"This site focuses on my visits to international tripoints [a tripoint is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries meet], borders, and areas of geographical interest. The main focus of the site is outlined in the areas of interest below which will be reflected within my visits reports and within designated sections of the website. As part of a wider group of enthusiasts, I will provide links to their contributions in documenting the points where countries meet. I hope that you find the content of interest, and please do contact me if you have any questions and comments."
Below, the tripoint between Belarus, Latvia, and Lithuania.
I stumbled on this 2019 HBO series last night while noodling around various apps for something to watch.
I guess when it initially came out I was so overwhelmed by the praise and love for the show that I did what I sometimes do when that happens, namely go in the other direction.
After seven years it's time.
Very much looking forward to 7 more episodes of Season 1 plus 2 more episodes called Specials, then 8 more in Season 2.
But wait, there's more!
Season 3 starts April 12, which gives me about 5 weeks to get up to speed.
The reason I love it so much — and have had it on my fridge ever since I first saw it in the magazine and cut it out — is because it perfectly captures what I call my pathological patience.
Back in the day I would remain on hold for a really, really long time: I'm talking an hour or more.
Have you ever remained on hold for an hour or more?
Didn't think so.
FunFact: My mother was a New Yorker subscriber from as far back as I can remember and I read it cover to cover as soon as I could.
I started subscribing when I was in college and continued for about 50 years, dropping it around 2015.
Potentially life–saving in an airway emergency, especially when the Heimlich maneuver fails.
Designed in 1970 (!) by Ronald J. French, an American otolaryngologist, it took over a quarter–century until Prestige Products began manufacturing it in 1996.
56 years later, I've yet to see an ad for it or any other sign that this remarkable device exists.
It's a tracheotomy kit that can be conveniently carried on a key ring.
Simple, elegant, and powerful in its ability to save a life.
As a rule, emergency tracheotomies don't work very well for two reasons:
1) They're not performed until the individual's already had a cardiac arrest.
2) The design and function of existing emergency trach kits leave much to be desired.
Dr. French's device won't help with the first problem but it darn sure might with the second.
Hope I never get a chance to use mine — if I do, you'll read about it here.
Watch authentic Ancient Egyptian stone carving as sculptor and stone carver Miriam Johnson hand-carves hieroglyphs using just a mallet and chisel.
Watch the detailed process as she creates a cartouche (oval-shaped frame displaying a royal name frame) which spells Pharaoh Khufu, using both sunken relief and raised relief techniques.
Filmed with natural sound only, this video features unintentional ASMR stone carving sounds — the rhythmic tapping of hammer and chisel against stone, just like artisans would have worked in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago.
Pharaoh Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid, is one of the most famous rulers of ancient Egypt.
His name, written in hieroglyphs inside a cartouche, symbolises royal authority and divine kingship.
Well, let's do the math: 24 frames x 60 seconds = 1,440 frames make up 1 minute of a movie; let's say the film is mercifully short, say, oh, 80 minutes long: that makes 80 x 1,440 = 115,200 frames.
Divided by 60 (that gives us how many minutes it will take to look at each frame at a rate of 1 frame/second) = 1,885 minutes.
Divided by 60 (to convert to hours) = 31.4 hours.
So if you could keep up that pace for 8 hours a day, it would take you four days to "watch" that movie.
You can see how, at the end of the fourth day, the story might not be anywhere near as vivid and absorbing as if you watched the movie as it was meant to be seen.
24 frames, one/second, vs. 24 frames/second.
A picture book vs. a movie: they're completely different experiences and they affect you in different ways.
Who, looking at a book of pictures, could have predicted or imagined the power and depth and consciousness–altering effects of movies?
He addressed myriad topics head–on with a refreshing "no sacred cows" approach.
For example, his Washington Post Food section column debunking what he called the myth of planking fish, especially salmon, to produce a unique and delicious flavor.
Here's his piece (from the newspaper — not of fish, booboo...).
Believe What You Will, I Still Say Planking Is a Gimmick
From a reader: I have read your column with great enthusiasm and interest over the last 10 years. I usually find it to be educational and helpful, and I had assumed well researched. Your planking story was a huge disappointment because you have many facts wrong and your research was lacking.
Wolke: Oh, yeah? Well, I may be wrong, but so are you!
My column has run for about eight years, not 10.
Seriously, I do welcome comments of all sorts from my readers.
Yours is not the only reproof I received following my skeptical column about cooking salmon on a cedar plank.
I said the wood added little or no flavor beyond that of its smoke when it chars, and I questioned whether the early Northwest Indians really did cook on planks, lacking as they did steel saws and lumber mills.
Here are some comments from readers who took me to task.
• From the chairman of a university anthropology department: "Aboriginals . . . on the Northwest coast were making stone axes, mauls, adzes, and wedges there by 4400 B.C. The mauls and wedges were used to split straight-grained cedar logs into planks, which they used for building houses and boats as well as (presumably) planking salmon. So while they didn't have lumber mills with band saws they were nevertheless able to make lots of cedar planks. Now I'll just have to try it [planking] myself."
