for myself and Julie. The chairs were down off the tables, indicating …

May 24, 2020: Julie and I watched “Dune” again not long ago. The only other time I’d seen it was in the theatrical release in the 80s. It was fine. I enjoyed it. I …

May 24, 2020: On the It’s the Pictures That Got Small podcast: Dune, with Karina Longworth, Nate DiMeo and Natasha Lyonne. David Lynch had no interest in the …

May 23, 2020: 📷 Two ducks 🦆 🦆 hanging out in the pond, a third duck 🦆 joins them. A brisk discussion of etiquette ensues. LEEEROY JENKINS!!!!!

May 23, 2020: 📽Last night we watched “Saving Mr. Banks,” about the making of Mary Poppins. The movie stars Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Bradley Whitford, etc. — …

May 21, 2020: Patton Oswalt: Joey Pants is the real hero of “The Matrix,” and the computers are trying to be nice. “There’s a very strong …

May 21, 2020: The last typist was kicked out of the Writers Room in New York’s Greenwich Village 10 years ago. The ribbon has run out on the last typewriter …

May 20, 2020: Did the Black Death lead to the Renaissance? What does that history teach us about what to expect in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic? …

May 19, 2020: How Ben Stiller Will Remember His Father, Jerry Stiller

May 19, 2020: Coronavirus: The Mask Wars – Science Vs Scientific studies suggest no conclusive evidence that cloth masks help slow the spread of coronavirus. N95 …

May 19, 2020: “Shoe-leather” contact tracing works – Cory Doctorow The only effective way to do contact tracing is by paying an army of people to do it …

May 19, 2020: HP Lovecraft warned readers to stay away from pulp magazines – Cory Doctorow. Readers should turn to the Bible and Lord Dunsany instead, said …

May 19, 2020: Department of Justice Reopens Spat With Apple Over iPhone Encryption Daring Fireball: Saying you want technology companies to make a backdoor that …

May 18, 2020: On Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic ++ This is the first pandemic ever experienced by a society that understands how pandemics work, and other …

May 18, 2020: “Get your stinking paws off me you damned dirty ape!” and 99 more favorite movie quotes.

May 18, 2020: If Not 10,000, How Many Steps Should We Be Walking Each Day? The 10,000-step rule is completely arbitrary, writes journalist Tanner Garrity at InsideHook. There is zero science behind it. The figure was plucked …

May 18, 2020: What We Might Learn From The 1918 Flu Pandemic – Fresh Air – In broad outlines, public reaction to the the 1918 flu pandemic and covid epidemic follow …

May 18, 2020: Knockoffs – 99% Invisible – Dapper Dan went from street hustler to fashion impresario and has spent time on both sides of American trademark law. In …

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May 17, 2020: Inside Trump’s coronavirus meltdown Edward Luce delivers a fast but deep read on the Financial Times, about how Trump and his henchmen have bungled pandemic response, unnecessarily …

May 17, 2020: A pandemic is no walk in the park, except yesterday that's exactly what it was Yesterday, Lake Murray was open for the first or second day since the social distancing order became law in California (which was March 20, by the …

May 16, 2020: Montgomery Ward, 1960 via

May 16, 2020: Fred Willard doing opening monologue on SNL, 1978 via

May 16, 2020: Trans World Airlines (1952) via

May 16, 2020: Janis Joplin Woodstock 1969 via

May 16, 2020: Jughead, 1970. It doesn’t require much individuality to be viewed as an eccentric iconoclast in Riverdale. via

May 16, 2020: There’s Nothing Like a ‘54 Ford via

May 16, 2020: Fred Willard, 1978. via

May 16, 2020: The death cult at the grocery store – Retail workers are being called on to enforce facemask requirements, and they’re facing threats and violence …

May 16, 2020: Why Is Facebook So Afraid of Checking Facts? – Facebook refuses to factcheck fake news, based on the discredited social theory of “backfire effects,” …

May 16, 2020: Hackers who broke into a law firm claim to have dug up dirt on Trump, and will release it in a week if they don’t get $42M ransom

May 16, 2020: Facebook’s Giphy acquisition would be a privacy disaster How Facebook Could Use Giphy to Collect Your Data – Giphy already tracks users online behavior, and Facebook should not be allowed to buy it. Also: In …

May 16, 2020: Coronavirus: The last ‘normal’ photo on your phone

May 15, 2020: Qanon is so popular because there are so many real-life conspiracies Cory Doctorow: Social media isn’t particularly great at persuasion. But it is excellent at finding small, diffuse groups that are receptive to a …

May 15, 2020: Former newspaper editor is now a homeless blogger The New York Times: Rick Jackson, 54, was top editor of The Herald-Times, Bloomington, Indiana. He got laid off “in the parking lot next to the …

May 15, 2020: New Christopher Pike "Trek" series in the pipeline. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!! Hollywood Reporter : CBS All Access is doing a new Star Trek series, based on the adventures of the Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike, with …

May 15, 2020: I like the way the dog looks at the camera for approval. "Did you see that move?" Stop what you’re doing and watch my weird dog fight a tree. pic.twitter.com/Tam5fBLZBc — K.B. Spangler (@KBSpangler) May 14, 2020

May 15, 2020: Losers who use “loose” when they mean “lose.” Makes me lose my shit.

May 15, 2020: Excitement during the pandemic. I like that it’s a professional model. Don’t want to use the AMATEUR equipment.

May 15, 2020: The Saga of Michael Flynn – Politics doesn’t permit nuance. Either Michael Flynn is a hero or a traitor. Either the Justice Department …

May 15, 2020: Rumors that some horror movies are cursed become their own kind of curse for the people who make those movies The Curse of The Curse – Great episode of the Imaginary Worlds podcast: filmmaker Jay Cheel talks about his new documentary series “Cursed …

May 12, 2020: Thoughts following my my first-ever at-home haircut I had long, thick hair when I was a young man and I miss it. For years I’ve wondered if I would look good with long hair today, even though my hair is …

May 11, 2020: Help Garry Armacost, a Vietnam vet, fight cancer and VA bureaucracy Garry Armacost, was wounded fighting for his country in Vietnam. Now he’s in the fight of his life, against cancer and the bureaucracy of the …

May 10, 2020: Julie gave me my first rona haircut. Fine job and I still have all my ears!

May 10, 2020: Kiss cam finds the best couple. via Gfycat

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May 9, 2020: Little Richard, Rock Pioneer Who Broke Musical Barriers, Dead at 87 – He pioneered rock and roll’s gender-bending flamboyance, …

May 9, 2020: The Sopranos: How Would Tony Soprano Handle the Coronavirus? – The dancers at the Bada Bing get furloughed, starting with the lapdancers.

May 9, 2020: My Facebook profile recently got upgraded to support formatting text: Bold, italic, blockquotes and hyperlinks. I haven’t seen an announcement or news …

May 9, 2020: Today (and yesterday) on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic – Armed Michigan voters are escorting their state reps to work to protect them from …

May 8, 2020: Ocasio-Cortez claps back at GOP criticism for playing Animal Crossing: ‘Curious for your thoughts on Trump’s golf bills’

May 8, 2020: I think I will suggest to Julie that we should watch “The Andromeda Strain” tonight. Not the 2008 remake. I hear that was fine. But it lacks the …

May 8, 2020: Wilford Brimley was only 48 when he appeared in “The Thing” and 51 in “Cocoon.” I learned about Brimley’s age in …

May 8, 2020: As Restaurants and Stores Reopen, What’s Safe? – Are haircuts, going back to work, eating in restaurants, and visiting friends and relatives OK? …

May 8, 2020: Microsoft and AWS exchange poisoned pen blog posts in latest Pentagon JEDI contract spat – Microsoft and Amazon’s fight over the $10B DoD JEDI …

May 8, 2020: Roaming ‘robodog’ politely tells Singapore park goers to keep apart – A roaming robot dog built by Boston Dynamics is politely telling …

May 8, 2020: Zoom is adding data center capacity in Equinix, as it signs a deal for cloud service from Oracle.

May 8, 2020: Google unifies all of its messaging and communication apps into a single team – A good move. Google has multiple redundant messaging apps. I …

May 8, 2020: House GOP urge Trump against supporting additional funding for state and local governments – Republicans see coronavirus as an opportunity to …

May 7, 2020: James Carville Warns Trump: Your ‘Grifter’ Campaign Aides Are Lying To You — “Trump is getting fleeced by members of his own campaign who …

May 7, 2020: Which Supreme Court Justice Flushed the Toilet During Oral Arguments?

May 7, 2020: Now I’m curious which book it was and what was the so-called virtue signaling? It's true: I am contractually obliged to offer at least three …

May 7, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic The TSA is being sued for hoarding 1.3 million N95 masks: The agency isn’t even using them, while …

May 7, 2020: Supreme Court throws out convictions of New Jersey officials in Bridgegate scandal – Political corruption is legal. That’s literally what the …

May 7, 2020: The first Google account you sign in to is set as the default account. This was driving me nuts until I figured it out.

May 7, 2020: “She’s starting to shake! She’s starting to shimmy!". Thanks, @odd!

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May 6, 2020: Everybody alive today will be somewhat germophobic the rest of their lives. Like the way my parents' generation, who grew up in the Depression, were …

May 6, 2020: [Several years ago] JULIE: “What is ‘mansplaining?'” ME: ME: “This is a trick, isn’t it?”

May 6, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic ++ Alvim Corrêa’s beautiful, bleak illustrations from the 1900 French edition of HG Wells' “War …

May 6, 2020: ‪I am hosting a video conference for dozens or hundreds of people this evening so of course today seemed like a good day for me to get my first …

May 6, 2020: The grocery store was nearly out of our favorite brand of cookies, Tate’s. Lots of gluten-free cookies left, though. I guess people are all if …

May 6, 2020: We watched the first episode of “Rome” last night. Polly Walker is va va va voom. I am attracted to smart, sexy auburn-haired women who …

May 6, 2020: We may be dramatically overestimating China’s capabilities – David Ignatius on The Washington Post – We may be making China seem more capable than it …

May 5, 2020: via

May 5, 2020: Parking Lots Have Become a Digital Lifeline — Without home internet access and with libraries and cafes closed, people are driving to parking lots to …

May 5, 2020: Over on Twitter, I’m suggesting to @MikeElgan that he might want to consider moving to micro.blog. I did some research in the autumn and …

May 5, 2020: On Twitter, @mat asks: “With the benefit of a couple of months of hindsight, what was your best preparing for a pandemic move?" I replied: …

May 5, 2020: That is an awful lot of Rome Yesterday I read some of “Storm before the Storm” a history of the fall of the Roman Republic, by Mike Duncan, and “Silver Pigs,” the first in the …

May 5, 2020: One year ago today I saw possibly the most ridiculous example of security theater I have ever witnessed A young woman ahead of me at airport security was walking with a cane and had a “boot” on her foot – a removable enclosure to immobilize …

May 4, 2020: 📺 I have finished watching I Claudius, for the fourth time. I now realize why I didn’t have any memory of the last episode. It is because the episode …

May 4, 2020: I just want a professional haircut. I realize this is literally the smallest problem in the universe compared with the sacrifice others are making, …

May 4, 2020: The Hollywood Vigilante Actress Marisol Nichols, star of the TV series “Riverdale,” is a real-life vigilante, hunting down sex predators. …

May 4, 2020: “Having no plan is the plan! … Plans are for commies and the Danish. Here we do it fast and loose and dumb and wrong, and occasionally we …

May 4, 2020: As a newly self-employed person, I’m learning that the weekend is a thing you schedule. My most recent weekend was Tuesday and Wednesday. …

May 4, 2020: John Cleese: “If you’re absolutely no good at something at all then you lack the skill to know that you’re absolutely no good at …

May 4, 2020: Hospital CEOs are keeping their seven-figure salaries while frontline workers go without pay

May 4, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic ++ The pandemic could make Big Tech our permanent overlords ++ Hospital CEOs are making millions while …

May 4, 2020: Larry Ellison Reveals His Big Data Battle Plan To Fight Coronavirus In Partnership With Trump White House Billionaire Larry Ellison has turned the …

May 4, 2020: AWS engineer Tim Bray resigns from Amazon following worker firings – Bray quit Amazon in protest over the company firing vocally critical employees. …

May 4, 2020: Inspired by a conversation with Mike Elgan yesterday, I’m going to do Facebook a lot less for a while.

May 3, 2020:

May 3, 2020: This Woman Was Isolated In Her Nursing Home, So Her Grandchildren Stood Outside With Signs To Ask Her For Money

May 3, 2020: Man In Quarantine Can’t Remember How Long It’s Been Since He Danced Through Town Square Followed By Big Chorus Of Friendly Locals

May 3, 2020:

May 3, 2020: The Scientists Who Won’t Give Up on the Warp Drive — Dozens of engineers and physicists are trying to do the impossible, develop a means of …

May 3, 2020: Terry Pratchett: Doctor Who is not science fiction. Thanks, Cory!

May 3, 2020: School bus converted to mobile, full-time off-grid home. And it’s a really NICE home too.

May 3, 2020: It’s the 50th Anniversary of Humanity’s Favorite Activity: Staring at an LCD

May 3, 2020: The Coronavirus Is Rewriting Our Imaginations Science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson went off the grid in mid-March, rafting down the Colorado …

May 3, 2020: Welcome to your work-from-home dystopia: Employers are using spyware to monitor remote employees' work at home, requiring workers to leave their …

May 3, 2020: What The U.S. Might Learn From China’s Approach To COVID-19 – New York Times health and science reporter Donald G. McNeil Jr. points to China as …

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May 2, 2020: Boy raises a hammer during a solidarity rally for the 42,000 miners on strike in the Zonguldak coal fields in Turkey, November 1990. via

May 2, 2020: Wearing a mask is for smug liberals. Refusing to is for reckless Republicans. – Mask-wearing and other pandemic protections have become political …

May 2, 2020: John Belushi reportedly visited the set of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” on the day he died. He wanted to work on his William Shatner …

May 2, 2020: The U.S. Needs Way More Than a Bailout to Recover From Covid-19 – We need a new New Deal to fix structural problems with the US economy that long …

May 2, 2020: Funniest work videoconferencing misadventures When videoconferencing meetings go wrong, you get to see flossing, naked husbands and more. … I could tell both his dogs were barking …

May 2, 2020: Every Question In Every Q&A Session Ever

May 2, 2020: Airplane Mode – For grounded frequent flyers, this web page replicates the experience of being on a long flight and staring out the window. Via …

May 2, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow's Pluralistic Pluralistic: 02 May 2020 – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow ++ The mistrust epidemic The pandemic isn’t the only disease …

May 2, 2020: Increasingly Desperate Alex Jones Says He Will Kill and Eat His Neighbors

May 2, 2020: Microsoft lays out more detail on its 5G, edge computing and private wireless ambitions

May 1, 2020: Monty Python, 1976 via

May 1, 2020: 1956 kitchen design (flooring). via

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May 1, 2020: July 1973 via

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May 1, 2020: Zenith portable radio advertisement, 1956 via

May 1, 2020: Harlan Ellison: “I don’t take a piss without getting paid for it."

May 1, 2020: Me, deciding to take advantage of pandemic downtime: “Yeah, 220, 221, whatever it takes."

May 1, 2020: Covid-19 is 9.5-44x more fatal than seasonal flu — Scientific American — Flu deaths are counted in a misleading, grossly inflated manner, as compared …

May 1, 2020: ME (1 month ago today): “How is it April already? This situation has been going on a long time!” ME (seemingly minutes later): “How …

May 1, 2020: We watched the latest episode of “The Good Fight” last night. I liked it. I would’ve liked it more if the stinkers hadn’t …

Apr 30, 2020: Cover art for the Erber Science Fiction series, Germany, 1976-1977. via

Apr 30, 2020: The Invisible Man – Today, Explained podcast: Where in the world is Kim Jong Un? Vox Journalist AlexWard says the rotund North Korean leader is …

Apr 30, 2020: Biden’s Campaign of Isolation – The New York Times Daily podcast: Joe Biden is campaigning from his basement, struggling to attain visibility while …

Apr 30, 2020: URL for the micro meetup? I did not see that advance registration was required!

Apr 30, 2020: In the Republican solution to the Trolley Problem, the top priority is saving the trolley.

Apr 30, 2020: Ernest Hemingway supposedly wrote a six-word short story: “For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn.” Didn’t happen. The story about …

Apr 30, 2020: A former prosecutor dismantles Tara Reade’s sexual assault allegations against Biden. It just didn’t happen. She’s lying.

Apr 30, 2020: California official calls for reopening so coronavirus can kill off the old and the weak: ‘It would also free up housing’

Apr 30, 2020: I’m hosting a “town hall” style Zoom meeting next week and I’m looking for a guide to doing such a thing. Anybody with …

Apr 30, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic ++ “Swedish covid death rates soar above neighbors': “Do nothing” is not doing …

Apr 30, 2020: They died for junk mail: Six workers died of COVID-19 at a Long Island, New York, warehouse for a company that prints and mails financial documents. …

Apr 30, 2020: Last night, Julie and I watched the first episode of “Tales from the Loop,” an anthology series on Amazon Prime about the people in an Ohio smalltown …

Apr 29, 2020: Man Not Sure Why He Thought Most Psychologically Taxing Situation Of His Life Would Be The Thing To Make Him Productive

Apr 29, 2020: Zoom Crasher Becomes Too Engrossed In Sales Meeting To Scream Obscenities

Apr 29, 2020: Congress Concierge Health Clinic Quietly Gets Funding Boost — Congresspeople who reject government healthcare for the people — including Rand Paul and …

Apr 29, 2020: The corporate right is giving us two choices: Work, or starve

Apr 29, 2020: 67 bits of good unsolicited advice, and one modest joke, from Kevin Kelly on his 68th birthday.

Apr 29, 2020: Underrated Netflix gems to add to your must-watch list — I’ve added most of these to the watchlist. Since when does Looper do real articles, btw? I …

Apr 29, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic ++ Cigna health insurers are telling investors they’re looking ahead to a great year, even while the …

Apr 29, 2020: 101-year-old Angelina Friedman tested positive for coronavirus and recovered. Previously, she survived the 1918 flu pandemic, cancer, miscarriages, …

Apr 29, 2020: Google is making Meet free for everyone — I’m sticking with Zoom for now. I know it works and I don’t feel like fooling around with another platform.

Apr 29, 2020: I seem to be on a Rome kick lately I watched Britannia, with Julie, and am rewatching I, Claudius. I just started reading “Silver Pigs,” the first book of the historical …

Apr 28, 2020: Man Just Buying One Of Every Cleaning Product In Case Trump Announces It’s Coronavirus Cure

Apr 28, 2020: Damning Report Finds White House Ignored Skeletal Horsemen Galloping Through Sky As Early As January

Apr 28, 2020: Obama: ‘I’m So Proud To Endorse Joe Biden—That’s Who They Went With, Huh?—For President’

Apr 28, 2020: Trump Accuses New York Of Padding State’s Mortality Rate By Including African American Deaths

Apr 28, 2020: Undaunted Texas Waffle House Waitress Has Been Expecting To Die There Every Day For The Past 20 Years Anyway

Apr 28, 2020: Teleconferencing Pastor Requests Any Worshipper Currently Speaking In Tongues Go On Mute

Apr 28, 2020: Walgreens Introduces New Dumbass-Only Shopping Hours For Dipshits Who Don’t Know How To Stay 6 Feet Away

Apr 28, 2020: I’m thinking of trying Amethyst, a tiling window manager for the Mac, even though I have a mental block against adding keyboard shortcuts to my brain. …

Apr 28, 2020: How to pitch an editor – Great tips from Esther Schindler, who knows, for freelance writers on how to get an editor to buy an article. I’m looking to …

Apr 28, 2020: Zoom taps Oracle for cloud deal, passing over Amazon, Microsoft

Apr 28, 2020: Six years ago today, a girl in the park wanted me and Minnie to participate in a science experiment about handedness in dogs. She said Minnie had to …

Apr 27, 2020: Feels like the news has been the same every day for a couple of weeks, but something big will reach a tipping point any day now.

Apr 27, 2020: Doctor Who: McGann, Eccleston & Tennant Doctors Unite For New Story — New Doctor Who miniseries will feature the Christopher Eccleston, Paul …

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Apr 27, 2020: Fortnite and the Metaverse: Why Epic Games may build the next version of the Internet – Fortnite is building the Metaverse – a parallel universe in …

Apr 27, 2020: The Computer Scientist Who Can’t Stop Telling Stories – Pioneering computer scientist Donald Knuth started working on the book series “The Art …

Apr 27, 2020: “I Forgive You, New York”

Apr 27, 2020: First-person account of how Covid-19 hit hard in a rural Georgia town – On the Today, Explained podcast

Apr 27, 2020: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter was out of stock last time I was at the supermarket. I expected the same when I went to the supermarket …

Apr 27, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic ++ Indie booksellers are doing pretty well in the pandemic, including Barnes & Noble, which is …

Apr 27, 2020: A former neighbor of Joe Biden’s accuser Tara Reade has come forward to corroborate her sexual-assault account, saying Reade discussed the …

Apr 27, 2020: The chairman of Tyson Foods warns the food supply chain is breaking – Neoliberalism treats resiliency as waste, and Tyson is a chief culprit here. If …

Apr 27, 2020: A New York ER doctor who treated coronavirus patients took her own life. – The New York Times “Make sure she’s praised as a hero, because she …

Apr 27, 2020: San Diego officials are struggling with finding permanent housing foe 1,000 homeless people now sheltering in the Convention Center.

