Writing
- Make TextEdit open with a new document instead of the file dialog box
- Turn off the verification of disk images. I've probably opened 10,000 disk images in my life and I don't remember one failing to verify. I've wasted hours!
- Make the "Save As" dialog box open in extended form
- BearBlog Discover Feed
- Scribbles Explore Page
- Microblog Discover Feed
- I don't know if Pika has a directory. Can someone let me know if it does?
- Audio
- Music
- Photography
- Fashion
- Repair Hobbies, Vocational Hobbies, Appliances and Home Goods
- Gaming
- Tech
- Crafting
- Sex
- Finance
- Fitness
- Sports
- Cars
Enjoyed it? Please upvote 👇 - 10 Effective Tactics to Defeat Internet Trolls
- How to Handle Toxic People on Social Media: 13 Steps
- How to Stop Getting Into Pointless Arguments Online | WIRED
- 10 Steps to Building Your Personal Brand on Social Media | Digital Marketing Institute
- 12 Easy Steps To Build Your Personal Brand On Social Media
- 5 tricks for building your personal brand via social media | Bryant News
- Treat yourself with kindness
- Prioritize physical activity
- Spend time in nature
- Get plenty of sleep
- Take a break
- Enjoy nutrient-rich foods
- Engage in mindfulness practice
- Express your feelings
- Learn What you need
- Seek out new experiences
Use protection. Kids are great and I love mine, but unplanned pregnancies change your life.
Wear sunscreen. Kurt Vonnegut was smart AF and he said that so I am going with it.
Stay close to your family. If you've made it this far without too much trauma, that's awesome. Family is the best mutual aid society ever developed.
Enjoyed it? Please upvote 👇- ⌘+Q - Runs an Apple Script that prompts “Are you sure you want to close this app”
- shift+shift - opens/closes notification center
- control+control - reveals desktop
- option+option - reveals all Windows
- esc+esc - activate screen saver/lock screen
- fn+e - Raycast emoji picker
- fn+v - Raycast clipboard manager
- four-finger click on MTP - activate screen saver/lock screen
- one finger click on bottom center of MTP - Google search
- three finger tap on MTP - simulate alt+tab
Three Free System Utilities
Deeper
In the spirit of old standbys like Onyx and TinkerTool, Deeper provides a GUI to tweak multiple system settings, including a few I haven't seen before, including:
Pester
Similar to the paid app, Due, this alarm/timer app will keep reminding you to do something until you kill it. It's full of thoughtful touches, like showing the amount of time left on a timer in the dock icon. For alerts, you can choose any combination of an onscreen message (which also displays the time), a bouncing Pester Dock icon, a spoken version of your message, or to play an alert. When creating alarms you can use abbreviations like 20m for 20 minutes, 11a for 11:00 A.M. or tomorrow, next Saturday etc. The alarms are reusable, which is convenient if you use Pester to remind you to check laundry or take a break at a certain time of day
Übersicht
Widgets have become more useful as more and more developers have added to them to their apps, but there is still a use for widgets not connected to apps to provide information at a glance for all sorts of system functions and external information. This app lets anyone with developer chops use JavaScript + React's JSX to roll their own widgets. The rest of us can choose from a gallery containing widgets like:
.
Finding an Internet Community
Mastodon
I don't know that their is a universally accepted definition of online communities. I would think that a community is definitely different than a platform. There may be communities within platforms, like my beloved OMG.LOL community that resides on Mastodon at social.lol. I wouldn't say that all Mastodon instances are communities, since the large ones, like Mastodon.social have over 800K members. There are Mastodon instances for all kinds of communities from PKM aficionados to different flavors of LGBT folks. A good tool to get information on the rules and make up of different instances is the iOS app Mastowatch
Blog Platforms
Aside from social media, there are communities of bloggers who use the same platform. You can see some of these at :
Forums
Here is a master list of forums in all kinds of categories, including:
I updated my /now page - What I’m reading and watching, plus links to this week’s blog posts, the week’s best purchase, and the links I added to my personal bookmarks.
AMA - What Is It You Long For
This question was asked by Curious Magpie. It has also been answered by Anniegreens. Do you experience Hiraeth (a deep longing for something)? What is it you long for - a time, a place, a feeling?
The greatest adventure of my life was my honeymoon, a blissful 156 day long-distance hiking journey that saw my new wife and I walk across 14 states along the Appalachian Trail. I think and talk about it often and probably always will. Even the best of regular life has its monotony. You sleep in the same place. You see the same things when you look out the window. The clerk you see at the supermarket rang you out last week and when you return next week, they will ring you out again. It's very possible to be extremely happy amidst all that sameness, bit it can hardly be described as an adventure. It's more like contentment.
During the time we spent walking through the mountains, every day brought things we'd never seen before. Every night we slept in a new place, whether it was a tent site, a shelter or a boisterous hostel in some trail town. Long distance hikers have only three things that are constants: the unending evaluation of their energy levels, the location of drinkable water and the decision on where to spend the night. Everything else is just the relentless magnetic pull down the trail, putting one foot in front of the other, moving toward the terminus of their journey, no matter how far distant.
