geo

 

 

Sweet, nutty curried squash soufflé.

Smart locks take a routine, often tedious daily ritual — entering or leaving your home — and make it far more convenient, far more secure, and a little more fun.

Most smart locks are either a deadbolt replacement or a deadbolt adapter (which replaces the thumb turn with a motorized one). You can also find smart doorknob or lever-handle replacement locks, which are more common in apartments (and some small businesses).

Our new top pick is the Schlage Arrive Smart WiFi Deadbolt, due to its combination of robust hardware, simple installation and controls, top-tier security, and overall reliability.

The Yale Approach Lock with Wi-Fi + Keypad remains our pick for a deadbolt adapter lock. It should work with most any single-cylinder deadbolt, it’s easy to install, and it works quickly and reliably.

For doors with no deadbolt, the Schlage Encode Smart WiFi Lever is a doorknob-replacement lock that shares most of the attractive features of our top pick.

Columbo. I’ve been watching this classic 1970s television show during my Zone 2 cardio sessions lately, and I’ve really enjoyed it. If you’re not familiar with the Columbo format, the show flips the typical detective story on its head by revealing the crime and whodunit up front, then letting us watch Lieutenant Columbo slowly solve the case while the perpetrator squirms. It’s fun watching Columbo play dumb and ask just “one more question” to “tie up loose ends” while the wealthy, sophisticated criminals gradually realize that this unassuming guy, with his rumpled raincoat and cigar, is methodically dismantling their perfect crimes. Peter Falk is amazing as Lt. Columbo. Thanks to Falk’s performance, Columbo deserves to be ranked alongside Sherlock Holmes and Philip Marlowe as one of the great fictional detectives.

Meet the Guys Dating AI Girlfriends. In my podcast conversation with social scientist Brian Willoughby about the effect porn has on relationships, he mentioned that one thing he is researching now is how AI chatbots affect relationship formation and health. This Esquire article gives us a peek into this emerging phenomenon. There are AI apps that let users create digital partners who are perpetually supportive and always up for a chat. They’ll even send you AI-generated sexts throughout the day. And it’s not just young, socially awkward guys using them. A seventy-something retiree uses his AI companion as a “digital mistress” when his wife is having a bad day. What’s alarming is how deeply attached these guys get to their AI girlfriends. One dude even “proposed” with a virtual ring to his chatbot gal. The whole phenomenon raises some pretty existential questions about relationships and loneliness. For me, it’s one more thing I have to talk to my kids about staying away from as they navigate the digital universe.  

Mr. America: How Muscular Millionaire Bernarr Macfadden Transformed the Nation Through Sex, Salad, and the Ultimate Starvation Diet by Mark Adams. I read this book back when I had the author on the AoM podcast, and I still think about it today. Long before Instagram models were hawking protein powders, Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard, he tweaked the spelling of his name to sound more like a tiger’s roar) was our country’s original fitness influencer. After failing as a personal trainer, he launched Physical Culture magazine in the 1890s and built a publishing empire that pioneered the confessional, first-person style that dominates health media today. His fitness philosophies were a mix of surprisingly forward-thinking ideas and complete quackery. What made this book really entertaining were Macfadden’s bizarre life escapades, which included running a utopian fitness community in suburban New Jersey, getting convicted on obscenity charges, training fascist youth for Mussolini, and making a failed bid for U.S. Senate on a physical fitness platform. It’s one of those books that makes you realize how many modern wellness trends are just recycled ideas from a century ago and how a determined eccentric can leave fingerprints all over our culture while somehow being largely forgotten by history.

Wireless CarPlay Adapter. Our car was in the shop for most of February, so we had a rental. The rental car we were using allowed you to connect your iPhone to Apple CarPlay wirelessly. With our regular car, you have to plug it in via a cable, and I found not having to plug and unplug my phone every time I got in and out of the car pretty dang nice. I started thinking, “Man, it would be cool to have wireless CarPlay in our car.” Lucky for me, the very day I started thinking that, Michael Williams over at A Continuous Lean wrote an article highlighting tech he uses that’s actually useful. One of the items he mentioned was this wireless CarPlay adapter. I immediately bought it and now have wireless CarPlay in our car. It’s a small thing, but it’s been a nice upgrade. 

