On , my browser gave to me
some links in a pear tree…
some links in a pear tree…
I’ve got a feeling / This year’s for me and you
, by Dan Sinker.
Finding a tradition inside of a tradition, by Philip Bump.
Death and Rebirth on the Road Home, by Rebecca Solnit.
Designing for inactive users, by James. A sensible approach that balances several principles in tension with one another.
Lying to people about time, by Willow.
Landslide; a ghost story, by Erin Kissane.
In addition to being the most-talked-about CBS News story of the year, it’ll almost certainly be the most-watched. But CBS will get none of the views or ad revenue. There’s no better way to make people want to watch something than to tell them they shouldn’t watch it. The Streisand effect is very real.
— Gruber
Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment and threats have changed their lives, by Lawrence Hurley, via Eric Bailey.
Also via Eric: Doctors Catch Cancer-Diagnosing AI Extracting Patients’ Race Data and Being Racist With It, by Joe Wilkins
Text Editing Hates You Too, by Bo Lord, via Cal.
Also via Cal: Performance Hints, by Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat.
The line and the stream, by Ethan Marcotte, via Karl.
Transgender NSA Employee Challenges Trump Executive Order In Federal Court, by Dan Tracer.
19 States Sue to Block White House Plan to End Gender-Related Care for Minors, by Orlando Mayorquín and Chris Hippensteel. Also, the ACLU Pledges To Challenge Trump Admin In Court Over National Trans Youth Care Ban Rule, by Erin Reed.
Breaking: Federal judge in Pittsburgh blocks DOJ’s invasive trans care subpoena, by Chris Geidner.
Massachusetts Scraps Requirement That Foster Parents Affirm Identity Of LGBTQ+ Children, by Margaret Hetherman. Ugh. This in MA, and Newsom throwing us under the bus in CA. I thought the blue states, at least, were supposed to have our backs. At least they’re suing over the youth gender-affirming care ban.
What books are for, by Mandy Brown: When you can’t write, read. When you can’t read, sleep.
As the year comes to an end, Hidde’s hopes for 2026 are worth echoing:
A stable government, in my country and others. Hype-free realism about AI utility. Honest energy reporting from AI vendors. Regulation that benefits people, not shareholders. Less technology, less complexity. More art. More love (I’m 🎶 wishing that the love will set us free).
May we all find the strength and engery within us to make the world better in 2026.
So as the days get longer, as the sun ascends just a little bit more, as 2025 rolls into 2026, Do The Work. Do it the hard way, the long way, the slow way. There is no other way. I’ll be there toiling alongside you, getting frustrated, wanting to quit, and pushing through, all of us, each and every one Doing The Work the only way that it can be done, together.
But please, above all, live:
生きる, 生きる, 生きる, 生きる, と生きる。