Friday Links!
Leading off, this is quite a story: A Prominent Accessibility Advocate Worked With Studios and Inspired Change. But She Never Actually Existed.
This is an excellent (and disturbing) read: The Mysterious, Meteoric Rise of Shein.
From C. Lee (more from him later), an absolutely majestic read: I … Am Herman Melville! : Sam Weller details the tempestuous collaboration of Ray Bradbury and John Huston on the production of the 1956 movie “Moby Dick.”
From Wally, and it's so many Star Wars figures: Hasbro Pulse Con 2024 – Star Wars Panel Recap. I'd probably wind up not using 155 pieces of it: Costco's Viral 157-Piece Le Creuset Set Is Finally Back In Stock.
From C. Lee, and it's an excellent read: Constitutional law scholar Kim Wehle explains how the pardon system works. This is clever: Texas resident used Apple AirTags to discover plastics taken to Houston recycling centers aren't being recycled. This would be fantastic: Researchers unlock cheap way to vaporize plastic and use it to make more plastic. Not surprising in the least: America's best-paid CEOs have the worst-paid employees. I didn't see this coming: China Conquers Mexico’s Automotive Market, and the US Is Worried. An incredible device: Graphene-Based 'Smart Choker' Detects Speech Attempts and Verbalizes Them. I can't see how this could possibly go wrong: AI ruling on jobless claims could make mistakes courts can’t undo, experts warn. Call me crazy, but I don't recommend this: Google's Search AI Suggests Smearing Fecal Matter on Balloon to Potty Train Children. To be fair, it seems like a fabulous read: Suspected burglar caught after sitting down with book. It's not surprising: Video Game Developers Are Leaving The Industry And Doing Something, Anything Else. Keep digging: Games industry layoffs not the result of corporate greed and those affected should "drive an Uber", says ex-Sony president.
Piriformis (part two)
An unlikely two-parter, I know.
Charles P., also a long-time sufferer from piriformis pain, credits the pigeon pose (yoga) with eventually eliminating his pain. He sent in a link as well:
How to Do Pigeon Pose in Yoga.
The stretch is along not-dissimilar lines to the chair pose I mentioned this week, but takes it into a deeper stretch.
Hero Emblems II
I finished Hero Emblems II last week.
It's a phenomenal game. The reviews are "mixed" on Steam, for reasons I cannot fathom. It's a Match-3 game that's actually crunchy, with complex and satisfying combat. Every aspect of the combat system must be used--buffs, meals, equipment, spells--to win the more difficult battles, and some of them are quite difficult.
It doesn't feel cheap, though. It always feels thoroughly fair.
This is so much better than the original Puzzle Quest (which many of us still remember fondly) that I can't believe it isn't getting more attention. Plus, it looks like two people designed and developed the game, which is incredible.
50+ hours of consistent entertainment for $11.99. Steam link: Hero Emblems II.
Piriformis
You may not be familiar with this muscle, unless it's caused problems. Then you'll become familiar with it very, very quickly. This is definitely a niche post (wait, aren't they all?), but if it helps even one of you, then mission accomplished.
Here's a summary of the injury from Google's AI assistant:
Piriformis syndrome is a condition that occurs when the piriformis muscle in the buttocks presses on the sciatic nerve, causing pain and discomfort in the buttocks, thigh, and leg. Symptoms include:
Aching, burning, or shooting pain in the buttocks that may extend down the leg
Tingling or numbness in the buttocks and down the leg
Pain that worsens after sitting, climbing stairs, walking, or running
I had this once (or sciatica--it was difficult to tell), and the orthopedist recommended I undergo a procedure where I lay on my stomach under a giant machine that used a computer to descend to my back, apply an enormous amount of pressure, and inject me in a particular spot.
This worked, after a while, for both me (pain relief) and the orthopedist ($$$).
Now it's come back, or something similar, and I don't want to undergo the injection again (it's quite unpleasant, and expensive), so I've been casting about for anything that might help.
