A look at all of the awesome new features Tesla crammed into its last software update of 2019 – BGR

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Say what you will about Tesla, but the company is remarkably laser-focused on constant iteration, not to mention an impressive obsession with improving the overall user experience. To this end, Tesla a few days ago started rolling out a new software update chock full of interface improvements and new features that should leave Tesla owners across the board quite thrilled.

The latest update, which is 2019.40.50 for those keeping track at home, includes some nifty new features, including improved driver visualization, enhanced voice commands, and even something it calls Camp Mode.

The improved driver visualization is arguably the most interesting of the bunch, but well tackle Camp Mode first. In short, Camp Mode, as the name implies, is designed for individuals who need to spend the night in their car.

Your car can now maintain airflow, temperature, interior lighting, as well as play music, and power devices when Camp Mode is enabled, Teslas release notes indicate.

The software update also makes it easier for drivers to access text messages without taking their eyes off of the road.

You can now read and respond to text messages using your right scroll wheel button, Tesla notes. When a new message is received, press the right scroll wheel button to have your text message read out loud and press again to respond by speaking out loud.

The update also delivers enhanced voice commands which, among other things, will allow drivers to adjust media controls, send text messages, tweak the temperature, shift the side view mirrors, and even search for nearby charging stations. Users can also use voice commands to open the glove box, though Im not sure how practical that actually is. Ultimately, though, these enhanced voice commands should help keep drivers glued to the road and make the driving experience that much safer.

As for the new driving visualization improvements, the software will now include helpful objects on the display, including upcoming garbage cans, stoplights, stop signs and select road markings.

As far as Tesla software updates are concerned, this one is rather big and you can check out a full rundown of all the new features via the video below. The driver visualization portion of the video starts at about the 7-minute mark.

Image Source: Ena/AP/REX/Shutterstock

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A look at all of the awesome new features Tesla crammed into its last software update of 2019 - BGR

These charts show how the era of rampant Tesla stock volatility could be coming to an end – Business Insider

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A few years back, amid one of Tesla's periodic stock rallies, I suggested that shares could hit $400.

Didn't happen! The stock retreated and, until quite recently, failed to threaten that mark again.

But this week, Tesla surged through $400, an over-60%-improvement since September. The rally started when the company reported a surprise profit for the third quarter. And yet again, Tesla's market cap is the biggest of any US automaker (at better than $70 billion, Tesla has a big lead on No. 2 General Motors' $50 billion).

It remains to be seen whether Tesla shares remain at this level, testing that $400 mark, or whether they plunge or climb still higher. With the fourth quarter nearly wrapped, analysts expect another profit, so the stage is set for the rally to extend early next year.

Volatility has always defined Tesla trading, but this rally has been a pretty smooth ascent. Could the era of wild swings in Tesla's stock price be coming to an end?

Let's dig into some charts:

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These charts show how the era of rampant Tesla stock volatility could be coming to an end - Business Insider

Evers says he’s a work in progress entering second year – WKOW

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) Former school teacher and state education secretary Tony Evers isnt ready to give himself a grade on his first year as Wisconsins governor.

Incomplete, Evers said during a wide-ranging interview that looked back at his first year in office and ahead to 2020. After four years, Ill be glad to offer A through F, but at this point its incomplete.

Evers first year was marked by partisan disagreements with Republicans who control the Legislature, and although he and his fellow Democrats have registered some victories, little headway was made on many substantive issues.

I think we made good progress where were poised to do better things in the future, he said.

Evers took office in January after defeating two-term Republican incumbent Scott Walker. But Republicans maintained their majorities in the Legislature, creating a recipe for gridlock that proved largely to be true. Republicans started by cutting Evers powers during a lame-duck legislative session before he even took office. Most major Democratic proposals have been stymied, and Republicans have described themselves as serving as a goalkeeper to block Evers agenda.

Still, Evers did sign a budget that hit many of his top priorities and campaign promises. He increased funding for schools and the University of Wisconsin, and put more money into roads and health care, but far less than what he wanted. He also cut middle-class taxes by 10%, which Republicans strongly supported.

He cited the enactment of the budget as a highlight, calling it a down payment on the future.

We set a high bar, Evers said. We had some success in getting there.

Many other issues are going nowhere.

Bipartisan bills that would legalize medical marijuana have stalled, as have Democratic efforts to expand Medicaid, address the dark store loophole, a property tax issue thats important to local governments, and institute new gun control measures. Evers tried to force Republicans to debate universal gun background checks and a red flag law that would give judges the power to take guns from people determined to be a risk to themselves or others, but Republicans didnt even debate the measures before adjourning a special session Evers called.

Their discord also showed up in the usually routine matter of confirming Cabinet secretaries, those who lead state agencies and work closely with the governor. Republicans rejected Evers choice for the state agriculture department, in part because of his push to institute divisive, tougher siting rules designed to protect farmers neighbors from the stench of manure. It was the first time the Senate had rejected a Cabinet pick since at least the 1980s.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said its possible the Senate may adjourn for the year without voting on some of Evers Cabinet picks.

The Senate fired Evers agriculture secretary the same week it took no action on the gun bills during the special session. Evers showed his anger, lashing out at Republicans in comments to reporters laced with four-letter words.

Evers tried to force Republicans to release money to combat homelessness in December, but they refused.

While Evers refused to give himself a grade on his first year, legislative leaders were happy to.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos gave him a C, while he said the budget was worthy of an A-minus.

C is average, right? Vos said. You know, in many ways I feel like its incomplete because I havent seen a whole lot of proposals from him. But I would say average.

Fitzgerald declined to give Evers a grade, but he was critical of how the governor worked with lawmakers.

Its been kind of a rocky road, he said.

Not surprisingly, Democrats were more generous.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling gave Evers a B. Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz gave Evers an A-minus, although he said many of Evers victories like flying a gay pride flag over the Capitol for the first time were symbolic.

Hintz praised Evers for trying to govern from the center. Thats a break from Walker, who Hintz said was political 24-7.

I think it comes across as authentic, Hintz said of Evers. Some of the victories have been symbolic, but Ive appreciated his willingness to speak out on issues.

Evers rejected the notion his victories were symbolic, specifically citing funding increases for schools, roads and health care included in the state budget as substantial.

Those would not have happened if I wasnt sitting in this office, Evers said. And all you do is you have to do is walk down the street and walk around the state and talk to people in the schools and ask them if they got a better deal under me than Scott Walker.

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Evers says he's a work in progress entering second year - WKOW

Bills games give Jets a way to measure Darnold’s progress – Newsday

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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. Sam Darnold will play the same number of games this season as he did his rookie year, and his numbers should be better across the board.

But Dowell Loggains wont evaluate Darnold based on that. Loggains, the Jets offensive coordinator and quarterback coach, will see if Darnold has progressed from Week 1 to Week 17.

It just so happens that in Sundays season finale, the Jets will be playing the Bills, the team against whom they opened the season. Although Buffalo wont do the same things as in Week 1, Loggains said the Jets will be able to evaluate Darnolds evolution and see how far hes come and where he needs the most improvement.

Its a good test to see how he grew the first time we played them to the second time, Loggains said. Its going to be an awesome challenge, and were going to see a lot.

Being able to watch and see how much hes grown from Point A to Point B throughout the season is seeing how close we are to maxing his talent, maxing his potential, the things we still need to get better on week in and week out.

In that first game, Darnold threw for 175 yards and a touchdown in a one-point loss to the Bills. They were the second-fewest yards that he threw for in 12 games. He then missed the next three games because of mononucleosis.

Left guard Alex Lewis didnt practice Thursday because of an ankle injury. Unless he recovers quickly, the Jets could be starting their ninth offensive line combination. Brent Qvale, the next man up, would be their 11th starting lineman this season

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... Robby Anderson has been experiencing leg tightness and was limited in practice. Tom Compton (calf) and Demaryius Thomas (hamstring) did not practice . . . Brian Poole was a surprise on the injury report. He was limited because ofan ankle injury that he mighthave suffered during practice.

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Bills games give Jets a way to measure Darnold's progress - Newsday

Five Areas San Francisco Needs to Make Progress on in 2020 – SF Weekly

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The year 2000 came with a certain amount of fascination and fear.

It was a big round number, the biggest and roundest in 1,000 years, and it reminded us that the future was just around the corner. The future is always right there, but something about zeroes and calendars inflates some dates with more perceived importance. The year 2000 not only came with a big calendar shift, but a scary problem of our own making also related to a bunch of zeroes. Fortunately, enough people worked hard enough and long enough that the Y2K bug didnt lead to a complete technological meltdown, and people were free to focus on stuff like Elin Gonzlez getting sent back to Cuba and the Supreme Court voting 5-4 along ideological lines to stop a full Florida recount in the presidential election.

