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Streamliners and bags
Earlier today I was thinking about horses working with people as teams. Horses were the original autonomous vehicles. Remembered a couple of items I did many years ago. = = = = = One was about the Spokane Postal Chariots. Until 1945, the mail was delivered in specially made horse-drawn carts. Before we lost our…
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Billionaires = Criminals
Via the Verge, Elon had some “autonomous” robots serving drinks at the unveiling of his stupid Cbrtxi. The audience was impressed by the totally “autonomous” all-AI robots, but it turns out they were just radio-controlled by humans. If you tried this in a school science project, you’d be kicked out. If you were an unfashionable…
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Law of human nature
A redditor posted this pic of a dusty old Comptometer, and described it as a typewriter. Commenters instantly piled on, some saying it was a calculator, others correctly identifying it as a Comptometer. Then somebody observed: Cunningham’s Law: To find an answer, don’t ask for a solution. Instead, post the wrong one. People who wouldn’t…
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Good diagnosis, bad fix
Seen at Reddit: = = = = = START QUOTE: I’m tired of boomers telling Gen Z and millennials to “suck it up” when we say that a salary of $60k or less shouldn’t trap us in a mediocre lifestyle, sharing apartments, skipping dining out, avoiding social outings, or never taking vacations. No, these things…
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Priceless article
SL Kanthan has written an immensely valuable article debunking our lies about the Maoist system, and showing how the 1989 “revolution” was one of our Color Revolutions. Both parts make sense. I suspected both were true, but had no info to back up the first suspicion. Kanthan reproduces some CIA reports from around 1960. While…
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Shallow thought about shallow thought
Every day I see somebody complaining that Americans are “shallow thinkers” now because we don’t read books. This is a shallow thought. 1. It’s hardly new. Very few people have the time or motivation to engage in philosophy. 2. Most people do a lot of deep thinking about their jobs, marriages, kids, money, etc. Books…
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Why should I?
The spam emails from the Trump cult never stop. There’s no way to unsubscribe. This is worse than a menopausal ex-wife, it’s more like a swarm of unkillable wasps, who can’t be squashed or chased away or exterminated. Why should I contribute or “vote” for a swarm of stinging bugs?
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Elon Kaiser
I’ve said this before, and it seems especially apt now. Elon is the modern version of Henry Kaiser. He develops all sorts of ideas and starts all sorts of companies, but the only successful ones depend on government contracts. When he tries to satisfy a broad range of customers, he fails. Twitter is part governmental,…
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HR from the past
This film was aimed at recruiting new postal employees. It starts by reading the inscription on the entrance of the main office in DC, with a couple of additions: = = = = = START QUOTE: The postal service. Messenger of sympathy and love. Servant of parted friends. Consoler of the lonely. Bond of a…
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Just for the record
Just for the record, though “votes” are irrelevant, I “voted” today. Picked Harris for president, without much hesitation or doubt. Wrote in Semi Bird for governor. Skipped the offices that I don’t know or care about. “Voted” for some referenda against the Carbon Cult, which have no chance of winning. I described the reasons for…
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Is this who they mean?
Some of the reviews on the HBO “documentary” naming Peter Todd as Satoshi use an AI-generated picture of Satoshi. The picture resembles an old stereotyped Injun Chief, not a technonerd. Me Satoshi. Me bringum Wampum. Me give you Wampum. You give me big heap dollar.
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Terraforming Earth
Bloomberg Odd Lots has a fascinating feature on the separate world inhabited by billionaires and other criminals. Normal laws can’t touch sanctuary zones of various types and sizes. Some are well known like the Caymans, Isle of Man, and Dubai; others are known only to the elites. When I was a kid absorbed in old…
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Same rule
Note at substack: 4 years ago, I watched some conservative friends join the QAnon cult to find companionship and a community for their children. Today, I’m watching some liberal friends join the anti-Semite cult to find the same thing. Well, if companionship and respect were more available OUTSIDE of cults, cults wouldn’t flourish. Cults are…
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Dubious as expected.
Since I’ve been tracking the subject, here’s the latest. The HBO documentary claims that Peter Todd is Satoshi. Todd has well-known connections to the early stages of bitcoin, but doesn’t seem to fit most of the needed qualities. I’m not convinced. Later thought: The most important misfit is geographical. Todd lives in Toronto, and the…
Polistra's Mill
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Polistra's Mill 