18 Jul 2025, 13:07 p.m.

Generative AI Abstinence and Harm Reduction

Up till now, I've mostly abstained from using generative AI. I'm now reassessing whether I should keep doing that. This post preserves a Fediverse thread I wrote yesterday, with better formatting, section headers, some additional …

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11 Jul 2025, 15:00 p.m.

You Can Just Show Up

The weekend after the Presidential election in November 2024, I was seized by the need to meet some neighbors, face-to-face, to be in solidarity with. On a crisp fall morning, I made a sign that …

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23 Jun 2025, 9:00 a.m.

2025 NYC Primary Election Recommendations

Last-minute recommendations for New York City's Democratic primary election. (Early voting concluded Sunday; tomorrow, Tuesday the 24th, is the final day to vote.)I'm going to start with lesser-publicized races and move up the ballot.Western Queens …

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03 Jun 2025, 11:30 a.m.

Congratulating Leonard for his Community Service Award

Twenty-one years ago, Leonard Richardson created the now-popular open source tool Beautiful Soup. He's maintained it ever since. In 2024, the Python Software Foundation recognized his contributions with two service awards, naming him a PSF …

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04 Mar 2025, 11:20 a.m.

An Unsolicited Email That Made Me Laugh Like A Hyena

I used to co-run a group blog where we made fun of spam, and someday I do want to resurrect Spam As Folk Art as a static archive*. But in the meantime, I need to …

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02 Jan 2025, 15:25 p.m.

A Little Dar Williams Playlist

Annually, the last week of the year, singer-songwriter Dar Williams plays at a concert here in New York City. I really loved the one I attended in 2017, when I wrote, I tried going to …

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18 Nov 2024, 12:00 p.m.

Boundaries and Regulations

Ever since I came across the sort of pop psychology metaphor "boundaries" several years ago, I've felt a little out of sync with it. And when I took some time to ask myself why, I …

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24 Oct 2024, 12:42 p.m.

Tech comedy fundraiser Oct. 26th for US election protection

I'm running a fundraiser for the Election Protection Hotline, 1-866-OUR-VOTE. No matter your position on the 2024 US election, I'm guessing you want the votes counted fairly. So I'm trying to raise USD $25,000 for …

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11 Oct 2024, 12:00 p.m.

Double Standards And Volunteer Behavior

A fictional example:You're in a volunteer group that does a public service chore, like sprucing up a local park or maintaining a health information website. It's been around for many years. Most people treat each …

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03 Oct 2024, 10:00 a.m.

Mailing List Metaphors

On a weekend morning many years ago, the constant low-level radiation of mailing list fracas led me to idly fantasize of sending a beseeching plaintive-yet-rousing post to one of them:Do you think there is no …

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