Happy Friday. Made it through the first full work week of the year. How did we do?
I worked on a review of 2024 for most of the week and it was kind of hell in the middle, but I’m finally starting to feel some clarity, which was the goal. So I think I know where to start next week. 😅
(nah, but it makes us go faster)
New podcast episode with Ben Curtis.
Back to work today and I think I might even be ready
Good morning, here’s my J6 post.
I can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots until now. (The movie premiered the month I was born.)
Yesterday I got this ad for The Epoch Times (the propaganda rag from the far-right Falun Gong movement) while searching the iOS App Store. They advertise themselves as “fearless journalism.” The app is currently #36 in Magazines & Newspapers, with 4.9/5 stars.
We’re watching The Terminator and Pogo (our pug) starts barking every time he sees Arnold. He really hates bodybuilders.
My kids and I had some fun taking shitty photos of Christopher Marley’s Exquisite Creatures Revealed exhibit at OMSI this week. My favorite is the princess shrimp.
Camera: “Children’s Digital Camera”
It’s officially 2025 on the West Coast, Happy New Year!
We watched The Muppet Christmas Carol tonight. A few favorite quotes:
“No cheeses for us meeces”
“Our assets are frozen!”
“Business”
“Light the lamp, not the rat!”
“I knew you weren’t suited for literature”
Doing some writing and remembering that the Malheur occupation was the same year that Trump got elected the first time. That was when a lot of the pieces started to come together for me.
Mount Hood from I-5 Bridge
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT 8MP w/ 50mm 1.8 “nifty fifty”
I thought it was sinuses but no, pretty sure I’ve been clenching my jaw in my sleep again.
I made soup
making a roux, checking it twice
I love how you can’t turn off audiobook and podcast recommendations in Spotify, and I especially love how they think I want to see Jordan Peterson or James Lindsay on my home page. Maybe I’ll give Apple Music another chance.
Maybe if I tell Spotify I’m just trying to make my bed (remove Jordan Peterson from my homepage)
This is wild
Beautiful sunset over the marsh last night.
further proof that bluesky is a socialist echo chamber: most of the handles end in “.social”
Nice sunset tonight, even managed to capture it with 2.1 megapixels
Digital Concepts “For Dummies” 2.1MP
By David Gilbert featuring Devin Burghart and Jessica Pishko
“What ergonomic keyboard should I buy?” he typed with his thumbs as his fingers curled around his iPhone
This is a very good read.
“For legends attract the very best in our times, just as ideologies attract the average, and the whispered tales of gruesome secret powers behind the scenes attract the very worst.”
— Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
Loving the salad kits at Trader Joe’s lately. Dill-icious.
I just did the most adult thing ever and bought de-icer for my driveway. Before my driveway is iced over. Please clap.
This is more deep sea creature than mammal, tell me I’m wrong
This is a thoughtful article, and it resonates with me. My interest in coding as a pastime has waned, and I try to view running my business as a job these days.
Hustling is fine when you have the energy but it takes a lot. And sometimes a new idea/opportunity sparks the energy to pursue it.
Feeling slightly less tired:
I am tired
Almost all of the “worst” situations I’ve seen involving kids is when they feel they’ve gotten into a hole and have no where else to turn. Make sure they know they can always turn to you if they’re in trouble, or if they feel they made a mistake. (Mike Masnick)
This is such an important point. There is so much exploitation (online and off) that depends on isolating kids from adults and their peers.
Moral panics never end well, and gloss over all the nuance and root problems as Mike Masnick mentioned. I will dump some thoughts on digital parenting as an exvangelical who was raised by fundamentalists…
My kids are 6 & 8. We use parental controls and keep things age appropriate unless they are clearly ahead in some areas. But our goal is to teach them to be emotionally and digitally literate at every stage of development.
Right now we’re discussing the risks of user-generated content and online anonymity. Many of their friends play Roblox, but we’ve waited. Same with unsupervised YouTube. Nothing is “forbidden,” though.
