Hot and humid. Sounding like a broken record here, but it’s what it is. Summer in Houston is still going strong. It must have been a bit less humid yesterday, because it didn’t feel quite as miserable and it was still hot. I’ll take it as a small mercy.
Did some errands and running around yesterday. Mostly it was stuff for D1, but I did some pickups too. And got my toll tag sorted out. The system, and the clerk, didn’t really believe I had two vehicles with the same license plates. Radio operator plates for the win in the “confuse the bureaucrats” category. The supervisor knew what to do, just like the license plate office but the frontline clerks didn’t. Hey, I gave them something interesting to do for a few minutes. I’m a rockstar.
Today I’ve got a couple more things to pick up. A bunch more actually but it’s just a couple of stops. I got another solar inverter, and some stuff for my upcoming hobby show/sale. Some other stuff for the house and the BOL too. Several things for the “water filtration and purification” long term project will be added to the stacks. And there were a couple of things that I think I can easily sell to fund some of these purchases. It’s a big pile of stuff, and I really need to start putting some of it to use.
Who knows? I might actually make a little progress on some stuff, if I short change the other stuff enough…
Anyway, busy day today adding to the stacks.
Something you should consider too.
nick
Among other objectives, I belive Starlink is a stalking horse for the carriers getting one last auction of the available < 1 GHz spectrum, specifically what’s left of terrestrial radio and TV broadcasting.
SpaceX has to maintain the illusion of being the company who can fulfill the Pizza Box Dream so the civilian use numbers are important for the PR.
The Pizza Box Dream is impossible, of course, but I’ve spent most of my career watching a lot of capital and lives burned up in pursuit of that idea.
Just one more auction …
I don’t know a lot about Walz, but I don’t understand the issue with his National Guard service. He had the years in to retire (24 years), saw a deployment coming up, and said “no thanks”. I expect he wasn’t alone in that. Whatever unit he would have commanded, will have been commanded by someone else. Seriously, I’m not seeing the problem.
Apparently, space stinks. The ISS is reputed to be pretty foul: imagine recycled air in a place that people live, work, sweat, pee and poop for years on end. I suppose you can get used to anything, but…gack…
Today’s Tyler Durden cowardice.
When we visitied the Harley Davidson museum in Milwaukee last fall, an entire hallway leading to the company archives was devoted to a book titled, “My Papi Has a Motorcycle”, written by a Wise Latina recounting her childhood experiences with her father and his Harley.
Her Papi probably also had a lot of debt.
‘merica.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harley-davidson-receives-bud-light-treatment-sturgis-motorcycle-rally
The veteran demographic in the US will support socialists if the candidate has that combat duty and a decent line of schtick.
Cough … Tulsi … cough.
This woman ran for the local Congressional seat and Senate here in Texas on her military experience and schtick including such favorites as “My Opposition Is A Bad Daddy”, “Girls Stick Together”, and “I’m Just Plain Folks”, all touched on in the video.
My wife said it worked with a lot of vets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi6v4CYNSIQ
Again, I don’t believe for a second that she lived in that house. It just fit the Scorsese ripoff camera angles in the commercials which the CA money funded.
BTW, MJ Hegar was two when her mother left her biological father. Even the Texas Tribune had to concede that point.
Greetings from Connemara, in the west of Ireland. Remarkably, it is sunny and dry at the moment, though there is a gusty wind.
Just finishing a leisurely brunch, at the “filling in the cracks” stage. Second breakfast is the most important meal of the day until afternoon tea! Enjoying being home in the land of proper milk, butter, cream and other dairy products from cows eating green grass. Happy bovines for the win!
The Air BnB accomodation is very nice, and the hosts left us fresh flowers, brown bread, marmalade, butter, tea, milk, crisps, chocolates and a chilled bottle of wine, plus the lights and heating on in the house. They even treated us to a pint in their pub around the corner. Nice touches …
Stolen Valor is the problem. Waltz claimed he was in combat and wasn’t. He claimed to be a Vet of Afghanistan and wasn’t. He claimed to retire as a Command Sergeant Major and wasn’t. There are other facts coming out about his lies. We Vets don’t like Stolen Valor liars.
The condo insurance crisis is currently front page on the DM. A new law thanks to the condo collapse makes HOAs comply with more safety measures.
