Tues. July 25, 2023 – time to do some pickups.

By on July 25th, 2023 in culture, decline and fall, personal

Hot and humid. Can’t get much more humid than raining, and it did rain a little bit yesterday. That’s despite my comment about being on the edge of the predicted area. Didn’t stick, and the temp went right back up. I’m guessing more of the same for today. 100F or more, 80% RH or more.

Spent most of the day on auction stuff, and digging through paper on my desk. I’ve been neglecting paperwork and mail because I’ve been out of town, and busy. I’m also going through stuff I’ve piled around the office and the house. I’ve got a lot of stuff.

So today I’m going to get more! Yeah, but some is for my upcoming sale, some is for the BOL, some for household use, and there are a couple of things for future projects. I’ll stack those. It would be great if it didn’t rain today as I’ll be driving around with a truckbed full of stuff. I got medical supplies (burn gel lidocaine dressings and trauma pad dressings, OTC meds), stuff for the dock, a backup for the propane tankless hot water heater, stuff to sell, food items, cleaning supplies, and some ham radio stuff (antennas). Even got some sprinkler parts. Everything comes through the auctions eventually.

I can’t do most of the pickups until later in the day though, so the morning will be more desk/office/house cleaning and bills. Oh joy. Maybe I’ll even do a load of laundry. Ah, domestic bliss. Well, it’s the reality of being the stay at home dad, and the reality of my life. No axe reviews or free laser cutters for me.

Plenty of stacks though!

No worries about rice. Or wheat. Bugs in my sugar so maybe I’ll pick up 20-50 pounds. India exports sugar too. As times get tough, people and countries will be taking care of home first… and there will be shortages. If you needed a reason to add some bulk food to your stacks, you have only to look to India, and the Ukraine. When the global system of trade breaks down, people will go hungry. Don’t be one of them.

Stack it up.
nick

58 Comments and discussion on "Tues. July 25, 2023 – time to do some pickups."

  1. Greg Norton says:

    Of course, @lynn could be working on a fully Win 11 compatible open-source OS that will put M$ out of business  

    The ReactOS project has been running since the mid-90s with mixed results.

    https://reactos.org/

  2. brad says:

    Microsoft’s CEO recently issued a statement that Win-11 will be used to market other MS-products: cloud, office, etc., plus service as an ad platform for other businesses. Not really news, I suppose. Still, actually stating thatthe primary purpose of their operating system is to be a marketing platform?

    For your average user, there is zero reason to use Windows. If you need Office, it will run in any browser. Most games run just fine under Steam. When I got my new machine last Winter, this is the first time I didn’t even bother with a Windows install. Most people could easily drop windows and get Linux. Most people live their lives inside the browser anyway…

    There are a few apps that are problematic. Adobe’s stuff won’t run under Linux (how much does MS pay them for that?). Specialized software like Lynn’s.

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  3. Ray Thompson says:

    Most people could easily drop windows and get Linux

    On that point I will disagree. Linux is not fit for the average home user. There are too many quirks, dependencies, and oddities within the OS. Linux requires someone that is reasonably fluent in computers and the majority of the home users are not to that level. The Linux community has not been helpful in that regard with some of the responses to issues.

    I tried Linux, but I had a problem with the monitor resolution. When I asked on a couple of boards I was told “read the f**king manual” or “if you can’t figure it out you are too stupid to be running Linux”. That stopped my foray into Linux land very quickly. One of the problems I was having was actually finding the “f**cking manual to read”.

    I have never had a problem with Windows where I was not able to find a solution on the web or people willing to help. The same goes for my venture into the MacOS world. People helping others instead of dorks trying to act superior.

    Couple that with cryptic command lines that are sometimes needed where if a single character is wrong, or in the wrong place, the command could possibly entirely destroy the installation.