Twenty years later, people have more human-created problems to deal with and another momentous presidential election. Instead of short-sighted code, the world must contend with decades of environmental neglect and win-now thinking from a cavalcade of interests. Without progress in these areas, its unclear what would stop a slow, downward slide for everyone into decay and ruin. Its not a hopeful thought to contemplate.

But united action on these fronts could produce a great deal of happiness for everyone. Its easy to read U.N. reports about how the world has 12 years to completely change its fuel habits or else the apocalypse will happen, compare this with your inability to get your coworker to stop microwaving salmon in the breakroom, and throw up your hands and declare humanity hopelessly lost. But humanity has recovered from seemingly hopeless situations before (world wars, famine, plagues, a wide variety of awful genocides), so its reasonable to think people will be motivated to work together again. Humans have discovered vaccines, gone to the moon, and invented air conditioning.

Here are five areas San Francisco needs to make progress on in 2020 to set an example for cities and people elsewhere.

San Francisco continues its reign as the poster child for wealth and housing inequality. That will only stop if wait for it more housing units get built. Thats going to be tough with construction costs through the roof. In a detailed breakdown of why building stuff here costs so much by the San Francisco Chronicles Roland Li, data and industry experts point to insufficient construction workers and red tape as some of the key factors. Also, proposing pretty much any construction anywhere in the city is opposed by someone, often a lot of someones, often a lot of vocal and extremely stubborn someones.

Despite the difficulty, more housing needs to happen. A report from the nonprofit planning organization SPUR projects 2.3 million more Bay Area residents by 2040 and 1.3 million new jobs. An October report from the citys Budget and Legislative Analysts office suggests that housing production in San Francisco is way out of whack: not enough homes, especially not enough affordable homes.

A ray of light could happen as early as this month, though.

Senate Bill 50 would change zoning laws and clear the way for taller apartment buildings near transit. The bill, proposed by state Sen. Scott Wiener, got stymied last year by a senate committee, but could get voted on in January. San Francisco politicians past (Governor Gavin Newsom) and present (Mayor London Breed) have expressed support for the bill while the Board of Supervisors remains opposed.

Finding new ways to help the homeless (beyond building more housing) is also key to San Franciscos future.

The Board of Supervisors passed legislation in December that would create more mental health resources for those who need it (even though the supervisors arent sure how theyll pay for it).

Last year, San Francisco created a broad outline of what it needs to do to achieve net zero emissions in a timeframe that would actually matter for the environment. It involves intimidating milestones like 80 percent of all trips in the city taking place by biking, walking, or public transit by 2030, and every single car and truck on the road being electric by 2040. Theres no time like the present.

San Francisco wants to stop having traffic-related deaths by 2024. Twenty seven people have died in traffic-related instances this year according to the Dec. 5 Vision Zero monthly fatality report, a step backward for the program. Pedestrian advocates have made some progress: As of this month, personal vehicles will be banned from Market Street between Steuart and Gough streets. Supervisors have voiced support for more car-free areas in San Francisco.

Getting through 2020, which promises to have one of the most divisive and bitterly fought presidential campaigns ever, will require a little extra understanding for your fellow person to get through with any degree of sanity. That could be as basic as voting in the best interests of most people (even if it isnt necessarily you) to taking on a little more professional risk on behalf of others. Some tech workers are already doing this by making attempts to unionize their workplaces (or, failing that, trying more instances of collective action).

There were more recorded instances of collective action in the tech world in 2019 than in previous years. If 2020 can continue that trend it could make San Francisco the flagship of tech a kinder, more hospitable place for everyone from the janitorial and cafeteria workers to the social media moderation contractors to software engineers. More collective action means better and more ethical working conditions, which means an overall improvement for everyone involved. But it all starts with thinking about others first.

Richard Procter is the editor in chief of SF Weekly. You can reach him at rprocter@sfweekly.com.

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Five Areas San Francisco Needs to Make Progress on in 2020 - SF Weekly

Progress on Exclusionary Zoning, Regression on Rent Control – Reason

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The impact of exclusionary zoning.

Housing shortages caused by harmful government policy are a serious problem in many parts of the United States. The good news on this front is that many jurisdictions are making progress towards easing zoning restrictions that are the principal culprit behind many such shortages. After years of seeming stagnation, zoning reform is hot. The bad news, however, is that rent control is also gaining momentum. Even as zoning reform helps alleviate housing shortages, rent control is likely to make them worse.

At this time last year, I wrote about the growing momentum for cutting back on exclusionary in various parts of the country. That trend has continued in 2019. In July, the Oregon state legislature passed a law banning single-family home zoning requirements throughout most of the state, thereby enabling construction of multifamily housing in many areas where there are severe shortages. The city of Seattle has also made some progress here.

The Democratic takeover of the Virginia state legislature in November has led to consideration of a major zoning reform law in my home state. If it passes, it would legalize construction of duplex housing in any part of the state currently zoned for single-family homes, thereby expanding housing availability in the the increasingly expensive northern Virginia region. Other jurisdictions are also considering similar reforms.

A major reform bill stalled for a second time in the California state legislature earlier this year. But the very fact it had a real chance of success bodes well for the future, in a state that has some of the nation's most severe housing shortages.

These and other recent zoning reforms have mostly been passed in jurisdictions dominated by liberal Democrats. The political left has begun to take notice of and act on the broad agreement among policy experts that zoning is a major obstacle to affordable housing, and also excludes millions of people from job opportunities. Zoning thereby harm both the excluded workers themselves and the broader economy, which loses the additional productivity they would have provided.

If zoning restrictions make it difficult or impossible to build new housing in response to rising demand, basic economics 101 indicates that prices will go up, and many will be priced out of the relevant market. By contrast, the experience of cities like Houston shows that developers are more than capable of keeping up with rapid growth if they are allowed to build.

Part of the reason why recent zoning reform efforts have been led by liberals is that liberal jurisdictions tend to have the most onerous zoning regulations in the first place. Still, credit should be given where credit is due. Many on the left are making a real effort to clean up this awful mess.

Republicans, by contrast, have often been on the wrong side of the issue lately, despite the near-universal criticism of zoning by free market economists and housing specialists. For example, the Oregon GOP opposed the recent zoning reform in that state. Some on the right oppose it based on fear that it might "urbanize" suburbs and allow more poor people to move there. On the other hand, Trump administration Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carsonwhom I'm no fan of on many other issuesdeserves credit for his strong advocacy of cutting back zoning.

While the struggle is far from over, there can be little doubt that we are making progress on the zoning front. That is excellent news.

Unfortunately, the good news on zoning is coupled with bad news on rent control. The same Democratic-controlled Oregon state legislature that recently passed a strong zoning reform bill also enacted a sweeping rent control law earlier this year. California and New York has also enacted major new expansions of rent control this year. After a long period during which rent control seemed largely moribund, it has once again become a major cause of much of the political left. Bernie Sanders, the favorite presidential candidate of the growing "democratic socialist" wing of the left, has even called for the enactment of a national rent control law.

The expert consensus against rent control is at least as broad as that in favor of zoning reform. Economists across the political spectrum overwhelmingly oppose it. Expert critics of rent control range from the very liberal Paul Krugman on the left to Thomas Sowell on the right. The issue is often used in introductory economics classes as an example of a question on which nearly all economists can agree.

That consensus arises from the simple point that, if landlords cannot raise rent in response to growing demand, they are likely to put fewer rental properties on the market. For similar reasons, rent control is likely to reduce new construction in high-demand areas, and also lead to worse maintenance of existing properties. Real-world evidence backs up these theoretical predictions. Stanford economist Rebecca Diamond summed up the results of recent studies on the subject in an article published by the liberal Brookings Institution last year:

Rent control appears to help affordability in the short run for current tenants, but in the long-run decreases affordability, fuels gentrification, and creates negative externalities on the surrounding neighborhood. These results highlight that forcing landlords to provide insurance to tenants against rent increases can ultimately be counterproductive.

While current tenants get a windfall (at least in the short run), rent control reduces the availability of housing for everyone else, and also reduces economic growth by excluding people from areas where they could find new job opportunities and become more productive. Its effects are actually similar to those of exclusionary zoning. Thus, regression on the rent control front could well offset some of the progress being made on the zoning front, especially in caseslike Oregonwhere the same jurisdiction pursues both agendas, despite the contradiction between them.

