Cool and damp. [55F and 98%RH]
Well, I got through my volunteer day yesterday. The guy who normally leads the fifth grade sessions no showed. I stepped up and did a Geology class. I had the ppt from the previous year so I had some good pictures of land and rocks to riff off of, and the school has a set of nice rock sample kits. I also brought my personal collection of rocks, minerals, and fossils. I brought my rock hammer too. It went pretty well considering I was winging it with no prep at all. I’m pretty sure picking up interesting rocks is universal with kids. I’ve got some cool examples of quartz, petrified wood, amethyst, coral and other fossils that the kids liked, and the school has a quartz crystal as big as the kids’ heads. I really like working with the kids, and the little girl who asked me to write down “geologist” last year was there asking me questions again this year. Lots of the kids answered my questions, not many ASKED questions.
It’s still not dissection, which it looks like we are caving in and skipping at least this year. PETA and activists suck.
I made it out to my customer’s house and solved a couple of issues. I’ll be headed out there today to hopefully solve the remaining issues or at least identify a path forward.
Not much prepping happened this week. It’s been really busy IRL…
And I STILL don’t have my Christmas lights up.
n
It must be Freaky Friday.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7788605/Los-Angeles-cop-caught-fondling-dead-womans-breasts-faces-three-years-prison.html
“But, unbeknownst to the officer, body cameras used by the LAPD continue recording for two minutes after the button has been pressed. ”
–well that’s changed now…
“David Rojas, 27, has been charged with having sexual contact with human remains without authority”
–WTF Cali? the charge implies that there is a way to have sex with corpses- just gotta get “authority”…
–and similarly, why limit it to the police force? Is there anywhere in humanity that this is ok? “‘This behavior has no place in law enforcement.'”\
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Huh, spying on people in hotel rooms. Who’da thunk it. And “Thanks” to the guy who tells everyone how to do it…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7788659/Secret-recording-devices-guest-rooms-Hyatt-Regency-hotel-Minneapolis.html
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AIs doing facial recognition think black people look alike…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7788771/AI-expert-warns-against-racist-misogynist-algorithms.html
No examples in the article of how they are “racist” though, just that they don’t do well with visible light when asked to do it against someone other than the developers. I had a similar issue when I worked for BigCorp. The software we developed worked great when demo’d against anything the developers had in the lab… and anything they could continually tweak during development. Didn’t work so well against things they didn’t have in the lab and hadn’t actually tested.
=== and here is an article from the same page…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7788773/US-health-insurance-firm-Cigna-using-AI-check-patients-taking-medications.html
–some very interesting things there:
— you may trust the org or the purpose for the data collection you allow, but you have no idea how that will be used in the future. No current law or privacy policy that I’m aware of would prohibit this sort of thing, and it could be done intentionally. IE set up a company to collect data, intending to buy them later.
–hmm, but we find later in the article that ” the algorithm … was not intentionally racist because it specifically excluded ethnicity in its decision-making.” In fact, what the humans decided to use was “the more money spent, the sicker the patient is.” So what they’ve actually uncovered was that one group spends much more money, and it aligns with skin color. Of course, so does sickle cell anemia…
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Political and racial violence.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7787635/Florida-school-bus-bullies-pummel-14-year-old-boy-Trump-hat.html
— he’d already stopped wearing the hat, self censoring. And female ‘youths’. Also interesting to me that FL has picked a number of attackers in law…
–I’d bet money that the school transfers the victim rather than the attackers.
n
What? You didn’t just have to plug them in?
Since we’re in a new house this year I had to place hooks in as well. Daughter and a cousin helped. Two young ladies, actually they did great. Man I sure felt sore in the legs the next day after all those trips up the ladder. At my old house I had all the strings labeled, hooks in place and used a 5 foot piege of pvc with a v-cut in the end. Usually only a few ladder climbs.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7789101/Hillary-Clinton-72-looks-incredibly-youthful-event-Broadway.html
–um, no she doesn’t. In the compare and contrast photos her face is a different width… looks like the body double doesn’t have enough wrinkles to me… (and it’s pretty clear who the author would like to run in 2020) “youthful” “vibrant” etc And it’s funny that the article itself is full of detailed speculation about a whole range of cosmetic “procedures” that she might have done, including surgery around her eyes. Not “youthful” at all.
