Robert

Just started using the Duck Duck Go browser and it's quite nice. The distraction free YouTube "Duck Player" makes a real difference in the viewing experience. VPN + access to premium LLM models for $10 is a good deal.

Plus privacy, of course.

A mural of a classical statue of a woman opening up the brick facade of a building.

Back to campus after a couple of months being totally remote.

Regime Change in Iran Will Fail | The LiberatorCH

My son touched on this in a piece he wrote for UNC's The Liberator.

www.liberatorch.com/posts/regime...

Regime Change in Iran Will Fail | The LiberatorCH

My son has a piece in UNC's The Liberator about American military intervention in Iran.

www.liberatorch.com/posts/regime...

Treasure Hoard - March 2026 It takes religion to make Star Trek, Anthropic vs. the Department of War, James Talarico's Christianity, the iPod comeback, retreating to the woods, etc.

The March edition of Treasure Hoard just launched!

www.canneddragons.net/treasure-hoa...

In other words, you have to do both to really have a complete regimen?

“O Tempo (Foi O Meu Mestre)” by Fabiano Do Nascimento and The Vittor Santos Orchestra - Opus The Brazilian guitarist taps into an air of saudade for this spirited song about the passage of time.

Fabiano Do Nascimento’s delightful new LP is out now on Far Out Recordings. Here’s my review of the album’s nostalgia-laced first single.

Wow, that's quite a story. I think the hardest thing is to hold on to those insights we gain in these situations when we get back to the indignities of daily life.

Going To Pot Last weekend, my wife and I took a much-needed short vacation to Asheville, NC, in the Great Smoky Mountains. The mountains weren't all that was smoky, though. Marijuana dispensaries were to be found almost every three shops or so downtown. Quite a few people were "taking the pot." The smell wafted here and there in a triumph over the vanquished cigarette smoke that you used to smell on city streets. During our stay in the mountain city, the New York Times published an opinion piece admitting mistakes in their almost unqualified support for marijuana legalization. > It is now clear that many of these predictions were wrong. Legalization has led to much more use. Surveys suggest that about 18 million people in the United States have used marijuana almost daily (or about five times a week) in recent years. That was up from around six million in 2012 and less than one million in 1992. More Americans now use marijuana daily than alcohol. Asheville has an epidemic of unhoused people. Most of them are using harder stuff than Mary Jane. My niece who lives in the area refers to them as "tweakers." Despite a noticeable lack of law enforcement, we rarely felt unsafe in downtown Asheville. However, at one point we crossed the street to avoid a man standing on the corner, pants down around his knees, punching and kicking the air, occasionally accompanying the blows to his imaginary opponent with shouts. After dinner, we came back the same way, the same man was on the same corner, and had only ratcheted up his aggression, screaming at passer-by's. We followed close to a group of women, and just as we were entering his vicinity, another man who also looked unhoused just about tackled him. As the new arrival restrained the man, he yelled at the one who was acting out, "I know who you are. This isn't you. You need to tighten the f*ck up." As I walked by, I made eye contact with the original man from the corner, and his eyes were wild. I realized I had given him a couple of bucks earlier in the day. It's cliché to say that progressive city governance tends to allow downtowns to get to this state, and there's probably some truth to that. I can't pretend that homelessness and drug addiction are easy problems to solve, but they certainly seem to be worse in some cities than others. I pray that local government can find humane and appropriate ways to deal with these issues. Our trip to Asheville was mostly very pleasant. It included visiting two museums, one dedicated to pinball and the other to Bob Moog, pioneer of portable electronic music composition systems (AKA synthesizers). We took in the various works of art for sale in the quaint shops and larger emporiums. It was joyous to see my niece, soon to be a mother, and meet her boyfriend. Pics can be found here.

Last weekend, my wife and I took a much-needed short vacation to Asheville, NC, in the Great Smoky Mountains. The mountains weren't all that was smoky, though. Marijuana dispensaries were to be found almost every three shops or so downtown. Quite a few people were "taking the pot." The smell […]

Sorry for your loss.

I'm calling this mustache that has taken residence on my upper lip "The Halstead."

LinkedIn is recommending that I follow Snoop Dogg. I'm done.

No One Is Lost No One Is Lost by Stars My wife and I have long been devoted to music from the band Stars. It’s hard to pick a favorite album, but I especially treasure a few of the songs on _No One Is Lost_. The 2014 album was recorded in a studio the band built above a gay discotheque and seems to have absorbed some of the dance vibes, if not the sexuality, through the floorboards. Stars doesn't spring the title track on their listeners until the very end of the album, but it’s a massive banger to bring things to a close. It’s hard to find danceable songs with such a sober sense of the finite nature of our existence. As singer Torquil Campbell repeats “Put your hands up ‘cause everybody dies,” one gets the sense that this is an expression of momento mori and the modern equivalent of the ancient Roman practice of having someone follow your victory chariot exhorting you to “remember your death.” If this sounds too morbid, Campbell and co-vocalist Amy Milan also repeat, “Until then, that will listen, no one is lost.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think this was akin to the Christian belief that until the end, one always has a chance to repent.

No One Is Lost by Stars

My wife and I have long been devoted to music from the band Stars. It’s hard to pick a favorite album, but I especially treasure a few of the songs on No One Is Lost. The 2014 album was recorded in a studio the band built above a gay discotheque and seems to have […]

Sir Didymus!

I feel like I'm getting mixed signals here with respect to challenging exercise.

"Keep yourself entertained"

Jonah helping me compute.

#caturday

I have a friend for whom this will be perfect as a Christmas gift.

I'm Offering Scott Alexander a Wager About AI's Effects Over the Next Three Years because that's the only way to get anybody to take skepticism seriously anymore

Freddie DeBoer makes many good points in his article about AI speculation, but it feels incomplete in that it focuses on the discussion rather than the actual capabilities of AI.

https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/im-offering-scott-alexander-a-wager

"One for the road, Rodney."

Amen

I know we are all tired of hearing about AI. However, working on an AI-powered feature and reading such different takes on the future of work inspired me to write a bit about it.

(Free) Login required.

#AI #tech

Seamonsters by The Wedding Present on Album Whale Seamonsters by The Wedding Present on AlbumWhale

Excited to be able to see The Wedding Present play Seamonsters in its entirety in a few months.

albumwhale.com/albums/23620

Way You Walk I saw Papas Fritas play during their run in the nineties at a club called Go Studios that straddled the border between Chapel Hill and Carrboro. They were an energetic live band and most impressively,...

Tonight's Saturday Night Video is a consummate nineties indie pop track.

www.canneddragons.net/way-you-walk/

It's a good way to buy vinyl because you get lossless or hi-res files with the purchase. Cassettes rarely cost much more than the digital files alone, so you get a physical artifact with the purchase, which is cool.

Great album but I always wonder why the packaging for Sub Pop CDs is abnormally large. They don't fit in my sleeves or my storage.

Today I looked at Vertigo Days by The Notwist on Bandcamp. $48 for the CD.

Exactly

@opus.ing I love CDs, but the last 3 new ones I looked at buying were between $30-$40 with shipping.

Happy Velocity Girl Simpatico remaster release day to all those who celebrate.