Tues. July 27, 2021 – trying to get caught up, then some interesting learning…

By on July 27th, 2021 in gardening, personal, WuFlu

Hot and hot. Sunny and hot. Hot. Yesterday was hot, over 100F in the shade. Today will be hot.

So I cut the grass. I’d started the back and the battery died, so I needed to finish today. Only took a few minutes in the sun, then I did the front, which is in the shade. Barely broke a sweat despite the heat.

Did a bit of weeding in the garden too. Tomatoes are showing some stress, and the fruits are very small now. No actual ripe tomatoes at the moment. One of the three cabbages is forming a head, the other 2 are just leaves. The collards are doing ok. One plus to the citrus trees dying in the freeze, I get more sun and can maybe do some more beds where the trees were. That will take a bit of thought to decide. I still have the lime and grapefruit trees in pots that I could plant.

Daughter 1 had her second shot Sunday. She wasn’t feeling 100% yesterday. By the end of the day she was kinda ache-y and a little nauseous. I’m trying not to be a d!ck about it. Wasn’t my decision. We’ll see how today goes.

I’ve got to get out of the house today and get some stuff done. I have a class through my Citizen’s Police Academy later this evening. Should be very interesting. More on that later.

In order to get out of the house, I’m going to see about dropping the kids off at the pool for the day. There is at least one friend that might be good for a day at the pool too, and then my wife can pick them all up at the end of the day. Plus, it gets them out of the house and exercising.

It will be nice to get back in school and have more time during the day. Which really bugs me one some levels, because I was looking forward to spending time with the kids. Didn’t do much of that though after all. So we’ve arranged after school care for daughter 2 four days a week and I’ll have to pick her up one day. I hope to use that time for some together time with her. If I don’t structure the time, it doesn’t happen, so I’m giving this a shot. Time is flying by.

It’s flying by for more than just family time. The changes and violence around us seems to be accelerating. Big changes usually come pretty suddenly and people say “no one saw it coming” when plenty of people did. Use your sight. Stack stuff.

nick

70 Comments and discussion on "Tues. July 27, 2021 – trying to get caught up, then some interesting learning…"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    “TeamViewer and/or RDP routed across the open Internet.”

    In principle, that shouldn’t be a problem – with proper authentication. The thing that strikes me is: most of the time, there’s no need for desktop sharing.

    RDP shouldn’t route over the open Internet. Microsoft is dragging its feet about eliminating the security problems in the protocol because it would break too many customers, particularly banks and other large financial institutions in the US which utilize “jump boxes” internally to reach sensitive systems.

    Something is up with TV, but, if I had to guess, the problem is being kept quiet since the system is popular on Wall Street for purposes like guys in the corner offices visiting their dominatrix on their lunch hours. If it were simply weak passwords, that would have been resolved long before now.

    As for need, I’ve touched on the Work From Home Mafia in the US many times here and some regulars think I have “a problem”. The fact remains that there are a lot of jobs where remote access to resources is restricted for perfectly legitimate reasons, which the employees feel is an undue burden — there’s day trading to be done and the kids have soccer at 3 PM — so ad hoc solutions such as RDP and TV are employed to do an end run around “The Man’s” rules regardless of consequences.

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  2. pecancorner says:

    I didn’t know, and just now learned, that today, July 27, is National Korean War Veteran’s Day.  “Each year, both America and South Korea observe National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day July 27. The Korean War lasted for three years — from June June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. ”  Here’s this year’s proclamation:

    https://kr.usembassy.gov/072621-a-proclamation-on-national-korean-war-veterans-armistice-day-2021/

     

  3. pecancorner says:

    So we’ve arranged after school care for daughter 2 four days a week and I’ll have to pick her up one day. I hope to use that time for some together time with her. If I don’t structure the time, it doesn’t happen, so I’m giving this a shot.

    That’s a wise plan. You’re a great dad, Nick.   She’ll look forward to that day each week.

    The older I get, the more I have to schedule everything I do to be sure I get it done. I keep a to-do list for each day with at least one extra “get it done” task (or one completable stage in a multi-day task)  that would ordinarily hang over me in my head for weeks or months.  Somehow, scheduling it as though it were a job with a boss to answer to, helps me stay focused and not get sidelined with the other 40 things that I see in the middle of it that would normally take my attention away from it.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    Fixed, dedicated CCTV cameras, with plate readers. Images are retained for enforcement and dispute resolution. I got bitten by that once.

    And I’m sure that reading the plate images is a highly paid civil service job in the UK with a full pension.

    What prevents congestion pricing from taking hold in the US right now is that most of the major cities and states interested in the systems are technically insolvent due to various long term obligations, including pensions, and the tolling technologies which would minimize their labor costs are hideously expensive to install and administer properly.

