“We used to do that” | Seth’s Blog
What you were trained to do, what you did yesterday… that’s a gift from your past, not an obligation.
Author: Patrick Rhone
This Blog is 20 Years Old Today
The very first post on this site is dated November 7th, 2003. Of course, I had been blogging before that, and there used to be posts dated slightly earlier. But, this blog actually began as an internally hosted one at the college I used to work for and I lost those earlier posts when I moved to a different platform and brought it public… Gosh, that seems like it was just yesterday. Not 20 years ago. Such is life.
This blog has had many different points of focus over the years. From geeky, mainly Apple, tech stuff to GTD-driven personal productivity stuff, to practical/actionable life advice stuff to the anything goes sort of thing it is now. And, that’s exactly what a blog should be — a reflection of your interest and attention over time. A reflection of who you are right now and where you’ve been. Blogs are living things that should grow at the same rate we do.
I don’t want to make too much of it. I just wanted to mark the occasion and reflect a little on how long 20 years is but how short it seems.
I’m still having a lot of fun here. More than ever. Let’s do it for 20 more!
POLLS are PROPAGANDA
The season is now upon us that I have to make this public service announcement:
Polls are the reality TV of journalism. Drama draws eyeballs. Never trust them. Do the math.
The recent NYT poll is an especially egregious example (No, I’m not linking to it). It is no better than media clickbait. Let’s do the math…
- 3,662 individuals polled out of about 48 million… Not a representative sample size.
- The margin of sampling error for each state is between 4.4 and 4.8 percentage points (which in this political environment where races are decided in under 1 pt is HUGE).
- Also, they polled by only calling landline numbers? LANDLINES in 2023.
And yet, the vast majority of the rest of the media on all sides is treating it as fact with no journalistic skepticism (or, frankly, integrity).
If I use a poll to tell you Candidate X is way ahead, what effect on lazy voters (i.e. folks that don’t vote unless they have to) do you think that will have. Do you think that if they like Candidate X they will be more or less likely to get off their asses and vote? Now, what if that poll came from the “Paper of Record” that you know leans more heavily towards Candidate Y? Do you think they might have an interest in motivating folks with the fear that Candidate X might win?
POLLS are PROPAGANDA. Don’t trust them.
Have you taken the time lately to appreciate what a marvel of engineering your hands are?!?! I mean, come on! Hands are freaking awesome! So useful. Seriously, look at them! Look at how they work. So cool!
Hands. Hands!
Last night’s entertainment…
Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won’t help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace
The burning keeps me alive
Maybe you need the simplest paper filing system.
My wife writes on our professional blog about making connections:
Steve is a New England Mayflower descendant, and has had generations of family members who have understood the power of making these connections. He also deeply values the inherent power of these exchanges, understanding that they draw alliances both between the people he is introducing — but also with himself.
From Austin Kleon; How to graciously say no to anyone. Some great (and humorous) ideas here.
Fall back! Extra hour of sleep!*
*Unless you have pets, or children under 5, or work that begins with the sunrise like farming, or are over 50 and wake up at various random weird times throughout the night, or…
It was like having God just opening a chest and just pouring money into it.