Bubbles
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There is a particular comfort in citing Goodhart's Law. Someone proposes a metric. Someone else recites the line about measures and targets. Everybody nods at the wisdom of it. Then the metric ships on Monday with a bonus attached, and...
This week’s theme: Continuing the celebration of the third anniversary of Jazz Collector Live and Jazz Collector Radio. Featured artists include John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, Arthur Taylor, Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard,...
Sometimes when I see a plane flying overhead, I’m thankful I’m not on it. That I can stretch out, that I’m comfortable, and that isn’t me. This is not one of those times. I’m sitting on the runway waiting for th first of two flights...
David Bushell, after battling with a contact form for years, just said screw it and now just publishes an email address on his contact page. Kind of a zero-tech solution to allow someone visiting a webpage to send a message. Just… use...
Back in the early/mid-1990s I’d been working on the IT (then IS) Help Desk at Boots the Chemist, supporting store’s POS (Point of Sale) systems. After a few years, my existing development chops were recognised and I was moved away to a...
🍕 I’m JA Westenberg. I write essays about technology, philosophy, productivity, and what it means to be human. If you like ideas that take their time, you’re in the right place.A reminder: annual members get a free digital copy of my...
Peter shared a couple of examples of AI intruding into his life in a malicious way in his post, The Weekend AI Came for Us. I've had a few of my own, but this is perhaps the most notable of late.For almost 5 years we have been producing...
[It is estimated] that $35 billion is being thrown away, around the world, in the form of poorly chosen Christmas gifts BBC’s 50 Things That Made The Modern Economy – Santa Claus, December 17th 2018 For a number of years now, I’ve asked...
and not go back to sleep
In my posting, "Entitlement", I described a guy who treated me with nothing but dehumanized contempt while expecting me to lavish kindness on him (ironically missing the kindness I actually lavished on him because it didn't match the...
North Berwick on Portra 400
FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS: Country Music Legend and Actress Dolly Parton Dead at 80.
I continue to check my little dashboard of #SanFrancisco COVID numbers each morning to decide whether to get coffee at an indoor coffee shop or a pushchart. You might remember that I track three stats. I blog about it when some stat...
Why do lightning bugs light up? Why do birds sing? Why do humans wear makeup and workout? It’s in every species’ nature to try and be as appealing as possible. As authors Anand Gandhi and Zain Memon will tell you in the Big Idea for...