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  5. Ray Thompson says:

    One of my medications, and I suspect the Oxycodone, is giving me vertigo issues and causing me to break out in a cold sweat, as in running down the side of my face. I am going to give serious thought to terminating the use of that stuff as quickly as possible. Perhaps even quitting altogether. Maybe just use Ibuprofen or something similar.

    Knee area is very warm to the touch and is a little redder than the surrounding tissue. Fairly certain it is not an infection and is the process of healing or from the exertion from physical therapy. I did use the ice machine on the joint last night which seems to help with the night time discomfort. I was finally able to sleep on my side like I normally sleep. Small victories.

    Using the cane more instead of the walker. Most difficult part now is the first use of the leg in the morning. Uncomfortable for several minutes until I have moved around some. Fairly sharp pains until I have established movements. Then just a dull ache that is tolerable.

    Knee is still very much swollen and skin very tight. It will be a relief when that swelling starts subsiding. I will ask the doctor when I can expect subsidence but I suspect the swelling is probably with me for several weeks as the joint heals. Sawing off parts of the bone, drilling cavities in the bones, stretching tissue to the max, is a lot of trauma to the area.

  6. ech says:

    Remember, London is one of the most CCTV’d cities in the world. Most feed to the police, but the Congestion cameras are dedicated.

    … and all feed to the Laundry for SCORPION STARE use during CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN.

  7. Greg Norton says:

    More “Mayor Pete” PR.

    Assuming Plugs survives beyond the midterms, which probably means he will serve out his term, my guess is that the Deep State will want to substitute one of their own for Kamala in 2024. Mayor Pete is one possiblity, possessing the intelligence agency background without being obvious as well as being palatable to the Dem female swing voters in the suburbs of DC and the tech hubs.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-official-washington-chasten-buttigieg-is-a-stranger-in-a-very-strange-land/ar-AAMzcVF?ocid=uxbndlbing

    Mayor Pete *and* his husband understand. *They* worked hard to get what they have.

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  8. SteveF says:

    Hey, Lynn, I just got headhunter spam for a C++ position in Sugarland. It’s not for your company, is it? I’ve heard that the boss is a tyrant with bad breath.

  9. drwilliams says:

    No mention of Fortran and flatulance?

  10. Nick Flandrey says:

    Hah, internal server error wiped out my whining.

    I get the extra “oh by the way” tasks that the stay at home parent always gets and complains about. They’re the ones “because you’re sitting home anyway”…

    They usually cause other stuff to be delayed.

    n

  11. drwilliams says:

    Additionally, there have been doctors sounding the alarm about PCR testing specifically. Katy Grimes of the California Glove interviewed three of them: Dr. Michael deBoisblanc, Dr. Pete Mazolewski, and Dr. Brian Hopkins explain:
    “PCR testing has proven to be seriously flawed when used to track disease prevalence, and the number of false positive tests has contributed to fear, panic and unnecessary quarantine of many. The peer review of the original Corman-Drosten PCR paper points out the serious flaws and conflicts of interest in the original article describing the PCR test (Peter Borger Et al., 11/27/2020). This paper is the basis for the PCR test used in the United States. On January 21, 2021 the World Health Organization published direction on the interpretation of a positive PCR test. They now caution about calling a test “positive” without symptoms, a confirmatory test, and physician oversight. They also cite the serious problems with high cycle thresholds leading to a high number of false positives. In short, they agree with what we argued last month.”

    “With this information, your COVID positive case numbers are highly suspect and using this data to determine which tier the population falls into has been, and continues to be, completely unreliable and arbitrary. Our recommendation is to move forward quickly with rapid antigen testing. These tests are less expensive, and more appropriately sensitive to detect people with active, contagious disease.”

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/07/cdc-alerts-labs-to-use-tests-that-can-differentiate-between-covid-and-flu/

  12. Greg Norton says:

    The neighbor’s new-ish Carrier AC unit is sounding rough today.

    At first, when I heard the grinding noise while walking out to get the mail, I thought it was our 25+ year old Trane upstairs finally giving out. Bzzzt. I walked around to that side of the house and found both of our units were idle, with the noise originating on the other side of the fence.

    Not my problem. Still worth noting since he complained about the $8000 expense last summer.

    Hopefully the problem is a bearing or something simple.

  13. MrAtoz says:

    They now caution about calling a test “positive” without symptoms, a confirmatory test, and physician oversight. They also cite the serious problems with high cycle thresholds leading to a high number of false positives. In short, they agree with what we argued last month.”

    Now that the narrative is achieved. Should we trust the WHO on COVID variants? Hell, NO!

