“This is what I learned from those years in the prison camp, where all those constraints just were oppressive. You must never ever ever confuse, on the one hand, the need for absolute, unwavering faith that you can prevail despite those constraints with, on the other hand, the need for the discipline to begin by confronting the brutal facts, whatever they are. We’re not getting out of here by Christmas.”
I saw this last week and meant to post it sooner: Admiral Jim Stockdale was a POW for seven years in Vietnam, and this is what he learned about faith and optimism.
Until a vaccine or another protective measure emerges, there is no scenario, epidemiologists agreed, in which it is safe for that many people to suddenly come out of hiding. If Americans pour back out in force, all will appear quiet for perhaps three weeks.
Then the emergency rooms will get busy again.
I heard the author of this article on The Daily, the New York Times’ podcast, and what he said was sobering. We’re not out of the woods yet—this is going to continue for months. There is no vaccine coming soon. And it’s going to take careful, intelligent government to help us through the pandemic with as little pain as possible—something we haven’t gotten at all.
You didn’t see people in masks standing in the rain risking their lives to vote. Not in America. You didn’t see the leader of the free world push an unproven miracle drug like a late-night infomercial salesman. That was a crisis update. You didn’t see homeless people dead on the street. You didn’t see inequality. You didn’t see indifference. You didn’t see utter failure of leadership and systems.
Jen found this article and read it aloud a couple of days ago, and it really struck home. In Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting, Julio Vincent Gambuto makes the case that this strange reality is the best opportunity we’ve ever had to stop, look, and evaluate our lives, our country, and our future, and prepare to make changes for the better right now before we are lulled back to sleep.
OK, so the folks that came up with a digital back for medium-format cameras now have a Kickstarter for a limited set of 35mm cameras: the I’m Back is a kit that bolts to the back of a film camera and provides a 2″ touchscreen display, 14MB RAW files, and as much storage as you can stuff into a Micro SD card. As I would expect, none of the cameras I own are on their list of supported models, but I’m going to wait and see if someone mods a Minolta x700 or a Fujica AX-3 and then maybe consider one of these.
This is a link to the official Baltimore City COVID-19 tracker; so far Baltimore City accounts for 10% of all Maryland deaths from the virus. As a designer and visual communicator, there are many things I would fix in this visualization, but overall it’s good information.
Jesus, I’m old. Lost Souls, the first album by Doves, is 20 years old this year. Rise and Sea Song are absolutely two of the best tracks of 2000, bar none, and that was a decent year for music (if you knew where to look).
The idea that we’re on the brink of a return to normalcy is flatly insane. We’re barely saying hello to covid-19 in its mild and moderate mercies.
This reporter, in Kansas City, thinks he probably has a mild to moderate case of Coronavirus. He can’t tell for sure, because there are no tests available. He doesn’t know how he got it, because he works from home and took all the precautions. He’s been dealing with the symptoms for nine days, and says it feels like getting hit with a ton of bricks.
In the absence of March Madness (like I give a fuck) 512 Pixels is running a voting bracket for our favorite Mac. As a power user who has owned, fixed, or laid hands on 90% of the models listed here—pour one out for my Quadra 840AV, and good riddance to all the Power Mac G5 towers I ever owned—I definitely have favorites. Vote early, vote often.
Huh, I’d never heard of this before: CRV Black Death, an affliction that affects Honda CR-V’s of our vintage. From the article:
All too often, it will self-destruct, shattering its internals and forcing the bits and pieces through the rest of your AC system. The microscopic metal shavings mix with the lubricating oil and create a tough “black” sludge that clogs the narrow passages in the system and is impossible to clean out completely.
I wonder if this is why our A/C system has never really felt like it was up to snuff? We had to replace ours last year right before we went on vacation; perhaps this was the problem.
Here it is, your 2020 Minnesota State High School All Hockey Hair Team. So much salad. For reference: 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016. Magnificent.