Werd I/O

It's infuriating when I find a blog I want to subscribe to and it doesn't have any kind of feed. Please please please: if you're writing lots of posts on your website, make sure it has RSS or Atom. Thank you.

Ma used to say that she liked to think of everyone we'd lost sitting on the beach at Sagelots, having a picnic and looking down at us. I like that image too, but I'd like to think of it as more of a party: there are guitars, and people racing boats out on the water, and everybody else chatting and laughing on the shore. It's cocktail hour, and there are drinks for those who want them.

Aunt Peggy was an amazing person. Her presence was a gift. I'll always think of her as being an integral part of our shared favorite place in the world. And I'll miss her a lot.

OMG Erin got me a Little Free Library for my birthday. I'm genuinely so excited. I can't wait to put it together and fill it with radical literature!

On the same day we hear about Boeing wanting a safety process waiver for the Boeing 737 Max, a window blows out on one en route to California. I’ve already been booking flights to make sure I fly on an Airbus instead, and I think I’ll keep it up. I will not fly on a 737 Max.

I let my One Medical subscription lapse. What seemed like an almost magically good healthcare service in the beginning became rushed and dehumanizing. I still miss the NHS very much indeed - Americans deserve well-designed universal healthcare.

I deleted all my social media apps from my phone in an effort to be more mindful about how I use them. I'll still post, but I plan for most of everything to originate on my website, and I want to focus on writing there over anywhere else. I'm hoping that the result will be a little more calm in my life, and to reduce the number of times I instinctively pick up my phone.

G'mar chatima tova to all who observe.

Shana tova to everyone who celebrates!

As social networks begin to fill with AI-generated crap, it occurs to me that the small, independent web will be the last place where you know you'll find content and conversations from real people.

I'd actually love a real answer from someone who has worked with him or has known him. Genuinely, what is wrong with Elon Musk?

It's wild seeing "information wants to be free" rhetoric being used by multinational megacorporations who wish to make a great deal of money out of it.

Go woke, go to a much larger potential market with significant discretionary spending

A reminder that what you see online is just a facet of a person. You’re missing their loves, their shame, their unspoken needs, and the things that really make them human. The internet casts four dimensions into a 2D plane. Everyone here is a projection.

Technology cannot live without politics, and to wish or claim otherwise is, in itself, a political position. The world's too far gone to pretend nothing is happening out there.

I feel like I missed a trick by not telling the baby he had the superpower of fresh eyes and that his feedback was incredibly valuable. Still, this onboarding process takes 18 years or so, so maybe there’s still time.

Is there a more influentially toxic author than Ayn Rand?

I’m excited for more people to discover unions and collective bargaining through some of the most famous people in the world. Solidarity to everyone who is on strike now and everyone who will be.

People really really don't like it when you criticize Mastodon's user experience.

The nice thing about federation is that each network is a “yes, and”, not an “or”.

The early web was revolutionary because suddenly everyone could publish. All kinds of voices could be seen and heard that had previously been locked out.

But now we’re approaching the limit of tech-enabled democratization. What is actually required is more democracy. Tech can only help organize.

“Love it or leave it” is a terrible attitude - whether it’s for nations, companies, or online communities.

The single most important principle I see newer web developers overlook: don't trust your inputs. My guess is that the blurring of front and back ends has led to a blurring of this idea, too. But it's super-important. Sanitize everything, always. (Dare I say that the same goes for life?)

I’ve always been anti-smacking, but having a baby of my own makes it so clear. How could you even think of hitting someone so vulnerable, so innocent, who is beginning to explore the world? It’s such an abuse; a way to cut someone’s spirit before it’s even begun to grow.

I’m feeling more and more that smartphones are an enemy of creative thinking. If creativity requires boredom, a device that ensures you’re never bored is an effective barrier.

The internet is wonderful, but never being left to your own thoughts breeds conformity.

I have so many feelings about Boris Johnson, related to so many injustices that were perpetrated by him and his collaborators, and all of them amount to this: I hate the guy.

Good riddance. I know he's going to pop up again with some cushy contract, but he deserves all the criticism, all the spite.