Esther Schindler

Japanese Woodblock Print Search

Something to ease your mind today.

Op Note: 3 Rules for Pricing Client Engagements Quote with confidence

Good essay.
These three go-to rules for quoting a project aren’t so much instructional as high-level theorems. "Once you understand them and embrace them, you’ll be able to quote your projects with more confidence and less second-guessing." b2bs.substack.com/p/op-note-3-...

Florence ICE detainee dead after untreated tooth infection, official says An ICE detainee, who had been at a Florence detention center for four months, died Monday following an untreated tooth infection.

An ICE detainee in Arizona has died of a TOOTH INFECTION after it went untreated for weeks, a local official says. He was a Haitian asylum seeker imprisoned in Florence, Arizona. @emilybregel.bsky.social reports.
tucson.com/news/local/b...

Screenshot of an X post by Senator Tom Cotton saying Iran has been an imminent threat to the United States for 47 years and that the president was right to act. Below is a Fox News segment with Cotton speaking while footage labeled “U.S. Central Command – Unclassified” shows a strike.

“Imminent.” You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

She’s like a liar gone to burning hell

Rick Steves delivers a dynamic "European take" on Trump and American democracy. Rick examines how lessons learned on the road can help Americans better understand and meet the challenges facing Democracy in the USA. The Traveler & American Democracy with Rick Steves

From late January, a 40-minute talk by Rick Steves on “how lessons learned on the road can help Americans better understand and meet the challenges facing Democracy in the USA.” [youtube.com]

Hold up...I thought Diana Ross was the Supreme Leader?

YouTube video by BFI The X Rays (1897)

Modern People: “Silent movies are boring!”

Silent Movies: (glances up from their Victorian x-ray voyeurism comedy)

youtu.be/3gMCkFRMJQQ

Be My Neighbor Day Step into the world of Be My Neighbor Day, a free, joy‑filled celebration designed especially for children ages 2–8. This family event invites little neighbors (and their...

Phoenix-area friends: Mister Rogers Week will wrap up with a Be My Neighbor Day community celebration on Saturday, March 21. This free community event's special guests include Mychal Threets, host of Reading Rainbow, and puppeteer Stacey Gordon.

Today's reminder
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” —Mahatma Gandhi

I laughed

Grammarly's presentation of something they call Expert Review, including my name (plus Stephen King's, plus Mary Norris's), though to be sure I've never been contacted by Grammarly, much less compensated.

What in the absolute fuck is this.

Researchers at the Rijksmuseum have demonstrated that the painting Vision of Zacharias in the Temple (1633) was made by Rembrandt. www.rijksmuseum.nl/e...

Why Are American Passenger Trains Slow? - American Affairs Journal In the 1950s, the Milwaukee Road’s Olympian Hiawatha carried passengers from Minneapolis to Chicago in roughly seven hours. Today, Amtrak’s Empire Builder covers that same distance in just under eight. The New York Central once ran forty-two daily passenger trains between Buffalo and Cleveland, with the 187-mile trip taking three hours. Today, Amtrak’s Lake Shore…

Why are passenger trains in the US so slow? Because the freight rail network is so productive.

You know it's true.

Don't anthropomorphize computers. They hate that.

B.C. makes daylight time permanent after years of promises The change comes after years of promises but could lead to an awkward time difference between B.C. and neighbouring U.S. states.

British Columbia announces it is making daylight time permanent after years of promises

I laughed

sambert avocados, painted by royal charles steadman, 1916

sambert avocados, painted by royal charles steadman, 1916

A North Atlantic Right Whale swims in calm blue water, a gathering of smaller animals, possibly fish, around its mouth.

Only about 70 reproductively active female North Atlantic right whales remain.

But the Trump administration just announced plans to revoke vessel speed restrictions on the Atlantic coast that protect these critically endangered whales from deadly ship strikes.

Learn more ➡️ bit.ly/4cqNyFA

A bookstore shelf with two books facing out: Developing Employees and Laying Off Employees

A friend shared this photo with me, taken in a bookstore in 2010. I think it's evergreen!

Taylor Swift-related word added to Dictionary.com It's not like it's a new word, but Dictionary.com has made it official: The word "Swiftie" was added to the website as part of its Fan Favorite Winter Word Drop 2026.

Never mind "Swiftie." I'm gobsmacked that "Trekkie" wasn't in the dictionary before now.

It would have been better if it were "press 2 for Jive."

Inside the fight to save Texas’ Native American studies course The anti-DEI movement put the future of the high school class in question, but it ultimately survived state board review. Its supporters say that offers a lesson for other states.

Inside the fight to save Texas’ Native American studies course

The anti-DEI movement put the future of the high school class in question, but it ultimately survived state board review. Its supporters say that offers a lesson for other states.

Callers to Washington state hotline press 2 for Spanish and get accented AI English instead Callers to Washington state’s driver’s license agency who select automated service in Spanish have instead been hearing an AI voice speaking English with a strong Spanish accent.

Callers to Washington state hotline press 2 for Spanish and get accented AI English instead

That Merlin trilogy is one of my favorite comfort reads, too.

Though Bujold's _Penric and Desdemona_ series has had that role for a while. Smart, kind people who are trying to build a better future, with love stories.

wine moms are our strongest soldiers and also the engine of American consumption and you alienate them from your stores at your peril

Trivia: The computer science building at the University of Minnesota (1985) looks vaguely like a spinny mirror handheld barcode scanner, and the walkway up has alternating black and white stripes of random sizes.

JangaFX - Real-time VFX Simulations Lets explore the famous Diablo 3 VFX talk by Julian Love. We'll investigate how to use D3 techniques in your visual effects today, and go over how to address some of the most common issues.

Exploring and Modernizing The VFX Methods of Diablo 3

Why Real-Time Inventory in Retail Has Never Worked Well

Shoppers find it frustrating to check whether an item is available, only to be unable to purchase it. But they are not nearly as frustrated as retail IT leaders.
www.windriver.com/blog/Why-Rea...