If I were more of a gamer, I would be more excited about the new Xbox and PlayStation reviews published today. It’s weird and wonderful that the two systems are coming out at the same time. I’m happy with my Nintendo Switch.

News outlets started calling the presidential race for Joe Biden this morning. In no sense should it have been a close call. It is deeply embarrassing. I consider the USA a failed state in the midst of a slow moving fascist coup that began with Nixon, found its footing with Reagan, and found its most effective bomb-thrower and wrecking ball (because he is the most shameless) in Trump. I am not sure reform is possible at this point, but if it is (and I hope it is), it will take a long, long time.

I am wondering if a new, faster Mac would make me more excited about coding in Xcode again. Xcode has been a dog for me lately, and I think my current (super old!) MacBook Pro is too old for Swift UI development (at least for live previews). I’m looking forward to seeing what Apple announces.

🎵 Today’s listen: “All Mirrors” by Angel Olsen. I love this album. It has the sort of sound that transports you to other, weird, wonderful places. The opening track reminds me, oddly, of early Björk and The Velvet Underground, and is yet completely its own thing.

iOS 14.2 is here. I’m still hoping Apple will fix some of the glitches I’ve been experience on my 2017 iPad Pro. If they don’t, maybe its a hardware problem and I need to replace it (sigh).

I hope the orthopedic I’m going to today helps me fix the stoop in my back after I stand up. (I don’t know what I did to my back, but…ouch!)

A pot of chicken soup is bubbling on the stove, and some bread is in the oven. I’m looking forward to a relaxing lunch.

I’m trying to get back into the swing of things this morning. I’ve been working at night to make up for time I am missing due to appointments during the workday. Now it feels like I never left my desk since before bedtime last night, which isn’t a good thing.

My mood improves when I am near my headphones and my music collection. They have gotten me through this evening and last.

Nothing that will happen today will astonish me, I’m afraid.

New Jersey made it easy for me to vote by mail this year, but I usually visit Vote Save America for the details I need.

I am trying to think of what to do tomorrow night, instead of watching (incomplete) election night results trickle in. I don’t expect the “election” to “end” (I’m not even sure where the scare quotes belong) for weeks.

OK. I just wrote a link post. Now, time to concentrate on work again.

The always interesting Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced a new “desktop PC” form factor that integrates its latest board into a keyboard:

We’ve never been shy about borrowing a good idea. Which brings us to Raspberry Pi 400: it’s a faster, cooler 4GB Raspberry Pi 4, integrated into a compact keyboard. Priced at just $70 for the computer on its own, or $100 for a ready-to-go kit, if you’re looking for an affordable PC for day-to-day use this is the Raspberry Pi for you.

If the keyboard is decent enough for you, and your computing needs are pretty basic, this is fantastic deal.

My favorite part of the new design is that all the ports are on one side. My biggest beef with the Raspberry Pi (I own 3 of them!) is that the ports are on all four sides, and I always need to plug cables into two or three of them, which makes for a mess of wires surrounding a nice, small box.

It’s dreary inside my mind right now, The dank weather isn’t helping. 🌧

🎮 I played the Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity demo for about an hour and a half and left it feeling nauseated due to the poor frame rate. The game was kind of fun, but the frame rate was really bad! I am doubtful now that I will shell out $60 for the full version. 😔

Per Patricia Hernandez in Polygon:

The surprise Nintendo Direct at the end of October ended with another glimpse at Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity that shows off how the Breath of the Wild prequel will let you control the powerful Divine Beasts from the open-world Legend of Zelda game. It also noted that the hack-and-slash game has a playable demo that fans can download via the Nintendo Switch eShop now, and it includes the entirety of the first chapter.

I’m happy about this development. I love “Breath of the Wild” and would love to experience more world-building related to it, but I have never played a “Dynasty Warriors”-type game and have no idea if I would like it.

Per Tracey Tully and Kevin Armstrong in the New York Times:

Newark required nonessential businesses to close indoor operations beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

COVID cases are on the rise everywhere now, and may be about to get much worse soon, as temperatures drop in November. There have been reports of cases in the schools in my town, too, some of which first opened to students ten days ago.

I am taking online workplace harassment training, and I have to say, the acting in the demonstration videos is a joy to watch.

🎵 Today’s listen: “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” by R.E.M. I kind of forgot about this album, and haven’t listened to it in years. I knew it was a “road record,” but I never knew before today that a lot of the songs were recorded in stadiums, at sound checks, before R.E.M.’s live shows.

I am trying out the new Microsoft Edge for my work-related web browsing. I know that is based on Chromes engine (Blink). I am disappointed that is basically is Chrome with nicer looking menus.

🎵 A new Bruce Springsteen album is always welcome. I can’t get over how he keeps putting out good music. One thing I learned about him, from an alumni event (long ago) with his onetime producer, Jon Landau, is that Springsteen was not able to write dozens and dozens of songs and pick the best for his albums. He wrote relatively small numbers of good (and sometimes great) songs. That makes it all the more impressive to me that he has been releasing new material so regularly, and the quality is still high.

I think I am really into headphones again, after a six month retreat into speakers. Luckily for me, I have lots of headphones and don’t need to buy any more right now. I have been using a different pair every few days for serious listening sessions, and am having a blast.

🎮 After about 20 runs, I finally beat Hades tonight. What a fun game.

My most frequently visited web page this past month has been Wired’s guide how to solve a Rubik’s cube. I have been diligently practicing their algorithms a few minutes per day.