I used to make it a point to write a post for America’s Independence Day. It was an exercise in affirming what it means to me to live in America. I’ve let that go over the past few years for a variety of reasons. I just haven’t been expressing myself in writing so much because discourse itself feels broken in this so-called post-truth era. But I’ve been thinking about it for a few days and I do have something to … Read the rest
A recent Medium article suggests that it doesn’t matter whether Facebook is broken up, or implements radical changes, or is replaced by a different platform. The author, Colin Horgan, says that it’s not necessary at all. He is partly right.
He’s right that we don’t need Facebook to fill the roles it does. He’s wrong when he says we don’t need those things at all.
On the one hand, all of the things that social media does are rather high in Maslow’s … Read the rest
Scott Berkun retweeted a challenge suggested by Mike Davidson today: to see how long one could go without one’s phone. The idea intrigued me — conventional wisdom says that these devices are distracting and corrosive to sanity. Also, I didn’t want to admit that I was too chicken to try. I soon found that it is not quite as simple a proposition as it sounds. Just figuring out how to do it raises questions about the different kinds of dependence … Read the rest
Part two in a series of two or more of topics relevant to the Network Neutrality debate
I’m shocked that I need to explain this, but prices are determined by supply, demand, and sellers’ decisions about the best ways to optimize supply and demand. Over time they are determined by nothing more than these.
Are there production costs? Of course. But these are also governed by the balance of supply, demand, and sellers’ decisions about the best ways to optimize supply … Read the rest
Part one in a series of two or more of topics relevant to the Network Neutrality debate
Imagine a pizzeria. Let’s call it Monochromatic Pizza because that’s a terrible name for a pizza joint1 and with luck I won’t anger the proprietors of any actual pizza places. Let’s say Monochromatic Pizza makes pretty good pizza. Maybe it isn’t the best in town, but you’ve been there before and you like their pizza.
As you walk past Monochromatic Pizza one nice … Read the rest
Call me cynical, and I hope I’m wrong. My prediction: two NYPD detectives will lose their jobs but see no jail time for the rape of a teenager they arrested, a crime to which the detectives confessed.
Now the attorneys for the detectives in question are attempting to «slut-shame» the teenager and paint her as a money-grubbing opportunist. Shame on them, but ignore it. It’s all beside the point. It doesn’t matter how terrible the young woman might be. … Read the rest
I’m going to start with a brief quote from Cory Doctorow’s novel Walkaway. The character has left “default” society to go live in an anarchic post-scarcity outpost. Think year-round Burning Man but not the endless party aspect, the autonomous zone aspect.
… Read the rest“I feel like I’m going to explode. I’ve been fed, drugged, boozed, and had a nap by the fire. I just can’t sit there anymore. Please put me to work?”
“You know that’s something you’re not supposed to ask?”“I
There’s a new Star Trek series premiering tonight on CBS. Already Twitter is awash1 with critics complaining that Star Trek is no longer Star Trek, that it has turned into a propaganda vehicle for the «social justice warriors» who are pushing an anti-American, pro-globalist, diversity-loving agenda. See the IMDB reviews, too.
One has to wonder what Star Trek these people are referring to. Star Trek always pushed a social agenda of diversity and unity. Gene Roddenberry was an … Read the rest
Today is release day for iOS 11, Apple’s newest version of the operating system for iPhones and iPads. This is not news. As of about 1pm Eastern time, the update is available for download and installation on supported devices. Monochromatic Outlook sacrificed an iPhone1My iPad is stuck at iOS 9. for the glory of being your guinea pig.2No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.
The update was performed on an … Read the rest
Recently I finished reading a book and went to put the book in my blog. I don’t have the book report written but wanted to at least get a placeholder in the database with the vital statistics: title, author, word count, my rating, and so on. After entering the information, I hit submit and was greeted with the less-than-useful message, The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.
Frankly, this sort of thing is the reason I don’t write. … Read the rest