On the plus side you're going to have an excellent "National Seduce Your Coworker Day"
You're in good company. Steam even managed to do it for a whole bunch of people:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671
Anyone know if the character-based strips he's talking about in the alt text are available somewhere?
Darth Vader turned into a Spartan warrior in the bonus panel. Not even sure what's happening in there
Minneapolis to build 15 new public housing units, renovate northeast high-rise
> The city of Minneapolis is taking advantage of a workaround to a federal rule blocking the construction of new public housing units. > > The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority will use federal, state and local funds to construct 15 new affordable apartments as part of a larger renovation of Spring Manor, a 221-unit public housing complex in northeast Minneapolis. > > It’s one of about 15 projects nationwide using a new federal funding program to work around the restrictions imposed by the Faircloth Amendment, which effectively froze the number of public housing units any one public housing authority can manage in 1999. > > The $65 million project is the largest rehab project in MPHA history. Residents have long asked city and state leaders to fix up the 57-year-old high rise, which has dilapidated floors, poor ventilation and dysfunctional air conditioning, according to residents and local representatives. > > “You had me over last year — you put my feet to the fire,” Ward 3 Council Member Michael Rainville told residents in the audience at a Tuesday press conference. > > For the existing buildings, MPHA will replace and improve plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems; upgrade kitchens, bathrooms, appliances and finishes; rework the ventilation system; add accessibility features to some units; and repair windows and roofs. > > The agency will also construct a four-story addition, which will contain a gym, office space, internet lounge, bike storage and community space on the first floor. The top three floors will house residents in nine one-bedroom and six two-bedroom disability accessible units. > > “When this project is done, these spaces will be worthy of the people who live here,” said U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., at the Tuesday press conference. > > Smith introduced legislation last month that would repeal the Faircloth Amendment and create a new department within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund and develop affordable housing. > > The $65 million price tag will be paid for with a complex scheme of federal, state, city and MPHA funds. It will only make a small dents — around $10 million — in MPHA’s $260 million maintenance backlog.
'It's the New Meat Raffle': Inside the Growing World of MN Gun Bingo
Across the state, more and more nonprofits are fundraising with firearms.
https://archive.is/Rar8Y
An anti-Fauci rally had also been planned by conservative group Action 4 Liberty to coincide with the lecture at the university, but that was moved after the lecture was canceled.
What is this, a crossover episode?
The decision to postpone Fauci’s lecture was made in response to “unexpected and complicated incidents” over the past 24 hours, a university spokesman said.
https://archive.is/nTkvY
2002-10-03
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2002-10-03
Alt text
Fun Fact: When I switched to doing single panels in 2002, after having done short character-based strips for a bit, an early reader identified this particular comic as the reason she stopped reading. This was a bit distressing, since at the time, that one reader was about 10 percent of my audience.
The way I'm imagining it, it wouldn't be microblogging, but I'm probably not describing it well. You'd still have communities with threads, unlike Mastodon. You'd just wouldn't have people posting "to" those communities (unless maybe you intentionally wanted to).
It's mostly a way to get at the same thing as merged comment threads, just in a way that feels like it would have fewer edge cases to me.
I'm a little unclear on what exactly the work Owatonna had to do for the request mentioned for them. Other school districts mention doing more than just a keyword search, but what exactly is involved with "fulfill a data request related to an equity plan and assessment and a word search of district correspondence". The article they linked to has no additional information, or my adblocker is too aggressive. It shows people with piles of paper, but why are they printing all that out like that in the first place?
LLMs would actually make it very easy to address some of the issues, like this:
“Literally, they wanted, for instance, a review of every course with, quote, ‘a sociological theme for issues of equity.’ That’s not a keyword search,” Pekel said.
They're pretty good at taking in text and spitting out answers to questions like "Does this text address theme X?". Though when legal gets involved, maybe it requires a person to blame if a document gets missed.
In general open governance is good. These requests look silly at the same time, e.g. asking about CRT. At the same same time,
The Owatonna People’s Press last month reported the Owatonna school district spent $300,000 to fulfill a data request related to an equity plan and assessment and a word search of district correspondence containing words and phrases such as “Black Lives Matter,” “systemic racism” and “critical race theory.”
It's crazy that it cost $300k to do that. I think ideally, requests like this wouldn't be an issue even if they're not really in good faith, because responding to them would take someone a few button clicks.
Some district leaders say they’ve been inundated with huge data requests that appear politically motivated and can be massively expensive and difficult to decipher. At least one school board has asked lawmakers to help slow a “runaway train.”