    Then there is the excessive number of distributions of Linux and the graphical interface. Which one does a user choose? One installation may work well in one environment and be inappropriate for another environment. Your average user is not going to want to make the choice. With Windows there is one choice, and the graphical interface is mostly the same. With MacOS there is one choice and the graphical environment is mostly the same.

    Linux in my opinion is still a hobbyist, or IT staff operating system. Yes, Windows does have problems, sometimes very mysterious. Same applies to MacOS. But the support, and information, is available. Not clouded under responses from abrasive self-centered little snot eaters who rarely see the light of day.

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  4. PaultheManc says:

    Bought a Dell Optiplex 3020, I5-4570 for GBP20 off eBay to deal with a problem a Charity I support has.  The seller then said I could have another, plus an I3 system at no additional cost.  I didn’t refuse.  I am sure they will be useful, or I will make a little bit of money. I reckon that is what is called a ‘deal’.

    10
  5. Greg Norton says:

    For your average user, there is zero reason to use Windows. If you need Office, it will run in any browser. Most games run just fine under Steam. When I got my new machine last Winter, this is the first time I didn’t even bother with a Windows install. Most people could easily drop windows and get Linux. Most people live their lives inside the browser anyway…

    There are a few apps that are problematic. Adobe’s stuff won’t run under Linux (how much does MS pay them for that?). Specialized software like Lynn’s.

    Microsoft still has the corporate drone laptop market in the US, which is significant. Apple was making inroads there up until about a decade ago, but then they decided to make their laptops disposable.

    Windows also presents a “good enough” platform for playing games with WHQL certification for hardware drivers being an important competitive advantage over Linux.

  6. MrAtoz says:

    Most games run just fine under Steam.

    I like VR games and Linux probably won’t support top games due to interfacing with the graphics card. There are some really cool mods for VR games that only work on Windows.

  7. MrAtoz says:

    Already 100F in Austin. MrsAtoz blabs at 11:00, then we drive to Houston (Spring ISD). We brought books, but I don’t think we will sell many.

  8. lpdbw says:

    @Nick, check your email  (and spam folder).

  9. MrAtoz says:

    Let’s just send Herr Zelenskyy every weapon we have:

    Congress votes down ban on Biden sending cluster bombs to Ukraine

    Or just deploy our whole fracking military and get it over with. plugs vows to support Ukraine with everything we have. He has to go.  As does Congress. FMOD the whole lot.

    At least tRump would try to negotiate some kind of peace.

  10. Greg Norton says:

    Or just deploy our whole fracking military and get it over with. plugs vows to support Ukraine with everything we have. He has to go.  As does Congress. FMOD the whole lot.

    At least tRump would try to negotiate some kind of peace.

    You talk as if the military isn’t already deployed.

    Trump would have found everyone’s price and sprayed around printing press money directly, but that wouldn’t benefit Raytheon et al.

    Hofbrauhaus can open in Kiev, but German missiles in Ukraine are verboten.

    Not like ze old days, ja. Big smile!

  11. Nick Flandrey says:

    @Mratoz,   any extra time in Houston?

    n

  12. Ken Mitchell says:

    Most games run just fine under Steam.

    My favorite game is World of Warcraft, which REQUIRES Windoze. 

  13. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well, I guess I didn’t actually do my ‘start of the day’ comment….

    Up.  Moving.  A bit stiff today, but not too bad.   Temp is already rising, and the sun is out.   Breakfast and coffee in the rear view mirror, driving and pickups ahead.  Thinking about rousing D2 and dragging her around all day.  Nah, let her laze away some of the summer.   Kids have too much to do.   I would love to spend all day reading again…

    n

  14. Nick Flandrey says:

    MS is making a last ditch effort to remain relevant outside of the office but I think their efforts are doomed.   Use of phones for almost everything has increased and will continue to increase, especially outside of the west.  MS doesn’t do phones well, and they can’t destroy the company to save the company.

