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King Charles’ Coronation: A Lifetime in the Making

King Charles’ Coronation: A Lifetime in the Making

Through a steady London rain on the morning of May 6, the pomp and ceremony of King Charles III’s coronation began with a ride in the Diamond Jubilee State coach. The carriage, first used in 2014 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the accession of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, departed from Buckingham Palace at 10:20 a.m. Escorted by more than 150 members of the British armed forces and cheered on by thousands of damp but decidedly enthusiastic well-wishers, the enclosed horse-drawn coach rolled its way to Westminster Abbey. For Charles, 74, accompanied by his wife of 18 years, Queen Camilla, 75, the ride followed a carefully charted course, winding past landmarks like Trafalgar Square, the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben. At only 1.4 miles, the King’s procession…

How Ouka met Shams

How Ouka met Shams

This is a story about a dog called Ouka who loves to fly with his owner, the French adventure filmmaker Shams. It is also a story about the healing powers of humankind’s oldest friend, and their unique ability to get us back on our feet when we’re feeling low. “Ouka changed my life for sure,” Shams tells me when we talk over video call. “It’s a long story,” he adds, “but I’ll try and keep it short.” Chances are, you will have come across the pair’s flying exploits via their popular Instagram feeds @ouka.sam (174,000 followers) and @ shamsfilmmaker (39,000). They’re the kind of videos that often get shared over beers at the end of a day’s flying. In one, Shams seems to be riding Ouka, whose fluffy white hair is swept…

All ROADS LEAD TO ROAM

All ROADS LEAD TO ROAM

Last year, I moored my narrowboat at the Dundas Aqueduct just outside Bath. The valley around the River Avon is known for its wild garlic, which carpets the woodland floor and raises such a powerful perfume you can smell it from your car, driving down the A36. But since the permissive paths that cut through some of the woods go nowhere near the wild garlic, to forage for my dinner I had to trespass. Conkwell Wood was initially enclosed in the early 19th century, when the manor was built at the top of the hill. Because we, in modern times, have been born into a nation of exclusion, and so take it for granted, it is hard for us to imagine the anger of a community suddenly evicted from such a…

ESPN Host Victoria Arlen Paralyzed a Second Time: ‘My Worst Nightmare Came True’

Victoria Arlen had just driven back to her West Hartford, Conn., home after hosting ESPN’s SportsCenter on March 17 of last year when her face began to feel odd. “The whole right side started to droop,” Arlen says. “All my internal alarms were going off. I knew something was seriously wrong.” The discomfort soon spread to her legs, and she called a friend who rushed her to the hospital. Told she was having a stroke, she reacted with strange relief: “At least it’s not a relapse,” Arlen, 28, remembers thinking. Sixteen years earlier Arlen had fallen ill with two rare neurological conditions, which caused swelling in her spine and brain and left her trapped inside her own body, unable to move or speak, for four years. Doctors didn’t think she would…

ESPN Host Victoria Arlen Paralyzed a Second Time: ‘My Worst Nightmare Came True’

RACH’S LETTER

I’m writing this just before I leave to go to Italy for the first time in three years. I love it there and have missed it. My mother’s family and both of John’s parents’ families hail from there. My husband and I got married there. And three years ago, I achieved my life’s goal of buying a property there, in Tuscany. I don’t say “I bought a house” because although there were two structures, they had no plumbing and no electricity and the only occupants were some small animals we found inside. My husband called it a war zone. “Honey, don’t you want to look at a…house?” he asked. But I fell in love with the fields and the views and I thought for the money we’d pay for a house,…

RACH’S LETTER
Manœuvrer sous contrôle

Manœuvrer sous contrôle

Au volant d’un camping-car, une longueur supérieure à 7,00 m et un porte-à-faux important sont des facteurs à risque en cas de manœuvre en marche arrière. Dans ces conditions, la caméra de recul est une aide précieuse. Ce troisième œil, est le complément idéal de ce que vous voyez dans les rétroviseurs. Le dispositif se compose d’un émetteur (la caméra) placé à l’arrière et d’un récepteur (l’écran) placé dans le poste de conduite. Les informations (image et son) sont transmises par liaison filaire puis restituées à l’écran. Les avantages d’une telle installation sont multiples. On a une vision à l’aplomb de la face arrière et une belle perspective, tant en longueur qu’en largeur, pour manœuvrer en toute sécurité. On peut également entendre ce qui se passe grâce au micro intégré,…

Hands On With the OnePlus Watch: Lots of Promise for Just $159

Hands On With the OnePlus Watch: Lots of Promise for Just $159

I’ll admit, I was pretty skeptical before unboxing the first smartwatch from OnePlus, aptly named the OnePlus Watch. At $159, it’s less than half the price of our Editors’ Choice winner, the Apple Watch Series 6 (which starts at $399). And while it doesn’t work with iPhones, it offers many of the same features as Apple’s market-leading wearable. So far, my skepticism appears to have been unfounded. The OnePlus Watch offers a large color touch screen, built-in GPS, 2GB of storage, a 402mAh battery that promises two weeks of power, and the ability to make and receive calls. It also has plenty of health and fitness features, including support for more than 110 workout types, automatic workout detection for jogging and running, rapid-heart-rate alerts, guided breathing exercises, stress detection, and the…

Beats Fit Pro: Solid ANC

Beats Fit Pro: Solid ANC

After releasing the relatively affordable Studio Buds ($149.99) earlier this year, Beats is back with a new pair of noise-cancelling true wireless earphones, the Beats Fit Pro. Aptly named, the focus here is on in-ear fit security, with built-in earfins made of a pliable material that truly helps create a more secure seal in your ear. They’re also armed with active noise cancellation (ANC), and since Beats is owned by Apple, you get the company’s H1 chip, which enables features including Spatial Audio with head tracking, Adaptive EQ, hands-free Siri, and one-touch iOS pairing. The sonic performance is classic Beats, with intense bass, boosted highs, and a scooped-out midrange. The ANC is better than average, with effective low-frequency noise elimination. For the price, there’s plenty to like, but the Beats…

Razer Orochi V2 Wireless Gaming Mouse: Game on the Go

Razer Orochi V2 Wireless Gaming Mouse: Game on the Go

Pocket mice are typically associated with productivity, given their portable, lightweight designs that let you work in an airport, coffee shop, or office. The Razer Orochi V2 offers that same capability, but for gaming. It’s a small, wireless mouse, but with the sensor and software support of a Razer gaming mouse. The Orochi V2 isn’t a full-on replacement for a standard-size gaming mouse, but it’s convenient as a backup input device for your laptop bag. PROS: Lightweight. Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless support. Has HyperSpeed multi-device support. Supports AA and AAA batteries. Dongle storage. CONS: Can’t add a AA and AAA at the same time for max battery life. Small design is still less comfortable than a regular-sized mouse. Lacks RGB lighting. BOTTOM LINE: Featuring a lightweight design and HyperSpeed multi-device wireless support, the…

NINE-PATCH SQUARE DANCE

NINE-PATCH SQUARE DANCE

Join Our Quilt-Along! See page 33 for a weekly schedule and to learn where to share pictures of your progress. #APQQuiltAlong Materials FINISHED QUILT: 59½×70" FINISHED BLOCK: 9" square Yardages and cutting instructions are based on 42" of usable fabric width. Fabrics are from Happy Days collection by Sherri & Chelsi for Moda Fabrics (modafabrics.com). To plan this quilt in a different colorway, use the Coloring Diagram on Pattern Sheet 3. ⁕ 30 matching pairs of 1½×42" strips assorted medium and dark prints in red, coral, chartreuse, navy, gray, and aqua (blocks) ⁕ 30—5" squares assorted medium and dark prints in same red, coral, chartreuse, navy, gray, and aqua as strips (blocks) ⁕ 3¼ yards solid cream (blocks, sashing, inner border) ⁕ 5 matching pairs of 1½×42" strips assorted cream prints (blocks) ⁕ ⅛ yard gray diagonal stripe (sashing) ⁕ ⅞ yard aqua…

CLASSIC COOKOUT

recipe on page 50 recipe on page 51 recipe on page 51 recipe on page 51 recipe on page 51 “I’VE LOST MORE THAN 100 POUNDS. I SLEEP WELL EVERY NIGHT, AND I WAKE UP ENERGIZED AND READY TO START MY DAY.” PAMELA FOOTMAN BEFORE A WFPB LIFESTYLE In March 2020, I was a size 18 and had a body mass index in the morbidly obese range. As pandemic lockdowns began, I found myself with more free time and decided to dedicate it to improving my health. I watched documentaries on diet and health, including Forks Over Knives; Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; and Super Size Me. I resolved to start on a whole-food, plant-based diet and lose 100 pounds. It wasn’t easy at first. I didn’t realize how addicted my body had been to sugar, and I felt…

CLASSIC COOKOUT

Elon Musk Is a Misogynist and It Matters

Women in tech face considerable obstacles that start during their youngest years in school and persist in careers that they are frequently forced to abandon because of pay disparities and harassment. So when Elon Musk, who holds considerable sway over (mostly) men in the field, makes a sexist tweet that gets over 600,000 likes, or moves company headquarters to a state that has put a bounty on women seeking medical care, it has a collective impact on women employed in tech jobs and a direct impact on the women who work for him. Musk’s social media has won him the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a defamation lawsuit. But he has not had to answer for his tweets that would land him an HR investigation if he was…

