Here’s a short, ongoing list of heartening responses and initiatives around COVID-19 that I’ve seen so far, in no particular order: Techies in NYC and elsewhere working hard and combining resources to put together mesh networks allowing families without internet at home to access it, as long as they have a device capable. Yo-Yo Ma…
Category: Quick Hit
Quick Hit: The Wrongness of 1984 Comparisons
In the midst of Trump not only lying to try to conceal a mistaken tweet about the hurricane forecast but NOAA issuing directives against weather scientists talking about the actual, for-real forecast and contradicting him the comparisons have intensified to George Orwell’s novel 1984 and in particular the hold that The Party insisted upon about…
Quick Hit: Voice Assistant Moral Panic
It’s an incredibly weird day when I find myself defending Google, or voice assistants, but here we are. I’ve seen it mentioned in several places that a Google Voice Assistant contractor is “blowing the whistle” on inadvertent recordings made by google devices. I want to note first that I have a very good friend, whom…
Quick Hit: Flight Hour Cost
A reminder: Trump misappropriated military funds meant to more safely house our troops to spend on his border wall instead. Meanwhile Trump’s July 4 parade for himself featured 2 Abrams battle tanks, a B-2 stealth bomber, 2 F-35Cs, 2 Super Hornet F-18s, 4 Apache helicopters, 2 F-22 Raptors, H-60 and H-65 helos, the BlueAngels &…