Curated Nonsense #3

Trying to curate a newsletter means that I have a bunch of random links to articles and posts on my phone. Not posting a newsletter for a few weeks means that these links are kind of old, and I also have no recollection of what some of them are. So, uh, yeah I thought this was worthwhile to share with you two weeks ago.

You’re welcome?

Highly recommend not having to look for a job right now. The only positive is that I keep getting to reference one of my favorite It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia bits:

Sorry, did I miss something? Why does it matter when I started coding? Am I going to be beat out by somebody who started coding when they were nine? How is that relevant to a professional position? Why is tech hiring like this??

I found out about Taylor Swift’s engagement from an NFL Insider.

I don’t know if this says more about the NFL or more about me.

If you didn’t watch the opening week of the NFL season, you really missed out on some good football. It had an ejection before the first play (Eagles / Cowboys), three separate games delayed by weather, and one of the most insane comebacks I have watched in a while (Ravens / Bills). Normally I’m used to Week 1 having a selection of sloppy football, but this was something else. Definitely excited for the rest of the season!

(And, no, this is definitely not my stance because of Green Bay’s win over the Lions. Why would that affect my season outlook?)

You like earning airline points, don’t you? Sure, why not. Both Alaska and Delta have some sports-teams related promos.

[Upgraded Points] - You can get additional Alaska points depending on the number of goals scored by certain soccer teams in the Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and San Diego markets.

[12status] - This one has been going on a while for WA state residents. You can get Delta miles based on Seahawks statistics.

[“I Hate My AI Friend”, Wired] - This week’s example of awful AI in the wild comes from Wired, where two journalists tested out the “Friend” AI pendant. The pendant is an always-on listening device who can I guess be your companion throughout whatever you’re doing. Ignoring the very obvious privacy concerns, I could maybe see this concept being nice if someone is feeling lonely or disconnected. But apparently the AI personality is snarky and rude? What’s the point of having a rude computer around you all the time - wouldn’t silence be preferable than some inanimate object arguing with you?

Speaking of AI, albeit one that is not rude and maybe helpful, did you read my post about writing an Android application with AI tooling? You should go check it out, it’s pretty neat. And leave a comment if you liked it. Oh, what, you need to subscribe to leave a comment? Yes, that’s a feature, not a bug. Please subscribe.

Subscribe so you can see what curated nonsense is in the next newsletter! (See what I did there? It’s the title of the website!!) Make a bet in the comments for when you’ll think I’ll get around to writing it!