I would like to recommend this post to you from No One’s Happy , as well as the blog in general. The writer is really superb at making topics like these crystal clear. In 2026, with reducing regulations, rampant collusion, lack of competition, and direct evidence (the pandemic) that corporations can gouge consumers without concern, we are in a dire circumstance that has caused goods to…
I have been having a lot of contradictory thoughts about blogging lately. Rather than let them fester in my brain, I am going to throw them all here into an incoherent post. Take from it what you will. I don’t have a brand to sell anymore. I mean I really think I never did in the first place. I recall for a time trying to establish a brand, but I was never completely interested in doing so.…
“If God wanted us to have unlimited free energy He would have put a giant fusion reactor in the sky.” - Nashadka Jr., Youtube commenter.
Wall Street Wants Another Half Trillion Dollars for the A.I. Boom . Can I be the only one who finds this obscenely depraved and disgusting? $500 billion for A.I., and not one cent to improve health care, house the homeless, feed the hungry, cloth the naked, create more solar power, reverse climate change, or in any other way relieve the sufferings of humanity. These people are insatiable.
“Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity” ~ Albert Einstein
“When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental - men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the…
The AI Bubble from the website No One’s Happy . This is not an essay for or against AI. It is an article explaining the financial underpinnings of AI and who’s going to pay the bill in the long run (spoiler - it’s not the AI companies). The opening salvo: The capital expenditure being committed is not priced for a technology that is useful. It is priced for a technology that is…
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” - Harry S. Truman It’s also amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who or what gets harmed.
My 2026-27 phone book came yesterday. Things have changed.
Notes from the Aisle Seat Episode 5A.03 - The “Mini03” Edition
It is a damn beautiful day, so I took the opportunity to take out the Kymco 300i and ride to the NY-PA border. While I do like to wander, occasionally having a destination gives a ride some structure. While searching on the map for a suitable destination, I came across a point of interest entitled Westernmost Point in NY State. That seemed legit, so I set my sights on that. After pumping some air…
I’m not a very good photographer, but if you don’t take pictures, I guess you don’t learn how to take pictures. This one is from this morning’s walk.
Poker night with distinguished emeriti. Won $5.
This looks like a quest worthy of @rscottjones .
If your privacy means anything to you, then you should never use a company’s app . Seriously. Always use a web site, even on a phone, whenever possible. There are virtually no restrictions in the United States on buying, selling, or weaponizing this kind of data. There is no comprehensive federal privacy law. And there isn’t likely to be one soon. The best we can do is minimize the data we…
I took a trip yesterday to an audiologist to have my hearing checked, but mostly to upgrade my hearing aids. I am beginning to wonder if this was a mistake. Not because I don’t need hearing aids; I do. My hearing is pretty bad at the higher frequency levels. I already knew that. What I really wanted to do was upgrade the technology in my hearing aids. Specifically, I wanted some Bluetooth…
It’s Sweet Corn Season, MFers!
Can’t really make a judgement yet on the Yankees trades this deadline day. Two platoon players, but then everything in baseball today is about platooning. I’ll say one thing - this is not a contact team. It’s built on slug. They’re proving that tonight.
It’s Trade Deadline Day for MLB. Keeping up with things to find out how it may affect my rotisserie roster. But a new rule change for my league makes it a little less imperative.
Watched the inaugural game of the Womens Professional Baseball League last night. The game was played under some of the worst conditions I’ve ever seen for a ballgame. The LA Queens came back in the 7th (last) inning to win 10-8 over the NY Heights. Great job, ladies!
Nothing makes me feel more like l’ve shed a role than shedding my hair and beard.
Here’s the issue: On June 1, 1970, the NY Times raised the price of its daily newspaper to $0.15 (~$50/yr). In it, I could get a wide collection of some of the best writers around. Today, a subscription to one single writer on Substack costs $50-60 a year. If you respect paying writers, you are getting far less for your money these days than you used to.
The Impending, Inescapable Deluge of A.I. . Just looking at the map is mind-boggling. Gift link NY Times.
“Old actors never retire; they just fade away.” That’s a play on the phrase made famous by Douglas MacArthur in his farewell address to Congress in April 1951. The truth of that phrase lies in the reality that acting is, technically speaking, something that a person can do pretty much until they’re completely physically unable. When James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson…
On the horrid practice of surveillance pricing - Cory Doctorow
The Data Center Backlash is Working . David Karpf newsletter.
Whenever I have mentioned to people that I am retiring from active participation in the theatre, the response is always the same: a laugh, and a retort along the lines of “Oh, I’ve heard THAT before” combined with “you’ll never stop doing theatre.” I understand their response, because to some degree, this has been true. Since retiring in April 2017, I have done…