In addition to having opposite effects on housing shortages, zoning reform and rent control are also based on opposing assumptions about the way housing markets work. The former relies on the assumption that increasing demand will lead to increasingly supply, so long as the government allows new construction to occur. In short, market incentives work. Increases in demand lead to increases in price, which in turn incentivizes new production, thereby alleviating shortages andeventually -reducing prices.

By contrast, rent control implicitly assumes that landlords and developers will not cut back on the quantity and quality of housing, even if prices are artificially lowered by government intervention. For this to work, either market participants must be irrationally indifferent to prices and profits, or there must be some sort of unusual market failure that makes supply insensitive to demand. Neither scenario is plausible. The many liberal Democrats who oppose exclusionary zoning while simultaneously favoring rent control are implicitly making self-contradictory economic assumptions. In one area, they accept basic Economics 101; in the other, they utterly reject it.

I am tempted to say that simultaneous revival of zoning reform and rent control is a prototypical example of the left hand undermining what the right hand is doing. But, in this case, it is really the left hand working at cross-purposes with itself, since it is the political left that has been the biggest driving force behind both developments. Hopefully, they will resolve the inconsistency in the direction of embracing good economics across the board. That means opposing both rent control and exclusionary zoning.

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Progress on Exclusionary Zoning, Regression on Rent Control - Reason

In Medias Res: A Review of Dorothe Munyaneza’s Work in Progress at Experimental Station – Newcity Art

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Sharing the work we create can be an act of vulnerability. Sharing art unfinished, one of the most intimate acts.

On December 19, Dorothe Munyaneza, a Rwandan-French multi-disciplinary performance artist, shared two excerpts from an in-progress work, culminating a two-month residency with High Concept Labs at Experimental Station. Though vulnerability is already the beating heart of her work.

Munyaneza and her family emigrated to London from Rwanda during the genocide when she was 12 years old. In the 100 days of violence, it is estimated that between 250,000 and 500,000 Tutsi women were raped, producing thousands of children. A generation born from violence. Munyanezas first two pieces draw from this deep reservoir of Rwandan trauma. Her second piece, Unwanted, which was performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018, coalesced her own story with those of women survivors she interviewed during her first visit to her homeland.

At Experimental Station, we were given two excerpts from her next piece. Half of us sat on one side of the square stage, facing the other half of the audience. Munyaneza, dressed in all white, stood off-stage next to a mic in one corner of the room. A poem written and read by Asmaa Jama, a Somali, Danish-born poet, echoed through the air. On-stage, dancer Keyierra Collins was folded, hinged at the waist, weighed down by something larger than herself. Collins sweeping arm movements took her close enough to brush against one of our shoes, though the walls between performers and the audience were never there to begin with.

After the performance, Collins told us the collaboration process began with Munyaneza asking about her family, about how she grew into the person she is today.

Its a question of transmission, Munyaneza said. What is it we can transmit from our bodies across generations?

Collins said answering these questions requires exposing yourself. They require trust. The invisible weight she carries across the stage is a weight that isnt hers alone. It belongs to the women in her family. They are sweeping and caring for the rest as they move through their lives. And she, like Munyaneza, is asking how and why.

Womens stories again inform the words, choreography and sounds Munyaneza weaves together for us. The colors of all these elements are African or Afro-descendant: She wants to show people of beautiful blacks and browns. She wants to show us the way light moves through diaspora.

This piece, for the moment called Mailles, or Mesh, will premiere on another continent at the Charleroi Danse Biennale in 2020. Working with six other African women or women of Afro-descendant, Munyaneza considers it a political act to bring together these women across geography. Although her work draws from pain, her own and collective, it harnesses the power and support that can come from a knitted pattern.

The second excerpt was a duet of drum machines with composer Ben LaMar Gay. In it, Munyaneza moved and spoke on and around the stage, in the audience. There were no borders. She hit her back, shouted, pulled her body into a crescent. They told me to get up and leave if I want to live, she incanted.

Munyanezas sounds dissipated. The second excerpt ended, though it is unfinished. As memory remains unfinished. It moves on. (Amanda Dee)

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In Medias Res: A Review of Dorothe Munyaneza's Work in Progress at Experimental Station - Newcity Art

Progress ahead | Editorials – Rutland Herald

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As 2020 comes in on little cat feet as poet Carl Sandburg said of fog Vermonters have something to feel good about. We have made progress, and will make further progress, on two issues of importance to our environment.

Act 148, the states Universal Recycling & Composting Law, was passed by the Legislature in 2012, and imposed a graduated waste-management regime, not just on our institutions and business but on citizens as well, which will reach its fruition on July 1. Vermonters will be required to take responsibility not only for our cardboard, cans, bottles and plastic, as weve been doing, but for our food scraps, too.

The goal is to keep them out of the Coventry, Vermont, landfill (owned and operated by Rutland-based Casella Waste Systems Inc.). Its the only landfill in the state accepting new deposits, but it cant be called Vermonts only active landfill, because most of the shuttered ones are active in the sense that decomposition continues for decades below the surface, generating methane, the potent greenhouse gas.

Also, July 1 will mark the introduction of S.113, signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott last June. It has been hailed as the most comprehensive set of restrictions on food-related single-use plastic products (primarily supermarket bags, plastic drinking straws and polystyrene containers) in the U.S. Truthfully, thats a sad distinction because there is so much plastic and micro-plastic in our environment, with enormous amounts added each day, that more severe steps must be taken. For now, though, well celebrate the approach of S.113.

Act 148 was created to drastically reduce the amount of organic waste thats sent up to Coventry. As Michele Morris, of the Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD), reports in Green Energy Times, we sent more than 80,000 tons of food and food scraps to the landfill in 2018; such materials account annually for 25% to 30%, by weight, of all the refuse taken in.

Moist organics like discarded food are also the materials that get the gaseous ball rolling (or roiling) within the depths of the landfill, because they decompose more readily than most of the other content. Thats the process that produces methane.

Large-quantity food-scrap producers such as restaurants and hospitals were required to begin diverting their food waste in 2014 if they generated an average of more than 2 tons per week and were located within 20 miles of a certified processor (such as a composting or anaerobic digesting facility). In 2015, that requirement was broadened to include establishments that generated an average of 1 ton a week. In 2016, it was reduced to half a ton a week, and that annual pattern has continued. Six months from now on July 1, 2020 the law will apply to household food scraps, with (quoting the Department of Environmental Conservation) no exemption for distance

The DECs website provides suggestions to help people comply with the law. One is to shop smarter, to reduce food waste and your grocery bill. Other ideas include backyard composting for organic matter that includes yard debris, sawdust, woodchips and leaves, along with food scraps, to create compost usable for gardens and plantings.

Importantly, the DEC makes this distinction: (I)ts OK to throw meat, bones and grease in the trash those items dont break down quickly in small-scale compost systems. (In central Vermont, the Additional Recycling Collection Center in Barre accepts such scraps.)

Theres great promise in Act 148. The DEC explains that if we can capture just 50% of the recyclables now going to the landfill ... we could eliminate upwards of 85,000 metric tons of [carbon dioxide] per year, the equivalent of taking 17,708 cars off the road.

Yet its also important to note that Vermont has an advantage with its landfill not enjoyed by most other states. Its a source of renewable electricity. Washington Electric Cooperative, which serves 10,600 member-households, schools, businesses and institutions in parts of Washington, Orange, Lamoille and Caledonia counties, owns generating facilities adjacent to the landfill that are fueled by captured methane. The power then travels over 11 miles of transmission lines to a VELCO substation, and is loaded onto the statewide electric grid.

On average, the co-op produces the equivalent of 53% of its members electricity in this way, supplying some 8,000 homes and buildings. In other locations, such as Baltimore, trash-to-energy incinerators produce unwanted gases, making them less than ideal as renewable-energy sources. Washington Electrics partnership with Casella has no such drawback.

So, welcome, 2020. Vermont will use the year ahead to reduce its cumulative strain upon the environment, and that will be a good thing.

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Progress ahead | Editorials - Rutland Herald

Why celebrating your progress in 2019 is crucial for long-term success – NBC News

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When reflecting on 2019, many of us will look back at what we didnt get done, kicking ourselves for the goals we failed to meet or the promotion that never materialized. Instead, try something new: reflect on what you did well.

Sure, looking ahead and making a New Years resolution is great. But dont forget to stop and take a victory lap and recognize your accomplishments. Perhaps you learned a new skill, delivered a fantastic presentation or expanded your networking circle. No matter what it was, be proud of it. It is that recognition that will give you a new sense confidence and motivation going into 2020.

The reason your inbox is flooded this time of year with company newsletters and elected officials doling out their legislative achievements is because this is how they show their employees, clients and constituents what they have accomplished. After all, if they dont boast their successes, who will? This is true for all of us.

