Does it seem odd to anyone else

that a religious holiday once created to honour "saints" with no personal day of their own on the then religious calendar, would become deprecated in most of the Western world, while "All Hallows' Eve" (=the evening before said "All Saints' Day") should become both a "dress-up and beg for candy" day and one to enjoy being frightened by symbols of death and evil?

On the one hand,

Apple iCooked up a "scary fast" event this Halloween Eve-- doubling down on the path of having and holding the silicon goodies in-house--with the release of desktops and laptops employing the third generation of their very own and very powerful CPU/GPU. Yes, Intel was quick to promote their own latest generation of chips as equally powerful, but...ahem, using about two and a half times the electricity. It was for wattage, and therefore heat generation and the consequent battery (lack of) life that Apple once upon a time moved from the PowerPC chip to Intel, and latterly much the same considerations have driven the more recent move. The Spy's M2 MacBookPro might have a cooling fan, but if so, he doesn't know what it sounds like.

Items of note include the final demise of the touch bar few people ever used, and claims that iPhone cameras are now in the professional video capture class--at least, provided they are backed up by a whole studio full of high class shooting and processing accessories. Apparently, though, the lightning supply chain is still useful, as input devices continue to sport those ports despite the ascendancy of USC-C for most such purposes elsewhere.

It is positive though that Apple hasn't forgotten the computer in the face of the almost obscene profit machine the iPhone has become. Next up, with a twelve to eighteen month horizon, more Apple silicon, this time for phone modems. Apparently that's something harder to create than the iCook anticipated, as it was once thought the Qualcomm umbilical cord would be cut before now, in the process adding multiple more billions to the Apple bottom line after the company dispenses with paying royalties.

What to do with all that lolly the company has stashed and is stashing away in domestic and offshore banks? Perhaps a major stock repurchase is on the horizon. On the other hand, should Elon Musk's spiral into bankruptcy continue, perhaps Apple could buy Starlink from the court disposal sale rather creating their own network, as the Spy has long thought the company would do. On the same hand, a bid on Tesla might be found preferable to continue trying to develop their own electric cars and trucks. 'Course, there could also come a point when an anti-trust suit against his colossus company might be found on the iCook's own menu.

On the gripping hand,

as the late Jerry Pournelle was wont to commence alternative narratives, people ought to be very afraid for the potential demise of democracy, which is once again a serious and pressing likelihood. Much as in the 1930's, we are seeing an explosion of would-be dictators of both the far "left" and/or the far "right" (really pretty much the same thing) lusting after, even achieving power. The political rhetoric around putative agendas trumpeted by these wanna-be tyrants is of no particular importance, for none of their ilk are ever policy driven. Rather, all are motivated, energized, and addicted to the abuse of whatever authority that either comes with the office they crave, or can be seized by it once they seize it. Their real agendas can all be summed up as satisfying their whims at any given moment, rewarding their current friends, and punishing or disposing of whomever they perceive as enemies--and to disagree with such a "great one" in any particular, no matter how small or transient a matter, is to instantly become just such a redundant enemy.

The process of getting there is all about hatred and lies--and so easily spread via technology. The revolutionaries and assorted terrorists inhabiting the many world's jungles (some of them urban ones) stake their demands for support on the real or imaginary misdeeds of those currently in power, citing "injustice", "election fraud", "corruption", or worse, demonizing or racist slanders, while promoting themselves as "persecuted", "saviour", "swamp cleaner", "friend of the downtrodden", and "great champion of justice and the national sovereignty". All the while they amass money, weapons, and followers equally devoid of concern for others and likewise eager for a share of the spoils--of which there will be plenty, for the whole mindset and technique of that lot results in nothing but.

Spoil they will as they take it out on the demonized . The "left wing" or "right wing" labels they or others may scribble above them are likewise irrelevant--empty words like all their others. What difference do such smoke and mirrors make once egotistical haters gain power and unleash a reign of terror on anyone with the temerity to challenge their lusts? Vote for such a one and you are more likely to host a bullet before you ever hold another ballot. Ask the ordinary Ivan on the street in Russia or Ukraine.

Should Canada's neighbour to the south swirl down this drain, thereby abdicating as leader of the free world, would the remaining democracies have the means or will to stop the Xis and Putins from imposing their own soul crushing will on Asia and Europe, and by default collecting Africa and the South-Central Americas into their orbit? It seems unlikely.

Good thing God is ultimately in charge, for we humans do have a propensity to self destruction. But he may just let us wallow in it for a time, so as to begin suspecting the truth that his ways are better than ours. Or, he may instead decide to just wind the whole thing up this time.

And on the generous hand,

Christmas is now less than two months away. Have you bought your (insert "wife's"/"mother's"/"children's"/"grandchildren's") present yet? Have you already endowed your local food bank, kettle, or charity kitchen? You may find yourself one of the latter's client's someday.

--The Northern Spy

Opinions expressed here are entirely the author's own, and no endorsement is implied by any community or organization to which he may be attached. Rick Sutcliffe, (a.k.a. The Northern Spy) is professor of Computing Science and Mathematics and Assistant Dean of Science at Canada's Trinity Western University. He completed his fifty-third year as a high school and university teacher in 2023. He has been involved as a member of or consultant with the boards of several organizations, and participated in developing industry standards at the national and international level. He was co-author of the Modula-2 programming language R10 dialect project. He is a long time technology author and has written two textbooks and ten alternate history SF novels, one named best ePublished SF novel for 2003. His various columns have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers (dead tree and online formats) since the early 1980s, and he's been a regular speaker at churches, schools, academic meetings, and other conferences. He and his wife Joyce celebrated their fiftieth anniversary in 2019 and lived in the Langley/Aldergrove/Bradner area of B.C. from 1969 to 2021, where he latterly continues alone, depending heavily on family and friends to manage.

URL s for Rick Sutcliffe's Arjay Enterprises:

The Northern Spy Home Page: https://www.TheNorthernSpy.com

opundo : https://opundo.com

Sheaves Christian Resources : https://sheaves.org

WebNameHost : https://www.WebNameHost.net

WebNameSource : https://www.WebNameSource.net

nameman : https://nameman.net

General URLs for Rick Sutcliffe's Books:

Author Site: https://www.arjay.ca

TechEthics Site (Fourth edition of text; the fifth is in preparation) : httpss://www.arjaybooks.com/EthTech/index.htm

Publisher's Site: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Richard-Sutcliffe.html