• From a chef: "I attended a multi-day seminar at the Smithsonian on fish and seafood. A wonderful presentation was given by a Native American from the Pacific Northwest about the 3-day salmon festival that is still held in various places by different tribes.... As for the salmon, it is prepared the same way it has been for millennia: Make a big fire, butterfly the salmon and make a cedar slat frame that can be held in the ground, vertically around the fire.... The women... move the apparatus to the correct heat, where you can hold your palm up to the fire for 5 seconds. The searing holds the juices inside and the salmon, when done, literally bursts with juices and flavor when it is punctured.
"You only steamed and smoked your fish. To do it correctly requires indirect heat (half of your grill). Cedar shingles work better and can be purchased at Home Depot ready to go (untreated bundle). Soak them, layer with sliced onions and lemon and top with dill, salt, and pepper and put into a 450-degree or hotter grill. Roast at high temperature for 20 minutes or until done. If it has not created a crunchy crust, you cooked it at too low a temperature."
Well, sorry, folks, but I still must wonder whether the good flavor of planked salmon, done either way, isn't due to the high-temperature searing, rather than to the infusion of any unique "cedar chemicals" into the fish.
The following Q&A, I believe, reinforces my position.
Q. When purchasing cedar some years ago to line a closet shelf, I found that regular cedar (such as you probably bought at Home Depot) is not the same as "aromatic cedar." I had to go to a specialty lumber store in the Washington, D.C., area to find the aromatic kind. I wonder if the early Northwest Indians had an even more aromatic type of cedar that they used to plank their fish?
A. No, oddly enough it's the other way around; the Indians' wood was substantially less aromatic.
The USDA Forest Service's Tree List catalogues nine species whose common names include the word "cedar," only a few of which belong to the true cedar genus Cedrus .
The aromatic Eastern Red Cedar, actually a juniper tree, Juniperus virginiana, has the property of repelling clothes moths and has long been used in cedar chests and closet linings. But it doesn't grow west of the Rockies.
It is the Western Red Cedar, Thuja plicata, also known as the Giant Arborvitae, native to the Pacific Northwest, that the Chinook and other Indian tribes used for dugout canoes, totem poles, woven bark clothing, and, presumably, cooking planks.
It does not have the pungent, moth-repelling scent at all.
Maybe that's why young Native American women didn't have hope chests. (Or maybe not.)
Thus, the "cedar" the Indians used wasn't the wood we may think it was, and they used it not as a flavoring agent but only as a way of propping the fish up at the right distance from a hot fire.
The bottom line: Grilling or baking on a "cedar" plank is a gimmick.
But if you insist on buying wooden boards from "gourmet" cookware suppliers at anywhere from 20 to 60 bucks a throw, your self-esteem will require that you taste "cedar's unique, spicy, citrus-y flavor" in whatever you cook on them.
Among humpback whales, which can grow upwards of 60 feet long and weigh up to 40 tons, instances of albinism are exceedingly rare.
But when these otherworldly all-white mammals appear — such as the beloved Migaloo that was first spotted in 1991 off Australia's east coast—they inspire wonder.
Marine photographer Jono Allen captured a unique shot of a baby white humpback being nudged by its mother, taking the top prize in the 2026 World Nature Photography Awards(WNPA), in addition to winning the Underwater category.
During Dutch Design Week, Taiwanese designer Yi-Fei Chen presented her project named "Tear Gun" that collects and freezes actual tears to shoot them back at the person who caused the cry.
Brought up with a strong sense of authority, Chen was taught that disagreeing with teachers was rude.
After an altercation with her tutor about an unrealistic deadline, Chen got reprimanded for not submitting that assignment on time.
Yi-Fei Chen created this visual metaphor to show her personal struggle with speaking her mind.
The poetic concept allows the designer to channel her emotions and fight back against authority.
Tear Gun is a pistol that collects tears in a silicon pocket under the eye, freezes them in a brass bottle of dry ice, and shoots them like bullets.
Yen-An Chen used her gun to point and shoot at her tutor, showing her deepest emotion about the disagreement.
The design was Chen's final Master's project at the Design Academy of Eindhoven, visualizing her personal struggle in a poetic way.
Tear Gun is Chen's way to express her repressed emotions by using design as a vehicle to stand up for herself.
Long story from engadget short: the people who brought us the superb weather app Dark Sky — so good Apple bought it in 2020, incorporated some of its features and then shut it down in early 2023 — have kept their contractual obligations and now, free of legal constraints, bring Dark Sky's successor, called Acme Weather, to the App Store.
Above, the home screen for Acme Weather; below, Apple Weather.
Two weeks free to put it through its paces, then $25/year.
You know it's good when they don't require a credit card for the trial because they're so confident you'll want to subscribe once you use it.
My hose outlets are on the sides of my house, both near the ground next to a sloping hill that makes attaching and disconnecting them a minor pain in the butt.
I happened on this puppy the other day and thought "What a good idea."
