Thursday Flakes: Which Winter Olympic Sports Do You Want to Try?

Greetings from Guadalajara. It’s the first time I am back here since June, 2020 when I spent time during the early stages of the pandemic. By the time I left, I was staying in an empty student hostel. This time, I moved into a big six-room house in the middle of the city that is within walking distance of pretty much everything. There are a couple digital nomads in this house and everything is working out pretty well so far.

Meanwhile I have been managing to watch a bit of Winter Olympics coverage despite the crazy time zone difference (mostly curling and hockey) but I began to wonder which Olympic sports I want to try. I’ve tried curling and hockey before when I spent my teenage years in Canada. Therefore, I would really be interested in trying skeleton or short-track speedskating. Both of them are pretty wild and I would probably end up hurting myself but I think they’re still definitely worth trying.

As the Olympics wind down, I’m curious to know which Olympic sports would you try? Have you been watching the Olympic coverage? Are you disappointed by the IOC’s decision to let a Russian figure skater continue to compete despite doping on heart medication?

Anyways…onto Flakes.

Conner, Rogers Earn Big Ten Honors | Track & Field | Huskers.com

Conner won the high jump at the Tyson Invitational with a season-best clearance of 7-3 1/4 (2.22m). Conner remains the Big Ten leader this season and is tied for fourth nationally. Rogers cleared a personal-best 6-0 3/4 (1.85m) to win the invite section of the high jump. Rogers’ new height keeps her in first in the Big Ten and tied for eighth nationally, while moving into a tie for eighth in program history.

Huskers Open at Big Ten Championships | Swimming & Diving | Huskers.com

Thursday will be the first full day of competition, with the morning session beginning at 10 a.m. During the morning session, competitors will clash in the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle and one-meter diving preliminaries. The evening session is set for 5:30 p.m., where the finals will take place for all four events. Athletes will cap off Thursday with a 400 medley relay.

Huskers Travel to New Mexico for Troy Cox Classic | Softball | Huskers.com

On Thursday, Nebraska will play host school New Mexico State at 4 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network. On Friday, the Huskers compete against Southeastern Louisiana at 12:30 p.m. CT. On Saturday, NU plays UT Arlington (12:30 p.m. CT) and Northern Colorado (3 p.m. CT). The Huskers conclude the tournament against Iowa State on Sunday at 10 a.m. CT.

Huskers Aim For Road Win at Penn State | Women’s Basketball | Huskers.com

Tip-off between the Huskers (19-6, 8-6 Big Ten) and the Lady Lions (9-15, 3-11 Big Ten) is set for 6 p.m. (CT) as part of a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park as the men’s team plays host to Minnesota with a 3 p.m. (CT) tip-off.

Mailbag: A Way-Too-Early Super Bowl Halftime Show Guess And Transfer Portal Names To Watch | Sports | Hail Varsity

This week’s mailbag is packed with interesting thoughts dealing with the Super Bowl halftime show, Amy Williams’ women’s basketball team and, of course, some college football transfer portal talk. Oh, and Fred Hoiberg—what’s his future look like?

Padding the Stats: Pondering Portal Additions | Football | Hail Varsity

The thing about the portal is the sure things will be the hardest to land, and there is a reason (or maybe several) that the rest ended up in the portal in the first place. All of this is to say new isn’t necessarily better, and the only way to gain experience is to actually play.

Nebraska Recruiting: Assessing Attrition Risk with the Huskers’ 2022 Class | Football | Hail Varsity

One year on from that project, I have run Nebraska’s 2022 class through the attrition-o-meter and I can now tell you this: My taped-together model projects that Nebraska would have lost 92.9 of its 234 scholarship signees since 2011 (no JUCOs, no transfers at this point). In reality, the Huskers have had 92 players leave before their eligibility was up (not including early entries to the NFL Draft).

‘Bleisure’ is the Travel Industry’s Latest Buzzword | Travel | Travel Pulse

Bleisure is what you think it is – a combination of business and leisure travel. Some lodging companies started to get creative, offering packages to entice businesspeople who were already working remotely to come and enjoy the beach or the mountains while they were at it.

Australia to Launch Huge Ad Campaign to Lure Tourists Back | Travel | Travel Pulse

Tourism Australia this week will launch a $40 million worldwide advertising campaign to lure tourists Down Under again, according to Business News Australia. The marketing blitz will use the tagline “Don’t Go Small. Go Australia.”

Spirit and Frontier Airlines Are Merging—Here’s What That Means for Travelers | Travel | Conde Nast Traveler

While the merger is set to offer a bigger network of the carriers’ ultra-low-cost fares, it’s not likely to cause big shifts to ticket prices in the rest of the airline market. The merger will guarantee stability for both carriers—and their rock-bottom prices.

Low-Cost Canadian Airline Swoop Expands Its Service to Five Major U.S. Cities | Travel | Conde Nast Traveler

Ultra low-cost Swoop airline announced this morning that it will start nonstop service this summer to five major American cities, including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Nashville, and the Los Angeles area (Burbank airport). Swoop’s airfares, which are currently going for as little as $80 one-way, are open for booking out of all five new gateways starting today.

California to Lift Indoor Mask Mandate | Travel | Travel + Leisure

California’s statewide indoor mask mandate expired on Tuesday, affecting some of the state’s biggest tourist hotspots. When it comes to California’s theme parks, Disneyland will make masks optional for vaccinated guests starting on Thursday.

France Drops Coronavirus Testing for All Vaccinated Travelers | Travel | Lonely Planet

All vaccinated passengers, including those coming from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and more, are no longer required to take a test under new rules that came into effect on February 12. “Proof of vaccination will be sufficient to come to France whatever country you are coming from, just as it was before the spread of the Omicron variant,” the government said.

The Best Things to Do in Central America | Travel | Lonely Planet

Options for adventure travelers and nature enthusiasts are ubiquitous, and you’ll also find plenty of relaxed island getaways, magnificent Maya ruins and bustling cities. Whatever your travel preferences, Central America can satisfy them.

The Alaska Highway: A Subarctic Road to Prevent Invasion | Travel | BBC

Winding 1,387 miles through some of North America’s most extreme environments, it was the most ambitious construction project since the Panama Canal and built to defend a continent.

Jungholz: A Ski Town Stuck in the Wrong Nation | Travel | BBC

An afterthought on the map of Austria, the exclave of Jungholz has carved out its own identity, even if the reality for those living there is far from straightforward.

Is This the End of the Cannonball Run? | Auto | Atlas Obscura

For a century, a “fraternity of lunatics”—inspired by a driving pioneer and a 1980s movie—has raced across the United States. Is the newest record unbreakable?

An Ancient Language Has Defied Translation for 100 years. Can AI Crack the Code? | Technology | Rest of World

Machine learning can translate between two known languages, but could it ever decipher those that remain a mystery to us?

The Staggering Ecological Impacts of Computation and the Cloud | Auto | MIT Press Reader

Anthropologist Steven Gonzalez Monserrate draws on five years of research and ethnographic fieldwork in server farms to illustrate some of the diverse environmental impacts of data storage.

What I Learned About Addiction From a Czech Crystal Meth Cook | Drugs | The Guardian

The rural back yards of the Czech Republic hide Europe’s biggest methamphetamine problem. Users like Lenka have a complex story to tell.