Tag: defensible times
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True cybernetics
Reading about the Geniac ‘logic machine’ reminded me of an IBM machine that turned digital counts into an analog balance measurement. This was cybernetic in the true sense, directly modeling an analog neuron. Modern AI is strictly digital. WHEN ANALOG FERTILIZED DIGITAL IBM started with the purely digital and mostly mechanical Hollerith sorter. The sorter…
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Bitgosbank?
Via Protos: Texas has passed a law requiring bitcoin “banks” to be proper FULL-RESERVE banks. No fractional reserve. Even better, bitcoin “banks” must follow the old 1936 banking laws, keeping their customer deposit business strictly separate from trading and speculating. Glass-Steagall prevented serious bank failures when it was in place. The current mess began when…
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Da yoots GET IT.
Poll gave yoots a choice of losing social media or losing “voting” “rights”. They’d rather lose “voting” “rights”. This is a good sign. They’re full Machiavelli. They’ve figured out that “voting” is utterly pointless. = = = = = Looking more closely at the poll article, it gets even better. Is astrology a science? Is…
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Snobascope
Kirn retweeted this item from a film snob who saw only the lens in Carlson’s “I’ll be baaaaack” clip. Shoutout to my bro @justingum (we worked together on Hoaxed w/ @scooter_downey) He shot this clip using anamorphic lenses to give it that beautiful epic feel. I’ve seen several film snobs triggered that Tucker would dare…
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Reprint on astrology
Rehashing my hypothesis about astrology. = = = = = START REPRINT: Picking up from previous post on James Ferguson. Previously I showed a couple of science entertainments using static fields to drive gadgets. Ferguson’s main focus was orreries or planet simulators. He began with another static-driven toy: From the top: In action: A simple…
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Ancient offices
BBC is discussing the ancient offices that still exist, with real people ready to perform the duties when required. The King’s Champion, around since 1066, comes into play at every crowning. He is required to don armor and challenge any pretenders who dare to question the authority of the King. The current King’s Champion is…
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Old poetry
EnidBuzz asked about things your parents said. Most responses are the usual hardass but NECESSARY parental warnings. Some are squishy Christian stuff. A few are purely unique and poetic. Never heard any of them before. = = = = = I especially like the glad/mad. Good advice for a critter like me who always heads…
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It’s an old truth
Buzzfeed is shutting down the “news” part of their service and continuing the part with quizzes and listicles and such. They’re realizing a very old truth, which pre-TV newspapers and radio understood well. Facts are not commercially valuable. Normal people don’t want to pay for facts because normal people have eyes and ears and neighbors.…
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Ford of the day
These quotes from Henry Ford have dates because they appeared in the company’s newsletter. As it happens, most of them are exactly 100 years ago. Today’s quote from 4/15/1923: Experience is the harvest of life, and every harvest is the result of a sowing. The experience which young people must crave is that of success…
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Metes and bees
Brownstone is another frustrating visionary. Do they really have a goal, or are they just another Parkinson organization trying to keep running without a goal? From their latest mission statement: = = = = = START QUOTE: The [“virus”] response was as much an institutional failure as it was a failure of rationality and courage.…
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If humans had been blind 2
Following on theme of previous item…. If humans had been blind, we would have no concept of 2 dimensions. The tactile world is 3d. The audio world has 4 dimensions: time, frequency, intensity, and location. The olfactory world probably can’t be dimensionalized at all. Only the retina traps the world in flat 2d. Recording and…
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Reprint on science as entertainment
From Dec 2020. = = = = = START REPRINT: Science is simply a form of entertainment, and we should treat it as entertainment. We should fund it the same way we fund sports or museums or orchestras or ‘serious’ theater, via season ticket holders. Big media is NOT entertainment and doesn’t fall into this…
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Gold rushes and calligraphy
Following on my musings about cattle drives. The 1850s gold rush populated and shaped California, and also created another temporary development before the railroads pushed through. Look at the Copperplate cursive on these letters sent back East by prospectors. Almost indecipherable to modern eyes but highly expressive. These men were not poor or uneducated. It…
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Make your own holiday day!
Today is Make Your Own Holiday Day! In keeping with multiple narrative levels, Polistra declares BE YOUR OWN BEACON DAY! = = = = = START REHASH: After seeing a picture of the Elgin Observatory and realizing the building still exists, I had to animate it. Because it’s a National Historical Landmark, there’s a document…
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Templargraph
I was looking for info on an interesting story told by Ripley, and ran into this instead… The Knights Templar used hawala-style full reserve banking to finance Crusades and pilgrimages. A pilgrim could leave his cash at Temple Church in London, and withdraw it in Jerusalem. Instead of carrying money, he would carry a letter…
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