On my brother’s recommendation I downloaded & listened to Althea Raj’s podcast It’s Political (today’s edition) about the Liberal Alberta oil pipeline/environment rollback perfidy. She handled it really well.

How-To Geek: The 1st and 2nd Gen Nest Thermostat Are Dead

  • Google cut cloud support for original Nest thermostats, disabling the app and remote control.
  • They still work manually as basic thermostats, but smart features and integrations are gone.
  • Google emailed a discounted upgrade: 4th-gen Nest Learning Thermostat for $149.99 (regular $279.99).

They’ve been “Doctorow’ed”!

My life these days seems to primarily consist of recharging my Apple product batteries, and recharging myself with coffee. 🔋 ☕️

I listened to Core Intuition 26.1: Mess Everything Up tonight while making dinner. So great. Maybe Manton and Daniel would consider doing a month end podcast? That’d be nice.

Our solar panels have done surprisingly well with almost no significant degradation over 16 years. (We got the first few panels on in 2009, and then added panels each of the next two years until we reached our full complement.)

Hoping to be in Cardiff this spring for a week or more, and maybe a bus trip up the west side of Wales. Really looking forward to it!

It’s getting hard to find my way through the thicket of Trump craziness and distractions to get to the meat of other significant political events.

TIL that making an appointment with someone who uses the Ethiopian calendar could be a challenge: twelve 30-day months plus a 5- or 6-day kicker. Year zero was 7 or 8 years after the Gregorian started. Finally, it uses 12-hour days starting at 6am “our time”.

For far more details, see Wikipedia!

Once again Drafts broke when the annual subscription auto-renewed. I like the app when it is working, but this has been going on for years and it is so tiresome!

I just bought a graphic novel by Chris Ware after listening to an interesting interview with him on CBC’s Bookends this morning. (I’ll put a link to the interview in tonight’s Eclectic Articles post.)

Looking ahead, how long after people start buying autonomous cars before they’ll be asking to be able to send them to pick up lattés at the Starbucks drive through? 😄

We’re beating plowshares into swords, For those tired old men That we elected King.

This is end Of the innocence.

Somewhere back there in the dust, That same small town in each of us.

Jammed Mechanism

The mechanism we have in place to deal with our most difficult societal issues is for the government to review them and then to take a stand, and pass enabling legislation.

The federal Liberals seem completely paralyzed from making any decision that anyone might object to. It’s a complete leadership vacuum.

I wish I could edit with my voice. It would have to be more accurate than Siri is today, but it would be terrific.

e.g. “Change ‘That was a disaster!’ to ‘In my opinion, overcoming the impression left on undecided voters may be insurmountable.’”

🔗 Articles: Wednesday 26.Jun.2024

Don’t leave home without it.

CartoonBrew: Disney-Themed Snow White Cafe In Hollywood Shutters After 78 Years

Snow White Cafe, a kitschy Disney-themed diner and dive bar located at 6769 Hollywood Boulevard, has abruptly shuttered. It had been in business for 78 years.

Its interior, which was decorated with murals of characters from Disney’s first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, has been gutted.

There is plenty of lore surrounding the Disney murals. Some say the artwork was drawn by Disney artists who worked on the original feature — and it may have been, though there’s no way to prove it.

via Manton

CartoonBrew: Animation+, A Free Channel Focused On Adult Comedy Content, Launches In U.S. And Canada

Animation+, a new streaming service and studio focused on adult comedy content for millennial and Gen Z audiences, has launched in the U.S. and Canada. Its first consumer offering is a free ad-supported tv channel, currently available exclusively on Samsung TV Plus.

Hmmm, locking content to a specific hardware device.

NYT: Lauren Boebert Wins Crowded Primary in Colorado After Swapping Districts

Representative Lauren Boebert, the MAGA lightning rod who switched districts in Colorado to avoid being ousted from the House, won a crowded Republican primary on Tuesday in a conservative area of the state, all but ensuring that she will serve another two years in Congress.

Ms. Boebert, a two-term Republican, overcame multiple challengers in the eastern plains of Colorado, nearly guaranteeing that she will prevail over her Democratic rival in November in the solidly red Fourth Congressional District. The Associated Press called the race for her less than half an hour after polls closed as she led by a wide margin.

Electrek: Here’s how big of a difference tires can make on Tesla Model 3

The results were really interesting as they highlight how big of a difference on efficiency tires can make.

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They were all tested on the Model 3 with 18″ wheels except for the EcoReady, which was tested on 19″ and certainly negatively affected the results.

