Hybrid #6

Pocket has helped millions save articles and discover stories worth reading. But the way people save and consume content on the web has evolved, so we’re channeling our resources into projects that better match browsing habits today. Discovery also continues to evolve; Pocket helped shape the curated content recommendations you already see in Firefox, and that experience will keep getting better. Meanwhile, new features like Tab Groups and enhanced bookmarks now provide built-in ways to manage reading lists easily.

[…]

This shift allows us to shape the next era of the internet – with tools like vertical tabs, smart search and more AI-powered features on the way.

Apple TV+ is streaming an 8-hour remix of the Severance theme by ODESZA that is perfect music for your innie to refine macrodata to. The workday-long video is a 23-minute mix that’s looped and set to footage from the show. Legit adding this to the work music rotation. (via @margarita.bsky.social)

Modern hardware is unbelievably fast. The M1 Max that I’m writing this article on runs at 3.2GHz. That is 3.2 BILLION clock cycles per second. Yet, Microsoft Teams takes 3 seconds to open a link, and I refuse to believe it takes 9.6 BILLION clock cycles to open a link. Obviously, that’s an over-simplification, but the point stands: how is it that hardware gets faster, but the applications we use only get slower?

[…]

The real responsibility lies with the companies building these apps. It’s definitely possible to build good Electron apps - Slack, Obsidian, and Notion are prime examples. You just have to care.

[…]

Clearly, these issues aren’t localized to a specific programming language, operating system, or industry. It’s a broader trend to build things faster and worse. Delivery over quality.

[…]

Stop doing less with more.

她認為，年輕人對死亡問題比較沒有包袱，特別是「安寧度假村」會在網路上引發這麼多人共鳴，是因為跟他們日後切身相關。

「年輕人沒有地方死，其實是另一種居住不正義，可是當台灣人現在連死亡都還不能談、不願意談的時候，不會有人去想到臨終地點的問題，要推廣臨終場所實在太困難了。」

佳吟在注射免疫療法隔週就因為喘得離不開氧氣，緊急住進安寧病房。最後一個月，除了醫院安寧團隊的照顧，就依靠朋友的支持跟陪伴。佳吟大學好友怡佳說，佳吟不願意麻煩別人，什麼都要自己做好，但是怎麼可能呢？怡佳幫著佳吟退租房子；在網上建立Google表單，讓好友們每天排班，陪伴佳吟。佳吟每天寫下自己身體的變化跟心情，好友們給她回應。

[…]

人生最後一段為什麼不在家裡度過呢？阿媛說，即使找居家醫療團隊來家裡，也不是很周全，好的看護又不好找，「我不怕孤獨死，但是我擔心鄰居會怕，而且可能讓整棟大樓跌價，那我就太對不起他們了。」

可是當阿媛計畫住到養生村或安養院時，她發現養生村只收健康的老人，而品質評價較好的安養院，她排了多年，都還沒輪到。愛好自由的她，也不確定自己是否能適應安養院的生活。

阿珍阿嬤述說和其它長者不同的遭遇。家裡做生意，她年幼時家境很好，雖然沒唸很多書，卻嫁給了大學畢業生，先生也對她很好，可是，她卻無法生育。數年後，她為公婆所迫而離婚，只好回到娘家，父母對待她雖然很好，弟弟卻說：「家裡多一個人吃飯！」讓她十分心寒。

這些陳年傷痛經驗，深埋在長輩心中，並未隨時間流逝而淡然；在與同伴互相傾吐後，大家紛紛以同理心互相安慰，抒懷後，深埋心中的遺憾與情結也漸漸放下了。

第四次、也是最後一次團體活動， 我們談的主題是道別。我試探性地或詢問：「如果有一天，你病得很嚴重，可能不久於人世，您最想見誰？」阿桑阿嬤一向都是要再三邀請、一再哄騙才發言的，這次卻主動出來分享。她說：「我的二兒子早年過世，留下兩個孩子，二媳婦出家， 由大兒子將這兩個小孩撫養成人。我很感謝大兒子，希望離世時能見到他。」

