Anti-government activist (and Idaho gubernatorial candidate) Ammon Bundy was fined and sentenced to 10 days in jail for contempt of court when he tried to argue that time spent campaigning for governor should count towards his 40 hours of community service stemming from earlier trespassing charges.
An Alaska man who lives in a town called North Pole, looks like Santa, and legally changed his name to Santa Claus has registered to run against Sarah Palin for the lone congressional seat representing Alaska. Would you vote against Santa?
San Francisco cops pulled over an autonomously driven taxicab and were not sure what to do.
A company called Space Perspective is offering an alternative to blasting tourists into space on top of a giant, carbon-belching rocket. For $125k (selected Crypto accepted), they will float you gently aloft under a giant weather balloon in a pressurized cabin with comfortable lounge chairs, mood lighting and, a fully-stocked bar. The flight will last six hours and you’ll spend a good 2 hours at altitude. Flights begin in late-2024.
Russia finally admitted that the flagship cruiser Moskva (the one that was told to fuck itself) sank in the Black Sea. The Russian navy is not prepared to admit that the Moskva sank after a direct hit from two Ukrainian missiles but has preferred to admit that the pride of the Russian Black Sea Navy sank because of “incredibly lax safety procedures and damage control.”
For more on the amazing photo accompanying this week’s column, check out Human By Nature
Every vibrant city has its public transportation woes and homegrown hacks to resolve them.
I experienced Mexico City’s Pesero buses when I was directed by a local to jump into passing VW Bus that took me where I wanted to go as long as I didn’t mind dropping off a few other people along the way. The Pesero system operated somewhere in between the over-crowded and inflexible bus system and extortionist taxis. It was the people’s transit system.
When I lived in the Bay Area, the Casual Carpool system was a network of quasi-official commuter options that, while not funded by the government, are at least acknowledged because they serve a need that is not met by the existing Bay Area Rapid Transit commuter rail.
Today I learned that New York has its Dollar Vans which act as a “shadow transit” network that fills a need for those that are not served by New York’s existing transit system. The long-rumored Interborough subway line that can get you from Queens to Brooklyn without going via Manhattan is still a twinkle in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s eye so, in the meantime, the Dollar Van network is your best bet.
There’s an on-going struggle with the authorities as the network of Dollar Vans are not licensed, the taxi drivers hate them, and van drivers sometimes get harassed by the police. Despite all this, there is a need that is filled so that even when downed trees from Hurricane Sandy keeps the buses off the roads, the Dollar Vans will still be rolling to New Yorkers to work.
Here’s a map of where the vans go. Click to get more details on each route on this piece by The New Yorker.
Workers at a Staten Island Amazon fulfillment warehouse voted to unionize, a first for the company. Staff at more than 50 other Amazon warehouses have contacted the organizers to learn how they did it.
The novelist who wrote “How to Murder Your Husband” is now on trial for murdering her husband.
Sony is working on more detailed eye-tracking technology for its next-generation PlayStation VR headset. New sensors will track not only what you are looking at but also pupil diameter which can often be a proxy for fear or interest. Finally, the tech can also be used to let you wink at others in VR.
A friend is headed off to Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands for a week and asked for a couple must-do activities while he’s there. I’ve visited the island several times and here’s my list:
Rent a car for your stay. You’ll want to have a car to get around unless you’re staying at a place where you plan to spend lots of time by the pool or local beach. There’s lots to see around the island and the only practical way to get around is by car. Alternative to picking up your rental at the airport is to Uber or Lyft from the airport and arrange to borrow a car for a few days using the Turo app.
Activities
View from Diamond Head
Diamond Head Hike – If you’re staying in downtown Honolulu and can walk up to the the park, try to time it so you get to the entrance by 6am when the park opens so you can hike up in early morning shade, watch the sunrise from the peak, and head down as the inevitable crowds gather. Bring your cellphone with you so you can use the phone flashlight when you go through the tunnel at the top and then head down the backside stairs to avoid the crowds coming up. Bring water as always when hiking in Hawaii. There’s usually a food truck at the parking lot at the bottom where you can get an Acai Bowl for breakfast after your hike.
Kayak on Kane’ohe Bay and enjoy a picnic on the sandbar at low tide. Check out the tide chart or ask which day during your stay is the best to do the kayaking so you hit the lowest tide and reserve with the local kayak rental Kama’aina Kids as soon as you can because spots fill up.
View from Lanikai Pillbox
Lanikai Pillbox Hike followed by a day at the beach. Pack a picnic and drive out in the morning and hike up to the pillboxes that look out over Kailua. Eat lunch and take in the view and enjoy the windward breezes. From that vantage point, scout out where the waves are and head back down to the car and grab your boogie boards and spend the afternoon on the beach. My favorite is Lanikai Beach. A little further away but also nice is Sherwood Beach, aka Waimanalo Bay
Mānoa Falls
Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve – Rent snorkels and fins at any of the places downtown and grab a shuttle up to Hanauma Bay. The snorkeling here is amazing because its in a bay and the turtles are really tame (do not touch them though!). Because it’s a bay, the water is really calm so the water is super clear. Because its the best spot on the island to snorkel, you’ll need to purchase and reserve your spot ahead of time.
