Warm and damp today, probably clear, but no guarantees. It did get to be a beautiful spring day yesterday, in the depth of winter. Had that warm, moist smell and was sunny. TOO EARLY! Don’t want to trick the plants.
Did run some errands and do a pickup yesterday. Decided to pick up my new freezers at the last minute on Friday. Then I do my non-prepping hobby on Saturday, and head to the BOL afterwards. We’re supposed to be clear until then, but I’ll put a tarp on the load overnight anyway. Picked up around the house and did some other home stuff. Christmas tree is stripped and all the indoor decorations are put away.
Today I’ve got stuff to pick up. Clothes for D1. Stuff for the BOL. Parts for metro shelves for my storage unit. Funny, but the cheapest place to get them was a couple of miles from my house. Cheaper than amazon, and much cheaper than ebay. And they had them for same day in store pickup. Of course, they only had two shelves worth, but that’s all I needed anyway right now.
Had some more spoiled milk in an unopened container. Should have still been good for a couple of more days, but was chunky. There is definitely something going on with milk longevity.
Ordered chinese delivery for dinner and the owner thanked me for being a good and loyal customer. I told her we decided that if we ever wanted to have local restaurants available, we needed to patronize them now (throughout the pandemic). It’s good food, but not cheap. I can buy a lot of on sale meat for what we spent, but we will get another couple of servings out of the leftovers, and we consider it an investment in our community. That’s also one of the reasons we don’t use an online or mail order pharmacy. We want one in our community. We want it to be profitable and successful, and employ our neighbors.
It’s meatspace. I can ask her how business is, if she’s having supply issues, or other problems. I can get intel locally that I can use. You might be surprised what you can learn from just talking to people, especially if they have a bit of time, and you are not a stranger. I’ve talked about it before, but you really need to get out and about in your community. You need to talk to store owners, neighbors, craftsmen, service providers, and other random people. Start building relationships, even if it’s just on the level of being the guy who always says ‘hi’ and asks about something. Tip well. Be friendly. Buy from them. Don’t rant. Control your urge to talk, listen more… Because meatspace counts and it will count for a whole lot more if things get worse.
Stack up some relationships. And stuff.
nick
@Jenny –
Vaccinated or not?
No, have someone else write down the process. Have them shadow you for a release or three as you discuss everything you can think of related to the process, then they write it down, then they follow the steps while you shadow them.
Otherwise, sounds like the company dies if you do.
Elections have consequences.
https://news.yahoo.com/disney-names-former-nike-ceo-220657425.html
And DeSantis still isn’t returning The Mouse’s phone calls. Literal kneeling may be necessary.
https://nypost.com/2023/01/09/desantis-reignites-fight-to-end-disney-worlds-self-governing-powers/
The deal will happen. DeSantis understands money.
There s an OSHA standard for light levels for various functions including office work. I worked in an electronics shop in the late 80’s where we all complained about the light levels at the soldering station. We didn’t meet the standard for office work, let alone detained soldering. Sufficient light makes a huge difference.
I suspect they are so overrun with papers, and have a somewhat clueless staff, that classified material gets misplaced. I don’t think it is intentional. A folder marked classified gets covered up with another folder that has little value and no markings.
I do think when a person from such a high office leaves the office all their locations should be thoroughly swept for material. Even the underwear drawer.
I very much agree. I suspect that all governments are classifying too many documents. Either because the person originating the document is afraid, unknowing, or just wants to feel important, the document gets classified.
I have even seen food orders for troops on deployment being classified as sensitive information. Not that it would divulge the number of troops as that information is probably readily available elsewhere. The person doing the food orders wanted to feel important, secure their job, and that is one way of doing so.
Exactly. I suspect there are many documents that when looked at would be of very little interest and of no strategic value.
Hunter and Ukraine.
A decrease in proteins makes young minds more open to suggestion, possibly signalling an imminent military action.
My father dabbled in vending machines as one of his side businesses about 30 years ago. A certain “religious” organization in Clearwater, FL had a strict policy about what went into the machines in their facilities. Lots of carbs, limited proteins, and NO peanuts.
I’ve also been to remote corporate training “retreat” facilities operating under the same principles when a client has specific goals for the (re)education which necessitate strict control of diet. Historic Banning Mills outside Atlanta about 15 years ago being the example which sticks out most prominently in my mind — no vending machines, juices in the giftshop, and the closest alternative food literally a place with a big sign which read “EAT!” a couple of miles away, walking mostly uphill.
Unlimited time off means no accrued vacation time requiring compensation in a layoff depending on the state. Washington State and Texas, where Microsoft has a rapidly growing presence in certain divisions of the company, definitely require a check for unused vacation time.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/11/23550470/microsoft-employees-unlimited-time-off-2023
The practice also favors certain employee demographics with needs for large amounts of paid time off for overseas travel to visit family or childcare. I’d quit in a heartbeat if my current employer tried it.
Sooner or later, someone is going to challenge it in court.
My current employer does the unlimited PTO game. I’m not thrilled, for the reasons Greg lists, but the pay is good enough that the job is overall worth it.
The “certain employee demographics” who take more time off are not, by and large, productive or particularly useful, so I don’t necessarily miss their presence if I even notice their absence.
