The Guardian reviewed a new study that shows that those in Western countries have no idea what percentage of their populations are Muslim. In every country examined, the population’s estimates were many times higher than reality. For example, respondents assumed that one in six individuals living in the US is Muslim, while in reality, it’s closer to one in 100. https://www.theguardian.com/society/datablog/2016/dec/13/europeans-massively-overestimate-muslim-population-poll-shows

In 1938, Ella Fitzgerald sang her first big hit, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” for a national audience on CBS Radio. Now, a global audience has access to this performance again — thanks to the discovery and restoration of the Savory Collection, a legendary private trove of nearly 1,000 recordings that haven’t been heard by the general public since the 1930s. The National Jazz Museum in Harlem acquired them in 2010, and today they’re beginning to make their way to a new generation of jazz fans.

We haven’t checked our own mail in over a month, but we’ve been regularly checking a friend’s mail during that time. This is the unfortunate effect of using a PO box; with the busyness of the Christmas holiday, we really only receive mail for eleven months out of the year. I can’t think of a single other downside to relying on a post office box, though.

Cyrus Farivar writes in Ars Technica about a California man’s misadventure with a laser pointer, and the devastating consequences of aiming it at an aircraft. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/12/a-three-second-laser-strike-cost-barry-bowser-everything/

After a few weeks of temperatures cold enough that we closed our windows and turned on the heat, Ventura is finally warming up. It’s nice to have fresh air and a gentle breeze again, and the ambient noise that comes with open windows. I feel less cooped up.

I’m a huge fan of the growing “internet of things” movement, as I frequently write about on ethitter.com; that doesn’t mean I can’t laugh at the absurd things some manufacturers concoct. Internet of Shit is hilarious for this: https://twitter.com/internetofshit. The second account parodies Ice T’s character from Law & Order: SVU, Fin Tutuola, warning of “future drugs” and their crazy consequences for the nation’s youth: https://twitter.com/icetsvu.

As reported last week by Fortune, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging where patent lawsuits are filed. As has been widely reported, notably by NPR’s This American Life, the individuals behind malicious patent lawsuits have found favorable venues, such as the Eastern District of Texas, in which to file their suits, even though it’s rare for the suit or those involved to have any connection to the area.

Better settle in for a lengthy cheese-eating session. According to a story from Vox, the amount of excess cheese in storage works out to 3 pounds per person in America, on top of the 36 pounds the typical American already consumes in a year. http://www.vox.com/2016/10/13/13268980/cheese-glut-united-states