Tab sweep: eFanzines, data privacy, playlists between two artists
Been a lazy Sunday of doing some light pre-Spring cleaning/organizing and quality time with the cats. Here’s a few interesting sites, articles, and such that have been idling in tabs for a little while. Two on data privacy The Markup has an article about how grocers, specifically Kroger, are...
Happy Presidents’ Day, President Carter
I was sad to learn over the weekend that former president Jimmy Carter has entered hospice care. But I’m not surprised that President Carter is facing the end of his life the same way he’s behaved his entire life – with dignity and grace. Carter was the first person...
No, Netflix isn’t chopping down your family
I like Cory Doctorow a lot, and tend to agree with him on most things, but this screed about Netflix changing its “family” settings is not one of them....
Can we get AIs to work the DMV?
While startups are busy trying to put (more) people out of work writing or doing artwork, how about turning some attention towards the DMV?...
How have your social media habits changed since the Twitter takeover?
It’s been a few months now since the Twitter Takeover, and Musk’s gutting of the Twitter workforce and various antics. I haven’t deleted my account, but I set it to private and set up shop on Mastodon in mid-November. Curious about what others have done and how your habits...
The scorpion strikes: Still speaker-less after 11 votes
Clearly nobody taught Kevin McCarthy and the rest of the establishment GOP the lesson of the frog and the scorpion. It would be funny if it was a plot on a modern West Wing, but it just seems like a harbinger of more problems to come. After 11 tries,...
Two observations about Mastodon in early 2023
Tonight, not for the first time, I learned about a “breaking news” item from Mastodon. That’s been happening more often over the past few weeks, whereas this time last year I’d have gotten this kind of thing via Twitter first. This seems significant to me because Mastodon is making...
Stop normalizing Musk (and why “work harder” isn’t going to do it for Twitter)
One of the most disheartening things about the Musk takeover of Twitter is how his malignant narcissism is being treated as normal. Even sadder, celebrated, by a small but vocal contingent of people who are still inexplicably fans of a person who’d happily have them thrown into a wood...
“Authenticity” is a trap
The idea of “authenticity” and “selling out” when applied to artists, musicians, and other folks is largely bullshit. Worse, it’s a trap. Let me back up a sec. The other day I was on the Twitters and noticed an exchange about how some artist wasn’t “authentic” anymore because they...
Unisex bathrooms aren’t the answer
One of the popular responses to the outcry over HB2 has been to suggest that unisex or single bathrooms are the “answer” or a “middle road” (or “common sense”) to avoid conflict over transgender folks using the bathroom that best fits their gender identity. Really, it’s a dodge that...