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Sunday Morning Reading

Tough reading for tough times in today’s Sunday Morning Reading.

It’s a Sunday. I’ve been reading. As usual I’ll share some of that with you in today’s Sunday Morning Reading.

I started out the week thinking I’d try to avoid politics. That didn’t work. Sort of like getting a cancer diagnosis and not wanting to know anything about the disease taking over your body. So, apologies if there isn’t much “light” reading today.

I’ll start of with an anonymous piece published in The Guardian. We all knew misogyny was a feature of the incoming frat party that will be the new administration. I don’t think anyone thought it would filter down so quickly to high schools. The Boys In Our Liberal School Are Different Now That Trump Has Won, tells that story. Woe be onto us and our children.

David Todd McCarty is working out how to get through the day these days. Check out We’re All Just Killing Time.

Sherrilyn Ifill calls her piece The Truth. It is. And it’s hard.

Joan Westenberg says the way to destroy a generation is to make them think the word runs on feelings and then use those feelings against them. Check out How To Destroy a Generation.

David French thinks Donald Trump Is Already Starting to Fail. Great. Too bad he’s going to take the rest of us down with him.

Norman Solomon is optimistic about Hope In A Time of Fascism.

Margaret Sullivan tries to debunk some of the lies rolling around this history changing moment in As Trump Plans Become Clearer, Reject These Four Dangerous Lies.

Life may feel too short to worry about some things. But it’s all a matter of perspective. Check out Natasha MH in Life’s Too Short for Matching Socks.

And to close things out, BlueSky is the latest social network to experience a burst of new users. This time the the burst is due largely in reaction against Musk’s rape of Twitter/X, and dissatisfaction with Zuckerberg’s Threads, which had been the darling for awhile. Mike Issac takes a look in Bluesky Is Growing Up. Maybe Too Fast.

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. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. You can also find me on social networks, including Bluesky, under my own name.

Sunday Morning Reading

Jokers to the left and right, but things feel increasingly unfunny.

Time for some Sunday Morning Reading as we continue treading water until the election on November 5th and prepare for the aftermath here in the U.S. There’s more tech and culture in this week’s edition than politics, but that’s here too. Hard to avoid it.

Speaking of politics, this article from Leah Feiger, Meet the Far-Right Constitutional Sheriffs Ready to Assert Control if Trump Loses, should remind us that this election isn’t just about one fascist. It’s about quite a few of them, already in power.

Take a look at We Are Willing Lord, But What, If Anything, Is Needed?, by David Todd McCarty. It’s a fascinating, very human discourse on attempting to find a way through the madness we’re mired in. And it’s not just about politics.

There was a big kerfuffle when the LA Times owner chose not to make an endorsement in this year’s election. There was a much larger one when Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos did the same with the Washington Post. Cowardly moves by both men who got where they are by not being cowards. Funny how money can change a guy. Many of those working for the papers are upset, some have quit, some are making their views known, including Alexandra Petri, the humor columnist for the Post. Check out It’s Fallen To Me, The Humor Columnist, To Endorse Harris For President.

On the AI beat this week, there’s more discussion about just how much, and what type of energy will be needed to power all of these Artificial Intelligence moves. Adele Peters takes a look in Google and Amazon Are Betting On ‘Advanced’ Nuclear. This Critic Warns It’s Not Ready.

Speaking of AI, Adobe seems to have put their foot in their mouth. Again. Jess Weatherbed reports that Adobe Execs Say Artists Need To Embrace AI Or Get Left Behind. Sadly, I think there’s truth in what Adobe is saying.

This week news broke about location surveillance issues and how our easily our smartphones can be tracked via ad tracking data. Yes, we’ve heard that for awhile, but if you check out this article from Brian Krebs called The Global Surveillance Free-for-All In Mobile Ad Data and this from Dan Goodin called Location Tracking Of Phones Is Out of Control. Here’s How To Fight Back, you’ll be thinking about this anew.

Iceland Embraced A Shorter Work Week. Olesya Dmitracova lets us know how it turned out. Spoiler alert: Better than predicted.

I keep talking about treading water, waiting for the election, Natasha MH talks about The Waiting Game in a broader context.

McNeal is a new play, by Ayad Ahktar on Broadway that tackles AI and creativity. Alexander Alter takes a look at How ‘McNeal,’ a Play About A.I., Lured Robert Downey Jr.to Broadway. There’s some fascinating semiotics with Ironman in this role of a writer embracing AI.

Sunday Morning Reading

The days are getting longer and things are getting scarier in this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

We’re getting closer to Halloween, Dia De Los Muertos, and perhaps the more frightening of the days ahead, Election Day in the U.S. With just three editions of Sunday Morning Reading to go before whatever tricks, treats, and horrors might befall us on or after the votes are tallied, enjoy the somewhat frightening reading ahead.

