How can it be that the teapot emoji hasn’t existed until this year and that Apple doesn’t support it yet, even on the iOS 14 beta?

I’m thrilled and relieved to discover this morning that the reason my desktop stereo stopped working yesterday is because, somehow, I toggled the input switch on my DAC (which I never touch) to some incorrect setting. Of course, I pulled all the components (with dials and switches I use all the time) apart and tested them individually first. 😅

My AnyList subscription is expiring soon. I am strongly considering switching to Paprika 3 for my grocery list app. I already own it, it does what I need, and, most importantly, its Apple Watch app doesn’t require an annual subscription. My wife and I are going to try it out next week.

Lord & Taylor is closing all its stores. Pier One closed all their stores earlier this year. Years ago, when I was in business school, I thought that retail stores mostly were going away. I expected it, but it still feels weird to live through it as it slowly happens, especially when places nearby are going to close and it is unclear what will replace them.

I am wrapping up a huge project at work today and tomorrow. It feels good.

School is starting today for my wife, who is a teacher, and for my daughter, who is a student in a different school and district. Both are starting the year remotely. We will see how it goes for the surrounding towns doing in-person/hybrid models. The news reports about COVID spreading in universities are really worrying. I hope for the best, and I hope that students and teachers can learn and work remotely for the whole school year.

Nintendo bringing Super Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy to Switch. This is great news for me, because I missed all those games. Of course, now I don’t have any time to play them. 😅

After about a month I am still playing several games of Good Sudoku by Zack Gage every day. I highly recommend it!

At this point in the pandemic, I am still limiting grocery store trips to once per week, but I started to forgo wearing gloves and to use (touch) my Apple Watch and iPhone for my shopping list (on AnyList). I wash everything with soap and hot water after I get home. I hope I am doing enough to keep safe.

I am pretty sure that I need scissors to open my new scissors. 🤦‍♂️

As Apple pundits debate whether or not a new product announcement looms in the near future, I am trying to psych myself up for another year with my super old devices. I’m trying to appreciate the value I am extracting from them, which isn’t as fun to think about as ooh, new, shiny.

Amazon’s Alexa has been a pretty lackluster addition to my household. It gets our music-related requests wrong most of the time: usually playing the wrong radio station or, for albums with a title track, it plays the song and not the album. Mostly, the kids try to get it to say stupid things.

Tonight I assembled a desk that my wife bought, so she could work from home more easily.

Now that it is September, it is finally time for me to upgrade my iPhone to the developer beta. I have been running the developer betas of iPadOS 14 for some time now without incident.

It amuses me that Gruber and Moltz are recommending “Ted Lasso” on “The Talk Show” this week. My wife and I love that show, too.

Prepping pancakes to surprise the kids in the morning.

I have been enjoying Apple Music’s new iOS 14 beta feature for infinite playback of similar music after an album ends. I can see it being annoying sometimes, because you might not know that your album has ended, but it is nice when my main goal is to fill my head with pleasant sound and not worry about being my own personal DJ.

If I am lucky, this week will be a return to normal working hours and stress levels. If I am not lucky, well…

🎵 Today’s listen: “The Third Gleam” by The Avett Brothers. I had no idea this album existed and am thrilled it does. It is more lovely music from one of my favorite bands.

This article, about the uselessness of blockchain for just about anything, really tickled me. I have given training on blockchain and have described it as a vector for criminal activity (such as ransomware) that wasn’t possible before.

Come on, New York Times. This type of article is sexist and demeaning. What is Joe Biden wearing? What does it mean?

🎵 Today’s listen: “Gimme Fiction” by Spoon. I remember not liking this record as much as Spoon’s earlier work, but whatever criticisms I have had of it are long forgotten. It is great.

Brian Resnick’s article on Vox summarizes some of the issues we are all facing in the back-to-school period. Coronavirus is in the air, and being indoors with an infected person for a prolonged time increases the viral load that one is exposed to. This is critical to understand.

As Derek Thompson observes in the Atlantic, a lot of places have put on a big show about cleaning surfaces — what he calls “hygiene theater” — though surface contamination is not thought to be a large source of Covid-19 transmission.

Making places safer, instead, should mean improving air quality. But “have you ever heard a restaurant reopening announce they’ve improved ventilation or increased ventilation?” Lidia Morawska, an engineer and the director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at Queensland University of Technology, recently told me. “No.”

The “hygiene theater” of surface cleaning is already entrenched in mask wearing. Mask wearing is critical to reducing disease transmission from a public health perspective, but masks aren’t magical COVID-19 blockers, especially when people are wearing them around their chins or taking them off before they sneeze (seriously, I have seen this in the grocery store). I think that a lot of people believe lots of activities, like sitting in a classroom all day, are OK as long as everyone wears masks, at least most of the time. I don’t believe that—at least not at a time in which Covid cases are climbing, and outbreaks have been traced to gatherings of people indoors or families sharing a home.

I am concerned that in schools, restaurants, and other public places, “ventilation theater” will soon run rampant. We will be promised that “ventilation system improvements” will protect us, our children, and our grandparents, even when most buildings can’t be redesigned to circulate or scrub the air with any real effectiveness. The article points this out, too:

Remember: Hygiene theater is possible when it comes to air quality as well. If a school or any indoor space says it has improved ventilation, ask how. Marr suggests asking building operators what the air exchange rate is (if they don’t know it, maybe be wary about the space). Ask about what filters have been put in place. Ask if their HVAC systems have been routinely maintained.

I do wonder when things will go back to pre-Covid normal. I am advocating opening windows and using window fans to exchange inside- and outside air, to the extent that is possible, in public buildings. Most places I can think of aren’t really designed for that, unfortunately.

Stormy weather. I am glad I’m inside.

We’re having a morning thunderstorm right now. The sky is black. The barometric pressure is low. It is making me so sleepy!