Wed. Feb. 22, 2023 – 02222023 – more silliness ensues, no blame attaches.

By on February 22nd, 2023 in culture, decline and fall, ebay, lakehouse

Warm and damp.   Back in Houston, so overcast too.  Hot and sunny at the BOL yesterday with a very steady wind.   Not for the first time I’m thinking about a VAWT or even a small wind generator.

Did a few more things, mainly cleaning and organizing, before heading home yesterday.  Didn’t get any more fishing in.   Didn’t even try to fly a kite.   I’ve got some big ones that really  need a strong steady wind, and it would be fun to try them at the BOL.  Not really enough space though.

Today I might head over to my remaining client’s house to do some updates and installs.   Or not, if it’s not convenient for them.  I do need to get over there this week though, and the week is half gone.

Gotta do a pickup today too, and maybe a drop off.    Should be some checks waiting… had a couple of nice surprises in the last couple of auctions.

I’m also looking at the pile o stuff here and thinking I need to jump on some of this before it gets completely out of hand.   Always something to do…

And stacking, there’s always stacking…

 

n

60 Comments and discussion on "Wed. Feb. 22, 2023 – 02222023 – more silliness ensues, no blame attaches."

  1. SteveF says:

    But it turns out that you have to be careful what HTTP headers you include – if some headers are present, it doesn’t work. Why? Who knows…

    … All of this is, of course, totally undocumented.

    Make sure to include this in the course, at least as a quick demo that you do in class if not as an exercise for them to try out themselves.

    In my current job*, one of my major chores is to test out the API and documentation provided by our vendors before putting together sample calls and returned data to the lumpenprogrammers**. The documentation always has problems and the API endpoints are not uncommonly buggy. If everything were fully, correctly, and clearly documented, putting together algorithms for our interactions with the vendors’ systems would be a piece of cake. In reality, well, that’s why they pay me the big bucks. When I teach (seminars, mentoring, and tutoring, not classrooms) I mostly stick with basics and “happy path” but I do mention the “and this is why most people can’t do our job” parts in passing as they come up.

    * The job title is Architect but in practice almost all of my time is acting as a senior developer, setting things up for the less experienced or less skilled devs to do most of the work.

    ** Some of them are plenty bright and some are hardworking but they still need to be (or insist on being) led by the hand. Lumpenprogrammer is a matter of attitude more than innate ability.

  2. SteveF says:

    Wed. Feb. 22, 2023 – 02222023

    Not as cool a date as it was a year ago.

  3. brad says:

    @Steve: That’s a good point, because this is reality. Just like some of the home automation stuff we have that “implements standard X”. Sure it does. Well, parts of it anyway. Sort of.

  4. Nick Flandrey says:

    Humans are lazy, and that gets expressed in  both sides of providing the API and using the API, like things IRL…   If people are lazy in the same way, it’s easy and works.   If not, well, there went your afternoon.

    71F and 93%RH so not quite saturated.   Still plenty damp.   D1 was SHOWERING last night at 1:30 so she’s gonna be lil miss sunshine this morning.   I don’t function well on 5 hours sleep.  What makes a teen think she will be good with even less?

    They don’t think is the usual answer.    I think they do think, but their algorithms are messed up so they get bad results.

    Gah.   Time to start levering people out of their beds.

    n

  5. Nick Flandrey says:

    A couple of  things I missed commenting on or linking for the record.

    – mittens’ influence and power must be severely reduced given the IRS investigation of the LDS church hiding assets.

    – another step along the path to war, Russia repudiated START missile treaty.

    – china cozying up to Russia

    n

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  6. Greg Norton says:

    As part of the prep for one course, I spent yesterday trying to work on an example project, basically the backend for a web project. The adventure started with the fact that I haven’t directly used a database server in years, although I have one running for a couple of services. So my cryptic notes like “admin password is the usual”…um…what was “the usual” back when I set it up?

    scott/tiger?

    Lately, I’ve typed root/calvin a lot, and it is scary how many customers don’t change that default.

