Wet, warmish. [70F and wet on the ground]
Drizzle most of yesterday with the sun finally coming out in the afternoon. Still have water everywhere it’s so damp.
Tonight I’ve got the first meeting for our ISD ‘community leadership development’ program. Since we’re the first cohort through the program, I’ve got no idea how or what exactly it will be, but based on the calendar, we’ll be getting a good idea of how the district works. Tonight’s topic is school security. I hope we don’t get bogged down in the shooting yesterday.
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Cartel wars in Mexico seem to be heating up. I’d say to our border state residents – stay aware and stay awake, but it goes for everyone. The cartels and the illegals have thoroughly penetrated every corner of our nation.
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Not cartel related, but another officer involved shooting/ defensive gun use-
I counted 14 shots. I’m beginning to think about a .40 or a .45. These guys aren’t stopping. Carry and practice your reload. Don’t let the SOB close with you.
Things are getting worse, and will continue to do so. Use the time to get ready.
n
Farmers are buying 40-year-old tractors because they’re actually repairable
Saddled!
When ny 14-YO drier died this time last year, it was still cheaper to have it repaired than to buy a current model with digital displays and other whizbang “features.”
WRT the officer shooting video–
-like the other one, once he’s being charged he fires multiple times while retreating.
-like the other one, the attack continues and the attacker closes to arm’s length
-like the other one, the officer is reliant on others to end the threat
-One or two shots are unlikely to end the threat if someone is actively attacking you.
—FBI has previously released statistics that most shootings involve only a couple of shots, and no reloads. I’m guessing most shootings don’t involve someone like these attackers.
-how often do you practice shooting while retreating? While moving AT ALL?
—you probably should
-how often have you shot from on the ground? On your side or back? The officers were down on the ground either from the attack or from tripping.
–not many of the shots fired were from a two handed, squared up to the target stance, with both feet planted. There is a lot of tilting or rotating the gun- so that must be a natural reaction. Better get some practice in shooting one handed.
n
@lynn, see also “right to repair” and legislation. Apple was “friend of the court” at the John Deere court case, because they are fighting a losing battle against 3rd party repair shops. Louis Rossman covers this issue on his apple repair youtube channel. I’ve mentioned him before.
n
Bruce has some interesting stats and observations here —
https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2020/01/bots_are_destroying_.html
“Bots Are Destroying Political Discourse As We Know It
They’re mouthpieces for foreign actors, domestic political groups, even the candidates themselves. And soon you won’t be able to tell they’re bots.”
n
A more general article about colleges tracking students with wifi and blutooth–
https://gizmodo.com/how-to-hypothetically-hack-your-schools-surveillance-1840680142
includes some potential approaches to hacking such a system
We’ve discussed this system here before.
You can see the roots of this in some of the work done years ago wrt tracking employees by their badges. You can also see this in advertising as we’ve discussed previously too. Heck, our TxDOT uses blutooth to track vehicles for their speed reporting system. That network is expanding along major surface streets in my neighborhood. My city councilwoman seemed surprised that TxDOT was messing around on our surface streets when I asked her if she knew anything about it.
n
“Farmers are buying 40-year-old tractors because they’re actually repairable”
That brings me way back . In the summer of 1987 I worked at an autoparts store in western MA as a driver. As orders came in I would pull items off the shelves, throw them in the back of the little pickup truck, and deliver them. This particular store also stocked a wide selection of parts for tractors and other farm equipment. We delivered to the farms and sometimes I had to walk out in the field and hand the guy a gear or a belt as they were fixing the equipment. Those farmers couldn’t wait a day or two, they needed to farm.
Although I’m sure sometimes a mechanic was brought in to work on equipment, I always saw the farmer being his own mechanic.
From Schneier’s newsletter, this link to a leaked catalog of stuff for .police to use to surveil and analyse.
https://cdn.muckrock.com/foia_files/2019/03/29/VOL001.pdf
Interesting stuff in there–
n
More–
n
Re TV and stage yesterday:
How true.
