89F and 79%RH at 9am… so basically Nick’s rule of 10s. Should be 100 in another hour.
NYC lost power to some areas during a period of peak demand and people are screaming about it. Despite being warned it could happen. Despite it being normal for the system to be overtaxed on a hot summer day.
Preps people.
These same idiots are going to be calling for YOUR stuff and YOUR resources when something bad happens. Time to start tightening up your OPSEC and probably your physical security too.
And prep like your life depends on it, because it might.
n
This isn’t creepy at all… and if they can do it, does anyone think that politically motivated people AREN’T doing it?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7272043/Computer-software-used-stop-people-joining-ISIS-KKK-aimed-anti-vaxxers.html
——————————————————-
And there is this, where is this mythical and all terrifying “dark web”? How did Homeland “intercept” the package if the whole thing wasn’t under surveillance? Not so dark if Homeland is watching every detail. And did no one point out the obvious? Five bullets does not equal a mass shooting, and is in fact consistent with suicide, esp. by cop.
n
Let’s see, should I order 5 rounds or 6? Mom only gave me money for 5 and I have to get my latte in a bit.
NYC lost power to some areas during a period of peak demand and people are screaming about it. Despite being warned it could happen. Despite it being normal for the system to be overtaxed on a hot summer day.
Power shortages *and* an avocado shortage — no avocado toast — the horror!
We might have to eat … canned ravioli … from the bodega on the corner … run by that foreign man with the turban. Oh, Cocktail Waitress, save us from this savagery!
(The avocado “shortage” was the 2nd or 3rd item on the Austin news last night, right behind coverage of the climate change heatwave.)
I’ve written before about my belief that most of the population would willingly report to the camps if TPTB simply cut the cable TV and Internet outside the barbed wire.
I used to think that cutting food and fuel deliveries to outlying areas to starve the population into submission would be necessary, but, after the last five years or so, I don’t believe that would be the case. Power could be on, gas available, landline phones working, and the shelves at the grocery stores fully stocked, but people want their Netflix on their phones.
Maybe just curtail avocado shipments. 🙂
And there is this, where is this mythical and all terrifying “dark web”? How did Homeland “intercept” the package if the whole thing wasn’t under surveillance? Not so dark if Homeland is watching every detail. And did no one point out the obvious? Five bullets does not equal a mass shooting, and is in fact consistent with suicide, esp. by cop.
By “dark web” they mean sites only accessible via browsers proxied through the Tor network. I’ve always believed it is completely surveiled, having come from a DARPA project, but I use the proxy service to access torrent servers on the open web ever since getting a nasty gram from HBO while living in Vantucky.
DARPA doesn’t care about studio lawyers’ concerns … for now.
Tor is really easy to set up to use from Linux. Windows is a little more complicated, but I don’t see the point on an OS with as many back doors for three letter agencies as Windows contains.
I thought TOR was a product of a fully CIA funded startup?
n
I thought TOR was a product of a fully CIA funded startup?
Something creepy like that, definitely.
Even if it was unsurveiled, they have easy access to the pen traces at your ISP, and, when I read the relevant papers a few years ago, they were really close to applying Brian Carrier’s SleuthKit to drive images read via Hadoop.
Some of the papers were written by Carrier himself. Just match pen trace times to read/writes times on the hard disc files from a drive image obtained on a “sneak and peek” warrant, and you have probable cause for a court order to dig deeper.
If you’re up to something criminal, stay off the Internet.
What’s this rayyciss WHITE Army:
Army Lets Slip That It’s Conducting Secret Operation Around D.C.
Maybe they found an Honest John laying around. I’d go for the sarin variant. Just to be sure.
@JimB, not to worry about the less than immediate response, I was just happy to get it, not a time issue. Yes, they are very close, walking distance. And I do walk my dogs along the drainage channel. Also geocache there:
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC5XKY7_icit?guid=2b312155-636e-44c8-af29-7dc362118d2e
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GCVB58_bridge-to-the-wet-lands?guid=2557f94e-79d5-4742-8d63-8bc1e3138c7f
https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC253JM_no-trespassing?guid=470c3def-ac51-47f7-9aa9-102e00bc31b9
Definitely on my itinerary to let you know next time that we will be going up that way.
BC: Fire
https://www.gocomics.com/bc/2019/07/22
And so begins our complicated relationship with fire.
