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Latest on the Anthropic lawsuit
Via CourthouseNews. A judge in Frisco heard the final set of arguments and objections. The basic decision was already pled out by a settlement agreement last year, so the money WILL be paid in some form at some time. Most of the arguments today came from people on the plaintiff side who don’t understand how…
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Salient number
The latest Pew Poll on news media contains a dramatic number, and the article doesn’t single it out for discussion. The poll asks about being a “good news consumer”. I’d have trouble with the premise. News isn’t like food or cars or appliances or entertainment. News doesn’t feed your body or mind, doesn’t give you…
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Wrong villain
Noticed an article blaming the interstate highway system for the loss of ‘walkable’ neighborhoods. Car-centered life destroyed nearby grocery stores and nearby parks. Until right now I agreed with that blame and probably wrote about it several times. Wait! The timeline doesn’t work. Fast local arterials were common by 1950. The interstate system was essentially…
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They did build it
Looking through the Bitsavers archive of old computer mags, trying to pin down when programs started to write programs. Ran into a more interesting subject in Sept 1958. Datamation mag proposed a National Tech Information Service. The article is painfully detailed, Tldr. Two things stand out: 1. As with education, we were responding to Sputnik…
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Trust by geography
In general the people I trust come from the middle of the US. The trust happens before I know where they’re from. Obama was a good example. I felt “at home” with him from the start, then much later found out that his mother and I lived in Ponca at the same time in 1951.…
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Third Shift Workers Day
Today is Third Shift Workers Day. I often worked the graveyard shift, and worked it reliably and solidly. I was completely useless on 8-5. This oil clock was developed in the 1600s as a timer and light for scribes and illuminators working through the night. It provided light for scribal work, and simultaneously measured the…
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Spies are bunk
A random online article about the spy games played by auto companies reminded me of a larger parallel. = = = = = In the 50s and 60s car mags highlighted the trickery and skullduggery of industrial espionage. Each company guarded its new models and inventions carefully, each company paid spies and defectors to gather…
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Bitcoin reprint from 2015
Some of us recognized quickly that bitcoin was a fraud. = = = = = START 2015 REPRINT: It’s nice to see attempts to impose facts on the bitslave types. It won’t work, but it leaves the bitiots without ANY excuse for their criminal activity. We already know from simple logic that the entire purpose…
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Good work but won’t help
Via Spokesman-Review, the suburb of Spokane Valley has banned bitcoin ATMs after a romance scam via bitcoin led to a suicide. Good work, Valley. BUT THIS BAN SHOULD BE NATIONAL, not just a few scattered cities. The whole realm of bitcoin in all of its ramifications should be permanently banned. Of course bitcoin WOULD be…
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Before wipers
Why did windshield wipers start relatively late in the development of cars? Partly because closed cars with glass windshields were late. But windshields were common for 10 years before wipers became standard. Visors were an adequate solution for quite a while, just as porches and roof overhangs are adequate for houses. Some visors were extensions…
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Actions count
The “Pope” celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Vatican Press, urging Romans to read printed books. It’s good advice but too late. Rome persecuted printers for a long time until they gained enough control of the technology to encourage it. Rome killed Tyndale. Actions are stronger than words. Leo started out with a strong appeal…
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Even the redditors hate it!
A couple months ago I was disgusted when Safeway stores turned into prison-like experiences. In a lunatic “city” like Spokane they have no choice. Without the locked doors and turnstiles, the criminals and bums will grab everything. I wrote: = = = = = START REPRINT: The demonic “government” of the “city” of “Spokane” steadfastly…
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Tired lament and good question
This editorial appeared in Western Architect in 1924. Some of it was the standard generational lament, some of it was specific and accurate. Is the world losing its sense of beauty? It would seem so. Has the ugliness of war, the unrest and delirium of peoples, destroyed all appreciation for things beautiful, and permeated all…
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Unneeded centralizing
“News” item: Canvas (Instructure) is down nationwide during finals, blocking access to the LMS for thousands of colleges and K-12 schools. Early reports suggest a ransomware or hack with ransom demands, disrupting grading, submissions, and communication. The outage coincides with peak end-of-semester activity, prompting emergency responses and renewed scrutiny of edtech dependencies in higher education.…
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