The pure physicality of the journey makes for many, may opportunities for small victories. Every single time you make it to the top of a mountain, it means that you've won. Every time you wade across a river, your unbeaten streak continues. When you cross into another state, it is both a finish line and a starting line in a slow race to the next border. It doesn't take long during a through hike to achieve peak fitness. Any excess body weight melts off. There is real magic in knowing that you have earned the ability to do almost anything you desire with your physical skills. When you see day hikers along the trail, huffing and puffing as they labor towards a peak and you saunter pass them with your fully loaded backpack, knowing they are climbing but one mountain that day while you are climbing a half dozen, you can't help but appreciate the hiking machine you have become.
One of the true joys during that journey was the chance to appreciate things we take for granted during our normal lives. When you spend most nights in a sleeping bag that is growing increasingly dirty as you lay on the ground inside your tent or the hard wooden boards of a shelter floor, the chance to get a rare hotel room as you hike through a trail town is magical. Sliding between clean sheets on a soft mattress with air conditioning is to experience true luxury. Imagine living off cold poptarts, oatmeal made with creek water, unrefrigerated cheese and the other foods that make up a backpacking diet. Then, while you're making your way through the incredibly rough wilderness of southern Maine, you come to a town like Rangely and you sit down for a restaurant meal of fresh lobster. You know in your heart of hearts that nothing will ever taste that good again.
As adults without trust funds, we have worked without much of a pause since our teens. We were privileged to take a six month break from that grind because my wife sold her partnership in her business. Just the freedom to be able to live a life that isn't tied to an obligation to report to X location to do X task for eight hours a day, five days a week was a once in a lifetime opportunity. When you can live your life without having to be responsible to anyone but your partner, the days have a different flavor. People often remark that if the two of us survived teh stress of walking 2,000 miles together, then we must be destined to be together. They do not know how much truth there is to that observation. We became so in tune with each other, do defendant on each other for mental, physical and emotional support. It has lasted through the entirety of our marriage.
So there it is. That's what I long for. All of those feelings and experiences during that period of my life are precious memories. I will always have them.
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A Post Election Survival Kit, Tools to Use
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of reading mortems on why the Democrats did so poorly on November 5th. The very same people who told us the race was too close to call or that Harris/Walz were going to win nor purport to know why Trump did so well, and I'm just not putting much stake on that particular hot take. I just want to know what do and where to go now. I've assembled a small collection of links that I think are informative and motivating in the aftermath of the Republican win.
Share Me: The New Media List - Alternatives to WaPo and NYT - Oliver Willis put together a list of news sources that won't try to normalize Trump or make excuses for him. These news outlets won't tell you that everything is normal and they won't call white supremacy and fascism by more acceptable names.
Election Grief Is Real. Here’s How to Cope | Scientific American - If you weren't effected on an emotional lever by the election then WTF is wrong with you? We lost a great deal with Trump's second ascendance. The next four years are going to be some of the most challenging in American history and I for one, wasn't looking forward to a challenge. I'm getting old, and I wanted the autumn of my life to be a hopeful period. Knowing that it isn't makes me sad and this article has practical advice to that end.
AI Resume Screening Tools Biased Against Black Male Names, Study Finds - This is only tangentially related to the election. It is a reminder that all those tech CEOs who emailed their congratulations to Trump don't give AF about POC any more than George Bush did after Katrina.
OpenHistoricalMap - In case you wanted to see how the world changes over time, this is for you. It's never been a static body politic, and it never will be. We can hope against hope Ukraine still exists after Trump pulls the plug on American aid and starts covertly supporting Vladimir Putin.
Non-profit newsrooms that speak truth to power In case you need a different type of media than what is listed in the first link above, here are even more sites to get a clear understanding of issues that will only grow more important as time passes. Some of these organizations specialize in core issues of the progressive movement, like climate change and criminal justice
Why Democrats won't build their own Joe Rogan - More Americans will watch the Super Bowl in January than voted this month. The oligarchs have manufactured a society that values entertainment over information. Joe Rogan, a steroid abusing man whose claim to fame was making reality TV contestants eat out of garbage dumpsters is now one of the most influential people in America. Unfortunately that model doesn't translate to the left where our most valuable orator is a man that was editor of the Harvard Law Review and President of the United States.
Trump Has Won, but Democracy Is Not Over - The Atlantic This is not the end, beautiful friend, this is not the end. Yes, there is a different vibe now than there was eight years ago when Trump beat Clinton. People are less outwardly hostile and may seem resigned, but there is a raging storm beneath the surface. We have been beaten, but we have not been defeated,
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AMA - What Historical Figure Would Your Bring Back?
Denis asked - Here is a wand. With it, you can bring back anyone from the dead from any era, at any point of their life and for only one day. Who do you resuscitate for 24h, at what point in their life and to do what?
This is the kind of question meant for me. I love history and I am prone to spending a great deal of time pondering things that will never happen. I have contemplated what I would do with my lottery winnings for hours despite the fact that I don't buy lottery tickets. I'm bad at math but I'm not that bad at math.
After last Tuesday, I'm tempted to say that I'd be willing to bring back Lee Harvey Oswald. I'd get him a good military grade rifle, not that Italian made mail order thing he used last time. Of course, Lee loved Russia, having lived there. His wife was also Russian so it might be hard to persuade him to do the job so he might not be the best candidate for this experiment.
