In the last five weeks, nothing much happened on the domestic front. The weather slightly improved each weeks (now it’s mostly above zero, although the east coast kept being hit by one nor’easter after another!) and the sun feels much better (warmer) since we switched to daylight saving time as it sets much later now. The snow is melting. The job is as tiring and frustrating (absurd) as ever, but I think I am dealing better with it. Zen and all (trying not to give a f*ck).
I got my DNA testing results from 23&me and it is rather disappointing. I am genetically boring: one hundred per cent europeans and no variants detected for major health issues (save a higher risk for macular degeneration and celiac disease). The physical traits reports are hits and misses. I still have to read everything in details, but I feels it is more amusing than really useful.
I didn’t write much (although I did a few good comments on What the Health, An inconvenient sequel, Le chat du rabbin 7, Reine d’Égypte vol. 1 and vol. 2-3, on Kim Thuy’s conference and her book Ru) because I have been constantly busy trying to solve multiple problems. I have the feeling that nothing works properly anymore! Everything seems buggy: the WiFi, the blog, the computer (at home and at work), and even the electricity (causing the lights to flickers almost constantly, turning off and on the TV or the computer)! Is the world starting to slowly brake down all over? The entropy! The entropy! Seriously, if all this is a simulation (or a dream) slowly shutting down, maybe a reboot would wake me up? Or maybe not. But this constant fighting to maintain the cohesion of the universe is getting tiresome (if not unbearable, yet).
I called Hydro Q and the flicker stopped (for now). Tried to install network extenders but Bell’s wifi is till shitty (neither Apple Airport or Netgear worked; should I try another brand? More pods? To be continued…). The computer finally died (there was a problem with File Vault being on but the main problem was the hard drive after all) and is now at the repair shop. My desk feels empty and working in the salon on a combination of Mac-mini (which I normally use as a media center) and iPad, is rather uncomfortable. I am planing to purchase a Macbook soon… But I wasted so much time doing all this… it is frustrating.
In the news, the world doesn’t seems in a much better shape. More Trump-related scandals (Cambridge Analytica, Stormy Daniels, he fires Tillerson and McMaster, tease trade war and impose tariffs on steel & aluminum — mostly for China, proposed talks with North Korea, etc.), more school shooting this time at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland (Florida), serial bombing in Texas, another democrats’ victory in Pennsylvania slowly tips the scale, emboldened Russians assassinated a couple of former spies in Britain (one with a nerve agent!), Steven Hawking died, etc. The good news is that the students from Parkland are old enough to become activists (#NeverAgain) and, for some, to vote in the mid-term election in November! An end to this nightmare really seems possible…
Anyway, as usual, I managed to stay a little acquainted with the affairs of the world and gathered many notable news & links — which I now share with you (in both french or english, slightly categorized, but in no particular order — note that, to save on coding time, the links will NOT open in a new window as usual), after the jump.
[ Traduire ]
Apple Stuff
- Apple is missing the boat on AirPower, and other companies are taking advantage (The Verge)
- What to expect from Apple’s education event (The Verge)
- Mark Gurman: New MacBook in Works, Likely Replaces MacBook Air With Price Below $1,000 (Mac Rumors)
- How to Group Mac App Icons More Prominently in Your Dock (Mac Rumors)
- Apple announces new Watch bands with ‘vibrant colors for spring’ (9 to 5 Mac)
- How to Block Nuisance Calls and Messages on Your iPhone (Mac Rumors)
- Apple is buying the “Netflix of magazines” for an undisclosed amount (The Verge)
- Should you upgrade your Fusion Drive iMac to macOS High Sierra? (MacWorld)
- Apple’s AirPower said to be released next month, pricing info still unclear (9 to 5 Mac)
Books, Library & Culture
- Dans quel arrondissement montréalais va-t-on le plus à la bibliothèque? (Métro)
- Suggestions lecture de la semaine (2018-03-17 – Salut Bonjour)
- What Are Digital Comics Good for Anyway? (ICv2)
- Review: ‘Et Tu, Brute?: The Deaths of the Roman’ (ICv2)
- Montreal academic’s live serial presentation of The Iliad looks for links with TV story-telling (The Globe and Mail, Link)
- Investigating Montreal’s literary crime scene (Montreal Gazette)
- Writing “Gave me life” (Montreal Gazette via PressReader)
- Digital Manga Sales Pass Physical Books (ICv2)
- Bibliothèques en mutation et profession menacée (Le Devoir)
- Is the E-Reader Dead? (Tom’s Guide)
- Ursula K. Le Guin : Author explored fantasy, feminism (Montreal Gazette via PressReader)
- Acclaimed Feminist Science Fiction Writer Ursula K. Le Guin Dies at 88 (Times)
- La lecture garante d’un bel avenir, croient les jeunes lecteurs canadiens (Le Devoir)
