winter moves forward
cold air underneath the clouds
this infectious gloom
Tonight’s Haiku: January
Blog
Some Thoughts On TikTok
The Law of Unintended Consequences again applies as the US Government is preparing to ban TikTok for data privacy and security concerns. I expect the expectation was for all those TikTok folks to just bop over to Instagram, Facebook, Threads, or X, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. At least, it’s not as simple as that. It looks like many Tiktokers are migrating to “RedNote”, the Chinese answer to TikTok. So now we’re playing a game of whack-a-mole. Fun.
As wiser people than me have pointed out, a TikTok ban will not do much of anything in terms of security and data privacy (here’s a good piece on that). These sorts of things happen when legislation is crafted by people who don’t understand the technology they’re trying to regulate. Anyway, I understand there’s the possibility that the Supreme Court will weigh in on this, so I guess there is a slight possibility that this ban be halted, but I’m not holding my breath. So, it’ll be interesting to see how the policy implications shake out. I doubt anyone has a solid grasp on how this will ripple out.
With this, I know some folks whose businesses are highly dependent on TikTok who are scrambling to work their way through this. As I’ve written before, you should NOT set your business up highly dependent upon a single platform you can’t control, or have little to no influence with. I always recommend driving people to a website that you are in control of, and then having them sign up for a newsletter. Email lists are very portable, as are website signups. If you can email even 70% of your followers, something like a TikTok ban becomes less life-threatening to your business. Keeping the risks your business faces in mind is crucial for sustainability.
2025 is shaping up to be a very dynamic year for business in the digital realm.
Mind-Full vs Mindful
Found this gem on Pinterest today:
I expect that, in today’s culture in the US, this is an easy post to connect with. Well, at least I do! There’s always so much bumping around in my mind. For several years I practiced focused mediation, and I got more aligned with the horse here. I still work on that, but not with as much dedication.
I’ve found that I miss out on so much when lost in the flurry of modern life. Which makes me think of the classic Thoreau quote: “…I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
So, take a reminder early in the year to budget time to step out of the busyness of life and, well, just embrace living.
Making the Internet Personal Again
I’ve been on the web for years. I started this blog back in 2005, though before that I messed around with hand-coded sites. Reading Justin Cox’s post from early 2025, “Let’s Make The Internet Personal Again” reminded me of those days. The internet was a quirky place, with sites ranging from the cerebral to the downright weird, ie: Dancing Hamster.
In his post, Mr. Cox writes about Lost and its impact on the blogosphere. Though I didn’t get into Lost, I did have my sets of interests and found my own focused sites.
On a 2023 post, “The End of Centralized Platforms is Over“, he states:
You put the distribution into the hands of a company without your interest in mind.
I deeply agree with this point. Build your own site, build your own community. Even in the heyday of the platformed web, I promoted the notion of using social media sites to drive people towards YOUR site. Don’t let a third party control your community! I can point to Twitter and YouTube, amongst others, who seemingly capriciously de-platforming people, people who depended on that community for a living. They were left in professional limbo. A benefit of pointing people to your website, to your email list is that if you’re kicked off a platform, or that platform fails/goes out of business, your community can still find you, can still maintain that connection.
Personally, I’m going through a minor struggle. Should I hand-code my main site (like this page of mine), should I focus on THIS site (which is WordPress)? Or some other option (Joomla?)
What are your thoughts? Do you focus on a single platform? Do you maintain a website/blog? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Today’s Haiku: January 3, 2024
within winter's depths
and sunlight's power reduced
life resists the gloom
I’m a Word Nerd!
Good ol’ Grammarly! I don’t generally pay attention to these updates, but this one struck me.
As I value my writing skills, this made me happy. I’m lapping the competition? Cool!
I’m more productive than average and have higher mastery, too.
And I’m more creative, or at least have a broader vocabulary, than most:
I find this satisfying as I deeply value my communication skills, especially my writing. The hard work I’ve done over the years has benefitted me. Which I find wonderful.
