Freedom Points

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“Every time you generate data, in whatever form, you accrue more Freedom Points. Some data is more valuable than other, so points would be ranked accordingly: a trip to Moscow, say, would be worth a million times more points than your trip to the 7-Eleven. Well then, what do Freedom Points allow you to do? They would allow you to exercise your freedom, your rights and your citizenship in fresh modern ways: points could allow you to bring extra assault rifles to dinner at your local Olive Garden restaurant. A certain number of Freedom Points would allow you to erase portions of your criminal record — or you could use Freedom Points to remove hours from your community service. The thing about Freedom Points is that if you think about them for more than 12 seconds, you realise they have the magic ring of inevitability. The idea is basically too dumb to fail. The larger picture is that you have to keep generating more and more and more data in order to embed yourself ever more deeply into the global community. In a bold new equation, more data would convert into more personal freedom.”

Imaginary use of data from a 2015 article by Douglas Coupland

More Land Rovers

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I found what must be the largest collection of vintage Land Rovers in mid-Missouri. (The owner prefers to remain anonymous) His shop(s) is filled with Land Rovers waiting to be restored and while he identified the model and year of each truck, I was so mesmerized I didn’t take notes. In addition to Land Rovers he had a 1970-something Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. I hope he invites me back (when it’s warmer) so I can get a bit more info on these beauties. [middleton]

I left a note on your desk

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Found this note among my few remaining paper files. Always feels a bit strange to find a piece of typescript even though I used a typewriter for 20 years. I wonder how this bit of history would be preserved today. The note would almost certainly be digital. A text message (IM) or an email. No reason for anyone to print it so if they kept it at all it would be one of thousands (millions?), lost in a cloud. One might argue it will have a longer digital life but something is lost. [Bob Priddy remembers Mary Phelan]

Pickup is home

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My first gardening run. Hattie is digging up the yard looking for moles. My job is to fill in with top soil. No long have to use Barb’s Lexus for this chore.

Update: January 5, 2019 – Plumbers cut up the old acrylic shower-tub in one of our bathrooms to make room for a walk-in shower. Contractor hauled off most of the old shower but didn’t have room for some.

So I tossed it in the bed of Minty Fresh (along with some other junk) and hauled it away. Pre-pickup, that would involve paying someone or borrowing a truck. How did I ever get along without a pickup?

Trivia

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“In the 1960s, nostalgic college students and others began to informally trade questions and answers about the popular culture of their youth. The first known documented labeling of this casual parlor game as “Trivia” was in a Columbia Daily Spectator column published on February 5, 1965.” (Wikipedia)

By the early 70’s “Trivia” had really caught on with my crowd. We prided ourselves on knowing the names of all of the actors in the Superman TV series and, initially, the only way to know this was to watch the credits and remember. No easy way to “look it up.” But by the early-to-mid 70’s trivia books were being published.

“The People’s Almanac was a series of three books published in 1975, 1978 and 1981 by David Wallechinsky and his father Irving Wallace, the novelist responsible for co-authoring the series The Book of Lists. The format of the almanac departs from a conventional almanac and included many obscure facts, lists and esoteric knowledge.” (Wikipedia)

In 1977 the first Book of Lists was published, one of a series of books compiled by David Wallechinsky, his father Irving Wallace and sister Amy Wallace. Each book contains hundreds of lists (many accompanied by textual explanations) on unusual or obscure topics, for example:

  • Famous people who died during sexual intercourse
  • The world’s greatest libel suits
  • People suspected of being Jack the Ripper
  • Worst places to hitchhike
  • People misquoted by Ronald Reagan
  • Breeds of dogs which bite people the most, and the least

Trivial Pursuit (the game) came out in 1979 but it never caught on with our crew. Too… structured. Our trivia sessions were more free-form, sort of nerd rap.

During my radio period I co-hosted a daily talk show and once a month we brought in a couple of other folks and opened up the phone lines for trivia questions from listeners (Trivia Bowl). I can’t imagine how trivia could still be a thing in a world of Google and mobile phones. But it was fun while it lasted.

On your radio dial

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I have not listened to a radio station in years. Some of that is attributable to the iPod and the iPhone and some to the decline of local radio. But as a teenager in the 60s, radio was a huge part of my life. Great memories of WLS in Chicago and, later, WWL in New Orleans.

How familiar that radio dial with its five pre-set buttons. If your station wasn’t good enough to get one of the buttons, well, that car wasn’t listening.

The video clip above is from the pickup I recently purchased. Hadn’t bothered to turn the radio on and wondered if it worked. Don’t imagine I’ll do much listening in the truck but I kind of like having it there. For old time’s sake.

Keys

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This jar of keys is a family heirloom, handed down from grandfather to father to son. Most of the keys, as I understand the story, were to apartment doors and mailboxes. The family owned apartment buildings and when a tenant got locked out the landlord would come with this jar of keys and and try them, one at a time, until he found the right key. At some point family members tried to bring a little order to this chaos by numbering the keys but the system never caught on. Somewhere — in a door or a landfill — there are locks for each of these keys.