Vinyl is back. That’s a good thing. For those who grew up listening to vinyl records, you know the warm sound that comes from the needle hitting the record. It also gives you hope for a society that has commoditized sound quality in exchange for availability. Everyone is attuned to, and accepting of, poor sound quality so they can share music files and download songs for free. Gone is the person who auditions speaker systems in an audio shop, looking for the perfect sound for exactly the kind of music they like to hear. Gone is the person who…
Sorry for the early texts… Facebook made me do it
Thanks to sites like Facebook, we no longer think about the people closest to us and make sure we remember their birthdays. Now, we just wait for Facebook to remind us of who’s birthday it is so we can all receive thoughtless birthday wishes from our 500 closest friends. I’ve always taken pride in reserving the mental space to remember the birthdays of people I really care about. As Valentine’s Day levels the playing field for those not thoughtful enough to acknowledge that special someone without having to be told, Facebook cheapens real, remembered birthday wishes by piling on…
How can such brilliant tech people be such poor problem-solvers on the road?
Yesterday, I was running through the crosswalk of a four-way intersection. The four-way intersection crosses a single-lane road with a two-lane road. I was crossing the single-lane road, against traffic. There were only two cars in view; both in the right lane coming toward me. They had a green light. Right when I started to cross, the lead car slowed down and put its right blinker on to turn right. He was going to turn in front of me, but waited for me to clear the crosswalk before he went. He came to a stop as he waited for…
Tough love feels bad
Conservatives can seem very mean, cruel and uncaring. It’s because they often consider the results of their actions before they consider the feelings of those affected. Sometimes you have to be hard on people so they learn hard lessons early in their life and can cope with tough situations later on in their adulthood. It is better to let a child touch the proverbial hot stove so they learn never to touch it again, whereas many parents today would rather stand by the stove all day to make sure their children never have to feel the pain of having…
From the museum of false premises
We don’t send people off to war to die. We send people off to war, only reluctantly, and when provoked, to win the war. We do our best to equip them with the skill and tools necessary to win the war with as few casualties as possible. We do our best to keep them safe and out of harms way. People do die in war. Civilians. Soldiers. People die. But the goal is to win as quickly and cleanly as possible. Those who use the phrase “send people off to die,” are trying to set the narrative away from…
Do they make bunk beds with king size beds?
If not, they should.
Change lanes with purpose
It’s a staple of Seattle driving. As normal as breathing. You’re on a two or three lane highway. In front of you is one lane with about 10 or 12 cars all going exactly the speed limit or a little under. Next to it (on either side, because people in Seattle don’t know about the whole “slow traffic keep right” thing), is a lane that is wide open. The only car you can see is past the lead car of the line of cars. If you’re an experienced Pacific Northwest driver, you hit the gas and try to get…
If only we could elect our billionaires
I just saw a story about Melinda Gates pledging to spend $1 billion toward gender equity in the next 10 years. That’s a lot of money. Think of what could be done with that money. Of course, it’s her money, and she’s welcome to do with it as she pleases. But the problem is that you never know who’s going to end up a billionaire, and what they’ll do with their money if they get there. The ability to pledge one billion dollars toward anything you want is a very powerful thing. You can definitely affect real change with…
You just took 3 minutes off my life… and that’s a good thing
I just gave a good friend of mine a brownie. It was a good brownie. And after eating it, he said, “well, that probably took about three minutes off of my life.” I couldn’t help but think, “what if that’s a good thing?” What if, at the two minute and thirty second mark of that three minutes, he would have accidentally walked into a helicopter blade and had his head severed? It may have been a good thing to die three minutes earlier – especially by brownie. It was a good brownie.
Gender and science: who’s anti-science?
Professional Democrats label Republicans anti-science every chance they get. This is usually in the context of climate change, where “the debate is over,” but it bleeds into other policy areas, as well. They say that a stubborn faith in God gets in their way of understanding, valuing, or even believing what science tells us. Naturally, for marketing purposes, it’s an oversimplified attack, creating the impression that Republicans don’t believe the sun revolves around the earth because, well, God. (Democrats are, and have proven to be, superior marketers to Republicans in every way, shape and form. And it helps that…