I'm a citizen of Lexington, Kentucky, the United States, the world, and the digital sphere. Politically, I care about equality (and changing structures to support it), elections (that is, making them more fair and representative), and electronics (or, rather, their impact on society).
I am a believing agnostic in Community of Christ with a (mostly) cherished past as a (mostly) literalist Mormon.
You can subscribe to this content through this RSS feed or this Mastodon account.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'KY lawmakers advance data center tax incentives to woo tech giants | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Amazon already has too big a footprint here. Don’t feel great about this. link to ‘KY lawmakers advance data center tax incentives to woo tech giants | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Fox News Hosts Keep Taking Putin’s Side in the War on Ukraine'
- kudos:Putin has outwitted every U.S. President since W, not necessarily because he’s smarter, but because he doesn’t operate with the same constraints U.S. presidents do. To blame this on Biden is moronic. We obviously shouldn’t let this episode of the culture war overshadow the more important crisis happening in Ukraine itself, but this appropriation of the crisis really worries me in the context of U.S. politics. These stances are largely indefensible.
- kudos:
Remembering the time that the only person at church who understood my dissertation research was the one who worked for the state of Michigan doing social media surveillance of social justice movements.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Trump Thinks Putin Is a ‘Genius’ for Invading Ukraine'
- kudos:There is no denying that Putin is smart and strategic, but expressing awe instead of concern is typically Trump in its idiocy. link to ‘Trump Thinks Putin Is a ‘Genius’ for Invading Ukraine’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'QAnon Isn’t Dead, It’s Growing'
- kudos:Worrying stuff here. Right-wing media consumption appears to be the big predictor for QAnon beliefs. link to ‘QAnon Isn’t Dead, It’s Growing’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Peloton Outage Prevents Customers From Using $2,500 Exercise Bikes | Techdirt'
- kudos:Happy that my much cheaper bike does not rely on servers to function properly. link to ‘Peloton Outage Prevents Customers From Using $2,500 Exercise Bikes | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Texas Is Going to Start Investigating Parents of Trans Kids for Child Abuse'
- kudos:Kentucky has taken some bad steps in this direction lately, but this is horrific. link to ‘Texas Is Going to Start Investigating Parents of Trans Kids for Child Abuse’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Internet Is Debunking Russian War Propaganda in Real Time'
- kudos:Bellingcat does good work. It gives me hope to see people using the internet to fight back against disinformation spread by the internet, but I’m also glad the article touches on the dangers involved. link to ‘The Internet Is Debunking Russian War Propaganda in Real Time’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'This Is the ‘Hacking’ Investigation Into Journalist Who Clicked ‘View Source’ on Government Website'
- kudos:The students in my fundamentals of computers class have repeatedly heard me bring up this story to explain that technology is never just technical. link to ‘This Is the ‘Hacking’ Investigation Into Journalist Who Clicked ‘View Source’ on Government Website’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Comedian Bill Bailey reimagines the Doctor Who theme as Belgian jazz | Boing Boing'
- kudos:This has been around long enough that I used to show it to my FREN 102 students, but very glad to see it cross my radar again via Boing Boing. The whole show is fantastic, but this bet might be the best. Great, nerdy deployment of mostly-right French. [link to ‘Comedian Bill Bailey reimagines the Doctor Who theme as Belgian jazz | Boing Boing’](https://boingboing.net/2022/02/22/comedian-bill-bailey-reimagines-the-doctor-who-theme-as-belgian-jazz.html?utm_source=rss
- kudos:
City council member responded to my concerned email by basically telling me I should have spoken up before the vote happened. Feels harsh but fair—want to do better about showing up and speaking up.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'QAnon Celebrity Ron Watkins Wrote a Terrible Poem to ‘Prove’ He’s Not Q'
- kudos:Can we please refrain from electing the alleged Q to Congress? link to ‘QAnon Celebrity Ron Watkins Wrote a Terrible Poem to ‘Prove’ He’s Not Q’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'The Long Crusade of Clarence and Ginni Thomas - The New York Times'
- kudos:A long but important read. link to ‘The Long Crusade of Clarence and Ginni Thomas - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Russia's ‘Idiotic’ Disinformation Campaign Could Still Lead to War in Ukraine'
- kudos:This is terrifying on so many levels. Besides the possibility of war, the thing I’m most spooked by is the sheer cynicism of Russian efforts here. It doesn’t matter how bad the disinformation is if you can count on enough people to believe it. Trumpian, but turned up to 14. link to ‘Russia’s ‘Idiotic’ Disinformation Campaign Could Still Lead to War in Ukraine’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Please Delete Your Recordings: Inside a Police Conference'
- kudos:Lexington just installed plate readers on a trial basis, so this hits particularly hard right now. It’s scary and it needs to stop. link to ‘Please Delete Your Recordings: Inside a Police Conference’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'This journalist’s Otter.ai scare is a reminder that cloud transcription isn’t completely private - The Verge'
- kudos:Doing transcription yourself sucks. It’s long and tedious, and the final product never feels worth all the effort you put into it. For all that, though, this is exactly why services like Otter have never sat well with me. link to ‘This journalist’s Otter.ai scare is a reminder that cloud transcription isn’t completely private - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Talking to Art Spiegelman As the Latest ‘Maus’ Fight Erupts'