And kudos to Brad’s college for requiring work experience of their teachers. My college did also, and the difference was important. I am grateful for it.
Hah, the company in the surveillance pdf describes themselves to the press as ” Vigilant Solutions, a global machine vision and data analytics company, “.
The catalog of surveillance devices and cameras is eye opening.
(starts around page 90)
n
Or this–
“…..Veritone Inc regarding their facial recognition software. Veritone currently has pilot programs in
place with Anaheim PD and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department which allows their users access to
over 1.5 million booking photos for suspect comparisons. Veritone’s software has already been used by
Anaheim and several other local agencies …..”
WRT the officer shooting video–
-like the other one, once he’s being charged he fires multiple times while retreating.
…
-how often have you shot from on the ground? On your side or back? The officers were down on the ground either from the attack or from tripping.
ISTM that once you’ve decided to shoot, you should never retreat if only because of the danger of tripping; furthermore, you should empty your weapon into the attacker.
Retreating and/or holding your fire only serves to encourage the attacker.
Just my $0.02.
Re yesterdays college discussion… we were asked (back in the late 80s) to write the “man” program in shell script. I did, with full functionality, uncompressing compressed man files as needed, deleting temporary files, observing various env variables, etc.
On testing day, the lecturer graded everyone only on the elapsed time from executing the command to displaying the page. All that work wasted when I could have written uncompress $filename|more
I always suspected it was to allow a lot of people to pass who should have failed.
When I lived on the farm in ’60’s we did the majority of our repairs. Only a couple of times in the 11 years on the farm I only remember a mechanic being used twice. Once was my fault when I failed to set the brakes on the tractor and it got away down a hill, smashing into a ditch. The front axle and a couple of suspension parts were badly bent requiring special tools to replace. The other time was a complete engine rebuild on that same Ford 600 series tractor.
Indeed the equipment was simple and easy to work on when their were problems. Almost everything vital was exposed without removing covers. Those covers that needed removing were easily removed with a few fasteners. We had a Caterpillar D2 bulldozer that had no electricity anywhere on the machine. Gauges were all mechanical. Starting required pull starting a small two cylinder gas engine that was used to crank the diesel main engine.
I can easily understand farmers needing to do their own work. When combining season starts and there are three or four dozen combines operating in a region having enough competent repair people is vital. A combine down for an hour is some serious money lost.
When I ran combine for a season the machines were operated for 11 hours then down one hour for maintenance. Air filters, lube the fittings, check fuel filter, over 40 hours change the oil and filter, inspect all belts and replace any showing signs of wear or cracking, check tires and pressure, add fuel, inspect all lights (we also operated at night). At the end of maintenance another person got on and stayed on for 11 hours until the next maintenance interval. Thus operating 22 hours a day. Expensive machines that made no money being idle or down for unscheduled repairs.
Beyond that, I suspect that the purpose of group projects in STEM clasess is to drag up the grade of the 90% who aren’t really good enough. Put eight students on a task that could easily be done by two, then let the simpletons and the lazyasses coast on the work of the two who care about their grades (or who need to get at least a B to keep their scholarship or get reimbursement for the tuition). I’m open to counterexamples, but I don’t have any from my own college experience.
“After Years of Decline, PC Market Sees Rare Growth in 2019”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/after-years-of-decline-pc-market-sees-rare-growth-in-2019
“Growth in 2019 can be attributed in part to Windows 7 losing official support as of today (here’s how to get Windows 10). As a result, many commercial businesses have been buying new Windows 10 laptops and desktops, which helped PC shipments in 2019 reach 266 million units, according to IDC.”
Still, that is a lot of PCs.
@lynn, see also “right to repair” and legislation. Apple was “friend of the court” at the John Deere court case, because they are fighting a losing battle against 3rd party repair shops. Louis Rossman covers this issue on his apple repair youtube channel. I’ve mentioned him before.
