Cool, if not cold, with clear skies, maybe. Yesterday started cold but turned into a very nice day. I’m hoping for the same today.
Spent yesterday with other enthusiasts, learning more about our hobby. About a baker’s dozen of us, no masks, decent sized room. Felt very normal. We do still have a couple of members limiting their contacts and avoiding crowds, but we’ve been meeting for around a year now without incident. Mandates may be reinstated in Cali Lite (Austin) but they won’t fly down here. People are making a personal choice every day and in every different situation, which is as it should be.
Didn’t get anything else substantial done this weekend. Feeling a bit guilty about that, but such is life.
Will do some stuff today, hopefully some of it will be advancing my goals. Short day though as it’s my afternoon with D2. Given that we are once again under nuclear threat, something I thought was going to be limited to fanatics with improvised devices and limited reach, spending time on building “the good old days” is more important to me than ever. Bloody hell, I was hoping we were past this sort of thing. On the other hand, I did say this was one of the times of big change. Can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs, amiright?
I’ve got empty buckets that need to be filled. I better get busy on that. And this is probably as good a time as any to rotate a few gas cans.
Keep stacking my friends.
n
Cold, below freezing this morning!
31F and 96%RH, so damp too. Probably actual frost on the ground. Well, roofs, as the ground is likely warmer. My weather station is a few feet above the roof.
n
Maybe fiber, but I'm guessing old school satellite and microwave links are in the mix. You would be surprised at how many of the point-to-point systems are still in use, even in the US.
Ukraine isn't the Middle East. The population doesn't desire to live in the 8th century, and western telecom companies have probably been busy over the last 30 years.
As for security, I imagine that the average US entity with a connection to the Internet is much more vulnerable with less capable admin than in Eastern Europe. To start, I doubt there is as much "diversity" involved in the hiring decision over who can do the best job and less emphasis on Hot Skillz.
The hacking environment is too brutal if someone makes a mistake.
The downside of the Texas Supreme Court putting things like mask mandates solely at the discretion of the Governor is that the Dems could have a shot at taking that office depending on who emerges Tuesday as the candidates. November is a long way away, and I put the proportion of the general population still frightened of their own shadow at about 50%, masked or not.
Masks were always kabuki. The Chinese were playing You Aint Got No Ice Cream games and people here got scared.
The one thing I've learned in 30 years dealing with the in-laws is you don't play their game. Americans lose every time because, inevitably, we are polite, which the rest of the world interprets as weakness.
https://youtu.be/UY9P0QSxlnI
Interesting animation of changing borders in Europe from Pre-history to 2017.
From this article.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/hedge-fund-cio-we-have-begun-great-transition
n
Wow, even the Swiss are dogpiling Putin…
–I guess they did the math. "Steal all the kleptocrats' secret bank accounts" vs. "continue doing business with thugs and gangsters, and Russian kleptocrats"…. and "eventually seize the accounts" won. That couldn't possibly end badly for swiss bankers….
n
The last week demonstrated that the Russians can make trouble outside of their borders but they no longer possess the capability to sweep across Europe Wehrmact-style. Switzerland looks even more impregnable now than it did a week ago.
The biggest threat to Europe is now the Muslims, but this has been known for about 20 years. Convert, kill, or extract tribute, and the latter is easily accomplished in the fanatics’ minds through the welfare states in many countries on the continent.
While Switzerland is largely adopting the EU sanctions, this is not entirely unprecedented. Accounts are being frozen, not seized – actions like this have been done before, when evidence of "evil doing" has been presented by other governments. In this case, the evidence pretty much presents itself. Still, Switzerland doesn't normally go this far – following almost all of the EU-defined sanctions. Russia has truly screwed the pooch – Sweden and Finland are also getting directly involved, which is also pretty unusual.
The big question is: Can the Ukraine hold on long enough, with enough surviving military power, to take advantage of the arms shipments. It has been obvious for a while that the invasion was inevitable. Those shipments should have been delivered weeks ago, and the whole list of sanctions (including SWIFT) should have previously been agreed, so that they could be imposed on day one.
Politicians. Idiots. But I repeat myself…
Accounts are being frozen, not seized
— YET. And for the account holder, is there any practical difference? They can't withdraw, or transfer the money. They can't borrow against it. They no longer control it's disposition.
