From the Front Door
08:01 Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 51.12°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 96% Wind: 8.3mphWords: 352
Photo doesn't do it justice. Sun's breaking behind the hill out back, illuminating the hill in front of us, while the hills on the other side of the lake are shaded by broken clouds.
It's about the only thing that's keeping me sane.
It feels, I don't know, callous maybe, blogging about UIs and text fetishes with all the crap going down in Washington and Chicago.
I follow The Bulwark on YouTube, I'm a paying member. I can't watch every video because who has the time? And it often makes me sick. But I watched Tim Miller's video from last night's Nicole Wallace hit. He says that he thinks that someday, some of these people (ICE) will be ashamed.
Well, not really. Defensive, yes. In denial, yes. Rationalization and justification will make up a lot of their internal monologue, and external dialogue if they're ever confronted about it.
But feeling shame? Many people, mostly men, can't name their feelings. They have them, and they often act out from them, but they don't really know what they are. They lack the tools of introspection. So, they may feel shame, but they won't know that's what they're feeling. It'll be an uncomfortable feeling, and all those usually lead to a feeling they do know: Anger.
Which usually compels them to lean in on whatever is causing the discomfort.
There was a documentary, not too long ago, interviewing former Nazis, some former SS officers. Some of them were self-aware. But some were still committed. I don't know if the commitment was due to the cause (National Socialism), or just a self-protective action to rationalize their history.
But I don't think that very many of these ICE thugs will ever feel shame for what they're doing. If you're the kind of person that can do these things, then you're probably not very self-aware in the first place. They're probably just really happy to have a job that allows them to act out their anger and their fear while getting paid for it.
In America.
It's sad and frightening.
We're a very sick society.
✍️ Reply by emailUI Means "User Interface"
06:25 Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 51.4°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 96% Wind: 6.53mph
Words: 263
Except at Apple, where it means "Palette for prima donna esthetes to manifest their superior taste and sophistication to the poor, benighted masses."
Unlike Manuel, I do complain just because things are different.
Because whenever it's different, then all the habits of use I've developed get fouled up. I stumble and waste time. The interface gets in the way of whatever it was I was trying to accomplish with no thought given to the interface because it's so familiar, it's habituated.
I used to read all the Apple corporate bloggers, Gruber, Snell, Sparky, Hackett, et al regularly. Partly because I was interested in Apple and what they were doing.
These days, I'm afraid of what Apple is doing. And I don't really want to know, because I've got enough shit to worry about.
It's a horrible company that has lost sight of what made it "different."
Most of the changes I've seen in iOS have not made anything better for the user. I can't tell how I'm doing against my brother in Quartiles anymore. The giant checkmark still seems way too large. This bullshit with the tabs Manuel mentions is spot-on and I've stumbled over that time and time again.
I may have been unfair characterizing the kinds of people who come up with these changes that don't help the user. They may not be self-superior esthetes, they may just be corporate drones struggling to justify their existence in a job increasingly at risk to replacement by AI. But if the AI respected the "U" in UI, that'd be an improvement.
✍️ Reply by emailPlainer Than Plain
06:19 Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 51.42°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 96% Wind: 6.53mph
Words: 34
The other day I mentioned clay tablets as an alternative to "plain text" (Unicode or ASCII?).
Turns out, you can learn to write in Cuneiform.
Make a note of that.
(I crack myself up.)
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