Web Finds — January 30, 2023 and a Mac Tip
A curated list of interesting links with an emphasis on news, technology, and more by ldstephens
Mac Tip: Always show scroll bars on a Mac
Showing scroll bars all the time on a Mac provides a visual indicator of where you are in a document, web page, or app, and makes it easier to quickly navigate to different parts of a document. It can be especially helpful for users who have trouble using trackpads or prefer using a mouse. By always showing the scroll bar, it becomes easier to accurately move the scroll bar to the desired location on the page, and the user does not have to guess the position of the scroll bar based on the content of the page.
Go to “System Preferences” Select “General” Check the box next to “Always show scroll bars” With this setting enabled, scroll bars will always be visible, making it easier to navigate through long documents or webpages.
Today’s Links
The National Security Implications of Charles McGonigal’s Arrest
“Charles McGonigal, the former special agent-in-charge (SAC) of foreign counterintelligence at the FBI’s New York field office, has been arrested and charged with sanctions violations and money laundering for his alleged involvement with a Russian oligarch. An indictment is only the government’s version of what’s often a complex story, McGonigal retained distinguished counsel, and we’re certain to learn more. But if a counterintelligence official that senior was indeed turned by foreign governments, it’s a serious blow to American interests.”
“We are on the edge of a spy scandal with major implications for how we understand the Trump administration, our national security, and ourselves. On 23 January, we learned that a former FBI special agent, Charles McGonigal, was arrested on charges involving taking money to serve foreign interests. One accusation is that in 2017 he took $225,000 from a foreign actor while in charge of counterintelligence at the FBI’s New York office. Another charge is that McGonigal took money from Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch, after McGonigal’s 2018 retirement from the FBI. Deripaska, a hugely wealthy metals tycoon close to the Kremlin, “Putin’s favorite industrialist,” was a figure in a Russian influence operation that McGonigal had investigated in 2016. Deripaska has been under American sanctions since 2018. Deripaska is also the former employer, and the creditor, of Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort.”
“Going back to RSS feeds and topic authority sites for keeping up with development trends has been better than watching devrel people aggressively defend […] I’m on Mastodon, but I’m bored of what I call “the timeline era”. Scanning an unending stream of disconnected posts for topics of interest is no longer fun, I prefer deciding what to read based on titles, or topic-based discussion.” […] “Accounts that I want to keep up with are in my RSS reader.”
“But as it gets busier and busier, and popular users start to struggle like they did on Twitter. It becomes more and more apparent to me that it’s only a matter of time before it suffers very similar issues.” […] “Not to mention the reply guys are there, with all their “what about” tendencies.” […] “The problem is, as Luke covers in his post, snacking on the internet and trying to follow a never-ending stream of disconnected post is ultimately unfulfilling.”
Jenna Bush Hager, Progeny of Presidents, Is Now a Publishing Kingmaker
“There is a madcap performance within the Jenna Bush Hager morning routine. Coffee sloshes from her cup, occasionally threatening her “Today” show uniform. Lipstick tints a tooth or two until professionals intervene. Nonconformist strands of hair attach to her mouth at a staff meeting where she suggests that no true Texan would take the kind of “cowboy-cation” the show plans to feature. (“Hair in your mouth, you’re like my daughter,” her co-host, Hoda Kotb, faux-scolded off camera, straightening her up.)”
A Small Boat, a Vast Sea and a Desperate Escape From Russia
“The 44-year-old fisherman kept in motionless silence until the officers moved along. Knowing they would be back, Maksim went that night to the home of a friend, Sergei, who had received an unwelcome visit of his own. Together, they pored over maps at Sergei’s kitchen table, trying to find a way to flee the country and a war where thousands of young Russian men were dying. Sergei then offered a plan that, at first, seemed unfathomable.”
Putting Ideas into Words — Paul Graham
“Half the ideas that end up in an essay will be ones you thought of while you were writing it. Indeed, that’s why I write them.”
“Writing about something, even something you know well, usually shows you that you didn’t know it as well as you thought.”
“What I’m saying is that however much you learn from exploring ideas in other ways, you’ll still learn new things from writing about them.”
“Reading about x doesn’t just teach you about x; it also teaches you how to write.”
“Would that matter? If we replaced reading, would anyone need to be good at writing?
The reason it would matter is that writing is not just a way to convey ideas, but also a way to have them.”
“There is a kind of thinking that can only be done by writing.”
“But if you need to solve a complicated, ill-defined problem, it will almost always help to write about it. Which in turn means that someone who’s not good at writing will almost always be at a disadvantage in solving such problems.”
“You can’t think well without writing well, and you can’t write well without reading well. And I mean that last “well” in both senses. You have to be good at reading, and read good things.”
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Originally published at https://ldstephens.me on January 30, 2023.