    When in doubt, SQlite is probably enough for student projects and built into Python as well as ODBC and JDBC. I’ve found that the SQL scales well to MySQL and, if needed, Oracle (scott/tiger!).

  7. Greg Norton says:

    – mittens’ influence and power must be severely reduced given the IRS investigation of the LDS church hiding assets.

    You assume Mittens is happy living under the thumb of the Elders. He was obviously under orders to vote for Amy Comey-Barrett.

    Touchdown Jesus got his Supreme Court chair. BYU Law’s is coming as part of that deal.

    Barbara Lagoa will be DeSantis first pick, however. She almost went into the Payola seat. Of course, Mittens would have been free to “vote his conscience” with Lagoa so Trump pivoted.

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  8. MrAtoz says:

    Great way to start the day with fresh, hammered, troll. Man, it was smug last night. Maybe Mom kicked it out.

  9. Greg Norton says:

    Great way to start the day with fresh, hammered, troll. Man, it was smug last night. Maybe Mom kicked it out.

    Tuesdays and Thursdays off.

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  10. MrAtoz says:

    LOL!

    EXCLUSIVE: Arkansas cops rule suicide in death of Clinton aide linked to Jeffrey Epstein – who was found shot and tied to a tree with an electrical cord around his neck – despite no sign of weapon

    Maybe he inhaled some of those “The Last of Us” mycelium spores. Cankles should have offed him in a Tesla and sent the corpse off on autopilot. That would be a head scratcher.

  11. EdH says:

    Long story cut short: what I expected to be a couple of hours of work wound up eating the whole day. Sometimes tech is frustrating…

    LOL.

    “We do these things NOT because they are easy, but because we THOUGHT they would be easy”.

  12. lynn says:

    Long story cut short: what I expected to be a couple of hours of work wound up eating the whole day. Sometimes tech is frustrating…

    Being a jack of all trades is not easy.  And you forget the nuances of complicated stuff over time.

  13. Alan says:

    It’s got a battery…that’s all you need to know…now let’s get you signed up for that paint protection plan.,, 

    https://www.pcmag.com/news/carmakers-are-switching-to-cheaper-ev-batteries-but-theres-a-big-trade

  14. lynn says:

    Found out yesterday why the blue hydrogen stuff is so popular now in the USA.  Blue hydrogen is hydrogen produced without generating any CO2.  The socalled Inflation Reduction Act has a hidden subsidy of $3.00 per kg of blue hydrogen produced.  Talk about your energy market distortions.

    99% of hydrogen produced in the USA is via steam reformers using natural gas as the feedstock.  That is black hydrogen.  The carbon is vented to the atmosphere.  The cost is less than $1.00 per kg.  

    The Federal government is going broke with all these subsidies.  News at 11.

  15. brad says:

    Another someone associated with the Clintons committed “suicide”? Color me surprised. It’s almost as believable as those highly placed Russians, Putin critics, who keep falling out of windows.

    The message is clear either way, of course…

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  16. lynn says:

    It’s got a battery…that’s all you need to know…now let’s get you signed up for that paint protection plan.,, 

    https://www.pcmag.com/news/carmakers-are-switching-to-cheaper-ev-batteries-but-theres-a-big-trade

    Just throw a 50 kw gasoline generator with a 20 gallon tank in the bed.  Of course, carbon taxes are here (the Inflation Reduction Act again) which be going up over time so that gasoline will be $7 or $8 per gallon in 5 or 8 years.  Gotta pay for those hydrogen, wind mill, solar panel, biomass, and other subsidies somehow. 

  17. lynn says:

    Humans are lazy, and that gets expressed in  both sides of providing the API and using the API, like things IRL…   If people are lazy in the same way, it’s easy and works.   If not, well, there went your afternoon.

    Not only that, we tend to misguesstimate the amount of work needed to get things done.  People will look at a mountain that they want to move and say a week.  Then they find out that the mountain is rock instead of dirt and the effort level just quadrupled.