As mentioned before, we buy parts and build our own PCs here at the tail end of the software world. I have decided to never again reuse an old case due to intermittent grounds. I am going to rebuild our source code server from scratch as it is still rebooting after 100 to 200 GB of data passes from it. I cannot get a full backup from it of the 2 TB that we have stored on it have watched it reboot 10 to 12 times a day as I try to backup the hard drives.
I counted 14 shots. I’m beginning to think about a .40 or a .45. These guys aren’t stopping. Carry and practice your reload. Don’t let the SOB close with you.
As mentioned before, my former USMC son had to shoot a turncoat Iraqi soldier in a FOB (forward operating base) in Iraq in 2006. He put ten rounds with a Beretta M9 pistol (9 mm) into him. Two other marines also shot the turncoat with their M4s (5.56 mm). Somewhere between 20 and 30 rounds. The Iraqi soldier survived all and was helicopter medivacced to a MASH unit. They stabilized him and the Iraqi army took the man away. The desert tells no tails.
If you are concerned about knockdown, I would get a .45 caliber pistol. I shot my nephews .45 pistol last year with 15 ??? rounds in the magazine (double stack). Excellent gun. Lots of fire power. I have big hands so the fat hand grip did not bother me.
I’ve got stubby little fingers. Very few full size semi’s fit my hand well. I am thinking about trying out the S&W M&P compact .45 next time I go to the range.
n
I vote for the 45 ACP. It may be overshadowed by newer rounds, but it works in a variety of situations. I also vote against shooting lots of rounds. With good training, it is possible to defeat a threat with one or two well placed rounds in many situations. Yeah, easier said than done.
That catalog is spooky. 😉
It made me think about a project I want to do some day. Since my home overlooks a valley, I have always wanted to have a good pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) color camera mounted outside. I would display its output on a computer or TV, and control it remotely from the comfort of indoors. Ideally, it could also be sensitive enough to serve as a rich field (low power, wide angle) astronomical telescope, although that would be secondary.
I spent a few minutes reading. It seems a pretty good PTZ camera goes for as low as $1200, kinda in my assumed budget. There are even remotely controlled PTZ TV studio cameras for as low as $2500, unheard of just a short while ago. It looks promising.
Sometimes inaction lets the industry catch up with dreams. I can now buy things I would have had to build just a few years ago. I wouldn’t have really built them, because that would take way too much time and money.
Anyone else have any ideas or references on this subject? There must be someone out there who has already done this.
Tough guy! Or drugged guy. A 45 ACP might not have worked.
Point is, large heavy bullets traveling at modest speeds can be effective, as proven in the Civil War. A rifle or shotgun is much more effective than a pistol, but some pistols can be good enough. There are, of course, endless debates on this. Even today, it is hard to get rifle-like velocities from a pistol. The .17 cal might be an exception.
@JimB,
I have some thermal cams, and some older stuff that was Homeland Security grade…
The thing that was exactly what you want was a nice color cam with a 15kUSD$ zoom lens, mounted next to an IR cam with another expensive lens, on a pan/tilt base. I ended up selling the lens for $1200? something like that, but still have the IR cam and lens, and enclosure.
The enclosure and mechanism weighs about 90 pounds!
Used pan/tilt mounts are available on ebay pretty cheaply. Stunningly expensive cams and lenses at give a way prices too.
n
like this one
https://www.onlinepros.com/auctions/detail/surplus-liquidation-tomball-texas-bw40879
item 506
Thanks for the suggestion, but ninety pounds is too much, because I need to put it on a mast to get some added elevation. The newer ones I mentioned are very light, and have a low wind (and wife) profile.
I know I can get some good deals in used stuff, and I might look into that, but I really don’t want a big project. I’m sure you can sympathize. Sometimes a compromise is good enough.
