Headline of the week: 1,200 undergrads hung out to dry after jailbreak attack on laundry machines theregister.com.
My hot take: A clothes washer should not have an internet connection.
I briefly wondered why I put on a shirt when working from a home office, and then I realized I am absolutely someone who would forget to put on a shirt for an important work video call and then my next call after that would be with HR.
Rebooting The Blogosphere (Part 1: Activities) climbtothestars.org. Lately I like blogging more and more as an alternative to the twitter-alikes.
Five technological achievements! (That we won’t see any time soon.) crookedtimber.org/2025/09/0…
“Anytime soon” = 25 years. By 2050.
The first is sending humans to Mars and bringing them home alive.
The final two predictions are particularly painful.
Google: The worst possible antitrust outcome. pluralistic.net
“Blogging lost to Twitter because Twitter had one-click subscribe.” scripting.com/2025/09/0…
“The Dems are terrible at politics. They should be running ads on TV saying that no workers in the fields means food prices soaring as we’ll have to import food because all the American crops are dead because there was no one to harvest them.” scripting.com/2025/09/0…
“Reminder: Sept 18, one week from today, is the 3rd anniversary of the 20th anniversary of the release of RSS 2.0.” I love RSS. I use it every day, and have for more than 20 years. scripting.com
Mastodon is getting quote posts. blog.joinmastodon.org
On Political Violence. A short, insightful commentary. prospect.org
“The logical endpoint of 21st-century America: An influencer shot to death at a school in front a crowd of smartphones.” garbageday.email
I published and deleted two posts about Charlie Kirk yesterday, and then wrote one more today, and I don’t expect to publish it.
Anything I can think to say about the subject seems like something that will just add heat, rather than light, to a situation that’s already in danger of boiling over.
ActivityPub and ATPro need to fully interoperate. A Mastodon user should be able to follow a BlueSky user and vice versa.
It’s insane that this is not possible today. My iPhone on AT&T doesn’t care if you have a Samsung phone on Verizon. We can just talk to each other.
Twitter, Threads and Tumblr have financial interests in blocking interoperability. Mastodon and Bluesky do not have those interests. So what’s the hold-up?
Elizabeth Warren sends a letter to Whiskey Pete Hegseth questioning whether it’s a good idea to grant a $200 million defense contract to Elon Musk’s MechaHitler. theverge.com
Apple’s new crossbody phone strap has a surprisingly interesting history, going back to the 1940s, when fashion designers started shrinking or removing women’s pockets “because they interfered with the form-fitting silhouettes popularized by Christian Dior’s ‘New Look.'” theverge.com
I probably won’t get the strap; my phone lives in my left front pants pocket most days.
Authoritarianism Feels Surprisingly Normal—Until It Doesn’t. Life in Venezuela was deceptively mundane. Then everything collapsed. [The Atlantic]
Conservative Justices Declare Racial Profiling Just Fine If Trump Asks For It. [Talking Points Memo]
I am 50 followers away from 1,000 followers on Mastodon. A few dozen of you fuckers better unfollow me now because I can’t stand the pressure.
San Diego protests, rallies and resources to help you push back against tyranny
- Support Proposition 50, the Election Rigging Response Act. Join the San Diego Democratic Party GO Team (Grassroots Organizing).
- Protest at Severin/Fuerte I-8 overpass, every Wednesday, 4:30-6 pm, organized by CBFDIndivisible.
- Weekly El Cajon rallies: Feet on the Streets in defense of democracy, 10 am Thursdays and Saturdays, Parkway Plaza, Fletcher Parkway and Magnolia
- Protect Social Security rally and protest, Tuesdays at 10:30 am, Social Security Administration, 7961 University Ave., La Mesa
- Stop the Cottonwood Sand Mine: Final public hearing is Wednesday 9/10 9 am, San Diego Board of Supervisors, County Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway, Room 310
- Blackout the System, Sept. 16-20. Nationwide. No work. No purchases. No deliveries. No gas. No restaurants. No traveling. No projects. No events. No backing out. #blackoutthesystem. Constitution Day, Sept. 17, for those who can only do one day.
- Keep ICE out of courtrooms! Weekdays 10-10:30 am. Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building, 880 Front St., San Diego.
- We Say No Kings. Nationwide Day of Peaceful Protests. Oct. 18. Save the date.
- Indivisible CA: StateStrong Monthly Meeting, Monday Sept. 8 and the first Monday of every month. 5:30-6:30 pm. Virtual event.
- USC Law students have started a hotline for people to call when they have an immigration-related court hearing but don’t want to show up in person for fear of being arrested or detained by ICE outside the courthouse. The students will help people complete and submit a “Motion to Change Hearing Format,” which can allow someone to have a remote or online hearing instead of in person. The hotline is (888) 462-5211.
- Join the La Mesa-Foothills Democratic Club, which serves La Mesa and surrounding communities — but all are welcome. Meetings the first Wednesday of the month at the La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive, La Mesa. Get-acquainted time, with light refreshments, starts 6:30 pm, programming starts 7 pm.
- Join other Democratic clubs throughout the county.
- For more events, review the Take Action SwingLeft Protest Calendar
- San Diego Indivisible resources
- “So anyways with the rapid rise of fascism I feel it’s a good time to point out that it’s perfectly legal to follow unjust orders slowly, badly, or inefficiently”
- On the Power of Small Acts of Noncompliance