And it’s hot again. Mainly because it’s warm with crazy humidity. False Fall seems to have ended so that Summer could have a few more beers and stick around for a bit. High in the 80s in the afternoon, but dripping, stifling, humid. And today is likely to be similar.
Spent all day yesterday, when I wasn’t driving a kid somewhere or doing auction stuff online, moving stuff in and out of my office. I pulled a lot of stuff out, and sorted through it. Reorganized some. Put some elsewhere. At the moment I can walk straight into my office and sit down. Still need to work on opening up the paths to the rest of the office, but at least I got some done.
During that exercise, I also moved and sorted some stuff in the living room and ‘toy” room or library. I’ve got a ‘scratch and dent’ humidor the size of a 3.1 cubic foot dorm fridge that I had to get out of the box, and see if it runs so that I can sell it… and I finally got that set up and out of the living room. I had to lay it on its back to fix the door hinge, so I’ll plug it in today and see if I will make some money, or need to spend a bit more time and energy on it. I’ve got several to flip, but not as big as this.
Today I’ll get a pickup or two, drive the kid around, and generally continue with my cleanup, organizing, and fixing binge.
Still trying to make some money as well as stack. So I can make room for stacks, and stack some do-re-mi…
‘cuz stacks of money will solve a lot of issues…
And stacks of food will help too.
Git you some!
n
Larson still produces the occasional new strip on his website but not on a regular schedule.
He had a burst of creativity before Christmas last year.
I think it’s in the low 70s this morning. It was almost chilly outside.
Coffee is brewed, lunches are packed.
Children are moving, albeit slowly and reluctantly.
The day grinds to a start…
n
Optical center punch project made in a small production run by Neil of Pask Makes in Queensland, Australia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He2_KRvDR68
The three-piece design has a holder with a Lucite center that swaps for a co-axial center punch of the same diameter. He not only fabs the holders out of various metals, but at the end repeats the project with a wooden holder made using the drill press rather than machine tools.
I like Pask Makes a lot and am glad he’s been able to do it full time. He’s got a great sense of design.
The kumiko kayak was stunning.
n
Sell the humidors while you can. Cigars are a credit bubble thing.
Fredericksburg has a couple of stores, but the big one was deserted when we walked by on the Saturday night of New Year’s weekend at the end of December. Considering how warped the economy has become out there, the lack of patronage isn’t a good sign for that “hobby”.
Self-Defense? MA Prosecutor Charges Man Assaulted at Pro-Israel Protest
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/09/13/self-defense-ma-prosecutor-charges-man-assaulted-at-pro-israel-protest-n3794441
Self-defense. Justified use of force. The prosecutor knows this, but the process is the punishment.
Cigars are a hobby?
Who knew.
I enjoy a good cigar from time-to-time, and a pipe (of tobacco). They’ve gotten crazy expensive, but I’ve always thought of them as consumables, not investments.
I paid my fealty to Apple today to renew my ticket to Elysium.
I’m an Apple Fart Boi (hi, Mr. Ray).
Agent in Charge during Trump assassination attempt promoted despite failure to pass exam:
https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/1834395165043368246
You can get some really nice cigars from cigarsintl.com for about $4 each in their ‘sampler packs’. You can get some great cigars for $8 – 12 each buying their bulk discounts.
They have brick and mortar stores, but selling at retail, not the catalog price. The one in The Woodlands north of Houston is nice, but they closed out their pipe section. I haven’t been to the one in Katy.
Spec’s, our regional liquor “wholesale” chain has decent humidors but the prices aren’t great.
I’ve looked at the other online sellers, but nobody beats cigars international online prices, although some have other brands or sizes that CI doesn’t carry.
ISTR Bob ordered from Thompsons online but their prices are high, and they have a lot of ‘house’ branded stuff that seems to be their priority. Or maybe it was a NYC store… since they carry very little pipe tobacco.
Cigars are considered to be “an affordable luxury” by marketing/lifestyle concerns. And at $4-8/ hour, they’re not crazy expensive vs other entertainments…
n
Saw Carolyn Wonderland and Walter Trout last night at the Heights Theater in Houston.
