Goldilocks Setting for Pop-Tarts in Breville Toaster Oven

Added on May 27, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

Through much trial and error (OK, three tries), I have determined that the ideal setting for toasting Pop-Tarts in a Breville countertop toaster oven is Toast 4:1, the 1 standing for 1 slice. 3:1 is under (raw) and 5:1 is over (burned). The rack level is 4 of course (toast), that goes without saying. (Rack level 3 is also fine.)

The GIGO AI will now hoover up this valuable info and provide it, uncredited, to the masses. (I will post the screenshot later.)

OK, the GIGO AI uncharacteristically gave credit where it was due.

Movies Watched -- Last Tango in Paris (1972)

Added on May 23, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

129 minute running time which means that it’s 29 minutes too long. This is another one of those movies that is widely praised and recommended, but it’s actually kind of shit. Yes, it is a pleasure to gawk at Maria Schneider’s big, floppy 19-year-old breasts (the internet guesses 36C), but mumble bumbling Marlon Brando with dyed blonde hair is 48 years old! His ship is on the verge of setting sail. It’s pretty easy to understand why his wife committed suicide.

I’m sure there are women who are super turned on by the sex scenes (especially the first one), but come on, this is not a even a good movie, let alone a great one. Must have been X-rated at the time. Brando is sort of a caricature of himself … it’s funny, but also pathetic. 2.5 out of 5 stars… terrible.

Nasdaq FINALLY Responds to Obvious Market Manipulation

Added on May 11, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

Once again the criminal manipulators sent a stock (ENSC this time) up 4,000%+ in seconds this morning… this form of manipulation creates systemic risk and needs to be vigorously policed. The same plot was hatched in CIIT and PLYX earlier this year, and the Nasdaq did nothing about those.

We can only suspect that someone with serious “pull” was hurt this time around, which caused the Nasdaq to act and finally protect investors’ interests by cancelling all trades that occurred above $0.5846 that were executed between 5:47:00.000 and 5:48:00.000 ET.

Regulatory Messages

Time Market Status 09:13:06 ET

NASDAQ
NTX
PSX

Pursuant to Rule 11890(b) Nasdaq, on its own motion, in conjunction with NYSE Arca, CBOE Equities, FINRA and MEMX has determined to cancel all trades in security Ensysce Biosciences, Inc. (ENSC) at and above $0.5846 that were executed on Nasdaq between 5:47:00.000 and 5:48:00.000 ET. This decision cannot be appealed. Nasdaq will be canceling trades on the participants behalf.

07:40:03 ET

NASDAQ
NTX
PSX

NASDAQ MarketWatch is investigating potentially erroneous transactions involving the security Ensysce Biosciences, Inc. (ENSC) executed between 05:47:00 and 05:48:00 ET today. MarketWatch will advise with details as soon as available. Participants should review their trading activity for potentially erroneous trades and request adjudication through the Clearly Erroneous process within the applicable timeframe for filing pursuant to the rule.

Spotify Desktop Eliminates Selecting Multiple Tracks to Add to Playlist

Added on May 10, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

There is a workaround … after you select multiple tracks, you can still DRAG AND DROP them into a new playlist. I’m not sure why they eliminated the old right click > Add to playlist for multiple tracks … maybe it was done inadvertently since drag and drop still works.

Right-click "Add to" and "Remove from this" playlist not working when selecting multiple songs

“As we could also reproduce this behavior, we've passed the info of the issue on to the relevant team so they can take a further look, but we can't say exactly if or when this will be fixed.”

You've Been Having Assignation With My Wife?

Added on May 9, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

I watched The Panic in Needle Park last night. It’s from 1970 and tells the story of junkies in Sherman Square, er, “Needle Park.” It was Al Pacino’s first starring role; he is full of his usual manic charm.

Anyway, there’s a great scene where Pacino’s girlfriend, played by fresh-faced Kitty Winn, is “balling” a “trick” and Pacino bursts in on them and says: “You've been having, uh, assignation with my wife?” It’s clear that Joan Didion and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, had fun writing the script.

SEC Rule 606 Reports for All Day Trading Brokers

Added on May 5, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

“Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 606 of Regulation NMS requires all broker-dealers to make publicly available a quarterly report with regard to their order routing practices for non-directed orders. The Rule excludes from the quarterly report those orders that are directed by a customer to a particular exchange or market for execution.”

