The Cherkewski View – Links

My approach to running a link blog

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 08:18:26 -0500

Simon Willison’s approach to his link blog (meta to link to it from my own link blog). (Simon, I’ve read it—good job! Others, you should read this one, too.)

Ursula K. Le Guin — National Book Foundation Medal: Ursula's Acceptance Speech

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 21:01:17 -0400

So I reread Le Guin’s speech yesterday, it having recently popped up in my feeds. But only today did I notice her addendum explaining her reference to The Boss, celebrating his seriously underappreciated Lucky Town, and praising him generally. Could she be any more awesome? Reflecting on her nearly ten years later, I think not.

How The Globe identified underutilized public land across Canada - The Globe and Mail

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 18:36:03 -0400

Great analysis based on my favourite federal dataset, the Directory of Federal Real Property!

Licensing site content using a text file

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 15:19:28 -0400

Excellent lightweight idea for a website license standard (akin to robots.txt) to programmatically indicate acceptable uses, e.g., archiving vs. scraping to train a model.

Home stream

Sat, 11 Feb 2023 06:53:49 -0500

Jeremy Keith on the design vibe for his site:

Because I actually like the higgedly-piggedly nature of a stream of different kinds of stuff. I want the vibe to be less like a pristine Apple store, and more like a chaotic second-hand bookstore.

Reading As Counter-Practice - by L. M. Sacasas

Sat, 04 Feb 2023 12:09:51 -0500

It’s worth acknowledging at this juncture that the skimming sort of reading that has become our default can be understood as a coping mechanism. Flooded with text, we are compelled to adopt modes of reading that keep us from drowning. I find it useful in this context to occasionally remind myself that I cannot read everything and that it would not be good for me to try. Better, perhaps, to read fewer things well. As is often the case, acknowledging and embracing our limitations can be freeing.

Archetypes Revisited — Roden Newsletter Archive

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 21:08:35 -0500

Craig treads a lot of ground in this piece, on what shapes us, but it all feels so good—reflections to revisit, time and again.

winston the third

Sun, 08 Jan 2023 13:35:05 -0500

as I expanded my capacity to experience joy, I also found I wanted more than Oliver’s negation statement (of what joy is not meant to be). And thus, in a moment of silliness, I typed into a group chat the declaration that “joy is made to be a big crusty loaf.” A mantra, newly resonant, delivered to me from my dad joke brain.

I also like how Winston Hearn uses his shelves of already owned books to guide what to read in the year ahead, versus buying more (lol):

So I thoughts to myself, what if I survey my bookshelves and build a reading list based on what I have! Maybe I’ll find 10 or 12 really exciting books that will help reduce my desire to buy more books! I did this, and uh, I found 32 books (plus there are 3 more on the way lol).

Wanderers in the River of Fog - by Christopher Brown

Sun, 08 Jan 2023 10:49:22 -0500

It’s a reassuring way to start the year, seeing increasingly rare wild mammals maintaining a seemingly healthy existence in the interstices of the post-industrial city. The optimism is checked when you also see the soil boring crews out there in the same week, preparing the empty lots for the redevelopment that the Anthropocene machine will compel. But the way the animals seem to have a clearer sense of where they are going than we do makes you wonder if they won’t be the ones who will ultimately end up thriving in the overheated ruins we leave behind.

leaving website

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 22:38:04 -0500

There’s a comforting silent presence to this site, where you see how many others are looking at it with you. Via Andy Baio.