  18. lynn says:

    I have had about 40 of my 38 page brochures picked up by the approximate 250 engineers here.  I am talking to quite a few people and some of the technical papers are quite good.  Just a few pie in the sky papers like converting H2S into H2 for cheap after the federal subsidy.

        https://www.winsim.com/media/diiw_brochure.pdf

  19. Greg Norton says:

    It’s got a battery…that’s all you need to know…now let’s get you signed up for that paint protection plan.,, 

    The glorified golf carts which most of the population will end up driving in the all EV future will have a 50-100 mile range and top speed of 55 MPH, all imported from China.

    Unfortunately, the public has been sold a fantasy of everyone driving Tonymobiles and Jesus Trucks to work at “Ludicrous” speeds, which isn’t economically feasible.

  20. lynn says:

    The glorified golf carts which most of the population will end up driving in the all EV future will have a 50-100 mile range and top speed of 55 MPH, all imported from China.

    Nope, after the impoverishment of the middle class in the USA is completed (started many years ago), everything will be made here or in Mexico.  China will be premier goodies due to the transportation charges of powering ships with blue hydrogen.  And it will be skateboards, not carts.

  21. ITGuy1998 says:

    I really want my next vehicle to be a plugin hybrid. Maybe in a couple year the Rav4 Prime won’t be unobtanium.

  22. lynn says:

    I agreed to help out in a research project last night with a mixture of propane,  methanol, and water.  I estimated one hour using my software.  I am hoping that this does not backfire on me and take a week.

  23. lynn says:

    I really want my next vehicle to be a plugin hybrid. Maybe in a couple year the Rav4 Prime won’t be unobtanium.

    The Ford F150 hybrid is unobtanium also.  I am hearing that the hybrids are having electrical system problems for the first 4 to 6 years of their production.  I suspect electrical transients in the switching back and forth between electric and gasoline modes.  It took a long time before Toyota got the Prius just right too.  Apparently Ford and Toyota have cross licensed all of their hybrid work and are sharing their designs.

  24. MrAtoz says:

    This is sad:

    ‘Reject the woke assault, close ranks!’: Oldest US military college breaks out in chaos as former students launch online warfare against its first black superintendent for pushing diversity, equity and inclusion policies

    I had the honor of spending a week at VMI when I won the George C. Marshall Leadership Award in ROTC. A great military institution. Now it is tearing down anything Confederate. VMI produced many of the Confederate Generals in the Civil War. Now the names are being expunged and, in place, DEI principles are instituted. I’m sure drag queen hour and how to use buttplugs are on the agenda. The final Obola nails are being hammered into the coffin of the FUSA.

    When plugs/mayor buttplug finally get us into a shooting war with Russia or China (US = asshoe), I’m sure I’ll get called up to go die because our tranny army is getting creamed.

    /bitterness

  25. Greg Norton says:

    I really want my next vehicle to be a plugin hybrid. Maybe in a couple year the Rav4 Prime won’t be unobtanium.

    The collector market for the Rav4 Prime will have to be sated before commoners will get them. The Prime is the fastest true Toyota vehicle currently available.

    The Supra is faster, but someone else builds those for Toyota because a new inline six won’t be profitable for one company alone to develop and manufacture.

  26. lynn says:

    When plugs/mayor buttplug finally get us into a shooting war with Russia or China (US = asshoe), I’m sure I’ll get called up to go die

    My 39 year old son is very worried.  As a non-commisioned officer in the US Marine Corps, he can be called up until he is 45 even though he has been out since 2013.  But he figures he would be a fat DI instead of being deployed.

  27. drwilliams says:

    What do you want to bet that all the fat DI’s are going to be LGTXYZ?

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  28. lynn says:

    If the DI’s are not combat veterans,  i figure that they will get fragged fairly quickly.  A live frag grenade in the pit is bad news.  The troops want to stay alive, not be drag queen targets for enemy snipers. 

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  29. Ray Thompson says:

    What do you want to bet that all the fat DI’s are going to be LGTXYZ?

    The military no longer marches, they prance (or is it prances?).