Susans reflection: After working with a political client for six months, it was time to renew my contract for the following year. Unexpectedly the client reneged on the deal and made a take-it or leave-it counteroffer, which I didnt take.

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The unintended consequence of the counteroffer was, upon reflecting on the year, I realized I did a great job for them. That recognition gave me the confidence and the courage to decline the offer and to pursue a different project, which was very rewarding professionally.

Being able to identify your accomplishments keeps you positive, especially when looking toward your new goals. While setting your goals for next year, take a moment to see how you can build on some positive experiences from the previous year.

Adriennes reflection: Working on campaigns is an intense experience unlike anything else, but you always know the job is typically over on Election Day. Then its on you to figure out your next move and how to capitalize on your campaign experience.

Years ago, I started keeping track of all the fantastic people Ive worked with on various campaigns, then set a goal to reach out to each one of them throughout the following year. This allowed me to think of the positive experiences I had at different points in my year with different people on different campaigns. It also gave me a jumping off point to start the new year. By looking back, I was able to refresh my list of contacts and create a goal for the following year.

It is not only 100 percent okay to recognize the good things you have done, its critical for your future planning because when you do, it is extremely motivating. We asked Holly Harris, president and executive director of the Justice Action Network about her end-of-the year process.

Holly Harriss reflection: At the Justice Action Network, we battle to make our justice system fairer and more effective. The losses can be heartbreaking, and the wins never seem like enough.

Recently, I remarked I was getting used to rejection, to my friend Alice. With a hearty laugh she responded, Try getting denied clemency after serving twenty years in prison for a non-violent drug offense. It was a clarifying moment.

It is okay, indeed essential, to lean into our victories. In 2019, we passed a groundbreaking bill that freed thousands from prison; this year we hope to pass another that opens up jobs to millions of Americans with criminal records. I celebrate those accomplishments for Alice and for me, and for every other woman who needs hope this holiday season.

Susan and Adrienne: By taking an end-of-the-year inventory and recognizing your achievements, you build your self-confidence, create a list of accomplishments that can be used to update your resume or professional profile and energize yourself with a new sense of motivation for the year ahead. A positive internal reflection process not only gives you a sense of pride but may also be the determination you need to ask for that promotion you know you deserve.

Susan Del Percio is a New York-based Republican strategist and Adrienne Elrod is a Washington, D.C.-based Democratic strategist. Their column, "Politicking for Success" appears bi-weekly on NBC News' Know Your Value

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Why celebrating your progress in 2019 is crucial for long-term success - NBC News

Jazz ready for a progress report against the Heat – Deseret News

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MIAMI The Utah Jazz head into Mondays night matchup against the Miami Heat as winners of their last five ball games, but it will also be the first game Utah has played against a team with a winning record since they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 4 in Salt Lake City. Since then, the Jazz have won six of their last seven games, albeit against rather pedestrian teams with little playoff aspirations.

While Utah has been able to get back on the winning track, the level of competition hasnt been as good as what the Jazz will face at American Airlines Arena. The Heat are currently No. 3 in the East at 21-7 sharing an identical record with the Toronto Raptors and have just one loss on their home court. Despite the formidable task that lies before them, Jazz forward Joe Ingles said this will be a good test of how competitive the team can really be against one of the leagues better squads.

I dont really care what anyone elses record is at all, the schedule is the schedule, and we just have to play whos in front of us, he said following shootaround Monday morning. Winning record or not or win streak or not, its another opportunity for us to get better and work on the things that weve been working on all year and the things weve been getting better at all year.

Theyve been playing well; theyre playing reasonably well at home too, so theyll be a bigger challenge for us, he added.

Ingles said the Jazz will have to get into an offensive rhythm early to avoid getting behind and having to make a comeback, which has been a pattern of late.

Just going into the game knowing what were doing, looking after the ball, not having breakdowns early in the clock or in the game that gets them feeling good and gets some momentum for them, he explained. Weve all got to come out ready to play. On the (defensive) end, weve got to execute so were not running (back) in transition and on the (wrong) foot from the start.

He noted that ball movement on offense will be among the keys to getting good scoring opportunities as well as recognizing when to take shots as they present themselves.

Were one of the better catch and shoot (teams), so wed be stupid to not try and utilize that. Weve got unselfish guys, were able to break the paint with what we run and the players weve got, he said. Weve just got to shoot the ball with confidence (and) we do a pretty good job of that.

So far this season, Utah (18-11) has just four of its victories versus teams with winning records. A win against a tough Heat squad would be a strong signal to the team and the league about just how far the Jazz have progressed since the struggles that occurred around the Thanksgiving holiday road swing.

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Jazz ready for a progress report against the Heat - Deseret News

North Korea’s Progress Towards an ICBM (In One Graphic) – The National Interest Online

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North Korea now may be embarking on a new path, scrappingat least for the foreseeable futuretwenty-five years of denuclearization diplomacy under four US presidents. Thus, fears of renewed fire and fury and possible conflict on the Korean Peninsula are mounting.

Despite tireless, good-faith efforts by US-North Korea Envoy Steve Biegun to entice Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has revealed his intentions, making a strategic choice: to turn North Korea into ade factonuclear weapons state, like Israel or Pakistan. Kim is rejecting economic, security, and political benefits offered for dismantling his weapon of mass destruction.

Instead, he is showcasing new missiles and appears to prefer a muddle through scenario building his future on some $300-$400 million in Bitcoins from ransomware, cybertheft, and other illicit activities, enhanced economic ties to Russia and China, as UN sanctions erode, and his own resources.

While a channel for dialogue can and should be maintained, this raises a new challenge for the United States of how to live withand containa nuclear North Korea. Deterrence has worked for sixty-five years and, as Kim is not suicidal, it endures, though conflict by miscalculation remains a risk. But imminent missile, and possibly nuclear, tests will heighten tensions and war fears.

To keep Pyongyangs capabilities in perspective, this graphic, updated as developments warrant, shows that North Korea still has additional work to do before it has a reliable, operational ICBM that can reach the United States.

The graphic below is interactive. Click the boxes to learn more about each step.

Robert A. Manning is a resident senior fellow in the Atlantic Councils Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Follow him on Twitter @Rmanning4.

Retired Lt. Gen. Patrick OReilly is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

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North Korea's Progress Towards an ICBM (In One Graphic) - The National Interest Online

Man United further behind in progress – NBC Sports – Misc.

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At this point, there is virtually no race for the Premier League title, as Liverpool should waltz to their first domestic crown since 1990. Pep Guardiola has even said so himself. If the Reds were to slip up, however, the onus would then fall on Manchester City to make things interesting.

While the likelihood of Liverpool falling short seems unlikely given their current record-setting pace, Man City can move back into second place and cut the gap between the two sides to 11 points with a win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium on Friday (Watch live, 2:45 p.m. ET on NBCSN and NBCSports.com).

[ STREAM: Every PL match live ]

As for Wolves, Nuno Espirito Santos side can climb as high as fifth with a victory over the two-time defending champions. After starting the season slowly (no wins from their first six game 0W-4D-2L), last seasons seventh-place finishers are back for another crack at the PLs top-six. This time thanks to Arsenals horrid struggles, Tottenham Hotspurs regression and Manchester Uniteds continued mediocrity Wolves look the best bet to become the first side to break into the top-six since Leicester City won the title in 2016.

Injuries/suspensions

Man City: OUT John Stones (hamstring), David Silva (leg), Aymeric Laporte (knee), Leroy Sane (knee)

Wolves: OUT Willy Boly (ankle), Morgan Gibbs-White (back)

Projected lineups

Man City: Ederson Walker, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Mendy Rodrigo, Gundogan Mahrez, De Bruyne, Sterling Jesus

Wolves: Patricio Dendoncker, Coady, Saiss Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny Traore, Jimenez, Jota

What theyre saying

Guardiola, on Liverpools form: When a team has 16 victories from 17 [games], its unrealistic to think we are going to chase them. Its unrealistic right now. We have to try to win our games, secure Champions League for next season and then you never know, no? If they drop a couple of games, and we win and win, I dont know. When one team lose one game in the last 53 or 54, Im not optimistic that they are going to lose four or five in ten or eleven games because they are incredibly strong.

Nuno, on a packed schedule: Its going to be very tough, I think all of the managers are concerned and rightly so. Im particularly concerned because Ive been saying this; the schedule doesnt make sense, its absurd. For all the teams. Of course, there are teams that have three days [between matches], but I dont know the particular reason why its us as Wolves who have less hours, but its a concern for all the managers and for all the players. We have to survive. We have to survive. Lets see what happens. We will train tomorrow, then we prepare to play Man City, and well see. Lets try and survive.