Aimee Ortiz takes a look at how Halloween has turned into a retail bonanza in Halloween’s Mutation: From Humble Holiday to Retail Monstrosity.

For some every day is fraught with peril. Philip Ogley wonders Why Do We Find It So Hard To Get Through the Day?

Approaching Dia De Los Muertos, David Todd McCarty remarks on turning his father’s passing into a celebration in We Called Him Papa.

Artificial Intelligence continues to be the dominant ghost story in tech with ups, downs, and promises everywhere. So far, most tech promises make good hype, but not necessarily good products. Matteo Wong thinks delivering on promised deadlines for superintelligence might be the truly scary part in The AI Boom Has an Expiration Date.

Could copyright law be a part of the solution to the horror story that is gun violence? Robin Buller takes a look in Mass Shooting Survivors Turn To An Unlikely Pace for Justice—Copyright Law.

Perhaps the scariest story linked in this week’s edition is Franklin Foer’s What Elon Musk Really Wants. There’s no trick, and there’s certainly no treat in what this madman aims to do.

Equally, if not more frightening is this piece from back in July from George Michael called An Anti-Democratic Philosophy Called ‘Neoreaction’ Is Creeping Into GOP Politics. I would say it’s moved from a creep by creeps into a gallop by goblins.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Paul Rosenberg examines Fighting Demons: The New Apostolic Reformation Is Waging A Holy War Against Democracy.

Paolo Bacigalupi takes us on a little science-fiction journey into what a future shaped by climate change might look like in Azalea: A Science-Fiction Story. A great piece. I’m just not so sure we can call what we’re living through science-fiction anymore.

Sunday Morning Reading

Halloween is around the corner and the election is nearing. Sunday Morning Reading is full of scary politics and a tech ghost story.

There’s one month to go prior to the election that will decide the fate of the U.S. and possibly the world. After today that’s four more Sundays for Sunday Morning Reading. Fair warning those four Sundays will have more than a normal dose of politics in the mix. That said, enjoy this week’s edition of Sunday Morning Reading.

Politics has infected everything and in my opinion in the worst ways imaginable. Nothing points this up like the storm around the storm recovery from Hurricane Helene. Juliette Kayyem in The Atlantic tells us The Fog of Disaster Is Getting Worse, and she’s correct. Perhaps a better way for journalism to cover this beyond just complaining would be to do what Chantal Allam and Joe Marusak did in the Charlotte Observer and tackle each bit of disinformation, (which I prefer to call lies) head on in Helene Fact Check: Here Are The Rumors and the Reality in Western North Carolina.

The mythical swing voter has become larger than myth. Parker Malloy in Dame tells us The Real Swing Voters Aren’t Who You Think.

Phillip Bump usually nails it. He does so again in Trump and His Allies Are Not Planning To Concede Another Election Loss. Nothing is over on November 5th.

LZ Granderson in The Los Angeles Times also nails it in Trump Blames Immigrants As If That Were A Policy Position. It’s Just Racist. I’m losing hope we’ll ever recognize that we’ve recognized this and don’t seem to care.

Trump and his delusional followers couldn’t be this close to turning the clock back unless they had help from our transparently corrupt Supreme Court. Bill Blum takes a look at the awful immunity decision in John Roberts and the Second Coming of Dred Scott.

Speaking of the Supreme Court, Andy Kroll, Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz take a look at why We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court’s Supermajority.

Joyce Vance is worried that even if Trump loses he won’t face any consequences in Trump Must Be Tried. She’s right to worry.

And the final link on the politics beat is and is not about politics, but it is about endings. Sunita Puri looks at how promises at the end of life, like Jimmy Carter’s to stay alive to vote one last time, can affect our last days in Death Has Two Timelines.

The WordPress saga continues and it seems to get muddier with each clarifying new chapter. Dave Winer says WordPress Has a Greater Destiny. I agree with his premise. I think those screwing things up do as well. In a competition between destinies unfortunately everyone loses.

I’m preparing some thoughts on the new iPhones and Apple releases for later this week. I won’t have to write much about the new Camera Control after reading José Adorno’s piece Apple’s Biggest Hardware Change On the iPhone 16 Is A Huge Disappointment. I feel much the same.

As if the political moment wasn’t harrowing enough, Halloween is also around the corner. Angela Watercutter tells an intriguing tale that weaves tech (TikToK), a haunted house, the cops and a rolled up rug in her backyard in She Asked TikTok If Her House Was Haunted. Then The Cops Came.

iPhone 16 Pro Photography and Pumpkins

iPhone 16 Pro Photography and Photographic Styles demo.