With what America is facing right now, I also think that bringing back Dr. King for a 24-hour marathon strategy session would be a good idea. Aside from the power he conveyed with his amazing oratorical powers, he was also an organizing genius and man who could inspire others to do hard things. He successfully led the Montgomery bus boycott and the March into Selma. He advised the people of Birmingham how to deal with Bull Connor. I think he could quickly analyze the current political situation and help the resistance, such as it is, on a plan to mitigate the damage that's going to happen over the next four years. I'm thinking though, that it might be too heart breaking to only have him for a single day. I don't know if we could stand that loss again.
As long as Paul McCartney is still alive, I'd be tempted to bring back John Lennon for a day, give him a guitar, a pen and some paper and lock the two of them in the studio at Abbey Road with a supply of strong tea and some good weed. There have been many good song writers in the rock era but no one even comes close to those two guys. I don't know if they could put together an entire album in 24 hours. I'd settle for just a couple more songs to listen to for the rest of my life.
Since this exercise has been pretty male-centric, I think I'd better also think of a few women to consider. I'd definitely want to talk to someone smarter than me, someone creative with a unique way of explaining the world. Three candidates that quickly come to mind are Dorothy Parker, Virginia Wolfe and Sylvia Plath. It would be really cool if Denis would let me cheat and bring the three of them back simultaneously. Can you imagine being in the room to hear that conversation? I wouldn't say a word. They could all be pretty scathing and I don't think I'd want to risk becoming famous for being humiliated by a memorable one-liner.
Forced to choose someone outside of the 20th century, I think I'd got with Henry David Thoreau. I love smart and eloquent people. He qualifies. I think I'd come up with a series of questions for him to pontificate upon. We'd go for a walk in the park that now exists to preserve the site of his famous cabin. I would tape everything he says and have it transcribed. It would make a best selling book and I'd happily live off the profits for the rest of my life.
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Why Don't You Try a New Browser Today?
The browsers people use to access the Internet have varied widely over the past 30 years. The scumbag billionaire. Marc Andreessen, was once a brilliant software engineer who led the way in introducing Netscape (previously known as Mosaic) to the world. The market share it garnered was north of 95%/ The next major shift was to Internet Explorer, the browser installed on all Windows machines from Windows 95 through Windows 8. It swallowed the Internet and eventually had as large a market share as Netscape ever did. Then, here came Google. It's Chrome browser is nearly ubiquitous today, despite it's many faults, primarily privacy concerns and battery drain on mobile. Many Mac users stay with the default browser on their computers, Safari, which is also native in the iPhone.
Chances are, you are probably a Chrome or Safari user unless you're a techie, in which case chances are you may be a Firefox user since it has better privacy than it's main competitions. If you have been using the same browser for a long time, I'm suggesting that you try an alternative for a few days, just in case you're missing something.
Every major browser has import options that let you bring in your bookmarks, passwords and history if you are currently using one of the major players.
Here are a few choices:
Microsoft Edge - this has been my workhorse on Windows, Mac and iOS over the past two years. It is a stable browser with a huge variety of features, most of which are easy to turn off are hid if you don't want to see them. It's based on Chrome, so the extensions available are plentiful. You can read more about why I like it here,
Firefox - this descendant of Netscape is the one of the most private of browsers and it still allows you to use the most powerful ad-blocking extensions (see uBlock Origin) which are being phased out in Chrome based browsers. For an open source alternative using the Firefox engine, try the Zen Browser
Brave - this is another browser for the security minded with built-in blocking of ads, trackers and third party cookies, which also makes it pretty fast. It has a built in version of Tor for browsing that is untraceable for all practical purposes. Based on Chrome, it has a wide variety of available extensions.
Orion - a browser developed by the private search engine, Kagi, is also privacy focused, promising zero telemetry and the ability to use either Chrome or Firefox extensions. It claims to block more ads by default than any other browser. It is 100% funded by Kagi users.
Vivaldi - this browser's claim to fame is extensive customization. You can place your browser tabs just about anywhere you want, turn on ad blocking with downloading an extension, and enjoy end-to-end encryption of your synced data. I am currently giving it a try.
I am not going to link to Arc, the favorite of many people over the past couple of years because its parent company recently announced they don't intend to update it any further and weren't all that clear on where they are headed going forward. IMHO, it's a gamble to use Arc with it's steep learning curve and radical differences to the browser paradigm right now.
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Time Machine Diaries
Ask Me Anything - Where (and when) would you go if time travel were real?
Should time travel ever be invented, I think those of us living in 2024 are going to be pretty safe from being visited from the future. No one is ever going to look at this era and think, "Man, I'll bet that was a fun time to be alive!" Nope, they're going to look at this version of America and want to stay as far away from it as possible. In fact, other than the night that Obama won the election in 2008, most of the truly memorable moments of this entire century to date have been horrible, starting with the botched election in 2000 and then 9/11 the following year. Follow that up with war and the financial crisis and year after year of Donald John Trump and you don't get a time traveler Disneyland.
If I could travel in time, I'd be content just to see of the 20th centuries greatest hits. I think I'd enjoy going to one of the monumental concerts from the decade of my birth, the 1960s. Of course, Woodstock is the first thing to pop into my mind, but it was pretty wet and muddy for a good portion of the time, so I'd probably choose the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 so I could see acts like The Animals and Simon and Garfunkel and get to watch Jimi Hendrix literally light his guitar on fire. I'd definitely go to Liverpool, England in the early 60s to watch the Beatles play at the Cavern Club before they got famous.
