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NextDoor tries to reform
The doorbell net NextDoor recognizes that it has become a gossip and bitching party line. It’s trying to add more of the services that people need, services that USED to be provided by local radio and TV and newspapers. I signed up for NextDoor in 2018, but quickly realized it was mostly groundless suspicions, not…
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Error bar and tense
My reading at Substack has pretty much reduced to one writer, Del Mastro. I was reading him before he moved to Substack, and he’s still worth reading. Today’s article observes that we tend to view short increments of time or distance as “within tolerance” or “within NOW”. An activity that takes a few more minutes…
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Two forms of measure
Well, I’ll try to work around the WordPress weirdness to say what I wanted to say. = = = = = I overuse Dillinger’s Rule because it’s an elegant explanation for many human activities that have more complex conventional motives. When asked “Why do you rob banks?” Dillinger said “Because that’s where the money is.”…
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Superweirdness by WordPress
I started to write a silly piece with some wordplay. After pushing Add New Post, WordPress gave me a single line with 1 at the left. Each time I hit Enter it adds a new line with a new ‘verse number’. This is bizarre. How far will it go? Probably indefinitely. Is this a special…
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Back to unsurprising.
At the start of July the so-called “city” passed a so-called “law” that pretended to enable more enforcement against the homeless. Two weeks later they’ve had plenty of chances to use it, and nothing has changed. Chad “Misty” Horne ran wild, starting more than a dozen big fires in one day, causing massive damage and…
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Clarified
One of the big fact-stoppers has decided to quit using misinformation and disinformation to stop facts. They say the words formerly clarified things but don’t clarify now. In reality, everyone understands CLEARLY now that information means a perfect copy-paste of DNC talking points, while misinformation means an imperfect copy-paste of DNC talking points. The terms…
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Everything Altman does.
NewScientist is admirably avoiding pure partisanship this year. It’s still continuing the LONG tradition of public science voices, boosting the newest fashion in Share Value, treating the latest tech dystopia as utopia. From an article on Altman’s latest crime: = = = = = START UTOPIA: But ask agentic AI, “What should I eat tonight?”…
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They knew it all along.
This 1940 Chevy infomercial focused on facts of human nature as described by Professor Laird (who certainly looked like a prof!) Anxiety and tension come from three main causes: Noise or anticipating noise; fear of losing control; and a sense of being confined or trapped. All are natural and necessary. Prof Laird also gave the…
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Sad, mad, bad vs useful.
Here’s what changed my mind about arsonist “Misty” Horne. From one of the local media accounts of the initial hearing: Horne attempted to contact police after they released his photo in connection to the investigation. He informed officers he was in the Spokane Valley area and eventually provided them with his location. However, by the…
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Surprising!
7/11 Update on the arsonist Chad “Misty” Horne. At first his bond was set at a trivial $1000. Now it’s up to $500K, which is far more meaningful. Maybe they intend to hold him this time? We can always hope. Note for fairness: KREM covered the initial court hearing today. Last year they did the…
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NSA from the start
More from the latest History Today. Courier services have always been around. Governments have used groups of runners or horsemen to carry official or commercial documents. The modern post office began in Italy in the 1500s, when the Tassis family organized a series of offices around Europe, serving the various duchies and kingdoms of Italy…
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Seeing is believing!
A question on Quora asked whether railroad tracks had to be bent in the factory before laying, or heat-treated on site to bend them. A real railroadman gave the astonishing answer. Neither! Rails bend easily to the curve needed for regular tracks. The much sharper curves of a streetcar line might need heating. Here’s a…
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Not quite up to standards!
Looks like career arsonist “Misty” Horne will spend at least one night in jail. No new arson fires while he’s off the streets, but Spokane is returning to its normal condition: Car Jacking Reported. Reported naked male was unloading trash in a field and was confronted. Deputies located the naked male who then ran towards…
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Interesting baseline
Not from History Today, just something I noticed while reading about medieval measurements. Time immemorial casually means forever, longer than anyone can record or remember. Originally it was quite specific, marking the start of common law in 1189. Anything that happened before the baseline of 1189 was legally immemorial, thus didn’t exist in the Common…
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Unsurprising
Chad “Misty” Horne hasn’t been released yet, but it’s a safe bet that he will be. Here’s part of the Jail Roster for today: Six charges of 2nd degree arson, max sentence would be 60 years if consecutive. Only $1000 bond, and listed as “bondable”. Typically the bondsman will charge 10% up front to make…
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