Prediction

After a brief period of up-and-down results, Man City looked to be back to their best in dismantling Leicester City last weekend. Now, Sergio Aguero is back in action after missing four games due to a thigh injury, which makes Wolves task that much taller. However, if theres a side thats built to react and counter against 60 percent of possession, as City will have, it might be Wolves. Itll be a challenge for City, but theyll come out on top in the end. Wolves 1-2 Man City.

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Man United further behind in progress - NBC Sports - Misc.

Lindsay Whalen pleased with Gophers women’s basketball team’s progress in 9-1 start – Minneapolis Star Tribune

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There are still things to work out.

Gophers womens basketball coach Lindsay Whalen has yet to make some final rotation decisions. The importance of ball security is still on top of her list. But, with the Gophers 9-1 and on a nine-game winning streak set to play their final nonconference game against Lehigh on Saturday at noon, Whalen feels good about her team. In a lot of ways.

I didnt know what to think last year, said Whalen, in her second year as Gophers coach. The Gophers rolled through a very soft preseason slate undefeated last year before a difficult first half of the Big Ten season. This years nonconference schedule was an upgrade. The Gophers only loss came to a ranked Missouri State team that is currently third in the RPI ratings. The Gophers have beaten a then-ranked Arizona State team and won at Notre Dame still a quality win despite the Irish being in a rebuilding season.

Were in a good place, Whalen said. I like where our guys are at mentally, where the team is, where the chemistry is at.

Lehigh is a Pennsylvania school with six Minnesotans on the roster. All six played in the North Tartan AAU program. The pipeline started with Hannah Hedstrom, who won a state title with Minnetonka. Both her mother, Mary, and older sister, Joanna, played for the Gophers. But Hannahs decision to go to Lehigh started a regular stream of players from Minnesota, including Megan Walker, Hedstroms teammate at Minnetonka. The others are Anna Harvey (Lakeville South), Frannie Hottinger (Cretin-Derham Hall), Emma Grothaus (Mahtomedi) and Mariah Sexe (East Ridge).

The 7-2 Mountain Hawks use a full-court zone press.

We need to take care of the ball, Whalen said. They force 19 turnovers a game. That and rebounding have been our focus.

As for rotations, Whalen has yet to decide who will be Taiye Bellos backup in the post. Her sister, Kehinde Bello, freshman Klarke Sconiers and Barbora Tomancova are competing there.

In the backcourt, freshman Jasmine Powell will get big minutes off the bench. Mercedes Staples decision to enter the transfer portal has given Masha Adashchyk an opportunity, too.

But, overall, Whalen feels confident. Destiny Pitts growth continues. And the return of Gadiva Hubbard who missed last season because of injury has been a big boost. Pitts (15.6 points per game) and Hubbard (13.3) give the team a 1-2 punch from the outside. Taiye Bello is averaging a double-double and freshman guard Sara Scalia has played well.

We havent played for a week, Whalen said. We just had finals. I want to see them come out strong.

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Lindsay Whalen pleased with Gophers women's basketball team's progress in 9-1 start - Minneapolis Star Tribune

HEARTLAND FLOOD: Long process of levee repair marks progress – WOWT

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OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) -- Ten months deep into the flood damage of 2019, Army Corps of Engineers teams continue patching together a broken flood protection system.

The Omaha District has closed two outlet breaches on the Missouri River Levee System L-575 - the fourth and fifth such closures.

The latest work provides an initial level of flood risk management to the area behind this downstream portion of the levee. Crews will now continue repairs on these breach locations while also focusing on the two remaining outlet breaches.

Corina Zhang, L-575 project resident engineer, said, The team remains focused on repairing the substantial damages caused by the 2019 flooding to the L-575 levee system, as we understand how important rehabilitating this levee as soon as possible is to the communities and landowners behind the levee."

The work continues as the weather allows.

The Omaha District has also awarded a $6.5 million construction contract to Youngs General Contracting, Inc. of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. That contract will repair the L-561 Nishnabotna and High Creek Levee system, which is a left bank tributary levee system.

This is the ninth contract awarded to fully repair a tributary levee system and the first to be awarded in the state of Missouri by the Omaha District.

Brent Cossette, Project Manager for the Omaha District Systems Restoration Team, said, While a lot of the focus has been on the Missouri River Levee Systems, we also continue to have teams committed to restoring the smaller tributary levee systems as quickly as possible. We understand that these levee systems are vital to small communities and farmers across the Omaha Districts area of responsibility.

There are more than 500 miles of levees on the Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn rivers, and tributaries that experienced significant flood damage since March 2019.

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HEARTLAND FLOOD: Long process of levee repair marks progress - WOWT

Homeless and sick: One Seattle man’s path shows the slow pace of progress – Crosscut

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Since he last spoke with Crosscut last summer, some things have improved for Daniels. Surgery to remove 35 polyps from his colon was successful, and his doctors recommended against chemotherapy. The procedure was minimal enough that they were able to rebuild his colon and remove the colostomy bag affixed to his abdomen.

Daniels has also found a line to an apartment, finally. Its in an affordable housing development for people 55 and up (Daniels is 57) off of Rainier Avenue.

But Daniels must keep waiting, for just a little longer, he hopes. Hes been approved for disability income, but the paperwork hasnt come through yet, and he doesnt know when it will. Until that happens, he cannot move into his new apartment, for which he must pay a third of his monthly $771 Social Security check.

Everything is up for grabs, but nothing is definite yet, he said, sitting at a table in the center of the cavernous shelter, whichshares a wall with Seattles Coast Guard outpost. I feel positive about everything. I know things will fall into place, but not in my time. Im ready now, the apartment is ready now, but I dont have it in my hand.

Before he got sick, Daniels worked as a mover. He had jobs all over the countrymoving furniture and boxes for people, most recently in San Franciscobefore he moved to Seattle.

Jobs were slow to come here and, rather than burden friends, Daniels moved into St. Martin de Porres. He assumed it would be temporary until he found consistent work. But then came the pains in stomach, like knives, he said. After a visit to the emergency room, doctors found a tumor on his colon and a slew of concerning polyps.

Following a surgery, his core strength was decimated, his body was fragile, and moving heavy objects was out of the question. He was in a place he never thought hed be: homeless without a clear plan for escape.

Daniels story is increasingly common, as Crosscut reported last summer. People of his age latter-half baby boomers are less financially secure than their older peers and are among the most vulnerable to homelessness. As they age, theyre growing sicker, throwing new people into homelessness and overwhelming shelters ill-equipped to handle serious health issues.

St. Martin de Porres has been accommodating for Daniels, letting him stay during the day. Mostof the other 200 men must leave. There is a nurse who comes sometimes to help with sick clients, but thats it.

Theyve been very supportive with what they have, he said.

Daniels mat is in afar corner. After the surgery, it was hard for him to climb up off the floor. His colostomy bag needed constant attention and emptying; when the lines to the bathroom were long, it would spill sometimes.

Im just tired of being around so many guys, he said. Thats the toughest part.

Its a relief for Daniels to have ditched the colostomy bag. But he still feels fragile and he worries about whether a tumor could return. Hed like to work, but he cant lift anything heavy and is unsure what else to do.

He found the apartment with help from a case manager at St. Martin de Porres. Around the same time, he also got word he had qualified for disability income.

That felt really, really great, he said. Everything is happening at one time: the housing coming through, the disability being approved. Those are the main things I need: Money and a roof over my head.

When the disability does come through and he can claim the apartment, Daniels said he wont sit idly.

Even if I move slow at the pace of a turtle, still I want to be going forward, he said. Its just that you run into these walls and you have no power or control over the circumstances of the situation. Thats pretty much where I am now. Ive done all I can do; Ive done all Im supposed to do.

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Homeless and sick: One Seattle man's path shows the slow pace of progress - Crosscut

A boom, a backlash, and a reckoning with Big Tech – The Boston Globe

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Sing, O Muse, of geeks in garages. Then tell of Big Technologys fall.

Somewhere an epic tale is taking shape, and it goes something like this: Once, we found ourselves in a garden of information. Facts would set the world free. But too late we discovered that rumor, falsehood, and molten hatred could course along the pathways meant for truth. Age-old human impulses proved as adaptable as cockroaches, and have planted their flag in our new digital utopia.

Heightened by misgivings over the 2016 election, the backlash against Big Technology is now in full swing. The coming year promises new efforts to hold it to account, as Congress considers antitrust action and privacy initiatives, and Americans fret over the misuse of their personal data.