    I also  agree with Ray, although it’s gotten better, that Linux or variants as a desktop are still niche.   I had to get y’all’s help to get a linux box set up to do a single task, run my NVR software.  I had the issue with CUPS using all the disc space for error messages.  I had issues with multimedia libraries.  Now my version of mintOS is EOL and out of   support, so I’ll have to do something about that at some point.

    Some versions of *nix might end up on most desktops.   The success of chrome and the chromebook in schools demonstrates that you can make inroads.   That is still a pretty niche market for the time being though.  As those kids mature, they might keep using chromebooks, but the ones that are likely to use a desktop or lappy will also be likely to need more than chrome to do whatever they’re doing.   

    I don’t think I’d be ‘long’ on non-business desktop or laptops.

    n

  15. SteveF says:

    Thinking about rousing D2 and dragging her around all day.  Nah, let her laze away some of the summer.

    Bah. Get her lazy butt up and make her do something useful. Remind her that almost in living memory, you’d be looking to get her married and then she’d be responsible for keeping a household going, so having to put away the dishes and then help you tidy up the yard is nothing by comparison.

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  16. CowboyStu says:

    @EdH: Cowboy Day at Kennedy Meadows General Store Sat. Aug. 12, we have enjoyed the live music while having BBQ dinner on the deck.

    https://www.facebook.com/KennedyMeadowsGeneralStore

  17. Greg Norton says:

    I also  agree with Ray, although it’s gotten better, that Linux or variants as a desktop are still niche.   I had to get y’all’s help to get a linux box set up to do a single task, run my NVR software.  I had the issue with CUPS using all the disc space for error messages.  I had issues with multimedia libraries.  Now my version of mintOS is EOL and out of   support, so I’ll have to do something about that at some point.

    Linux Mint 19.3? 

    Image the drive to an identical size disk and try updating the OS on the copy to Linux Mint 20.

    If the NVR fails just put the old disk back.

  18. Nick Flandrey says:

    Can’t link to the article that brought it to my attention, but here are two biased articles on a guy who “had more impact on the  atmosphere than any other single organism in the earth’s history”.   

    https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/research/thomas-midgley-harmful-inventor-history/

    https://www.history.com/news/cfcs-leaded-gasoline-inventions-thomas-midgley 

    Invented both leaded gasoline, and Freon…

    n

  19. Ray Thompson says:

    two biased articles

    Find any article involving “Climate Change” that isn’t biased. If such were to be written it would never get published. Climate change is all about money, moving money from one set of pockets to another. If necessary, impoverishing people along the way. Especially those that do not sign on to climate change.

  20. lynn says:

    Of course, @lynn could be working on a fully Win 11 compatible open-source OS that will put M$ out of business  

    I will be happy when I get the 64 bit version of my calculation engine working with the first new compiler in 30 years.  Plus fixing all the bugs and just the littlest features that the users continuously throw over the transom.

    And if I ever get around to losing 50 lbs.

  21. lynn says:

    Can’t link to the article that brought it to my attention, but here are two biased articles on a guy who “had more impact on the  atmosphere than any other single organism in the earth’s history”.   

    https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/research/thomas-midgley-harmful-inventor-history/

    https://www.history.com/news/cfcs-leaded-gasoline-inventions-thomas-midgley 

    Invented both leaded gasoline, and Freon…

    The English used to dig up peoples bones that they hated and burn them …

  22. Nick Flandrey says:

    Overcast is keeping the max temp down to 94F at the moment.

    Practically ‘cool’.

    n

  23. Nick Flandrey says:

    @lynn,  I’ve lost 25 pounds so far.   All I can figure is eating a little less, cutting a bunch of carbs (breakfast and lunch), and increased exercise over the last year.  The exercise is sporadic and occasional though.

    Checking today, it’s actually closer to 30 pounds.   I’m at 196 and have been for a week or two.   

