I recently did something I probably should have done years ago: I switched to a discount mobile carrier, Mint Mobile. For many years, I’ve paid around $75 a month with AT&T. I really didn’t consider any other options, as it worked fine and seemed like a reasonable amount to pay. Plus, I assumed that the … Read more
Last week, I walked into my home office in the morning and opened the blinds to see a beautiful bird sitting on the windowsill outside. It had a long beak, brown feathers with speckles, and it seemed like a juvenile. Instead of just enjoying the moment, I reached for my phone, and the sudden movement … Read more
For the longest time, my reading setup at night has been a wedge pillow on top of another pillow for the purpose of elevating my Kindle high enough so I don’t need to strain my neck to read it. This works fine, but it’s elaborate. Plus, Walter can’t get his nightly tummy time if there’s … Read more
Exactly 4 years ago today, I picked up a new Tesla Model 3 from a dealership in St. Louis. I think the car is fantastic. It still feels like I’m driving something from the future. It drives itself on highways, it knows who I am when I approach the vehicle, and it gets all the … Read more
For the longest time, I’ve had the same photo on my phone’s lock screen: Megan eating while Biddy stares at her plate. I love the photo, but I’ve seen it so many times that I stopped really seeing it. Recently I realized there’s another option: On both iPhone and Android, you can have the lock … Read more
On Saturday morning I made the mistake of trying to open what I thought was a digital game on my desktop computer. Instead, it was a hacker’s software that accessed my Google account, bypassing two-factor authentication through some combination of saved cookies and my current logins, changed my recovery options to truly lock me out, … Read more
Quick exercise: Think of the top 3 places in the world you’d like to visit in the next few years. Where are they? When you’re ready with those locations, think of the people you know who live in or near those places. Unless you were already thinking of visiting those specific people, I bet it’s … Read more
I love when science fiction becomes real science. The breakthrough this week is that an ongoing, multi-decade fusion experiment–the scientific method takes time–has finally resulted in energy gain. Just a little bit of energy, but enough to show that it’s possible and that the potential is huge. If that potential is fully realized, it could … Read more
Last week there was exciting news of evidence of more organic matter found on Mars. The twist, however, is that the samples gathered by the rover won’t be available for scientists to study on Earth until 2030. That’s 8 years away! While even looking at those samples seems like a far-future pipe dream, such delays … Read more
Yesterday I was driving in the middle lane of a 3-lane road when a car ahead of me in the right lane abruptly swerved hard left across all 3 lanes to make a left-hand turn. I was lucky, both because I was paying attention and because they were just far enough ahead of me that … Read more