My ears are still ringing.
One of his songs was “We’re All In This Together”, which he recorded with Joe Bonamassa. Standing in for Joe was a youngster named Brett Smith-Daniels.
Keep an eye on him. He was a very good stand-in.
Walter’s best song of the evening was “Say Goodbye To The Blues”.
Carolyn’s set was good throughout, while Walter’s had ups and downs. He’s 73 years old and talked too much, but then he has good reason to talk about organ donation and sobriety. Like he said, when Mick Taylor tells your bandleader (John Mayall) you should be fired because you’re too drugged up, you’re in bad shape.
Both Carolyn and Walter praised John Mayall, since they both worked for him at different times.
Each of Walter’s band members got a solo during the final song, which reminded me of this old story:
More evidence Google is evil:
Is Google Cooking Search Results for Kamala?
and…
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/09/13/is-google-cooking-search-results-for-kamala-n3794442
January 2025: Trump DoJ announces decision on breaking up Google:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNp6y7aYa-s
January 2026: NASA announces the Webb telescope cannot find a piece of Google big enough to photograph
Sergei Brin spotted in a bar in Austin fronting a Kansas tribute band.
Dang that ‘Reply All’ button…
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kirby-no-use-responding-handful-vets-bidens-botched-afghan-withdrawal
tRump tho
I dislike dealing with millwork companies. They charge astronomical prices for mediocre design and execution. Violate basic engineering principles? No problem–don’t need a thermal break in that triple-pane window, anyway.
I picked a few things off my “C-list” to get done today as 15 minute jobs. Sent an inquiry to a millwork company asking about window handles.
Reply was very swift: they needed photos
Took photos and sent them back.
Reply was “not our window”.
Sent them photo of one of the tags that came attached to theri window.
reply: Oh, you have the new design introduced in 2016. Pulls only available in satin nickel, and should have been specced with order.
Yeah, that would be consistent with my original email that said 2019. (At this point I know I have a poor reader who only knows what is in the catalog they gave her after a 2-day training session.)
But my locks are not satin nickel.
Now I need to source a pull that will match, make a template for the trim router, and install them. I was not figuring on Step 1. PITA.
Oh, yeah: When I opened one of the windows it shed some weatherstripping. Now I get to check them all and see what their warranty is. Might be time for a YT video.
Sergei Brin and Larry Page pay lip service to being disciples of the Geico Gecko. They have enough stashed in diverse investments to never have to work again a day in their lives, maybe even BRK ‘A’ shares.
Their modification to the classic probability matrix algorithm to create Page Rank puts them on the level of Metcalfe or McCarthy in terms of intellectual achivements in CS.
Gates aspires to be Feynman, but he’d settle for his name at the top of a seminal paper like Metcalfe’s … or Sergei’s.
If memory serves, Sergei and Larry have a Boeing 757 or 767 they keep at Moffatt Field near Google HQ.
Dirigible, actually.
https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/google-co-founder-sergey-brin-building-airship-1234682672/
Some links on the new Strawberry AI:
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/09/strawberry-alarm-clock.html
I mentioned it to my nephew who is in engineering graduate school and his comment was:
I swapped drives in the cases. The 1TBs into the 500GBs and the 500s into the empty 1TB cases. Both 1TBs in the former 500 cases popped right up in Explorer. One 500 popped right up, the other timed out.
Not a power supply problem. A case problem. They are all Orico brand. $10 or $12 at Newegg for the clear cases. All four drives are WD Blue SSDs.
For the grins I swapped the 500Gb drives between their cases. Both work fine now. Wacky.
Bad cable/connector ends? What was the stuff that Jerry Pournelle used to swear by? I believe someone here said you can get the same same stuff, cheaper now, from Amazon.
Could have been a problem with the contacts. Swapping wiped the contacts. JEP liked Stabilant-22 for connectors. I do too. Expensive stuff. I have never had a problem with connectors when using the stuff but I cannot correlate scientifically the connection reliability to the stuff as it could just be dumb luck.
The announcement of the approval of hearing aid function to AirPod Pro 2 brings up an interesting problem for schools.