“$1,163,090,000,000: Federal Spending Sets Record Through December”
https://www.cnsnews.com/article/washington/terence-p-jeffrey/1163090000000-federal-spending-sets-record-through-december
“(CNSNews.com) – The federal government spent a record $1,163,090,000,000 in the first three months of fiscal 2020 (October through December), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released Monday afternoon.”
“That was up $48,008,200,000 from the $1,115,081,800,000 (in constant December 2019 dollars) that the federal government spent in the first three months of fiscal 2019.”
Spend, baby, spend !
Beyond that, I suspect that the purpose of group projects in STEM clasess is to drag up the grade of the 90% who aren’t really good enough. Put eight students on a task that could easily be done by two, then let the simpletons and the lazyasses coast on the work of the two who care about their grades (or who need to get at least a B to keep their scholarship or get reimbursement for the tuition). I’m open to counterexamples, but I don’t have any from my own college experience.
Twenty years ago, project groups in large companies would employ what we called “low hanging fruit” to feed into the layoff machine when the time came. Group projects in STEM classes offered excellent training in tolerating the less-than-stellar performers.
These days, no one can afford to hire that way, but the push for diversity in STEM fields has introduced a lot of people into project groups who have no real business being there but whose presence is important to management, whether the bosses want to appear hip or to fulfill terms of a government contract.
My grad program was 95+% from the Subcontinent, and the mandatory single group project class was an excellent introduction to the work ethic and skill level (cough) of the typical “engineering” graduate from that part of the world. I’ve heard from friends who went through MBA programs that their group projects taught them something similar about frat “brahs” who graduated with “C” averages in “Sosh” and realized that they needed marketable diplomas out in the real world — supress the homicidal urge because murdering the stupid is still illegal.
I’ve got seven employees in the office today. And much coughing. Lovely, just lovely.
Would this work?
Fostech Origin 12
I like the 30-round drum.
I’ve got seven employees in the office today. And much coughing. Lovely, just lovely.
My lead just returned from a few weeks in Shanghai as that new SARS-type flu was starting to spread. He’s home today, sick with something.
That looks like a good way to need shoulder surgery!
n
My Windows 7 Pro x64 office PC just got rebooted by Windows Update for:
1. 2020-01 Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB4534310)
2. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 for Windows 7 for x64 (KB4503548)
3. Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool x64 – January 2020 (KB890830)
4. 2020-01 Security and Quality Rollup for .NET Framework 3.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8 for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 for x64 (KB4535102)
And it wants me to reboot again so it can install
1. 2020-01 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB4536952)
So if this is Microsoft shutting down support for Windows 7 then it looks like they are throwing a lot of stuff out the back door first.
Plus Microsoft Security Essentials got a virus and spyware definitions update today on Jan 15, 2020 at 8:27 am.
For those sensitive to recoil:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDRa-tIhNpU
Wish there was no “music.”
Not sure how effective the anti-recoil stuff is; never tried one.
Looks a lot better than that Fostech Origin 12, but then beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
So if this is Microsoft shutting down support for Windows 7 then it looks like they are throwing a lot of stuff out the back door first.
Yes, the NSA (!) reported a serious certificate handling issue in CryptoAPI to Microsoft, and the error apparently affects all versions of Windows.
Strange that the NSA reported it instead of their usual practice of keeping it in their arsenal for future use.
The SSL VPN product I used to work on for the Death Star was exposed if I read the reports correctly. The boss listened to one of the “younger employees with fresher ideas” (his words), and we stupidly used Schannel API instead of a more proven library.
Not my problem. Not even the problem of my weed head former partner — he works for Comcast now.
And let that be a lesson — if your life depends on your crypto, don’t f*ck around with SSL-based VPNs like AnyConnect. I’ll bet the bug bit them as well.
It only took me nine months to get around to it, but I finally fixed the colossal mess I’d made of my own site. I made the dreadful decision to do a quick WordPress update from the control panel late one night. Grabbed a quick backup of the database and let rip.
