Friday Hodgepodge

Four Things

Or five, if you count the beautiful image I happened upon...

1. You know that bowl near the door or in your kitchen where people leave their phone, keys, and whatnot upon getting home? Or maybe you use a tray or something else entirely. Or you know people who do this, because you have a system in place for your keys, unlike the unwashed masses.

In any event, the one you know about probably doesn't have its own web page and social media accounts. But "Shitbowl" does, and its owners would have you know that it's "The algorithmically powered in-home physical caching platform."

Scrolling down fills you in on how it all works:

The shitbowl platform runs on an elegant LRU (Least Recently Used) caching system meaning the items you most need are always at hand.

And yes, you can really geek out from there.

It can be amazing how something that almost everyone uses with nary a thought can become fascinating when somebody casts the light of deep knowledge on it.

I'm fond of pointing out that most people can be wrong about some things. But it is helpful to remember that sometimes, what most people do can make more sense than meets the eye.

Image by Basile Morin, via Wikimedia Commons, license.

2. Whether you're approaching codgerdom and feeling nostalgic or you're a whippersnapper with important catching up to do, one Mike Yingling has crafted a Calvin and Hobbes search engine.

If I recall correctly, Calvin's dad was a patent agent or patent attorney, so I searched patent so you can see an example of the output.

3. Fellow soccer fans who follow the United States Men's National Team will enjoy hearing about a rising tide of new talent. The headline in the UK Guardian offers "The Rise of the USMNT in Their Own Words:"

With a large number of these young stars already playing key roles at some of the biggest clubs in the world, the future of the United States men’s national team has never appeared so bright. The 2026 World Cup on home soil is on the horizon and excitement is building around this gifted generation.

The piece quotes extensively from five rising players and the coach of the national team, and my overall impression is one of a snowballing effect of better talent-spotting and training here, and of American professional players inspiring younger athletes to follow in their footsteps.

4. Whenever I look at lists like, "The Best and Worst Drivers by State," I often feel somewhat qualified to judge them based on the fact that I have lived in so many different states. For example, drivers from Missouri and drivers from New Jersey landed about where I'd place them, based on experience.

As I once said, "Until I lived in Missouri, I had never been favorably impressed by the general courtesy of the drivers anywhere."

-- CAV