An open letter. You should make me the CEO of your company. I promise to upset your investors in ways that are really, really, funny. It’s okay to upset investors because they’re not people, just pools of money that long ago gave up on non-fiscal concerns like joy and human connection. You have their money—they […]
Author: Justin Pot
In 2020 what we need is utopia, but even Star Trek is jaded
I caught up on Star Trek: Picard. My main thought: What is the point of western civilization if even Star Trek can’t be hopeful? Star Trek was, at some point, about a future where humanity had overcome its issues. There is no longer any war on earth. There’s no scarcity and money is a thing […]
Facebook moderators miss key directives because the news feed is terrible
Many current social problems—not all, but many—can be traced back to our collective decision to prioritize #engagement in the systems we use to communicate with each other. Facebook’s newsfeed is the most prominent example of this. Here you see not the most recent posts from your friends but the posts Facebook’s mysterious algorithm deems most […]
There are tiny hippos living in your house (and other thoughts)
All these years later I still think about house hippos once a month or so. Confused? So was I, as a kid, seeing this PSA for the first time. The footage looked so…real. I couldn’t help but wonder, halfway through, whether there really were tiny hippos in my kitchen. There aren’t, of course. This was […]
Does the decline of local journalism explain declining trust in government?
Calling the government useless only works if you take for granted all the many ways public employees make modern life possible. Officials doing their jobs are the reason we have fresh water and roads to drive on. Debbie Chachra, writing for The Atlantic, pointed out this invisible work last week: When I look at my […]
Facebook throws pocket change at local news outlets, expects gratitude
Facebook killed local newspapers by sucking up all the revenue that used to pay for the person who’d sit in on council meetings and spell your nephews’ name incorrectly. Now they’re starting to feel bad about that, so they’re throwing a tiny percentage of their revenue toward appearing to do something about the problem. Mathew […]
Learn from this, Canada.
Canada’s the shining beacon on a hill now, the only Western power that believes in multiculturalism.
On the shutdown: call out bullshit, then question your own.
As you know by now the US government’s been held hostage by right-wing extremists. These people thought Romney was going to win in a landslide, so reality isn’t their forte. We should absolutely call them out on their bullshit, especially when the result of it is a government shutdown that’s going to cost the American […]
Who Are You? Thoughts On Identity
Identity is a complex thing. People who know me know I’m from Canada, despite living in the USA now. People here, in Boulder, know me as the Canadian if they can’t remember my name. When I go home, however, people call me the American. Live in any country other than your own long enough and […]
Keep Your Stick On The Ice: 4 Hockey Idioms And What They Mean
Sports metaphors are all over the English language, especially in North America. Here in the USA, most everyone knows what means to strike out, for example, or to score a touchdown – and people use those phrases regardless of whether they actually enjoy the sport they’re from. Being obsessed with hockey I make a mental […]