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You must enable java to proceed

You must enable java to proceed published on No Comments on You must enable java to proceed

Man next to giant cup of coffee says "I said 'large.'"And I thought Vancouver was obsessed by coffee. This summer, my family spent two weeks in San Francisco, where java-worship has reached levels anthropologists might want to start examining. (So might cult researchers.)

About the only thing poised to knock the mighty bean off its perch down there is kombucha, which seems to be what would happen if beer drinkers and tea drinkers reached an alliance unsatisfying to both.

Maybe I’m being unfair; I have a stronger-than-normal vinegar-in-my-beverage aversion. Maybe I’m just grumpy; I’m still on my first cup of… oh, yeah.

☕️

In case you’re interested in what goes on behind the scenes here in our sprawling cartoon-making complex: I wrestled a little with this caption. It was going to start with something like “AeroPress, French press, pourover, siphon coffee— pfft.” Then I decided to resist my usual impulse to make things longer and more ornate, and simplify instead.

Kind of like having my coffee black.

Captain, I’m picking up something on the sensors

Captain, I’m picking up something on the sensors published on 2 Comments on Captain, I’m picking up something on the sensors

I’ve owned an iPhone now for two years, but I’m still getting my mind around it.

Not the app store, or the display, or the ubiquitous connectivity. But the way the damn thing is so aware of its surroundings.

A motion sensor tells it if it’s being jostled and which way is up. A compass tells it which way it’s pointing. GPS constantly updates its position on the map. Add the camera, microphone, proximity and ambient light sensors and – if you get a few drinks in me – the iPhone will know more about my immediate environment than I do.

It’s not hard to imagine that phone makers could start dropping in temperature, humidity and external pressure sensors, measuring your body temperature, sweatiness and grip. And once they do, you know what they’ve created?

A $200 mood ring.

Oh, you scoff now. See if you’re laughing once that information is aggregated and mapped, clusters of acute anxiety are pinpointed, and Pfizer’s aerial spraying unit responds by blanketing the area with anti-depressants.

Updated: Just when I was thinking I was so damn clever, I searched the app store.