Have been listening to All Yours by Submotion Orchestra a bunch this week. Rediscovered it lurking in my collection and I’m not sure where I heard it originally. Something like Thievery Corporation, Supreme Beings of Leisure, or Brand New Heavies.

Still true: Deftones scream so I don’t have to

I guess it has begun in St. Paul with the Summer fireworks shenanigans. I hope it’s fireworks.

I wish I could tell you more about him. He was my mother’s mother’s brother, a great uncle, but I never met him.

My grandmother said she called him “Jumbo,” and she was hoping I would take to the same nickname. As an awkward preteen at the time, I didn’t want to be associated with being overweight. I didn’t hear the love in her request.

From what I understand, he was 28 when killed in Germany. He had probably a 6th grade education and was a farm worker. I think he was working with his brothers on the family farm, which at one point was a fairly sizable operation. I don’t know what loves he may have had and I don’t think he had a family of his own.

I never asked my grandma or my grandpa what he was like. I believe my mom has more pictures of him than the one I have seen recently, which is a very handsome man in uniform. But even what she knows is second-hand. We know people who knew him. Or knew, because time passes and people do, too.

But I have his name.

His death, fighting for the country and values and family he loved, is part of my story.

In other news, today I learned my Nintendo Switch has the ability to be a host. Not only with a WiFi hotspot but also a web server. I haven’t done a great deal of local play with other switch owners, but I guess those technologies makes sense for group play.

Have spent some time on Animal Crossing, now I’m starting to look around at what others have done.

There is a Lime & Jalapeño flavor of Ruffles that is offensely delicious and I am completely disappointed in my ability to stop eating them

A cup of strong coffee and a breakfast sandwich are consistently a source of joy for me.

Got this from a long-time colleague at work this morning. I’m the best. I’m modest. And I don’t brag. Honestly, though, need to work to meet that.

Via Autoblog: I can instantly make you a better driver

Am excited about news of WatchOS 10, but worried. I have a series 4 watch and my concern is either that I will be excluded from this release, or this will be the release that makes my watch run too slowly.

Listened to two Deserta albums. Bought two Deserta albums. More, please!

Listening to Deserta’s 2020 album called Black Aura My Sun. It’s somewhere between M83 and Ulrich Schnauss—as if shoegaze arrived via 80s pop, instead of via New Wave/Alternative. More synth, and less guitar.

Always a treat to know a favorite album hasn’t been forgotten: The ongoing legacies of The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

The small company conference I’m at has severely underestimated the amount of dairy we require with our coffee.

Less intimidated by AI with the understanding that we humans can’t really define what intelligence is, and we can’t really explain how we do what we do. We can automate based on complex decision trees, but the magic is in the awareness of the decision tree.

When I decide what I should have said about 5 minutes after I introduced myself at the company conference.

If there is anything on this earth that takes me out of my 54-year-old body, it’s music. Listened to some M83 and Unkle on the way home from work tonight. It was good for the soul.

Yeah. So, I’m going to need you to apply your application updates before I open the document I need to work on. Mmmkay? That’d be great.

This was taped to the outside of my cube one morning. I’m proud of my beard’s accomplishments

I have come to realize too late that any new app or software is an invitation to more notifications and advertisements. None of those are reasons I install an app. And now they cause me to remove apps.

I don’t know why I have to put off every expense report. There are never many and it’s never that damned hard.

Just picked up BOO - EP by Dead Leaf Echo. They are on Bandcamp

I’m intrigued by the idea that an Apple Watch might be able to be paired to devices that are not phones, or possibly paired to more than one phone. I have long wanted my Apple life to be less phone-centric. I’d prefer a cellular iPad as a primary device. Or maybe a cellular watch—and no phone.

The mysterious Great Attractor that’s pulling us in

Contemplating the infinite is awesome. The few facts we have are only hors d’œuvres in a meal we can’t yet imagine.