Elon Musk Is a Misogynist and It Matters

The sweetest smell of ALL

WE ALL HAVE A UNIQUE SCENT – that natural cocktail made up of our body chemistry mixed with the products we use on our skin, hair, laundry and more. It’s the subtle but distinctively ‘you’ smell left behind on a T-shirt, or on your bed sheets. If you think of a traditional fragrance as your ‘outfit’, then a personal scent is more like lingerie: detectable only during intimate contact. To catch a whiff, you must come near. Recognising the potential appeal of bottling a scent so inherently alluring, beauty brands have begun experimenting with fragrances that either attempt to mimic the natural smell of human skin or use ingredients that take your individual elixir and amplify it. The result: a burgeoning category of eau de parfums and toilettes referred to as…

The sweetest smell of ALL

THE EDITORS ON… PERFECTING YOUR BASE

KATY YOUNG: GOING FOR A CLASSIC I’VE WORN FOUNDATION EVERY DAY SINCE I WAS 16. THAT’S over 6,500 applications of the good, the bad and the ugly – and, let’s face it, the unnecessary, until I hit my thirties. It’s only since turning 40 – now that I really have exhaustion to hide, wrinkles to erase and luminosity to fake – that I have come to appreciate the true powers of foundation. But what better time than 2022? My favourite ranges are now in the business of mimicking real skin; using textures so fine and pigment particles so spherical that they encourage the light to refract off our faces to make it look like it’s our own inner glow (I won’t tell if you don’t). Some of the best in show (by…

THE EDITORS ON… PERFECTING YOUR BASE
Q: CAN ANXIETY BE A SUPER POWER?

Q: CAN ANXIETY BE A SUPER POWER?

Alongside the pandemic, a subtler yet still malignant epidemic has simmered: anxiety. In the past year alone, 20 per cent of people in the UK have reported a dip in their mental health; and at work, anxiety’s most potent breeding ground, the already blurred lines dividing our personal and our professional lives became notably fuzzier during lockdown. It is now the unwelcome bedfellow of our jobs. ‘That gives me such bad anxiety,’ is a phrase I hear countless people say – friends, colleagues, myself – about everything to do with work, from emails to Zoom meetings. A notification on our phones can send us into a tailspin; a request for a meeting can set our guts twisting for hours. But according to Dr Wendy Suzuki, the professor of neuroscience and psychology…

Apple iPad Air (2022): Ideal for Creators

Apple iPad Air (2022): Ideal for Creators

Apple’s 2022 iPad Air is the epitome of a mobile tablet, with a nearly perfect balance of features and performance. The company’s M1 chip is impressively powerful, and support for the second-generation Apple Pencil makes the new Air a better creative tool than its predecessor. While battery life could be better, it’s not bad, so that’s a relatively minor complaint. If you’re looking for a do-it-all tablet with top-notch accessories, the 2022 iPad Air is the best choice in Apple’s tablet lineup—and a better bet than any Android tablet—earning it our Editors’ Choice award. PROS • Excellent performance • Works with second-gen Apple Pencil • Fits existing iPad cases and keyboards • Light and easy to carry CONS • Battery life could be longer • No millimeter-wave 5G support BOTTOM LINE The 2022 iPad Air offers many of the benefits…

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8: Best High-End Android Tablet

Samsung Galaxy Tab S8: Best High-End Android Tablet

Tablets in Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 series are Android’s answer to Apple’s pro-level iPads, and they’re the best devices for professional creative work on that platform. The Tab S8 is the smallest model in the lineup, but it still has plenty of power, sports a beautiful 11-inch screen, and comes with Samsung’s excellent S Pen stylus. We’re also fans of Samsung’s productivity-focused Dex mode, which bridges the gap between Android and Chrome OS. But at $699.99, the Galaxy Tab S8 costs more than comparable iPads and Windows tablets, while offering fewer pro apps than those devices. Until Android’s tablet experience catches up to the competition, all high-end Android tablets, no matter how impressive the hardware, remain at a disadvantage. PROS • Fast, smooth performance • Includes an S Pen • Dex mode enables a…

Work in progress

IN APRIL, AS OFFICE WORKERS ACROSS THE WORLD stared down months of being stuck at home while juggling childcare, their jobs and general anxiety about a global pandemic, Lisa Kribs and Gavin Thomas, the co-founders of a marketing firm in Rochester, N.Y., decided to try an experiment to make life more pleasant for their stressed-out employees. They implemented a four-day workweek at their eight-person company, TGW Studio, and cut the number of meetings by about 50%. By paying everyone their same salaries while expecting them to work less, they hoped employees would be more productive during the hours they were actually on duty. They were right. Two months later, productivity had increased, and employees were generating the most creative work they’d done in a long time. A shorter workweek was something TGW’s…

Work in progress
SOARING HIGHER

SOARING HIGHER

ONE DAY IN April 2020, just 87,500 passengers passed through TSA checkpoints across America, a jaw-dropping low that represented a roughly 95 percent dip from 2019. By this spring, air travel had bounced much of the way back: TSA screeners were checking more than 1.5 million people a day in April 2021, with the trend line pointing sharply upward. That lift hints at a bright future for flying in the U.S. and beyond. Here’s a closer look at what’s in store. ENJOYING NEW PLANES Delta Air Lines (delta.com), JetBlue (jetblue.com), and Southwest Airlines (southwest.com) are all flying two new aircraft types, the Airbus A220 and Boeing 737 Max; United Airlines (united.com) has the Max, too. (The Boeing jets are flying again after a nearly two-year safety review by the FAA.) Both models…

Southwest’s Other Boeings

Southwest’s Other Boeings

SOUTHWEST AND the Boeing 737 are so closely associated that most people think theirs is an exclusive relationship. After all, one of Southwest’s well-established business rules is to operate only one type of aircraft. And that one aircraft has always been the 737. Right? Wrong. During two periods, Southwest supplemented the 737 with its bigger sister, the 727 trijet. The first such occasion came about when Braniff and Southwest buried the hatchet after years of bitter conflict. Under the terms of their agreement, made public on August 3, 1978, Braniff leased a 727-200 to Southwest for two years and provided training and maintenance on the aircraft. Entering service on March 5, 1979, the 727 wore an unusual variation of the standard Southwest colors. Instead of white block titles on the tail, it carried a…

THE COMPETITION: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

THE COMPETITION: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

The newest 992-generation Carrera Cup race car is the fastest in the Porsche single-make series’s 30-year history. It is, therefore, the best Cup car ever. Exactly how “best” is it? That’s the murky part. Objectively, it is about 1 percent faster around any given racetrack than the outgoing 991-generation car. To an engineer, a race-team owner, or a pro-level driver, that’s the difference between first and fifth. To almost everyone else, it’s inconsequential. According to Leh Keen, the lanky Atlantan who regularly puts this 311RS Motorsport Cup car on the podium, the new model is not just objectively superior; it’s also subjectively better. It’s easier and more comfortable to race, and more fun, too. And with service intervals for the engine and gearbox long enough to squeeze in two full seasons,…

ESA CALIDEZ DEL SUR

ESA CALIDEZ DEL SUR

Blanco y azul son la combinación ganadora para decorar el porche y el exterior La entrada tiene mucho encanto con muebles antiguos y puertas recuperadas Muebles blancos y de fibras se alían con la luz y la calidez. Son una base atemporal y serena James es gibraltareño. Y su mujer, Tessa, es inglesa. Por trabajo, han tenido que viajar a múltiples destinos.“Esta es la razón por la que era tan importante para nosotros encontrar un lugar al que poder llamar ‘hogar’, un refugio seguro”, explica James. Y continúa: ”Especialmente desde que nacieron nuestros tres hijos, de entre 12 y 6 años, ya que nos gustaría que puedan enraizarse aquí”. El resultado es esta maravillosa finca en Sotogrande, una casa donde les apetecía disfrutar del buen clima andaluz y poner su propio…

The Time You Attended The E-mail Address Validation Meeting

In the interest of understanding more about how all this works, and with an open invitation from TMitTB, you attend a meeting of the programmers. Two of them are late, and bravely you ask the one already in attendance to explain what’s going on. He quickly gathers the limits of your information through a series of questions, beginning with, “Do you know what a Web page is?” Here’s what he shows you: To gather an e-mail address and a name, you can make a Web page using HTML.29 Here’s the HTML: That gives you a tidy little form on a Web page that looks like this: On today’s agenda: How to make sure that registration is a positive experience for users but also a secure experience for the company. The questions to be discussed,…

What We’re Testing in Our Labs …

Bike Helmets WE TESTED: 89 models WE TEST FOR: The helmet’s ability to absorb the impact of a crash, how easy it is to adjust the straps for a secure fit, how much ventilation the helmet offers, and more. ABOUT THE SCORES: Median: 70 Range: 33-90 AN EXCELLENT FIT ✔ Bontrager Starvos WaveCel $105 90 OVERALL SCORE BEST PICK UNDER $50 $ Bell Granite MIPS $35 82 OVERALL SCORE GREAT FOR KIDS $ Giro Raze $45 74 OVERALL SCORE Carpet Cleaners WE TESTED: 20 models WE TEST FOR: How well the cleaner removes red clay stains from carpeting, how much solution is left behind after cleaning, ease of filling the tank, and more. ABOUT THE SCORES: Median: 56 Range: 31-72 FIRST-RATE CLEANER ✔ Hoover PowerDash Pet Advanced FH55000 $150 72 OVERALL SCORE TOPS AT DRYING ✔ Bissell ProHeat 2X Lift-Off Pet 15651 $300 71 OVERALL SCORE NICE PRICE $ Hoover PowerDash Pet FH50700 $100 69 OVERALL SCORE WiFi Routers WE TESTED: 57 mesh models WE TEST FOR: Ease…

