[It’s a little on the nose.] Long time readers may recall my love of amusing baseball names, particular the fish-related names of Angels outfielders. So naturally, I’m delighted to tell you about a new Milwaukee Brewer named “Brewer”. This past weekend, the Brew Crew called up mi … | Continue reading
[This, too, is America.] I previously missed Todd Heisler’s remarkable photo from the Democratic National Convention, and it is very much worth a look. Todd Heisler/The New York Times via Redux via CNN Shot by New York Times staff photographer Todd Heisler, the photo features Ama … | Continue reading
[“The 10 essentials are navigation, sun protection, insulation, illumination, first-aid supplies, fire, repair kit and tools, nutrition, hydration and emergency shelter.”] One way or another, HR is surely going to have some work to do here. Link: https://www.theguardian.com/us-ne … | Continue reading
[I’m helping!] For several years, I’ve been enrolled in my power company’s “ConnectedSolutions” program. This program allows them to modulate the demand for power, by enabling them to remotely adjust customers’ thermostats to reduce load during what they call “Energy Rush Hour”s. … | Continue reading
[Friend-of-the-site Alex S. noted that this looks like dollar store wrapping paper, and he may well be right.] I don’t know a lot about doing crimes, but my gut tells me that if you want to smuggle fake watermelons-that-are-actually-drugs from Mexico to America, you should mix th … | Continue reading
[They'll be home for Christmas, if only in their dreams.] On June 5, Boeing’s Starliner launched Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS. The two astronauts were supposed to be in space for about eight days, but multiple problems which occurred after reaching orbit led NASA to … | Continue reading
[Any time you go to the ballpark, you’re likely to see something that’s never happened before.] On June 26, a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays was suspended in the second inning due to rain. At the time, Toronto’s catcher Danny Jansen at the plate. Since … | Continue reading
[We vs. I] In the upcoming US presidential election, Kamala Harris is simply the only reasonable option. Vote for decency in America. If you’re not yet registered to vote, visit vote.org to change that. Pass it on. Link: https://loudlong.wordpress.com/2024/08/09/the-choices/ | Continue reading
[Also, Deadline’s headline is a real hat on a hat.] Today in fast food nonsense, Chick-Fil-A is purportedly working on their very own streaming service. This makes even less sense than roast beef vodka. Link: https://deadline.com/2024/08/chick-fil-a-hatches-streaming-service-1236 … | Continue reading
[Mechanical controls do have some distinct security advantages.] Speaking of hacking, Wired has a great piece on the possibility of sabotaging wireless shifters on bicycles: Almost all professional cyclists now use electronic shifters, which respond to digital signals from shifte … | Continue reading
[How confident are you that you’ve never made this mistake?] A Nashville man by the name of Matthew Isaac Knoot has been arrested for running a laptop farm which allowed North Korean nationals to obtain employment with American companies. The thing I’m most curious about is how K … | Continue reading
[It could’ve been worse, certainly.] As an airline passenger, this is not quite what you want to hear from your pilot: A Skywest pilot told his passengers he wasn’t qualified to land the E175 he was flying them on to Jackson Hole last Thursday so they went to Salt Lake City inste … | Continue reading
[Forced arbitration is an abomination.] Last year, a woman with a severe dairy and nut allergy died after eating at a Walt Disney World Resort restaurant. Now, Disney is trying to get a wrongful death suit dismissed on the basis of the woman’s husband accepting a forced arbitrati … | Continue reading
[Toss a “When They Get” in there, or something.] Sometime in the next decade, Americans will hopefully once again land on the moon. When they do, they’ll have a Lunar Terrain Vehicle to tool around in. Three groups are now competing to make that vehicle, with a focus on the desig … | Continue reading
[Good on you, Michael Sentonas.] At the annual hacker convention Def Con in Las Vegas, CrowdStrike was awarded the prize for “Most Epic Fail”. That’s not too surprising, given the enormity of the global IT meltdown they caused in mid-July. What is surprising, however, is that the … | Continue reading
[But not zero] This past Saturday, I found myself watching the men’s Olympic high jump finals. This contest came down to two competitors, New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr and America’s Shelby McEwen. After both clearing 2.36 meters, they both failed on all three attempts to clear 2.38 m … | Continue reading