One of the best managers I ever had was a retired communications CPO who spent time on diesel subs early in his career. He told me stories about how he used to roll his own cigarettes to save money, and how his smoke breaks on deck were very nice, and then when it was time to go back below, just how awful the stench rising from the hatch was. 40 to 50 men in a tube with 2 toilets and weekly showers, working hard. He said you could cut the BO with a knife.
In the Summer. I’ll take my night-time lows of 79 any day, thank you.
Mid 80s, sunny and humid. Pretty much what I expected for today.
Coffee and first breakfast are on the way.
Then I”ll be on my way getting stuff done. Or at least moving around.
n
We closed on the Vegas house. Back to SA to start the pack-up and move. I’m not looking forward to that.
The chopper door hanging on the wall killed her votes. A fake “war wall”. She’s no hero.
Ooops. Currently 91F in the driveway.
n
Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone?
https://www.youtube.com/live/ohWe9v3KsQQ
The UK is the country with the highest percentage of foreign investors in Florida. Lots of real estate.
Wife, D2 and some extra kids are at the BOL for a long weekend. I hope they have clear sky for the Persiads meteor shower, this is supposed to be the best weekend…
I hope it’s good Saturday when I’m there too.
Sounds like sheer pandemonium to me with some extra kids. And lots of food because they are all teenagers who eat every other hour and between.
@lynn, I just finished book two of the hidden legacy series. I am fighting off the urge to start #3 tonight. I need to sleep…
Cool. The series is very enticing, just one more chapter because there is action, lots of action and you want to see what happened in the rolling disaster..
Mr. Ray, and others who might have recent experience: I am renewing our passports, and might choose the online renewal, which is in beta. Looks pretty good, but I am puzzled over one thing about submitting digital photos, NOT PRINTS.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/online-renewal-photo.html
“Do not edit or change your photo using software…”
I have reviewed all the tips, but don’t understand why. Any ideas?
BTW, it looks like I can try different photos until the site accepts one, although it is still subject to human review.
Editing software might reduce the randomness of the color distribution if I had to guess, which would mess with the “Eigenfaces” calculations for facial recognition.
Or the manufacturers have some kind of watermarking algorithm which they keep under wraps but the government knows about.
I don’t know a lot about Walz, but I don’t understand the issue with his National Guard service. He had the years in to retire (24 years), saw a deployment coming up, and said “no thanks”. I expect he wasn’t alone in that. Whatever unit he would have commanded, will have been commanded by someone else. Seriously, I’m not seeing the problem.
Walz had two years left on his current contract. He went AWOL when the unit got early notification for deployment to Iraq. Somehow the Guard forgave him for those two years. They did demote him back to his master sergeant rating though for retirement.
Being a Sergeant Major is tough. You are dealing with a bunch of 18 and 20 year olds. Walz chickened out when he was going to do it in Iraq. He is not fit to be VP of the USA.
That was right about the time that my son went to Iraq. Twice. Lots of kids in Guard units went to Iraq. And Afghanistan. Getting that college money is not free, it is an obligation.
Or the manufacturers have some kind of watermarking algorithm which they keep under wraps but the government knows about.
All color laser printers print the serial number in very faint yellow at the bottom of each page in small type. Humans cannot see it but a black light will pick it up. Probably something like that.
Editing will introduce artifacts and really mess with the image. if people don’t know what they are doing. About the only thing allowed is cropping. The biggest real concern is people modifying the face, removing blemishes, changing skin color, removing that triple chin, whitening the teeth, changing eye color, reversing the image, etc.
The house was staged. My guess is that the house was not hers or all of the normal furniture and mess were removed for the Wine Mom Modern meets “Goodfellas” look you see on camera.
“Harris County Commissioners Court meeting turns into chaos, calls for decorum”
https://www.chron.com/news/article/lina-hidalgo-garcia-meeting-19630907.php
“”I just don’t like this kind of behavior from males. I’m sorry,” Hidalgo added.”
Wow. That is blatant.
“Small North Texas town rejects Mormons’ plans to construct massive temple”
https://www.chron.com/culture/religion/article/texas-mormon-temple-denied-19628357.php
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints planned to build a 65-foot-tall temple with a 173-foot-tall spire in the outskirts of the DFW metro.”
