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Here are long-form blog posts I published recently:

• Ellul's ethic of non-power and (generative) AI

Here are microblog posts that I published recently:

• An “employee benefits company” reimbursed me for medical expenses by putting the money into an account at the company instead of my bank. Now, my employer is no longer contracting with this company, so I have to hurry and find things to buy before it starts taking it back $5 at a time. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

• Reddit ditching RSS b/c of massive web scraping tolerated because protecting IP is now a threat to business is threefold disrespect for Aaron Swartz, and everyone should be ashamed. (I don’t think IP is the issue w/AI, but it’s what let feds harass Swartz in a way that they never will AI).

• I just had a brief moment where I felt some sympathy for Reddit: “Maybe I’m part of the problem for only consuming via RSS, which isn’t good for their bottom line.” Then I remembered that they don’t produce the content I’m interested in, they just profit off it, and now I’m even angrier.

• Still angry about Reddit and RSS: Praising RSS’s role in the “open web” in an announcement that they’re shutting it off isn’t saying the quiet part out loud, but it is pointing a giant neon sign at the quiet part.

• …when did Garfield Without Garfield get mainstream enough that my kid can check out a book of it on Libby?

• Super neat (not neat at all) that my Apple made it so my email client can’t connect to my work email the same week that I’m trying to migrate task managers. All of my systems in chaos.

• In Lexington, we have a local hemp store called The Botany Bay, and every time I see one of their advertisements, I just smile at what a great choice of name that is.

• The opening scene of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (bypasses have got to be built, your house is a small price to pay, and we couldn’t be bothered to consult you) remains one of the best metaphors for generative AI I’ve ever encountered.

Here are news articles and podcasts I commented on recently:

• 🔗 linkblog: Flock search that led Lexington police to surround wrong home intensifies debate over the tech

• 🔗 linkblog: WKYT Investigates: Who’s using Lexington’s Flock cameras? Data shows it’s mostly outside agencies

• 🔗 linkblog: Reddit says it has to cut back access to ‘Old Reddit’ because of AI bots

• 🔗 linkblog: RFK Jr. thinks AI will free us from the 'tyranny' of medical facts, expertise

• 🔗 linkblog: An AI couldn’t beat humans at StarCraft, so it decided to cheat

Here are my reviews of books and other media I consumed recently:

• 📚 bookblog: Ghost, Omnibus 1 (❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤)

• 📚 bookblog: Farmhand, Volume 5 (❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤)

• 🍿 movieblog: Backrooms (❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤)

• 📚 bookblog: Seed of Destruction (❤️❤️❤️🖤🖤)

• 📺 tvblog: Monty Python's Flying Circus Series 1 (❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤)

• 📚 bookblog: Carmilla: The First Vampire (❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤)

If you have thoughts about anything I've posted, feel free to comment directly on my website through Hypothesis or to reply to this email with what you have to say.

Thanks for reading!

Spencer