Category: Reading

Tuesday Morning Nuggets – November 17, 2020

M1 Macs review: The Next Generation – Six Colors – “The decision to abandon Intel, seemingly risky when we all first contemplated it a few years ago, has become blindingly obvious in hindsight. These new relatively low-end Mac models, all powered by the M1 chip, are faster than all but the very highest-end Intel Macs.”

The Golden Rule of Pandemic Survival – The Atlantic – “My colleagues’ guidance boils down to this winter’s golden rule for interacting with anyone outside your immediate household: Don’t spend time indoors with other people.”

COVID-19 and Walking Japan – Craig Mod – “What it’s like doing this walk during COVID-19? How stressful is it? How different is it?”

The Rise and Fall of Getting Things Done – New Yorker (Cal Newport) – “Imagine if, through some combination of new management thinking and technology, we could introduce processes that minimize the time required to talk about work or fight off random tasks flung our way by equally harried co-workers, and instead let us organize our days around a small number of discrete objectives.”

By the Way, Donald Trump Could Still Launch Nuclear Weapons at Any Time – Wired – “Among the authorities he’ll retain until his final minutes in office? The awesome and awful power to launch the United States’ nuclear arsenal on command.”

Introducing Amazon Pharmacy: Prescription Medications Delivered – BusinessWire – “Customers can now purchase prescription medications through the Amazon online store – convenient and reliable access, without leaving home.”

How to Pretend You’re in Paris Tonight – New York Times – There are countless ways to invite Paris into your home. All you need is a little creativity. And perhaps a glass of Champagne.

Monday Morning Nuggets – November 16, 2020

Early Data Show Moderna’s Coronavirus Vaccine Is 94.5% Effective – New York Times – Researchers said the results were better than they had dared to imagine. But the vaccine will not be widely available for months, probably not until spring.

Huawei, 5G, and the Man Who Conquered Noise – Wired – “What gripped him most was solving a challenge that Shannon himself had spelled out in his 1948 paper: how to transport accurate information at high speed while defeating the inevitable “noise”—undesirable alterations of the message—introduced in the process of moving all those bits.”

How The “Experts” Invest Their Money – Can I Retire Yet? – The book is a collection of 25 essays written by financial experts, ranging from financial advisors, journalists, authors, and professional portfolio managers. All shared what they actually do when it is time to put their own money where their mouths are.

Why Obama Fears for Our Democracy – The Atlantic – “What I’ve always believed is that humanity has the capacity to be kinder, more just, more fair, more rational, more reasonable, more tolerant. It is not inevitable. History does not move in a straight line. But if you have enough people of goodwill who are willing to work on behalf of those values, then things can get better.”

The Oral History of CNN’s Election Week – Esquire – It took office naps, rousing renditions of Motownphilly, and a whole lot of coffee.

Walmart Retreats Around Globe to Focus on E-Commerce – Wall St. Journal – Walmart has sold three longtime overseas holdings in less than seven weeks, each at the cost of some financial pain.

California, Love It and Leave It – Wall St. Journal – “The harsh truth is that California has fallen into disrepair. Bad policies discourage business and innovation, stifle opportunity and make life in major cities ugly and unpleasant.”

San Francisco sees nearly 7 foot king tides Sunday, more coming Monday – San Francisco Chronicle – High water was reported Sunday morning along San Francisco’s Embarcadero as well as at other flood-prone spots including parts of the bayshore in Mill Valley and Sausalito.

Best books of 2020: Technology – Financial Times – John Thornhill selects his must-read titles.

Sunday, November 15, 2020

The Case for Political Exile for Donald Trump – Politico – The country needs a clean break, Napoleon-style. And, hey, Trump might like his own island realm and an imperial title to go with it.

Reinventing the Newspaper, Week After Week – New York Times – Imagination is exactly what fuels her team every week for an At Home feature known by its editors and designers simply as “the activity,” a craft, game or other project in which readers learn how to turn the physical newspaper into a unique D.I.Y. creation.

Computer Scientists Achieve ‘Crown Jewel’ of Cryptography – Quanta – A cryptographic master tool called indistinguishability obfuscation has for years seemed too good to be true. Three researchers have figured out that it can work.

DHL, FedEx and UPS Are Ready to Save the World – Bloomberg – The logistics industry faces a mammoth task to safely deliver billions of vaccine doses. Those shipments could further juice the industry’s profits.

The Crown: Yes, Princess Diana’s “Uptown Girl” Performance Really Happened – Vanity Fair – “She walked out for eight counts…and then stopped, looked at the audience beautifully, and there was a gasp from the audience of 2,500 people who took an intake of breath all at the same time. They were speechless, and she was on fire.”

How to make sure winter is welcoming in the time of COVID – San Francisco Chronicle – With temperatures dropping and the days growing short, the Bay Area’s new landscape of parklets and shared outdoor spaces needs to be adapted to the realities of the season.