Dwight Silverman

@dwightsilverman.com

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Retired but not good at it. Still tech columnizing at the Houston Chronicle. Passable iPhone photographer, pizza lover, aspiring cat lady. Base camps at https://mastodon.social/@dsilverman, https://www.threads.net/@dsilverman #housky

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Dwight Silverman

[guy inventing social media] what if we let short-tempered dimwits weigh in on everything immediately

Some tweaks to this: It's not "the electric company in Texas": Centerpoint handles the infrastructure in the Houston region. In TX, companies that sell power are separate from those who manage the poles and lines. Its outage map cratered under demand after a derecho last month.

WTF. The electric company in Texas doesn't have a map of outages so people have been using the Whataburger App to figure out who lost power. This is like when Homer was using the Krusty Burger map when they got lost at sea.

Sorry for the Xitter link, but this is brilliant: Using the Whataburger app to track power outages. #whataoutage x.com/bbqbryan/sta...

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Dwight Silverman

Beryl made landfall near Matagorda as a category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds. It will now move north across Matagorda and Fort Bend Counties into western Harris County, slowly weakening. Heavy rain, flooding, more frequent strong winds, and isolated tornadoes are all likely. #beryl #houwx

Hurricane Beryl makes landfall near Matagorda with 80 mph windsspacecityweather.com In brief: Beryl has made landfall near Matagorda, TX as a category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds. It will now move north across Matagorda and Fort Bend Counties into western Harris County, while sl…

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Dwight Silverman

#Beryl is en route to the Texas coast, while attempting to strengthen a bit at the last minute. Surge, wind, power outages, and flash flooding remain likely near and especially east of where it makes landfall. @spacecitywx.bsky.social will have more thru the night: theeyewall.com/beryl-mostly...

I've gotten to the point where I won't read any story with the annoying ... "X was the case. Then Y happened." headline trope. C'mon, it's beyond cliche, newsfolk - it's hackneyed at this point.

Interviews with more than three dozen aides, advisers, lawmakers, governors and other President Biden allies tell the inside story of his team’s failure over nine days to contain the crisis from his debate with Donald Trump.

Biden thought he had it under control. Then it got worse.www.washingtonpost.com The inside story of the Biden team’s failure over nine days to contain the crisis from his debate with Trump.

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Dwight Silverman

A late-night post: Yes, #Beryl is taking aim at the central Texas coast and yes, Houston's going to get a taste – maybe even a big bite. We’ll know more come morning. But good news: It's moving rapidly, giving it less time to intensify, and should still move quickly when it hits land. #houwx

Saturday Night Live: With your host, Beryl, and featured musical guest, Katrina and the Wavesspacecityweather.com In brief: Just a few thoughts to share on Tropical Storm Beryl tonight—basically some things I’ll be looking for on Sunday. If you’re looking for a nuts-and-bolts forecast of what impac…

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Dwight Silverman

Beryl has not organized much today, as expected. Don't be lulled to sleep by that, as Beryl is still expected to strengthen, if not rapidly intensify on approach to Texas late Sunday night/Monday AM. Latest on impacts: theeyewall.com/beryls-not-q...

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Dwight Silverman

Truth. (Artist unknown.) #beryl

I recently had a 4-year-old set of Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers die on me. They sounded great, until they made no sound at all. We’ve all had digitalia crater way too early. Here’s a strategy for avoiding that. Gift link.

How to guard against electronics that die too fastwww.houstonchronicle.com When buying audio equipment, its recommended to read as many reviews on tech and audio sites as you can.

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Dwight Silverman

Although we can't be certain at this time, it looks as though Tropical Storm Beryl is on track to make landfall somewhere between Corpus Christi and Matagorda Bay on Monday. For the Houston area this will result in higher winds, some storm surge, and heavy rainfall. #houwx #beryl

Beryl on track to make a Texas landfall on Monday morning: What to expect in greater Houston areaspacecityweather.com In brief: Although we cannot be certain at this time, it increasingly looks as though Tropical Storm Beryl is on track to make landfall somewhere between Corpus Christi and Matagorda Bay on Monday.…

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Dwight Silverman

With all the shenanigans in the modeling today, we take stock of where we stand this evening as hurricane watches are hoisted on the Texas coast south of Sargent. Folks should continue to monitor and prepare from Galveston southward: theeyewall.com/beryl-aftern...

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Dwight Silverman

The track for Hurricane Beryl shifted northward during the last 24 hours, and a landfall is now expected near or south of Corpus Christi. This does increase the threat of significant impacts to the Houston area, but we continue to think the system will be mostly manageable locally. #houwx #beryl

Beryl reaches the Yucatan, and is now likely to make landfall in Texas on Monday as its track shifts northwardspacecityweather.com In brief: The track for Hurricane Beryl has shifted northward during the last 24 hours, and a landfall is now expected near or south of Corpus Christi. This does increase the threat of significant …

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Dwight Silverman

Happy Fourth of July! We have hot and sunny weather for the holiday, and Friday will be the same before rain chances increase due to the movement of Hurricane Beryl into the Gulf of Mexico. It still appears the system will track well to the south of Houston. #houwx #beryl

Houston to sizzle on the Fourth before rain chances increase due to remnants of Hurricane Berylspacecityweather.com In brief: Happy Fourth of July! We have hot and sunny weather on tap for the holiday to celebrate the birth of America, and Friday will be hot as well before rain chances increase due to the moveme…

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Dwight Silverman

The forecast for Hurricane Beryl and Houston remains more or less on track - still expected to go far enough south that it will not produce serious wind and surge impacts in Houston. We continue to watch the possibility of tropical rain next week. #beryl #houwx

Forecast for Hurricane Beryl continues to trend south of Houstonspacecityweather.com In brief: The forecast for Hurricane Beryl and Houston remains more or less on track, which is to say the storm is still expected to go far enough south that it will not produce serious wind and su…

Good advice, always!