I’m always grateful that Apple releases new iPhones in September. It comes during the period when supermarkets are stocking up on pumpkins, gourds and other Cucurbits. Obviously one of the first things you check out on a new iPhone is whatever changes and improvements Apple makes to the cameras, and these colorful counters are a great location to do so.

Here’s a few shots taken during a supermarket tour playing around with different camera settings and what Apple now calls Photographic Styles. First up is just a series of photos in a gallery all using the Standard setting.

Following the Continue Reading break below are two videos showing off the differences in Photographic Styles Apple offers and more photos.

R.I.P. iMore

All good things come to an end.

Nothing lasts forever and all good things come to an end. Along with everything else that includes tech blogs. Yesterday, Gerald Lynch and the iMore staff announced they are turning out the lights on what was once a revered and go to website when it came to everything Apple.

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Here’s a quote from the farewell post:

I would like to take this moment to thank everyone from the iMore community, past and present, for their support and passion for what we’ve created over the years. A massive thanks goes to iMore’s previous leaders, Lory Gil, Serenity Caldwell, and Joe Keller, and of course, the inimitable Rene Ritchie who kickstarted this wonder all those years back. I hope we’ve done you all proud.

There have been some good writers through the years at iMore but two names stand out in that quote: Rene Ritchie and Serenity Caldwell. Calling it like I see it, Rene made iMore what it was and for a time was the pulse that beat in the Apple community. When he added Serenity to the mix it became the place to go for Apple News delivered with heart and intelligence, nothing artificial about it.

Nothing against any of the folks who kept the engines running once Rene and Serenity moved on to greener pastures (with Google and Apple respectively), it proves that talent will always win and exceptionally good talent will always win more.

I’m glad to see the site will be kept up as an archive. All the same, farewell to a great website that set a lot of standards and good luck to all of those moving on.

You can 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.

Sunday Morning Reading

Fall is creeping in and things are creeping me out.

The world continues its whirl, the vultures continue circling, and down here on the ground we keep working hard to turn the tide on the ignorant before it’s too late. Still, it’s time to sit down, breathe and enjoy if you can some Sunday Morning Reading.

Perhaps you aren’t aware of the Second Circuit of Appeals decision rejecting the Internet Archive’s fair use defense. You can check out info on the decision here. Reading beyond that check out Matthew Ingram’s post The Second Circuit’s Decision in the Internet Archive Case is Bad. It is bad news for all of us. As a side note, Matthew has recently struck out on his own and you might want to check out his writing on The Torment Nexus. It promises to be a great place to read about issues in the intersection of technology, media, and, well…life.

Politics, or what passes for it these days, continues to dominate much of our attention even as it gets darker and more stupid with each passing day. Springfield, Ohio found itself the unwelcome center of the political world with all of the talk about eating pets and immigration. Isabel Fattal has a very good piece in The Atlantic titled The Springfield Effect. FWIW I don’t think Springfield is going to catch a break anytime soon, but then neither are the rest of us.

Voting is just around the corner, but the discussions and machinations around it now dominate our lives all the time. Check out Eli Saslow’s 3 Georgia Women Caught Up in a Flood of Suspicion About Voting.

Sanewashing is just a new name in a long line of new names for ignoring the crazy, idiotic, and dangerous ways of the decaying orange convicted felon/child rapist and his followers. Parker Malloy tells us Why The Atlantic’s Critique of Sanewashing Doesn’t Hold Up. There’s a link to the Atlantic piece in Malloy’s article. When a thing becomes a thing to criticize it becomes just another excuse for ignoring the truth.

There’s sadly a chance of some sort of carnage, physical or psychic, post-election. Certainly there will be political casualties. Perhaps that’s why we should read Ian Rose’s piece The Hidden Value of Vultures. Let’s hope the vultures doing the cleanup are only feasting on those who caused the mess.

Karen Hao takes a look at Microsoft’s Hypocrisy on AI when it comes to Microsoft working with fossil-fuel companies while purporting to fight climate change.

In a world full of what feels like willful ignorance, Daniel R. DeNicola takes a look at Plato’s Cave and the Stubborn Persistence of Ignorance.

Elizabeth Laura Nelson has a very poignant piece called Friends for 16 Years. Lovers for One Night. Don’t let moments and opportunities pass you by.

Before you clear your palette and move on to whatever you move on to, take a brief trip along with NatashaMH to Bangkok City in When The World’s Your Oyster.

The AI Bubble Won’t Burst. It Will Just Flatten Into a Puddle.

Put on your waders.

Artificial Intelligence in some form or the other continues to dominate tech and the markets around it, though there are some clouds on the horizon. Even the gold rush seems to show signs of slowing with the realization that AI might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

It’s still exciting technology and there will certainly be some aspects that stick and enhance the way we do things. There will also be quite a bit that doesn’t, even more that’s controversial, and all causing trouble for that which does stick, and generally mucking everything up.