Yeah. That failed. Error 500’s alternated with white screen of death. Borked it badly enough I couldn’t get into the admin panel. Yay me. I poked at it a few times but didn’t have enough brain for a sustained period of time to make an honest attempt. Left it alone as it wasn’t hurting anyone broken.
Home with a sick kid, no schoolwork due for myself and a clear brain. I verified my sql backup, verified my uploaded pics were backed up. Then nuked it from space and reinstalled. Reapplied the theme I preferred (I looked in my sql file for the wp_options table to see what theme I’d used previously). GoDaddy uses myPHP 5.6 and WordPress is pretty sure that’s wicked. Suck it, WordPress. I’ll have no more of your promises of easy updates. I like old tech -laughing-
Anyway. It was anticlimactic. I figured it wouldn’t be difficult, it was distressing it took so many months to have enough brain cells together to do the work, though.
Whuf.
In more exciting news I completed the last of my requirements with University of the People to be granted by Associates degree for Computer Science. Took the final last week, yesterday saw that my requirements are marked as ‘complete in full’. Five or seven more classes for my Bachelors. Goal is to complete by August prior to my 110010th
So if this is Microsoft shutting down support for Windows 7 then it looks like they are throwing a lot of stuff out the back door first.
Yes, the NSA (!) reported a serious certificate handling issue in CryptoAPI to Microsoft, and the error apparently affects all versions of Windows.
Strange that the NSA reported it instead of their usual practice of keeping it in their arsenal for future use.
I thought it was just Windows 10. I did not realize that it was all variants of Windows. I wonder if they will patch Windows XP also ?
I suspect that some bad actors (Iran ?) already knew about the problem. In fact, the NSA could have seen the problem while the bad actors were playing with it.
@greg,
That cryptoAPI vuln in Window$ may very well have been outed by the NSA because someone else knows about (and is expected to use) it. At least, that’s the consensus from other IT news sites. Or maybe the NSA suffered another leak, a la ETERNALBLUE.
As far as Win7 is concerned, I’ve just patched the 3 machines I have here (one active, one semi-active, and one “gets booted once a month for Patch Tuesday” spare)
I refuse to use win10-nic, so I’m going second-user Mac.
Geoff
In more exciting news I completed the last of my requirements with University of the People to be granted by Associates degree for Computer Science. Took the final last week, yesterday saw that my requirements are marked as ‘complete in full’. Five or seven more classes for my Bachelors. Goal is to complete by August prior to my 110010th
Congrats ! And nice goal. Sorry to tell you but everything is downhill from that point. I will be 111100 in a few months, everything is falling apart. The eyes and ears are having a competition to see which one can fail the fastest whereas the stomach (brain ?) is demanding sugar five times a day.
@Jenny: Have never had problems with WP updates – and I run lots of WP sites. No problems with theme or plugin updates.
There are lots of googles/ducks/bings on how to fix the ‘white screen of death’ that you experienced. And the latest WP version is better about giving you some information when it happens.
I suspect a bad/old plugin (maybe theme) that caused the white screen. You’ll find the bad plugin named in the later entries of the error.log file (either in the root folder or the wp-admin folder). The error message will include the folder causing the problem. Just rename that folder to disable the plugin and you’ll get access to the site again.
And there’s a few people here that can help with WordPress sites. I even know one guy that would do it for free. And quickly. (Ask me any time…)
I am a big fan of installing updates quickly. And usually do without problems. Even Windows updates….never had any problems with them.
@jenny,
Congratulations from me, too.
@lynn,
I’m 0x46, and celebrated (sic) the first anniversary of cancer diagnosis 2 months ago. Tests are happening to ensure that it hasn’t recurred – CT scan next Tuesday. All seems well at present. /me knocks on wood.
Geoff
Had a fun experience today. The septic tank technician called me this morning about the four month checkout of the aerobic septic tank at the new house. I met him there after lunch so I could see the system and find out where to put the chlorine tablets in at. He pulled all three lids and showed me the column for the three inch chlorine tablets. I am supposed to add five chlorine tablets every month, this was the first time since we bought the house last Sept 12. The chlorine tablets are expensive, $64 for ten lbs (32 tablets).