@Nick
”Had some more spoiled milk in an unopened container. Should have still been good for a couple of more days, but was chunky. There is definitely something going on with milk longevity.”
I’ve noticed the same at Sam’s.
@Greg
”Sooner or later, someone is going to challenge it in court.”
I would not be surprised if some state introduces an “implied minimum” . Two weeks after the first year with an additional day added for each year of service.
Most companies did away with vacation time calculations weighted heavily using years of service because it became impossible to attract new people with badly needed skills to senior positions while existing employees with considerable service time would essentially retire still collecting a paycheck because they had 6-8 weeks of vacation time plus holidays. Why not keep “working”?
I have friends riding bad jobs into oblivion right now because they get their 6-8 weeks at places like Kyndryl (the former IBM GCS) and whatever is left of my old division at GTE now operating under the Syniverse name — neither one being hotbeds of innovation anymore.
Re NOTAMs: When I was an Airfield Commander, we regularly called in NOTAMS since the machine we had (teletype thingy) would never send. No problemo receiving and printing the days’ NOTAMs. “Mission” Commander Buttplug should be ridiculed on that name change. Yes, a waste of time and a lot of money.
Re Classified documents: At my soopersecret job, the entire two story building was a SCIF. Junior officers got the shitty-little-detail of unlocking the door at 7:00am and locking it at 17:00. Before each, you had to call the MP station. The door was 2” of steel with a large combination lock. If you even breathed on that door, the MPs would come a runnin‘. They had holstered locked and loaded .45s and locked and loaded M16s. You were spread eagled against the wall until your were identified. That happened occasionally with egg on the face for a week.
Re Rick Beato: Yeah, a great YT channel. I recently bought his ear training program to see if I can actually carry a tune.
Ahh, 12 days into 2023 and we have our first tornado warning. So far everything passing north of us. Of course, now I don’t have to monitor only our area, but also Tuscaloosa, where the boy is. I’ll still take this over hurricanes though.
Re: PTO. We accrue PTO based on years of service. Right now, I get 180 hours a year. We can carry over a maximum of 400 hours. If you have more than 200 by the end of a year, you must use 150 hours in that year to carry over. At 400 you stop accruing. Starting this year, I have 302 hours banked. I need to work out a plan to make sure I take the minimum of 150 hours, but also not hit 400 hours, even if briefly.
I can see our company going to the unlimited PTO model. Hopefully it doesn’t happen.
Article on why the clot-shot is a pseudo-gene-splicing bio weapon:
Dr. Joseph Mercola: There Is Now No Doubt the Covid Vaxx Is Gene Therapy
One of the comments gave me chills. Am I now going to suffer for the rest of my life from the clot-shot? Glad I didn’t get any boosters. Many of us here pointed out early the CDC changed the definition of “vaccine” to accommodate the clot-shot. The LSM trying to defend the shots by ignoring full definitions of “gene therapy” by the CDC. Lies all around.
IMHO
This has got to be fake, they can’t possibly be this blatant…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/go-moderna-ceo-announces-new-mrna-shot-heart-failure-patients-help-grow-back-new-blood-vessels/
n
62F and only 50%RH which is a bit cooler than it was at 7am. Sun is out, and there was a beautiful pink sky this morning, with a super bright moon high in the sky.
n
Oh, sure. Wait until Moderna announces the AIDS vaccine while Pfizer goes for an “uber” flu shot.
EUA and subsequent FDA approval for the commercial versions of the jabs – which still are not sold in this country, BTW – shortcut about 10 years of testing of mRNA tech which would have been otherwise required.
Moderna is probably trying to beat the overdue Pfizer report which the FDA ordered the company to deliver regarding their jab and specific heart conditions resulting from the “vaccination”. The report was due the first of the year.
Yes.
More nuanced answer: Probably. The altered cells may have lower longevity or reproductive rate than your natural cells, so over years or decades it may go away.
Wah! I don’t want to suffer and die from the clot-shot!
Listening to the Carlos Montoya Pandora station on SXM.
I also added a Wes Montgomery channel to SXM.
Working on 1099s for distribution. I think I have all discrepancies worked out and can email the 1099s out next week.
W2s done and out. Heh, wife and two daughters only this year. Easy, Peasy.
Quarterlies done. Working on annual stuff.
I agree totally with MtAtoz, I also worked for several years in such a facility. Never brought anything home.
Several good Jeff Beck links, including videos:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/01/jeff-beck-rip.php
@greg
I had assumed -not-. Until the sudden drop dead part.
With the Trumpster and Sponge Brain both having been caught with classified documents outside of a controlled facility, it will be difficult for the DOJ to treat each differently.
From my time in the service, and that may certainly have changed, I was told there is no stipulation on punishment for mishandling classified material based on the level of classification. I believe that was up to the legal office in the USAF. I was rather sternly told I could be dishonorably discharge for removing even low level classified information from the secure location.
I am certain that Spongey and his handlers will try to pawn it off as no big deal. The stuff was in a locked garage in a remote location so no big deal. Or it will be the fault of his staff and not Spongey hisself. Meanwhile, it’s all Trump’s fault.
If the treatment of the individuals is different there will be some very angry republicans and voters.
Of course, this may be the thing that Spongey resigns over. It is past the two year hump for the camel to takeover. Rather than admit dementia, Spongey just resigns “for the good of the country”. There are a lot of possibilities.
