People I know, good people, working hard – are trying to buy their first home. They’ve done everything right. But they’re struggling to compete. I showed them how easily I could disadvantage them. I already own a home. I have equity. I have access to financing. If I wanted to buy another house and rent…
Read more
In the heart of every thriving community, there are individuals who dedicate their time and skills without expectation of reward or recognition. My recent experiences as a volunteer managing the digital infrastructure for a community organization have shed light on an often-overlooked aspect of volunteer work: the invisible yet crucial efforts that keep our digital…
Read more
Today at work, I was talking to a new employee. They were worried about a part of the job that they would need to do in the future because they didn’t have much experience. I was excited to tell that person that nearly all the software we use in the office is Free/Libre Open Source…
Read more
A product that once was great made awful by their creator. Named after Google after successfully making each product in their portfolio worse than it was before.
I made the jump. After 1 or 2 months without social media, I setup my own social media site. If you haven’t heard of Mastodon, it’s a federated service a bit like email. No one has full control, you can join a larger server or host your very own. I chose to host my very…
Read more
It seems tempting. A low monthly fee for a software package that always gets updated automatically. Except it is usually to go to of companies bereft of ideas looking for a way to prop up their profits as the need to upgrade their software on an annual basis dries up. After being subscribed to QuickBooks…
Read more
Sick pay is being begged for by the essential workers, by public health advocates, and by opposition government. But the reality is that, while to fight the threat of COVID taking down our health care system it will likely become a permanent benefit. There are very legitimate opposing reasons not to implement this as a…
Read more
When cord cutting first began, it was mostly thanks to Netflix. It was one source for commercial-free, on-demand media that could replace the traditional cable or satellite bill for a reasonable monthly cost. This changed when everyone wanted to get into the market. There’s Crave, Amazon, and the upcoming Disney network and Apple services. These…
Read more