Places and Things

Game of Thrones has never been about giving readers or viewers what they most want. Its author and screenwriters prefer to build fan expectations, then overturn them for narrative impact and, sometimes, pure shock value. from https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/27/18516648/game-of-thrones-got-season-8-hbo-final-hope-chest-character-death-survival https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63673841/6a77d8b839d14aec73604c6ad5ab5807507a35dbd7066370ebbc348e72f37c6d.0.jpg

What in the world is going on over at Samsung in the wake of the Galaxy Fold delay? The whole situation keeps refusing to normalize, and instead gets weirder nearly every day. from https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/25/18516875/ifixit-takedown-samsung-galaxy-fold-teardown https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63674202/akrales_190417_3377_0309.0.jpg

One unfortunate side-effect of our modern buy-everything-online lifestyle: package theft. A box or pile of boxes left sitting on your front stoop makes an easy target for "porch pirates," some of whom follow delivery trucks and scoop up packages moments after they're dropped off. from https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ways-to-keep-packages-from-getting-stolen-off-your-porch/ https://cnet2.cbsistatic.com/img/mUk9T6_Mwln0abMBjqTmFU0F6aM=/620x0/2018/01/09/9be2baef-f4da-4386-89e1-e04ae098ef74/boxlock.jpg

Tim Cook has tweeted a commitment that Apple will help to fund the rebuilding of Notre-Dame de Paris, the famous French cathedral which was devastated by fire last night. from https://9to5mac.com/2019/04/16/apple-notre-dame/ https://9to5mac.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/04/Apple-Notre-Dame.jpg?quality=82&strip=all&w=1500

President Trump has just under 60 million Twitter followers. This is a lot. Barack Obama has over 106 million. This is a lot more. The discrepancy is precisely the type of thing that would infuriate the current occupant of the White House and, according to the Daily Beast, it does. from https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-twitter-followers-obama-826471/ http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

For the time being, breakfast holds the grand title of “the most important meal of the day. from https://www.inverse.com/article/55187-skipping-breakfast-costs https://fsmedia.imgix.net/2b/a4/32/04/be39/48d0/b3a4/1d5c5b414ecd/skipping-breakfast-comes-at-a-steep-cost.jpeg?rect=0%2C761%2C3205%2C1602&auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&w=650

Humans are pumping more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at an accelerating rate. But climate change is a cumulative problem, a function of the total amount of greenhouse gases that have accumulated in the sky. from https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/24/18512804/climate-change-united-states-china-emissions https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dXFN0WPqHghkqovSkZUNqpL_Grw=/0x0:2261x1565/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2261x1565):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/16185122/gw_graphic_pie_chart_co2_emissions_by_country_2015.png