Cool and damp leading to rain later? We are forecast for possible rain and thunderstorms… but as always, we’ll see. It was a bit overcast most of yesterday but then did get sunny later. I believe the highs were in the mid 80s F.
And once again I found myself outdoors. This time I was fixing the vacuum breaker for the sprinkler system. It’s almost summer, and we need to start irrigating soon. The VBP had “popped” during the freeze and was fountaining when my neighbor saw it and shut off the water. Good neighbors. For some reason we weren’t home when it broke. I’ve let it be until I could get a replacement. Since they are $140 in the store, I waited and several showed up in the auctions.
So I got the one I won and headed out to see what I was going to have to do to replace the bad one. The thing is about 10 pounds of brass or bronze, and very sturdy. The part that broke is plastic. Hmmm. The replacement is the exact part that is installed, and I’ll have to cut PVC pipe and splice the new one in… unless…. yes, the broken parts are meant to be replaced. The 15 or more year old one didn’t want to be removed. It’s marked “Hand tight only” but it was very secure. My huge pipe wrench didn’t budge it, even after liberal application of Kroil. I test the new one and yep, the plastic parts do come out. So. I ended up cutting the plastic part out of the threaded socket, and breaking all the pieces out. The guts of the new part went in easily enough, and worked. Hooray. Didn’t have to cut any pipe or glue any splices.
Started testing the zones. Realized I’ve got 7 zones, but can only find 5 valves. Hmmm. That’s a problem for another day. I got the two zones in the front yard checked before I ran out of time. Kids had stuff to do after school, and I was the one tasked with enabling that… All in all, pretty straightforward for a plumbing project. I might even order the parts kit and put the ‘new’ one back together, but that will wait for a while. I’ve got another bronze one for the BOL system from the same auction, so there isn’t any rush.
Today I’m headed to my client’s house. I will work on getting the ethernet over coax installed and tested. There may be digging involved. If it’s pouring rain, I’m going to be cancelling and finding something else to do. The other project there (replacing another bit of dead gear) is delayed by shipping. The part was supposed to be here by now, but is currently showing delivery for tomorrow . So if I can’t work outside, there isn’t much point in me driving out there.
For what it’s worth, the part is an interface box from Crestron and part of the AV control system. I bought it on ebay when my search finally alerted on a new item listing. It’s been unavailable from the manufacturer, and un-fixable under warranty for MONTHS. This part is definitely grey market and I hope it works. It’s listed as new in box but who really knows. It’s a $450 gamble that I hope pays off and gets the system back to 100%. [cor blimey, that’s a lot of declarative statements in a row, someone should take me to task for that!]
Ah well, I’ll probably never be a New York Times Best Selling Author…
I will be stacking stuff though. Lots of stuff. I better get to it.
nick
For non-technical users, this should improve security substantially. As long as your system knows who you are (because you logged in to your PC, or unlocked your phone), you won’t need to sign in to online services. They will automatically log you into your account. In the background, the system manages a bunch of cryptographic keys, one per online service. These are a lot more secure than passwords that get re-used, written on sticky notes, etc..
The catch: If someone gets into your system (you left your PC logged in, or your phone unlocked), they can use any of your services and do anything they want. People who don’t set unlock codes on their phones (or set it to 1234), well…
For people who currently use a password manager to set complex, unique passwords, this isn’t an improvement, except maybe in comfort. If you use a password manager plus 2FA, then passkeys are *less* secure.
Hadn’t thought about that series in years. May be worth reading again! Wonder if I still have the books, or if I’ll have to re-buy them (we downsized our library by a lot, when we moved).
A number of the podcasts I listen to have an interview format. Several of the experts – sneer quotes generally not needed – discuss how to see past fake news, how to get others to overcome their biases, and so on. It may shock you to learn that every single example, across at least three podcasts and a dozen guests, is in the direction “How do I get my relatives to stop denying climate change?”* or “Do you have any tips for getting people to see that the conspiracy websites they read are lying about the covid shots being dangerous?”
Not a single host tried using the “examine your preconceptions” techniques on themselves, and not a single guest suggested it.
In related news, a survey (of unexamined depth or reliability) found that over 80% of podcasters are left-leaning politically and socially. I’d have thought it was well higher, based on what I listen to.
* By which they mean human-caused climate change which will raise the oceans, doom species, and probably kill us all.
Have you noticed that they want human causes for the death of us all, rather than theological causes? By that I mean an angry or disappointed diety punishes the people of earth… used to be that all the big changes were caused by actors that are outside our reach and understanding.
———————-
cool and humid. Overcast. Might get rain after all. Might be very localized.