And my tinfoil hat is really tight this morning.
I do remember one incident in the USAF in the computer facility. Any time checks were printed the ribbon was considered classified. A ribbon that is impacted hundreds of times before being tossed. Such a ribbon had to be treated as classified and burned rather than disposed.
One time they were printing checks in the computer room. I was allowed in because I had a top secret clearance. One check went missing. They locked down the computer room, no one in or out, for almost six hours until the check was located. Armed guards at all the doors. The check was finally located between the printer and the rear panel. During the search everyone was searched, multiple times, to find the check. The amount of the missing check was less than $4.00.
No, have someone else write down the process. Have them shadow you for a release or three as you discuss everything you can think of related to the process, then they write it down, then they follow the steps while you shadow them.
Otherwise, sounds like the company dies if you do.
It sure would not help the company if I die. But, the company is not doing well as is.
One of my European customers asked my accountant for my name and then ran my name through an international criminal database. Three false positives popped up. Now the customer wants me to prove that I am not one of those people.
I swear, don’t these people have anything to do in life ?
Of course, this may be the thing that Spongey resigns over. It is past the two year hump for the camel to takeover. Rather than admit dementia, Spongey just resigns “for the good of the country”. There are a lot of possibilities.
It would be time for Slow Joe to put up his auction for federal pardons then. Of course, at the head of the line is Beau XXXX Hunter.
Could be a really long line. Especially if Slow Joe does a blanket pardon for all illegal immigrants as he is reputedly considering.
re: food orders being classified
There was an incident, I believe it was our last foray into Panama, where the following things happened:
How did he know something was up, in order to physically be there in time?
It turns out that the news organizations (and one must assume, all our [other] enemies) monitor the food delivery shops outside the Pentagon and the major command bases. And when a big operation is kicking off, there are many, many meetings. And they order food for those meetings. Plus, support staff work longer days, and they have to eat, too. Lots of food gets ordered, enough to notice the difference.
Since all the Western Hemisphere commands were involved, it was an easy leap to send him to Panama, in time to beat the invasion.
I hope they’ve figured out a way to plug this hole.
But… I had a friend who worked in Intelligence. He explained to me that Intelligence, done right, is pretty boring. You collect a lot of data, most of it pretty mundane and not classified at all, and that takes time and resources. But by amalgamating that data, you can get a clear picture of things that your enemies would prefer to be hidden.
That was actually a weakness in the software we developed. We collated a whole bunch of completely unclassified stuff into one database, and our tool was layered on top of that, and it was eventually noticed that we had produced classified data – automatically – from the database, simply by collating it. Eventually, we had to move the whole system to the classified side.
Oh, my sweet summer child, do you think that they care one whit for consistency, honesty, or the rule of law?
But the people who think wuflu was only a chinese disinfo op won’t consider stuff like cell phone contracts not being renewed as a valid data point….
Or smoke visible from space that has a chemical makeup consistent with crematoria burning bodies..
or other indirect means of gathering data.
n
Interesting. But was the information really classified? Any more than noticing a buildup of resources, troops, vehicles, laundry soap at any location.
Do the individual elements warrant classification or the results of the elements? Where is the line crossed? All stuff that was well above my pay grade.
I saw stuff in the USAF that was classified that I really wondered why it was classified. It was probably lumped in with some other stuff. I worked on computer programs for aircraft maintenance and it was a classified system. Not a real high level, just enough to make certain the information was controlled I guess. I was never consulted on the issue.
I stand corrected.
Piling on the Buttplug:
Byron Donalds DROPS Pete Buttigieg with some HARD numbers and facts about travel TODAY and DAMN SON
Unqualified “diversity” hire. Remember, this is the guy who took two months of “paternity” leave as the Secretary of DOT. During the container ship/supply line crisis. He makes around $226,00/yr and took two months paid leave. Plus probably a couple million in book and speaking deals. I guess his husband is not a “stay at home Mom”.
I produced many “secret” documents that literally had one sentence classified in a multipage document making the whole thing classified. Then there is NOFORN (No Foreign). Oof, I produced 100’s of documents with that stamped on it. Classified. Every OPLAN/OPORD I produced was classified. More 100’s.
@Lynn
”Now the customer wants me to prove that I am not one of those people.”
Dear Sir:
I do not tolerate people that impugn my integrity and waste my time. Your account is hereby terminated.
If you choose to appeal you may do so in person in Houston, Texas, USA. Bring your chapstick.
In my early milspec days, before everything was digitally encrypted, we used code books to program radios. Being out on a multi day flight mission, I had to take a code book with me to program my aircraft radios, and keep it on me at all times. Different code each day with the previous days pages burned and witnessed. At the end of the exercise or mission, all remaining pages burned and witnessed. Imagine that at an Army Division level alone and the amount of paper produced.
>> (from yesterday) I keep a paper notebook as well, but I’ve noticed those seem to make people nervous, particularly younger employees.
Seems that retirement is not just visiting the grandkids and gardening. Just ordered an electronic notebook to manage the to-do list, calendar and other activities. Always used paper notebooks at work. 6×9 spiral-bound from the supply catalog. A lot of the execs favored the Black ‘n Reds.