Shangri La – If you’re feeling like taking in the Arts, there’s an incredible collection of Islamic art assembled by Doris Duke on display in her beautiful Oahu mansion. You need to book tickets in advance so look into it before you even arrive on island. Right off in front of the house is a natural swimming pool and a nice surf break that she enjoyed with her boyfriend, the great Duke Kahanamoku, olympic swimmer and founder of modern surfing.
Mānoa Falls hike – drive up and park in the residential neighborhood near the trailhead and hike in to the falls. It’s a short hike but it can be muddy so bring sneakers that you can wash later. The waterfall is an oasis in the middle of the jungle. If you have swimming trunks on, you can go swimming to. If the jungle tea house looks familiar, it was used as set in the TV series, Lost.
The Infamous Day – If you’re into history, the exhibit on the events that lead up to World War Two at Pearl Harbor are quite well done. It shows perspectives from both the US and Japanese side and has the draft of FDR’s infamy speech. While you’re there, you might as well take a launch out to the wreck of the Arizona where oil is still bubbling up to the surface from the sunken ship.
Diving
A whole post could be written about diving spots around the island. If you’re open water certified, I highly recommend heading out with a guide to Spitting Caves & China Wall, Shark’s Cove, and The Sea Tiger Wreck. If you’re a beginner, Koko Crater is a good one. Island Diver is a good outfit, Tyler worked with them one summer.
China Wall
Surfing
If you already know how to surf, you know where to go get more information about the surf spots. If you don’t, definitely take a surfing lesson. The best place to learn is off of Waikiki Beach, the waves are consistent and mellow enough to get you started on a long board.
If you’re into Stand Up Paddleboards, you can rent them and try the calm waters off of Ala Moana.
Food
Leonard’s at dawn
After a morning swim or surf, be sure to stop by Leonards for their Masalas. If you’ve been on the water all day and are ravenous, the Loco Moco or Beef Cutlet with Gravy plate at the Rainbow Drive-In will set you right again.
If you find yourself on the North Shore, be sure to stop by a Shrimp Truck and grab a plate of garlic shrimp. I always hit the Shrimp Shack.
Shave Ice – do not leave the island w/o trying it. If you’re in the North Shore, Matsumoto is the place.
KCC Farmer’s Market on Sundays to try out local food and also a good place to pick up gifts to bring home. Come hungry.
La Mer – if you’re looking for a fancy meal (and are willing to drop some major cash) La Mer at the Halekulani is the place to go. Ask for a table overlooking the ocean at sunset.
An NFT collector mixed up cryptocurrencies and accepted a shockingly low bid for his prized “Bored Ape” which he let go for $115. Bored Apes normally go for north of $350,000.
Stephen Wilhite, lead engineer on the team that created the GIF, died at the age of 74. Constantly fighting others on how his invention is pronounced (like the peanut butter), “he’s with jod“ say others.
A man who is paralyzed with ALS and unable to communicate with the outside world underwent surgery to fit him with a brain implant so that he can spell out sentences one letter at a time. His first message? “I want a beer.”
One of the more chilling tracks from this year’s SXSW were the sessions about misinformation, specifically political misinformation that derailed our elections. During the first day, I attended a session titled Fact v. Fiction: Fighting Election Disinformation a panel featuring, among others, Chris Krebs, noted cybersecurity expert, and Jena Griswold, former Secretary of State for Colorado.
Krebs shared his fear that our media ecosystem, while open to any and all to participate, is easily exploited by well-funded state actors. While the internet and open-source publishing platforms such as WordPress have leveled the playing field, opening access to anyone, it has also put the burden of fact-checking and verifying sources on to the reading public.
too many people are making “insane amounts of money” from disinformation campaigns
Chris Krebs @ SXSW 2022
On Facebook and Twitter all posts tend to look the same. Reduced to a headline, thumbnail image, and snippet, a sponsored post or advertorial written by a paid shill looks no different from a site with more stringent journalistic standards. Production values are no longer an arbiter of quality. Super-charged distribution is built into the business model of these platforms so, with a little bit of budget, a false narrative can be boosted and drown out competing narratives.
The infiltration of “fake news” sites in our media ecosystem is well-documented. What used to be a fenced-off network of identifiable Press Releases has been replaced by networks of “pay-to-play” sites that where lightly re-writing paid messages are turned into into thinly-veiled news stories interlinked to increase their SEO designed to flood the zone.
