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Not astonishing at all
Via DailyMail: Trump lied about abortion, lied about “woke” stuff, and thinks people who live for any purpose except glorifying Trump are suckers and losers. Supposedly this is “astonishing”. No need for secret revelations. All of this was perfectly obvious during the 2016 scampaign. Most of it was obvious from Trump’s life history. He was…
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Nice salute to country papers
American Radio Library added a station album from WTAQ in Green Bay. Most albums are predictable, with a selection of station employees pretending to work, plus a selection of famous network personalities. This one is different. It includes short features on several small towns served by WTAQ. Normally a feature on a small town would…
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The magic lantern oscilloscope
I bumped into this item sideways. I was looking at a peculiar early typewriter designed by Wheatstone. Since I’m addicted to Wheatstone I tried to animate it, but it was poorly described and pictured. The article noted that it was built by a Mr Pickler, so I started looking in that direction for more info.…
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Why is this controversial?
Bloomberg analyzes some important cases for this year’s Supremes. They consistenly treat “adhering to the written law” as far far far far ultra ultra right fascist, and treat “ignoring written law” as moderate and centrist. In ANY OTHER CONTEXT, following the written law would be the automatic default, and ignoring the written law would be…
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Classic Mach
There are two bright spots in the current horrendous landscape: Jerome Powell and Unions. After 50 years of collaborating with the corporate demons, SOME unions are regaining their proper anticorporate gumption. (Or Gomption.) The Hollywood writers have achieved a remarkable victory, getting everything they really wanted. Earlier I was unsure of their tactics and destination,…
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Not so simple.
Denyse says: The CBC, like all similar media, dates back to the days when news was hard to find. That hasn’t been true for decades now. Govt efforts to save them (eg Bill C-18) are stifling Canadians. Americans, look out: Your legacy media might want it for you next. Not quite so simple. News was…
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Social media isn’t monolithic.
One of my father’s science parables: All Aztec Indians walk single-file. At least the one I saw did. = = = = = Lately I’ve been noticing a vague distinction, which sharpened up after Substack introduced its twitteroid ‘Notes’ feature. Now Substack is much more like Twitter, packed with meaningless and VICIOUS disputes between meaningless…
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Metawait 2
I’m deeply enjoying the failure of bitcoin. Fine vintage Schadenfreude**. One of the podcasters mentioned that mining one Bitcoin now costs $45k, but the coin only sells for $26k, with no hope of ever rising again to a profitable level. Wait! Why didn’t I think of this before? Nvidia makes the processors that grind up…
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Metawait!
Listening as usual to old FBI radio shows in my bedtime playlist, grumping as usual about the audacious fakery of the stories. At one point near the end, Special Agent Taylor always slaps his forehead. “Wait! Why didn’t I think of this before? Let’s check those phone records again.” The real FBI never realizes things…
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Landline is better than ever
A couple weeks ago I was bitching as usual about the tech suckers who insist on using NSA’s web for their “decentralized” and “private” bitcoin systems. I said The common carriers are STILL THERE. The wired landline system is still strong and still maintained by Bell Tel. In fact it’s stronger than before. A few…
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Measuring modularity?
Continuing the theme of modularity with a reprint from 2018. = = = = = Why isn’t there a standard Scale for Modularity vs Centralization? As I’ve discussed forever, Nature is perfectly modular. From the ‘organelles’ inside a cell, to cells, to tissues, to organs, to complete organisms, to colonies of organisms, every layer has…
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Not so thorny
Mattingly at GetReligion lists some questions he would ask candidates at “debates”. He’s fully realistic about the idiocy of these “debates”, and acknowledges that he’s dealing in wishful fantasy. Some of the questions are thorny. “If states shouldn’t interfere with parental rights by requiring trans surgery, what about circumcision?” The thorns go away when you…
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1816 = 2023
Looking for more material on Magic Lanterns, this 1816 pamphlet came up. Thaumaturgus, or the Wonders of the Magic Lantern. It’s not a guide to creating Magic Lantern displays. The author uses a Magic Lantern show as an extended conceit to display a harsh picture of society. The situation and the characters are PERFECTLY FAMILIAR…
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Solving a puzzle
Sailer asks why Deepstate is endorsing and undermining Elon at the same time. I’ve always been puzzled by this paradox, starting with Nixon. He served Deepstate much more effectively than other presidents, but he got punished and removed. Trump is identical to Nixon. He gave Wall Street everything it wanted, and gave the CDC demons…
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Statusometer
Curbside Classic features a 1969 Motor Trend article comparing the three luxury brands. As always, MT tested everything from braking to G-force to suspension characteristics. They concluded that Lincoln was the best by car guy standards, but they also recognized that luxury buyers aren’t car guys. So they found a way to test STATUS, which…
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