    I don’t know how long it’s been because I can’t remember when I noticed that I was losing weight.   Been happening for a year at least, slow and steady.   

    n

  24. paul says:

    The exercise is sporadic and occasional though.

    It’s not like you are sitting around eating chips.  Toting stuff to and from auctions and all the stuff at the BOL, yeah, it’s good.

    Cutting the carbs aka sugar is good.

  25. paul says:

    I have a RO system under the kitchen sink.  I drink some but it’s mostly for coffee and dog water.  It’s been gurgling in the drain for a while while it refills the pressure tank.

    The water valve has three lines.  One from the pressure tank.  One is the “waste water” from the RO membrane that goes through a vacuum break and then into the drain line.

    Something has been dripping under the sink for a couple of weeks.  I blamed the dishwasher because the blotted up water looked soapy.  Got it all dried and ran the dishwasher that night and not a drop of water under the sink.

    I checked all of the RO system’s fittings, I might have bumped something.  Nope.  Dry.  Made coffee and watered the dogs.  About three quarts of water.  Sink started the drain gurgle thing as I took the dogs out for their morning walk to the gate to pee and bark at birds routine.  Soaking wet under the sink. 

    That narrows the problem a bit and the dishwasher is innocent.  

    I googled and there’s lots of BS and different pages posting the same thing word for word.  Just different pictures.  Check for leaks at fittings. Check for a clogged drain line and make sure it drains all the way without having a dip that can hold water.  The faucet at the sink has gone bad… suddenly, even.  Oh yeah, change your filters.

    I checked the drain line, shoved a pipe cleaner in it and into the sink drain.  Clean.  Wiped it off and blew into it and just a bit of wet blew out.  Did not try suction.  Turned off the water and drained the system.  Changed the filters.

    And what the hey!  No gurgling today.  No water leaking.   Seems like sorta clogged filters would mean no water but that somehow causes the vacuum break in the water valve to leak. 

    Now I know.  Next time the drain starts to gurgle, change the filters.  Don’t wait six months. 

    On the plus side, the under sink cabinet floor is real clean.  😉  

  26. Lynn says:

    Wow, my webserver has been up for 291 days for this run.  The load this morning is 2%.  It has been as much as 40% load lately.  I guess the idiots in Iran stopped pounding it.

  27. Lynn says:

    Of course, @lynn could be working on a fully Win 11 compatible open-source OS that will put M$ out of business  

    The ReactOS project has been running since the mid-90s with mixed results.

    https://reactos.org/

    Wow, they are up to version 0.4.  That is comforting.  

    And they now have a 64 bit version.

    I will stick with Microsoft Windows for now.

  28. Lynn says:

    Bought a Dell Optiplex 3020, I5-4570 for GBP20 off eBay to deal with a problem a Charity I support has.  The seller then said I could have another, plus an I3 system at no additional cost.  I didn’t refuse.  I am sure they will be useful, or I will make a little bit of money. I reckon that is what is called a ‘deal’.

    And he got his disposal problems off his back too.

  29. Lynn says:

    “UPS and Teamsters reach tentative deal to avert strike”

        https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ups-and-teamsters-reach-tentative-deal-to-avert-strike-163453292.html

    Probably the White House told the Teamsters to get their nonsense together and stop asking for crazy things.

  30. Lynn says:

    “Crude Oil Sep 23 (CL=F)”

        https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CL%3DF?p=CL%3DF

    The crude oil just popped up to $80/US BBL.  I am guessing that Hunter Biden finished selling off the USA crude oil reserves.

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  31. Lynn says:

    “Bah. Get her lazy butt up and make her do something useful. Remind her that almost in living memory, you’d be looking to get her married and then she’d be responsible for keeping a household going, so having to put away the dishes and then help you tidy up the yard is nothing by comparison.”