Apr 27, 2020: [via](via https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1254804783875141633)

Apr 27, 2020: Six years ago today was a weekend day and I went to the mall. Out and around people, not wearing a mask or gloves! From my journal: Shopped for …

Apr 27, 2020: I went grocery shopping yesterday. Plastic bag reuse has been suspended in California for the crisis. The cashier said she was glad about that. People …

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Apr 26, 2020: You’ll Probably Forget What It Was Like to Live Through a Pandemic — People who live through big historical events often forget details.

Apr 26, 2020: When all this handwashing began I was using a harsh soap that gave me a small rash on my left wrist. That means I have to wear my Apple Watch on my …

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Apr 26, 2020: John Ritter guest starred on the last episode of Mannix in 1975. They used “The Brady Bunch” set for the interiors. Screen grab and …

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Apr 26, 2020: Social distancing via

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Apr 26, 2020: I went through a Southern Rock phase in college. I wore a cowboy hat. I was a pudgy Jew from Long Island. I looked ridiculous. I still love the music …

Apr 26, 2020: Microsoft Word Now Flags Two Spaces After a Period as an Error – “Wake me up when Word starts flagging the use of Arial with ‘Did you mean …

Apr 26, 2020: I suck at not touching my face but I think about not touching my face while I’m touching my face so that’s good right?

Apr 25, 2020: ‪Dog, me and Julie were sitting on the couch just now. Dog looked at me and straight-up belched, sounding very human. Julie said she thought I’d …

Apr 25, 2020: Found Snapshots of a Secret 1960s Crossdressing Resort in the Catskills By Amy Faith on Messy Nessy Chic: “What struck me on that first day was the …

Apr 25, 2020: What We Can Learn From 1918 Influenza Diaries Smithsonian Magazine: When Dorman B.E. Kent, a historian and businessman from Montpelier, Vermont, …

Apr 25, 2020: The 1Password team share their work-from-home setups “I’m going for “Mom from Kiki’s Delivery Service” or “Alchemist next door” kind of vibes.” By …

Apr 25, 2020: Injections of Bleach? Beams of Light? Trump Is Self-Destructing Before Our Eyes “The notion that [Trump] is bound for four more years is pure …

Apr 25, 2020: The Lockdowns Were the Black Swan [Holman W. Jenkins, Jr./WSJ] We did not need to lock down the country to flatten the curve. A reasonable argument. …

Apr 24, 2020: Coronavirus Overtakes Ninjas As Top Invisible Enemy [The Babylon Bee] What makes coronavirus even worse than ninjas, according to Trump, is that …

Apr 24, 2020: The week before the shutdown here in San Diego I went to two social events – which is a lot for me – and surprised myself how much I …

Apr 24, 2020: Ben Affleck Smoked A Cigarette While Wearing A Face Mask So Here Are The Pics [Lauren Yapalater/BuzzFeed] He’s one of my favorite actors and …

Apr 24, 2020: Navy recommends reinstating captain of coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier [Amanda Macias/CNBC]

Apr 24, 2020: Opening a can if wildly corroded Spider-Man pasta [Twitter/DinosaurDracula]

Apr 24, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic ++ A GoFundMe to save NYC’s Forbidden Planet store. ++ “A labradoodle breeder is in charge of …

Apr 24, 2020: I miss going to the grocery store to buy three things I’d realize I was out of apples or coffee, and then I’d go to the store and buy that and maybe two other things and that was my errand. …

Apr 24, 2020: Can the coronavirus be spread through farts? [Eric Hegedus/NYPost] Australian doctors aren’t sure whether farting spreads coronavirus, and …

Apr 24, 2020: How close are we to breaking encryption with quantum computing? [Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols/InsiderPro] Not very, but we need to be ready when it …

Apr 24, 2020: Breitbart literally says that Trump’s opponents misquoted him by reporting the exact words Trump used in the context he said it.

Apr 24, 2020: Wi-Fi is getting its biggest upgrade in 20 years [Jacob Kastrenakes/The Verge] Wi-Fi is getting 4x the spectrum for a lot more elbow room.

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Apr 24, 2020: I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out for coffee.

Apr 23, 2020: TV show idea: “Zeno, Warrior Princess,” about a transgender Classical Greek philosopher who defeats evildoers using logical paradoxes.

Apr 23, 2020: Not a Joke: The Trump Admin Hired a Dog Breeder to Run Its Coronavirus Task Force [Bess Levin/Vanity Fair] “Don’t worry, Brian Harrison also has …

Apr 23, 2020: An old friend just shared a Dropbox folder of hundreds of photos he took when we were teenagers together. This is me looking much cooler than I have …

Apr 23, 2020: Claim that coronavirus came from a lab in China completely unfounded, scientists say [Kashmira Gander/Newsweek] I expect everybody who believes the …

Apr 23, 2020: The Coronavirus in America: The Year Ahead [Donald G. McNeil Jr./The New York Times] An excellent overview of the best science on what to expect …

Apr 23, 2020: Are You Sitting Down? Standing Desks Are Overrated [Aaron E. Carroll/New York Times] I’ve been using a standing desk for about 10 years. Or more …

Apr 23, 2020: The Year 2038 Problem [Reset]: If you enjoyed the Year 2000 crisis, we get to do it again in 2038. Also: Making the case that Y2K was not rubbish; …

Apr 23, 2020: Who’s Organizing the Lockdown Protests [The Daily] “An informal coalition of influential conservative leaders and groups has been quietly …

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Apr 22, 2020: Wheels on a shopping cart be like [yeahiwasintheshit.tumblr.com]

Apr 22, 2020: The problem with read-later bookmarking services like Pocket and Instapaper is your queue is filled with articles you decided not to read.

Apr 22, 2020: My women friends are showing their coronavirus hairdos on Instagram. Here’s mine.

Apr 22, 2020: “Remain calm! All is well!" The White House maintains order during the coronavirus pandemic.

Apr 22, 2020: CDC Director Robert Redfield warned the coronavirus pandemic might come back in the winter, worse than before. The White House claims he never said …

Apr 22, 2020: Why do people think 5G causes coronavirus? The 5G coronavirus conspiracy theory[Reset] A vague throwaway line in a European newspaper in January ignited multiple conspiracy theories about a …

Apr 22, 2020: What to expect in the next year or two of the pandemic Donald G. McNeil Jr., New York Times science and health reporter, who has successfully anticipated the pandemic thus far, polishes his crystal ball …

Apr 22, 2020: Gentleman on Reddit espouses the brilliant fan theory that “Star Trek” takes place in the same universe as the soap opera “Days of …

Apr 22, 2020: Stories to Wash Hands By [The Memory Palace/Nate DiMeo]: “20 stories, each 20 seconds, to accompany you in the proper washing of hands.”

Apr 22, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic ++ Calls by the music industry to put copyright filters on the entire Internet are a terrible idea. …

Apr 22, 2020: Trump is going down hard in November Everyone is in denial about November [Daniel W. Drezner/The Washington Post] We’re only in the second inning of the pandemic. Getting a little …

Apr 22, 2020: "World on Fire" Last night we watched about 15 minutes of the second episode “World on Fire,” a British miniseries about the Nazi conquest of Europe, told …

Apr 22, 2020: A view into an alternate universe A big part of my job is – or was – attending conferences. When I learn – or learned – about an interesting-looking conference, …

Apr 21, 2020: With the nation healthy, tranquil and prosperous, our President turns his attention to thoughtful media criticism. Trump tunes in to ‘Morning …

Apr 21, 2020: Barr Threatens Legal Action Against Governors Over Lockdowns [Chris Strohm/Bloomberg] Even before the coronavirus crisis began, I thought of the …

Apr 21, 2020: McConnell slams brakes on next round of coronavirus aid [Burgess Everett/Politico] Captain of the “Titanic” says he will not begin lowering the …

Apr 21, 2020: Whole lotta love: Robert Plant gave a big donation to a company that makes PPE [Erica Banas/WMMR]

Apr 21, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic Beware of fake “Someone you came in contact with tested positive for COVID-19” warnings. …

Apr 21, 2020: How far back does your resume go? Question for my over-50 associates: How far back does your resume go? I’ve seen tips that experienced job-seekers should only have resumes going …

Apr 21, 2020: How Coffee Became a Modern Necessity [Augustine Sedgewick/WSJ]: “For much of its 500-year history, the drink was viewed with confusion, …

Apr 21, 2020: Vintage Season: C.L. Moore and the “Golden Age” of Science Fiction [Eric Rosenfield/Literate Machine] C.L. Moore was a talented science …

Apr 21, 2020: The Woman Who Might Find Us Another Earth Sara Seager is a tenured professor of physics and planetary science who won a “genius grant” …

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Apr 20, 2020: vintagegeekculture: Star Trek art designer Matt Jeffries, with one of his most famous creations: the Klingon battlecruiser. Bonus: his original, …

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Apr 20, 2020: KOOL cigarette ad from the 1960s. via

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Apr 20, 2020: The temperature will probably get up past 90 by Saturday. I am looking forward to complaining about the heat as a break from complaining about the …

Apr 20, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic.net: Denmark is denying bailouts to companies headquartered in tax havens: If you don’t pay taxes, …

Apr 20, 2020: Tales of romance and relationships during the pandemic Covering Covid [Embedded] A woman tries dating by Facetime and Zoom, and has stories. A …

Apr 20, 2020: The poop emoji was born in Japan in 1997 and launched a generation of cute poop. This is the cute poop decade. The poop fad connects with unicorns, …

Apr 19, 2020: Cast of Pulp Fiction and Quentin Tarantino, 1994 via I remember I didn’t want to see this for years because I thought it would be artsy and tedious. …

Apr 19, 2020: “Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper too?” 1970’s campaign via

Apr 19, 2020: A paid testimonial from Basil Rathbone. 1960. via

Apr 19, 2020: “Kids are murder!” - Sanatogen Tonic Wine ad with a mail-in coupon to receive a sample [1960s] via

Apr 19, 2020: Del Cerro hills, from a few minutes’ walk from home. The air is amazingly clear. 📷

Apr 19, 2020: Don’t care what the answer is. I’m keeping mine.

Apr 19, 2020: Coronavirus will also cause a loneliness epidemic COVID-9 exacerbates another long-standing and serious pandemic: Loneliness. Loneliness can literally …

Apr 19, 2020: Procrastination is Not Laziness David Cain at Raptitude: … procrastinators tend to be people who have, for whatever reason, developed to …

Apr 19, 2020: Why Walking Matters—Now More Than Ever Shane O’Mara at The Wall Street Journal: Walking is essential to our nature. Walking upright is one …

Apr 19, 2020: How NOT to Wear a Mask [Tara Parker-Pope/The New York Times]

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Apr 19, 2020: Aaron E. Carroll at The New York Times: “I’m a Doctor. If I Drop Food on the Kitchen Floor, I Still Eat It.” If the dog doesn’t get to it first.

Apr 19, 2020: Who’s Right About The Economy? Wall Street Or Silicon Valley? Brian McCullough, host of Techmeme ride home, talks with TechCrunch’s Alex …

Apr 19, 2020: Remdisivir, a drug that shows promising signs as a potential treatment for COVID-19, was developed using public funds. But Gilead, a pharma company, …

Apr 19, 2020: “80% of the stimulus tax break will go to 43,000 people” [Cory Doctorow/Pluralistic]

Apr 19, 2020: “If Americans pour back out in force, all will appear quiet for perhaps three weeks. Then the emergency rooms will get busy again." And the …

Apr 19, 2020: Sweet Farm, in Half Moon Bay, CA, will let you add a live goat cam to your next virtual meeting. The service is called Goat 2 Meeting. (Via …

Apr 19, 2020: I’m trying to remember when I last had a day off work, and I can’t recall. Weekend before lockdown when I went out to brunch with Julie, …

Apr 18, 2020: Tell-Tale Tongue, Holloways Brand Pills, 1956 via

Apr 18, 2020: Is the Virus on My Clothes? My Shoes? My Hair? My Newspaper? - Tara Parker-Pope on The New York Times Staying safe when you come in from the big …

Apr 18, 2020: Peter Tsai, who invented the N95 mask 30 years ago, is coming out of retirement to help find safe ways to disinfect the single-use masks for reuse - …

Apr 18, 2020: An Austin school district deployed 110 buses equipped with Wi-Fi to neighborhoods and apartments where home Internet is least likely. The idea is the …

Apr 18, 2020: I’ve done something counterintuitive to ease news anxiety: Turned on news notifications on my phone. Yes, on. If the news notifications look …

Apr 18, 2020: Caleb, a young man whose life is going nowhere, finds escape and purpose on YouTube. First of a new podcast series by The New York Times. One: …

Apr 18, 2020: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez interviews from quarantine with the New York Times Daily podcast and discusses why she voted against the pandemic bailout …

Apr 18, 2020: Nearly a half century after the OPEC oil embargo almost brought the US to its knees, we’re now the worlds largest oil producer rather than …

Apr 18, 2020: In this prophetic science fiction story from 2015, a cooking blogger keeps up a cheerful attitude and makes do while self-quarantining with her family …

Apr 17, 2020: Julie sent this to me idk why

Apr 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow at Pluralistic: ‪The health insurance industry is thriving during the pandemic. With Sanders and Warren out of the race, the companies …

Apr 17, 2020: An Australian family recreates a 15-hour holiday flight in their living room, after coronavirus cancels their real, planned European vacation - Naaman …

Apr 17, 2020: Carnival kept sending out cruise ships while knowing it was risky. And the chairman of Carnival is on Trump’s back-to-work council. Rearranging …

Apr 17, 2020: Armed far-right groups are behind anti-lockdown protests in Michigan and elsewhere. They love Trump and Trump is cheering them on. Martyrdom and …

Apr 17, 2020: ME: I have 300+ podcast episodes in my queue. I will never listen to them all! ALSO ME: This looks like an interesting podcast. I’ll subscribe …

Apr 17, 2020: Comic-Con Cancels 2020 Event, Sets 2021 Return - Erik Pederson on Deadline.com. Disappointing but not surprising, and the right decision.

Apr 17, 2020: John Horton Conway, a ‘Magical Genius’ in Math, Dies at 82. Siobhan Roberts writes The New York Times’s obit for mathematician and …

Apr 17, 2020: China Police Censor Tales of Post-Coronavirus Renewal. New York Times journalist Paul Mozur finds signs of a nation opening up on the streets of the …

Apr 17, 2020: Some people say we need to open the economy soon and if a few thousand people – or hundred thousand people – die because of it, well, …

Apr 17, 2020: Dr. Tony Fauci: From One Pandemic to Another - Epidemic. AIDS activists in the 1980s were surprised to find a champion in a civil service doctor, …

Apr 17, 2020: Judy Garland and the long history of ‘Me Too’ in Hollywood - Retropod: Judy Garland suffered outrageous sexual harassment as a teen-aged …

Apr 17, 2020: Kicked Out of China - The New York Times Daily podcast. As the pandemic spread, China expelled Western journalists, including New York Times reporter …

Apr 17, 2020: All praise, no pay - Today, Explained: Essential workers in the food, transportation, and retail industries are being called American heroes. They …

Apr 17, 2020: We had drama. Julie commented at bedtime that she hadn’t seen Vivvie, our slate-gray cat, for about 24 hours. So we spent some time looking …

Apr 16, 2020: Easter Wishes, 1908 Via

Apr 16, 2020: Trump meets “The Honeymooners.” - video Ralph Kramden for President!

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Apr 16, 2020: What AOC Gets that Bernie Didn’t - Michael Grunwald at Politico Progressive pot-stirrer Sean McElwee has some thoughts about what went wrong for …

Apr 16, 2020: Why Aren’t We All on the Same Time Zone? - Patrick J Kiger on How Stuff Works Time zones are confusing to people who routinely communicate or …

Apr 16, 2020: One of my favorite features of the iPhone is the ability to get notifications for replies to individual email messages and threads.

Apr 16, 2020: Police department reminds residents to wear pants while checking mailbox “You know who you are. This is your final warning.”

Apr 16, 2020: “It’ll all be over by Christmas”: Charles Stross predicts a two-year coronavirus economic and political shitshow.

Apr 16, 2020: Watch the weird cinematic rabbit hole that is Blade Runner: The Lost Cut - Adi Robertson at The Verge “Blade Runner: The Lost Cut” is a …

Apr 15, 2020: Rodney Dangerfield is cooler than you are

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Apr 15, 2020: The coronavirus pandemic is heightening the need for “Right to Repair” – eliminating laws that make it illegal to fix the machines …

Apr 15, 2020: (How) American Collapse Resembles Soviet Collapse: Six Ways America’s Collapse is Eerily Like the Soviet Union’s Last Days - umair haque This article …

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Apr 14, 2020: I did not love the Deadwood movie, but I loved Al Swearengen’s final line. [YouTube]

Apr 14, 2020: ‘That Thing You Do’ cast plans reunion fundraiser for coronavirus relief [USAToday] The Wonders, the fictional group at the center of the …

Apr 14, 2020: Bloomberg News Killed Investigation, Fired Reporter, Then Sought To Silence His Wife [David Folkenfilk/NPR] “ … Bloomberg News killed an …

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Apr 14, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic: Amazon fires tech workers for warehouse worker solidarity. Southern states are in for the worst …

Apr 14, 2020: Via @JohnPhilbin

Apr 14, 2020: I’ve always thought that fundamentalists support Trump because they’re idiots who choose to believe he repented from his philandering, …

Apr 14, 2020: This does not look comfortable to me but Minnie seems to love it. I think it’s because the concrete is absorbs the sun. I patted her two minutes …

Apr 14, 2020: Minnie is back to herself, energetic and cheerful. This morning when she came in she was very excited, and I sat on the daybed with her for a little …

Apr 14, 2020: We watched episode one of “World on Fire,” a big-budget British miniseries about England during World War II, focused, so far as I can …

Apr 14, 2020: John Scalzi talks about how he did a “reboot” of the classic H. Beam Piper novel “Little Fuzzy." Same story with many of the …

Apr 13, 2020: Matthew Yglesias explains the argument over the post office bailout [Vox] No, the post office isn’t failing because Amazon is ripping it off, …

Apr 13, 2020: 5 of the 13 things Messy Nessy Chic found on the Internet Monday 100-year-old Bell Telephone ad; restaurant sleepover of World War II; rare 17th …

Apr 13, 2020: Trump goes postal, coronavirus in the UK vs. Ireland, and more on Cory Doctorow's Pluralistic.net Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic.net Trump plans to murder the US Postal Service, in violation of the US Constitution. The USPS is about to …

Apr 13, 2020: Minnie is recovering nicely, but she won't eat her regular kibble or canned food. Minnie is hopping around on three legs and occasionally using the injured one, which suggests it is healing. She’s got her old personality back …

Apr 13, 2020: I am having my feelings and thoughts without guilt Monotony, frustration over having to wear a mask, being unable to take the dog to the park, or go anywhere around people. And I have so many opinions! …

Apr 12, 2020: Giving men false confidence starts early.

Apr 12, 2020: I, too, am an armchair epidemiologist and I’m pretty sure I’m spelling that right. twitter.com/markhumph…

Apr 12, 2020: This is one of our neighbors. He is unfriendly and never says hello. 📷

Apr 12, 2020: I’ve always like this house around the corner from ours. 📷

Apr 12, 2020: I am not a sentimental man who cries at rainbows and flowers, but when I saw this in the supermarket today I bawled.

Apr 12, 2020: The Jungle Prince of Delhi For 40 years, journalists chronicled the eccentric royal family of Oudh, deposed aristocrats who lived in a ruined palace …

Apr 12, 2020: ‪If TP shortages continue there’s always the three shells youtu.be/n7nFEnFtv… ‬

Apr 12, 2020: James Nicoll reviews Isaac Asimov’s 1950s time-travel novel, “The End of Eternity,” and finds it still holds up. Interestingly, Nicoll notes, the …

Apr 12, 2020: Passover was a really big deal when I was a kid We had the second seder at our house, with upwards of 20 aunts, uncles and cousins swarming over the place. Our cousins Janet and Barry even brought …

Apr 12, 2020: Happy Easter! He is risen! But do not talk to Him until He has had coffee because seriously he’s just plain grouchy til then.

Apr 12, 2020: One of the crazy things about this pandemic is that it’s all going to be over in a year or a few years at most. Done. History. Past tense. Everybody …

Apr 12, 2020: Last night I was getting ready for bed and looked at my pedometer app and saw it was at 9,800 steps and said to myself, welp, guess I’m not making it …

Apr 11, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic.net [Private equity] companies that “looted healthcare want billions in bailout.” Corporations …

Apr 11, 2020: I just cancelled my $119 annual Dropbox account, which expires in 10 days. I’m pretty sure I can get everything I need from iCloud plus the free …

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Apr 10, 2020: The vet gave us parking lot service: when I arrived, I called from the parking lot, a vet tech came out to the car, checked us in, and brought Minnie …

Apr 10, 2020: I filed a bug report with Flexibits about a Fantastical 3 problem I had in February. I’m just getting a response now. Um, yay?

