Sort of by accident, and mostly because it is the default choice, I have switched my ebook reading to Apple Books on my iPad (mostly) and iPhone (sometimes). To my surprise, it looks really good and works very well. I just wish I could choose a custom font.

Corona beer halts production during coronavirus pandemic. This is so stupid, but I get it.

I am not super thrilled about the articles and online advice entreating us to make our own protective masks. I don’t think I have the skills or the raw materials necessary for these projects—and, considering I can barely buy soap or paper towels right now, it is probably very difficult to acquire them.

Well, I just (and finally) submitted my household’s census form. It was really quick and easy. Everyone in the US should get it done soon. It is vital to be counted: representation in government and social services money of all kinds are tied to population counts determined by the census.

Adam Schlesinger Dies of Coronavirus Complications at 52. This sucks. Fountains of Wayne is one of my favorite bands, and Schlesinger’s more recent work on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” was really entertaining, too.

In a way, I’m happy that Apple is acquiring Dark Sky, because it is a great weather service, and Apple probably wants to own its own weather information service at this point. It sucks that they will be closing their API to third party apps at the end of next year, though. Open, relatively inexpensive weather data APIs let a ton of interesting and beautiful mobile and web apps blossom over the past ten years or so, and that time is slowly coming to an end.

I haven’t been microblogging lately because I just don’t know what to say anymore.

🎵 Today’s listen: “I Miss Britpop.” So do I, Apple Music, so do I.

I am currently rebuilding my macOS Photos library, which is something I never wanted to do. It’s missing months worth of photos, which is not making me feel as comfortable as I would like to about its management of all those memories.

🎵 Today’s listen: “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships” by The 1975. I must be crazy because I did not like this album earlier (I thought it was wildly overrated), but I just had to listen to “Love It If We Made It” today, and the rest of the album came along with it. 🤷‍♂️

I am starting to enjoy drinking Yorkshire gold tea (loose leaf) with a dollop of heavy cream and a few drops of liquid Sucralose. For many years I have taken my tea black.

WestWorld season 3 keeps looking better and better. I wonder if it will be its final season. There is an “endgame” line in the trailer.

When I bought the Nintendo Switch, I thought a lot more of my time playing it would be spent playing the classic NES and SNES games available through my Switch Online subscription. To my surprise, a lot of the games just felt old and not nearly as engaging as I remember them—even stone-cold classics like “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” and “Super Metroid”. When I look for a 2D game fix, I always end up playing newer games, like “Hollow Knight,” rather than playing the older games that I did legitimately love when I was a kid. I wonder if my kids will ever want to play those classic games, or if they will just skip them all because they aren’t worthwhile compared to more recent games.

Andrew Yang joins CNN as a political commentator. Is that the best he could do?

🎵 Today’s listen: The “Andrew Bird Essentials” playlist on Apple Music. I don’t know Andrew Bird’s music too well, but I’m really enjoying it so far.

I’m working overtime, late at night, after a long day at work. I was on the phone about 7 hours out of 9, which is a lot for one day. At least I can listen to music now.

🎵 Today’s listen: “Honeymoon” by Beach Bunny. I’m a big fan of the lead single, from way last year: “Dream Boy”. The rest of the album, which I’ve been waiting a long time for, is a fun listen. I love lead singer/bandleader Lili Trifilio’s balance of insecurity and poise in her both her lyrics and performance.

I bought “Frozen II” for the kids to watch today, because it was not a school day. I’m glad the movie is available already. It sure made my daughter happy this afternoon.

It is going to be a long, long, long work week for me, I’m afraid.

I got bookshelf speakers today, set them up in my office, and absolutely love them. Of course, now I want to put them on stands to make them ear-level, because I can’t stop spending money on my audiophile hobby. 🤣 💸

The President’s decision to expand his power post-trial has stunned Washington. Has it, though? (That’s what I want to say about just about every headline these days. We are through the looking glass now.)

“The French Dispatch” appears, from its initial trailer, to be the most “Wes Anderson” Wes Anderson movie ever.

Uh-oh. Apple Photos started saying my full-resolution photos will no longer fit on my Mac. I have 80 GB free on a 500 GB SSD, but Photos is still complaining. I’m debating what to do about it. A huge part of my backup strategy is using Arq backup to back up my full-resolution photos (the entire library, really) to Backblaze B2. Maybe I will export all my photos (the originals) and copy them to B2, then turn on “Optimize Storage”, and then stop trying to back up my originals on my Mac. I’m not getting a new Mac with a 1 TB SSD in it anytime soon, unfortunately. What a pain.

I just learned the specs of my new, upcoming work laptop. For the first time since 2000, I think, it will be higher-speced than anything I own. 😳

Shirin Ghaffary at Recode reports that Google’s head of HR, Eileen Naughton, is stepping down.

Executive leadership changes happen at major companies all the time — but at Google, Naughton’s move is notable because she was a key figure responsible for dealing with an unprecedented level of internal employee turmoil and dissent. In recent years, Google workers feuded among themselves and with management over issues ranging from the company’s alleged mishandling of executive sexual harassment cases to its crackdown on employee speech in the workplace. Naughton is also the fourth long-tenured Google executive, including the company’s cofounders, to step down from an executive position or resign altogether in recent months.

Google’s main internal problem, from my outside point-of-view, is that the things they are best at—software and services—are not really their business. They are just Google’s bait. Their business is online advertising, and that business is at odds, in many respects, with quality software and user-focused services.