The autonomous vehicle revolution promises three enormous benefits: millions of avoided deaths and maimings, more productive uses for the vast amounts of land we currently devote to parking (and gas stations, auto repair shops, dealerships, etc.). And most obviously, much cheaper mobility, which is straightforwardly a good thing.

In October 2024, I backpacked into the remote Tehipite Valley in Kings Canyon National Park.

The Rae Lakes area is reputed to offer some of the finest splendor in the high Sierra. I like loop trips, and also splendor, and as of recently, backpacking, so I gave this one a go. In July 2024 I ventured the Rae Lakes loop as a 4 day, 3 night solo backpacking trip.

I thought about getting an ebike for a few years before I finally pulled the trigger. With almost two thousand miles on the odometer, I’m happy to report that these are utterly magical machines. If you’re even remotely considering buying one, do. I’m pretty confident you won’t regret it.

Even if you already type pretty fast, LLMs can help you type much faster.

Most people hate paying for parking and fiercely resist attempts to make them do so. I wonder how much of that resistance isn’t to cost per se, but rather to the annoyance of the process of paying.

Lake Merritt sporting some very fine spring textures at the moment.

I’ve been reading a lot about legislative efforts to address our catastrophic housing scarcity problem, and found myself struggling to keep track of all the attempts. I figured someone must have made a database of them all. But evidently not! So I made one:

I got a little obssessed with California’s Prop 13 recently. I knew it was very bad but I didn’t grasp the full magnitude. So I dug in and channeled my ire into building something.

I learned this weekend that there’s a spectacular Diego Rivera fresco at the City Club in San Francisco on the stairwell between the 10th and 11th floors.

I think you should memorize some poetry, even just a little. I’ve been attempting this lately and I can recommend it highly.