Next to the Corvette.
https://nypost.com/2023/01/12/wh-admits-more-classified-docs-found-in-bidens-delaware-garage/
Turley points out that there is a gap in the timeline—The location of some docs is unknown for months between the end of the Obama admin and the renting of office space.
Patent issues require a bound journal where it is obvious if pages are missing. I keep my notes in $1 composition notebooks from HEB.
Usually, the notebooks are company property at separation by written policy, but the tolling company office manger botched the handling of mine when she cleaned out my cube in a questionably legal move. I have no idea where they are now.
If Biden resigns then he can have no separation of powers argument against testifying before congress about classified documents.
Hunter used them to light his meth pipe.
Piling on the Buttplug:
Byron Donalds DROPS Pete Buttigieg with some HARD numbers and facts about travel TODAY and DAMN SON
Unqualified “diversity” hire. Remember, this is the guy who took two months of “paternity” leave as the Secretary of DOT. During the container ship/supply line crisis. He makes around $226,00/yr and took two months paid leave. Plus probably a couple million in book and speaking deals. I guess his husband is not a “stay at home Mom”.
Near as I can tell, the dumbrocrats are going to run Buttigieg for President in either 2024 or 2028.
Brings to mind a rubber stamp I once saw, “Cosmic Secret! Burn Before Reading!”
I kinda regret not getting one for myself.
Rules for thee, not for me…
Dilbert: Hiring Ex-Twitter Employees
https://dilbert.com/strip/2023-01-12
Just don’t do it.
>> I chirped the tires of my Expy today pulling out of a parking lot into traffic. It goes FAST for as big and heavy as it is.
Ahh, the non-prepping hobby revealed…secretly hanging out with the local street racers we hear about from your scanner listening 🙂
>> Dilbert: Hiring Ex-Twitter Employees
https://dilbert.com/strip/2023-01-12
Just don’t do it.
But they can be persuaded to bring their own TP to the office – Charmin Blue even!
>> I keep on forgetting how much work this is. And I need to write the process down some day.
No, have someone else write down the process.
Feed it all your code and ask Chat GPT (nicely) to write it.
“The Australian Carbon Tax is Back”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/01/10/claim-australian-chubb-report-upholds-the-integrity-of-carbon-credits/
“Carbon tax round 2 – After claiming in 2020 a carbon tax is no longer needed, Australia’s Prime Minister Albanese has decided to offer top emitters an “opportunity” to pay a $75 / ton carbon price, with the aim of bringing down emissions 5% every year, to achieve the government’s 43% reduction by 2030 target.”
These people are insane. To ask businesses in competition with the rest of the world to VOLUNTARILY pay absurd amounts of taxes is crazy.
“Native American Group Urges Apache Software Foundation to Change Its Name”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/native-american-group-urges-apache-software-foundation-to-change-its-name
I knew this was coming. What you want to bet, that there are no Native Americans working for “Natives in Tech” ?
BTW, the Apache web server was really named “A Patchy” web server since it was patched so many times.
Is that $75/ton of carbon or of carbon dioxide? The latter is 3.67x as heavy as the former.
Not that it makes much real difference. It’s a moronic idea even at the lower number.
“Best Post-apocalyptic Book Series” by Dan Livingston
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-post-apocalyptic-book-series/
I have read The Silo Saga series, book one of “Warm Bodies” is in my SBR and I have seen the movie, “A Canticle For Leibovitz”, the Newsflesh Series, “The Giver” and seen the movie, “The Shadow of the Torturer” (and no more), the MaddAdam series, and “The Passage”.
The all time best post apocalyptic series that I have read is the Black Tide Rising series by John Ringo. The first book, “Under A Graveyard Sky”, is one of my six star books. The science is mostly hard and the results of the man made virus with the bacteria payload is absolutely chilling. The series is nine books now with more coming.
https://www.amazon.com/Under-Graveyard-Black-Tide-Rising/dp/147673660X?tag=ttgnet-20/
I cooked something interesting last night. Just made it. Call it “Flat Enchiladas”.
I browned off a pound of hamburger. Salt and Pepper and less than a teaspoon of Fiesta Taco Seasoning. Pushed the meat to one side of the pan and tilted the pan to drain the grease.
Nine inch square Corningware. Drizzle in some canned enchilada sauce. A corn tortilla in the center. Another tortilla broken into quarters to cover, uh, the corners. A layer of ground meat. Many dabs of canned refried beans. Another drizzle of sauce. A big handful of shredded American cheese.
Another layer of tortillas, meat, sauce, beans, and cheese.
One last layer of tortillas and cheese. Pour on the rest of can of sauce. Toss on a few nacho slices. Cover with foil and into the oven. 325F for about 50 minutes. Come back about 5 minutes later because my beer is empty and actually turn on the oven.
Pretty good stuff.
I’ve made this before but adding the refried beans is like adding ricotta cheese to lasagna.
It’s so exciting around here. 🙂
Time for a WH drinking game…rewind today’s news conference and every time KJP repeats “it’s an on-going process,” take a shot of Grape Kool-Aid.
Alternate phrase:
“We take this very seriously”
Hint: you’ll need the gallon pitcher.
No bet. The have zero personal info online. At a bet, it3a lot of 1/64th natives.
