Links

The Revolt of the Public in 10 Minutes

colemanm.org

Author Martin Gurri posted this quick 10 minute summary of his book The Revolt of the Public.

His insights connect information dissemination, institutions, and authority — the public expects unrealistic levels of service and expertise from institutions, while institutions also promise far more than they’re capable of delivering.

This is going onto my reading list.

My New Old Apple IIe Computer

charlieharrington.com

This computer represents to me the lost era of computer as appliance. I’m talking about “bicycle for the mind” type-of-stuff. When you still sat down and said, “I’m going to computer now.” Or, as in my childhood, “May I please go on the computer now, Mom, PLEASE?”

We’re much closer to cyborgs now, with our phones and watches and speakers and other do-dads. Computers are part of us. They’re attached to us, they’re in our pockets, they’re in our bags, they’re next to us when we go to sleep. You can’t escape them, and as a result, you’re no longer able to make an active choice about whether or not to use them.

Rebuilding James Bond's Apple IIc - A Software Forgery

youtube.com

There’s nothing cooler than a computer in a movie, and 1985’s A View To A Kill has a particularly cool Apple IIc. Join me as I forge this Faberge bit by bit, byte by byte. In this video I meticulously reverse engineer the application from the movie and recreate it on my Apple IIc using Applesoft BASIC and a variety of development tricks. No one was asking, but I sure delivered.

I love this recreation. I did some Applesoft BASIC in elementary school whenever I could get my hands on books for it.