You could argue, I suppose, that this is just the natural end of a specific part of the internet. We spent the last two decades answering a question — what would happen if you put everyone on the planet into a room and let them all talk to each other? — and now we’re moving onto the next one. It might be better this way. But the way it has all changed, and the speed with which it has happened, has left an everybody-sized hole in the internet.
My son lost his AirPods a few weeks ago. (These were my first generation AirPods that I replaced when I got AirPods Pro.) Today he found them in their case in a neighbor’s yard. These AirPods have been sitting exposed to extreme heat and rain for 2+ weeks, and guess what? Somehow, they still work.
Walking across campus today and saw South Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach Dawn Staley and her dog, Champ. Funny thing is, Champ came around the corner first and I recognized him instantly…
Made a batch of boiled peanuts tonight. So good. Y’all are likely familiar with roasted peanuts, but in the South, we boil them. You don’t really need a recipe… Green (raw) peanuts. A copious amount of salt. Boil for a few hours. Enjoy.
Made the jump to using the Tiny Theme. Still a lot of CSS tinkering to do, but happy so far. Added my fish logo to the top, updated the color scheme and switched some of the headers to one of the typefaces I designed. Thanks @Mtt for such great work on this theme.
Just took a walk on the trails behind our house for the first time in a couple of months. It’s a little tougher walk with Columbia, SC heat and humidity…
While on a roadtrip to Asheville, NC this weekend, I was looking for what electric cars I’d see along the way. This weekend, in addition to a bunch of Teslas, I spotted two Rivian SUVs, a Kia EV6, a few Chevy Bolts and a Polestar 2. It’s the first time I’ve seen a Rivian R1S in person. Looked sharp.
I moved out of my cube today for a new office slightly closer to campus. And while I love my new office – the natural light is wonderful – I’m a little sad to see the old cube go. It’s amazing how a place can become so meaningful over time. Even a simple beige cube.
Saw this article in the NY Times about the Southern Baptist Convention kicking out a megachurch for ordaining women. We are ELCA Lutherans and my children have always had a woman as a pastor. So here’s a shoutout to Pastor Karen, Pastor Ginger and Pastor Joanna. I’m grateful that you have been able to be a positive presence for our family and thankful that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allows you to serve as you are called.
Havard Business Review with an interesting (academic) take about how developers should view the Apple Vision Pro:
Developers looking to profit off the platform Apple has created would do well to focus on applications that provide users with hard-to-access contextual information at just the right level of detail.
Finally got a chance to watch the keynote and read the reactions of people who’ve tried the new Apple Vision Pro headset. Going into WWDC, I didn’t know if Apple could pull off the technology and I had no idea why I would use one. After reading everything, it sounds like they aced the tech, but I still don’t know why I’d use one.
Months ago, I scheduled my daughter’s college orientation for tomorrow. Which means that instead of watching the Apple Keynote, I’ll be watching presentations about adjusting to college life.
Spending some time tonight thinking about my dissertation topic. Do I stick with the research topic that I’ve worked on for the last few years? Or venture out with a new topic? There are pros and cons to each approach. Just not sure what I want to do.
One of my favorite bakeries closed after a long successful run, but I found out yesterday that another wonderful bakery is taking over its location. They’ve been selling cakes at local markets and haven’t had a permanent space. It’s the circle of life, but for bakeries.
I’ve been to a lot of high school graduations over the years. And most of them aren’t great. They start late. The guest speakers and district officials give speeches that aren’t particularly inspirational. The student speakers share a bunch of inside jokes that make sense to a small slice of the graduating class. And they just last too long.
So while I was looking forward to my daughter’s graduation today, I wasn’t looking forward to the ceremony itself. (Not to mention the ceremony was held at 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning.)
What I got instead was a delightful ceremony. It started right at 8:00. The student speakers did a wonderful job. They incorporated some meaningful traditions. The district superintendent delivered short and relevant remarks. The whole thing was done in 1.5 hours with around 350 students graduating. Everyone had their name read and crossed the stage. My daughter was happy and I was pleasantly surprised.
I’m really intrigued by Adobe’s approach to generative AI. Building AI tools that assist the process of creative development, but don’t seek to replace it. The Generative Fill feature that they are building into Photoshop looks seriously useful.
Just submitted my revised journal article. I was pretty discouraged when I got the long list of feedback, but honestly, with all the changes incorporated, the new revision is significantly better. We’ll see if the editor and reviewers feel the same way.
My 11-year-old’s orchestra teacher is retiring and he’s rallying his fellow students to make a giant card to thank her. He’s working so hard on it and the whole thing is so sweet.
