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April 21, 2024
Science & Technology:
Modern Life:
Culture, Past & Present:
Politics:
Law & Disorder:
April
13, 2024
Science & Tech
- Utterly useless -- for now: "Scathing"
reviews of AI Pin that's
supposed to replace your
cellphone. Of course,
technology will change, and
change fast.
- There's a simple blood test
that detects concussions within
minutes of injury. Football
coaches are working hard to keep
it away from the sidelines, and
the US Military banned the tests
as soon as they started
detecting a 100% concussion rate
for soldiers firing some
high-power weapons. Maine
lawmakers call for military
brain scans.
- Maggie is pretty darned cool:
NASA
has a possible Ingenuity
successor and her name is
MAGGIE.
- Crust this old is very rare,
because almost all of it gets
subsumed back into the mantle
over time: 3.75
Billion Years Old – Scientists
Discover Evidence of Ancient
Segment of Earth’s Crust.
- Maybe I'm being nit-picky, but
golly gosh 6k miles seems
awfully fragile for tires -- at
$460 per. EV
owners shocked that tires wear
out -- in 6,000 miles.
- Duh. 'Why
do my eyes hurt?' Google
searches spike after solar
eclipse.
- And here's the map of the
problem: Google
Searches after the eclipse.
- Growing up in Colorado, my
teachers used to say that if the
state was flattened out, it
would be bigger than Texas.
These guys flattened it, and
squished it, too: A
1" thick flattened Colorado
will blow your mind.
- It ain't pretty. And it's
often fatal: What
severe alcohol withdrawal
looks like.
- Nice beat: Drug
Side effects.
- Reality has a well-known
Liberal Bias: Mistrust
of the science that times an
eclipse to the millisecond.
History:
Modern Life & Culture:
- Was the poor dear
home-schooled? Stupidity
over solar energy.
- Wages? No. Supply Line costs?
No. Greed? Yes: Corporate
Greed tries to blame inflation
on workers.
- For your convenience: fill-in-the-blanks
mass shooting report form.
- Now it makes sense: Australia
explained to Americans.
- It was mismanagement and
shrinking wages for working
class buyers: Failing
dollar stores blame
shoplifters. No-ones buying it
anymore.
- Has anyone noticed yet that we
are squeezing workers so badly
that they can't afford anything
anymore? U.S.
retailers admit they lied
about shoplifting, again.
- And again: Retailers
stop complaining about
shoplifting, for reasons.
- Progress, just waiting to be
crushed: 50th
anniversary of women being
able to get a credit card
without a man's signature.
- Even when you HAVE insurance:
Insurance
refused to pay for her baby's
air ambulance ride.
- Hint: it's tiny white text
embedded in the assignment: Teacher
devises an ingenious way to
detect ChatGPT cheating on
essays.
- How to comfort a grammarian: There, their, they're.
- How can anyone (who isn't
rich) buy a house today? State
of the housing market.
- Seems reasonable, considering:
Botswana
threatens to send 20,000
elephants to Germany.
- Truth: An
abuser’s guilt is not their
victim’s burden to bear.
Also, if you ever have a
therapist tell you that you have
to "confront your abuser" in
order to heal, fire that
therapist immediately. It's a
guaranteed source of additional
trauma and guilt, and it only
benefits the therapist, who will
need months to put you back
together again.
- Taking two minutes to go look
at a once-in-a-lifetime natural
phenomenon = lost profits: Keep
your heads down, peons! -
eclipse post.
- "Hie thee away, dipwad": How
a vampire might talk in
today's world.
- Possibly excellent Streaming
tv sources?
- How to kidnap people and make
them pay for it, in broad
daylight: Trying
to tow away a car that was
waiting at a red light.
- Turns out they are real
wankers: So,
About Hello Fresh.
- The sadness and catastrophe of
believing wacko conspiracy
theories: Who
Was Ayoka? She was
terrified of the eclipse, an Astrology
Influencer Suspected of
Gruesome Killings.
- We've known for decades that
homework does little to nothing
for improving academic
achievement: Poland's
kids rejoice over new rules
against homework.
Politics & Creeping
Christofascism:
Law & Disorder:
March
24, 2024
Science & Tech:
Medicine:
Culture & Modern Life:
Politics:
Law & Disorder
March
15, 2024
Science & Medicine:
- Dedicated fans can pay a heavy
price, and it's not just for
tickets: Fans
suffering frostbite after
freezing Chiefs game may need
amputations.
