This year for xmas I made Raspberry Pi video players for everyone in my family, so they could share my love for BergensBanen minutt for minutt HD:
When the Pi boots up, it updates its time using ntpdate, pulls down any updates from this git repo, then plays back starting from a specific timestamp based on the current UTC time. This allows for a communal slow TV viewing experience.
I was happy to provide comments for an article by Eileen Guo about Net Neutrality and mesh networking. It was was helpful in formulating my thoughts on the FCC’s recent decision to rescind Net Neutrality rules (see also: my last email newsletter).
You may have heard that today the FCC voted against Net Neutrality rules. During the deliberations Republican Commissioner Michael O’Rielly said:
Clearly there are cases today, and many more that will develop in time, in which the option of a paid prioritization offering would be a necessity based on either technology or needs of consumer welfare. I for one see great value in the prioritization of telemedicine and autonomous car technology over cat videos. (1:43:20 into the C-Span archive)
My response on Twitter seems to have struck a chord:
This is now more popular than my previous big day on Twitter and sadly they’re both about things breaking on the Internet.
I made pancakes this morning, based on an Oatmeal Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes recipe Ellie suggested from the NYTimes. It uses yogurt instead of buttermilk, since that’s what we had around. At some point I should resolve this with my Dad’s pancakes recipe.
Combine the milk, yogurt, and rolled oats in a bowl, and set aside.
Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in another bowl.
In a third larger bowl, whisk the eggs. Then whisk in the vanilla extract and the oil.
Mix everything into the larger bowl and quickly whisk together. Do not overbeat; a few lumps are okay.
We ate them with butter, maple syrup, whipped cream, and some homemade cranberry sauce leftover from Thanksgiving.
WeWork as the new company town:
In WeWork’s future, the hastily privatised public space is returned to citizens. However, it comes back as a commercial service provided by a lavishly funded data company, not as a right. Meetup’s civil society will keep on talking, inside WeWork’s buildings. But the struggle against alienation will now consist of applying even more data analytics and nudging to the tortured souls of overworked cognitive workers, who, in escaping alienated workplaces in the comfort of makerspaces and face-to-face meetings, have discovered that the workplaces have colonised their non-work lives instead.
This extended Frontline interview with The Atlantic’s Julia Ioffe is extremely informative. This is probably more than you wanted to know about Vladimir Putin, but it’s helpful to understand how Russian-style politics has taken root here in the US.
Three things coming up later this week in NYC:
I helped build a website with the Other EPA encouraging you to submit a Public Comment on the EPA’s draft 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, which presently has no mention of Climate Change.
The deadline to submit your Public Comment is tonight, 11:59pm ET!
