Lately the numbers on my Instagram reels have just tanked. And if I can be honest, it doesn’t feel great. I assume there is some algorithm shenanigans going on. Which is fine, it’s their platform — that’s how they make their money. I’m more interested in unpacking how all of this feels as an online…
Category: Web/Tech
A Skater’s Review of the Pivo AI-motion Tracker
As a newbie quad skater, I love capturing video of my progress as I learn new moves and tricks. And I’m not alone. A lot of the resurgence of interest in quad skating has come from the thousands of skaters posting videos of themselves on Tik-Tok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. So one big issue with…
Breathe App on the Apple Watch: A Simple but Effective Meditation Tool
I’ve been meditation daily for much of my life, and wearing an Apple Watch for many years. Only recently have I started using the Breathe app. It’s pretty great in its simplicity. Just set a time (4 minutes in my case), let it prompt you to slow down your breathing, and then sink into meditation….
Family Tech Support in 2050
I did some tech support for my mom this morning, which she was a trooper about, I have to say. It inspired this conversation that I expect to happen 20 years from now, if not sooner. ME: Hi Aria, I can’t get this stupid virtual TV thing to show me Step Up 12. It’s broken….
Alternatives to the Social Media Nightcap?
How do you wind down to get to sleep instead of social media surfing? Last night I came home from a lindy hop dance and started winding down to go to bed. It was a pretty good dance – I enjoyed a lot of the music, danced a bit, chatted with some friends. A fairly…
Bo Burnham on the Internet: “It’s people talking to nobody.”
Director of the outstanding new film Eighth Grade Bo Burnham had some powerful things to say about what he sees on the internet. As a former YouTube celebrity, I think he knows what he’s talking about. I’ve been mulling over his words for the past couple of days. “I was interested in talking about people on the…
Tacos, Civil Discourse, and the Need for a More Human Communications Protocol
The other night I was was having dinner with a new friend in a dingy but comfortable Mexican restaurant in Oakland. Over veggie tacos, she was telling me about a project she was working on, one that she moved to the Bay Area specifically for. She recounted how much work had already gone into it,…
My Data Backup Plan: Time Machine + Backblaze (plus a free sign-up code!)
So recent events in the lives of those around me have impressed upon me the importance of emergency preparedness. I already have my disaster kit prepped in the closet with food, water, crank radio, flashlight, and other sundries. I've got a first aid kit for medical emergencies. But I realized that I didn't have a…
E-cycling My Dell Mini Netbook
I have finally gotten around to e-cycling my Dell Mini Netbook, which I have had since 2009. I remember how excited I was when I "hackintoshed" my Dell to run the Mac OS. At the time, it really helped my productivity to have a portable computer with me wherever I went. Now putting it side…
Emoji Keyboard: No Good Can Come of This! 💦🏠🐣💊🔫🎉
The "Emoji Keyboard." Brought to you by the fine folks at Disk Cactus (AKA 💾🌵).





