Grand Master Carlsen, the world’s top ranked chess player, was forced into a draw by “the world”.
“Overall, ’the world’ has played very, very sound chess from the start. Maybe not going for most enterprising options, but kind of keeping it more in vein with normal chess — which isn’t always the best strategy, but it worked out well this time…”
Imagine that! One against 143,000, and it ends in a draw. I would take that as a win!
random tubesOn the U.S. suing Apple on iPhone’s monopoly (is that even a thing?!), a comment on The New York Times:
apple tesla tubes“I bought, own and use an iPhone from Apple because I like it. I like that Apple creates what I think is a safer environment, and that my data is better protected. I like how smoothly it works. In fact, I’m ecstatically happy with it. Much more than I am with most products I purchase and use.
I am looking at cars, and find that there are tech products that use proprietary technology and require subscriptions. Tesla will charge me to activate an auto garage door opener that’s already installed in their $50,000 car. BMW wants me to pay a subscription to use a heated seat that I’d buy (and own) with the car.
I suppose I don’t have to buy a Tesla or BMW (and I’m not). People also don’t have to buy an iPhone.
For those who want them, don’t wreck the features we buy it for. That seems the antithesis of a competitive market.”
This blog post about making vegetable stock from scratch at home—that is, not at an enterprise scale—had me at the first paragraph:
food tubes“After learning how to season food correctly, homemade stock is the single best thing anyone can do for his cooking. A stock is a liquid extraction of complementary flavors, a broad palette upon which sharper splashes of color may be painted.”
It is past 22:00, and I am still awake. For reasons I can’t explain, I don’t feel sleepy at all—which is odd for a weekday. I am going to pay for this tomorrow, I am sure.
Meanwhile I have been following links up and down at wonger.dev, especially these. Lots of interesting stuff there!
random tubesThis guy, Linus, he is some sort of a genius. He truly is! No, he isn’t Torvalds—though that Linus is also a genius. I mean, look how prolific he is! And he sure does write, at length. But don’t take my word for it, just go check it out. Oh, and he composes music, and does art, I mean… is there something he doesn’t do?!
Now, what brought me here today was his “short” notes, which he describes as “brief memos on ideas, musings, inspirations”. Pfff, Linus, mate, I admire you a lot. You don’t know me, but I do. Now, let me tell you something: you can’t write “brief” anything. Well, almost.
random tubesBecause I found it, and liked it enough to mention here:
“The night gardener once asked me if I knew how citrus trees died: when they reach old age, if they are not cut down and they manage to survive drought, disease and innumerable attacks of pests, fungi and plagues, they succumb from overabundance. When they come to the end of their life cycle, they put out a final, massive crop of lemons. In their last spring their flowers bud and blossom in enormous bunches and fill the air with a smell so sweet that it stings your nostrils from two blocks away; then their fruits ripen all at once, whole limbs break off due to their excessive weight, and after a few weeks the ground is covered with rotting lemons. It is a strange sight, he said, to see such exuberance before death.”
➝ Via Stress Free Zone.
random tubes viaA Bay woman on a crusade to prove Yelp reviews can’t be trusted. Or any other reviews, matter of fact.
tubesHaving such a lazy Sunday! Reading blogs, listening to Twitch. Talking about blogs, I am currently only following three:
After many years of following tech related blogs I grew tired of just that. It is refreshing to read things on a wider variety of topics, where tech might be in it, but not the main topic. If you have any recommendation, let me know! You can use the “@” next to the note time for that.
random tubes“This communication contains confidential, commercially sensitive information and is intended for the use of the addressee only. It should not be forwarded, copied, or otherwise disseminated without the express permission of the sender. If you received this communication in error, please forward it back to the sender and delete all copies.”
I always laugh at the stupidity of this.
rants tubesNot long ago I found someone’s Notion’s site. Notion allows you to publish your notes on the web, and create a rather homogeneous site. That person’s site was very interesting and, following the web fashion, I went from person to person—all of them on Notion—reading their daily stories, their journals. True journals. It was so interesting! Then I lost track—you know, you close tabs, you stop for a while, and then it is all gone. I have been longing to find them again ever since. I have searched, follow links leading no where, to my despair. I still haven’t lost hope, though.
tubesIt was recently on the news that the IRS is building his own online tax filing system. A spokesman—from the company behind TurboTax—reply was simply unbelievable:
“A direct-to-IRS e-file system is wholly redundant and is nothing more than a solution in search of a problem,” said Rick Heineman, a spokesman for Intuit, the company behind TurboTax. “That solution will unnecessarily cost taxpayers billions of dollars and especially harm the most vulnerable Americans.”
As a commenter on Hacker News paraphrased:
tubes“A fence around the chicken coop is wholly redundant and is nothing more than a solution in search of a problem,” said Sly the Fox. “It will unnecessarily cost the farmer thousands of dollars and especially harm the most vulnerable chickens.”
Referring to Mormons recruited into the FBI:
“The disproportionate number of Mormons is usually chalked up to three factors: Mormon people often have strong foreign language skills, from missions overseas; a relatively easy time getting security clearances, given their abstention from drugs and alcohol; and a willingness to serve.” — Why Mormons Make Great FBI Recruits
Willingness to serve is right. A rather blind willingness. Perfect!
random tubes