Dennis McLellan, writing for the Los Angeles Times (News+ link):

Over the decades, according to his website, Martindale either hosted or produced 21 game shows, including “Words and Music,” “Trivial Pursuit,” “The Last Word” and “Debt.” “That’s a lot of shows,” he acknowledged in a 1996 interview with the New York Daily News. “It either means everybody wants me to do their show or I can’t hold a job.”

Martindale was best known for hosting “Tic-Tac-Dough,” the revival of a late 1950s show, which aired on CBS for less than two months in 1978 but continued in syndication until 1986.

Unlike tic-tac-toe, in which two players simply try to get three Xs or three Os in a row in a nine-box grid, “Tic-Tac-Dough” required contestants to select a subject category in each of the nine boxes, everything from geography to song titles. Each correct answer earned the players their X or O in the chosen box.

“Tic-Tac-Dough” achieved its highest ratings in 1980 during the 88-game, 46-show run of Lt. Thom McKee, a handsome young Navy fighter pilot whose winning streak earned him $312,700 in cash and prizes and a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

It’s funny what you remember from childhood. I was only seven then, but I remember McKee’s winning streak. He was like the proto Ken Jennings. There was some kind of gimmick on the show where if you won ten games in a row — which almost never happened — you also won a car as a bonus. So McKee won eight cars. As I recall it — I was seven, so I could be wrong — all eight cars he won were exactly the same model, because that was the show’s current promotional partner. I remember thinking that was absurd, and my dad explaining to me that he could just sell them.

Anyway, in one of my programming classes in high school, we had to create a big final project. We had to work in pairs because there weren’t enough computers for every student in the class. My friend and I wrote a tic-tac-toe game in Applesoft BASIC. (To be honest, I wrote most of it, but he did the typing.) I remember three things about that game:

1. We used the number pad keyboard layout for entering moves, with each numeral corresponding to a square on the board, which I thought (and still think) was a pretty clever UI for tic-tac-toe:

   789
   456
   123
   

2. You could play two-player or against the computer, and while the computer was pretty good, it couldn’t play perfectly. I was very frustrated that while I could, of course, play perfect tic-tac-toe myself, I couldn’t figure out how to code an algorithm for unbeatable play in BASIC.

3. Our name for the game: Wink.

Josh Kovensky, reporting for TPM:

In a withering 46-page opinion on Wednesday, D.C. Chief Judge James Boasberg laid out how he came to believe that the Trump administration was acting in bad faith during its Alien Enemies Act removals.

Boasberg set the stage for potential contempt prosecutions in the order. He also detailed what he came to see as the Trump administration’s scheme to shield its plan to use rarely invoked wartime powers to remove more than 100 Venezuelans to a Salvadoran detention facility, depriving them of due process and the courts of the ability to review what was taking place.

Below are five points on Boasberg’s opinion.

I’d never heard of Boasberg until recently, but he has a rather distinctive surname. Turns out he’s also the judge presiding over the FTC v. Meta antitrust case that’s in court this week. Busy man.

Update: Turns out he’s also the judge in the lawsuit “alleging Trump officials violated federal record-keeping laws by using a Signal group chat to discuss looming military action against Yemen’s Houthis.”

QUEEN’S PARK – Responding to a New York Times exposé claiming that European firm Therme grossly overstated its business experience to land a suspiciously lucrative Ontario Place re-development deal, Premier Doug Ford has insisted that their bid actually contained all the necessary kickbacks and graft. “Folks, I tell ya, these fancy-talking Europeans know two things: […]

The post Ford insists dubious Therme Spa project met all the necessary bribes appeared first on The Beaverton.

Dallas, Texas —Amid growing concerns about the influence of the ultra-wealthy, billionaire Mark Cuban has issued a heartfelt plea via the jumbotron at the Dallas Mavericks stadium, “Not all billionaires!” On flyers that were handed out after the game, he made his case that not all billionaires are trying to dismantle society and install themselves […]

The post “Not All Billionaires!” says billionaire Mark Cuban appeared first on The Beaverton.

The bill would require universities to report any visa-holding students who support terrorism, but its vague language could be dangerous, civil rights groups say.

The US government is accused of "wilful disregard" of a ruling blocking the deportation of 200 individuals to El Salvador.

The state - the 5th largest world economic power - says it is being disproportionately impacted by the tariffs.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress was found "unresponsive" at her New York City apartment in February.

