TECHNOLOGY: AI generated books are killing real authors?

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

https://www.survivalmonkey.com/threads/note-to-my-readers-ive-pulled-my-books-from-sale.72020/

FROM A POSTER:

*** begin quote ***

Have to sell books to make $$$.

The market is saturated with BS AI generated ‘survival ‘ books.

Last year I logged $37 in sales for the year…. 

*** end quote ***

AI generated books are killing real authors?

I guess that it is possible to generate a “book” by AI.  Not sure how it’s done, but if I knew I’d do it too.  It’s the old conundrum.  If the cost to “publish” an AI generated book is zero or negligible, then one could “generate” a million and post them.  Regardless of quality, if you can “sell” a few for a profit, then you might hit the mother lode and make some real money.

Argh!

Not sure how to exploit this finding?

Maybe take old blog content and “publish” “2001 Thoughts on Guns”, or “2012 Thoughts on Money”, or even “2007 Thoughts”. 

Could that work?

Opinions?

—30—

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VETERANS: My loyalty is tarnished by “free meals” from hypocrits

Monday, November 11, 2024

https://patch.com/new-jersey/southbrunswick/s/j0qb1/veterans-day-2024-discounts-freebies-and-deals-in-nj

Veterans Day 2024: Discounts, Freebies And Deals In NJ

  • Businesses are thanking NJ’s veterans and active-duty military personnel for their service with special special Veterans Day deals.

Russ Crespolini, Patch Staff

*** begin quote ***

NEW JERSEY — Restaurants, coffee shops and other businesses are thanking NJ’s veterans and active-duty military personnel for their service with special Veterans Day discounts, freebies and deals. Veterans Day, which is always observed on Nov. 11, falls on Monday this year.

*** end quote ***

I think this cheapens being a veteran when our brothers-in-arms are second class to illegal immigrants, being denied the mental and physical health care promised, and used a political pawns on the global stage.

Tell me about your offers for them!

—30—

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VETERANS: Remember determined U.S. naval air attacks, limited Japanese situational awareness, and pure dumb luck of the Americans

Monday, November 11, 2024

https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1944/samar.html?ICID=ref_fark

 history.navy.mil

The Battle off Samar: The Sacrifice of “Taffy 3”
<<Author Unknown>>
Published: Thu Oct 31 13:34:56 EDT 2019
<<Year Unknown>>

*** begin quote ***

The initiative, aggressiveness, and outright heroism demonstrated by Taffy 3, combined with determined U.S. naval air attacks, limited Japanese situational awareness, and pure dumb luck of the Americans had stymied Vice Admiral Kurita’s intent to destroy U.S. landing forces in the Leyte Gulf. Along with the defeats in the Sibuyan Sea, the Surigao Strait, and off Cape Engaño, the Samar engagement blunted or destroyed much of the Japanese navy’s remaining offensive capabilities and turned its surviving surface forces into a “fleet in being”—a concern for Allied commanders, but never again the threat it had still posed into early 1944.

*** end quote ***

Hard to imagine living and dying in these situations.

Hand Salute!

To these valiant warriors.

On both sides, men stepped up to do their duty as they saw it.

Hope we never run out of such men, and now women, or “waste” their efforts.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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INTERESTING: Do we have “guardian angels”?

Sunday, November 10, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-14042965/truth-guardian-angels.html

The truth about guardian angels. Countless people have reported a mysterious ‘Third Man’ who helps in times of need – and their stories offer a tantalising glimpse of what lies beyond

  •     READ PART ONE HERE: ‘If you could see what I do, you’d know I can’t stay.’ Astonishing visions of heaven revealed by dying patients and doctors in a startling book show there’s nothing to fear – and the surprises that wait on the other side
  •     READ PART TWO HERE: The dead do come back to us: As scientists reveal astonishing proof, the stories that will convince you, from a drowned son who returns for bedside chats to the astronaut who spoke to his father’s ghost

By Patricia Pearson

Published: 06:55 EST, 5 November 2024 | Updated: 06:59 EST, 5 November 2024

*** begin quote ***

A new book, Opening Heaven’s Door, will make you re-think everything you thought about death. Here, in the third part of our spine-tingling series, survivors of shipwrecks, air crashes and terrorist attacks tell how they were mysteriously guided to safety.