  14. Lynn says:

    I Hey, Lynn, I just got headhunter spam for a C++ position in Sugarland. It’s not for your company, is it? I’ve heard that the boss is a tyrant with bad breath.

    Nope, not me. I would love to hire someone but it is not happening.

    And I do not use headhunters.

  15. Nick Flandrey says:

    Watchout lynn, it’s a competitor gearing up to make a move!

    n

  16. EdH says:

    A Korean War Story:

    A couple of years ago my brother and I were touring the museum ship Red Oak Victory in Oakland, California.

    https://redoakvictory.us

    We’d paid for our own private tour, and our docent had an interesting tale. A group of Korean businessman had shown up and offered to buy the vessel. The museum people were at first offended, thinking they wanted to buy her for scrap, but it turns out that South Korea was going to build a museum honoring the Meredith Victory and others for the rescue of thousands during the Hungnam evacuation, and the Red Oak was one of the few operational Victory ships left.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Meredith_Victory

    An amazing story I had never even heard of. The ‘Forgotten War’ indeed.

  17. lpdbw says:

    Hey, SteveF, could you point the headhunter my way (under my real name)?

    And Sugar Land is two words.

  18. Greg Norton says:

    Watchout lynn, it’s a competitor gearing up to make a move!

    I’ve seen an email in the last two weeks indicating that a Fortune 50 firm was looking for C++ talent in that area.

    HP Enterprise?

    Exxon went Subcontinent in a huge way three years ago. I saw the resume fallout when we did interviews at the last job. Maybe the company is experiencing some buyers’ remorse.

    Actual C++ skills are hard to find right now. The language plus Unix/Linux toolchain experience is even harder. My former management made a few compromises in hiring that are obviously biting them in the butt as of late.

  19. SteveF says:

    lpdbw, sorry, but I marked the spam as spam and did a “delete permanently”. If I get the same again from the same headhunter, which is likely, I’ll forward it to you.

    Actual C++ skills are hard to find right now.

    That may well be, but the potential employers are being awfully choosy, given that they claim a dire shortage.

  20. Greg Norton says:

    That may well be, but the potential employers are being awfully choosy, given that they claim a dire shortage. 

    If they are like my last management, they hired someone who got too cute with C++ in the recent past and need a guru understanding of the language to untangle a mess so it is at least maintainable.

    Of course, they don’t want to pay for that guru, hence the headhunter.

  21. Nick Flandrey says:

    Why would you need to carry to your kid’s soccer game? Why do you carry your trauma bag to every kids’ sporting event??

    Well…

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9830825/PICTURED-Pregnant-woman-shot-dead-alongside-boyfriend-young-sons-soccer-game.html

    n

    added- that is about 15 minutes from my house

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  22. SteveF says:

    What I’ve seen a lot of is employers with an “urgent need” not even wanting to talk to me because I’ve been working mainly with R and Python for the past three years. On the job, that is. I’ve continued to write C, C++, and Java programs, contribute to open source projects, and tutor, on top of many years of professional experience in each language, but that apparently doesn’t count.

  23. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9828511/Former-US-Sen-Barbara-Boxer-assaulted-robbed-California.html

    ‘Why would you do this to a grandma?’ What former California senator Barbara Boxer, 80, asked when she was attacked and robbed of her cellphone by a ‘kid’ in crime-ridden Oakland, California

    –cuz grandmothers are easier to rob, duh.

    On the contrary, robberies have skyrocketed in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Some experts attribute the increase to the passing of Proposition 47 in 2014, a ballot referendum known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act that downgraded the theft of property less than $950 in value from a felony charge to a misdemeanor.

    –you always get the opposite of what this garbage is named….

  24. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9827349/The-wild-moment-woman-seat-Spirit-Airlines-flight-punches-grabs-woman.html

    I was gonna post this with snarky “spirit” and “amish” comments, but it’s bigger than that.

    Signs o the times I think.

    n

  25. lynn says:

    That may well be, but the potential employers are being awfully choosy, given that they claim a dire shortage.

    If they are like my last management, they hired someone who got too cute with C++ in the recent past and need a guru understanding of the language to untangle a mess so it is at least maintainable.

    Of course, they don’t want to pay for that guru, hence the headhunter.

    I thought that the employer paid for the headhunter when they issued the position open ?

  26. lynn says:

    Watchout lynn, it’s a competitor gearing up to make a move!

    I’ve seen an email in the last two weeks indicating that a Fortune 50 firm was looking for C++ talent in that area.

    HP Enterprise?

    Exxon went Subcontinent in a huge way three years ago. I saw the resume fallout when we did interviews at the last job. Maybe the company is experiencing some buyers’ remorse.