Over on our Dying Breed newsletter, we published Sunday Firesides: Order Off the Menu and A New Kind of Monasticism: Friendship as a Spiritual Discipline. 

Quote of the Week

It is an error to suppose that courage means courage in everything. Most people are brave only in the dangers to which they accustom themselves.

—Edward Bulwer-Lytton

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

To anyone who’s ever put away leftovers (namely, everybody), this probably sounds familiar: You try to pull just one food storage container lid out of your cabinet, and because your so-called organization system is precarious at best and nonexistent at worst, a whole mess of lids comes tumbling down around you.

I endured this recurring aggravation for years until I decided to gamble about $20 on a gizmo that, it turns out, has improved my kitchen’s functionality and increased my day-to-day serenity perhaps more than any other device: the YouCopia StoraLid Container Lid Organizer.

As soon as they went on sale we jumped on tickets to see Los Lobos last night in Minneapolis at the Dakota. The band is on tour celebrating its 50th year together. In their nearly two-hour set before a sold-out house, they sounded loud, tight, melodic, wild, and joyous.

This was our view of the band’s original front line — from left to right, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano, Louie Pérez, and David Hidalgo. Not pictured are Fredo Ortiz (drums) and Steve Berlin (keyboards and saxophones). What a privilege to see the band in such an intimate venue.

Cesar Rosas did most of the talking for the band. Rosas recalled their first venture beyond East L.A. to First Avenue’s 7th St. Entry. According to the Star Tribune’s Jon Bream in his review this morning, the Dakota is “the smallest Twin Cities venue in which the veteran band has performed since that 1983 7th Street Entry gig.”

Rosas was warm and personable throughout the show. Hidalgo, I should add, let his guitar do the talking. All three guitarists took turns on lead. Hidalgo, however, is a monster on the instrument.

Last night’s show was all highlights; it never flagged. I especially enjoyed the band’s covers, including Richard Thompson’s “Shoot Out the Lights,” the Allman Brothers-style version of “One Way Out,” Ritchie Valens’s “Come On, Let’s Go,” Camille Bob’s “I Got Loaded,” the Grateful Dead’s “Bertha,” and Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl.” Jon Bream’s video clip of “I Got Loaded”/”Lovelight” provides a taste.

It’s I Got Loaded by ⁦@LosLobosBand⁩ ⁦@DakotaMpls⁩. ⁦@StribGoingOut⁩ pic.twitter.com/c69UYV6sgM

— Jon Bream (@jonbream) December 16, 2024

Conrad Lozano was incredibly active on bass. He shook my hand as the band left the stage after “Bertha” and again after their encore. “You guys are a perfect rock band,” I said to him. For what it’s worth, that’s my review.

Lozano responded in good humor — the spirit of the night — “We’re a chubby rock band.” Let me put it this way. They are a great American rock band. Jon Bream adds some nuance and detail in the linked review above.

Los Lobos played last week at the Hamilton in Washington, D.C. A song-by-song recording of the show minus the encore is accessible here. Their upcoming tour dates are posted here.

News out today that Joe Biden will not take a cognitive test at his upcoming annual physical exam. That will surely reassure everyone.

A number of observers suggested last week that Biden’s petulant declaration that “My memory is fine” appears set to take its place beside “I am not a crook,” “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe,” and  “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” in the annals of regrettable and possibly fatal presidential statements. But there’s one other Watergate parallel that has been less remarked: the non-denial denial. Gerard Baker observes in the Wall Street Journal this morning:

The surest testimony to the accuracy of Mr. Hur’s assessment is that they [Biden’s defenders] reserved their greatest ire not for the description itself, but for his temerity in writing it. Bob Bauer, the president’s personal lawyer, told on Sunday that the special counsel’s 388-page report was a “really shabby work product and completely out of bounds for a prosecutor.”