There is zero reason to get offended by the Apache Foundation. Like the sports team names, it’s the woke being offended, not the people actually affected.
My gate opener has died. I suppose after six years or so, yeah. It’s a Mighty Mule.
Anyway. By the way it was acting, the problem is the whatever thing, the revolution counter in the motor arm. And the battery was sitting at 4 volts. No complaint about the battery, it’s as old as the opener. Just the cheapest lawn mower battery that Tractor Supply had. I give it some water once a year.
I swapped in the 350-ish and fully charged battery from the riding mower. No joy. The solar panel feeds the circuit board and shows 15 volts or so. The battery was dead after a week. 5.6 volts.
So, maybe the motor arm has gone wacky and is draining the battery. At any rate, the battery isn’t being charged and something is draining it.
Just for fun I connected both batteries to little Battery Minder float chargers. Not enough juice. Ok then, have an hour or so of my old 1 amp motorcycle battery charger. That worked for both batteries. That was on Tuesday.
Today, Thursday morning, they were both on float.
Maybe they’ll be ok.
I need a new gate opener. Both dogs know how to walk the cattle guard. If the neighbor’s horses jump the guard, they are in a small pen.
There’s no keypad nonsense there, to open the gate there is a doorbell button. And, hey, I have a Dakota Alert Driveway announcer. I know you are coming.
Those numbers were probably generated by people in a secure room working out of this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Million-Random-Digits-Normal-Deviates/dp/0833030477?tag=ttgnet-20
Computers were not considered capable of producing truly random numbers and still aren’t IHMO.
The scariest code I’ve ever read in my life is the Visual C++ rand()/srand() PSEUDO random number generator, supposedly cookbooked from Knuth by BillG himself and unlikely to change for that reason.
2024? I’m not kidding when I say that I believe Buttgag (sp?) and husband Chasten (no spelling issue) have been out to measure for drapes at One Observatory Circle.
Mayor Pete is seriously Deep State and most likely their pick to be VP if Kamala moves up. Putting him in that chair would be political suicide for the Republicans, but it is the Stupid Party.
Part of my “no keypad nonsense” is that when I first installed a gate opener, the keypad is wired and the code is set just like the remotes you have in your car. With dip switches. Which is not exactly what I would call secure because you can unscrew the keypad and short the wires to operate the gate.
I think the newer keypads are wireless. Might even do that random rolling code thing. Don’t care. More to break.
“Get off of my lawn” is getting to more and more of a thing.
The heck with Buttplug. Run Pirate Dan! Seal and wounded and all that patriotic rah rah crap.
Gonna be a landslide of feces with either.
Especially with “Buttplug.”
It is hilarious watching clips of plugs’ Black-Lesbian-Immigrant whatever trying to dodge questions about the classified documents. She won’t look at the reporters except to yell at them “plugs is transparent” and just reads right out of her book. It’s not just Fox News asking hard questions now.
She even took a swipe at the “previous administration”, ie, ORANGE MAN BAD, by insinuating tRump hid shite.
Trump had the power of declassification as President. We’ll see if that defense for the raid on his house holds water, but Biden has no excuse.
Ironic that a document stash was in the garage with the Corvette. How many different stories have we heard about the origin of that vehicle.
The ability to declassify a classified document is given to the President, but there are specific rules. You can’t (fixed typo) just say “I declassify you”. There are procedures to follow. Which were not followed by Trump.
See this article: https://abalegalfactcheck.com/articles/declassified.html (among many others in case you don’t like the source):
Typo fixed.
And you’re right.
I have read/heard/dreamed, that the best random number generator is a A/D converter using white noise as the audio input. Since a computer can generate white noise is it truly random? Or can several oscillating circuits feeding the A/D qualify? Or the A/D can just use the tinnitus from my right ear as the source for noise.
You can if you think you are God, better than all the other peons. I never have liked Trump. I disliked him less than I did cankles.
And speaking of inserting text, C, C#, C++ and other languages as text formatting, how come there is no COBOL or FORTRAN for a formatting option? 🙂
Food ordering; “Reporters” during the Clinton presidency noticed that the “kids” working there would order lots of pizza when they were planning any sort of major announcement or working on a “crisis”, which they had fairly frequently.
Also: “Loose Lips Sink Ships”. There was a WWII cartoon about how random bits of data could be added together to see troop movements, or convoy activity, which could provide targeting info for U-boat actions.
And there was the online fitness tracker stuff from 5-6 years ago; soldiers recording their exercise stats were revealing the locations of their runs, and could see individual units moving from base to base. Not only American troops, but Russians as well.
Ray:
No, because nobody else can hear YOUR tinnitus, so it can’t be digitized. 🙂
Bonus points because he drove a bunch of people, whom I despise, completely around the bend.
Oh hey, found a mix tape for lynn, to listen to while he’s converting Fortran to C++:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2boYT0DEGXwfLnM9ciOwDS
Hmmm. Do the cool kids still say ‘mixtape’?
No, because nobody else can hear YOUR tinnitus, so it can’t be digitized.
Musk is working on a new brain probe just for that.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/musks-neuralink-faces-federal-probe-employee-backlash-over-animal-tests-2022-12-05/
Oh hey, found a mix tape for lynn, to listen to while he’s converting Fortran to C++:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2boYT0DEGXwfLnM9ciOwDS
Hmmm. Do the cool kids still say ‘mixtape’?
