40th High School Reunion
I graduated from my rural Iowa high school in 1983 with 48 others in a standard, uneventful, and completely forgettable ceremony, so - holy shit - I've now been a…
Random Learnings #11
Did you know that a German, and therefore a European Union, enclave within Switzerland? Neither did I. It turns out that the Basel Badischer Banhof in Basel, Switzerland - just…
Pavek Museum
Originally the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, the Pavek Museum is primarily known for its extensive collection of vintage radio, television, and broadcasting equipment. The initial museum was created from the…
Random Learnings #10
I'm not British and therefore haven't really understood the details about Windrush immigrants, though it's been front-and-center in the news for both its 75th anniversary and the attempts by the…
Me, A Conference Speaker? Yes, you!
I have been in your shoes: it is very intimidating to get in front of strangers and speak about your passion: technical topics where others are stronger; opinions that are…
Meandering Thoughts #10
Earlier this year I watched Trauma Zone which takes BBC stock footage and interviews to document the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the reemergence of (essentially) Imperial Russia, from…
The Return of Futurama…Yet Again
My daughter gave me this Futurama Planet Express sweatshirt for Father's Day 2022. Besides being fashionable - in a geeky way - it's also extremely soft and comfortable. I wore…
My Six Degrees of Separation
The premise behind Six Degrees of Separation is that a connection between any two people exists through six or fewer social connections. Though originally from a 1929 short story, it…
England Premier League Demographics
Question: aside from truly niche sports, what sports have mass appeal in a single country and nowhere else? Baseball and world football (soccer to us Americans) expanded far and wide…
Random Learnings #9
Yesterday (July 28, 2023), a threatening storm went through Central Iowa. The storm had everything: winds, lightening, ominous clouds, rain potential, and storm warnings. Coralville was hosting fifty thousand RAGBRAI…