“When the Web was young, a common complaint was that it was full of junk.” This paper from 2002 is amazing: What Are The Alternatives To Peer Review? Quality Control in Scholarly Publishing on the Web. Everything he writes is still relevant today, plus screenshots from the early web.
Quick Thoughts
Shorter than a blog post.
SC State Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey on redistricting:
“Crushing the minority opposition is not a demonstration of strength,” Massey said. “It’s an admission of fear and a show of weakness, and I don’t think it’s successful in the long term.”
On August 12, 2026, a solar eclipse will appear over Greenland, Iceland, and Spain. Many shady vendors will sell incredibly tacky shirts to commemorate the occasion. Instead, order something a little more classy. Available on Cotton Bureau.
Happy Mother’s Day, Lizzy.
Learned from my teenage son today that hacky sack has become popular again.
Three walk-off wins in a row for the Cubs. What a wild season so far… now if we can just keep our pitchers healthy.
Three sports videos I will stop and watch whenever they pop up: Javy Baez “stealing” first, Jadeveon Clowney’s hit against Michigan, and Kamilla Cardoso hitting a three in the SEC tournament at the buzzer to beat Tennessee.
I think this is a particularly insightful post… Emotional regulation is a dying art:
Phones reward a specific kind of nervous system, twitching first and thinking later. The dopamine architecture that hooks you on slot machines hooks you on outrage, and the platforms have figured out that a regulated person is a bad customer. The regulated close the app, but the dysregulated person scroll until four in the morning, bleeding cortisol and efficiently monetized.
Pluralistic: In praise of vultures:
Monopoly is to capitalism as gerrymandering is to democracy, a way to strip out any meaningful choice.
Do cell phone bans in schools work? The NY Times reports on a new study looking at school cell phone bans. Kids used their phones less, but no real shift in student engagement or test scores.
From Cal Newport’s blog: On Bottlenecks and Productivity. This is the second time recently that I’ve come across the “Theory of Constraints.” I like how Newport translates the concept to personal productivity.
Watched: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2. Enjoyed the second season of Monarch on Apple TV. I don’t know if there will be another season, but if not, I’m happy with how they ended things.🍿
I’m intrigued by the idea of using Bluesky PDS as a social enabled database for academic publication. But I’m afraid that technical possibilities are blinding people to how entrenched the traditional academic publishing ecosystem is…
Prom 2026.
Great Sprint Qualifying run for Lando. Hopefully this newfound quickness will translate into race pace this weekend.
Just paid more than $4 a gallon for gas. First time I’ve ever paid that much. 😩
The NY Times 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters story is wonderful. Lots of names I expected to see, but some that I didn’t know or didn’t think of. Complete with a playlist of hits for Spotify and Apple Music. Gift link if you want to check it out…
There will be THREE players on next year’s South Carolina Women’s Basketball roster who can dunk: Watkins, Tournebize and Edwards.
I’ve recently rediscovered my love of tea. I bought a small electric kettle for my office, ordered some outstanding Goddess Gray loose tea from Full Moon Tea Company in Asheville, and I’m using my ceramic Tea Forte Kati cup with an integrated infuser basket. A great mid-morning routine.
Thanks to Cotton Bureau for featuring my new “Happy Frank” shirt design in their T-Shirt Tuesday email. (And yes, I know his full name is Frankenstein’s Monster, but he just goes by Frank these days.)
My son was happy that his first JV lacrosse season was over and he could take a little bit of a break.
He’s currently playing a lacrosse VR game on his Meta Quest.
Avett Brothers at the Township Auditorium.
Graphic design schools are teaching tech, but are they teaching taste? Kathy Pham discusses the current state of design education. Really solid essay on a topic I’ve been thinking about recently.
I’ve been listening to the Vergecast lately and this Tuesday’s episode is outstanding. Ben McKenzie talks about crypto and his new documentary. Victoria Song discusses the pros and (very serious) cons of health tracking. A thoughtful discussion on two very complicated tech topics.
This academic study in Visual Communication analyzing G.I. Joe “Knowing is half the battle” PSAs from the early 1980s is amazing. Sadly not open access, but you should read it if you are Gen X and have access through your university library.
I’m fascinated by the minimalist approach that Slate is taking with their EV pickup. I see opportunity for customization, but others see a small truck without a built-in sound system. This article does a good job of summing up the challenges Slate faces in taking a radically different approach.
Witnessed a drone delivery yesterday for the first time when shopping in southern Charlotte. Apparently, it’s a partnership beween Doordash and Wing, and only available in a four mile radius of the shopping center we were in. Strange to see a drone lower a package to the ground, and then fly off.
Happy Easter from Team Wertz. Always wonderful to worship at St. Paul Aiken when we are in town.
Go Gamecocks!!!! 🏀
Spring is here. I looked up while grilling and noticed our backyard trees are finally all green again. 🍃🍃🍃
