I have a car. Whenever a new car comes out, I don’t read all the reviews and imagine what it would be like to upgrade. I’m in the same place with my smartphone and tablet now. It’s a different feeling than I—a self-professed technology geek—am used to.

iOS and iPad OS 14.1 dropped today. I hope they clear up the screen freezing on my iPads. 🤞

Per Yanna Krupnikov and John Barry Ryan in the New York Times:

For partisans, politics is a morality play, a struggle of good versus evil. But most Americans just see two angry groups of people bickering over issues that may not always seem pressing or important.

It is easy to think that “most Americans” are somehow wise to not follow politics closely enough to identify the issues of the day. In fact, these inattentive “nonpartisans” are being irresponsible citizens.

Articles like this make me wonder if the authors intend to bolster, rather than merely to point out, the “both sidesism” that leads people to disengage with civic life.

Per Katherine J. Wu in the New York Times:

A team of researchers in the Netherlands has discovered what may be a set of previously unidentified organs: a pair of large salivary glands, lurking in the nook where the nasal cavity meets the throat. If the findings are confirmed, this hidden wellspring of spit could mark the first identification of its kind in about three centuries.

I don’t even know what to make of this—but in a good way.

I’m puzzling over if it makes any sense for me to upgrade from Reeder 4 to Reeder 5. Maybe I will wait for a point release, because the dev tends to tone down the visual effects in a couple point releases in each cycle.

From Davey Alba and Jack Nicas in the New York Times:

Maine Business Daily is part of a fast-growing network of nearly 1,300 websites that aim to fill a void left by vanishing local newspapers across the country. Yet the network, now in all 50 states, is built not on traditional journalism but on propaganda ordered up by dozens of conservative think tanks, political operatives, corporate executives and public-relations professionals, a Times investigation found.

This article serves as yet another example of the extent and level of organization of the American radical right’s propaganda and disinformation machine. What I wonder, though, is why don’t progressives take this playbook and run with it themselves to push the opposite agenda? It seems obvious and cost-effective.

Apollo for Reddit is an app that I install and uninstall on a weekly basis.

Holmdel Park

Hades is a fun game. I finally made it to Elysium (the third area) tonight. 😅

I have a new nephew today! 👶🏻

From NJ.com:

A U.S. Postal Service mail carrier has been charged by federal authorities for allegedly discarding bundles of mail, including 99 general election ballots that were supposed to be delivered to Essex County residents, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Looks like election fraud is happening just as Trump/Pence want it to. As a NJ voter, my confidence in the election process has taken a hit, and it is not because liberal, illegal immigrants are voting multiple times for the Democrats. 🙄 I now plan to drive my mail-in ballot to wherever the drop box is for my town.

Up Spell looks pretty fun, but, in my opinion, most of these “spell as many words as you can” games fall down because of too many nonsense words in the lexicon. Up Spell’s whole thing is that just about everything is in its lexicon. The game’s 2-letter word lexicon doesn’t fill me with hope that I will enjoy it. Maybe there will be a 3-letters-and-up mode in a future update for grumps like me.

Why in the world are these (stupid) debates not being filmed remotely?

My hi-fi pet peeve is the “record needle popping and scratching” track on lots of modern lo-fi, hip-hop, and R&B tracks. I spent so much money on a clean-sounding system that it is a waste to listen to noise through it. 😀

🎵 I’m listening to Ben Kweller and flashing back to the early aughts.

Holmdel Park

Holmdel Park

I’m glad I didn’t waste my evening watching the presidential debate.

Coding, coding, coding…🤖🤖🤖

I am baking a carrot loaf cake for a family dinner tomorrow. I don’t know what got into me. I baked emergency chocolate chip cookies last night, too.

I often think, before I go to bed, about the music I plan to listen to at work the next morning. Then, when next morning comes, I’m not in the mood to listen to music at all, and listen to podcasts instead. I wonder why that is. I guess I’m just not a morning person. 🤷‍♂️

I have been coding too much (at the day job) to think about writing (microblogging, journaling) this week. I must get back into my flow next week.

I didn’t realize that Amazon was having a hardware event today. Am I the only one who has been hoping for updated e-ink Kindles?

The lovely blue sky above Thompson Park today

It is sad that Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. She was a a towering judicial figure, but it was selfish of her not to retire while Obama could have named her replacement.