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  30. lynn says:

    I figure my son will stand out when he shows up with his 1.5 foot long beard and bad attitude.  I don’t know if this is a good thing .

  31. nick flandrey says:

    Kids school is on security lockdown…

    n

  32. MrAtoz says:

    I’m gaining weight as I age. They can always train me in Chinooks. They can lift a lot.

    As Regular Army (Retired), I can be called up at the pleasure of The President. Which will be required as our prancing, high heeled, tutu wearing, tranny forces get creamed.

  33. nick flandrey says:

    Security lockdown means the threat is external to the school.   Nothing on the radios or the farcebook.

    n

  34. Greg Norton says:

    My 39 year old son is very worried.  As a non-commisioned officer in the US Marine Corps, he can be called up until he is 45 even though he has been out since 2013.  But he figures he would be a fat DI instead of being deployed.

    The nonsense will evaporate from the Marine Corps. fast, but a shooting war with Russia would go nuclear pretty quickly.

    The Babylon Bee has the situation nailed.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/hunter-asks-dad-to-pick-up-his-paycheck-as-long-as-hes-in-kiev/

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  35. MrAtoz says:

    Are there any large, white, balloons in the area? The ones with the bus sized payloads that are harmless weather balloons.

  36. nick flandrey says:

    Ok, they lifted the security hold at school, off campus HPD activity was cited as the reason.

    n

  37. lynn says:

    Starlink is changing their prices in April.  Saturated areas are moving to $120 per month.  Unsaturated areas are dropping to $90 per month.

     https://cnbc.com/amp/2023/02/22/spacex-starlink-residential-monthly-pricing.html

  38. lynn says:

    “SpaceX Teases First Orbital Starship Launch”

      https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2023/02/spacex-teases-first-orbital-starship.html?m=1

    “The surest sign that we’re getting closer to launch will be when they transport Ship 24 back to the test area and stack it on top of B7 again.  There are lots of things going on but it looks to me like they should be ready to fly by around the middle of March.”

  39. Greg Norton says:

    “The surest sign that we’re getting closer to launch will be when they transport Ship 24 back to the test area and stack it on top of B7 again.  There are lots of things going on but it looks to me like they should be ready to fly by around the middle of March.”

    Check Cameron County’s web site devoted to SpaceX and road closures out to Boca Chica.

    https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/spacex/

    Boca Chica is still a state park, and a few residents remain in the homes out there.

  40. ayjblog says:

    Lynn

    after 30 years, nothing is 1 hour

     I estimated one hour using my software.

    at least always 5, why? 1 hour understanding the issue, 2 hours software, 2 hours teaching to people

    YMMV

    PS if its one hour, its marketing or you are a partner

  41. CowboyStu says:

    @Lynn,

    I was enthralled reading your WinSim pdf earler today.  With a B S Chem Eng and a 45 year career in aerospace engineering I understood it as I was also involved in the same technological activities.  I worked in airplane and manned space vehicle design and performance and also rocket prelaunch engineering.  From an activity standpoint, I did fluid mechanics, gas and liquid, analyses and heat transfer analyses.  However, instead of steady state analyses, most were transient such has heat transfer from space vehicles to outer space via fin and tube radiators forradiation heat transfer to outer space.  Also, rocket propulsion perfromance predictions were transient from lift off to satellite separation.

    I also did a lot of computer program design and programming starting with Fortran back in the ’60s and then having to self teach and then use MS Visual Basic to transfer data back and forth between Excel and Access and then on to Word for documents to be sent to the Cape to set up for rocket launch.

    How similar is that which I did to those things that you did?  I am now thinking that it would have been interesting to work together!

  42. drwilliams says:

    Biden appointee and pathetic thief Sam Brinton tied to 2018 luggage theft:

    https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2023/02/22/fashion-designer-finds-photos-of-sam-brinton-wearing-custom-dress-from-her-lost-luggage/

    Long past time for a search warrant to be executed on Slimy Sam’s wardrobe.