Nope, nope, nope, I do not want to sign up to get spam from Spotify and their friends.
Besides that, I have my own mixtape. It is called FM 107.5 and I listen to it all day in my office on my 36 year old GE AM/FM stereo radio that I bought in 1986 or 1987.
https://www.houstonseagle.com/
Interesting. If that is true then why does my wife say I whine all the time. Explain that smart pants. 🙂
Oh hey, found a mix tape for lynn, to listen to while he’s converting Fortran to C++:
Write in C
Livingston’s list is mostly carp.
As @Lynn notes, Ringo’s “Black Tide Rising” beats them all hands down.
Robert Adam’s Horseclans is easily top five.
Also missing:
Boulle’s Planet of the Apes
Christopher’s Tripods
and arguably:
Stross’ Laundry Files
@paul
I use black refried beans.
“We’ll see if that defense for the raid on his house holds water, but Biden has no excuse.”
The legislative and judiciary cannot restrain plenary powers. Trump had ‘em, Biden didn’t.
Hmmm. Do the cool kids still say ‘mixtape’?
– yes. Mainly because of the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, where the lead character has a mix tape labeled “Awesome Mixtape” iirc.
They also listen to vinyl, BUY it as new music, and my daughter’s playlist is FULL of the trite-est most overplayed hits of the 70s and SHE SINGS ALONG. It’s killing me [softly with her song].
I mentioned “McArther Park” (the ‘some one left my cake out in the rain’ song) and “You’re So Vain (I bet you think this song is about you…)” as two of the worst songs of the era, and she LOVES THEM LIKE CHOCOLATE. Shoot me.
n
There’s only one thing for you to do, Nick: Get your daughter married off and out of the house ASAP. If you bargain sharply enough, you can get a cow and three goats for her.
(Make sure to be recording her response when you share this plan with her.)
>> Why does an ex-Vice President *or* an ex-President have any reason to retain any classified documents?
Souvenirs?
I can imagine a certain former President pulling a Top Secret file folder (are they as fancy in RL as they are on TV?) out of a wall safe to impress his next nubile conquest.
Any Melania sightings lately? Maybe she’s chillin’ with Gisele…
to the above list:
ADD:
Vinge’s Across Real Time
Not Quite Fitting:
Modesitt’s Recluse
Honorable Mention:
Jerry Ahern’s Survivalist
D.R. Jones Colossus
Wm. Johnstone’s Ashes
Stirling’s Change
Knight’s Vampire Earth
No Mention At All:
elron
>> It is hilarious watching clips of plugs’ Black-Lesbian-Immigrant whatever trying to dodge questions about the classified documents. She won’t look at the reporters except to yell at them “plugs is transparent” and just reads right out of her book. It’s not just Fox News asking hard questions now.
Jen…sweet Jen…oh how we miss you. At least she put more effort into memorizing the book.
Not that anyone here frequents MSNBC but I hear she’s never on?
Results vary. I am reminded of early 1968, our ship was on the way back from deployment to Viet Nam and I was monitoring the secure circuit for the entire Western Pacific when the Pueblo was taken. Some days later on reaching Honolulu I received a letter from my wife that contained twice the information about the situation as I was able to ascertain from that classified secret net. Obviously stuff above my pay grade was getting out to the public.
@Nick
“Shoot me.”
Thirty days after she discovers “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” .
>> Why does an ex-Vice President *or* an ex-President have any reason to retain any classified documents?
Future litigation, e.g., Russia Hoax
Thirty days after she discovers “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” .
– or “Horse with No Name”…
n
And thanks for the Stross series. I just got the first one, it’s cheap on kindle. I generally like Stross but never came across that series. Or if I did, the occult references might have put me off it.
n
I really liked the SF Book club edition of the Realtime books. I see a sort of “tinker” society as the best possible result of a crash that sets us back to the 1800s level of tech.
n
I received a letter from my wife that contained twice the information about the situation as I was able to ascertain from that classified secret net.About the same time as the Panama invasion, we helped build out a command and control center at a named command. Back in the 80’s and 90’s, Cable news actually had some news mixed in with their propaganda. Each room in the command center had a wall mounted TV permanently running some cable news channel. The intelligence geeks told me that they’d start a draft of an operations plan based on the news, so they’d have a head start when orders came down via the classified channels.
I wonder if Nick has a brother-in-law who despises him and who would be happy to give his darling niece a YouTube playlist of some must-hear 70s hits.
I wonder if there’s any way for interested bystanders to contact this notional brother-in-law with suggestions…
Did my pickups and made a run thru Costco.
Dairy fridge was ⅔ empty. Beef was reasonably priced, with premium meat at $20+/pound but a few choices under $10/pound and 89/11 hamburger at $4.
The freezer section was stocked with about half the SKUs they normally have, and my favorite microwave cheeseburgers were among the missing. Butter was VERY low quantity, with only one normal choice and the irish stuff.
Still wide aisles, and lower stacks throughout the store. Took down the sneezeguard barriers at checkout.
The asian stuff has doubled in SKUs since my last visit and the subcontinent stuff is noticeable now. Fewer choices for rice and flour but it was there, and only half again what it cost 2 years ago. Pancake mix went from $6 to $8 per bag, but syrup is still the same as it has been for years.
