shep, but online

I recently learned a lesson in kindness. It was an obvious lesson that I’ve learned a million times, but a reminder is always welcome and often needed. To give some backstory, I live in a condominium complex that has several elderly residents. I also work from home and have a dog. A quick walk around the complex and through the courtyard is always a nice break in the day. It gives me fresh air, lets my dog Spike expel some energy, and allows me to clear my head. I can’t tell you how many times a quick walk outside had completely changed my mood.

Over the last several years, I’ve learned to time my walks to avoid certain neighbors. I want to point out, I have no issues with my neighbors, there’s just some I prefer to talk to more than others. In the case of taking walks during the work day, I try to avoid being away from my desk for long periods of time, so it becomes necessary to avoid some of the more talkative neighbors. Jim was one of those neighbors.

I don’t know much about Jim, other than he was older, had cancer in his legs, lived alone, and loved dogs and old signs. His condo was covered with old garage-style signs. Every time he’d see me walking by he’d stop me to follow him back to his place so he could give Spike treats. It got to the point where if we were walking next to Jim’s building, Spike would look towards his door to see if maybe it was a treat day. Every time we’d visit, he’d ask if Spike remembered him.

There were some days where I didn’t have time to stop and talk to Jim. On those days, if I saw him out and he did not see me, I would purposely change my route to avoid him. I was never mean or rude to him, I just felt it would be easier to avoid him than tell him I didn’t have time for him that day, and there were many days where I’d be booked in meetings all day and the 10 minute breaks were all I had.

A couple of weeks go by with no sight of Jim. That’s not totally abnormal, but still sat in the back of my mind. Fast forward to this week. When talking to a neighbor, I jokingly (trust me, I regret this) said that I was going to take Spike for a walk and hoped that Jim wasn’t out so I could get back in time for the Blues game to start. That’s when I found out Jim died. That’s why he hadn’t been around in a couple of weeks.

All this week I’ve been feeling the guilt of those times I avoided Jim on my walks. Why did I have to avoid him? Couldn’t I have shown just a little more kindness and stopped by whenever he was out instead of avoiding him? He just wanted someone to talk to. Someone to remember him. Isn’t that what we all want? I’m sorry, Jim. Thank you for the reminder to do better.

To me that says it all about the journey I’ve been on as a Cardinal.

I started as this young guy who got sent home … because he just wasn’t ready.

Then I became a World Series champ … good arm, pitched well, barely knew a thing.

Then I became a champ again … but so much had changed from the time before. This time, I couldn’t use my arm to help the team — I couldn’t pitch at all. But I’d grown mature enough to help in other ways. For that second ring, I was ready. Ready to see the game outside of myself. Ready to be there for my teammates, like my teammates were for me. Source: Dear St. Louis by Adam Wainwright | The Players’ Tribune

It truly is the end of an era for the Cardinals. What a career Waino had and I’m happy he chose to make St. Louis his home for his career. Can’t wait to see (or hear) what he does next. I have no doubt he’ll be in a broadcast booth full time if he wants it.

I have a 2015 Macbook Pro that I wasn’t doing anything with and it’s no longer supported by Apple. I decided, since it is “the year of Linux on the desktop”, I’d experiment with Linux again.

One of my biggest problems with Linux over the years (back when I was still a PC person) was trying to get hardware to work with it and the UX is typically an afterthought. In the years since I first experimented with Linux, things have changed drastically. Hardware support, even for Apple hardware, has improved over the years. The UX, especially for my chosen distro, Linux Mint, has drastically improved as well.

So I’m basically a week into using Linux Mint on my Macbook Pro. I did take a brief detour with both Ubuntu and Pop_OS, but found them to run into the same performance issues and issues with waking my Macbook from sleep. Nothing I found online helped, so I quickly went back to Mint, which runs blazing fast on this machine. In fact, it nowruns faster with Mint than it did on macOS. I also haven’t had any hardware issues with Mint with the exception of needing to install some firmware via the command line to get the Facetime camera to work (which I never use anyway).

Prior to installing Linux on what I now call my Mintbook Pro, the machine was just sitting in a corner collecting dust. Now this machine has a whole new life ahead of it. If you have a spare machine, why not give it a shot?