What We’re Testing in Our Labs …
How to Clean Your Laptop the Right Way

How to Clean Your Laptop the Right Way

Dust, coffee stains, oil from your fingertips, food particles, plain old grime: If your laptop shows any of those, it’s time to clean and disinfect. Basic cleaning supplies and 15 minutes of time can make your laptop look brand-new again. This guide goes through all aspects of laptop cleaning, including how to deal with its screen, the keyboard, the outside surfaces, the vents, and the ports. We show you what to do and what to avoid, as well as share some handy tips on keeping your laptop looking clean all the time—not just when it achieves grungy critical mass. GET YOUR CLEANING SUPPLIES Most of the cleaning supplies you need might already be in your home. A proper cleaning cloth is first priority. Instead of a cotton rag or paper towels, which can…

As years go by

As years go by

In February 2020, Marianne Faithfull – singer-songwriter, actor, author, legend of 1960s London – took a flight to Paris to sit front row at the Chloé show. Google photographs of her there and you’ll see the now 74-year-old smiling and chatting with Lucy Boynton, the actor set to play her in an upcoming biopic. By then, Faithfull believes, she had already contracted Covid-19, but looking at those images it’s difficult to imagine what was to follow: weeks later, she was taken to intensive care with the virus. It almost killed her but, miraculously, she came out the other side. As she began her – ongoing – recovery, she found a doctor’s note that read: “Palliative care only.” “It was a bit of a shock – but that’s life, isn’t it?” she…

Hak‘s ab!

An manchen Sonntagen setze ich mich kurz auf die Bettkante, schließe die Augen und stelle mir vor: ein schmaler Kleiderschrank. Ich öffne die Tür, boing, fallen mir drei Gürtel vor die Füße. Der Schrank quillt über vor Zeug. Die Kleiderstange quetschvoll. Keine Lücke, kein Platz zum Schieben. Das kleine Horrorfilm-Kopfkino habe ich manchmal nötig, wenn ich meine Terminplanung für die nächste Woche angehe. Es hilft, dass ich mich nicht mit Terminen vollstopfe. Bin leider anfällig dafür, so zu tun, als wäre ich eine Comicfilm-Heldin, die sich von A nach B beamt, keinen Schlaf braucht und Pausen schon mal gar nicht. Stress vermeiden oder Stress abbauen – das haben sich die meisten Deutschen seit 2014 jedes Silvester vorgenommen. Ich nicht. Ich habe mir das jede Woche vorgenommen und geglaubt, das ginge mit mehr…

Hak‘s ab!
YOU’VE GOT THE LOOK

YOU’VE GOT THE LOOK

With people spending more time than ever in their kitchens, they have become as fashionable as they are functional. “People want a kitchen that doesn’t look like a kitchen, but like a beautifully designed room,” says Greg Natale, a designer in Sydney. Homeowners are moving away from white and stainless-steel schemes. They’re embracing color beyond traditional nautical navy and designers are redefining the meaning of neutral, drawing references from the surroundings in unexpected ways. “Your kitchen should be the clearest expression of yourself,” asserts Matteo Gullo, head of luxury kitchen and appliance company Officine Gullo. “It shouldn’t look like anyone else’s.” IT HAD TO BE BLUE The perennial all-white kitchen has fallen out of favor, although homeowners still insist on light and bright. Designers are infusing a sense of place with splashes…

SIMPLE AND SERENE

SIMPLE AND SERENE

“Understated, beautiful, and comfortable while remaining authentic to the land.” This is how a Martha’s Vineyard homeowner describes the vision she had for a new house on a large, secluded tract in the peaceful up-island town of Chilmark. What began as a vacation retreat became in short order the year-round residence for her, her husband, and their three young children. “When COVID-19 put a stop to work travel for my husband and me,” she says, “we asked ourselves, ‘Why don’t we live here?’” Nestled at the end of a dirt road, the modern home settles comfortably into topography typical of the island—a combination of seascape, woods, cliffs, fields, and moor. Remarkably, about 40 percent of the island is permanently protected open space. In this environment, it’s easy to understand that fishing…

BALANCING ACT

TWO LATIN WORDS, medius (“middle”) and ocris (“mountain”), joined hands in the 16th century to make a new word—mediocre—that described anything of middling stature: neither peak nor valley, neither tall nor short, neither Manute Bol nor Muggsy Bogues. Most of us reside there, between Mount Everest and the Marianas Trench, in the safer elevations of mediocrity. Sports are meant to be deliverance from all that, with their built-in extremes, their binary heroes and GOATs, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Win or lose, you will feel something, unless of course you draw. But a tie is a small sample size, of little statistical meaning. For sustained mediocrity, achieved over an entire year, there is only the sister-kissing marathon of the .500 season. “Nobody wants a .500 record,” Browns wide…

BALANCING ACT

NORTHWEST

—ENEMY LINES — THE Nuggets START with Nikola Jokić, who is still the best passing big, or best passer period, maybe, in the league. He finds everybody…. If Jamal Murray is healthy, he projects as an All-Star. Their two-man game is really hard to guard…. Bones Hyland showed some flashes as a rookie, but he had a habit of playing selfishly. He’s going to get more time with Monte Morris gone, but he’s going to have to change his game…. Michael Porter Jr. is a very good scorer and an awful defender. He’ll fire off dumb shots and make them—he’s that good. If he can stay healthy, the Nuggets are as good as any team in the conference. Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert will be fine together for the Timberwolves. The question…

NORTHWEST
Ask MR

Ask MR

Santa Fe’s NCX: A freight you can model Q I’ve heard about a freight train the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Q operated in the early 1970s and earlier in California called the NCX. The few references I’ve seen indicate it was a hotshot intermodal train. This train sounds interesting, especially since it ran at the same time as the famous Santa Fe Super C. There’s not much information on this train on the internet, but it sounds like a good train to model. Please share anything you have. Steve Novotny, South Pasadena, Calif. A Northern California Express, or NCX, was an eastbound regular manifest running from Los Angeles to Richmond, Calif. (Although it ran north, in Santa Fe parlance, anything away from Los Angeles was considered timetable east.) Its westbound counterpart was…

FAST TRACKS TURNOUTS FASTER

FAST TRACKS TURNOUTS FASTER

The Fast Tracks turnout system is one of the more notable innovations in the hobby in the last few decades. In just a couple of hours modelers can build a turnout that’s reliable, good looking, and if you’re building more than a handful, economical. I built over 60 of them for my former Bona Vista layout, and now have almost 70 on my current BV. They’re the only turnouts I use. Over the years of building these turnouts, I came up with several tips that make their construction a bit faster and more trouble-free than they already are. But no matter if you’re building your first or your 100th, the best tip anyone could give you is to watch the construction videos on the Fast Tracks Channel on YouTube. Carefully follow the…

Hollywood Costume Designer Bob Mackie: My Dazzling Divas

Growing up in suburban Los Angeles in the ’40s, Bob Mackie went to the movies every week. “I always knew what I wanted to do,” he says. “But I knew I was in trouble when my parents gave me a catcher’s mitt for Christmas. Then my good aunt gave me a jewelry-making kit. I made a few pairs of earrings, and that was that.” His future was written. Today Mackie, 82, is one of the few costume designers known for shaping characters and pop culture. Yet the king of sequins, winner of nine Emmys and a Tony, and subject of a new book, The Art of Bob Mackie, remains humble. “I’m not a singer,” he says with a shrug. “I’m not a dancer. I don’t fly on wires.” It was 1951’s An…

Hollywood Costume Designer Bob Mackie: My Dazzling Divas

Andrew Rannells on the Art of Unclehood

Don’t call him a “guncle.” For actor Andrew Rannells, the popular portmanteau for “gay” and “uncle” is unwelcome—and infantilizing. “I’m not a tangential character in my nieces’ and nephews’ lives, I’m their uncle,” he ways with a laugh. “And it’s a little cutesy. I’m a 44-year-old man.” Rannells—known for his roles on TV (Girls, Black Monday) and Broadway (The Book of Mormon)—writes about his significant breadth of experience with the 10 children of his four siblings in his new book of humorous essays Uncle of the Year: And Other Debatable Triumphs. “I had this romanticized idea that when my brothers and sisters had kids that I would be the greatest uncle in the world,” he says. “And it didn’t really work out that way.” (He notes he now knows one cannot…

Andrew Rannells on the Art of Unclehood
Stages of astro-coping

Stages of astro-coping

Bob’s recent book, Earth-Shattering (Little, Brown and Company, 2019), explores the greatest cataclysms that have shaken the universe. In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced her five stages of grief experienced by people who are facing life’s tragedies. But those five now-famous stages — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance — have been overlooked by backyard astronomers. Say you’re an observer in a typical suburban location. You’ve spent a small fortune on a telescope that looks so cool, you gaze at it like it’s a Rembrandt. Tonight, you’ve invited over an old friend you’d like to impress; you’ve heard she owns some mountaintop acreage, and you fantasize she’ll let you build an observatory there. So you aim your telescope at Saturn, arguably the universe’s greatest crowd-pleaser. But to your horror, it’s not there. In its…

Can You Trust Customer Reviews?

Can You Trust Customer Reviews?