——————–
coffee. Almost as good as sleep.
n
Or my wife who insists that ”777777” is good enough.
As long as the leftist weenies go first I see no problem, but a solution.
Armature. 3.5 inch floppy disks or go home.
So the swabbies aren’t even hiding it anymore?
https://www.zerohedge.com/military/us-navy-enlists-drag-queen-digital-ambassador-role-attract-more-recruits
I’ve been trying to believe the initial reporting was somehow fake news… but apparently it isn’t.
n
Church Ladies without churches. They fill the void with something.
And lest anyone think I’m being sexist, the most obnoxious Church Ladies I’ve encountered, secular or otherwise, are men. Well, they have Y chromosomes, at least.
But but but, I thought only the US had gun violence?
The star pupil who gunned down eight of his classmates: Serbian killer aged just 13 ‘may have been bullied’ and made a gun pose with his fingers in chilling last Instagram photo
n
Why many US banks may be in trouble
OMG, my refurbished Aeron chair was just delivered. I had no idea. I should have ordered one of these 10 years ago.
I have been using a RH Logic chair for over 20 years, which has been absolutely brilliant. It is in bits right now, as I have just sourced a quality replacement fabric, which will be with an upholsterer next week to return the chair to its rightful pristine status.
When I got hired by canadian bigcorp, one of the first things I bought for my home office was a genuine Aeron chair. The office furniture rental company CORT has an outlet store in my area, so I was able to pick the exact used chair I wanted.
The second was a printer capable of 24×36 inch pages, but I rarely used it. HP DeskJet 90, and it suxxxed.
n
–dropped my sub long ago after a particularly egregious political piece of non-science appeared in it. it’s been a lefty political rag for a long time.
n
Are they really that good? I hear a lot of hype, and see hundreds of them in the LA Craigslist, with prices ranging from $150 to $1,000.
And what actually gets refurbished?
I have one “good” office chair that I like, and a half dozen of more or less junk. I could use another “good” one.
On the one hand, insert Carlin quote. On the other? That’s a bit of a stretch there mate…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12045935/King-Charles-III-Jill-Bidens-12th-cousin-four-times-removed.html
Anyone need Quick Basic 4.0 on 5.25″ floppies? My brother was cleaning out his garage and found a set…
You kids and your new-fangled floppy disks! Punched cards were good enough for Granpaw and they’re good enough for me!
https://www.btod.com/herman-miller-classic-aeron
Here is where I got mine. They also explain the refurb process.
Granpaw. Ouch. I learned FORTRAN 66 (not the new fangled lower cased Fortran) on punch cards…
“Proud Boys’ Tarrio guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy”
https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-enrique-tarrio-seditious-conspiracy-trial-f8738f17552cda21eef6d89504da2a0e
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the far-right extremist group were convicted Thursday of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol in a desperate bid to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 presidential election.”
“A jury in Washington, D.C., found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases brought in the stunning attack that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, as the world watched on live TV.”
“It’s a significant milestone for the Justice Department, which has now secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the leaders of two major extremist groups prosecutors say were intent on keeping Democratic President Joe Biden out of the White House at all costs. The charge carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.”
Clay and Buck say that the DOJ is going to charge Trump with Seditious Conspiracy now that they have convictions of Tarrio.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
Granpaw. Ouch. I learned FORTRAN 66 (not the new fangled lower cased Fortran) on punch cards…
I learned FORTRAN II on punch cards.
Young whippersnapper!
Happy Star Wars Day !
I remember standing in line at the Houston, Texas Galleria skating rink hoping to get in to one of the four screens showing Star Wars in June ??? 1977. One of my buddies talked me into going to see it, the three hour wait was worth it. The line stretched all around all around the skating rink.
I listened to a partial podcast last night, “Star Wars: The Multi-Billion Dollar Franchise That Never Should Have Succeeded”
https://www.truthnetwork.com/show/our-american-stories-lee-habeeb/60923/
George Lucas totally reinvented how science fiction films were made in order to retell the Saturday morning serials.
“Westinghouse Electric announces new small modular reactor borrowing from its AP1000 nuclear technology”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/westinghouse-smr-small-modular-reactor-nuclear-technology-ap1000-ap300/649418/
“At a target cost of about $1 billion a unit, or $3,400 per kW, the AP300 SMR design is a 300-MWe single-loop pressurized water SMR. Scaled from Westinghouse’s advanced AP1000 reactor, the ultra-compact, modular-built unit uses identical AP1000 nuclear plant technology to include major equipment, structural components, passive safety, fuel and instrumentation and control systems.”