    Actual C++ skills are hard to find right now. The language plus Unix/Linux toolchain experience is even harder. My former management made a few compromises in hiring that are obviously biting them in the butt as of late.

    I can just about guarantee you that the headhunter will figure out that I am 61 and hang up the phone.

    A Google headhunter called me in 2005 to interview for their Google Apps team when I published my own Excel C++ API. I told her that I was President of my own software business which did not phase her. But then I told her I was 45 and “click”.

  27. Nick Flandrey says:

    kids have been watching the olympics, Judging by the commercials, they think the main audience is infirm/sick old people.

    n

  28. Greg Norton says:

    “Of course, they don’t want to pay for that guru, hence the headhunter.”

    I thought that the employer paid for the headhunter when they issued the position open ?

    The companies get the headhunter involved when they want something specific, like guru skills at no money.

    Otherwise, they can put a posting out on Indeed and land dozens of resumes in an afternoon without paying six months’ to a year’s salary as commission.

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  29. lynn says:

    I gave a ride to a guy with a broke down truck on FM 2759 (the road in front of my office) down to Thompson’s Landing last night. He actually lives three miles past Thompsons Landing on Texaco road, down by the Brazos river, the furthest that I have been down FM 2759. He told me that when the Brazos flooded during hurricane Harvey in 2018, the river was four foot deep in his yard. His house was on 3.5 ft stilts. Yup, four inches of water in his house for the first time ever. He now has five foot tall stilts.

    I noticed that when I came back, all twelve units at the Parish Power Plant were online. I have not seen all twelve units online in a long time, 4+ GW uses a LOT of natural gas and coal. Even so, 102 F would be tough on south Texas. 113 F like Labor Day in 1999 in Sugar Land would be a freaking disaster.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WA_Parish_Generating_Station

    Looks like we are going for 74 GW today.
    http://www.ercot.com/mp

  30. lynn says:

    “Pic Of Ford F-150 Lightning Display Shows Incredible Range Estimate”
    https://insideevs.com/news/522603/f150-lightning-display-incredible-range/

    “Flipping through the screens I noticed that one screen had an estimated driving range display that read an incredible 472 miles. I assume that Ford had removed the range estimate from both the driver’s and center display because neither of the F-150 Lightning I saw had any range estimate on any screen. However, scrolling through the controls I found one screen where the range estimate was staring right at me.
    472 miles! Could it be? Nah…or could it?”

    Even so, I would not feel comfortable with a total electric vehicle without a gasoline or diesel generator of some sort that I could easily take along with me on trips.

  31. lynn says:

    “Eye on the Tropics: July will finish on a quiet note in the Atlantic”
    https://spacecityweather.com/eye-on-the-tropics-july-will-finish-on-a-quiet-note-in-the-atlantic/

    “The last time we had a tropics post was back on July 13th, and since then zero storms have formed. By July 30, 2020 Isaias had formed. We’re still stuck on Elsa this year, and I hope no one is complaining. It would seem that the next week or two, broadly, will continue on this quiet trajectory. Today, we will look into perhaps why things have been so different this month compared to a year ago.
    While one can never rule out a rogue “homegrown” system this time of year from a disturbance over the Gulf or off the Southeast coast, there is no sign of any organized activity in the Atlantic over at least the next 7 to 10 days.”

    Good. I don’t feel like any nonsense right now.

  32. lynn says:

    “You can have my pickup truck when you pry it from my cold dead hands”
    https://gunfreezone.net/you-can-have-my-pickup-truck-when-you-pry-it-from-my-cold-dead-hands/

    “Petty tyrants, especially petty Leftist tyrants, are all the same. They all believe that they are smarter, wiser, more knowledgeable, and more logical, and therefore the world would be a better place if only they could decide what you need, what you should want, and how you should live your life.
    The latest Leftist petty tyrant bugaboo is pickup trucks.
    They hate them and they are on a mission to eliminate them from your choice of vehicles to buy.
    Case in point, this teacup Nazi:”

    Yup, civil war is coming in the USA.

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  33. Nick Flandrey says:

    but but but I thought they were predicting an especially bad year this year…
    n

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  34. Mark W says:

    Every year is forecast as a worse year than last, until it doesn’t happen and it’s quietly forgotten.

  35. lynn says:

    “Houston stretch of highway named most deadly in the U.S. by new report”
    https://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/07-26-21-i-45-most-dangerous-highway-in-us-houston-budget-direct-neomam-harris-county/

    “A new report from Budget Direct, which crunched numbers with the firm NeoMam, reveals that the most deadly road in the United States is Interstate 45, running north from Galveston to Dallas through Houston. By the numbers, the highway has seen 56.5 fatal accidents for every 100 miles of roadway, per the study.
    More data from 2019 notes that the Houston area is the most lethal stretch of I-45 with some 73 deaths.
    Budget Direct, in its report, also points to a recent article by The Texan on Harris County’s filing of a federal lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to halt a plan for expanding Interstate 45.”

