Mark Parfitt @markparfitt@librem.one

The weekend before Christmas at the Nittany Mall in State College, PA.

Today, I discovered #Presearch. It's a decentralized search engine that hopefully one day will destroy Google. Plus, you get paid to search! Their vision: "to create totally open and transparent algorithms that leverage blockchain technology and the human power of the Presearch community so that, similar to Wikipedia, anyone can participate in the creation and curation of the search index, providing superior results and censorship-resistance." http://presearch.org

Grading is done. Fall 2020 is in the books -- what a weird semester! So proud of all my first-year students who didn't let the pandemic get in the way of their college goals.

I've talked with many businesses and realtors in smaller cities who will confirm that this is happening in force and at rapid speeds. https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/530040-is-this-the-end-of-cities-in-america

Miley Cyrus's new Plastic Hearts album is...pretty decent! I was so not expecting that. But hey, #2020. Check out her cover of The Cranberries' "Zombie".

It's my first day on #MintMobile. http://fbuy.me/qFgNs

Slinkys are once again being made in Pennsylvania! https://www.keystoneedge.com/2020/11/16/the-slinky-factory-springs-back-to-life/

Today I started the process of moving all my websites to hosting that is based closer to home (sorry, GoDaddy!). After A LOT of research, I landed on Pair Networks, which not only has its headquarters and data center in Pittsburgh, but also has excellent customer reviews. https://www.pair.com/

If you're looking for something good to watch, I highly recommend the Showtime documentary on The Go-Go's. Although, I must warn you: if you're like me and thought for over three decades that Belinda Carlisle was totally sweet and innocent...wow, no. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsiRfL11I08

The Internet was designed to be decentralized -- so decentralized that it could survive a nuclear attack. So why are we so obsessed with centralized services? It's time to break free. https://www.nextgov.com/ideas/2020/07/so-much-decentralized-internet/167281/

Looking forward to Brave's webinar today: "Future-Proof Your Marketing: Advertising in a Cookieless World". This is where we're heading...if we aren't already there. https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6702363806341781517?source=CM

It may finally be time to take that big jar of coins into the bank.
https://www.fox5ny.com/news/coin-shortage-prompts-bank-to-pay-you-for-spare-change-it-has-never-happened-before

It's been one year since I started to #BreakUp with #BigTech. Here's the first (of hopefully many) blog entries that document the journey. https://markparfitt.com/2020/07/break-up-with-big-tech-alternatives-to-google/

The power of branding: the business is bankrupt, but they scored a 0% interest loan. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-10/brooks-brothers-gets-bankruptcy-loan-with-zero-interest-rate

Amusement parks ban screaming on roller coasters. This is just pure absurdity now. https://www.wsj.com/articles/reopened-theme-parks-ban-screaming-on-roller-coasters-riders-are-howling-11594222278?mod=hp_featst_pos5

Gotta watch out for that Sheetz Boom Boom sauce! https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/07/sheetz-boom-boom-sauce-was-the-weapon-used-in-an-assault-cops-say.html

I. Can't. Wait.
#Excellent
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/9/21285276/bill-ted-face-the-music-3-trailer-keanu-reeves-alex-winters

Watched the Beastie Boys Story last night. The "live" documentary style was very cool. For a second, I thought they totally skipped over my favorite song ("So What'Cha Want"). But it turns out they saved it for one of the most touching moments of the film. Highly recommend! https://open.lbry.com/@RafadanTV:6/beastie-boys-story-trailer(2020):c

Xfinity just launched gigabit Internet in my neighborhood. It's not fiber-to-the-home, but I'll still take it!

Am I the only one who thinks this process is going to lead to more people intentionally going out and trying to get the virus so they'll have the antibodies to travel? (Flashback to the "chicken pox parties" of the 1980s) https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/03/coronavirus-health-passports-for-uk-possible-in-months