A Moment of Clarity Regarding the Raison d’Etre for the App Store

John Gruber, writing at DaringFireball: Feel free to file Google’s release this week of an update to their iPad Gmail app with support for split-screen multitasking under “better late than never,” but this is so late it borders on the absurd. It’s like the difference between showing up fashionably late and showing up a week after the party. Split-screen multitasking was…

Estimates of the predicted coronavirus death toll have little meaning

With all the unknowns about covid-19, any numbers you hear about death tolls or how long restrictions will last should be taken not just with a pinch of salt but with a sack of it Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24532763-600-estimates-of-the-predicted-coronavirus-death-toll-have-little-meaning/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Mimosa, 2nd-brightest in Southern Cross

To see Mimosa, you need to be at the latitude of New Orleans, Hawaii, Cairo or New Delhi. From the southern hemisphere, Mimosa is a prominent and beloved star. Source: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/southern-mimosa-is-the-19th-brightest-star…

The Inventor Who Fought To Get Black Box Flight Recorders Into Every Plane

This week the BBC told the remarkable story of the man who invented the “black box” flight recorders — and of all the resistance he enountered along the way. dryriver shared this summary:
In 1934, a passenger plane name Miss Hobart crashed into the sea off the coast of Australia. Among those killed was Anglican missionairy Rev Hubert Warren, whose last gift…