 As he lay sleeping in a muddy trench in France one night, William Bird woke to find someone shaking him. It was 1917. He’d just been through the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and he was exhausted. Irritably, he tried to pull away — but whoever it was continued to shake him with some urgency.

So Bird — a journalist in civilian life — wearily opened his eyes and, to his utter astonishment, recognised his brother, Steve, who’d been reported missing in action two years earlier.

‘Steve put his warm hand over my mouth as I started to shout my happiness,’ Bird recalled. ‘Then he pointed to the sleepers in the bivvy and to my rifle. “Get your gear,” he said.’

*** end quote ***

I am something of a agnositic atheist.  As a fat old white guy electrikal injineer, I can see electricity but I “know” something is there.  So too, I see trees sway in the wind, but I can see wind.  

And, my “sainted” wife was so lucky I suspect that she had precognition (i.e., see around the bends in the river of time to know what was coming).  I want her to go to Duke University and be tested; she never did.  As she aged that “ability” faded.

So, I know that there is a JoHari window for all of us.  I readily admit that I don’t know what I don’t know.

BUT, big butt, I suspect here is a whole lot we, as a species, don’t know.

Sigh!

Very hard to make decisions based on incomplete information!  For sure, there is a LOT of dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) that we are unable to comprehend.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: Was able to reread Stainless Steel Rat

Saturday, November 9, 2024

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/harry-harrison/the-stainless-steel-rat

The Stainless Steel Rat
Harry Harrison

James “Slippery Jim” diGriz is a criminal in a galaxy where crime has almost been eradicated. In his own words, he’s a rat in the wainscoting of society, and now that society is all ferroconcrete and stainless steel only a stainless steel rat can find the gaps. Despite a nose for the hustle and a healthily paranoid survival instinct, Jim’s luck has to run out at some point—and when it does, it isn’t a prison cell he’s offered, but a job with the Special Corps.

The Stainless Steel Rat—a fix-up novel based on two earlier short stories for Astounding magazine—was the first in a long series of books by Harry Harrison to star the anti-hero. It is never less than a breathless ride, with twists and turns at every corner. As well as the twelve novels and additional short stories, the Stainless Steel Rat has appeared in numerous comics and games over the years, and has become Harrison’s most enduring character.

# – # – # – # – # 

As good as I remember reading it decades ago.

Funny that the technology makes it so available.

If this had existed when I was a kid, I’d have never stopped reading EVERY sci-fi book available.

—30—

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FUN: Kiss a llama and avoid airport rage?

Saturday, November 9, 2024

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/03/nx-s1-5173755/therapy-animals-portland-airport-llama-alpaca

HEALTH NEWS

Anxious at the Portland airport? Beni the Llama is here for you, spreading joy
NOVEMBER 4, 2024 · 5:00 AM ET
By Katia Riddle

*** begin quote ***

When Beni the llama and Captain Jack the alpaca saunter with their handlers through the front doors of the Portland International Airport on a recent morning, time seems to stop.

People who were moments earlier hustling to their gates stand still. Those who were occupied with their phones look up and stare. Some take videos. A crowd quickly forms. Within minutes, a dozen people are lined up for the chance to have their picture taken with one of these animals.

*** end quote ***

Cute.  Llamas are strangely attractive. And all I’ve seen at a llama farm are friendly.  Could be due to the fact that we had “llama food” and they’re all on special diets.

Scratching them was uniquely and strangely calming.  Mush like petting a dog. 

Wonder what the magnetism is?

—30—

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GUNS: The Gooferment has to STRICTLY enforce “felon in possession” and enhanced sentences for crimes using a firearm

Friday, November 8, 2024

https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2024/11/07/requiring-ids-doesnt-prevent-illegal-gun-sales-n1226822

Requiring IDs Doesn’t Prevent Illegal Gun Sales
By Tom Knighton | 12:29 PM | November 07, 2024

*** begin quote ***

One thing many anti-gunners want is for there to be an ID requirement for each and every gun sale in this country. The fact that many also oppose ID requirements for voting seems kind of hilarious to me, but it is what it is.

Most of us have had to show ID while buying a firearm at one point or another. Maybe not for face-to-face transfers, but any gun bought in a store required an ID. 

This, some would argue, makes those sales nice and secure.

