FeedCity

I just got FreePBX up and running and connected to a WiFi phone and my doorbell and video intercom system! I have two way calling between every device, I can even connect analog phones!

What shenanigans should I rig up next? I'm thinking maybe an old payphone at the street, or maybe an old 1920s style phone for the speakeasy...

Benjamin Wittes: "It’s remarkable how many non-New Yorkers seem to care who the mayor of New York City is." They do and they're right to, the same way we were concerned how the Governor of California and Mayor of Los Angeles would react to the invasion of the Marines and hi...

Second Sunday session

"I’m a political scientist, and I found that Americans were far less likely to publicly voice their opinions than even during the height of the McCarthy-era Red Scare."

Andreas Deja blogs about the upcoming 40th anniversary of The Black Cauldron:

…our inexperience as young film makers really shows in the film. Many of us were straight out of art school with little experience in animation. But…I keep meeting young people who are very fond of The Black Cauldron.

Here’s a story from the dark ages of video releases. I really wanted to watch it, but the VHS version wasn’t released here until years later. Someone from Europe sent me a copy in exchange for another video release from the US. I brought the tape to a local company to convert from PAL to NTSC. 🤯

The Internet Archive has a blog post reacting to last week’s Anthropic case and its potential effect on libraries:

This decision reinforces the idea that copying for non-commercial, transformative purposes—like making a book searchable, training an AI, or preserving web pages—can be lawful under fair use. That legal protection is essential to modern librarianship.

Speaking of Texas state parks, over the weekend I dug into confusion about the number of parks. There are two new parks in development, but not yet open:

• Albert & Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area
• Powderhorn State Park

Going to update my list later, bumping the count from 88 to 90.

Mineral Wells State Park. The hike down to the lake and back was a little steeper and more rocky than we were expecting. Great morning but too hot.

Sunday session

Last weekend I visited The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, an art collection that showcases mainly Impressionist and Medieval art, with some other genres too. The gallery was unlike any other I have visited. The outside of the building was modern: constructed with grey lim...

A shed in JFK Plaza, Philadelphia, painted with a red background and the city skyline that says, in beautiful lettering, “love”

tending; — to take care of.

A case study in APIs. Creating a new post via Bluesky's API.

Developers, consider this example.

First, here's the packet of information I'm sending to Bluesky to get it to post something.

• {
• "title": "",
• "description": "Room for One More on Mount Rushmore?",
• "mailaddress": "",
• "password": "",
• "urlsite": "https://bsky.social/",
• "link": "https://politicalwire.com/2025/06/29/room-for-one-more-on-mount-rushmore/"
• }

And here's what comes back.

• {
• "uri": "at://did:plc:zxb2lwpxo4axkkkgjwqand24/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsqtoowg2h2h",
• "cid": "bafyreifhet2772xmic24qr4xbui4l5lllvgek2a7kmmchojwwkufvzalci",
• "commit": {
• "cid": "bafyreicjjsd4ixlezubezaxzfaqxxpwlvoxdqwyxblnme5uh6ehklxth3a",
• "rev": "3lsqtoowpsx2h"
• }
• }

Megalithic

Now that we know the outcome of the 2024 election, not just in numbers but in what it's doing to our beloved country and the rest of the world, it's interesting to revisit the campaign that journalism ran last year to force President Biden to step aside. That's one of the fu...

It’s Sunday 29th, which means my experimental June is coming to an end. I’m aware that June ends tomorrow but I think four full weeks is a good timeframe for this type of life experiments so I’m happy to consider it done today. If you’re new to the blog and you’re wondering ...

Fáilte as Gleann Cholm Cille!

Stair railing progress while I was away this week!