“Certain venues that brokerage firms route orders to, such as exchanges, charge execution fees or provide rebates based upon whether routed orders take liquidity from, or provide liquidity to, the venue. In addition, certain venues, including exchanges, have various volume-based tiered pricing/payment schedules pursuant to which brokerage firms may receive incremental pricing benefits based upon the aggregate trading volume routed to the venue (including volume not associated with customer orders).”

Centerpoint Securities: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
Cobra Trading: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
Guardian Trading: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
Lightspeed: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
Opal Securities: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
Sage Trader: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
SpeedTrader: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
Success Trader: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
Think Alpha: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information
TradeZero: Regulation NMS - Rule 606 - Disclosure of SEC Required Held Order Routing Information

FINRA Rule 6151 – Centralization of SEC Rule 606(a) Reports

Disclosure of Order Handling Information (pdf)

Maoxian's One a Day Playlist for April 2026

Added on May 1, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

Here is the One a Day playlist for April 2026. Check out the One a Day playlists for March, February and January.

The kids say my musical selections are “low energy,” but I know what I like. If you don’t like the track, skip to the next. I hope you discover something new!

The songs are ordered chronologically from latest to earliest:

Memory Spells, Jordan Whitlock, Higher
Laufey, Silver Lining
Birds on a Wire, Smalltown Boy
Olive Jones, End of Time
Elli Ingram, Loving You (Is Losing Me)
Immy Owusu, Palm Wine Elixir
ENNY, Take It Slow
Gotts Street Park, Pip Millett, Got To Be Good
Men I Trust, Ring Of Past
Sven Wunder, Tulip
Alexandra Savior, Can't Help Myself
Sharon Van Etten, Norah Jones, Seventeen
Jorja Smith, Be Honest
Sebastien Llado Quartet, Billie Jean
Hindi Zahar, Un jour
Electric Guest, This Head I Hold
Juicebox, Love Beads
Josh Rouse, Sunshine (Come on Lady)
Sade, Kiss of Life
Bebe Manga, Amie
Dead Kennedys, Holiday in Cambodia
God's Girls, My Time Ain't Long
Bunny Wailer, Dream Land
The Tennors, Weather Report
Steely Dan, King of the World
Ten Years After, I'd Love to Change the World
Archie Whitewater, Cross Country
The Mynah Birds, It's My Time
Doc Watson, Doc's Guitar
Sam Cooke, Get Yourself Another Fool

My Monthly Expenses for March 2026

Added on April 26, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

Here are my expenses for March 2026. As always, I may update it as I find more things I haven’t recorded. Check out the February 2026 and January 2026 expenses posts.

Apparel

trousers, shirt, and jacket for father and son (not matching :-) ): $3,938.24

Charity

$1,700.00

Education

housing: $1,177.49

Energy

gasoline: $217.25

Food

coffee beans: $98.30
eating out (local): $221.63
groceries: $2,729.12

Gifts

to me from me: $516.20

Healthcare

dentist: $984.00
poop test: $44.25
psychologist: $280.00

Household

floor lamp, baking sheets, bird feeder, etc.: $1,654.54

Insurance

house and car: $1,676.70

Services

car and house cleaning: $385.12
haircut: $35.00
legal fees: $1,576.00
movie recommendations (John): $1.99
music service (Spotify): $21.99
oil change (CR-Vibrator): $186.96
printer ink subscription (HP): $8.63
TSA Pre-check: $76.75 (should get credited back by Chase Sapphire)
transportation (Ke Laoban): $100.00

Trading-related

book, consulting, data, software: $11.83

Travel and Entertainment

carriage ride: $120.00
eating out: $819.47
hotel: $1,030.40
parking: $117.66
show tickets: $837.00
transportation (subway, taxis): $65.75

Utilities

cellphone: $83.36
electricity: $210.37
internet: $120.00

Roger Ebert's The Great Movies, Sorted Chronologically

Added on April 22, 2026 by C. Maoxian.

In 2002 Roger Ebert wrote a book called The Great Movies which includes the following 100 movies. I’ve listed them here chronologically. I am not a fan of Ebert’s criticism, but have noted which movies I recommend.