[Maybe he can sue them for not buying his cars.] For several years, I’ve theorized the Elon Musk’s prominent embrace of right-wing conspiracy nonsense would be bad for Tesla. The market for electric cars surely leans environmentalist, so Musk cozying up to moronic climate change … | Continue reading
[Me, I’d still run as close to naked as possible.] For some time, I’ve marveled at the appearance of world class sprinters. While swimmers in high school shave their legs, Olympic sprinters often run with hair extensions and jewelry. It sure seems like that would slow them down, … | Continue reading
[It’s the web.] Earlier this week, X Formerly Twitter sued former advertisers who left the platform over concerns that it was allowing their content to appear next to hate speech. Sure, suing advertisers for choosing not to buy ads on your decaying platform, that’s just classic f … | Continue reading
[His torso and waist had a blast.] Though the 2024 Summer Olympics are based in Paris, the surfing events are actually being contested in Tahiti. It’s more than a little strange that part of the games is so insanely far away from France. I suppose it’s also more than a little str … | Continue reading
[Whoops.] Athletes who ran the recent “City Half” course in San Francisco might have thought they’d run the fastest half-marathon of their lives. Alas, that was not correct, as noted in an email race organizers sent to short-changed participants: “It came to our attention that, d … | Continue reading
[“very happy despite the conditions she watery endured”] A dinner cruise down in Florida took a detour to effect an important rescue: “I looked out the window, and sure enough, I saw a little head swimming by,” [Captain Terry Johns] tells PEOPLE. Johns says he saw the dog swimmin … | Continue reading
[Perhaps the tires should be taken out of the equation.] Last weekend, Formula One driver George Russell crossed the finish line first, beating his teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.526 seconds. Alas, Russell was disqualified due to his 796.5 kg car being 1.5 kg (~3.3 lbs) under the m … | Continue reading
[“It's not democratic, it's not a republic, and it’s definitely not glorious!”] Speaking of the Olympics, South Korea was just a wee bit ticked off after the opening ceremonies. Olympic organisers have issued a “deep apology” after South Korea’s athletes were mistakenly introduce … | Continue reading
[We can do better than this.] In what was meant to be a promotional puff piece for a new AI companion device called “Friend”, I read something that sounds about as dystopian as it gets: The Friend purely offers companionship. It’s meant to develop a personality that complements t … | Continue reading
[“Emmanuel Morgan…interviewed Snoop Dogg after Snoop took a nap in a van.”] In an effort to liven up their Olympics coverage, NBC has turned to Snoop Dogg. While I hope folks enjoy his work, I am confident that no matter how well Snoop does, nothing will be as entertaining as the … | Continue reading
[“The writer is president of the United States.”] This morning, President Biden proposed three common sense reforms related to the US Supreme Court. In his words: We can and must prevent the abuse of presidential power. We can and must restore the public’s faith in the Supreme Co … | Continue reading
[That’s more than a little awkward.] Last Friday’s CrowdStrike issue led to all manner of outages across the ol’ internet. One of the most amusing has to be the failure of the Mercedes F1 team’s computers, given that Mercedes is sponsored by, you guessed it, CrowdStrike. All eyes … | Continue reading
[Climate change is bad, y’all.] Passenger trains in America are not great compared to Europe and Asia, but Amtrak’s service on the Northeast Corridor from Boston to D.C. is decent.1 It’s not nearly as speedy as it could be, but I enjoy the minimal stress of taking the train down … | Continue reading
[Do buy Mitchell’s Fresh, and enjoy.] A decade and a half ago, I expressed my distaste for vacuum-sealed shelf-stable salsa. As I noted at the time, if you’re in a grocery store, there is almost certainly fresh-made salsa a few aisles over. It’s similarly priced, but a vastly sup … | Continue reading
[Their systems are so obsolete that modern malware isn’t compatible.] Last week, an issue with a system update to cybersecurity software CrowdStrike took out a wide swath of Windows-based systems, including those helping many airlines run. Unaffected, however, was Southwest. Appa … | Continue reading
[Thank you for your service, Joe.] On Sunday, Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election in America. He then endorsed his vice-president, Kamala Harris, and she is now the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. Should she indeed be the Democratic candidate in Nov … | Continue reading
