I’ve been asking people what time it is since this morning, but everyone I ask tells me something different.
-son, reading from “Crack Yourself Up: Jokes for Kids”
Man, I get hit by the same bike everyday going to work … it’s a vicious cycle. 🚲
“Maryland pardons prove marijuana legalization not about social justice” via Baltimore Sun opinion page
…Moore’s decision to pardon these prior marijuana convictions should be commended.
These recent steps highlight the false dichotomy between the criminalization of marijuana and the legalization of today’s highly potent THC drugs. While nobody should be in jail for the use of marijuana, the alternative policy need not legalize dangerous psychoactive drugs and usher in a for-profit marijuana industry, as was done in Maryland
This trend is also playing out in Maryland, with some voters having second thoughts about legalization. According to a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll, only 31% of voters have a positive view of legalization. Notably, Black Marylanders were more likely to say it’s been bad than good, at 32% vs 28%, respectively. Opposition comes across party lines, with 63% of Democrats and 76% of Republicans saying legalization has not been good for the state.
A good first step to protect Marylanders would be curbing public use, educating young people about the risks, requiring product labels with science-based warnings, and enacting strong regulations on the industry. The governor should turn his pulpit to these real concerns before more Marylanders get hurt.
Interesting cross-take on this national trend, and I think a more nuanced acknowledgement that it’s not a simple as all bad/ all good.
“The poster’s guide to the Internet of the future” via verge, via @manton
Encouraged to see the evolution of thinking around individual posting on the web - the resurgence of some tools, the creation of new ones, and the emergence of web standards to enable.
The term POSSE that’s part of this conversation was new to me, but the concept not, as I’ve tried to achieve of version of this over the last 17 years (e.g., eschewing Facebook posting as it wasn’t open, using Buffer for professional posting, etc.)
The challenges described in the latter half of this article are noteworthy, however, and without adequate answer, will prevent the vision from being realized.
On the cross-posting side, the variety of platform standards does seem to necessitate a two-step process, or at least a real-time visualization within the POSSE composition platform. Buffer had to go this approach because hidden, rules-based programming doesn’t adequately address.
The threading of mentions and replies also presents a challenge, though this seems more achievable.
For both of the above, the walls erected by the platform silos seem the greatest friction point. They know that part of their value comes from the walled garden effect and the exclusivity effect. A generous view would also attribute an interest in avoiding detritus on their platform. I imagine a robust identity authentication schema would be part of a solution.
But I’m hopeful this movement continues to advance as I think it does form a better web of interconnected humans than what we have now.
Nothing quite like a Cub Scout day camp - Wonderful to experience Scout Spirit alive and well! 😀
Report finds ‘staggering’ utility hikes in Maryland since 2010
Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.’s gas delivery rates have more than tripled since 2010, with statewide utility rates following suit.
“These increases reflect a concerted utility effort to boost profits by accelerating capital infrastructure spending — including massive spending on gas infrastructure …”
Reply from BGE:
“Customers are becoming more reliant on safe and reliable energy to power their lives and livelihoods while we are also facing increased threats to the resiliency of our infrastructure, including cyber intrusions and more frequent severe weather brought by climate change.
“The energy infrastructure investments we make now will ensure we can continue to meet our customers’ needs and lay the foundation for the State of Maryland to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2045.”
(via Baltimore Sun)
Watched Bob Ross on PBS with the kids for the first time this past Saturday, and they seemed definitely intrigued.
This morning, I get out the watercolor paints for a quick kid activity as I’m cleaning the kitchen, and completely unprompted, #2 starts saying: “And I’m going to put a happy little bush here, and a happy little bush there.”
It’s contagious. 😄🎨👨🎨
Wow!! - Didn’t expect this for today’s ⚾️ game: Let’s Go O’s!!
This tweet thread on the “missing middle of housing” provides some interesting reflections. I suspect parts are a little caricatured, but the overall point remains that what we call “neighborhood” has shifted tremendously in the last 100 years, and not all for the better.
