"Thought you said you were done dusting there Jack."
"I did finish dusting. But there's also vacuuming and repairs to do."
~~
Fun fact : Vacuuming isn't just about sucking up the dust. The high pitched wine of the motor that animals hate so much is for a good reason. That sound, in most vacuums, is at a vibrational frequency that shatters small egg shells.
Particularly those of pests.
So remember kids.
Do your daily sonic attacks to keep the bed bugs away!
The dust clean up is just a bonus.
~~~
It took 5 years to pull this little office together to the point of being able to sit and write again.
Yeah.
It's been a minute.
But I'm glad to say that even as things have come together my notebooks have new pages drying with more already outlined.
Not to mention the compositions.
Budget proposal is done.
Just have to finish filing and updating licenses.
~~~
"Whoa? Compositions?"
"Yeah, don't you compose when you write?"
"Compose what?"
"The music."
"...."
"That goes with the words?"
"...."
"The beat and rhythm?"
"...."
"Wait? You just write words? Like, you don't compose them like a symphony before hand?"
"...."
"Plan the pauses?
"...."
"Read it out loud to make sure it flows correctly?"
"...."
"When you type the words it's not like the first time playing a song that's been stuck in your head for an embarrassingly long time?"
"...."
"I'm starting to feel like the crazy one."
~~~~
A lot of legends have fallen over the past couple of years.
Sometimes people tell you to never meet your heroes.
Then there's the heroes you'll never get to meet.
I find the latter to be far worse.
Because there are real people out there the way Mr. Rogers was on T.V.
I've had the privilege of meeting some of them.
And I'll tell you.
I never trusted it.
Well.
Not until met Ms. Frizzle anyways.
I was used to Southern Kindness.
Don't know what I'm talking about?
Oh? Bless Your Heart.
So I always assumed that was what kindness was.
And when I met Ms. Frizzle my first thought was.
"What the actual hell did I do to piss this lady off?"
But then as we worked together I realized she pissed adults, well most adults, off the same way I did.
Ms. Frizzle talked to children like adults and adults like children.
It set the tone for when people entered Frizzles domain.
~~~~
"New projects huh? Any juicy details you can share?"
"Um. Updating contracts and social media E.U.L.A. with A.I. provisions to protect artists and their work."
"So you're working with A.I.?"
"I'm exploring A.I.s possibilities for weather and traffic modeling."
"What's the hold up?"
"Privacy concerns and exploit response protocols."
"Exploit Response Protocol? Sounds scary."
"Well, I don't want a repeat of Grok. Or to see peoples personal information sold and exploited without their consent or knowledge. You know, like Meta and Facebook where in trouble for a little while back before the E.U. slammed the consumer protections dick on the table. And...you know...sometimes it just means 'Unplug the damn thing before it finishes installing!!' "
"Speaking of, how do you feel about age verification."
"Yes in spaces that are marketed to and frequented by minors. No to adult spaces. Basically the opposite of how it is now."
"How exactly does that work?"
"Well, students/kids have their school networks that can verify a yes/no question to their accounts. If an adult wants access/to interact with children's spaces. Parents, guardians, educators, medical professionals. Then I think their age and credentials should be verified.
Which is already the standard for professionals in those spaces. I'm just saying we formalize it."
"And you'd just let kids run amok in adult spaces without verification."
"I'm saying that for the purposes of privacy once a person becomes an adult their credentials should be encrypted and only require verification for medical, financial, or professional reasons."
"What?"
"Basically think about it like this. Anon accounts wouldn't be allowed in spaces for minors."
Bro. Kids need spaces they feel like is their own that they can explore and shape. And digital spaces are just that. The only thing that keeps them from being so is the fellas in the unmarked white vans selling candy. Stranger danger bro."
"So the kids would just have free reign."
"Na dude, they'd be like little stealth riders."
"You're starting to use a lot of...slang."
"Um...think like...admin level but not? Like they can access the networks, explore them, but to them it's like walking through a ghost town for the most part. Only able to see verified accounts they're permitted to see. Like, admins. Or say, it's a site for horror films but the minor has a pass for a project to post to the forums or attend a live stream. Or maybe being like "oh shit! It's Ms. Rachel!"
"You think kids are going to follows those rules."
"Na, but they might if we trust them."
"Trust kids to not get into trouble"
"Man, kids are going to get into trouble. That's just what they do. Just show them how to make good trouble."
"Good trouble?"
"Oh man..."
~~~
On a positive note.
The busted hand is nearly back to 100%.
Still needs strength and mobility training for the...well...the whole arm.
Not being able to use your hand properly for nearly 8 months takes a toll on the ol strength and dexterity.
But I was able to get all of the tangles brushed out and all of the hair ties in without my hand cramping!
There were a lot of tangles too.
No one around to help me out with that this time around.
But 5 full ties before hitting split ends.
Top's getting a little thin though.
Stay Safe
