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Author Archives: Michael Cohen
The Star Spangled Banana
There’s been talk lately about changing the national anthem because the song’s lyricist was a slaveholder. Good enough, but, honestly, it should be replaced on its own lack of merit. First, the song has four verses, though almost nobody knows … Continue reading
Posted in Opinion, Politics
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A Glimpse of Rivendell on My Wrist
I recently replaced my original model Apple Watch (sometimes referred to as a “Series 0” model) with a Series 4. I really liked my old watch, but Apple stopped issuing system updates for that model so I knew its days … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Photos, Technology
Tagged Apple Watch, Photo
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Great Moments in Discoverability: Away in Slack
My colleagues at TidBITS and I use the Slack app so we can discuss article ideas and production. Ordinarily, I have Slack open on my Mac when I’m working and, ordinarily, I have my state set to “Active” (the default … Continue reading
Posted in Opinion, Technology
Tagged apps, user experience
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The Day I Didn’t Take the Pledge
I saw this story about a boy who was arrested for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and it reminded me of a similar transgression from my youth. When I was in high school, we had to say the Pledge … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Politics, Reminiscence
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My New Low-Impact Drinking Game
Because I hate myself, I have begun to dip into the seemingly endless parade of made-for-TV Christmas movies currently running on the Hallmark channels. Furthermore, because the stories are so contrived and because the acting and direction are so pedestrian … Continue reading
I need a flux capacitor to fix this…
I recently wrote an article for TidBITS about the app’s resurrected text-box-linking feature. A reader responded with complaints about Pages 7: Whatever, it is still the most ignorant word processing software. I can open a document in Word I made in … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Publications, Technology
Tagged Apple, Pages, stupidity, user experience
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I am not David Redux
[Author’s Note: A couple of decades ago, I wrote the following essay after I was called, yet again, “David” instead of “Michael” during a meeting. It lived on a site of mine for a while until the site, and the … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Opinion, Reminiscence
Tagged identity, revelations
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R.I.P. Harlan Ellison
I learned from several tweets on Twitter today that Harlan Ellison has died. I didn’t know the man, though I had read a number of his works, but I do have one tale to tell of him. It was many … Continue reading
Ozymandias at Mar-a-Lago
I met a traveller from a strife-torn land Who said: “An orange and empty head of stone Screamed at the people . . . Near it, in the grandstands, Half drunk, a bitter correspondent, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and … Continue reading
Green Shoots
Things look grim for our ship of state, but they could be grimmer. President 💩🔥💰 is not having everything his own way. He just took it on the chin from the 9th Circuit. News about Flynn’s pre-election discussions with the … Continue reading