I discovered a few days ago, while trying to do something else, that in Iango, ie., GNOME Othello/Reversi, you can change the size of the board from the standard 8 by 8 to, well, whatever you want. iagno -s 12, for instance, will generate a 12×12 board. So that’s what I’ve been playing as late.Continue reading “Othello, But Bigger!”
Monthly Archives: January 2026
No! More! Apps!
I do not like them, Sam I Am.I do not like them, apps and ham A friend emailed me yesterday. He had sent me a message over the weekend on Facebook Messenger, and I hadn’t yet replied to him. He wanted to make sure I’d seen it. I had seen it, but… I don’t haveContinue reading “No! More! Apps!”
The Christmas Tree of White House History
About fifteen years ago I bought my mom a Christmas ornament at the post office. It was one of the ornaments from the White House Historical Association. They have an annual series of ornaments, which depict the White House and its Christmas traditions through the ages, usually (but not last year, 2025) through the lifeContinue reading “The Christmas Tree of White House History”
Occasionally Clever
Occasionally, I have a good idea, and occasionally, I can make it work. Case in point. Sometimes I will use an old and obscure window manager for Linux called WMX. It’s minimalist and spartan. No panels, no background, barely a menu. It can launch a terminal and scroll through workspaces. You can set up aContinue reading “Occasionally Clever”
Snow Squall!
I was in the kitchen, when I heard a howl of wind outside. “Well, that’s interesting!” I thought. I went to the door, opened it, looked outside… There was a frumious snow squall! It was over within five minutes and the skies cleared off. I guess this is the expected cold front coming through. There’sContinue reading “Snow Squall!”
Meeting Deer
At some point, I was going to visit the cemeteries in Baltimore and tell my mom’s family that she had died. Now, if the afterlife is a thing you believe in, there was really no need to do so; depending on what kind of afterlife one believes in, one could argue that her family wouldContinue reading “Meeting Deer”
A Letter to my Congressman
This BBC headline speaks for itself: “US discussing options to acquire Greenland including using military, White House says.” I wrote a letter to my Congressman, Lloyd Smucker. I think it says everything that needs to be said. In 1916, in accordance with the Treaty of the Dutch West Indies, the United States purchased what isContinue reading “A Letter to my Congressman”
An Unseasonably Warm January Day
It reached 60 degrees today in Pennsyltucky. Except to go to the grocery store, I’ve been a homebody since I returned from North Carolina on the penultimate day of 2025 (ie., December 30th), and it’s been absolutely cold. I drove over to the state park, just because it was lovely. The Susquehanna was frozen over,Continue reading “An Unseasonably Warm January Day”
Dublin Time
On New Year’s Day, I mentioned that I plan upon read James Joyce’s Ulysses this year. I started last night. I have tried reading Ulysses before. This may be my fourth attempt. I tried reading it in 2011, and ran aground somewhere. In 2012, I went to a Bloomsday reading in Baltimore. I don’t believeContinue reading “Dublin Time”
A Gallimaufry
As I write this, I am listening to WAMU’s Hot Jazz Saturday Night, and this first program of the year is a “gallimaufry” — a mixed bag, a potpourri, a hodgepodge. I happen to like the word “gallimaufry.” I used it once in an email at work. No one in that email knew what IContinue reading “A Gallimaufry”