Blog/November 2020/Nov 27th
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Situation: normal. Prognosis: cool and collected.
On the medical front: Esther finally got her “flu shot”. We took Mom to get her toe examined by the specialist, and he’s of the opinion the situation is improving. We’ll continue the same treatment for the next month and see him again. It would be nice if that hospital had (a lot) more parking (lots) available…
On the political front: it appears we might be in for yet another election here in the Land. At least we’re able to tally votes with minimal fuss and almost no “irregularities”, unlike the USA. Speaking of which, next week will probably see the “final movement” as cases either percolate up to the Supreme Court or are rejected. Stay tuned!
On the technical front: I’ve been working on the final release of 8th (for 2020). Mostly it’s performance and usability improvements. I’m also working on a guide to help Python users (which is 99% of programmers these days) convert their code to 8th. Some of that is easy, some is difficult due to Python’s quirky syntax. Not that I am encouraging people to switch programming languages, you understand, not at all…
On the food front: I made an awesome batch of bagels this week. It had been quite a while since my last bake; time just seems to be slipping by! In any event, these were some of the best bagels I’ve made. Next time I’ll make sure I have enough bread flour first, though.
News bites:
- A peer-reviewed study found that treatment with the “controversial” COVID hydroxychloroquine protocol reduced hospitalizations by 84%. But “Orange Man Bad”! So don’t use it. Unless it turns out Biden is in favor of it, in which case there’ll be a rush to adopt the treatment. Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia!
- BBC reports that Obama criticised Hispanic voters who chose Trump. He also said Trump put children “in cages”. The BBC, to its credit, notes that was an Obama-era innovation.
- Carl Sagan’s baloney detector: how to discern whether or not something is BS. Useful, in this era of Universal Basic BS.
- How your innocent “smart vacuum” can spy on you.
- Some “smart doorbells” come with significant security vulnerabilities. Maybe just get a dog or look out the window, you know?
- Apple’s newest OS includes an unwanted feature: some of its apps completely bypass VPNs and filters. So you think you’ve got a secure connection? Think again! This is really, really, bad stuff.
Update on the “new laptop”: since I installed Mint on it, I’ve had no problems at all. Since that was two+ weeks ago, I’m calling it for “Mint” over “Pop!”. You know you care, don’t deny it!
Our weather’s been cool, and we finally got some sorely-needed rain. We might get more rain today, and it is supposed to be cool and wet until noon on shabbat. Other than that, normal “fall” weather.
This shabbat’s menu (T-Day-lite):
homemade ḥalla,
“matzah-ball” soup,
roasted chicken,
candied yams,
braised leeks,
various wonderful salatim,
and date-nut cake.
Until next time,
shabbat shalom!
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