WRITING: Poor Joe

Friday, November 1, 2024

 The DNA Database Incident

It was a beautiful sunny day when Joe woke. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, and all was right with the world.

In a joint Google-Apple-Microsoft-IBM data center, they were just preparing to populate the total DNA global database. It was the result of a decade-long project run out of the Human Genome Project. IBM Watson had been given access to the HG project and all available DNA records. It was asked one question: what was the relationship of the human genome to DNA? Scientists had debated nature versus nurture until they were blue in the face. Nothing had emerged, and there was conflicting anecdotal data on both sides.

Watson worked the problem for a month. The operators could see the process meter—which was only there to keep the humans from pulling Watson offline. All cores were running. Finally, Watson deployed a simple function:

“`

IN = F(THGGNA, T)

“`

The scientists were baffled. What that meant was that the entity was a time-based function, and every human was basically unique in an unpredictable way. A clone wasn’t really identical to the original because of the time function. While the individual and clone may be close enough for transplants, one could be identified uniquely. Bottom line: there could be only one Beethoven, and only one in that place in time.

From that, the scientists developed a unique human identification system. The political elite had always wanted unique tags for people that couldn’t be mimicked or duplicated. The computer jockeys set about generating tags, and life was going to change. The generation was started and left in the care of an operational staff.

And like most things, Murphy’s Law was still in effect and very persistent. During the late night shift, during a rousing game of pizza-tinfoil baseball—using the pizza boxes as bats and the tinfoil from under the pizza rolled up as balls—there was a high fly ball. An operator bumped a solid-state disk drive as it was processing Joe’s record.

Poor Joe. He was now not in the DNA database and a non-person as far as the Universe was concerned. On the plus side, he was never charge for anything he stole, since he didn’t exist. On the minus side, he was never able to do anything that required identification. Poor Joe.

—30—

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LIBERTARIAN: I beleive that individuals have a right to do anything that doesn’t impinge on the common-law rights of others

Friday, November 1, 2024

https://internationalman.com/articles/doug-caseys-top-five-reasons-not-to-vote/

Doug Casey’s Top Five Reasons Not to Vote
by Doug Casey

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-10-31>>

*** begin quote ***

Democracy is vastly overrated.

The national elections this November 5 (Guy Fawkes Day, FWIW) have every chance of turning into a chaotic catastrophe. I’m not, therefore, going to discuss either candidate. Let’s instead talk about principles. That’s something few people discuss these days.

“Democracy” is not like the consensus of a few friends agreeing to see the same movie. Most often, it boils down to a kinder and gentler variety of mob rule, dressed in a coat and tie. The essence of positive values like personal liberty, prosperity, opportunity, fraternity, and equality have little to do with democracy. Those things exist because of free minds, free markets, and limited government.

Democracy, by contrast, focuses people’s thoughts on politics, not production, on the collective, not on their own lives. That’s not good.

*** and ***

A libertarian believes that individuals have a right to do anything that doesn’t impinge on the common-law rights of others, namely force or fraud. Libertarians are the human equivalent of the Gamma rat, which bears a little explanation.

Some years ago, scientists experimenting with rats categorized the vast major ity of their subjects as Beta rats. These are basically followers who get the Alpha rats’ leftovers. The Alpha rats establish territories, claim the choicest mates, and generally lord it over the Betas. This pretty well corresponded with the way the researchers thought the world worked.

But they were surprised to find a third type of rat as well: the Gamma. This creature staked out a territory and chose the pick of the litter for a mate, like the Alpha, but didn’t attempt to dominate the Betas. A go-along-get-along rat. A libertarian rat, if you will.

My guess, mixed with a dollop of hope, is that as society becomes more repressive, more Gamma people will tune in to the problem and drop out as a solution. No, they won’t turn into middle-aged hippies practicing basket weaving and bead stringing in remote communes. Rather, they will structure their lives so that the government—which is to say, taxes, regulations, and inflation—is a non-factor. Suppose they gave a war and nobody came? Suppose they gave an election, and nobody voted, gave a tax, and nobody paid or imposed a regulation, and nobody obeyed it?

*** end quote ***

Credit for the picture to where I found the definition.

https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/guncrank-diaries/year-of-the-gamma-rat/

I hope I’m a gamma rat.  Wish we could all be such. 

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: If you don’t pay for the product, then you get what you pay for … …

Friday, November 1, 2024

https://www.androidauthority.com/dead-android-apps-3491528/

It’s been years, but I still miss these dead Android apps dearly
Not every great Android app stands the test of time.
By Andy Walker 21 hours ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-10-22>>

*** begin quote ***

I’ve used some great Android apps over the years. Many of these still exist and find a home on my home screen to this day. However, a slew of apps have come and gone. Feeling particularly nostalgic, I donned my rose-tinted glasses and took a longing look back at some of the dead Android apps that I still wish were actively developed, listed on the Play Store, or weren’t shuttered by their owners.

*** end quote ***

Well, before I “invest” my time, attention, effort, and dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) in any application, I consider that if I am not paying for it, it COULD, and likely will, disappear at the most inconvenient moment in time.  And, I could gripe but it would be my own fault.

As an old Info Sec DR practioner, I always worry about backup and recovery (i.e., one is none, two is one, and three is glee).  As well as export and import of my data.  For example, it does me no good to EXPORT my data if there is no way to or no place to IMPORT it too.  

(Anyone ever think of that?  Notably my Apple Contacts app and Google Contacts app.  Both can export and import but something always prevents it.  Argh!  My solution is to keep contacts in a note in a NOTEPAD app.  PIA to update stuff in THREE places.  But, I just shake my head when people complain about losing their data.  Or search their call logs and message log to find a long ago contact.)

FWIW YMMV faiwwypfi (Free Advice Is Worth What You Pay For It! ?zero?)

—30—

 

“A key point to bear in mind: The value of attentiveness varies in proportion to its object. You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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