Yeah, about that…

*** and ***

ID requirements may sound good, but the truth is that it just means the market for fake IDs gets a little bigger. Similar can be said about literally everything else means to thwart criminals in their efforts to arm themselves.

It’s a lost cause and a waste of time to keep beating heads against walls and calling it gun control.

Tom Knighton

Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger and lifetime shooter. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia. He also puts out a daily newsletter of non-Second Amendment stories at https://tomknighton.substack.com/

*** end quote ***

The Gooferment has to STRICTLY enforce “felon in possession” and enhanced sentences for crimes using a firearm.

I hope DJT4547 requires each of his Assistant Attorneys General to report how many convictions they get for “felon in possession”.  The following month, the lowest scoring AAG, and their next in command, should be required to report in person, a la Apprentice style, why this happened and how it’s to be remedied.  If DJT4547 doesn’t like the excuses, then their second in command can give it a try.  I bet crime with guns will drop like a rock within a year.  Criminals are not stupid.

—30—

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PEACE: A call for “family-friendly, anti-migration, pro-peace” sounds like the best path for peace

Friday, November 8, 2024

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/orban-liberals-have-had-their-place-sun-its-time-defeat-them-every-election-starting

Orbán: “Liberals Have Had Their Place In The Sun, It’s Time To Defeat Them In Every Election, Starting With Donald Trump”

by Tyler Durden
Saturday, Nov 02, 2024 – 07:00 AM
By Thomas Brooke, of Remix news

*** begin quote ***

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has defended his administration’s conservative policies on migration and family support, emphasizing Hungary’s stance as a “conservative island” in a “liberal European ocean.”

*** and ***

“If the liberals had won here in Georgia, it would be the news everywhere in Western Europe today that your democracy is in top shape. But in the same election, the conservatives won, so debates are expected in the international press,” Orbán said in support of the incumbent Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidzeon.

He called for a shift toward a “family-friendly, anti-migration, pro-peace” leadership in Europe, expressing confidence that “this new center” would soon gain prominence within the bloc.

“We need prime ministers who are on the side of the people, representing the interests of the European people,” he said, claiming that European liberals have had “their place under the sun” and “must be defeated in as many elections as possible.”

*** end quote ***

I am moved by several images: children mining cobalt in thirds world countries, babies dying in Gaza and the Ukraine, and worst of all “migrant” mobs of all young males (people of color) overwhelming the various welfare states.

It would seem that we, as a society, have lost our collective minds.  Clearly the Welfare / Warfare State has bankrupted the USA and other European countries.  Only a radical “reformation” can avoid the inevitable collapse of the Empire.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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DISCOURAGING:Here’s a crime that I hope doesnt come to the USA

Thursday, November 7, 2024

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/27/europe/criminals-atm-robberies-europe-intl/index.html

Criminals are looting millions from ATMs in Europe. Here’s why Germany is a prime target
By Sophie Tanno, CNN
Updated 5:58 AM EDT, Sun October 27, 2024

*** begin quote ***

In Germany – Europe’s largest economy – thieves have been blowing up ATMs at a rate of more than one per day in recent years. In a country where cash is still a prevalent payment method, the thefts can prove incredibly lucrative, with criminals pocketing hundreds of thousands of euros in one attack.

Europol has been cracking down on the robberies, carrying out large cross-border operations aimed at taking down the highly-organized criminal gangs behind them.

Earlier this month, authorities from Germany, France and the Netherlands arrested three members of a criminal network who have been carrying out attacks on cash machines using explosives, Europol said in a statement. 

*** and ***

A decline in ATM machines in the Netherlands and the introduction of enhanced security measures to crack down on the crime – including the installation of glue protection systems that can render bank notes worthless – has also led Dutch criminals to look further afield, according to Reuters, citing Dutch police. 

*** end quote ***

Never underestimate the inginuity of rats — either the four legged or two legged kind.  Like that meme about “making stuff idiot proof and the Universe makes smarter idiots”.  I guess we always had “highwaymen” robbing trains and stagecoaches.  At least now with ₿itcoin, there is nothing physical to steal.