Regardless, this shows a 29 Wh per mile difference in efficiency between the most efficient and less efficient EV-optimised tires. That’s very interesting.

Electrek: CATL shares energy-dense battery that will power electric planes

The world’s largest battery maker continues to showcase why it’s the name to beat in its given segment. During the Shanghai Auto Show, CATL launched a new condensed battery that delivers the proper safety and energy density to enable the flight of electric passenger planes. If this technology sounds like it’s still several years away, think again — CATL expects to begin mass production sooner than you’d think.

CATL remains the name to beat in EV battery development, not only in China, where it is headquartered, but around the entire globe. This past February, the company emerged yet again as the largest battery market share holder on the planet for a sixth straight year.

TorStar: They’re offering $1M to keep the Ontario Science Centre open

How are Torontonians are banding together to try [to] save the Ontario Science Centre.

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Together, the pair run the Vohra Miller foundation, founded in 2020 to help fund STEM initiatives in the city. Vohra-Miller, who is a public health doctorate student at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, was named a vaccine hero by the Star in 2021, and she has dedicated her life to science education. Miller joined Shopify in its nascent days in 2011 as head of its marketing team, and stayed on to be chief product officer until 2020, after the company was named Canada’s largest.

The Science Centre, and science education more broadly isn’t important just for families and kids, or as a piece of architectural history, but because there’s a “hostility towards science” post-pandemic, Vohra-Miller said.

CP: Closing science centre unnecessary, says firm of architect who designed building

“The Rimkus engineering report makes it clear that closing the OSC is not a necessity,” the firm wrote.

“Repairs are needed, but on a manageable scale and with potentially minimal impact on the public experience of the building. We offer our architectural services pro bono to the Government of Ontario to realize the necessary roof repairs and we encourage the structural and building science community to similarly offer pro bono services for this scope to accomplish the recommended repairs immediately.”

CP: Apple to bring self-service repair program to Canada next year

Apple says Canadians will soon get access to a program providing them with the parts, tools and manuals they need to fix their own devices.

The tech giant says the self-service repair program will make its debut in 2025, likely in the first few months of the year.

MacRumors: Alleged First Look at Apple Watch X / Series 10 With 2-Inch Display

Apple is rumored to be planning a revamp of the Apple Watch for the device’s tenth anniversary, and 91mobiles claims to have sourced CAD renders of what could be the “Apple Watch X” or Apple Watch Series 10 from industry insiders.

The site claims that the renders are of a “larger” model featuring a 2-inch display. The current Apple Watch Series 9 has a 1.7-inch display, while the Apple Watch Ultra has a display size of 1.93-inches, so this would be the biggest screen on an Apple Watch so far.

The Christian Science Monitor: For Biden and Trump, debate offers a rare chance to change perceptions

While a plurality of voters identify themselves as independents, polling suggests that the number of true independents who don’t lean one way or the other is actually in the single digits. But as Jordan Tama, a political expert at American University and a national security adviser to Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign, pointed out in a call with reporters Tuesday, debates can be critical for this small population who “tips our elections.”

SVA!

TorStar: Here’s how bad a loss this Toronto byelection is for Justin Trudeau — and why Pierre Poilievre now has a new problem on his hands

First though, it has to be said that the loss of Toronto-St. Paul’s is a large one for Justin Trudeau and the Liberals. They know what many past Liberal voters were saying at the doors — that they couldn’t vote for candidate Leslie Church because they are keen to see Trudeau leave.

Whether they obtain that wish soon or after the 2025 election is going to be the question of the summer. It’s said that only Trudeau can ultimately make that decision — that no one is going to force him out.

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All these MPs will be so intent on avoiding the same fate as Toronto-St. Paul’s, they will likely be extremely eager to please restive voters. Need help on a tax matter, or someone to help you move? Call up your local Liberal MP.

Forbes: U.S. Oil And Gas Production Are Ahead Of Last Year’s Record Pace

Last year marked a record for U.S. oil production with an average daily production of 12.93 million barrels per day (BPD). That record was 5% greater than the previous record of 12.31 million bpd set in 2019.

However, current data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that average daily production thus far in 2024 is 13.12 million bpd — 7.1% ahead of the production level of a year ago and 1.4% higher than last year’s record pace.

Last Updated: 26.Jun.2024 23:52 EDT

Tuesday’s articles

Follow along as new links are added to today’s list

I’m very disappointed to find that Victorinox no longer makes the simple 2-bladed Swiss Army pocket knife that I’ve carried for years. I find it hard to believe that they would discontinue it!