![\"Detail](\"https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/404/2026/detail-of-the-space-traveller-ii-on-display-in-the-clockmakers-museum-at-th-m.jpg\")
On reading eccentrics, cranks, and weirdos.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/19/on-reading-eccentrics-cranks-and.html","date_published":"2026-08-19T12:56:36+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-19 12:56","date_timestamp":1787144196,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"96029833","content_html":"
A sample of the work of the great watchmaker George Daniels (1926-2011). I never travel to London without visiting the Clockmaker’s Museum, though I sort of miss its old rather obscure location at Guildhall.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/19/a-sample-of-the-work.html","date_published":"2026-08-19T11:54:31+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-19 11:54","date_timestamp":1787140471,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"96029458","content_html":"How writing a blog about Terrence Malick makes me pretty much exactly like Terrence Malick.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/19/how-writing-a-blog-about.html","date_published":"2026-08-19T11:41:32+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-19 11:41","date_timestamp":1787139692,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"96027506","content_html":"Editing, Revising, Revisiting Blogging ![\"\"](\"https://micro.blog/photos/50/https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/315326/2026/tmcb.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://micro.blog/photos/50/https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/315326/2026/sts.jpg\")
: cosmosmalick.net
Now that I live in central Texas, when I return to my native Alabama I am always thinking: Dang, the trees here are tall.
\n![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fcosmosmalick.net%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F7739825616.jpg\")
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/18/now-that-i-live-in.html","date_published":"2026-08-18T22:01:44+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-18 22:01","date_timestamp":1787090504,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95933138","content_html":"WSJ:
\n\n\nAI is trained in part on what people like, and people prefer the brown-nosing, says Myra Cheng, a computer-science Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University and lead author of a March study on agreeable AI. Participants rated sycophantic AI responses significantly higher in quality and, after interacting with a more obsequious model, said they were more likely to return to the AI.
\n
This bodes ill.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/17/wsj-ai-is-trained-in.html","date_published":"2026-08-17T20:14:55+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-17 20:14","date_timestamp":1786997695,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95919695","content_html":"![\"1](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fcosmosmalick.net%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F1-priory-gadens-facade-1.jpg\")
The home of The Victorian Society was well chosen.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/17/the-home-of-the-victorian.html","date_published":"2026-08-17T15:42:40+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-17 15:42","date_timestamp":1786981360,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95919696","content_html":"\n\n\nIn 1968, [Kołakowski] was fired from Warsaw University for “forming the views of the youth in a manner contrary to the official tendency of the country,” banned from teaching and publishing entirely, and placed under constant police surveillance.
\n
As I come to the end of my teaching career, I am bitterly disappointed in myself: I have never been formally charged with “forming the views of the youth in a manner contrary to the official tendency of the country.”
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/17/kit-wilson-in-koakowski-was.html","date_published":"2026-08-17T15:39:16+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-17 15:39","date_timestamp":1786981156,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95912892","content_html":"Angus taking a break from playing in the garden hose, which is his favorite thing to do that does not involve eating.
\n![\"\"](\"https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/404/2026/dsc00239-m.jpg\")
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/17/angus-taking-a-break-from.html","date_published":"2026-08-17T13:30:49+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-17 13:30","date_timestamp":1786973449,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95911983","content_html":"For my Buy Me a Coffee supporters I wrote a report from Mission Control.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/17/for-my-buy-me-a.html","date_published":"2026-08-17T13:11:21+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-17 13:11","date_timestamp":1786972281,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95839149","content_html":"How much would you pay for a smarter baby? — I can imagine the lawsuits later: “We paid for a smarter baby but instead we got a child who’s compassionate and generous! We’ve been screwed!”