In the school where I sub students are not allow use cell phones out or listen to music from their cell phones. A student could be using the AirPods as a hearing aid. The school is not allowed to ask if the student has hearing problems due to HIPPA laws. The student could be listening to music or using the devices for hearing loss. The school cannot ban AirPods now because ADA laws would kick in for those with hearing loss.
I am subbing today. I sent a cell phone to the office. The student was using their watch to text. The first time I told them to stop. They did it again. I told them the next time the phone goes to the office. I caught them in the next class using their backpack as a shield. When I got up they moved something from the desk to their back pocket where the phone was located. I asked if they were using their cell phone and they said no, a clear lie. If they had said “Yes, sorry” I would have let it slide. But lying gets the phone confiscated.
I asked the principal about the use of watches for texting. He said there is no specific policy but they are communicating using the device and that is against policy. I am allowed to confiscate the watch and the phone and send both devices to the office.
See the above post.
Stabilant 22, never used it but he did rate it highly.
Yes, that sounds like it.
Cheaper because it can come as a concentrate.
Are you referring to Stabilant-22, which Jerry used to buy from NAPA?
I have a bottle in my stash, but I had mixed luck with it. My guess is that the substance works best in a contact with a solid mechanical engagement of the metal.
>>“The system could use trip data and in-car chats to serve targeted ads, though Ford says the patent application ‘should not be viewed as an indication of our business or product plans.’”
Not by any means do I consider Ford as an upstanding citizen, but patenting new things as a defensive measure is commonplace.
A patent’s validity is not dependent on whether or not it is used. A patent gives the owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing an invention.
>>Are you referring to Stabilant-22, which Jerry used to buy from NAPA?
Me, I prefer Stabilant-357 Magnum.
Weaponizing the patent process is offense, not defense.
My lead at Death Star Labs was “lead” because he conceptualized two Patents for the company, one of which, in reality, was for a device he was too stupid to actually attempt to build but it passed the Patent process anyway.
The other Patent was part of a group effort so he was simply in the room.
Patents and bl*wjobs are the currencies of the realm at tech companies.
At the current job, everyone at the paygrade above mine and higher has to produce one potentially Patent-able concept at least once a year.
I submitted an idea which actually got beyond the first step with the lawyers. My current lead came up empty and wanted to share credit. I declined that “opporutnity”, but that is probably why I’m being relegated to intern tasks right now as the next generation of the product development ramps up.
Ok. You know where to find Skippy the Intern when you need him.
From one of my buddies:
“If I’m counting correctly, there are a record 19 people in space right now. There is the normal 7 person ISS crew, the two astronauts that flew to ISS on the Boeing Starliner test flight, the three who just arrived on ISS via the Russian Soyuz for a standard crew rotation, the four commercial astronauts on the Polaris Dawn Dragon mission, and the three crew on the Chinese space station. That’s 7 + 2 + 3 + 4 +3 = 19.”
Amazing. Maybe we will hit 100 in the next ten years.
Easier to get now:
https://www.amazon.com/Stabilant-5ml-Kit-Makes-30ml/dp/B001E50GQS?tag=ttgnet-20
And it’s hot again. Mainly because it’s warm with crazy humidity. False Fall seems to have ended so that Summer could have a few more beers and stick around for a bit. High in the 80s in the afternoon, but dripping, stifling, humid. And today is likely to be similar.
My truck was just showing 98 F driving down Crabb River Road. It was 102 F when I came out of Sam’s Club but that was just the radiator heating everything in sight while the three electric fans were down for 30 minutes.
‘cuz stacks of money will solve a lot of issues…
Until your house is surrounded by cannibals.
I am reading an alternate history book where Hilary became president of the USA in 2016. Things do not go well for the east and west coastal states after the secession.
Agent in Charge during Trump assassination attempt promoted despite failure to pass exam:
https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/1834395165043368246
Was she the one in the secret service room pumping her breast milk when Trump got shot ?
“Putin: Authorizing Long-Range Missile Strikes Against Russia Would Be an Act of WAR by NATO.”
https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/09/13/putin-authorizing-long-range-missile-strikes-against-russia-will-be-an-act-of-war-by-nato/
“Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has flatly stated that any long-range missile strikes carried out by Ukraine against the territory of Russia will constitute an act of war against the Russian Federation by NATO.”