Nice. Build a dozen of them right now !
“Reason 453 Why The Right Is Sane, And The Left Is Nuts”
https://wilderwealthywise.com/reason-453-why-the-right-is-sane-and-the-left-is-nuts/
“Turns out that Leftists are fixated on empathy and on equity. They’re the kind of people that look at a pit bull that just ate an orphanage and say, “Awww, she’s such a sweety, I wonder what those orphans did to provoke her. We just need to give her one more chance – pit bulls are just as safe as any other dog.””
“This is how the Left processes things – through those two small channels. Those are the filters they use, and every problem in the world is first filtered through a hazy gauze of empathy and equity. Why are there an unceasing horde of illegals surging through what used to be a border? The filter is, first, empathy – “They just want a better life,” and then equity, “Everyone deserves the life we have her in America.” As each one of my children will tell you, I find there is no word in the English language I despise more than the word, “deserve.” I guess it’s my inner Viking showing through.””
One of my neighbors has a pit bull mix that barks at me every day. I carry a gun.
Pepper spray is usually effective and will save you lots of court time and legal fees.
But don’t stop carrying the gun. Pepper spray isn’t always effective, and the owner may choose to escalate.
“dropped my sub long ago after a particularly egregious political piece of non-science appeared in it. it’s been a lefty political rag for a long time.”
Ayup.
Pepper spray is usually effective and will save you lots of court time and legal fees.
But don’t stop carrying the gun. Pepper spray isn’t always effective, and the owner may choose to escalate.
My neighbor actually has five dogs, all rescues. A pit bull bull mix, a lab, a Chihuahua, a Chihuahua mix, and a whippet mix. All five of them bark at me as I walk past their house and back on my daily 1.2 mile walk. Sorry, but I will use my gun if they get out and try to swarm me.
The Lab got out about two years ago and attacked the lady walking behind me. I pulled my gun and ran back to her, yelling. When I got close, the Lab ran back to its house. The Lab did not bite her but it bit her dog. One of the neighbors came out and took the Lab back in the back yard. I complained that their fence was not anchored to the ground and the Lab was able to dig underneath. That night, the dad added another layer to their fence.
We live out in the county. We do not live in the city. Everyone is on 1, 1.2, or 2 acre lots. You shoot an aggressive dog out here and the sheriff ain’t gonna do much.
>> Or my wife who insists that ”777777” is good enough.
At least she’s not using 666 666
As I say, science + politics = politics
“Fair” is my bête noire among English words. “That’s not fair!” “It’s not fair that he gets more!”
1-2-3-4-5 is the only good password.
“Trans Activists GET SCHOOLED After Saying “God MADE ME TRANS”” by The Officer Tatum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euxAuiqE7Cw&t=32s
Oh my.
“Fox News LEAKS UNSEEN Tucker Carlson CLIPS! They’re HILARIOUS!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEGHa1vhASc
Look at Officer Tatum’s tshirt ! It is a picture of 45 minus 60 lbs with tats all over the place.
Here is the tshirt Don 2.0 for sale:
https://www.theofficertatumstore.com/collections/new-releases/products/the-don-2-0-shirt
I suspect that Officer Tatum is MAGA.
“The Skills Gap For Fortran Looms Large In HPC” by Timothy Prickett Morgan
https://www.nextplatform.com/2023/05/02/the-skills-gap-for-fortran-looms-large-in-hpc/
“A better question might be: What is going to happen to Fortran, and that is precisely the one that has been posed in a report put together by two researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which has quite a few Fortran applications that are used as part of the US Department of Energy’s stewardship of the nuclear weapons stockpile for the United States. (We covered the hardware issues relating to managing that stockpile a few weeks ago, and now we are coincidentally talking about separate but related software issues.) The researchers who have formalized and quantified the growing concerns that many in the HPC community have talked about privately concerning Fortran are Galen Shipman, a computer scientist, and Timothy Randles, the computational systems and software environment program manager for the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program of the DOE, which funds the big supercomputer projects at the major nuke labs, which also includes Sandia National Laboratories and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.”
“The report they put together, called An Evaluation Of Risks Associated With Relying On Fortran For Mission Critical Codes For The Next 15 Years, can be downloaded here. It is an interesting report, particularly in that Shipman and Randles included comments from reviewers that offered contrarian views to the ones that they held, just to give a sense that this assessment for Fortran is not necessarily universal. But from our reading, it sure looks like everyone in the HPC community that has Fortran codes has some concerns at the very least.”
https://permalink.lanl.gov/object/tr?what=info:lanl-repo/lareport/LA-UR-23-23992
“Backblaze Drive Stats for Q1 2023” by Andy Klein
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-q1-2023/
“As of the end of Q1 2023, Backblaze was monitoring 241,678 hard drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) in our data centers around the world. Of that number, 4,400 are boot drives, with 3,038 SSDs and 1,362 HDDs. The failure rates for the SSDs are analyzed in the SSD Edition: 2022 Drive Stats review.”