[Who’s a good boy?!] There ain’t no rule says a dog can’t play video game baseball, so Peanut Butter the Shiba Inu went ahead and did. Previously in dogs doing human activities: Ain’t No Rule Says the Dog Can’t Adventure Race Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-c … | Continue reading
[As an added bonus, it features some dinner theatre!] Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, “Utopia of the Seas”, will enter service tomorrow. Should you ever find yourself aboard it, know that for some reason, you can get away from it all by taking a virtual train ride. That includes a … | Continue reading
[“Why is it stinging?”] I’ve never really understood the imbibing of unpleasant spirits. If something tastes bad, and it’s not actual medicine, well, it’s not for me. Still, I know some people revel in it. For them, Jared Belden took a bad spirit (Malört) and made it worse. Enter … | Continue reading
[As if England’s national team needed this jinx.] A decade ago, I declared that if you need someone to tell you your tattoo idea is shitty, I’m your man. That offer still stands true. To each their own, of course, but I am simply not a fan of tattoos. So, at your request, I will … | Continue reading
[“Unplug me”] Google and Microsoft used an absolutely massive amount of electricity in 2023. No doubt other tech companies did as well. Tech giants Google and Microsoft each consumed 24 TWh each of electricity during 2023, surpassing the consumption of more than 100 countries, ne … | Continue reading
[“Pixelify” might not be a word, but it should be.] Japanese designer Monoli creates polished crystals that pixelify what you see. Check out what the Pixel Mirror can do: The effect is nicely demonstrated in this video: Your browser doesn’t support the video tag. Click to downloa … | Continue reading
[Don’t copy that floppy, either!] Apparently, 2008’s Higher Education Opportunity Act required American colleges to work at stemming the tide of piracy taking place on their campuses, due in no small part to the high-speed connections to which students had access. As part of this … | Continue reading
[We really ought to be better than this.] If you run out of ammunition while attempting to blast delivery drones out of the sky like Yosemite Sam, don’t worry. America is also a place where you can purchase bullets from an AI-powered vending machine, which is definitely something … | Continue reading
[The answer seems to be “Potentially severe penalties”, which seems reasonable.] America is a land where we have incredibly futuristic autonomous vehicles, alongside justified concerns that some star-spangled ding dongs will shoot them with a gun. Link: https://techcrunch.com/202 … | Continue reading
[Will we accept imperfect improvements?] While on a brief visit to San Francisco last month, I saw several of Waymo’s autonomously driven taxis. It really felt like the future. Sure, most everyone now carries a magic glass rectangle that can tell them just about anything, but sma … | Continue reading
[Thanks, ants. Thants.] Scientists have learned that carpenter ants will perform potentially life-saving amputations on their nest mates. Nature is wild. Link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jul/02/ants-emergency-amputations-injured-nest-mates-study | Continue reading
[Oh, sorry for the crossword puzzle spoiler, I guess.] Today’s New York Times crossword puzzle offered the clue “Like Red Delicious apples”. The answer was, correctly, “Mealy”. Finally, someone is speaking the truth about these sorry excuses for apples. This caused me to wonder h … | Continue reading
[The seats feature a dedicated bathroom attendant named Horatio.] Listen, I recognize that this is just another form of advertising, at a low-level minor league baseball park. Nevertheless, I find I can’t help but link to a row of literal toilet seats at Classic Park, home of the … | Continue reading
[That’s going to be an expensive Uber ride.] The 2028 Summer Olympics will be hosted by Los Angeles. However, at least two events will take place 1,300 miles away, in Oklahoma City. I look forward to stories four years from now detailing the travails of confused attendees trying … | Continue reading
[Good thing they had that 60-day return policy.] On April 12, a woman named Lisa Pisano received a transplanted pig kidney. Less than two months later, Wired ran a story with the headline “Woman Who Received Pig Kidney Transplant Has It Removed”. Though that’s factual, it also so … | Continue reading
[That’s not something you train for.] Few things in life worth attaining are easy to attain. Overcoming obstacles is part of what brings meaning to achieving something. In sprinter Kendall Ellis’s case, one obstacle before she could claim a spot on the 2024 Olympic team was needi … | Continue reading