Apr 10, 2020: Manischewitz wine is popular in Caribbean communities. [Nadege Green/WLRN] This story makes me happy.

Apr 10, 2020: Minnie was still hopping along on three legs this morning and looking pretty miserable. I called the vet and they’re doing parking-lot …

Apr 10, 2020: Gavin Newsom Declares California a ‘Nation-State’ Last year, Democratic state Senator and party leader Scott Weiner said, “The federal …

Apr 10, 2020: Alan Brown reviews a the recently published lost Robert A. Heinlein novel, “The Pursuit of the Pankera,” and likes it [Tor.com] “The …

Apr 9, 2020: Well, shit. Minnie injured her foot and now she’s walking on three legs. Nothing visibly wrong with it and she doesn’t react when I …

Apr 9, 2020: Larry David, Master of His Quarantine Maureen Dowd at the New York Times: When I ask if he is hoarding anything, he is outraged. “Not a hoarder,” he …

Apr 9, 2020: I've been drinking a meal replacement shake called Huel for breakfast for months For several months, my daily breakfast has been about a pint of a thick “nutritionally complete” liquid, called Huel. Huel is a powder you …

Apr 9, 2020: Kansas Republicans are fighting to kill Christians and Jews [Zack Budryk/The Hill] Kansas’s Republican-led legislator overturned the Democratic governor’s ban on gatherings during Easter and Passover. Kansas legislature …

Apr 9, 2020: Automating micro.blog categories using emoji. Nerdy fun! Listening to the Monday microcast with @macgenie and @manton yesterday, I learned that you can use filters on micro.blog to search for text in a post …

Apr 9, 2020: Appalling/delightful Disney horror/comic mashups! IT heroes! Forging PDF signatures! And more! On today’s Pluralistic by Cory Doctorow Disney horror/comic mashups are appalling/delightful Daniel “Kickpunch” Björk created an …

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Apr 8, 2020: Feds are seizing medical supplies from hospitals without saying what they’re doing with it [Noam N. Levey/LA Times] “In order to have confidence in …

Apr 8, 2020: New study investigates California’s possible herd immunity to COVID-19 [Caitlin Conrad/KSBW] Scientists are investigating the possiblity that …

Apr 8, 2020: The 10 Most Offensive Movies Ever Made [Keith Langston/Screenrant] (1) The writer Tad Williams and his wife, Deb, had a cat named “Henry, …

Apr 8, 2020: Swiss physicist Nicolas Gisin may have solved one of the fundamental mysteries of physics: Does time exist? Does Time Really Flow? New Clues Come From a Century-Old Approach to Math Relativity makes no distinction between past, present and future; they are …

Apr 8, 2020: Coronavirus breaks my iPhone: FaceID doesn't work when you wear a mask Privileged person problem: When I go to the supermarket, I keep the shopping list on my iPhone. When I’m wearing a mask, Face ID doesn’t …

Apr 8, 2020: Cory Doctorow's Pluralistic.net: Cleveland Plain Dealer massacre; TSA child molesters and more Today on Cory Doctorow’s Pluralistic.net Cleveland Plain Dealer’s new owners massacre staff The owners of the Cleveland Plain Dealer laid …

Apr 8, 2020: What will you do the day social distancing ends? I think we’ll be cautious and not rush out to any restaurants or crowded social gatherings. But I think I’ll absolutely take the dog to …

Apr 8, 2020: The computer language COBOL debuted in 1960, and it’s still running the world’s governments and banks It’s tried and true. And also, …

Apr 8, 2020: Rules Rewritten: Managing Data Centers Through the Pandemic: Data center operators are reducing headcount to minimize coronavirus exposure, and these …

Apr 8, 2020: This looks like a useful new feature on Inoreader: Convert Almost Any Webpage Into RSS Feed With Inoreader’s Web Feeds Inoreader will let you …

Apr 8, 2020: Social distancing is getting hard in our house. And we’re normally people who have a limitless capacity for solitude and not going out.

Apr 7, 2020: 500-year-old manuscript contains one of earliest known uses of the “F-word” Scotland is the home of a 500-year-old medieval manuscript containing the …

Apr 7, 2020: Life Without Toilet Paper Is Better Frank Bures at Vice: If you were walking barefoot through your yard, and felt the unpleasant squish of fresh dog …

Apr 7, 2020: Shkreli’s plea from prison: Free me and I’ll cure COVID-19 [Beth Mole/Ars Technica]: Disgraced pharma exec, best known for raising the price of a …

Apr 7, 2020: This is what happens when a narcissist runs a crisis Jennifer Senior at the New York Times: Since the early days of the Trump administration, an …

Apr 7, 2020: White House creates ‘Team Telecom’ to probe whether foreign telcos should be allowed near US networks [Tom Claburn/The Register]

Apr 7, 2020: New Jersey seeks COBOL programmers to fix unemployment system: “… many of the state’s systems use older mainframes, and those systems are now …

Apr 7, 2020: Cato Networks raises $77 million for cloud security platform that protects remote workforces Cato Networks, which provides SD-WAN and other Secure …

Apr 7, 2020: Cambridge Analytica and other abusers killed the open, collaborative, API-driven Web 2.0. “It’s amazing, in hindsight, just how naively …

Apr 7, 2020: Photos of a computer shop that’s been locked since 2001, when the store owner, who also owned the strip mall it sits in, went bankrupt. [Cory …

Apr 7, 2020: LA crime drops 23% during the pandemic, including an 11% drop in family violence crime, even though family tensions often rise during crises. …

Apr 7, 2020: The stimulus bill seems big – $2 trillion – but it’s just one week of median income for small businesses and families. Cory …

Apr 7, 2020: After a church pastor in California announced he would defy shelter in place orders and hold services, his landlord, the Bethel Open Bible Church, …

Apr 7, 2020: New video technique lets you replace the background on videos without any greenscreen required. Via Cory Doctorow who says it “really puts …

Apr 7, 2020: Why is Trump touting hydroxychloroquine? Follow the money Trump and his cronies are investors in Sanofi, the French drugmaker that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine. Trump has been …

Apr 7, 2020: Most New York coronavirus deaths were among men and 86% were people with underlying illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes. [Joseph …

Apr 6, 2020: Irony: Calling someone stupid, naive or malicious for failing to anticipate a leak in a speech that you failed to anticipate leaking. Transcript: …

Apr 6, 2020: “Nuclear-powered locomotive” 1979Via

Apr 6, 2020: Why not the best? Red Hat vet Paul Cormier takes over as CEO Red Hat’s new CEO and president has driven the company’s enterprise …

Apr 6, 2020: Who Reads Cosy Catastrophes? Jo Walton: Cosy catastrophes are science fiction novels in which some bizarre calamity occurs that wipes out a large …

Apr 6, 2020: Bug bounty platforms buy researcher silence, violate labor laws, critics say Bug bounty platforms were designed to provide support for researchers …

Apr 6, 2020: I have long thought that the two greatest threats the United States face are hyperpartisanship and the Republican Party. It’s not lost on me …

Apr 6, 2020: A Recipe for Caesar [Common Sense With Dan Carlin] Either we find our way out of the current political tit for tat cycle, or we follow it to his …

Apr 6, 2020: Frontier says insufficient fiber investment led to bankruptcy [Mike Robuck/FierceTelecom]

Apr 6, 2020: New IBM CEO Arvind Krishna is shaking up the leadership team his first day on the job. [Maria Deutscher/SiliconAngle]

Apr 6, 2020: ‘You’re basically right next to the nuclear reactor.’ Dr. Cory Deburghgraeve has volunteered for one of the coronavirus pandemic’s most …

Apr 6, 2020: How do you win a war when your government abandons you? Interviews with doctors and nurses struggling to save lives in hospitals without federal …

Apr 6, 2020: During a Pandemic, an Unanticipated Problem: Out-of-Work Health Workers Healthcare providers are putting doctors and other caregivers on furlough, a …

Apr 6, 2020: Apple has sourced over 20 million protective masks, now building and shipping face shields - Jonathan Shieber at TechCrunch Managing the supply chain …

Apr 6, 2020: A Letter to the City - NextDraft Ex-New Yorker Dave Pell: I lived above an off-Broadway theater on Vandam. When I’d walk into my front door around …

Apr 6, 2020: YouTube is boosting ridiculous conspiracy theories about how 5G is the real cause of coronavirus. But it’s not because people are stupid – …

Apr 6, 2020: Illinois is reinstating use of barbarically cruel physical restraints against special needs kids - Cory Doctorow

Apr 6, 2020: Apple acquires Voysis for natural language recognition, presumably to beef up Siri - Bloomberg News/ITPro Today

Apr 6, 2020: Is Huawei an open source champion now? Huawei? The company joined the US-based open-source patent non-aggression group Open Invention Group, whose …

Apr 5, 2020: “I wouldn’t worry about even getting COVID-19 when COVID-20 is going to be released in a few months and it will support 5G.” - @joshua Too soon?

Apr 5, 2020: Coronavirus cooking: Isolation is teaching us a better way to think about food. - Rebecca Onion at Slate Isolation is making people less wasteful of …

Apr 5, 2020: Consider the Possibility That Trump Is Right On China And consider that Trump might be right about globalization too. Nadia Schadlow at The Atlantic: …

Apr 5, 2020: Coronavirus hurts Silicon Valley caterers and event businesses Salvador Rodriguez at CNBC: Performers, food caterers, event planners, venue owners, …

Apr 5, 2020: Today is looking like it was not a great day to cut down on coffee. Tomorrow is not looking great for that either. 

Apr 5, 2020: I think we’ll go out to brunch today at DZ Akins, an excellent kosher-style deli just a few minutes drive way. It’s often crowded on Sunday; in a …

Apr 5, 2020: Jack Butler at the National Review calls Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series a “comforting technocratic fable." I loved …

Apr 4, 2020: Julie and I are both easily annoyed today. I came into her office to tell her about something that was annoying me, and before I could say a word she …

Apr 4, 2020: Private equity is using the pandemic to loot public health facilities, such as hospitals and medical clinics. One example: Firing medical …

Apr 4, 2020: A dystopian Reagan era video game foresaw the economic crises of the 21st century.

Apr 4, 2020: LA landlord threatens to evict 300 tenants if they don’t pay rent in full, in violation fo state and local emergency tenant protections. …

Apr 4, 2020: Supercut of Fox News hosts insisting coronavirus is no cause concern, a Democratic/MSM conspiracy, etc. Not “ha-ha-weird, nor ha-ha-funny. …

Apr 4, 2020: What did people do before toilet paper? The ancient Romans wiped their butts with a “tersorium,” a stick with a vinegar- or …

Apr 4, 2020: One month ago today I went to the La Mesa-Foothills Democratic Club general meeting with a hundred or so of my closest friends. Following that, a …

Apr 3, 2020: Earthquake. About 50 minutes ago. Just a minor one, no damage or injury that I’m aware of. But it’s the biggest earthquake we’ve felt in a long time. …

Apr 3, 2020: Help me with a thought experiment here. Those of you who identify as Republican or conservative: What are the values you hold most dear? What should …

Apr 3, 2020: From Google News a few seconds ago. Republicans and Democrats perceive parallel universes with completely different realities now. But there is only …

Apr 3, 2020: Researchers are building nearly microscopic robots, made from living cells, that live in petri dishes Meet the Xenobots, Virtual Creatures Brought to Life Xenobots are designed to roboticists using algorithmic evolution in computer simulations. Joshua …

Apr 3, 2020: A long and pointless post about coffee Just before the lockdown went in place in California, I had brunch with Julie at Farmer’s Table. The coffee was excellent, so much so that I …

Apr 3, 2020: If you’re not nice to the barista, you’ll get decaf. 11 Behind-the-Counter Secrets of Baristas - Shaunacy Ferro at Mental Floss

Apr 3, 2020: I’ve been troubled by insomnia for months, but just last night I was thinking how glad I was that I hadn’t had a bout in weeks. Been …

Apr 2, 2020: I’ve seen a bunch of inspiring chalk messages around the neighborhood this week.

Apr 2, 2020: ME (grocery shopping while wearing mask, consults shopping list app on iPhone) MY iPHONE’S FACIAL RECOGNITION: “Who the hell are …

Apr 2, 2020: Report on an excursion to the supermarket I went to the big Von’s on University Avenue to stock up today I wore nitrile gloves, as I did the other time I went to the supermarket nine …

Apr 2, 2020: I still get occasional comments on this article I wrote 10 years ago. Ten years! 5 reasons why people hate Apple I just got an email this morning. The email had no context. Just a short two sentences on why the sender hates Apple …

Apr 1, 2020: Baked potato + kosher-style spicy brown mustard: Good idea? Discuss.

Apr 1, 2020: I just did the census. For “origin” I put in “American,” after Julie pointed out that her great-grandparents (and my …

Apr 1, 2020: In the “Reign of Terror” episode of “I, Claudius,” a character being beaten to death at the behest of a tyrant declares: …

Apr 1, 2020: On a very special shelter-in-place episode of the design podcast 99% Invisible, host Roman Mars describes the history and design of things around the …

Apr 1, 2020: Something else to think about: Potential disruptions in the food supply chain. Skimmed and bookmarked for later reading. Food supply worries farmers in US as coronavirus disrupts their work - CNN The Effects of COVID-19 Will …

Apr 1, 2020: How to play Scrabble. Classic Ze Frank. Funny - YouTube

Apr 1, 2020: Larry David: “I basically want to address the idiots out there…. You’re passing up a fantastic opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime …

Apr 1, 2020: The US is losing jobs drastically faster than other nations -- by design Emmanual Saez and Gabriel Zucman, economists at the University of California, Berkeley, writing at the New York Times: According to some projections, …

Apr 1, 2020: A major medical staffing company just slashed benefits for doctors and nurses fighting coronavirus Yes, you read that right. The company, Alteon Health, slashed benefits to emergency room healthcare workers during the pandemic. These emergency room …

Apr 1, 2020: Seth Davis was stranded at Los Angeles Airport for three months after his wallet was stolen Christmas Eve. Until a few days ago, he and his seizure dog, Poppy, lived at Terminal 6, sleeping on the floor behind a pillar. Stranded and homeless at LAX. Then …

Apr 1, 2020: Loss of taste is a warning sign for COVID-19 so if you wear any of the following, immediately self-isolate: Socks with sandals side-cut tank tops …

Apr 1, 2020: A year ago today I was at San Diego Airport and saw this tile for sale at one of the shops. For the rest of my life, I will regret not purchasing it.

Mar 31, 2020: That sad moment when you realize it may be time to throw one of your favorite T-shirts into the rag bag.

Mar 31, 2020: The GOP is pushing forward with plans to kill Obamacare because if you’re a Republican now seems to be a great time to deny healthcare coverage to 20 …

Mar 31, 2020: Las Vegas, with 150,000 vacant hotel rooms, has the homeless sleeping on the ground in parking lots. - Mario Koran at The Guardian

Mar 31, 2020: That time there was a Communist revolution inside the online game Runescape - Emilie Rākete at The Spinoff “… armed with both the …

Mar 31, 2020: Joe Biden is getting a pass on sexual assault and misbehavior allegations Arwa Mahdawi at Common Dreams: “For a woman to come forward in the glaring …

Mar 31, 2020: OpenTable will allow people to reserve shopping times at supermarkets - Taylor Lyles at The Verge Trials in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Good idea. …

Mar 31, 2020: How social distancing looks from the virus’s point of view. Thanks, Cory!

Mar 31, 2020: You shouldn’t use Zoom; it’s a privacy disaster. - John Gruber at Daring Fireball I agree … but I gotta be honest here; I’m …

Mar 31, 2020: High Fidelity at 20: the sneakily dark edge of a comedy about bad breakups Scott Tobias at The Guardian: High Fidelity is the story of a self-centered …

Mar 30, 2020: His actual name is “Victor Von Doom.” Shouldn’t that have been kind of a red flag?

Mar 30, 2020: 📷I saw this sign today on my walk. No, I have not got religion. I am still the same nonebelieving Jew I’ve always been. I just like the sign. I have …

Mar 30, 2020: Saying the quiet part very loud, Trump admits “You’d never have a Republican elected in this country again” if voting access is expanded. - John …

Mar 30, 2020: A Las Vegas farm feeds 4,000 pigs slops made from waste food from casinos. The farm is now struggling. Tiana Bohner at Fox5 Las Vegas: “Pigs are a lot like us so they love sweets, candies, ice cream,” Las Vegas Livestock co-owner Hank Combs …

Mar 30, 2020: Glice is building artificial skating rinks with plastic panels instead of ice On Roofs or in Basements, a New Way to Ice Skate You can use Glice rinks year-round or in tropical climates. Alyson Krueger at the New York Times: …

Mar 30, 2020: An astrophysicist proves he is not a rocket scientist when he gets magnets stuck up his nose while inventing a device to keep people from touching …

Mar 30, 2020: According to BMI calculations, I am at the high end of healthy weight range and could still be healthy if I weighed up to 25 pounds less. That seems …

Mar 30, 2020: Making the case for municipal broadband - Cory Doctorow

Mar 30, 2020: The Koch network is pushing for an end to covid lockdown and social distancing, while sending its own workers home to ensure their health and safety. …

Mar 30, 2020: Lax antitrust regulations killed a plan to stockpile ventilators Cory Doctorow:: 13 years ago, the US Dept of HHS awarded a contract to design low-cost, reliable ventilators to Newport Medical Instrument of Costa …

Mar 30, 2020: Pandemic surveillance will be abused Before using tools built by data harvesting companies to track the coronavirus pandemic, we must assume the tools will be abused, says Violet Blue at …

Mar 30, 2020: Big tech conferences could be a COVID-19 casualty Lindsay Clark at the Register predicts smaller, fewer tech conferences post-COVID-19. My first was CA World in New Orleans in 1998. In front of an …

Mar 29, 2020: Julie took this photo of Minnie saying good morning to her. My legs at the right. 📷

Mar 29, 2020: Julie took this marvelous photo of a mallard swimming in the pond in our backyard. 📷

Mar 29, 2020: Julie took these outstanding photos of Vivvie. 📷

Mar 29, 2020: The problem with making coffee is you haven’t had your coffee when you’re making your coffee.

Mar 29, 2020: I saw this excellent sidewalk chalk art walking the dog yesterday. Drive to the flower.

Mar 29, 2020: Portrait of a weekly newspaper in the small town of Julian, California, circulation in the hundreds, founded in 1985, owned and run since 2004 by …

Mar 29, 2020: Social distancing vs. economic recovery is a false choice. According ta recent study, cities that enacted social distancing hard and fast during the …

Mar 29, 2020: Cory Doctorow: The US coronavirus epidemic is Part 2 of the 2008 financial meltdown, in the wake of which we elected dufus strongmen, gutted emergency …

Mar 28, 2020: Zacharius Braciszewicz says Trump will be turned out of office in five weeks, but the butcher’s bill will be terrible.

Mar 28, 2020: Before reporting to the American people, coronavirus task force members need to say how wonderful Trump is - Meredith McGraw at Politico

Mar 28, 2020: Doonesbury captured Trump 44 years ago, in this strip about Chairman Mao. via

Mar 28, 2020: Screenwriter J.D. Shapiro on the making of the 2000 movie, “Battlefield: Earth:” “I Penned the Suckiest Movie Ever - Sorry!" …

Mar 28, 2020: Stella, a dog, jumps with gusto into piles of leaves. - video

Mar 28, 2020: Sophie Lewis at CBSNews.com: Walmart reports increased sales for tops but not pants

Mar 28, 2020: Via

Mar 28, 2020: We’ve come full rectangle: Polaroid is reborn out of The Impossible Project Devin Coldewey at TechCrunch: The Polaroid camera is back, with a sleek …

Mar 28, 2020: Mike Dano on Light Reading: Satellite company OneWeb is reportedly filing for bankruptcy and Elon Musk’s SpaceX could be in trouble as well.

Mar 28, 2020: Podcast downloads in the US have fallen about 10%. True crime podcasts are down the most, and comedy podcasts are also hit hard. Coronavirus Causes …

Mar 28, 2020: The San Diego City Attorney is seeking an injunction against Instacart Chris Jennewein at the Times of San Diego: The San Diego City Attorney’s …

Mar 28, 2020: British Drivers Swearing I found this enjoyable both for the colorful expletives and for the many video snippets of random British roads.

Mar 28, 2020: How Huawei is dividing Western nations Scott Bade at TechCrunch: Western countries are split on whether to ban Huawei outright on telco networks, like …

Mar 28, 2020: Uranus Ejected a Giant Plasma Bubble During Voyager 2’s Visit - The New York Times Uranus is very farty.