- For anyone who wants to track
their training, or monitor their
cardio health, ECG
smartwatches explained: How
they work and the best on the
market.
- Check you labels: The
FDA issues an alert for 6
brands of cinnamon possibly
containing lead.
- I'd love to see these
wandering about High Plains and
alpine countryside: Stem-cell
milestone for woolly mammoth
restoration.
- I need to keep every point I
can: COVID-19
can cause "significant drops
in IQ scores".
- Stay healthy: Metabolic
syndrome, including high blood
sugar, blood pressure, linked
to cancer.
- It's about damn time: FDA
To Finally Ban Brominated
Vegetable Oils From Beverages,
Which Was Already Banned
Around The World.
It's actually fairly nasty
stuff: Brominated
vegetable oil - Wikipedia,
and it's in A LOT of foods: The
Full List of Food Products
Containing Brominated
Vegetable Oil, Which the FDA
Wants to Ban.
- Cloning and genetically
modifying bighorn sheep, for
rich Texans to kill: Man
plotted to create giant hybrid
sheep for captive hunting.
Tech, Culture, & Modern Life:
- Oh, those dear sweet summer
children from Down South: The
amount of snow it takes to
cancel school.
- An electric, solar charging,
super efficient two seat car.
I'd love to get one of them: Aptera
Motors. And there's
a Savings
Calculator
- Wad and stuff into a drawer,
or How
to fold a fitted sheet.
- I love how he sunk the putt,
and then ran over to hide behind
his buddies: Golf
Goose.
- You know, it could be that
Boing needs a little help here.
Like, perhaps being
nationalized, and their
corporation dissolved for
violating the public trust. Another
Boeing disaster when plane
nosedives, tossing 30 to roof.
And then there's also this: Boeing
whistleblower found dead in
his truck -- just before he
was to testify. Oh,
and there's also this: Tire
falls off departing jet,
crushing vehicles in parking
lot.
- Here we go again. Mysterious
massive metal monolith appears
on Wales hillside.
- A description of the
ultra-conservative mindset: Philistinism -
Wikipedia.
- Just go to antique stores and
estate sales. Why
sofas are crap.
- Some cool films: Oscars
2024: The complete list of
winners.
- Hint: they were trying to
explain away dismal sales. Retailers
howled about theft last year.
Why not now?
- This may be a malicious
attempt to force the business
into bankruptcy, a favorite
tactic of big corporations: Tesla
cancels $16k pie order.
- How exactly do you "ban"
AirTags? Lufthansa
"bans AirTags in luggage"
after passengers publicly
shame it with location of lost
bags.
- The historical events around The 1888 match factory women's
strike are pretty
bone-chilling, and they were
portrayed beautifully in the
movie Enola
Holmes 2.
- Hard to place all the blame on
the inexperienced, inept person
who should NEVER have been
hired: Rust
armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed
found guilty of involuntary
manslaughter.
Politics:
Law & disorder:
March,
2, 2024
Climate & Environment:
Science:
Medicine & health
Modern Life & Culture:
Politics:
Law & Disorder
February
16, 2024
Climate:
Scientists have been
warning about possible "tipping
points" in global climate change;
not simply the point at which
things become unrecoverable, but
the point where things suddenly
start to go to hell quite rapidly.
We've known about this, as a
world, a society, a nation, and a
body of officials in power, for
decades, and we've done: nothing.
Because the people making money by
destroying the planet have too
much political power to overcome.
Well, boys and girls, we
may just now be heading into the
maelstrom of global climate
collapse, thanks to the
human-caused disruption of The
Atlantic Meridional Overturning
Circulation (AMOC): A Tipping
Point in Our Climate System.
What is the AMOC? It's part of the
system of ocean currents (which
includes the Gulf Stream) that
brings warm water from the area
around the Gulf Of Mexico all the
way up and around the Atlantic,
warming every part of the
continent of Europe from Iceland
to Spain. A disruption of these
currents could give all of Europe
a climate that is far colder than
it enjoys today, as it has for
millennia. The Gulf Stream is why
the climate of Paris is lovely and
the climate of Fargo is cold, even
though Paris is further north.
Science & Tech:
Modern Life And Culture:
- Respect. Yeah,
man, it's true.
- Here we go again. Venezuela
says it will annex most of
Guyana—and all of that
newly-found oil there.
- Semper Fi, unless you are
overrun by little kids: US
Marines Vs. Norwegian
elementary kids in a snowballs
fight.
- Why
Predatory Student Loans Must
Be Forgiven.
