"“The function of freedom is to free someone else.” - Toni Morrison"
"“Nobody is free until everybody is free.” - Fannie Lou Hamer"
These two powerful quotes from two giants of our time, one literary and the other from the Civil Rights Movement capture something that I believe at the very core of who I am. It’s the essence of responsibility.
Today marks 100 consecutive days that I have posted a review on AppAddict, a little website that I started on a whim to be able to talk to other people who have a download addiction. It’s done pretty good, been quoted in Lifehacker and the Verge and some developers have been quite nice. I❤️IndyWeb!
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/appaddict.jpghttps://apps.louplummer.lol
From My 100 Strangers project - I caught Vanessa and her large personality downtown on a Sunday afternoon watching her break-dancing friends perform.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/vanessa.jpg
From my 100 Strangers project - William self-described himself as a reformed old drunk and said he has now dedicated his life to helping people.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/william2.jpg
"have to admit that it’s breaking my heart to watch a new generation of anxious parents think that they can address the struggles their kids are facing by eliminating technology from kids' lives. I’ve been banging my head against this wall for almost 20 years, not because I love technology but because I care so deeply about vulnerable youth. And about their mental health. And boy oh boy do I loathe moral panics. I realize they’re politically productive, but they cause so much harm and distraction."
Defusing the moral panic
https://linkage.lol/how-do-we-defuse-the-moral-panic-around-technology/
From my 100 Strangers - This is Disha, photographed with her mother’s blessing, at the NC India Festival held in the fall of the year at Dorton Arena in Raleigh. She was nervously waiting to participate in a dancing exhibition.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/girl.jpg
From my 100 Strangers Project - I met Bryan at the farmer’s market in the small coastal town of Beaufort, NC where people sell their goods under a huge canopy of live oak trees a couple of blocks from the waterfront. He was pretty taciturn and did not have a lot to say.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/bryan.jpg
"Female hair is either long or political. Sexual orientation is either heterosexual or political. Gender identity is either cis or political. Clothing is either gender stereotyped and boring or political. City infrastructure is either car-focused or political. Energy is either fossil fuels or political. Education is either white Christian propaganda or political. Everything follows the same pattern, tech included."
Marko Vujnovic
https://dice.camp/@dawngreeter/112732040678526067
"“There are moments when you cannot help but feel that your life is being controlled by some not-entirely-benevolent god. You skirt down a ridge only to climb it again; you climb a steep peak when there is an obvious route around it; you cross the same stream three times in the course of an hour, for no apparent reason, soaking your feet in the process. You do these things because someone, somewhere, decided that that’s where the trail must go.”"
The Essence of Hiking
From my 100 Strangers Project - A rare color picture, to capture the multi-colored chalk on Danielle’s face after she and a friend had been to a Holi festival in lower Manhattan. I caught them heading for the subway.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/danielle.jpg
Updated my /subscriptions page with a couple of new entries - Paramount+ so I can watch Mayor of Kingstown ($60 for a year) and BearBlog ($5 a month) so I can be on every blogging platform I hear about.