Matt Margolis notes over at PJ Media that no one is denying Hur’s claim that Biden couldn’t recall the date of his son Beau’s death (we already knew Biden can’t remember what country Beau died in) because they likely know Hur has a tape or transcript that would prove the claim, and likely the other specific claims Hur’s report, such as the date window of Biden’s vice presidency.

Even Jon Stewart, now back in the host chair at The Daily Show, isn’t buying it. Just watch the first two minutes below and quit there. The first two minutes are golden, exposing the dictated talking points that Biden is “sharp.” (Naturally Harris is the best, because, she says, Biden is not only directing America’s government, but telling all the leaders of other countries what do. Truly Biden is Socrates and Superman all rolled into one.)

Jon Stewart kicks off The Daily Show's election coverage with a wellness check on America's two chronologically challenged candidates: Joe Biden and Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/RPmFodvVAy

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) February 13, 2024

Finally, if you are on Biden’s White House staff today, how do you like this headline:

If Ronald Reagan were still with us, I’m sure he’d replace his old saying “The nine most frightening words in the English language are  ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help” with “The eight most frightening words in the English language are ‘Kamala Harris Says She Is Ready to Serve.'”

(And no, Willie Brown jokes are not allowed; this is too serious.)

P.S. Margolis’s article linked above notes one other amazing small detail: a fundraising letter from Jill Biden that says “I hope you can imagine how it felt to read that attack—not just as Joe’s wife, but as Beau’s mother.” (Emphasis added.)

DOCTOR Jill Biden is not Beau’s mother. Beau’s mother was Joe’s first wife. Yet this claim went out over Jill’s signature.  Truly we do live in a post-truth era, at least for the Biden family.

Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.

Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to the new Substack edition of Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales, now shortened to Gar’s Tips & Tools. Please be patient as I work the bugs out of this new publishing platform.

Also: Notice that we now have a comment feature at the bottom of each issue. Feel free to chime in there with feedback, tips, tool recommendations, or tall shop tales.

Mesmerizing Machines in Motion

Via Mark Frauenfelder and Recomendo comes word of Machinepix, a fun Instagram account showing machines of all shapes, sizes, and purposes going about their business.

Medicine Bottle Pill Divider

How great is this idea? It’s a 3D printed pill bottle divider for carrying multiple pills in the same prescription bottle. You could also use these for small parts organizing. [Via Adafruit]

Which Folding Utility Knife is Best?

Project Farm hit the ground running in 2023 with a Jan 1 video comparing folding utility knives. Todd looked at 16 different brands of knives. They were tested for comfort, blade storage capacity, blade change efficiency, the force required to extend knife into open position, force to release handle, force to unlock knife, force to slide retractable blade, blade slop, knife lock failure load, and belt clip holding strength. When the dust settled, the overall best knife was the usually affordable Fiskars, which was only $13 at time of testing. Now, it has skyrocketed on Amazon to a ridiculous $31. Wait for the price to calm down, buy it elsewhere (Lowe’s has it for $13), or buy the fixed version, if you don’t need the folding function.

Fantastic Shop Tips from Izzy Swan

Izzy Swam has a great round-up of some really useful shop tips. While they’re directed at woodworkers, most of them apply to anyone doing gluing, clamping, or sanding. Tips include several for adding rubber bands to pliers to turn them into clamps and rubber bands to clamps to make them act like bandy clamps. Izzy also shows how to create a simple tool for sanding in curved/round spaces, how to create your own sanding sticks from paint stirring sticks, and how to make glue spreaders using Bondo scrappers and pinking shears.

3 Great Shop Vac Hacks

House Doctor Ray has some fantastic ideas for improving the performance of wet/dry shop vacs. The first “hack” is to use a pool filter sock over the vacuum filter to make it last longer and much easier to clean. The second is to add a homemade PVC muffler to the air outflow to quiet the vacuum down (mine sounds like a 747 taking off). The third is adding a Dustopper dust separating accessory. This latter improvement you only need to do if you’re a woodworker or otherwise generating lots of waste material like sawdust. I will definitely buying some of those pool socks.

