Posts in: Links

The original machination.org was kind of a relentless real time (as soon as I consumed something and gave it some sort of credence in my mind) link log. The post yesterday was a more emblematic of a later stage, a slightly more sanely paced round-up. Thought about doing it again today. No. I’ve got other stuff I need to do. I was pushing through being sick and hanging the noose of the world’s news as seen by me around my neck isn’t going to help. Maybe intermittent long links, Tim Bray style. The things that stick with me and why and how, that don’t seem too redundant to what has stuck in the zeitgeist. If I can keep a good habit.

But what a wild headline ride this last day, huh? Definitely worth getting off and stepping back for a moment, at least.

What a horrible habit, reading the news

This is a sample of headlines from the past day. This is what the initial version of Machination.org looked like during President George W. Bush’s term. The tagline was “devices of trade and war.” It gained some traction among a subset of other like-driven link loggers during those early days. Eventually I couldn’t keep up with the pace I had set and didn’t foresee (or desire) how to monetize this habit.

Continue reading →

Gardens vs. giveaways

So much more vision than in D.C. A relatively low-effort, certainly less expensive, high-impact community-centric and green way to re-use a stadium site. Certainly better than what D.C. is actually going for now. Moot now, anyway, as the old RFK stadium was being taken down before the options going forward were finalized and the Commanders deal reached. There was an option for the site without a publicly subsidized NFL stadium.

Continue reading →

The best way we can honor service members is to send the National Guard home

There isn’t an obvious public link to this specific message, sent out on Free DC’s list, though their site has plenty of their digital campaign materials about this and other issues they advocate for. I thought it was excellent though. Once again, I think of my passed grandfather, Battle of the Bulge veteran, Republican, who I know would find this use of the military offensive. I’ve reproduced the core of the email I received, including their emphasis and links (minus ActionNetwork’s redirects):

Continue reading →

Dick Cheney’s death should be a reminder that we must fix the process of politics whatever content we would advocate for. Cheney is, as much as anyone else, the godfather of Donald Trump. As Jonah Goldberg put it, Trump is kind of his “Frankenstein’s Monster.”

Am I missing something good?

Having taken a break from certain social media platforms in recent years, I might be missing the valuable content amidst the trolling, spam, and slop I imagine having to continued to fester. However, I don’t feel compelled to give any fucks on the news about Sora 2, except those which I give for all of generative AI (some of which I use): concern for its energy consumption, as a source of societal and civic distraction, and potential to cause confusion. Is there truly any art or communication being created with it or similar tools that was impossible or significantly more valuable than before its existence?

Continue reading →

¡Presente!

Jane Goodall … dies at 91 Hope is "the dogged determination to do what is in our power to make the better future we wish for actually happen,” says Jane Goodall. … not “wishful thinking”.

Continue reading →

Bruce Schneier on Digital Threat Modeling Under Authoritarianism

Bruce Schneier lays it out pretty broadly that regular Americans really should be thinking of their personal threat model as living under authoritarianism. It might be uncomfortable to think about. I remember in the past, it was a bit of a no-go to even bring up whether we saw our government as a potential threat in our threat model at a past job. And getting an answer? Well, that was even less fun, given the sensitivity of certain data and the tension of priorities.

Continue reading →