—30—

 

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INSPIRATIONAL: So you think you’re so smart? These young ladies put us to shame

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/mathematics/high-school-students-who-came-up-with-impossible-proof-of-pythagorean-theorem-discover-9-more-solutions-to-the-problem?utm_placement=newsletter

High school students who came up with ‘impossible’ proof of Pythagorean theorem discover 9 more solutions to the problem

By Sascha Pare published 2 days ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-10-28>>

*** begin quote ***

In a new peer-reviewed study, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson outlined 10 ways to solve the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry, including a proof they discovered in high school.

Two students who discovered a seemingly impossible proof to the Pythagorean theorem in 2022 have wowed the math community again with nine completely new solutions to the problem.

While still in high school, Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson from Louisiana used trigonometry to prove the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean theorem, which states that the sum of the squares of a right triangle’s two shorter sides are equal to the square of the triangle’s longest side (the hypotenuse). Mathematicians had long thought that using trigonometry to prove the theorem was unworkable, given that the fundamental formulas for trigonometry are based on the assumption that the theorem is true.

Jackson and Johnson came up with their “impossible” proof in answer to a bonus question in a school math contest. They presented their work at an American Mathematical Society meeting in 2023, but the proof hadn’t been thoroughly scrutinized at that point. Now, a new paper published Monday (Oct. 28) in the journal American Mathematical Monthly shows their solution held up to peer review. Not only that, but the two students also outlined nine more proofs to the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry.

*** end quote ***

These young ladies make me feel dumb. Wonder how many hidden young talents are out there? Lost over the decades because humans as a species are really “dumb” too.

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RANT: Our old “friend” shrinkflation is in the news; it’s this a deceptive trade practice

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/consumer/article-13998363/kelloggs-cereal-mocked-extreme-lengths-hide-

Kellogg’s ridiculed for drastic efforts to hide shrinkflation: ‘Just laughing at us’
By Tilly Armstrong Assistant Consumer Editor For Dailymail.Com
Published: 08:36 EDT, 28 October 2024 | Updated: 12:09 EDT, 28 October 2024

*** begin quote ***

Kellogg’s is resorting to ‘deceptive’ ways to distract shoppers from its shrinkflation tactics.

A photo shared on Reddit highlights how the brand has made its family-size Special K box taller – while actually reducing the amount of cereal inside. 

Shrinkflation is when products shrink in size or quantity while the price remains the same or even increases. 

*** end quote ***

Unlike “price gouging” that I approve of, “shrinkflation” IMHO is a deceptive trade practice designed to fool “We, The Sheeple”.  As such, it should be actionable.  Companies should not be permitted to defraud the consumer this way.  (Other ways may be permissible?)

At the very least, the FTC should force them to rebrand their packaging.

Maybe as punishment, they should be required to put a “shrinkflation” notice prominently.

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: Vivaldi, yet another browser with some unique features

Monday, November 4, 2024

https://vivaldi.com/

https://www.makeuseof.com/vivaldi-most-customizable-web-browser-without-extensions/?user=cmVpbmtlZmpAZ21haWwuY29t&lctg=7e6c3cd411d6a815afa18582d54bd455914c43c5f69df1448b8ec20ee4959f71

This Is the Most Customizable Web Browser Without Extensions
By Ali Haider
Published 3 days ago

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-10-25>>

*** begin quote ***

If you’ve ever felt restricted by your current browser’s customization options, Vivaldi is the solution you’re looking for. It’s highly customizable and packed with a bunch of built-in tools that might easily become your favorite.

1 Interface Customization in Vivaldi

Vivaldi was created with one primary goal: to give users extensive control over how their browsers look and feel. It’s built on Chromium, the same open-source browser used by Chrome and Edge. This means you won’t miss out on essential security features or sacrificing performance.

*** end quote ***

Anyone, who follows this blog or knows me, knows I am a browser junkie.

I have several different browsers installed for when I “support” different people.  Plus one or two just for “fun”.

(I love when tech support people try and blame my “problem” on my browser because I don’t call in  — I hate people  — until I’ve tried it on my big 3 (Firefox, Chrome, and Opera).  Maybe even Arc, Brave, or Edge if I am really a glutton for punishing myself.)