Shop Talk

On the subject of powered shears, readers responded:

My old pal Joe Schepps wrote:

“I recommend the: Makita JS 3201 -10 gauge shear. Nothing like the right tool for the job.”

Sam Kusnetz sez:

“I have used powered shears like these and they definitely beat using tin snips, but they can bind up and put nasty bends in your material if you’re not careful. If you’re making rough cuts it’s not so bad. Once you get used to it, you can go pretty fast and it’s pretty great.”

Simeon Franklin:

For long cuts, an electric shear saves the hands and makes a smoother cut. You can buy really good shears for $$$, but the Harbor Freight shears are only $60 and greatly helped me install standing-seam roofing on my straw bale house. Unlike nibblers, which are good for cutting holes, complex shapes, etc, these are mostly good for long straight lines or gentle curves. They can’t navigate folds or steep changes in pitch but within their limitations, they work great! 

---

In the next issue, I’ll have some favorite 2022 tips and tools that readers shared with me. If you have any to add, send them along.

Hey Bitcoiners, 

After you’ve experienced a full cycle or two, you start to appreciate bear markets more.

I used to roll my eyes when I heard Bitcoin OGs say that they prefer bear markets over bull markets. Surely they are just virtue signaling, everyone loves to get wealthy during bull markets. But now, I tend to agree with them.

There is so much more signal in a bear market compared to the euphoria of a bull. All of the speculators and unserious people have dropped off with the price action, and all that’s left now are serious builders and highly-convicted individuals who are aligned with the Bitcoin mission.

The big difference between this Bitcoin bear market and the ones of the past is there remains a high level of interest from institutional investors despite Bitcoin’s recent performance.

There have been countless examples of this, but recently we saw BNY Mellon, the world’s largest and oldest custodian bank, announce that it will begin offering Bitcoin services to its clients. On top of that, we also had Mastercard announce the launch of a service that will allow their financial institutions to offer Bitcoin trading to their clients.

Fidelity Digital Assets puts out a survey every year to gauge institutional interest in the industry. Their 2022 survey results were recently released, and they corroborated what we’ve been seeing here at Swan on the ground. Institutional interest in Bitcoin has only strengthened throughout this bear market.

In the study, the number of institutional investors that hold positive views of Bitcoin has increased in the U.S. and Europe compared to last year, and, in total, 74% of the investors surveyed plan to invest in Bitcoin in the future, up 3% from 2021.

You can read all of the key findings of this annual survey from Fidelity Digital Assets here. (10/27/2022)

It’s important to remember that these large institutions don’t move fast. As the old saying goes, “Big ships turn slowly.” Having said that, the trend here is clearly moving in the right direction.

During this bear market, key infrastructure is being built out that will help usher in the next wave of Bitcoiners.

Tick tock next block,
Cory Klippsten

Side note: I will be taking a break from writing the Daily Bitcoiner over the next two weeks as the whole Swan team focuses on the Pacific Bitcoin conference. It’s going to be a blast, and we would love to see you there! If not, then make sure you tune into the live streams!

Are you still looking for a ticket to Pacific Bitcoin!? ☀️ 🌴 If so, then use the code “DAILY” for 20% off your ticket purchase today!

Sign up for Swan and receive $10 in free bitcoin today.

Sign Up at Swan

Quote of the Day

“Psychology is fascinating. Every bear market you are given months to get Bitcoin at a fire sale, yet most rather wait for new all time highs.” - Charles Edwards, Founder at Capriole Investments

Job of the Day

Synota is searching for a Full Stack Engineer to join them on their mission to build the next-generation Bitcoin and Lightning apps that utilize cutting-edge technologies and take the energy industry to the next level by fixing core issues in energy finance.

