The missus and I watched another episode of “Columbo” last night. The guest stars were Eddie Albert as a heroic Marines general who murders a fellow officer to cover up embezzlement, and Suzanne Pleshette as the sad, ditzy woman who witnesses the crime. I was unable to suspend disbelief — every second they were onscreen I thought, “That’s the guy from Green Acres and Bob Newhart’s wife.”
Also, Suzanne Pleshette’s character seemed sexist in a low-key ambient 1971 sort of way. She lives alone with her mother; they are both sad and the mother is bitter. It seemed to be the assumption that two women over 30 living alone without men would lead of course lead empty and sad lives. I am possibly overthinking this.
We’re slowly watching a few 1970s crime shows that were massive hits in the day, including “Columbo,” “The Rockford FIles,” “McMillan & Wife” and “McCloud.” Of them, my favorite by far is Rockford. I want to be Jim Rockford when I grow up and live in a trailer on the beach and go fishing off the pier with my father, whom I call “Rocky.”
Trump’s FBI wants to criminally charge groups including Habitat for Humanity with fraud for accepting grants for work on climate change. (Malcolm Ferguson / The New Republic) — More criminal stupidity from the Trump administration.
RFK Jr.: It Would Be Better if ‘Everybody Got Measles’ (Leigh Kimmins / Daily Beast) — He is a dangerous lunatic.
“Please stop calling newsletters ‘Substacks’" (Dan Gillmor / @dangillmor@mastodon.social):
The vast majority of blogs are created using WordPress software. No one calls their blog a “WordPress” for the very good reason that there are other ways to create and publish blogs.
[Substack] was funded by Trump supporters and is run by people who have no problem helping right-wing extremists spread and monetize their bile.
Google is adding Gemini large language models to make robots more versatile and advanced (Ina Fried / Axios) — A few years ago I would have thought this was wonderful but now I think these resources would be better spent on universal access to housing, healthcare, education and living wages.
A clearer picture of Covid’s lasting effects on the body: Covid’s long-term effects on the lungs, gut, brain and more. (Dani Blum, Nina Agrawal and Alice Callahan / NYTimes) — I have seen these effects firsthand in people close to me.
Good tips for using AI at work. axios.com
"Fascism always fails. It is destructive and it is awful and not everyone lives to see the other side, but it always, always fails."
A brief history of George Dale, who fought a quixotic battle against the Ku Klux Klan in Muncie, Indiana in the 1920s — and won.
The Klan had millions of members and controlled whole states in the 1920s, spewing racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism and other hatred. But decent, courageous Americans like Dale pushed back.
What Felt Impossible Became Possible dansinker.com/posts/202…
The More You Have, the Less You Fight.
Institutions — businesses, the Democratic Party, the courts and universities — won’t oppose Trump because they have too much to lose.
Grassroots movements made up of regular people are where the resistance has to happen…. If you and I sit around waiting for all of those Respectable Institutions to take the lead, we will be spending the next few years doing nothing except being crestfallen by the inaction from above. I guess we might as well get to it, then. Don’t be sad you’re not rich. Be happy that you’re free."
“I knew how these tariffs were going to go because I studied the classics.” www.jwz.org/blog/2025…
Bluesky is not billionaire-proof. By Dave Winer — Bluesky could be bought up by the next Elon Musk, despite management claims to the contrary. scripting.com/2025/03/1…
Apple Readies Dramatic Design Overhauls for iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16. By Mark Gurman. bloomberg.com. I don’t want to learn to use my phone and computer again.
Musk’s Empire Is Looking Even More Shaky: He’s sabotaging his own business by insulting and alienating customers, even as competitors catch up with his companies' leads. “… if you don’t like Musk … get ready to enjoy a rich harvest of schadenfreude.” ianwelsh.net
I have a reminder to prepare for a meeting to prepare for another meeting to prepare for a project. I have reached a kind of corporate nirvana here.
“An Incomplete List of the Animals my Grandpa brought home over the course of his 67-year marriage to Gandma.” gallusrostromegalus.tumblr.com
Toward a unified taxonomy of text-based social media use. By Elizabeth Lopatto at The Verge. I don’t recognize myself in any of these categories.
Come study physics. Totally a real science and not magic. www.tumblr.com/dduane/77…
How It Actually Feels To Live With Face Blindness
“Oh my God, heyyy”
Four words I dread hearing, delivered this time at a train station. I spin around. There’s a girl in front of me: similar age, dark hair, face that could be described as “vaguely familiar”. Or maybe she just looks like someone I should be friends with.
“How are you doing?” She says that last part as if she’s dying to know.
“Oh heyyy,” I respond in the same tone. “Yeah, great thanks, you?”
“Really well. I just got the keys to my new art studio, so that’s quite exciting.” I make a mental note of “art studio”. She makes art. My first contextual clue.
“It’s so important to have your own space,” I reply. “I would actually love to have my own office one day.” If I keep talking, I think, she’ll never know. She’ll never know that I have no idea who she is.
I have encounters just like this on a regular basis. Last week I was at a professional conference and had several encounters like this every day. Fortunately, people at conferences wear name-badges.
A test to determine if you have prosopagnosia, or trouble recognizing faces. If you score 65 or higher, there’s a good chance you have it. I scored 80. Go, me! www.troublewithfaces.org/test-your…