Interesting. I can see both sides of the argument. I do know that LDS temples are considered to be very holy and that you must be one of the faithful in good stead to go in once the temple is consecrated. My daughter’s friend wanted to get married in a LDS temple but she smoked and they would not let her for that so she got married in the meetinghouse in our neighborhood.
Arlo and Janis: Creepy Cellphone Behavior
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2024/08/09
Yup, many people have noticed this behavior. And it is creepy, very creepy. My cell phone sleeps in the kitchen, not my bedroom.
The property also goes off of the tax rolls.
All of those little town are struggling with insane growth and the question about how to pay for it all.
Plus there is the whole prejudice thing about LDS which dies hard.
It isn’t just Liberals but a broad swath of religious Conservatives as well.
“Could Robert F. Kennedy Jr. turn Texas blue?”
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/robert-kennedy-texas-19630866.php
“The third-party candidate best known for brain worms and bear roadkill could peel off a not-insignificant number of conservative voters.”
Depends on how many illegals are registered to vote in Texas. They could be well over a million.
Camelot dies hard amongst the 70-something white demo but Bobby Kennedy Jr. is not the Mexican Bobby Kennedy.
Mid 100’s, sunny and dry. Pretty much what I expected for today.
Not even an alert or warning from the NWS for 104F by the way…there is one for tomorrow’s projected 106F tho.
So, replacing the month old blue plastic pads in the swamp cooler with Aspen last Friday has made an enormous difference, it’s 104F outside but in the house a pleasant 75F with the AC on low. With the blue pads I was seeing temperatures inside in the low to mid 80s.
High or Low doesn’t really make a lot of difference with this swamp cooler and a reasonably well insulated house, perhaps 1F for double the noise and power consumption. Basically the house takes on the outlet temperature of the air at the register.
The Tom wanted in from the garage, it says 105F in there… There is a faint scent of Eau de dead field mouse in there, but not too bad.
Oh, I didn’t get laid off … for now.
One exec was encouraged to “spend more time with family”.
“Three Senior Smartmatic Executives Charged in Massive Bribery Scheme”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/three-senior-smartmatic-executives-charged-massive-bribery-scheme/
“Three senior executives at the voting machine company Smartmatic have been charged in a massive bribery scheme.”
“In a press release on Thursday, the Department of Justice confirmed that between 2015 and 2018, Roger Alejandro Pinate Martinez, 49, a Venezuelan citizen and resident of Boca Raton, Jorge Miguel Vasquez, 62, a U.S. citizen and resident of Davie, Florida, funnelled around $1 million in bribes to Juan Andres Donato Bautista, 60, the former Chairman of the Filipino Commission of Elections (COMELEC).”
Wait, I thought that Smartmatic was the paragon of virtue and their voting machines were absolutely without reproach ?
I just checked the output from my HL-3270CDW color laser. There are no dots anywhere to be found on the paper using UV light.
My mother, her brother, her parents, my cousin and my brother are all members of LDS church. I had to endure that for part of my childhood until my mother dumped me on my aunt and uncle. I don’t go along with some of their bizarre, in my opinion, ideas. But I cannot fault them either.
When my parents got divorced my mother struggled. I think that is part of the reason she dumped me. During that period when I was still at home, I don’t think she would have made it if not for the church. I remember the move from Wrightwood CA to Victorville. Three or four trucks showed up with a dozen men. The house was emptied quickly. Arrival at the new house was just as quickly unloaded and everything put away. There were women at the new house that had cleaned the place and stayed to fix some meals with food they brought. Their caring for others could be learned by a lot of churches.
I would say great, but is that good news or bad news?
I looked at a few things I’ve printed with a black light FLASHLIGHT! and I see no small type or odd marks. Maybe I have the wrong color of black light, it was sold to find pee spots.
It’s a Lexmark CX410de.
Have you ever looked at Driver’s Licenses, passports or passport cards? Even a mundane paper currency have a UV stripe embedded. My VA card has nothing UV related.
Regarding ‘printer dots’ (if they exist) – try using a blue-light LED . Or maybe one of those color-changing LED bulbs.
Eh. I keep my 401(k) which is the most attractive benefit of the job.
Up to 6% of salary matched with 100% cash, no vesting period.
