Category: Technology

Fire Data – California and beyond

We lived thru, and self-evacuated from, the 208k acre Cedar Fire in 2003 and the 248k acre Witch Fire in 2007 in San Diego county, with an asthmatic child. The most petrifying part was being unable to access any data regarding fire location and spread. We were expected to sit by our phones and evacuate when (and if) the call...

Tehachapi Loop

Built just before the turn of the century in 1878 by migrant Chinese workers, the Tehachapi Loop enables a 77 foot elevation gain in a small valley by snaking the line in a complete 360 loop – dramatically increasing the run over the rise in order to maintain no more than a 2 percent grade. 3000 workers carved this trail...

Garmin Venu SQ

I love my Venu SQ fitness smartwatch so much! Square like the Apple watch, 4 day battery life, syncs to Strava, records sleep, heart rate, stress, SpOx, hydration, with a mature, easy to use interface and ALL the stats. A data mongers dream. And I get all my notifications with customizable list of replies. And the music edition lets you...

The Hero’s Journey

One of my favorite bloggers… Barry Ritholz. https://ritholtz.com/2021/09/misunderstanding-narratives-the-heros-journey/ “A hero who goes on a great adventure, where a great challenge awaits; confronted with a crisis, the Hero has a crucial realization, allowing him to emerge victorious, returning home transformed by the experience. This is a great structure for creative works, as it sets up the narrative in 3 parts, including...

In the News 2021/08/04

– Can we stop beating up Simone Biles now? https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/simone-biles-aunt-dies-olympics/#app – Before the NY AG report, Andrew Cuomo long claimed to be a champion against sexual harassment and attacked GOP politicians for staying silent https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/08/04/politics/kfile-andrew-cuomo-past-comments/index.html – Russian officials to investigate possible consequences to flipping space station https://gizmodo.com/russian-official-experts-to-investigate-possible-cons-1847423624 “This seems ripe for conspiracy theories. This is Russia’s last piece before they...

Sigh

Spending a relaxing day changing passwords. Why would someone hack my Facebook account then delete it? Makes no sense.

NYT: How Humanity Has Unleashed a Flood of Zoonotic Diseases

From The New York Times: How Humanity Has Unleashed a Flood of Zoonotic Diseases “As we degrade animal habitats, reduce biodiversity and reach ever deeper into the wilderness for resources, we’re all but certain to encounter more diseases like Covid-19. Between 60 and 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases in humans come from other animals, [such as] rabies, Lyme, anthrax, mad cow disease, SARS,...