To illustrate my point in an aside, I uncovered one coordinated campaign designed to promote an online learning program to the Alameda School District. I used to live in Alameda and am familiar with its geography. Imagine my surprise when I saw the identical story across three publications that I had never heard of before. East Alameda is not even a neighborhood – everyone who has lived in Alameda knows it’s called the East End. That was the tell.
Clearly what happened is that the vendor of the online learning system was trying to swing public opinion to win a contract. Thankfully, they were thwarted but this shows you how easy it is to plant a message.
Even more chilling was Krebs’ statement that the 2020 Presidential Election was just a dry run or, as he says, an a/b test. Americans were sophisticated enough to suss out foreign disinformation but with movements such as Stop the Steal, QAnon, and the January 6th insurrection, we are still uncovering the depth and extent of deception. Domestic misinformation worked very well to power the Big Lie movement and we are sure to see more domestic misinformation in future elections.
I look at the last election as an a/b test. A – foreign, B – domestic. We learned that A doesn’t really resonate, B was effective so we’ll see more of that.
Chris Krebs at SXSW 2022
Jena Griswold, Secretary of State in Colorado, shared a chilling episode that took place as she oversaw the counting of ballots in the last election. Griswold discovered one of her election workers turned off cameras monitoring the ballot machines and invited an unauthorized person linked to the QAnon movement into the room, sharing motherboard passwords giving privileged access to the ballot computers and opening the ports to the internet, exposing the votes to tampering.
This person, Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, is now running against Griswold for Secretary of State despite having 10 indictments for election tampering filed against her. The Secretary of State is responsible for election integrity and most people do not bother to look into the background of individuals running for this position, in fact, many run unopposed. This firewall around free and fair elections could likely be undermined by a coordinated campaign to put “Big Lie” sympathizers into office that could throw the next presidential election.
Terrified yet? Here’s what you need to do according to the panel.
support non-partisan organizations that are working to get people to the polls
get familiar with the people running to protect elections in your county
talk to your “crazy uncle” or neighbor – try to get thru to them, empathize, sample what they are reading and look for common issues or facts upon which you can both agree
The video above circulated in 2005 when Second Life was the new hotness. As a pioneer in virtual worlds, they attracted buzz from futurists that saw the platform as the next generation of the internet. Companies flocked to the platform, eager to engage with their audience. Reuters opened a bureau and someone made a documentary. Looking back at it now, it looks so cheesy, “Meet thousands of people!”
There are echos of this when we see the latest push to the new virtual platform by the company formerly known as Facebook, Meta. Second Life is still around, going strong with 600,000 monthly users, a third of them coming back each day. Through it all, Wagner James Au has been covering Second Life as spectator, participant, and critic.
I’ve been waiting for someone to check in with Wagner James Au to see what he thinks about Meta, the latest run at virtual reality, and if there are any lessons to be learned from the 15+ years that he’s been there.
Lessons From 19 Years in the Metaverse, a conversation between Wagner James Au and Charlie Warzel is well worth a read. In it, I found this tidbit which is wise counsel to all those out there thinking about how their company or brand can participate meaningfully in the Metaverse.
But first, here’s a quote from the first time around:
To play in Second Life, corporations must first come to a humbling realization: in the context of the fantastic, their brands as they exist in the real world are boring, banal, and unimaginative.
And now from the Warzell interview. Same as it ever was:
Back then, people saw those brand failures and concluded that the metaverse isn’t real or ready for primetime. I fear that might happen again. But the problem is not the users. It’s these companies not meeting these metaverse communities halfway. They’re bumbling their way into the community instead of finding ways to fit inside the community and make use of the platform to bring the magic to life.
Remember that cargo ship that ran blocked the Suez Canal for a week? Maybe they need to give their captains some remedial training as Ever Given’s sister ship, the Ever Forward ran aground off the coast of Maryland.
San Francisco, taking a stance against laws limiting a woman’s access to abortion, LGBT discrimination, and voter suppression, limited business with any company headquartered in states that had such laws on the books. Now the city has backed itself into a corner and is prevented from doing business with much of the United States.
Mike Tyson is launching a line of cannabis-infused gummies. They’re called Mike’s Bites. What shape are they you say? The shape of an ear of course.
Tom Brady’s last touchdown pass football sold in an online auction for more than half a million dollars. Just a few hours later, Tom Brady announced he’s coming back for another season of football, immediately deflating the value of that football.
Hard to find any good news from the front this week except the boycott which seems to be having the desired effect. One Russian man chained himself to his local McDonald’s to prevent it from closing. “Closing down is an act of hostility against me and my fellow citizens!” shouted the man as police dragged him away. U.S. drugmaker AbbVie, makers of the cosmetic anti-wrinkle cream Botox, will no longer do business in Russia cutting off their most famous customer, Putin.
