So I’m giving Reeder 5 another try. It’s starting to grow on me… A little… Maybe… Sorry @canion.

It’s amazing what listening to loud music can do for the soul.

I’ve been pondering starting a punk band out of the OC in SoCal for a couple years. Given recent political results, now would be the time for it. But all the punks from the days of old who are my age and still located in the OC are likely MAGA-heads now…

No Words

I went to bed concerned with what I was seeing, but with the hope that democracy would do its thing and a tyrant would be defeated. I was confident common sense and a true sense of patriotism would prevail. I slept soundly.

I awoke to what I can only see as a disastrous future. I’m stunned, sickened, angry and scared all at the same time.

I have no words. I have many thoughts, but no words.

When this man was elected in 2016, I was not a fan of the outcome. My wife and I didn’t vote for him ourselves and we were sure then democracy would prevail.

Nonetheless, he ended up president elect and, though we thought better of it, my wife and I agreed we’d support the Office of the President since that’s what a good American does: Win or lose, you accept the outcome and support your country’s leader.

We changed our minds pretty damn fast.

Eight years later, we’re looking at another four years of what I can only call pure hell.

Has history taught us nothing?

I’m stunned. I’m sickened. I’m angry. And I’m scared.

I’m stunned, sickened, angry and scared because more than half of our nation believes an unhinged man with fascist tendencies is the best option to lead our country.

What have we come to?

Rome was once a great nation, but its time eventually came to an end. How close is America to its fall?

Far too close now, I fear…

There’s a great curation of photos in the Micro.blog Discover feed today. Check them out and follow someone new.

Reading my last post back, it might sound as if I’ve accepted defeat.

Far from it. Make no mistake. I will do everything necessary to stand up against tyranny.

Do not give up. Do not give in. Continue to fight for truth, justice and what is right for all peoples.

The fight has only just begun…

I really dislike daylight savings time changes. Even “gaining” an hour, I’m all sorts of wonky and will be for a week. I hope one day legislation actually passes that does away with it once and for all.

As I teased yesterday, I registered a new domain and set up a site for the resurrection journey of my Mac app Yasu. Follow along there if you’re interested.

I challenged Claude.ai and ChatGPT to create a Python script to convert my Omnivore archive from HTML to Markdown using the same prompt. Claude.ai’s script outperformed ChatGPT’s in terms of functionality and flexibility. Although ChatGPT’s script worked, Claude.ai’s script provided better options.

Well darn. My IT Security brethren (and Legal) have finally given the kibosh to my beloved Fantastical calendar app, revoking the OAuth token to connect to my work calendar. It’s not worth fighting to keep, which means it’s not worth renewing my subscription either. We had a good run, Fantastical… 💔

I have managed to come down with a very slight cold. Nothing like I would get when I was a smoker 30+ years ago, but it is the first one I’ve had in more than five years. I think stress at the day job has contributed to it.

Yay Dodgers for winning the World Series. Boo Dodger fans for behaving like destructive looting thugs, yet again. 😒

Happy to report that after one day, interest in and response to the new Micro.blog tees was pretty incredible. Seeing that totally made it worth making it happen.

My wife (of all people) turned me on to a really interesting podcast series yesterday… American Elections: Wicked Game. I’ve listened to the 2020 episode completely and half of the 2016. It’s crazy how much I’ve forgotten of the events that happened during those cycles.

The Unofficially Official Micro.blog Swag

You may have seen my teaser for this yesterday. Or not… 😁

Do you love Micro.blog and wish you could represent the platform while you’re out and about at the grocery store, sporting event, work or nerdy conference?

Well, now you can. 🎉

Introducing the “Unofficially Official” Micro.blog t-shirts and mobile phone cases, approved for distribution by @Manton himself.

Get yours from Cotton Bureau today!

Full disclosure: This merchandise is sold at cost. No profit is being made apart from what Cotton Bureau may make themselves.

I know I’ll be placing an order for mine once I’ve hit publish on this post…

Surprisingly, after upgrading to macOS Sequoia 15.1 and joining the Apple Intelligence waitlist, I received it within a minute or two. I had anticipated a wait of at least a couple of days. Now, I’m trying to figure out how it can actually benefit my computing habits.

It’s said that “good artists copy, great artists steal.” I’d hate to be labeled a thief, so I’m going to borrow the idea and run a social experiment on my site by adding an exclusive Buck a Month Club. If you like my work, this is your opportunity to join 49 others and support what I do each month.

I love the California BallotTrax system. I dropped our ballots off at the local ballot box yesterday morning, and my wife and I got email notification that our ballots have been counted today. We’ve done our small part. You should too if you haven’t yet. In many ways, life and death is at stake. 🇺🇸🗳️

I’m working on this super-cool thing that I think a lot of Micro.blog users will really like. I can’t let the cat out of the bag quite yet, but I’m so giddy with excitement over it that I just can’t keep my big mouth shut…

Living on the edge…

An iPhone software update screen shows the preparation of iOS 18.1, highlighting features related to Apple Intelligence and various enhancements.