The rest of the article goes on to describe two small examples of the communal reaction expressed in the form of google doc spreadsheets, of all things.  Another highlight of how technology in the past decade has changed the game in these sorts of events.  With the advent of smartphones and the social web, we now have much faster communication of what has happened as word spreads rapidly on sites like reddit and twitter as well as the traditional journalism streams.  We have orders of magnitude more live video and photos (especially as the marathon lends itself to spectators shooting video) for both the public and the police to examine and investigate.  We have more ways of organizing ourselves out of the chaos that erupts – in addition to the above mentioned google docs, there were near instantly ways for people to check in and report their safety, to track and find missing people, to gather up friends and family separated by the catastrophe, and to organize support for individuals and the community as a whole (such as the spontaneous concert at Wellesley being organized for tonight).

But still, while we are moving rapidly to make what we can of the situation, we are only more acute of how slow it can be to get facts out of chaos. Casualty counts change, investigations of additional devices come and go, reports of persons of interest being detained surface and submerge, and speculations float all around tempting conclusions.  There is the all too human need to understand, to point fingers, to not just act in support, but to react in anger.  And these emotions are often faster than those of love and compassion, so it leaves us all the more unsettled when we must wait for an accurate and investigated set of facts to be shared.

Until then, the facts we have are those of consequences, and of lives affected or unaffected, and the emotions of caring, of hurting, and of defiance.  Runners will run again next year, and the year after, and the year after, until the people who commit these atrocities learn that we will not give in to their fear-mongering.

(Ok, a little commentary on that last one.  He can’t read yet but he loves the mechanics of books. Good to start him early…)

Did I promise to bring you something or lend you something?

Please remind me.

From Jaegermonster

*Unlike smoots, Jaegers are not a constant unit of measurement, and should not be used for scientific purposes.

He’s now up to thirteen and a half pounds, and a few inches over two feet in length.  He’s more than doubled in weight and gained a third in length.  Good thing this slows down at some point or we’d need a forklift to carry him by the time he’s old enough for kindergarten.

It’s still a lot of work to be a parent, and there are still bad days, but there are plenty of good days, and even a few great ones.  There have been a lot of changes: new stuff around the house, altered work schedules, more visits from family, needing to put someone else first more often, and needing to schedule things so someone is always with him.  But I’m surprised at how little has changed in some ways as well.  We still participate in our hobbies, engage in social pursuits, and even find time to go out to a meal or a show for a date now and again.  Part of it is support from family. Part of it is our friends are willing to tolerate, or even look forward to, spending time with him around. Part of it is Jaegermonster is usually, and especially in company, a really good little guy.  Part of it is our stubborn refusal to give up everything just because we are parents now.  We haven’t seen as many people as often as we’d like, but that is as much the usual vagaries of peoples and schedules as it is anything else.  So if we haven’t seen you lately, we should remedy that!

Overall, we’re happy, and lucky, to have a kid like him.  He loves to play, loves to snuggle, and has a smile that could power a small New England town for a year.  He’s starting to eat real (where real is defined as non-liquid, but still gushy) foods now, and is expressing some recognizably inherited stubborn independent traits (he -really- wants to be the one wielding the spoon).  His first teeth are clearly an any-day-now thing, and he’s remarkably good at standing with assistance.  The cats have come to accept him, so long as he isn’t too grabby, and getting to bury his face in one never fails to bring a smile.

It’s only been six months, but the things that have changed (and those that haven’t so much) are remarkable.

I’ve recently updated the picture album, but recognized that a) I don’t have all the pictures we’ve taken and b) we’re not really picture taking people, so it isn’t a very large album.  As more pictures come across, I’ll add them to the album, so keep an eye out!

It’s a fascinating look at revenues through tariffs, unanticipated consequences, perverting incentives, inducing the overthrow of an island monarchy in favor of annexation by a foreign power, accidentally destabilizing a second island with echoes through to today, and some -very- clever pamphleteering! I wonder if 100 years from now we’l be able to see similar ripples and consequences from this ‘fiscal cliff’.

At least this happened though: We dressed JM as one of Disney’s newest characters….

A lot of people find my blog because of the pages I have up on Pinochle (see the tabs at the top on my main page). So recently I was asked to review a Pinochle App on the iPad. I’m afraid this isn’t going to be a good review. For starters, this app doesn’t allow for the pinochle variation I actually know and play, the double deck, no nines variant. There is no way to turn off certain things, like passing of cards, a rule that is optional even in single deck games. And the artwork is right out of MS Paint, although, admittedly, artwork has little impact on gameplay. On top of that, the AI seems broken, always opting to pass. Or maybe because that’s because I tried to adjust the settings to be those for double deck. The app is called Pinochle Pro, but the icon is of an old man holding a card, so it may not be obvious what the game is. And for $3, there are better options, or at least cheaper options (including ad supported free options that actually do double deck) available in the App Store.

That said, no app will ever be better than teaching your friends and family and playing the real deal.