So, I was at Sports Clips in South Pasadena. They were playing ESPN’s Roll Tide/War Eagle documentary. About 15 minutes in, one of the stylists CHANGED THE CHANNEL. Anyway, this is a roundabout way to ask: does anyone know any good criminal defense attorneys? Asking for a friend.

This seems relevant. Source: Department of Defense (sic) Law of War Manual: ogc.osd.mil/Portals/99/d...

As we gather around the Thanksgiving table, let’s set aside our differences and instead come together over the one thing that truly unites us: our shared hope that Dallas loses. Happy Thanksgiving!

Baseball trivia: every team that won game 7 went on to win the World Series.

2025 in a nutshell.

Gentlemen in England now-a-bed shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's [sic] day.

Since I am supposed to practice what I'd do during a real earthquake, I figured I'd run to social media and quickly post "EARTHQUAKE!" This concludes this test of the emergency earthquake notification system serving the Los Angeles area.

Can someone please go nudge Billie Joe Armstrong? It's that time again. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGhw...

"When you wish upon a star." Tonight's Space X Falcon 9 launch as seen from Disneyland. Photo credit: Reddit user ErinRisi

"I feel the need ... the need for speed."

This one is for my educator friends. Yesterday, Ethan Mollick shared a recent NBER article on AI detection that (tl;dr) found Pangram produced nearly zero false positives: www.nber.org/papers/w32939 ... 1/3

This won't make any sense unless you play Pokémon Go, but ... 770 days after my son first introduced me to Pokémon GO on a train ride around Disneyland (July 30, 2023 — Poliwag Community Day!), I finally hit Level 50 (the max level ... for the next month or so). ... 1/4

Hat tip to Google Gemini 2.5 Flash (aka Nano Banana) for the laugh.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

One of the most predictable (and infinitely repeatable) internet panics is moral outrage over social media terms of service. Why are they so broad? Because they have to be. ... 1/2

This still remains one of my favorite bits of trivia. In preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Los Angeles became the first major city in the world to sync all of its traffic lights citywide. The synchronization program was completed in (checks notes) .... 2013.

Happy Cinco de Mayo Eve, rebel scum.

Some completely uninformed thoughts on DeepSeek (and for the techies who follow me, please let me know what I have gotten wrong): 🧵1/7

Apparently, I am no longer good at multitasking. I am in the drive thru at Chick-fil-A while also programming my GPS to take us to Disneyland. Them: “Welcome to Chick-fil-A. Can I get a name for the order?” Me: “Mickey and Friends Parking Structure … wait, no …”

Res publica amissa.

The recent SoCal windstorm left Pasadena with a year’s worth of green waste debris—branches, bushes, and leaves—in just two days. Citywide cleanup is expected to take 6-8 weeks. More details: www.cityofpasadena.net/city-manager...

Check out these hyper-detailed satellite images of the destruction caused by last week’s fires in Los Angeles: Palisades Fire: wilg.github.io/la-fire-maps... Eaton Fire: wilg.github.io/la-fire-maps... Zoom in to street level and drag the map to see different neighborhoods. 1/4

After two nights in Buena Park, we’re back home in Pasadena. The Eaton Fire is still active, having burned 13,690 acres (21 square miles) with 0% containment. The fire is currently making an uphill run toward Mt. Wilson, but thankfully, no losses have been reported there. 1/4

Remember the 2018 Hawaii false missile alert? LA just experienced a false alert of its own. An 'Evacuation Warning' emergency alert was mistakenly sent to all residents of LA County followed shortly by another alert telling everyone to disregard the previous alert. www.latimes.com/california/s...

BREAKING: The Pacific Palisades fire is now the most destructive in Los Angeles city history, with an estimated 1,000 structures destroyed. Follow AP's live coverage. apnews.com/live/live-up...

An update from Pasadena: We are safe. Out of an abundance of caution, Christine, Jospeh, and I evacuated to a hotel in Buena Park last night. The stories of a “life threatening windstorm” in Los Angeles are accurate. 1/3

Them: “AI is going to take your job.” AI: “0.375 is _less_ than 0.3125.” Screenshot: Google AI Overview, 2 January 2025

This didn’t get much attention last year, but it feels particularly relevant given today’s tragic events in New Orleans: www.pasadenastarnews.com/2024/01/01/d...

Happy New Year’s Eve to everyone! 🎉 To those who faced challenges in 2024, may 2025 bring you brighter days and better opportunities. 🌟 To those who thrived in 2024, here’s to an even more amazing 2025! 🚀 #Happy2025 #NewYear #FreshStart

I'm 6'6". Every conversation ever: Them: "Wow, you're tall." [Me (internal voice): "Ohmygod, what!? Why did no one tell me this sooner?"] Me: "Thank you." Them: "How tall are you?" [Me (internal voice): "5'10". The stripes make me look taller."] Me: "6'6"." ...

To the sysadmins who had to work today to make sure that everything remained both up and available and to the people who volunteered to work today so that others could spend time with their families: THANK YOU and Merry Christmas!

Christine and Joseph surprised me with an awesome early Christmas present. This doesn’t look like much, but the German engineered and Czech built Wera Tool-Check PLUS is easily one of the better compact toolkits in the world. Thank you Christine and Joseph!

Due to an unforeseen recipe-following oversight, today's "Patrick and his son make gingerbread cookies" activity has been cancelled. In its place is a new activity: "Patrick and his son make gingerbread cake."

While the east coast panics, it is another quiet night in the skies over the city of angels.

This is perhaps the clearest video yet of the so-called "drones" plaguing the east coast. You cannot tell me that these are terrestrial objects.

Roll Tide.

As we gather around the Thanksgiving table, let’s set aside our differences and instead come together over the one thing that truly unites us: our shared hope that Dallas loses. Happy Thanksgiving!

I’ve reached that stage in my tech support life where I don’t fix my own issues anymore—I find someone else to do it for me. Of course, I still walk them through exactly what to do, step by step … because old habits die hard. 😉

The U.S. Department of Education has officially released the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms—10 days ahead of schedule! Students and families can now get a jump-start on securing financial aid. Start your application today: studentaid.gov/announcement...

So, the launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has been … well … remember this weekend's Paul vs. Tyson fight?

A federal judge ordered the Port of Oakland to stop using “San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport” as its airport’s new name. In response, Oakland has agreed to rename the airport the “Las Vegas San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport of Anaheim.” apnews.com/article/san-...

How susceptible are you to misinformation? Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a quick Misinformation Susceptibility Test to help you find out. This two-minute quiz, validated through extensive research, assesses your ability to discern real news from fake.

If you have lived in California anytime after December 3, 2016, you are entitled to a (small) settlement (of between $19 and $48) as part of the Brooks v. Thompson Reuters Case. Just fill out a form at clearprivacysettlement.com before December 6th.

I’ve mentioned this a few times on WGN Radio, but it’s more relevant than ever: my biggest concern with 23andMe isn’t just how they handle your DNA data—it’s what could happen when another company buys them.

Great news: while Verizon’s network may be down nationwide, I am happy to report their billing notification system is still working.

Verizon is suffering a nationwide service outage. Or, in Verizon's parlance, 'some' users are having 'an issue.'

California residents with iPhones can now request to add a digital version of their California drivers license to Apple Wallet. Open the Wallet app on your iPhone, tap the Add (+) button at the top of the screen, and follow the on-screen prompts.

While everyone is saying that the September 9th Apple event will be focused on new, AI-enabled iPhones, I think it is pretty obvious what the real announcement is going to be: Apple is getting into women's wrestling!

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners ... He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

Isn’t this AP news ‘alert’ 569 years too late?