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Sunday Morning Reading
A brief breather at home before travels resume, so there’s a full plate for this week’s Sunday Morning Reading including some nostalgia that shouldn’t be, some very interesting reading on AI, a defiant Chicago, and even a bit on gambling and baseball. Enjoy.
Chicago is under threat from a madman and you can feel the tension in the crisp fall air. Dan Sinker has written an excellent Benediction for Chicago On the Eve of Occupation. You don’t hear thoughts and prayers in the check out lines at the grocery store, just a growing sense of defiant preparation.
The pendulum seems to be swinging wildly in the opinion wars about Artificial Intelligence now that some are actually able to sift through the hype bubbles and see what’s what. EmptyWheel has an excellent 4-part series that is more than worth your time. It begins with A Normal Person’s Explainer On What Generative AI Is And Does and continues with The Other Half Of The AI Relationship, Proteins, Factories, And Wicked Solutions, and concludes with LLMs Are Lead.
Follow that excellent series with The Tech Industry Has a Dirty Secret: The More People Learn About AI, The Less They Trust it by Victor Tangermann. For what it’s worth, I’m also seeing AI naysayers riding the pendulum back the other way as they find ways to make some of the tools of this tool work for them. No AI could ever sort this out with a summary.
The Power We Use and The Power We Give is a brilliant piece by Philip Bump. As he transitions from his former job with The Washington Post he’s talking about where choosing to land next and why making the right choice about where to exercise what power the words you use live. This is a complicated moment in history on so many levels, well illustrated in this one man’s piece.
Also, here’s an excellent piece from Bump on the goings on in Chicago called Trump Wants To Make War On Chicago. He Picked The Wrong Fight.
Speaking of complexity, David Todd McCarty wonders why so many men find themselves alone later in life in Boys Don’t Cry, Men Don’t Bond.
Chris Armitage says It’s Time For Americans To Start Talking About “Soft Secession.” I take the point about the term and the concept. I’m not criticizing either or Armitage’s piece when I say this, but hell, when the president of the country mockingly riles up everyone with a threat to declare war on a city, I’m not sure there’s anything “soft” about anything anymore.
NatashaMH tackles political amnesia is what I think is a timely piece worth revisiting more than once. Our capacity to forget or set aside so much, so often, is astounding. Check out Inside The Fortress, Outside The Fire. Here’s the money quote:
As often as I can, I remind them how history is a reminder of the lives we lost and of how stupid we really are. “Senseless to the core. And once we’re done with the bloodshed, we write poetry.”
To clear the palette a bit, check out Tim Newcomb’s piece about how A Remarkable Discovery of A Document Shatters One of Shakespeare’s Biggest Mysteries.
Fact checking may be a dying art, given that most of the world has decided we can each have our own facts. Zach Helfand as a wonderful long piece on The History Of The New Yorker’s Vaunted Fact-Check Department. Too damn bad we have to file this under nostalgia.
Speaking of nostalgia, check out Bettor Up by J.R. Moehringer about gambling and baseball. Yes, it’s about gambling and baseball, but it’s the closest thing I’ve seen to the good sports writing (especially about baseball) that I grew up with.
(Image from Roman Kraft on Unsplash.)
If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.
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One of Those Nights
Last night was one of those nights. I have one every now and then, but they’ve been fewer and farther between these last six or seven years or so.
I’m referring to one of those nights when you dream you can’t fall asleep. And you keep waking up, wondering why you can’t fall asleep.
And it repeats.
And repeats.
And repeats.
Endlessly.
You hear yourself speaking to yourself with the same words. Over and over again. If I glance at the clock it feels like time stands still and I’m trying to will time to move forward.
I least I think I would call it a dream, or a nightmare. Perhaps I just couldn’t actually fall asleep. Regardless, it was a long, long night.
(Image from Jr Korpa on Unsplash.)
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More Mon-arching Around
Caught a few snaps of Monarch Butterflies flitting among plants in the neighborhood yesterday.
