In such a scenario, maybe it would be a good idea to keep a backup of all your Kindle titles on your PC or a compatible storage medium while Amazon is still hanging on with the AZW format. Once everything is transitioned to the KFX format, it could become impossible to break the DRM.

I agree, and this is another example of hostile behavior toward the consumer. I have older Kindles that can’t (or I won’t) connect to WiFi but work fine for reading. If the books that I buy, not borrow, are locked out then why would I buy any more of them from these guys?

Japan Is The Best Kind Of World Cup Killer:

Japan held two teams’ fates in its hands coming into Thursday’s final round of Group E matches in the World Cup. Sort of funnily, neither of them was its opponent on the day, Spain.

The match day set up like this: Japan entered the day second in the group, with three points, thanks to its shock win over Germany on the group’s first match day. Spain led the group with four points, and with passage through to the round of 16 all but guaranteed by its plus-6 goal differential. Costa Rica’s third-place position felt like last place, owing to a horrible goal differential and the safe assumption that Los Ticos‘ opponents on the day, Germany, would flatten them; Germany’s fourth-place position felt like second, despite the team coming into the day on a single lonely point, at least in large part because it is Germany.

Which part of Japan in the World Cup are you not on board with, assuming you’re not? They play a fast match, their fans clean up after themselves in the stands, and they leave thoughtful things in their locker room after the match for the folks who clean them.

I was in Japan for the last World Cup. They took me from 0 interest in futbol to 100 fast. It was great and I love it and I miss it.

I’m not there, but I’m here and have a soul. Strap me to the Japan World Cup rocket!

A decent foundation – enough stability so that life is not precarious. Boldness – a chance to learn and grow and do something meaningful during the vanishingly short time we’re alive. Morality – being good and decent and just. Connection – having people we love and who love us.

(Via Dan Pink; h/t A Learning A Day)

Governor to sign ethics reform bill into law despite call for veto:

Gov. Bill Lee says he will sign into law legislation requiring dark-money groups that pour cash into political campaigns to disclose their expenditures before elections. … 

Supporters of the legislation, however, argued that the bill would apply only to expenditures by 501(c) groups when they spend a total of $5,000 on an election within 60 days of the vote. … 

The 30-day window for lawmakers refers to the limitation for sending taxpayer-funded mass mailings to lawmakers’ constituents. … 

Much of it requires increased reporting requirements for state lawmakers. For instance, from now on they’ll have to report just about every penny they receive and spend.

Passing a fish bowl to gather cash at community events won’t be allowed unless they document the donor of every dollar.

People who form political action committees also will be required to show a photo identification, as part of an effort to stop bogus PACs from operating in Tennessee’s government. … 

Part of the legislation also prohibits anyone in the governor’s cabinet from doing consulting work on the side. … 

During its passage, supporters pointed out they amended the legislation to ensure it wouldn’t stop nonprofit advocacy groups from communicating with members in the run-up to an election. Early in the process, they also removed a provision that would have required donors to be disclosed.

(By Sam Stockard via the Tennessee Lookout)

I had to do a lot of editing in the article to summarize the bill. I did this because I think I support this? More from the Tennessean here and here.

The bill, HB 1201, is here.

Shaq: Kyrie Irving “Idiot,” Has Twitter Gone to the Dark Side?, DeSantis Lies about Crime, Pelosi Attack Is Funny …:

I spent close to four hours this week on my mail-in ballot. I researched every candidate, proposition, and judicial nominee. Even on propositions I was certain about, I did a deep dive just to make sure I hadn’t missed some nuance in the fine print. Even after all that research and filling in my ballot, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure about everything. You never can be in life. All you can do is use reason, logic, and facts to come to the best conclusion.

Laziness is what is threatening democracy. It’s easier for people to join a political party and regurgitate their policies than go through the effort of researching, agonizing, and deciding. Political ads are a joke, usually twisting the facts into some half-truth clothed in an emotional appeal meant to bypass critical thinking. The theory behind political ads is to make you vote for something that makes you feel good about yourself the way dogs are rewarded with a treat when they do what we ask.

From what I can tell, many people use midterm elections to punish rather than forge a better future. For example, there are issues with the economy right now and polls show voters want to blame Democrats. But the facts about the economy show the exact opposite. The deficit has been reduced, even though it had ballooned under the previous Republican presidents. Yes, there’s inflation, but that inflation is worldwide. Do you seriously think that a Republican Congress will do anything vastly different concerning the economy than the Democrats? The real issues are about domestic freedoms and protecting the rights of the marginalized.

The news that BuzzFeed is downsizing its news operations is news to me – because until now I did not know that BuzzFeed and BuzzFeed News were two different things. I thought it was all the BF click-bait garbage generating machine.

Am I the only one who didn’t know there was a difference?

(H/t Hanna Brooks Olsen; via Rachel Sanders)

In 2008 the prices of some structured credit products built out of subprime U.S. mortgages went down, and as a result there was a global recession and millions of people lost their jobs. If you had asked a normal person in 2007: “How would it affect your life if it turns out that investors have mispriced the super-senior risk in synthetic collateralized debt obligations built out of subprime mortgage tranches,” that person would have said “I have no idea what you are talking about, but I can’t imagine how that collection of words would affect me.” But it did. 

(Via Matt Levine in Money Stuff)

That was messy but somewhat comprehensible. I guess. And then this:

If you asked a normal person, you know, two weeks ago: “How would it affect your life if the prices of some monkey JPEGs and algorithmic stablecoins crash,” I think most people would reasonably have said “I do not own a monkey JPEG and do not aspire to own one, so this will not affect me at all.” My guess is that they would have been right. My guess is that the real world is not too affected by the crypto world, and that if crypto prices crash there will not be a ton of contagion in the rest of the financial system. But I think it is, at this point, debatable. Crypto has at least started to work its way into the real financial system. Some traditional investors also own crypto; if their crypto goes down they might have to sell regular stuff. Some public companies are exposed to crypto (because they are crypto exchanges, because they have levered crypto holdings, etc.), so your boring old index fund might go down when crypto goes down.

There is nothing about cryptocurrency and NFTs that doesn’t scream !SCAM!. The amount of magical thinking in this thing shocks me. That it will become part of the real economy, the one that helps people pay bills and buy groceries, terrifies me.

I used to say something along the lines of, “A lot of smarter people than me figured this was ok, so it must be.” I don’t say such ridiculous things any more.

Not that I don’t respect science and economics and those who do them and associated disciplines. I doubt our current definition of “smart people”. If they’re only the like of Musk and Bezos and Gates and Thiel, then I’ll spend time looking into what actual “smart people” in the arenas think.

I stopped believing in a benevolent billionaire entrepreneur doing anything beyond self-aggrandizement and adding a few extra billion to their Forbes profile.

I hit another annual milestone the other day, pushing my release version to 49.0.

V48 was surprisingly good given the current state of things. In no particular order:

I moved out of my sister’s family’s house

I moved into a rental house I adored with my son

I went to Seoul for work 2 times for a total of 5 months

Fun weird layover in San Francisco where I got to hang out with my sister-in-law

I got out and away with my SO as often as practical, including a surprisingly delightful trip to Huntsville, AL

I stayed in school … barely

I bought a house that I love

Lots of quality family and SO time including a zany Thanksgiving in Connecticut

What does v49 hold in store?

Who knows. It’ll be a journey, that’s for sure.