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/15/how-much-would-you-pay.html","date_published":"2026-08-15T22:02:32+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-15 22:02","date_timestamp":1786831352,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95816978","content_html":"Via Ian Leslie, a beautifully designed page on ordinary abundance.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/15/via-ian-leslie-a-beautifully.html","date_published":"2026-08-15T13:09:57+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-15 13:09","date_timestamp":1786799397,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95765065","content_html":"@manton I would absolutely try this … if Marco did customer support. Seems like too big a risk in the circumstances. Also: Fingers crossed for Wavelength.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/95765065","date_published":"2026-08-14T14:41:25+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-14 14:41","date_timestamp":1786718485,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"95759490","content_html":"Why Ruskin should have been horsewhipped.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/14/why-ruskin-should-have-been.html","date_published":"2026-08-14T12:55:05+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-14 12:55","date_timestamp":1786712105,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95652217","content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/404/2026/jacket-m.jpg\")
Book/magazine cover art by Kenneth Romney Towndrow
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/12/bookmagazine-cover-art-by-kenneth.html","date_published":"2026-08-12T17:36:33+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-12 17:36","date_timestamp":1786556193,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95646385","content_html":"@wcaleb @manton Also, I assume that when someone does a Google search and interacts in any way with the Gemini response at the top of the search results, Google counts that as using Gemini.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/95646385","date_published":"2026-08-12T15:49:00+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-12 15:49","date_timestamp":1786549740,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"95636155","content_html":"\nA remarkable intaglio from the Getty Museum: Aeneas and his family escaping Troy. The museum dates this around 20 B.C., which was around the time of Virgil’s death, with his poem unfinished — and surely this is a depiction of the scene specifically as described by Virgil, with Aeneas carrying Anchises on...
social.ayjay.org","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/12/a-remarkable-intaglio-from-the.html","date_published":"2026-08-12T12:33:24+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-12 12:33","date_timestamp":1786538004,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95597522","content_html":"Brad East commends the Bartleby Option.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/11/brad-east-commends-the-bartleby.html","date_published":"2026-08-11T19:14:30+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-11 19:14","date_timestamp":1786475670,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95574871","content_html":"The third installment of my Dispatch series on the meaning of the Second World War today.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/11/the-third-installment-of-my.html","date_published":"2026-08-11T12:13:36+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-11 12:13","date_timestamp":1786450416,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95574872","content_html":"\n\nsocial.ayjay.org","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/11/craig-mod-back-in-tokyo.html","date_published":"2026-08-11T12:11:31+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-11 12:11","date_timestamp":1786450291,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95574741","content_html":"\nBack in Tokyo, after the fireworks spectacular, I went to Yoyogi Park. An announcement was playing: “Rollerblading is dangerous, make sure you don’t do it! And be sure to not play catch! And stay off the bike paths! And don’t run in the non-running areas!” I was barely ten feet into the park when I heard those broadcast rules in both Japanese and English. As the rules were sermonized overhead, people moved with heat-stroke torpidity, smartphones cradled near their faces. Last fall, while walking through Yoyogi, I counted: 97 out of 100 people were looking at their phones. Nobody was doing...
\n
\nsocial.ayjay.org","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/11/glenn-reynolds-as-nachman-said.html","date_published":"2026-08-11T12:09:14+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-11 12:09","date_timestamp":1786450154,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95515158","content_html":"\nAs Nachman said, [Sullivan] lost because they changed the law. And, I think it’s fair to say that they changed the law because the Court — and in particular Justice Brennan — favored the role of the institutional press in American society and wanted to create a more favorable environment for that industry. I have speculated elsewhere (in my The Judiciary’s Class War) that the justices, being drawn from the same educated gentry class as the editors of leading newspapers and magazines, deliberately took their side. One can see this in subsequent decisions that expanded the “public...
\n
\nsocial.ayjay.org","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/10/on-ai-coding-and-its.html","date_published":"2026-08-10T12:16:45+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-10 12:16","date_timestamp":1786364205,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95514790","content_html":"He told me that features he generated using Claude Code ended up crashing their product on two different occasions. His boss told him that if it happened one more time, he’d be fired. “I’ve never had quality issues like this before in my career.”
\nThe problem is that code produced by an AI agent looks reasonable, but can contain ‘hard-to-spot bugs’ that end up causing major problems. As a result, you should carefully review your agent’s output, but this is difficult. As the engineer told me, it’s “famously hard” to understand code you didn’t write yourself, so this extra step becomes “easy...
\n
At Cosmos Malick: New Worlds and Old.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/10/at-cosmos-malick-new-worlds.html","date_published":"2026-08-10T12:10:37+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-10 12:10","date_timestamp":1786363837,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95514797","content_html":"![\"\"](\"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Fblog.ayjay.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F08%2FIMG_0409.jpeg\")
A very small part of the supermassive datacenter being built on the shores of Lake Whitney. The companies who build these things always deny that they use a lot of water, and yet they always build them on lakes and rivers. What an odd coincidence.