Mar 28, 2020: This painting by Rudolf Sieber Lonati was used on the covers of Silber-Grusel-Krimi #213 and Larry Brent #49. Via

Mar 27, 2020: 1961 cover art by Mitchell Hooks Via

Mar 27, 2020: #ayyy Via

Mar 27, 2020: Via

Mar 27, 2020: SF Bar Owner on Yelp’s GoFundMe partnership: ‘Fuck All of These People Entirely” - Eve Batey - Eater SF Yelp launched GoFundMe campaigns for small …

Mar 27, 2020: Fearsome Flush - Real Ghostbusters (Kenner) Via

Mar 27, 2020: Steve Ditko. Via

Mar 27, 2020: The sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden, explained - Anna North - Vox

Mar 27, 2020: Opinion - The Religious Right’s Hostility to Science Is Crippling Our Coronavirus Response Katherine Stewart at The New York Times: At a time when …

Mar 27, 2020: ‘White-Collar Quarantine’ Over Virus Spotlights Class Divide Noam Scheiber, Nelson D. Schwartz and Tiffany Hsu writing at the New York Times: …

Mar 27, 2020: I have developed my own modification to the standard hand-washing technique you’ve seen on YouTube and in GIFs, which I believe will be …

Mar 27, 2020: Nurses Share Coronavirus Stories Anonymously in an Online Document - Edmund Lee - The New York Times More than 1,200 health care workers have used a …

Mar 27, 2020: How the Pandemic Will End - Ed Yong - The Atlantic

Mar 27, 2020: One month ago today I took Minnie in to the vet for her bordatella and heartworm test. Two years ago today I was on a train to LA for a conference. …

Mar 27, 2020: Coronavirus changes everything about the 2020 election. Trump is now the favorite to win. All he has to do is not fuck up egregiously. People will …

Mar 27, 2020: Cory Doctorow: San Francisco’s DNA Lounge is delivering cocktails in mason jars. A mason jar is three servings – or one if you really want …

Mar 27, 2020: Cory Doctorow: “Reasonable covid food-safety advice: Sanitize your hands and your cart, practice social distancing, and…you’re …

Mar 27, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Right-wing extremists who denounce their opponents' incivility are using the same arguments as advocates of slavery in the antebellum …

Mar 27, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Real-estate plutocrats are making a killing on the Senate stimulus. And guess what business Trump is in?

Mar 27, 2020: Cory Doctorow: [The US is now the epicenter of the pandemic] a: “Trump wants the country to go back to work by Easter, because in his version of …

Mar 27, 2020: Gentleman buys a DVD at a flea market containing 80 minutes of previously unseen Seinfeld bloopers.

Mar 27, 2020: Andrew Sullivan uses his memories of the AIDS epidemic to cast light on coronavirus and society. How to Survive a Plague It’s quite possible that by the end of all this, almost every American will know of someone who has died. A relative, a …

Mar 27, 2020: If we need to kill grandma and grandpa to save the economy, then fuck the economy. A far-right rallying cry: Older Americans should volunteer to work This article compares current conservative calls to sacrifice older Americans …

Mar 26, 2020: Not even three weeks on lockdown and the people who were once sneering at this as being no worse than the flu are now wetting their pants and planning …

Mar 26, 2020: People who say cruel things on the internet are often not the cartoon villains we imagine them to be. He urged saving the economy over protecting those who are ‘not productive’ from the coronavirus. Then he faced America’s wrath. - …

Mar 26, 2020: Any micro.bloggers in San Diego?

Mar 26, 2020: As part of our morning wake-up routine I’ve been giving Minnie three chicken-flavored treats every day. They’re infused with glucosamine, …

Mar 26, 2020: With Affirmed Networks purchase, Microsoft looks to plug 5G into Azure - Light Reading. With its Affirmed acquisition, Microsoft is challenging telco …

Mar 26, 2020: How Triscuits got their name It has nothing to do with the number “three.” And it’s actually very cool, particularly if you’re a fan of retro-futurism …

Mar 26, 2020: Good news for gig workers in stimulus bill, but Uber CEO talks rubbish about “third way” to classify employees Gig workers for companies like Uber, Lyft would get unemployment benefits under $2 trillion Senate stimulus bill www.cnbc.com/2020/03/2… Good …

Mar 26, 2020: Huawei ‘rip and replace’ price tag doubles to $2B amid coronavirus outbreak …

Mar 26, 2020: Microsoft is right now groaning under the weight of a 52,000-person internal Reply-All email storm. …

Mar 26, 2020: Trump threatened to sue media outlets that air a political commercial that accurately quoted his statements ridiculing the coronavirus threat. …

Mar 26, 2020: Cory Doctorow reviews Thomas Pikkety's new book, "Capital and Ideology." The thesis of the new book is that “the ‘laws’ of economics are actually policies, created to ‘justify a society’s …

Mar 26, 2020: Journalist practices social distancing in unexpected encounter with a herd of bison. “Oh my God. Oh, no, I’m not messing with you.” …

Mar 26, 2020: Who would you be willing to sacrifice – have them die – to keep the stock market up? Sullen teen offspring? Obnoxious neighbor who runs the lawnmower …

Mar 25, 2020: A programmer switches gears – so to speak – and takes up a career as a bike courier. From 2005. I wonder what he’s doing today? …

Mar 25, 2020: On Reddit: “My dad is a pilot and during the pandemic decided to make a work simulator at home” Funny …

Mar 25, 2020: Teaser that ran in movie theaters for the Max Fleischer “Superman” cartoons, 1941 www.youtube.com/watch

Mar 25, 2020: My little experiment using micro.blog categories to automate selective syndication to Tumblr and Twitter failed. Posts were not showing up in either …

Mar 25, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow's Pluralistic.net The Internet Archive is supporting unlimited book-lending during the crisis. “… they buy and scan one copy of every book (pretty much …

Mar 25, 2020: Second Life-maker calls it quits on their VR follow-up techcrunch.com/2020/03/2… Linden Lab is selling off Sansar to a small company called …

Mar 25, 2020: The travel, conference and tourism industry are going to be in recession for a long time after coronavirus is a distant memory. As Charles Stross notes here in another context, people are going to be reluctant to gather in big groups with other people who’ve come from far …

Mar 25, 2020: Shopping run: I went to the supermarket yesterday – for the benefit of my local friends, the Vons on University in La Mesa. The crowd seemed …

Mar 24, 2020:

Mar 24, 2020: Julie said today that I am “contumacious.”

Mar 24, 2020: So like I said, I ordered a new iPad Pro last night. I am a confessed Apple fanboy, so I’m excited to get it and feel like I can barely wait the …

Mar 24, 2020: I excavated my briefcase from where it was buried under cardboard boxes in my office. I thought I had packets of hand sanitizer wipes in there, but it …

Mar 24, 2020: "Even during a global pandemic, nobody in Boston eats manhattan clam chowder" The coronavirus leftovers: Twitter users share grocery store items no one is apparently buying www.foxnews.com/food-drin… Reminds of college …

Mar 24, 2020: "Julia Roberts’ performance is the magic spell that makes Pretty Woman work." Appreciating “Pretty Woman,” 30 years later www.refinery29.com/en-ca/202… I didn’t see “Pretty Woman” until years …

Mar 23, 2020: I see a few social media darwinists saying we should be willing to sacrifice lives in the short term to restart the economy. But nobody’s …

Mar 23, 2020: But her emails!

Mar 23, 2020: Protect Yourself From Coronavirus Grocery Shopping www.consumerreports.org/food-shop… This is me tomorrow. I wish we had a space suit lying …

Mar 23, 2020: I have committed iPad Pro 13" My brain has been tempting me with the new iPad Pro, about how nice it will be to have that big screen when I’m sitting and reading or doing …

Mar 23, 2020: How Biscoff Cookies Became the Snack We Crave on Planes www.cntraveler.com/story/how… I never eat ‘em on the ground but I love them on …

Mar 23, 2020: How to boost your home’s Wi-Fi www.theverge.com/2020/3/19…

Mar 23, 2020: It’s time to track people’s smartphones to ensure they self-isolate during this global pandemic, says WHO boffin. Professor Marylouise …

Mar 23, 2020: Video: Italian mayors berate citizens for breaking quarantine. “Getting in your mobile hairdressers?! What the fuck is that for? Don’t you …

Mar 23, 2020: My first multi-person Zoom coffee break this morning. We discussed bronies and the catechism. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a meeting …

Mar 22, 2020: I saw this excellent sidewalk art near the house. “Just keep walking” can be seen as inspirational or a threat.📷 . Minnie practices her reading …

Mar 22, 2020: The Grass Is Always Greener by George Malcolm-Smith Bantam Books 410, 1948 Cover by Casey Jones gameraboy1.tumblr.com/post/6133…

Mar 22, 2020: Law firm warns work-from-home employees against eavesdropping by Alexa, baby monitors, etc. Locked-Down Lawyers Warned Alexa Is Hearing Confidential Calls - Bloomberg Mishcon de Reya LLP, the U.K. law firm that famously advised Princess …

Mar 22, 2020: Tlaib proposes minting two $1 trillion platinum coins to finance monthly coronavirus debit cards Everybody gets $2,000 upfront plus $1,000/mo. to get …

Mar 22, 2020: Today on Cory Doctorow's Pluralistic A law firm is telling employees to switch off smart speakers and similar devices while working from home. We don’t have any in the house. The …

Mar 22, 2020: Cory Doctorow: How prepper media is dealing with coronavirus Prepperism is about being the individual savior, while solving a community or global crisis requires collective action. Now I’ve got the 1970s …

Mar 22, 2020: “woefully concupiscent snails” would be a good name for a podcast.

Mar 21, 2020: ME THERMOMETER: Your temperature is “don’t be such a hypochondriac you don’t have the rona” degrees.

Mar 21, 2020: ME (before the rona): <Bleeding profusely, skin inflamed, boils, hacking wheezing cough, seizures, occasional blindness> Probably nothing. …

Mar 21, 2020: We’re “taking our temperature with a mercury thermometer” years old.

Mar 21, 2020: ME (before the rona): I haven’t been out except to walk the dog and run essential errands. All my communications, except with Julie, are online. …

Mar 21, 2020: From the comments: She is holding the floppy in the one spot you’re not supposed to touch it. via

Mar 21, 2020: If you’re going to fake paying attention with Zoom backgrounds, make it a looping video Use a looping video of yourself paying attention as a …

Mar 21, 2020: I saw this hopeful sign while walking the dog. 📷 🎉

Mar 21, 2020: I just ordered clippers for a home haircut. I am prepared for the apocalypse.

Mar 21, 2020:

Mar 21, 2020:

Mar 21, 2020: I followed @bestoftimes this morning and added two books to my to-be-read list from his feed. Thanks!

Mar 21, 2020: Coronavirus: Drive-in theaters report uptick in business - Axios Fond memories of going to drive-ins with my parents and brothers as a child, and …

Mar 21, 2020:

Mar 21, 2020:

Mar 21, 2020: Mel Gibson - The Road Warrior (1981) via

Mar 21, 2020: via

Mar 20, 2020: Jungle Comics #93 (1947), cover by Joe Doolin Via There is a lot going on here.

Mar 20, 2020:

Mar 20, 2020:

Mar 20, 2020: We need a moonshot program to build a first-class healthcare system in the US in the next year or so. This will certainly be difficult but it will …

Mar 20, 2020: This Is How We Beat the Coronavirus www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc…

Mar 20, 2020: Trump viciously attacks NBC News reporter in extended rant after being asked for message to Americans worried about coronavirus …

Mar 20, 2020: Trump is outbidding state agencies for medical supplies. “Trump has refused to coordinate federal procurements of emergency supplies for states, saying the fed is not “a shipping clerk” for …

Mar 20, 2020: Right to Repair is important during a pandemic, because medical professionals are the right people to make decisions on field-repairing hospital equipment, not med-tech company shareholders and their lawyers - Cory Doctorow pluralistic.net/2020/03/2…

Mar 20, 2020: Charter is now letting employees to work from home . www.lightreading.com/cable-vid…

Mar 19, 2020: I saw Lake Murray looking spectacular this afternoon. 📸

Mar 19, 2020:

Mar 19, 2020: We’re not going back to normal: Social distancing is here to stay for much more than a few weeks. It will upend our way of life, in some ways forever. …

Mar 19, 2020: Senator Richard Burr Warned Of Coronavirus Effects In Private Meeting - NPR Even while GOP leaders were ridiculing and downplaying coronavirus risks, at least one – Senator Richard Barr, the Chairman of the Senate …

Mar 19, 2020: Steve Sinofsky compares the evolution of the iPad Pro vs. laptops replacing many PCs and PC servers replacing mainframes. The newer, smaller, more flexible device begins to take on the characteristics of the older, bigger, more rigid device. However, in the case of the …

Mar 19, 2020: Empty Grocery Shelves Are Alarming, But They're Not Permanent America’s grocery supply chains are going strong. Shelves are bare because of spiked demand. “It’s like the weekend before …

Mar 19, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Fox News is a suicide cult. Theirs and Trump’s initial coronavirus denialism is still helping fuel the spread. …

Mar 19, 2020: Cory Doctorow: “How to structure a fair covid bailout: Stimulus, not private jets.” pluralistic.net/2020/03/1…

Mar 19, 2020: Cory Doctorow: The Democrats' worst Congressman is out of a job “Congress’s worst Democrat is Dan Lipinski, a corrupt, anti-abortion, corporatist, gunhumping asshole…. " And now he’s …

Mar 19, 2020: 15 Broadway Plays and Musicals You Can Watch On Stage From Home www.playbill.com/article/1…

Mar 19, 2020: Beijing fears Covid-19 is a turning point for China and globalization China didn’t start coronavirus, but Chinese incompetence and authoritarianism is a big part of the reason why it’s now a global pandemic, …

Mar 19, 2020: Jeet Heer: The Democratic party's DC leadership is failing the coronavirus test Congressional Democrats are to the right of the GOP on coronavirus relief. If Sanders, Warren, and Ocasio-Cortez find a way to speak with one voice, …

Mar 19, 2020: We live in Zoom now www.nytimes.com/2020/03/1…

Mar 18, 2020: ‘Friends’ Reunion Special Delayed at HBO Max www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed… They will not be there for you.

Mar 18, 2020: I heard you like coronavirus memes so here are 28 coronavirus memes

Mar 18, 2020: When your phone links you to a crime: How law enforcement used a “geofence” warrant to identify a suspect of a crime he didn’t commit. Google tracked his bike ride past a burglarized home. That made him a suspect. player.fm/series/re…

Mar 18, 2020: Dr. Fabiano Di Marco, a doctor in a hospital in Bergamo, Italy, shares his story: “It’s like a war,” he says. “We cry every …

Mar 18, 2020: The origin stories of the peace sign, smiley face and power button symbol. There are symbols all around us that we take for granted, like the …

Mar 18, 2020: If you must smoke while wearing your influenza mask, 1918 reddit.com/r/OldScho…

Mar 18, 2020: How to avoid the time-suck of social networks while working at home www.zdnet.com/article/h…

Mar 18, 2020: Bill Gates: Countries shut for coronavirus could bounce back in weeks — www.cnbc.com/2020/03/1…

Mar 18, 2020: Sister Maria Elena Romero, a cloistered nun, offers advice on social distancing, which nuns and monks have been doing for nearly 2,000 years. …

Mar 18, 2020: U.S. Virus Plan Anticipates 18-Month Pandemic and Widespread Shortages www.nytimes.com/2020/03/1… 18 months!

Mar 18, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Plague precautions from 1665. A comprehensive list, resembling extreme measures we might see today – both virtues and flaws (tippling in public houses STILL permitted). …

Mar 18, 2020: Cory Doctorow: "Bigoted Republican Congressjerk votes against coronavirus relief because it might cover same-sex partnerships." Cory: “The Republican Party, folks. The party of death and poverty and tragedy and hate. Remember that in November.” …

Mar 18, 2020: John Green on coronavirus: “Togetherness is the superpower of our species. Like, yeah, we as individuals are very smart, as animals go, but it …

Mar 18, 2020: American Airlines blew $15B on stock buybacks to benefit shareholders, jacked up prices and nickel-and-dimed customers. Now it wants a $50B bailout - …

Mar 18, 2020: NYT: Trump Now Claims He Always Knew the Coronavirus Would Be a Pandemic www.nytimes.com/2020/03/1… Trump lies compulsively, and many times a day, about things that are easily verifiable as untrue. He claims he …

Mar 17, 2020: Scientists warn we may need to live with social distancing for a year or more www.vox.com/science-a… Grim reading.

Mar 17, 2020: Facebook was marking legitimate news articles about the coronavirus as spam due to a software bug www.theverge.com/2020/3/17…

Mar 17, 2020: San Diego leaders back freeze on evictions tied to coronavirus outbreak despite landlord concerns www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/poli…

Mar 17, 2020: California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday he has put the California National Guard on alert to help protect communities and fight the spread …

Mar 17, 2020: Suddenly unemployed, San Diego workers grapple with how to pay rent and utility, grocery bills www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/…

Mar 17, 2020: The Atlantic: America’s Restaurants Will Need a Miracle Social distancing could prove devastating to the restaurant industry, as restaurants are becoming vital economic infrastructure. Americans now spend …

Mar 17, 2020: Having a wonderful time, 1969 https://www.reddit.com/r/TheWayWeWere/comments/fia3db/having_a_wonderful_time_1969/

Mar 17, 2020: Scientific American: Time Has No Meaning at the North Pole On the research vessel, Polarstern, at the North Pole, time zones, seasons and even day and night are meaningless.The sun rises and sets once a year, …

Mar 17, 2020: This Tom Hanks Story Will Make You Feel Less Bad www.nytimes.com/2020/03/1…

Mar 17, 2020: “There is nothing in this world that occurs to you that has not occurred to me first. That is the affliction I live with.” …

Mar 17, 2020:

Mar 17, 2020:

Mar 17, 2020: Shit.

Mar 17, 2020: Charter employees are fuming as the Internet and phone provider prohibits working from home, despite coronavirus. One engineer sent an angry mailblast to a SVP and hundreds of engineers. He doesn’t work at Charter anymore. techcrunch.com/2020/03/1…

Mar 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Be sure to fill out your census. Do it online or by phone. Filling out your census is important to your community getting its share of …

Mar 17, 2020: Cory Doctorow’s Twitter account was suspended for a day, because of a list of trolls he created called “colossal assholes.” Says …

Mar 16, 2020: Family Room Decor, 1970s retropopcult.tumblr.com/post/6128…

Mar 16, 2020: Andrew Cuomo Is the Control Freak We Need Right Now www.nytimes.com/2020/03/1… The qualities that make him a problematic governor in normal …

Mar 16, 2020: We are legit running low on TP. May have to use cats instead.

Mar 16, 2020: Andrew Sullivan: Reality Arrives to the Trump Era Andrew Sullivan finds similarities between the initial public reactions to the coronavirus, the gay community’s initial reaction initial to the …

Mar 16, 2020: A white Republican mayor seeks the truth about Tulsa’s race massacre a century ago www.washingtonpost.com/history/2…

Mar 16, 2020:

Mar 16, 2020: Two more seasons of Bosch, then no more. Alas! …

Mar 16, 2020: Even with coronavirus, the US toilet paper supply remains strong. Interesting article for supply chain nerds. “Barring a new craze for mummy costumes, the actual use of toilet paper is unlikely to increase.” …

Mar 16, 2020: He comes to talk to his dad every day since the nursing home is on lockdown …

Mar 16, 2020: Anbara Salam on Twitter: “As a public service in these stressful times I’d like to offer, as a palate cleanser, the most embarrassing …

Mar 16, 2020: The Man With 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer Just Donated Them www.nytimes.com/2020/03/1… Cut the guy some slack. He’s in a perfectly legitimate business, he saw an opportunity and he overreacted. If …

Mar 16, 2020: Cory Doctorow: TikTok’s secret guidelines require moderators to suppress videos from old, ugly, fat, disabled and poor people. …

Mar 16, 2020: How to prepare for coming layoffs: Good advice from Cory Doctorow, who’s been self-employed for nearly 20 years. :) …

Mar 16, 2020: Cory Doctorow: An Italian hospital fixed its ventilator with 3D printed parts. pluralistic.net/2020/03/1…

Mar 15, 2020: Stupid TiVo didn’t record the debate. What’d I miss?

Mar 15, 2020: Went to the store. Did not buy extra TP. Did buy extra coffee. It’s called “priorities.” Look it up.

Mar 15, 2020: I’m ready for the debate.

Mar 15, 2020: NBC’s Saturday Night Live Various Artists Arista Records/USA (1976) retropopcult.tumblr.com/post/6125…

Mar 15, 2020: mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/post/6125…

Mar 15, 2020: The opening to Chiller Theater scared me when I was a kid. I couldn’t watch it. Still scares me now but I’m a grown-ass adult so I made …

Mar 15, 2020: Republican blogs are pushng the meme that Uncle Joe has dementia. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at that, because the Republicans are also …

Mar 15, 2020: He Has 17,700 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer and Nowhere to Sell Them On March 1, the day after the first coronavirus death was announced, Matt and Noah Colvin started a three-day, 1,300-mile journey from their homes in …

Mar 15, 2020: The “tragedy of the commons” is junk science developed by a racist who espoused eugenics and white supremacy. …

Mar 15, 2020: We’ve stocked up on about two weeks of emergency supplies, like you’re supposed to. It wasn’t a stretch – we buy in bulk …

Mar 15, 2020: I have two important videoconferences scheduled for Monday, and I spent much of the day getting the office in shape to be seen – or, rather, the …

Mar 15, 2020: Cory Doctorow: The CIA’s information security is really terrible pluralistic.net/2020/03/1…

Mar 15, 2020:

Mar 15, 2020: “Like Japan in the mid-1800s, the United States now faces a crisis that disproves everything the country believes about itself.” …

Mar 15, 2020: Meghan and Harry Overplayed Their Hand www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc…

Mar 15, 2020: The 1918 flu pandemic in San Diego: 366 deaths, sheep dip and mandatory masks 0.5% of San Diego’s population was killed in the 1918 Spanish Flu …

Mar 15, 2020: From the San Diego Evening Tribune Archives: How San Diego officials reacted to the 1918 flu www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/loca…

Mar 14, 2020: The ballet dancer who led a prisoner uprising at Auschwitz Franceska Mann, a 26-year-old Jewish ballet dancer from Poland, arrived in Auschwitz in 1943, part of a transport of 1,800 so-called VIP prisoners …

Mar 14, 2020: “It was my first time ordering bulk crickets off the internet….” Funny Twitter thread. twitter.com/_cingraha…

Mar 14, 2020: Covid-19 needs a new name. Branding matters, people!