https://amerpie.lol/subscrptions
This Week's Bookmarks - Democracy and the church, Vietnamese chicken salad, 25 hikes, Life's Ant-Checklist, 50 ways to fuel a conversation, Life of a tennis player, Daily routines https://amerpie.lol/2024/07/06/this-weeks-bookmarks.html
It’s Saturday, the day I regularly update my /now page. This week I’m touting a great newsletter, Werd.io, four streaming shows, listing a week’s worth of blog posts and turning you on to a great cheap fine tipped ink pen. As always, there’s also the links I saved into my collection this week.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/61l5l6-krkl.-ac-.jpghttps://amerpie/now
From my 100 Strangers Project - Jaleesa and Moniek were hanging out with their friends in front of the Art Center downtown for an impromptu, old school break-dancing sesh. #photography
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/jalieese-ansd-moniek.jpg
Once upon a time, human beings bought their music at glorious record stores with knowledgeable, if slightly arrogant clerks, who could tell you about new releases and do the whole “If you like the Grateful Dead, you will probably like Phish” trip. Now we have Album Whale
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/album-whlae.jpghttps://linkage.lol/album-whale/
I’ve been punching a clock for 44 years and I’ve had all kinds of bosses and coworkers during that time. I learned a while back to take my own inventory to see if I was causing problems, because sometimes it’s me. Sometimes, it’s not, however and this is how I dealt with that recently.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/tension.jpghttps://louplummer.lol/people-ugh-what-can-you-do/
From my 100 Strangers project - Claire was straddling her bike on the east side of Zucotti Park in NYC. I commented on her jersey proclaiming, “Runs on Plants” and she told me that she is a vegan athlete who manages to participate in endurance sports while sticking to her consumption values.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/claire.jpg
From My 100 Strangers Project - Alex - a super friendly guy from somewhere other than NC (Russia, actually) wearing a Duke shirt and reading a book about Vikings. I met him while he was sitting in a small Manhattan park with his book.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/alex.jpg
"Consider the quintessential traits often attributed to every younger generation - regardless of the era. Idealism. Technological savvy. A desire to challenge the status quo. An anti-authority bent. Flip through the pages of history, and you’ll find these same attributes ascribed to youth movements across the decades, even centuries."
Thoughts on Joan Westenberg’s piece Generational Labels Are BS
https://linkage.lol/generational-labels-are-bs/
I wrote a whole lot more than normal yesterday so when it came time to update my non-technical blog I was about out of energy and feeling kind of low. Ny remedy for that was to make a quick list of things that make me happy. It includes:
Robert Duvall
People who tip wait staff well
Democracy
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/duvall.jpghttps://louplummer.lol/make-a-list/
From my 100 Strangers project - I caught up with Roland near the Wall Street Bull down in the financial district at the southern tip of Manhattan. He was a British fellow, slightly amused by this forward American who wanted to take a street portrait. He wasn’t up for much gabbing.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/roland.jpg
A Free Tool That Lets You Follow Any RSS Feed via The Fediverse - Birb via RSS Parrot. Do you have any favorite bloggers who just aren’t interested in social media? I do, and I use this tool to follow them on Mastodon. I’m always too far behind on my RSS reader, but I can keep up with toots.
https://linkage.lol/a-free-tool-that-lets-you-follow-any-rss-feed-via-the-fediverse/
I made folks laugh yesterday when I commented that I’m an almost 60-year-old man with grandchildren who now can’t cuss on my blog anymore because my mother found it and reads it every day. I thought I might explain the reasons why - When You Cuss in Front of Your Mama, You Can’t Take it back
https://louplummer.lol/when-you-cuss-in-front-of-your-mama-you-cant-take-it-back/
From my 100 Strangers project - While taking Austin’s photo, I caught an unplanned selfie as the reflection in his sunglasses captures me leaning into him to get the shot.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/austin.jpg
The 23 Best Time Travel Novels - a collection dating from the 1950’s through today. Despite paradoxes, time travel is a fascinating concept and makes a great read.
https://linkage.lol/the-23-best-time-travel-novels/
From my 100 Strangers project - Specialist Erroll was downtown for a performance of the 82nd Airborne Infantry Division Band where he played a mean trumpet. He was a gracious and friendly guy and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with him between performances. #photography
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/specialist-erroll.jpg
Today on AppAddict - Text Sniper is an OCR app for your Mac that can read text from YouTube videos, PDFs, images, online courses, screencasts, presentations, webpages, video tutorials, photos. It has more features than the macOS built in Live Text and is a bargain at $7.99.
https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/textsniper
Today for #Junited2024 I am plugging {micro maique}, the wonderful photo blog of Maique, resident visual artist, role model and superstar of Micro.blog, Scribbles, Flickr and Instagram. I linked to some wonderful outdoor photos entitled, The River.
