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New York City
I will be in New York City from May 9 to May 16. If you want to kick my ass, shoot me an email at ed@ezpr.com. That’s my email, baby!
Julia’s Anguish
Things are going a bit wrong over at The Markup, a non-profit tech site that never launched that “planned to explore the societal impacts of big tech and algorithms,” a thing that nobody had some before, and definitely have not done since they announced about a year ago. Apparently Pulitzer-prize-winning Julia Angwin, their Editor-in-Chief, was ousted by one of the other co-founders Sue Gardner. Apparently the issue is that Gardner wanted to advocate against tech companies, and Angwin wanted to “hold them accountable,” and honestly, I do not know what the deal is there, because Angwin has a pretty good history of holding tech companies accountable. I guess she wasn’t…negative enough? Did Gardner want her to be a hater?
The team is very much behind Angwin.
Anyway, I don’t know what The Markup even existed to do that was distinct from The Information, or the work that the New York Times is doing, or what The Washington Post is doing. I just don’t know if there’s enough oxygen for it all. Conversely, these are all really interesting writers, and I do want to see what they have to say.
The Cinema Sucks
Avengers: Endgame is coming out end of this week, and it sure is a movie I’d like to see, with the big issue being going to the cinema. I’ve a fair amount of social anxiety, so leaving the house can be quite difficult, but nothing compounds that more than having to go outside and then go in a dark room and watch a movie absolutely not at my leisure. I realize this is a deeply unfair and whiny way of looking at the movies, but I’d really love it if somehow they could find a way to let me watch movies at home without pirating, which I’d obviously never do, and anyone who does that has no relation to me.
The problem is that for whatever reason companies have to charge you $35,000 for a box and then $1500 to $3000 a movie rental, which is bonkers, and I’m yet to find a justification as to why they charge that much. And I’m talking about Red Carpet Films, not Prima Cinema, a company that got lots of press then totally disappeared. The media just kinda let that one go I guess!
Also missing from these companies: Disney. Honest to god if Disney said “it’s $500 and you can watch the new Star Wars once at home,” they’d make 500 million dollars! I absolutely believe that a million people would pay them $500 to watch Endgame, or Star Wars 9, or Wreck It Ralph 3: Ralph Gets Radicalized. They fear piracy way too much.
Sometimes The Ditches Dig Through You
I only had a chance to ride once this week, and it was the 45 minute 90s Rock ride I’ve done about 30 times. Yesterday was an immensely trying day emotionally, and so my main goal was to try and exhaust my body by pushing my heartrate the entire time. The result was about 48KJ under my personal record, and I absolutely pulled something during Dragula. If you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, this particular ride has a really good soundtrack of 90s rock/metal stuff, including Rob Zombie’s Dragula and Filter’s Hey Man Nice Shot. Peloton gets a lot of shit for their soundtracks (with good reason!) but this one is extremely good.
So, yeah, I shoved my left leg a little hard into the interval, spending maybe 1.5 to 2 seconds at 680-770W, when I was already running out of steam about 3/4 of the ride in.
I think the funny thing about Peloton for me is that it is the physical embodiment of how I game. I find a game I love and I play it - hours and hours, usually something repetitive that I just enjoy the action of, but the net result is I usually get bored of it. With Peloton I’m absolutely addicted to the runner’s high feeling and the action itself, but also to the fact that I cannot necessarily “win.” I spend 90% of my damn day on the computer, and I can’t say I did badly or did well. If I’m on the bike, I can access a specific, replicable feeling, even if I’m poorly slept or pissed off. Actually, especially if I’m pissed off.
However, yesterday is absolutely the first day I’ve felt myself pull something mid-ride. And I know how I did it too. Dumb.
Mr. Too Damn Destiny
I’m going to start dropping in fun Destiny 2 clips here too. I really love my positioning on this one - the drop back from shotgun range against the Titan made the rest of the clip possible. Playing with Blast Furnace (Accurized Rounds, Feeding Frenzy, Rampage) and The Recluse, on a Spectral Blades Hunter using The Dragon’s Shadow exotic (reloads all guns on dodge, adds mobility, can also trigger Kill Clip). And yeah I’m absolutely including these going forward.
Here’s Me