    Well, isn’t that just special ? I would have thought it was I-10.

  36. Alan says:

    New CDC masking recommendations just released:
    1. All vaccinated people should wear masks in indoor public places
    2. Everyone in any K-12 setting should be masked regardless of vaccination status

    To me, #1 is a backhanded way to get the unvaccinated that currently aren’t wearing masks to start.

    Let the ‘mandate’ battles begin!

  37. lynn says:

    “The Moon Tricks Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Feature Into Thinking It’s a Yellow Light”
    https://interestingengineering.com/moon-tricks-teslas-full-self-driving-into-thinking-it-is-a-yellow-light

    “Tesla recently announced that any Tesla user can subscribe to Autopilot’s Full Self-Driving feature for $99 to $199 per month, but it seems the new feature still comes with its fair share of kinks. Recently a Tesla driver took to Twitter to share an entertaining little problem with the system.
    It turns out that the feature mistakes the full moon for a yellow light and slows down the vehicle. It should be noted that this is an extremely yellow and quite low moon.”

    Uh, this self driving thing is starting to concern me with all of the special cases required for the AI.

  38. Greg Norton says:

    1. All vaccinated people should wear masks in indoor public places
    2. Everyone in any K-12 setting should be masked regardless of vaccination status

    To me, #1 is a backhanded way to get the unvaccinated that currently aren’t wearing masks to start.

    #1 is a means to generate hatred for the unvaccinated among the general public.

    #2 puts the power of childhood cruelty to work to further generate hatred.

    At this point, the masks are about compliance, not science.

    Next will be 1-800 numbers to report masses of unmasked people and/or individuals you suspect are unvaccinated should select states start to adopt “passports” to access restaurants, concerts, Disneyland, etc.

    Think it can’t happen? WA State has 1-800 numbers to report single occupant cars in HOV lanes.

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  39. Alan says:

    Even so, I would not feel comfortable with a total electric vehicle without a gasoline or diesel generator of some sort that I could easily take along with me on trips.

    Reminds me of this episode of Roadkill…

    But the Roadkill mod-of-the-month is hands down the new heating system. They start by strapping a generator to the trunk of the car, run an extension cord into the cab, then plug in the biggest space heater they can find that won’t blow the fuse on the generator.

    https://www.motortrend.com/news/roadkill-winter-road-trip-1986-ford-thunderbird/

    Of course it’s a Ford!

    Or there are videos like this one:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J5QA8C3S5k

  40. paul says:

    Well, isn’t that just special ? I would have thought it was I-10.

    I-10, sure, in parts. I-35 from Round Rock (which use to be way the hell out in the country) through Austin to San Marcos or so, is.

    They are playing with the numbers. I-45 runs from DFW to Galveston. “56.5 fatal accidents for every 100 miles of roadway”. Now do the same with I-10 or I-35.  Adjust for oh, miles and miles with nothing on I-10 and I-35 compared to population density.

    Poking around at https://www.interstate-guide.com shows I-45 has 284 miles. I-10 has 2460 miles. I-35 has 1568 miles.

     

  41. MrAtoz says:

    New CDC masking recommendations just released:
    1. All vaccinated people should wear masks in indoor public places
    2. Everyone in any K-12 setting should be masked regardless of vaccination status

    To me, #1 is a backhanded way to get the unvaccinated that currently aren’t wearing masks to start.

    Let the ‘mandate’ battles begin!

    Psaki: “I’m glad I don’t live in one of those 8+ States that have mandated no masks in K-12”

    Over to you Gov. Abbott!

    I wonder how long until he crumbles.

  42. Greg Norton says:

    Uh, this self driving thing is starting to concern me with all of the special cases required for the AI. 

    Autonomous vehicles are not happening anytime soon. I used to think *automated* vehicles under a central authority were within reach of current software engineering capability, but the implosion of Siemens’ project here in town was a wake up call proving my assumptions incorrect.

    People will still have to drive. No Baby Yoda streaming or sleeping while the vehicle is in motion.

  43. EdH says:

    95F and 49% RH earlier here in the CA high desert.

    I suddenly had the urge to walk bowlegged and drink water from a hoof print.

  44. Greg Norton says:

    Over to you Gov. Abbott!

    I wonder how long until he crumbles.

    First power crisis where ERCOT starts rolling blackouts.