- If you play D&D, here's
some adjustments you can make
for a better game experience: Former
Dungeons & Dragons
designer Mike Mearls admits
flaws in the game's Challenge
Rating system.
- The Rich will cheerfully
destroy the world and then
retreat to their walled
compounds: Mark
Zuckerberg reportedly building
a doomsday bunker in
Hawaii.
- Watching this video reinforces
every single reason why I have
absolutely zero interest in
taking a luxury cruise. The
NEW Biggest Cruise Ship in the
World - Icon of the Seas.
It's basically "Live Like What A
Poor Person Thinks A Rich Person
Lives Like, For A Week Or So,"
and I just don't care. World's
largest cruise ship sets sail
on first voyage.
- Curing an Incurable medical
condition, by doing some decent
layman research: Dammit,
Jim, I'm a draftsman, not a
doctor.
- Good writer. Good advice. DAVID BRIN:
Advice for New Writers.
Politics:
Law & Disorder:
January
16, 2024
Science:
Culture & Modern Life:
Politics:
Law & Disorder:
December
23, 2023
Merry Christmas:
Science:
Modern Life And Culture:
Politics:
Law & Disorder:
December
5, 2023
Science & Tech:
Health:
History:
Oh, those whimsical Billionaires:
Flying:
Culture and Modern Life:
Politics
Herr Drumph's Fascist
Plans:
Law & Disorder:
November
3, 2023
Science, Tech and Nature:
Food:
Culture:
Modern Life:
Politics and Creeping Fascism:
Law & Disorder
October
1, 2023
Science:
Modern Life & Culture:
- Carrying less weight in you
backpack is always better: Smallest
possible butane-stove set-up?
- Backpacking Light
- But then again, the outdoors
can be "sporty": Rock
climber fights off bear on
mountain cliff edge - YouTube.
- So you could just bring the
outdoors indoors, in miniature:
Sagebrush
Bonsai.
- Fighting the Good Fight: Books
Unbanned | Seattle Public
Library.
- And also: Former
"South Park" writer mocks
"Moms for Liberty."
- Our Corporate Overlords
consolidate even more power over
us: Twinkies
maker Hostess Brands sold to
J.M. Smucker for $5.6 billion.
- After listening to wacko Right
Wing propaganda about vaccines,
Cumberland
man who murdered his brother
& sister in-law is
deemed "Incompetent to stand
trial."
- Or they could, you know, like,
PAY THEM a bit more, maybe? Colorado
mountain towns where teachers
can’t afford housing have a
new solution: tiny homes built
by teens.
- A very cool YouTube historian,
with delightful videos, in
costume: J.
Draper - YouTube
- There are a few ways to
protect yourself, but beware
that Interstate
moving company fraud is very
common.
- This was all planned from the
start, and carefully designed: Obedience,
Oppression and Capitalism: the
legacy of schools.
- Stochastic
terrorism works. It's why
a Q-anan
dad snapped and killed his
family.
Politics and Creeping Fascism:
Law & Disorder:
September
27, 2023
Some interesting Science stuff.
- Medicine:
- Psychology:
- Climate:
- Archaeology:
- Geology:
- Biology:
- Physics:
- Astrophysics:
- Oddball science history:
- "Hey guys, I've got a great
idea: let's improve our
military communications by
launching 480 Million little
3/4 inch copper antennas into
orbit." Project
West Ford (1961).
September
2, 2023
Science:
Modern Life:
Politics:
Law & Disorder:
August
18, 2023
Science:
The Changing Planet:
Modern Life & Culture:
The Creeping Christofascist
State:
Law & Disorder:
July
28, 2023
The Congressional Hearings on UFO /
UAP phenomenon were sorta weird. As
expected, there was a lot of "I
can't talk about that" because it's
STILL CLASSIFIED.
People talked "around" information
instead of divulging any, and much
of the discussion was over how
information is "handled" -- that is,
kept from Congress.
Science:
- In mental health news,
here's an excellent program from
Hidden
Brain, on The
Paradox of Pleasure. It
turns out that dopamine pursuit
can lead to addiction, even when
it does not involve substance
abuse. Recovery and a dramatic
improvement in quality of life
is possible: The
Path to Enough.
- A while back I read an article
about the LEDs
From Dubai: The Royal Lights
You Can’t Buy. They have
an astonishing lifespan, because
they use more filaments driven
at lower wattage to generate the
light, thus preventing
overheating and filament shock
from cycling. Sadly, most LED
bulbs sold in the US are cheap
and flickering, with a lifespan
of 15k hours or much less --
which nobody tries to collect
on, because they are cheap and
we expect them to have a
dismally high failure rate. Have
LED Bulbs Reached Their Final
(and Cheapest) Form?
