In light of the recent Panama Papers scandal, I wanted to share two interesting Planet Money episodes in which they walk through the process of setting up an offshore company.
(Warning: These links may auto-play.)
Author: Matt Morris
Google Permanently Disables $300 Smart Home Hub→
Wow. As a new homeowner, I’ve been reading a bit on what’s new in home automation, smart bulbs, thermostats, etc. But news like this really makes me hesitant.
At this stage, I don’t want any appliance in my home that isn’t fully functional without an internet connection.
🗣
Update It looks like I can update my Kindle manually over USB. So the situation isn’t as bad as I had thought.
New Flagship Kindle is Coming→
It’s hard to get excited about a new kindle when my current one stopped working for no good reason.
My kindle was packed for moving for a few months, during which time it missed a critical software update. As a result, it can no longer connect to Amazon to download new books or software updates.
🗣
Got a local farm that’s supplying us with fresh eggs. The best part is that they’re cheaper than the grocery store.
🗣
Backing Away from Twitter
I’ve used Twitter for years. I’ve found interesting links and things to read. I’ve met great people, including other iOS developers. Twitter helped me find work when I shifted from full-time employment to independent contracting. It even helped me find good people to work with when I needed icon design.
Late last year, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed. We’d just moved to a new city, started new jobs, bought a new house, had a new baby. Then the baby needed open-heart surgery and we spent a month in the hospital. Oh, and we had to deal with a health insurance company that has fought us every step of the way. I won’t say which one of those last two was more stressfull.
During this time, I began to understand how much time and attention I gave to Twitter. Even if I just wanted to keep up with all the Apple developer news, it was exhausting. Not to mention all the simultaneous conversations, the “um actuallys”, the shouting and unkindness. Even though I was simply a bystander in 99% of it, it began to feel like a heavy weight around my shoulders. And I needed this energy to focus on my family’s situation.
So, I haven’t posted to Twitter since late last year. I stopped reading my timeline. Then I took Tweetbot off my phone. It feels like there were a thousand voices in my head, and now they’ve vanished. It feels… peaceful. I have regained a little focus and a little sanity.
I’m going to dust of my RSS reader and consume news that way. I still want to post microblog-style updates, but I think I’ll just do them on this website. It’s likely that no one will read them, and that’s okay.
If you @-mention me on Twitter, I’ll see it eventually and will reply. Take care and be well.
Pinboard and IFTTT→
I doubt IFTTT has nefarious intent here. It seems to just be a badly written ToS. Still, it’s a shame that IFTTT is dropping channels that don’t move to the new API.
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@ThatRussDavis hey man, thanks for checking in. Thankfully Baby is doing great. Next open heart surgery will be June or July.
Beards are not unsanitary→
Two gems from the summary:
Workers with facial hair were less likely to be colonized with Staph- ylococcus aureus (41.2% vs 52.6%, P 1⁄4 0.02) and meticillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (2.0% vs 7.0%, P 1⁄4 0.01).
And,
Overall, colonization is similar in male healthcare workers with and without facial hair; however, certain bacterial species were more prevalent in workers without facial hair.