Mar 14, 2020: I’m getting email from every company I’ve ever given my address to, earnestly telling me how much they care about me and don’t want …

Mar 14, 2020: Apple TV+ 'Foundation' series production halts over coronavirus fears appleinsider.com/articles/… What this tells me is the long-rumored series based on Asimov’s Foundation novels is in production — and therefore …

Mar 13, 2020:

Mar 13, 2020: “Sad ukelele” would be a great name for a podcast. mcmansionhell.com/post/1834…

Mar 13, 2020: Trump administration blocks states from using Medicaid to respond to coronavirus crisis www.latimes.com/politics/… The GOP is a death cult.

Mar 13, 2020: The Ezra Klein Show: Trump didn't break democracy. Broken democracy gave us Trump. Also: Republicans understand that politics is transactional. The NRA has been great for the GOP, and so the GOP is unwaveringly pro-gun. Democrats are …

Mar 13, 2020: A brief history of the floppy disk. Fascinating! www.redhat.com/en/comman…

Mar 13, 2020: Find out which weather service is most accurate in your area ForecastAdvisor shows you the accuracy of major weather forecasting services in your area. It says that The Weather Channel and AccuWeather are most …

Mar 13, 2020: AT&T CEO pay rose to $32 million in 2019 while he cut 20,000 jobs arstechnica.com/tech-poli…

Mar 13, 2020: The Verge guide to Twitter (with a contribution from yrs trly) www.theverge.com/2020/3/13…

Mar 13, 2020: Reporters Without Borders uses Minecraft to sneak censored works across borders. techcrunch.com/2020/03/1…

Mar 12, 2020: The Zoom virtual background for videoconferences doesn’t seem to work with my Mac. I can buy a portable green screen, that attaches to the back …

Mar 12, 2020: “Social distancing” is actually not that big a change for me. #JokingNotJoking

Mar 12, 2020: Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (aka MBS) is a brutal tyrant, who has also implemented reforms, including expanded women’s rights …

Mar 12, 2020: Barbara Krasnoff: How to hide your messy room during a Zoom video conference www.theverge.com/2020/3/11… Another excuse for me to postpone …

Mar 12, 2020:

Mar 12, 2020: Jason Snell: How to customize the display of the Apple Watch Workouts app. Useful tips - I did it right away after reading this article. …

Mar 12, 2020: Twitter 101: how to follow people and discover topics. Should be headlined: “How To Tell Your @ From a Hole in the Ground.” By me on The …

Mar 12, 2020: The FCC is giving out big bucks for rural broadband, and New York is the one state in the continental US that’s been left out. …

Mar 12, 2020: IBM says it’s number three in cloud sales, but analysts say nope. Not even close. Interesting definitional disagreement on what “the cloud …

Mar 12, 2020: These face-touching memes have been canceled for public health reasons. Funny. www.theverge.com/2020/3/12…

Mar 12, 2020: Cory Doctorow: “Senate Republicans have killed emergency sick leave legislation, a move that will force millions of low-waged cleaning and …

Mar 12, 2020: Cory Doctorow: A former top Cigna exec calls baloney on Biden’s claims that Medicaire-for-all is impractical. For starters, M4A wouldn’t …

Mar 12, 2020: The head of the TSA says he’s standing by a decision to take away healthcare coverage from part-time agents. Because of the nature of their …

Mar 12, 2020: Trump’s ban on European travel exempt nations where he owns resorts. What an extraordinary coincidence! How fortunate for him! …

Mar 11, 2020: Cory Doctorow: A scam-buster hacks into a scam factory and surveills the heck out of them. pluralistic.net/2020/03/1…

Mar 11, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Details of Italy’s “I stay in the house” law. pluralistic.net/2020/03/1…

Mar 11, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Twitter upgraded its terms of service to permit academics to use bots for research and auditing purposes …

Mar 11, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Sensor Tower, which provides VPN and other software it describes as privacy protecting, was in fact distributing spyware. …

Mar 11, 2020: Cory Doctorow: The satiety index: Which foods make you feel the most full? pluralistic.net/2020/03/1…

Mar 11, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Nobody knows why people have gotten fatter since the 1950s. Diet and levels of physical activity don’t explain it, at least not …

Mar 11, 2020: Michael McConnell, a prominent San Diego homeless advocate, fought against Proposition C in San Diego, which allocated $2 billion for homelessness. He …

Mar 11, 2020: A California software engineer found paragraphs and themes in the novel “The Manchuriam Candidate,” by Richard Congdon, that were …

Mar 11, 2020: Astronomers are using computer models for for slime mold growth patterns to trace filaments connecting galaxies. phys.org/news/2020… Reminds me …

Mar 11, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Farmers are fighting John Deere for the right to fix their own tractors. This is literally jeopardizing the US food supply. …

Mar 11, 2020: Cory Doctorow: A woman sued the TSA over a “pat-down” that penetrated her vagina. pluralistic.net/2020/03/0…

Mar 11, 2020: Led Zeppelin wins a ruling that “Stairway to Heaven” was not plagiarized from an earlier record, potentially setting a precedent for …

Mar 11, 2020: Virginia Dare (1956) advertisingpics.tumblr.com/post/6122…

Mar 11, 2020: autumnone.tumblr.com/post/6122…

Mar 11, 2020: X-ray Shoe Fitting “Customers Expect It!” [1940s] …

Mar 11, 2020: advertisingpics.tumblr.com/post/6122…

Mar 11, 2020: www.flickr.com/photos/26…

Mar 11, 2020: 1975 apartment danismm.tumblr.com/post/6122…

Mar 11, 2020: Dick Van Dyke for Colorburst instant cameras (1978) …

Mar 11, 2020: Vincent Di Fate mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/post/6122…

Mar 11, 2020: Belmont Radio (LIFE, March 6, 1944) https://www.reddit.com/r/vintageads/comments/fgoixp/belmont_radio_life_march_6_1944/

Mar 11, 2020: Elvira for Coors Light, 1986 https://www.reddit.com/r/vintageads/comments/fgofxx/elvira_for_coors_light_1986/

Mar 10, 2020: IBM’s outgoing boss Rometty awarded $20m+ in 2019 for growing revenue 0.1% Nice work if you can get it.

Mar 10, 2020: IBM Food Trust: Who’s using blockchain to track supply chain? IBM has pushed blockchain hard for tracking customer supply chains, and touted …

Mar 10, 2020: I came into my office at about 4 am. Minnie had been closed up in here for six hours. It’s now after 7 am. Minnie still hasn’t gone out to …

Mar 10, 2020: VMware is looking to rejuvenate again with a Kubernetes injection: VMware today rolls out an aggressive plan to integrate Kubernetes with traditional …

Mar 10, 2020: “The power of Frenchmen in your intestines” (1919) via

Mar 10, 2020: Back of the famous 1 Hacker Way Facebook sign via

Mar 10, 2020: The back side of Hollywood Squares, 1976 via

Mar 10, 2020:

Mar 10, 2020: Can You Really Hire a Hit Man on the Dark Web? The dark web is swarming with hitman-for-hire sites, with colorful names like Azerbaijani Eagles and …

Mar 10, 2020: What Bernie Sanders Gets Right About the Media: much of the U.S. media still covers elections as if they’re sporting events and that the affluent New …

Mar 10, 2020: California’s Gig Economy Is Under Attack. AB5 is limiting freelancers' ability to work, going far beyond the Uber drivers it was intended to protect. …

Mar 10, 2020: Self-described political hack James Carville thinks Trump will lose

Mar 10, 2020: “Don’t touch the figs."

Mar 9, 2020: Grace and Frankie is Golden Girls minus the rattan furniture.

Mar 9, 2020: Like Cambridge Analytica, “but more nefariously, arguably:" Banjo, an artificial intelligence firm that works with police, used a shadow …

Mar 9, 2020: Airlines are burning thousands of gallons of fuel flying empty ‘ghost’ planes so they can keep their flight slots during the coronavirus …

Mar 9, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Europe looks like it may be getting the courage to take on Apple, mandating that consumers have a right to repair their phones That …

Mar 9, 2020: The Last Alternative: A 1978 Soviet TV adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "The Naked Sun" Cheesy even by 1978 standards, according to this fellow on Reddit. On YouTube: here and here and here I gave it a quick peek and can confirm its …

Mar 9, 2020: How Old Is Too Old to Work? Old age is very different today, when the average lifespan is 79, than at the turn of the 20th century, when it was 49. …

Mar 9, 2020: A driver was pulled over with expired 1997 license plate tags. He says he’s been busy

Mar 9, 2020: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols: Coronavirus really is that bad and you should work from home

Mar 7, 2020: We watched “Sharpe’s Gold.” I bet the men in the 95th Rifles found Hagman annoying after a couple days. “Enough with the …

Mar 6, 2020: How to Tell If You Have the Flu, Coronavirus, or Something Else I think I had norovirus almost exactly a year ago, after returning from Mobile World …

Mar 5, 2020: I have been that tourist. It’s why I often patronize Starbucks when I’m out of town.

Mar 5, 2020:

Mar 5, 2020: Minnie found a steak-bone on our walk the other day, and I let her carry it home and work on it in the backyard for a while. “What could go …

Mar 5, 2020: Bernie has done fine this far appealing to a radical, burn-it-down revolutionary base. But now he needs to appeal to ALL Democrats or he’ll lose …

Mar 5, 2020: Cory Doctorow: “Libraries, of course, are the last place in our civilization where you are welcomed because you are a human being, not because …

Mar 5, 2020: The right to repair is the right to resilience Cory on Pluralistic.net: It’s no coincidence that farms and farmers have been leaders in Right to Repair: when you’re isolated and …

Mar 5, 2020:

Mar 5, 2020: Cory Doctorow on "Right to Repair" and more Cory Doctorow talks about how big business and government have taken away your right to repair property you own, how Facebook and other monopolies can …

Mar 5, 2020: June Lockhart in a wardrobe test for “Lost in Space,” 1965. Via Still alive; she’s 94

Mar 5, 2020:

Mar 5, 2020: Ezra Klein: Sanders can’t lead the Democrats if his campaign treats them like the enemy www.vox.com/2020/3/4/…

Mar 4, 2020:

Mar 4, 2020: Coronavirus Porn Is Going Viral on Pornhub …

Mar 4, 2020: 8-year-old boy wins $200 worth of cannabis products at hockey tournament …

Mar 4, 2020: Trump blasts Sessions on Twitter, inadvertently confirming key Mueller finding Trump publicly admits to obstruction of justice. Again. …

Mar 4, 2020: AT&T is looking to cut billions of dollars in spending, starting with “headcount rationalization” (apparently the new bureaucratese …

Mar 4, 2020: Sisters Margaux and Mariel Hemingway struggled with the family history of depression, substance abuse and suicide Their grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, killed himself, as did Margaux and six other members of the family. Mariel Hemingway survived and became a mental …

Mar 4, 2020: Americans only started calling our country "America" around the turn of the 20th Century. Previously, we called ourselves the "Union," "Republic," and even "Columbia" and Freedonia. The transition to “America” came about the time the US became a bloody, brutal global empire, committing genocide in the Philippines and …

Mar 4, 2020:

Mar 4, 2020:

Mar 4, 2020:

Mar 4, 2020: Cisco WebEx, Google and other companies are offering free videoconferencing to help restrict coronavirus (and encourage people to subscribe and pay …

Mar 4, 2020: Republican Darrell Issa moves on to face Democrat opponent Ammar Campa-Najjar in the November election for CA-50 Issa’s primary campaign against Republican Carl DeMaio was dirty. The campaign against Campa-Najjar is going to be dirtier. …

Mar 4, 2020: ICE's New York office uses a rigged algorithm to keep virtually all arrestees in detention. The ACLU says it's unconstitutional “… this ostensible problem-solving software was rigged to provide only one solution: detention,” writes Sam Biddle at The …

Mar 4, 2020: Why America is so vulnerable to coronavirus Ryan Cooper: America’s atrociously inadequate welfare state makes it by far the most vulnerable rich country to a viral pandemic, and the …

Mar 4, 2020: Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet It is one of the few remaining places that retains the faintly utopian glow of the early World Wide …

Mar 4, 2020: American taxpayers have paid $152 million for Trump to play golf, making him the 10th highest paid American athlete. www.theroot.com/we-calcul…

Mar 4, 2020: We have watched two episodes of the second season of “Altered Carbon.” We are almost enjoying it. Does it get better?

Mar 4, 2020: I just remembered Joe Biden is fine “Please don’t show me any footage of Joe Biden saying or doing things.” …

Mar 4, 2020: A Fantastic Night . . . If You Don’t Like Bloomberg, Warren, or Sanders www.nationalreview.com/corner/su…

Mar 3, 2020: AP: Bloomberg is thinking about dropping out after a disappointing Super Tuesday showing. apnews.com/4b7a6e2de…

Mar 3, 2020: Inside the race to build the best quantum computer on Earth Google and IBM are dueling to commercialize a new generation of computing technology, quantum computing. While Google is working on a breakthrough to …

Mar 3, 2020: I tried to go 24 hours without touching my face. I made it 18 minutes Nestor Ramos at the Boston Globe: Surely I could give up wiping my mouth, rubbing my eyes, and scratching my nose, too. How hard could it be? I’m not …

Mar 3, 2020: China is using Uighur slave labor camps for manufacturing for US brands including Nike, Apple and Dell. www.bbc.com/news/worl…

Mar 3, 2020: Miss Staten Island banned from St. Pat’s parade after coming out as bi — still shows up nypost.com/2020/03/0…

Mar 3, 2020: Jeff Huang: My productivity app is a single .txt file One file to track to-dos and have-dones. https://jeffhuang.com/productivity_text_file/

Mar 3, 2020: Aaron Sorkin on his new play based on “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The West Wing,” “Studio 60,” and how he’d …

Mar 3, 2020: How Facebook has become one of the least trusted and most profitable companies in the world. Tech journalist Steven Levy, talks about the company’s history on Fresh Air. He’s got a new book out, “Facebook: The Inside …

Mar 3, 2020: Herod Agrippa is the Lando Calrissian of “I, Claudius.” On the I, Podius podcast: maximumfun.org/episodes/…

Mar 3, 2020: Super Tuesday, Explained: I listened to this entire podcast episode and I’m still confused. Short version: Lots of states have their Democratic …

Mar 3, 2020: The true story behind "You've Got Mail:" The movie was based on a real conflict between a New York Barnes & Noble and a local children's bookstore. At that time, B&N was the big bad soul-crushing superstore chain killing indy Mom-and-Pop bookstores. Later, Amazon beat down Barnes & Noble. …

Mar 3, 2020: Today I voted, and spent a good chunk of time updating the local Democratic Club website and social media. Also did some publicity for the next …

Mar 3, 2020: Cory Doctorow’s got a new blog. It’s Pluralistic.net. pluralistic.net It’s his usual mix of cyber-rights, science fiction and retro …

Mar 2, 2020: Everybody agrees that social media needs to suppress harmful content while promoting good content, but nobody can agree on what falls into which …

Mar 2, 2020: Hollywood is bending the knee to Peking to avoid offending the authoritarian Chinese government, by excising the Chinese flag, editing out pro-LGBTQ …

Mar 2, 2020: What Happened to the Company That Raised Minimum Wage to $70k/yr? Business is better than ever.

Mar 2, 2020: The four largest U.S. carriers face combined FCC fines totaling about $209M for selling customer location data without consent, even after operators …

Mar 2, 2020: Telco spending is weak and 5G isn’t a cure-all, according to analysis of service provider and vendor revenues.

Mar 2, 2020: Yesterday I did my 3+-mile walk with the dog through a residential neighborhood up at the end of Lake Murray Blvd. No access to bathrooms. After …

Mar 2, 2020: Radio station ad via

Mar 2, 2020: California Legislature’s Battle Over ‘Gig Economy’ Shows No Sign of Ending AB5 was intended to stop companies like Uber and Lyft from misclassifying …

Mar 1, 2020: How And Why To Keep A “Commonplace Book” This is my commonplace book.

Mar 1, 2020: The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford: Mark Twain’s Marginalia: Most of Mark Twain’s books have handwritten notes in the margins.

Mar 1, 2020: Pocket Notebooks: A Brief History | The Art of Manliness

Mar 1, 2020: Unheralded ways that ordinary life has improved in the last 25 years.

Mar 1, 2020: The Oxford English Dictionary is adding Nigerian words, which is proving controversial with some scholars. Interestingly, opponents include Nigerians. …

Mar 1, 2020: Remembering Laser Books, a short-lived line of mediocre science fiction novels that tore through the genre in the mid-1970s, helmed by Roger Elwood.

Mar 1, 2020: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle = The Breakfast Club.

Feb 29, 2020: Via

Feb 29, 2020: There’s an Entire Industry Dedicated to Making Foods Crispy, and It Is WILD - Alex Beggs at Bon Appétit

Feb 29, 2020: via

Feb 29, 2020: Jason Kottke spent three weeks in Asia, including extended visits to Saigon and Singapore and 24 hours in Dubai. As promised by Kottke, this essay is …

Feb 29, 2020: Kottke: The secret of enduring Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) during a long winter is just roll with it. Learn to enjoy the long nights and cold …

Feb 29, 2020: Monty Python’s “Always Look at the Bright Side of Life” is now the most popular song played at British funerals.

Feb 29, 2020: Renowned Mathematician And Physicist Freeman Dyson Has Died At Age 96 His daughter Mia Dyson, a nurse and pastor who lives in Freeport Maine, says …

Feb 29, 2020: “Age of Treason” was a 1993 TV movie about Marcus Didio Falco, a threadbare private investigator working the mean streets of Rome, 2000 …

Feb 29, 2020: ‪Bailing on Afghanistan will be a disaster but staying will be worse. 20 years of the War on Terror has gone a long way to destroying America. We …

Feb 28, 2020: On Selling Your First Novel After 11 Years – Min Jin Lee: A moving essay about an ex-attorney’s 11-year struggle to get her first novel …

Feb 28, 2020: The last time Elyse saw her father was at her college graduation. They’d been close growing up, but then he disappeared, other than a few short …

Feb 28, 2020: Sansar, Linden Labs' follow-up to Second Life, was a victim of VR hype & failure to learn from SL mistakes – Wagner James Au …

Feb 28, 2020: See Newly Digitized, "Super Detailed" Photos Of Old Greenwich Village The turn of 20th century found Greenwich Village in the midst of a transformation – as affluent residents largely decamped uptown closer to …

Feb 28, 2020: Robots aren’t taking our jobs — they’re becoming our bosses- Josh Dzieza at The Verge: On conference stages and at campaign rallies, tech executives …

Feb 28, 2020: How to delete all your saved articles in Instapaper I wanted to delete all my saved Instapapaper article and make a fresh start, but had trouble figuring out how to do it. Here’s how: From the …

Feb 28, 2020: Charlie, the store manager, 1968 “Mine’s bigger. My cucumber. It’s bigger. I think vegetables can be very sensuous, don’t you?” …

Feb 27, 2020: One, two, and three years ago today I was in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress. Four years ago today was our nieces' Carly and Emma’s …

Feb 27, 2020: Mayor Pete says it’s ok to mix ranch dressing and salsa. I’ve never tried this combination, or even thought of trying it. Gotta admit, it sounds …

Feb 27, 2020: “My Ex-Boyfriend’s New Girlfriend Is Lady Gaga” - Lindsay Crouse: Social media in 2020 is so ingrained that it’s no longer a supplement …

Feb 27, 2020: Facing Anger from Journalists, Assemblywoman Gonzalez Offers AB 5 Changes Good news for freelance journalists, but not other independent contractors.

Feb 27, 2020: Do you watch scripted TV and movies, such as dramas and comedies, on a tablet, phone, or strictly on the TV? Do you watch a few minutes at a time, or …

Feb 27, 2020: Sarah Miller: The Diet Industrial Complex Got Me, and It Will Never Let Me Go “I did not see the body positivity movement coming, not at …

Feb 27, 2020: I just spent 15 minutes shopping for dental floss on Amazon. Sometimes choice is not a good thing.