    Or the chart of the seven day rolling average of new confirmed cases starts to look like last summer. It is about halfway there as of this afternoon. Deaths continue to be way down, but that doesn’t matter.

    Reinstate mask mandates now, and just assume they will be there until at least Election Day 2022, regardless of what happens.

    And start practicing: All right, all right, all right!

  45. paul says:

    Mask mandates?  Nope.  Haven’t worn one, not going to start.

    Six feet apart?  If I can smell you, you are too close.  BO or perfume, no difference.

     

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  46. mediumwave says:

    “Houston stretch of highway named most deadly in the U.S. by new report”
    https://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/07-26-21-i-45-most-dangerous-highway-in-us-houston-budget-direct-neomam-harris-county/

    Statistical Bollocks:

    Be careful of numbers, folks: they often lie. And by the way, the article itself is, quelle surprise, complete bollocks too because they use two totally different measurement metrics — deaths per 100 miles (distance), and deaths per million passenger-miles — which are completely different. But hey, it’s the Daily Mail.

  47. Nick Flandrey says:

    Getting ready for my continuing education class.

    Remember wayyyyy back when, when I suggested getting every certification, license, qualification and ID you could? One of the benefits of some of the training is the ability to do more training.

    I’m going to learn about I ED s tonight. I’ll le t you know how cool it is. I’m guessing the pictures might not be as much fun as the “Guido the killer pimp” pictures from the human trafficking class, but the subject matter should be interesting.n

    n

  48. Nick Flandrey says:

    Panties in a bunch about 73 per year in the third largest metro in the US…

    More data from 2019 notes that the Houston area is the most lethal stretch of I-45 with some 73 deaths.

    n

  49. SteveF says:

    At this point, the masks are about compliance, not science.

    Always were. If you’re thinking of saying that at first no one knew what was going on and were just issuing the best recommendations that they could and there was no dishonesty or tyranny at first, recall that initial government guidance was that ordinary schlubs should not get or wear masks. And why they issued that recommendation.

    the seven day rolling average of new confirmed cases

    That’s about politics, not science, too. “Cases” has had an amazingly fuzzy definition over the past year.

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  50. Greg Norton says:

    I want to believe.

    Of course the girl is his granddaughter. I figured that out as soon as I saw the first trailer.

    I also know what is tattooed on Aykroyd’s other arm in the final scene.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR-WxNVLZhQ

  51. Alan says:

    Uh, this self driving thing is starting to concern me with all of the special cases required for the AI.

    To me, winter driving will be the biggest challenge. Snow covering all the lane and shoulder lines, snow-covered signs, snowplows that turn a three lane highway into two lanes, black ice, all mixed in with erratic drivers (the 4×4 no worries crowd vs the 5 mph-ers with their hazard flashers on). How close to 100% of these edge(?) cases do they have effectively in their AI? Plus, I would think Tony has less ‘miles driven feedback’ in winter conditions as there are probably fewer low-slung Tony-mobiles out in the snow.

  52. JimB says:

    Watch this to see a TRUCK:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-bqOmA7nEjM

    Yup, a 6×6 deuce-and-a-half. Imagine, only rated for 5000 lb, but that’s over rugged terrain. Think about that the next time you are tempted to buy one of those new fancymobiles that would be so much more practical.

    A friend nearby has one with a flatbed instead of a dump body. Most of us know the sound of the unmuffled turbocharged multifuel inline six that probably could burn liquid from puddles around an oil well. When SHE drives it into town, she parks it wherever she wants. Sometimes a crowd gathers.

    Ok, just fun, but if that isn’t enough, consider one of the really big rigs the Seabees use.

    First time I have watched one of Wes’s videos. It’s long, but enjoyable. Skip to the end and take a look at that unexpected helo crop duster. Sounds piston powered?

  53. Marcelo says:

    This is something that should have happened ages ago and should have been embraced by more mainstream hardware manufacturers.
    Review:
    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/07/frameworks-new-lightweight-modular-laptop-delivers-on-its-promises/
    Manufacturer site:
    https://frame.work/blog/the-framework-laptop-is-now-shipping-and-press-reviews

    Looks pretty good and not at an extravagant price. Reparability seems to be the objective. It would be interesting to see something about obsolescence.

  54. lynn says:

    Watch this to see a TRUCK:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-bqOmA7nEjM

    Yup, a 6×6 deuce-and-a-half. Imagine, only rated for 5000 lb, but that’s over rugged terrain. Think about that the next time you are tempted to buy one of those new fancymobiles that would be so much more practical.

    A friend nearby has one with a flatbed instead of a dump body. Most of us know the sound of the unmuffled turbocharged multifuel inline six that probably could burn liquid from puddles around an oil well. When SHE drives it into town, she parks it wherever she wants. Sometimes a crowd gathers.

