A collection of digital wonders and some other stuff
My dad got his first Covid-19 vaccine this morning. He’s got an appointment for the second shot next month. I booked it for him shortly after they opened for reservations. I think it’s probably pretty common for “kids” to book for their elderly parents. It feels a lot like trying to get concert tickets—you don’t mess around.
Ingredients
1. You may have to experiment and adjust the time for less or more powerful microwaves. If you don’t know the power level on your microwave, start with 60 seconds and increase until the brownie is done. It should still be moist when cooked through.
Update: I tried this recipe with my grade five class and a few of them complained that the chocolate was a bit strong / bitter. I think they may not have been careful about stirring thoroughly but also they may not have a taste for lots of cocoa. I added some sugar on top and they liked that.
(via)
Dave Winer just released a new app called Threadviewer. Here’s how it works:
You give it the ID of a tweet that’s at the top of a thread. The app loads all the tweets it can find that are replies to the tweet with that ID, written by the author of the original tweet and shows them inside a box, in chronologic order, as a nice sequence of easy to read paragraphs.
Next, just copy and paste from the Threadviewer.com output and Twitter can be a writing space for posts you want to use in other places on the web.
Here’s an example of a Threadviewer URL.
I’ve only been a fan of Donald McNeil’s reporting since I first heard him on The Daily podcast last spring when the first wave of the pandemic was just getting rolling. McNeil spoke matter-of-factly and provided some much needed guidance in a world full of speculation and fear. He explained how testing, isolation, and contact tracing were the three tools that were going to get us through this mess. From that point on whenever McNeil was on the podcast I would parrot the information to friends and coworkers, and I felt like I knew what I was talking about concerning the pandemic. It was more than just great reporting — his reporting was full of information and history. They don’t have a prize for this, but they should. It’s reporting that’s useful, timely, and life-saving.
Last month I read about The New York Times’ decision to fire McNeil. Apparently, he had used the N-word while talking with students on a New York Times field trip for wealthy American teens in Peru. His statement:
“I was asked at a dinner by a student whether I thought a classmate of hers should have been suspended for a video she had made as a 12-year-old in which she used a racial slur. To understand what was in the video, I asked if she had called someone else the slur or whether she was rapping or quoting a book title. In asking the question, I used the slur itself. I should not have done that. Originally, I thought the context in which I used this ugly word could be defended. I now realize that it cannot. It is deeply offensive and hurtful. The fact that I even thought I could defend it itself showed extraordinarily bad judgment. For that I apologize.”
Is it just me or does this apology sounds like it was written by lawyers?
Anyway, more details started to leak out. It was strange that the Times also let go Andy Mills — notorious drink dumper and misogynous Caliphate podcast dude — on the same day. You can’t help but wonder about the timing. What does one have to do with the other? We may never know.
Last week McNeil responded to the students’ accusations in four parts on Medium. It took me awhile to get to all four parts but it’s recommended reading, this guy knows how to write:
After reading his side of the story, and there may be more the story that even McNeil doesn’t realize, but if we take him at his word that this is what happened, I’m left thinking that the Times made a huge mistake and I look forward to hopefully hearing from McNeil at his next gig.
Greg would’ve been 41 today. Instead he’s forever 18. Here we are about age 4 or 5.
I try not to pay too much attention to advertising in general but this shoe ad at Daring Fireball caught my eye tonight:
Hey Daring Fireball readers, many of you are familiar with Atoms, and a lot of you wear our shoes and the comfortable masks we make. We are currently sold out of almost all of our shoes because Humans of New York did an in depth story on our co-founder Sidra’s personal journey. So this week, instead of ordering with Atoms, we would encourage you to support relief efforts in Texas.
So I checked out the Humans of New York story and found it very inspiring. I think you should read it too.
Now I want to buy their sold out shoes.
Frederico Viticci has a handy shortcut that allows one to take his or her screenshots from iOS and watchOS and automatically superimpose them onto a template mock-up of the Apple device they were taken on.
Like this:
(Via macstories)
My brother-in-law has a security camera mounted on his house in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that caught a few seconds of this meteor flying over Canada yesterday.
People all over Alberta and Saskatchewan are reporting their experiences catching glimpses of the celestial boulder.
From the 2nd grade reader, “More Friends and Neighbours” comes a classic tale of a husband biting off more than he could chew. He learns an important lesson along the way.
I’m not sure where the book came from, but I’ve been reading it to my kids lately. I enjoy reading the old fashioned style as well the gender norms of a bygone era are also interesting. I remember my mom (or possibly grandma) used to tell me this same story at bedtime. Enjoy:
Once there was a farmer who thought his work in the fields was too hard.
Every night when he came to his house on the hillside, he was very, very tired. Then he would say to his wife, “What do you do all day while I am working hard in the fields?”
“I keep house,” said his wife.
“Pooh, pooh! That’s so easy,” he said. “I wish I had nothing to do but churn and boil porridge and keep the house clean.”
One night the man’s wife said to him, “Tomorrow I will change work with you. I will go to the fields to work, and you shall keep house and watch the baby.”
“Pooh, pooh!” he said. “That’s easy. Boiling porridge and churning will be a pleasant change for me.”
From Main Street USA to Galaxy’s Edge The Sounds of Disneyland has all the music from the Walt’s California based theme parks (Disneyland and California Adventure).
A lot of the music only works as a short diversion in nostalgia but I particularly like playing the song Rancho Del Zocalo (from Frontierland) as background music when I’ve cooked a Hello Fresh recipe for the family. There’s something about the mandolin and guitar duet that simulates the restaurant experience.