Whether by App or Old-School Antennas, Budget-Friendly Options Abound
There’s no shortage of options for watching online videos, thanks to the many streaming services available. But what if you’re looking for on-the-go live television for your phone or tablet?
If you already have a few subscriptions to platforms and shows and your budget is maxed out, you don’t need to pay for another service to watch real-time news and other programming. (You will, however, probably need to wait through commercial breaks and some targeted advertising based on your viewing habits.)
Here’s an overview of what’s out there.
If You've Switched From Cable ...
First of all, if you already subscribe to a multichannel cable-alternative service to watch on your TV set — think YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV, Philo, Sling, DISH or the Fubo Sports Network — you should also be able to watch on your phone or tablet. Download the company's app, and log in with your username and password. When you're not hooked up to Wi-Fi, you can casually stream over a cellular connection if you have enough data on your plan.
Amazon Prime Video has a Live TV tab with hundreds of channels, including news programs from local television stations around the country. Some content was consolidated from Amazon's former FreeVee app, which was phased out, but that content is still free on Amazon's site, even for nonsubscribers.
If 'Free' Is the Right Price ...
Beyond Amazon’s free content, there is no shortage of apps for “free ad-supported streaming television,” a category whose name is often shortened to FAST.
The programming contains commercials that you can’t skip. However, the content (typically a mix of older movies, classic TV shows and live programming) usually doesn’t require a credit card to view. With some services, you don’t even need to create an account to start watching — just download the app and go.
Plex, Pluto TV, the Roku Channel (which does not require Roku hardware), Tubi, and Xumo Play are among the bigger FAST services offering live news and selected sports content, alongside movies and shows. Samsung TV Plus is a free service for Samsung devices, and LocalNow focuses on regional weather and headlines.
The programs vary, and some channels are available on several platforms. But since you’re not committing to a paid subscription, you can sample services to find the one (or ones) you like best.
If you’re looking for family programming, Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus and Tubi are among the services with sections dedicated to children’s content. The PBS Kids Video and Sensical apps also offer free shows for children.
Some subscription services also have free live TV channels. These include Sling’s Freestream and Philo’s free section, which both offer BBC News. And if you’re looking primarily for headlines, most of the major U.S. national TV networks and many local station affiliates have their own streaming news apps.
If You Use an Antenna ...
Long before cable and internet providers began delivering television, people could freely pull broadcast signals out of the airwaves using an antenna. If you’re still an antenna user, you can stream live TV to your devices over an internet connection with tools like Channels ($80 a year) or Tablo ($100 and up).
But what if you have no Wi-Fi or cellular connection — or even lack electrical power after a storm or other incident? If you can keep your device charged (a solar panel or hand-cranked battery comes in handy), a tiny TV tuner connected to your device may still be able to grab nearby broadcast signals so you can stay up-to-date.
When shopping for tuners, read the manufacturer specifications and user reviews carefully. Some products may not work with Samsung gear or are not compatible in North America.
The MyGica TV tuner kit comes with two small antennas for signal reception. It requires the free PadTV HD app, available in the Google Play Store, as well as on the manufacturer’s site, and has mixed reviews. In tests on a Google Pixel 10 phone, the MyGica scanned and displayed several broadcast channels in the middle of Manhattan, including WNBC and WCBS, although stations with weaker signals were choppy or froze.
Using an antenna or an ad-supported service to watch TV may seem like a 20th-century throwback, but you’ll have plenty to view without breaking the bank.
I bought one of these many years ago because my basement floor is concrete and I sometimes I find myself going back and forth between my workbench and whatever it is I'm doing.
Whizzing around on this wheeled seat adds pizzazz.
Turns out the HVAC guy who comes by every six months to check and adjust my heat pump and oil furnace loves it because otherwise he has to kneel or sit on the floor to do stuff.
Nice features besides the wheels:
• 360° swivel seat
• Padded backrest
• Height adjustable
• Holds up to 300 lbs
• Tray for tools and parts
Preparing this post I checked around and found prices up over $300: don't go there.
The other day I was doing something close to nothing (but different than the day before) when I got to thinking about how quick and easy — and free! — it is these days to manage my hair.
About ten years ago I bought a fancy professional-grade hair cutting scissors that, believe it or not, I have never once used for anything other than cutting my hair.
As time has passed it has become more and more obvious that I almost didn't wake up from the erroneous belief that hair should be cut by a professional.
I did the math and it turns out I've probably spent around $10,000-$20,000 since I left for college and started paying for my own haircuts.
It could be more.
That's not even taking into account all the time I've wasted over the decades, thousands of hours travelling to and from barber shops and hair salons, arriving early, then vegetating while I wait for the barbers/stylists who are always running behind.
Not to mention making small talk when I'd rather not, and listening to that around me.
And paying for parking.
But the cherry on the sundae is that never have I been happy with my professional haircut, not when I first look in the mirror at the shop and not the next morning and thereafter at home.
What was I thinking????
I love cutting my own hair: it's super-fast and fun when I'm done and look in the mirror it looks just the way I want it to.
