Apr 7, 2017Mastodon: A Different Way to Think About Social MediaHey, have you heard about Mastodon, the Hot New Twitter Alternative that All The Kids Are Using™! …Social Media4 min readSocial Media4 min read
Jan 24, 2017Winding DownIt’s no fun anymore. I got into blogging because I had a lot to say, and it was fun to put words on the internet. It was also fun to make the sites to put words on the internet. When I graduated High School, I asked my parents for one…3 min read3 min read
Jan 4, 2017Star Trek, Cyberpunk, Douglas Adams, and Our Technology FutureThis tweet has been circulating for a few years, but it remains relevant to technology discussion today, if not moreso. Unlike so many people I follow online, I never came up on Cyberpunk. When it comes to Sci-Fi, I grew up on Star Trek — specifically The Next Generation…Star Trek3 min readStar Trek3 min read
Dec 14, 2016Fighting An Elephant With A ThumbtackEven before the election, I was angry at the tech industry for all the usual reasons. Here’s a short sampling of them: Twitter’s general disinterest in their ongoing harassment problem Data-hungry companies you can’t escape from The same companies and their lackadaisical stance on encryption The loss of ownership in…Poltics3 min readPoltics3 min read
Dec 8, 2016Your Privacy is Worth More than what Tech is SellingI’ve had debates online about the theory Apple needs to weaken their stance on privacy if they want to be a leader in consumer AI products. My stance on this is simple: no. If anything, Apple should strengthen their stance on user privacy, both as good practice and as a…Amazon5 min readAmazon5 min read
Dec 5, 2016The Great Medium ExperimentI’ve been running an experiment with my last few longer-form pieces of crossposting them to Medium. I’ve done it on the occasional, ad-hoc basis when I write something that I feel needs to reach an audience outside of my circle. This includes the expanded, and revised version of “A View…2 min read2 min read
Dec 1, 2016“Watch the Failson:” How the Internet is Radicalizing the Alt-RightIn the wake of the election, I took some time to read a few pieces of conservative commentary, and came across an interesting essay by Rod Dreher in The American Conservative comparing modern America to Weimar Germany. I’m don’t agree with all of Dreher’s points, especially as a queer atheist…4chan5 min read4chan5 min read
Nov 17, 2016Fear of DataA while ago, I came across an interesting opinion piece on Lifelogging, and how interest is waning as people move towards more “forgetful” services like Snapchat. It’s certainly something I’ve thought a lot about, both in terms of the data I create, and who has access to it. It requires…6 min read6 min read
Nov 15, 2016Dismayed Democrats, Don’t Switch Parties, Fix the One You Have. Here’s WhyIt sucks to be a Democrat right now. Make no mistake, this past Presidential election was ours to lose, and lose it we did. Under the circumstances, any left-leaning person who wants to jump ship and join a third party, well, I feel you. I’ve been a Democrat my entire…Democrats6 min readDemocrats6 min read
Jun 23, 2016The Unbearable Difficulty of Opting-OutA couple of years ago, in a fit of pique and a desire to clean up my data trails, I nuked my LinkedIn account. I wasn’t using it, I never liked the company, and it felt like another leech on my mind. I had recently started a new job after…Social Media3 min readSocial Media3 min read