    Ok, just fun, but if that isn’t enough, consider one of the really big rigs the Seabees use.

    First time I have watched one of Wes’s videos. It’s long, but enjoyable. Skip to the end and take a look at that unexpected helo crop duster. Sounds piston powered?

    I love his tools !

    And I like his wheel bearing packer !

  55. MrAtoz says:

    Here’s a perfect example of political grift by plugs:

    President Biden reveals what he missed most during the four years he was a professor

    tl;dr:

    At UPenn, Biden made less than a dozen public appearances over three years—and earned more than $900,000 as the Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practice Professor.

    Biden’s also recently named University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann (left) as ambassador to Germany.

    Not a bad gig if you’re the head of an international crime family.

  56. ech says:

    From the Legal Insurrection article on PCR testing linked above

    Dr. Michael Mina, a Harvard University assistant professor of epidemiology, told us that the CDC’s decision regarding its test made sense, given how the landscape has changed.

    “CDC is likely going to pull its own EUA for its test because hundreds of other labs now have their own EUAs and CDC no longer even needs to use its own test since many companies now have EUAs for manufactured tests,” he said in an email. “The major Companies like Roche, Hologic, Abbott all have their own test kits and instruments. Then the ThermoFishers of the world have EUAs for their PCR kits that can be run in the exact same way as the CDC assay. So there really is no reason for CDC to retain their EUA.”

    That is exactly what I said the other day. The article that claimed the CDC COVID test couldn’t distinguish it from flu was way, way off base. CDC just wants to get out of the lab test business.

  57. drwilliams says:

    “But with the delta variant, a mutated and more transmissible version of the virus, the level of virus in infected vaccinated people is “indistinguishable” from the level of virus in the noses and throats of unvaccinated people, Walensky said.
    The data emerged over the last couple of days from over 100 samples from several states and one other country. It is unpublished, and the CDC has not released it. But “it is concerning enough that we feel like we have to act,” Walensky said.”
    https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-79959d313428d98ab8aa905bbe287ba0

    100 SAMPLES!

    ONE-THIRD OF THE HOLY TRINITY ON A THIN ROUND CRISPY CRACKER!

    CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky later said in a call with reporters that the decision to issue new guidance “was not something we took lightly,” but comes amid “worrisome” new science.

    “In recent days, I have seen new scientific data from sequenced outbreak investigations showing that the delta variant behaves uniquely differently from past strains of the virus that cause COVID-19,” Walensky told reporters over a call. “Information on the delta variant from several states and other countries indicate that in rare occasions, some vaccinated people infected with the delta variant after vaccination may be contagious and spread the virus to others.”

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/07/psaki-cannot-give-a-scientific-answer-about-why-vaccinated-people-need-masks/

    These people need to be removed from public office and institutionalized for the good of the republic. Daily thorazine is probably sufficient, although pithing like a frog and hanging on a barbed wire fence would not be out of line. Heirs of Mengele.

  58. MrAtoz says:

    And we’re back to this:

    Capitol Police officer’s claim Brian Sicknick died from injuries sustained in the line of duty was ‘not meant to be interpreted as a medical diagnosis’

    Apparently you can lie to Congress if your affiliation is lefty.

    MSM and Congress on Ashli Babbitt: Zzzz Zzzz Zzzz. Why isn’t the cop who murdered her on trail?

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  59. drwilliams says:

    I really like the bit about the Women’s soccer team being so committed to taking a knee that they have given up scoring goals. Bully!

    https://video.foxnews.com/v/6265347408001#sp=show-clips

  60. drwilliams says:

    The science supporting “hold my beer’:

    https://twitter.com/SteveInmanUIC/status/1419677497399013380

  61. ech says:

    I posted a link here to a twitter thread about Delta by a virologist. Delta’s a fast grower. If it gets a hold in your system, it gets to very high levels in as little as two days – hence the higher number of “breakthrough” cases in the vaccinated. It grows before your immune system ramps up and kills it. That’s why a vaccinated person can be contagious, though probably for a shorter time.

    It’s impacting the hospitals. The weekly average of new COVID diagnoses in the Houston area hit a low point for the week ending 7/4 at 133 per day. Next week 398. Then 507. Then 1069 for the week ending 7/25. Admissions are growing by 7.7% per day, so doubling in less than 10 days.  A few weeks ago, the R0 was below 1, now it’s at 1.38 and climbing.

    In the same time, the Texas Medical Center here saw the weekly average of daily admissions for COVID go from 51 to 154.  It’s serious.

     

  62. drwilliams says:

    It’s absolutely serious.