In general open governance is good. These requests look silly at the same time, e.g. asking about CRT. At the same same time,
> The Owatonna People’s Press last month reported the Owatonna school district spent $300,000 to fulfill a data request related to an equity plan and assessment and a word search of district correspondence containing words and phrases such as “Black Lives Matter,” “systemic racism” and “critical race theory.”
It's crazy that it cost $300k to do that. I think ideally, requests like this wouldn't be an issue even if they're not really in good faith, because responding to them would take someone a few button clicks.
Akchually, chlorine wasn't used for disinfecting water until 1897 🤓 (actually a good meme, I was just curious about that)
That would make a good video game soundtrack. Hopefully talking about non-NC-SA works is OK in the comments, because that reminds me that Aphex Twin released Selected Ambient Works Volume II on Bandcamp recently.
'We're the First': How This Tiny St. Paul Grocer Obtained the U of M's New Blockbuster Apple
At press time, Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market is reportedly the only Triumph apple seller in the world.
>The drumbeat of anticipation for Triumph apples dates back to at least 2021, when KARE 11 teased the University of Minnesota's long-awaited new entry into the apple canon. > > "Most of what you see behind me is most of the world’s supply," U of M research scientist David Bedford told the station, gesturing to just four trees. "It was 31 years from the time that the breeding was done on this one until we released it this year, so it’s definitely a long game." > > While orchards have been planting Triumph trees since '21, the hybrid fruit—part Honeycrisp, part Liberty—that touts "excellent scab tolerance, good fresh eating qualities, and long storage life" isn't expected to hit the retail market until 2025, according to the U. (Its name stems from its resistance to the fungal disease known as apple scab—"a triumph over apple scab!") > > But, beginning earlier this week, a narrow avenue has opened for local apple-freaks to obtain Triumphs: Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market, the neighborhood grocer/bodega hybrid situated blocks from the U of M's ag-focused St. Paul campus. Ted Spreigl, the owner and produce director, managed to tap into the supply due his connections at Fireside Orchard in Northfield. > > "I've built a pretty good relationship with them over the past four years, and it was simply a matter of asking them: 'Hey, can I get a few bags?'" Spreigl says. "To my knowledge, and to the orchard's, we're the first retailer selling them. It's a big deal, actually. I was shocked we were able to do it." > > Speedy Market snagged 24 Triumph bags from Fireside, and 12 reportedly remain today. Scoot your butt over to St. Paul to score a $9.99 bag. Spreigl is an early Triumph fan. > > "It is delicious," he says, noting that customers have been excited to get a sneak peek. "It's not too tart, not too sweet. It has a nice crunch to it, and it's perfect for dipping into caramel. Just a great, juicy eating apple." > > That more or less tracks with our taste test. The Triumph is airier and crispier than the mighty, U of M-launched Honeycrisp, though it manages to pack a similar (albeit more muted) tart-sweet balance. We weren't familiar with the second strain in this hybrid, Liberty, which one upstate New York nursery describes as: "a large McIntosh-style fruit… sweet-tart, aromatic, crisp, and juicy—perfect for fresh eating or for cider blends." > > "I haven’t been able to find a Liberty apple yet but I’ve been on the lookout," Brian Frange, the Long Island comedian/rigorous apple critic behind Apple Rankings, tells us when prompted for a Liberty review. "This Triumph apple sounds like a real legendary apple potential. I can’t wait to try it!" > > Oh, yeah! Quick shoutout to Tim & Tom’s Speedy Market, a family-run Como Avenue staple since 1995. Aside from scoring generational apple scoops, the place is generally delightful and was buzzing with lunch energy during our Wednesday visit. > > "It's an interesting store—kind of a cross between a Kowalski's and a bodega," says Spreigl, whose dad founded Speedy Market and whose brother co-owns it. "We have a full-service butcher, full deli, fresh produce form local producers, organic, imports; we run the gamut, and we fit it into a really tiny space." > > How do ya like them apples? > > Alright take us out, Charli! > > Charli xcx - Apple
Mostly just posting this so that I can post this bit:
Local ad man on the words Dems can use to define the election: new, unity, American, freedom, truth