Well here’s one that has a lot of “features” that claims to be “simple”.  We’ll see.  In any event, it’s nice to have another in the stable,

—30— 

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GUNS: A “restraining order” doesn’t “restrain”; an armed citizen is a good “first responder”

Sunday, November 3, 2024

https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2024/10/26/north-carolina-woman-wont-face-charges-after-shooting-ex-as-he-broke-into-her-home-n1226690

North Carolina Woman Won’t Face Charges After Shooting Ex As He Broke Into Her Home
By Cam Edwards | 8:30 AM | October 26, 202

*** begin quote ***

The local sheriff says Bush had previously violated a protective order on two separate occasions and pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of breaking and entering as well as violating a domestic violence protective order in April of this year. It’s unclear if Bush was sentenced to any jail time after his guilty plea or was instead placed immediately on probation, but he was back in court in August on another charge of violating a protective order. 

That case was dismissed by a judge when the victim failed to appear in court to testify, despite the objections of local prosecutors. If the local courts had cut Bush a break after his first arrest, I can understand why the woman might have been reluctant to go through the ordeal of testifying against him once more, but without her testimony it might have been impossible for prosecutors to produce any evidence that Bush had committed a crime. 

When the victim failed to appear in court, the judge dropped the domestic violence restraining order against Bush, but the woman successfully applied for a new protective order last month; one that was still active when Bush attempted to break into her home.

This incident not only highlights the importance of domestic abuse victims being able to protect and defend themselves, but also the struggles they face to find justice in the courts. Under North Carolina law, violating a domestic violence protective order is a misdemeanor offense punishable by, at most, 150 days in the local jail. With time off for good credit, that five-month sentence can be cut down to four months behind bars, which means that even if Bush had received the maximum sentence allowed he would have been released from custody long before he showed up at his ex’s home earlier this month. 

*** end quote ***

Good thing for that judge who let him out and about, despite several demonstrations of his “respect” for the “LAW”.

As I’ve blogged before:

“Restraining orders don’t restrain squat!  Give the girl a gun and warn the guy if he gets shot no charges against her will be filed.” https://bit.ly/3Ups95v

And, if she needs a gun, then the sheriff should give her one, “loan” her some bullets, and take her to the range for a short course in safe shooting.

“Victim disarmament is the view that it is somehow better to see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose, than see her with a gun in her hand.” — T.D. Melrose

—30—

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INSPIRATIONAL: The greatest books of wisdom are available free — a donation would be appreciated

Saturday, November 2, 2024

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract/g-d-h-cole

The Social Contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  • 56,521 words (3 hours 26 minutes) with a reading ease of 50.91 (fairly difficult)
  • Translated by G. D. H. Cole.
  • Part of the Encyclopædia Britannica’s Great Books of the Western World set.  

*** begin quote ***

In The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau presents a political philosophy based on the principle that legitimate authority originates from the consent of the people. Individuals willingly surrender their rights in order to create a collective sovereign, which embodies the general will of the people.

Rousseau examines different forms of government, addresses the challenges of ensuring that a government executes the general will of the people, and addresses the need for safeguards against the abuse of power. He demonstrates that active citizenship and a strong social compact are crucial for maintaining a just and free society.

*** end quote ***

I read this in High School because it was on a summer reading list.  (Those Christian Brothers really knew how to ruin a boy’s summer.  Bless their souls.  It sunk in after one or more decades.) I had to go to the library to read it.  (It was only available in an expensive hard cover.  My money went to comic books.)  At the library I saw a complete set of the Great Books of the Western World from the Encyclopædia Britannica.  I was awed by the row.  Didn’t read them but I could have. (Shoulda, coulda, and woulda!)

It is amazing at the “riches” the net provides if it’s just used properly.

—30—

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GOLDBUG: The shift from dollar-based global economy to something else is glacially slow but you can see it happening

Saturday, November 2, 2024

https://www.gold-eagle.com/article/commodity-currency-revolution

The Commodity Currency Revolution
Alasdair Macleod
Author & Head of Research @ Goldmoney
April 7, 2022

*** begin quote ***

We will look back at current events and realise that they marked the change from a dollar-based global economy underwritten by financial assets to commodity-backed currencies. We face a change from collateral being purely financial in nature to becoming commodity based. It is collateral that underwrites the whole financial system.

The ending of the financially based system is being hastened by geopolitical developments. The West is desperately trying to sanction Russia into economic submission, but is only succeeding in driving up energy, commodity, and food prices against itself. Central banks will have no option but to inflate their currencies to pay for it all. Russia is linking the rouble to commodity prices through a moving gold peg instead, and China has already demonstrated an understanding of the West’s inflationary game by having stockpiled commodities and essential grains for the last two years and allowed her currency to rise against the dollar.China and Russia are not going down the path of the West’s inflating currencies. Instead, they are moving towards a sounder money strategy with the prospect of stable interest rates and prices while the West accelerates in the opposite direction.

