A paywalled Atlantic piece - but not paywalled on the Wayback machine: 🔗 The Lure of a Fully Randomized Life When I first learned about Max’s experiment, I thought he had found a convenient way to dodge taking responsibility for his decisions. Sorry, the computer made me do it. But I came to see that no matter where the algorithm sent him, Max had cultivated an admirable equanimity about where he ended up.
Read - a long time ago - 📚The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. I recall it as a great read, but I couldn’t truly commit to that - it was a different time. BUT - I often reference it - so it clearly had impact. Would certainly ‘give it a whirl’.
Meanwhile as we 🖇️ seek to spend trillions in getting to Mars - we barely understand our own backyard. 🔗📸 In a Single Year, Ocean Census Scientists Discovered More than 1,100 New Marine Species.
🔗 The SpaceX IPO Ben seems to think the IPO is a good idea .. (His paraphrased conclusions) 1] Musk … has already pushed humanity forward on multiple vectors, including electric cars, self-driving, reusable rockets, satellite Internet, etc., and I’m excited to see him try and do more. 2] Musk is proposing an alternative path to unlimited compute is a relief. 3] This IPO is a return to what an IPO should be: the opportunity for people to contribute capital to actually build the business, and to benefit if it works out.
👁️🎵 it’s as if McCartney is on a global farewell to Public life tour.
I used to read Cringely a lot and then I didn’t. He disappeared from my feeds - life moved on and then BOOM - in the feed today. 🔗 Where the heck have I been all this time? | I, Cringely HOLY CRAP!
‘Your network is your net worth’ have none of you ever heard of just having friends? 💬 Joan Westenberg
Another Smithsonian - this from 1910. Resent the Attempt to Smash the British Constitution by American Dollars" poster. Lithograph in black and red ink on white paper showing a caricature of John Redmond armed with a club called “Home Rule” with a large money bag containing US dollars in each hand, produced for the Unionist Party in December 1910. 💬 The Smithsonian It’s all about fighting the use of American Dollars to ‘break Britain’.
A lot of images from the Smithsonian are on Unsplash for free use. This one caught my eye. This sign was designed to be placed in the window of a home so that all who passed would know that the woman within had exercised her right under the 19th amendment and registered to vote. It also served as a reminder to other women to do the same. ca 1920.
👁️ Have to say, feeling rather pleased with myself. On The Timeline → Post Detail → In The Category List Let the development and design continue.
👁️ In a world of EFT and instant gratification it is interesting to see that Amazon can ship atoms from warehouse to door an order of magnitude faster than a bank can add a deposit from another bank. That said - any bank can take money out of your account at a speed that leaves light in the dust. So I guess ‘on average’ the banks think they are doing ok.

Crucial Track 🎵 May 28, 2026

"Common People (Full Length Version)" by Pulp Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. Pulp. Jarvis. Classic. Only Shatner might have improved it. I'll see what I can do. View John Philpin's Crucial Tracks profile Listen to my Apple Music playlist
Read More
👁️ I forgot that I had two 🎵LastFM accounts - time to merge. Somehow.
The Catch Up continues. Read 🔗📚Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari
🔗 Scripting News I need an easy way to do a mini-podcast. An idea that should be said verbally, but it’s short and self-contained, about the length of an untitled blog post, like the one you’re reading now. 💬 Dave Winer I had the same idea back in 2019 @dave - I even created a 🔗🎙️snicklecast to describe what a 🔗🎙️snicklecast - and why it is. Never cracked the ‘simple’ part though.
🍎📺 Finished Imperfect Women last night. Really rather good. Seem to be more and more of these ‘secrets wrapped up in Russian Dolls’ stories. They aren’t always great. 🚧
🔗📼 Same Video on YouTube for easier sharing. via @MitchW : 🔗 When they divide up the pie
👁️ TIL that Ukiah is the palindrome of Haiku … which is why Ukiah has an 🔗 annual Haiku festival.
Ultimately your job as a developer is to turn your creation over to users to figure out. Listen to see if patterns emerge. Even better give the users the tools they need to build apps out of our apps, together. This is how humans build layers of tech. 💬 Dave Winer
🔗 Vibrant Miniature Dioramas by Shannon Taylor Burst from Vintage Compacts