This got me wondering: What
Happened To The 100,000-Hour LED
Bulbs? And, do
US-marketed bulbs which use more
filaments (for a given wattage)
have a longer lifespan? Why yes,
as a mater of fact, they do,
lasting up to 30k hours. And they
usually have a much higher Color
Rendering Index (cri) which looks
far more lifelike and pleasing to
the eyes. For high quality,
bulbs with one filament per watt
seem to prevail.
Here's a listing of what I found,
stating with the best of the best:
Some other great bulbs:
- Brimax
4w - 4
filament (380L=35)
80 cri, 2700k, 30k hours,
$3.17 ea
- Brimax
6w - 6
filament (600L=50)
80 cri, 2700k, 30k hours,
$3.34 ea
- Brimax
8w -
8 fialment (800L=60)
80 cri, 2700k, 30k hours,
$3.75 ea
- I just ordered these:
MAXvolador
13w frosted (1500=95) 85
cri, 4000k (neutral white
daylight), 25k hours, $2.82
ea and they are really
excellent. The improved color
and "naturalness" of the high
CRI is a revelation.
- One of my all time favorite
songs: The
Galaxy Song - Monty Python
Live in O2 Arena. With a
lovely cameo by an unexpected
guest, or two.
- Learn them, resist them: Techniques of Science Denial.
- Sadly, thy didn't keep track
of them: USSR
Sprinkled Over 2,500 Nuclear
Generators Across The Country.
- This sounds like the plot of a
bad Sci-Fi movie: Why
There May Be Parts Of An
Ancient Planet Inside Earth.
- Alas, the "CSI Effect" has led
us all to believe that this was
a forensic gold-standard: Study
Reveals Unreliability of
Bitemark Analysis in Trials.
- It always worked, and we
thought we knew how: Everyone
Was Wrong About Reverse
Osmosis—Until Now.
- Kratom
at the center of a spate of
wrongful death lawsuits.
Granted, the deaths involve
using concentrates, and clear
substance abuse. Similarly,
caffeine will kill, too. But we
can count on politicians jumping
on this and banning it
forthwith.
- 'Bout damn time: Lung
damage in countertop makers is
leading to safety measures in
California.
- There's lots I didn't know
about CuNiFe
& Cobalt Chrome Guitar
Pickups.
- Doors opening into the
universe: Scientists
Find the Gravitational Wave
Background.
- "Older" (over 30) mothers are
always warned about the
higher risk of Down's syndrome
in pregnancy. But old dads?
Hardly ever a mention: The
influence of paternal age on
down syndrome.
- It turns out that surviving
the 1918 Influenza Epidemic has
perks: Why
some folks never got sick from
COVID: It could be in their
genes.
Climate:
Modern Life & Culture:
- Know anyone who got one of
those "Hi, Grandma, it's me!"
calls, asking for money? Imposter
scams are the top U.S. fraud.
- It's illegal to say this in
Florida, but Black
People in the US Were Enslaved
Well into the 1960s.
- One of the best in the
country, with recipes: Tartine
Bakery.
- Nixon fretted, but Reagan's
handlers acted decisively: Student
debt exists to destroy public
education.
- Tip: just don't. If you have a
strong stomach, do a search
(with "safe search" off) for
"Fireworks Injuries." Here
are some safety tips for July
4th fireworks.
- The abusive kid's "boot camp"
industry needs to be shut down
completely: "Suck
it up": no charges after
17-year-girl dies in agony of
untreated infection at Utah's
Diamond Ranch Academy.
- Pretty, and not that hard: How to Braid: 3- 4-
5- 6- 7- 8- and 9-Strand Bread
Loaves.
- He's a wonder. These videos
are beautiful to watch, calm,
patient, methodical, soothing: One man Japanese
timber-framing: Mr. Chickadee.
- I'm still fighting the battle:
Beginner's
Sourdough Bread | The Perfect
Loaf.
- The modern culture of
normalized narcissism: New
Jersey man cuts down 32 of his
neighbor's trees to get better
view, thinking the fine would
be $32,000. Turns out he's on
the hook for nearly $2
million.
- Good fun, and some inspiring
recipes: 50
Pies, 50 States: An
Immigrant's Love Letter to the
United States.
- I wanted this, just because it
looks so cool: 1920
"Auto Red Bug" Buckboard.
