I'll start:

4yo: Knock knock! 9yo: Who's there? 4yo: Banana! 9yo: Banana who? 4yo: Banana you glad I didn't say Orange?

Just posting this because I didn't realize it! It was shut down for several years due to Covid and actually taken over as a Covid vaccine site, but now it's back.

I explained the pedal on the right is the accelerator, it makes the car go. The one on the left is the brake, it makes the car stop.

That satisfied them for a while, until my daughter piped up, "what happens if you push both at the same time?"

Before I could answer, she said, "Oh I know, then it takes a screenshot!"

What's going on with Maprunner?

I actually thought it was a pretty good idea. There were definitely some levels where I had to use a combination of clues from the map and power-ups to get a good enough guess, which seemed like the whole point.

I think my overall opinion was that there was too much randomness, that really killed it. The choices / forks can be pretty badly imbalanced, rather than giving you good power-ups for solving a difficult map and weaker ones for solving an easier map.

That said, I was still enjoying it and advancing levels.

Then suddenly they replaced it with a version that unlocks one country at a time.

Now it's 10x worse.

First of all, it's too easy when there are only 4 possible countries for any given round. I don't see how it's possible to lose.

Second, it's horribly buggy. I have to reload the page all the time.

Third, it's not accounting for the fact that some countries have more coverage. The answer is far more likely to be in the country with the most coverage, which makes it easier than it could be.

VASAviation is a great channel, it's all real air traffic control radio communications. They've got everything from pilots landing on the wrong runway, sick or injured passengers.

If you haven't checked it out before, I think this is a great one to start with: a 17yo student pilot flying solo loses a wheel, and flight instructors provide guidance and moral support to help her land safely.

The channel is full of ATC communication from other similar incidents including everything from other successful recoveries to some fatal crashes.

At California's Great America theme park

My 4yo is just starting to get the hang of knock-knock jokes. She told this one this morning that I think turned out unintentionally pretty hilarious.

4yo: Knock knock

9yo: Who's there?

4yo: Banana

9yo: Banana who?

4yo: Banana you glad I didn't say Orange?

All of them!

It's not a holiday...but they have a 4th of July.

We bought some new roller coaster cars on BrickLink because a couple of the wheels/axles were just slightly worn and the cars wouldn't make it all the way down. Now it works great!

I was surprised at how it can still be a really creative set for the kids, they don't try to modify the track (that'd be too hard to make it work), but they have fun building it into a whole amusement park with other Lego sets and bricks.

One of the most common questions that comes up involves trouble setting up VS Code - in particular if you want to not just use it as an editor, but set it up to fully run and debug your code.

Obviously the details vary by platform on language, so I'd welcome any resources you think are particularly good that specifically walk a beginner through how to set up VS Code on Windows with Python, or how to set up VS Code on macOS with C++, etc.

Direct link but you can find it on most streaming services.

I've been a fan of Gary Burton (vibraphone) for years, but this is the first album where I discovered Makoto Ozone (piano).

I love the piano / vibraphone combination. There are very few other pairs of instruments that are so equally matched in playing together and accompanying the other while one solos. Piano/Guitar is the only other combination that works just as well in my opinion. But with piano/vibraphone, and these two in particular, the accompaniment style is so percussive that all of the up-tempo pieces just have a fantastic groove and sense of rhythm even with no bass of drums.

I love the drawing and the spelling

I grew up going to church but I'm not religious now and I never really understood this part.

Please, no answers along the lines of "aha, that's why Christianity is a sham" or "religions aren't logical". I don't want to debate whether it's right or wrong, I just want to understand the logic and reasoning that Christians use to explain this.

Tears of the Magic Kingdom

I've got a table saw, a cordless power drill, and wood screws. I was going to run to Home Depot for the wood and any other supplies I might need.

Any tips?

My favorite part is the mom's expression in the 3rd panel

This is our third child. We thought we knew what we were doing, at least a tiny bit. Both of her siblings by 4 had figured out that everyone else in the family has wants and needs too and that the world doesn't revolve around them.

4yo mini is growing and maturing in most other ways. She just really struggles with not getting her way.

A typical conversation:

• Mini: I want my pink bunny
• Dad: You can have your bunny when we get home, but right now we're going to school (preschool), and we're not going to turn around. Also, stuffed animals from home aren't allowed at school.
• Mini: But I want it!
• Dad: It's okay to be sad. You'll see pink bunny soon. You have your teddy bear in the car, hug him.
• Mini: I don't want teddy bear. I want pink bunny!
• Dad: We don't always get all of the things we want. It's okay to be sad, but we're not getting pink bunny now. We're already on the way to school and your brother and sister don't want to be late.
• Mini: But I want it!
• Dad: Sorry
• Mini: (5-minute tantrum)
• Mini: (Eventually gets tired of crying or gets distracted) Let's play I Spy!

Any tips? Anyone else have children that struggled to understand they can't have everything they want at that age?

I'm especially interested in different ways to phrase it, games, role-play, etc. - anything to help get the concept through and have fewer tantrums.