Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of Steve Jobs unveiling the Macintosh, the first successful mass-marketed computer with a graphical user interface. My first “Mac” wasn’t until my 2015 MacBook Pro but as a third grade kid my parents got me an Apple II1 which I loved and on which I learned to code BASIC.
Pricing for the original Macintosh started at $2,495, equivalent to over $7,000 today. Key specs and features included an 8 MHz processor, 128 KB of RAM, a 400 KB floppy disk drive for storage, and serial ports for connecting a printer and other accessories.
Technically it was a third party clone of an Apple II but at that age I didn’t really know the difference[↩]
I found it shocking — having grown up in multicultural Canada — when an older relative of mine, who grew up in Germany during the war, shared that Hitler wasn’t all bad and had a lot of good ideas. I pushed back but mostly chalked it up to them being in their 90s and maybe losing a bit of their senility.
Bastian Allgeier, a designer and developer from Neckargemünd, Germany shares his grandfather’s story and ultimately how the world is cultivating Nazis like it’s 1930.
Nazism isn’t dead, it’s just dormant searching for willing hosts.
Some sections are memoir. I describe moments like trying to get my New York Times colleagues to believe me that a pandemic was coming. Moments like almost being kidnapped in a gorilla-hunting village in Cameroon. And moments like recently discovering that, at the very dawn of the pandemic, some top scientists misled me when I was trying to check out rumors that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese lab.
Some sections are historical. I describe the roots of human illnesses in our decision 11,000 years ago to domesticate animals, and enumerate the effects of pandemics on Athens and Sparta, the crumbling Roman Empire, the Renaissance, Napoleon’s conquests and World Wars I and II.
Some sections are journalistic. I describe why the world failed for decades to protect women in Africa against AIDS. I detail successes like Vietnam’s fight against tuberculosis, Egypt’s against hepatitis C and Cuba’s against AIDS.
Some are prescriptive. I explain why I think we need a Pentagon for disease, should ban religious exemptions to vaccines, should sometimes let Big Pharma break antitrust laws, and should recruit “witch doctors” into the medical system.
“The Jenkins” comic strip originally centred around three brothers — Barney, Butch and Junior Jenkins — living in their parents’ basement but it’s also just absurd. Here are a some gems:
This morning I got a notification that King Charles has an enlarged prostate. Shortly after that my phone tells me Princess Kate is recovering from some form of abdominal surgery. I can’t help but think that maybe I’m getting too many notifications.
I’ve been reading the novel Hawaii by James Michener which takes place in Lahaina, Maui and it got me thinking about the fire there last August. I visited there in 2019 and loved seeing the largest Banyan tree in the US.
I remember seeing aerial photos of the damage and wondering if the tree survived.
The heart of Lahaina, the historic town on Maui that burned in a deadly wildfire that killed at least 100 people, reopened Monday to residents and business owners holding day passes.
[…]
The reopened areas include Banyan Tree Park, home to a 150-year-old tree that burned in the fire but that is now sprouting new leaves, Lahaina Public Library, King Kamehameha III Elementary School and popular restaurants.
My daughter found this recipe in The Disney Princess Cookbook and she was delighted when I ran out to get some whipped-cream for the dessert she suggested. As per the original directions, we substituted Greek vanilla yogurt for the pudding but then we also added some chocolate granola on top. It was beautiful and delicious but I forgot to snap a photo of our creations.
Directions
Spoon a little pudding into the bottoms of two parfait glasses.
Top the pudding with a layer of fresh berries, followed by a big dollop of whipped cream.
Repeat step 1.
Add one more layer of pudding.
Top each parfait with a small blob of whipped cream garnished with 1 or 2 fresh berries.
Cut potatoes into quarters. Toss potatoes with 1 TBSP oil (dbl for 4ppl) on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the middle of the oven, until golden-brown, 25-28 min.
Prep & Cook Beef
While potatoes roast; strip 1 TBSP thyme leaves (dbl for 4ppl) off stems. Roughly chop parsley. Peel, then mince or grate garlic.
Heat a large pot over medium-high heat.
When hot, add 1 tsp oil (dbl for 4ppl), then beef. Cook, breaking up beef into smaller pieces, until no pink remains, 4-5 min.
Season with salt and pepper. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a large bowl. Discard any remaining beef fat in the pot.
Cook Mirepoix
Reduce heat to medium, then add 1 TBSP butter (dbl for 4ppl), mirepoix, thyme and half the garlic to the same pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mirepoix softens slightly, 3-4 min. Add beef and any juices from the bowl. Sprinkle with flour. Cook, stirring often, until flour coats veggies and beef, 1-2 min.
Cook Stew
Add broth concentrates, vinegar, soy sauce and 2 cups water (db| for 4ppl) to the pot.
Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring together, until stew thickens slightly and veggies are tender, 10-12 min.
Make Garlic Toast
While stew cooks, combine remaining garlic and 1 TBSP oil (double for 4 people) in a small bowl.
Cut each roll in half lengthwise. Place rolls cut-side up on another baking sheet and brush with garlic oil. Toast in the top of the oven, until lightly golden-brown, 5-6 min.
(TIP: Keep an eye on your toast so that it does not burn!)
Finish and Serve
Add roasted potatoes to the stew and stir to combine. Divide stew between bowls. Serve with garlic toast alongside. Sprinkle parsley over both the stew and garlic toasts.
A 13-year-old competitive Tetris player became the first known human to beat the game on the original NES by forcing it into a kill screen. The player, Willis Gibson, at the same time broke world records for overall score, level achieved, and total numbers of lines in the 34-year-old game. Previously, only an AI had been able to “break” Tetris.
In 2010, professional competitive gamer Thor Aackerlund managed to reach level 30 by using a technique called hypertapping, where a player vibrates their fingers in a way which moves the controller faster than the in-game speed.
This led to other gamers adopting hypertapping and other techniques to see how far they could go — but as of last month, only AI had been able to reach the game’s true kill screen.
A kill screen happens when a player reaches a level which causes the game to crash.
At the end of his 38-minute run, Willis’ screen crashes and blocks no longer come down as he beats the game.
The teenager — who goes by the name of Blue Scuti on YouTube — has played the game since he was 11, and has competed in several gaming tournaments.
Whether or not you care about Tetris, don’t miss his reaction at the end of this video.