Feb 27, 2020: Copied is a heck of a fine application for saving and managing multiple clipboards, particularly on the iPhone and iPad. My favorite feature is the …

Feb 27, 2020: Dropbox’s Reverse Migration, Out of AWS, Five Years On

Feb 27, 2020: Jeff Bezos pledged $10 billion to fight climate change, but Amazon is a big global contributor to the problem. Maybe he’d be more effective if …

Feb 27, 2020: Sally Hemings was Thomas Jefferson’s slave and companion for many years, with whom he fathered multiple children, whose descendants are alive …

Feb 27, 2020: Interview and performance with Rachael & Vilray, a contemporary duet who write and perform new music in the style of 30s and 40s swing. …

Feb 27, 2020: Two San Diegans have developed an app to help “vanlifers” live on the road.

Feb 27, 2020: Patricia Quinn, who plays Livilla on I, Claudius, also starred in the Rocky Horror Picture snow; she played Magenta and the giant lips in the opening …

Feb 27, 2020: Forget passwords: Secure yourself with a passphrase and these tools - Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Feb 27, 2020: THIS SUMMER MORE WOMEN ARE TURNING TO MEDS! (1944) via

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Feb 27, 2020: Lucky Skull Ring - made of genuine eternium! - 1950 …

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Feb 26, 2020: The Pat Boone & Family Christmas Special (1979) via

Feb 26, 2020: New Viking Stereo Compact, 1960 via

Feb 26, 2020: “I’ve Done It!’ MARTIN KLASCH via

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Feb 26, 2020: Apparently there’s a new Indiana Jones movie coming next year and Harrison Ford, who’ll be 78, is in it.

Feb 26, 2020: Megadonor urges Pelosi, Schumer to pick candidate to stop Bernie Sanders

Feb 26, 2020: ‘People don’t get it’: inside the world of hyper-realistic baby doll collecting … a doll “doesn’t turn into a teenager who …

Feb 26, 2020: Where Medicare-for-all is real Today, Explained] Looking at the healthcare systems in Taiwan, which has universal public healthcare and the …

Feb 26, 2020: Why liberals keep losing: We confuse slacktivism for activism Eitan Hersh’s Politics Is for Power explains why liberals keep losing Sean Illing at Vox: If you spend a lot of time consuming news, there’s a good …

Feb 26, 2020: Researchers are tracking coronavirus disinformation, which could be behind the market drop. - Wayne Rash

Feb 26, 2020: AT&T and Verizon axed nearly 30,000 jobs last year

Feb 26, 2020: Firefox now stops ISPs from tracking the websites you visit.

Feb 26, 2020: Why America Is Losing The Toilet Race It’s a race to the bottom.

Feb 26, 2020: Case Elliott was a big woman, with a big talent and a big, beautiful voice. In life she faced humiliating fat jokes. She didn’t die eating a ham …

Feb 26, 2020: “Empty Porn Sets” by photographer Jo Broughton “offers an insider’s behind-the-scenes look at the fantasy landscapes of porn." …

Feb 25, 2020: ‪Meanwhile, at the Democratic candidates debate.

Feb 25, 2020: I feel judged.

Feb 25, 2020: Playful dog enthusiastically fails service dog tests. Alternate title: Me on a job interview. ‬

Feb 25, 2020: The Register: Firefox now defaults to DNS-over-HTTPS for US netizens and some are dischuffed about this: Good for privacy – or an alarming move …

Feb 25, 2020: Mike Dano: Mirantis co-founder targets 5G ‘oligopoly’ with private networks startup FreedomFi: A new startup in the wireless industry has …

Feb 25, 2020: Warren Buffet finally upgraded from a flip phone to a smartphone – an iPhone 11 – but all he’s using it for is phone calls.

Feb 25, 2020: On MAGA Caps and WordCamps: The WordPress community is talking about banning red MAGA caps at its popular developer events, which are called …

Feb 25, 2020: Return of the PDA. Neat!

Feb 25, 2020: “Like Going Out Half Dressed When you Brush Your Teeth and Neglect to Massage Your Gums,” Hemp gum massager, 1933 via

Feb 25, 2020: The Milwaukee - ca. 1900 Via

Feb 24, 2020: Mirantis co-founder leaves to create open-source 5G startup - Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols: Boris Renski, co-founder of OpenStack and Kubernetes power …

Feb 24, 2020: Business owner says millennials are spoiled because they won’t work for free and are ambitious. I guess I’m a millennial now. How do you do, fellow …

Feb 24, 2020: Cory Doctorow: A Flat Earther commits suicide by conspiracy theory “Mad Mike” Hughes crashed a homemade rocket he intended to ride to …

Feb 24, 2020: “Authoritarian bias” kept Xi from dealing effectively with coronavirus- Cory Doctorow

Feb 24, 2020: Why do people listen to #NeverTrump Republicans lecturing Democrats on how the Democrats are on a path to failure beating Trump? #NeverTrumpers know …

Feb 24, 2020: A San Diego family cloned their dog for $50,000 “Marley,” a golden retriever, saved owner Alicia Tschirhart’s life while she was …

Feb 24, 2020: Cadillac “Magnificent Beyond All Expectations!” 1950’s Nat. Geo Magazine Via

Feb 24, 2020: Holiday Inn, 1976 Via

Feb 23, 2020: I support Sanders. My first choice is Warren, but he’s a close second. And I’m glad to see the Republicans turn on him now, and I hope to …

Feb 23, 2020:

Feb 23, 2020: “I, Claudius” drinking game: Drink whenever a character shrieks, shouts or weeps. Double when they do all three at the same time. Finish …

Feb 23, 2020: ME: I’m going to have to get up and pee soon. Not right now though. [Moments later a 15-pound cat climbs up and settles in to sleep on my lap.]

Feb 23, 2020: A group of ex-NSA and Amazon engineers are building a “GitHub for data” A service called “Gretel” lets developers share data …

Feb 23, 2020: You don’t know Esther Williams Williams starred in midcentury movies featuring her water dancing and synchronized swimming. She presented an …

Feb 23, 2020: Two stories about Americans who fled in search of better lives. While millions of people have come to America to make a fresh start, sometimes the …

Feb 23, 2020: The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake While politicians and pundits say we need to preserve the American nuclear family, it’s extended families that …

Feb 23, 2020: A Red Hat study finds enterprises are adopting open-source software rapidly.

Feb 23, 2020: When a popular genre writer dies, should their characters die with them? After mystery writer Robert B. Parker’s unexpected death in 2010, his …

Feb 23, 2020: Plastic bag bans may be bad for the environment, as reusable grocery bags may have a more harmful effect than single-use bags. Most of the …

Feb 22, 2020: Nicole Najafi went on a date with every Democratic Presidential candidate so you don’t have to. Funny. twitter.com/NicoleNaj…

Feb 22, 2020: Those feet tho autumnone.tumblr.com/post/1909…

Feb 22, 2020: Be the death of the party. mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/post/1909…

Feb 22, 2020: Planet of the Apes (1968) atomic-chronoscaph.tumblr.com/post/1909…

Feb 22, 2020: Robin Williams, 1980. He doesn’t look bad actually. https://reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/f7mam6/robin_williams_in_1980_always_a_good_sport/

Feb 22, 2020: Supersonic Man (1979) gameraboy1.tumblr.com/post/1909…

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Feb 21, 2020: The presidential election is a grudge match between three cranky 70-something New Yorkers. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/…

Feb 21, 2020: Former California Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher confirmed he offered Julian Assange a pardon from Trump in exchange for proof that Russia …

Feb 21, 2020: Sylvester Stallone on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, 1976.

Feb 21, 2020: “Big Tits Potato Chips 10 ₵” - This is a 1930s era wax paper potato chip bag from Dunn, North Carolina. Big Tits was the nickname of Titus Tart, one …

Feb 21, 2020: The Tandy TRS-80 Model 2000 Personal Computer in 1984. For only $1,500 extra, you could get it a 10mb drive.

Feb 21, 2020: Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein, 1949 Cover by Edd Cartier Via

Feb 21, 2020: Future President Harry Truman as a Captain, circa 1918

Feb 21, 2020: Mezhninskogo St. in Astrakhan, Russia, now and 100 years ago

Feb 20, 2020: Pablo Escobar’s hippos are running wild in Colombia.

Feb 20, 2020: People who paid $2,000 for a Flywheel bike had them abruptly bricked to settle a patent dispute with Peloton, in the latest episode of the Internet of …

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Feb 19, 2020: Mark Zuckerberg reportedly gets his armpits blow-dried before speeches

Feb 19, 2020: Some Staples stores in Boston are getting podcast studios Great idea and/or sign of the impending apocalypse.

Feb 19, 2020: Making coffee with Aeropress, according to inventor Alan Adler Aeropress inventor Alan Adler demonstrates making three cups of coffee at once: YouTube I tried something like this technique this morning. I have …

Feb 19, 2020: One-day Friends-themed pop-up brunch restaurant is coming to San Diego. No one told me brunch was going to be this way.

Feb 18, 2020: “Then during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants, they chose a new form for him, that of a giant Sloar! Many Shubs and …

Feb 18, 2020: There is no Dana. Only Zuul. Via

Feb 18, 2020: Ramesses: The First Arab Car Via

Feb 18, 2020: Three views of a sleeping cat.

Feb 18, 2020: If I had a dime for every time I went to the grocery store and forgot to bring reusable grocery bags, I would have a big pile of dimes. Instead I have …

Feb 18, 2020: “i heard u guys like carpeted bathrooms so i made a whole post of carpeted bathrooms.”

Feb 18, 2020: Fresh Air interviews Elie Wiesel, author, Auschwitz survivor, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate; as well as Holocaust historian Laurence Rees.

Feb 18, 2020: NASA is working on testing a prototype for a robot spaceship that could save the world if we are threatened by a killer asteroid.

Feb 18, 2020: After a drunken slip of the tongue, Steve Marsh and his siblings discover a secret their mother has been keeping for almost 40 years. Now, Steve wants …

Feb 18, 2020: A new "I, Claudius" podcast John Hodgman, Elliott Kalan and Jordan Kauwling have launched a podcast about “I, Claudius”. Special guests will include Mike Duncan, host …

Feb 18, 2020: This silly little $6.50 plastic gadget makes walking the dog more comfortable It’s called the Urban Pets Hands Free Dog Poop Bag Holder Waste Knot. It’s a clip that you attach to the handle of the leash, with hooks …

Feb 17, 2020: Punk Princess: ‘Devastatingly Sexy’ Portraits of Debbie Harry 1977 to 1988

Feb 17, 2020: A California entrepreneur plans a limited production run of the iconic 80s sportscar, the DeLorean And they’ve also restored the “Back to the Future” prop. The Original Back to the Future DeLorean DMC-12, Lovingly Restored to “Better Than New …

Feb 17, 2020: 1849 guide to the brothels and prostitutes of Philadelphia. A Vintage Guide to the ‘Gay Houses’, Brothels, and ‘Ladies of …

Feb 17, 2020: “I, Claudius” rewatch, episode 2: I really appreciate the subtle, restrained acting.

Feb 16, 2020: 40% of my home office.

Feb 16, 2020: If you’re going to take the dog for a random 3 mile walk around a nearby neighborhood, just to see the area you live in and for a change of …

Feb 15, 2020:

Feb 15, 2020: Not for the first time, my barber was unfamiliar with men with copious body hair. Dude, just clipping a little below the collar line is fine – …

Feb 15, 2020: Sometime after I turned 40 I stopped enjoying fiction as much as I used to. I think it’s been a bit more than a year since I read a novel I …

Feb 15, 2020: This defense of Bloomberg’s appalling defense of redlining is bullshit. Redlining isn’t denying credit on the basis of financial risk. …

Feb 15, 2020: Mike Bloomberg has been battling women’s allegations of sexist, profane comments for years

Feb 15, 2020: There are two generations of Mexican luchador wrestlers named “Dr. Wagner.” How did I not know this?

Feb 14, 2020: The Age of Decadence. The real story of the West in the 21st century is one of stalemate and stagnation.

Feb 14, 2020: Holiday-Travel Twitter Is the Best Form of Social Media. Play-by-plays from airports and bus rides offer random, unpolished personal moments.

Feb 14, 2020: Using Tinder in Your Hometown Is Like Visiting an Alternate Reality

Feb 14, 2020: “One might suppose that the popular prejudice against vaccination had died out by this time,” one writer complains. It sounds like a …

Feb 14, 2020: The story about how Mike "The Monkees" Nesmith's mother invented liquid paper is surprisingly interesting. She was a secretary. She saw a need and saw that the market would be women, because secretaries were women. She priced the product low enough so that …

Feb 14, 2020: Who let “Who Let the Dogs Out” Out? 99% Invisible: The world’s greatest expert on the song “Who Let the Dogs Out” finds …

Feb 14, 2020: San Diego freelance writer Beth Demmon says California Assembly Bill 5, which regulates contract workers, threatens her livelihood. She says …

Feb 14, 2020: Tinder's Most Notorious Men The users who reappear after countless left swipes have become modern urban legends. Like mayors and famous bodega cats, they are both hyper-local …

Feb 14, 2020: The Doc nails it. The sole issue for Democratic voters in the Presidential election is “make the bad man go away.” Everything else is a …

Feb 14, 2020: 5’4”? 5’7”? 5’8”? How tall is Bloomberg, anyway?

Feb 14, 2020: Good to know the ‘doomsday asteroid’ is not going to destroy the Earth Saturday, because I’m not going to be done reading Mary …

Feb 14, 2020: Dave Winer makes the case for Bloomberg: More than a candidate for president. I’m reserving judgment. I expect I’ll vote for Warren in the …

Feb 13, 2020: Molly Ringwald revisits “The Breakfast Club” and the other 80s teen movies that made her a star. The films were often homophobic, …

Feb 13, 2020: The US is charging Huawei with racketeering TechCrunch: The DoJ alleges that Huawei and a number of its affiliates used confidential agreements with American companies over the past two decades …

Feb 13, 2020: Via

Feb 13, 2020: Rick Moranis is making a Honey I Shrunk the Kids reboot after a 23-year work break.

Feb 13, 2020: As part of his research into Trump’s $1+B disinformation campaign, journalist McKay Coppins “tried to live in the same information world …

Feb 13, 2020: A brief history of the "I, Claudius" TV series The TV production had a lot of problems, but Robert Graves, who wrote the 1930s novels on which the series is based, had faith: “I’ve communed with …

Feb 13, 2020: I Claudius seemingly influenced The Sopranos – though Sopranos creator David Chase doesn’t acknowledge it. They’re both stories …

Feb 13, 2020: Hulu is doing gender-flipped miniseries based on “High Fidelity,” the excellent Nick Hornby novel and John Cusack movie. If I can get used to a woman …

Feb 13, 2020: “It’s a strange exis­tence, being an autistic adult in a pro­fes­sion over­flowing with autism mommy-ism and mis­in­for­ma­tion.” …

Feb 12, 2020: We’ve started rewatching “I Claudius.” “I Claudius” is the story of a great empire that decays as its chief executive …

Feb 12, 2020: Oracle founder Larry Ellison is hosting a fundraiser for Donald Trump www.vox.com/recode/20…

Feb 12, 2020: Michael Bloomberg says 2015 stop and frisk comments were ‘five years ago’ and are ‘not the way that I think’ …

Feb 12, 2020: I saw these geese at Lake Murray. Ready to rumble!

Feb 12, 2020: Whenever cruise ships are in the news it’s never good.

Feb 12, 2020: I am prepared to call the 2020 presidential election: it’s going to be Amy Klobuchar. The Democrats will be split between Sanders and Bloomberg going …

Feb 12, 2020: Fresh Air: Michael Pollan Explains Caffeine Addiction & Withdrawal As part of the research for a new audiobook about caffeine, author Michael “Omnivore’s Dilemma” Pollan gave up caffeine cold turkey …

Feb 12, 2020: Affluent parents are giving their children growth hormones, to keep the kids from growing up short. Seems like a bad idea. There’s nothing medically wrong with the kids, and studies have shown that short people’s lives are no less …

Feb 12, 2020: Friend of Dorothy: How did Judy Garland become a gay icon? slate.com/podcasts/…

Feb 12, 2020: A new wave of national conservatives are gaining power and wealth by claiming to be persecuted minorities and spreading easily fact-checked lies about …

Feb 12, 2020: Like smartphone users today, medieval monks wrestled with distraction. aeon.co/ideas/how…

Feb 12, 2020: Merle Oberon, a star actress of Hollywood’s golden age, was biracial, passing as white, and the product of two generations of rape. She was born …

Feb 12, 2020: Teens are scrambling their identities on Instagram, so they can use the service without divulging personal information. Reset: …

Feb 12, 2020: A brief history of the Apple Newton: 20 years ahead of its time, and still has a small but loyal fan base who continue to use it. …

Feb 12, 2020: autumnone.tumblr.com/post/1907…

Feb 12, 2020: Anybody tried posting automatically from Flickr to micro.blog? Should be do-able, right – last I checked, Flickr produces RSS feeds. I’d …

Feb 12, 2020: Meet the Unlikely Hero Saving California’s Oldest Weekly Paper: I love this story so, so much “High in the Sierra, Downieville, Calif., was about to become the latest American community to lose its newspaper. In stepped Carl Butz, a …

Feb 12, 2020: An Oklahoma University journalism professor likened the phrase "OK Boomer" to the N-word. This is such a weird story An OU professor in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication used a racial slur during a class Tuesday morning, according to multiple …

Feb 12, 2020: MWC 2020 canceled over coronavirus health concerns Mobile World Congress is the biggest telco conference of the year, worldwide. Maybe there’s a bigger one in China but if there is I don’t …

Feb 12, 2020: This morning I updated <mitchwagner.com> and my LinkedIn profile. They look snappy.

Feb 12, 2020: Matthew Yglesias: Mainstream Democrats shouldn't be freaking out about Sanders Sanders' rhetoric is revolutionary but his record shows he’s willing to make deals for incremental change. And some of the views he has that …

Feb 12, 2020: I saw this excellent collection of stickers on a car at Lake Murray

Feb 12, 2020: I saw this shortcut between two streets while walking yesterday.

Feb 11, 2020:

Feb 11, 2020: Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera will challenge Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in House Democratic primary Two Latinas going head to head. …

Feb 11, 2020: Actor Jussie Smollett is being indicted for allegedly falsifying claims he was assaulted by Trump supporters. www.fox32chicago.com/news/juss…

Feb 11, 2020: Trump cannot go a day without committing an impeachable offense, and his lies are becoming more blatant and obviously untrue. His Republican defenders are half-right: Trump has learned his lesson from the impeachment trial. The lesson he’s learned is that the Constitution and …

Feb 11, 2020: The tricky economics of all-you-can-eat buffets They put the cheap, filling stuff first. They charge for extras. They save money on personnel, of course. One thing I would not have guessed: …

Feb 11, 2020: The making of “2001: A Space Odyssey” www.imaginaryworldspodcast.org/2001–a-f… Stanley Kubrick didn’t know what he …

Feb 11, 2020: Actor Steve Buscemi (“Fargo,” “Boardwalk Empire,” etc.) is interviewed by Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Santopadre. …

Feb 11, 2020: I have several questions. gameraboy1.tumblr.com/post/1907…

Feb 11, 2020: Entertaining interview of comedian Lewis Black by Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Santopadre. Many F-bombs were dropped that day. …

Feb 11, 2020: “Captain” Jack McCarthy hosted the New York St. Patrick’s Day parade for 41 years, as well as Popeye cartoons on children’s TV …

Feb 11, 2020: “Officer” Joe Bolton hosted The Little Rascals and the Three Stooges for children’s TV in New York 1955-75. A fixture of my …

Feb 11, 2020: Comparing the relative sizes of fictional buildings. Fun. youtu.be/hjIci91FR…

Feb 11, 2020: Margarine vs. butter is a case study of naked, corrupt regulatory capture. The dairy industry spent more than a half-century getting laws to block …

Feb 11, 2020: This magnificent, green condo is for sale - in Ramona, California, which is just a short drive from us here in San Diego. Nice, but not enough green. …

Feb 11, 2020: Adam Sandler rips the Oscars for snubbing him. Funny. “A few, you know, a few weeks back, when I was quote-unquote snubbed by the Academy, it reminded of when I briefly attended high school and was …

Feb 11, 2020: In leaked audio, Michael Bloomberg defends racial profiling: “throw them up against the wall” boingboing.net/2020/02/1…

Feb 11, 2020: Leaked audio captures Bloomberg defending racial profiling and stop-and-frisk policing. Bloomberg: “Ninety-five percent of murders- murderers and murder victims fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it, and pass it out to …

Feb 10, 2020: I saw this school walking today.

Feb 10, 2020: I wear flip up sunglasses. Flip ups are cool now.

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Feb 10, 2020: The theme to the "Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show." I loved this show when I was a little boy. If my mother had to listen to it every day on the living room TV, I'm surprised she let me live. Better audio quality here but no video.

Feb 10, 2020: Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Santopadre interview not one but TWO Catwomen: Lee Meriwether and Julie Newmar! I feel a stirring beneath my utility belt! …

Feb 10, 2020: Amazon pulled out of this month’s Mobile World Congress because of the coronavirus outbreak, in another blow to one of the telecom industry’s biggest …

Feb 10, 2020: The GSMA is putting restrictions on Mobile World Congress attendees from China as big companies, including Ericsson and – reportedly – Amazon, pull …

Feb 10, 2020: Taiwan has a sophisticated medical records system. Why don’t we?

