Eleminate charge fouls in basketball

I totally agree with this article, assuming that it does not literally advocate abolishing the very concept of a charging foul. Growing up playing basketball recreationally, and watching as a casual fan, I thought of charging as something usually pretty clear-cut and obvious, and therefore rare. When I got back into basketball fandom after a several decades absence, I was very surprised to see how charging works--the defender races the driving offensive player to a spot, and has their feet planted a tiny fraction of a second first. They thus establish position, putting their body on the line to draw the foul from the offensive player whose momentum is unavoidably carrying them toward the contested real estate.

The same test that has been applied to offensive players aggressively courting foul calls by unnaturally contorting their bodies mid-jump-shot should apply here: his is not a basketball move.

I would not buy a new ICE vehicle

At this point, no way would I buy a new ICE (regular gas-powered) vehicle. I personally am in a good phase in the car-replacement cycle, easily 4 years from wanting (longer from actually *needing*) to replace one of ours. But if I were otherwise ready for a new car, I would either put it off, or buy something (substantially) used. I think we are at the point where ICE is a very poor investment.

I do wonder if, a few years down the line, there will be havoc in the auto market, where nobody wants to buy ICE, but EVs are still a minority of production?

Chromecast vs Viewclix

Viewclix is a popular photo-frame device whose canonical use case is to allow family members to share photos with an older relative who is not up on technology. We got one for my mother about a year ago.

It does work okay, but the usability is clunky. I have found a much better solution is to use a spare TV or monitor, equipped with Chromecast, as a remote Google photos sharing device.

1. Set up a shared album.
2. Invite other family members to be contributors or administrators (depending if you want to let other delete, as well as add, photos) to the shared album.
3. Set Ambient Mode on the Chromecast to show the shared album.

Voila!

In addition to the >> UX, you also get a WAY bigger, TV-size screen.

(Granted, Viewclix has secondary use cases of teleconferencing, and posting reminders to your loved one. The Chromecast solution does not tackle those.)

Airline flight change offer

First time I have ever gotten this kind of offer to proactively re-schedule my flight, if I happen to find that convenient. If this is what I think it is, it is different than an offer to sign up to be "bumped". Those typically are on a bidding system--how much would you take in compensation to be bumped to a different flight?

If I am interpreting correctly, this is saying "hey, if you happen want to change your flight, we won't charge you for it. Do you want to take a look and see if a different flight would be an improvement?" I've thought for ages that airlines should do this kind of thing--see if there is a win-win to be had.

(I didn't pursue the offer, so I don't know for sure how it worked.)