Remember the letter-writer who manages a terrible slob and asked how to convince her upset coworker that it’s being handled? Here’s the update.

I actually have an update to this situation right now! I appreciated so much of the advice in the comments, as well as yours. I didn’t get much into everything I had done with Sally since my question was really about Susie, but it really did sound like I was blowing off Susie without that additional context!

Susie and Sally have separate offices with doors on a large campus. Most of Susie’s work happens on her computer, except for an occasional client meeting (once a week or so, which are not random and always scheduled in advance). Susie’s office is pristine. She has been offered the chance to switch offices to be away from Sally, and we are all permitted to work from home up to three times a week. Susie has refused both options. The nature of Sally’s work is only possible at that office so she is unable to transfer (the tools she needs are only available there).

I do work from their office at minimum two times a week to keep an eye on the situation. Truly, I do not understand how the mess grows so large so quickly … it’s impressive and baffling. We work in a creative field, so this isn’t just typical paperwork and office supplies, but paints, tools, etc. I supervise a team of seven, and much of my direct responsibilities need to happen in my office. Between managing the other five people on the team and my own projects, babysitting the mess with Sally is adding quite a bit to my workload. And yes, per my boss, I do drop what I am doing to drive to the other office to clean if needed. The messes are frequent, but I want to make it clear that Susie will still call me crying over a mess that has already been cleaned. The mess could occur and be cleaned up on a Monday, and Susie is still calling me crying about it on a Friday.

Along with a load of coaching, feedback, and less formal conversations, Sally has also been written up three times and is now on a PIP. This is the process in my company. My hands were tied by HR, who for some reason have a soft spot for Sally. I am a middle manager and had to go through my supervisor and HR — I don’t actually have the authority to fire anyone. The process was in place, I just had no idea how to professionally convey this information to Susie.

I also want to add, Susie is continuously exceeding her goals and has been given a raise recently. Other than her mess, Sally also produces excellent work.

Susie and Sally are actually quite good friends and hang out a lot outside of work. Susie recently had a baby and Sally threw a shower. I think that plays into this — Susie is not being completely honest with Sally on how this makes her feel, while also feeling obligated as a friend to help. I’m honestly surprised Sally never shared about the write-ups with Susie because they do seem to discuss everything.

Anyway, for the update! Per our company’s policy, Sally was placed on the PIP, which she responded to well. She knew it was coming and has, so far, appreciated the clear direction. Unfortunately, she is dealing with a mental health crisis at the moment, and the problem with the messes really increased after a traumatic event in her life this winter. She is working with a doctor to address this issue at home with her family too, and is going to be looking into some extended time off. We’re working with our HR department to put some formal accommodations in place. She does produce excellent work and is a client favorite. I always wanted to see her succeed!

As for Susie, she did actually catch on that my boss and I were actively addressing the situation with Sally because another coworker pointed it out (“don’t you notice that she has twice as many meetings with Sally as anyone else, and she comes out here multiple times a week, and continuously has HR check-ins on her calendar?”) I’m a little grateful that other team member pointed out what I was trying to allude to.

Now that Sally has been more up-front about her personal situation, Susie has apologized to both Sally and I for responding with such anger. She and I have developed a system where she sends me a message on Teams that says “please come to our office today” if a mess needs to be addressed. She, thankfully, is starting to stop cleaning up after Sally and letting me know before it gets too bad so I can assist Sally with getting it cleaned up herself.

Another great update — my boss voiced to me that she made a mistake by not escalating this to HR faster, and she has made a plan to spend more time at Sally’s office to help her address the ongoing mess.

I appreciate the advice from you and read your site often! Thank you for what you do!

The post update: I manage a terrible slob — how can I convince her upset coworker that I’m handling it? appeared first on Ask a Manager.

A man is in custody after scaling an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluding police, and breaking into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion where he set a fire, claiming he would have attacked Governor Shapiro with a hammer if he happened upon him inside the residence. What do you think?

The post Arsonist Sets Fire To Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion appeared first on The Onion.

G.P.T.

slurs

Girl comes face to face with a machine boy behind a screen.

https://analognowhere.com/_/gltatt

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Jessica Lyons, reporting for The Register:

US government funding for the world’s CVE program — the centralized Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures database of product security flaws — ends Wednesday.