    We are 18 months into this clusterflock and and we are getting “mask up again” “guidance” based on 100 cherry-picked cases from an organization that has dropped the ball at every opportunity.

    We should be getting US-made N95 respirators–the only “mask” based on filtration science– from dispensers on every street corner, but instead we’ve have another verse of the Cloth Mask Chorus sung by Don’t Do Bo Diddly.

    ADDED:
    Does “serious” comport with the U.S. Government allowing unchecked illegal immigration across our southern border, transporting those invaders without checking them for disease, dropping them in communities hundreds of miles away, and giving them financial support to assist in their spreading further and reporting back “come on in, the water’s fine”? Or is there another priority?

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  63. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well, my class was very interesting. It was not actually about I e d s, it was about the bom b squad, who they are, what they do, and what they do it with…

    They have some cool toys, but sometimes it just comes down to putting on the 70 pound suit, which doesn’t have any protection for your hands, btw, and poking at the thing you are sincerely hoping doesn’t get all ‘splodey all of a sudden.

    Very interesting class, I asked and got answers to a bunch of questions, and we learned about some of their recent activities that didn’t get much airtime (by design).

    Got details about the guy blowing people up in Austin, about the guy in Houston that wanted to blow up monuments, and some stuff they did to improve things during Harvey.

    n

  64. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9832555/Democratic-donor-convicted-offering-drugs-sex-2-died.html

    Wealthy Democratic donor Ed Buck, 66, is found guilty of providing fatal meth doses to two men in exchange for sex as part of twisted ‘party and play’ fetish and now faces life in prison

    Ed Buck, 66, was found guilty Monday of nine felonies in the sex-for-drugs case
    He was arrested in September 2019 following two deaths and multiple other overdoses
    Gemmel Moore, 26, was found dead of an overdose in Buck’s West Hollywood apartment in 2017
    Timothy Dean, 55, died 18 months later and Buck was finally arrested, pleading not guilty and claiming his victims were drug addicts
    A date has not been set for sentencing but he faces life in prison

    –too hard to cover that one up.

    n

  65. Marcelo says:

    “But with the delta variant, a mutated and more transmissible version of the virus, …”

    That part is not anecdotal and even though he references only 100 cases, there is plenty of information available, not strictly scientific, that makes that part of the statement correct.

    In Isreal, that is almost entirely vaccinated, it is spreading. In Oz, that has a strategy of containment looking for zero cases in the community, it has shown to spread faster and easier than the previous strains that were contained fairly quickly with the testing, quarantining and lockdowns of cities.

    With more people getting and spreading the virus, containment gets much more difficult and numbers escalate quite quickly putting pressure on hospitals and trained medical resources.

    I have avoided vaccination to date but with this strain I have booked an appointment to get the jab.

  66. brad says:

    not even wanting to talk to me because I’ve been working mainly with R and Python for the past three years

    Yeah, I don’t get that. Once you have a certain amount of experience, and have used a decent variety of languages, it just doesn’t matter anymore. The main effort is getting familiar with the libraries. Even if you had to learn a completely new language – a couple of weeks, and you’ll be productive. A couple of months, and you’ll be expert.

    I would not feel comfortable with a total electric vehicle without a gasoline or diesel generator of some sort that I could easily take along with me on trips.

    I think that will change. I used to have a friend who always carried a can of gasoline in his car. Really, that was silly – unless you’re doing something strange, you shouldn’t have trouble planning refueling stops. I think it will be much the same with EVs. There are apps that show you where all the recharging stations are. We’ve just not used to looking for those, as opposed to gas stations.

    I’m still pretty set on getting a VW ID.4 (AWD), or one of its clones. Currently, the AWD version is supposed to be available in the US late this year, which probably means next Spring here. VW has invested massively in the platform, which is also being used in their other brands. There’s also a wallbox (not from VW) that will monitor your current solar excess and use it to charge the car – which makes fueling basically free, unless you’re on a road trip.

    Every year is forecast as a worse year than last

    Which reminds me of this recent bit of news. The Great Barrier Reef is dying! Coral bleaching! The water is too warm! Surprise…it turns out to not be true. In fact, 2020 was a year with a record amount of reef cover. How long do you suppose we’ll have to wait for corrections or “mea culpas” from the doomsayers?

     

  67. Nick Flandrey says:

    The thing with Simone Biles is getting weirder. Surely it’s not that she just choked at this point?

    n

  68. Marcelo says:

    How long do you suppose we’ll have to wait for corrections or “mea culpas” from the doomsayers?

    What’s the expression? When Hell freezes over.

    It looks like it is the new outlook so, who knows, maybe it will just happen.

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