DDG search: color laser printer secret marking:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/household-printers-tracking-code/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_tracking_dots
confirms RickH advice: blue-LED
ADDED: same tech is used to disable some high-end printers when presented with U.S. paper currency for copying
OK, I can ping winsim.com in one command window but winscp winsim.com in another command window reports “Network error: Connection to “winsim.com” timed out.”.
What in the world is going wrong with my office LAN ?
“Democrat Goals Versus Republican Systems” by Scott Adams
“I posted this on X in response to a story about Kamala Harris threatening some industries with price caps. People seemed to like it.”
“Unlocked for sharing if you choose.”
—————-
“The price capping approach is the end of civilization. Every economist agrees, and that’s why you won’t see an economist interviewed on MSNBC.
Democrats generally have a “goal” approach. This alleged “price gouging” issue is one example.
Goals are for losers. Winners use systems.
Republicans have a “systems” approach: Reduce regulations, make sure everyone follows the rules, and favor merit over identity. Lots more.
Democrat policy is often irrational because it focuses on skipping to the goal without a well-designed system to get there. DEI, climate, and price capping are examples.
Another example is Pelosi saying her main goal is keeping Trump out of office. Compare to Republicans who want the election systems to be designed to detect any rigging and free speech maximized. The best ideas win under such a system.
It’s come down to inexperienced and dumb voters versus smart and/or experienced voters. The smart and/or experienced voters have a systems worldview.
This is a somewhat recent situation. Trump brought systems thinking to a higher level in politics. He frames most issues as systems.
Once you see it, you realize he has always been the smartest player in the game.”
Eh. I keep my 401(k) which is the most attractive benefit of the job.
Up to 6% of salary matched with 100% cash, no vesting period.
Wow, that is a freaking awesome match with no vesting period. Your employer is serious about you being able to stash money away.
Winscp doesn’t require a prefix like “sftp://” or, more rare, “ftps://”?
My understanding was that the markings were on commercial printers, not home printers. Researching also indicates that UV light is good enough to see the dots.
If a person never registers a home printer, encoding the serial number is worthless. Unless the police get a search warrant for the house. With the ability to print at hotels, libraries, schools, it would be difficult to match a printout to a person.
What about a black only printer? It would be tough to produce yellow dots.
I cannot find any dots on the three printers I have. A Brother color laser, an Epson inkjet, and a Canon inkjet. I would be curious if others have the same results.
The match used to be awful, but they upped the percentage to keep the employees of a large acquisition happy.
Winscp doesn’t require a prefix like “sftp://” or, more rare, “ftps://”?
Not before today. All of the subdomains for winsim.com resolve to winsim.com.
I think that something weird is going on with my Starlink.
“Boeing gets $2.56 billion contract from US Air Force for E-7A Wedgetail aircraft”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boeing-gets-2-56-billion-212559907.html
“(Reuters) -Boeing (BA) said on Friday it had been awarded a $2.56 billion contract from the United States Air Force for two rapid prototype E-7A AEW&C Wedgetail aircraft.”
I am not surprised.
The exact reason tRump is only 50/50. The Amish, Hispanizoid, and Vet community will make or break tRump. #Sheeple
Winscp doesn’t require a prefix like “sftp://” or, more rare, “ftps://”?
Not before today. All of the subdomains for winsim.com resolve to winsim.com.
I think that something weird is going on with my Starlink.
FTP does not work either. I used winscp earlier today. I going reboot my Peplink.
Starlink says that the problem is not theirs also.
Winscp doesn’t require a prefix like “sftp://” or, more rare, “ftps://”?
Not before today. All of the subdomains for winsim.com resolve to winsim.com.
I think that something weird is going on with my Starlink.
FTP does not work either. I used winscp earlier today. I going reboot my Peplink.
I rebooted my LAN, WAN, and my phone system. Winscp now works. Weird.
We did have about a dozen power outages this afternoon. But all of that runs behind a 1000 VA UPS.
The NAT table may have been full on the router.
My wife was having trouble with her VPN over starlink today. Starlink times were ok, but overall network was s l o w . . .
n
Last weekend of Summer before schools start opening. Everyone is out at the lake, and there is less 5G backup.
Also, IPSec has a definite signature which could be routed at a lower priority.
Tonight’s movie was The Nutty Professor. Parts were funny. By the music it was made a few years after Carwash.
I’ve watched it. I’m not a fan of Eddie Murphy. I mean, he’s good. But there’s a thing there… like my mom didn’t like Lucy for some reason. Shrug.