This article really doesn't look good for Steve Huffman or Reddit's investors. Some of my favorite bits:

About a year into his tenure as Reddit CEO, it came out that Huffman was rogue-editing comments that were critical of him...

Huffman chose to compare the moderators who objected to his API decision-making as the “landed gentry”...

Huffman seems confused about his competitors and about the risk factors of community moderation...

Reddit just reopened r/Place, a kind of collaborative art project, which may be a way of gauging the mood. Huffman’s handle on Reddit is “spez,” and you can count for yourself the number of times Redditors have written “fuck spez” on r/Place. 

From Missouri Independent

Generations of children who grew up alongside Coldwater Creek have, in recent decades, faced rare cancers, autoimmune disorders and other mysterious illnesses they have come to believe were the result of exposure to its waters and sediment.

This is certainly true of my mom. She grew up around and played in the creek. She has had multiple cancers, autoimmune disease, and other health issues. 

Radioactive waste was known to pose a threat to Coldwater Creek as early as 1949, records show. K-65, a residue from the processing of uranium ore, was stored in deteriorating steel drums or left out in the open near the creek at multiple spots, according to government and company reports.

Fuck these people. Fuck them all. 

Dear Apple,

STOP REOPENING APPS AND WINDOWS AFTER A REBOOT FROM A SOFTWARE UPDATE IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE SETTING CHECKED.

For fuck’s sake, this has been going on for far too long and it annoys the shit out of me. If the OS and apps actually behaved properly after a reboot and auto-reopen, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but they never do so I ultimately have to reboot a second time.

KNOCK IT OFF.

Sincerely, Annoyed Customer.

Do yourself a favor and check out Jury Duty on FreeVee. It’s really good. From Wikipedia:

The series chronicles the inner workings of a jury trial in the US through the eyes of juror Ronald Gladden, a solar contractor from San Diego, who is unaware that his jury duty summons was not official, and that everyone on the jury aside from him is an actor. Everything that happens, inside and outside the courtroom, is planned.

I asked ChatGPT to write a Saved by the Bell episode. The results are pretty great. 

Title: The Great Screech-in

Synopsis: Screech wants to join a prestigious math club but he needs a recommendation letter from a teacher. Unfortunately, all the teachers hate him and refuse to write him one. When the gang finds out, they decide to throw a surprise party for Screech where they all write him glowing recommendation letters, hijinks ensue.

(Scene: Bayside High hallway)

Zack: (smirking) "Hey Screech, how's that math club coming along?”

Screech: (looking downcast) "Not great, Zack. All the teachers hate me and won't write me a recommendation letter.”

(Cuts to Kelly, Jessie and Lisa overhearing the conversation)

Lisa: (rolling her eyes) "Typical Screech. Always trying to worm his way into elitist clubs.”

Jessie: (scoffing) "As if being in a math club is something to brag about.”

Kelly: (smiling) "Come on guys, let's do something nice for Screech. He's always been there for us when we needed him.”

(Cut to: Screech's locker)

The gang is gathered around Screech as he opens his locker to find it filled with balloons and a big banner that reads "We Love You Screech!”

Screech: (tearfully) "I don't know what to say. This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me.”

Zack: (grinning) "That's not all, buddy. We're going to throw you a surprise party tonight and we've got a special guest lined up to write you that recommendation letter.”

Screech: (excitedly) "Really? Who is it?”

(Cut to: Later that night at the party)

The party is in full swing with everyone enjoying themselves

Who is it?! I don’t know. That’s where it cut off. I guess we’ll never know. 

I’ve been fascinated by a new (to me) artist named Ren after his genius Hi Ren video. I didn’t think he would be able to top that song’s storytelling, but I was wrong. Before Hi Ren, he had a three song trilogy, The Tale of Jenny and Screech and it is just as good. He is such a good storyteller and the directing in the videos is fantastic. Ren is an artist to watch. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

There were no real winners and no real losers in psychological warfare. But there were victims. And there were students…

Sometimes an artist, a video, the music, and the lyrics come together to create a perfect piece of art. Hi Ren did just that. 