一生未娶的阿祥阿公面帶笑容， 他說自己單身， 沒什麼人會來探望他， 我再鼓勵他想想：是否有哪位親人他最想見他最後一面？阿祥阿公表示最想見到妹妹，「我和妹妹相差17歲，從小媽媽就交代我要好好照顧妹妹，我還曾揹著妹妹、餵妹妹喝牛奶。」一般長輩多希望與兒女道別，但那些孤家寡人的長者，多已跟親人失聯多年，相對下較少依戀，也沒什麼捨不得或放不下的。

[…]

在老吾老院服務的長者，大多來自獨居或窮困家庭，他們的一生可能經歷了貧苦或悲苦的事件，但是他們從中也感受到他人的愛心，令他們感恩，他們曾有受傷、遺憾的經歷，需要被瞭解與接納，最後得以釋懷。

道謝、道愛、道歉、道別， 四道人生的習題並非臨終時才做； 由於面對死亡是相對漫長的過程，可以鼓勵長者趁自己意識清楚時就談， 就像前述帶領的四道人生團體經驗，長輩在回顧自己一生經歷同時，也學會了化解恩怨情仇， 放下遺憾， 最後才能充滿感恩地離開。

What will happen when A.I. systems begin pulling people into formation? We can get a glimpse of the possible consequences by looking at what’s already happened on the pre-A.I. Internet. Harari cites a 2022 study, conducted by the digital-intelligence firm Similarweb, which showed that between twenty and thirty per cent of the content on Twitter was posted by bots, which in turn constituted only five per cent of that platform’s user base. It’s no stretch to say that a platform like Twitter is in itself a kind of bot; its algorithms decide, in an automated fashion, what users should see. On such a platform, therefore, swarms of bots interact with a mega-bot, while human beings read and respond alongside. If this phenomenon were amplified—and if the bots and algorithms were capable of holding intelligent conversations—the likely outcome is “digital anarchy,” as Harari puts it. Conversations among machines will shape conversations about humans. “The public sphere will be flooded by computer-generated fake news, citizens will not be able to tell whether they are having a debate with a human friend or a manipulative machine, and no consensus will remain about the most basic rules of discussion or the most basic facts.”

[…]

The key step is the last one. As the density, pace, and fluidity of information have increased, we’ve become more conscious of the role it plays in our lives—and more suspicious of it.

I’m still trying to solve this intesity dilemma, but it seems the only way to become a better writer is to write more. Consider this a disclaimer, an advance apology, and a big “student driver” sign for this blog.

To help me grow more quickly, please post feedback. Poke holes in my theories. Give counterexamples to my claims. Share your experience.

Thank you for all the insightful comments across the link aggregators. Thank you for brightening up my inbox. Thank you for bringing the best parts of the internet to my feeds on X, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Thanks. With your continued help, I can [probably] become a better writer, and [maybe] a better thinker.

It was the anti-Twitter. People were literally running from Twitter to Bluesky, and that is not a way to build something successful.

[…]

And when you’re entirely dependent on that, if a brand like P&G or Unilever doesn’t like what’s happening on the platform, and they threaten to pull the budget, which accounts for like 20% of your revenue? You have no choice, and… you have no choice. If you take a stance, and they pull the budget, and the stock market sees that, the stock price goes from like 70 bucks to 30. Then you have employees leave because they can get greater value elsewhere, and that’s the whole conundrum that you’re stuck in.

[…]

I find it fascinating to watch how these things play out. Again, I think it points to the need for a protocol where you don’t have to make these decisions at all, right? Because you don’t control the protocol. There’s no one single point of failure you can chokehold and bring before Congress and yell at. It’s like Bitcoin, it doesn’t have one leader or one central chokehold element. And I think that’s critical for what it’s intended to do.

The End of Social Media: An Interview With Jack Dorsey