Infinite Fringe

While I agree with most of the author's points about the baneful effects of the "infinite fringe", there would be some good it in to. The past as he describes it had mechanisms for crazy to die out naturally

If a ludicrous idea started building momentum, the ringleader and their affiliates would get pushed out of an organization, then another one, and another one, before being deemed so poisonous that society in general would exile them to some tract of rural land to farm beets and / or start a cult. If they were still interested in spreading their ideas, their options were limited to the physical media they could afford to purchase — a monthly pamphlet sent through the mail, a ham radio, or a sign on the side of the road. Barricaded from the tightly controlled mass communication networks of print distribution and broadcast signals that informed the nation and the leaders they chose, they were forever stuck on the fringes.

That was where “crazy” used to die.

In today's world that is no longer the case, an infinite number of crazy ideas could find a place in social media and there are tools to amplify the messaging or morph it into new and novel forms of lunacy that could not have germinated in the past. This is akin to a world where viruses run amok and there are no medications to fight them. There are many of them, they shape-shift and mutate to increase their odds of survival. The most pernicious (and tenacious)ones make it but many others don't. May if some absolutely crazy fringe idea is fed and cared for enough for it to become mainstream, its worth looking into the energies that feed it instead of bemoaning the fact that it has learned to survive and be heard by all. 

Good Connection

Adding an EV charging station to a fast casual restaurant sounds so logical but it wasn't done before. It would be great to see the trend catch-on. It diversifies the demographic of the customers who come to the establishment (in this case Waffle House). Not a natural marriage between their menu and the tastes of a typical EV car driver but in time there will be a way for the two to meet and like each other.

America’s EV charging network remains inadequate due to a mix of uneven coverage, reliability and maintenance problems, regulatory and permitting delays, high costs, grid limitations, standardization issues, and persistent economic and equity barriers. While Waffle House cannot solve for most of these problems it can help with evening out the coverage. If EV drivers knew for a fact that if they found a Waffle House, the would definitely be able to charge their car, that is a big deal. Such guarantees are few and far between today.

Waffle House is not the only game in town (which is great for these drivers)/ Fast casual and quick-service restaurant chains, including Taco Bell, Starbucks, Subway, and some McDonald’s locations, are actively installing fast EV chargers in their parking lots, recognizing the mutual benefit for both EV drivers and restaurant business. While far from ubiquitous yet, this goes a long way in making EV a viable option for everyone who want to make the switch but wants to feel confident about their ability to charge on the road.

Fake Claims

Yet another example of how our tech overloads would have us plebians believe that they have a product (which they intend to maximally monetize) that can magically solve your most pressing problems. In this instance cure loneliness using AI.

This kind techno-solutionism, reducing human connection to a product has been the root cause of much that ails modern society. As the article correctly notes, Aristotle’s insights and modern research agree: loneliness requires communal, empathetic solutions, not algorithmic ones. Instead of outsourcing friendship to AI, we need policies and cultural shifts that prioritize face-to-face interaction, communal spaces, and mental health support.

This is a fantastic level of hypocrisy that goes along with such statements. Mark Zuckerberg’s advocacy for AI “friends” to address loneliness stands in stark contrast to his personal approach of strictly limiting his own children’s access to social media and the internet. His knows that his argument that people want more friends and that AI can provide meaningful companionship, is highly dubious and as such he is cautious about exposing his children to the very platforms and technologies his company develops to ostensibly solve the world's mental health problems. He has no desire to test his theories at home, something we should all learn from, do as he does. 

Life Value

Reading about the Air India air-crash brought to mind my recent experience with said airline. A lot of folks who travel to India way more frequently than I do, questioned my judgement. Why would I do that when there were so many better options. To them, the benefits of a direct flight which mine was, is not enough to offset the perils of flying Air India. And now this tragedy has happened. 

