-
Nice symbol
Just noticing a symbol I haven’t seen before. This plan is in a 1948 book published by FHA, providing sample plans and guidance for homebuyers and contractors. Note the little slashed square meaning Square Feet. It’s also a Square Phi, though I doubt that was the origin.
-
Samizdat makes sense
Interesting note from a (so far) trustworthy archeology type: Medieval universities had entire underground economies of forbidden books. Alchemy, astrology, banned philosophy, smuggled in and traded among students. The image of the rebellious scholar chasing dangerous knowledge isn’t a modern invention. It’s at least 800 years old. A commenter politely disagreed: Books weren’t widely disseminated…
-
Are these results useful?
Here’s what an outstanding AI helper can do for you! Well, I wish I had trusted AI to write to write welcome I’m the guy side of back of Welcome, I’m the guy with side on the back on of my JS and CSS and Welcome, I’m the guy, HTML5 on the back of the…
-
Second try
At this point in the season, all the lilacs and roses have done their job. They start in May and finish in mid-June. Suddenly the rose next to the front door decided to send up a few new blooms. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watering the yard consistently this year? In any case I’ll take…
-
Above its weight
Random note while I’m thinking of it. Modern Italy punches WAY above its weight in many areas. Between 1895 and 1950, Italy was a major influencer in automotive engineering. Early US auto founders visited Italy and France for inspiration, not Germany and England, despite our much closer cultural and economic ties with the latter. The…
-
Can’t resist
Via Spokesman, More on the large news lawsuit against large Altman models. = = = = = START QUOTE: The news organizations allege OpenAI is stealing and distorting their copyrighted works, inhibiting their ability to sell their original journalism while also providing ChatGPT users reporting that’s often inaccurate. They have been joined by the Authors…
-
Driver vs passenger
A chief technical officer wanted to verify how AI could help his company before he recommended it. He describes his experience memorably: = = = = = START QUOTE: I got the product launched. It worked. I was proud of what I’d created. Then came the moment that validated every concern in that MIT study:…
-
Widdecombe murdered.
Ann Widdecombe, the only politician who ever spoke the truth about crime and prison, has been killed. Police have already arrested a suspect but no further info at this point. [Update a few days later. At first the officials said there was no political aspect to the killing. Now the Counterterror force is investigating.] =…
-
Zero Problems revisited
Before 2019 I was impressed by Erdogan’s unique approach to economics and war. His slogan was Zero Problems, and he fulfilled it in the same way that Ike gave us Zero Problems. Don’t start new wars, don’t aggravate existing wars, try to make peace when neighbors are fighting. He lost his mojo sometime before 2020,…
-
Speaking of inventions
The parking meter was an unnecessary invention, causing more disruption than solution. Here’s a REAL PROBLEM that nobody has solved. FITTED SHEETS are devil spawn. Installing a devil sheet damages hands and backs. Devil sheets can’t be folded for storage. Devil sheets wear out washers and dryers by amoebaing up all the towels into one…
-
Parking constants
Seen on social media: idk what it is about paying for parking that absolutely infuriates me. Even if it’s just $1 at the meter. I will pay for so many other things, but parking? That’s where I draw the line. The Chevrolet newsreels showed the debut of parking meters in 1936, of course featuring pretty…
-
Fake surprise as always
Half of what passes for “news” is fake surprise. Propagandists love to attribute a permanent condition like weather or corruption to a “surprising” “unprecedented” action by Horrible Wrong Party. Nice example. Wired warns us that Instagram has “suddenly” decided to chew up your photos in AI without permission. Nonsense. This has ALWAYS been the basic…
-
Trying to Ctrl-Z
At the start of 2025 I vowed to pull away from the tortures of 2020. Three years of horrible nastiness from all levels of government and business made me hard and cold. I don’t like being hard and cold. I’d rather feel proud of doing the right thing. I’m also trying to restore (where possible)…
-
Should be the end, won’t.
The NYC skyscraper currently collapsing on its own should finish off the entire skyscraper cult. 9/11 should have finished it off. The curtain-wall skyscraper is inherently unstable, even without earthquakes or collisions or changes by construction. Going up instead of out made sense before 1930. Complex commerce required physical nearness to transfer documents and conversations…
-
Normal everywhere else
I’ve been watching the case of the Jamaican writer who won a literary prize for alleged AI writing. It’s not a big deal but it seems to be an inflection point. My first thought was: Pick a side. His output isn’t the ‘pedestrian ordinary slop’ that supposedly indicates AI. His output is wild and incomprehensible,…
Polistra's Mill
Be your own beacon.
Polistra's Mill 