It's a pretty word for an ugly practice. Swiss banking has a certain reputation. That was tarnished when they agreed to share data with US tax and money laundering authorities. Seizing control of money under their care is a pretty big step.
n
(and ask the jewish descendants of jews killed by the Nazis how quick swiss bankers are to return money they have taken control of.)
@Nick
Wow, even the Swiss and Chinese are dogpiling Putin…
The European countriess are a lot more confident in their borders. The lesson works both ways, however, demonstrating that Putin had legitimate reason to be concerned about NATO at his front door.
Most of the new two story houses around here build the master bedroom above the garage. This has been the case for at least 25 years, especially as the lots got smaller and build-able land close to Austin got scarce.
We bought one of the few houses without living space above the garage, but the master suite sits right behind the wall.
I think the banks did the right thing. They kept the accounts on their books, and were willing to turn them over to anyone who could prove ownership. Now, obviously, some families were completely exterminated. Others may have known that an account existed, but lost any information about the account. Since many accounts were opened anonymously ("numbered" accounts), the banks themselves did not know who the owners were.
The only correct course of action was to keep those accounts open and untouched. No fees, probably no interest either, just static. Who knows, some grandkid may stumble over the account info. Seizing this money and handing it over to a bunch of random Jewish organizations was completely unjustified. Now the money really is gone.
I'm not saying that Swiss banks are totally innocent – the whole situation was far more complex than that. And one bank did get caught trying to destroy WWII account records (oops). But seizing the money from inactive accounts was just legalized theft by a bunch of famous lawyers and greedy NGOs.
Spent yesterday with other enthusiasts, learning more about our hobby. About a baker’s dozen of us, no masks, decent sized room. Felt very normal. We do still have a couple of members limiting their contacts and avoiding crowds, but we’ve been meeting for around a year now without incident. Mandates may be reinstated in Cali Lite (Austin) but they won’t fly down here. People are making a personal choice every day and in every different situation, which is as it should be.
There was 450 to 500 people at the 830 am church service yesterday. Our auditorium seats 900 (uncomfortably) so about 2/3rds full. I am seeing a lot of people I have not seen in two years. And very few wearing masks, maybe 40 or 50 at most. Second service was about the same.
"New UN report warns of deadly climate change consequences"
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/596056-new-un-report-warns-of-deadly-climate-change-consequences
Pull my other leg, it has a bell on it.
Nobody cares any more. These people are charlatans. Now they want us to lock down for climate change.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
The big question is: Can the Ukraine hold on long enough, with enough surviving military power, to take advantage of the arms shipments. It has been obvious for a while that the invasion was inevitable. Those shipments should have been delivered weeks ago, and the whole list of sanctions (including SWIFT) should have previously been agreed, so that they could be imposed on day one.
The arms shipments should have been delivered months ago when the first Russian soldiers started camping at the border. But, the powers that be were worried that the Ukrainian Mafia would sell the arms out of the country and they were right. After all, they sold most of the ammo to other nations in the past along with the good tanks (the ones that could start).
Got the upgraded CPU to work yesterday. I wasn't flashing the BIOS properly. The upgrade gives me an 45% overall system performance increase using the PassMark tests.
I could upgrade memory speed and get some more but I have no idea how much more.
I'm still using the original graphics card because I like having two monitors.
The 2.5 mile walk yesterday afternoon at 5pm was awesome. The setting sun was incredibly bright and I remembered to take a water bottle for us and the dog. We enjoy looking at our neighborhood and stopped and talked with one of our neighbors for 30 minutes. She and her husband built their house 20 years ago and still love the neighborhood. They literally have the train in their backyard at 40 to 50 mph and the horn blowing. They sleep with a white noise generator and say it does not bother them. They also lost their entire roof with the tornado four years ago and had to have the roof and attic replaced. Our house just had loose window frames which I replaced two+ years ago.
There is AM4 and then there is AM4. AMD pretends it is one continuous upgrade path, but an inflection point happened after the third generation of Ryzen, requiring two separate BIOS versions on the early motherboards due to flash memory capacity.
I solved the heat problem in my kids' Steam PC with a new motherboard, but the Ryzen 5 1600 limited me to early AM4 chipsets, and the only one Newgg had which would work was an A320. Cheap fix, however … well, not counting my time.
