Tag: policy

Why does it feel so scary to post here sometimes? It feels way scarier than it used to, the stakes feel really high. Maybe not “high” actually, just completely unknown.

At any rate, a few questions I’ve been asking myself recently.

* * *

Where can I find a good still-in-production cane? I love this book on walking sticks and canes from LMP, but none are widely in production (understandably, this was a speculative brief).

The folding cane by Michael Graves Design comes close but I’ve only been able to find the CVS branded version secondhand on eBay, and the color selection leaves something to be desired.

* * *

How do you factor AI tool costs in to your time-based rates as a contractor? Working with AI makes me more efficient (reducing my billable hours), improves the quality of my work (some might argue that, but I think it’s the case), and costs me hard cash. In theory the answer is just “raise your rates”, but I suspect most clients wouldn’t be able to stomach that. Maybe some would with a detailed policy / explanation, but that’s a lot to ask of most folks. Charge per token? Surely not.

I got talking with Sam about this last night, and then the same topic came up with GC spontaneously this morning. Maybe consider the subscription itself normal tooling overhead, absorb token-based usage up to a particular documented limit, then bill the client for major project-specific token usage. Even that last bit is so fiddly though. Back when we were focused on SB-PH we tended to take on fixed-fee projects, I feel like that’s probably the way for tight-scope, repeatable services.

More thinking to be done here.

* * *

What are some good books about the history of libraries? I’m curious how they evolved from private collections to previously-guaranteed-but-now-under-significant-threat public knowledge resources, and how that evolution could / should / shouldn’t influence future AI regulation. I’d love to read something that also covers the changing role of the librarian over time.

Analogous question: How did it come to be that computer + printer + internet access became a service that libraries are always assumed to offer? In the US, it seems like such a band-aid for the broader problem of internet access having nowhere near the protections that it should. How is it that the landline you’ve barely touched in a decade, if you even still have one, is more heavily protected than the utility you’re all but forced to use to file your taxes? Is there maybe a path forward with this considering the recent election results?

Thanks to @genericbecky.bsky.social for recommending The Library Book by Susan Orlean (and to @christian.bsky.social for relaying the rec!). The Library: A Fragile History also looks promising but sounds like it doesn’t go as deep on the the 20th+ century as I would like.

A post on the road to lupus diagnosis is still forthcoming. It’s almost impossible to write without sounding 100% more woe-is-me than I actually felt at the time, and to communicate the level of internal and external gaslighting involved. “Gaslighting” isn’t quite right though, it’s too strong a term for the usually-unintentional and mundane micro-invalidations. Death, or at least major illness, from a thousand cuts. I’ll think it through.