I would go to the March On Washington in 1963 and watch Dr. King give that speech on the very spot where the 2013 version of me later got married, right on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I'd like to go down to Mississippi after the Civil Rights Acts was passed and watch Fannie Lou Hamer vote for the first time. I'd definitely spend some time on college campuses, probably at places like Berkley and Columbia, to see the student movement in action. I'd go to the airport in San Francisco and buy beers for the GIs coming home from Vietnam. I'd verify that the right wing myth of spitting protesters is indeed a lie.
Then I'd probably get back in the time machine and go back to the 50s, just so I could go to Yankee Stadium on October 8, 1956, to see Don Larsen pitch a perfect game in the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. I'd get good seats behind home plates, and I'd be ready to watch Yogi Berra jump into Larsen's arms after the final out. There's not much else I'd want to see of the 50s, except maybe the look on Rosa Park's face when she got out of jail for not giving up that bus seat. She is one of my heroes.
Going back to the 40s, I'd attend the funeral of FDR. If ever there was a right man at the right time for a job, it was him. He guided the US through the great depression and then straight into World War Two where he assembled a staff and alliances that resulted in a victory over fascism. I know he had faults. We all do, but he was a giant and there is a lot to admire there. I'd probably listen to a couple of Churchill's speeches in the House of Commons too. I'd love to be there to hear him say "We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing-grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender!” He's another flawed guy, but he did the job when Great Britain needed him.
The 30s were pretty rough, but there were still some things worth seeing. I'd go right to the heart of Nazi Germany and the 1936 Olympic Games just to see Jesse Owens destroy the myth of Aryan superiority as he defeated the master race and won four gold medals in sprinting and the long jump. I'd laugh as Hitler rushed out of the stadium to avoid shaking his hand, and I'd smile as Owens mounted the podium to the sounds of the Star Spangled Banner playing for all the Nazis to enjoy. I'd also do whatever I had to do to find Woodie Guthrie and listen to him sing his songs, even if I had to make my way into a hobo jungle in the rail yards.
I don't know a lot about the first two decades of the last century. I think I'd like to see that total badass named Teddy Roosevelt, the day he gave a campaign speech after being shot in the chest and before going to the hospital. Furthermore, I'd like to see big Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, defend his title. If I wouldn't stand out too much, I'd go to New York City in 1919 to watch the World War One victory parade to see the Harlem Hellcats return from France. I'd also hang out at the polls to watch women come to vote after the passage of the 19th amendment.
Finally, I'd zip forward to other moments. I want to be on the White House lawn in 1974 to watch Richard Nixon get on the helicopter after resigning the presidency after members of his own party told him they would no longer support him because of his crimes, showing that people like Barry Goldwater had more morals than today's Republicans. Finally, I'd go to the Dakota apartment building on December 8, 1980, to try and stop Mark David Chapman from killing John Lennon. That would change the future, certainly, but only for the better.
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Don't Read Articles on How to Be Good at Social Media
A quick search for advice on how to post on social media will turn up plenty of listicles. Each one has a few good tips on being yourself and keeping your profile updated, but they also tend to veer into subjects like "building your personal brand," using AI to "help" you and using scheduling software to help you "maximize your engagement." I get some of that if you're marketing your lawn care service or jewelry shop on Etsy, but not if you are seeking community with fellow travelers in the 21st century.
My reasoning for engaging is social media is two-fold. I like keeping up with my family and IRL friends, which is why I am still on Facebook despite its evil influence. I also like meeting interesting and like-minded people who are into the things I enjoy, blogging, tech and furthering progressive ideas. I normally follow people back who follow me. I look at people with skewed ratios of followers as being maybe a little full of themselves sometimes, but it's not really any of my business. I like conversations and learning about folks more than meaningless Internet points.
Read stuff like this
Don't read stuff like this
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Has Someone Had a Profound Impact on You from AMA
Today's question comes from the November Indy Web Carnival - "Has someone had a profound impact on you?"
My transition from a person who viewed the world as something that just happens around us to a person who sees the world as a place that is ours to change came about under the tutelage of a unique man whose life story is unlike anyone I've ever met. I became interested in a local group formed to oppose the death penalty. Even when I was an uninformed, apolitical prison guard, I knew at a deep level that state-sanctioned killing was wrong. Even though I'm not religious and the name of the group was People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, I decided to attend. That's where I met the most revolutionary man with whom I've ever been associated, a man with the unlikely name of Chip Smith.
Chip was from Philadelphia's main line. His father had been a research scientist for a pharmaceutical company and ended up a wealthy man. Chip was nearly 70 when I met him, and he still had a trust fund left to him by his father, but he was hardly typical of that breed. In the '60s, while the war in Vietnam was raging, Chip had gone to work for the Agency for International Development in Laos, living among the American community there, rife with CIA agents and other clandestine operatives. When he returned to the United States, he fell into the radical left movement and stayed there for the rest of his life.
American communist and socialist organizations have Byzantine family trees. Groups continually split over differences in political philosophy and tactics. I can't describe every group Chip was a member of, but in 1979 he was a part of the People's Viewpoint organization, composed mostly of educated professionals who went to work alongside the working class to organize them into what would hopefully become a revolutionary movement. Despite having a doctorate in economics and that trust fund I mentioned, Chip went to work in a steel mill and became a shop steward in the union. His wife, an actual neurosurgeon by trade, went to work in a garment factory. The organizing of the People's Viewpoint organization came to a bloody end in November 1979 when a rally they organized in a Greensboro, NC housing project was attacked by the KKK in an ambush the police knew was going to happen and did nothing to stop. Five people were killed.