He warns that if Ukraine is empowered to strike Russia with long-range missiles supplied by NATO, the alliance would be at war with his country:”
Blinken and Biden are flat out crazy. Got a radiation detector ?
>>“The system could use trip data and in-car chats to serve targeted ads, though Ford says the patent application ‘should not be viewed as an indication of our business or product plans.’”
Not by any means do I consider Ford as an upstanding citizen, but patenting new things as a defensive measure is commonplace.
A patent’s validity is not dependent on whether or not it is used. A patent gives the owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing an invention.
Ford considers themselves to be a software company that makes vehicles on the side. I kid you not, Bill Ford gave a Ted Talk on this a couple of years ago.
A patent’s validity is not dependent on whether or not it is used. A patent gives the owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing an invention.
In a rare lucid moment Ford may have fenced off that application when they considered the likely public reaction to focused marketing on captive vehicle occupants.
“Egypt makes a strategic switch”
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/09/egypt-makes-strategic-switch.html
Another comment that makes too much sense:
“And even if they do find a good pilot, they won’t have enough of them to matter.”
“For many years, it’s been widely known that Israel tracks potential opposing pilots and has plans to overwhelm the good ones and make a turkey shoot of the rest.
I saw a statistic years ago that of 750 fighter pilots opposing Israel at one point, only 50 were good enough to care about and they planned to gang up 10 or more to one on them if war happened.
Jonathan”
Nah. Ford wants to be a streaming service. This lame/expensive “Tommy Boy” sequel starring the less talented Farley cousin has already lost most of the subscribers, and we haven’t even seen Dan Aykroyd yet.
You can get a good look at Bankruptcy by sticking you rhead up a Lightning’s tailpipe, but wouldn’t you rather take the CFO’s word for it?
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/09/13/fani-willis-no-good-terrible-very-bad-week-continues-with-no-show-n3794453
‘Tis fall, and there are hints of wood smoke and disbarment in the air…
My friends who drove Abrams still don’t believe Ukrainian draftees too stupid to flee are driving the tanks.
How much do you want to wager that NATO troops will run the missile systems?
At the current job, everyone at the paygrade above mine and higher has to produce one potentially Patent-able concept at least once a year.
I submitted an idea which actually got beyond the first step with the lawyers. My current lead came up empty and wanted to share credit. I declined that “opporutnity”, but that is probably why I’m being relegated to intern tasks right now as the next generation of the product development ramps up.
Ok. You know where to find Skippy the Intern when you need him.
Good luck with that. Keep that resume up to date and flowing to the recruiters.
Sounds like you are working in a adversarial environment. That sucks.
My friends who drove Abrams still don’t believe Ukrainian draftees too stupid to flee are driving the tanks.
How much do you want to wager that NATO troops will run the missile systems?
My son has lost some of his Marine Corps buddies in Ukraine that are taking the $10,000+ per month mercenary pay. So I won’t take that bet.
Not even mercenaries. Active duty.
The problem with that is Western soldiers get captured and don’t generally commit suicide.
Sooner or later, the Russians will sneak up on a missile site and, when confronted, find a CO willing to deal to keep his kids alive.
The Intern level assignment didn’t last 24 hours before something big came up and I was getting pinged in Teams.
I’m not working the weekend, but the world will end Monday if I’m not on the call at 10 AM.
As long as the AI monkey trick keeps rolling and I don’t use any naughty words again, I have a job.
When the trick stops, no one in tech will be safe.
Not even mercenaries. Active duty.
The problem with that is Western soldiers get captured and don’t generally commit suicide.
Sooner or later, the Russians will sneak up on a missile site and, when confronted, find a CO willing to deal to keep his kids alive.