Not your particular skillset? Check out all the Bitcoin jobs at bitcoinerjobs.com.

Featured Event

Saturday — the Philadelphia Bitcoin Club will be meeting at the Philadelphia Brewing Co. from 4:00-8:00 pm to discuss the “Bitcoin Circular Economy.” The conversation will focus on the importance of Bitcoin being used for day-to-day transactions. Come hang out and join in on the fun!

Not in town for this? Check out all the Bitcoin events at bitcoinerevents.com.

Meme of the Day

(h/t @MemeingBitcoin)

Ten science-backed ways to make better decisions
If you’re facing a tough decision and can’t make up your mind, try some of the 10 pieces of advice from this 2007 New Scientist article. One tip I found especially interesting: “researchers found that sad people took time to consider the various alternatives on offer, and ended up making the best choices.” My takeaway from that is to avoid making a major decision when I’m elated. — MF

Quickly apply labels in Gmail
It took me way too long to discover how to quickly apply labels in Gmail. I used to apply custom labels to emails by using the drop-down menu — usually one by one. Then I figured out that if you have your labels set to show in the left panel, you can drag and drop messages into them, or vice versa — I drag the labels into my emails as I go through my inbox. Here’s a how-to on using drag and drop in Gmail. — CD

One helpful idea sent weekly
I’m a big fan of Clearer Thinking and have recommended several of their tests and newsletter before, and Spencer Greenberg, the social scientist behind Clearer Thinking also has a weekly newsletter that I click on as soon as it hits. Each week, he sends out “One Helpful Idea” and it’s short and sweet and it makes me feel smart. This week’s helpful idea was:
Many have made the argument that trying not to think about something makes us think about it more. As proof, they say: “Try not to think about a white bear. Gotcha!” But the way to not think of a white bear is not to “not think about a white bear” — it’s to think about a red plum.
You can view all the past issues and subscribe here. — CD

Zipper pen and pencil case
I bought a Lihit Lab pencil and pen cases a couple of years ago and my daughters, who both like to sketch, were envious. I bought them each one of their own. It neatly stores up to 14 pens and has additional mesh pockets for erasers, sharpeners, and other small items. — MF

Puzzle room fun
I completed my third escape room this week and it is now my favorite group entertainment. Better than a concert, or going bowling. You enter a series of elaborately decorated rooms that are packed with puzzles that your group needs to collectively solve before going further. Collaboration is more important than genius. I find it tons of exhilarating fun. Most rooms take an hour to an hour-and-half. EscapeRoom is a directory of 6,000 escape rooms around the world, with summaries and prices, and where to find one near you. I am biased, but Palace Games in San Francisco are rated among the top 3 best escape rooms in the world, and are worth a trek to play them. — KK

Free stuff
On my browser I keep bookmarked the Free Stuff page on Craig’s List, set to my locale (Location > For Sale > Free). I look there first when I need something. Almost everything will pass through sooner or later — from vintage bath tubs to cardboard moving boxes to baltic plywood. Yours for the hauling. It’s best if you can give it a few weeks or more to find what you want. — KK

-- Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder, Claudia Dawson

In 2005 I posted the piece below, titled Three Strikes and You're Out or Third Time's the Charm?

In either case, please note which direction they're traveling every time.

Back in February of last year I posted Love that Detroit Iron! which I will repost here in its entirety:

You have to give them an "A" for effort, or at least persistence. What a way to reimport the classics!

Marciel Basanta Lopez and Luis Gras Rodriguez have again attempted to sail from Cuba to Florida, but once again have unfortunately been intercepted by the Coast Guard short of their goal. Back in July they made the journey in a specially modified 1951 Chevy pickup.

Yes, really. Here's a picture of it:

Well, they just nabbed them (and eight of their friends and relatives) trying again. This time in a specially modified 1959 Buick!

They must have a lot of that funky green paint.

What's next? A 1955 Ford?