Chip's wife went back to work in the hospital, but Chip kept on working towards revolutionary changes in the U.S. By the late '90s, the organization he was a member of in Philly had a plan for members to move to the U.S. South to organize. Despite the bloody history that had touched their lives, Chip and his wife moved to NC. His plan was to join local progressive groups, assist them in their mission, and help them grow. He successfully mentored us into actually getting the city council of our city to endorse a death penalty moratorium in a campaign that succeeded. NC hasn't had an execution in 17 years.
When 9/11 happened and the U.S. government went to war, Chip used his extensive contacts to help the little peace group we organized do things like help military resisters, hold giant demonstrations, and direct military families towards others like them against the war.
On a personal level, he taught me so much. I learned about the history of the Palestinian people from Chip. I had no experience with organized labor or unions, being from the least unionized state in the country. Chip taught me what they've done for workers and why they are needed. Chip patiently taught me about the societal cost of white privilege. In fact, he wrote a book about it. Chip taught me about the importance of inclusion, about how as two white guys, we should work towards building organizations that valued women and people of color. I spent many, many hours riding around the state in Chip's old van, going to meetings at labor councils and organizations like Black Workers for Justice. He never talked all that much, but everyone knew him and respected him.
He wasn't just a political mentor either. When I was struggling to get sober, Chip and his wife were there for me, kind of like loving but very disapproving village elders urging me to do better. Eventually, his wife took a position in a hospital a couple of hours away, and they moved. Of course, he immediately identified the issues most pressing to the workers in that area, joined a local organization to help them out, and worked with them until he died a few years later, dedicated until the very end to making a better world with other people.
When making decisions, I often ask myself what Chip would do in my situation. He never got too bent out of shape about the news of the day, viewing the struggle for revolutionary change to be a long and slow, but constant, process. In these trying times, I do my best to emulate that thought process. I believe in my heart of hearts that people, organized together towards a common goal, have immense power. I learned that from Chip Smith.
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Coping Strategies for When You Are Feeling Down
Lots of us are feeling down and sad today for pretty good reasons. There's something to be said for feeling your feelings and processing grief, but prolonged feelings of sadness produce cortisol and are physically, not to mention mentally, bad for you. Plenty of folks can have a couple of drinks or burn one and relieve a little pressure but that isn't an alternative for the recovering community or other abstainers. I thought I'd do some public service and research a few techniques on lifting your mood. Here you go.
How to Cheer Yourself Up On a Hard Day, According to Science
What to Do When You’re Sad: 11 Tips to Feel Better
How to Cope with Losing | Psychology Today
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Stream of Lou-ishness
I tried to keep my mind occupied all day with something other than hope versus awful possibilities. Spent a great deal of time trying to turn a 30 second task into a 15 second task by automating what happens when I download pictures on my computer. I looked for a new program to test so that I could write a review. I did not have the energy or desire to get far from my desk. I did absolutely zero doomscrolling of the news. I didn't read a single article about the cloud hanging over America.
After lunch, I decided what I really wanted to do was just quit my job. I've already retired once, didn't like it so I returned to the workforce. I was looking for something to blame for my malaise today and instead of assigning that blame to existential dread, I figured it just had to be the low pressure, easy job I lucked into. Yep, that's it. I started emailing Wonder Woman all the reasons I wanted to quit. To her everlasting credit, she let me rant and didn't freak out. In the end, I didn't put in my notice, but I didn't feel better either.
I don't want to go to sleep because I'm scared of what will be on my phone when I wake up. I mean what if the worst happens? I have no idea what I will do. For a long time I thought I would just withdraw into my hobbies, delete all the news apps from my devices and become apolitical, finding some way to not feel guilty for the fifty million tons of privilege that would allow me to do that. I know better. I've been reading the news without pause since the days of Watergate. I would not know how to stop.
My entire early adulthood was taken up by 12 straight years of Reagan/Bush. The thought of my dotage being taken up by something worse is horrifying. If old, straight, white guys are feeling this way tonight, what must the politically aware POC, women and LGBT citizens of America be feeling?
Is this incoherent? I don't feel like I have the words to express my anxiety, my anger and my confusion. It's not supposed to be like this. I'm so angry at the people who encouraged this, who allowed it to happen and who stand to benefit from it. I want someone to pay.\
I'm not a control freak. Most of the time I hold my chin up and deal. Like everyone else in the world, I've survived everything that has ever happened to me. I'll survive the next week and the next four years, no matter what. Right? Right?
Someone asked me to write a blog post on whether I have faith in the future of humanity and I have been putting THAT off until after tonight because whatever happens today is really going to color my answer. That's overblown and over dramatic but it is also true. All we need is more air and water pollution and drill, baby, drill and "I'm not a scientist" types. I just want to scream profanity.
America is a mental ward tonight and there aren't any doctors available.
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Dealing With a Toxic Boss
Have you ever had to work for someone you just couldn't respect? Have you watched your colleagues leaving one by one as you trudged through hell on earth at work? Ever worked for a hypocrite? An ass-kisser? If you can answer any of these questions in the affirmative, and I can, then you know what it brings up all kinds of emotions. When you are forced into coping with what should be unacceptable behavior, it kills your self-esteem and ends up affecting all areas of your life. In hindsight, you wonder why you put up with it.
