¶After breakfast at the Sea Horse in Pass-a-Grille, we went shelling on the beach for a bit.
Stream
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/2021/03/28 on March 29, 2021 at 11:45 AM
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¶Ev Williams had an interesting post on Medium last week that got me thinking about the difference between Daystream and social media networks–it’s all about the decision to explore content. Basically, social media makes that decision for you, whereas Daystream empowers you to make that decision for yourself.
¶Quoting from Ev’s post:
¶“Trust is more important than ever and well-established editorial brands still have meaning. But today, credibility and affinity are primarily built by people — individual voices — rather than brands.”
¶I happen to agree with this, but have to wonder how Medium, along with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other algorithm-dependent systems, justify their approach to presenting content to people in this people-powered content revolution? They must either count themselves among the “well-established editorial brands” Ev mentions…or accept that their respective algorithm serves a primary purpose other than promoting the objectively best content.
¶By using an algorithm to create the feed of content a user sees when they log in, no matter the form it takes, these networks are making content decisions for their users.
¶Daystream is not algorithm-based. Log in, and you’ll see who in your network is posting that day, that week, etc. You don’t see their content right away, just them. From there, you, the user, decide which content you want to discover based on the identity of the creator.
¶I’ve learned that this is incredibly empowering as a reader because it allows me (forces me, really) to make the decision to jump into content based on the creator’s identity alone. Internally, that forces me to make that decision to jump based on my view of that particular creator. This is more complex than it sounds–some decisions are based on my relationship to the creator (of course I want to see what my son posted today), while others are based solely on my view of the trustworthiness of the creator.
¶The best content algorithm is the one in your own head. We’re building Daystream to empower you to use it.
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/2021/03/27 at 1:06 PM
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¶Well, this is probably the strangest sunset photo I’ve ever taken. We had a traffic incident happen on the street outside our balcony tonight. It seemed like a bit of road rage when it happened, but I actually think it was an accident. Coincidentally, we got our patio cam back online this afternoon and caught the entire thing on video.
¶The guy on the right in the orange ball cap ran over the island in the middle and hit the white car. His tire had ran up on the island as he approached the end of the street; he overcorrected in response and then shot over the island to avoid a car in front of him, hitting the parked white car. Crazy sequence of events. Luckily no one was hurt (including a pedestrian who was walking right for the white car and, had it happened 10 seconds later, might have been directly in the path of the oncoming car).
¶Meanwhile, the sun did its thing, in somewhat spectacular fashion.
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/2021/03/27 on March 28, 2021 at 1:18 AM
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¶I tested both today–seems accurate.
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/2021/03/27 on March 28, 2021 at 1:03 AM
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¶We had breakfast at The Hangar restaurant at Albert Whitted Airport this morning, always one of our favorite things to do while in St. Pete. Jake is always in absolute heaven while we’re there. I’m sure he wishes he was flying, but I think he has almost as much fun plane-spotting.
¶There was quite a bit of action today, too. We watched them pre-flight this Pilatus PC-24, which Jake educated us on a bit. Pretty cool to see one of these in person–private jet rated for off-road landings, not that they needed that today.
¶Half way through breakfast we watched it takeoff. Looks like it was flying some couple to West Palm Beach.
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/2021/03/26 at 4:38 PM
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¶We went for ice cream after dinner tonight. Our usual (and favorite) Larry’s was bit crowded, which gave us a little pause, so we opted for the less-crowded Sprinkles, which we haven’t visited in probably over a decade.
¶Good ice cream and, bonus, they gave Teddy his own scoop–a vanilla pup cup! It was his first experience with ice cream. No surprise that he loved it; he even licked my cup clean after I was done.
¶Bringing Teddy on our trips down here might force us to rethink our ice cream routine a bit.
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/2021/03/26 on March 27, 2021 at 3:42 AM
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¶We picked up Culver’s for dinner tonight, at Jake’s request. I was happy to see a relatively short line at the drive-through compared to the crazy line at the new Culver’s in Toledo.