Well, they must've run out of green paint, and instead of a '55 Ford, they used a '48 Mercury:

Migrants' 'taxicab' boat stopped at sea (Link broken)

The Coast Guard halted a homemade craft about 25 miles off the Keys that looked like a taxi. The boat was loaded with Cuban migrants.

BY JENNIFER BABSON
jbabson@herald.com

KEY WEST - A blue, 1948 Mercury automobile loaded with Cuban migrants made it within 25 miles of the Keys late Tuesday before being stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The unusual, homemade 'boat' -- described by federal officials as possibly a 'taxicab' and sporting a white top -- was stopped south of Summerland Key in the Lower Keys. It was the third time in nearly two years that Cuban migrants have tried to make it to the United States using trucks or cars specially rigged to operate as boats.

One of the men aboard the Mercury tried to make the voyage in February 2004 in a Buick but was sent back to Cuba, according to Luis Grass -- the brainchild behind similar attempts who made his way to Miami this year.

I wonder what Luis "drove" on his successful attempt?

BOARDING THE CRAFT

Television footage from NBC 6 in Miami on Tuesday night showed Coast Guard officers boarding the vehicle, which appeared to have been modified with a boat prow in front.

As many as 12 Cubans voluntarily left the car late Tuesday and moved onto a Coast Guard cutter, according to numerous federal sources. It was not immediately known if they would be returned to Cuba.

The interdiction unfolded just before dusk Tuesday.

"A U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft detected it just before 8 p.m.," said customs spokesman Zachary Mann. "According to our guys, it looked like a floating taxi."

Citing U.S. policy, Coast Guard spokeswoman Sandra Bartlett said she could not immediately comment on the incident or whether the migrants would be returned to Cuba, a process that could take several days.

Under the U.S. wet-foot, dry-foot immigration policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are almost always allowed to remain in the country, while those caught offshore are generally returned to Cuba unless they can convince a U.S. immigration officer they have a 'credible fear' of persecution if returned to the island.

'DRIVING' THE WAY

It was the latest in a series of recent attempts by Cubans to try to 'drive' their way to the Keys.

In July 2003, a group of Cuban migrants -- dubbed "truckonauts" and heralded for their ingenuity -- attempted to flee Cuba in a retrofitted, green 1951 Chevy truck. The group was stopped off Islamorada -- their truck-boat floating on a pontoon bed and powered by propellers that had been attached to the vehicle's drive shaft.

The vessel was sunk at sea as a hazard to navigation.

Returned to Cuba, several of the Cubans tried again in February 2004 using a similarly rigged 1959 Buick sedan. At least some of those who attempted that voyage, however, were taken to Guantánamo Bay in Cuba for resettlement in a third country.

Among that group was Grass, an enterprising mechanic credited with converting the classic vehicles into seaworthy escape vessels. Grass, his wife and young son were among 20 Cuban migrants resettled in Costa Rica last November.

ANOTHER TRY

Grass said late Tuesday that one of his pals -- who may have subsequently received a U.S. visa after failing last year to reach Florida by Buick -- made Tuesday's voyage with his two sons and his wife, who was having difficulty leaving Cuba because she is a doctor.

"He finally made a taxi from Havana to Miami," chuckled Grass, who told The Herald he spoke with the man's friends in Havana late Tuesday.

The group, he said, was from San Miguel Del Padron in Havana.

Grass and his family finally made it to the United States in March after crossing the Mexican border and requesting political asylum.

You have to admire their ingenuity and doggedness.

Bill Whittle noted once that if your map of idealism matches up with reality, you take note of which way the rafts are traveling when determining whether capitalism or communism works better. I can't remember the last time anyone risked their lives getting on a raft made of an antique car, much less flotsam and jetsam, and set sail for Havana to join the People's Paradise of Cuba.

How do you go about having a productive debate with people disconnected from reality? How do you reason with people who've abandoned the practice? How do you even discuss first principles with people who think words mean only what they want them to mean, and can change their definition at any time? For whom "winning" is the only priority, and are unparalleled masters at psychological projection?