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Good morning! Up and at it!

post published in /2021/11/29 at 11:33 AM
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Teddy is a bit of a moving target these days–he’s still a young pup! I’m not sure why he was so calm this afternoon, but I was thankful to snap this pic of him on the couch with Renee while this little respite lasted.

photo published in /2021/11/28 on November 29, 2021 at 2:45 AM
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It’s ❌ichigan day!

post published in /2021/11/27 at 2:13 PM
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High noon on Thanksgiving: “You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.” We left the house to drive to Thanksgiving dinner just in time to catch it on the radio.

link published in /2021/11/25 at 7:00 PM
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I’m pretty sure typewriters don’t spy on typists.

link published in /2021/11/25 at 12:05 PM
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”…the mission is essentially target practice.”

link published in /2021/11/24 at 11:56 AM
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Nice - electric boats are coming, too.

I spent a lot of time on an inland lake in Michigan as a kid, and can still see the film of gasoline that always seemed to spread behind our old Evinrude…and to which no one paid any attention. Boat people can connect with this visual because they’ve all seen it. I bet electric outboards will be well received once widely available and affordable.

link published in /2021/11/22 at 5:14 PM
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As well as a stunning technical achievement, the project and world record runs provided important data for our future electric power and propulsion systems for all-electric urban air mobility and hybrid-electric commuter aircraft. The characteristics that ‘air-taxis’ require from batteries, for instance, are very similar to what was developed for the ‘Spirit of Innovation’. 

Development of electric planes seems to be moving along quite a bit faster than I though. And it seems like the technology will grow the field, enabling urban air-taxis.

link published in /2021/11/22 at 11:43 AM
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Good morning! Up and at it!

post published in /2021/11/22 at 11:24 AM
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Language is fluid, just ask the cryptographers.

link published in /2021/11/21 on November 22, 2021 at 3:43 AM
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Intel is done with stock buybacks, a financial move in which a company uses its cash to buy stock and thereby increase its price. “We’re investing in factories,” he told me. “That’s going to be the use of our cash....”

Intel is heading back to the future, and putting a heck of a lot of dough into the trip. Fabs everywhere, and it’s hard to view that as a bad thing.

link published in /2021/11/21 on November 22, 2021 at 3:23 AM
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Goalie interference in hockey has to be the most inconsistently called penalty in all of professional sports. Holding by NFL offensive linemen is probably a distant second.

post published in /2021/11/20 on November 21, 2021 at 3:45 AM
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Good morning! Up and at it!

post published in /2021/11/18 at 11:52 AM
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This is a smart move by Pfizer (and Merck, which was first to make the arrangement for an oral antiviral pill for Covid). It’s smart patent strategy, and also the right thing to do.

link published in /2021/11/16 on November 17, 2021 at 1:13 AM
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No, seriously…Infrastructure Day is finally here.

link published in /2021/11/15 on November 16, 2021 at 2:03 AM
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Yes, we need to teach digital literacy to our kids. Everyone is ignoring the reality, though, that we really need to teach it to our parents.

link published in /2021/11/14 at 11:54 PM
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Just watched the Lions and Steelers play to a tie, 16-16. The ten minutes of overtime had to be the worst ten minutes of pro football I’ve ever watched. Turnovers, penalties, a horribly missed field goal, and just plain sloppy play. It was an embarrassment for the league. It was hysterical, though.

And the the Lions didn’t lose, so at least there’s that.

post published in /2021/11/14 at 9:48 PM
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Thanks to a friend, who shared this story with me as follow-up to my photo of the Toledo Blade Boulevard sign in Florida. It’s not the backstory I expected, not even close. But it’s interesting, and now I have the rest of the story.

link published in /2021/11/14 at 5:36 PM
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First snow arrived today. Not much, but it’s here. And gone. It’s supposed to be sixty degrees plus later this week. That’s how the beginning of winter rolls in Ohio.

post published in /2021/11/14 on November 15, 2021 at 11:57 AM
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Technology continues to isolate us from each other, both in ways we’re fully aware of (checking our phones constantly) and in ways I don’t think we appreciate yet. Case in point on the latter — after taking my seat on my flight back home today, I noticed how quickly everyone turns to the seatback monitor and the entertainment options available for the flight. Many people, include the guy sitting next to me, plugged their headphones in before the system was operational. Granted, today’s flight is a brief two hours long, which means you’ve got to start a movie right away if you hope to finish it before landing.

