Friday Four

1. I was actually jumping the gun back in June, when I said that the baby calls me "Da-da". She actually persisted in using the term for both her parents for a bit longer.

But now I can make the claim accurately. A couple of weeks ago, our daughter started calling my wife "Ma-ma" and me "Da-da", and she's been saying a few other words, too, including her own version of "penguin". The word she says best is "bye-bye", which she sprang on me for the first time as we were leaving a park about a week before.

It's interesting to see how she reacts to words she knows. If I say "baby" or her name, she points to herself. She can't say, "eggs" (a favorite food of hers), but if I say it, and we are home, she points to the fridge, where she knows they are. If I say, "bird", she will point to a bird, of she sees one. I now make a point to tell her what things are called when she points to them.

2. What a headline! I first learned about this story through HBL: "California Voters Only Have Themselves to Blame for Soaring Pump Prices". The headline alone is amazing to see coming from a major news outlet, and the article does not disappoint.

3. As someone who  uses Linux almost exlusively for his computing, I am now cautiously optimistic that Palladium warmed over -- I mean the new UEFI "secure boot" standard -- is less likely to prevent people like me from running Linux on large swaths of new computer hardware.

The Linux Foundation has announced plans to provide a general purpose solution suitable for use by Linux and other non-Microsoft operating systems. The group has produced a minimal bootloader that won't boot any operating system directly. Instead, it will transfer to control to any other bootloader--signed or unsigned--so that that can boot an operating system.

As a commenter indicates, this makes ARM systems available, for which there had not been an option to simply disable UEFI.

4. This Arsenal fan has been enjoying the innovative play of Santi Cazorla and the disciplined approach of Mikel Arteta in the Gunners' midfield this season. Needless to say, I was intrigued when I learned that the Spaniards were asked to interview each other recently by a paper back home.

During the interview, Cazorla brings up another quality I admire in Arteta, who has become my favorite player in his new role as a defensive midfielder this season:

Here at Arsenal you're a real leader. When I arrived, I was a little surprised at the level of respect that you have in the dressing-room. But when I saw you with the group and on the pitch it's obvious that almost all consider you the Captain. You are a leader. I'm no good at that, nobody would listen to me! But when you talk they listen.

While I'm on the subject, I'll take the opportunity to thank Mrs. Van Horn for the Arteta jersey she gave me recently for my birthday.

-- CAV