“Unputdownable” is a real word, but it has been a while since I’ve read a book that would fit the definition. This year’s books all had me put them down quite often, some from sheer shock, others (like this one from Longinus) to pause and reflect.
I, for one, appreciate Apple for their honesty. There is no point in sugarcoating it: the things we create with their help will be ephemeral; the things destroyed in the process through ignorance and neglect, well, whatcha gonna do?
Congratulations to Nikola Jokić on his third NBA MVP award! So, so, so well-deserved, and Rick Reilly had a good write-up of the reasons why.
“Mute notifications for 8 hours” is a godsend on WhatsApp, and the only thing that would make it better is more granularity (8 hours is the least amount of time, and the next step up is a full week). Apple’s Messages/iMessage, on the other hand, has no time-limited muting and even no way of knowing at a glance whether a pinned group chat is muted. I am no fan of Facebook/Meta, but they are eating Apple’s lunch and drinking their milkshake at the same time, and I fully expect WhatsApp to overtake Messages in the US.
🍿 The Incomparable podcast recently had a series of episodes dedicated to the Back to the Future triology so of course I had to see them all again. My favorite is still Part 1, but with time Part 3 rose up to the number 2 spot and the accompanying episode of The Incomparables has nicely outlined all of the reasons why.
The VPZD Show is back after a year-long hiatus and last week’s episode checks a lot of boxes from the Things-I’m-Interested-In list:
The last topic I listed here was what the episode starts with, and is the most poignant part. Recommended.
Many (private) assisted living facilities have started relying on 911 for lifting residents who have fallen down — a massive waste of (public) resources. WaPo asked one of the companies to comment:
Co-president Julie Simpkins declined to answer specific questions, but said in a statement that the company works “to create a collaborative approach to the over utilization of nonemergent lift assist calls” through “cross training, resource availability discussions and collaboration.”
An LLM would do a better job of deflecting than co-president Julie Simpkins, who seems to have proposed a collaborative approach through collaboration — embarrassing even by corporate-speak standards.
Of course, the problem is that firefighters don’t take money for their services, but in this particular case they may consider starting to invoice. After all, those same assisted living facilities charge their residents up to $7,000 per month for the privilege of laying on the floor until real adults come.
April came and went, but the April photoblogging challenge photos are here to stay. And this time, there were two bonus days in May!
OK, I will now stop rhyming.
For even more photos, here are my entries in the September 2023 photoblogging challenge.
“Unputdownable” is a real word, but it has been a while since I’ve read a book that would fit the definition. This year’s books all had me put them down quite often, some from sheer shock, others (like this one from Longinus) to pause and reflect.
Our bubble baby at the NIH Clinical Center playground, back when I was working there. NIH was a bubble in its on way too, of course.
My hometown highway exit the last time I was there, seven years ago. And in a few short months I’ll be back for another visit!