At first, I just thought I wouldn't sit down unless I absolutely had to. Like most of us, I sit far too much, even though I work out every day, so I tried cutting it out almost entirely. This seemed to have a positive effect after the first day, and then my foot hurt when I woke up the next morning from all the standing.
I kept searching, and I stumbled on a website that mentioned trying one thing in particular, which is sitting differently. Specifically, crossing your affected leg over when you sit and making a triangle, essentially.
I did this for five minutes and felt relief almost immediately.
This is the third day, and I'm considerably better. Shockingly so, really. I also lie on my back and pull my legs up to my chest to stretch before I get out of bed in the morning, because it's tight when I wake up.
I mention all this because my orthopedist didn't. At all. So if you're having some variation of this, try sitting in this position and see if it helps. I hope it does.
Creativity
Creativity is fickle.
The best ideas I've had in the last month for This Doesn't Feel Like the Future have come either in my sleep or when I wasn't thinking about the book at all.
In my sleep, I worked out plot issues that had been troubling me for months. It was multiple thoughts that stitched themselves together overnight.
Today, when I was driving to the pool, I suddenly had two sentences in my head that evoked a precise emotion I was having difficulty conveying.
When I desperately need an idea, it's usually nowhere to be found. Creativity is one of those things you only find when you're not looking for it.
Friday Links!
Leading off, some masterful photographs from a bygone era: Irving Penn: Small Trades. Also, an excellent James Jones tribute: James Earl Jones Reads Poe’s The Raven. What a way to find something significant: Man browsing Google Maps may have made big scientific discovery.
From C. Lee, and it's both impressive and a bit terrifying: Green Berets Hijacked WiFi To Control Home Security System Then Vanish In Mock Raid. Great name for a network: After seeing Wi-Fi network named “STINKY,” Navy found hidden Starlink dish on US warship. Blech: Blood puddles, mold, tainted meat, bugs: Boar’s Head inspections are horrifying. The comments by the real estate agent are unintentionally hilarious: The pot farm next door: Black market weed operations inundate California suburb, cops say. This is loathsome: Fake funeral “live stream” scams target grieving users on Facebook. More fraud: SMS scammers use toll fees as a lure. This is a shame: Intel has reportedly canceled Beast Lake and its follow-up – and I’m gutted it’s killed off my dream gaming CPU. This is fantastic: The Pentium as a Navajo weaving. This is a terrific piece of journalism: Years After Grenfell Tower Tragedy, Buildings Still Wrapped in "Solid Gasoline". Co-creator of one of the finest RPG series: Wizardry Co-Creator Andrew Greenberg Has Passed Away.
From Wally, and it's a political link (from sci-fi author John Scalzi): Reminder: This Is As Good As It Gets With Trump. A thoughtful article about playtest board games: Playtesting Narrative Content in Board Games. The pictures are incredible: 40 Of The Most Futuristic Concept Cars From The Past That Look Totally Bizarre Today.
San Marino
I could have sworn I wrote about this, but I couldn't find it, so I guess not.
I've been a fan of San Marino's soccer team for years. They're a tiny country of 30,000 inside Italy.
More importantly, they're the worst national soccer team in the world.
They've had a national squad since 1986, and other than a win in an exhibition match, their record was 0-198. They'd never won an official international match.
I told C about this, because I'm the patron saint of lost sports causes, and she promptly surprised me with a jersey:
It's a beauty, and I happily wore it knowing no one would ever recognize the team.
Then, in San Marino's first game since I got the jersey, the unthinkable happened: they won.
On September 5, San Marino beat Lichtenstein 1-0, courtesy of possibly the worst offside call in the history of soccer. See for yourself:
game highlights. It's hard to feel bad for Lichtenstein, given that San Marino hadn't won in 38 years, but still.
This was in an official competition, too: a UEFA Nations league match.
Record without me having a jersey? 1-198.
Record with me having a jersey? 1-0. World Cup, here we come.
Salmon Run!
I was able to get some good pictures.
