Microposts

Finished reading: Breaking Point by Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson provides a very clear description of Canada’s challenges. Thankfully it also provides good ideas on how to fix them. Pairs well with Andrew Coyne’s recent book, though they disagree on electoral reform. Although daunting, I’m optimistic that this is an exciting time for Canada’s rejuvenation 🍁📚

🔗 The Telemetry - by Angus Hervey - Fix The News

This gap, between the world as it is and how we’re told to see it, comes down to a choice about what we do with our attention. Mission control doesn’t ignore danger. It’s acknowledged, monitored, taken seriously. But knowing which emergencies require immediate action means you need to watch all the instruments, not just the alarms. That’s the difference between panic and an effective response.

An important reminder about the sensationalization of news

Finished reading: The Random Universe by Andrew H. Jaffe is an interesting exploration of probability and models in physics and cosmology. I also appreciated the historical context that showed how the models developed 📚

Finished reading: As a Canadian public servant, I’m not the target market for Scaling People by Claire Hughes Johnson. Nonetheless, I found the sections on managing teams and navigating conflict useful 📚

Finished reading: Seemed inevitable that The Last Town by Blake Crouch would become a mostly straightforward action plot with lots of shooting. Still entertaining, though not nearly as good as the first book in the series. 📚

Finished reading: Sword & Citadel by Gene Wolfe continues a great series. I can’t understand how I lasted this long without reading these books. So many elements that are what I look for in a book: sci-fi, fantasy, and an unreliable narrator 📚

Came home to a mess of needles, ornaments, and water. Our Christmas tree fell over! George looked very nervous, as if I would blame him for it. The tree is back up and tied to the wall with some rope. Hopefully that fixes it

Why RSS matters

And yet, despite being everywhere, RSS is somehow invisible. It’s the plumbing of the web: essential, reliable, and routinely underestimated. Most people who consume news this way don’t know they’re using RSS, and a surprising number of people who work in media don’t know they’re dependent on it for much of their reach and many of their partnerships.

Inspired by Ben Werdmuller‘s post, I’ve recommitted to Reeder. I’ve moved all of my feeds, newsletters, YouTube subscriptions, and podcasts into the app to have one place to get everything. Reeder has a great, clean interface that integrates all of these sources well.