According to the Backblaze data, it is still better to pay extra over Seagate and buy the EDC drives.
@Denis
“I would add Fred Saberhagen’s Berserkers. Intelligent machines whose purpose is to end all biological life…”
I always wondered if Saberhagen inspired Roddenbury and/or to write “The Changeling”. The former first pub was a bare nine months before the latter aired, so it’s doubtful.
STOS had a number of sentient computers. The Guardian at the Edge of Forever and Nomad were probably the most notable. Others such as Daystrom’s M5 unit might not qualify as sentient, but were certainly AI’s.
@Lynn
Ask the Catholic Church how they are coming on getting rid of the Latin Mass.
Binary front panel switches for real coders.
As my coding skills have deteriorated over the years I might be interested in Slow Basic.
IIRC, 4.0 lacked the serial port support, which was the “killer app” for QuickBasic 4.5, the last version before Microsoft shifted focus to Visual Basic.
Latest revelation:
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2023/05/04/kim-gardners-office-has-barely-any-staff-but-shes-busy-getting-a-nursing-degree-n548332
may have been the final straw as Kim Garner resigns:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/soros-backed-prosecutor-mired-scandal-resigns-office
Seems like the public would be best served if the investigation continues. Shouldn’t there be some kind of penalty for cheating the taxpayers by not reporting to earn the paycheck she was pulling in favor of attending classes what sounds like full-time? And she’s making, what, $200k while getting student loans? What’s the wager that she will ever pay them off?
Sounds like bring felony charges (theft of salary) and getting a conviction would head-off the high-buck nursing admin career and probably save lives.
And speaking of being cost effective, I wonder what it would cost to have a Ukrainian drone go tragically off-course and blow George Soros RTFU?
Binary front panel switches for real coders.
Four 8-bit words. Store them in the punch buffer. When the buffer was full, punch a card. When the program was done (the last card punched), read the deck into memory. Use the switches to set the location of first instruction. If you were lucky (and good), the program didn’t fail. The last instruction of your program (deck) was to jump to the starting instruction and repeat.
Take your oscilloscope and trace the program through the hardware looking for the gate that was not performing as it should. If you didn’t have a spare card for the gate that was failing, write test for each leg to validate that all of the gate inputs were good. (Good means present with nice sharp edges on square wave the signals.) Repeat as necessary until the system was working properly.
Fun time for a maintenance technician back in the day.
Once found a problem during my 47th hour of trouble shooting (see the above) the the UNIVAC 1050-II base supply computer at Kirtland AFB.
–more closures.
n
–more closures.
When I was in France back in 2009, I was struck by the lack of fast food restaurants. And then I ate out a few times and was amazed at the prices and taxes. I wonder if we are headed in that direction.
In most slums, street food is very cheap. It’s of questionable content and sanitation, but cheap.
That’s where we’re headed. Should solve the feral cat problem.
n
In most slums, street food is very cheap. It’s of questionable content and sanitation, but cheap.
That’s where we’re headed. Should solve the feral cat problem.
Yeek !
When I worked at Morgen Creek Steam Electric Station back in the early 1980s, one of the mechanics’s wives would bring an igloo chest of wonderful tamales to the plant on Fridays. The going rate was 25 cents each. We use to tease Max that there were no stray cats on his street.
>> Are they really that good? I hear a lot of hype, and see hundreds of them in the LA Craigslist, with prices ranging from $150 to $1,000.
@EdH, IMHO, yes, they’re worth every penny. I’ve had one, first at the office (required a doctor’s note, this was before they became commonplace) and now at home. The ‘secret’ is the give of the mesh fabric, especially for the seat. You’ll find many office chairs with mesh backs and foam bottoms but not many with mesh seats.
I’m not comfortable in anything else. If you consider buying one used, make sure you inspect the mesh and the seat piston closely.
>> “Westinghouse Electric announces new small modular reactor borrowing from its AP1000 nuclear technology”
Nice. Build a dozen of them right now !
And we can put the first one in your backyard??
>> Binary front panel switches for real coders.
Nah, it’s core rope memory.
Build a thousand! We’ve spent way more than a trillion dollars on fake stimulus.
And yes, I’ll take one. I slept next to one, so I’m not afraid of them.