It’s always tough getting the girls ready in the morning. Sometimes they place nice, like this morning. This gives mom and dad the opportunity to actually get ready for work instead of rushing to work.

It must be a slow news day. But seriously, why would you eat at either of these places since you have other burger joint choices? Though the fries and Mighty Wings are pretty good at McDonald’s.

Excellent service, but now it is (will) be gone. I did pay for the year, so I was supporting the product and service. It makes me wonder, will Loom be OK?

As the owner of a 65-inch plasma television, this is bad news. But newer technology will arise that will displace LCDs as well.

The new X-Men trailer is something to see. It looks like a good movie, but trailers can be deceiving. I hope they don’t mess up this great comic book storyline when translating it for the big screen.

Entertainment Weekly does a nice breakdown on the trailer as well.

The San Francisco Giants placed 6th on this Bloomberg chart. Not bad. Of course, the Yankees are 1st.

Sherlock will return to PBS Masterpiece on Jan. 19 at 10 p.m. That means the show will air back-to-back for the first time with that other hugely popular and influential Brit import, Downton Abbey (which returns Jan. 5).

Great!

But there’s a big difference between not eating GMOs and not getting a vaccine. If I don’t eat a corn chip at my local taqueria because I have doubts about the lack of research on GMOs and believe it’s because science and the government are in Monsanto’s pocket, I’m not going to put my dining companions at risk of disease. But if I decide not to vaccinate my kid, I make him a potential carrier. He may be able to fight off measles, mumps, rubella, and other illnesses — but what if he spreads a disease to somebody who, for whatever reason, isn’t so lucky?

I stand on the side of getting your child vaccinated. But it is a personal choice. Try to make an informed decision, OK?

Funny clip about why Wolverine is no longer an X-Men.

In the 530-plus years since he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, the Renaissance artist’s famous frescoes have been dealt a fair share of abuse. They’re dusty, they’re dirty, and they’re constantly being damaged by humidity, carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

Now, the head of the Vatican Museums, Antonio Paolucci, is warning that, if new air conditioning and air purifying systems that are being installed at the facility don’t significantly cut the pollution levels in the chapel, he will have no choice but to limit the number of tourists who visit the site.

Seeing the Sistine Chapel is on my bucket list. I hope I have a chance to see it someday.

Photos have been posted on BBC’s website from the upcoming special. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I love the time Farrah and I spent in Bath, London, and Paris. This video covers areas in Bath. It makes me want to go back again. Click the image to play the video.

Bath in Motion - A Hyperlapse of Bath from Jack Fisher on Vimeo.

Photo exclusive on MercuryNews.com. The last photo of the model gives the campus some scale against Highway 280, which I think is toward the front. All I have to say is wow!

Another setting disabled. Seriously considering deactivating my Facebook account again.

It seems the setting to disable autoplay of videos, which I enabled immediately when videos started posting on Instagram, is no longer there. This is not cool.

Trying to calm Graecyn down, who is sitting in the back seat, with the iPhone camera. Of course I’m recording it.

Add this to the list of things to put in the house. It looks like a smart addition, especially if you use several of them to determine where in the house danger may be.

The Samsung Galaxy Gear watch looks like a stinker. At least the first version of it. I’m sure when - and if - Apple comes out with a wearable device, the Samsung version will suddenly change in concept and execution, making it more like whatever Apple makes.

Apple came up with a tips page on how to use the features in iOS 7 and iPhone 5s. Take a good quick scan for some tips!

Interesting short film concept of Wonder Woman. Nicely made, though no dialog, and more action sort of like 300. I don’t know if Wonder Woman will make it onto the big screen in one form or another. Perhaps she should simply have a cameo appearance in a Superman or Batman movie to gauge interest.

I’m the one in the family who is asked, “Which Apple product should I get?” I am also asked, “Should I get AppleCare?”

David Sparks has a good short article about AppleCare. I agree with him on all points. You might want to give it a quick read.

Great list from the New York Public Library. I love The Story of Ferdinand, Goodnight Moon, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We’ll have to load up Mia and Graecyn’s collection with others on the list.

I used Cue for over a year while I was at my previous job. It was a nice app and service, though I didn’t find any of the add-on features compelling enough to pay monthly.

Update:  Looks as if Cue was acquired by Apple. It would be nice to see some of the features in Cue show up in iOS.

General admission. Standing room only. A combination I do not look forward to in a concert. But if the artist and venue are right, I will endure. And Farrah and I did endure this combination, at The Fillmore, to see Lorde.

I was lucky enough to snag two tickets back when they went on sale a few months ago, before  Royals was getting regular mainstream radio play. I don’t know if I’d be lucky to get tickets now seeing how big Lorde has become.  Funny thing was when they went on sale, they seemingly sold out immediately. But I persisted for a few minutes and was able to grab two tickets. 

We arrived a few minutes late to The Fillmore. Friday night traffic going up to San Francisco was ugly as usual. We caught a few songs from the opening act, Until the Ribbon Breaks. They sounded great on stage, so I immediately added a few tracks to a Spotify playlist. After their set people milled around, as usual, waiting for Lorde to take the stage.

The crowd started to fill up as Lorde’s set time was getting closer. The crowd was a good mix of ages, as The Fillmore can be depending on the performer. We were situated in a good spot, center and further back on the floor. Unfortunately, to Farrah’s left, a group of unruly 20-somethings decided to talk and bump around people through the whole performance. One couple just wanted to make out all night.  In front of us was an older couple, probably in their early to mid 50’s. Made me wonder how many concerts do they attend?

Getting back to Lorde -  she performed well for someone who hasn’t performed often on tour. She sounded well, though the bass was on the heavy side, making her voice sound muddled. From another review of the concert, it seems it was her idea to crank up the bass. She had energy, working the stage very easily. She talked between a few songs, using   Thank you, San Francisco, often, which elicited approval from the crowd.

Her set was short, about 12 songs or so, lasting a little over an hour. No encore performed with the lights coming up after her last song. I thought she could have done a few more songs, as her album came out that day in some places.

The annoyances of the general admission crowd are worth it sometimes, especially when seeing an up-and-coming artist. It is always nice to see an artist on the rise, seeing them before they get too big, in an intimate place like The Fillmore.

Other reviews of the show are at SF Gate and San Jose Mercury News and SF Station.

Images of women from 41 different ethnicities were laid over one another before a computer programme deduced the common look

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be an average Filipino woman in the mix. ffff