    “Trace Adkins – You’re Gonna Miss This (Official Music Video)”

         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBDN8yWyNYU

  32. Lynn says:

    MS is making a last ditch effort to remain relevant outside of the office but I think their efforts are doomed.   Use of phones for almost everything has increased and will continue to increase, especially outside of the west.  MS doesn’t do phones well, and they can’t destroy the company to save the company.

    I also  agree with Ray, although it’s gotten better, that Linux or variants as a desktop are still niche.   I had to get y’all’s help to get a linux box set up to do a single task, run my NVR software.  I had the issue with CUPS using all the disc space for error messages.  I had issues with multimedia libraries.  Now my version of mintOS is EOL and out of   support, so I’ll have to do something about that at some point.

    Some versions of *nix might end up on most desktops.   The success of chrome and the chromebook in schools demonstrates that you can make inroads.   That is still a pretty niche market for the time being though.  As those kids mature, they might keep using chromebooks, but the ones that are likely to use a desktop or lappy will also be likely to need more than chrome to do whatever they’re doing.   

    I don’t think I’d be ‘long’ on non-business desktop or laptops.

    I suspect that everyone who wants to move to a phone and/or a tablet has moved on.  Having a PC in the house just helps goofing off XXXXXX XXX getting things done.

  33. Greg Norton says:

    I wasn’t bothering with “Strange New Worlds” this season, but this week’s crossover episode with the “Lower Decks” animated series is extremely clever with Jonathan Frakes directing.

    Even if you aren’t a fan of either series, the “Star Trek” references drop at a fast clip, and in several cases establish canon.

    The best one?

    “Don’t yell Q! They haven’t met him yet … They had kind of a Trelane thing going on.”

    Well I guess that makes it official.

    The episiode airs with excellent timing. “Lower Decks” cast member Jack Quaid, appearing as a live action version of his character, is Richard Feynman in “Oppenheimer”.

    I’m sure I missed a Feynman reference too.

  34. EdH says:

    I’m sure I missed a Feynman reference too.
     

    Any Freeman Dyson references?

  35. Lynn says:

    “Cancellations Start For John Clauser After Nobel Physics Laureate Speaks Out About “Corruption” Of Climate Science”

        https://www.zerohedge.com/political/cancellations-start-john-clauser-after-nobel-physics-laureate-speaks-out-about-corruption

    Earlier this month, the 2022 Nobel Physics Laureate Dr. John Clauser slammed the ‘climate emergency’ narrative as a “dangerous corruption of science that threatens the world’s economy and the well-being of billions of people”. Inevitably, the punishments have begun. A talk that Dr. Clauser was due to give to the International Monetary Fund on climate models has been abruptly cancelled, and the page announcing the event removed from the IMF site.”

    “Dr. Clauser was due to speak to the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office this Thursday under the title: “Let’s talk – How much can we trust IPCC climate predictions?” It would appear that “not a lot” isn’t the politically correct answer. Clauser is a longstanding critic of climate models and criticised the award of the Physics Nobel in 2021 for work on them. He is not alone, since many feel that climate models are primarily based on mathematics, and a history of failed opinionated climate predictions leave them undeserving of recognition at the highest level of pure science. Not that this opinion is shared by the green activist National Geographic magazine, which ran an article: “How climate models got so accurate they won a Nobel.””

    Everything that the federal government of the USA and EU touches becomes crap now.  Makes one wonder about the security of Social Security and Medicare.

  36. Lynn says:

    I wasn’t bothering with “Strange New Worlds” this season, but this week’s crossover episode with the “Lower Decks” animated series is extremely clever with Jonathan Frakes directing.

    Even if you aren’t a fan of either series, the “Star Trek” references drop at a fast clip, and in several cases establish canon.

    The best one?

    “Don’t yell Q! They haven’t met him yet … They had kind of a Trelane thing going on.”

