“Brace for impact”
Hit and Miss #387
Where was Begu now? … It was a worry already worn smooth from use and there was nothing she could do. She set it aside to watch Oswine’s entrance.
Nicola Griffith, Menewood, pg. 432
Yesterday, after riding the new O-Train lines 2 and 4 with friends in the morning, I spent a sunny afternoon playing Age of Empires 2 while T knit. I lost, but saw it coming, and was okay with it. But even in losing, I had a tiny contingent of folks building a new little town; always some hope somewhere, even amidst much gloom.
Sigh. We shall see what the weeks, months, and years ahead bring.
Some weeks I find myself writing something or agreeing with someone I don’t normally expect to—you can guess which of the items below fits that bill:
- Pumped to see Erin Kissane writing about Ursula Franklin. Franklin, one of my two favourite Ursulas, has so much to teach us.
- Matt Webb on using quantified self apps like Strava when you’re not as young as you used to be (or as young as the app makers were when they made it). (See also, e.g., the lack of sick or resting days in “keep the streak!” type fitness apps. After a few years of use, I can recommend Gentler Streak as a truly gentler alternative.)
- Some convincing arguments from Danielle Smith against using oil as a bargaining chip in this trade war, pointing to how much the rest of Canada imports energy from the US and how ill-equipped we are to change that.
- As government draws up new policy and gears up existing systems to address the economic woes to come, we’d do well to listen to Jennifer Robson on a smarter use of data within existing systems (plus where we ought to focus on collecting better data).
- David Moscrop on nationalism in troubled times.
- Bourbon, my preferred American import, fails the “English or French” tariffs test due to delightful historical quirks of the French legacy in what’s now America.
All the best for the week ahead.
Lucas