Mary J. Blige 30 Years Later
This album just turned 30 so I had to listen to it start to finish, and it is just as great as the day it was released.
🔗 The Corner Store is Back
Corner Stores Mount a Comeback in Residential Neighborhoods - Bloomberg
From Seattle to Baltimore, rebuilding this lost retail network has become a goal of many zoning reformers. It’s a core tenet of the buzzy “15-minute city” concept, which aims to give residents access to all their needs within a brief walk. And it fits into a post-Covid retail trend toward smaller-footprint brick-and-mortar stores.
But undoing decades of planning orthodoxy that strictly separates businesses from residences stands to be a slow and incremental process, and it comes with its own concerns about gentrification and conflicts with homeowners, as well as challenges tied to making neighborhood stores succeed in an age of Amazon and Walmart.
This is more than just the corner store. This is about your local pharmacy. It’s about your local grocery store. It’s about your local restaurant. As people start losing a real contact with the people who work and own these establishments they lose contact with community.
Pull the Plug, Leave X
On Nov. 22,1938 Park Commissioner Robert Moses attempted to use WNYC in an effort to grab power in the public housing arena, where he previously had no jurisdiction. But Mayor F. H. La Guardia stopped the move.
Moses biographer Robert Caro described the moment when La Guardia literally pulled the plug on Moses’ effort to promote his own proposals over the mayor’s renewal plans:
“As he spoke, there right in front of him, attached to the lectern, was a WNYC microphone and, looking down below the stage, Moses could see two WNYC technicians sitting at a table full of broadcasting paraphernalia busily twiddling the dials and going through all the motions of technicians make a broadcast. When they saw him glancing down at them, they made him a thumbs-up signal to indicate that all was going well…
“… just as he was coming to the end of his speech. The Park Commissioner, who had believed that he had been speaking for the past forty-five minutes to tens of thousands of New Yorkers, learned that he had been speaking to only two hundred –the two hundred right in front of him. The WNYC microphone in front of him was dead. Someone ordered WNYC to cut his program off the air–and must have ordered the technicians to go through all the motions necessary to conceal this fact from him. And glaring down at them as they made still another thumbs-up gesture, he realized that only one man would have thought of that touch.”
—
It’s great that Caro’s “The Power Broker” is having another moment to celebrate 50 years. I read it two decades ago, and now watching, listening, and reading all the coverage about it over the last few months has made me want to do another read. This time I may go the audio route! I also recommend the podcast 99% Invisible which has been doing a monthly read along with great guests.
This anecdote also had me thinking about today’s incoming Trump administration and how to deal with it. So much about Trump and the new right can be described as trying to “own the libs”. What happens if we just pull the plug on him? Obviously we fight like hell when it comes to things the administration is actually doing, but if the people he hates just ignore the “tweets” (Truths) I do wonder how much better it would be for all of us? Look at the people on X freaking out about users going to Bluesky. They are angry because they spend their life attacking people they don’t like, so if those people leave they have no purpose. So while it’s hard to ignore the actual President, we can pull the plug on the online right by just leaving X.
Own Your Online Identity
I’ve long advocated for owning a personal domain, using it for everything from email to online identity. While this approach isn’t for everyone, the current social media landscape makes it an attractive option.
Both Bluesky and Mastodon offer domain-based verification features:
- On Bluesky, you can use your own domain as your handle, which could be strategically important given the platform’s architecture.
- Mastodon allows domain verification to demonstrate site ownership.
Getting Started:
- Purchase a domain for under $20 per year. I recommend Hover.
- For Bluesky: Simply change your handle in settings to your domain.
- For Mastodon: Set up a basic website and add verification code (slightly more complex).
The benefits include greater control over your online identity and increased credibility across platforms. With minimal effort and cost, you can establish a more permanent digital presence that isn’t dependent on individual social media platforms.
The Knicks Did It!
They made a 2024 version of Go NY Go NY Go! Start sizing the rings.
As the saying goes… Hit the music!
The iOS Sports App Update is Great
Last year Apple released a simple app to track scores just called Apple Sports. It was already my go to app as it was the fastest way to check scores. The first time you launch you will set up what leagues and teams you want to follow. Anytime a team you are following is playing the score will appear on your lock screen using Live Activities. It updates in real time on a very granular leavel. Below is what it looked like while three teams I follow were playing.
You can download the app here
Apple Sports App Live View