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“At every moment you are the one who shapes your own character.” -- Marcus Aurelius ( 'Meditations' circa 172-174 CE)
Hope College | Allegan County Michigan
ALWAYS OPEN
Stuffed Cabbage
A popular Eastern Europe dish made with readily available ingredients. It evolved as people migrated to North America; with different regions making their own variations with rice and meat fillings and cream sauces found in "America's Dairlyland". Link to Ukrainian hostess preparing authentic "Holubtsi"
Words Matter
"If you trust government, you obviously failed history class." -- Senator John Neely Kennedy (Louisiana)
English for Technical Professionals
A 14-hour online learning program designed to provide non-native English speakers with a working knowledge of English techniques and vocabulary that are essential for working in today’s global technical workplace.
Lingua Franca
A vast continually changing topic. Today at 16:00 UTC we limit our discussion to language changes in the catalogs of consensus standards developers whose titles have the most influence over the interoperability of safety and sustainability technologies that create and sustain the built environment of educational settlements. (With links to our coverage of facility naming and signage standards)
Quadrivium: Autumn
Educational settlements are where people come to feel at home in beautiful surroundings. The catalog that informs the safety and sustainability of these "cities-within-cities" changes 100 to 1000 times per day. Titles are time-sensitive, copyright protected and land in public law. We monitor the action continuously to formulate response to public consultations. Topics appear on our CALENDAR and explored every day at 16:00 UTC. Recommend refresh of this web page once or twice to see timeliest information.
“All Applicable Standards”
Today @ 16:00 UTC we drill into representative design guidelines and specifications for buildings on educational campuses; including projects involving the spaces between buildings -- i.e. water, pathway, power and telecommunication infrastructure. We place particular emphasis on the General Conditions of a construction contract where most general purpose language referencing codes, standards and guidelines resides.
print(“Python”)
Python is an open-source programming language that enables applications across a wide range of domains; not the least of which are artificial intelligence platforms. In real asset facility management it is the "glue code" that binds the Internet of Things and Large Language Models. Python 3.14.0 was released for public use on October 7th.
Current Issues & Recent Research
We examine the proposals for the 2028 National Electrical Safety Code; including our own. Public comment on proposed changes will be received until March 24th. The 2026 National Electrical Code which has recently been released for public use (public input on the 2029 revision will be received until April 9, 2026).
Sport News
“Man’s life is brief, but through contests he touches the eternal.” -- Pindar, 'Nemean Ode 6.23-24'