Sophia: Can I…
Me: This is a standing order: “no”. You may file an appeal in writing if you feel any particular future circumstance warrants it.
Facebook Archive (Page 21)
I created a Facebook account in 2012 but didn’t really post much until 2014. In 2018 I deleted my account (for secret reasons). It was a relief to let it go, but also a little sad. I quickly lost tabs of friends and extended family. Of course we still talk now and again, but I am much less aware of what’s going on in their day to day lives. Nevertheless I’m glad I left.
In an act of unbridled vanity, I have archived all the old posts here.
My Posts
My back yard is walled off and I don’t play Pokémon. What I’m saying is…$20 for right of first refusal to whatever is lurking back there.
One of the greats by one of the greatest.
A snippet I’ve saved and re-read a thousand times seems pertinent today. “Go through the world with open eyes, and listen not only to your own pains and interests, but also to the pains, interests and longings of others…”
I bought these shoes 23 years ago and I still wear them sometimes. Like twice a year but still…
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According to Priceonomics, women are far more likely to take selfies than men but men are far more likely to die doing it. The more you know.
I had forgotten how fun it is to deal with incompetent university bureaucracy. This was the actual conversation when I paid the first payment on Friday:
Me: I need to make the first tuition payment. It is due today. But on your web site when I try to make a payment it says the amount due is $0 and it won’t let me continue.
Them: Hmm. It looks like you haven’t been billed yet.
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Relevant tonight. One of my favorite XKCDs:
So we did one of those “escape the room” things with some friends last night. To solve it required figuring out about 15 tricky puzzles plus one engineering problem. Unsurprisingly I was hopeless with the puzzles but … well, I am an engineer…
This is super cool. Link
Just sent my first monthly college tuition payment for my kid. One down, 95 to go. We can do this.
I just switched from Paper back to the standard Facebook app last week because it was pretty clear it wasn’t being updated with new feature like reactions and nested comment replies. The funny thing is I never even used its news reading feature. I just used it to do normal Facebook stuff.
It’s a darn shame because I liked Paper 10,000 times more than the normal app. Paper was like Facebook focused only on the stuff you care about, with a smooth, clever, pleasant interface.
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Too hot. Need new latitude or altitude stat.
Huh. Fascinating.
I miss this kid, pictured here in her Finding Dory getup including Dory colored top, coral pants, Hank backpack, homemade Dory shoes, and yellow/blue braces. She makes absolutely everything more fun.
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Hey internet, be a dear and get my child tickets for Hamilton in Chicago. I’ll pay you back. Thx.
Future self will roll his eyes at this but present self is enjoying this homey heat. Back in Phoenix after 4 long weeks in San Jose.
Dear flight attendants,
You’re all dressed like dorks.
That is all.
This is a great read about Apple Music.
Link
I especially liked this bit from Eddy Cue about valuing the work of content creators:
I’ve always felt that technology companies have disrespected the content creation process and the content creation people disrespect technology. Both think, ‘How hard [could it be]?’ The truth is … that both of them are artists when it comes down to it. A programmer starts with a blank screen, no different than starting a song with a blank sheet of paper.
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I want to make a browser extension that lets you add Wikipedia style [citation needed] tags to text on any web page, and have them show up for everyone else who has the extension.
This would be so cool. [citation needed]
This eulogy of Muhammad Ali by Natasha Mundkur is such a powerful illustration of the importance of diverse heroes. And by extension an important reminder of the danger, to our collective cultural soul, of a Trump presidency.
You know how sometimes something happens like a woman whose ancestry includes people from India wins Miss America and a handful of uber-dummies on Twitter get up in arms because Miss America is “supposed to be an American”? They seem wholly unaware of the fact that she is indeed an american because, of course, they conflate “american” with “white” which is obviously racist. And you think, well, it is a shame that people like that have a platform to spout their ignorance to a wide audience, but ultimately they’re just confused, powerless people pushing back against the wrong enemy.
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I’m going to miss making Isabel her special finals week “power breakfast”. I wonder if I can find a kitchen to borrow in Valparaiso next year. 😢
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Least surprising tech news of the decade: MCX CurrentC has failed.
For the uninitiated, this was a brilliant payment system that was much more cumbersome than plastic cards, lacked the inherent privacy features of other mobile phone payment platforms, and offered none of the financial security or convenience of credit cards. But you know, it saved retailers a few cents so it was sure to be a hit.
“Me-ternity” is an obviously stupid idea but also a transparently brilliant way to generate PR for a new novel.
Keep blogging and sharing and liking your outrage everybody because how else is she going to sell more books?
Social Internet, you have been hacked again.
I was reminded today of what may be my favorite Steve Jobs anecdote:
A few weeks later Jobs and his family went to Hawaii for Christmas vacation. Larry Ellison was also there, as he had been the year before. “You know, Larry, I think I’ve found a way for me to get back into Apple and get control of it without you having to buy it,” Jobs said as they walked along the shore.
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This would definitely be me.
Making a second pot of grits in as many days for my poor sick hot-cereal-obsessed munchkin.
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This kid is my personal hero.
Normally I wouldn’t buy a Chevy but I just found out the new Malibu is styled with purpose so I’m going to go get one right away.
Proposed: We should avoid drawing conclusions about the human race based on anonymous comments and tweets. Selection bias, etc… Discuss.
This is the hand towel dispenser in this bathroom, which I feel like maybe illustrates some point about user experience design. I figured it out eventually.
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A little election analysis reminder:
Sometimes I feel guilty for using an ad blocker, and then I turn it off and within 30 seconds I’m reminded how insufferably awful the web is without it.
Back on it goes.
Earth: I will turn my whole self so that you may have night and day.
Man: Hey thanks!
…
Man: We made this one special day just for you, Earth!
Earth: …
10 minute (!) scrolling panorama of the plane of the Milky Way composed of stitched together imagery from the ESA’s Herschel space telescope.
It’s like our eyes have opened for the first time to see what has always been right above us. Absolutely amazing.
Dear Ted Cruz:
My daughters and my wife could all kick your butt with one hand tied behind their respective backs.
Sincerely, A guy who’s not worried about his girls.
- Abe Vigoda
- Alan Rickman
- David Bowie
- Frank Sinatra
- Gary Shandling
- Harper Lee
- Merle Haggard
- Prince
And this is just with a Trump candidacy. Imagine how much worse it will be if he gets elected.
Me: “Why is the TV on?”
Sophia: “Isabel is in there watching something.”
Me: “Oh! Didn’t she go to school?”
Sophia: “She only has like a month til she graduates, dad.”
Principles of Living by Sophia.