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/an aside on technology and the inevitability of unexpected challenges

Have you ever noticed that any time tech instructions say some variant of “And to complete the process, simply do…”

It’s the “simply” that is key here. Anytime I see that word I know for sure that accomplishing my goal will involve more hoops than predicted, take at least three times longer than expected, and be infinitely more frustrating than necessary.

And so it was.

I managed the thing in the end, but there was nothing simple about it.

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It’s Labor Day in North America, and the unofficial end of summer. In the Northern Hemisphere it’s a day for getting outside, grilling, and generally appreciating the beauty of the season. That’s what Mr Man and I have been doing this weekend.

There is a certain mood that reminds me of summer’s essence that can best be summarized as: the feeling of happiness and goodwill toward humanity that one gets after a strawberry milkshake on a hot day.

Sure, a lot of that is the sugar rush, but I’ll take it.

We also had the good fortune of waking yesterday to an odd sound, as if someone were dragging a heavy cardboard box down the street in short, intermittent bursts. I didn’t think much of it until I was brushing my teeth and was astonished to find my reflection wreathed in hot air balloons. We’d woken to a balloon festival, and the sounds were pilots burning gas to keep their craft above the trees. Many were high, crossing the river from Quebec with room to spare, but just as many flew by at what felt like close enough to touch. 

Mr Man and I ran to the driveway to wave as they passed, and were waved at in return.

Both the milkshake and balloon experiences produced the sort of delighted state that I love, contentment, surprise and joy all wrapped into one. 

Delicious happiness.

Here’s to feeling more of that, no matter what the season.

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Here’s to worry being needless and hope being rewarded.

— John Green

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For whatever reason, today has been filled with technical and other issues. I’ve spent the last few hours troubleshooting a number of different problems, but happily have found my way through most of them.  

The lesson? Even if you’ve tried everything, step back, reassess, and try again. You never know when conditions may have changed and that thing you tried half a dozen times will suddenly work. 

Hooray!

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“Beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living within that way of life.”

— Hunter S. Thompson

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I don’t usually curse, and when I do I try to pick my moments. Now that we’re in the AI era, here’s one such moment:

“Just give me the f***ing links!”—Cursing disables Google’s AI overviews

If you search Google for a way to turn off the company’s AI-powered search results, you may well get an AI Overview telling you that AI Overviews can’t be directly disabled in Google Search. But if you instead ask Google how to turn off “f***ing Google AI results,” you’ll get a standard set of useful web suggestions without any AI Overview at the top. (asterisks added to protect delicate reader sensibilities)

Seems to work with DuckDuckGo too. A handy tip for the modern age!

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“Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.”

― Howard Thurman

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“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

I’m interpreting this in the best possible light, of course. I mean, I can be a bit of a procrastinator, but my goal is not to be the best procrastinator I possibly can. I try to choose my targets wisely!

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I have a soft spot for wacky and fun inventions, and this one is right up there. 

Watch This Guy’s Interactive Wooden Pixel Machine Make Art in Real Time

Sitting in my office in NYC, I sent a CNC machine in a guy’s workshop in Wisconsin a 40 by 25 pixel drawing and watched it flip hand painted wooden blocks across a grid, one by one, until the glorious smiling 404 Media logo appeared—then watched it slowly erase, like a giant Etch A Sketch, moving on to the next drawing. 

For more on the why and the how and the seriously?, see I spent 6 years building a ridiculous wooden pixel display.

Want to play (and have a Bluesky account)? Vist kilopixel and submit your art!

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Just leaving this up here for my fellow fans:

The CIA used a Star Wars fan website to secretly communicate with spies | TechSpot

The internet has seen its fair share of weird, but a Star Wars fan site secretly run by the CIA to communicate with overseas spies might top the list.

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