Good morning. I am wiped out from the storm that just went through. Did a bunch of shoveling this morning, still have more to do. About two feet of snow, some drifts much higher. The snow is light, but it packs down from the weight of snow that falls on top, so shoveling is hard work. I have, as a kid, shoveled out more snow. I remember how tired I'd get as a kid. These days, as an older person, the exhaustion comes in bit sooner. Not being able to get out to the world quickly was a bit claustrophobia-inducing, and the politics haven't helped my overall feeling of dread. #
Part of the general feeling of dread this time of year with the crisis we're in in the US, wondering if I should be working so constantly on a project that doesn't seem too appreciated. Wondering if I'm not doing the same thing I've been doing for the last X years, working for our online freedom, only to learn people don't really want it. I think about this a lot. It's one of those things if you prepare for it, could be fine, but if you just glide along from crisis to crisis as we are doing with online stuff, you never get to do the fun stuff without paying too high a price, with too many limits on what we can do. #
Later, while it was still snowing, I was able to drive to the post office, so civilization is still here, thankfully. We seem to have survived this mess, for a while at least. #
I still believe in what I'm doing, but I'm not going to give it much more time before turning it over to the people. #
Like now, the people do understand beyone what's said in public discourse, but no one stepping up in a leadership role has been willing to spell it out. I saw Ruben Gallego who is a fantastic speaker and clear thinker, be driven into a defensive argument with MSNOW interviewers, who had reverted to their usual low road, trying to corner him into saying something that would only be interested if quoted out of context. He refused, but also was reduced to talking bullshit, when they should have just let him speak for crying out loud. They don't get that they aren't the news, our need for real leadership is most important. #
We need to make some big changes in how things work based on having our limits tested and the guardrails defeated. And part of what needs to be redone is the power of journalists to make us all net-net far more stupid than we actually are. #
Last update: Monday January 26, 2026; 1:09 PM EST.
You know those obnoxious sites that pop up dialogs when they think you're about to leave, asking you to subscribe to their email newsletter? Well that won't do for Scripting News readers who are a discerning lot, very loyal, but that wouldn't last long if I did rude stuff like that. So here I am at the bottom of the page quietly encouraging you to sign up for the nightly email. It's got everything from the previous day on Scripting, plus the contents of the linkblog and who knows what else we'll get in there. People really love it. I wish I had done it sooner. And every email has an unsub link so if you want to get out, you can, easily -- no questions asked, and no follow-ups. Go ahead and do it, you won't be sorry! :-)