“Ukraine government asked citizens to turn in captured Russian tanks. Citizens replied the tanks were lost in a boating accident.”
The Crowded Road to Kyiv
Dilbert: Wally's DNA Test
https://dilbert.com/strip/2022-02-28
Yup, Wally won that one. His result should have been "fire yesterday".
Pearls Before Swine: Life Accomplishments
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2022/02/28
Oh no, I am neighbor Bob. Except I never ran a marathon. I read more books instead. I thought I was Pig.
The biggest threat to Europe is now the Muslims, but this has been known for about 20 years. Convert, kill, or extract tribute, and the latter is easily accomplished in the fanatics’ minds through the welfare states in many countries on the continent.
The invasion of Europe has been discussed since 1973. OFD loved this book.
https://www.amazon.com/Camp-Saints-Jean-Raspail/dp/0684142406?tag=ttgnet-20/
And then there were the sieges of Vienna, Austria by the Ottoman Empire in 1485, 1529, and 1683.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna
The population of Europe dropped due to the plague in the 1300s through the 1600s. That was a weakness.
Everyone learned about Russia's ability to project power within their Cold War borders last week, including Turkey, former seat of the Ottoman Empire.
I thought I saw something about Turkey closing the strait to the Russians. I don’t think even a week ago that they would have tried that with the response being an unknown.
Everyone learned about Russia's ability to project power within their Cold War borders last week, including Turkey, former seat of the Ottoman Empire.
I thought I saw something about Turkey closing the strait to the Russians. I don’t think even a week ago that they would have tried that with the response being an unknown.
The Russians are having extreme problems with logistics. Typical war problem with The Battle Of The Bulge being the classic example. Advance forward until you run out of fuel and ammo.
Turkey won't close the gates to the Black Sea for long. They have played this game many times. Russia will bring up the Moscow, a huge guided missile cruiser and park it outside Istanbul (formerly known as Constantinople). Turkey will then open the gates.
"Panasonic to Mass-Produce Tesla's Next-Gen Battery By March 2024"
https://www.pcmag.com/news/panasonic-to-mass-produce-teslas-next-gen-battery-by-march-2024
"This is the 4680 battery Tesla believes will allow for a $25,000 electric vehicle."
I would not short Tesla any more at the moment.
Although I suspect it is symbolic, the Ukrainians changing their road signage to a verbal obscenity is interesting.
I suspect, though, that the invading force is not relying on physical signage for directions. Maybe google maps? Or Waze?
The only changes of google maps related to there is that google disabled 'real-time traffic' display on their maps.
What would be funny is if google maps directions routed direction requests to go back across the border.
I renewed license plates today. A Jeep, the Van, and my trailer. $95 and change.
First off was "who is this?" for the Jeep. Seems The State is Cracking Down on folks buying license plate window stickers for Other People. You must now do it in person. "Uh, we have a joint checking account" worked for an answer. It also seems she knows /my/ name.
Then the trailer. Ah. NOW, after having the trailer for 20 or 25 years, they want my ag number to be able to buy farm tags. And of course I have a picture of that on my phone…. but I left my tracking device at home. She found it, cool.
Then the Van. "Who's Bertha?". My Mom. (We are both on the title.) Ok.
So full rate on the Jeep. $9.50 for the trailer. Both with the added "service charge" of $4.75. The Van has Purple Heart plates… no extra service charge…. $3 plus $7.50 for Inspection. Dad had two Purple Hearts. One for Korea. The other for Iwo or 'Nam. I forget, the sisters gutted the house before they abandoned Mom. Shrug.
My next stop was the gas station. I think I may have used more gas waiting at a red light than I used driving. Austin's 15 minutes for all of the lights to cycle at a four-way intersection (see: Burnet and US183) seem to have come to podunk Burnet. I actually would have saved several minutes by making a right on red, going a block to make a left into a car wash lot, and making a right out of that parking lot. Yeah…"Avoidance of a Traffic Control Device" can be a ticket.
Anyway. HEB was $2.99. I used that stuff all the time when I worked there. The pumps are at the far end of the parking lot so the small lack of mileage didn't matter.
