Aaron Loring Davis

Five Points – 17

Spacebook and Instaham –

Yeah…so social media…

I don’t think it is very good for us.  I do not believe our brains’ have evolved to fully cope with the volume of stimulation these platforms supply.  I do not believe that our (my and your vs the platform’s) interests are aligned.

I purge ‘likes’ and ‘group affiliations’ and ‘links’ with regular frequency.  And I follow no one on Instagram, so as to not fall to deeply into the scrolling trap.  And I direct folks out of the platform to email or phone for communication.  And I have them all locked down to the very best of my ability.

But the data….

Whew, Cambridge Analytica really blew the lid off of the idea that all of the data we freely share with social media could be weaponized.

And Cambridge Analytica is the most famous one, given it’s proximity to Trump.  How many hundreds or thousands of apps out there had/have the ability to glean this data and other types?

Here’s a few ways to level the playing field:

Share as little as possible with Facebook without deleting it – https://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/heres-how-to-share-as-little-data-as-possible-without-d-1823915628

How To Change Your Facebook Settings To Opt Out of Platform API Sharing – https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/03/how-change-your-facebook-settings-opt-out-platform-api-sharing

And perhaps most importantly, log out of Facebook/Google and clear your cache when you leave the sites.  Facebook and Google control nearly ALL online advertising.  In as much, a cookie gets placed on your browser so that as you surf around the web, relevant ads can be displayed to you.  And in fairness, I’d much rather see an ad for camping equipment than hair brushes, but that’s not the point.  In addition to the login/cookie allowing Facebook/Google to serve you ads, those digital breadcrumbs (all of the pages you’ve visited, never mind, liked) can very easily identify you…which I find on the near side of creepy.

And in related news:

Change Your Screen To Grayscale To Combat Phone Addiction – https://lifehacker.com/change-your-screen-to-grayscale-to-combat-phone-addicti-1795821843

I have also found a lot of value in putting my phone on “Airplane Mode” before dinner until after breakfast and not charging my phone in the bedroom (to discourage viewing in bed).

Water Quality Testing – 

I have spring water feeding my house.  It’s tasty, but I was curious to learn more about it’s make up.  This tool and kit were inexpensive and super helpful.

HM Digital TDS-EZ Water Quality TDS Tester ($14.87) – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002C0A7ZY
Health Metric Water Test Kit For Municipal Tap and Well Water – Simple Testing Strips For Heavy Metals, Bacteria, Nitrates, Chlorine ($19.97 now out of stock)  – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VVQ7Y2Q

Snails in the creek at my house – 

As soon as the freeze broke, these little creatures have turned out droves.  It’s cool, as they are generally a proxy for pure water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleuroceridae

Poem for thought – 

Maximus, to himself – Charles Olsen

Read by the author, 1963 – https://soundcloud.com/brainpicker/charles-olson-reads-maximus-to-himself

I have had to learn the simplest things 
last. Which made for difficulties. 
Even at sea I was slow, to get the hand out, or to cross   
a wet deck. 
               The sea was not, finally, my trade. 
But even my trade, at it, I stood estranged 
from that which was most familiar. Was delayed, 
and not content with the man’s argument 
that such postponement   
is now the nature of 
obedience, 
               that we are all late 
               in a slow time, 
               that we grow up many 
               And the single   
               is not easily 
               known 

It could be, though the sharpness (the achiote)   
I note in others, 
makes more sense 
than my own distances. The agilities 

               they show daily 
               who do the world’s   
               businesses 
               And who do nature’s   
               as I have no sense   
               I have done either 

I have made dialogues, 
have discussed ancient texts, 
have thrown what light I could, offered   
what pleasures 
doceat allows 
                
               But the known? 
This, I have had to be given, 
a life, love, and from one man   
the world. 
               Tokens. 
               But sitting here 
               I look out as a wind   
               and water man, testing   
               And missing 
               some proof 

I know the quarters 
of the weather, where it comes from,   
where it goes. But the stem of me,   
this I took from their welcome, 
or their rejection, of me 

               And my arrogance 
               was neither diminished   
               nor increased, 
               by the communication 

2 

It is undone business 
I speak of, this morning,   
with the sea 
stretching out 
from my feet

What’s on the radio – 

Barnt:  Mayan Warrior and Robot Heart Tie Up @ Burning Man 2017 – Sunrise Set

https://soundcloud.com/mayanwarriorofficial/barnt-mayan-warrior-x-robot-heart-tie-up-2017

Aaron