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More Broward County–
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7787749/Deputy-fired-caught-camera-slamming-15-year-old-boys-head-sidewalk.html
–of course I wondered why the deputies were in tactical vests. Seems that they were responding to a crowd of over 200 “youths” who had “gathered” at a McDonalds to watch some other “youths” fight. Not surprising then that when you call the cops to break up a riot, you get a violent reaction. On the other hand, that video is pretty bad. Especially as it doesn’t show any threat, and the best the deputies could do is that they didn’t ‘respect my authoriteh’
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This SHOULD surprise no one.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7786491/Facebook-WATCHING-shop-physical-stores-order-relevant-ads-site.html
And yet it probably does.
n
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Well as long as you’re reading the DM
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7785841/Thousands-penis-fish-washed-ashore-California-beach.html
via althouse
Those are some disturbing looking “fish”.
n
Someone is shifting attention (doing battlespace preparation) from the incredible malfeasance and mistreatment of Richard Jewell to some actress and trivialities ahead of the film’s release.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7788313/Richard-Jewells-lawyer-says-NO-evidence-Kathy-Scruggs-traded-sex-tips-blasts-film.html
I have worked with and know people alive today because Richard Jewell did what he was supposed to do- if you see something, say something. People who have gone on to live productive lives and build careers. They described taking down the scaffold in the park after the investigation and pouring nails from the bomb out of the scaffold pipes. It angers me that people know Jewell’s name from the FBI’s laziness as the suspect and not as the hero he was. I hope that this movie changes that.
n
(and it’s pretty clear who the author would like to run in 2020)
The British in general used to understand the reality with regard to the Clintons.
Of course SJW has been at work over there. I’ve heard awful rumors about the upcoming run of “Doctor Who”, doubling down on the trainwreck, which I hope are not even remotely true.
From BH in the Fort Bend Herald:
“Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg reportedly owns three airplanes, two helicopters, six boats, 11 houses, and 42 cars.”
“Yet he says that you should take the bus to help fight Climate Change.”
Dilbert: Blaming Climate Change
https://dilbert.com/strip/2019-12-13
Heh.
Swan Eaters: And so it starts again
https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2019/12/13
I’m not sure that they will make Christmas in this town.
“Tesla Cybertruck will likely get medium-duty truck classification like Ford Super Duty and others”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-cybertruck-likely-medium-duty-163800229.html
“While the Ford F-150 has been the claimed target for the Tesla Cybertruck, it looks like the government may classify it like even larger and more capable pickups. As first reported by Automotive News, the electric car company sent a letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) suggesting that the state not give Class 2b-3 trucks an exception to required electric vehicle sales until 2027, that instead it should have the requirements in 2024. That class is the medium-duty pickup class that consists of vehicles such as the Ford F-Series Super Duty, Chevy Silverado HD and Ram 2500. The letter goes on to note that the Cybertruck will likely fall in that category.”
“The reason is the Cybertruck will probably be quite heavy. Vehicle classes are based on gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR). This is basically the absolute maximum a vehicle can weigh, comprising the car’s weight plus whatever is in it. The 2b-3 medium-duty class consists of vehicles with gross vehicle weight ratings over 8,500 pounds, while the light-duty group is under 8,500 pounds. The Tesla probably goes over that 8,500-pound mark not just because of its payload, which is a claimed 3,500 pounds for the base model, but because electric cars with all their batteries weigh a lot. Take for instance the Porsche Taycan Turbo. It’s not a very big sports sedan, but it has a curb weight of a whopping 5,132 pounds, which is heavier than any F-150 except the diesel model and the Raptor. And even with all those batteries and an aerodynamic shape, it only manages an EPA range of 201 miles. Put a bunch of batteries in a vehicle with the size and heavy build of an F-150, but with worse aerodynamics than a Taycan or Model S, and hit at least 250 miles of range, and you’re going to have an elephant of a vehicle, no matter who’s building it.”
Wow, I was figuring Heavy Duty half ton like my F-150. 3,000 to 5,000 lbs of batteries is a lot of weight. And a lot of charging time.
Wow, I was figuring Heavy Duty half ton like my F-150. 3,000 to 5,000 lbs of batteries is a lot of weight. And a lot of charging time.
Thanksgiving in San Luis Obismo. Tesla rolled out a supercharger truck on other days but I guess the union gets the holiday off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1uFudf37JU
The Inn looks like an old HoJos from better days. What the h*ll happened to CA? To the US?
Of course the Tesla isn’t paying gas taxes which fund road construction.
Wow, I was figuring Heavy Duty half ton like my F-150. 3,000 to 5,000 lbs of batteries is a lot of weight. And a lot of charging time.
Thanksgiving in San Luis Obismo. Tesla rolled out a supercharger truck on other days but I guess the union gets the holiday off.
I guess that one is going to need a spare battery pack in the bed of the truck to travel to another city on a holiday weekend.
Whereas my 36 gallon tank gets me 600+ miles of travel in my F-150 before I have a fuel problem. In theory, I can go to the north side of Dallas (Lewisville) and back to Sugar Land (300 miles one way).
I guess that one is going to need a spare battery pack in the bed of the truck to travel to another city on a holiday weekend.
UHaul trailer with a diesel generator. Or take your spare IC car — everybody has one.