DATABASE REVEALS OVER 200K PEOPLE INVOLVED IN POSTING FAKE REVIEWS ON AMAZON I actually reported some sellers attempting to buy my good review directly to Amazon. Amazon was extremely slow in actually being able to take down the vendors. The process was so painful, in fact, that I probably would never bother to do it again. I’m sure those same vendors are back up on Amazon as some other name, as Amazon does zero vetting of marketplace vendors. Amazon has serious issues with credibility and many of the Chinese vendors on their platform are very underhanded and don’t follow the Amazon Marketplace rules at all. I stopped reading anything other than the bad reviews, really. I do check the questions from time to time … but I never read the good…

FLASH POINT TOP

The Flash Point Top’s alternating red and white stripes represent the flash point, the temperature at which an organic compound gives off sufficient vapor to spontaneously combust. This top is worked back and forth on the bias in separate pieces and seamed. Yarn Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima Fine and Louet North America Euroflax Sport Yarn Weight Finished Size 34½ (37½, 42, 45, 48, 53)" circumference at underarm. Top shown measures 37½ "; modeled with 4" of positive ease. Yarn Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima Fine (100% Pima cotton; 137 yd [125 m]/1¾ oz [50 g]): #3713 wine (red; MC), 3 (4, 4, 5, 5, 5) skeins. Louet North America Euroflax Sport (100% wet-spun linen; 270 yd [247 m]/3½ oz [100 g]): champagne (cream; CC), 2 skeins. Needles Size 6 (4 mm). Adjust needle size if necessary…

FLASH POINT TOP
Manifold Destiny

Manifold Destiny

Lamborghini Countach That the Piedmontese word countach translates roughly to “holy shit!” tells you all you need to know about the impact of this quintessential Lamborghini. Unlike earlier supercars, whose sensuousness was often compared to reclining nudes, designer Marcello Gandini’s brutal masterwork looks more like a deadly weapon, a flying ax-head. This is the Countach’s legacy: It defined a level of outrageousness against which all future supercars would be judged. But the Countach itself is defined by its mechanical packaging. Mounting the radiators at the sides meant the nose could plunge to a honed edge. The huge, longitudinally oriented V-12 faced rearward, its transmission pointed toward the front, centralizing the car’s weight and pushing the passenger compartment forward, inverting the typical sports-car proportions. Also, in the post-Countach era, a supercar without…

Hands on With macOS Monterey: Improvements Abound

Hands on With macOS Monterey: Improvements Abound

The public beta of macOS Monterey, released by Apple in early July, doesn’t look surprisingly new. Exceptions include Safari, which gets a dynamically resizing tab bar and other conveniences, and FaceTime, which gets a background-blurring portrait mode and screen-sharing features. As you get more familiar with Monterey, however, you’ll find improvements and conveniences everywhere and may wonder how you managed without them. This is because Apple’s annual updates to the Mac operating system tend to have a regular rhythm. Massive updates arrive on even-numbered years: Big Sur, for example, the 2020 update to macOS that was also the first version that ran on Apple Silicon hardware. Updates in odd-numbered years, such as Monterey, look more or less like the previous version but come with under-the-hood improvements that may do more for…

The 5 Best Wi-Fi Mesh Network Systems We’ve Tested

The 5 Best Wi-Fi Mesh Network Systems We’ve Tested

Maintaining smooth Wi-Fi performance and throughput for gaming, video streaming, and smart home devices is important, but now that so many folks are working from home with no end in sight, you’ve also got to consider important work applications and different modes of work communication, especially video conferencing. This is where whole-house coverage becomes more than a nice-to-have. Many of the latest wireless routers can provide strong coverage to most rooms of a typical medium-size house, but larger homes and dwellings with dense walls, multiple floors, metal and concrete substructures, and other structural impediments may require additional components to bring Wi-Fi to areas that the router can’t reach. Range extenders do a good job of filling in dead zones but typically provide only half the bandwidth that you get from your…

HP Chromebook x2 (2021): A Clever Combination

HP Chromebook x2 (2021): A Clever Combination

So you’re in the market for a detachable 2-in-1—a tablet you can use either by itself or with a keyboard and stylus? The Apple 10.9-inch iPad Air is a good choice—in fact, a PCMag Editors’ Choice winner—at $599. But if you’re willing to think different, HP’s 11-inch Chromebook x2 costs the same—including twice the memory as well as the keyboard and pen that Apple will charge you an extra $428 for. Tablet shoppers rarely consider Chromebooks, but the HP x2 favors the bold. It doesn’t perform as well as comparably priced Chromebook laptops (and we still consider our Editors’ Choice favorite, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, a better value among Chromebook detachables), but it fills a nifty niche. PROS: Affordable price includes pen and keyboard cover. Available 4G mobile broadband. CONS: Tepid performance.…

Polaroid Now+: A Terrific Tool

Polaroid is following last year’s Now instant camera with a Bluetooth-connected model, fittingly called the Now+ ($149.99). For an extra $50, the Now+ includes features artistic photographers will love, including app-based manual control and a set of creative filters. Polaroid is also back to making interesting film stocks beyond the basic color and black-and-white options, adding some appeal for out-of-the-box photographers working in the instant medium. It remains more of a niche choice for artists and is pricier to buy and feed compared with our Editors’ Choice winner, the Fujifilm Instax SQ1. But if you’re in that niche, be happy to know that the Now+ lives up to the Polaroid name. PROS: Big, square instant photos. Color, black-and-white, and limited-run films. Easy one-button operation. Smartphone app for creative control. Tripod socket.…

Polaroid Now+: A Terrific Tool

E STREET TO EASY STREET

Forty years ago, after returning from a two-year tour of the United States and Europe to support his first No. 1 album, The River, Bruce Springsteen arrived home at his rented New Jersey ranch house, not far from where he grew up in the blue-collar town of Freehold, and dropped $10,000 on his first extravagant purchase: a 1982 Chevy Z28 Camaro. “I’d never owned a new car in my life,” he wrote about the splurge in his 2016 autobiography, Born to Run. “I’d never spent $10,000 on myself. It felt as conspicuous as if I were driving a solid gold Rolls-Royce.” Today, the man who once sang of being haunted by the ghost of Tom Joad can afford a fleet of luxury cars. In December, the Boss sold the masters and publishing…

E STREET TO EASY STREET
A different approach to modeling the Santa Fe

A different approach to modeling the Santa Fe

When my wife, Jenny, and I decided in the fall of 2017 to sell our house of 47 years and move into a retirement community, that meant the Argentine Industrial District Ry. would be dismantled. At age 80, I had no plans to build another railroad. I decided to give away or sell everything. Some 700 freight cars, 25 locomotives, and numerous structures and all support materials were disposed of in about two months. We moved to the retirement community in January 2018. By then, I’d accepted the reality that I’d built my last railroad. But then something surprising occurred when in July, Jenny asked me whether I thought we could find a house in Prairie Village, as she missed living in our own home. We began looking, and to our…

CRY ME a river

CRY ME a river

If it doesn’t feel like one, we need a collective re-branding. It is time to rethink crying as something necessary and strong; an indication and outlet for power, based on the vast pool of science which has already proven it so. But to do that, it will help to understand why we cry and why women’s tears have generally been, and mostly still are, regarded as nothing except a worrying sign of one woman’s present inability to cope. First, obviously, is to know why women are more inclined to cry than men. Research from the Netherlands established that women cry on average 30 to 64 times a year, compared to men, who are likely to cry between 6 to 17 times; women for an average six minutes per bout, men closer…

THE little virtual DRESS

I RECOGNISE THE FEELING. Serotonin pulsing through my bloodstream as I browse. It’s one of my favourite pastimes, scrolling e-commerce and rental sites for the perfect platform heel, or saving sheer tunics and feather-trimmed midis to wishlists for future events, both real and imaginary. And this particular purchase hits no different. The dress arrives and it’s a trip. The draping is masterful; the underskirt peeps coyly through delicate layers of tulle. The half-breastplate has an air of Zendaya in molten-gold Loewe at the Women in Film awards. I look like a queen. Appropriate, considering I opted for the ‘Intergalactic Royal Dress’. Granted, I probably would have styled it a bit differently if I’d known my feet were going to be on show. You see, this dress isn’t real. I sourced…

THE little virtual DRESS
The sense of a journey

The sense of a journey

AS A WRITER, VINTAGE CLOTHING HOLDS SPECIAL VALUE: THERE are stories embedded in the seams, memories stuffed into the lining, caught between the pleats, and hidden in the hems. Sometimes the previous owner has left evidence: a shopping list in the pocket, a coffee stain or a rip from an ecstatic night out dancing. An imperfection is an indelible detail of a second-hand garment’s charm. A tear or missing button might tell the story of the item’s provenance, and sometimes an imperfection explains how the item found its way to you, who will mend it and love it again. It’s true about people too – our marks and scars tell the stories of where we have been, where we fell, and how we’ve healed. For thousands of years, people wore one…

HIGH OCTANE COUTURE

From the moment the first Duke of Richmond, the illegitimate son of Charles II, bought Goodwood in 1697 as a place to lay his head after hunting with the famed Charlton hounds, it has been a playground for the cream of society. ‘Traditionally, the aristocracy descended on Goodwood in July to watch their horses race before going on holiday to Scotland,’ says James Peill, the author, historian and curator of the Goodwood Collection. ‘It was a chance to dress up. Dukes and duchesses were the celebrities of their day; they led the fashion pack.’ Indeed, the Richmonds were famed for their love of dressing up. The first Duke, known as the ‘playboy princeling’, adored shoes, as testified by one surviving bill for 20 pounds and 14 shillings (roughly £5,000 today) for…