https://louplummer.lol/junited-a-love-affair-with-blogs/
This Week's Bookmarks - Movie Monster Sizes, Maximizing life, Best American towns to visit, Spending across generations, America's best pizza joints, Best Lake Towns, 50 True Things About Israel/Palestine https://amerpie.lol/2024/06/29/this-weeks-bookmarks.html
Today on AppAddict - I make the case for Microsoft Edge for a certain class of Mac users who also use Microsoft Office, Outlook and One Drive. I use it on both my Macs and my iPhone and love its speed, rock solid syncing and features like profiles, workspaces and collections plus extension support.
https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/making-a-case-for-microsoft-edge
From my 100 Strangers project - Michelle is a member of a belly-dancing club that performs at street festivals. I ran into her before their performance, and she gave me the big smile you see here. The positive vibe I got from meeting her made the rest of night with my camera go well.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/michelle.jpg
Every once in a while, I just have to blog about the day that has been, with the good and the stuff that I wouldn’t describe that way. A Day in the Life. Today my boss acted like we were building an atomic bomb instead of the very low security environment in which we operate.
https://louplummer.lol/post/anatomy-of-a-day
From my 100 Strangers project - Mark was at the Beaufort, NC Pirate Festival. In fact, I took this picture only a few hundred yards from where Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge went down in the harbor.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/mark.jpg
Today on AppAddict - Pie Menu is a mouse + keyboard driven alternative to memorizing menu bar commands. It is a fully configurable tool for activating menu bar commands from a pop-up menu that follows your cursor. Looks interesting but there is a FOSS option available.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/pie-menu-01.jpeghttps://apps.louplummer.lol/post/pie-menu
Some really hot takes in this article on web design!
"Those who continue to host one on their own domain like this site tend to treat it as a “hire me!” billboard or fill it with boring think pieces. If this site weren’t proof enough, have a gander at what comes up when you browse the … Bearblog.dev index."
"It is because the only people making websites anymore are those that look to monetize it in some way. Personal websites are becoming a historical artifact rather than being part and parcel of the web itself."
https://rafichaudhury.com/site/blog/Freehand-Web
"President Joe Biden will issue a proclamation giving mass clemency to US service members convicted of charges under a Cold War-era purge of gay and lesbian people, reversing a decades-long policy of discrimination that forced an estimated 100,000 people from the military."
Link
https://archive.ph/HDi4A
From my 100 Strangers project - This great big smile belongs to Lawrie who was visiting the historical coastal town of Beaufort, NC with her friends.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/lawrie.jpg
From my 100 Strangers Project - Jerry asked me if I knew that you could catch fish at the State Fair. I wasn’t interested in buying a second-hand bass, but he tried his best to talk me into it.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/jerry.jpg
There are too many cool people online to waste time with buttheads. I’ve gone on a little blocking spree today on a certain orange hued social network and honestly, it felt great. No patiently explaining to someone why they should be nice. Just click a button and they are gone forever.
From my 100 Strangers Project - Arty had a concession at the state fairgrounds in Raleigh. He told me he was in the Central Highlands of Vietnam with the 4th Infantry division in 1970-71.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/arty.jpg
If anyone would like to contribute a post about their favorite food memories (grandma’s, mom’s, that $500 meal you had in Paris, basic training mess hall or whatever) I’m collecting links to them and will put up a page as soon as I get a few. Here’s mine
https://louplummer.lol/post/food-memories-are-the-best
From my 100 Strangers project - I met Tim down at the bus station when I was down there one day taking pictures of travelers. He was super friendly but didn’t give up a lot of biographical detail other than his love of art.
https://amerpie.lol/uploads/2024/tim.jpg
"Lots of things that were wildly unpopular and sneered at in the past are now part of ordinary life:"
Abolition
Women’s suffrage
Access to birth control
Interracial marriage
Marriage equality
The 40 hour work-week
Don’t Let Them Tell You How to Think | Weird.io
https://werd.io/2024/dont-let-them-tell-you-what-to-think
Oddbean new post about login | logout
Notes by amerpie | export
Today for #Junited2024 I am plugging {micro maique}, the wonderful photo blog of Maique, resident visual artist, role model and superstar of Micro.blog, Scribbles, Flickr and Instagram. I linked to some wonderful outdoor photos entitled, The River. https://louplummer.lol/junited-a-love-affair-with-blogs/