My wife’s relatives in San Francisco already can’t go home to Seattle for Thanksgiving in cold weather. The 140 mile gap in the supercharger network from Grant’s Pass, OR north to Eugene is too far of a distance when temps go below 40.
For most vehicles, that’s 1/4 to 1/2 tank.
Not that I’d want to stop in Centralia, WA, literally the center point between Portland and Seattle, and have to sit there for even an hour waiting for a charge at the Tesla station. I always used the Love’s (south) or Flying J (north) outside of town when I needed gas. At least Grants Pass and Eugene have industry other than meth.
From @Ray yesterday:
@Lynn: Generally with Comcast you need to set your laptop to use DHCP. Power the modem off, laptop disconnected. The power on the modem and plug in the laptop. Go to any website and you should get Comcast’s account activation page. Fairly easy process. The modem will allow one device to connect, to connect more and get wireless you will need a wireless router. I am partial to Netgear but most are good.
Once your account is activated power every thing off. Connect the router. Power up the modem and wait a couple of minutes. Then power up the router. The router should get an IP address from the modem. At that point you can access the router and set up the wireless with a wired connection. Once that is done you should be good to go.
Accessing the router is is with a fixed IP address, generally 192.168.x.x, modem with 192.168.100.1 with Comcast.
Yup, my laptop is set to use DHCP over ethernet or wireless (has both). It is a Windows 8 box that I am suspecting though. Works fine here at the office of course where we have both wired and wifi.
Besides rebooting both devices, I also tried “ipconfig /renew” in a command window. No joy.
I did not try accessing the router at 192.168.100.1. I will try that tomorrow.
“Republicans agree to massive spending bill, despite record deficits”
https://www.conservativereview.com/news/republicans-agree-massive-spending-bill-despite-record-deficits/
“The Congressional Budget Office announced earlier this week that the deficit for the first two months of fiscal year 2020 was $342 billion. That is an astounding number on many levels. It is 12 percent higher than last year, when we were already shocked at how quickly spending had increased under Republicans. Toward the end of Obama’s second term, annual deficits for the full 12 months were only about $500-$700 billion. However, the situation is even more appalling than under Obama.”
And another step closer to the Financial Apocalypse ™ in the USA.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
Geez!!!
Those pictures of the new, vibrant, youthful Cankles make my skin crawl. Why would she do that if not to try and drop in at the end to try and get the Dumbo super-dels to vote for her? Is BJ next for a facelift? The First Dude, lol.
And another step closer to the Financial Apocalypse ™ in the USA.
Gotta keep the commuters rolling into DC from the VA suburbs, currently the wealthiest per-capita part of the country. Too many parties have a vested interest in the game continuing this way.
My hell since May has been making sure VADOT gets their piece of the action in that racket. 15-20,000 cars daily, both directions, and that’s *before* Amazon opens HQ2.
And another step closer to the Financial Apocalypse ™ in the USA.
Gotta keep the commuters rolling into DC from the VA suburbs, currently the wealthiest per-capita part of the country. Too many parties have a vested interest in the game continuing this way.
And why are federal employees (non-military) making so much more money than private sector employees ? It used to be the opposite.
Google, you had one job. Convert a temperature from one dimensional units to another dimensional units. There are four dimensional units in usage in common today. F, C, K, and R.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=-160+C
Where is the R (Rankine) selection ?
My office wired optical Intellimouse is failing after 20+ years. My back (left) button is failing to operate much of the time. So I am looking for a replacement. Microsoft has replaced this awesome mouse with the Classic Intellimouse. I will try it but, it looks different.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076C75X1T/?tag=ttgnet-20
Fast Company even wrote an article about it.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90151927/why-we-still-love-using-mice
Who would not rate this mouse a five star ?
@lynn …. using a Logitech brand wireless mouse. Tiny wireless USB adapter. Works well on the arm of my chair in the living room (so works on fabric surfaces).
Think I got it at WalMart. Fits my big hand. Inexpensive, as I recall. Uses a single AA battery. I’ve used it for at least a year; a couple of battery changes during that time. I use it all day long.
“Earth Enters Unknown as Magnetic North Pole Continues Push Toward Russia, Crosses Greenwich Meridian”
https://sputniknews.com/science/201912131077566386-earth-enters-unknown-as-magnetic-north-pole-continues-push-toward-russia-crosses-greenwich-meridian/
Now the Russians are stealing the North Pole !
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
@lynn …. using a Logitech brand wireless mouse. Tiny wireless USB adapter. Works well on the arm of my chair in the living room (so works on fabric surfaces).
Think I got it at WalMart. Fits my big hand. Inexpensive, as I recall. Uses a single AA battery. I’ve used it for at least a year; a couple of battery changes during that time. I use it all day long.
I have huge hands. I have one of those Logitech wireless mice from Walmart also for my travel laptop that weighs about a pound or so. I just prefer a wired mouse for my desktop as they seem better for CAD work.
