Google Maps thinks it takes half an hour to walk to from DCA to Crystal City, but you can actually do it in fifteen minutes.

I really like leaving airports on foot. There's something about it that feels like it shouldn't be possible: between an airplane and your destination there should be some other kind of vehicle, no? It reminds me of the first time I boarded a plane without using a jetway, where walking out on the tarmac just felt wrong.

I was in DC the past two days for meetings (my first time wearing a suit in a work context) and I was staying in Crystal City. I looked at Google Maps to see if I could walk:

I recently got a Venova and have been enjoying learning how to play it:

It combines a saxophone mouthpiece with recorder fingering and a little nose to overblow an octave instead of a twelfth.

It's somewhere between a real instrument and a toy, and one of its bigger problems is that while it's great in C it gets harder to play the more sharps or flats you want. Since I mostly play contra music, typically in 2-3 sharps, this isn't ideal.

A Venova in D (two sharps) would be great, but I don't see this coming. If we're going to put in a bunch more work somehow, what if we went all the way to a double bore?

This afternoon Cecilia and I played for Somerville Porchfest, with Harris calling and Danner running sound. There was rain, but not enough keep us from playing, or to keep folks from dancing:

A week ago the Copy Fail vulnerability came out, and Hyunwoo Kim immediately realized that the fixes were insufficient, sharing a patch the same day. In doing this he followed standard procedure for Linux, especially within networking: share the security impact with a closed list of Linux security engineers, while fixing the bug quietly and efficiently in the open. His goal was that with only the raw fix public, the knowledge that a serious vulnerability existed could be "embargoed": the people in a position to address it know, but they've agreed not to say anything for a few days.

Someone else noticed the change, however, realized the security implications, and shared it publicly. Since it was now out, the embargo was deemed over, and we can now see the full details.

It's interesting to see the tension here between two different approaches to vulnerabilities, and think about how this is likely to change with AI acceleration.

Each morning I look over my work calendar and make a series of verbal requests:

Set a timer for 9:59
Set a timer for 10:59
Set a timer for 11:29
Set a timer for 1:29
Set a timer for 2:29

Why?

• I do not want to miss any meetings.
• I will miss occasional meetings if I'm not notified.
• I want to keep my phone on silent.
• I don't reliably notice my phone vibrating.
• While I do notice a smartwatch vibrating, I can't wear one.

When I pitch people on far-UVC they often ask about in-duct UV. How about putting UV inside your HVAC ducts, where you can safely blast the air with cheap toxic wavelengths. Unfortunately, it's rarely a good approach.

The biggest issue is that most people don't have ducts. They're common in the US, though less so in older construction (radiators) or newer (mini-splits). Outside the US (and Canada, and Australia), however, ducted systems are mostly limited to large modern office buildings. Worldwide, maybe one in ten indoor hours are spent in ducted spaces. [1]