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From the Archives - The Bars: a Family Saga
IntroductionThis tale, from my archives, concerns an emotional tug-of-war between my father and me which ended up putting my innocent 15-year-old nephew John in harm’s way. Here are John and his father...
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Easy Recipes for College Kids
Introduction I just took my daughter back down to Santa Barbara to resume college a couple days ago, and suddenly realized my wife and I forgot to teach her how to cook. So I’ve decided to put...
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More Easy Recipes for College Kids
IntroductionIn my previous post, I provided some easy recipes for meals even an inexperienced and time-strapped college kid could cook. I ran out of space (so to speak … I felt the post had gotten...
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How to Avoid Bad Movies
IntroductionOkay, we’re into our eighth month of shelter-in-place and we’re running out of movies. We’ve seen the Oscar nominees and all the films friends have recommended and, it seems, are down to...
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How to Avoid Bad Movies - Part II
VlogI am well aware of the dangers of repetitive stress injuries, such as those incurred using the mouse scroll-wheel or web page scroll-bars. Meanwhile, I wouldn't want you to get your touch-screen...
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Biased Blow-By-Blow - 2020 Vuelta a España Stage 20
IntroductionTo me, sport seems kind of pointless during this pandemic. The articles on the front page of the sports section of the paper (yes, I get an old school paper newspaper, a phrase which seems...
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From the Archives - Thank You (Not) for the Cheesy Microscope
VlogIf a picture is worth a thousand words, and HD video captures 30 frames per second, then a ten-minute video is worth about 18 million words. That seems more efficient than reading a 1,600-word...
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Travel Tips During the COVID-19 Pandemic
IntroductionAs if the COVID-19 pandemic weren’t bad enough, we as a nation are also facing a lot of scolds who have sky-is-falling, buzzkill attitudes about getting together with our families over the...
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Could Artificial Intelligence Replace Writers?
Introduction Over a year ago, I came across this fascinating article about whether or not Artificial Intelligence could write a New Yorker article. The answer was essentially “no” or “not yet,” but it...
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Could Artificial Intelligence Replace Writers? - Part 2
IntroductionsIn my last post, I reacted to a 2019 New Yorker articleabout new machine learning technologies that, some say, will eventually enable A.I. to write magazine articles. Disturbed by this, I...
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Could Artificial Intelligence Replace Writers? - Part 3
IntroductionIn my last two posts (here and here) I explored the question of whether Artificial Intelligence could write a magazine article. In particular I described a New Yorker essay on this subject...
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Last-Minute Online Holiday Gift Guide!
Introduction If, like me, you’ve put off holiday shopping for too long, and find yourself in a community lockdown due to COVID-19, and are now forced to buy all your gifts online, you’ve come to the...
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From the Archives - Marin Headlands Big Ring Tale
VlogThis post goes well beyond the 160-character length of an SMS text, not to mention the 180-character limit of a tweet. Since I cannot reasonably expect anybody to read more than that in a single...
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What’s Wrong with Wonder Woman?
IntroductionTo be clear, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Wonder Woman as a concept. And there’s nothing wrong with Gal Gadot. (For that matter, I don’t see anything wrong with Barbie, but...
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A Wide Net Approach to New Year’s Resolutions
IntroductionIn years past in these pages, I’ve offered general suggestions on how to formulate New Year’s Resolutions. Well, it never worked … the closest I’ve had to getting a comment like “this...
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Should You Eat Less Salt?
VlogI would love to have an albertnet podcast, but the fact is, I don’t know how. I would have to learn some new platform, and figure out how to make it available to the 4.3 billion users of the...
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From the Archives - Bicycling Glossary
IntroductionLately I’ve been going through a bunch of decades-old Winningmagazines, including their special oversized Tour de France special editions, and I have to chuckle at the ubiquitous two-page...
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Super Bowl FAQ - A Guide for Foreigners
IntroductionI am no expert about American football. That might make me seem like a poor authority to consult about the Super Bowl. But most Americans are far too steeped in football lore to be of much...
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Non-Race Non-Report - 2021 Fort Ord CCCX XC MTB
IntroductionIt’s become a tradition for me, at this time of year, to head to Fort Ord in the Monterey area and do a mountain bike race. Normally, I’m a high school cycling coach and this is an...
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Ask a Sea Kayaker
Dear Sea Kayaker,I am torn between the Pelican Mustang 100X kayak and the Old Town Vapor 12XT. Both have great reviews. What would you suggest for all-day use, and the right combination of quickness...
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