HIGH OCTANE COUTURE
Points of interest

Points of interest

Portable mountains. The long mountainsides that line the double-track main line around the basement walls are lift-out sections up to four feet long and two feet high. The sections have a tempered hardboard base with carved extruded-foam insulation board creating the slope. The ground cover is layers of earth, rock, ground foam, and static grass. The trees are Scenic Express SuperTree material. The trees aren’t always tightly clustered, allowing bare earth and rock outcroppings to show through. The movable scenery sections provide quick access options for layout repairs and changes. Recently, when a service person had to get to an air-conditioner component, the mountainside was simply moved out of the way. Control panels. As Chris installed the switch machines in the bottom-deck staging yard, he couldn’t decide on the best place…

15 Years Ago, the iPhone Created ‘Big Tech’

15 Years Ago, the iPhone Created ‘Big Tech’

Fifteen years ago, on January 9, 2007, I sat on the floor of a Las Vegas Convention Center entryway and pondered the iPhone. While I was running around the Consumer Electronics Show looking at the latest LG Chocolate, Steve Jobs was over at Macworld changing the world. I’d been covering smartphones for three years by then, and they were complex gadgets for road warriors. With the iPhone, Apple simplified the smartphone and made it a must-have for everyone. This wasn’t solely about Steve Jobs’ brilliance. He struck when several other technologies were becoming available—3G for the mobile web and capacitive touch screens for finger-friendly interfaces. And he worked without the legacy-software hangovers that Microsoft, Nokia, and Palm all struggled through from the first generation of proto-smartphones. The iPhone has made a huge number…

BEFORE AND AFTER

Potential turning points are all around us. It’s not always easy to spot them, or to know what the ‘after’ portends FOR MANY OF US WHO ATTENDED, THE 2020 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, will forever be associated with the first time we began to take in the potential scope of a mysterious virus that had infected what was then, by official counts, a few hundred people. As TIME’s delegation arrived in Davos, correspondent Charlie Campbell was traveling to report on the story from Wuhan, China. A police officer at the market that was considered ground zero in the outbreak told him that “analysis” was under way. But the takeaway was already clear: our very connectedness had become a global threat. Last month, we connected in person again with…

BEFORE AND AFTER
Apple Watch Series 8: The Goldilocks Option

Apple Watch Series 8: The Goldilocks Option

The Apple Watch Series 8 looks exactly like its predecessor, but it offers some notable health and safety improvements that weren’t available on last year’s model. Its biggest upgrade is the ability to measure and track changes in your body temperature while you sleep, with a dual-sensor design for more accurate readings. If you have a menstrual cycle, the Series 8 can use your body-temperature data to estimate the date of your last ovulation. And on the safety front, the watch can detect whether you’ve been in a car crash and automatically call for help. With these upgrades, plus an already unrivaled user experience and app selection that’s further enhanced by watchOS 9, the Apple Watch Series 8 is still the best iPhone-compatible smartwatch for most buyers and remains our…

THE RISE AND RISE OF THE RADICAL SABBATICAL

THE RISE AND RISE OF THE RADICAL SABBATICAL

ONE NIGHT LAST SUMMER, I FOUND myself paddling out to sea on a transparent kayak that glowed in the dark with underwater lights. The black Caribbean water was warm and the sky glittered with stars. Looking back at the shore, I could see flaming torches on the beach, and the party I’d just left still in progress, with people milling around in animal fancy-dress costumes. I’d discarded my own rubber llama mask on the sand, and, as I breathed in the fresh air, the questions How did I get here? and, more importantly, What next? drifted through my mind. I’d spent the past five days among a group of 20-plus strangers, all of whom had very different backstories (there was a millionaire nomad who was living in a luxury Winnebago, a…

MIRAR AL MAR

Paloma es de Madrid, y su pareja, de Barcelona, donde viven habitualmente. Cantabria es para ellos esa “zona neutral” donde se encuentan con sus seres queridos y donde se escapan cada vez que pueden. De hecho, Comillas es donde se conocieron sus bisabuelos, en 1914. Era solo cosa del destino que la pareja acabara comprando hace dos años esta casa de los 90 que estaba en desuso, a solo 3 minutos de la playa, para ellos y sus cuatro hijos. “En pocos años, la vida nos ha cambiado mucho. Por eso queremos una casa que pueda evolucionar en el tiempo”, fueron las indicaciones que Paloma, la propietaria, dio a Berta Otero y Rocío Anós, arquitectas e interioristas del Estudio Boira. Así, Berta y Rocío planificaron una distribución que se adapta a…

MIRAR AL MAR

Why Are Programmers So Intense About Languages?

Many conferences are organized around specific programming languages or specific communities (PyCon for Python programmers; the Strata conference for big data; Oscon for open-source coders); these are ritual events for the people in those com munities. Attendees gather, talk, and post the videos on YouTube. Language matters.13 Programmers track the success of computer languages the way other people track sports rankings, commenting on Web forums such as Reddit (where many languages get their own “subreddit,” and reddit.com/r/programming currently has 620,202 readers), or Hacker News, run by the venture capital firm Y Combinator (a company named after a special kind of function that operates on other functions), or Lambda the Ultimate (named after a series of papers written mostly in the 1970s about the influential programming language Scheme.the more inside-baseball the name,…

The Importance of C

C is as big a deal as you can get in computing. Created by Dennis Ritchie starting in the late 1960s at Bell Labs, it’s the principal development language of the UNIX operating system. Unix (lowercased now, to refer to the idea of Unix instead of the branded version) is a simple operating system— basically it’s a kernel15 that manages memory and runs software, a large collection of very small utility programs, and a “shell” that helps you knit programs into “shell scripts.” If you couldn’t do what you needed with shell scripts, you might write a new utility in C and add it to the utility library. This was a nice and practical way of working, and it coincided with the rise of various kinds of networks that today…

10 Common Career Tips That Might Be Wrong for You

10 Common Career Tips That Might Be Wrong for You

You’ll get plenty of sound career advice during your lifetime. Much of it will be valuable, but some of it will come at the wrong time or be the opposite of what you need to hear at that moment. Depending on your immediate needs and long-term desires, good career advice can turn out to be wrong for you. Curious to hear other people’s experiences, I asked around and collected ten pieces of career advice that don’t always hold up. 1. GO WHERE THE MONEY IS There are high-paying jobs, and then there are jobs that come with lower base pay but generous compensation packages that lead to more guaranteed money in the long term—and sometimes a happier life. The classic example: any job with a pension. If you collect a full pension for…

Call Me By My Name

On the day that I meet Kai-Isaiah Jamal, it’s a drizzly summer’s morning in London, and so, in lieu of taking a walk around their neighbourhood, we are holed up beneath the makeshift awnings in the makeshift garden of an east London café. It’s a fairly lo-fi setting – hardly one that suggests that, that same week, giant Calvin Klein billboards starring the poet, campaigner and model have been pasted on walls across the world, and a series of 3D-printed statues in their likeness have been installed globally in Louis Vuitton’s flagship stores. “It’s so surreal,” says Kai, who, dressed as a loose evocation of Malcolm X in mid-century tailoring with a newspaper tucked under one arm, was the first black trans model to walk the runway for the menswear section…

Call Me By My Name
Readers' Choice: The Top Tech Brands

Readers' Choice: The Top Tech Brands

Spend enough time online, and eventually, someone will ask you to rate something. In particular, a company might want you to rate it or the products and/or services it provides. It’s entirely likely you’ll be asked to grade these things on a scale of zero to 10, for how highly—or not—you’d recommend them. Such grades are used to create a Net Promoter Score, or NPS. (Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score, and NPS metrics are registered trademarks of NICE Satmetrix, Bain & Company, Inc., and business strategist and author Fred Reichheld.) An NPS tells a company or brand how the general public perceives it. The bigger the number, the more positive feedback the brand has received. All year, in our monthly Readers’ Choice Awards and Business Choice Awards surveys, we ask our readers…

PEAK EXPERIENCE

PEAK EXPERIENCE

Tyler Jones, CEO and founder of Las Vegas–based Blue Heron, is an architect and developer with a passion for designing homes that make his clients feel good. He believes in the concept of biophilic design—connecting people to their environment and helping them focus on the natural world. “This design impacts everything we do. As you enter the home, we wanted to invoke an immediate emotional response from how the architecture flows with the surrounding landscape,” he says. Founded in 2003, Blue Heron developed its signature Vegas Modern™ design philosophy to do precisely that. Its newest iteration is the Ora House—not in Las Vegas, but in the Bird Rock Waterfront enclave in San Diego’s La Jolla area. “What I learned in Las Vegas, I applied to this home in California,” he says. “This…

PARADISE FOUND

PARADISE FOUND

It’s a slice of paradise in the northeast Bahamas. Only accessible by boat—or a plane with floats—Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club is one of the Bahamas’ most exclusive residential communities. Set on a private stretch of beach on the island of Great Cuana Cay, Baker’s Bay is known for its waterfront golf (with celebrity sightings), whispering palms, head-turning sunsets, and well-guarded privacy. For one particular oceanfront parcel overlooking the Atlantic, the owner worked with Florida-based Cronk Duch Architecture to design a contemporary, family-oriented retreat. However, he wanted a separate team to steer the home’s position on the land and develop its outdoor living features. Florida-based landscape architects Ladd Roberts of Landwise Design and Craig Reynolds of his own eponymous firm collaborated on the joint design. “I was brought in by Ladd…