All in all, not a bad movie. But I doubt it will be on any playlist in another 30 years. It’s already dated.
Entertaining but maybe toss the DVD after you watch it.
Thanks to all for the comments on the passport photo upload editing restrictions. I will take the pictures in a day or two, and will post my experience here.
Right after I posted that request, I had to go out, and this is the first I have been able to thank the hive mind. That sometimes happens.
Tonight’s movie was The Nutty Professor. Parts were funny. By the music it was made a few years after Carwash.
I’ve watched it. I’m not a fan of Eddie Murphy. I mean, he’s good. But there’s a thing there… like my mom didn’t like Lucy for some reason. Shrug.
All in all, not a bad movie. But I doubt it will be on any playlist in another 30 years. It’s already dated.
Entertaining but maybe toss the DVD after you watch it.
The original with Fred MacMurray was better.
“62 People Died When a Passenger Plane Fell Out of the Sky in Sao Paulo, Brazil”
https://rumble.com/v5accf0-shocking-footage-shows-a-passenger-plane-falling-out-of-the-sky-in-sao-paul.html
Horrible. One of the commenters says wing icing caused the plane to stall and go into a flat spin.
Jerry Lewis.
MacMurray was in “The Absent Minded Professor”.
Eddie Murphy made a bunch of movies for his kids when they were little, or really RE-made a bunch. All of them are watchable, he’s not his crazy self, none of them were blockbusters. Just solid family entertainment.
Nutty Professor is the one with Flubber, isn’t it? The original was great.
n
SO… breakdancing is now an olympic sport? WTaF? People still breakdance?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-13728425/olympics-breaking-breakdancinc-raygun-australia-fans.html
n
The commenter is an idiot. The stall protection on modern planes is really good. Put the nose down, apply power. Any flight crew is well trained in stall recovery.
@Greg Norton
Jerry Lewis.
MacMurray was in “The Absent Minded Professor”.
And the sequel, “Son of Flubber”.
MacMurray had some great film roles and was the highest-paid actor in America a couple times in the 40’s, but for a generation growing up watching tlevision in the 60’s he will always be known for “My Three Sons”.
Jerry Lewis.
MacMurray was in “The Absent Minded Professor”.
Argh !
And I am not a Jerry Lewis fan like my wife.
The flying Model T in The Absent Minded Professor was awesome.
Wonder if it was inspired by Fleming’s Chitty?
Wonder if it was inspired by Fleming’s Chitty?
“The Absent Minded Professor” movie – 1961
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054594/
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” movie – 1968
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062803/
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car” book – 1964
https://www.amazon.com/Chitty-Bang-Magical-Car/dp/0763666785?tag=ttgnet-20/
So, I would say no.
>>The match used to be awful, but they upped the percentage to keep the employees of a large acquisition happy.
Is the default for employee participation opt-in or opt-out?
The NAT table may have been full on the router.
It could have been my WAN multiplexer or the Starlink router which does not use NAT for direct couples into a LAN (optional feature).
All is good now, I downloaded the 15 GB of my website in a couple of hours.
That model airliner apparently has a known problem with icing, which probably contributed to the SSCBD. “Stall, Spin, Crash, Burn, and Die”.
I’m headed to bed, busy day tomorrow.
n
That model airliner apparently has a known problem with icing, which probably contributed to the SSCBD. “Stall, Spin, Crash, Burn, and Die”.
ATR 72 apparently. I hate turboprops. I crossed the English Channel in one about 30 years with a gearbox in the middle of the passenger cabin that I was sitting next to. The droning of the gearbox as we went up and down in the violent air above the channel almost made me hurl. Things got better over France and then Frankfurt.
More fun times at WBD…
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/08/warner-bros-discovery-ceo-david-zaslav-to-deliver-value-for-shareholders.html
Northrop Grumman? Who knew? I was thinking maybe Amazon Prime??
https://www.wsj.com/science/space-astronomy/two-astronauts-are-stuck-in-space-heres-how-theyre-passing-the-time-60a725b4
“So, I would say no.”
Thanks. My memory wad the Fleming book and the Disney movie were older/younger.
Excellent commentary here: https://youtu.be/R2y6aRyYFt8?si=MEM9V9Svyg0INsOZ