What I’m Working On
What I have in mind for this blog in 2025.
For two years, I have been blogging here about artificial intelligence, tech history, books, poetry, growing up in the Midwest, and anything else that caught my interest. Starting in 2025, I intend to do — pretty much the same thing.
I have a few changes in mind, though.
Soon, I hope, you will be able to subscribe to this blog in a free or paid subscription model. The free model will look pretty much like it has for the past two years. I’ll probably alter the format in some way, just to keep myself entertained. I’m planning to write about AI more consistently, and I’ll still write about all that other stuff as well.
For example, expect to see in January a review of Lee Felsenstein’s memoir, Me and My Big Ideas, which really does present some interesting, important, and timely ideas. Also, I’m writing a new Swaine’s Flames essay on pronouns that miraculously avoids politics. Swaine’s Flames was the monthly back-page humor column that I wrote for Dr. Dobb’s Journal for 25 years. I see no reason why I shouldn’t revive that column for an occasional essay here in Swaine’s World.
That’s the free subscription.
For the paid subscribers, I plan to offer some extra goodies, probably on a monthly schedule. I mentioned Swaine’s Flames. I personally think some of those old columns are still funny, and I’m going to make the best ones available to paid subscribers. If some of the subject matter needs explaining, I’ll provide that. Think of it as Swaine’s Flames: The Annotated Edition.
Even before I was flaming in Dr. Dobb’s Journal, I was filling the back page of InfoWorld magazine with the adventures of Mr. Usasi, a San Francisco-based puzzle detective. Each week (!) I delivered a mathematical or logic puzzle in the form of a mystery story set in the tech world, with the solution delivered the following week. I was younger then, and had more energy. Anyway, I plan to republish some of the best Usasi mysteries, not seen for forty years. These will definitely need some annotation, as some of the names I dropped may have dropped completely out of public memory.
That’ll also be in the paid model. It won’t all be old stuff, though: I expect to write new material for the paid subscribers, and — well, that’s about all I can commit to right now.
But to be clear: you’ll still be able to subscribe for free and get Swaine’s World every (well, almost every) week. Speaking of which:
Next Week
I have one more post this year and I have no idea what I’m going to write about. I guess I’ll find out along with you.
For now: I wish that your happiness increases in proportion as your days get longer. (Or, if you’re in the part of the world where your days are getting shorter, I hope you enjoy your summer.)