They’re currently playing Among Us because it’s multiplayer but has tighter communication/parental controls. Seems like good training wheels for online Roblox/Minecraft.
In the past we learned what adverting is. Both my kids can spot an ad and tell you what they’re selling and who the market is. That’s a great reason for a live TV subscription imo.
We also aren’t too worried about screen time. They’ve had iPads and TV basically always.
I worried about screen time at first, until I caught them looking up drawing/crafting tutorials on YouTube when they got bored with it (yes, they already circumvent our best efforts at times, which is also OK and expected, and as a former child myself, it makes me proud).
They both love books and reading, and collaborate on writing/illustrating comic books together.
No social media yet, but tbh I’m looking forward to introducing them to All the Things as they develop and show they’re capable of handling it.
Same goes for alcohol, swearing, etc. (already taught them most of the curse words so they can hopefully avoid getting in trouble with teachers/other parents. 😂)
In general, that’s our approach. Everything eventually, supervised at first, with diminishing oversight as they earn trust.
I know I’m still early, but so far it’s working out—but I’m under no illusions that they’ll “turn out alright.” Adolescence is hard, and so is adulthood. I just want to prepare them for it as best I can.
Huh, an injunction has blocked the Corporate Transparency Act, and there is an appeal pending reinstatement by an appellate court. This article recommends that companies delay filing w/ FinCEN, but remain prepared if the injunction is overturned by December 31.
It’s a travesty how Thomas Paine’s words have been laundered. We learned about Paine in the context of the Revolutionary War and that was it. Imagine my surprise when I read his other books.
Certain individuals in my house will make entire desserts, put them in the fridge, and forget about them. Guess who doesn’t forget about them? 😭
Senior devs: Tell us about that time you took down prod (source)
When we first launched HB I deployed a change that broke notification grouping, so it sent a flood of notifications to all of our users. 🤦
I learned to be very careful when making changes that affect grouping.
dead dove do not eat
Runners: Once you’ve built up some endurance/fitness, can you maintain while running one day per week, assuming a gym/strength routine on the other days? Or must you run multiple days per week?
I convinced my kids to just sit and watch the grinch yule log with me for 30 minutes.
I met two kids (maybe 11 or 12) at the park this weekend. One was dressed in camouflage fatigues with an American flag patch on the arm; the other wore a tactical helmet with the flag of Ukraine emblazoned on the side, and carried a large flag of Ukraine over his shoulder. Both carried toy rifles.
I overheard one say to the other:
“If my mom finds out I brought the flag to the park, she’ll flip.”
I was there with my own kids, and wasn’t expecting a documentary scene—but I was struck by the earnestness of their play, and snapped a few photos of them.
I asked the one with the flag if I could take a photo, and he posed for me. Not including identifiable pictures here because their parents weren’t around to give permission.
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT 8MP w/ 50mm 1.8 “nifty fifty”
6yo as he diabolically stabs a water-filled ziplock bag with a sharpened pencil:
“He never packed my lunch”
I tried removing the lens flare at the bottom of this one, but it defeated me. I still like this photo even though the tree’s shadow would be better without the flare.
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT 8MP w/ 50mm 1.8 “nifty fifty”
The concept of original sin. Teach small children they are inherently broken, then weaponize inevitable misbehavior as a sign of their “sinfulness” so they habitually internalize shame, have no self-worth, and as adults become ideal relationship fodder for abusive narcissists. (source)
Many Christians don’t realize/acknowledge the doctrine of original sin isn’t universally accepted across all of Christianity.
Even if you believe, you don’t have to teach your kids this (and punish them for it).
Evangelicals:
What are the dumbest ways to traumatize our kids so they sound like total dorks in therapy?
Good read about how Orbán used state power to enforce political loyalty from big business, and how Trump, then DeSantis, and now Trump again have done the same.
There is not a pug emoji but there is this:
👁️ 👅 👁️
“guy wouldn’t know majesty if it came up and bit him in the face”
