Posts by Blake Leonard
As Good as Earbuds Get: A Review of Google's Pixel Buds Pro
I've been a long-time headphones user, but a few times I've caught myself thinking, "Man, it would be great to have some earbuds right about now!" So, this week I got my hands on some Pixel Buds Pro. I've been trying them on and comparing them to my headphones, and here are my thoughts.
Musk's Twitter Saga: App Breakages are Intentional
In April, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink proposed a deal to buy Twitter. Elon Musk attempted to withdraw from the deal in June, but he was already in a contract, so the company sued him about a month or two later. In the end, Musk took the deal unwillingly and as of October 28, he is in full control of the company.
Album Review: Elsewhere by Project Vela
Project Vela is a rock band from Denver. Their previous albums include Disconnected and Kenopsia. I've only recently received the signed CD I preordered, so I finally listened to it, and here are my thoughts.
The Republican Party is Full of Sadists
Considering the various bills that Republican Congressmen have been writing, it's already impossible to assume good-will from the Republican party. Repeated lies with blatant disregard for expertise or experience prove that they are not concerned about the people. It's easy to assume that they have a lust for power or a greed for wealth, but how does hurting trans youth or women contribute to your power or wealth? Those are the typical symptoms of a sadist — or worse, a creature from Hell.
Human Rights in America: Not as They Seem
The United States of America has always had an apparent love for human rights. Before independence, the American colonists felt they had a God-given right to a voice in what affects them. In modern times, "freedom of speech", among others, is a hot-button topic. However, our penchant for rights was only an illusion to begin with. How far from our claim to love human rights are we?
Act of War: Russia Invades Ukraine
According to several sources, war has broken out in Ukraine. Russia's advancement into Ukraine on the orders of President Vladimir Putin is unwelcome by all, but there is a lot more behind this conflict than meets the eye.
Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.
The Supreme Court will hear an important case on students’ off campus free speech today. The case, which originated in Pennsylvania, brings into question whether or not schools have the jurisdiction to censor or punish speech that takes place off campus and detached from school connected or endorsed events or property.
Seeking Advice: Girl Problems, Again
Like for many of us, March 2020 was a horrible time. Everything that I was looking forward to was canceled. In particular, an event on the weekend of the Lockdown was canceled, which is where my story today starts.
Month in Tech (January 2021)
Welcome to 2021's first Month in Tech, a roughly once-a-month column on Misintelligence featuring dahliaOS, IPFS, Matrix, the Fediverse, and other major developments in the technology and Internet world.
A President, Inciting Violence
On Wednesday, January 6, 2020, supporters of Donald Trump gathered in an initially peaceful protest of the election results on Capitol Hill. By 3 PM Eastern that afternoon, hundreds of his adherents had breached the Capitol Building.
Month in Tech (December 2020)
Hello, and welcome to Misintelligence's first Month in Tech. It'll be a roughly once-a-month (not *monthly*) column on Misintelligence featuring dahliaOS, IPFS, Matrix, the Fediverse, and other major developments in the technology and Internet world.
Misintelligence Updates
There have been a number of updates to Misintelligence recently, so here’s a quick recap, and some additional information.
Fact-Checking Donald Trump's Most Dishonest Press Conference
I’ve heard quite some horrifying things about incumbent President Donald Trump’s press conference, from an unfinished election he and his followers claim is “rigged.” Today, I took a look at the claims he made in the press conference to determine how much truth there was to his claims.
US Presidential Election of 2020
The Presidential Election of 2020 was rigorously challenged by the incumbent President Donald Trump, who was ultimately defeated by his opponent, President-Elect Joe Biden. The final blow was delivered on the morning of January 7th, 2021, and Trump conceded the election that evening.
Our latest updates to transparency tools
At XYZCO, we strongly believe in trust. We trust our users to do the right things with our products. Our users trust us to produce these products and improve them over time. Central to our trust is transparency; we’ve always been transparent with our products, and our users are always transparent with us about their uses of our products.
November Will Be Chaos
No matter who’s elected, November 2020 will unravel quickly into potentially the worst chaos of the year. Here are some of my thoughts on how this could turn out.
Reflecting on 9/11 in 2020
The attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 will be forever remembered. It will be in history books (already are in some). It is probably the largest terrorist attack ever executed, and we all hope and pray that such a tragic atrocity never happens again. However, what if I told you it has?