The Credit Suisse analyst, Zoltan Pozsar, calls it Bretton Woods III. This article looks at how it is likely to play out, concluding that the dollar and Western currencies, not the rouble, will have the greatest difficulty dealing with the end of fifty years of economic financialisation.

Pure finance is being replaced with commodity finance

*** end quote ***

We’ve seen the price of gold in dollars rise.  ₿itcoin is another example of the little people seeking to save in the face of massive inflation.  And, those ₿itcoiners who are holding on for dear life (aka HODLers) are obviously big winners and just don’t let go.

Some Gooferment just levied a 42% tax on ₿itcoin capital gains.  Good luck collecting that.  That’s why self-custody is almost mandatory.  I can see generations of family practicing tax evasion and avoidance as wealth is transferred inter-generationally by means of ₿itcoin, precious metal “coins” (i.e., rounds), and other hard invisible assets.  

For the “tiny savers”, for whom the price of gold and silver is too big a barrier to entry, ₿itcoin and Goldbacks are low cost ways to enter the market.

Not every seismic change happens quickly like a Tsunami, Earthquake, or Hurricane.  But like small tremors lead up to a big quake, this is happening right before us.

—30—

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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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GOVERNACIDE: The Gooferment has no right to kill anyone … almost never.

Thursday, October 31, 2024

https://www.thefp.com/p/supreme-court-richard-glossip-death-row-oklahoma-republicans

Will the Supreme Court Save Richard Glossip?

  • The fate of the death row inmate—who almost everyone believes is innocent—is finally being decided by the highest court in the land.

By Rupa Subramanya
October 8, 2024

*** begin quote ***

“No matter which side of the Glossip case the Supreme Court ultimately agrees with, state leaders will be forced to answer why Oklahoma has insisted on executing a man without considering new and potentially exculpatory evidence,” Brett Farley, the executive director of Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, which opposes the death penalty, told The Free Press. “It’s simply indefensible.”

*** end quote ***

Sorry but until we can undo a “death sentence” “We, The Sheeple” should NEVER permit the Gooferment to kill.  Humans make mistakes; it’s inevitable.  Thus, “innocence” should always be grounds for an appeal.  I don’t care about the “rules of procedure”.  If one can advance evidence of innocence, then that should always DEMAND a judicial review.

As I have blogged before, the only reason for the Gooferment to be permitted to kill a human is if that human is too dangerous to exist (i.e., a convicted murdered kills a guard).  I like the French’s Devil’s Island.  Surely we have some vacant land out in the wilderness for a version of this?

—30—

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APPLICATION: LASTPASS extendion in firefox not working

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Subject:

Lastpass externsion stopped working in Firefox

Description:

Something has gone bad. Can’t tell if it is Firefox, MacOsx, or Lastpass. The lastpass icon no longer shows in the area to the right of the browser address bar. Lastpass no longer fills is the credentials for any site.

Case Number:

02734442

# – # – # – # – # 

Update 2024-Oct-31 0909

All now back to sort of normal after numerous restarts and poking / eroding around.

EXCEPT

GMAIL in a FIREFOX window will not reload itself in.  Have “signin” that spawns a new tab.  That has to be pinned and the old pinned tab quit. Argh!

Still don’t understand what happened.

—30—

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SURVIVAL: We can’t explain such animal behavior, but it pays to have a four leggeded companion

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/pets/2024/10/12/hero-dog-elderly-man-broken-hip-washington-forest/75589009007/?utm_placement=newsletter

This dog sat in a road until a car stopped, then led man into woods to save injured human

  • Keith Johnson, 84, could not move after he fell and broke his hip. But his faithful dog Gita sat in the road until a car stopped and she led a deputy deep in the woods to help her injured human

Saman Shafiq
Published 6:03 a.m. ET Oct. 12, 2024 Updated 9:38 p.m. ET Oct. 12, 2024

*** begin quote ***

Gita, 13-year-old rescue dog is being hailed a “true hero” for flagging help after her elderly owner fell and injured his leg in Washington state last month, Stevens County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Deputy Colton Wright was patrolling a rural wooded area in Stevens County when he spotted a dog sitting in the middle of the road. With no visible residences nearby, the officer assumed the dog had gone missing and tried to get Gita into his car so he could try to find the owner.

