In Musk They Trust

How about a review of the Social Security Administration’s processes? Let’s assemble a team of experienced managers and technologists from within the administration, especially if they have concerns about how the administration operates.

Knowledgeable outsiders, including business experts and past SSA personnel, will also be recruited. Input from many beneficiaries will be solicited. After a careful review, new procedures will be recommended and a implementation plan developed for upgrading the technology.

Nah, let’s not do that. Let’s assume there is rampant waste to be found, and we’ll toss a bunch of nervy, inexperienced kids in there, with no knowledge of the existing systems or underlying technology. They’ll tear everything apart, let the chips fall where they may, and everybody will have to hope for the best, especially those who receive Social Security benefits.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/03/what-could-possibly-go-wrong-doge-to-rapidly-rebuild-social-security-codebase/

Buh-Bye Beeb

For the past couple of months I have been very pleased with the BBC Sounds plugin on the Lyrion music server network. Now the BBC is ending Sounds access outside of the UK. The only radio stations that will be available are the World Service and Radio 4. Is this fallout from Trump’s tariff madness?

Kirby Before Sinnott

The Kirby Museum’s first publishing project is here and I’m impressed. My copy of Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Sunday Strips in Color came with a print and t-shirt.

Copies of the book should become available in comics shops. Publication was crowd-funded on ZOOP, with much of the interest coming from Wally Wood’s ink finishes over Jack Kirby’s pencils. Wood’s run on the comic strip was actually somewhat sporadic, until he eventually dropped out altogether.

Woody never stuck with any one thing for very long, especially after Bill Gaines limited EC to publishing MAD and nothing else. But the work Wally did on Sky Masters is outstanding and wouldn’t be equaled until Joe Sinnott’s run inking Kirby on the Fantastic Four.

(Note to mih: I will have the book with me when visiting in May.)

Tapping Touch

Kindle Paperwhite (10th generation)

My Kindle e-reader is just new enough to support a feature that’s coming in a firmware update. I’ll be able to tap the side or back of the unit, rather than the screen, to advance to the next page.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/03/newer-kindles-get-a-work-around-for-touchscreen-page-turning-in-new-software-update/

Having been a fan of the physical buttons on my long dead Kindle Keyboard, I’m looking forward to giving this a try. I could do the update manually via USB, but I’ll wait for it to be pushed out over WiFi.

Kindle Keyboard playing Dragnet MP3

Update: My mistake. Re-reading that article, I see the update on a 10th generation Kindle only includes the Recap feature. I’m not going to buy a new model just to get double-tap and a USB-C connector, rather than the Micro USB on my Paperwhite.