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/2021/03/26 on March 27, 2021 at 3:36 AM
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¶Great sunset on St. Pete Beach tonight, but the sky reminds me of Missile Command a bit. Looking at this photo I feel like the hotel on the right is my last base and it’s about to go under!
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/2021/03/26 on March 27, 2021 at 3:28 AM
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¶Technically, Teddy is a Medium. What do you do with that?
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/2021/03/25 on March 26, 2021 at 2:03 AM
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¶I couldn’t help but see Gandalf in these pipes and stains on concrete at the Battery in Fort DeSoto Park.
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/2021/03/25 on March 26, 2021 at 2:02 AM
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¶We went to For DeSoto for a hike this morning and took Teddy along. He had a lot of fun exploring the nooks and crannies of the battery at the park. I had to carry him down the stairs–he’s still getting comfortable with those. But, other than that, he did great.
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/2021/03/25 on March 26, 2021 at 1:59 AM
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¶The rendering of the coming Hilton Garden Inn is beautiful, of course, and I’m sure the hotel will do fine. But, that space will always be the HoJo to me, and I’ll always remember it as my first exposure to my beloved St. Pete Beach.
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/2021/03/25 on March 26, 2021 at 1:52 AM
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¶Howard Johnson’s actually has a fascinating history. It was probably the first nationwide chain of restaurants. And those came before the hotels. I had no idea.
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/2021/03/25 on March 26, 2021 at 1:50 AM
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¶Well, it’s a bit of a sad day in St. Pete Beach. The Howard Johnson hotel, which sits just a few blocks down from our condo, is gone. The structure is still there, but it’s being refurbished and rebranded. The distinct orange roof is gone and construction is well underway. The Hilton Garden Inn will arrive soon.
¶The HoJo was my first exposure to St. Pete Beach, probably 45 years ago. My grandparents brought us down here. When they traveled, they would only stay at a Howard Johnson. So, each time they brought me here, we stayed at the HoJo (and ate dinner at the Brown Derby next door).
¶Sad to see it go. Progress sucks sometimes.
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/2021/03/25 on March 26, 2021 at 1:48 AM
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¶Ignore the Texas plate. This has all the makings of a Florida Man headline. Extension cord running from third floor apartment to the bed of a pickup truck with contents under wraps. What could go wrong?
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/2021/03/24 at 7:15 PM
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¶We took Teddy on a quick walk today as we were a little behind and it was actually hot outside. He and Renee did some window shopping along Gulf Boulevard.
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/2021/03/24 on March 25, 2021 at 2:26 AM
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¶I’m not sure what this statute did in its former life, but I kind of dig it sitting atop the front door of this house down the street. The pool balls on his vest might be a clue.
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/2021/03/23 at 9:43 PM
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¶There’s a new bar/restaurant going in down the street from us–going to be called 82 Degrees, maybe? Their new “Wish You Were Here” in St. Pete Beach mural is pretty cool.
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/2021/03/23 at 4:05 PM
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/2021/03/23 on March 24, 2021 at 4:11 AM
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¶Looks like we’ll have to wait a few more days for the hot tub. Pool’s nice, though!
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/2021/03/22 at 7:37 PM
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¶Teddy looking up at Renee from the yard.
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/2021/03/22 at 4:15 PM
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¶We didn’t get much sun today, but it finally showed up just in time to set.
photo published in
/2021/03/22 on March 23, 2021 at 4:10 PM
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Sounds of a St. Pete Beach Morning
¶I think Teddy likes the sounds of a morning on the beach as much as I do. He sat still on the patio as I recorded this, not making a sound until the very end (the birds eventually proved too tempting!).
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/2021/03/22 at 2:18 PM
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¶Teddy seems to really like the patio. I think he likes hearing the birds. He barks a bit at passers-by, but I’m guessing that will wane as he gets more comfortable.
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/2021/03/22 at 12:55 PM
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¶Datelining this post made me realize—it’s the first post I’ve datelined from St. Pete Beach in nearly a year and a half. Man I’ve missed this place.
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/2021/03/22 at 10:09 AM
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