Events

Sure, it's -17°C, and it's been colder than that the last six nights in a row, but let's put this in perspective: last year was way, way worse: The new year has opened very wintry bringing the city major league doses of snow and cold. Through January 9 temperatures have averaged a frigid -10.9°C and there have been 193 mm of snow. But, it was much colder and snowier during the same period last year with temperatures averaging -13.4°C and the city buried under nearly 509 mm of snow. With clear skies and...

I may have more time later today. Maybe. Via Gulliver, the Telegraph asks, "What happens when someone dies on a cruise?" ("Given that 40 per cent of cruise passengers are over 65, it's a fairly common problem.") How do browsers store your passwords? A group is driving—not flying, driving—a 747 to Burning Man. Back to work.

However, with -13°C snow blowing around at—no joke—59 km/h, it looks like this: I still will never move south of Interstate 80. Never. This is just character-building weather, and it will pass. See? These guys (Titus and Honey Baked Hamlet) know how to stay warm: They trotted over to the Euchre Meet-Up last night. Parker didn't, because J's is just far enough from home that Parker would have been too cold. (He usually attends.)

Via Tech Cocktail, Jason Scott has added 2,388 MS-DOS video games to the Wayback Machine. Says Scott: The Archive introduced v2, or “the Beta Interface” late last year. It was slow, stocky, and freaked people out. But folks got the idea, mostly – it was taking a site that had only incremental changes for 13 years, shaking the whole story up, and re-imagining the whole thing as a visual and browsing collection, as well as a way to dig deep into the materials. Since last year, it’s gotten faster, slimmer...

Chicago is under a hazardous weather outlook this morning because it's -18°C with wind chills around -30°C. Schools all over the area have closed, prompting our operations manager to declare a work-from-home day. I might have done anyway, because I've caught a chest cold that has gotten worse since Sunday to the point where all I want to do is nap. All of this will improve soon. Temperatures are expected to rise to more-seasonable (-3°C) levels by Sunday, and I expect to have defeated this invasion of...

Therefore, another link round-up: How to reach anti-vaccine idiots believers. Why it's difficult to determine whether 2014 was the hottest year ever for the planet even though it was 4th coldest ever in Illinois. ("While the global numbers are not in yet for 2014, the January – November results indicate that the central US was about the only cold spot in an otherwise warm world.") The Economist's Gulliver blog thinks Marriott still sucks in the way it handles wi-fi. Wait, the Euro is at $1.19 and...

Today is my first full day as CTO of Holden International. And this is Fennec E. Fox, who apparently will be sharing office space with me: (It makes sense when you know a little about Holden's history, and that the flagship software offering right now is called eFox.)

Isn't this pretty? Yes. Yes it is. But taking the picture almost caused my fingers to freeze off, because it's this bloody cold: And it's going to be colder this week: -15°C is forecast for Wednesday—as the high. I expect to have dismal Fitbit numbers for a few days, too. Ordinarily Mondays my schedule allows me to walk quite a distance. Today, as you can see above, I said to hell with it and drove.

Writing in today's Times, Richard Florida explains the long-term costs of red state/blue state differences: The idea that the red states can enjoy the benefits provided by the blue states without helping to pay for them (and while poaching their industries with the promise of low taxes and regulations) is as irresponsible and destructive of our national future as it is hypocritical. But that is exactly the mantra of the growing ranks of red state politicos. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a likely 2016 G.O.P....

Today's Fitbit numbers will probably not wow anyone, owing to the 2°C rain keeping our layer of slush from solidifying entirely. Enter next week's forecast to put things into perspective: Tuesday A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near -6°C. Tuesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around -18°C. Blustery. Wednesday Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near -16°C. Blustery. Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around -20°C. Thursday Mostly sunny, with a high near -10°C....