Don’t Let Layoffs Undermine Your DEI Efforts

I find it very hard to take a tweet that contains 'Cameo Fameo' seriously as the only example of approaching layoffs with empathy.

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The Guardian profiles the "Tyre Extinguishers" – an international group that deflates tires of SUVs parked on streets

Move to West Virginia and evict Joe Manchin maybe?

(Related: Carr is Wrong: Costolo is Wrong: Wikipedia’s SOPA Blackout is a Great Idea; Sawmill Flats; I didn't think I'd ever fall for fake news on Facebook)

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A Boy And His Atom is the world's smallest movie

Testing Twitter API integration, but also this is pretty cool.

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A Death Row Inmate Asked SCOTUS If He Can Die by Firing Squad, and It Said Yes

Also for those not on death row, we can all die by firing squad now too. Thanks SCOTUS.

(Related: Game of Death; I didn't think I'd ever fall for fake news on Facebook; Where did that app icon go, Android?)

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Save America’s Patent System

Good problem to solve, wrong solution. Examine patents on use rather than before issuing.

(Related: How to fix software patents; BBC On Patents; You won't believe this one crazy trick that would fix the broken patent system)

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The New York Times: Twitter Permanently Suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Account

Do they mean revoked?

(Related: #Resist; Email Alerts for new Referers in Google Analytics using Apps Script; Share a picture in MonoDroid)

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Pluto should be reclassified as a planet, say some scientists

Yes.

(Related: Religion's Kayne West Tendencies; Geotagging posts in BlogEngine.NET; Have we Already Proved that the Simulation Hypothesis is False?)

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Mimica, which automates RPA, raises $6M Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures

I'm holding out for the company that automates robotic process automation automation.

(Related: California, I can save you billions with a small and reasonably priced computer program...; Merging Resource Dictionaries for fun and profit; Is PAD dead?)

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Snap Out of It, America: Give Kids the Right to Vote

So I disagree with this but it's interesting and well argued. A better idea is my life expectancy weighted voting plan.

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The ease of mail-in voting may increase turnout in California’s recall election.

NYT finally twigs.

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A woman is suing S.F. for $50 million over a parking ticket, saying tire chalk is unconstitutional

In one of the cases, filed Sept. 4, plaintiff Maria Infante seeks $50 million and class-action status after a San Francisco parking enforcement officer wielding chalk on a residential street gave her a $95 ticket.

The second case, filed the same day against San Leandro, demands $5 million for class members whose tires were chalked to financially benefit the city.

Civilization continues to collapse. I had my tongue in my cheek for this proposed constitutional amendment but I'm not so sure any more...

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How to Call Customer Service and Actually Get What You Want

Wired has this generic article on getting support with some insights that might have been cutting age a decade ago. I'm still waiting for CAPTGUAs.

(Related: California November 2020 Propositions; San Francisco November 2020 Ballot Measures; San Francisco June 2022 Ballot Measures)

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The New York Times: Opinion | Will We Ever Amend the Constitution Again?

See my training wheels suggestion for this.

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25-year retrospective of Nokia's Communicator, the first pocket computer phone that worked

My first mobile phone, and in many ways still my favorite.

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CNN: What's the risk of indoor dining if you're fully vaccinated? Here's what one expert says

Exhibit A

(Related: House of Lords - time for Legislative Service?; Is it safe to open securedoc.html (Cisco Registered Envelope)?; Android 11 Gripes)

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The New York Times: Opinion | America Needs to Break Up Its Biggest States

I'd rather get rid of the electoral college and have a national, ranked choice vote but this is interesting.

(Related: #Resist; Thinking about the UK referendum on AV; End the Electoral College: Amendment, Compact, or Supreme Court?)

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I have just updated my blog with two new features for hike posts.

The route is now shown in an embedded Google map. The map has a pin for the start of the hike (and for any geolocated photos included with the post) and a red line for the GPS track. Don't use this for following the route - better to download the KML file and have an offline map - but it's great for getting a sense of the hike.

Below the map is a new hike profile that plots elevation against distance together with estimated total distance and elevation gain. This is fairly tricky as my phone GPS isn't the best and altitude in particular jumps around a fair bit. To make this reasonably stable I take trackpoints every 60th of a mile and I only count elevation gain when it has gone up more than 100 feet. This probably errs on the side of underestimating unless the signal is really bad. The overall shape is a pretty good guide but please don't depend on the distance and elevation gain.

(Related: About Hikes; Better related posts with word2vec (C#); Export Google Fit Daily Steps, Weight and Distance to a Google Sheet)

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(Hike Map)