April 2016

Police Body Cameras: What Do You See?

“People are expecting more of body cameras than the technology will deliver,” Professor Stoughton said. “They expect it to be a broad solution for the problem of police-community relations, when in fact it’s just a tool, and like any tool, there’s a limited value to what it can do.”

Inside Operation Trump, the Most Unorthodox Campaign in Political History

Politics require some amount of cynicism and hubris. Trump… See more →

@chambermonster is good at making friends.

“1984 was the greatest pop radio summer ever [because] everybody was trying to make their own Prince record.” rollingstone.com/music/news/pri…

“He is feeling it because everyone is feeling it and he is everyone.” medium.com/@danielralston…

Getting started in Austin by seeing a Richard Linklater movie at the Alamo Drafthouse seems appropriate.

youtu.be/6uzBHhPEWpE

No more skipping live shows of artists that are important to me. No more opportunity for that regret. See everyone at least once, ASAP.

Even if it had ever occurred to me that Prince was mortal, I couldn’t have anticipated the magnitude of the loss. I’m still so sad.

Justin Metz and @pablodelcan knocked this illustration out of the park. nyti.ms/1WhRf1N

“I remember a little scuffle broke out… one night and Prince said, ‘Stop fighting, you’ll mess up your clothes.’” rollingstone.com/music/news/pau…

The offstage moments are flimsy. The onstage moments are unforgettable.

After 5 months with @swinsian, I’m switching back to iTunes. Many reasons, but the final straw is the need to have Prince songs on my phone.

☔️

Spike Lee’s block party honoring Prince is the first thing I’ve smiled at all day.

Spike Lee and friends celebrate Prince. 💜

Spike Lee’s Prince block party. 💜

Taking a slightly different route home tonight.

This sucks.

“When you were mine
You were all I ever wanted to do
Now I spend my time
Following him whenever he’s with you”

I designed this @propublica app promo page two weeks ago. Every time I see it, “Take Me With U” plays in my head. propublica.org/mobile-apps

That time when the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was being reliably boring and then Prince burned the fucking place down. youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y

Purple Rain was one of the first albums I ever got. I loved it. Still do. When the PMRC denounced it, I became obsessed with it. RIP Prince.

The regrettable two-handed nature of the post-iPhone 6 landscape has infected the NYC subway with a wicked scourge of pole-huggers.

Sending my love to Kabul.

“Major change is ALWAYS incremental. Unless you want to have a REAL revolution, with shooting and stuff.” johnhodgman.com/post/143058929…

I probably just sucked at freelancing, but after 5+ years inside NYC’s independent creative community, I’m still not sure how anyone eats.

Setting out to portray a bunch of rich, white college athletes as victims, Fantastic Lies is acutely aware that, even with the facts firmly on its side, it has its work cut out for it. It takes great pains to demonstrate Duke University’s socioeconomic contrast with the community it abuts, and the fact that the school’s venerated lacrosse players are no angels. It acknowledges the epidemic of rape on college campuses, and is careful to… See more →

Huge congrats also to @propublica Pulitzer finalists @AbrahmL, @A_L, @thejefflarson, @NaveenaSivam, and @stuntbox! pulitzer.org/finalists/abra…

Pretty stoked to have worked on a Pulitzer Prize-winning story! Huge congrats to @txtianmiller and @bykenarmstrong! propublica.org/article/propub…

Two minutes into the JavaScript lessons on @Codecademy and I’m already crushing it.

I’m doing lots of reading on Clinton and Sanders today in advance of Tuesday’s NY primary, but I’d probably rather be reading on Trudeau.

In Hush, Kate Siegel gives a truly terrific performance as an isolated deaf woman targeted by a psychopath. However, said psychopath is just about the least menacing home invader to grace the silver screen since Home Alone. If you really need to see a disabled person being terrorized, your time would be better spent with Wait Until Dark.

“I know exactly what you want me to to, and I can do it, but I must arbitrarily insist you ask me this other way.”

Can anyone recommend some good intro/overview reading for someone who regrets not taking any economics classes in college?

Oddly, the NRA ad preceded a NSFW compilation of threatening phone calls a protester received from Trump supporters. youtu.be/-wdFaFfMO8E

The NRA seems to believe guns are people, and Australia’s 1996 National Firearms Agreement was genocide. youtu.be/FMiNHt13WRw

Can we please make the internet read-only for people who fail to pass a basic aptitude test? thewrap.com/captain-americ…

Played in season opener for @propublica’s softball team. Bumped into my pal @martinez_emily. Now Melt-Banana is gonna play some songs. 👍🏻

WHY

For fans of Philly and/or linguistics, here’s an engrossing dissection of the world’s most versatile regional slang. atlasobscura.com/articles/the-e…

“I remember thinking that this would be a pretty harmless easter egg… but I was very wrong.” montulli.org/theoriginofthe…

As with much of Kirby Dick’s work, The Hunting Ground isn’t necessarily a great documentary in the formal sense, but it is a powerful work of advocacy, equal parts devastating and inspiring.

Whenever a gun lover talks about how cars kill more people than guns, I’m like, “Yep, let’s get rid of cars too.”

“If U.S. roads were a war zone, they would be the most dangerous battlefield [our] military has ever encountered.” theatlantic.com/business/archi…

Has anyone switched from @evernote (or similar) to Apple’s Notes app? Pros? Cons?

Midnight Special ★★½ letterboxd.com/robweychert/fi…

Big congrats to the @saintvitusbar crew on their fifth anniversary! They’ve created a truly special place. villagevoice.com/music/greenpoi…

Midnight Special is a road movie, and the bulk of its story takes place in the rear-view mirror. Who is this kid, and what are the extent and origin of his strange powers? Why are he and his family being relentlessly pursued by a religious cult and the FBI? Where are they going, and why? Amid the frenetic chase, Midnight Special selectively doles out backstory with patient precision, which makes it quite compelling early on,… See more →

Waiting to see Midnight Special at @nitehawkcinema. I know absolutely nothing about this movie.

And here it is, the first time (I’ve noticed) Apple’s San Francisco font’s indistinct quotes bit me in the ass. twitter.com/robweychert/st…

(Thirty-seven years later, it is fair to assume the Warriors now handle all disputes from rivals – gangs or otherwise – with litigation.)

This Warriors basketball team I keep hearing about isn’t even from Coney Island and let’s see some aggressive trademark litigation please.

”If you’re interested, we have a buffet, which is our best deal,” he says, before quoting a much higher price than anything on the menu.

Prenatal conditioning for escalator etiquette.

On the train to the plane to SFO to @SND.

We made a new @propublica iOS app! If you like your investigative journalism on the go, you should get it. itunes.apple.com/us/app/propubl…

I always want to dismiss Baby Metal as having an appeal limited to bizarre novelty, but I can’t. They make me smile. youtu.be/rZApf9c8Tes

Politics require some amount of cynicism and hubris. Trump has these in spades, yet he’s still called an “outsider.” nymag.com/daily/intellig…

Pretty sure I committed a major faux pas last night, and it’s killing me that I can’t get back into my dream to fix it.

Ain’t no city like specificity. Literally.

Agreeing to vary their app store badges’ corner radii, Apple and Google celebrated with a glass of fresh baby blood.

“[A police body camera is] just a tool, and like any tool, there’s a limited value to what it can do.” nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Employers avoid felons, not because people can’t change, but because our Hammurabian justice system prefers punishment to rehabilitation.