onfocus

Wow, this is some awful antisocial behavior from a company (and marketing firm) that should know better. Can we have one or two ad-free spaces?

Nice to see a tech company prioritizing something other than growth at all costs. Good for Salesforce for acting when our governments are failing us.

How those annoying ad blocks at the bottom of every article you read online work. Chumbox is the perfect name for them. I think the more we learn about how these things prey on our psyche the more immune we become.

ps. Corn, maybe.

"...there exists a sphere of life that should remain outside public scrutiny, in which we can be sure that our words, actions, thoughts and feelings are not being indelibly recorded. This includes not only intimate spaces like the home, but also the many semi-private places where people gather and engage with one another in the common activities of daily life—the workplace, church, club or union hall. As these interactions move online, our privacy in this deeper sense withers away."

Maciej Cegłowski, owner and operator of old-school bookmarking service Pinboard (which I use to power posts like this) spoke to the Senate Banking Committee about online privacy. His thoughtful written statement is an excellent description of privacy in our current tech environment and has some ideas about how regulation could change things. I have no idea how this public statement came about, but I hope our leaders were listening. The gif here is by @thedansherman.

"Various directors tried to tackle the book..." They tried and failed? They tried and died.

So this is happening. With star power. But if there’s no Walken—I’m walkin’ (with)out (rhythm).

There are few satisfactions in life greater than finding a more efficient way to do something in vi. But if you’re me you can’t just read a vi book. You have to read tutorials like this over and over until a new shortcut for moving, cutting, or pasting text just sticks. This is a good tutorial for ambient skill acquisition.

"'Electability' is a way to get voters to carry out a contrary agenda—not their own—while convincing them they’re being 'responsible.'"

I think this article is getting at a central problem with Democratic thinking right now. I agree that it’s impossible to know other people’s minds and trying to read minds (or public opinion) hurts my own ability to reason.

I've been using this Simplify Gmail chrome plugin for a week now and I highly recommend it. I've been accidentally clicking compose ever since Gmail added the fly-in-on-hover navigation on the left. This plugin removes that and adds a floating compose button in the lower right. It removes several distractions around the edges and lets you focus on reading email—which is what you're there to do.

These security and perfomance changes for websites are easy to add and include some new browser features I wasn't aware of before. I went with the recommendation here for a simple CSP header but it looks like you could really batten down the https hatches with that one if you read through the spec.

“In a connected, searchable world, it’s hard to share information about extremists and their tactics without also sharing their toxic views... Labeling extremist content or disinformation as ‘fake news’ doesn’t neutralize its ability to radicalize.”

This article describes the information contagion problem perfectly. I wonder if all information should come with specific instructions to stay grounded after consuming it.

I really like this extension that tells you if a book you’re viewing at Amazon is available at your local library. I wish it could tell me how much money I’ve saved over time. And I wish it could speed up my holds while I’m dreaming.

I’m on board with this plan. Take a look if you haven’t seen it yet. I’m even more on board with the widespread online mocking of this type of reaction to it: Elizabeth Warren's plan to cancel student loan debt would be a slap in the face to all those who struggled to pay off their loans. My favorite response from @petridishes: "this plan to stop slapping people in the face is a slap in the face to all those who were slapped in the face."