Wrapping up the second quarter
Here is the state of things as we go into the second half of 2023:The government-owned but independently-edited newspaper Wiener Zeitung published its last daily paper issue today after being in...
View ArticleThe back half of 2023
Welcome to July. Hard to believe, right?I'm traveling today so regular posting continues tomorrow.And happy birthday, Canada.
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No hurry to get to Ravinia tonight
I've got tickets to see Straight No Chaser with some chorus friends at Ravinia Park tonight—on the lawn. Unfortunately, for the last 8 hours or so, our weather radar has looked like this:I haven't got...
View ArticleHottest day in modern humanity
Monday was the hottest day on the planet in 125,000 years. Yesterday was hotter:Tuesday was the hottest day on Earth since at least 1979, with the global average temperature reaching 17.18°C, according...
View ArticleWhy am I inside?
I'm in my downtown office today, with its floor-to-ceiling window that one could only open with a sledgehammer. The weather right now makes that approach pretty tempting. However, as that would be a...
View ArticleLife, uh, finds a way
Razib Khan looks at where modern humans came from in light of recent genetic analyses, and how the Toba eruption 74,000 YBP gave our particular lineage an opening our ancestors exploited, wiping out...
View ArticleThe Religious Right, uh, finds a way
New York Times columnist and former Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse summarizes the frightening success of the Religious Right under the Roberts court:Yes, democracy survived [the Supreme...
View ArticleFlorida's in hot water
Sea-surface temperatures around our embarrassing southern peninsula have passed 32°C, significantly warmer than normal:Not only is Florida sizzling in record-crushing heat, but the ocean waters that...
View ArticleAmerica's first craft brewery ceases operations
The United States has had an explosion of craft brewing in the past 15 years, thanks to relaxed regulations and a nearly-universal revulsion among serious beer drinkers for the mass-produced swill from...
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Run, you clever unit tests, and pass
The first day of a sprint is the best day to consolidate three interfaces with three others, touching every part of the application that uses data. So right now, I am watching most of my unit tests...
View ArticleThey've stopped acting because they're pissed
The Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA voted to strike today, halting most TV and film production worldwide (and even ending the Oppenheimer red carpet). The Timesexplains:About 160,000 television and movie...
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Early efforts
When I moved to my current house, I planned to hook up my ancient cassette player to a stereo system in my library. So I got my ancient cassettes out of storage and brought them to the new place. It...
View ArticleClearer air on an "inside" day
I had one of those "why am I working inside today?" moments when I got my lunch a few minutes ago. The obvious answer—Cassie needs dog food—doesn't always work when it's 27°C and sunny. It did get me...
View ArticleMissed a milestone
I forgot at the time that my post yesterday afternoon was the 9,000th since The Daily Parker began in May 1998.I generally care more about the "modern era" since I began posting in a true blog format...
View ArticleThree notable deaths
An entertainer, a criminal, and an architect died this week, and we should remember them all.The most notable person to die was singer Tony Bennet, 96:His peer Frank Sinatra called him the greatest...
View ArticleCalm moment before chaos
I'm having a few people over for a BBQ this evening, several of them under 10 years old, and several of them dogs. I've got about 45 minutes before I have to start cutting vegetables. Tomorrow will be...
View ArticleNailed to the perch
This Twitter is no more. It has ceased to be. It has expired and gone to meet its maker. Bereft of life, he rests in peace.John Scalzi has my favorite take so far:Twitter was its own specific thing,...
View ArticleAtlantic thermohaline circulation wobbles
Back in 1990, journalist James Burke produced a documentary for PBS called "After the Warming," which looked back from an imagined 2050 to explain how and why palm trees came to grow in Boston. The...
View ArticleSinéad O'Connor dead at 56
The Irish Times reported this morning that the controversial singer and author of a hunk of my university-days soundtrack died unexpectedly yesterday:In a statement, the singer’s family said: “It is...
View ArticleStuff to read later
I'm still working on the feature I described in my last post. So some articles have stacked up for me to read:The US Senate has the second-highest average age in its 234-year history, with 34 members...
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