\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/10/a-very-small-part-of.html","date_published":"2026-08-10T12:08:22+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-10 12:08","date_timestamp":1786363702,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95513555","content_html":"Ezra Pound, from Guide to Kulchur (1938):
\n\n\n","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/10/ezra-pound-from-guide-to.html","date_published":"2026-08-10T11:50:55+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-10 11:50","date_timestamp":1786362655,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95511613","content_html":"\nThe Homeric world, very human. The Odyssey high water mark for the adventure story, as for example Odysseus on the spar after shipwreck. Sam Smiles never got any further in preaching self-reliance. A world of irresponsible gods, a very high society without recognizable morals, the individual responsible to himself.
\n
\nsocial.ayjay.org","summary":"","url":"https://social.ayjay.org/2026/08/10/john-adams-scarcely-any-two.html","date_published":"2026-08-10T11:14:53+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-08-10 11:14","date_timestamp":1786360493,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":false,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":false,"is_podcast":false,"note":"","syndication":[]}},{"id":"95508008","content_html":"Scarcely any two writers, much less nations, agree in using words in the same sense. Such a latitude, it is true, allows a scope for politicians to speculate, like merchants with false weights, artificial credit, or base money, and to deceive the people, by making the same word adored by one party, and execrated by another. The union of the people, in any principle, rule, or system, is thus rendered impossible; because superstition, prejudice, habit, and passions, are so differently attached to words, that you can scarcely make any nation understand itself. The words monarchy, aristocracy,...
\n
New Worlds and Old ![\"\"](\"https://micro.blog/photos/50/https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/315326/2026/images-2.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://micro.blog/photos/50/https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/315326/2026/images-3.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://micro.blog/photos/50/https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/315326/2026/images.jpg\")
: cosmosmalick.net
@dancohen Ack, I didn’t clock that, though I should have. Trouble on all sides!
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94925220","date_published":"2026-07-30T17:42:10+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-30 17:42","date_timestamp":1785433330,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94805665","content_html":"@manton Same. But I can see millions of people choosing to sweat rather than live without TikTok for a day.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94805665","date_published":"2026-07-28T18:06:37+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-28 18:06","date_timestamp":1785261997,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94804963","content_html":"@manton I have a feeling we’re not that far from getting text messages saying “If you’d like to have air-conditioning for the next 24 hours, press 1. If you’d prefer to have the internet, press 2.”
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94804963","date_published":"2026-07-28T17:52:21+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-28 17:52","date_timestamp":1785261141,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94800166","content_html":"@manton So pumped about this!
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94800166","date_published":"2026-07-28T16:11:35+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-28 16:11","date_timestamp":1785255095,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94749066","content_html":"@grmr Steven and I have been talking for a decade about hosting a year-long cohort: four seasons, four meetings, four books — let’s do it!
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94749066","date_published":"2026-07-27T18:33:48+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-27 18:33","date_timestamp":1785177228,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94588182","content_html":"@manton I’m hoping (but not expecting) that the two roads will clearly diverge and some people will just do video while others will just do audio.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94588182","date_published":"2026-07-24T15:11:53+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-24 15:11","date_timestamp":1784905913,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94587781","content_html":"One super-annoying thing about the podcast pivot to video: Many podcasters now think of video as the normal way to experience their podcasts, so they’ll regularly refer to images they’re displaying — images I can’t see, because I only listen to podcasts when I’m walking, driving, or lying in bed with my eyes closed. Podcasters increasingly assume that people are looking at screens every minute of the day. But wasn’t it always one of the virtues of podcasts that you don’t have to look at them?
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94587781","date_published":"2026-07-24T15:04:31+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-24 15:04","date_timestamp":1784905471,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94536251","content_html":"@mwerickson Might not be worth it just for that little detail! (I also don’t think it one of Tarkovsky’s best.)