The 25-year-old CVE program plays a huge role in vulnerability management. It is responsible overseeing the assignment and organizing of unique CVE ID numbers, such as CVE-2014-0160 and CVE-2017-5754, for specific vulnerabilities, in this case OpenSSL’s Heartbleed and Intel’s Meltdown, so that when referring to particular flaws and patches, everyone is agreed on exactly what we’re all talking about.

The good news: they were ready. Announcing the CVE Foundation:

Since its inception, the CVE Program has operated as a U.S. government-funded initiative, with oversight and management provided under contract. While this structure has supported the program’s growth, it has also raised longstanding concerns among members of the CVE Board about the sustainability and neutrality of a globally relied-upon resource being tied to a single government sponsor.

This concern has become urgent following an April 15, 2025 letter from MITRE notifying the CVE Board that the U.S. government does not intend to renew its contract for managing the program. While we had hoped this day would not come, we have been preparing for this possibility.

In response, a coalition of longtime, active CVE Board members have spent the past year developing a strategy to transition CVE to a dedicated, non-profit foundation. The new CVE Foundation will focus solely on continuing the mission of delivering high-quality vulnerability identification and maintaining the integrity and availability of CVE data for defenders worldwide.

Dana Mattioli, reporting for The Wall Street Journal (main link is a gift link; also, here’s a News+ link):

Musk has had at least 14 children with four women, including the pop musician Grimes and Shivon Zilis, an executive at his brain computer company Neuralink. Multiple sources close to the tech entrepreneur said they believe the true number of Musk’s children is much higher than publicly known.

Imagine having 14 acknowledged children but your friends suspect the actual number is “much higher”. What a profound weirdo this guy is.

Cryptocurrency influencer Tiffany Fong was covering disgraced crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried’s downfall when Musk started liking and replying to her posts. Musk’s interactions ramped up as Fong posted more political content in support of Trump, and Musk followed her last summer.

That sort of attention from Musk on X, where he has 219 million followers, sent droves of followers to Fong, which was a financial boon. More engagement meant more earnings for her as part of a revenue-sharing program for creators on X.

During the height of her interactions with the billionaire owner, Fong earned $21,000 on the platform in a two-week period in November, according to a screenshot she posted. That was about when Musk sent her a direct message asking if she was interested in having his child, according to people familiar with the matter. The two had never met in person.

Fong didn’t move forward with Musk because she pictured having children in a more traditional nuclear family, but confided to a few friends about the approach — including St. Clair, whom she knew as another conservative social-media figure — and how she worried that turning him down could hurt her earnings.

Once Musk learned that Fong disclosed the request to others, he chided her for not using discretion, according to the people, and unfollowed her. That contributed to a fall in her engagement, and her earnings declined.

There’s arguably an insinuation here that something crooked happened to Fong’s Twitter/X earnings after she declined Musk’s offer, but there doesn’t have to be for it to be sick. It’s just gross that Musk’s M.O. is to hit up suddenly popular women and ask if they’d like to have his children, and to lavish money-earning public attention on them while courting them.

OTTAWA – After rescheduling tonight’s French language leaders debate to accommodate a Montreal Canadiens playoff game, Elections Canada has announced that the entire federal election will be postponed, at least until every Canadian team is mathematically eliminated. With this year’s NHL Playoffs set to include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, […]

The post Federal election postponed until all Canadian teams eliminated from playoffs appeared first on The Beaverton.

A political leaders' debate in Canada is moved to avoid a clash with the Montreal Canadiens' fixture against the Carolina Hurricanes.

2025 is certainly shaping up to not be “The Year of Kroger” for the Houston division. According to news that broke last week, Kroger will be vacating its longtime home at 3410 Gulf Fwy, Dickinson, TX 77539. With the impending closure of the Sterling Ridge Kroger, this will be the second Houston Division location to close this year. Word on the street is that Kroger’s last day of operation will be around June 10th. However, ...

#RoninWarriors

After Daisy Hildebrand died of measles, her death was made public first by Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine skeptic who blamed the hospital for fumbling her care. Daisy’s father told The Texas Tribune he never to spoke to Malone.

The president has reportedly urged Congress to pass $175 billion for border security. But residents of Del Rio, Texas, and Douglas, Arizona, say basic needs — like safe drinking water and hospital access — aren’t being met.

In brief: Temperatures are the lowest they’re going to get this week, and it’s really not all that cool outside. However, much more humid and windy weather is on the way after today through Saturday. Easter could see a chance of mostly light showers ahead of a possible cool front.

