Sönke Ahrens
TIL: Humboldt University of Berlin—whose faculty and alumni have included 57 Nobel laureates—was founded by Wilhelm von Humboldt, rather than his more famous (to me) Darwin-inspiring brother Alexander von Humboldt.
When renamed in 1949, however, it …
When power was restored after an outage yesterday, I observed that our oldest clock—a grandfather clock—and our newest clocks—iPhones—survived just fine.
The middle generation, electronic clocks without Internet connections, were the ones that failed …
Stephen Hackett writes about the Power and Legacy of Virginia Tech’s Mac-Based Supercomputers.
I was a freshman in the fall of 2004 when the Xserve-based cluster was going into operation. As an engineer (versus CS), I never got to play with it, but …
It’s a beautiful morning here in Utah. The very definition of cold and bright.
I cannot possibly imagine what it means for Nespresso to partner with Swarovski (beyond this very shiny box), so obviously I ordered some. I’ll report back if I ever figure it out.
Watched: Muppets Haunted Mansion 🍿
Hysterical. Musical. Cameos and references galore.
I can’t believe I’ve never seen this.
I moved out of Texas a few years ago. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like any statewide midterm candidates have heard about that.
…
After some reflection, I think I figured it out: replying with STOP feels like I’m accepting …
Watched: Tenzing 🍿
Extremely well-done. Incredible visuals, and truly unbelievable costuming. The found/archival footage was nearly indistinguishable from the modern film.
I also really enjoyed getting more flavor on a story about which I basically …
This week, I’ve been editing the final books of Chapter By Chapter, my guide to all 1,189 chapters of the Bible, and a question occurred to me:
Why is Daniel a Major Prophet when it has only twelve chapters, but Hosea is a Minor Prophet with …
I upgraded my Apple Watch this week from the Series 7 (2021) to the new Series 12. My old watch battery just didn’t last any more, especially on days with long workouts.
The screen seems surprisingly bigger for +1mm, and it messed up the fit of …
Dystopian ad campaign idea:
“We Asked Three World-Class Chefs Their Favorite Costco Items” but dynamically generated in real time based on your actual shopping history, so you think you’re a brilliant chef for shopping at Buy-N-Large.
Bonus: add one …
Apparently today’s LinkedIn mini-sudoku takes exactly 53 seconds to solve.
Every lighthouse in the world with its approximate range, period, and pattern.
The visualization is amazing and beautiful, although navigation is a bit rough and I wish there were a filter for just actual lighthouses.
But… just sit and watch. …
I just shared the September 2026 Behind the Scenes update for VerseNotes Commons members.
September was a huge month. It’s always helpful for me to look back on the month and see how far we’ve come, and I like having a group of invested …
I have built myself an /elsewhere page to collect my public work (other than this blog and VerseNotes).
Tomorrow’s VT-Pitt game is “the first matchup in the history of modern college football to feature two unranked, 4-0 major conference teams.” (Shelton Moss).
Playing Pitt is always nerve-wracking, but I’m excited.
I recently wrote that Bible apps should think harder about what “streaks” and catch-up mechanics are actually forming in their users and readers.
FaithTech’s new Playbook names this thoughtfulness stewardship:
the ongoing …
Listening to the latest The Talk Show, Gruber’s guest Andru Edwards mentioned he’d taken 46 flights this year, and that sounded insane.
Then I checked Flighty, and I’m at 39.
Maybe I am one of the crazy ones.
The date of the VT-SMU game showed up as 46332 on today’s telecast of VT-BC.
People who have used Excel too much know exactly what happened.
I literally cannot remember the last time my Flighty widget was empty.
It’s been a challenging week, full of travel and ROSCon, but I’ve still found some time to write about Scripture for VerseNotes. I’ve just finished Zephaniah, and I’m now within 20 chapters of the end.
I have read the book of Habakkuk dozens of times, with and without commentaries.
I don’t think I have ever actually understood it until now, today, as I struggle to encapsulate its movements and meanings for Chapter By Chapter.
“The best …
Toronto’s Queen Mother Café bills its Ping Gai as “the best chicken in the city.” I’ve only been here for about 22 hours, but I’m fairly sure they’re right.
Successful Siri AI today (on Mac):
Result: two calendar events at the correct times.
(Yes, I know …
I couldn’t figure out how to watch yesterday’s Virginia Tech game. ChatGPT found only one way (adding YET ANOTHER subscription on top of the ESPN rider we already added to Disney+).
I would have paid half a month’s sub cost for just that game. But …
