Herb Bowie's Blog From the Desk of H. Bowie https://hbowie.net/blog/atom.xml 2026-03-08T22:36:24Z Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Released Notenik Version 18.6.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1860 2026-03-08T12:00:00Z 2026-03-08T22:36:09Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Added an optional menu bar extra (for the right side of the menu bar); fixed limited Markdown parsing of the Title field to leave underscores within words undisturbed.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.6.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published "Why AI is Different" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-why-ai-is-different 2026-03-05T12:00:00Z 2026-03-05T18:33:18Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Eight ways in which AI is different from prior tech advances. My most surprising conclusion: “AI is effectively a societal regression from information agriculture to information foraging.”

hbowie.net/writings/why-ai-is-different.html

#Ai #Tech

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.5.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1850 2026-02-23T12:00:00Z 2026-03-08T22:26:51Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Fixed an image-related bug in the Web Book Export as Site function; Eliminated unnecessary image icons in menu items; Added option for resolving relative wiki links when using the Share with Options function; Refinement of styling handling in note titles; Refinement of file naming to accommodate some meaningful punctuation characters.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.5.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published The Value of Autonomy https://hbowie.net/blog/published-the-value-of-autonomy 2026-02-23T12:00:00Z 2026-03-04T20:48:40Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ I think we all understand instinctively why some degree of autonomy is important to every human: freedom feels good, and constraints often feel stifling and restrictive. But why is autonomy important to our species? Why, in other words, did we humans evolve to value autonomy, and to so regularly exercise it?

abouthumans.net/the-value-of-autonomy.html

#Humanism

]]> Published An Appreciation for The Thin Man https://hbowie.net/blog/published-an-appreciation-for-the-thin-man 2026-02-23T12:00:00Z 2026-02-23T23:27:11Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ In my judgment, this is one of those rare cases where the film is actually better than the book, without sacrificing much of value from the written text. I’ve watched the film repeatedly over the years and my appreciation for it has only grown with each viewing.

hbowie.net/writings/an-appreciation-for-the-thin-man.html

#Film

]]> Finished reading *Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope* by Sarah Bakewell https://hbowie.net/blog/finished-reading-humanly-possible-by-sarah-bakewell 2026-02-12T12:00:00Z 2026-02-12T18:18:50Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ An informative, enlightening and interesting account of the history of humanistic thought, introducing us to many of the significant figures originally giving voice to such ideas.

rating: ★★★★★

literatibookstore.com/book/9780735223394

#Books #Humanism

]]> Published "My Education in Racial Superiority" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-my-education-in-racial-superiority 2026-02-11T12:00:00Z 2026-02-11T17:02:41Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ I am, to all appearances, white, and my ancestry, as far as it can be determined, is mostly European.

But please don’t hold that against me.

hbowie.net/writings/my-education-in-racial-superiority.html

#Humanism #Race

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.4.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1840 2026-02-10T12:00:00Z 2026-02-10T19:27:04Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Provided a way to use subfolders, but specify some that should not be treated as Notenik collections (in response to a user request). Plus some other minor refinements.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.4.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published "Over Seventy Important Things" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-over-seventy-important-things 2026-01-30T12:00:00Z 2026-01-30T17:22:11Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ My new web book, at AboutHumans.net, now catalogs over seventy Important Things to Know About Humans! This is a crazy number, because we usually oversimplify our understandings of our own natures to fit into some straightforward models. But we are complex beasts!

abouthumans.net/over-seventy-important-things.html

#Humanism

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.3.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1830 2026-01-29T12:00:00Z 2026-01-29T21:16:02Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Various and sundry improvements including some new/enhanced provisions for outlining. Also a new starter pack focused on use of the PARA organizational method (making good use of outlining).

notenik.app/kb/version-18.3.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published "New Speedway Boogie" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-new-speedway-boogie 2026-01-16T12:00:00Z 2026-01-16T21:18:26Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ “New Speedway Boogie” is a song prompted by the tragedy at Altamont over fifty years ago, but it has plenty of meaning for us today as well.

hbowie.net/writings/new-speedway-boogie.html

#GratefulDead #Songs

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.2.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1820 2026-01-07T12:00:00Z 2026-01-16T21:15:54Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Added new Markdown commands to generate useful HTML head metadata when exporting a Web Book as a site.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.2.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.1.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1810 2025-12-12T12:00:00Z 2025-12-15T17:28:29Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Additional improvements targeted on web book publishing.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.1.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Finished reading *The Hunter* by Tana French https://hbowie.net/blog/finished-reading-the-hunter-by-tana-french 2025-12-01T12:00:00Z 2025-12-02T01:23:40Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ This is a sequel to The Searcher, featuring the same characters. Pretty good, but not quite as fun as the first book, since we already know the main characters, and they don’t evolve a whole lot in this book.

rating: ★★★

www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/11/the-hunter-by-tana-...

#Books

]]> Released Notenik Version 18.0.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1800 2025-11-14T12:00:00Z 2025-11-14T18:25:38Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Further improvements mostly focused on web book publishing.

notenik.app/kb/version-18.0.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Released Notenik Version 17.9.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1790 2025-10-30T12:00:00Z 2025-11-14T18:24:13Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Some additional Tahoe refinements, plus some improvements for web book publishing.

notenik.app/kb/version-17.9.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published "The Problem with AI Art" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-the-problem-with-ai-art 2025-10-17T12:00:00Z 2025-10-17T23:49:11Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Published a new piece on the problems I see with AI-generated “art”. The web is full of opinions on the subject, so I thought I would add my thoughts to the mix — with some original insights and observations, hopefully.

hbowie.net/writings/the-problem-with-ai-art.html

#Ai #Art

]]> Released Notenik Version 17.8.0 https://hbowie.net/blog/released-notenik-version-1780 2025-10-14T12:00:00Z 2025-10-17T23:44:08Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Fixed a few problems, and added an export scripting module, so that a web book can be exported via a Notenik script.

notenik.app/kb/version-17.8.0.html

#Notenik #Pkm

]]> Published "Pay It No Mind" https://hbowie.net/blog/published-pay-it-no-mind 2025-10-07T12:00:00Z 2025-10-07T22:20:14Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ “Pay It No Mind” is a lovely little song from Sarah Jarosz, and seems like a perfect accompaniment for the times we find ourselves in, so I wrote up a little appreciation for it.

hbowie.net/writings/pay-it-no-mind.html

#Songs

]]> Finished watching *Unforgotten Season 6* by Chris Lang https://hbowie.net/blog/finished-watching-unforgotten-season-6 2025-10-01T12:00:00Z 2025-10-02T16:45:19Z Herb Bowie https://hbowie.net/ Finished watching the PBS Masterpiece Mystery series season 6 of Unforgotten, and it was really good. I’ve watched lots of Masterpiece Mystery shows and similar fare, and after a while they seem to lean more into the appeal of their folksy detectives, and away from their plots and characters. This series went completely in the opposite direction. So many rich characters, and so much great acting, and so many interesting stories within the story! And very contemporary and topical, in interesting and unexpected ways. Good stuff!

rating: ★★★★

www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/shows/unforgotten/

#Unforgotten

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