The gas at Shamrock / Valero / CircleK was $3.09 today. It was $2.69 in November. I drive so much I added all of 7 gallons to the tank.
Heck, I've put almost 800 miles on the truck since I bought it in August. A sad thing. That includes a round trip to Ft. Worth for Thanksgiving.
My next stop was the gas station. I think I may have used more gas waiting at a red light than I used driving. Austin's 15 minutes for all of the lights to cycle at a four-way intersection (see: Burnet and US183) seem to have come to podunk Burnet. I actually would have saved several minutes by making a right on red, going a block to make a left into a car wash lot, and making a right out of that parking lot. Yeah…"Avoidance of a Traffic Control Device" can be a ticket.
Oops, I do that most nights going home from the office. The left turn to go over the railroad tracks works but if you are not there when it starts then there is about a five minute cycle to the red light. So I go straight then and do a u-turn about a quarter mile past light, go back and turn right onto the main road to my subdivision. Usually I am the only person at the light.
OsmAnd on Android.
After the Berlin Wall fell, I remember Tom Brokaw being given a tour of the warehouse in East Berlin where the Russians stored physical signs for every street in West Berlin, with the names written in both German and the Russian alphabet.
Typical Brokaw, good propogandist that he was, expressed being perplexed about the Russian intentions with the signs.
Oh, the majors with the possible exception of Toyota will all have to buy carbon offsets from Tesla in 2025, but I'll believe a $25,000 Tonymobile when I see it. Just like the Jesus trucks rolling off a lot at $40,000.
The Russia / Ukraine thing?
I'm not an expert of any kind in history. But Ukraine has been a part of Russia since forever, about a thousand years or so. Smear in some Bulgaria and Greece with a spoon of Hungarian Paprika.
Hey, think back to 1960 whatever when the Soviet Union was going to put missiles, perhaps nuclear in Cuba. About 90 miles off of the tip of Florida.
The US Gov went ballistic.
Now imagine if the USSR and the Warsaw Pact was still a thing and Mexico decided to join the Warsaw Pact. Perhaps to sell oil?
Now Mexico has missiles and whatever just across our WIDE OPEN southern border.
What do you think?
Compare to Ukraine joining NATO.
I'm taking ALL of the news as bullshit. Huh? Covid has vanished. The Trucker convoy is gone. Everything is "support Ukraine!!!"
I'm kinda like "why?". Why would I suddenly want to support a country that is pretty much like Bulgaria or Yugoslavia.
Yeah…. turn the TV off. It's all fake but for the weather reports.
Except hurricane season.
"Year 2038 problem is still alive and well" by CookiePLMonster
https://cookieplmonster.github.io/2022/02/17/year-2038-problem/
"Year 2038 problem? Wasn’t that supposed to be solved once and for all years ago? Not quite."
I suspect that as we get closer to 2038, we will find more and more software subject to the year 2038 problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem
Unless there is a computer running a variation of Unix in my coffin I really don't care. That is 16 years in the future, I figure I got about 15 years left.
Unless there is a computer running a variation of Unix in my coffin I really don't care. That is 16 years in the future, I figure I got about 15 years left.
It will be the computer running the sprinkler system at your cemetery.
Like the Windows for Workgroups 3.11 systems probably still running in the remaining Sears stores doing … something.
A truckload of StarLink boxes arrived in Ukraine today: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/28/ukraine-updates-starlink-satellite-dishes.html
…and…
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-business-europe-88db86be61114b2cfb98befe8afd72f9
Windows for Workgroups 3.11 was not crap. Ok, just a shell on DOS 6.x and so not so swift at multitasking. The networking was solid.
Win95 was prettier. But still on top of DOS. Ditto Win98Se. And Me.
NT3 was clumsy. Win3.11 shell on top of whatever. I had a beta of NT5 and while parts were missing, it was rock solid for me. I liked NT5…. poking along on a p90.
XP was sort of a UI compromise. Win7, even tho I can't find shit because of virtual folders, is solid. It just doesn't crash.
I know. I've never said it was cr*p, but I never figured out what it was doing in Sears stores.
WfW could run a subset of Win32 and talk TCP/IP with Netmanage Chameleon.
AP can't do meter to feet conversion. Sheesh….
LOL. That is one long-ass yacht.