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Norweco-10-lb-Pail-Blue-Crystal-Chlorine-Tablets-for-Aerobic-or-Septic-Systems-509/202194806
The system is only 500 gallons (each of the three tanks is 500 gallons) so I suspect that we will getting the system pumped annually. The office system is a 2,500 gallon system which I get pumped every five years or so.
We get the new carpet installed on Thursday so we should be good for moving in soon after we ventilate the new carpet smell. The wife ordered a lot of new window shades yesterday for the transom windows and blackout shades for the daughter’s window but those do not get here for 4 or 5 weeks. The crucial ones are the daughters. Maybe we will move on Jan 30. Or Feb 15.
Congrats, Jenny. You should tell your daughter that now that you are degreed she should pay you more for your tutoring.
@Jenny and @Geoff Powell, congrats on your achievements, even if they are in very different categories. Wish you the very best. May you be able to do everything you wish.
Wow, sure is different where there is a high water table. Will have to look up your kind of system. Here, some people pump every 30 years or so, whether needed or not. Dry.
The system is only 500 gallons (each of the three tanks is 500 gallons) so I suspect that we will getting the system pumped annually.
Wow, sure is different where there is a high water table. Will have to look up your kind of system. Here, some people pump every 30 years or so, whether needed or not. Dry.
The problem is that the solids (toilet paper) just do not break down very well and clog the first tank to the second tank flow over area. And then the entire system gets “slow” and then it backs up. You don’t want to have it back up.
https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/library/water/onsite-wastewater-treatment-systems-aerobic-treatment-unit/
The system uses gravity flow from the house to the first tank to the second tank to the third tank. Then there is a pump (and the chlorine distributor) in the third tank to the sprinklers in the back yard. If we add a game room next year then I will probably have to move the sprinklers further back. And there is a blower next to the house that continuously blows air into the second tank for the aeration phase.
Lynn, I read that link, and then did some searching. Nowhere could I find whether aerobic treatment is required or merely recommended in Texas. I also looked for California regulations. I only found some vague revisions in 2012 that don’t appear to affect me. I have had a 1000 gallon two chamber concrete tank and gravity drainage field for over forty years. It has been pumped twice for this household of two adults. The first time, the service said it didn’t need pumping, but as long as they came out they might as well. It was cheap then. The second time it was similar, but much more expensive because disposal rules are now different.
I read some about home septic systems a long time ago, and know how to inspect them, but determining their health is a bit tricky. BTW, the first chamber is aerobic and the second is anaerobic. [CORRECTION: Someone had told me that years ago, but it appears to be wrong. Just checked, and both chambers are considered anaerobic. The aerobic idea for the first chamber appears to be that some air is brought in by open pipe flow in the sewer lines; makes sense to me, but I guess not so.] The whole thing operates by gravity. I have heard of three chamber systems, but never looked into them.
About thirty years ago, we were considering building a new home across the street, but didn’t. As part of that exercise, I learned about a NASA engineer who replaced the drainage field with an impermeable trough filled with porous soil and planted with some special plants. The idea was to clean the effluent and preserve as much of the water as possible. I intended to do that and use the water for irrigation, but the cost of electricity to pump it uphill on our site was about the same as buying water from our water company. I was going to use gray water also, but that was illegal. It may have changed since then.
Anyway, why would someone opt for a complex system that consumes electrical energy to provide water that seems not needed? Is it that the ground is too wet for a leach field?
Wow, sure is different where there is a high water table. Will have to look up your kind of system. Here, some people pump every 30 years or so, whether needed or not. Dry.
Texas soil doesn’t drain well. My parents had the septic tank pumped once in 18 years at our old house in Florida, and all of the peninsula south of Gainesville has a water table reachable with a shovel.