Linked List: December 1, 2018

Saturday, 1 December 2018

iFixit 

My thanks to iFixit for sponsoring this week at Daring Fireball. You probably know them best for their detailed teardowns of new gadgets, but they also have an extensive library of over 40,000 free repair guides. And they sell precision tools and parts.

I’ve had a set of their tools for years, and they just sent me their latest flagship kit, the Pro Tech. It’s loaded with every rare bit and opening tool you could think of, packed in a clever small case, and backed by a lifetime guarantee. iFixit’s repair engineers design these tools in-house, and they’re the tools they themselves use.

Since last they sponsored DF they’ve developed a bunch of all-in-one repair kits for upgrading and repairing Apple devices. Their kits include a new part and all the tools you need for the job.

Their toolkits are great for any tinkerer on your holiday gift list. They’ve even got a special deal for DF readers — through the end of December, save $10 off your next $50 purchase with the code DARINGFIX.

George H.W. Bush, 41st President, Dies at 94 

Adam Nagourney, The New York Times:

Mr. Bush was president during a shift in the world order that had begun under Reagan. His measured response to upheaval in Eastern Europe drew complaints that he was not seizing the reins of history. But he chose a collaborative approach, working with the Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to allow for the reunification of Germany, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The two leaders signed treaties mandating historic reductions in their countries’ nuclear and chemical weapons.

“George H. W. Bush was the best one-term president the country has ever had, and one of the most underrated presidents of all time,” James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state and Mr. Bush’s closest adviser for nearly 50 years, said in an interview in 2013. “I think history is going to treat him very well.”

By far and away — I mean it’s not even close — my favorite Republican president since Eisenhower. I respect him deeply: from his lifelong commitment to public service, to his genuine bipartisanship. The collapse of the Soviet Union could have gone very, very wrong under less steady U.S. leadership. And at a personal level, George and Barbara Bush were married for 73 years. 73 years!

There is a rule that will never be written but can clearly be felt that a president can only be eulogized by another president, and that job clearly falls to George W. That’s a hell of a thing, but he’s going to nail it.