If you’ve paid attention to the comments and reviews during this recent Apple beta season and Google’s latest releases, it’s pretty easy to discern that the general temperature of the responses is lukewarm at best.

Advocates say it’s still early in the game.. That’s true. It’s also true that that putting bets down on an NFL team based on what seems like a good draft and undefeated pre-season is, well, more than a bit premature. (*Cough* *Chicago Bears* *Cough*)

Take the 5G rollout. Though the technologies aren’t comparable, the hype certainly is. 5G got its beginnings before 2020, but that was the year of the big push, arguably led by Apple. I’ve done a lot of driving over quite a few major highways large and small this summer and I’m still amazed at how little 5G coverage (and often LTE coverage) there is along these well traveled arteries between large population centers in the South, Midwest and on the East Coast.

What’s intriguing about that is that while there is a push by Apple and Google to have large chunks of AI operation happen locally on device, there will still be quite a few of those operations that will need higher bandwidth when they do need to call home to the mother ship for a response.

If we fast forward a decade or so and put a query into some LLM to summarize the rise of Artificial Intelligence, I’m betting it will spit out something along the lines of “yet another new promising technology, launched as a product before it was really ready, and spoiled by the hype.”

The book that will eventually be stolen by scraping Internet posts like this one is still to be written, but in these early chapters it is feeling more and more like the bubble might have currently reached it’s outer limits of expansion. There’s pushback on a number of fronts and quite a few enthusiasts always easily seduced by the thrill of a new technology seem to be chilling, if not chafing a bit.

Is there gloom and doom on the horizon? No, just storms and cloudy skies. I don’t think the AI bubble will ever burst, but I do think it will flatten into a puddle with not enough rising tides to lift all boats.

We’ve seen this story before. We’ll see it again. Only this time around the summaries will all sound more and more alike.

You can 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.

Sunday Morning Reading

Summer begins to fade into fall with this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

It’s Labor Day weekend here in the states, which means a three-day weekend, yielding more than a little extra time for some Sunday Morning Reading during the last lake visit of the season. Kick back and enjoy.

I’m a Shakespeare geek so my senses perked up when one of my favorite writers, Natasha MH. revealed her reasons for not appreciating the bard in Much Ado About Nothing, Something, and Everything. Excellent read and I know she’s not alone. But then lots of folks are wrong about lots of things.

Jeff Jarvis tells us How Murdoch Makes a Meme (and how the rest of the media helps it spread). No real secrets here. Jarvis is correct about Rupert Murdoch’s malign influence. The single most destructive human on the planet during his lifetime of muckracking.

Preetika Rana takes a look at how the political moment is ruffling the feathers in the halls and salons of big tech in Clash of the Tech Titans: Silicon Valley Fractures Over Harris vs. Trump.

Ted Chiang explores Why A.I. Isn’t Going To Make Art. I agree with the thesis, but I’ll add that it’s going to screw up a lot while trying.

Why are software glitches and problems called bugs? Check out Matthew Wills’ The Bug in the Computer Bug Story.

Private Equity continues to gobble up everything it can get its teeth into. Apparently Private Equity Is Coming for Youth Sports according to Ira Boudway.

And to close out this week as summer begins to fade into fall, Mike Tanier gives us The Amusement Park Falls Cold and Dark.

Sunday Morning Reading

Fiction, fears, dreams, and Chicago Corruption dot this Sunday Morning’s reading.

Good Sunday morning. I’m in Memphis for a few days to participate and celebrate in The Ostrander Awards in which my recent production of The Lehman Trilogy was nominated for seven awards, so this will be an abbreviated version of Sunday Morning Reading.

Designer (3). There was lots of joy at the Democratic Conventon in Chicago nominating Kamala Harris as candidate for the presidency. There was also lots of joy (and some disappointment from the media) that this year’s convention didn’t turn into 1968 all over again. Nevertheless, Chicago is still Chicago. Rick Kogan gives us a terrific look at some of Chicago’s colorful and sordid history of corruption in Boodlers, Bandits, and Notorious Politicians. Fun read.

No One’s Ready For This by Sarah Jeong takes a look at the question we’re all going to be asking more frequently in the age of AI: “What the hell is a photo these days anyway? That question has been around for awhile, but in the wake of Google’s release of its Reimagine Tool for the Pixel 9’s Magic Editor, that question might be asked with a bit more urgency in the near future. Or not.

Joan Westenberg tells us Why We Need Fiction.

David Todd McCarty wanders into our dreams or rather how we might be able to realize them by overcoming our fear of failure in The Magic of Failure And The Perils Of The Very Good.