Best time to shop is between 5 and 6 pm….
n
re selling one’s daughter, a couple years ago my daughter’s piano teacher was trying to get her to learn some bit of theory or history or some such, over the daughter’s lack of interest. The teacher asked the kid, “Well, why is your dad paying for these lessons? Why does he want you to get good at piano?” I replied instantly, “So I can get a better price when I sell her into marriage.” The teacher’s jaw dropped and she just stared at me for ten or fifteen seconds before she stammered out some babble. My daughter, being more used to me, ignored whatever I had to say. (Equivalently, my daughter, being a teenager, ignored whatever her parent had to say.)
Turns out that our bodies might have a ‘reset’ switch that will revert cells back to their younger versions by using our ‘backup’ copy. A “Benjamin Button” effect, perhaps. See article here .
@Nick
“And thanks for the Stross series.”
Welcome.
There’s some real hilarity early on. Later, not so much.
I’ve read through #9. He did a jump-shift at that point, writing a trilogy that takes place shortly after the last book in the series, soon to be published. I’ll get them all together to read, although the nature of the beast is that they may be too depressing to binge without relief.
@SteveF, you’re incorrigible.
So here’s a start:
And, finally, this one, of course.
Please forgive me for any earworms I’ve planted.
Sounds more like a crapshoot choosing which.
They could market it as a pill with a ying/yang design.
Not to worry. If your heart seizes up, you won’t die of clot-shot, you’ll die of just-one-of-those-things. And if something goes wrong in the mutated cells and they go cancerous and eat all of your internal organs, that too will be just-one-of-those-things.
@lpdbw
Link not working for me, goes to “Nothing Found Here” ttgnet page
What, no Phoebe Snow?
ADDED:
Thanks, RickH!
Looks like Anthony Michael Hall after the braces came off the Breakfast Club character.
Sounds like more autotuned carp.
they go cancerous and eat all of your internal organs,
and emerge in a fountain of blood and wink at Sigourney Weaver on the way out
@lpdbw- fixed your link. You gotta include the https stuff…..
for the Carlos Montoya fans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPtyOeJTORg
Fil: Roy Clark is a great player. Full Stop.
Oh hey, found a mix tape for lynn, to listen to while he’s converting Fortran to C++:
Write in C
That was cool but this is way cooler. (Dave Grohl song about Kurt Cobain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWRaAF6_WY
@Nick
“Shoot me.”
Thirty days after she discovers “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” .
Or thirty days after she discovers “The Knack” and has “My Sharona” on auto repeat.
“Or thirty days after she discovers “The Knack” and has “My Sharona” on auto repeat.”
Debut album “Get the Knack”–the joke was “I’d rather the clap”.
Just a couple years earlier the efficacy of penicillin against most strains dropped to near zero. In the last iteration, while the standard dose of penicillin was 600,000 units, the initial treatment was twin shots of 2,400,000 units–one in each buttock.
Thanks, Rick.
I wonder, though, if anyone else will appreciate it.
Stirling’s Change
Knight’s Vampire Earth
Oh man, both of those series start strong but they finish weak. They could go at the beginning of the list though.
@Nick
“Shoot me.”
Thirty days after she discovers “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” .
Or “She’s Leaving Home” on auto repeat by The Beatles.
Stross’ Laundry Files
Nope, sorry, no. I can not get into any of Stross’s books. Just too weird for me. Like the Hitchhiker book.
No. Just….no.
@Lynn
“I can not get into any of Stross’s books. Just too weird for me.”
Did you try Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise?
@Lynn
“I can not get into any of Stross’s books. Just too weird for me.”
Did you try Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise?
Nope. I tried “Guards ! Guards !” and bounced on the first chapter.
lpdbw says:
During the “Tanker War” in the late 1980’s, my Navy duties in Subic Bay, PI, would occasionally take me to the SCIF there. There were SEVERAL times when all the Intel weenies were glued to the CNN video as Iranians were firing missiles at the oil tankers. And there were times when they would say “What do you think will happen about this <incident>?” I’d answer this or that, and they’d say “Bullshit! That could NEVER happen!” and sometimes I was wrong, but many times, I was right.
Military Intelligence is a vast guessing game, mostly performed by morons, and I STRONGLY suspect that it’s gotten worse in the 30 years since I retired.
“Guards ! Guards !” is Terry Pratchett.
Pratchett’s Discworld novels have several series-in-series intertwined. “Guards ! Guards !” is the eighth in the series and the first to feature the Watch, the peacekeeping force of the capital.
There is a three-book series featuring a conman named Moist von LipWig: Going Postal, Making Money, and Steam. The series highlights inventions new to the Discworld, with the third book about a new invention called a railroad. Try the audiobooks.
lpdbw says:
I loved, and STILL love, that song. That was the song that my wife and I did our “courting” by. And we’re still together, 40 years later.
Lisa Marie Presley is dead at age 54 of a heart attack.
https://www.tmz.com/2023/01/12/lisa-marie-presley-dead-dies-cardiac-arrest/
Her dad died of a heart attack at age 42. His mother died of a heart attack at age 46 and her brother (his uncle) died of a heart attack in his 30s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
That pic from the Golden Globes is not kind to Priscilla or Lisa Marie.
thirty days after she discovers “The Knack” and has “My Sharona” on auto repeat.