I had a boss one time who drove by my house on his way to work but wouldn't give me a ride to when I got hit by a reckless driver and totaled my car.
I had a boss who never, ever, not once worked a 40-hour work week.
I had a boss who bought 7000 laptops that were so unsuited for their purpose that they went into a dumpster a year later.
If you are in the bad boss club, take a look at some of the survival tips in these links.
8 Toxic Boss Signs and How to Deal With Them | The Muse
How to Handle a Toxic Boss | Careers | U.S. News
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AMA - What advice would you give someone graduating from high school?
The question is from Brandon - What advice would you give someone graduating from high school?
This question is a cross between what it says and what I'd like a chance to do if I were 18 all over again. It would be cool to have nearly 60 years of accumulated knowledge crammed into an 18-year old head. Let's go.
Yep, go to college
All the people out there making noise about how college isn't for everyone and that becoming a plumber or joining the army are good solid alternatives, you know the ones I'm talking about, those people are anti-education conservatives who went to college themselves and who plan on sending their children. They are trying to cover for the inability or unwillingness to make education affordable to the masses like the social democracies in Europe do—the countries that aren't sending half their tax revenues to defense contractors. People who go to college make more money, have longer life expectancies, and are happier than the people who don't go.
DO NOT JOIN THE MILITARY!!!
I am a vet and I do not hate the military, but it is not a job program, nor is it safe if you happen to be female. One out of three people who enlist do not finish their service with an honorable discharge. The usual pattern for that segment of enlistees is a general discharge for some sort of misconduct, health issues, weight issues, or incompatibility with military life. For those who don't complete their enlistment, all of the wonderful benefits described by their recruiters are no longer attainable, including the educational benefits.
Exercise and Eat Right Starting Now
Don't wait until you get out of shape to start exercising. Make going for a walk or run and going to the gym a habit starting right now. Just get used to the idea that you need 30 minutes to an hour each day to take care of your body. I'm not telling you that you can't eat pizza. I'm saying don't eat a whole pizza. Also, if you never worry about your alcohol consumption, then you are doing it right. If you do worry about it, that's a very good sign that drinking is not right for you. Weed probably isn't a better alternative. You need to get used to getting high on life.
Start Practicing Gratitude
Every day for the rest of your life, take a minute and write down three things you are grateful for. Your list doesn't have to be deep and philosophical. Did you find a good parking space today? Write that down! Did someone treat you nicely today? Write it down! Make it a habit to be continually on the lookout for things to be grateful for. It will do more for your outlook on life than anything else I can think of.
Vote Democrat
The Republican Party is a front for the top 1% of Americans on the wealth scale. They've discovered things that fire up white people and made that what they pretend to represent, but what they are really about is maintaining a system in this country where the richest people get richer and the rest of us fight over the scraps. I'm not saying that the Democrats are perfect because they are not, but they do not preach white supremacy, the subjugation of women, and the perpetuation of the war machine above all other government functions like the Republicans do.
Avoid Debt as Much as Possible
Go to a state-supported school, preferably one that has reduced tuition. Start a habit of saving money from your very first paycheck. When you want something, start saving for it instead of borrowing money. There is a huge difference between what you need and what you want. Internalize that fact and let it guide your spending habits. You may want a fancy car, but what you need is reliable transportation. You may want a big screen TV in your dorm room, but all you need is the laptop you use for school.
Miscellaneous Advice
Santa Fe, New Mexico, A Magical Place to Visit
One of my Internet friends is lucky enough to be going to New Mexico on business this week. Saturday he's heading up to Santa Fe and that makes him a lucky man. My wife and I spent a week's vacation there a while back and it was fantastic. There are so many great places to eat, hike, ride bikes and make day trips to. If you are into art, there are plenty of museums and galleries to captivate you.
Here are a few places I can recommend from personal experience.
Hikes
Chamisa Trail - in Santa Fe is a beautiful hiking trail that offers stunning views of the surrounding landscape. It is a popular destination for both locals and tourists looking to explore the outdoors. You can find more information about Chamisa Trail in Santa Fe by visiting this website: Chamisa Trail Santa Fe.
Armijo Trail - Explore this 4.7-mile loop trail near Cedar Crest, New Mexico. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 2 h 11 min to complete. This is a very popular area for hiking and horseback riding, so you'll likely encounter other people while exploring.
Restaurants
The Shed - Located in a building dating back the the 1660s - We offer locals and visitors alike a time tested taste of the best that Northern New Mexico has to offer both in cuisine and hospitality. We are a family owned and operated business now under the management of the 3rd generation of Carswells. Visitors and locals returning to Santa Fe don't feel like they have arrived in Santa Fe until they have tasted the Shed chile once again.
Bumble Bee's Baja Grill- Great vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options along with organically raised meats. "When we say the “freshest of ingredients” we mean that all our meats are freshly grilled to include a fine selection of skirt steak, natural New Mexico lamb, Mahi-mahi from off the coast of South America, farm raised shrimp, skinless chicken breasts and tender pork carnitas which are braised and slow-cooked in special spices. We also prepare whole natural chickens that are marinated with our secret recipe and roasted on an imported French rotisserie. Fresh vegetables and fruits are brought in daily to prepare the savory garnish and fillings that adorn many of the selections."
