Month: November 2019

Ellicott City — how to plan for 1000-year storms

I used to live in the Baltimore/DC sprawl and loved going to Ellicott City for holiday shopping -- a quaint and friendly town. Now they're famous for trying to stay alive when its historical downtown is subject to unpredictable, but greatly damaging, floods without any notice. This is long, but highlights many problems that are … Continue reading Ellicott City — how to plan for 1000-year storms →

Eating by yourself is just fine

How to Eat Alone (and Like It) Table for one? It’s not as bad as it sounds. Here’s how to dine by yourself and enjoy every bite. By Jess McHugh Oct. 30, 2019 When the ancient Roman politician Lucius Lucullus noticed his night’s menu looking dull, he gave instructions to his cook to prepare a lavish, multiple-course feast. … Continue reading Eating by yourself is just fine →

Amazon needs to pay some attention to GoodReads

Altho one can differ on details of the changes to GoodReads suggested in this article, there's absolutely no doubt that GoodReads needs an update and expansion. I'm generally pretty patient with sloppy software but trying to anything beyond adding and rating a book is downright painful. Amazon bought it because it would bring people to … Continue reading Amazon needs to pay some attention to GoodReads →

Changing to a local model for utilities may help react quickly to climate crisis-caused disasters

One unexpected side effect of the massive California fires is the recognition that Pacific Gas & Electric, a traditional model utility, is totally unable to deal promptly with the causes of the fires or how to provide power while the fires rage. Desperate localities are beginning to think seriously about forming much smaller, locally owned … Continue reading Changing to a local model for utilities may help react quickly to climate crisis-caused disasters →

Insulin not the only drug facing critical shortages in the U.S.

One point not explicitly made is that we live in a global economy. If China is the source of medicines critical to U.S. healthcare, should we truly be wrecking both their economy and ours with arbitrary tariffs? U.S. hospitals, FDA grapple with shortages of lifesaving drugs Oct. 31, 201901:40Nov. 2, 2019, 6:12 AM EDT / Updated Nov. 2, … Continue reading Insulin not the only drug facing critical shortages in the U.S. →

Don’t ignore audiobooks as part of your reading (or re-reading)

Listening to a book by an excellent narrator adds many layers to the joy of great writing, great plotting, great characters or (sometimes) all three. If you drive, audiobooks can save your sanity. Here's a fuller explication of how audiobooks can improve your life. https://bookriot.com/2019/11/07/rereading-books-on-audio/? THE JOYS OF REREADING BOOKS ON AUDIO LAURA SACKTON11-07-19 When … Continue reading Don’t ignore audiobooks as part of your reading (or re-reading) →

Fine interview of Ta-Nehisi Coates, well-known author of commentary, about his first novel

Just got this novel out of the library. Coates is a very thoughtful writer about our times and the important issues that deserve consideration. This blog entry on the Audible site is excellent background about his first novel. https://www.audible.com/blog/arts-culture/tanehisi-coates-water-dancer-big-splash/? Ta-Nehisi Coates' 'The Water Dancer' Makes A Big Splash Abby West interviews Ta-Nehisi Coates By Abby West Oct … Continue reading Fine interview of Ta-Nehisi Coates, well-known author of commentary, about his first novel →

Setting up fall detection on your Apple Watch

Fall detection on the Apple Watch is a major safety feature for older people whose very life can depend on not falling. Often the inactivity required as part of the recovery from a fall can bring on respiratory ailments and more. Trick is to avoid falling in the first place. But, if you can't do … Continue reading Setting up fall detection on your Apple Watch →

Great graphic about how Google’s online advertising system works

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-google-edged-out-rivals-and-built-the-worlds-dominant-ad-machine-a-visual-guide-11573142071?mod=hp_lead_pos8 Includes ally. the steps along the trail that led Google to its current pre-eminent position in the internet advertising field. Am not sure you will be able to click thru, but figured it would be worth posting the link or you to try.

Millenials will find it almost impossible to reach the living standards of boomers

In many ways, this is simply another grim restating of facts already known about the the lower incomes earned by millenials than the comparable, inflation-adjusted earnings of boomers at their ages. What's become clear however is that the difference in earnings between generations is not reducing as millenials get older. The types of work available … Continue reading Millenials will find it almost impossible to reach the living standards of boomers →

How many scientists does it take to persuade the globe we have a climate emergency??

I had the most incredibly depressing conversation the other day with someone whose opinion I highly respect basically saying that people won't make the necessary changes to fight the climate emergency and that, as a result, we're doomed. Personally, I'm still trying each day to find new things that I can do and additional people … Continue reading How many scientists does it take to persuade the globe we have a climate emergency?? →