Feb 10, 2020: I’ve switched my podcast player from Castro.fm back to Overcast on the iPhone. Castro has advantages in its user interface – it’s …

Feb 10, 2020: Zappos has quietly backed away from holacracy. Aimee Groth at Quartz: Six years ago, Amazon-owned Zappos began upending its traditional management …

Feb 10, 2020: Reagan and Gorbachev Agreed to Pause the Cold War in Case of an Alien Invasion. The Gipper was a bigtime science fiction fan. [Danny Lewis/Smithsonian …

Feb 10, 2020: Amid Layoffs, Xilinx Warns of Pause in 5G Activities - Mike Dano/Light Reading Xilinx, once a darling of 5G bulls on Wall Street, has hit hard times. …

Feb 10, 2020: 17th Century pirates had gay marriage, good pay, survivor benefits and health insurance

Feb 10, 2020: Forget self-driving cars. We already have technology that can transform cities and help save the planet: Buses Missing the Bus on 99% Invisible: If you heard that there was a piece of technology that could do away with traffic jams, make cities more equitable, …

Feb 10, 2020: Why the wrong movies win Oscars - Today, Explained

Feb 10, 2020: “Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather stepped in for Marlon Brando at the Academy Awards in 1973 to protest the mistreatment of her …

Feb 10, 2020:

Feb 10, 2020: Amazon wants to depose the President and Secretary of Defense as part of its lawsuit to fight losing the lucrative government JEDI contract. …

Feb 10, 2020: The Justice Department indicted four members of the Chinese military for the Equifax breach. This will be a buzzkill for making relations between the …

Feb 10, 2020: Advice from Medieval Monks on Avoiding Digital Distraction kottke.org/20/02/adv…

Feb 10, 2020: Bloomberg plans to go after Trump’s business record Others have tried this tactic without success — remember Hillary Clinton? — but Mike Bloomberg plans to attack President Trump on his business record. …

Feb 10, 2020: How women left the GOP and became Democratic partisans: Blame the Gipper www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc…

Feb 9, 2020: None of the movies nominated for an Oscar deserved to win, because none of them has Luis giving exposition or an ant playing drums.

Feb 9, 2020: Jack Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey Via 70sscifiart.tumblr.com/post/1903…

Feb 9, 2020: I’ve been on a nostalgia kick the past couple of days. This morning, I hit YouTube and found and listened to the theme song to a kiddie TV show …

Feb 9, 2020:

Feb 9, 2020: Person who offered $500 for lost cat gets mad when cat finder wants the reward boingboing.net/2020/01/2… WTF? If you offer a $500 reward for …

Feb 9, 2020: South Korea is a 5G pioneer but the latest financial results from its telcos demonstrate why investors are nervous about the technology. …

Feb 9, 2020: Ericsson Shareholder Urges Firm to Explore Sale to US - Report Shares in Ericsson and Nokia received a boost on Friday after an Ericsson shareholder …

Feb 9, 2020:

Feb 9, 2020:

Feb 9, 2020:

Feb 9, 2020:

Feb 8, 2020: College essay writing services – contract cheaters –are using aggressive email marketing and on-campus parties to attract customers, many …

Feb 8, 2020: ME: I have very important financial documents I need to review today. ALSO ME: Helllooooooo, social media!

Feb 8, 2020: A modest proposal: Bernie should endorse Warren for POTUS, and immediately Warren should commit to Bernie for VP.

Feb 8, 2020: After a vote in Iowa that reeked of third-world treachery – from monolithic TV propaganda against the challenger to rumors of foreign intrusion to, …

Feb 8, 2020:

Feb 8, 2020:

Feb 8, 2020: Climate change killed libertarianism - Jacobin

Feb 8, 2020: Tyler Cowen coins the phrase “state capacity libertarianism” as an evolution of libertarianism that recognizes that a big, muscular, …

Feb 8, 2020: Bram Moolenaar started work on the vim text editor on an Amiga in 1988, and has been its lead developer ever since. Many others contributed pieces, I …

Feb 8, 2020: US Attorney General William Barr suggested the United States purchase a controlling stake in either Nokia or Ericsson for access to secure 5G …

Feb 8, 2020: 🦉 twitter.com/newyorkne…

Feb 7, 2020: We must fact-check this. Mission accepted. San Diego is a great pizza town. Here are the top 10. [San Diego Union-Tribune]

Feb 7, 2020: “Now we’re going to hear more suggestions from the failed mayor of Chicago and New Jersey’s corrupt ex-governor, who should be in …

Feb 7, 2020: Marie Dressler was the biggest female star of American movies in 1933. She wasn’t a sex symbol like Jean Harlow or Marlene Dietrich. Dressler …

Feb 7, 2020: The Ukraine was part of a broad pattern of behavior that makes Trump manifestly unfit to be President. Why didn’t Congress go after all of it …

Feb 7, 2020: Animal rights activists say it’s cruel to keep elephants in captivity. [San Diego News Fix]

Feb 7, 2020: Ezra Klein: America is a better country today than it has ever been: More inclusive and more prosperous. There has been no better time to be alive and …

Feb 7, 2020: Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Sontopadre interview the delightful Ken Berry, star of “F Troop” and “Mama’s Family.” Berry …

Feb 7, 2020: PETA claims victory after SeaWorld says no to trainers riding atop dolphins [San Diego Union- Tribune] PETA launched a campaign in 2019 to pressure …

Feb 7, 2020: How will coronavirus end? [Today, Explained]

Feb 7, 2020: Youtube: Charlie bit me. Some days you’re Charlie. Other days you’re Charlie’s brother.

Feb 7, 2020: A brief history of YouTube’s codependent relationship with content creators, after Google disclosed, for the first time, how much revenue …

Feb 7, 2020: Nat Eliason: How to take notes on what you’re reading. I never did highlights or took book notes in school. I just did the reading (or …

Feb 7, 2020: Candidates don’t matter much. What matters is getting your voters to come out and vote against the other party. Yep. An Unsettling New Theory: …

Feb 6, 2020: Not a lot: What $250,000 buys in NYC right now [Curbed NY]

Feb 6, 2020: I can think of a couple of theories why the Republicans might want to do this. But it’s weird: GOP-affiliated group intervenes in Democratic …

Feb 6, 2020: Via @iamjaco. Thanks!

Feb 6, 2020: Dave Winer says we need a candidate who a Republican who believes in the rule of law will vote for. Respectfully to Dave, but this is dead wrong. No …

Feb 6, 2020: RIP Issur Danielovitch, aka Kirk Douglas, 103 [nbcnews.com]

Feb 5, 2020: Companies including Dell, Microsoft and AT&T are part of a White House effort to develop US 5G Huawei alternatives, White House economic advisor …

Feb 5, 2020: Why IBM Choosing Arvind Krishna Over Jim Whitehurst Was a Smooth Move [Christine Hall/ITPro Today]

Feb 5, 2020: I’m working on updating my resume today. I’ve decided to use the Pet Resume template in Google Docs. In other news: Google Docs has a Pet …

Feb 5, 2020: Werner Herzog: ‘Piracy Has Been The Most Successful Form of Distribution Worldwide’ [Jenning’s Brown/Gizmodo] He also shares …

Feb 5, 2020: Podfasting: I Tried Listening to Podcasts at 3x and Broke My Brain [Steve Rousseau/OneZero] Most of us are familiar with binge watching and speed …

Feb 5, 2020: Brave, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla gather together to talk web privacy… and why we all shouldn’t get too much of it [Thomas Claburn/The …

Feb 5, 2020: You know the President is able to shut down all US comms, yeah? An FCC commish wants to stop him from doing that [Kevin McCarthy/The Register] Does …

Feb 4, 2020: Ex-principal in Holocaust furor defends his right not to say the genocide is a fact [The Palm Beach Post] Former Spanish River High Principal William …

Feb 4, 2020: I think I need to read “Atomic Habits." All four of these tips excerpted from the book seem like great advice.

Feb 4, 2020: Column: San Diego author Laura Preble turns a germaphobe into a heroine you’ll want to hug [San Diego Union-Tribune] Karla Peterson: It’s the usual love story. Girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl drives a borrowed Cadillac Eldorado from Southern California to …

Feb 4, 2020: 'People were breaking down crying': Iowa vote-counters tell of caucus debacle [Tom Cullen/The Guardian] You had one job, Iowa! The drawbacks of electronic voting have been well known for more than 20 years. Republicans want a voting system that’s …

Feb 4, 2020: Two people trying to protect a monarch butterfly sanctuary in Mexico from logging have been found dead in a week [Fox News]

Feb 4, 2020: IBM, Marriott and Mickey Mouse Take On Tech’s Favorite Law [David McCabe/NYTimes] Section 230 protects Google, Facebook and other platforms from legal …

Feb 4, 2020: If You’re Over 50, Chances Are the Decision to Leave a Job Won’t be Yours [Peter Gosselin/ProPublica] My prospects are looking good but that’s …

Feb 3, 2020: Socially conservative mom says racy halftime entertainment drove distraught 13-year-old son to his bedroom [Mark Frauenfelder/Boing Boing] At that age …

Feb 3, 2020: Corruption in America: How the US became the center of global kleptocracy - Casey Michel - Vox When it comes to the US’s role as a massive laundromat …

Feb 3, 2020: Waze’s Cookie Monster voice is the only thing keeping me sane right now - Thom Dunn - Boing Boing

Feb 3, 2020: ‪Remarkably, this is six years to the day after I started at LR. I opened my journaling app to make a note of the event, flipped through the “on this …

Feb 3, 2020: Big news: I’ve left Light Reading after six years. It’s been a great ride but it’s time to move on. I’m looking into other …

Feb 3, 2020:

Feb 3, 2020:

Feb 3, 2020: How to torture telemarketers with one word

Feb 3, 2020:

Feb 3, 2020: Gary Gutterman design, New York 1980

Feb 3, 2020: Remembering Clark Gable on this birthday, here with David O.Selznick on the set of GONE WITH THE WIND (‘39)

Feb 3, 2020: Young woman writes her boyfriend in the Navy a thank-you note for the bleached skull of a Japanese soldier he sent her (LIFE Magazine - May 22, 1944)

Feb 3, 2020: I’m grateful for the iPad and social media because without them I wouldn’t be able to stare at a screen for an hour and a half at shit …

Feb 2, 2020:

Feb 2, 2020: I’m becoming convinced, for the third or fourth time in as many years, that the hassles of DevonThink are not worth the benefits. At least for …

Feb 2, 2020:

Feb 2, 2020: Asian countries have a century of tradition wearing face masks, and they’re starting to appear in the west. But their effectiveness is disputed. [The …

Feb 2, 2020: Chicago is getting a “Princess Bride” themed popup bar - nbcchicago.com Have fun storming the castle!

Feb 2, 2020: Stephen King quits Facebook over concerns of ‘false information’ - CNN

Feb 1, 2020: The Democrat candidate for President this year could win the popular vote by six percentage points – and lose the election. Similarly, Democrats could …

Feb 1, 2020: Why this Seattle geek finally gave up and bought a car four years after going ‘full Uber’ [Kurt Schlosser/GeekWire] “… the golden era of …

Feb 1, 2020: Fractured America is uniting in its hatred of expatriate Californians [Derek Thompson/The Atlantic]

Feb 1, 2020: Sammy is having a moment with my sweaty exercise T-shirt.

Feb 1, 2020:

Feb 1, 2020: Jim Whitehurst Becomes President of IBM. Why? He gets Culture. [Jono Bacon/Forbes]

Feb 1, 2020: IBM’s New CEO Is Mastermind Behind Cloud Strategy for Growth [Olivia Carville/Bloomberg]

Feb 1, 2020: Why Iowa? [Dan Zak/The Washington Post] I have been to Iowa more than once, and liked it.

Feb 1, 2020: South Carolina seeks volunteer pig cuddlers [CNN] I foresee a career change.

Jan 31, 2020: Headline of the week: As a 28-Year-Old Latino, I’m Shocked My New Novel, Memoirs of a Middle-Aged White Lady, Has Been So Poorly Received [McSweeney’s …

Jan 31, 2020: An intriguing list of “little-known but obvious facts”. The word “helicopter” has two components. They aren’t …

Jan 31, 2020: New Jersey mayor John Roth admits to taking off pants, passing out drunk at party. Photo accompanying the article presumably taken while wearing …

Jan 31, 2020: New Bill Would Bar Duncan Hunter from Collecting a Congressional Pension Duncan D. Hunter is years from collecting a congressional pension, but a …

Jan 31, 2020: The Crown will end after five seasons – or “series,” as they say in the UK – bringing the story to 2003. Imelda Staunton, of Harry Potter …

Jan 30, 2020: Flamingo Road (1949) via

Jan 30, 2020:

Jan 30, 2020:

Jan 30, 2020: Original 1965 ad for The Addams Family Haunted House kit, made by Polar Lights. The original kit was a simple grey, but the company reissued the kit …

Jan 30, 2020: “This facility has gone 5843 days without an assimilation.”

Jan 30, 2020: A Collection of 40 Bad Christian Album Covers With Unfortunate Titles [vintage everyday]

Jan 30, 2020:

Jan 30, 2020: Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has gone from Nobel Peace Prize winner to apologist for genocide against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority. [Today, …

Jan 30, 2020: How an 'election meltdown' could throw the US into crisis in 2020 [Fresh Air] There are lots of ways the election could go terribly wrong What happens if one side doesn’t concede? Not just Trump – the Democrats might well …

Jan 30, 2020: Sex predators are operating against children through online video games. What can be done about that? [Reset]

Jan 30, 2020: I have a Johnny Cash t-shirt that I wore today. When I’m wearing it I often forget I have it on. People will say to me, “Johnny …

Jan 30, 2020: San Diego smart streetlights raise privacy concerns San Diego sees privacy concerns from so-called “smart streetlights,” that collect data and surveillance video, installed without full …

Jan 30, 2020: IBM Names New CEO: Arvind Krishna, Red Hat Deal Mastermind, Replaces Rometty [Me/Light Reading]

Jan 29, 2020: Via

Jan 29, 2020: Minnie Mouse throws down. The cartoon shoes complete the scene. Somebody come look at this 😂😂 1) can you imagine being a kid and seeing Minnie …

Jan 29, 2020: #Avasarala's hand terminal with the predictive text: "f*ck | f*cker | f*cked | f*cking" has me screaming! It's like looking at my …

Jan 29, 2020: I bought a 16-ounce bottle of Dr. Brommer’s liquid soap a couple of weeks ago. It is concentrated. I use about four drops to wash my hands a …

Jan 29, 2020: Surprisingly, China actually benefits from the perception that its vendors are government stooges. [Ray Le Maistre/Light Reading]

Jan 29, 2020: It saddens me that it’s too late in my life for me to get a cool nickname, like “Ace.”

Jan 29, 2020: Boston-area natives Chris Evans, John Krasinski, Rachel Dratch and David “Big Papi” Ortiz in a wicked good commercial for Smart Park for …

Jan 29, 2020: PR pitch of the day: “Parents find sex education conversations easier than technology conversations.” Because unlike USB connectors, with …

Jan 29, 2020: Panasonic ad, 1970 via

Jan 28, 2020: via

Jan 28, 2020: This trailer for "Spenser Confidential" looks great! The Netflix movie coming March 6 stars Mark Wahlberg, Winston “Black Panther” Duke, and Alan Arkin. I wasn’t sure about the movie …

Jan 28, 2020: Juniper Returns to Growth – No Thanks to Service Providers lightreading.com My latest on Light Reading: Juniper returned to growth in its fourth …

Jan 28, 2020: You look like you’re having a tough day so here is the Addams Family dancing to Joy Division’s “Disorder."

Jan 28, 2020: Cory Doctorow: Climate denial has destroyed the libertarian movement boingboing.net

Jan 28, 2020: The agony of weekend loneliness: ‘I won’t speak to another human until Monday’ theguardian.com Paula Cocozza: “For growing numbers of …

Jan 27, 2020: Photos Of 25 Dogs That Just Can’t Even

Jan 27, 2020: Business Fashion, Australia, Summer, 1975. The socks make the outfit. via

Jan 27, 2020: The iPad is fantastic but also disappointing daringfireball.net Great short essay by John Gruber. Among other things, he perfectly captures why iPad …

Jan 27, 2020: Ivanka tells donors she got her moral compass from her dad politico.com Only Monday and we already have the headline of the week.

Jan 27, 2020: Trump Impeachment: A Ukraine Smoking Gun Exposes Republicans bloomberg.com The White House knew Bolton’s book was coming, but they let it …

Jan 27, 2020: Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez was suspended after tweeting a link to an article about Kobe Bryant’s rape case, following up with …

Jan 27, 2020: Is Corona Beer experiencing the AIDS/Ayds effect? [boingboing.net] Mark Frauenfelder: Ayds was an appetite-suppressant candy popular in the 1930s-80s with the misfortune to have the same name as a fatal disease. The …

Jan 27, 2020: I feel that song would be POPular.

Jan 27, 2020: Seeing reports about a woman physicist who developed a theory of gravity that, if proven, would fundamentally change our understanding of the …

Jan 27, 2020: Sound sleeper.

Jan 27, 2020: "Spenser Confidential," a movie based on the Robert B. Parker novels, hits Netfllix March 6. It stars Mark Wahlberg as Spenser and Winston “Black Panther” Duke as Hawk. “It is very loosely based on the novel Wonderland by Ace …

Jan 27, 2020: via

Jan 26, 2020: 📸 Sweetwater River Trail, San Diego A beautiful gray afternoon for a hike.

Jan 26, 2020: Quiz: Which of these 2020 Democrats agrees with you most? I came out Mayor Pete and Yang, which wow. [washingtonpost.com] 20 questions on the issues. I do not support Mayor Pete – the best thing I’ll say for him is he’s inexperienced; other days I just hate …

Jan 26, 2020:

Jan 26, 2020: Kansas City library via

Jan 26, 2020: How is the most unpopular and divisive president on his way to a second term? – theguardian.com It’s the economy, says David Smith. Also, unlike 2016, Trump is running a highly organized, well-funded campaign. And Trump’s opposition …

Jan 26, 2020: The Story of Two Monks and a Woman: A parable about letting go of the past. kottke.org

Jan 25, 2020:

Jan 25, 2020: Ode to San Rafael: my unremarkable hometown [Carolyn Jones/SFChronicle.com] I had a vision recently: I’m at a little market buying cream soda and …

Jan 25, 2020: Scary Sea Monster Really Just Hundreds of Tiny Fish in a Trench Coat [kottke.org] As a defense against predators, these juvenile striped eel catfish …

Jan 25, 2020: Copyright was designed to serve creators, but instead it serves big business against creators [Cory Doctorow/Boing Boing] Expecting more copyright to …

Jan 25, 2020: No more free rides: US seeks to limit emotional support animals on planes [Joanna Walters/The Guardian ] Some animal lovers and nervous fliers may …

Jan 25, 2020: The head of ICE says he will deport DREAMers if the Supreme Court ends DACA - vox.com To Trump and his supporters, cruelty is not an unfortunate by …

Jan 25, 2020: Gentleman ticketed for driving in carpool lane with plastic skeleton in passenger seat Mark Frauenfelder/boingboing.net Totally should be allowed.

Jan 25, 2020: Laff-o-rama, 1964 via

Jan 25, 2020: Dapper Adam overcoats. 1943. Via

Jan 25, 2020: Role model Lord Jim hairpiece ad [1970s] via

Jan 24, 2020:

Jan 24, 2020: We’re All in the Bathroom Filming Ourselves Taylor Lorenz/nytimes.com Bathrooms are “the perfect stage set” for TikTok videos. “Most home bathrooms are well lit and have nice, …

Jan 24, 2020: The case for replacing air travel with high-speed sleeper trains Cory Doctorow/Boing Boing. Like Cory, I’ve taken the sleeper train from London to Edinburgh and found it was a great trip. I’ve often …

Jan 24, 2020:

Jan 24, 2020:

Jan 24, 2020: DirecTV Satellite at Risk of Exploding in Orbit — Jeff Baumgartner/Light Reading AT&T and Boeing need to move the DirecTV Spaceway-1 satellite to …

Jan 24, 2020: Podcast: Don’t Call Us an SD-WAN Provider – Cato Networks – Me/Light Reading Cato Networks would rather you didn’t call them an SD-WAN …

Jan 23, 2020:

Jan 23, 2020: Automating cross-posts to Tumblr, using duct tape and rubber cement I’ve been having a lot of trouble over the years posting to Tumblr. The native Tumblr apps and web page for creating new posts have gotten more …

Jan 23, 2020:

Jan 23, 2020: I have seen this car parked at Lake Murray occasionally for years. It’s always been beat up and decaying, but I used to think it looked …

Jan 23, 2020: On my walk today. Hello, Lake Murray, you’re looking fine.

Jan 23, 2020:

Jan 23, 2020:

Jan 23, 2020: An earlier product name, “Gee, Your Hair Smells Like a Cheesesteak,” was rejected by focus groups. 1982 ad via

Jan 23, 2020: Clocks change in six weeks in most of the US (March 3). Are you ready?

