MeFi: We need to talk about Trader Joe's.
Ugh. Another one bites the dust.
The Pen Addict: Blackwing 2X Firm Graphite Core Pencil Review
I need to pick up a set of Blackwings. Extra Firm or Firm?
Atlas Obscura: Philly Typewriter.
I really, really desire to pick up a nice, working vintage typewriter. Even an 80’s Olivetti would be fine. I have had dreams about sitting at a table in empty desert scenes, thick forest sometimes, typing away, for some reason.
Slate: A list of the most disturbing, hilarious, and catastrophic Cybertruck disasters.
Just because until they have fast charging and real usable range, electric trucks are thin on the ground in rural New Mexico.
Dazed: Best looks from the Oscars 2024.
Because everyone, whether they admit it or not, are curious.
NY Times/Wirecutter: The Best Mosquito Control Gear for Your Patio or Yard.
Little gadgets. Need something more? Ever hear of a SkeeterVac? With the right bait for your geographic area, they work great. For a price, though.
NBC: The AI industry is pushing a nuclear power revival — partly to fuel itself.
Hmmm. AI or Crypto. Which is is gonna be worse for the environment?
The Hill: Biden to form ‘strike force’ to go after price-gouging.
It’s about damned time. I’ve been seeing some food prices double lately, for no obvious reasons.
Going shopping. On a Friday afternoon.
Pray for me. Helps to have a sense of humor.
Kelloggs boycott, April 1.
A bit of color for you folks in Europe. I don’t know if you get our same consumer products, but Kelloggs sells many products traditionally targeted at breakfast. A corporate talking head got on network television, and opened his cakehole at the wrong time and in the wrong place. With inflation as high as it is here, and prices stubbornly refusing to retreat, it seems consumers have woken up somewhat to the games the billionaire classes are playing. [Video]
I welcome the grassroots outrage. I could pick better targets, but when you are aware of the history of Kelloggs Corn Flakes, it puts a different spin on this whole situation (IMHO). Designed to calm your cojones! A perfect foil to the political IVF battles.
Life is so ironic.
Luminous Landscape: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sensor Fab: Pt 1.
“We’ve been hearing that a 100 MP full-frame sensor is about a year away since at least 2020, and as of this writing, I think it’s STILL about a year away (late 2024 or early 2025 at the earliest, with real availability probably in 2025). It may STILL be a year away at this time next year.”
Capital+Main: Another New Mexico Legislative Session Ends, and Again — No New Oil and Gas Reforms.
If you wonder why oil and gas bulldoze through our Legislature, look no farther than this: “Revenues from oil and gas production comprise more than 40% of New Mexico’s $10.2 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year and the Legislature spent much of its monthlong session allocating those billions to everything from education to health care to roads.”
Guardian: Microplastics found in every human placenta tested in study.
Bloody hell. I want glass bottles back!
Vox: Everyone's A Sell-Out Now.
“The problem is that America more or less runs on the concept of selling out.” A pretty cynical statement. I understand the feeling, however. The social media influencers I tend to follow are the restless ones, unsatisfied with their reach on Instagram, they’ll push Youtube, or TikTok. Or other channels. They have the threadbare profit to be able to analyze their best channel, their best followers, and tailor accordingly. It’s instructive to watch, but I have to really commend them for the hours and sweat equity that they put into these well-produced video shorts. They continue to do it, generally, for about two years before burnout (IMHO). I can only wonder if they ever get the $ remuneration that truly represents those hours. I suspect not.
Getting onto Instagram reels and seeing one influencer with like 30 beautiful shorts in a single hour of the morning, I want to just bury my head and give up life as a committed slacker. I suspect I’m not alone. The pressure to broadcast with perfection (the young and unblemished only need broadcast, also) must be intense.
PVC: Reviewing the New Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Alongside the Winter Holidays.
Sounds like my next video purchase, actually. And the reason I’ve held on to my old Canon glass …
TuneCraft: Build your own guitars.
This is awesome. I see a link about their previous company iteration; happy customers. YMMV, but I’m definitely thinking of risking a Franklin. Once I excavate my workbench from the disaster of the garage (pandemic storage and more) …
Must. Purchase.
Local absinthe?!!!! I’m there.