Reclaim your Attention

Sandpipers on the Beach

Sandpipers search for food on the shore. It was noon in late December, a day after a storm.

Facebook Whistleblower

My fear is that without action, divisive and extremist behaviors we see today are only the beginning of what we saw in Myanmar and now in Ethiopia are the opening chapters of a story so terrifying that no one wants to read the end of it. Congress can change the rules that facebook plays by and stop the many harms it is now causing. We now know the truth about facebook’s instructive impact–destructive impact. I came forward at great personal risk because I believe we still have time to act, but we must act now. I am asking you to act.
Frances Haugen, October 5 2021 to Congress

A large oak stood on a ridge. Its thick branches of curved spiked leaves reached out to protect the bright sage by dark brown late summer crisped flowers of California buckwheat, still in the paltry breeze. How do these plants grow without much rain? These plants are native, right?

Yes, there are, but you can over water them during the summer. The heat and wet make the roots moist and ready for bacteria that could damage the plant. So, you plant them when it is wet and cold: October and November. Master Gardeners say to plant oaks like this one. This place, this region was full of them and their shade, stature against the wind, and nutrients and more nurture the smaller ones and the outstanding biodiversity of this region that’s in danger without them.

Descanso Gardens

We went to Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge. Each garden was distinct–a rose garden, an oak grove, a camellia forest, a lilac nursery–with small river passing through.

A rose garden, pond, and pavilion at Descanso Gardens

What Makes a Market

Another nonfiction book about the social network is released that reiterates statements made about a decade ago:

The company monetizes data of persons who toggle its web-based computer program.
The company cares about its survival and market share above other considerations.
The company buys other smaller companies that do what it does to clear the field.

The Federal Trade Commission lost an antitrust case because the Commission did not provide evidence that Facebook was a monopoly. But the Court is willing to revisit the acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram.

This case hinges on the determinants of the social media market. The marketplace is of people data, but the impression is that the market is services or utilities. So, social media marketing campaigns that place people as users instead of data units serves to complicate antitrust cases in that it blurs the definition of the social media market itself.

A lesson in Geology

There were three types of rock on the trail on the peak: granite, limestone, and sandstone. Granite is formed from volcanic activity: lava under pressure. The sandstone around in stacked boulders, sheer faces, and grated crags were sand and debris crushed under severe, prolonged pressure. Granite was often speckled with silica and quartz and are used for, you know, countertops. Sandstone doesn’t have industrial use and is used in sculpture. Oh, look! I was looking for this: limestone. You often find it in places like here that was underwater. The white color is from seashells. So, yes, limestone are crushed seashells. And crushed limestone becomes marble. A work of art!