- L’histoire de «Livres dans la rue» prend fin (Le Devoir) [heureusement cette décision a été renversée: La Presse. Radio-Canada]
- The Best Things Found Between the Pages of Old Books (Atlas Obscura)
Entertainments & geeky stuff
- ‘The Expanse’ Season 3 Trailer (ICv2)
- Full ‘Lost in Space’ Trailer Debuts (ICv2)
- BBC Snatches Up Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ (ICv2)
- Palladium Loses Robotech License (ICv2)
- Bafta Film Awards 2018: All the nominees (BBC)
- Oscar winners 2018: The list (CNN)
Health & Environment
- Study Confirms Apple Watch Can Detect Abnormal Heart Rhythm With 97% Accuracy (Mac Rumors)
- HeartMonitor Apple Watch app lets you continuously track heart rate without workouts (9 to 5 Mac)
- Bill Brownstein: Got the SAD blues? Blame February (Montreal Gazette)
- How to build muscle as age tears it down (CNN)
- Food for thought (Montreal Gazette via PressReader)
- Alzheimer’s: Clinical trial using magnetic pulses in bid to halt disease’s progress (Montreal Gazette)
- Super-flu: Stalking a killer (Vancouver Sun / Montreal Gazette via PressReader)
- Alzheimer’s Plaques Erased in Mice—What’s Next? (National Geographic)
History & sciences
- How Did Astronaut DNA Become ‘Fake News’? (The Atlantic)
- Stephen Hawking, science’s brightest star, dies aged 76 (The Guardian)
- What you can learn about marriage and migration from a 13-million member family tree (L.A. Times)
- Indigenous or a French colonist? How the fight over this 17th-century woman’s identity could affect tens of thousands of her descendants (National Post)
- Ravens Are Evolving, and Not in the Way You’d Expect (National Geographic)
- The ‘Genome Hacker’ Who Mapped a 13 Million-Person Family Tree (The Atlantic)
- Life in Britain during twilight of Roman empire revealed by rings (Newcastle University)
- Amateur Astronomer Spots Supernova Right as It Begins (Gizmodo)
- Mexico: 500 years later, scientists discover what killed the Aztecs (The Guardian)
- 10 Major Archaeological Discoveries Made In 2017 (Georgina Beyer)
- Tremulous Hand stars in British Library’s web showcase of medieval literature (The Guardian)
- 10 Incredible Roman Military Innovations You Should Know About (Georgina Beyer)
- Clay tablets from the cradle of civilisation provide new insight to the history of medicine (Sciences X)
- Ancient city’s LiDAR scans reveal as many buildings as Manhattan (Engadget)
- Website follows journey of Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster through space (Engadget)
- Watch Starman and its Tesla get swallowed by the darkness of space (Engadget)
- Why are human breasts so big? (Business Insider)
Humour
- Between friends, 2017-11-12
- Pearls before swine, 2017-11-12
- Foxtrot, 2017-11-12
- Non sequitur, 2017-11-13
- Bizarro, 2017-11-13
- Between Friends, 2017-11-16
- Rhymes with orange, 2017-11-16
- Pearls before swine, 2017-11-20
- Rhymes with orange, 2017-11-30
- Between Friends, 2017-12-14
- Rhymes with orange, 2017-12-05 :
Japan & Japanese popular culture (anime & manga)
- My Brother’s Husband Ranks in YALSA’s Top 10 Graphic Novels for Teens (Anime News Network)
- YALSA Releases 2018 Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens List (ICv2)
- Vinland Saga Manga Gets TV Anime by Wit Studio (Anime News Network)
- Top 10 Manga Franchises for Fall 2017 (ICv2)
- Reliure Japonaise (Wikipedia, Google)
- Japanese towns struggle to deal with an influx of new arrivals: wild boars (WaPo)
- Kazuki Kaneshiro’s Go: Strength and irony in the face of prejudice (The Japan Times)
- Manga Trends in 2017 (ICv2)
- Taniguchi Jirō’s World of Manga (Nippon.com)
- Now You Can Download 2,500 Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Library of Congress (Creators / Vice)
- A star reborn : Figure skater Mirai Nagasu reclaims her Olympic story (ESPN)
- How I Get It Done: Organizational Guru Marie Kondo (The Cut)
Local News
- Civil rights activist Viola Desmond honoured with $10 bill, first vertical note in Canada (Globalnews.ca, Bank of Canada)
- Inside Napoleon’s Empire (Montreal Gazette via PressReader)
- Delays, cost overruns dog Montreal’s animal shelter (Montreal Gazette)
- Rogers Media abandons $100-million joint venture with Vice Canada (Financial Post)
- Mis à l’amende pour une plaque pas assez visible (JDM)
Politics, Economy & Society (and Trump Insanities!)
- Conor Lamb Wins Pennsylvania House Seat, Giving Democrats a Map for Trump Country (NYT)
- Christopher Steele, the Man Behind the Trump Dossier (The New Yorker)
- The woman challenging the meaning of femininity (BBC)
- Parents mous, enfants fous, profs à bout (Le Devoir) [laxisme dans l’éducation des enfants, un problème dont nous observons les répercussions quotidiennement ]
Technology & Gadgets
- Motor Mouth: The inconvenient truth about EVs in cold weather (Driving.ca / The Gazette)
- Electronic skin can display a heartbeat on your hand (Engadget)
- iDevices Launches HomeKit-Compatible Wireless ‘Instant Switch’ (Mac Rumors)
- Plumel Pod review (Google) [Bell’s pods have been totally useless to enhanced my crappy wifi]
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