First, the line of anglers:
You can see the spillway to the left. This is the highest spillway, so the fish congregate at its base until they either jump over or use the fish ladder.
The fish ladder, with an enthusiastic participant:
It was getting plenty of use.
Here's one angler's catch. We saw multiple fish this size caught over a ten-minute period:
It was exciting to watch, even though I haven't fished in years. It made me want to, though.
9/9/99
The day the Dreamcast launched was amazing.
18 launch titles. Spectacular.
I can't remember where I picked up the system, because DQ Plot Advisor and NASA Expert John Harwood had left Electronics Boutique by then. Maybe Fry's. Regardless, I picked up Sonic Adventure, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, and NFL 2K and headed home.
Unlike the launch titles of most systems, these games had style. Style is hard to define, but easy to sense, and I couldn't believe how much fun the launch titles were. Plus the system itself had style. It just looked cool.
Then there was NFL 2K, which was so much better than the equivalent Madden title that EA must have been embarrassed. It wasn't long after that, when NFL 2K5 came out and was better than Madden in every conceivable way, that EA was so embarrassed they bought an exclusive license because they couldn't compete.
The Dreamcast also had the VGA cable, which displayed games in glorious 640x480 resolution. The console always seemed forward-thinking and ahead of its time.
The legacy of the Saturn, though, weighed Sega down, and the PS2 was much better supported by developers. Sony had untold dollars to spend on marketing, and Sega didn't.
A crime, really, that the Dreamcast didn't survive. While it did survive, though, it was glorious.
The Run
The September salmon run on the Grand River has begun.
I live by downtown now, and within about a half mile walk is the Grand River. I usually stop and watch the fishermen for a few minutes, because they generally congregate at a small spillway I pass. On the other side of the river from that point is a fish ladder.
Last weekend, C and I noticed a small number of fish using the ladder. Only a couple, but we guessed that mean the salmon run would be starting soon. In September, both coho and chinook salmon come through in substantial quantities.
Today, C was out walking (the one day I didn't go with her, of course) and texted that she saw two big fish caught, which is two more fish than we ever see being caught. They were silver, which means they were probably Coho.
Tomorrow, I'll go walking and try to get a few pictures.
Knowing What You're Owed
Eli 23.1 had a relatively simple trip to Bogota (one month for field research) scheduled today.
Bus to London. Fly to Paris. Non-stop to Bogota.
It was, by far, the least complicated itinerary he's ever had when traveling.
So, of course, his flight to Paris was delayed 3+ hours and he missed his connecting flight. There's not another flight until tomorrow.
In the U.S., you'd get a voucher for the shittiest hotel imaginable, if you were lucky.
In the EU, because the flight delay didn't satisfy the legal definition of "extraordinary circumstances" (he downloaded the law and the airline's policy and read through it), he was entitled to 600 euros, hotel, and four meals.
He got in line and went through half an hour of denial theater by the airline, even after telling them he had the airline's own policy on his phone and had read through it.
Finally, they relented.
I couldn't understand why they did the song and dance until he told me what happened when he turned away from the counter. The people in line thanked him because they knew exactly what to say to get 600 euros+hotel+meals instead of just a hotel.
The airline was trying to make him give up so everyone else would, too.
That half an hour of wasting time is going to cost the airline 10,000+ euros because everyone behind him paid attention.
ChatGPT and Google
I'm using ChatGPT more and more now. It's basically replaced Google as my search engine, because Google has trashed its own search engine so thoroughly that it's complete garbage.
It's a pleasure to search for something and receive straight information, not on SEO-optimized pile of trash. Plus it handles more complex queries far, far better.
It's a win in every way but one: Wikipedia. I'm concerned that Wikipedia, which is a world treasure, could become less and less important. It's so unique that it would be a disaster if it's lost.
Plus ChatGPT is an information scraper, so if content stops being created, what will it scrape?
In the meantime, I'm very happy to get actual results from my search queries.
A Note
That new COVID booster kicked my ass. Hard.
