IATA says of the 1.2 billion airline passengers since the beginning of 2020 just 44 have been confirmed as being infected w Covid on board. That is a 1 in 27 million chance of getting infected by taking a flight. It is IATA but assume they aren't fabulating

— Denis MacShane (@DenisMacShane) October 9, 2020

That’s about what I’d expect. Commercial aircraft (I hope for obvious reasons) have extremely good air filtration systems, there isn’t much talking, and mask wearing is enforced.

Most people have a far greater chance of being infected at home than in an aircraft. In the airport, depending on which one and what time of day, it might be a bit worse (but not by much).

Good news, because hiding in terror at home is not a real answer to anything.

Much of the history of architecture is an attempt to subjugate nature, because it gets in the way of running society.

But there was still human nature, and humans enjoy costly things, like beauty, passion, selfhood.

We realized then there was yet more nature to subjugate. pic.twitter.com/mBy7puw9je

— Tyler Alterman (@TylerAlterman) October 9, 2020

And part of the long trend of liberalism (in the broad sense) of the past few hundred years is to insist that there is no such thing as human nature, this idea being instantiated in its modern form with John Locke’s “tabula rasa” in the 17th Century and re-codified in the 20th Century to push back against eugenics.

But the problem is that there is a human nature, of course. And liberalism is against much of it by its omissions and inclusions.

I didn’t watch the Pence/Harris debate. Who fucking cares. They are both vile pieces of garbage, but one is more personable than the other.

Kamala Harris might have once been human. Pence never was. I guess Harris is better? But what does it matter?

"allow the user to change colors where possible." – Microsoft, 1990s

"hey guys i have this AWESOME idea what if we had DARK MODE where you could make the interface DARK instead of LIGHT??? this is a totally new thing that never existed before" – some tech bro, 2017 pic.twitter.com/b5TRlNxkTy

— Tube Time (@TubeTimeUS) October 7, 2020

In my experience, and I have been working with computers (formally and informally) for almost 40 years now, every 10-12 years some tech “genius” invents something that already existed before, but has been forgotten by the newer generation.

This seems in no danger of stopping. It’s odd to observe how predictably it keeps repeating, though.

The right’s sexual morality is based on shame, and the left’s is based on terror.

It’s not perfect correspondence, but enough to see why the different results.

civilizational collapse presents an interesting multi-polar trap: if you act according to a realistic assessment of reality, you get outcompeted or marginalised by deniers. which means you tend to do better ignoring the signs of collapse, until some critical number can't anymore

— zbracisz (@zacbracz) September 29, 2020

That’s the bind we’re in with climate change. Nearly everyone is effectively a denier, until they can’t be. Then it’ll be too late.

Eddie Van Halen dead at 65: He broke the guitar solo.

This is the only decent write-up of Eddie Van Halen and his abilities I’ve found. A lot of articles say he invented the single-string triplet. He didn’t. It had been widely used by many artists since the 1970s (and likely before).

What was unique about EVH’s playing was his melding of classical sensibilities and styles with his actual understanding of rhythm, swing, and drama. He was like Segovia, Muddy Waters and Hendrix blended together, and all were better for it.

Like the author I am not a real Van Halen fan, but I am a huge fan of how Eddie Van Halen made the guitar sound and what he could do with it.

And also like the author, I love the song “Jump” and think the synth hook on that absolutely beautiful-sounding Oberheim OB-Xa might be the best one ever written for a pop song.

But I love 1984, and I absolutely adore “Jump.” It’s an exquisite pop record, so warm and alive, the sound of a bunch of guys who are totally aware that they’ve stumbled onto the best song they’ll ever write in their life. It’s four minutes long but feels like an epic; the sheer drama when the riff comes back in after the short lull at the end of the synthesizer solo, like everyone collectively stopping to gather their breath, is, to my ears, more thrilling than any moment of “Eruption.”

Agreed. That is a truly great musical moment, and could only have been created by someone who has been a student of classical music. It’s just perfect and I think “Jump” is another one of those rare perfect songs.

I remember sitting rapt the first time I ever saw “Jump” on MTV. It’s a song I’ve never grown tired of, even after all these years.

what's your cultural background, and what is the pinnacle of comfort food for you?

— Soleil Ho (@hooleil) October 7, 2020

North Florida white trash. I am not sure exactly what is meant by “comfort food” as my brain just doesn’t operate that way, but by far my favorite food is pizza.

My favorite food from my cultural background is deep-fried fresh-caught catfish, though.