It was 49 degrees with heavy fog, drizzle, and wind when I took Colin out at 7:30.
I spent a couple of hours with Bob yesterday morning. Nothing new to report.
Saturday December 23, 2017
21 Comments and discussion on "Saturday December 23, 2017"
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44F with intermittent drizzle here this am, dog lets himself out 🙂
Keep up your energy, make sure you are getting your workouts to keep you body and mind occupied, and keep the faith….
nick
Finally got around to reading this month’s Bruce Schneier Cryptogram Newsletter.
https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram/archives/2017/1215.html
I recommend looking at this month because he links to several good and straightforward security recommendation sites and tools. His editorial on warrants for cell phone location data also is good, and talks about an issue that wasn’t on my radar.
One of the links is to an end to end encryption tool for cell phone comms.
“Signal is a free and open source software application for Android, iOS, and Desktop that employs end-to-end encryption, allowing users to send end-to-end encrypted group, text, picture, and video messages, and have encrypted phone conversations between Signal users. ”
https://securityplanner.org/#/tool/signal
https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/how-use-signal-android
nick
“Signal is a free and open source software application for Android, iOS, and Desktop that employs end-to-end encryption, allowing users to send end-to-end encrypted group, text, picture, and video messages, and have encrypted phone conversations between Signal users. ”
I noticed that Signal now makes the APK available from their site directly. I’ll download and try it on my (mostly) open source phone.
“ICE AGE EARTH: Global FREEZE lasting 120 YEARS threatens ‘more intense’ winters from 2019”
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/667148/climate-change-uk-weather-forecast-global-freeze-ice-age-earth-2019
“We must throw Al Gore into a volcano to stop the madness.”
A scientific consensus of one !
Just a reminder to all here, the jihadis have sworn to attack Christmas celebrations and gatherings.
They like lone wolf attacks.
Keep your eyes open, and carry where you can. If you can’t carry, take your first aid kit with you. You have permission to act, and your action can save a life.
https://www.dhs.gov/stopthebleed https://www.bleedingcontrol.org/
More common than the jihadis are drunk drivers and thieves. Keep your eyes open for them too.
And don’t rule out slip and fall injuries! Seems that winter is coming to the upper parts of the country. This seems to be a surprise to some. For the prepared there are products like this:
https://www.rei.com/product/760280/yaktrax-walkers-traction-system or something similar.
nick
Dumb question for the peanut gallery: How do you make a URL shortcut on an Android smartphone or tablet?
tap and hold to get the copy menu, switch to the desktop page you want the shortcut on, tap and hold for paste.
Should do it…
n
For your last-minute Christmas shopping: Trumpy Bear
I subscribe to SocialPilot for some social media blasting. They have a URL shortener that works automagically when you paste something in. I guess it depends on what you want to do your shortening for.
37 & raining when I woke up this morning (4:30 am). I had forgotten that I had a race at 9:30, so I sat around for a while and just poked around. At 6, when I realized I had forgotten, I didn’t sweat. I keep everything ready all the time, so I simply needed to download the roster & print labels for bibs.
It rained right up until the race started, when it changed to snow. The song “Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” came to mind. An hour later there was an inch of slush on the ground and the last finisher had come across. It wasn’t the most miserable race I’ve ever timed, but it’s up there with the most miserable 5ks.
On the upside, my favorite XC place claims that they’ve got a decent base in the woods, and anticipate good skiing for the day after Christmas. I’m looking forward to getting out on the 26th.
Finally – on Santa gun for me this year. But I’m telling the kids about it. Cheering for Bob, OFD, and others this season.
Well, I am now the proud owner of a Remington 12 gauge pistol. I am really wondering how to shoot this thing.
https://www.remington.com/other-products/model-870-tac-14
“Pairs great with Managed-Recoil Buckshot Loads”
They port shotgun shells now ?
It’s the modern ‘coach gun’.
Let us know how it shoots.
nick
Shortwave is pretty open tonight. Good night to tune around and check out your antenna…..
n
Mexico has very tough gun laws, doesn’t it? And that’s a good thing? Makes us safe? Kinda like Chicago.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-24/mexico-murders-hit-record-high-with-23,101-people-killed/9284686
Santa…
I kept telling Bob he needed to get one of these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvZGaMt7UgQ
It’s the modern ‘coach gun’.
Let us know how it shoots.
I just won’t be holding it up to my shoulder to fire it. With that 14 inch barrel, that would make it a sawed off shotgun.
@lynn, that is a sweet piece. Have fun at the range, but be careful crossing the bridge I sure would hate to hear that it fell in the river.
Data point in the Walmart vs Amazon battle…
Amazon has my toothpaste cheap, but only in their “pantry box” program. Since I want the toothpaste soon, and don’t want to fill up the box, I looked at walmart.
In single tubes, walmart’s price beats even AMZs pantry price. It beats AMZs single or multi pack price by a lot. Unless you have to pay delivery, then the price is more comparable.
Add enough tubes to get free delivery, and presto, walmart’s price is $8 lower than Amazon.
So walmart got my business on this item.
n
The NORAD santa tracker is live,
Noradsanta.org/#section-space
n
@lynn, that is a sweet piece. Have fun at the range, but be careful crossing the bridge I sure would hate to hear that it fell in the river.
Hey, both of our bridges over the Brazos are back open now. Most of the pre-Harvey and post-Harvey damage has been fixed now. They put in about twenty 12 ft diameter piers on the north side of the 99 bridge as the bridge was just standing on naked piers with no earthen bank protecting them.
And yes, taking my guns while canoeing down the Brazos is very dangerous for the guns. Of course, before the Christmas rain, the Brazos was only about six inches deep and that was used pee water from the west Sugar Land sewage treatment plant at about five million gallons per day.
Data point in the Walmart vs Amazon battle…
…
So walmart got my business on this item.
This is a retail war. I think that Sam’s Club is dying and I am wondering about Target. The wife and daughter were in Target on Christmas eve for the first time in over six months. The wife really likes the remodeling and the fact that they have cut their sku’s back by at least a third. She will go back again.