Silicon Valley writer - working the space where technology meets culture, where gardening meets children who love to dig.
Palo Alto, CA
Joined November 2008
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simonfirth retweeted
The front page of tomorrow's @dailytarheel –
I shed many tears while typing up these heart-wrenching text messages sent and received by UNC students yesterday. Our campus was on lockdown for more than three hours.
Beyond proud of this cover and the team behind it.
simonfirth retweeted
It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
Wendell Berry, born #OTD, 1934
simonfirth retweeted
This was one of the most incredible wildlife encounters I’ve ever had — seen while tidepooling on the Northern California coast. (Also please enjoy the look of sheer terror on my friend 😅)
simonfirth retweeted
Speaking of birds, we saw them out our "window" this morning! Most notably taking off out of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Napa County, and the Monterey Bay area.
simonfirth retweeted
Bletchley Park was run by historians (Hinsley, Briggs), classicists (Knox, Adcock), musicologists, papyrologists, pure mathematicians (Turing, of course) — people whose degrees would fail Sunak’s test, yet who did more for this country than any number of well-paid City analysts
simonfirth retweeted
All the letters, large and small case. Quartz veins in stone.
Molly Montgomery collects natural unedited rocks on the beach creating an alphabet that took years.
simonfirth retweeted
My child, my heart, has been sent home early three times this semester because she's had an anxiety attack at school. She doesn't know why: she just Has Anxiety.
"I don't know what started it, Mom," she says tearfully. "I was just sitting at my desk & then I couldn't breathe."
simonfirth retweeted
VCs are pushing a whole generation of new counter-disinfo start-ups into a familiar mould:
some magical proprietary artificial intelligence algorithm that can identify illicit activity as a service.
VC love this business model - it can scale super fast. It just doesn't work
simonfirth retweeted
when Thurgood Marshall was confirmed in 1967 to become the first black man on the Supreme Court, 16 of 22 senators from the 11 states of the old Confederacy voted no or didn't vote
when Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed today to become the first black woman, 18 of 22 voted no
simonfirth retweeted
This is fun - how far (roughly) can you drive or cycle from the centre of London in 30 minutes.
Via: app.traveltime.com
simonfirth retweeted
Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale
Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus
simonfirth retweeted
Next time you're sitting in gridlocked traffic, just remember that this incredible transit system was uprooted to make room for cars... old.reddit.com/r/TransitDiag…
simonfirth retweeted
If we switched to renewable energy, the number of ships crossing the ocean would fall almost in half.
Because they're just carrying coal and oil and gas
billmckibben.substack.com/p/…
simonfirth retweeted
Just wanna remind everyone that for the $8Tril we wasted on the War on Terror we could’ve ended poverty in America for 40 years.
simonfirth retweeted
In the 20 years since 9/11, the United States has spent $8,000,000,000,000+ on wars.
In the next 20 years, what if our resources go toward investing in people at home instead of waging endless wars abroad?
simonfirth retweeted
'Toad, Toad, wake up,' said Frog. 'Look at your garden!'
Toad looked at his garden. Little green plants were coming up out of the ground.
simonfirth retweeted
'Toad, Toad,' cried Frog. 'The sun is shining! The snow is melting. Wake up!'
'I am not here,' said the voice.
simonfirth retweeted
this isn't a fine, this is a pricetag
A California couple who mowed down 36 protected Joshua trees to clear their land for a new house have been fined $18,000, a punishment the authorities hope will discourage others from uprooting the iconic desert plants. nyti.ms/3dw3cQp
simonfirth retweeted
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Malcolm Gladwell as a prose writer. Once I start reading one of his pieces, I invariably always finish. I'm never bored. I pay attention. His essay on ketchup? Unforgettable.
That said, he is an ABYSMAL journalist.
simonfirth retweeted
Don't mess with The Linda Lindas.
Watch the full concert: lapl.me/YQ2UH9o