Mitch's Blog

I was a Twitter addict in the late 2000s and 2010s, but I lost interest in Twitter even before its change of ownership. I think I’ve lost interest in reading or writing prose chopped up into 300- or 500-character chunks.

Too much of Bluesky is people being outraged about politics and posting unverified news rumors. Too much of Mastodon is people being outraged about politics, unverified news rumors, and posting about technology issues that I’m not involved in. I still check both daily, but my heart isn’t in it.

Nowadays, I like blogs, newsletters and news and magazine websites, like I did in the 2000s.

I like Tumblr and Reddit. They’re great sources for the memes, vintage photos and vintage ads that I’m addicted to, as well as odd, delightful personal essays. I post regularly to Tumblr. I rarely post to Reddit — it’s too much work running the gauntlet of moderators and rules.

Seriously, I am surprised how much I continue to like Tumblr.

I like the community and connections on Facebook, but I hate Facebook as a software platform. Too much noise! It’s like trying to carry on a quiet conversation in a noisy, rocking subway car, with a smelly guy next to you shouting randomly.

Here’s where to find me on those other platforms, if you’re interested. Not on that list: Facebook. I’m trying to discourage people from connecting with me on Facebook. Eventually, no one will be left connecting with me on Facebook, and I can pull the plug.

Lewin Day at Hackaday:

Born in 1848 in Albany, New York, James Goold Cutler would come to build his life in the state. He lived and worked in the growing state, and as an architect, he soon came to identify an obvious problem. For those occupying higher floors in taller buildings, the simple act of sending a piece of mail could quickly become a tedious exercise. One would have to make their way all the way to a street level post box, which grew increasingly tiresome as buildings grew ever taller.

Cutler saw that there was an obvious solution—install a vertical chute running through the building’s core, add mail slots on each floor, and let gravity do the work. It then became as simple as dropping a letter in, and down it would go to a collection box at the bottom, where postal workers could retrieve it during their regular rounds. Cutler filed a patent for this simple design in 1883. He was sure to include a critical security feature—a hand guard behind each floor’s mail chute. This was intended to stop those on lower levels reaching into the chute to steal the mail passing by from above. Installations in taller buildings were also to be fitted with an “elastic cushion” in the bottom to “prevent injury to the mail” from higher drop heights.

Tim Cushing at Techdirt:

Who are we ejecting from this country at the rate of dozens of people per day? Hardworking, law-abiding migrants who’ve done nothing more than seek jobs, pay taxes, and carve out a better life for their loved ones. The government knows what it’s doing. After all, it already has all the evidence it needs to show its mass deportation program has nothing to do with making this nation safer or more secure.

…

The pretense of making America safer has been discarded. America won’t get any safer, just as surely as it won’t get any greater under this president. For years, it’s been known that migrants commit fewer crimes than natural-born citizens.

…

It’s nothing more than a racist purge…. just looking at ICE’s numbers, it’s easy to see this isn’t about ejecting criminals. It’s about getting rid of non-white people.

Paul Krugman:

I was enormously cheered by Mamdani’s victory, not because I think he’ll be a great mayor — honestly I have no idea — but because a Cuomo victory would have been deeply depressing. Why? Because it would have been an affirmation of elite impunity and lack of accountability. Cuomo is by all accounts a terrible person, and his bungled response to Covid killed people. For him to make a comeback simply because he’s part of the old boys’ club and had the big money behind him would have said that the rules only apply to the little people.

There’s a huge argument among Democrats about whether they need to run more centrist candidates. I am not ready to weigh in on that debate. But if you’re going to take that side, find better centrists. I mean, are Cuomo and Eric Adams the best you can do?

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Oh, and centrist Democrats often urge leftier types to rally behind their nominees in general elections. I agree. Anyone claiming that there’s no difference between the parties is a fool. But this deal has to be reciprocal. Zamdani will be the Democratic nominee, and anyone calling themselves a Democrat should support him.

Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day:

Social media does not turn a bad candidate into a viable one. It’s just amplification. And the same platforms that can amplify the ugliness and hatred and resentment of someone like Trump can amplify the joy and earnestness and seemingly genuine conviction of a candidate like Mamdani. It cannot, however, make voters forget that a candidate like Cuomo killed their grandparents during COVID or that current New York Mayor Eric Adams is a genuine maniac. There’s no magic trick. Mamdani ran a regular ass campaign where he spoke clearly about what he cared about and was normal about it and it worked. Revolutionary! And I understand why this would all be very threatening to Democrats, seeing as how most of them do not seem to care about anything.