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Context and Chicago History with Troops in the Streets
Chicago is on edge as it prepares for what may (or may not) be Federal troops being sent in by the convicted felon and child rapist Donald Trump. Chicago and Illinois politicians are standing up and speaking strong against what most see as just the next move in his racist retribution reaction. I say next move, because it won’t stop in Chicago. This is what was promised and there’s no reason for Trump to back down or slow down now.
All of that said, troops on American streets is not a new phenomenon. That’s certainly true about Chicago. Neil Steinberg has an excellent piece in the Chicago Sun-Times that provides some context and history of past moments when the Windy City had troops in town. It’s worth your time, and not just for those in Chicago.
We tend to think of the military as a monolithic entity comprised of troops always taking orders and doing what they’re told. For the most part that’s true. But every military unit is no different than any unit of any other organization of individuals. You’ve got soldiers, sailors and airmen who do the right thing and you’ve got trouble makers. One of the problems is that some of the trouble makers have itchy trigger fingers, as do some of the officers.
This country is split down the middle with folks in and out of uniform who have a thirst for harming others and those who abhor violence. That’s not just common American history, that’s common human history. Those war movie clichés didn’t get created out of whole cloth.
Use that for the base of recipe that’s stirred up with demagoguery and it’s a dangerous brew ready to boil over.
I’m reasonably sure troops are going to show up in Chicago. Perhaps soon. Perhaps later. I’m also sure that if there is trouble it will come from the trouble makers, both in the ranks, and those ranking up and down the ladder of command, including the supposed tough guy at the top.
We’re already seeing reports that National Guard troops in L.A. and D.C. are having morale issues as they tire of being paraded around as B-roll fodder. (By the way, it’s lousy B-roll if the purpose is to show toughness.) We’ll see more of that as tensions increase all around the spectrum of this tough-guy wannabe spectacle.
I think this is just getting started.
As I said, go and read, Steinberg’s piece. It’s well worth your time.
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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Instagram Shows Up Very Late to the iPad Party
The folks at Meta must have something up their sleeve. The reason I say that is they have finally, after all of these years released an iPad version of the app, long after most folks just figured it would never happen. Other than speculating on what might be behind the late to the party move, at this point it begs the question, Who cares?
I’m sure plenty do care. I’m not one of them. Instagram is one of a few apps that I begrudgingly use. Begrudgingly because I hate it. I use it because my family on all sides continues to do so and it’s a way to keep up with grandkids, nieces, nephews, and other family news. But I honestly despise that I have to. Believe me I’ve tried to wean them off onto other apps and services, but it never sticks.
Every time I do open Instagram I have to block somewhere between 5 and 10 spam accounts (too often porn or ridiculous come ons.) And of course the algorithm doesn’t show me what I want to see, but what it wants me to see. There’s even an increased sense of desperation from both Instagram and Facebook sending out notifications telling me someone replied, is waiting for my reply, or commented on something I haven’t seen yet. It’s like begging in the street. Apologies to those who might actually need to do so.
Sure I could turn off the notifications, but sadly, that’s the least worst way to use the app to keep up with family happenings.
I’d say that since it took 15 years for Meta to finally roll this out that perhaps the adolescents in charge finally are growing up. But then, there are those porn accounts that pop up with the frequency like prepubescent zits.
I won’t be putting it on my iPad. It’s troubling enough that I still have it on my iPhone. And as I watch the over excited coverage rolling in, I haven’t seen any image of the iPad version that makes it look the least bit appealing. It’s like Meta didn’t really care based on what I’ve seen so far.
So, Instagram is on the iPad. What’s the point and who cares?
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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25 Years and Counting
It was one hell of a hot and humid day in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia 25 years ago. Nevertheless, we did the deed. And it was one helluva party that folks still talk about to this day.
Today my wife and I celebrate 25 years of marriage. There have been some moments along the way Some up. Some down. But we’re still here, together finding more.
So Happy 25th Anniversary to us.
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Blood Glucose Monitoring on the Apple Watch Is Probably A Long Way Off
Every year as we near Apple’s iPhone and Apple Watch announcements rumors circulate and recirculate about Apple including a blood glucose monitor for the Apple Watch. It would be great if that happens someday. In my view it’s probably a lot further off than most of those hoping it happens want it to be. Here’s why I think that.