Tim McCarver, a two-time World Series champion who became a household name as a highly skilled broadcaster both nationally and in three Major League cities, died on Thursday at the age of 81. - MLB

Tim McCarver drove a lot of Cardinals fans nuts, but we still had love for him. Rest in peace.

From The Hollywood Reporter

The network is set to replace the long-running Late Late Show franchise with a reboot of comedic panel game show @ midnight, sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter. Stephen Colbert, who hosts The Late Show for the network, is on board as executive producer of the revived program that aired 600 episodes on Comedy Central before signing off in August 2017. 

I always liked the original @ midnight TV show. I'm all for more panel-style shows in the US that showcase comedians. The original was so much fun, especially when Ron Funches or Doug Benson would be on. I will still watch the original on Paramount+ if I need a laugh. 

I’ve been a Netflix subscriber since 2012 and that is coming to an end. Let’s be honest, this was a long time coming. A while back they decided on a business plan of quanitity over quality with their originals, have cut back on back catalogue spending, and cancel series before they are given a chance. On top of all of this, they are instituting new rules for accounts.

Netflix’s new usage rules basically don’t allow you to use Netflix outside of your home internet without jumping through hoops. If you do want to use it outside of your home internet, you have to use a temporary access code that grants access for 7 days. Why does it matter where I use Netflix if I’m not over my screen limit? What is the point of having a limit on the number of devices that can use Netflix at once if you are now going to restrict it to a single household?

My family gets Netflix as part of a family plan with our cellular provider. It is a perk of the provider. You don’t have to live in the same house to be on the same family plan, but now you will have to be in the same house in order to use one of the perks. I’ve confirmed this with the carrier. So now, that perk became useless to some of the people in the family.

What about flights? What about staying in hotels? What about road trips with kids? They just made the convenience of the service a lot more inconvenient and are treating their customers downright hostile.

Whoever is in charge at Netflix has nothing but contempt for their users. Even if they backtrack on this, I’m done with them. I removed the perk from my cellular plan (and will now get a monthly credit on my phone bill for the amount they would have paid Netflix even though this is not advertised as something they can do) and, as soon as my parents’ profile is transferred, will cancel my Netflix account for good.

For those seeking a better, calmer, and more organic Twitter alternative, I suggest taking a look at micro.blog. It’s paid for a hosted blog over there but you can BYOB (Bring Your Own Blog) for free. The latter can be anything: WordPress, Substack, Mastodon, etc. Source: - (A)social being

I couldn’t agree more. I will probably stop pushing my content from micro.blog to Twitter soon with Musk taking over. The only thing I wish micro.blog had is a location-based search so I can find users in my area.

“Can you imagine 30 years of this stuff? It’s hard to believe. When we started ‘Goosebumps,’ I said, ‘Let’s try two or three.’ I wasn’t real optimistic at the time. Now 30 years later, I’ve lost track of how many books.” Source: Author R.L. Stine celebrates 30 years of ‘Goosebumps’ at Library of Congress event - WTOP News

Goosebumps was a huge part of my childhood. I think I had at least the first 30 books in the series and here it is 30 years later and we’re still talking about them. Whenever a new one would come out my parents would take me to Waldenbooks at Jamestown Mall to get it. If it weren’t for these books, I may not have found my passion for reading.

Recently I’ve been trying to rethink how I use social media, specifically Twitter. This all started when the news broke that Musk was trying to buy Twitter. I did not want to be a part of that platform if he takes over. Then I started asking myself, do I want to be part of it at all? Don’t get me wrong, I love Twitter, but I also realize that Twitter is also bad for me.

Just like a lot of people, I fell victim to the constant retweets, likes, shares, and outrage that Twitter has become. I know Twitter is what you make of it, so I tried to unfollow some people and organizations, did less retweeting, and tried to stay off it more, but Twitter is now built for that constant churn of hate and anger. Even when I unfollowed political news, the tweets would still show up from people I follow, trending topics, or suggested Tweets (I’ve yet to find a way to hide those completely). It also became the primary avenue for getting customer support from brands, which sounds great until all you do or see is complaints about every company. That’s when I decided to return to Micro.blog.

