by David Brooks | Apr 9, 2020 | Blog, Newsletter
(UPDATE: IBM wants to train more COBOL programmers.) Regular readers will remember my 2018 story about the state upgrading its tax system because they were still running COBOL. After it ran I heard from COBOL programmers as far away as Brazil who offered their...
by David Brooks | Apr 9, 2020 | Blog, Newsletter
NHPR reporter Sam Evans-Brown pointed out an interesting electric-power experiment going on in New England: By coincidence, our nuclear power plants have all been offline for a few days. (Some were undergoing refueling, which happens every spring when demand dips, and...
by David Brooks | Apr 8, 2020 | Blog, Newsletter
Apologies to William Shakespeare, but these days when we step outside most of us become miniature COVID Hamlets and start to soliloquize: “To mask or not to mask – that is the question.” It’s not that we’re poetic, it’s that we’re confused. Which is understandable...
by David Brooks | Apr 7, 2020 | Blog, Newsletter
(While reading this story, you might want to play this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2CWfSLyjx8) Here’s yet another surprising effect that COVID-19 has produced in everyday life: Stripping once inside the front door has become routine. As you’ve probably guessed,...
by David Brooks | Apr 6, 2020 | Blog, Newsletter
When you’re staying at home, you’re not driving. The number of trips by cars and trucks paying to go through tolls on New Hampshire turnpike system fell below 1 million last week, maybe for the first time ever since all the tolls were set up. Car trips are...
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