Until our great epic arrives, the growing spate of books on the Internets dark side will have to do. In The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, Shoshana Zuboff lays important groundwork, conceding that her exhaustive study is just an initial mapping of the terrain.

An emerita professor at Harvard Business School, Zuboff began studying the rise of surveillance capitalism (her coinage) in 2006. Today, her alarm is palpable. In her estimation, virtually all of us are now imprisoned in a digital cage. A new, unprecedented form of power has entered the world. Promising greater connection, it concentrates might among a small number of companies. These companies have not naturally advanced the world toward the democratization of knowledge; instead, their formidable power serves commercial ends, through the manipulation of human behavior. Americans caught in this Faustian snare can either be defensive or pretend nothing is happening, but they cannot escape. If Zuboff is right, only a new era of progressive reform can save us.

Like most writers on what Big Tech has wrought, she ponders its prime movers, describing their mind-set as radical indifference. In The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America, Margaret OMara identifies an anti-authoritarian streak among the founders, tracing their mentality to post-Vietnam disillusionment. Her wonderfully accessible history of Big Technology spans 50-plus years, and brings home just how extraordinary the rise of the digital world has been.

As OMara notes, the key players combined disdain for authority with an entrepreneurial fervor. Both fell nicely into the political slipstream of the Reagan years. Yet as she also demonstrates, to a large but underappreciated extent, government aided the rise of Silicon Valley. By opening the Internet to commercial activity in the early 1990s, it provided a crucial foothold. As tech companies grew, politicians hung back from intervening, partly because they did not understand what they were regulating.

Big Tech was tightly controlled by a coterie whose heedless, white male ethos masqueraded as the free market. Nevertheless, OMara tends to give these titans the benefit of the doubt: Geeks caught up in designing cool stuff could not be expected to reckon with bad actors exploiting their creations.

Journalist Noam Cohen suggests, to the contrary, that todays tech billionaires have simply been masters at letting themselves off the hook. If anything unites them, it is their shared belief in their own benevolence. In The Know-it-Alls: The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball, Cohen presents a digital-age rogues gallery.

Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and others figure in a set of interlinked portraits illustrating how Big Techs disruptive dream darkened, infecting the world with a libertarian outlook that has been great for winners but destructive for almost everyone else. Amid Cohens hard-nosed cast is Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, still evidently resentful toward his upbringing in small-town Wisconsin. Cohen wonders, not altogether facetiously, whether the world is being made to answer for Andreessens years of chopping wood and suffering through gym class.

New Yorker writer Andrew Marantz presents the Big Tech players as, primarily, naive optimists. In Anti-social: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation, he probes the destructive forces unleashed by their creations.

For years, online social networks have been used to promote a white nationalist agenda. Intrigued, Marantz entered the world of right-wing extremists and returned a changed man. While outlets such as Twitter and Facebook have begun to crack down, their overlords still seek cover in a First-Amendment absolutism.

The most disheartening aspect of Marantzs journey may be the fierce animosity toward mainstream news organizations he encountered along the way. Thanks partly to algorithms that tap into high arousal emotions, we seem locked in an inane contest between globalist elites and the real Americans. Marantz has turned into a reluctant institutionalist, defending the role of traditional media in what may be an emerging form of conservatism. In the meantime, he and others are creating a vital chronicle of an unprecedented era.

M.J. Andersen is an author and journalist who writes frequently on the arts.

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A boom, a backlash, and a reckoning with Big Tech - The Boston Globe

The Best Game of 2019 Can Only Be Explained With Incredible Tweets – VICE

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The older I get, the more I know what I want out of a video game, and 2019 simply didn't have a lot of it. Every year has its high points and low points, and 2019 was no different in that respect. But this is the first time in a long time that I struggled coming up with 10 new games I played this year, let alone 10 new games that I really loved.

For that reason, I'm commemorating 2019 with a list not just of my favorite games, but the games that defined it for me, for better or worse.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint

I loved Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and was extremely excited to play this followup. Much like Rob Zacny, I liked it more than most reviewers because it provided a precarious power fantasy. When I was focused and careful, I was an elite soldier sneaking through tech company campuses on a libretarian island state utopia, dispatching dozens of enemies before they even knew I was there. But when I made one wrong move and tripped an alarm, I was suddenly running scared into the bushes, with a dozen autonomous drones taking easy shots at my big red ass. Breakpoint is mostly what I wanted, which is more Wildlands with touches of Silicon Valley revenge fantasy. But in the end, even I was overwhelmed by its deluge of map icons and activities. More importantly, I desperately missed the three AI squad members from Wildlands, which were delightfully overpowered.

The Division 2

I played The Division 2 for 60 hours and here's what I can tell you about it:

It was a fun, a good thing to play when I was in the mood for something like Destiny but didn't want to play Destiny. Ultimately, it was forgettable.

Rebel Galaxy Outlaw

Some people wax nostalgic about X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter. I didn't get on board until X-Wing Alliance, but I understand the love for the mostly-dead genre, a space sim that's somewhere between Star Citizen and Rogue Squadron in its complexity.

Is Rebel Galaxy Outlaw a worthy successor to those old Star Wars games? No, not quite. But it hits some of the same notes, most notably in its dogfights, and that kept my interest for 40 hours, even though the 40th was exactly like the first.

Gears 5

I'm a sucker for Gears of War. I basically love all of them, even Judgment. Gears 5 is mostly a good Gears game when it does the Gears thing: letting me and the bois violently push through obstacles with teamwork and brute force, exploding heads along the way with a kind of pimple-popping satisfaction. But then, curiously, Gears 5 also tries to be a more open-world game, and when it tries it fails.

Borderlands 3

It is almost bold how much Borderlands 3 players like Borderlands 2, which is fine with me because I liked Borderlands 2. Much like The Division 2, it's a game that I played when I wasn't playing Destiny 2. I put a ridiculous number of hours into it over a weekend, enjoyed the gun treadmill, and then never touched it again because there were new games and new Destiny 2 content to play. Basically, much of 2019 was spent wasting time between new Destiny 2 updates, which provides the kind of rote, repetitive action that my feeble brain craves these days. Which brings me to:

Destiny 2

Destiny 2 is less of a game than it is a bad habit for me now, like smoking. It's the game I turn to in-between other games. It's grown a lot since release, and I think at this point is overall a much better, more complete package that replaces and surpasses the place that Diablo 3 had in my life previously. There's no single thing that I can say is remarkable about it, but it's comfortable, entertaining, and regularly updated with new baubles for me to chase.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

I love both of the new Wolfenstein games and could not imagine how its kinetic, over-the-top action could ever get old. Youngblood defied my imagination and showed me how: an ill-conceived progression system, copy/paste level design, and some of the spongiest bullet sponges I've ever seen in a video game.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

The pitch for Fallen Order is my favorite game of the year. A Metroid-style game with more accessible Sekiro-style combat, set in the Star Wars universe. In practice, none of it worked for me. There were a few bright moments that pulled me through to the ending, but overall the world was more annoying to traverse than it was interesting, and despite the clever way it handled difficulty, combat was either frustrating or trivial. It is also the most embarrassingly buggy big budget video game I played all year.

Crackdown 3

I never played the original Crackdown, so I was curious to see what the fuss was all about. There's barely a game here, in the big budget video game sensean epic story, innovative new features, or endgame content designed to keep players around after they finish the game. Most of what you do is collect floating orbs, which is more fun than you think but not enough. Basically, this is a game about jumping really damn high. That's not enough, but on the other hand you jump so high. Like over buildings. It's not a good game but you should get in there and jump around a little bit.

The Outer Wilds

I have started playing The Outer Wilds because Austin Walker said I'd like it, and based on the first couple of hours, I probably will. It's just too soon to say for sure. I didn't have a lot of time to play games that required me to use my brain at all this year, but I suspect I will beat myself up for not playing it after this list is published.

Apex Legends

I have played many rounds of Apex Legends trying to understand the hype. I love PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds as well as the Titanfall games, but combining the two didn't work for me. Maybe the gear and characters were too complicated for me. Maybe there's only room for one battle royale game in my heart, and PUBG is it. Either way, not since The Witcher 3 have I been so confused by a game's mass appeal.

5. Void Bastards

I think one reason 2019 felt like a bad year for video games is that in recent years there have been a lot of smaller, unexpected releases that got my attention in-between tentpole releases. Void Bastards is the only game that fits that category for me in 2019. It's a first-person rogue-like with a flat comic visual style, and light immersive sim combat. Those are a lot of buzzwords smashed together but the end result is a rogue-like that I actually finished, which is something I rarely do.