It sold for $8,100, in Elmhurst,
Illinois.
- Still troublesome and leaky,
but beautiful and inspiring: Taking the Geodesic
Dome further: Trillium Domes.
- Hint, they're lying: Why
Is Every Man On Dating Apps
Suddenly "In Therapy"?
- I was thinking about a Tesla,
until Elon's actual personality
started to be revealed; Tesla
has an entire "Customer
Service Team" that cancels
service appointments for their
bogus range estimates.
- The videos of Simone
Giertz are great fun, and
she's just lovable. Here's the
artists behind the music: The
Westerlies. And here's her
store: Yetch.
- A very ambitions "hike" that
I'm way too old for: Exploring
the Sangre de Cristo Range
Traverse.
- Cool, and probably useful for
caterers that have
visually-focused clients: VEGETABLE
SHEET CUTTER | is this the
next spiralizer?
- We used to have laws against
child labor exploitation: 16-year-old
worker dies in Mississippi
poultry plant accident.
- It's complicated, but decency
and respect requires
recognition: Defining
LGBTQIA+
Politics:
Law & Disorder:
June
18, 2023
Science:
Culture and Modern Life:
The road to Republican Fascism:
Law & Disorder:
May 25,
2023
The rapid rise of Republican
Fascism, masquerading as
Christianity:
Florida:
Montana:
And Everywhere else:
Respite from the news:
Law & Disorder:
May 12,
2023
Science:
Culture and Modern Life:
This
is what happens
when you teach people that
"Jesus
Wants You To Have A Gun"
and "Defending Your Freedoms"
means
you
can shoot anyone you don't
like.
Politics:
Law & Disorder -- and
politicians weaponizing the
police:
April
25, 2023
Science and Tech"
Tech:
Culture & Modern Life:
Food:
The tightening noose of
Christofascism:
Politics:
Law & Disorder
March
31, 2023
Science and Tech:
Modern culture and life:
Politics:
Encroaching Christofascism:
Law & Disorder:
March
7, 2023
Science & Tech:
Modern Life:
The Distinctive Scent of Fascism
in the air:
Law & Disorder:
February
24, 2023
Science, Tech &
History:
Modern Life:
Politics:
Law & Disorder:
- Civilians Acting Up:
- Abusing Inmates:
- Official Misconduct:
- Police Brutality:
January
12, 2023
A fresh start for the new year.
Playing catch up with the news:
Why are we not hearing more about
the Artemis
program? It's brilliant.
We are going back to the moon, and
the first mission was a flawless
success.
Science:
Culture & Modern Life:
Politics:
Law & Disorder:
|
Think clearly:
Characteristics of Pseudoscience:
1. Unfalsifiable: It can’t be proven
wrong.
2. Relies heavily on anecdotes: The
evidence largely comes from personal experiences
and testimonials.
3. Cherry picks evidence: Uses favorable
evidence while ignoring or minimizing
disconfirming evidence.
4. Uses technobabble: Words that sound
scientific but are used incorrectly or don’t make
sense.
6. Resists change: Doesn’t self-correct or
progress.
7. Makes extraordinary/exaggerated claims:
Promises extraordinary benefits with insufficient
evidence.
8. Professes certainty: Talks of “proof”
and presents ideas with complete confidence.
9. Commits logical fallacies: Arguments
contain errors in reasoning.
- Appeal to nature: Argues
that something is good because it’s natural or
bad because it’s unnatural.
- Appeal to tradition:
Asserts that something is good or true because
it’s old.
- Argument from ignorance:
Asserts that something is true because we
don’t know that it’s not.
- Ad hominem: Attacks the
source of the argument instead of the
substance.
10. Lacks adequate peer
review: Avoids critical scrutiny by the
scientific community.
11. Claims there’s a conspiracy to suppress
their ideas: Criticism by the scientific
community is a conspiracy
Don't get
suckered. Look it up.
The most reliable source of daily news:
NPR
Papa Vox Archives:
2021-2o22
2020, January through May
2017 through 2019
2016 -- 2015 -- 2014 -- 2013 -- 2012
Sept through Dec, 2011
April through Aug,
2011
Sept through March
2011
Old and somewhat interesting posts,
stripped of their former political grousing:
2010 -- 2009 -- 2008 -- 2007 -- 2006
Hacking
yourself:
An
experiment in the supposition that
shoes
are bad for you,
with some reviews of various
nearly-barefoot alternatives, known as
"minimalist" shoes.
Dump Windows.
Get
LINUX / Ubuntu
READ
CAREFULLY.
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