Today is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It’s particularly poignant during this time of COVID-19 with its economic impacts, job insecurity, and so many peple out of work. These prayers are from the Divine Office this morning: Intercessions Father of all mankind, do not forget what your hands have made, grant that all who work may have secure employment and a fitting standard of living. …

Andy Greenberg of WIRED magazine is an excellent tech writer with the ability to translate complex technical and geopolitical cyberattacks into fascinating, insightful, and understandable prose. His focus lately has been tracing the history of some of the worst cyberattacks of the last decade… back to the same Russian state-sponsored hackers. His recent article in WIRED, “The Story of Sandworm, the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers,” is a must-read for anyone remotely interested in technology or how what someone does to a computer system can have massive financial and geopolitical implications. …

I built myself a workbench for woodworking that should last for the rest of my life. It is based off of an 18th century French design by Andre Roubo. It’s a beast, and I’m very happy with it. Here’s some of the original drawings from Roubo: Finished, my bench is about 8 feet long, 2 feet deep, 39 inches high, and probably weighs a couple hundred pounds at least. …

For your enjoyment: Someone “forced a bot to read more than 1,000 cyber security predictions for 2020 and then asked it to write predictions of its own. Here is the result.” Read the article: The Cyber speaks: What will actually happen in 2020 Some of the more awesome quotes: The opening sentence: “The year 2020 indicates more years.” My new mantra: …

Came across an interesting read about actually enjoying long winters, based on a PhD researcher’s experiences in northern Norway. As the days get darker and colder in much of the northern hemisphere, it’s easy to indulge in gloom. For the next few months, you’ll be shivering. You’ll be battling foul weather. Thanks to daylight saving time there will be no chance to see the sun after work. …