Willie Mays of Giants baseball fame has passed - An incomparable player who truly loved the game & brought joy to so many. May he rest in peace & keep up the fun in the eternal fields. ⚾️🏟️🧢
(via Baltimore Sun)
Cataloging here Micro.blog’s emoji tags for finding other microbloggers. (Plus testing the Scheduled Post feature.)
Personal Technology Renaissance
I feel like I’m having a personal technology renaissance.
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A long-time user of Evernote, they were acquired by Bending Spoons in recent years and the development team there I think are finally getting it right after about a 5-8 years of laggard progress on a category-defining platform. New & improved features that are breathing new life into my use of the product: (a) Consolidated task management across notes with due date & reminders; (b) Easier and better Note sharing/ syncing with others; (c) Easy note headers/ section collapse with automatic table of contents creation; (d) Single file list view; (e) And others. Thank you and kudos to the Evernote team!
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And Micro.blog itself, harkening back to the good ol' blog days of yore, updated for lessons learned (good & bad) from the age of social media, providing a platform for expression & good Internet citizenry.
While I know I’m just a ‘single use case’, I do feel like we are in a technology inflection point – To me, at least, 1999-2001 was one and 2010-2012 another. Holding onto hope for the current inflection point! :)
Very interesting read about how content creators are fighting back against LLMs sourcing their material to power their economic model.
How We’re Trying to Protect MacStories from AI Bots and Web Crawlers – And How You Can, Too
via @markstoneman
Been awhile since I was last able to get a physical copy of The Sun (harder to find in my neck of the woods, despite many attempts). Good (and strange) to hold in hand again, as it provides a particular satisfaction over its digital doppelgänger. :)
Happy Father’s Day out there!
Assateague Island
Hello world!
Although not a coder, somehow I still feel this an appropriate start to my Micro.blog. 🙂
Chanced across the platform when I discovered a friend/ colleague hosted his professional blog here, and immediately dove in as it hits so many things I’ve been looking for.
Even further affirmed when reading the references to Tumblr, where I’ve maintained a tumblelog since June 2007 (albeit with heavier and lighter seasons these last 17 years). It’s felt less like home towards the latter part of that time, and while I’m glad the likes of Automattic are giving it some love now, Micro.blog is definitely more of what I’m looking for. :)
As it stands now, I’m planning to put the Premium plan through its paces: multiple blogs for business & personal use, custom domains, cross-posting, WordPress import, Tumblr import, photos, and I even have an idea for podcasting and email newsletters (among others).
So here goes, and cheers to the adventure!
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5 Pencil and Paper Games to Do When You’re BoredThe first 3 are ol’ faithfuls (hangman, battleship, & squares), but the last 2 are new to me (obstruction & sprouts).Good to keep in mind for when down time with kids. :)
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Remember the early days of the Internet? There were all types of easy blogging platforms, most people had a blog of some sort, there were commentaries quoting other blogs, h/t, etc.?With the advent of platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, it sorta short-circuited what I’d say was a better way to communicate, collaborate, and exchange on the web. Plus the content was locked away behind logins, often no easy way to search, and it was branded under the platform (and not you, the content creator).Tumblr, especially in its early days, was a nice middle ground – Away from long-form blogging, simplifying the ability to add media, Reblogs were great, etc.Perhaps it’s nostalgia, but I’ve been thinking something a la the early days would be nice, but hadn’t run across anything like what existed before (or even a more modern re-imagination). Until now …Micro.blog is a simple, strong feature set, low-cost way to ‘do internet’ right – You can have your own real estate, there’s built in media sharing (even easy podcasting), a human-run community, and more.I think this exists in my future sometime soon. :)
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AI Transcription optionsBeen giving serious thoughts towards activating an AI Transcription tool for business use (predominant use cases of virtual meeting transcript/ summaries & YouTube/ other video summation).Three I’ve seen contacts reference well are:Fireflies.aiRev.comOtter.aiNoting here for additional research/ evaluation - Perhaps helpful to you too.