4/5
Very helpful book, but a generation out of date. Does not cover universal analytics or the new user ID collection but is a great foundation as long as you know this. I'll buy the next edition when/if it becomes available.
It's the start of Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, Winter if you live south of the equator or in San Francisco. Rendered in Catfood Earth.
What if as well as Term Limits we had Party Limits - the same political party cannot win more than three or four times in a row?
Representative Alan Lowenthal has introduced the Let the People Draw the Lines Act which would seek to prevent gerrymandering by taking redistricting out of the hands of the politicians for the states that haven't done this already (California, Arizona, Washington and Idaho have independent commissions).
This is a good idea, but I'd go further. Let's introduce Term Limits where we don't already have them and then add Party Limits. The same politician can only hold on to their seat for two to three terms and additionally the same party can't hold the seat for more than three to four terms. We break up any kind of political monopoly and reduce the incentive to rig the system to keep the same incumbent in power.
We'd probably get more political diversity as well as fewer career politicians. It's a better solution to daisyworld.
4/5
This was a hard book to start because it's so sad to know that there will never be another Iain [M] Banks novel. I fell in love with his work after picking up The Wasp Factory with some birthday money in Guildford. I had (and loaned and lost) one signed book, Feersum Endjinn, which was the only really awful one. The Quarry was short, better than I thought it would be, not as good as his best. He'll be missed.
4/5
Unbearably British. Very funny.
San Francisco at night shot from Alta Plaza Park.
Coyote on Lovers' Lane in The Presidio.
Updated 2014-10-21 22:53:
Another Presidio Coyote, this time on the main post.
Updated 2020-01-01 18:19:
Two pups playing in Glen Canyon Park.
Updated 2020-10-10 10:28:
In the Marin Headlands.
Updated 2020-12-28 09:26:
In Glen Canyon Park again.
Sun Painting, an installation at the Exploratorium in San Francisco by Bob Miller.
5/5
Took a while to start because The Secret History is one of my favorite books and I was pretty disappointed by The Little Friend - I can't really even remember it. The Goldfinch on the other hand will stick with me for a long time. It's a book where you inhabit someone else's life so deeply that it's disorienting to finish. Outstanding.
If you only buy one house in Bernal Heights this month it should be 94 Elsie Street on the west slope of the hill (I'm not biased, just happened to have lived there for nearly ten years!)
Robert Ellison's blog, I Thought He Came With You, on the Fediverse via fed.brid.gy. Photography, time lapse, programming, politics, hikes and more.
