Finished reading: The Will of the Many by James Islington was a fun read: think Roman senators in Hunger Games at Hogwarts 📚
George is delighted to be back in a lake
Much better weather today 😁
🏃♂️ At least running in the rain keeps the heat down
Arrived to our cottage vacation in a torrential thunderstorm! That’s okay though. Still better than being at work and the storm won’t last
🎧 A fun Mindscape interview with Luis Bettencourt on scaling laws in cities. Bettencourt inspired some of my research on pollinator networks. So, this was also nostalgic
🎵 Song of the week for my daughter — Angeles by Elliott Smith from Either/Or. Although Waltz, No. 2 (XO) is a slightly better song, I think Angeles is a better first listen song.
🎧 As a small gesture of support for independent podcasts, I’ve switched from Apple Podcasts to Overcast (again). Overcast is certainly a better app and I’m happy to support it with another year of subscription revenue
🎉 The Hemispheric Views June-boree was tremendous fun! I’m delighted to have achieved third place and received a fantastic trophy.
Finished reading: The Notebook by Roland Allen is a comprehensive look at how physical notebooks have affected culture over centuries that was more interesting than I’d expected.
I’ve been using physical notebooks, with varying levels of enthusiasm, for decades. These days, I mostly use a Field Notes notebook as my primary capture. I use a light structure of an underlined date and Patrick Rhone’s Dash/Plus system. Then I have a Shortcut that takes a photo, transcribes the text, and sends it to other apps for further use on my iPhone. Works well for me and I like relying on the physical notebook while still having the benefits of the digital 📚
🔗 The false promise of sovereignty economics - The Hub
The insight generalizes into a first principle that sovereignty economics gets backwards: countries do not become rich chiefly by owning things. They become rich when their people are productive. A Canadian nurse, farmer, or machinist working with the world’s best AI tools is better off than one confined to a domestically owned but inferior alternative. Forty-one million Canadians equipped with frontier technology will generate more prosperity than a handful of protected national champions ever could.
🚴 Fun ride with the Morning Glory crew
🚴 Looks like a good morning for a ride
The iOS 27 Beta has been very stable on my iPhone 17. Everything is much snappier and, as widely reported, Siri AI actually works well. Finally.
So much better and a good reminder to not take air quality for granted. I don’t have fond memories of the regular smog days we had when I was a kid.
I like the new calendar view of my books in micro.blog. My vacation in August is certainly distinct
🔗 Why has Venus obsessed so many astronomers? | Aeon Essays
I think what’s missing is the obsession, the sense of wonder that made those expeditions feel like cultural events rather than technical exercises. The instruments around me in the gallery made this contrast sharp. The telescopes and clocks of the 18th century were made of warm brass and wood, etched with flourishes and gilded corners that served no functional purpose except to be beautiful. Today’s instruments are made of cold steel and glass, efficient and practical. Perhaps that’s progress, but perhaps it’s also part of what we’ve lost – the sense that science can be an object of beauty in itself, not just a tool for achieving results.
🚴 Air quality still isn’t great. So, back to Watopia in the basement
Getting apocalyptic out here
Finished reading: Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse is a fun sequel to Trail of Lightning 📚