Programming

• How to use the os library in Lua.
• Apple’s WWDC will be June 7-11 this year.

Language

• Pitch in Japanese speech is important to meaning (or even actual words)

Miscellaneous

• I learned 1 stone = 14 lbs. Yes, I've known it's a measure of weight, but never bothered to learn what it translated to in terms of pounds or kilograms. Next time at the doctor's I can confuse them by giving them my weight in stone.

Medicine

• I had vision problems the past few days. I thought I was having the precursor to a migraine, but the symptoms didn't go away. I then thought I had a detached retina (I have a bit of medical/biology background) so I went to the optometrist. It turns out I have an "old-age" floater. Oh well. I did a bit of research as a result.

Programming / Games

• I learned a bit about DragonRuby, a game development toolkit that uses the Ruby programming language. No, I probably won't ever use it, but it's good to know it exists.

Technology

• Screwdriver handles are hexagonal so you can use a socket wrench on a handle in order to gain leverage.

Science

• Hot water freezes faster than cold water.

Plants

• How to grow and maintain carnivorous plants. I’ve killed off a few in my time. Now I want to try to keep them alive.

Learning

• I realized (more than learned) that the major obstacles, at least for me, to learning are:
• Boredom - not challenging
• Difficulty - too challenging
• Dullness - not interesting

• The Goldlist Method of learning vocabulary and facts.

Life

• I learned about "productivity debt" and how it affects your sense of calm.

Technology / Art

• I discovered soluble graphite exists. I'd definitely use it if I had any artistic ability. This led me down the rabbit hole of learning more about graphite in general.

Food / Cooking

• I learned how to make my own ebelskivers from a book I'm editing for @dimsumthinking. I'd only used a prepared mix for these. I, however, seem to have lost my pan.
• I knew you could make your own baking powder, but not the details. In editing the same book, I dug into the "recipe" and found this.

SwiftUI & Geometry

• A tweet by @RebeccaSlatkin had a link to a great article about geometry functions and uses with SwiftUI. This is a great geometry refresher and some nice functions, although I don't think this is SwiftUI per se.

Writing

• You can repurpose daily and other planners if you don’t use them, but have them like I do.

Cooking

• I have Fairy Tale eggplants growing in my AeroGarden and needed a way to use them. I know how to cook normal eggplant, but this is a new kind for me. This looks like a good recipe for cooking Fairy Tale eggplant.

Science & Physics

• The smallest object to have its gravitational pull measured.

Science

• The 17 year cicadas are coming up in my area. I'm looking forward to my insectoid overlords.
• Some rabbits walk on their front paws…

Writing

• Why diplomas are called “sheepskins”…probably because they were made from sheepskins and were hard to forge.

Medicine

• COVID-19 antibodies have different lifetimes in different people. People aren’t guaranteed to be immune even if they get the vaccines.
• Article

• Q: How do they know “decades”? Are they using Bayesian methods to determine this?
• Q: Are antibodies measured in half-lives? Why not, if not?

Technology

• Fountain pen ink does not work on a Rocketbook Everlast/Core; even though the ink is water-based, the pigment is not. It becomes permanent when used on a Rocketbook.

Apple

• Apple’s Mac OS X and Newton MessagePad 2000 were released on the same date, but different years.

Programming

• SwiftFORTH has nothing to do with the Swift programming language.

Pharmacy Symbols

• Jonathon Mayberry asked a question on Twitter re an old-timely prescription:
• https://twitter.com/jonathanmaberry/status/1374425078838878225?s=21

• Here are some answers:
• https://twitter.com/monstershopinc/status/1374426296613175303?s=21
• https://twitter.com/rbriganteg/status/1374428962563104776?s=21
• https://twitter.com/efrenr/status/1374429516618076160?s=21

• This led me to look into pharmacy abbreviations in general, both ancient and current:
• https://www.drugs.com/article/prescription-abbreviations.html#abbrtable
• https://textcreationpartnership.org/docs/dox/medical.html
• Which led me to a rabbit hole of witchery.
• https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/a-witchs-glossary-of-herbs

Life

• Some days I learn more than others.
• I may not know when and where I will use what I learn, but learning something new is never wrong.

iOS

• I realized I don’t have to load a package in iOS, just the files I need. For some reason this never "clicked". I've always treated a package/folder as a single unit in my code. Knowing this will simplify a lot of things.

Life

• You can’t break the rules or even know if you’ve created something original if you’ve never learned or played by the rules.

Writing

• Dashes and hyphens. I knew this—learned this ages ago, and wanted a refresher, so I looked it up.

• The shorter en dash (–) is used to mark ranges.
• The en dash is sometimes also used yeahin the same way as an em dash; in this case, it takes  a space on either side
• The longer em dash (—) is used to separate extra information or mark a break in a sentence
• Hyphens (-), which are used to combine words (as in well-behaved or long-running). A hyphen should not be used in place of a dash.

• I like planning stories. But it’s not as gratifying as just writing.

Technology

• How Pilot FriXion pens work.
• JetPens - FriXion Pens
• Three compounds:
• A special dye that changes color upon reaction with acids;
• Compounds that act as acids to produce the color change; and
• Compounds that regulate the temperature at which the color transition will take place.
• When you rub the ink with the hard rubber eraser, heat from the resulting friction causes the temperature-sensing compound to activate the acid compounds, thus neutralizing the dye. That’s how they make the ink virtually disappear!
• Because of its heat-reacting properties, the ink may reappear when temperatures reach below -10 C (under 14 Fahrenheit).

Apps

• I can use the Bear app as a wiki.