Tag: defensible times
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Truly new!
My standard theme here: Most of today’s “new” ideas were already in place, either patented or produced or fully described in a publication, by 1910. Here’s one that nobody imagined, even in the ’50s when smoking was maximally cool and required! Nobody dreamed of a cigarette that also serves as a radio and phone and…
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Scrollwave
Random thought. Scrolling through media on the web is the modern equivalent of tuning across the bands on shortwave. Shortwave broadcasting was killed by the web, much more firmly and directly than other media. With a good receiver and good propagation conditions, you could find every kind of entertainment or news in every language, plus…
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RIP Jim Inhofe
Jim Inhofe, the only legitimate senator in recent decades, has died at age 89. = = = = = START 2010 REPRINT: James Inhofe, the only legitimate Senator, shows yet again why he owns that title. Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe is going down swinging, insisting he’ll still send earmarks to his state even though his…
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From fences to commons
When computing changed from the Private Property model of the separate PC to the Deepstate Property model of web-based apps, tyrants won the battle for our memory. Brendan Eich played a major part in this loss when he designed Javascript for use by tyrants. Let’s follow the long trail of long term memory vs no…
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One solvable problem
Right now the biggest SOLVABLE problem is housing prices. The total takeover of all government by lunatic devils is NOT SOLVABLE. Many people have incomes that should be enough to raise a family, when judged against overall cost of living OTHER THAN HOUSING. The New Deal enacted price controls on rent, which remained until 1952**.…
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England still lives.
Kirn also gets in a well-aimed dig at the Gaian fuckheads vandalizing Stonehenge. They are screwing with the wrong pagan gods — their own! How stupid is that? They’ve unleashed the bards and leprechauns on themselves. Looking at the clip of the vandalism, I’m hugely impressed by the instant response of normal people. As soon…
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Ice cream
Nice warm evening after a long tired (but blessedly NOT very snowy) winter. The ice cream man is driving around, playing his unidentified song that sounds like Lilly Marlene. His tune has been the same for several years, but apparently less than 10. Around 2013 the ice cream man was playing the required Entertainer Rag.…
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Third Shift Workers Day (habitual reprint)
Today is Third Shift Workers Day! From the linked items I couldn’t tell for sure which day is the Official Day. They range from May 7 to May 13. This is fitting, since graveyard shift blurs the boundaries of dates. I’ve always been happiest and steadiest on graveyard shift. I worked graveyard at motels in…
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’51 memes
Some jokes from a 1951 magazine, probably distributed nationally as Features, the earlier version of today’s Memes. We don’t see Memes in mainstream publications now. “Journalism” has rigorously insulated itself from ALL feedback and connection to popular wisdom. The postwar inflation and shortage was still around in 1951, just starting to fade out. Our postwar…
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Mini-notary
I’m studying more of the weird and wonderful punch card systems that flourished in specialized businesses, along the same lines as the McBee and Stanomatic. Some of the books delve into library equipment, which included a few clever gadgets along with a lot of familiar stuff. Adjustable shelves and bookends haven’t changed since 1890, but…
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Uniquely appropriate
Saagar reviews the parallel between 1968 and now in politics. He doesn’t hit the points as solidly as Greenwald, who got EVERYTHING right. Saagar shows a printout of the campaign debut speech by Bobby Senior. He chose K-State for the announcement, and the printout starts by greeting Gov Docking and Sen Pearson (misspelled as Pierson…
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Random memory
Nice warm Sunday evening. A random picture reminded me of something… When I lived in KC and taught at DeVry, I was renting a basement apt in suburban Overland Park. The apt was large, fairly modern, and stayed cool in summer without air conditioning. The apt above me was occupied by an older couple from…
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Y no piano girl?
Saw a random picture of an old piano, captioned ‘Jazz piano in Lewisham Station’. I wonder why pianos weren’t more common in public places? Restaurants always had jukeboxes or radios. Nightclubs had pianos only for professional performers who were part of the scheduled entertainment. In that era MANY people could play the piano competently, and…
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One huge point
The latest article by Charles Hugh Smith makes one HUGE point that I haven’t heard before. It resonates deeply. The one huge point: AI is winning because the people in charge of making decisions NO LONGER HAVE A QUALITY HUMAN PRODUCT TO COMPARE WITH. The deciders don’t know how shitty the new offshored or AI’d…
Polistra's Mill 