Jim Willis

Russ and Grant! I love this video/interview. I wish it were a full hour!

There are so few people (especially out here in NJ) that share Grant and Russ’ view of cycling or even try to understand it but, man, they are speaking my language.

I uploaded an image to a WordPress post using three different techniques, and you can see the way they appear in Mastodon in the image below using this really excellent and customizable/flexible plugin. 

I’m trying to get the image to appear like it does when uploading to a Mastodon post using the native posting tool, like this:

A friend unexpectedly gifted me this the other night when we were rehearsing for an upcoming gig. I can not believe what a huge difference it makes in the sound/volume of my already very loud Martin D-18.

It’s called a d-gard and is purpose built for the back of a Martin dreadnaught. I put some new felt on it so that it wouldn’t scratch the finish. I’m astounded at how much more volume and sustain I’m getting from this. A good friend of mine who plays mandolin has been telling me to get one of these for years and I’m glad I finally got one. For standing up and playing at live gigs around a single mic, I’m hoping this gives me the volume I need.

When you sit down to learn Norman Blake’s New Chance Blues and just keep clicking though on the jams:

https://youtu.be/x4wIldrOSJE

https://ift.tt/tqbuJ6R

Love the mix of drum machine and live drums on this track:

Man, I have got my music streaming dialed in using Marvis. Combining tracks from a bunch of playlists, applying some filters and sorting. Just saying.

This:

Massive centralized platforms create problems for society. By posting to your own site, you control your content, distributing it more evenly across the web and minimizing the power of big tech companies.

and

Temporary, viral movements like #DeleteFacebook are not enough. We need something sustainable that permanently changes the narrative.

Both from Manton Reece’s excellent Indie Microblogging.

Our high-schools should have a whole class built around this book. It would teach kids how to take action, how to not be powerless. From understanding ownership of content to understanding the way the Internet runs on open standards. It’s all in here.

I’ve never pre-ordered a book so quickly.

This quote from Illich shows up in more than one of L.M. Sacasas’ excellent newsletter, The Convivial Society:

“A convivial society should be designed to allow all its members the most autonomous action by means of tools least controlled by others. People feel joy, as opposed to mere pleasure, to the extent that their activities are creative; while the growth of tools beyond a certain point increases regimentation, dependence,
exploitation, and impotence.” 

— Ivan Illich, Tools For Conviviality (1973)

Working in tech, I’m always trying to find balance between autonomy and support. Recently we spent a lot of time thinking through how to best allow staff to use their personal smartphones with our work systems. I am glad we did so and it looks like this was a step in the right direction for autonomy. This WSJ piece is about a recent, small study that shows this kind of empowerment is good for employee morale.