SCHLEP BROTHERS

SCHLEP BROTHERS

More than any other man on TV, Jeff Van Gundy exudes a raw punctuality. In 16 years traveling North America to call NBA games on ABC and ESPN, he’s never missed a flight, arriving at the airport two hours before departure like a character in a Progressive don’t-become-your-parents ad. “Those commercials are brilliant, because you see yourself in them,” he says. “Like the guy who’s trying to get the line straightened out?” That’s Jeff, wanting to tighten up the boarding queue. His older brother, Stan Van Gundy, who calls games on TNT and NBA TV, also leaves for the airport several hours in advance. “What if there’s an accident on the way there?” he asks, unmoved by the mockery of his wife, Kim, who said at 7 on a recent morning:…

THE SWIMMING MACHINE Caeleb Dressel

THE SWIMMING MACHINE Caeleb Dressel

Jane Dressel is so excited that she cannot sit still. The favorite man in her life is 20 feet away, standing on a starting block and posing for pictures at the University of Florida’s indoor pool. He’s the embodiment of athletic excellence, strong and sleek, with an array of arresting visual elements: bronze skin covering rippling abs and obliques, a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm, liquid-blue eyes and perfectly white teeth. ¶ The photo shoot goes on and on, and Jane is losing patience. When it finally ends, Caeleb Dressel walks Jane’s way—the moment she has been waiting for. Grabbing two white towels and tying them in a knot, he throws them into the pool. Tail wagging furiously, Jane the black Labrador retriever belly-flops into the water, briskly…

What Professional Service Firms Must Do to Thrive

AUTHORS Senior lecturer, Harvard Business School Professor, Harvard Business School When the going gets tough, companies often get desperate. So it should be no surprise that during the coronavirus pandemic and the concomitant economic crisis, professional service firms (PSFs) have been chasing after all kinds of business just to keep the lights on. We see this over and over: consultancies, law firms, accounting firms, and the like offering services and signing up clients they should never have considered. This approach to shoring up billings is perilous. If a PSF’s constituent practices are diffuse in their strategic positioning or mix of clients, the firm ends up with a weak market profile, internal conflicts, and dissension among the leadership about the firm’s future direction. Conversely, if the practices are disciplined about their positioning and their client…

What Professional Service Firms Must Do to Thrive
Resuscitating a lifeless locomotive

Resuscitating a lifeless locomotive

Good news! If your lifeless locomotive has ever run under Digital Command Control (DCC), chances are good that you can get it running again without having to send it off for repair. The solution is easy, too! More good news! If you have a new steam locomotive that doesn’t run or only partially works, maybe all that’s wrong is that the connector between the engine and tender isn’t seated correctly. Make sure the connector is oriented correctly and pushed all the way in. Just be careful not to damage the wires when doing this. Let me be specific about which locomotives can easily be brought back to life. A locomotive that ran on address 3 out of the box has hope. A locomotive that you or someone else put a decoder in…

Astronomy for slobs

Astronomy for slobs

One appeal of astro-observing is that we’re inspecting a vast realm where nothing is sloppily arranged or in need of vacuuming — though the Moon’s southern highlands are admittedly a crowded mess, with many craters piled partially atop others. Then there’s Mars, whose dry and dusty landscape has terminated numerous martian missions, albeit long past their expected use-by date. Dust caked on the solar panels of the InSight lander recently brought that mission to an end, and while the Spirit and Opportunity rovers were lucky enough to have dust devils give their solar panels quick and timely scours, dust eventually did them both in. But rather than sloppiness imposed by nature, let’s talk about whether it matters if you’re a Class 3 slob after you spent your savings on a telescope. It’s…

MOCK DRAFT

MOCK DRAFT

1 PANTHERS C.J. STROUD QB OHIO STATE Stroud throws with accuracy and touch from the pocket. The improvisation skills he showed in the national semi were a glimpse of what he can do when plays break down. 2 TEXANS BRYCE YOUNG QB ALABAMA Despite his size, Young is my top-ranked QB. He’s always composed, processes information quickly and is accurate to all three levels. 3 CARDINALS WILL ANDERSON JR. EDGE ALABAMA Anderson was elite at Bama—34.5 sacks, 62 TFLs. Power, length and burst give him impact as a pass rusher or run stopper. 4 COLTS ANTHONY RICHARDSON QB FLORIDA Richardson is relatively inexperienced as a one-year starter, but he has the most upside of any QB in the draft due to his size, speed and arm strength. 5 SEAHAWKS TYREE WILSON EDGE TEXAS TECH Despite a foot injury, Wilson had his most productive year (seven sacks, 14 TFLs). He’s an excellent combo of length…

Picks

Picks

MOVIE | Book Club: the Next Chapter Forget about reading—these women are ready for love COMEDY This follow-up to the 2018 hit begins with a gracefully done segment that acknowledges real life: It’s the pandemic, and Zoom is the only option for book-chat besties Vivian (Jane Fonda), Carol (Mary Steenburgen), Diane (Diane Keaton) and Sharon (Candice Bergen). Then the pandemic goes away, and we escape to happy fantasy. Vivian announces that she’s engaged to boyfriend Arthur (Don Johnson), and the ladies—none of whom suffers from a life-threatening condition that requires masks or extra vaccinations—fly off to Italy for an extended bachelorette party. They hop from one beautiful tourist destination to another, meet attractive foreign men and amuse themselves with cheesy-risqué jokes about the anatomical details of statues that date back to antiquity. All in…

From CIA Officer to Pajama Mogul!

From CIA Officer to Pajama Mogul!

I’ve been shot at,” says Emily Hikade, explaining life as a counterterrorism case officer in the Central Intelligence Agency. “People would shoot rocket-propelled grenades at your vehicle.” Tasked with collecting information overseas, Hikade, 46, put her life on the line every day. “I’ve been so close to explosions that I’ve been knocked off my feet, where it rings in your ears, and everything goes into slow motion,” she continues. “I was invincible; I felt fearless before I had kids.” Still, she had four boys while serving—Camden, now 15, Beckett, 12, Shaw, 10, and Gable, 7, with her husband, Christopher, 51, also a retired CIA officer—and by 2015 was longing for security and stability. “When you’re home, and you’re safe, that’s when you put on your pajamas,” she says. That idea inspired…

EAT, DRINK & BE MARY

What a difference a year makes. Is anyone else struggling with the fact that you’re just getting used to socializing again with your pants on and now you’re expected to entertain…your in-laws!? Ah, the “holidaze” are here again, and this year, with no Zoom screens to hide behind, it feels more exciting—and more daunting. If the idea of cooking the perfect turkey, decorating the tree, or going out on New Year’s Eve has you filled with anxiety, then have no fear: Mary is here! And if I may be so bold, I’d like to grant you permission to not make everything the best ever this holiday season. I want to tell you that it’s fine for everything to be just, well, fine. If last year taught us anything (aside from the…

EAT, DRINK & BE MARY
Les équipements sous contrôle

Les équipements sous contrôle

Dans le domaine des équipements connectés sur le marché de la première monte pour l e s c a m p i n g - c a r s , Truma a ouvert la voie en proposant le Truma iNet System. Avec ce dispositif, il est possible de commander les appareils de chauffage et de climatisation de la marque, mais également d’allumer et éteindre l’interrupteur 12 V principal ainsi que celui de la pompe d’eau. Cette application donne aussi certaines informations sur les équipements. Ainsi les utilisateurs peuvent notamment connaître la température extérieure, savoir si le véhicule est correctement connecté au réseau électrique terrestre ou encore connaître en temps réel l’état de charge de la batterie cellule et celle du porteur. Le marché de la seconde monte est aussi concerné…

Hisense 350-Sq. Ft. Window Air Conditioner (AW0821CW1W): Smart AC

Hisense 350-Sq. Ft. Window Air Conditioner (AW0821CW1W): Smart AC

The Hisense 350-sq. ft. Window Air Conditioner is a reasonably priced Wi-Fi-enabled window AC unit that you can control with your voice, your phone, or the included remote. It’s easy to install and did an admirable job of cooling in our tests. It doesn’t offer power usage reports or compatibility with Apple HomeKit and IFTTT like some other smart air conditioners we’ve tested, but it also costs less than many 8,000-BTU models, making it an affordable option for small to medium spaces. PROS: Reasonably priced. Easy to install. Fast cooling. Voice control. Relatively quiet. CONS: Lacks usage reporting. Doesn’t support HomeKit or IFTTT. BOTTOM LINE: The Hisense 350-Sq. Ft. Window Air Conditioner is a smart AC unit that can be controlled by your phone, voice, or remote, and does a fine job of…

AMD Ryzen 5 5600G: A Superb Value-Focused Option

AMD Ryzen 5 5600G: A Superb Value-Focused Option

As a six-core, 12-thread processor with great integrated graphics, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is the CPU that 2021 has been waiting for. A strong successor to older, budget-friendly, gaming-focused CPUs such as the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, it puts up some of the fastest game frame rates to date from an integrated graphics processor (IGP). Cheaper than the IGP-less Ryzen 5 5600X ($299) and layered in with the highly capable Radeon RX Vega 7 graphics engine, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is a serious threat to Intel’s competing Intel Core i5-11600K on CPU grunt and really puts the hammer down once you factor in its gaming results and Radeon Software compatibility. Whether you’re an esports hopeful aiming to get a gaming PC built for cheap or just want a…

Canon Pixma G620 Wireless MegaTank Photo Printer: Excellent Quality

Canon Pixma G620 Wireless MegaTank Photo Printer: Excellent Quality

Canon Pixma G620 $299.99 EXCELLENT It’s easy to find a bulk-ink printer with the familiar cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) quartet, but finding an ink-tank-rather than cartridge-based inkjet with six inks for superior photo quality has been difficult, prohibitively expensive, or both. Canon aims to change that with the Pixma G620 Wireless MegaTank Photo All-in-One Printer, which gets its tank refills from bottles. At $299.99, it’s half the price of the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 Wireless Color All-in-One Supertank. Versus that Epson, the Canon is slow and short on features, so it doesn’t join it (or the wide-format EcoTank Photo ET-8550) as an Editors’ Choice award winner. But the Pixma prints terrific-looking borderless photos at sizes up to 8.5 by 11 inches for pennies, making it a great value for families and…