However, Gita firmly refused to get into the vehicle, prompting the deputy to check the surrounding areas.

*** end quote ***

Not sure how to characterize this story.  Not “heroic”; can animals be heroes?  More than “INTERESTING” or “INSPIRATIONAL”.  Maybe best as “SURVIVAL”.  

We can’t explain such animal behavior.  Like when a baby animal seeks out a human to help save the mom.  Or fish entangled in a net seek out a human to save themselves or another fish.  I know that it’s unusual enough to make me wonder  —  is there something we are missing?

I’ll just take note of it when I see it and someday maybe I’ll understand it.

Perhaps, in the after life, I’ll get some resolution.

Until then, everyone should have a loyal dog as their companion.  Make it a rescue; not from a puppy farm.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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POLITICAL: Did Iran execute an American citizen?

Monday, October 28, 2024

https://nypost.com/2024/10/28/world-news/iran-executes-california-man-jamshid-sharmahd-after-abducting-him-during-international-flight-layover/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alert&utm_content=20241028?&utm_source=sailthru&lctg=6080ba40747925275a09dcd3&utm_term=NYP%20-%20News%20Alerts

Iran executes California man Jamshid Sharmahd after abducting him during international flight layover, convicting him of terror charges
By Ronny Reyes 
Published Oct. 28, 2024, 1:44 p.m. ET

*** begin quote ***

Iran has executed a California resident after Iranian agents abudcted him during a flight layover in Dubai four years ago, officials said. 

Sharmahd, 69, a German-Iranian dissident who lived in Glendora with his family, was accused by the Islamic Republic of planning a 2008 attack on a mosque that killed 14 people and wounded over 200 others. 

His family disputes the terror charges, claiming Sharmahd is among the many Iranian dissidents who have been kidnapped or tricked into returning to Iran in recent years.

*** end quote ***

Almost regardless of whether he was a US citizen or just a resident, the USA should have stepped up for him.  But we are too busy making enemies in the region.  

Now, at the very least, the USA should PNG some folks.  Maybe aim for the embassy workers.  Make it inconvenient for them.

And we should shut down all the attacks on and rhetoric about Iran.

Dona Nobis Pacem

# – # – # – # – # 

<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2024-11-01>>

Germany Shutters Iran Consulates

Germany ordered the closure of all three Iranian consulates there yesterday, expelling 32 Iranian diplomats and leaving only Iran’s embassy in Berlin. The move followed Iran’s execution of German-Iranian citizen Jamshid Sharmahd.

Sharmahd, 69, was executed Monday after being sentenced to death last year on terrorism charges. Following his 2020 capture by Iranian forces in Dubai, Sharmahd was accused of leading a US-based Iranian opposition group and planning a 2008 mosque attack in Shiraz, killing 14 people and wounding more than 200 others. The US and human rights groups criticized the trial, alleging Sharmahd was not given proper representation.

The news escalates tensions between the two countries, with relations previously strained by Iran’s nuclear program and human rights abuses and Germany’s support for Israel. Germany halted trade incentives with Iran in 2022, reducing exports to approximately $1.3B in 2023, a 24% decrease from the previous year. Germany is now calling for EU-wide sanctions against those involved in Sharmahd’s execution.

# – # – # – # – # 

[JR: Answers the question that he was not a citizen of the USA.  However, the USA Gooferment should expel someone!  Whatever happened to the Congress using Marque and Reprisal?]  

—30— 

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POLITICAL: Replace “Pick One” with “ranked choice” aka “instant runoff”

Monday, October 28, 2024

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-ELECTION/RANKED-CHOICE/zdpxqrolgvx/?utm_placement=newsletter

An alternate voting method that puts a premium on finding a majority and allows voters to rank all candidates, not just cast a single vote for their favorite.

By Travis Hartman and Tiana McGee
Published Oct. 24, 2024 09:00 AM EDT

*** begin quote ***

In the United States, when only two candidates are on a ballot, the results are normally quite clear — the winner has a majority, or over 50% of the vote. But when there are three or more contenders, the vote can easily split in a way that allows for someone with less than 50% of the vote to win. Which means a majority of the votes were for someone other than the winner. 