I have a bunch of belts. I'm willing to tighten them all, if I can choose where they are when they are tightened. You ain't seen a tight belt until you has the motivation to really tighten it…
>> I suspect, though, that the invading force is not relying on physical signage for directions. Maybe google maps? Or Waze?
Presumably they want to be using whichever one shows where the mud isn't. Gotta lighten up those tanks a bit.
If Switzerland goes to war.
Redmond went above and beyond with XP to run as much legacy software as it could. That came at a price when 64 bit CPUs became popular, however.
>> Oh, the majors with the possible exception of Toyota will all have to buy carbon offsets from Tesla in 2025, but I'll believe a $25,000 Tonymobile when I see it.
Probably tough to find a used Tonymobile right now for $25K.
Have my eye on a used Leaf for $22K. Just waiting for the dealer to finish the CPO inspection.
Only if the battery is kaput. Not too many at this point, but that will change.
D2 beat me in 5 moves our first game. Second game I made her work for it down to my king and 2 pawns 🙂
m
Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess
more like rainman learns chess…
n
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/jamie-dimon-warns-swift-sanctions-may-bring-unintended-consequences-can-be-circumvented
and this one…
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/could-russia-and-china-collectively-challenge-dollars-reserve-status
–things we've previously talked about here.
n
Party poopers…
https://nypost.com/2022/02/28/alabama-recalls-mans-lets-go-brandon-license-plate/amp/
"A.F. Branco Cartoon – Back to the Future"
https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-back-to-the-future/
Oh my goodness, creepy Joe has got a sippy cup. I wonder which kid he stole it from.
missed this last week:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC
I genuinely want to know why Tucker Carlson is allowed/paid to engage in clear, targeted, libelous harassment that endangers people &drives so many violent threats that ppl have to fundraise for their own safety. Why should they have to pay for his harassment? Make it make sense
10:40 AM · Feb 19, 2022
Catturd ™ @catturd2
You just want to date Tucker.
2:33 PM · Feb 19, 2022
Jonathon Snyder @JonathonSnyder
tell me you don’t understand the bill of rights without telling me you don’t understand the bill of rights
12:48 PM · Feb 19, 2022
Jason Roberge @JasonRobergeVA
He’s not available for dating, sorry.
6:25 PM · Feb 19, 2022
"However, overuse of these powers could compel other actors to try to replace Dollar transactions, as Russia already did to some extent following earlier sanctions."
I have to confess that I haven't spent a lot of time parsing these arguments.
So forgive me for asking:
What currency or basket of currencies is being proposed as a serious alternative?
If the Russian ruble is present, what would be the market response to such an alternative when the ruble crashes from 74 to the US$ to 84 in the space of a few hours, as it did last week?
Seems to me that Gresham's Law operates in "payment systems" space just as in "currency" space.
@Nick
“more like rainman learns chess…”
Just put the moving instructions on the bottom of the pieces in pencil, so you can easily rub them off later.
If you hate your HOA
Lord, I am doing fine.
Please take care of the people with real problems:
https://threepercenternation.com/2022/02/21/mma-fighters-massive-breasts-push-her-up-a-weight-class-video
Ric Flair had the "Figure-4 Leg Lock"
Baron von Raschke had "The Claw".
Dory Funk Jr. had the "The Texas Cloverleaf"
There must be a way…
When I lose pieces it's because I've forgotten to look and see if her pieces can move in that direction. I haven't 'flipped" the movement rules in my head yet, because I barely see the movement rules from my side of the board.
My mom says I played as a kid and was pretty good. Nothing organized because my family didn't do those sorts of things, so IDK if I was any good or not.
I have had a number of head traumas and some 4 decades in between then and now…..
It's fun to learn it with her, and to play.
n
The Rings of Power – War For A Fandom
Is nothing sacred?
Joking…sure Jill, sure…
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jill-biden-introduces-kamala-harris-president-says-joking.amp
Is nothing sacred?
good question
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/ff/a1/47ffa187f600d719dac8f5f2df79f734.jpg
@mediumwave
When "Netflix and chill?" in not just "No"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRsZaV1emM4
Is nothing sacred?
–no. Anything sacred to you must be destroyed. For reasons.
I like the clips from "Big Trouble in Little China" in the video…
n