mastodon 4.7.3Aspiring Zamboni operator. He/him #DEI
The Iran war is reducing demand for fossil fuels and driving the world toward renewables for everybody but the US, writes Rebecca Solnit. "This is how the attack by one petro-state (ours) on another (Iran's) may be turning out to be very bad for petroleum, because the only thing history loves more than a surprise party is irony."
https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/truth-consequences-climate-and-demand-destruction/
Via @pluralistic@mamot.fr — Thanks!
Normalize paywalled websites offering day passes for $1, payable easily through services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. The day passes would not automatically renew by default. This would be the online equivalent of going into a newsstand and buying a single issue of a magazine because the cover looks interesting. It would be great for readers, a great source of revenue for publishers and help push back misinformation (because journalism costs money to produce, but bullshit’s free).
"I was on a call with investors who asked why there are so many protests about data centers. I told them something they didn't want to hear. The public looks at what hyperscalers are doing and sees this: tech gets rich; you pay more for water and electricity; your kids may not have jobs. And you're surprised that 85% of the public doesn't like that deal? They're not wrong."
"America used to build the future." My colleague Steve Saunders interviews Blair Levin, policy analyst with New Street Research and chief architect of the 2010 National Broadband Plan on AI, infrastructure and why the U.S. is falling behind.
Meanwhile, Zohran Is Just Getting Things Done. https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/meanwhile-zohran-is-just-getting-things-done
Name your top 15 TV shows ever, gut instincts only:
Deadwood
Star Trek:TOS
The Odd Couple
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
MASH
Hill Street Blues
ER
The Pitt
Doctor Who
Bob Newhart Show
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Firefly
The Sopranos
Mad Men
This list is biased toward shows I loved when I was a child, teen and early 20s because shows hit harder then.
It sucks about Joss doesn’t it?
“Honeywell Portable Computer” prop from 2001 A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick . 1968 . This is a publicity still . https://reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism/comments/1t1ngu5/honeywell_portable_computer_prop_from_2001_a/
I don't use dictation on my desktop. I have spent a lot of time typing every day for my entire adult life and much of my teens. I am as comfortable typing as I am speaking — maybe more comfortable.
But that's only when I have a full-size keyboard and a flat surface to put it on. On my iPhone, I dictate, rather than type, half the time or more. I use Siri for that; I haven't tried any other voice-to-text apps.
In the 1970s, writer John Varley wrote a series of science fiction stories where the characters communicate with their wearable computers using "subvocalization" — whispering inaudibly. Sensors at the throat detect throat and mouth movements and convert that to speech for the computer to read. That *still* seems workable, and would solve the problem of making offices sound like call-centers.
We shouldn’t use AI to replace doctors. We should use it to replace patients https://val.demar.in/2026/04/a-rash-conclusion/
I am having a grande Starbucks cappuccino and it is 5:15 PM and I am three hours east of my normal time zone and I need to be awake at 6 am. I see no potential problem here.
🤖 Mitch’s newsletter 4.30.2026: https://newsletter.mitchwagner.com/2026/04/30/mitchs-newsletter.html
The Other Reasons Why Podcasting is Hot — Doc Searls https://doc.searls.com/2026/04/24/the-other-reasons-why-podcasting-is-hot/
🤖 Mitch’s newsletter 5.1.2026: https://newsletter.mitchwagner.com/2026/05/01/mitchs-newsletter.html
The Venture-Capital Populist. How David Sacks and the new tech right went full MAGA and captured Washington. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/06/david-sacks-crypto-ai-venture-capital/686941/?gift=_aFBI00lj0Z6Gzv9uVJeWMN2FE3oMtLnbRLGiOEL2WI&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Writer Stuart Heritage at The Guardian rounds up American movies that had better titles in foreign languages. In China, “Pretty Woman” was “I Will Marry a Prostitute to Save Money” and “The Full Monty” was “Six Naked Pigs.” https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/may/01/the-woman-who-loves-luxury-goods-2-why-the-devil-wears-prada-title-goes-back-to-basics-in-vietnam
🤖 Mitch’s newsletter 5.8.2026: https://newsletter.mitchwagner.com/2026/05/08/mitchs-newsletter.html
Extreme bets on simplifying networks. CEO Ed Meyercord says simplicity and supply-chain savvy are driving share gains as Extreme posts its fifth straight double-digit revenue quarter, on the eve of the big annual Extreme Connect conference this week. My latest on Fierce Network. https://www.fierce-network.com/cloud/extreme-bets-simplifying-networks
My old friend Dr. Marc Gorelick, who is a respected elder statesman of pediatric medicine, writes about the skewed incentives in medical care that make a hair transplant more valuable than resuscitating a newborn infant.
https://startingwithcurious.com/2026/04/23/the-value-of-work/
According to the metrics used by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the American Medical Association, the hair transplant is 31-84% more valuable than resuscitating a newborn.
Marc mentions circumcision without making any jokes about it, which shows greater willpower than I'm capable of, and which explains why he is a respected elder statesman of pediatric medicine and I type for a living.
Lines, Ranked — McSweeney’s https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/lines-ranked
Typing Is Being Replaced by Whispering—and It’s Way More Annoying. Workspaces are starting to resemble high-end call centers, only these employees are talking to AI. “It’s just a little awkward.” By Kate Clark at the Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/tech/typing-is-being-replaced-by-whisperingand-its-way-more-annoying-a804fee7?st=PhWFbK&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
What’s your favorite “I’m alone so I can finally be weird” activity?. A gratifying Reddit thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1t1o3po/whats_your_favorite_im_alone_so_i_can_finally_be/
An explanation of why the buns are askew on Japanese McDonald’s ads. This takes a turn at the end. https://www.reddit.com/r/BrandNewSentence/comments/1so9wf1/comment/ogrko74/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1