Revelation in 2020 (Part 2)
In the last part, I explored the possibilities for what events can categorize the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the events described when the Fifth Seal was opened. Now I'll explore more of the potential candidates that could be signs, and part of the end.
An Ages Old Gaming Quote
"If you're encountering enemies, you're going the right way." If you've been on the Internet enough, you will have heard this phrase. It's a tip to players of role-playing games (RPGs). But have you ever thought about how this is a metaphor for life?
Revelation in 2020 (Part 1)
I'm actually quite glad I finally got around to writing more about the Bible, but in today's post I'll sound like a conspiracy theorist. Because the truth is, all we can do right now is guess. There's nothing definitive, but here are a few theories for how 2020 could spell out the end of the world.
Independence is a Lie
Why do you celebrate on the fourth of July? Is it because of America's independence from the tyranny of the King? Is it because you have freedom of religion, or speech, or expression? Or do you just love to celebrate, no matter what the season? But where is the independence in America?
Re: The US Gov't is Fascist
This post is about Antifa, the newest Black Lives Matter protests, and the President's careless response to the situation. It makes me very mad to see everyone misunderstanding.
Does Remote Learning Compare?
The Great Quarantine of 2020 has taken a toll on all of us. Groups and institutions, such as schools and churches, have been hurt too. For many, school was moved online for the rest of the semester in March. How does this move to online school affect the education of students?
Dahlia OS, the First Fuchsia Fork
If you've been watching the Fuchsia community, you may have noticed another OS thrown around here and there: Dahlia, named after the flower. This raises questions such as, "If it's mature enough to fork, why isn't it mature enough to release?" and, "How come they wanted to fork it?"
An Exploration in Experiences
Since I last checked up on Fuchsia, Google's experimental new operating system, there has been a notable restructuring of Fuchsia's repositories. The shells, which were previously under the "topaz" layer, have been moved to their own repository: "experiences."
COVID-19's Effects
Joked about while it was starting in late 2019 as the plague of the 2020s to be akin to the Black Plague and other plagues in decades' 20s, the coronavirus has spread over the last few months to the world, making it no joke. Everyone's in a frenzy about it, but what is it, and why?
Bad for Games, Good for its Purpose: Oculus Go
Whenever you're watching, say, WWE matches, they advertise that you can watch them in VR. I, then, thought that there was much more to VR than just games. Nevertheless, I had always wanted to play Minecraft in VR. So when I got an Oculus Go for Christmas, I immediately had to try it out.
What does Federation Mean?
I'm not talking about the United Federation of Planets, but instead something that is real today. You've probably heard me talk about this quite a bit already, and I'm going to talk about it again. The problem is Zuckerburg and Twitter, and the solution: Federation.
What software do I use?
A lot of technology people like to share the devices and programs they use. I'm no exception, and I like to spread the word about great technology, so here is a list of some software I recommend you to use.
Trump's Impeachment: Crowdstrike and Hillary's Missing Emails
Trump wants to know who has Hillary's missing emails. According to him, Ukraine has the server with Hillary's emails that suddenly went missing in 2016. Is it his job to make sure the server is found? Is it grounds for impeachment?
Trump's Impeachment: Hunter Biden
If you've been around the news recently, you've heard that Donald Trump is the target of an impeachment scheme. I've decided to read the transcript for myself and here are some of my thoughts.
What is the Holochain?
What is the blockchain? I had this question myself, so I did a bit of research to find the answer. I was rummaging the Internet for no reason again when I found Holochain.
99th Grade Orientation
Another part of the effort to centralize the location of my short stories.
Keybase Is Centralized
I'm sure if you've been around the Internet a time or two, you've heard of Keybase. It's a great little tool that allows you to verify your identity across several websites, encrypt, decrypt, and sign data with your own key online, and even chat and send files. What could go wrong?
Is IPFS a Worthy Web 3.0 Contender?
In an optimal world, everyone will own their data and be fully responsible for it. Several technologies are arising to bring about "Web 3.0," such as IPFS. Is it worth it? Could it be better?
The Disappearance
This post was on the old Misintelligence Quotient blog on Quora. I’m posting it again here to unify the location of my short stories.
The Green
This post was on the old Misintelligence Quotient blog on Quora. I’m posting it again here to unify the location of my short stories.
News Commentary
Yes, 'Slept' is Trending on Twitter
It appears Joe Biden is actually fulfilling his most overlooked campaign promise, the nickname Trump gave him: Sleepy Joe.