Jim Gaynor

Just saw a LinkedIn profile with the subheading of "Securing Fortune 100 Brands in an AI-Powered Cyber World"

Shut it all down.

any question he might ask her would bring an answer that could lift him out of his flesh-world into something greater. "Why do you test for humans?" he asked. "To set you free. "Free?" "Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."

Yes, the Kindle edition above has a comma after "Once", which is probably the more correct edit. My 1983 printing does not, and I wanted to quote it from that source:

And I was inspired to look it up because of this skeet:

BTW, it was my copy of Dune (Berkeley Edition, 28th printing, Dec. 1983). For this quote:

“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”

– The Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam

I loved the smell of old books from childhood on. My grandmother's books. Old corners of the library. Outdated encyclopedias. 2nd-hand bookstores.

Today, I took out a book that I remember buying in my teens. And it has. That. Smell.

It makes me feel old but for once, it's a GOOD kind of old.

I've taken to calling it a "mask off" age. The worst of us look at what's happening at the top, and see no reason to adopt any veneer of civility, empathy, or tolerance. The masks are off.

At least it makes identifying them easier.

(And yes, we hear and see them all the way out in Redmond as they do their turns)

A photo of the Blue Angels flying in formation, trailing smoke in a blue sky at relatively close distance.

Ten years ago, in one of my last "corporate enterprise job" perks, I got to spend an afternoon on Lake Washington courtesy of a vendor to watch the Blue Angels practice.

Also won a bottle of Glenfiddich in a raffle. All in all a good afternoon, a last hurrah before I was laid off four weeks later.

You would have loved the SafeHouse in the 1990s Milwaukee era of GenCon

What Microsoft's Blowout Q4 Could Mean to Enterprise Customers Microsoft beat its own and Wall Street’s expectations with its Q4 FY25 earnings, and the company’s stock price and market cap hit all-time highs this past week. Nice if you’re a shareholder or employe...

What Microsoft’s Blowout Q4 Could Mean to Enterprise Customers: www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/what-microso... #MSTech #MSLicensing

WFH Friday near Seattle. Grey t-shirt from Target, Navy Eddie Bauer lounge shorts.

To my credit, I did shower and shave even though I have no camera-on meetings today.

Remember in early 2008, when every company vaguely related to insurance or finance was into mortgage-backed securities?

I remember a 2009 CEO interview: "I knew it was unstable, but if I hadn't gotten us into them the board would've replaced me with someone who would."

Same vibe

30, not including airline stopovers. But I've also driven the length of the west coast (Imperial Beach to Cape Flattery), coast to coast four times (one round trip and two one-ways), and along much of the east coast.

I still have email sent from a VAX/VMS system running Message Exchange in the pre-web 90s.

Oh, gods. Thank you for sharing

I briefly met Satya in a small-group setting in 2018; even then he was visibly excited by AI.

I wonder if that's part of why MS shoves Copilot at users at every turn: that's he's convinced we just don't get it like HE gets it. But if we're MADE to use it, then we'll finally get it and be grateful.

A vibrant sunset at a lake with a subtle mountain range at the other end, and two old piles and a rock in the foreground water.

#SilentSunday

No cheating, post your Lock Screen

Some gorgeous shots, Brad

Meta's New Muscle-Reading Wristband | TWiT.TV Dan Moren joins Mikah Sargent for this episode of Tech News Weekly! A zero-day bug was discovered in Microsoft's SharePoint. T-Mobile's new satellite texting service

I was on TWiT yesterday to talk about my experience (and CNET article) using T-Mobile’s new T-Satellite service. I grabbed @glennf.com and we drove 3 hours out of Seattle to the North Cascades to find a cellular dead zone where it would work.

twit.tv/tnw/397

This is where I fail to get it. For the first 15 years of my career, 1990-2005, my pay and the pay of all my colleagues was public record. Easily looked up. Because I worked for state universities (OSU, UW). And somehow, it didn't lead to mass chaos or a failure to hire or retain people.

really nothing better than being able to entertain friends with food and drink

I haven’t been for years (I used to work at UW) but the “paddle club” is below the restaurant

Got some of those from my now-22-yo son!

A lot depends on interests, how much physical activity they like, and where they are on the teenager's journey of cynicism.

Rent a kayak (2x single or a double) from Agua Verde on the south end of UW campus. Visit Gasworks Park. Fremont Craft Market on Sundays.

Visit the Ballard Locks. Prime time to watch Salmon go up the fish ladder on the Magnolia side.

Franklin Falls is another nice hike (with a newly expanded lot), that's very easy with a nice payoff. But very popular - go early, even on weekdays.

Day trip up to Deception Pass is great - there's the views on the bridge, many different hikes and several different beaches. Many, MANY things on Whidbey Island as Ned mentioned (Ft. Casey, Ft. Ebey, Langley, Coupeville). ANY ferry ride is nice but gets very backed up this time of year.

Guess the boy (who is now a young man) and I will have to wander over. That's in bike ride distance if my hill wasn't so obnoxiously steep.

Mood, Ned. Mood.