Drive
The High Road to Taos - This route takes the traveler through an authentic remnant of Old Spain, still evident in the religion, architecture, topography, history, and people along the route.
The byway travels through Chimayo, a community known for the beautiful Santuario de Chimayo and the El Posito, a hole in the floor of a side chapel filled with healing earth. Along N.M. 76, the byway follows through the creased and crinkled badlands, polka-dotted with scrubby piñon and juniper, with the Jemez Mountains enormous on the horizon.
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A Trip That Changed Me from Ask Me Anything
My Internet friend, R. Scott Jones, asked - What's one place you've traveled to (or perhaps an entire trip) that changed you? Tell us how you changed because of it, and why you think it inspired that change.
I've lived for all but a very short period of my adult life in the same southern military town where I went to high school. Most of my vacations have been to the beaches or mountains of the same state I live in. My military service took me to places like Texas and California, but never out of the United States. Then, over a period of three years during the beginning stages of the US war in Iraq, I became a traveling fool. My activism against that war took me to college campuses and demonstrations all over the US and Europe.
The way that happened was a matter of luck, politics, and maybe a tad bit of exploitation. I learned a lot about group dynamics, organizing, and the far left as it exists in the United States. I was a member of a tiny little community group in Fayetteville, NC, protesting the death penalty and other social justice issues. Then 9/11 happened, and George Bush and Co. decided to attack Iraq because 19 Saudi Arabians attacked the US. My son was in basic training in the Navy on 9/11 and was on the way to report to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower after completing Navy Nuclear Training when the first bombs fell on Baghdad. He was home on leave and went to a demonstration against the war and held a sign that said "No Blood for Oil." He was interviewed by an AP reporter. When he reported to the ship, he was brought up on charges and convicted. It was bullshit because even members of the military have free speech when they are off duty, out of uniform, and not purporting to represent the government. Thousands of GIs did it during the Vietnam War.
I was pissed about the way he was treated and told the story at a small gathering of activists I attended. In attendance was an instructor from the University of NC-Greensboro who was a member of the International Socialist Organization (ISO). He led the student group there and had ties with the national headquarters in Chicago. He approached me and asked if I would mind coming to his school to speak, and I agreed. I didn't know that I was being auditioned. When I spoke at the school, members of the national cadre were there, and they liked what I had to say and how I said it. Before I knew it, speaking invitations started pouring in. I was eager to represent Military Families Speak Out, a national organization I was trying to organize for, so I went to every place I was invited.
They asked me if I wanted to go to Paris to speak at the World Socialism Conference on an anti-war panel, and I agreed. I didn't even have a passport and had to hustle to get one. I was there for nine days. My roommate was a man named Shuja Graham, a former Black Panther given the death penalty for the death of a correctional officer in a prison riot, later exonerated, as he was not actually involved in the murder. I'm a former prison guard myself, but Shuja and I got along just fine. I met leftists from all over the world and started to see some of the nitpicking differences for which that strain of politics is known.
I didn't do much classic tourism, other than visiting Notre Dame and the Seine one afternoon. I spent much time talking politics and drinking. I went to a demonstration organized by the French League of Communist Revolutionaries and bought a Palestinian scarf from the Italian Communist Party, whom I later learned were Stalinists. My hosts, the ISO, were Trots, disciples of Leon Trotsky, an early Communist thought leader assassinated on Stalin's orders. Most of my far-left-leaning political friends back home belonged to an organization associated with Maoism.
When I returned home, I continued to speak out and travel, eventually going to Italy and Great Britain on ISO-sponsored trips. As the anti-war movement grew, some activists got lots of press, like Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who gained fame for camping out in a ditch outside of Bush's Texas ranch. Another became known for appearing in Michael Moore's movie, Fahrenheit 911. GI resistors started getting attention and invitations to speak. People organizing against the war competed to see which well-known person they could get to come to their demos. Factions developed. It was distasteful. The ISO cadre, whom I had come to look upon as my friends, suddenly wanted to dictate to me where I could and could not speak, depending on the politics of the organizers. I was outraged because I was on one team, Team Stop the War. That was my goal. I wasn't trying to grow anyone's membership or advance some nuanced understanding of far-left politics. I just wanted for kids like my son to quit being sent to die in Iraq.
Although I remained very much against US policy, I made the abrupt decision to quit traveling and speaking after making one last trip to Atlanta for an event that had nothing to do with any political group. Thereafter, I attended meetings of the same hometown organization I started with and went to our tiny demos happily. My adventures on the national and international stage were enlightening, and I got to meet a lot of military families and hopefully discourage a few young people from joining up. My adventures with the ISO, of which I must stress, I was never a member, were enlightening, if for nothing else, to see a small slice of American culture that most people never experience.
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Can Any Here Be Objective?
I am one link in a chain of military service stretching over four generations. I didn't go to war, as the period between 1983 and 1989 lacked one to send me to. They only needed a few guys for the invasions of Grenada and Panama, and I wasn't one of them. I've lived in military towns for most of my life. I'm also a committed progressive, somewhat to the left of almost everybody you probably know. I've learned over the years that no one on either side of the political spectrum has an objective view of the people who actually serve in the military. People on the right insist that they are all heroes fighting for our freedom, even the truck mechanics who spent four years in the motor pool at Ft. Hood and got out. People on the left vacillate between calling them victims of the war machine and mercenaries, depending on which ones they are talking about.