It turns out that as  of March 2025, around 133 planes, accounting for about 16% of India’s commercial airline fleet, are currently grounded, primarily due to supply chain disruptions and engine failures, especially those involving faulty Pratt & Whitney engines. Go Airlines was the hardest hit, with nearly half its fleet grounded last year, while IndiGo had 60–70 aircraft out of service as of January 2025. The report also highlights issues in aircraft maintenance quality, with ground staff in India typically conducting fewer checks compared to international standards.

There is always the possibility to human error, a freak accident that causes tragic loss of lives. It is sad and catastrophic but not systemic callousness resulting from blatant disregard for human life. My grandmother in her last days used to say that there is no value of life in India except to the immediate family. This is true for the birth of a child or the passing of someone her age. No one outside the family cares if there a few hundred thousand less or more. It is just a rounding error given the population of the country.

So if a person does not have strong family ties, their death is only a relief to everyone else, welcome even as it reduces the competition for limited resources. She was somewhat estranged from her daughter-in-laws at the time which meant very little access to her son's children. I attributed her statements back then to her having grown cantankerous with age and being too stubborn to mend fences with members of her family. But reading about the blatant disregard to safety standards for airplane maintenance, makes me wonder if she was right in her deeply cynical pronouncements.  

Live Translate

I'd love to use a live language translator when traveling abroad. Being able to understand a joke in a foreign language even using the translators we have now feels amazing. Suddenly you can go from feeling a lost outsider to someone who has been welcomed indoors and offered a seat at the dinner table. It breaks down the barriers of country and culture as you find yourself laughing at the same thing. Humor like music can often be borderless.

I realized how good this clone tech was once I heard my own voice, while watching a playback. It sounded scarily like me. Even Will was impressed.

I was describing my next trip to Spain for a big family party thrown by my sister-in-law. My colleague, who speaks Spanish, listened to it after and said the audio was a “mixed bag,” especially at first. The accent, she said, wasn’t native. (Funny: It also gave Will a slight Spanish accent when translating his voice into English.)

Being able to hear your voice speak a language that you don't know sounds wonderful. It's like having a super-power. This also made me think of a related application - intergeneration conversations for expat families. If parents speak English, J understands Bangla but does not have fluency. Would be great to have her speak like them and the other way around - be friends who have a common vocabulary and not be separated by generation, language and culture.

Colorless Man

I had fun watching the movie this MeFi post refers to. Having no expectations going in, I have to say it was not bad in the same sense as aspartame is not bad if you know what you are getting is not cane sugar. 

The comments on the thread reflect a mix of skepticism, concern, and nuanced debate about the role of AI in creative industries. Many acknowledge that while AI-generated films can be coherent and tell a story, the results often lack the depth and intentionality of human filmmaking. There is a lot of doubt if AI will replace skilled filmmakers, because filmmaking is about meticulous creative control, something current AI tools cannot offer; the content produced relies on prompts and luck, making it difficult to achieve the specific vision or fine-grained adjustments that human directors and editors bring to a project.

But the movie told a story and a told it fairly competently. While it will not win any jury awards and is more like a parlor trick than something that would qualify to be real cinema, an interesting experiment all the same.

Saying Hello

Enjoyed this Medium post about a memorable 1-minute introduction and thought about how it applies in ice-breaker situations in the workplace, specially with a new group of people. Tell a story not you name, add a WTF detail and then to them with a curiosity question seems to be the formula. Thinking back to a recent ice-breaker ritual that had been particularly boring, I toyed around with the idea of what it could have been if we applied this rubric

N - I wandered into Spain on accident once having overslept in the train, when I woke up we were in Malaga so I got off and met my would be wife on the platform. She was lost and looking for an American who spoke Spanish. What's your craziest travel story?

P - I did not know where Borneo was but said yes to joining a trip with a couple of women from my Pilates class. On that trip, I saw Pony, a orangutan that was rescued from prostitution. I had never owned a pet till that time but got a lame dog from the shelter near my house when I returned. Do you have any pets?

Both scenarios are somewhat based on things N and P have shared about themselves but not every last detail. Playing this rubric out, it seemed like things could land in highly awkward territory very soon with more people in the mix and if some are inclined to step things up for dramatic effect. Not so sure this formula would work well.