    Ah, Trelane was the first Q.  I had long forgotten that.

        https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Trelane

  37. ITGuy1998 says:

    Day number 3 of 7 full days on Maui. Monday morning we left the condo and 0230 and made the two hour trip up to the summit of Haleakala. We arrived an hour before sunrise, and enjoyed the dark sky for a little bit. Sunrise was beautiful, and then we did a little exploring. We refrained from actually doing much hiking, as the 10,000 ft elevation and cold weren’t ideal for us. 
     

    Other than that, beach time, shopping, and lots of local food. Maui is nice, though I think it‘s below Kauai and Hawaii on my list of favorite islands. For the record, Oahu is at the bottom, and the bottom of this list is still paradise.

  38. Greg Norton says:

    Ah, Trelane was the first Q.  I had long forgotten that.

    “Lower Decks” establishes canon just like any other “Star Trek” series.

    The most profound?

    The most important person in Starfleet history.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmPI2OkrvV8

  39. Ray Thompson says:

    Maui is nice, though I think it‘s below Kauai and Hawaii on my list of favorite islands. For the record, Oahu is at the bottom, and the bottom of this list is still paradise.

    Having lived on Oahu for two years I really don’t share your sentiment. The first two months were great, the last 22 not so much. The lack of seasons, high cost, spurned by locals as I was a non-native without lots of money, traffic, supply shortages, limited travel options on the island, and my dislike of salt water did not help.

    My car, however, with me driving, was in an episode of Hawaii Five-O. I also made a quick appearance as an audience member in the Bob Hope Show in 1972.

  40. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    reposting from 4 Nov 2021:

    https://environmentalhistory.org/people/henry-ford-charles-kettering-and-the-fuel-of-the-future/

    Highly recommended, as is the author’s PhD dissertation “The Ethyl Controversy” which is linked at the top along with several other works.

    Of particular interest is the documentation of government and industry suppression of “unfortunate” information nearly one hundred years ago. Note that the U.S. government as well as G.M.’s Kettering and Midgley were well aware that there was no need to introduce toxic lead compounds into the gasoline supply and hence the environment. And by virtue of their previous statements to professional societies, there had to be literally hundreds of people who knew full-well that Kettering and Midgley were lying their backsides off.

    Evil men doing evil with the full support of the U.S. government.

  41. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    @lynn,  I’ve lost 25 pounds so far.   All I can figure is eating a little less, cutting a bunch of carbs (breakfast and lunch), and increased exercise over the last year.  The exercise is sporadic and occasional though.

    Checking today, it’s actually closer to 30 pounds.   I’m at 196 and have been for a week or two.   

    I don’t know how long it’s been because I can’t remember when I noticed that I was losing weight.   Been happening for a year at least, slow and steady.   

    How is your sense of taste since kungflu?

  42. drwilliams says:

    Solar panels THREE TIMES more carbon intensive than natgas?

    The Chinese wouldn’t fudge data, would they?

    The green weinies  wouldn’t fudge data, would they?

    The IPCC wouldn’t fudge data, would they?

    FedGov  wouldn’t fudge data, would they?

    EuroGov  wouldn’t fudge data, would they?

    Based on such data, the IPCC claims solar PV is 48 gCO2/kWh. But, as we’ll see below, a new investigation started by Italian researcher, Enrico Mariutti, suggests that the number is closer to between 170 and 250 gCO2/kWh, depending on the energy mix used to power PV production. If this estimate is accurate, solar would not compare favorably with natural gas, which is around 50 gCO2/kWh with carbon capture, and 400 to 500 without.

    https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2023/07/24/holy-smoke-and-mirrors-solar-panels-three-times-more-carbon-intensive-than-natgas-n566851

    The article is well-worth reading. It’s no surprise.

    I’ll probably get around to reading Mariutti’s paper.

    Here’s the thing:

    The back-of-the-envelop calculation done years ago indicated that wind turbines were a break-even proposition: They produce about as much energy as it takes to make them. Add in the energy–as energy and dollars as the fungible equivalent–that it takes to put them in operation and maintain them, and it looked like a net loss. Almost impossible to get good data, because despite the fact that the public pays for them, the utilities keep the data secret and the rate boards are “in bed and having fun” with them. 

