The storage shelves of my fantasy steampunk CGI starship will need props with appropriate vintage logos. #blender3d
Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study
Globally, Covid cases exceeded 250 million this month. The virus is still infecting 50 million people worldwide every 90 days due to the highly transmissible Delta variant, with thousands dying each day. Now a systematic review and meta analysis of non-pharmaceutical interventions has found for the first time that mask wearing, social distancing and handwashing…
Yesterday it was 298 so this is actually a good number.
I'm in the timeline where the Borg are everywhere and Riker doesn't want to go back.
The battle against airborne COVID has shifted. Why your mask is the last layer of defence
There has been a paradigm shift in the thinking behind mask use, to the current emphasis on protecting oneself as opposed to the initial consideration of keeping others safe from what we might be exhaling, said Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto. “The game has changed,” he said. “We’re not…
After some long-delayed recabling, these are the bits I culled from my work setup.
WAOB MisSpelled (final episode airs)
The final episode of the fantasy/comedy audio miniseries “MisSpelled” drops today. A full voice cast, sound effects, original music, and a great story. I only wish I had met more of the cast in person! We were churning out these recordings in groups right before the pandemic. As the lockdown eased up, I returned to…
Axios journalism style delivers traditional news content in scannable format
In addition to the fact that it’s good news that a federal judge is responding rationally to science, logic, and our basic human obligation to care for the most vulnerable members of our society, I’m also interested in the way Axios labels each paragraph of this news story and supplies details with bullet points. It’s…
The Inner Light (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 25) When a probe-zapped Picard lives lives snuffed by a star, that’s a-plot twist
Rewatching ST:TNG When a space probe zaps Picard unconscious, he wakes up in a civilian house, where a woman calls him “Kamin,” and says he has been feverish for days. Out exploring, Picard happens upon a tree planting ceremony. The leader is Kamin’s friend Batai, who answers Picard’s questions with concern. When Picard returns to…
Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death
Simulations are powerful tools for understanding our world. Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death explores the surprising intersection between craft and forensic science. It also tells the story of how a woman co-opted traditionally feminine crafts to advance the male-dominated field of police investigation and to establish…
Snape and Ginny at the Hogwarts Club event.
I Was Taught From a Young Age to Protect My Dynastic Wealth
One of the heirs to the Disney fortune explains (and critiques) the mindset of the super-rich. If your comfort requires that society be structured so that a decent percentage of your fellow citizens live in a constant state of terror about whether they’ll get health care in an emergency, or whether they can keep a…
Loki’s Loop Escape Room
Great concept for a virtual escape room devoted to debunking fake information online. For years a supplement called “Euphorigen” has been used by the very wealthy to boost brain activity and productivity. Now the Government wants to make the benefits of Euphorigen available to everyone by introducing it into the public water supply. The company…
The Next Phase (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 24) Ghost Ro Meets Ghost LaForge
Rewatching ST:TNG A transporter accident causes LaForge and Ro to wander the Enterprise-D like ghosts. The teaser begins in medias res, with the Enterprise responding to a Romulan distress call. While prepping to beam over, Ro snarks at Riker under her breath, but backs down when challenged. The Romulans, who seem almost overwhelmed by the…
Lies about history in Texas can be traced to the Lone Star State’s own Big Lie: The Alamo
Yet many Texans feel they need the Alamo story. As one of the authors of Forget the Alamo stated, the myth speaks to what many Texans desperately want to believe about their state: that it arose from heroic circumstances, and that there’s a reason Texas is special. This includes the current crop of Republican Texas legislators. Instead of allowing critical…
Van Gogh Immersive Experience
Texas School Censors All Of ‘Huck Finn’ Except The N-Words (Satire from The Onion)
Is it only a matter of time until this prediction comes true? Texas School Censors All Of ‘Huck Finn’ Except The N-Words https://t.co/euXZsi7z25 pic.twitter.com/qRWoknjt6H — The Onion (@TheOnion) October 28, 2021
I, Borg (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 23) Adolescent Borg Bonds with LaForge
Rewatching ST:TNG When a landing party encounters a badly injured Borg drone, Picard is perfectly willing to let “it” die, but Crusher has other ideas. The Borg, a cyborg race that assimilates whole civilizations and builds a hive mind via cybernetic implants, are a terrifying sci-fi enemy; the music, the costumes and the iconic greeble-bedecked…
Election ‘distracted’ Trump team from pandemic response, Birx tells Congress
More than 130,000 American lives could have been saved with swifter action and better coordinated public health messages after the virus’ first wave, Birx told lawmakers. “I believe if we had fully implemented the mask mandates, the reduction in indoor dining, the getting friends and family to understand the risk of gathering in private homes,…