It’s sort of sad, though. The chance of striking up an interesting conversation with a seat mate in a plane seems to have dropped considerably lately, thanks to technology.

But, the movie selection is decent. And I did sit behind an older gentlemen that chose to watch Roger Rabbit, which is kind of cool.

post published in /2021/11/11 at 9:40 PM
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Occasionally I find myself in St. Pete Beach without Renee. It’s not the same without her, of course, but one perk of the solo trips is having smoked fish at Ted Peters. It’s just not her thing, so we never go when we’re down here together.

Well, I’ve been down here for work the last couple days, and I’m heading home tomorrow. So smoked salmon, German potato salad, and Miller High Life in a frosted mug was an easy call.

photo published in /2021/11/10 at 10:50 PM
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Apple's Eight Buffalo

I’m a bit of a word nerd, so the eight buffalo sentence has intrigued me for some time. Whenever I read it I have to perform the mental gymnastics necessary to understand it, but I eventually get there.

There’s been a lot of well-deserved snickering on the various Apple podcasts lately about the new Apple M1 Max chips and the Macs that include them (Upgrade, ATP, for example). Confusion sets in when you’re speaking about these chips and the computers that include them because, without a bit of context, you can’t tell whether the spoken word is Macs or Max.

“The new M1 Max,” when spoken, could leave a listener thinking the speaker is referring to the M1 Max chip. But the listener might also think the speaker is referring to the new Mac computers that include any M1 chip - M1 Macs.

The Upgrade podcast offered a simple solution that makes sense and should eliminate any confusion - follow “Max” with “chip” and the meaning will always be fairly clear. “M1 Max chip” means the chip, and “M1 Macs” (without the “chip”) means multiple M1 Mac computers.

So the solution is relatively simple and the problem can be avoided.

But, as I was thinking about that, the Eight Buffalo sentence crept into my head. Can I get there with the Max/Macs confusion? It’s not the same, granted, because the words are not the same. It’s still fun to think about, though.

Here’s what I’ve got so far.

Mac’s Max’d Max Mac Max’d Mac’s Max Mac.

Count ‘em - Eight!

Here’s the key:

I guy named Mac has two M1 Max computers - one is maxed out, and the other has less than maximum specifications (maybe he opted for the more affordable 2 or 1 TB drives, for example). As any self-respecting computer nerd would do after ordering two nearly identical computers, Mac ran some sort of head-to-head performance test on both of them and, surprise, the one with the maxed out configuration performed better - it “maxed” the other one.

Mac’s (a guy named Mac has two computers)
Max’d (one has maximum specifications
Max (it includes the M1 Max chip)
Mac (it’s a Mac - a MacBook Pro, by definition)
Max’d (that first computer beat the second one, below, in a head-to-head performance test)
Mac’s (Mac has a second computer)
Max (it also includes the M1 Max chip)
Mac (and it also is a Mac, and, indeed, is a MacBook Pro by definition).

I suppose you could add another “Max’d” before the Max of the second computer, which would make each computer an M1 Max Mac with maximum specifications, but then the concept of one beating the other in a head-to-head test sort of loses meaning. If the two computers are identical, how could one beat the other? I suppose it could be in a test that would pickup on the slightest of differences, but it seems unreasonable to me.

The Max Macs sentence is a bit of a stretch, no question. The words are not the same, and you have to accept a couple of slang definitions for “Max’d” (maxed out specifications, and winning a competition). These nuances ensure the sentence will never rival the eight buffalo sentence, but it’s fun to think about nonetheless.

article published in /2021/11/10
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Cuban sandwich for lunch. Decent, not great.

photo published in /2021/11/09 on November 10, 2021 at 5:39 AM
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So far, the most notable thing on alligator alley in Florida is the birds. These guys were all over the place at the rest area, which is about halfway across the Alley. What are they, turkey vultures of some sort?

photo published in /2021/11/09 on November 10, 2021 at 5:37 AM
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It’s been a while since I’ve seen this sign. It’s in Port Charlotte, Florida, which is south of Sarasota and north of Fort Myers. I haven’t driven this way in quite some time. I remember seeing it years ago though and wanting to research it — why the heck is there a street named after the Toledo blade down here in Florida? Inquiring minds want to know.

photo published in /2021/11/09 on November 10, 2021 at 5:35 AM
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