The way I’m using Micro.blog is essentially how I started with Twitter. I find interesting people to follow and I post random thoughts I have throughout the day. Since this is more of a blog than a social network, I try to limit what I post. Not everything needs to be said. That’s something I forgot on Twitter. The community on Micro.blog has been great. I do wish there was an easier way to find people located near me though. One of the best features of Twitter was finding other users in the St. Louis area. They are good people and I’ll miss interacting with them on Twitter.

Currently, my posts on Micro.blog do get crossposted to Twitter, but I imagine that will stop as Musk takes over and I no longer want my content going there. I do respond on Twitter if someone responds to content that was crossposted there, but it’s mainly read-only mode for me right now (with the exception of some likes and retweets still). With updates to the ActivityPub API on Micro.blog, if you use Mastodon, you can also follow my blog using any of the Mastodon Networks (just search @shep@shep.online to follow).

I’ve noticed I’ve been much happier as I’ve curtailed my Twitter use and increased my Micro.blog engagement. I’m no longer being bombarded with constant bad news, hot takes, and drama. I think we all need to take time and touch grass every once in a while. Moving away from Twitter has helped me do just that. I just need to stay away.

There is a really good piece in Variety about William Shatner’s experience going to space for real.

I continued my self-guided tour and turned my head to face the other direction, to stare into space. I love the mystery of the universe. I love all the questions that have come to us over thousands of years of exploration and hypotheses. Stars exploding years ago, their light traveling to us years later; black holes absorbing energy; satellites showing us entire galaxies in areas thought to be devoid of matter entirely… all of that has thrilled me for years… but when I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold . . . all I saw was death.

While I haven’t been to space, I experienced this same feeling while watching Space Explorers on the Oculus Quest 2. If you’re unfamiliar with Space Explorers, it’s a documentary filmed in VR from the International Space Station. Not only do you get to roam around in the ISS, but you get to go outside the ISS. Looking down at Earth is the most amazingly beautiful things you will ever see. Looking out towards the blackness of space was truly terrifying. Nothing ever made me feel more unsettled in my life, and I was just watching an immersive video. I can’t imagine what it would be like to experience the real thing, but Shatner but it into words so eloquently. There is hope though. It makes you appreciate the planet we do have.

It can change the way we look at the planet but also other things like countries, ethnicities, religions; it can prompt an instant reevaluation of our shared harmony and a shift in focus to all the wonderful things we have in common instead of what makes us different. It reinforced tenfold my own view on the power of our beautiful, mysterious collective human entanglement, and eventually, it returned a feeling of hope to my heart. In this insignificance we share, we have one gift that other species perhaps do not: we are aware—not only of our insignificance, but the grandeur around us that makes us insignificant. That allows us perhaps a chance to rededicate ourselves to our planet, to each other, to life and love all around us. If we seize that chance.

I was listening to the latest episode of The Talk Show this morning and Nilay Patel laid out exactly what bothers me about the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pros: the interactions are backwards.

I couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was that was bothering me until he said it and then it made sense. When I touch on an app in the Dynamic Island, I believe it should open the smaller, interactive widget version of the app that is currently only accessible with a long touch. The point is the island is to have quick interactions with running apps that need your attention. The best way to do that is by a simple touch. Instead, as a Pro Max user, I have to adjust my hand for balance and a long touch to interact with the island. It’s not exactly convenient.

In Patel’s review on The Verge he says:

Here’s where I think Apple missed the mark a little: in the keynote and all the ads, the island is shown as a thing that’s worth interacting with — it’s always moving around and going back and forth between the main view and the expanded view. In reality, well, it’s not like that at all.

The island isn’t a primary interface element; it sits over whatever app you’re actually using, and apps are still the main point of the iPhone. In fact, tapping on the island doesn’t open that expanded widget view; it just switches you back to whatever app that controls the widget. To get the expanded widget that’s shown in all the ads, you have to tap and hold. This feels exactly backwards to me. I think a tap should pop open the widget, and I also think you should at least be able to choose between the two behaviors.

I hope this is something they consider changing, or at least a toggle, because it’d be much better if touching opened up the mini app and a long touch opened the app itself.