- kudos:Quite enjoyed this read. Appreciated Spiegelman’s take that Maus got pushback because there’s not a satisfying ending. It’s true of Maus, but maybe that’s a feature, not a bug. Hat tip to Boing Boing for pointing me to this. link to ‘Talking to Art Spiegelman As the Latest ‘Maus’ Fight Erupts’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported - IEEE Spectrum'
- kudos:This story is so, so much to take in. I saw it from the Massachusetts Pirate Party with a comment about implants needing to be open sourced. I agree, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. link to ‘Their Bionic Eyes Are Now Obsolete and Unsupported - IEEE Spectrum’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Ky. Republicans advance another bill banning trans girls from girls sports – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville'
- kudos:Disappointed to see more legislation like this under consideration. link to ‘Ky. Republicans advance another bill banning trans girls from girls sports – 89.3 WFPL News Louisville’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Proposed tax break for private airplanes stalls in KY House | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Glad to hear this—and glad my state rep seems to me a voice of reason here. link to ‘Proposed tax break for private airplanes stalls in KY House | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'What does it cost Lexington KY drivers to wait in traffic? | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Yes for more transportation funding, but not if it’s all going to cars. link to ‘What does it cost Lexington KY drivers to wait in traffic? | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Missouri's Governor Still Insists Reporter Is A Hacker, Even As Prosecutors Decline To Press Charges | Techdirt'
- kudos:This continues to be a dumb and worrying story. link to ‘Missouri’s Governor Still Insists Reporter Is A Hacker, Even As Prosecutors Decline To Press Charges | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Parents say daughters humiliated over Scott school dress code | Lexington Herald Leader'
- kudos:Why are dress codes so often so gross? link to ‘Parents say daughters humiliated over Scott school dress code | Lexington Herald Leader’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Declassified Documents Shows The CIA Is Using A 1981 Executive Order To Engage In Domestic Surveillance | Techdirt'
- kudos:Surveillance is a bigger problem than we think. link to ‘Declassified Documents Shows The CIA Is Using A 1981 Executive Order To Engage In Domestic Surveillance | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'We Need Answers About the CIA’s Mass Surveillance | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
- kudos:This is unjustifiable. link to ‘We Need Answers About the CIA’s Mass Surveillance | Electronic Frontier Foundation’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Cop Trainer Encouraging Cops To Run Facial Recognition Searches On People During Traffic Stops | Techdirt'
- kudos:Ugh ugh ugh. link to ‘Cop Trainer Encouraging Cops To Run Facial Recognition Searches On People During Traffic Stops | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Penguin Random House Demands Removal Of Maus From Digital Library Because The Book Is Popular Again | Techdirt'
- kudos:The first line is a powerful one. Libraries ought to be a constant reference point (and beneficiary) when liberalizing IP. link to ‘Penguin Random House Demands Removal Of Maus From Digital Library Because The Book Is Popular Again | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Tech Leaders Justify Project To Create Army Of AI-Controlled Bulletproof Grizzly Bears As Inevitable Part Of Progress'
- kudos:But is it ed tech? link to ‘Tech Leaders Justify Project To Create Army Of AI-Controlled Bulletproof Grizzly Bears As Inevitable Part Of Progress’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'How the Open App Markets Act wants to remake app stores - The Verge'
- kudos:This would really change things up! link to ‘How the Open App Markets Act wants to remake app stores - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Why Grammarly’s suggestions around writing about slavery miss the mark.'
- kudos:I am just now learning about this and am glad for the article, but I’m not sure it hits all the deeper issues here. link to ‘Why Grammarly’s suggestions around writing about slavery miss the mark.’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'All Options Are Not on the Table as Biden Moves Troops Closer to Ukraine - The New York Times'
- kudos:This whole situation sucks. link to ‘All Options Are Not on the Table as Biden Moves Troops Closer to Ukraine - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Ukraine Gave Up Nuclear Weapons 30 Years Ago. Today There Are Regrets. - The New York Times'
- kudos:I strongly believe in nuclear disarmament, but it’s still hard not to have some sympathy for this point of view. link to ‘Ukraine Gave Up Nuclear Weapons 30 Years Ago. Today There Are Regrets. - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'House Votes For COMPETES Act, Even With Its Problems, Almost Entirely On Party Lines | Techdirt'
- kudos:This is why I want a U.S. Pirate Party link to ‘House Votes For COMPETES Act, Even With Its Problems, Almost Entirely On Party Lines | Techdirt’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse’ - The New York Times'
- kudos:Some of the scariest news I’ve read this week. link to ‘G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse’ - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'Air Force Taps Clearview AI to Research Face-Identifying A.R. Glasses - The New York Times'
- kudos:Who thought this was a good idea??? link to ‘Air Force Taps Clearview AI to Research Face-Identifying A.R. Glasses - The New York Times’
🔗 linkblog: just finished 'SHOP SAFE Will Stomp Out Online Sales of Used and Homemade Goods | Electronic Frontier Foundation'
- kudos:Intellectual property is important, but overreach is a real problem. We should be liberalizing IP, not cracking down on it. link to ‘SHOP SAFE Will Stomp Out Online Sales of Used and Homemade Goods | Electronic Frontier Foundation’