I have been wondering who is running the 30+ HIMARS missile systems that we gave to Ukraine two years ago. Those are fairly high tech and ultra high accuracy. We also gave them all of our missiles. Raytheon was ordered to make more missiles and gave a ten year forecast for the order.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M142_HIMARS
Might be a good idea to do a personal review of patent law
“The definition for inventorship can be simply stated: “The threshold question in determining inventorship is who conceived the invention. Unless a person contributes to the conception of the invention, he is not an inventor. …”
https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/s2109.html
and ask a few innocent questions of the legal department, such as:
“Can you explain the requirements for being considered an inventor in the patent process?”
Representing ineligible people as inventors on a patent application happens all the time as managers puff their resumes, but it is still illegal and can be grounds for invalidating a patent, unless changes have been made recently that I am not aware of.
Also worth noting is that patents in the U.S. issue to individuals. Many companies require employees to sign documents assigning rights to any and all inventions made during the period of employment to the employer. Things might get very interesting if a company tried to force a former employee to attest to fabricated facts.
As is Putin.
His dream of a new Russian Imperium (and his life) will last only as long as his generals believe the west won’t use nukes.
Quite possibly none of these nutjobs will blink.
omitted this link in the above:
https://henry.law/blog/patent-ownership-vs-inventorship/
breaking:
https://redstate.com/beccalower/2024/09/13/new-court-ruling-a-big-election-integrity-win-on-mail-in-ballots-in-pennsylvania-n2179302
I closed the door on the shared credit pretty quickly, and regardless of the other shortcomings of my current employer, management is held to a high ethical standard. I’ve witnessed HR deal with problems long before they get as out of control as what I experienced at GTE or the Death Star, my other big company employers.
That said, the lead and nearly all of the people in our group are from a culture that has a long tradition of working around a bureaucracy by lying. It is a tough habit to break.
I finally did it. I changed someone’s two fully hosted mail addresses into “forward to another account”. That would be to “paul”. I’ll deal with filtering what mail he gets when any arrives.
That was easy.
I submitted a support ticket to DreamHost asking if they have a discount for prepaying, like say, three years or so. Doesn’t hurt to ask.
Domain Monger offers a discount, and email forwarding is provided with domain service.
DreamHost should be similar.
“Illegal voter registration forms in Haitian Creole distributed by library in Springfield, Ohio”
https://thepostmillennial.com/illegal-voter-registration-forms-in-haitian-creole-distributed-by-library-in-springfield-ohio
Tell me that this is not a planned invasion of the USA.
Tell me that this is not happening all over the USA.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
Did my pickups, mostly. Auctioneer is still trying to sell down his own neglected inventory. He’s trying to get out of an $1800 a month lease on an extra unit. So my stuff will sit here for a while.
———
It’s pretty hot out today, and sunny and humid.
Did I mention the house A/C wasn’t running this morning? Took a few minutes but I tracked the problem to a wire nut coming undone in the attic on the wire pair that turns on the outside unit. Very simple fix. Saved a truck roll and at least $150. It’s very helpful to understand how your critical systems work.
n
Where would I find the 1″ OD AC drain hose in Home Depot?
The elbow fixture coming out of the wall is marked 3 / 4″.
The last two times I’ve been in our local Home Depot, I get a blank stare even on the plumbing aisle.
I had the same problem at Lowes.
Austin. Say it like Hank Hill, with a shudder.
Either the siding contractor or the window installer lost my old drain hose.
If it’s black polypro look at sprinkler pipe, it uses a different sizing scheme.
n
Yeah, it was black.
I’ll take the calipers to the store.
Mine are polypro ‘tubing’. It’s cheap and flexible.
n
I’ve had this in the file and copied it to people several times:
When my HVAC unit was replaced, the pros installed a clear plastic trap so we can see when it needs to be cleaned. I thought it should be simple enough to install one at Fred’s and Kim’s house. Unfortunately, none of the big box stores carry that component, so I improvised.
https://www.oneprojectcloser.com/air-conditioning-condensation-drain-line-replacement/
Being able to see inside the pipe is a nice feature.
Have you stopped to notice that everyone seems to have a new-ish iPhone as well as a high end Apple Watch lately?
