- How Does an Air Ionizer Work?
Ionizers produce ozone, and they are unable to remove larger particles like dust and dander, and they cannot destroy doors and gases. -
Listening to Taylor Swift in Prison
A lovely little story about the power of music. - Shuttle Flash has a compiled a video of the antics of possibly the most unloved professional badminton player. Everytime I watch a video of her playing, I have to turn down the sound. The other professionals would keep a stoic face but it is clear that these antics take a toll. On the players, the umpires, the viewers, the noble ideal we call sportsmanship…
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The Handi Desk
Good man makes his own portable desk. There are also shots of his drawings from inside the notebook. - I read the book, and saw that there was a Netflix movie too. But before I committed to watching, I had already read Who Is Netflix’s Hillbilly Elegy For?
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Some iconic Vancouver locations from the X-Files
This year, it is 30 years old, and a documentary film will be released. ! -
Oral phenylephrine is ineffective as a decongestant. See e.g. this CNN piece. This has been known for a while. (PS. This information does not apply to phenylephrine administered in a nasal spray.)
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I enjoyed this podcast episode on Pen Addict. My pen and ink buying days are over (on hold?) but sometimes it is fun to listen to people nerd out over pen and paper.
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Old notes to myself
Ah, the boldness of thick black marker on an envelope. -
How to Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit Without Doing Any Math
Not bad a converter! 04 C = 40 F, 16 C = 61 F, 28 C = 82 F and 40 C = 104 F -
Ranked: The Most Popular Paid Subscription News Websites
This is from 2021. It’s NYT, Waco and then WSJ. Second place has half the number of subscribers of number one. -
This is a really nice camping chair.
Monthly Archives: September 2023
đź“–Â Recent reads
[This is in a different format from the usual book post.]
1 //
I started on this book as a recommendation from Story Graph, and I guess I approve of the algorithm! It is a very interior book, and you live in the head of Manny, the manager of a chain restaurant that has just been ordered by HQ to close down for good. Manny struggles through the last shift, with his rag-tag crew, and he struggles through life – with a waitress he is in love with and his pregnant girlfriend. It is very far from my day-to-day, and I enjoyed being immersed, for a short while, in Manny’s world. [3/5]
2//
The story on Alberto Salazar broke a few years ago, and Nike continued to support him for a time. We have read Mary Cain’s brave story, and Kara Goucher’s book brings more depth to the darkness that consumed those who happened to be Salazar’s orbit in those years. It is a courageous book, and a story that ought to be written and ought to be read. Harsher critics question if the writer could have done more / earlier, and whether this book serves to ameliorate some of her guilt. But to me, to even be able to do what she eventually had, Goucher had to have fortitude in spades. Yes, she could have done differently, but so do we all. She deserves to process it the way she wants to (the privilege of being a writer). She was in a tough situation and perhaps the progressiveness of the world today makes us forget that just 5, 10 years ago, the world was very different. [4/5]
3//
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
This book is very interesting from a sociological perspective. There are also some pop psychology musings from the author. When you finish the book, you will wonder whether politics and what appears to be a desire to drum up publicity for some collateral purpose ought to affect your view of a book. If you are a discerning reader, you will wish for better writing and you would be able to form your own conclusions about whether the author’s conclusions are right. (Every hillbilly can make it to law school like he did!) He may or may not be able to speak for all Appalachians and working-class whites, but he sure knows how to tell a story. After reading the book, you will do well to read a few reviews on why the book was controversial. The book is a deceptive piece of art. [3/5]
Links from the past weeks
- Personal infidelity and professional conduct in 4 settings (Another link here)
Police, financial advisors, CEOs/ CFOs who use a marital infidelity website are significantly more likely to engage in professional misconduct. The findings suggest that personal and workplace behaviour are closely related.
Or perhaps it so happens that those who bother to sign up for the website are stupider with their recklessness. -
IMAX emulates PalmPilot software to power Oppenheimer’s 70 mm release
A major dose of nostalgia for the early 2000s. -
Reading the Wirecard book makes you curious about the whistleblower.
National University of Singapore’s law school is referred to as “elite law college” in the book. Amusing. -
Kindness as a signifier of intelligence?
That’s a nice way to encourage kindness. - Always wanted a JieldĂ© lamp, but somehow I haven’t reached that stage in my life yet.
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I was just checking out this young man’s bookshelf and one thing led to another, and then I am trying out Story Graph, an alternative to Goodreads. I find the stats interesting and useful for you to discover more about your reading habits, and the recommendations on Story Graph are better than on Goodreads. Goodreads has so much data and so much money (being owned by Amazon) but it has for years been steadfastly stuck in terms of design and what it offers you.