> Winning an election in our divided, distracted culture with its hopelessly fragmented media landscape requires a deft mix of political strategy but also something else: brand marketing. Kamala Harris and her party navigated the politics of this wild summer with nary a misstep. To my eyes informed by decades in the advertising business, they’re also winning the marketing fight. > > While Donald Trump has been using his platform to hawk merchandise – printed-in-China bibles and crypto currencies – the Harris campaign has done a sophisticated job of building a positive emotional brand to contrast the deep negativity of the Trump/Vance campaign. That’s worth keeping in mind as we enter the final stretch of a fraught campaign. > > Not everyone is so optimistic about all these emotions bubbling to the surface of the election. Patrick Healy of the New York Times opinion page wrote flatly of the Harris campaign, “Joy is not a strategy.” > > But if we dig a little deeper into what’s driving all that joy you might have a different opinion. > > I find it useful to distill a marketing strategy down to a few key words. Earlier this year I put together my own wish list. It’s been fascinating to watch so many of them emerge as themes of the Harris-Walz campaign, and I’d encourage Democrats at every level of the campaignto focus on these words even as they make the case that Trump is unfit for another term. > > “New” is at the top of my list. Originally it was there as a hope-to-have. Now it’s what the Democrats have given the voters, improbably enough given that Harris is an incumbent. In the ad biz we have a saying that that new is the most powerful word in the language. It signifies hope. We shouldn’t be surprised it’s driving a lot of momentum. Symbolism is also helping. Trump’s grumpy old-billionaire scowl vs. Harris’s meme-friendly smile. > > With the initial head rush wearing off, the campaign’s job is to keep finding ways to contrast a steady stream of energetic new ideas with a Trump campaign that, for now at least, is doing them the favor of re-running the same tired old show from 2016 and 2020. > > “Unity” comes next. At one point I wondered if the word unity could work much the way the word “hope” fueled Obama’s first campaign, given the unsettling feeling among voters that the whole country might be breaking apart. > > It’s more complicated than that, but we have been hearing the word a lot from both parties. I’ll fearlessly predict that Trump reached his highwater market when he said his brush with an assassin’s bullet had made him a changed man out to unify the country. Now that he’s disavowed that vow and reverted to form, unity is ripe for the Democrats to own. It can be as simple as using the word “we” rather than breaking everything down into party or identity. Harris hit the perfect note by offering, “A chance to chart a new way forward, not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.” > > “American” is a word I’ve been waiting to hear more of from the Democrats, and it was a great thing to see them reclaim patriotism at their convention. In the past they’ve tended to leave the cynical flag-waving to the other party. But there is deeper, more authentic kind of patriotism. It is serious high ground. By becoming the party of Trump with all his badmouthing of the country we all share, the Republicans have given the Democrats a rare opportunity to claim it for their own. > > “Freedom” is the other word from the Republican lexicon that the Harris campaign has been busy taking ownership of. It’s a neat bit of marketing jujutsu to defend something better than tax cuts and deregulation with the kind of soaring rhetoric Ronald Reagan once used. > > Given the swamp of disinformation and misinformation we’re all living in, “truth” carries special significance. Some strategists will tell you everyone knows Donald Trump is dishonest; he is after all a convicted felon. Why waste time and money repeating it? > > Standing on the side of truth is useful as a defense against the barrage of false attacks being aimed at Democratic candidates all up and down the ballot, and it’s an easy case to make as we see Republican lies do real harm to hurricane survivors or the people of Springfield, Ohio. > > Here’s a positive way to frame it. Lying is lazy leadership that holds this country back. Moving forward means facing hard truths together. > > There’s a marketing strategy in five words: new, unity, American, freedom, truth. Easy to remember. Easy to share. I don’t know if that’s the way people advising the Harris/Waltz campaign would describe their efforts, but it’s a good way to understand what they’ve achieved in an astonishingly short time. > > They’re good words to keep in mind by any Democratic candidate who doesn’t want the emotional advantage of late summer to get lost in the hard politicking that’s sure to come with the campaign’s final days.
No shit 🙃
Of course they have to turn it into a profit-maximization thing, but at least it's a better than their previous headline of Downtown Minneapolis still grappling with office vacancies, plummeting values
Researchers at Pew Charitable Trusts teamed with planning firm Gensler to explore how converting empty office buildings into ”single-room occupancy” rental units could solve downtown areas‘ lack of affordable housing and struggling commercial real estate.
https://archive.is/Bc9ej
Charlie Brown gets a kiss from the Redheaded Girl (rest of comic in post)
No comic today, since it's Sunday in 1950 and he hadn't started doing Sunday comics yet. Here's another SMBC take on Charlie Brown, you can read the rest here since the image is too tall to upload directly:
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2011-12-07
I might start posting other artists' takes on Charlie Brown on days when there's no comic, if I can find enough. If anyone's got pointers to other works, that'd be appreciated.