*** and ***

Alaska and Maine are currently the only two states that use this style of voting for federal elections, though Hawaii uses ranked choice voting for its special elections.

It is being used by over 50 cities in the United States and has been in place for over 100 years in Australia and Ireland.

*** end quote ***

This seems to be a vast improvement over the current system.  And it eliminates the “wasted  vote” syndrome.  

For example, here in New Jersey, voting for a third party candidate is a waste of time, attention, and effort.  The D’s swamp everything.  Without Ranked Choice Voting, voting for a Libertarian “wastes” a vote.  With it, my vote eventually counts for something.

Think the powers that own this country will ever allow “We, The Sheeple” to express their preferences?  I don’t think so.  But I could be wrong.

Kudos to Reuters for a simple graphic explanation that even a fat old white guy injineer could understand.

—30—

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TECHNOLOGY: Not all USB-C / USB-A cables are the same?

Sunday, October 27, 2024

 

2024-10Oct-27 horsebpower box. 

Interesting that their “usb” won’t power anything else.  And my usual “usbs” won’t charge the scrubber.  Their “directions” say you must use their usb to  charge the scrubber but no reason why is given.

Argh!

So what did they do to screw up the usb?  And, I guess if you damage it or lose it, you have to buy a replacement from them?

Argh!

—30—

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ECONOMICS: “End The Fed” and bring back prosperity

Sunday, October 27, 2024

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/10/lew-rockwell/why-equality-is-bad-2/ lewrockwell.com

No Compromise With the Fed! – LewRockwell

By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

*** begin quote ***

Some people argue like this: Although the Fed as it now exists is very bad, a nation needs a central bank to regulate its money supply, and the Fed is better than nothing. That being so, we should try to urge the Fed to adopt a non-expansionary monetary policy. In this view, calls to “End the Fed” are mistaken. I’m sure most of my readers already know what I’m about to say, but, just to be clear, that view is disastrously wrong. We do not need a central bank, and to argue in the way indicated is to betray the great Murray Rothbard and the great Dr. Ron Paul, whose slogan “End the Fed” has galvanized so many of us.

*** and ***

The transitional demands, then, must be framed while

  •     always holding up the ultimate goal of liberty as the desired end of the transitional process; and
  •     never taking steps, or using means, which explicitly or implicitly contradict that goal.”

Let’s do every we can to end the Fed now! On this, there can be no compromise.

*** end quote ***

Imagine a world with no Central Banks!  Unimaginable?  Think of the USA before 1913, and you can imagine that.  Where “inflation” was negative.  Real money  —  commodity money  —  circulated freely.   Foreign coins, like the Spanish real, were used along side of gold and silver coins.  Prices were always coming down.  Want to save your old age, put some coins in a jar on the mantle like my paternal grandmother did  — right under her rifle over the mantle.

The best argument against the FED or any central bank that “prints” money is that it allows the Gooferment to inflate the currency to pay for wars.

#ENDTHEFED

We don’t need it and it’s evil.

—30—

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ADHOC: Car thieves steal fobs

Saturday, October 26, 2024

https://local.nixle.com/south-brunswick-twp-police-department

Alert: Crime Alert – Police Warn of Suspects Trying to Steal High-End Cars

# – # – # – # – # 

Breaking into houses to find the fobs.

Comes under the heading of: FAFO.

How long before they eventually break into the house of an armed citizen?

“No law ever written has stopped any robber, rapist or killer, like cold blue steel in the hands of their last intended victim.” —W. Emerson Wright

“I told you that ‘juvenile delinquent’ is a contradiction in terms. ‘Delinquent’ means ‘failing in duty.’ But duty is an adult virtue—indeed a juvenile becomes an adult when, and only when, he acquires a knowledge of duty and embraces it as dearer than the self-love he was born with. There never was, there cannot be a ‘juvenile delinquent.’ But for every juvenile criminal there are always one or more adult delinquents—people of mature years who either do not know their duty, or who, knowing it, fail.”  ― Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers    

I’m a gun owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian; not a “victim”.

I’m sorry if a “juvenile delinquent” gets hurt or killed, but that is the price of crime that they have to pay.

Dona Nobis Pacem

—30—

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