Wednesday

Temperatures this morning are in the low- to mid-60s across Houston and even cooler to the northeast. Although this is not chilly by any means, it is likely to be the coolest weather the region sees through the weekend as we enter a warmer and more humid pattern after today. Expect highs today in the lower 80s for most locations, with mostly sunny skies. Winds will come from the southeast beginning this morning, and by this afternoon they could be gusting up to 20 mph or so, marking the return of a robust and humid offshore flow that will be with us for awhile. Lows tonight will drop to about 70 degrees in Houston.

Thursday and Friday

These will be a pair of days with a mix of clouds and sunshine. Both days should see high temperatures push into the mid- to upper-80s, with the potential for some locations to hit 90 degrees on Friday. The defining feature of both days is likely to be winds, with southerly gusts of 30 or even 35 mph possible during the afternoon hours. There is a slight chance of rain, perhaps about 10 percent, for both days. This pattern is also going to make for fairly humid nights, with lows only dropping to the lower 70s.

Saturday

This looks to be a mostly cloudy day, and this should help to limit temperatures slightly, perhaps in the mid- to upper-80 degree range. We still should see those fierce southerly winds, and warm and humid nights. Rain chances remain in the 10 percent vicinity. Anything that falls will be light.

Easter Sunday

Expect partly to mostly cloudy skies on Sunday, with humid weather and highs in the mid-80s. The good news is that southerly gusts should be a little bit less pronounced. The bad news for our little Egg hunters is that we are now looking at a solid 50 percent chance of rain as an atmospheric disturbance moves overhead. Most of that should be light to moderate rain, and overall I expect accumulations of one-quarter inch of rain or less. However for areas north of Interstate 10, there is a slight chance of some stronger thunderstorms.

Next week

I now think there’s about a 50-50 chance that a modest front makes it to the coast on Sunday night or Monday morning. It’s still no sure thing, but if it happens we could see a brief spell of cooler and drier air for a couple of days. We’ll see. Most models are still indicating a rainier pattern next week, particularly in the Wednesday through Friday time frame. A couple of inches of rain would be welcome, from a trees and plants standpoint at least. When we have any confidence in the details, we’ll share them.

The Ohio State Buckeyes team was invited to meet President Donald Trump to celebrate the team's title-winning season.

The former president broke with his practice of not criticising policies or leaders on social media to praise Harvard's stand

Warning of "no tolerance for gamesmanship", the judge said she would determine whether to hold the government in contempt of court.

Officials in Silicon Valley are investigating and have disabled the audio feature on the pedestrian crossings.

Six people were removed after congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene took the stage.

With billions in the balance, the battle may just be starting between the US government and universities.

The food bank is “scrambling” to try and make up for some of the losses through donations, said Brian Greene, president of the nonprofit organization.

Across the Houston area, Democratic organizers have been hosting rallies in areas represented by Republicans.

An order granting a temporary injunction to Susman Godfrey directed the Trump administration to rescind its guidance ordering government agencies to terminate their contracts with the firm.

The irony of writing about flooding from 34,000 feet above the Sonoran Desert doesn’t escape me at the moment, but here we are. I wanted to provide a Tuesday late day update on what’s ahead in the Southern Plains and Mid-South. Yesterday, we noted some thoughts about Mississippi River flooding and tied it back to another round of heavy rain potentially this weekend. The good news is that the hardest hit areas, such as Kentucky, southern Indiana, and Tennessee should escape significant issues if the current forecast holds between now and Monday. But, we are likely to see new issues crop up across Missouri, Arkansas, southeast Kansas, Oklahoma, or even northern Texas. This is reflected in the current flood hazard outlook.

The area highlighted over the Plains and Mid-South is the area we’re keeping an eye on for the weekend and early next week.

The current NOAA rainfall forecast centered over Missouri shows good odds of 2 to 5 inches of rain over the next 7 days. Other than some variations in exact placement among the various models (which you’d expect to see), this is fairly stable confidence outlook.

We’re starting to see some solid probabilities of 4 inches or more over the next week or so show up in this area now on the European ensemble’s 51 members. Almost half of them are in that territory now. So confidence in a fairly decent rain event are growing.

Exactly how much rain falls and how serious any flooding will be is yet to be determined. We’ll obviously have severe weather to consider too. Currently that looks like an issue Friday through Sunday, possibly into Monday to the east. Whatever the case, we’ll continue to monitor this. Flooding is a point of interest for me personally, so events like this catch my eye.