Practically the only folks who have an objective view of who soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are, are those men and women themselves. Here's what one of my friends, a former special operations soldier (Green Beret) said about himself and his fellows on why or why not military service makes you more American than other people.
They volunteered to be there, they get compensated for their time just like any other person that works any other salaried job, they have employment benefits rarely seen outside silicon valley and wall street, they travel the world, have the opportunity to pursue degrees at no cost, and the majority of their day is spent just sitting around waiting to go home. Once they leave service, if they have long-term effects from service they will be compensated for those for the rest of their life tax free, have access to healthcare for reduced cost, reduced cost life insurance, access to programs and services that allow them to build business, buy homes, and send their children to school with no money out of pocket, and will be able to tell outlandish stories with little ability to be fact checked even in our social media obsessed culture. BUT, they are more American because they do something that you feel guilty for not doing yourself. Like the garbage collectors, the police, firefighters, teachers, janitors, landscapers, painters, carpenters, roofers, plumbers, teachers, nurses, etc…
Military Life | The Point Magazine
What is something that civilians don't realize about the military and its members? - Quora
Public, Veterans Agree: Most Americans Don’t Understand Military Life | Pew Research Center
Defense Finance and Accounting Service > MilitaryMembers > payentitlements > Pay Tables
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I'm An Expert on Relationships, LOL
The November Ask Me Anything blogging challenge is going well. Today's question is once again from @annie@social.lol on Mastodon. She wants to know, "What's an important lesson you've learned about relationships?" As a happily married guy, albeit in marriage number four, I feel fully qualified to share my expertise on this one. Anyway, relationships also include friends, work, and more.
High School Sweethearts
I got married the first time to my high school sweetheart. I was 18, she was 17. We already had a baby and had another one pretty quickly to boot. Today, all four of us are doing OK. Getting an early start on children made me a young grandparent able to do plenty of stuff with my huge collection (13) of descendants. Although the marriage didn't last long (three years), it did not ruin my life in any appreciable way.
Don't Marry Someone You Meet in Rehab
I don't really need to explain this one, do I? Also, ten-year age gaps create certain realities, many of them not positive. 1/10 Would not recommend!
Even Good Relationships Can Wither
I think it's fine, healthy even, to have interests and hobbies different than those of your partner, but interests and hobbies need to take second place in a marriage. The most important thing in a marriage is the other person in it. Taking them for granted or assuming that all the hard work is in the past is unwise. That's all I have to say about that.
Good Relationships Have Requirements
It is quite possible to be true to yourself and also put your partner's needs at the top of your list. My relationship with Wonder Woman works because I have respect for her needs. I know what things are important to her, and I accept that without argument. She does the same for me. She kind of had to train me, and I had to allow myself to be trained. I don't think either one of us has extravagant demands. We have evolved into a couple that spends most of our time together. Most of what we do, we do together. I don't go running with her, but I do go to most of her races. When we are at home, we spend most of the time in the same room, often within an arm's reach of each other. We always kiss goodbye, including before work, at lunch, and before sleeping.
Work is Hit or Miss
In the job I retired from, I made several friends that outlasted my employment. A couple of them have lasted more than 20 years. We've done things socially, been to each other's houses. I've watched them get married and have kids just as they've watched my family grow. I believe in being friendly with the people I work with and finding out about their lives. I had the same boss for many, many years, and the guy was so disinterested in everyone who worked for him. He didn't know anything personal about his employees, and I just marveled at his indifference. Most work relationships don't evolve into friendships, but I think it's important to humanize my co-workers and not see them as cogs in a machine.
Organizations
I'm an outspoken and energetic person. When I'm in a group of people with a common purpose and something needs to be done, I don't mind voicing my opinion about the direction we take, nor do I mind stepping up to do the work. I don't know how to be any other way. The upside to this is lots of people appreciate you. The downside is a lot of people resent you. I don't like being resented, but what I like even less is a group of people staring at each other, waiting for someone else to make the first move.
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My Favorite Better Touch Tool Actions
Better Touch Tool, an app from Folivora.ai is one of my favorite automation apps. Here are a few of the shortcuts I use with it.
An OG Blogger Who Is Still at It
Jason Kottke began blogging in 1998. In 2005 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award (LOL). In 2024, he's still at it and still getting new subscribers. Although he is a designer by profession, he's made his living through subscriptions to his blog, ad and affiliate income since 2005. A Vermont, resident, Kottke has a world-wide audince, may of them who have followed him for many years.
In a recent discussion among the members of his website at kottke.org he wrote the following introduction, while asking his readers to also introduce themselves.
I'll go first: My name is Jason and I live in VT with my two kids. I'm struggling with the increasing darkness & cold of stick season here in VT and some early-onset empty nesting, but I'm trying to combat it by biking as much as I can before the snow flies. My son and I are watching Devs (a rewatch for me) and I'm listening to Percival Everett's James on audiobook, which is incredible so far. I can be found on Instagram, Threads, and Mastodon, but I'm enjoying Bluesky the most these days.
Kottke's blog is a mix of original writing and his comments on news and feature articles. On the blog's 25th anniversary, Om Malik, noted Silicon Valley write commented:
Kottke, the blog that curates the best of the whimsical and creative web and reflects the eclectic personality of its founder, Jason Kottke, is turning 25.
he never tried to ramp his site up to become a media empire. No venture capitalist money, no clickbait headlines, no pivot to video or other trendy media chimera
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