It’s clean sweep week here in town—the time of year when the city will, free of charge, pick up anything you put on the curb. Rachel said she’s already seen a couple of pickup trucks roaming the neighborhood trying to beat the city to some treasures. That will absolutely be me someday.

Excellent quote on Todd’s blog on how the rich (and genAI users!) are harmed by lack of pushback.

Robin Sloan’s magic postcards are cool. I’ve always thought QR codes are a great technology for the interface of physical and digital. Once I homebrewed a beer and attached a label with a QR code linking to this hidden page on my site and gave them to friends. Turns out no one noticed!

Economic theory tells us the stock market is a future earnings prediction machine. But have you ever seen anything more wildly distractable as the stock market? If it was actually pricing the future, it would not flail about with every bit of breaking news.

Nate Hagens has put out an excellent three video series on the role oil plays in our modern world system, and how this might play out into the future. 1 | 2 | 3

Rachel and I aren’t preppers but at this point it’s looking like good sense to stock up on some staples.

You know, drinking straight milk kefir isn’t bad. As an adult I’ve never been a milk drinker (though I’ve been called one in Skyrim) because I don’t care for the aftertaste. Milk kefir just tastes like a drinkable, tangy yogurt.

I’ve put NASA’s Artemis blog into Inkwell so I can keep up with the mission. I didn’t think I would pay much attention but I felt my heart strangely warmed watching the launch last night.

CNBC:

Over a decade ago, Meta – then known as Facebook – hired social science researchers to analyze how the social network’s services were affecting users. It was a way for the company and its peers to show they were serious about understanding the benefits and potential risks of their innovations.

But as Meta’s court losses this week illustrate, the researchers’ work can become a liability. Brian Boland, a former Facebook executive who testified in both trials — one in New Mexico and the other in Los Angeles — says the damning findings from Meta’s internal research and documents seemed to contradict the way the company portrayed itself publicly. Juries in the two trials determined that Meta inadequately policed its site, putting kids in harm’s way.

… With AI now getting outsized attention for the harmful effects it’s having on some users, those companies must ask if it’s in their best interest to continue funding research or to suppress it.

Ignoring the possible social effects of your world-changing technology is literally sociopathic.

A simple breakfast kefir bowl:

• 3/4 c milk kefir
• 1/2 c rolled oats

Stir together and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, let sit for a few minutes to take the chill off; heating would negate the benefits of the kefir. Stir in your favorite toppings: seeds, nuts, fresh/dried fruit, sweetener.

To do this weekend:

• Make farmer’s cheese.
• Make scrapple. I’m picking up the neck bones tonight.
• Fix the truck door handle. Parts should be arriving today.
• Celebrate my 28th wedding anniversary with my sweetie.