Linked List: October 16, 2020

Friday, 16 October 2020

One of the best commercials I’ve ever seen.

‘Corruption, Anger, Chaos, Incompetence, Lies, Decay’ – The Trump Kakistocracy In Review ★

The New York Times Editorial Board:

Mr. Trump stands without any real rivals as the worst American president in modern history. In 2016, his bitter account of the nation’s ailments struck a chord with many voters. But the lesson of the last four years is that he cannot solve the nation’s pressing problems because he is the nation’s most pressing problem.

He is a racist demagogue presiding over an increasingly diverse country; an isolationist in an interconnected world; a showman forever boasting about things he has never done, and promising to do things he never will.

Vote.

That Unremarked-Upon Thing on the Side of iPhone 12’s Is a 5G mmWave Antenna Window, But It’s Only There on U.S. Models ★

Sean Hollister, writing for The Verge:

There’s a simple explanation behind the missing window, though: the iPhone 12 doesn’t support mmWave 5G outside of the United States. If you peruse Apple’s frequency bands page, you’ll see that compatibility with bands n260 and n261 are simply missing everywhere else in the world.

Honestly, I’m not sure it’s a huge loss. mmWave 5G does offer far higher speeds than the “nationwide” flavor of low-band 5G that you’ll also find rolling out today, but the only other consistent thing about mmWave is its inconsistency, since even outdoors, you might not find a signal from one street corner to the next.

People got excited when they saw this because it looks like the magnetic window for pairing an Apple Pencil to an iPad Pro.

Jose Altuve Has the Yips ★

Tyler Kepner, writing for The New York Times:

Altuve, a second baseman, made two throwing errors in Game 2 on Monday, the first with two outs in the first inning. Manuel Margot followed with a three-run homer, and the Rays won by one run.

In Game 3 on Tuesday, with the Astros leading by 1-0 in the sixth inning, Altuve tried to start a double play but bounced his throw to second, well in front of shortstop Carlos Correa. Instead of having two outs and the bases empty, the Rays had no outs and two runners on. They went on to score five runs in the inning.

You don’t have to be Sigmund Freud to figure out what’s wrong with Altuve. His guilty conscience is consuming him because he’s been exposed as a cheater, and he’s now the most despised player — deservedly so — in the game. The Astros would already be heading to the World Series if not for his yips. Instead, they’re on the cusp of losing to the Rays, a solid team of fine players — bitter but worthy division rivals of the Yankees. All because of Altuve. You hate to see it.