Here's the source with even more: https://ryanharby.com/new-stuff/2019/10/18/fresh-no-name-halloween-costumes
“We have heard from employees with strong points of view in support of remote work, as well as others who miss the innovation, creativity and working relationships that we believe happen best in-person,” CEO Bill Brown wrote in a note to employees on Monday. “To get the best of both, we are evolving our Work Your Way policy in a way that brings people together more often, maintains our focus on results and continues to empower our people with flexibility.”
The change first affects HQ employees who live within a commutable distance from the office and will be phased out globally over time, Brown wrote.
So you don't care about the employees that want remote work, you're just smart enough to boil the frogs slowly 🖕 They should maybe focus on not giving everyone in Oakdale cancer instead of shoving office work down people's throats.
Senior managers need to be back three days a week in November. Other employees encouraged to also work from Maplewood HQ those days, CEO said in letter.
https://archive.is/THRUX
“This building is going to be more than just a physical space, it’s about creating generational wealth, building careers and leaving behind an enduring legacy,” said Mariam Omari, a co-founder of K’s Revolutionary Catering in north Minneapolis.
There's some interesting reading over at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_capitalism about intergenerational wealth, including critiques.
Of course, it's not much help to build intergenerational wealth if it gets forcibly taken away when you do too well.
I hate that this sort of thing works better than just saying "Here's why we're fucking ourselves over", but stories are often the best way to get people to care.
Data suggests cannabis quality testers are fudging mold levels
I very much appreciate that we've legalized THC and all that, but there does need to be proper quality control.
I was talking to someone involved in a local brewery that also does THC drinks, and they said that dosages are all over the place, even for things that are nominally the same level. As in, they wanted something that was 2 mg per unit from a manufacturer, and they tested it at 12 mg per unit. Some manufacturers are better than others, but this place had to keep testing even places that got it right, because the quality can drift over time. They also had to put a lot of work into making sure that everything was mixed super well, because the THC oil is fairly heavy and can sink to the bottom.
The drop is partly a response to the flurry of new housing construction in the previous five years, which stabilized rents here even as they soared in other major metros. Developers say they’re slowing things down while they wait for existing apartments to be filled.
I don't like rent control, because I think this is the better answer, and it seems to be working. I'm sympathetic to someone I know's take though that's NIMBY in the sense of "Sure, build more housing, but let's start with the parking lots instead of destroying more nature"
The Topline: A record breaking year for charter failures
> Welcome to The Topline, a weekly roundup of the big numbers driving the Minnesota news cycle, as well as the smaller ones that you might have missed. This week: A record breaking year for charter school failures; Twin Cities apartment construction plummets; early voting returns; cannabis testing shenanigans; and Minnesotans’ electoral power. > > Record number of charter schools failing, with more possibly ahead > > The Star Tribune reports that nine of the state’s 181 charter schools have shut down this year, with another one facing the imminent revocation of its authorization over financial and management difficulties. > > The story focuses on the STEP Academy in St. Paul and Burnsville, which serves a student body that’s 99% Black and predominantly immigrant. The school overextended itself with a recent expansion followed by enrollment projections that failed to materialize. It also had to repay $800,000 to the Department of Education for overstating its enrollment last year. > > vCharter schools, when run well, can be a bridge to success for students from disadvantaged communities who have challenges in traditional schools. But the overwhelming majority of Minnesota’s charter schools lag traditional public schools on standard measures of student achievement, and some experts argue that by catering to specific minority communities, many charters are bringing about a new era of school segregation. > > Minnesota taxpayers spent over $1 billion on charter school funding last year. > > Apartment construction projected to drop sharply > > Axios reports that apartment construction is projected to drop 43% in the Twin Cities over the next five years, the sharpest decline in the nation. The drop is partly a response to the flurry of new housing construction in the previous five years, which stabilized rents here even as they soared in other major metros. Developers say they’re slowing things down while they wait for existing apartments to be filled. > > Places like Wichita, Kansas and Bozeman, Montana, meanwhile, are projected to see new apartment construction explode by close to 250%. > > One general word of caution, however: All forecasts are based on assumptions about how people will behave and how events will unfold in the coming months and years, and they often turn out to be off the mark or simply wrong. > > Early voting: down from 2020, up from 2022 > > Minnesota election expert and occasional Reformer contributor Max Hailperin has been keeping tabs on early voting returns. So far, this year, the pattern is