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94536251","date_published":"2026-07-23T18:04:40+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-23 18:04","date_timestamp":1784829880,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94461133","content_html":"@ablerism Wonderful. And may you have at least 41 more.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94461133","date_published":"2026-07-22T13:30:51+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-22 13:30","date_timestamp":1784727051,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94285807","content_html":"@manton I guess they’ve been getting angry at strangers online for so long that it seems normal to them. The nice thing about getting away from it for a while is that you remember that it’s a pretty weird thing to do.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94285807","date_published":"2026-07-19T17:34:10+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-19 17:34","date_timestamp":1784482450,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94280377","content_html":"@ablerism I find all this really fascinating! — in large part I guess because my own handedness is so peculiar.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94280377","date_published":"2026-07-19T15:04:54+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-19 15:04","date_timestamp":1784473494,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94184896","content_html":"@manginajoe I must save my reply for a later follow-up post! 😉
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94184896","date_published":"2026-07-17T18:39:38+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-17 18:39","date_timestamp":1784313578,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94171580","content_html":"@manton The homemade feature would be even better – no need to connect to an external service.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94171580","date_published":"2026-07-17T14:09:31+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-17 14:09","date_timestamp":1784297371,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94164322","content_html":"@manton I hope this means that Auphonic integration with Wavelength will continue in the new version. That’s a really nice feature. (And I’m eager to start micro-podcasting when the new Wavelength is released.)
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94164322","date_published":"2026-07-17T11:38:51+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-17 11:38","date_timestamp":1784288331,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"94110930","content_html":"@manton We absolutely do not have to build those data centers. Maybe we should, maybe we shouldn’t, but we don’t have to. We could live without them. The world’s biggest and most predatory corporations, like the world’s most predatory politicians, always say “We have no choice.” But the first step towards making the right decisions is realizing that we can choose.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/94110930","date_published":"2026-07-16T14:50:19+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-16 14:50","date_timestamp":1784213419,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"93382538","content_html":"@manginajoe Austin’s line to me is always “Open web, empty pockets” 😂
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/93382538","date_published":"2026-07-03T17:39:56+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-03 17:39","date_timestamp":1783100396,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"93376628","content_html":"@manginajoe Good to see you here, Joe!
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/93376628","date_published":"2026-07-03T15:35:15+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-03 15:35","date_timestamp":1783092915,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"93251102","content_html":"@manton I am really excited about this! I want to do more audio posts and while I’ve found Wavelength the ideal way to do that, I’ve been a little worried about the lack of development. So, good news indeed.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/93251102","date_published":"2026-07-01T14:14:57+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-07-01 14:14","date_timestamp":1782915297,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"93193837","content_html":"@manton My $.02: If people want/need to know who’s following them, micro.blog’s extensive cross-posting to platforms built for that kind of engagement meets the need. There’s no need for micro.blog itself to replicate what every social-media platform already does. And that micro.blog does not do follower counts etc. is a useful reminder that we don’t have to do things the way we learned to do them on Twitter back in the day.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/93193837","date_published":"2026-06-30T15:42:15+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-30 15:42","date_timestamp":1782834135,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92900522","content_html":"@grmr Doesn’t quite look like my view from the Frio!
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/92900522","date_published":"2026-06-25T19:26:09+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-25 19:26","date_timestamp":1782415569,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92895175","content_html":"@manton I don’t think many people realize how much that bad ankle compromised him in the playoffs. He’s a key piece of the puzzle.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/92895175","date_published":"2026-06-25T17:45:48+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-25 17:45","date_timestamp":1782409548,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92740207","content_html":"@dancohen This may well be!
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/92740207","date_published":"2026-06-23T15:46:08+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-23 15:46","date_timestamp":1782229568,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}},{"id":"92728509","content_html":"@dancohen The first answer is correct! Check the mail for your prize.
\n","url":"https://micro.blog/ayjay/92728509","date_published":"2026-06-23T12:40:01+00:00","author":{"name":"Alan Jacobs ","url":"https://ayjay.org","avatar":"https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/96/https%3A%2F%2Favatars.micro.blog%2Favatars%2F2022%2F650.jpg","_microblog":{"username":"ayjay"}},"_microblog":{"date_relative":"2026-06-23 12:40","date_timestamp":1782218401,"is_favorite":false,"is_bookmark":false,"is_deletable":false,"is_conversation":true,"is_linkpost":false,"is_mention":true}}]}