Things are bad when even Goldman Sacks (You) heads for the exit.
https://9to5mac.com/2024/09/10/apple-card-losses-goldman-sachs/
Today’s Dilbert is HILARIOUS. Catbert tells Dilbert that he got invited to an Elbonian barbecue. Catbert says that there is a Elbonian immigrant camp near his home and that they would like to meet him. Dilbert asked Catbert if they left off the “m” from the meet and Catbert says how did you know that ?
“Post-Debate: Undecided Voters Pick Trump As Nate Silver Sees Electoral College Path To Victory”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/post-debate-undecided-voters-pick-trump-economist-sees-electoral-college-win
” BREAKING: Trump ticks back to being the 61% favorite in Nate Silver’s election model after more polls release
Trump: 61% (+22.3)
Harris: 38.7%
The model also gives Trump a 63% chance of winning PENNSYLVANIA, and a 52% chance at MICHIGAN. Silver Bulletin | Sept. 13″
“Tesla Robotaxi Prototype Reportedly Maneuvering Around LA Studio”
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/tesla-robotaxi-prototype-reportedly-maneuvering-around-la-studio
Wait, where is the driver’s seat ?
The Warner Backlot is not that large. The taxi rolling around is a stunt for the cameras.
The suburban street sets, including the “Lethal Weapon” house, were at the Warner “Ranch”, which was razed last year.
Forget the driver’s seat. Where is Johnny Cab?
Robert Picardo is part of the cast of the new “Star Trek” series, portraying either the EMH again or another member of the Zimmerman family.
I wonder if the Ford patent being discussed would pass the “obviousness” test for / objection to a patent. From the description here, it sounds like it does exactly what smartypantsphones have been doing for years – eavesdropping and pushing targeted advertising.
Cool, Stabilant 22 is now available on Amazon. Thanks for the link. I have mine, and I remember it was eye-wateringly expensive at least 25 years ago. I hope it’s still good!
Ok. You know where to find Skippy the Intern when you need him.
In the awesome awesome awesome Monster Hunter International books, Skippy is an illegal immigrant Orc living in the USA who can do an inside loop with a Hind 24. He has a Orc wife and anchor kids born in the USA. Skippy and his wife are from Uzbekistan along with his entire tribe. They live in a trailer park in Alabama.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-24
https://www.amazon.com/International-Monster-Hunter-Larry-Correia/dp/1439132852?tag=ttgnet-20/
https://mhi.fandom.com/wiki/Skippy
Skippy is not his real name but humans have real problems speaking Orcish. The tusks really make words sound different. The English translation of his name is roughly “Skull Crushing Battle Hand of Fury”.
Forget the driver’s seat. Where is Johnny Cab?
BTW, you can buy the new Tesla CyberCab with a steering wheel option for $25,000 for a two seater runabout.
I like DeOXIT Gold for corrosion cleaning and protection. They make a special version for faders and potentiometers.
n
Heh.
I scored a full can of Radio Shack contact cleaner at the Goodwill this week for $2.
Smell the fluorines.
I don’t have time to do it, so I’m throwing this stone cold winning meme idea up for grabs with a standard Creative Commons License.:
Start with the most infamous National Lampoon cover ever published.
Substitute a fork for the gun, being held, of course, by a large Haitian.
Rewrite the text: “Give us the EBT cards or we eat the dog.”
The foreign invaders in Springfield, Ohio need to be schooled:
We have a saying in the country: I’m so hungry I could eat the a$$hole out of a roadkill skunk. You’d better be that hungry and able to show an empty skunk pelt full of bones before you even think about touching one of our dogs or cats.
“IRS whistleblowers sue Hunter Biden’s defense counsel for defamation”
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/irs-whistleblowers-sue-hunter-bidens-defense-counsel-defamation
“The two IRS agents who blew the whistle on the Hunter Biden tax investigation and significantly altered the course of the case, on Friday night sued the first son’s lawyer Abbe Lowell for defamation.”
“The two whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, are suing for libel because of the alleged damage done to their careers, and are requesting a jury trial in Washington, D.C.”
“Shapley and Ziegler alleged in Friday’s legal complaint that Lowell acted with malice by sending letters to several different Congressional committees, where the lawyer “falsely accused the Plaintiffs of violating grand jury secrecy rules … and the taxpayer confidentiality statute.””
Go for it.