Iteration is good, actually. Listening to your customers is good, actually. Fixing a mistake quickly is good, actually.
Too many brands and products remain stagnant, ignore their users in favor of the whims of their leadership, and let pride and the sunk cost fallacy prevent them from doing the obviously correct thing.
Bravo, HBO Max.
When discussing usability testing with clients and stakeholders, I often say “If you’re doing a week of testing, you’ll learn most of what you’re going to learn by lunchtime on the first day.” A bit cheeky, but true in my experience.
As it turns out, NN/g has done the research to support my claim.
I didn’t even realize it at the time, but yesterday I bought a copy of “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?” at a vinyl shop on the street where the album’s cover photo was taken.
I don’t dream of labor, but if I did, working for 18F would have been a dream job. Their work raised the bar for what citizens can and should expect from government technology. They saved taxpayers billions of dollars. And, thanks to their open-first philosophy, their contributions to the disciplines of human-centered design and software development are immeasurable.
The concept of “running government like a business” is deeply flawed, because it misunderstands the purpose of both. But, in terms of efficiency, excellence, impact, and value, it would be hard to beat the 18F model.
I hope those impacted quickly find new opportunities, and I invite you to join me in demanding that that our elected officials immediately address the outrageous circumstances that led to 18F’s closure. We all deserve better.
As a person who grew up with 5.25" floppy disks, and a person who has spent untold sums on hard drive space over the years, it remains unbelievable to me that you can now buy a 1TB drive that fits on your keychain for about $80.
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, which remains a perfect album, turns 30 today.
… It would have been very, very easy to fuck it up. I’m forever grateful that they did anything but fuck it up.
Music for a snowy, headphones-on-and-cranking workday: Fishmans - LONG SEASON - Otokotachi No Wakare 98.12.28 @ Akasaka Blitz
Garth Hudson, Last Surviving Member of the Band, Dies at 87
RIP to a legend, and the last living link to one of the most important musical acts of the 20th century.
My Favorite Music of 2024
Better late than never, right? Here’s a playlist, available on Apple Music, Spotify and Last.fm
My very favorites
Once again, I’m calling out a few albums and singles I thought were especially good. They’re presented alphabetically because I’ve chosen to ditch the “best of” framing I often go with; I’m not writing music criticism here, and I have no editor telling me what to do.
Album: all under heaven - what lies ahead ✅
Saw these guys blow up a suburban Wilmington skate shop in May (yes, I am serious). If you even dabble in shoegaze a little bit, they have the goods.
Album: Chat Pile - Cool World
Melodic, but heavy as hell.
Song: Clairo - Sexy To Someone
An absolute bop. Could see any number of pop stars having a huge hit with this song.
Album: The Cure - Songs Of A Lost World ✅
This album was released 4 days before the presidential election and 7 days before I got laid off. Suffice it to say that the timing of this release worked out well for me. The fact that it’s a late career classic was just a bonus.
Song: Dr. Dog - Talk is Cheap
Has that lilting, late-summer feeling that permeates all of their best stuff. An unexpected treat.
Album: Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More ✅
Spent a lot of 2023 and 2024 getting really really into early Breeders records like Last Splash and Pod, so this really hit the spot for me. Kim Deal is massively, massively underrated as a songwriter and pivotal figure of the past 40 years of music.
Album: Ekko Astral - Pink Balloons ✅
Song: Ekko Astral - Pomegranate Tree
Saw them open up for Ted Leo in June and to say they blew my fucking hair back would be a massive understatement. Bought this record at the show and it’s been burrowing into my head ever since. And somehow, “Pomegranate Tree” manages to reach and maybe exceed the highs of Pink Balloons. Ekko Astral might be the most important American band going right now, whatever that means.
Song: Father John Misty - Screamland
I generally have to take FJM in very small doses, but this track is absolutely haunting.
Song: Robert Glasper - Prototype (feat. Norah Jones)
Sounds like it was actually written for Norah Jones to sing. (This unfortunately appears to be an Apple Music exclusive.)
Album: Good Looks - Lived Here For A While ✅
The good Farmer Jones has been carrying on about these guys for a minute, so I took him up on seeing live them at Johnny Brenda’s in August and I sure am glad I did! Nice guys, chops for days, and they have the tunes to back it all up.
Album: Sarah Jarosz - Polaroid Lovers
We’ve always known Sarah Jarosz is a musical prodigy, but now we know what it sounds like when she finally decides to write an actual “pop” record.
Song: Billy Joel - Turn The Lights Back On
Unexpectedly beautiful and poignant.
Album: Katy Kirby - Blue Raspberry ✅
One of my most anticipated releases of the year and it did not disappoint. Saw her and her band play most of this record at Johnny Brenda’s in March and they were transcendent.
Song/Video: Not Like Us - Kendrick Lamar
Ubiquitous (complimentary).
Album: MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks ✅
Like many others, my houseboat has remained docked at the Himbo Dome for much of the fall and winter.
Album: Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven ✅
We first heard the ferocious title track last August, so it feels like this one has been around forever (in a good way, of course).
