Categories
Accordion, Instrument of the Gods Geek Slice of Life

Christmas purchase of 2018, meet the Christmas purchase of 2020

This year’s purchase is less pricey than the 2018 one by a factor of 20 or so. Tap to view at full size.

Cyberpunk 2077 just arrived today, but I’m not playing it until Saturday evening. I’ve got lots to do between now and then, including writing content for the Auth0 blog, revising the Auth0 native mobile “quickstart” kits, teaching the final 12 hours of an online Python class for Computer Coach, and giving a remote presentation for mDevConf 2020, a mobile developer conference in La Paz, Bolivia.

Categories
Internet Finds

Hey, Canadian cats! “Recreational Narcatics” is now available online!

Hey, Canadian cats: Are you looking for “the good stuff”? Recreational Narcatics, purveyors of the finest nepeta cataria, are selling their 100% organic catnip on Amazon.ca.

As they say on the human edition of their site (yup, there’s a feline edition too!)…

Recreational Narcatics doesn’t harvest its plants until they’re nice and mature because that’s when plants boast their highest levels of nepetalactone, as well as essential oils and blooms. Caturday night should be as interesting and mentally stimulating as possible.

Recreational Narcatics sells on Amazon.ca for CDN$11.49 for a 20g bag. Don’t you wish the human stuff came at that price?

Recreational Narcatics comes to you via my friend David Matte, whom I’ve known since the eighties. He knows his ’nip, and don’t just take my word for it — ask one of his satisfied customers:

What are you waiting for? Get your paws on Recreational Narcatics, available via Amazon.ca for CDN$11.49, today!

Recommended viewing

While I’m on the subject of catnip, here’s Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?, a hilarious catnip-themed parody of those old educational films warning us about the dangers of drugs:

Categories
Tampa Bay The Current Situation

9 months later, we’re still playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes

Today in the Tampa Bay Times: Coronavirus cases are up in Tampa Bay care centers since Thanksgiving.

If only someone had warned us that treating  Thanksgiving as a “business as usual” affair would have serious consequences!

Oh, wait…

 

Categories
Geek

The Queen’s Gambit, but featuring games that don’t scare people away

Photo: “Beth” from “The Queen’s Gambit” playing Connect Four instead of chess.
She’s going for the diagonal. Tap to view at full size.

Are the from the director’s cut?

Thanks to my coworker, Auth0’s David Moses, for the find!

Photo: “Beth” from “The Queen’s Gambit” playing Jenga instead of chess.
Tap to view at full size.
Photo: “Beth” from “The Queen’s Gambit” playing Monopoly instead of chess.
Tap to view at full size.
Photo: “Beth” from “The Queen’s Gambit” playing Guess Who instead of chess.
Tap to view at full size.
Photo: “Beth” from “The Queen’s Gambit” playing Operation instead of chess.
Tap to view at full size.
Categories
It Happened to Me Slice of Life

Ready for Christmas and Life Day, we are!

Set up, our front porch is for Christmas, from a distant point of view.

Also set up it is, if closer you look, for Life Day!

Categories
Florida The Current Situation

Taiwan vs. Florida: A tale of two very different pandemic responses

At the time of writing:

Taiwan Florida
COVID-19 cases 716 1,058,074
Deaths 7 19,177
Recovered 574 672,375

Here’s the source for the Taiwan data, and here’s the source for Florida’s.

Recommended reading

Why are Florida’s numbers so bad compared to those of Taiwan, despite their having a similar population (and much greater density)? One of the big reasons is pictured below:

Some recent articles on the Governor’s deliberately ignorant response:

Categories
funny

Bad lifehack of the day

Photo: Ziploc bags of water in freezer. Caption: Tired of boiling water every time you make pasta? Boil a few gallons at the beginning of the week and freeze it for later!
Thanks to Ramon Grajo for the find!

Just reheat it in the microwave.