ECS Liva Z3: A Basic Mini-PC

ECS Liva Z3: A Basic Mini-PC

Been shopping for a tiny desktop around the internet? The ECS Liva Z3 is going to look pretty familiar. These days, mini PCs from many different manufacturers look like they all come off the same assembly line. Similar boxy profiles and basic black panels look like somebody copied-and-pasted the Intel NUC over and over again, with minor cosmetic changes here and there. The ECS Liva Z3 doesn’t stray from that template, looking just like the recently reviewed Beelink GK Mini and other NUC-like systems. But it still has something to offer: a low price that makes it a great budget choice. That’s provided, of course, that you can accept the performance limitations that come with the Liva Z3’s Pentium processor and eMMC storage. PROS: Small, easy to hide. Included mounting gear.…

RESTAURANTS: GO, CONSIDER, STOP

JoJo 160 East 64th Street (Tel.: 212-223-5656) JoJo has been a Three Star in our All-Star Eateries since Jean-Georges Vongerichten opened it in 1991. Due to a glitch, it was dropped from the magazine version this year but was promptly reinstated online. Our apologies to chef Steven Boutross, the talented staff and the wonderful management, who every night deliver a magical culinary experience. JoJo’s recent renovation has left it airy, light-filled and comfortable. Start with the delicate peekytoe crab dumplings or the spicy tuna tartare in lettuce cups. Then try two incomparable classics: the crispy-skin organic chicken surrounded by thin fried onion rings and potato skins, or the juicy, peppercorn-crusted beef tenderloin with potato gnocchi and Brussels sprouts. Don’t leave without tasting the delicious carrot cake or the butter scotch pudding with caramel…

Share a Fresh   Summer Feast

Share a Fresh   Summer Feast

Corn and Crab Pita Nachos Active: 35 min. Total: 35 min. This dish is inspired by the crab melts Sortun’s mother made her when she was growing up in the Pacific Northwest. 1 Hungarian wax or banana pepper3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice1 tsp. finely minced garlic1/2 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt3 Tbsp. water1 tsp. dried mint4 (6-inch) whole-wheat pita rounds1 cup finely chopped white onion11/2 cups fresh corn kernels (2 ears)11/2 tsp. ground cumin, divided1/2 tsp. black pepper2 cups sliced romaine lettuce3/4 cup chopped tomato4 oz. fresh crabmeat, picked1/2 ripe avocado, diced2 tsp. sumac or11/2 tsp. lemon zest1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove stem from wax pepper. Rub pepper with 1 teaspoon oil; place on a small baking sheet or piece of aluminum foil. Roast…

Did WE FORGET to HAVE fun?

Did WE FORGET to HAVE fun?

WHEN I WAS 22 AND WORKING AS A PA in a publishing house, I entered the Women’s Prize for Fiction short story competition and came runner-up. The managing director who I was assisting – an emotional terrorist in Penelope Chilvers suede loafers – found out about it and called me into her office. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you want to be a writer?’ she asked, offering to introduce me to some literary agents. A week or so later, I found myself settling into a seat at Soho House opposite one of the UK’s most well-respected agents. It was the day before my 23rd birthday. We chatted a little, she said that the way she worked with her younger authors – was I an author? – was by helping…

THE DIRECTORS’ CUT Collagen

THE TREND HOPPER George Driver You know the age-old maxim about beauty starting from within? Well, let’s just say that I’ve never really put it into practice. Supplements? I’ll take them religiously for three days, before forgetting about their existence entirely. Protein powder? Don’t know her. Wellness? What’s that? I’ve even had to set an alarm reminding me to drink water, and let’s not mention my penchant for strawberry laces and Happy Meals. Unsurprisingly, as my mid-thirties steadily creep up on me, the efforts of my current skincare routine are being thwarted by the sheer state of my insides – which is where collagen comes in. The foundation behind a strong skin barrier and a plump, ‘pinch and it bounces back’ face, it’s an essential ingredient needed to cook up a healthy-looking complexion.…

THE DIRECTORS’ CUT Collagen

Q: CAN A DEAM JOB BECOME A NIGHTMARE?

A famous piece of career advice, interestingly attributed to both Confucius and Mark Twain, goes as follows: ‘Do what you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.’ In other words, if your job is going well, it shouldn’t feel like work at all. This chimes with today’s mood, which decrees that we should have passions, callings and vocations as opposed to mere employment. We are all expected to talk about our work with profound reverence, as though it is the most defining aspect of our lives, whether we are brain surgeons or quantity surveyors. It is no longer enough to shrug and say: ‘It pays the bills.’ Perhaps it took a global pandemic – during which workplace happiness plummeted and nine in 10 people in the…

Q: CAN A DEAM JOB BECOME A NIGHTMARE?
Tech Disinformation: 16 Myths Debunked

Tech Disinformation: 16 Myths Debunked

Heard the one about how charging your phone overnight destroys its battery? How about this whopper: Macs can’t get viruses? There’s plenty of fake tech news floating around; each new generation of technology products and services begets even more false beliefs. A lot of those are pretty easy to discredit, but we found a few for this story that might make even our readers do a double-take! It’s possible you’re worried about something that isn’t true—or maybe something that used to be true but isn’t now, as new discoveries and updates cleared up the problem. Go through our list below and see if there’s something you thought was true but, well, isn’t. Then pass on the real deal to your friends, family, and social following, so they won’t fall prey to tech…

How to Check Your Hard Drive’s Health

How to Check Your Hard Drive’s Health

Your hard drive hasn’t been acting the same lately. It’s starting to make clicking or screeching noises, it can’t seem to find your files, and it’s moving really slowly. Every hard drive dies eventually, and when it’s near death, you’ll see the signs: Strange noises, corrupted files, crashes during boot, and glacial transfer speeds all point to the inevitable end. This is normal, especially if your drive is more than a few years old. On older spinning drives, moving parts such as the motor can degrade over time, and a drive’s magnetic sectors can go bad. “Your computer can notify you before data loss occurs, and the drive can be replaced while it still remains functional.” Newer solid-state drives (SSDs) don’t have moving parts, but their storage cells degrade a little every…

Seller’s market

WHEN MARCOS GALPERIN founded Mercado Libre in 1999, less than 3% of the population of Latin America was online. But the Argentine’s e-commerce platform flourished as the region became more connected, and now claims to be the market leader in all its major economies. Like other online sellers, it has thrived during the coronavirus pandemic, doubling sales in the second quarter year on year. Galperin spoke to TIME about the future of e-retail and the economic potential of the Americas. What’s different about doing e-commerce in Latin America compared with Europe or the U.S.? We had to create everything from scratch. The logistics for e-commerce and the infrastructure for digital payments—we had to create it all. Some of our international competitors, like eBay and Amazon, grew [much faster than us] from the…

Seller’s market

FOLLOW THE MONEY

AS WE WATCH THE MURDEROUS CARnage that Putin has unleashed against innocent Ukrainians, we are all trying to understand his motivations. Some say he’s reacting to NATO expansion; others contend that Putin can’t abide a Western-leaning Ukraine. Still others offer that Putin so laments the break-up of the Soviet Union that he wants to reassemble it. From my perspective, it’s not due to any of these reasons. It’s simply about money. Unlike most other governments, Russia’s is not there to serve the people, but to enrich senior officials through endemic corruption. The more senior you are, the richer you get. And the most senior person, Vladimir Putin, has become the richest. I estimate his wealth to be well north of $200 billion. I’ve seen how Russian corruption works with my own eyes.…

FOLLOW THE MONEY
If You Have a Uterus, Don’t Buy an Apple Watch

If You Have a Uterus, Don’t Buy an Apple Watch

With the Apple Watch Series 8 and the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple has introduced features designed to help women take charge of their reproductive health. Except in the United States, women are no longer in charge of their reproductive health, and there is a risk that those who now are could get hold of the data from an Apple Watch and use it against women who use these features. At the Apple Event in September, Apple introduced a feature that it said, “takes our commitment to women’s health even further.” The Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra each have two temperature sensors, one on the back and one below the display. Data from these sensors is added to Apple’s existing Cycle Tracking app to indicate and track ovulation. Users…

Earth Day Feast

Earth Day Feast

Veggie Focaccia 2 hours 30 minutes l Makes 1 focaccia Don’t go shopping for focaccia toppings. Look through your fridge and pantry to use up what you have. Cut and trim toppings to make designs. 4 cups white whole wheat flour2 tsp. instant yeast1¾ tsp. sea salt2 tsp. pure maple syrup¼ cup brown rice flour Fresh vegetables and herbs for topping, such as regular and mini bell peppers (any color), red onion, scallions, spinach, chives, parsley, cilantro, etc.2 to 3 Tbsp. unsweetened, unflavored plant milk, such as almond, soy, cashew, or oat1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast 1. In a large bowl combine wheat flour, yeast, and salt. Add maple syrup and 2 cups warm water (120°F to 130°F). Beat with a mixer on low 2 minutes. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until double…