Album: The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis ✅
The Messthetics include Joe Lally and Brendon Canty, formerly of Fugazi’s rhythm section. This record absolutely rips.
Song: Peter Cat Recording Co. - People Never Change
A delightful little ditty from “the last band remaining in India.”
Song: Maggie Rogers - Don’t Forget Me
What a song, what a performance. Heart-rending.
Song/Video: Sunny Day Real Estate - Novum Vetus ✅
Seeing the band perform Diary front to back in May was a bucket-list item for me. The band closed the encore with a lumbering, triumphant version of this song, fitting for the victory lap they took 30 years after redefining emotional, melodic guitar rock with Diary.
Album: Mary Timony - Untame The Tiger ✅
Never really got that deep into Timony or her various projects before this record and god damn it, I’ve been missing out. She’s a treasure.
Album: Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood ✅
Song: Waxahatchee - Much Ado About Nothin'
Katie Crutchfield has been on an absolute heater. Tigers Blood beautifully expands the world built on 2020’s Saint Cloud… and then she has the audacity to toss off maybe the best song she’s ever written as a loosie single? The nerve.
(✅ indicates that I've purchased the album on vinyl, for accountability's sake. Support the musicians you love, folks!)
Accountability post: I had to write a little web scraper in Google AppScript today and ChatGPT was immensely helpful. It still messed up a lot and fortunately this wasn’t mission-critical data, so I could just run and debug at will, but I don’t know where I would have even started without it.
I voted
When Joe Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee for President, Working Families Party asked all its members to weigh in on whether the party should endorse Kamala Harris. I was one of the 5% who said “no.”
Well, I voted this morning. And yes, I pushed the button for Harris.
Kamala Harris is a member of a Presidential administration that has aided and abetted Palestinian genocide with US tax dollars. As someone who believes in Palestine’s right to exist, who has participated in pro-Palestinian actions and donated to relief efforts, and who just thinks that genocide is bad as a general rule, this makes supporting her difficult.
Here’s the thing, though: I simply don’t see a way in which the situation in Gaza gets better under Trump.
Trump has encouraged Israel’s leadership to “finish the job in Gaza,” while Harris has at least taken meetings with Palestinian, Muslim and Arab groups to hear their concerns. Harris has shown little daylight between her position and that of the Biden administration’s unwavering support of Israel, but there is some. Her calls for pauses and partial ceasefires are not enough, but they are a start.
The further dangers of a second Trump regime are clear:
- A 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court has lead to unimaginable erosion of our rights as citizens and undermining of the administrative state. Trump appointed a full third of the justices currently on the Court. He cannot be allowed to nominate a fourth.
- More women will die as draconian anti-abortion policies, flowing from the Court’s absurd decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, are expanded nationwide.
- Trans people will be further demonized, ostracized and othered (in case you haven’t seen the “Kamala is for they/them” ad on TV ten thousand times in the last month or so).
- Immigrants, no matter their legal status, will not be safe anywhere in America.
- Foundational rights like free speech and birthright citizenship may erode and disappear.
- Our climate’s deterioration will continue to accelerate, unmitigated by the EPA (whose power was gutted by the court’s overturn of the doctrine of Chevron deference) or other policy initiatives.
For all these reasons, and many more, it is imperative that Donald Trump does not become president again.
When The Working Families Party announced their endorsement of Harris, the Party adroitly pointed out that “voting is not a love letter, it’s a chess move.” Voting for Kamala Harris was a move that allows us to continue to fight.
The news of Matthew Sweet’s stroke is devastating. Please join Mike Mills, Peter Buck, Sebastian Steinberg, myself and thousands of others who have been impacted by Sweet’s music in donating to the GoFundMe for his care and recovery.
What I feel bad about, when people are sort of like, “oh yeah everything is terrible. We haven’t made any progress, blah blah blah.” I’m like, “yo, do you have any idea how hard people had to work for people to even notice that black people are being killed by the cops?" Because that was happening for a long time and nobody even knew. Nobody even knew, all right? People had to work hard just to get to that point, and then to get to the point we have at least some duties that should not be in police offices being pulled out and put into other things, some places actually being defunded (have you seen Camden, New Jersey?) Like, that took work, and people who worked very hard and risked their lives to do these things. So I feel like, to sit to just blanketly be like there’s no hope you can’t do anything, you’re kinda, like, crapping a lot of really hard work by a lot of people, buddy.
Thank you to Pam Selle for hosting this conversation, and to David Dylan Thomas for saying this. For various reasons, I really needed to hear it, and I think a lot of other people might, too.
I have never been as enraptured with a piece of software as I currently am with Capacities.
Good Looks live at Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA
Fun band, fun venue, fun times. I think these guys really have something.
And it’s always great to see the homie The Farmer Jones in person.
Good Looks Concert Setlist at Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia on August 11, 2024 | setlist.fm
The Mountain Goats live at Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA
The Mountain Goats might be the best live band currently touring, and I strongly recommend seeing them when they roll through your town if you have the means. John Darnielle is a consumate showman, the band is tight as hell, and the songbook is top-notch.
The Mountain Goats Concert Setlist at Union Transfer, Philadelphia on August 3, 2024 | setlist.fm
