New post: “Org Mode, Marked, and Workflows” Writing prose in Org Mode is just as nice as doing it in Markdown…except when you want to do anything with it outside of Emacs. Pandoc, though, can ride to the rescue. https://coyotetracks.org/blog/org-mode-and-marked/

It seems like the Fitbit doesn't record as many steps as the Apple Watch, and maybe not as much in general? Bevel, another health app I'm trying, was happy with me the last few days but today it thinks I'm a complete slacker.

Knowing that today will be the first day I don't close all my Apple Watch rings in years is surprisingly anxiety-inducing! It's going to take me a bit to figure out the Way of the FitBit.

I have the FitBit Air, and now have to figure out how to coordinate between three different health tracking apps that all want to be in charge. And I don't think Pedometer++ works gracefully with the FitBit, which will be kind of annoying, but, well.

The irony of continuing to try to de-Google in places—I just unsubscribed to two Buttondown newsletters that were on my Gmail account and resubscribed with another account—while also preparing to switch to the FitBit Air has struck me yet again just now. Oh well.

I would never

Chipotle Is Working With Palantir to Track Food Safety Risks

The burrito chain has enlisted Palantir for a platform that monitors pest incidents, employee illnesses, and other factors. The partnership comes after a nightmare summer for food safety across the US.

wired.com

New post: “Reconsidering the Apple Watch” After wearing an Apple Watch for nearly a decade, Apple's weird choices with the Series 12 may finally kick me back into the normal watch world. https://coyotetracks.org/blog/reconsidering-apple-watch/

My Apple Watch's battery is fading, and for the first time in years I'm considering going back to my long-ignored mechanical watch and a $99 FitBit Air.

Conceding ground on trans folks does not defuse the issue. It does not placate or appease Republicans. It just gives them license to take more rights away from more poeple. And it pisses off the base. This is a losing strategy and Talarico and others need to get their minds right.

I don't doubt Apple has made the new Apple Watch's "rewind" feature as privacy-minded as it could possibly be, but "let's make the Watch compete with the Humane AI pin" is a bogglingly monumental failure to read the room.

I tried LinkedIn Premium's free trial, on the off chance that it would surprise me by not being essentially useless. It did not surprise me.

Is there a progressive version of the EFF whose mission is less "don't regulate us, bro" than "tech can fight fascism rather than supporting it"? I'd rather join it than have to start it.

I think tomorrow will be the first Apple livestream I've missed in years (due to travel). This may be a good thing, really.

Baltimore has much to recommend it.

@monteiro.bsky.social Recalling your post on how to brew coffee (you are the only other Technivorm owner I know of!), have you tried Bird and Bear's Night Owl blend? A very dark roast (and a good one) roasted in a garage in Cole Valley.

New post: “I Don't Think I Can Stay in Tech” It's becoming harder and harder to find tech employers that aren't making everything worse. https://coyotetracks.org/blog/stay-in-tech/

Wondering if this week's Connected podcast will address the Tesla in the room or not. (From the description, it doesn't look like it.)

Now that I'm getting close to retirement age, it seems like a good time to go through "What Color Is Your Parachute" and figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

I feel like I am burning bridges with people who almost certainly don't know I exist. Well, it's not like I make money at blogging anyway!

New post: “If Your New People Are on X, Maybe Your New People Suck” If you return to Twitter/X after leaving it out of principle, do you really still have those principles? https://coyotetracks.org/blog/new-people-on-x/

New post: “Lake Minneola to Lake Wobegon and Back” Musing about one last big trip with a parent, and the crossroads I face afterward. https://coyotetracks.org/blog/minneola-to-wobegon/

New post: “The Case of the Robot Web Thief” If you ask an AI agent to build you an application, can you be sure it's not helping itself to somebody else's code? https://coyotetracks.org/blog/case-of-robot-thief/

With Echofeed shutting down, I revived an old Ruby script I half-assed a while ago and improved it to be three-quarters-assed. Bonus: it posts to Bluesky and Mastodon near-instantly, since it runs as part of deployment.

New post: "AI's chicken sandwich problem" https://coyotetracks.org/blog/ai-chicken-sandwich/ Generative AI may have more uses than its critics allow, but the ethical quagmire isn't merely how you use it.

I have had Detroit-style pizza in several cities now, none of which are Detroit, so I know which ones are *good* but I have no real idea which ones are authentic.

Looking for tech jobs right now is soul-deadening in a way that I don't remember from the past ~30 years. My jokes about starting a tiki bar instead seem like more of a real Plan B (except that I can't leave Florida for the time being, and don't think I want to start one here).

I tried Current, the very unusual RSS reader by @terrygodier.com, a while ago, but it didn't stick. I'm giving it another go now, though, as I think what I want from RSS is changing. Maybe. We'll see. (Current's also a bit more refined since my last go.)

I've known people who've bought used cars for less than this body shop quoted to fix a dented front wheel side panel and do some paint blending.

It feels very odd to have just placed an order for a new iPhone two months before the next models get announced, but I expect the iPhone 18 line to be extra expensive, and AT&T has a great deal running right now. So.