Jan 22, 2020: La Mesa Shop Owner Arrested After Attack on San Diego Media (I have a slight personal connection to this story) NBC 7 San Diego A La Mesa shop owner – already the subject of a sexual harassment investigation – was arrested on battery and vandalism …

Jan 22, 2020: Black Texas teen told to cut his dreadlocks to walk at graduation nbcnews.com

Jan 22, 2020: VMware Extends Its SD-WAN Tentacles With Nyansa Acquisition Me/Light Reading

Jan 22, 2020: CenturyLink Inks $1.6B Networking Deal With US Interior Department – Me/Light Reading

Jan 22, 2020: Minnie says good morning.

Jan 22, 2020: “In every artist’s depiction of a meteor that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, there’s always one T-Rex looking up at it like …

Jan 22, 2020: Clearly we should not elect people President just because they are celebrities, but if we’re going around electing people President just because …

Jan 22, 2020: Via

Jan 22, 2020: We’ve started watching The Morning Show, which I am pleased to see continues an unbroken record of TV characters named Mitch being jerks.

Jan 21, 2020: Every time I read up about IndieWeb I get a headache. So confusing! I get that regular people may never be interested in IndieWeb but the technology …

Jan 21, 2020: Martin Luther King: Blacks and poor people get "welfare" but whites and rich people get "subsidies" kottke.org quotes King: Whenever the government provides opportunities and privileges for white people and rich people they call it “subsidized” when …

Jan 21, 2020: It is absolutely fine to rip your books in half Constance Grady/vox.com: On Monday morning, an apparently innocuous tweet summoned a storm of controversy on Twitter. “Yesterday my colleague …

Jan 21, 2020: Also, same deal for sockpuppetknifefight.com. If you want that domain for a real project – not to squat on – it’s yours.

Jan 21, 2020: My blog used to be called Monkeys in my Pants. Explanation. I own the domain monkeysinmypants.com. It expires Feb. 19. You can have it at cost. Just …

Jan 21, 2020: The Black Six (1974)

Jan 21, 2020: On Reddit: “My great uncle Charley Brock. Played football at Nebraska then the Green Bay Packers. Pic taken ~1936.” That young gentleman knew how to …

Jan 21, 2020: Brooklyn, 1945. Students protesting the “no pants to school” rule via

Jan 21, 2020: Does it have to be either/or? 1968 Via

Jan 21, 2020:

Jan 21, 2020: “Are you ready to get out the vote in 2020? Because I guarantee you these fuckers are.” mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/post/1903…

Jan 21, 2020: “Never Before So Much Livability in 35 Feet” - Richardson’s Regent Bi-level mobile home [1950s] …

Jan 21, 2020: yeahiwasintheshit.tumblr.com/post/1903…

Jan 21, 2020: Batman and the Fonz Via

Jan 21, 2020: The Towering Inferno (1974)

Jan 20, 2020: Silicon Valley Abandons the Culture That Made It the Envy of the World theatlantic.com Alexis Madrigal: Silicon Valley is killing startup culture. …

Jan 20, 2020: Opening shot of one of my favorite movies, “Almost Famous,” then and now. Ocean Beach, San Diego – about 12 miles from our house. Via

Jan 20, 2020: Bernie Sanders getting arrested at a civil rights march, 1963 Via

Jan 20, 2020: Escape from a burning skyscraper by floating gently down like a giant inflated badminton birdie.. Or just, y’know, do it for funsies.

Jan 20, 2020: Nonprofit plans to bring mobile showers to San Diego’s homeless – sandiegouniontribune.com

Jan 20, 2020: The lost neighborhood under New York’s Central Park The land that is now Central Park was site of a village of 1,600 people, “many of whom were escaping the crowded and increasingly dangerous …

Jan 20, 2020: Nototo note taking software organizes notes on a literal map, with islands, flowers, trees, etc. Nifty, but practical?

Jan 19, 2020: Meanwhile, on the internet

Jan 19, 2020: I have several questions. Via

Jan 19, 2020: A dentist was convicted on 46 felony and misdemeanor counts after filming himself performing a dental extraction while riding a hoverboard – cnn.com …

Jan 19, 2020: Isaac Asimov's roaming hands Asimov’s Empire, Asimov’s Wall – daily.jstor.org Alec Nevala-Lee reflects on Asimov’s twin legacies: As a prolific and talented writer who made …

Jan 19, 2020:

Jan 19, 2020:

Jan 19, 2020: Wild elephant walks into a Sri Lanka hotel, wanders around gently poking at stuff with its trunk. (video)

Jan 19, 2020: Thanks to @manton for responding to a help request from me on Friday night, within minutes, and without pointing out that the problem was my own fault …

Jan 19, 2020: Dave Winer: I'm re-thinking RSS now RSS forces “blogging into the title-description-body model of journalism. But blog posts are more free-form, they don’t all fit into that …

Jan 19, 2020: A four-year-old answers job interview questions. ‪The advice about writing is spot on. ‬

Jan 19, 2020: “911—what’s your emergency?” “Hi, I . . . uh . . . I work from home." [Colin Nissan/The New Yorker] I never watch …

Jan 19, 2020: Tennessee governor seeks to amend law honouring Nathan Bedford Forrest, leader of Ku Klux Klan [The Guardian]

Jan 19, 2020: Via

Jan 18, 2020: National Archives sorry for blurring anti-Trump signs in Women’s March photo [The Guardian]

Jan 18, 2020: The British “full breakfast” is dying: The fry-up may be toast – but, much to my own surprise, I don’t really care [Tony Naylor/The …

Jan 18, 2020: Brawny Disneyland guest removes park’s sword in the stone/Boing Boing I guess he’s the king of Disneyland then?

Jan 18, 2020: This statement could be read as Dave Winer disavowing blogging and RSS. Which would be extraordinary. I expect I’m misunderstanding him.

Jan 18, 2020: TSA issues apology to Native American woman who had braids pulled by agent The federal Transportation Security Administration has apologized to a Native American woman who said an agent at Minneapolis-St Paul international …

Jan 18, 2020: National Archives edited Women’s March picture to be less critical of Trump Vox The National Archives' justification here – golly! they just …

Jan 18, 2020: More pizza, fewer vegetables: Trump administration further undercuts Obama school-lunch rules The Washington Post The U.S. Department of Agriculture …

Jan 18, 2020: Man hijacks Portland airport monitor to play video games, until PDX officials declare ‘game over’ oregonlive.com Operations supervisors approached …

Jan 18, 2020: Larry David: The Incredibly Happy Life of TV’s Favorite Grouch Brett Martin: It is almost reflexive—for reasons of temperament and ethnicity—to …

Jan 18, 2020: That moment when you’re sitting on the couch and you tilt your head back to get the last few drops of your delicious breakfast shake, but you …

Jan 17, 2020: I am enjoying Jack Ryan enough to watch one episode a night, but not enough for two. I’m glad Jim found a new career; he seemed unhappy at Dunder …

Jan 17, 2020: Jack Reacher series author Lee Child ‘quits and lets brother step in’ [The Guardian]

Jan 17, 2020: Oldest diving suit in the world https://reddit.com/r/oldschoolcreepy/comments/epszyv/oldest_diving_suit_in_the_world/

Jan 17, 2020: Seems like Jean is really into wieners 1940’s Visking Skinless Wiener Ad advertisingpics.tumblr.com/post/1903…

Jan 17, 2020: Mavis is kind of passive-aggressive. Australian Women’s Weekly - 1936 …

Jan 16, 2020:

Jan 16, 2020: Bankers Flooding JPMorgan Event Bemoan San Francisco Squalor www.bloomberg.com/news/arti… My work takes me to San Francisco several times a …

Jan 16, 2020: Rep. Ayanna Pressley reveals she has alopecia: ‘It’s important I’m transparent about this new normal’ …

Jan 16, 2020:

Jan 16, 2020: San Diego destroyer commander fired www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/mili… Cmdr. John “Bob” Bowen was relieved of command due to a “loss of …

Jan 16, 2020: Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Wants To Ban ‘Virginity Tests’ In California www.kpbs.org/news/2020… “Virginity tests”? In America? …

Jan 16, 2020: You look like you’re having a tough day so here is a video of Jennifer Garner freaking out on a roller coaster. …

Dec 21, 2019: Micro.blog is making me better at social media in general. Instead of just mindlessly tapping “LIKE,” say something. “Beautiful …

Dec 8, 2019: I’m back, micro.blog! Giving you another try.

Aug 1, 2019: Canceled micro.blog but then resubscribed. Oh, micro.blog, why can’t I quit you?

Jul 15, 2019: Our cat Sammy has far more confidence in my ability to avoid stepping on him when he’s sprawled out on the floor than I do.

Jul 15, 2019: It’s 84 degrees in my office, I just started drinking a blazing hot cup of strong coffee, and I can’t find the remote control to turn on …

Jul 15, 2019: Ready or not, here comes the new Twitter Want.

Jul 15, 2019: [Boonton New Jersey, circa 1960])https://reddit.com/r/TheWayWeWere/comments/cd4c4t/boonton_new_jersey_circa_1960/)

Jul 15, 2019: The Schramm javelin prototype, a single-seat aluminum body helicopter designed by B.J Schramm in 1964

Jul 14, 2019: Neil Armstrong eating his last breakfast on Earth before leaving for the moon, July 1969

Jul 14, 2019: K Mart sounds great! 1980

Jul 14, 2019: Classic Maxell ad, 1983

Jul 14, 2019: Part plane, part truck, all badass

Jul 14, 2019: Soft pets for weird dog

Jul 14, 2019: On the 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy podcast: Pornography: Examining claims that pornography helped develop the Internet, and every other …

Jul 14, 2019: On the Our Opinions Are Correct podcast: Science Fiction Explains Our Messed Up Economy. Economist Noah Smith discusses how different theories of …

Jul 14, 2019: Interview with Carol Downer and Francie Hornstein, who helped women get safer abortions in the 1960s before the procedure became legal in the US. The abortion underground: Downer and Hornstein helped women provide a safer alternative to brutal back-alley butchers to end unwanted pregnancies. …

Jul 14, 2019: Father tricks his toddler daughters into stopping crying by telling them to take turns. I thought it was cute but the comments are harsh on Dad.

Jul 14, 2019: Puppy Pride: Dogs of the San Diego Pride Parade. Aww. 📷 🐶

Jul 14, 2019: Excellent comic. Something to think about before you sleep … if you can sleep after this.

Jul 14, 2019: I’m finally remembering to bring grocery bags when shopping. Thus is the number of F-bombs dropped in the supermarket parking lot reduced.

Jul 14, 2019: Tennessee’s Republican governor signed a proclamation into law honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest, a confederate general and founder of the Ku Klux …

Jul 14, 2019: Trump says progressive congresswomen should ‘go back’ and fix the places they ‘originally came from.' The latest racist garbage from …

Jul 14, 2019: Life goal. Via

Jul 13, 2019: 📺 We got 10 minutes into the second episode of “Stranger Things” and we’re done with it. Teenage mall culture of the 80s holds no …

Jul 13, 2019: The song “Africa” is playing on infinite loop on outdoor, solar powered speakers in the Namib Desert in Namibia, Africa. We visited the desert last …

Jul 13, 2019: Computer password inventor Fernando Corbato dies at 93. His epitaph includes a mix of at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, a …

Jul 13, 2019: Jeffrey Epstein's arrest is leading to "I told you so" from supporters of #pizzagate, Qanon and other conspiracy theorists. Every crazy fake conspiracy theory in the world has a counterpart that’s true. #pizzagate is nuts but Epstein and pedophile priests are real. …

Jul 13, 2019: Surveillance cameras show that bystanders will intervene to help in cases of emergency, debunking the so-called "bystander effect" that's been common wisdom in the social sciences for 50 years. Surveillance Cameras Debunk the Bystander Effect. Richard Florida writing at The Atlantic: It’s one of the most enduring urban myths of all: If you …

Jul 13, 2019: The Pinboard social bookmarking service turns 10 and creator Maciej Ceglowski celebrates with his usual dry, delightful wit I Can’t Stop Winning! Now that a decade has passed, I thought I would have some Yoda-like business wisdom to impart, but I don’t. It …

Jul 13, 2019: Several US flags left by Apollo astronauts on the moon may still be standing, but probably not the Apollo 11 flag left 50 years ago.

Jul 13, 2019: Kid comes to a video con in costume as an influencer apology video

Jul 13, 2019: gail.com FAQ: Gail.com gets a lot of traffic from people who meant to go to gmail.com but made a typo. She’s got a good attitude about it.

Jul 13, 2019: Three reasons the American Revolution was a mistake: “Slavery would’ve been abolished earlier, American Indians would’ve faced rampant …

Jul 12, 2019: Trailer for the upcoming new season of “Veronica Mars." Yes, that’s right – new “Veronica Mars.” I’m in! 📺

Jul 12, 2019: Good podcast about a bizarre relationship between psychiatrist and patient The Shrink Next Door: Marty Moskowitz, a successful New York businessman and attorney, was having personal problems, so he went to see a prominent …

Jul 12, 2019: This is how you deal with Nazis who don’t understand how free speech works.

Jul 12, 2019: Life goal. Via

Jul 12, 2019: The decentralized, open source Mastodon social network has been invaded by Gab, a pro-Nazi platform. Gab moved to Mastodon servers recently, leading Mastodon admins and developers struggling with the question whether to ban Gab. There shouldn’t …

Jul 12, 2019: Netflix's "Another Life" features Katee Sackhoff as commander of a starship making first contact between Earth and an an alien civilization, in the near future. Here’s the preview on YouTube. Looks good! I never got into “Battlestar Galactica.” I became a Sackhoff fan watching …

Jul 12, 2019: “The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!”

Jul 12, 2019: John Carpenter’s “The Thing” but with adorable claymation penguins

Jul 12, 2019: I hope the guy in the car had insurance.

Jul 12, 2019: Dog: “Great job making the bed! I’ll just add some finishing touches.”

Jul 12, 2019: A new technique uses space-based satellite surveillance to prevent bridge collapses, by detecting defects smaller than the thickness of a dime. The …

Jul 12, 2019: When Natural Disasters Strike, Operation BBQ Swoops In With Relief — And Ribs Operation BBQ Relief: Competitive barbecuers flock to disaster scenes to serve up delicious hot food to victims and rescuers. “I thought, who …

Jul 12, 2019: Today I learned MetaFilter is still a thing and it’s still very good.

Jul 12, 2019: A court in Dresden, Germany, sentenced two men to prison for copyright infringement – on Usenet Yes, Usenet is still a thing. [The Register]

Jul 12, 2019: A judge ruled against Oracle’s lawsuit seeking to block the $10B JEDI contract for Pentagon systems, leaving Amazon and Microsoft as finalists. …

Jul 11, 2019: Matt Yglesias and Jenny Schuetz solve the housing crisis Vox journalist Matt Yglesias talks with Jenny Scheutz, housing economist and fellow at the Brookings Institution to untangle the US housing crisis. …

Jul 11, 2019: Wonderful, vintage photos posted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11

Jul 11, 2019: Oh, lovely, a bipartisan election hack alert law bill for Mitch McConnell to feed into the shredder “Two US lawmakers are pushing a bipartisan bill that would force the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to alert the public of hacking attempts on …

Jul 11, 2019: Rural America Might See More 5G With FCC's New 2.5GHz Order But the plan draws criticism. Mike Dano reports on Light Reading: “Today’s vote doubles down on the same auction-driven spectrum policies …

Jul 11, 2019: Metallica to publish children’s book, The ABCs of Metallica [Ben Beaumont-Thomas/The Guardian] Never too early to start the youngsters on metal, …

Jul 11, 2019: Instagrammers Love This Turquoise Lake, But It’s Actually A Toxic Dump [Salvador Hernandez/Buzzfeed News] I’m a bad person for laughing at this …

Jul 11, 2019: Microsoft Teams overtakes Slack with 13 million daily users. [Tom Warren/The Verge] We use Teams and I’ve used Slack too. I don’t see any …

Jul 11, 2019: Shoelace is Google's new social network Sarah Perez on TechCrunch A new project from Google’s in-house incubator, Area 120, aims to help people find things to do and others who share your …

Jul 11, 2019: I see Google is starting yet another social network. Google+, Google Reader, Google Buzz, Google Wave, Orkut, and Dodgeball weren’t enough for them. If this new one seems interesting to you, enjoy …

Jul 10, 2019: Novelist Stephen McCauley explores sexuality and relationships in “My Ex-Life." His novel “is a comedy about a couple whose marriage …

Jul 10, 2019: Recycling: People should stop thinking of recycling as a virtue, and start considering whether individual recycling programs are actually doing good. …

Jul 10, 2019: Can You Hear It? Sonic Devices Play High-Pitched Noises To Repel Teens Philadelphia is putting a gadget in 30 parks and recreation centers that blares …

Jul 10, 2019: Anti-“marihuana” ad, 1930s. https://reddit.com/r/vintageads/comments/cbocxh/anti_marihuana_ad_1930s/ I don’t think “dope peddlers” are giving weed …

Jul 10, 2019: Elementary Education Has Gone Terribly Wrong In the early grades, U.S. schools value reading-comprehension skills over knowledge. The results are …

Jul 10, 2019: They finally built a better ketchup bottle. And soon it’s going to be everywhere. www.washingtonpost.com/business/… The bottle will be …

Jul 10, 2019: IBM: We Won’t ‘Bluewash’ Red Hat: IBM executives say they’d be fools to compromise Red Hat’s independence, following the …

Jul 10, 2019: ONAP ‘Dublin’ Lightens Network Orchestration: The latest release of the Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) sports enhancements …

Jul 10, 2019: 5G Will Be 100x Faster Than LTE? More Like 2.7x Faster www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g… 5G speeds are failing to live up to hype. Is anyone …

Jul 10, 2019: " … much of the dysfunction of tech regulation — from botched anti-sex-trafficking laws to the EU’s plan to impose mass surveillance and …

Jul 9, 2019: Built on Sand: “Wherever we go, we’re surrounded by sand. It’s in the floors beneath us, walls around us and ceilings above us, plus the …

Jul 9, 2019: RIP Rip Torn: Actor’s actor, political activist, badass boingboing.net/2019/07/0…

Jul 9, 2019: IBM Builds Telco Muscle With $34B Red Hat Acquisition: IBM sees its combination with Red Hat as enabling a full virtualization stack for service …

Jul 9, 2019:

Jul 8, 2019: “Draw me like one of your French girls.”

Jul 8, 2019: On Reddit: I was just in an Apple Store while it was Robbed

Jul 8, 2019: Zuck’s personal head of security resigns after allegations of homophobia, transphobia, “pervasive discriminatory conduct,” and …

Jul 8, 2019: USA’s formidable women’s team is no accident. It’s a product of public policy [Moira Donegan/The Guardian] … title IX …

Jul 8, 2019: Greg McVerry: “Find a passion, start a blog.” Or you can just do what I do and post whatever pops into your head wherever you can find a …

Jul 8, 2019: Pratik talks about taking photos on vacation, blogging in a post-Facebook world, and inability to do the Vulcan “Live Long and Prosper” …

Jul 8, 2019: “Muhammad Ali is a singular figure in American life. But there are elements of a modern-day Ali in Rapinoe’s stance toward sports and social …

Jul 8, 2019: Larri Thomas in The Silencers (1966)

Jul 8, 2019: Why measles returned Why Is Measles Back? [The Atlantic] Peter Beinart, the author of this article, blames the anti-vax movement on rising idiocracy, but downplays …

Jul 8, 2019: Artificial coffee. I'm appalled. A Bitter End For Regular Joe? Scientists Engineer A Smooth, Beanless Coffee [NPR] A startup has developed coffee that’s made without the bitter …

Jul 8, 2019: Conair Impressions crimper, 1989

Jul 8, 2019: Researchers are working on plant-based fake fish Fish replacement may be the next big wave in alternative protein development I’m intrigued by the idea of plant-based fish. I’m allergic …

Jul 8, 2019: Bill Gates envies Steve Jobs's ability to mesmerize people with nonsense Microsoft’s Bill Gates: Steve Jobs cast spells on everyone but he didn’t fool me Sounds ridiculous in a headline but Gates makes good …

Jul 7, 2019: Shedding Light On Domestic Violence [Fresh Air podcast]. An average of four women are killed by their partners every day in America. Crisis center CEO …

Jul 7, 2019: Spreadsheet [50 Things That Made the Moden Economy podcast]. A grid on a computer screen gives us a glimpse of the future of automated work. There are …

Jul 7, 2019: Weeding is Fundamental [99% Invisible podcast.] When the San Francisco Public Library renovated 20 years ago, librarians fought to stop administrators …

Jul 7, 2019: The Town that Stayed Quiet: The This is Love podcast visits a city in northern Italy where everyone decided to stay quiet to save something beautiful.

Jul 7, 2019: “Come fly with me”, 1960s

Jul 7, 2019: Welch’s Juice. LIFE, June 9, 1947.

Jul 7, 2019:

Jul 7, 2019: First impressions of micro.blog: Community, people and content looks great. Design and UI are wonderfully simple. Performance is slooooow. Hopefully I …

Jul 7, 2019: Get a Spine! Stories about people – including a scientist who studies invertebrates – who get a spine, finding the courage to do what needs doing. On …

Jul 7, 2019: Maureen Dowd: It’s Nancy Pelosi’s Parade - The New York Times I’m feeling warmer toward Pelosi after reading this article; she’s less of a toady to …