And why are federal employees (non-military) making so much more money than private sector employees ? It used to be the opposite.
It isn’t about the salary as much as the benefits and pension plan. Those are the real budget killers. Just ask the State of Illinois … or the cities of Houston and Dallas.
My wife makes more money at the VA than she did in private practice in Austin, but I learned long ago that she’s too trusting and naive to make real money in medicine. I only ask that she make enough to qualify us for our current mortgage at the identical terms on her salary alone, just as we did five years ago, at the same selling price/down payment.
I’m still not sure I can fix what Vantucky did to our long-term bottom line. The physician recruiters for the Northwest hang up when they hear my voice answer the phone.
I’m still not sure I can fix what Vantucky did to our long-term bottom line. The physician recruiters for the Northwest hang up when they hear my voice answer the phone.
Just don’t plan on retiring. Ever. The USA is living at the tail end of a financial dream. After the Financial Apocalypse ™ of the USA (and the world), retired people will be looking for jobs.
I just cannot tell you when the FA will be. OFD thought it was nigh, I thought it was 20 years away. I am not sure at all now.
I am fairly sure that the FA will happen before or when the federal debt in the USA hits twice the GDP. We are halfway there already and accelerating. Soon we will be at two trillion dollars per year deficits as the norm.
@lynn I have large hands also. Larger than XL – XL gloves are always a little tight, unless stretchy fabric.
My hand reach (thumb to little finger) will reach across 12 piano keys – from C to the G past the next C. The Logitech mouse fits OK.
Modem, not router. You will also have to manually configure the IP address and subnet on your laptop. Set the IP to 192.168.100.10 and the subnet to 255.255.255.0. Then connect.
You can also go to the Comcast website and look for how to access the modem. Generally Comcast sets IP addresses to that number but it may be different for your modem.
I did not try accessing the router at 192.168.100.1. I will try that tomorrow.
Modem, not router. You will also have to manually configure the IP address and subnet on your laptop. Set the IP to 192.168.100.10 and the subnet to 255.255.255.0. Then connect.
You can also go to the Comcast website and look for how to access the modem. Generally Comcast sets IP addresses to that number but it may be different for your modem.
Eeep ! You are correct as usual ! Modem, not router.
Thanks for the advice ! I will do that tomorrow if I can stand the paint fumes. I will open the new used house up also while I am there since tomorrow is suppose to be a really nice day.
I thought that the Comcast modem would supply one DHCP address ? I take it that it does not do that after all ? I will have to figure out how to set the laptop IP address and subnet on Windows 8. It cannot be that bad though.
And I am going to take a table and a chair to the new used house. Sitting on the ground kills my back nowadays.
I’ve got an old Linksys router / ethernet hub / wifi sitting at the house. I will take that with me and see it I can get it running also for now.
I just cannot tell you when the FA will be. OFD thought it was nigh, I thought it was 20 years away. I am not sure at all now.
OFD spent a lot of time at Clusterf*ck Nation, kunstler.com. James Howard Kunstler has books to sell and constantly predicts the FA is imminent. I think it will be whenever the Progs return to power in the White House and decide that they are going to drop pretense and go all in. That’s when the camps open — Baby Yoda dolls for everybody.
The doctor my wife replaced at the VA was 80 when he finally called it a career six months ago. He died last week.
Well, finished up the work I’m doing today at my customer’s house. For some reason, the old AP we kept on WEP for a legacy piece of gear suddenly is the strongest signal in other parts of the house. The ipads won’t let the control software do anything on a wep connection, so the system breaks. I unplugged the AP until I can replace it with a new Ubiquiti AP. Then we’ll be all Ubiquiti on the property.
I also replaced an HDMI 1x 4 distribution amp that I suspect is causing image problems, and replaced a 5-7 yo Visio tv with a new TCL 55″ costco special. This is the 5th one in this install. for $289 you get 55″ UHD 4k tv, add $35 for an extra three years of full warranty and you are golden for 5 years. The tvs look great too.
Following that (with a beautiful day and gorgeous sunset, it was FFA Christmas party in the school district. The FFA kids raise animals and some take culinary arts classes. At Christmas they host a big party for the kids in the barns. Hay ride, Santa pix, bouncy houses, and a petting farm full of animals, coupled with crafts and some really outstanding pulled pork sandwiches, made for a very pleasant evening. I chatted with some of the other science volunteer parents, and spent a few minutes with our city Councilwoman. She now recognizes me on sight at community events. She’s retiring this year, but will be running for County office next year. I also saw several of the 4th and fifth graders from my class. Fun time, and the FFA kids ROCK. They are exactly the kinds of responsible and put together kids people complain that they no longer see. The kids are alright, they’re just in the FFA and 4H and Christian scouts, etc…. and not hanging out where curmudgeons can see them.
n