    Same thing with solar panels. 

    Both of which are produced in China using stolen western manufacturing powered by dirty coal. All of that dirty coal is burned up front to make the products, and then the “free” energy is extracted over an unlikely long time period. 

    So the analysis I want to see starts with accounting for the manufacturing energy and all the energy cost of the infrastructure that it takes to put them in operation, producing a large negative total as of the day they actually start operation. Then the net positive energy (after the costs) of operation starts reducing the large negative total until it (hopefully) gets to a little-known (in green weinie circles) concept call break even. Since energy is fungible with dollars the analysis needs to include another strange concept called the time value of money, or in this case, energy. 

    And you do all this analysis in public so that the debate and criticism yield the best most realistic model you can produce.

    And, finally, you take the model and try different inputs and values and try to get something that makes economic sense, not economic malfeasance in service of a New Age religion.

  43. MrAtoz says:

    @Mratoz,   any extra time in Houston?

    Alas, no, we have to get up at 06:30 for the teacher conference and head right back to SA for MrsAtoz to head to NM for a couple of days. Off a week, then we are taking a 5-day vacay in Cancun.

  44. MrAtoz says:

    “Lower Decks” establishes canon just like any other “Star Trek” series.

    Biz travel has kept me from watching any episodes (Skinwalker Ranch, too). My now automated TV show system on the Mac Mini has captured all the episodes. I could watch on my laptop, but want to wait to watch on the 100” projector. Lower Decks resumes in Sep, I think, if strikes don’t mess it up. We watched Transformers: Beast Wars on the 100” before we left. You’ll like it if you are into Transformers. I have the new Flash movie, but nobody wants to watch it (yet).

  45. drwilliams says:

    Hypothesis making the rounds today is that if studios negotiate on streaming residuals they will have to open their books and reveal low viewer numbers, which will cause stock prices to plummet.

    https://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=405449

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  46. drwilliams says:

    When preps fail, try again?

    I was out of cookies, so I stopped at the dollar store for my two faves, paying about one-third what equivalents cost at the grocery.

    One of these is more of an English-style biscuit, and I always think I’m buying some extra so I can put some into preps and test longevity. 

    This good intention has failed miserably in the past as they never turn out to be “extra”.

    I need to get a storage container ready and have it ready to fill and file when I come home with the goods.

    I recall sampling survival crackers in an earth science class in the 1960’s:

    https://www.eater.com/2017/12/12/16757660/doomsday-biscuit-all-purpose-survival-cracker

    and see that, as the articles says, they are available on eBay. Pass. But recipes are available:

    https://www.newlifeonahomestead.com/survival-crackers/

    and vac sealing with an O2 absorber would extend the shelf life.

    I recently rotated out a box of Townhouse crackers with a best buy of Nov 2021. Dry lower-level storage 65-70 degrees. Taste was no longer fresh, but not rancid. 

  47. Greg Norton says:

    Biz travel has kept me from watching any episodes (Skinwalker Ranch, too).

    I tried “Skinwalker Ranch” at the hotel in Nashville. I think I need to go back and watch from the beginning.

    Lots of commercials. I guess that isn’t the case with your source.

  48. Nick Flandrey says:

    One of tonight’s steaks went to freezer camp in 2020.   Taste and texture were indistinguishable from the other, which went in 2022.