I’m a Type 2 diabetic. Checking my blood sugars has been a part of my life for 14 years or so. I’m painfully familiar with the prick your finger method and relied on it until a new endocrinologist prescribed a Dexcom G6 sensor. I’m now using a Dexcom G7 sensor. I don’t use an automatic insulin pump, just the sensors for monitoring via my iPhone and Apple Watch. I treat my condition with injected medication, both insulin and GLP-1.
The Dexcom sensors (both generations) were indeed a plus in my life as they provided a better way of monitoring, allowing me to better gauge diet and exercise, which will always be the biggest part of any diabetic’s regime.
But neither Dexcom model was a fire and forget it solution. There are times when I have to check my blood sugar with a finger prick because there are so many variables that can affect your glucose levels. The Dexcom system does provide a method to calibrate and recalibrate based on actual readings from a finger prick. I experience periods when I don’t need to recalibrate often and periods when I do.
If I’m traveling for a more than a day or so I have to pack my kit for finger pricks, because travel can be one of those variables. An inadvertent bump of the sensor on my arm can throw readings off for the remaining life of that sensor. (You have to change to a new sensor every 10 days.) AND to be frank, the tech is still far from perfect. Sensors fail occasionally and, as is the case with all tech that fails, it happens at the most inappropriate time.
Dexcom’s sensors are classified as a minimally invasive medical device. The device inserts a small filament under the skin, and yes it feels like a small needle insertion. That filament takes its reading from the interstitial fluid between cells. It does not read directly from the bloodstream. The device is held on by an adhesive patch.
When Dexcom introduced its Apple Watch app it was a decided monitoring improvement over the iPhone App which I viewed via a widget on my iPhone Home Screen. The iPhone widget far too frequently needed a touch of the screen which opened the app to update the reading.
The Apple Watch app offers a complication that displays data more consistently, needing less frequent touches to refresh the readings. (The complication is visible in the photo above showing a reading of 157.) That said, the Apple Watch tends to disconnect too easily from the sensor, defaulting back to displaying readings from the iPhone when that occurs.
I also find that the Apple Watch app reading is more current than what the iPhone is showing, but you do still need the iPhone app to communicate readings with your endocrinologist.
In some instances I’ll need to reboot both devices to reconnect things up on both my iPhone and Apple Watch. Dexcom technicians have told me these disconnections have to do with Bluetooth connection issues and are subject to the same vagaries and variables that exist with many other Bluetooth connections. I also need to be aware of which arm I have the sensor attached. I wear my Apple Watch on my left arm and if the sensor is on my right arm there will be more frequent disconnections. I don’t sleep with my Apple Watch on, so waking in the morning requires a waiting period for the watch app to reconnect.
The goal behind the push to include blood glucose monitoring on an Apple Watch (or any other smart device) is obviously to cut down on the need for finger pricks and possibly the use of minimal invasive medical devices. But also, in theory an on device sensor communicating directly with watchOS should show readings more consistently and be much less subject to the vagaries of Bluetooth connectivity.
I certainly can’t prejudge any new system or technology that hasn’t surfaced yet. Certainly I’m one who hopes Apple or some other company can eventually tackle this issue and provide a workable solution. That said, convenient as this annual rumor always seems to be, I believe blood glucose monitoring on the Apple Watch is a lot further off than most hope or think it might be. I’m also reasonably sure that finger pricks will still be needed if for no other reason than to calibrate sensor readings with actual blood glucose levels.
You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.
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Avengers Assemble for the Grandson’s Birthday!
Whew. Just completed a big weekend with the grandkids celebrating our grandson’s 4th Birthday. When the selected theme is Spider-Man, you end up with all sorts of Avengers as well as more Spider-Men things than you can possibly imagine.
Quite a fun time. Also an exhausting one.
Whew.
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Sunday Morning Reading
Sunday Morning Reading is on hiatus this week as we’re traveling to visit the grandkids. Sunday Morning Reading will return next week.
(Image from Mr. Abstract on Shutterstock.)If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.
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One of Those Midwestern Nights.
Lovely evening after a lovely day.
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Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3
Musings on life, the theatre, technology, culture and the occasional emu sighting
Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3 