WSJ: Tech Leaders Emerge Behind Plan to Build New City Near California Air Base

Venture capitalists want to build a new city on currently rural land in California. This will go as well as crypto, Web3, and the metaverse.

An ode to “Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast.

I loved this podcast. “… one of the great love letters to twentieth-century Hollywood.”

Some of the best guests were D-list stars even in their prime, who might only be remembered by the narrow age demographic that Gottfried and I shared.

From Brooklyn to Astoria (Oregon): Journalist Clive Thompson cycled 4,150 miles coast-to-coast reporting for his next book on “micromobility.”

What’s the biology behind why we find some people attractive?. On Inner Cosmos with David Eagleman

Casey Newton at Platformer: Why note-taking apps don’t make us smarter.

I’m surprised to learn Casey is a note-taking apps nerd, like me.

And like me he’s a compulsive hoarder of clips and links.

And like me he wants a chatbot to be able to ask the hoard questions and get good answers.

Decluttering continues. Two observations:

• A surprisingly significant amount of the clutter in my office was empty boxes for me to put the clutter in. • Some days I think I’m smart and other days I try to flatten empty cardboard cartons without tearing them.

What Happened to Wirecutter?. By Charlie Warzel at The Atlantic.

I rely on Wirecutter for any unusual purchase under $200. If I need something I’ve never bought one of before, and it’s priced under $200, I just buy whatever Wirecutter recommends.

The police came by to do a wellness check. They said Amazon had requested it because I hadn’t had anything delivered in nearly a month, and they were worried that we were OK.

Things that are annoying me today:

• Password management
• The acronym PTO. I don’t care whether you’re getting paid for taking time off.
• Companies that sign you up for their email list without your permission, just because you did business with them one time.
• Pretty much everything. I’m irritable.

Currently reading: Somebody’s Fool by Richard Russo 📚 A pleasant surprise—I did not know Russo planned another sequel to “Nobody’s Fool.”

Finished reading: This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs 📚Excellent!

I uncovered this book while decluttering my home office. I loved it when I was a kid, and bought a copy from Powells bookstore on a trip to Portland with Julie in 2008. 📚

In the course of major decluttering, I just found a ring of keys. It doesn’t fit any of our current locks but I have to keep them rather than throw them out. When we’re dead, our heirs can keep the keys and pass them on to THEIR heirs. Because that’s how keys work.

While walking the dog, I saw this SUV 📷

My latest article: Ancient programming language gets new life in the cloud thanks to IBM, watsonx and AI. An IBM watsonx AI tool helps refactor COBOL mainframe code into Java, to make it easier to maintain and extend for folks who entered the workforce after the disco era.

Why Calvin and Hobbes author Bill Watterson vanished from the public eye.

My friend Marc Gorelick shares lessons from more than 40 years playing the tuba. Can confirm that Marc played the tuba as a teenager. We gave him grief for it at the time, but Marc made the tuba cool.

Watching a security awareness training video as required by a client. Holy mackerel, Doug, stop being such a baby.

I saw this sign. Poor Sadie. 😭😢😭📷

TidBITS is doing a poll on whether Apple users use Apple Weather or some other app for weather forecasts. During yesterday’s weather emergency, I checked Apple Weather several times an hour.

All is well here following the storm. Reviewing the news today I see a dozen people had to be rescued from flooding in the San Diego River. Most likely they were homeless. Many people did not get to sit in their warm, dry houses and watch Netflix yesterday. So I am a little humbled and grateful.

Meanwhile, here in San Diego and nearby Southern California

Unimpressed by Hurricane Hilary. Demoted to a tropical storm. So far, we’ve gotten some heavy rain, but very little wind. Note to Hilary: This is not a challenge.