    Vac sealed and deep frozen.

    n

  49. drwilliams says:

    Bidens harbors vicious dogs

    The documented attacks from September 2022 through January likely are an incomplete accounting of incidents involving Commander because the period of time doesn’t cover his initial nine months at the White House or the most recent six-month window of time.

    https://hotair.com/karen-townsend/2023/07/25/why-is-joe-biden-allowed-to-keep-a-dog-at-the-white-house-n566990

    Let’s hope he either turns on a family member or wraps that leash around FJB and trips him to the hospital with broken bones. If that sounds cruel and heartless, it is, but it’s directed at a cruel and heartless lifelong liar, pervert, and traitor for cash. And besides, having him at Walter Reed with major injuries would have many beneficial results, among which are this series:

    Disruption of the drug regime that makes him able to puppet semi-coherence for short times in public,

    triggering the 25th Amendment and his “temporary” removal from office

    and very possibly putting an end to the possibility of pardoning the Biden Crime Family.

    There is no way this side of hell that Kamala would ever give up the office, and the Black Congressional Caucus would probably camp in the White House to make sure.

    6
    1
  50. drwilliams says:

    Google’s nightmare “Web Integrity API” wants a DRM gatekeeper for the web

    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/googles-web-integrity-api-sounds-like-drm-for-the-web/

    Just imagine if Google had been a German company in 1933…

    Why imagine?

  51. drwilliams says:

    Tory Kelli and Bronny James.

    Blood clots and heart attacks in young people seem to be mysteriously spiking. Probably just one of those statistical anomalies. 

    Yeah, that’s it. 

  52. Lynn says:

    “The First Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor”

         https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.12008

    “For the first time in the world, we succeeded in synthesizing the room-temperature superconductor (Tc≥400 K, 127∘C) working at ambient pressure with a modified lead-apatite (LK-99) structure. The superconductivity of LK-99 is proved with the Critical temperature (Tc), Zero-resistivity, Critical current (Ic), Critical magnetic field (Hc), and the Meissner effect. The superconductivity of LK-99 originates from minute structural distortion by a slight volume shrinkage (0.48 %), not by external factors such as temperature and pressure. The shrinkage is caused by Cu2+ substitution of Pb2+(2) ions in the insulating network of Pb(2)-phosphate and it generates the stress. It concurrently transfers to Pb(1) of the cylindrical column resulting in distortion of the cylindrical column interface, which creates superconducting quantum wells (SQWs) in the interface. The heat capacity results indicated that the new model is suitable for explaining the superconductivity of LK-99. The unique structure of LK-99 that allows the minute distorted structure to be maintained in the interfaces is the most important factor that LK-99 maintains and exhibits superconductivity at room temperatures and ambient pressure.”

    127 C, if true, is a world changer.  All of the bearings in machinery, especially power plant machinery, will be changed out sooner rather than later.  Generators and transformers will be rewound with the new materials if applicable.

    Hat tip to:

       https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36864624

  53. Nick Flandrey says:

    room temp super conductor would be a game changer.   It’s one of the holy grails, and could change society in dramatic ways.  Especially if it was cheap.

    n

  54. Alan says:

    >> The first two months were great, the last 22 not so much. The lack of seasons, high cost, spurned by locals as I asked too many Linux questions, was a non-native without lots of money, traffic, supply shortages, limited travel options on the island, and my dislike of salt water did not help.

    @Ray, FIFY

  55. Alan says:

    >> Alas, no, we have to get up at 06:30 for the teacher conference and head right back to SA for MrsAtoz to head to NM for a couple of days. Off a week, then we are taking a 5-day vacay in Cancun.

    Hmm, a GoFundMe to send @nick to Cancun?? He could use a few days lounging on the beach with a good book…  🙂

  56. Norman says:

    Apologies for this one

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12336005/The-gadget-blow-mind-Sex-toy-uses-brain-waves-help-masturbate-just-thinking.html

    That’s it civilization is done, just send a nice big asteroid now and we can start again.

  57. Darryl Hoar says:

    Hey Nick,

    When you are doing laundry (and its already above 90 outside), do you hang your laundry out to dry?  Or do you run your dryer while the AC is running?

    Its a sticking point between me and my wife and wondered how you cracked it

    Thanks for all the hard work.  Long time lurker here.

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