4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

The new Modern Warfare is my most problematic fave. Its politics, as I wrote, are truly depressing. But I can't lie: it got its hooks into me in a way that only Call of Duty can. Its single player story is a thrilling, often deplorable rollercoaster ride that I have thought about long after I finished it. And I'm still playing the multiplayer mode regularly, which is more than I can about any other multiplayer game this year. I'm not proud of it, but when Call of Duty works there's nothing else quite like it, and this is the best game in the series in years.

3. Control

One thing I learned that I hate to do in video games is read, probably because my job is to carefully read things all day. In games like Skyrim, for example, I don't read any in-game books or other pieces of writing that expand on the world's fiction. In Control, I not only read every single piece of writing I found in the Oldest House, I actively went searching for internal Federal Bureau of Control memos just to learn more about its mysteries. Control's writing made me laugh, think, and do that annoying thing where I want to tell people who don't even care about video games all about it.

Though it falters in its final moments, it also doesn't hurt that Control is an excellent action game with shades of Max Payne and Half-Life 2's gravity gun.

2. Death Stranding

Hideo Kojima has talked a big game about Death Stranding for years, and he delivered a big game. Remember how Peter Molyneux would give wildly ambitious speeches about games, then reliably fail to deliver? Death Stranding is like one of those wildly ambitious ideas come to life. I don't think it's going to change the industry like Kojima imagines. I don't think it's an entirely new genre of game, like he says. It's a video game-ass video game, and one that I enjoyed playing a lot despite Kojima's famously indulgent and nonsensical cutscenes, which are more indulgent here than ever. But it is special, and boldly original. Out of all the games on this list, it's the one that I'm going to go back to over the break, because Kojima has somehow managed to make package delivery one of the most exciting things I've ever done in a video game.

1. Sekiro

I rest my case:

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The Best Game of 2019 Can Only Be Explained With Incredible Tweets - VICE

The 30 Best Texas Books of The Decade, from Amarillo to Utopia – The Texas Observer

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The twists and turns of these 30 Texas novels, nonfiction narratives, and other works published between January 2010 and December 2019 reveal undercurrents that run deep through our Lone Star Statea whole decades worth. All of these authors have significant Texas ties: They were born here, raised here, write here now, or had significant parts of their lives shaped by the states traditions and history.

To deliver this inclusive roundup, we sought help from the Lone Star States literati. Our informal survey turned up celebrated gemsand some surprises. Youll find multiple entries from big cities like Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and El Paso. But outstanding Texas authors also inhabit little towns like Utopia, tucked deep in the Texas Hill Country, and Groves, in Southeast Texas. Three of the darkest Texas narratives here made other lists of the nations best true crime stories: Bloodlines, Midnight in Mexico, and The Midnight Assassin.

Feel free to use this as your boilerplate request to Santa, or as an investment strategy to support icons of Lone Star State literature.

Heres our list, organized by cities closely tied to authors. Read all 30 and let us know what else youd like to add.

These nominations were compiled and edited for length and clarity by Lise Olsen.

AMARILLO

Lincoln in the Bardoby George Saunders

The life of Abraham Lincoln may seem like an improbable way into exploring the psyche of a grieving father. But through a world of spirits both demonic and benevolent, the debut novel (yes, really) from Amarillo native Saunders gives new depth to the 16th presidentnot as a politician, but as a man trying to keep it together in the face of tragedy.

Nominated by Abby Johnston, executive editor

AUSTIN

Barefoot Dogs: Storiesby Antonio Ruiz-Camacho

These interwoven stories by Ruiz-Camacho, a Dobie Paisano Fellow who lives in Austin, capture what our review called the flawed but fascinating humanity of the extended Arteaga family: five children and seven grandchildren of kidnapped family patriarch Jos Victoriano.

Nominated by Rose Cahalan, managing editor

Bloodlines: The True Story of a Drug Cartel, the FBI, and the Battle for a Horse-Racing Dynastyby Melissa del Bosque

A fascinating and fast-paced tale of how a Texan blew the whistle on a pair of brothers who laundered millions through horse racing. Del Bosques vivid, meticulous book, born from border reporting she did at the Observer, was recently selected by the New York Times as one of Texas best true crime tales.

Nominated by Lise Olsen, senior reporter and editor

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American Historyby S.C. Gwynne

The deeply researched and compelling epic tale of Quanah Parker, the Comanches last brilliant chief, is intertwined with that of his mother, a pioneer girl who built her life with the tribe after being taken captive and marrying its leader. Gwynne later went on to write about Stonewall Jackson.

Nominated by Lise Olsen

God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star Stateby Lawrence Wright

Including a book explaining Texas on a list of the best Texas books of the decade might feel a little meta, but Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wright deserves it. God Save Texas takes on a formidable task: attempting to explain why, despite its flaws, Texas is great. Wright, who now lives in Austin, originally hails from Dallas.

Nominated by Abby Johnston and Lise Olsen

Im Not Missing: A Novelby Carrie Fountain

This YA novel from Fountain, primarily known as a poet, explores a young womans life after the disappearance of her best friend. This captivated me, Observer poetry editor Naomi Shihab Nye wrote. Poets take refuge in novels on long trips and long plane flights. I held this close to my body and read it with voracious interest!

Nominated by Naomi Shihab Nye, poetry editor

See How Smallby Scott Blackwood

A riveting novel about the aftermath of the slayings of three teenage girls, See How Small is written in surreal, incantatory paragraphs. The story is based on the infamous 1991 yogurt shop murders in Austin.

Nominated by Mary Helen Specht, contributing writer and author of Migratory Animals

The Sonby Philipp Meyer

Meyer drank buffalo blood as part of his research for this sweeping Texas epic, which follows one family for six generations. Its recommended for fans of Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner, as well as anyone looking to get lost in an absorbing, expansive novel. Meyer is an alum of the University of Texas Michener Center and later adapted his book for TV.

Nominated by Rose Cahalan

The Which Way Treeby Elizabeth Crook

Our review called this book a foray into the labyrinths of family and history in Texas and an absorbing coming-of-age adventure set in post-Civil War chaos, a time when not all that many people came to all that much of an age. And, as with Im Not Missing, Naomi Shihab Ney highly recommends it as a great read for long flights.

Nominated by Naomi Shihab Nye

BROWNSVILLE

The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoirby Domingo Martinez

Martinez left Texas long ago, but his books draw deeply from his painful youth in the barrio in Brownsville, as well as his later struggles as an adult. He was coronated as a literary king when his first memoir was named a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award.

Nominated by Lilly Gonzalez, executive director of the San Antonio Book Festival

DALLAS

Love Me Backby Merritt Tierce

Tierces quirky debut novel has been described alternatively as restaurant fiction and mom fiction. She breaks out of Texas stereotypes while still representing important experiences from our stateand her narrative voice is both edgy and dark. Tierce now works as a writer for Netflix in Los Angeles, but formerly ran a nonprofit in Dallas.

Nominated by Mary Helen Specht

The Midnight Assassin: The Hunt for Americas First Serial Killerby Skip Hollandsworth

A master of truly strange Texas tales, Hollandsworth turns his attention to a 140-year-old unsolved mystery. His book brings back to life the victims of a serial ax murderer dubbed the servant girl annihilator, reopening the whodunnit debate in an extremely cold case. Like others on this list, Hollandsworth claims ties to more than one Texas cityhe spent part of his childhood in Wichita Falls.

Nominated by Lise Olsen

EL PASO

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universeby Benjamin Alire Senz

Nominator Lilly Gonzalez dubbed this coming-of-age novel set in El Paso a painful triumph. Saenz, born in New Mexico, is both a former priest and a graduate of the University of Texas El Pasos bilingual creative writing program.

Nominated by Lilly Gonzalez

Midnight in Mexico: A Reporters Journey Through a Countrys Descent into Madnessby Alfredo Corchado

Named one of the true best crime books ever by Time, this memoir delves deeply into a particularly violent chapter in Mexico history that Corchado experienced firsthandboth as a Mexican-born U.S. citizen and as a Texas journalist who returned to cover Mexico as a foreign correspondent for the Dallas Morning News. Corchado spent much of his life in El Paso, where his parents run a caf named after him.

Nominated by Lise Olsen

FRIENDSWOOD

Friendswood: A Novelby Rene Steinke

This novel is an illuminating journey inside the lives of the families who inhabit the Houston suburb of Friendswood. Everything seems normal on the surface, but the community is forever haunted and contaminated by a Superfund site. Steinke, who lives in New York but grew up in Friendswood, paints a deeply poetic and disturbing fictional portrait of her hometown.