– I have that album in my truck! Good Girls Don’t (but I do) ROCKS THE HOUSE !!!11!!!!!1!!!!
Any song that includes the lyric “And it’s a teenage madness that you know you can’t erase, til she’s sittin’ on your face…” is gonna rock a teen boy’s world. And I was that teen boy. Still listen to that album about every other month.
@lpdbw, I can’t believe you Rickrolled me. You are a bad bad man.
WRT Pratchett, Sir Terry did incredible work. Some of it is brilliant. Some I need to be in a particular mood. I like the mini series’ involving Moist, Death, and the witches (and by extension, the wee free men) the best.
ALL of Livingston’s list’s are mostly carp- but they do set a starting point for some interesting discussion, which is a good thing in and of itself.
n
“ALL of Livingston’s list’s are mostly carp- but they do set a starting point for some interesting discussion, which is a good thing in and of itself.”
Starting with the title of any list, I think it’s unlikely that we couldn’t do a better list, and at the end look at Livingston’s version and find not one thing to add.
ALL of Livingston’s list’s are mostly carp- but they do set a starting point for some interesting discussion, which is a good thing in and of itself.
Yup. That is why I repeat them here and another place.
and find not one thing to add.
—I agree, with the caveat that I don’t read much new work any more, except by authors I know won’t disappoint me. I used to just go in the store and ask one of the long timers what was new, and knowing the stuff I like, what I might enjoy. Because I went to the same store all the time and they specialized in SFF, Mystery, Horror, and crime, they read everything in the store and could make decent recommendations. I was spending hundreds every month on new work, in hardback. Then it all got woke, I stopped enjoying it, and either re-read favorites or found something else to do (gaming mostly).
Now I really only read fiction when I’m away from home. I’ve been reading more at the BOL because no intarwebs… but it still takes me a while to finish anything.
Back in the day, I’d read two books a day and watch a movie too, when I was between gigs. Then hit the bar for a few hours. Come home and read some more…
I spent a semester in college just reading SF Book club all day. Only went to a few afternoon classes. Almost got thrown out but help from a friend got me a chance to test out of the classes I missed and do whatever written work they required me to make up. He saved my @ss and my college career, and I can’t remember every thanking him for it. I was pretty selfish.
n
– I have that album in my truck! Good Girls Don’t (but I do) ROCKS THE HOUSE !!!11!!!!!1!!!!
I am ashamed to say that “She’s So Selfish” is the best song on the album. And I have the album on my 200 album thumb drive in my truck. “The Knack – She’s So Selfish/My Sharona”. The drummer and lead guitarists are maniacs in this 1979 video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uWvSdZgWAo
This is either the most craven, sinister thing I’ve seen, or the dawn of a miraculous age. I guess if we live, we’ll find out.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11627695/Moderna-begins-trialing-mRNA-shot-injected-directly-HEART.html
n
Well, that is scary. My first heart attack at 49 was caused by high blood pressure (210/110) due to my missing right coronary artery. I had a heart cath that night and they missed it. My second heart attack at 52 was caused by damage to heart causing atrial fibrillation tachycardia. Neither problem was blood flow other than the missing coronary artery which I highly doubt the mRNA thing would have fixed.
Wind is gusting 5-10 mph, and I’m headed to bed.
n
>> They also listen to vinyl, BUY it as new music, and my daughter’s playlist is FULL of the trite-est most overplayed hits of the 70s and SHE SINGS ALONG. It’s killing me [softly with her song].
My younger adult son still listens to rap music?!
I listen to SXM both in the car and in the house (via Alexa). Fox News Headlines, the Springsteen channel or the Jimmy Buffet channel.
>> Turns out that our bodies might have a ‘reset’ switch that will revert cells back to their younger versions by using our ‘backup’ copy. A “Benjamin Button” effect, perhaps. See article here .
Commercial availability – somewhere after Tony’s Jesus truck and fusion powerplants but before Tony moves the remaining Twitter staff to Mars.
mRNA is an amazing technology. That said, the complications that some people have had show that the technology is not yet mature. There is no obvious reason for the Covid vaccinations to cause heart inflammation, so there is something they have not yet understood. Or perhaps the inflammation is caused by the spike proteins floating around, even though they “ought” to stay fairly local to the injection site. Covid also causes heart inflammation in some patients, so the latter explanation is not unlikely.
Regardless, nothing is without risk – even the safest vaccines have occasional side effects.
FWIW: After my booster in November, I had some mild symptoms of myocarditis. Not bad enough to send me to the doctor, and they seem to have gone away, but I will have to seriously think about taking another shot next year.
Back in the day, SGI patented aiming a camera at a lava lamp and using a hash of the image as a seed to a pseudo-random number generator, a classification which includes all software based solutions.
@greg:
According to Tom Scott on YouTube, Cloudflare are using a wall of lava lamps, with TV cameras pointed at them, as a source of randomness.
G.
WRT taking classified documents from approved office to home:
Does the president have the authority to do such?
Does the vice president have the authority to do such on their own?
Did Obama say yes, no, or neither to plug’s removal to his garage?