mainly what you’d expect: Early voting to date is down from the comparable point in the 2020 election cycle, when we were in the middle of a global pandemic and a massive push to vote by mail. > > They’re up, however, from 2022, which is expected given that turnout is always higher in presidential election years. > > So far, the decline from 2020 is slightly less steep in greater Minnesota, where many people had been accustomed to voting by mail well before the pandemic. > > Data suggests cannabis quality testers are fudging mold levels > > An investigation from the Wall Street Journal finds that labs in many cannabis-legal states are four times more likely to report mold levels just under the legal limit than just over. They also found that lab test results were directly tied to their future revenues: Labs detecting less mold got more business in the following year, while those detecting more saw their business drop. > > “The improbable pattern suggests tainted samples are being cleared for sale,” the Journal’s authors write, with potentially harmful health consequences for users who assume that legal cannabis products are safe. > > Minnesotans’ voting power > > Cartography website maps.com recently ran an analysis of each state’s electoral power in presidential elections. Because states are guaranteed at least three electors, regardless of population, smaller states tend to be over-represented in the Electoral College while larger states are disadvantaged. > > A vote in Wyoming, for instance, carries about three times as much electoral power as one from California, Texas or New York. Sparsely-populated places like Vermont and the Dakotas have similar advantages. > > As with so many other things, Minnesota sits squarely in the middle of the pack. But that could change following the next census, however, as the state is projected to lose a seat in the House of Representatives, which means we’ll have one less electoral vote as well.
Read an Excerpt From 'Core Samples: A Climate Scientist's Experiments in Politics and Motherhood'
Ahead of this Wednesday’s launch event, check out a chapter of a U of M scientist’s brand-new book.
> “People live by their stories—how can we use them to accelerate action on climate change?” > > That’s the question Anna Farro Henderson sets out to answer in Core Samples: A Climate Scientist's Experiments in Politics and Motherhood (University of Minnesota Press, 208 pages). As a U of M scientist and policy expert who’s worked in Washington, D.C., but also been on field visits to nuclear test sites in New Mexico and the Juneau Icefield in Alaska, Henderson authored a book that's full of funny, poetic essays on politics, science, and motherhood, and the surprising places where those things intersect. > > There will be a Core Samples launch event this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Open Book Performance Hall (1011 Washington Ave S., Minneapolis), which'll feature Henderson in conversation with Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman. Books will be available for purchase from Magers & Quinn Booksellers, with live music preceding the talk and a book signing, interactive public art, and more music following it. (Free, but registration is required.)
Collective Kitchens is a food incubator project created by the North Economic Opportunity Network, or NEON. The organization helps underserved and low-income entrepreneurs start businesses to build wealth within the community.
> Construction on a new $22 million shared commercial kitchen in north Minneapolis began on Wednesday. > > Collective Kitchens is a food incubator project created by the North Economic Opportunity Network, or NEON. The organization helps underserved and low-income entrepreneurs start businesses to build wealth within the community. > > “This building is going to be more than just a physical space, it’s about creating generational wealth, building careers and leaving behind an enduring legacy,” said Mariam Omari, a co-founder of K’s Revolutionary Catering in north Minneapolis. > > Omari has been a NEON client for several years. She says her business is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and has found success with the support received from NEON. > > “They help to build an ecosystem to support entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs like us, an ecosystem that's going to be able to weather any storm that we have coming,” Omari said. > > Collective Kitchens has gained support from elected city and state officials. > > Sen. Tina Smith attended Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony. She said Minneapolis’ northside has had deficits of resources and opportunity to grow and thrive. Parts of north Minneapolis are food deserts, regions where people have limited access to healthy, affordable foods. > > “This kitchen is going to be a place where new businesses are generated, where people get training, where there’s new economic activity and there's more opportunity,” Smith said. > > State Senate President Bobby Joe Champion, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and NEON President Warren McLean also spoke on behalf of Collective Kitchens. > > Many community members and NEON clients hold much anticipation and enthusiasm for the project. > > Michael Feng owns BianDang, a Taiwanese pop-up food truck. He said the new kitchen will help him to grow his business. > > “Being able to just kind of house our trailer here on site and with their incubator ... providing guidance for whether it’s wholesale or just any avenue that we decided to go on, this would be, a great opportunity,” Feng said. > > The kitchen will be located on West Broadway Avenue next to the Capri Theater.