Nominated by Lise Olsen

GALVESTON

No Apparent Distress: A Doctors Coming-of-Age on the Front Lines of American Medicineby Rachel Pearson

In lyrical prose, Pearson recounts her time working at a charity clinic for poor and uninsured patients in Galveston. Many of the people she cared for were abandoned by a local hospital in the chaos after Hurricane Ike. This searing indictment of the broken health care system is grounded in personal stories.

Nominated by Rose Cahalan

GROVES

Tropic of Squalor: Poemsby Mary Karr

Karr teaches writing at Syracuse University these days, but her roots are deep in East Texas. Her offbeat creative nonfiction is all about alcohol, insanity, and family secrets. But this 2018 poetry collection uses humor, shock, and good old-fashioned honesty to write about the divine! And Karr doesnt judge. Of course, her memoirs are must-reads too.

Nominated by Maggie Galehouse, editor of Pulse Magazine and former book editor at the Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON

Bluebird, Bluebird: A Highway 59 Mystery #1by Attica Locke

The debut of Lockes Highway 59 series, which features an African American detective in East Texas, was hailed by Publishers Weekly as a tale of racism, hatred, and, surprisingly, love. The sequel, Heaven, My Home, released in 2019, unearths even more compelling Texas secrets. Now a screenwriter and producer in Los Angeles, Locke is originally from Houston.

Nominated by Rose Cahalan

The Boy Who Loved Too Much: A True Story of Pathological Friendlinessby Jennifer Latson

A compelling narrative portrait, The Boy Who Loved Too Much follows the life of a mother raising a son with Williams syndrome, a genetic condition that prompts uncontrollable displays of love and emotion. Latson spent years observing this pair and places her readers deeply into their lives and struggles.

Nominated by Lise Olsen

Crazy Rich Asiansby Kevin Kwan

Its a little-known fact that Kwan, whose wildly popular satirical novel is set in Singapore, attended high school in the Clear Lake suburb of Houston. His prose is fresh and delicious, like bubbling champagne overflowing a glass.

Nominated by Maggie Galehouse

Lot: Storiesby Bryan Washington

Lot described parts of Houston I know but have never seen in books, and people Ive seen but never met, wrote Gwendolyn Zepeda, editor of Houston Noir. It was heartbreaking and filled me with hope. Manyagreed: Lot was nominated for this list by four people in our circle of critics.

Nominated by Gwen Zepeda, author and editor, and three others

Oleander Girl: A Novelby Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Divakaruni spins a complex cross-cultural romance and mystery. This tale plunges the reader into the life of an Indian woman on the verge of an arranged marriage who learns a secret that forces her to detour to America. Originally from India herself, Divakaruni is a professor at the University of Houstons creative writing program and has published more than a dozen novels.

The rest is here:

The 30 Best Texas Books of The Decade, from Amarillo to Utopia - The Texas Observer

What’s going on Thursday (Hanukkah Night 5)? – Brooklyn Vegan

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Dave East at Rolling Loud NYC 2019 (more by Marcus McDonald)

You can browse our fullNYC show calendarfor all of tonights shows, but here are some highlights

Dave East, Cruch Calhoun, Millyz @ PlayStation TheaterAfter a run of buzz-worthy mixtapes, Harlem rapper Dave East finally dropped his debut album Survival last month, and tonight he plays one of the last-ever Playstation Theater shows.

Yo La Tengo @ Bowery BallroomIts one of the great NYC holiday traditions: Yo La Tengo continue their 2019 Hanukkah run which will include surprise comedian and musical act openers, as well as special guests during the encore. Proceeds go to charity.

David Byrnes American Utopia @ Hudson TheatreDavid Byrne has retooled his acclaimed untethered 2018 for the Broadway stage and while the setlist and arrangements are much like what they were on his tour, songs are now threaded together with new monologues from Byrne, making for a much more theatrical experience.

Sandra Bernhard @ Joes PubSandra Bernhard plays her 10th-annual New Years run at Joes Pub, titled Sandys Holiday Extravaganza A Decade of Madness and Mayhem. Theres both an early and late show tonight, where she plans to lift you up and soothe your frazzled holiday nerves.

You can also find quality entertainment on almost any night of the week at:Barbsbar and performance space in Park Slope,Lunticoin Bed Stuy,Nubluin the East Village,Blue Notejazz club in the West Village,The Stonein multiple locations,Comedy Cellarin the West Village, andQ.E.D.comedy club in Astoria.

For all of tonights shows, and tomorrows, check out ourNYC concert calendar.

What are you doing for New Years Eve? If youre going to be in NYC, check outour NYE Guide.

STAY IN TOUCH

Find BrooklynVegan onFACEBOOKandTWITTERandINSTAGRAMandYOUTUBEandSPOTIFYand SNAPCHAT.

For even more NYC show info, follow@BVNYCshowson Twitter.

Join ourEMAIL LIST.

For even more metal, visitInvisible Orangesand follow them onFacebook&Twitter.

What else?

Read the rest here:

What's going on Thursday (Hanukkah Night 5)? - Brooklyn Vegan

What did Lexington read this year? Here are the most popular books at Cary Library in 2019 – MetroWest Daily News

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Last year, Lexingtons Cary Memorial Library was one of the largest and most popular in the state, despite the fact the towns population does not rank among the top 50 in Massachusetts. Cary Librarys 208,968 print holdings are the 11th most in the state. Also, it is the sixth busiest library in the state, coming in just behind the libraries of Boston, Newton Cambridge, Brookline, and Worcester, according to data from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. The fact Lexingtons library is able to keep pace with those of much larger communities speaks to Carys significant and longstanding importance for residents of Lexington and the surrounding area.

This popularity did not wane in 2019, as visitors to Cary expressed their interest in a wide variety of books. Below is a list of the 10 books, in order, that were most frequently checked out in Lexington this year, according to information provided by library staff.

"Becoming" byMichelle Obama

The former first ladys memoir takes the top spot in 2019. Here, Obama takes readers from her childhood in Chicago through her time at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and beyond. Critics have praised Becoming for the intimacy and candor Obama imbues her writing with.

"Educated: a memoir" byTara Westover

Lexington readers loved memoirs this year. In Educated, Westover details her childhood in Idaho, where she was raised by survivalist parents in near-isolation. After going to school for the first time at age 17, Westovers world opened up. She went on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and is now a bestselling author.

"Where the Crawdads Sing" byDelia Owens

When a North Carolina man is found dead in 1969, locals immediately suspect the marsh girl, a mysterious young woman who lives alone in the reeds outside of town. The novel that follows is one part murder mystery, one part bildungsroman, and entirely a hit with local readers.

"Transcription" by Kate Atkinson

This novel dives into and beyond the world of WWII-era espionage, following a woman who is recruited by MI5 to keep keep tabs on fascist sympathizers in England. After a time jump, her past comes to light and she must face the consequences of her actions.

"Unsheltered" by Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolvers latest tells two simultaneous stories. In one, a husband and wife struggle to make ends meet despite their best efforts. In the other, a science teacher and contemporary of Charles Darwin tries to make his voice heard in a repressive village initially envisioned as a utopia. As the tales grow, Kingsolver deftly intertwines them, creating another bestseller.

"Nine Perfect Strangers" by Liane Moriarty

The author of Big Little Lies sets her sights on a new age, remote health resort and the nine strangers who have decided to attend for a variety of reasons. Eventually, shocking secrets are uncovered about the resorts owner and the nature of their gathering there in the first place.

"The Witch Elm" byTana French

With this stand-alone thriller from the author of the Dublin Murder Squad series, French tells the story of Toby, a cocky young man whose world is upended when he is nearly beaten to death by burglars. While he struggles to recover his memory, a mysterious skull is found in a tree on the family estate and an investigation begins. Through Toby, French explores the nature and origin of upper-class white privilege while also crafting another acclaimed pageturner.

"Past Tense: A Jack Reacher Novel" by Lee Child

The latest in this long-running blockbuster series follows former soldier Jack Reacher as he searches for the truth surrounding his father in an isolated New England town.

"Normal People" by Sally Rooney

In Normal People, Rooney acquaints readers with Connell and Marianne, two childhood friends whose differences continue to draw them together through college and beyond. Critics have praised Rooneys book for its insight into class dynamics and its compelling love story.

"Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

This novel details what happens when an enigmatic single mother and her teenage daughter become tenants of Elena Richardson, a buttoned-up woman from a seemingly idyllic Midwestern suburb. Ngs book has been praised for its unflinching look at the force of motherhood and the secrets that can accompany it.

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What did Lexington read this year? Here are the most popular books at Cary Library in 2019 - MetroWest Daily News