  43. lynn says:

    How similar is that which I did to those things that you did?  I am now thinking that it would have been interesting to work together!

    Very similar.  Heat transfer is heat transfer and we model many types.  Mostly shellside fluid to tubeside fluid though.  And our fluids are ambient, real hot, or real cold (cryogenic).  

    Yes, the NASA guys in Huntsville used our software for a while for fuel tank design then wrote specific software for their needs.

  44. Greg Norton says:

    Biden appointee and pathetic thief Sam Brinton tied to 2018 luggage theft:

    Isn’t wearing that dress “cultural misappropriation”?

    A warrant isn’t going to happen. Lots of Daddy Cash and good lawyers.

  45. Alan says:

    @lynn et al, regular or enclosed hammer for an EDC wheel gub? 

    Thinking about switching. 

  46. paul says:

    Today started cloudy with a rain shower.  Then sunny and it warmed up.  Thermometers are now saying it’s 82F outside.  And all of a sudden I’m cold.  Oh.  The humidity has dropped to 20% and I’m itchy all over.  Like peeling sunburn.   Not much of a breeze today.  Oh well, weather.

    I have this thing from Big River: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09R1TP7HF?tag=ttgnet-20  One screen, four temps with humidity. I’ve had it a month or so and it surprisingly just works. I was expecting junk that I’d have to return to Amazon.  But it’s some decent stuff like you could buy at Radio Shack.   It’s cool.  I have a sender in the pump house, one in the kitchen window and one in the dining room (both, for now).  With it all in the dining room, the senders varied a 10th of a degree.

    I’m casually looking at switches.  Netgear.  Because that’s what I have, a couple of five port 10/100 units and that stuff never breaks /for me/ unless lighting strikes very near. 

    Both are “NETGEAR 5-Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch”.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S98YLHM?tag=ttgnet-20 for $15.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BVYT3?tag=ttgnet-20  for $33.

    One uses 5 volts. The other uses 12 volts.  The warranties are different.  

    One has one indicator light per port.  The other has two, the second lights indicates gigabit speed.

    I’ll  be the first to say “that guy is stupid” but other than warranty (which is worthless if your LAN is dead) and voltage and indicator lights, I’m missing something.   I figure, buy the cheap one, if it works, then  buy a spare.

    And yeah, I’ll get the eight port version for possible expansion.

    My wISP, yeah, I supposedly get 30 down.  But all the the PCs do gig Ethernet.  My Nanobeam Bridge cruises at 400 to 500.  So, faster switches should speed up the LAN for tossing backups around.  In theory.

    Buddy the Beagle is being a pest.  PITA-boy acts like it’s time for supper.  Looking at the clock, it’s past time.  Ok, puppy….. 

  47. Alan says:

    >> Unfortunately, the public has been sold a fantasy of everyone driving Tonymobiles and Jesus Trucks to work at “Ludicrous” speeds, which isn’t economically feasible.

    May I should turn my LEAF into a ‘garage queen.’ Oh wait, we don’t have a garage… 

  48. Greg Norton says:

    I’ll  be the first to say “that guy is stupid” but other than warranty (which is worthless if your LAN is dead) and voltage and indicator lights, I’m missing something.   I figure, buy the cheap one, if it works, then  buy a spare.

    I have the cheaper unit, the GS305, in our master bedroom media mess. It just works.

    Upstream speed isn’t an issue because that link is via a PowerLine adapter pair.

    I think I paid $20 from Newegg.

  49. lpdbw says:

    @Alan, re: wheelguns

    For a while my everyday carry was a Charter Arms Undercover, satin, with a semi-shrouded hammer.  You could choose to cock it for single action but it wasn’t very exposed.  I haven’t fired it single action, and I won’t , but you have the option.

    I always practice double-action on the theory that if I need to shoot it under pressure, I’m not going to burden or delay myself.  And I don’t anticipate long-distance shooting.

    So I’d also be happy with a fully shrouded or internal hammer.  The Charter just dropped in my lap one day for the right price.  It was a premium for buying a one-year membership at my range.  At that time I was shooting every week and so the gub was basically free.