ES NUEVO

MAS GENERÓS Este Hotel con encanto se sitúa en la localidad medieval de Fonteta, Girona. Es una masía rehabilitada, sostenible, y mantiene una calma y atmósfera exquisitas. masgeneros.com NUEVO ESPACIO ANTALIA Abre sus puertas en Madrid un nuevo punto de venta de Cocinas Antalia. Está en la Av. del Dr. Severo Ochoa, 36 de Alcobendas. Sigue la filosofía de la marca en un lugar único, caracterizado por su amplitud y una perfecta selección compuesta de ocho cocinas. antaliacocinas .com KAVE HOME Kave Home apuesta por una casa que represente un templo de descanso y de desconexión. La colección Mediterranean Feeling nos acerca a los destinos más veraniegos, en los que disfrutar de la brisa del mar. ¿Cómo? Con materiales y fibras naturales y sostenibles. kavehome.com EL BAÑO JACOB Jacob Delafon sorprende con un lavabo, un mueble y…

ES NUEVO

The Framework: Wilder, Younger Cousin of the Software Development Kit

Odds are, if you‣re doing any kind of programming, especially Web programming, you‣ve adopted a framework. Whereas an SDK is an expression of a corporate philosophy, a framework is more like a product pitch. Want to save time? Tired of writing the same old code? Curious about the next new thing? You use a graphics framework to build graphical applications, a Web framework to build Web applications, a network framework to build network servers. There are hundreds of frameworks out there; just about every language has one. A popular Web framework is Django,• which is used for coding in Python. Instagram was bootstrapped on it. When you sit down for the first time with Django, you run the command "startproject," and it makes a directory with some files and configuration inside.…

Ask WH

Q I’m more aware of microbes post-Covid, but I love getting manicures. Any advice for staying safe? Still carting around hand sani? Join the club. While it might seem a little extra to some, erring on the side of caution is no bad thing – especially when you’re getting a manicure, haircut or facial. In fact, salons can harbour harmful pathogens, according to a study published in Infection And Drug Resistance. Given manicures involve clipping, snipping and often breaking skin, the nail salon can be a hot spot for infection, but there are steps you can take to feel safe. ‘It’s a red flag if a nail salon avoids answering questions about their cleaning practices,’ says celebrity nail technician Jin Soon Choi. The same goes for hair salons and spas. Choi…

Ask WH
Movavi Video Editor Plus: Fun, Good-Looking Video Production

Movavi Video Editor Plus: Fun, Good-Looking Video Production

Movavi’s goal for its video-editing software is to enable simple movie and clip creation, avoiding the sometimes needless complexity of the competition. That sounds great, but does it pan out in practice? After all, creating compelling videos often requires lots of advanced tools and capabilities. You also want a program that’s responsive and renders the final product quickly. The short answer? Yes. Movavi Video Editor Plus is one of the best we’ve seen at packing a lot of capability into a non-intimidating interface. PROS: Easy-to-understand user interface. Transitions with sound. Motion tracking and picture-in-picture tools. Chroma keying. Quick movie-creation tool. CONS: Lacks advanced trim modes and clip pre-trimming. Rendering on the slow side. Not compatible with Apple Silicon M1. BOTTOM LINE: Movavi packs a lot of video editing power into a clear, simple…

COLLECTIVE WISDOM

COLLECTIVE WISDOM

MUCH IS MADE by companies of their collective responsibility to sustainability, but at BMW a fresh call-to-action, centred on the individuals who make up its 8,000-strong UK workforce, is innovatively turning the wheels of change. This new approach started with five workers from across the BMW Group who were sent as a delegation to the One Young World global forum when it touched down in London in 2019. The summit – with representatives from every country in the world and a programme of inspirational speeches, panels, networking and workshops – lit a fire. “You have people of note: celebrities, Nobel Peace Prize winners, people who have dedicated huge parts of their lives to try and make the world more sustainable,” explains Emily Latham, BMW UK’s social media marketing manager. “I think…

INSTALLING A LAYOUT SKIRT on straight and curved fascia

You’re well on your way to completing your dream layout. The design is just how you imagined it, with leading-edge electronics, the latest in track and roadbed enhancements, perfect-to-scale scenery, and the best locomotives and rolling stock ever produced. The result will be almost museum-like in quality; the generous curved aisles for operations and visitors, dimmable spotlighting for the perfect highlights, and … wait a minute … how am I going to install a fascia skirt on those curved aisles? As is the case with all building projects, it’s best to plan ahead, especially with regard to a fascia skirt. Unless you install a finished “underside” to your layout, what falls below the fascia line should be covered up in some way. My layout is a stylized horseshoe design with several…

INSTALLING A LAYOUT SKIRT on straight and curved fascia
ROOM TO GROW

ROOM TO GROW

Even within the luxe aura of California’s Golden Coast, Malibu is a starry place. One of the town’s most desirable enclaves is Malibu Colony, a quiet nexus of culture, natural beauty, and sophisticated architecture. One thing the neighborhood doesn’t have is lots of space. No surprise, then, that when landscape designer Scott Shrader, principal of Shrader Design in West Hollywood, was asked to look at a property whose homeowners hoped for a new landscape, he saw potential—including spectacular ocean views—but not enough space to create something special. “When I first arrived, there was the house in the beginning stages, a pool, and a tennis court, with limited landscaping around them,” Shrader recalls. “I told the owners there was nothing I could do but put a hedge in.” Then he noticed an underused 1920s…

THE GOOD LIFE

THE GOOD LIFE

Outdoor living: Just the words bring a rush of pleasure. Creating a sweet spot where you can inhale fresh breezes and gaze at nature while enjoying your home has never been more coveted. Whether it’s a moment of solitude or a let-loose gathering of friends you crave, furniture designers are ramping up options to furnish your space. GamFratesi, the design duo established in 2006 by Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi, is stepping up with furniture designs that combine the ring of tradition with the light touch of innovation. The Danish-Italian team takes full advantage of both European cultures, weaving together robust Danish craft traditions with a poetic nod to Italian conceptualism, in a new line of outdoor furniture for Minotti. Ocean Home asked the Copenhagen-based team to forecast this season’s five biggest trends…

REFEREE

REFEREE

NAME: NATALIE SIMON EMPLOYER: PRO AS A FORWARD at Stetson, Natalie Simon wasn’t exactly the most respectful player toward the game’s officials. “I was a referee’s worst nightmare,” she says. “I was a handful. If I made it through a game without a yellow card, it was a good day.” But after her career with the Hatters ended, playing—and yelling at refs—was no longer an option. “My playing years were behind me,” Simon says. “It’s a hard reality. I was just trying to find a way to stay close to the game.” She tried coaching youth teams. “It was fun, but it just wasn’t as rewarding as being out on the pitch,” she says. So to get herself back onto the field, Simon did the unimaginable. She went to the dark side: officiating, which…

Life at the TOP

Life at the TOP

A FIT TING FINISH? Donald blew into the backfield and slung Joe Burrow to the turf on a fourth-and-1, clinching his first Super Bowl victory. The championship parade covered only 1.1 miles. But as Aaron Donald danced, drank, roared, blew kisses and flexed his cartoonish muscles, his mind drifted beyond the raucous celebration. As thousands screamed and chanted at the six double-decker buses carrying the jovial superstar and his Rams teammates, they rolled away from the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, snaking along Figueroa Street, inching toward the Coliseum. Donald bounced and sipped and hugged along the route, his gold chain and diamond-studded “99” pendant flopping from neck to chin. So much had aligned to make the party possible. Stay in the moment, he reminded himself. He wished to remember the details…

MANAGING YOURSELF How to Navigate Conflict with a Coworker

EARLY IN MY CAREER I took a job reporting to someone who had a reputation for being difficult. I’ll call her Elise. Plenty of people warned me that she would be hard to work with, but I thought I could handle it. I prided myself on being able to get along with anyone. I didn’t let people get under my skin. I could see the best in everyone. Two months later I was ready to quit. Elise worked long days and on weekends and expected her team to do the same. Her assumptions about what could get done in a day were wildly unreasonable. She often followed up at 8:30 am on a request she’d made at 6:00 the night before. She disparaged my teammates in front of me, questioning their work…

MANAGING YOURSELF How to Navigate Conflict with a Coworker
Action at the junction

Action at the junction

Junctions have always been interesting places on any railroad. Some could be very busy, while others saw only sporadic action. My HO scale Reading Co. Shamokin Division depicts the anthracite (hard coal) mining region of eastern Pennsylvania, where numerous junctions branched off to serve distant mines during the steam-to-diesel transition era. The junctions on my layout represent such places found along the 40-mile main line between the Pennsylvania towns of Tamaqua and Shamokin. I’ve always been fascinated with the history and operating patterns of railroads in this region. As a longtime member of the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society, I appreciate the many resources they offer, especially their publication Flags, Diamonds, and Statues. One article from 1984 written by the late professional railroader Robert Malinoski has been a tremendous resource to me.…

Off the beaten path

Phil received the Walter Scott Houston Award at Stellafane 2018 for his lifelong work promoting and teaching astronomy. I have heard from several readers who, while they enjoy looking at showpiece targets, also like it when we go off the beaten path. So this month, let’s turn our eyes to the faint and the formidable hiding within the constellation Cepheus the King. Spotting Cepheus may itself be a bit tricky, since its brightest star, Alderamin (Alpha [_] Cephei), shines at magnitude 2.5. The rest of its major stars, which form the image of a house with a steeply pitched roof, all shine between 3rd and 4th magnitudes. To locate Alderamin, look not quite halfway between Deneb (Alpha Cygni) and Polaris (Alpha Ursae Majoris). Once you’ve found the dim twinkle of Alderamin through your…

Off the beaten path