Houston will be hot and sunny for the next couple of days, with only some scattered showers. The forecast changes this weekend as Hurricane Beryl moves into the southern Gulf of Mexico. Based on our inbox, Houston's freaking out over some early model predictions. Our advice: calm TF down. #houwx

You have a multitude of Hurricane Beryl questions, we have answers for only a fewspacecityweather.com In brief: Houston will be hot and sunny for the next couple of days, with only some scattered shower chances. The forecast begins to change this weekend, as Hurricane Beryl moves into the southern …

Just did my first BSky chat session. So Twitter-like, it felt good. I used to do full interviews for my column this way.

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Dwight Silverman

As July begins with a hot week, rain chances are on the low side but isolated showers and thunderstorms will still be possible. Hurricane Beryl should remain in the southern Gulf of Mexico this weekend, so it’s unlikely to affect our area. 🎉 #houwx

Houston enters July on a hot streak, also we’re not really concerned about Hurricane Beryl and Texasspacecityweather.com In brief: As July begins we take a look back at June’s rain and temperatures, and look ahead to a hot week to start the month. Rain chances will be on the low side this week, but some isolate…

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Dwight Silverman

Beryl will make a direct hit on the Windward Islands today, near Grenada or the Grenadines with impacts beyond there. Uncertainty remains high on Beryl beyond the Caribbean, but modeling has made a fairly southward shift since yesterday, keeping most impacts near Mexico. #beryl #wx #hurricane

Beryl closing in on the Windward Islands as a strengthening major hurricanetheeyewall.com Headlines Beryl will make a direct hit across the Windward Islands today, very near Grenada or the Grenadines with impacts beyond there. Beryl is reintensifying after undergoing an eyewall replacem…

AT&T Internet, the mid-2000s-era online service originally called U-verse Internet, is slowly fading away as the company continues to roll out its faster, more modern fiber-optic service. Gift link. #houtech

Older AT&T internet service could be cut off. Here's the plan.www.houstonchronicle.com AT&T is slowly cutting off its U-verse internet service throughout Houston and replacing it with fiber.

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It’s just going to be like this, isn’t it? theeyewall.com/the-deep-atl...

The deep Atlantic is waking up earlier than usual this year, while 94L in the Caribbean tries to find a pathway to developtheeyewall.com Headlines Invest 94L in the Caribbean is unlikely to develop, but if it tracks a bit to the north, it has a puncher’s chance in the Bay of Campeche. A robust signal in modeling exists for the…

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Dwight Silverman

Fair question.

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Dwight Silverman

Houston is locked into a summertime pattern for the foreseeable future, with high temps in the mid- to upper-90s. The only real question each day is whether we see afternoon showers and thunderstorms: Overall chances are low each day. Wednesday afternoon *may* be interesting. #houwx #housky

Hot and mostly sunny, with a smattering of rain chances for awhilespacecityweather.com In brief: Houston is fairly well locked into a summertime pattern for the foreseeable future, with high temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s. The only real question each day is the extent to which…

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Dwight Silverman

🎵Summertime, an' the livin’ is sweaty….🎶 Houston will experience full-on summer conditions this week with hot days, mostly sunny skies, and sultry nights. To better characterize this heat, we will start using wet bulb globe temperatures more, and we explain them in today’s post. #houwx

Summer really sets in this week for Houston, so let’s talk about the best way to measure heatspacecityweather.com In brief: Houston will experience full-on summer conditions this week with hot days, mostly sunny skies, and sultry nights. To better characterize this heat, we will start using wet bulb globe temp…

Proud mom of unborn child says her boy will be the smartest boy ever.

GPT-5 will suffer four consecutive years of severe emotional breakdown trying to say something new about Foucault

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Dwight Silverman

And DSM is where you look up why we're like this

the b in bdsm stands for bluesky

TS Alberto dealt only a glancing blow to the Houston area, but it reminds us that this year's hurricane season will likely be very active. I wrote about strategies for using power banks and UPSes to keep your digitalia running when the lights go out for days or weeks. Gift link.

Devices to keep your phones and computers alive when power is outwww.houstonchronicle.com Battery packs and power banks to keep your cellphones, computers and internet running when electricity goes out.

Cara.app is a new (to me at least) AI-free social platform for artists. Blocks scraping, won’t allow AI-generated art on the site or its mobile app. cara.app/explore

Cara | Artist Social & Portfolio Platformcara.app Cara is a social and portfolio platform for the entertainment art industry.

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Dwight Silverman

Thanks for the great write-up, @eff.org! Curate the experience you want: • Custom feeds. You choose the algorithm, not the other way around. • Stackable moderation. Layer additional moderation services on top of each other.

Bluesky handles moderation differently than you might be used to. With loads of toggles and settings to change, it can be hard to wrap your mind around it. Here’s how it works:

How to Clean Up Your Bluesky Feedwww.eff.org In our recent comparison of Mastodon, Bluesky, and Threads, we detail a few of the ways the similar-at-a-glance microblogging social networks differ, and one of the main distinctions is how much

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Dwight Silverman

This Week's Onion Magazine www.theonion.com/the-rise-of-...