Photo of the Week - March 22, 2026

This week's photo is of a hasta in our front yard that has spent most of the winter buried under a waist-high mound of the snow. It has been struggling the last couple of years, so I hope this winter hasn't killed it off. Taken with my Pixel 8 Pro and edited in Google Photos to improve the contrast. 

Leaves of a hasta mostly buried in the snow

Saturday Sounds - Santana - 1970/08/18 - Live at Tanglewood

This week's musical treat jumps back to 1970 with a concert from Santana at the famous Tanglewood Music Festival. Santana had released their second album, Abraxas, and the set contains several songs from that album. Carlos Santana and his band are in fine form. This is a pro shot video with good sound and decent video for the era. Enjoy,

COVID-19 Six Years Later

It's hard to believe that it's been six years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Concern about COVID-19 has faded into the background for most people, but it's still out there, lurking in the air when you go our shopping or go to a concert. 

So what's the real situation with COVID-19 right now? Your Local Epidemiologist has published an article that looks at the current disease landscape; how much COVID is out there right now, how it's affecting people, and what are the current trends. 

Six years! Six years with a complicated data story of real progress alongside real stubbornness. This anniversary is striking to me for two reasons. The first is the virus itself: it continues to surprise us, and we remain humbled by how much we still don’t understand. The second is what has happened to us in its wake.

For myself, I'm still being careful, masking in crowded situations and in medical facilities like doctors' offices and hospitals. (A good rule of thumb is that if the staff are masking then you should be too.) I'll keep getting vaccinated twice a year and keep hoping for a vaccine that protects against infection. And I'll keep reading YLE and other reputable sites for reliable information about COVID and any other nasties that might be out there. 

Canada Launches a New Space Program

The Canadian government has announced that it will fund the construction of a space launch site near Canso, Nova Scotia. Canada has been building satellites and other space hardware, like the Canadarms on the Shuttle and ISS, but has not had it's own dedicated launch site.  

The government will also be funding the development of a made-in-Canada launch vehicle. 

A spaceport in Nova Scotia. A spaceport in Newfoundland. Three funded Canadian rocket companies. A $105 million competitive grant program with more rounds coming. The global space economy is projected to reach approximately $2 trillion by 2040. Canada is planting its flag in that economy right now, while the ground is still moving — instead of letting a billionaire cult leader control the on-ramp.

Here’s the piece that most coverage is either missing or treating as a footnote, and it absolutely shouldn’t be.

Alongside the Spaceport deal, Defence Minister McGuinty announced that Canada plans to become a full member of the NATO Starlift initiative — a program designed to create a space-launch network across alliance members, allowing allies to get payloads into orbit on short notice, especially during a crisis or active conflict.

All I can say is that it's about time.  

Featured Links - March 18, 2026

Things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.

Birds wintering on the Bay

• Please drive carefully: scientists plan to transport volatile antimatter for first time. "Cern researchers are testing traps capable of moving antimatter, which explodes into energy as soon as it comes into contact with regular matter."
• War on Iran may provoke a terrorist attack in US – and that may be the point. "‘Of course there’s going to be retaliation,’ says one expert. ‘It may be that this is what Trump’s interested in’"
• When you’ve been told to find new ways to use AI in technical documentation. "Some Documentation Managers and Technical Authors are now being asked to demonstrate how they are using AI and to quantify the benefits. Here are some suggestions on how to approach that challenge." In this article, I saw several uses for AI that would have potentially improved my productivity in my last job. 
• The man who proved rockets could reach space was mocked in his time. "One hundred years ago, Robert Goddard’s invention of the liquid-fueled rocket changed space exploration." This week was the 100th anniversary of Robert Goddard's first launch of a liquid fueled rocket. We've come a long way in a 100 years. 
• Forget Google Docs, Canadian-made cDox could be your new place to write. "cDox stores your data in Montreal, and promises not to train AI on it." A Canadian alternative to Google Docs.
• Dish drive (gift link). "Hundreds of antennas take root in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley for an ambitious project to monitor signals from space."
• Wireless eye implant helps blind patients read again. "Now researchers have shown that a tiny wireless eye implant may help restore some of that lost central vision. In a clinical study, many blind older adults who received the implant regained enough clarity to recognize letters and short words. While the device does not restore natural sight, it helped several participants read again after years of irreversible vision decline."
• The “dumb” TV pivot: why your next screen shouldn’t be smart. "Reclaim your living room: screens without smart TV bloatware." We have a smart TV but hardly ever use any of the built-in features, preferring to stream through our Chromecast. 

2025 Nebula Award Finalists

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has announced the finalists for the 2025 Nebula Awards. The finalists will be announced in Chicago and online during the Nebula Conference and Awards, June 3-7. 

These are the finalists for the Best Novel award.

When We Were Real, Daryl Gregory (Saga)

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK)

Katabasis, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)

Death of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor (Morrow; Gollancz)

The Incandescent, Emily Tesh (Tor; Orbit UK)

Sour Cherry, Natalia Theodoridou (Tin House; Wildfire)

Wearing the Lion, John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia)

I've not read any of the finalists. I'm way behind on my reading right now but I did read a couple of current novels last year, Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler, which I did expect to be a nominee, and John Scalzi's When the Moon Hits Your Eye, which might make the Hugo finalists. I also just finished Annalee Newitz's Automatic Noodle, which is a finalist for the Best Novella award. 

Photo of the Week - March 15, 2026

My vision is gradually getting better, so I've been taking the occasional picture, mostly using my Pixel 8 Pro. This is a picture of the ice on Frenchman's Bay, gradually breaking up and melting on a warm spring morning. 

Ice melting on Frenchman's Bay