    The next year I got a cheap but reliable AR from them.

    Alas, they don’t offer premiums any more.  And I cut way back on my range visits anyway, due to the ammo shortage/dempanic/lockdowns etc.

  50. Nick Flandrey says:

    Wow, one of my local auctions had a ton of guns in it.   I guess they waited a bit too long, as almost all were passed due to no bids.    Starting bid too high.

    Some shotguns sold, and the occasional collector piece.    There are a couple that the buyer clearly forgot to add the 25% for fee and tax.

    https://hibid.com/catalog/427947/lewis-and-maese-february-22–2023-mancave-auction 

    luxury watches mostly went unsold too.

    n

  51. Greg Norton says:

    luxury watches mostly went unsold too.

    EBay still has the “Moon Swatch” above retail.

  52. lpdbw says:

    Today was another in a string of bittersweet days.

    Dealing with selling my family farm, in 3 pieces, so 3 real estate closings coming up.

    I’m back to empty the family house, and there’s more feels than I expected.  I keep running into new things that were buried in 3 generations of stuff.  Like unknown recordings (reel-to-reel) of my dad playing guitar and singing.  I haven’t heard his voice in 54 years.  I’m looking forward to it, and dreading it.  I need to get equipment or find a service to digitize them.

    I had lunch with a former coworker and we discussed the old times.

    Then I went to my childhood home town, drove past the house there, stopped and visited the church where my sister was married and my dad was buried, found out that the gradeschool I went to was closed, and so I drove past it, too.

    Ok, I may have been pain shopping.  Or nostalgic.  

    It will all be over March 1st, and I’ll head back to Houston, my new home for the last 9 years.  

    10
  53. drwilliams says:

    @lpdbw

    I’m back to empty the family house, and there’s more feels than I expected.  I keep running into new things that were buried in 3 generations of stuff.  Like unknown recordings (reel-to-reel) of my dad playing guitar and singing.  I haven’t heard his voice in 54 years.  I’m looking forward to it, and dreading it.  I need to get equipment or find a service to digitize them.

    Priceless. Don’t let it slide when you get back.

  54. Nick Flandrey says:

    @lpdbw, I’ve got at least one reel to reel in storage, and some tapes to practice with and make sure it’s running ok first if you don’t find another way…  Happy to let you use it.

    I took video of my last walk thru the house I grew up in.    Haven’t felt like watching it, but I have it if I want to.

    n

  55. drwilliams says:

    JEFFERSON CITY, MO. – In an effort to protect the people of St. Louis, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is demanding the resignation of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner by noon on February 23, or face immediate removal proceedings in the form of a writ of quo warranto brought by his office.

    https://redstate.com/smoosieq/2023/02/22/missouri-ag-demands-kim-gardners-resignation-threatens-quo-warranto-proceedings-n707352

  56. drwilliams says:

    I was digging for a piece of lab equipment today (found it) and found myself looking at a small stack of unlabelled boxes, about 8 ft2 total.

    Supplies for an office copier long gone. Should have been sold off on eBay 15 years ago. Current value asymptotic to baseline–nil.

    Tip of the Day: Don’t let your stacks moulder.

  57. Nick Flandrey says:

    It does pay to review what you have ever so often…

    Once every 15 years is a BIT long in between.

    n

  58. lynn says:

    @lynn et al, regular or enclosed hammer for an EDC wheel gub? 

    Thinking about switching. 

    I have three EDC wheel gubs.  All are regular hammer.  One is .44 special charter bulldog five round.  It sits in the truck.   My exercise gub is a S&W .357 five round Chief Special.  My EDC is a Ruger GP100 seven round .357 with a 2 inch barrel.

    I have Sticky holsters for all my EDC guys.  And I just throw that in a pocket.  I have another shrouded hammer .357 gub but I don’t carry it.

  59. lynn says:

    I feel naked here in this federal hotel.  No guns allowed, federal felony if they find you with one.  

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