Today’s Haiku: December 17, 2024
this cold rain
amidst barren trees
a rose blooms
A Blogging Challenge
I don’t generally do these, but I’m starting to think I should. Take the opportunity to write more, right (write?)?
Anyway, Pooja posted this challenge to everyone/anyone who read the post (here’s the post that was the challenge to her). So, let’s explore this, shall we?
How did you come up with your blog name?
Well, this one’s pretty easy: it’s my name. And, nerd that I am, my goal was to capture the SEO surrounding my name. And I feel pretty successful. This blog is in the first position on a SERP for “carl setzer“.
If your blog was a person (fiction or real), who would it be?
Very interesting notion and question. I’m trying to think of a character who loves writing poetry, but also writes about a slew of random stuff. I’m drawing a blank, though.
What helps you create new content if you feel like you need some inspiration?
Like Pooja, I often get inspired by other bloggers. That’s what’s going on with this post. Another who’s
good for inspiration is my friend Bill Pearse and his blog “Pink Lightsabre“.
Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?
I haven’t thought of collaborating in some time. It sounds like fun, but I’ll need to think about it further. If anyone has any ideas, I’m open.
Is there anything more you wish you had or would like to learn as a blogger?
One of my key goals as a blogger is to become a “better writer”. I’m working on defining that better. Most of my time as a blogger has been spent, well, flailing. No real focus, nor goals. I’m working on that, though.
Do you have a specific style of blogging?
Like Pooja said in her post, my style is pretty random and chaotic. Looking over the past few years, I seem to have settled in on poetry, especially Haiku.
So, my nominees?
I’m going to start with Bill Pearse at Pink Lightsabre. He’s also a blogger who I highly recommend others read. I also recommend DavidWDon (another writer of Senrye & Haiku) and Michelle Lee at “My Inspired Life“.
I’ll add similar disclaimers as Pooja for my nominees: don’t feel any pressure. That is NOT my intent. Also, if you’re inclined to add to this challenge, please do!
Tonight’s Haiku: December 14, 2024
clouds vibrant motion
brushing against the full moon
storms pass at nightfall
Some thoughts on the Long-Term Impact of Designed Babies
Oh, this article on Wired got me thinking: Designer Babies Are Teenagers Now—and Some of Them Need Therapy Because of It. Quick summary: the writer, Emi Nietfeld, is summarizing a discussion with a family therapist working with these teenagers.
Let’s start with, well, clearly this is an example of the Law of Unintended consequences. These technologies were supposed to make families “better”, to create the most beautiful and brilliant children. And, well, not exactly. People want to be valued as their unique selves. So, I found this line both telling, and rather messed up.
The kids feel like walking science experiments; the parents are disappointed in how their progeny turned out.
Seems like folks fell into the trap of grasping for control. If you thought the folks who hyper-structured their children’s lives so that they would become exactly who they wanted them to be were dysfunctional, imagine being able to go from math camps, piano lessons, and language immersion programs to messing with their DNA.
I kept coming across teens who were in distress about the way they had been created.
Created? That really felt weird to read. The interviewee sums up my thoughts well with this line:
People don’t always realize they are creating a human being and not a piece of furniture.
To me, this highlights the reason every major religion emphasises relinquishing control. Abandoning fear and allowing things/people to just BE is powerful.
Anyway, as the subject of this article states, “I don’t know if anyone’s making sure parents understand that they can’t test-drive a child and then return it.” People are not products! They aren’t resources to extract. They aren’t vehicles to further your ambitions. Sigh…
These tools have some powerful applications, and some of them, I expect, are life-affirming. However, they can leave a mess of multi-generational trauma. Perhaps we can’t prevent every Unintended Consequence, but, I expect, with thoughtful consideration, we could mitigate or eliminate more than we do. One can dream, I suppose.