"From Nobel buzz to hiring halt: Trump funding cuts hobble UW protein design startup machine": https://www.geekwire.com/2025/from-nobel-buzz-to-hiring-halt-trump-funding-cuts-hobble-uw-protein-design-startup-machine/

#seattle

Rudy Boysen's granddaughter's farm is holding its annual online sale of boysenberry plants today: https://www.rudysoriginal.com/bare-root-boysenberry-plant/

3 for $25. they'll sell out in the next 24 hours.

these are the most vigorous boysenberries I've seen. if you love berries, can plant in full sun (6+ hours/day), and can tolerate the thorniest of thorny plants, these are for you.

#boysenberries #yoloberryfarm

my picks for canned, unsweetened sparkling water, in no particular order:

La Croix Passionfruit

Polar Ginger Lime Mule

Polar Tart Cherry Limeade

La Croix "Curate" Múre Pepino (Blackberry Cucumber)

"What happens on your device, stays on your device – until it doesn’t": https://obdev.at/blog/what-happens-on-your-device-stays-on-your-device-until-it-doesnt/

and… #macOS Sequoia adds a new option to disable.

credit: @noheger

good explanation from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/opinion/luigi-mangione-writer-tim-urban.html (https://archive.ph/ZQ2AF):

"And what I want to say to these people is, you don’t get to pick only your favorite causes. Maybe you are hugely pro-choice — when you’re celebrating this, you are also theoretically celebrating the future murder of the Planned Parenthood C.E.O. You are celebrating the murder of the Pfizer C.E.O. by an anti-vaxxer. You’re celebrating the attempted assassination of your favorite senator."

Day in the Life of a Seattle Native: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVrU15y5JWw

#seattle

FastMail's spam filter provides a much better experience than Gmail's.

I sometimes have a side-by-side comparison for the same spam campaign. #Gmail doesn't let users send high-scoring/obvious spam to the trash. hundreds of messages per day can land in spam - too many to even skim.

#FastMail lets users adjust the threshold so obvious spam is deleted (https://www.fastmail.help/hc/en-us/articles/1500000278142-Improving-spam-protection#settings). only the few borderline emails land in spam.

particularly for less-savvy users who might click phishing scams, FM wins

welp, this happened:

• asked an LLM about a $2,500 product; got a fairly thorough answer, only without much nuance or firsthand experience.

• emailed my questions to the company's support.

• they replied with ~the same message that the LLM gave me, only with less detail because their LLM prompt was worse.

customer service already acts like LLMs have replaced customer service.

(Zendesk's 👍👎 feedback tool needs a "We've both pasted my email into an LLM, now what?" link)

#LLM #customerservice

Do I know anyone who knows anyone at Bandwidth.com? They're pretty grey-hat regarding SMS spam enforcement, and one might even say dark grey -- like knowingly ignoring/refusing to investigate cases where their direct customers are sending opt-out bulk SMS spam.

It's sad to watch what used to be a reasonably well-regarded carrier put revenue above ethics. Maybe someone in management would care enough to learn more.

#sip #telecom #raleighnc

when life - or an Airbnb - doesn't give you a pot to boil water, convert an "Instant Solo" Keurig clone into a pourover brewer.

a Melitta-style brewer will fit, just fold the filter back. and… it works.

#coffee #keurig

achievement unlocked: fished San Antonio River Walk. "Pearl Springs," part of the Museum Reach, just after sunrise on Saturday

went #bikefishing for the first time. although I didn't catch anything, I made friends with the birds. this one (crane?) showed up after a few minutes and kept me company.

the rod telescopes down to about 2' and fits in my backpack.

if you should end up in Montgomery, Alabama, go to Capitol Oyster Bar for a Sunday dinner concert: https://capitoloysterbar.com/entertainment-schedule/

tonight was Josh Garrett Band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noiVtOa8Xrg , https://www.joshgarrettmusic.com/home

#montgomeryal

earlier today: standing in a Bass Pro Shop in Chattanooga, learning to fish from Anthropic Claude