_Threshold_ by David R. Palmer
https://www.amazon.com/THRESHOLD-David-R-Palmer/dp/0553248782/?tag=ttgnet-20
Book number one of a one book fantasy space opera series. There is at least one more book planned in the series but I do not know if the author will publish it. I read the well aged MMPB published in 1985 by Bantam that I purchased used a couple of year ago since the book was out of print. However, the book is now back in print in trade paperback. And reputedly the second book in the series will be released next year or so. The author has brought three of his books back into print, lets hope that he succeeds with a few more.
https://www.amazon.com/THRESHOLD-David-R-Palmer/dp/1948818191/?tag=ttgnet-20
An inordinately successful man on Earth is approached by a woman with a talking cat who informs him that he is the product of a 9,000 year alien breeding program. He was designed to fight off an invasion of our galaxy by a devastating menace. She, a witch like no other, and the cat, a familiar, persuade him that he was born to be a warlock. And the adventures grow unceasingly until, the end of the book.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars (28 reviews)
If you’re up to something criminal, stay off the Internet.
Yup.
Arlo and Janis: motion activated lights
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2019/07/22
I hate motion activated lights. Either have the light on all the time or off.
I once got caught in a Kafkaesque situation involving motion sensors.
I got off a plane in LA and had severe diarrhea. A co-worker picked me up, but we didn’t get back to the hotel before I needed to stop. At the first available gas station, I entered a pretty nasty restroom. Didn’t care. It was that or nasty car seat.
Anyway, the lights in the restroom were on a motion sensor. And so was the toilet flush. If I sat still, the lights went out. If I moved, the toilet flushed, with a geyser. I was trapped there between darkness and disgusting wetness for at least a half hour while the lights went on and off, and the filthy toilet kept erupting against my backside.
Neither had any lag.
To say that I haven’t been a fan of motion activation since then is a bit of understatement.
n
“Netflix Subscriber Drop Marks the Beginning of a Rocky Road”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/369611/netflix-subscriber-drop-marks-the-beginning-of-a-rocky-road
“One bad quarter isn’t the end of the world for the leading streaming service, which has over 150 million paid subscribers. But as fierce competition looms from tech giants and media conglomerates, Netflix’s first subscriber loss since 2011 is not a good omen.”
Competition sucks !
Netflix is the 800 pound gorilla and they have most of the mindshare. There is very little that faced with a choice of setting up a new account somewhere, or just not watching, that I would bother setting up the account.
That said, Disney. Kids watch a lot of Disney on netflix.
n
Competition sucks !
I think the crackdown on the sharing of accounts affected them more than any competition. Plus, any time I go to look for a specifc older movie or TV show, chances are, it wasn’t there even before the exclusive deals.
The cable movie channels tried exclusive studio deals in the 80s and it didn’t work out. The studios will eventually cut new deals with Netflix for the same reason — finding “Foul Play” browsing for comedies in a pool of options late at night is a pleasant surprise which a number of people will watch, but having it used as channel filler on the studio’s own movie service endlessly at 3PM on weekday afternoons quickly kills the appeal of the flick and the service.
(Sorry to pick on “Foul Play” if you are a fan. Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, and Barry Manilow music, even his jingles. You don’t get more 70s classic than that. HBO killed it for my generation.)
I’m surprised Redbox hasn’t tried a small store-sized machine which stocks their usual selection plus older titles along with an on-demand watermarked disc burning capability for more obscure material and/or popular titles ordered in advance, say, an hour, via their web site.
If you ditch the Netflix stock, look at Coinstar.
In NYFC attempted murder is really just “menacing”.
But, but, but,…. I thought the Mexicans were peaceful people, just trying to get a better life, having banned guns almost completely….
I can’t think of any reason why I wouldn’t want mexican gangs and cartel members to freely enter the US, can you?
n
(as I pointed out to my wife when we were in Cozumel, the police don’t patrol in squads, wearing level III armor in 90F heat, unless they HAVE to. It’s a shithole. Build the wall.)
added- the truck in the last photo is set up to carry at least 4 bodies at a time. Wonder why they would need that?
From @Greg yesterday:
Looks like some of the gang is getting back together. This has potential with Picard, Data, and Seven-of-Nine.
Also, Riker and Troi will pop up (the USS Titan!), and the Comicon panel included Johnathan Del Arco, who played “Hugh”, another freed Borg — things than make you say hmm — who appeared on the old show.
I’d be surprised if you didn’t see an update from all the surviving cast members of the TNG era shows in cameos. There is talk that the back story of JJ Abrams “Star Trek” time splinter will be explored.
As for your puzzlement, Jeri Ryan is on Obama’s enemies list.
Cool ! And I remember Hugh the freed Borg episode.
“Windows NT services are assigned a SID based on an SHA-1 hash, but what about the risk of collision?”
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20190717-00/?p=102714
I am not smart enough to understand this but he says that we are ok.
Hat tip to:
https://www.osnews.com/story/130346/windows-nt-services-are-assigned-a-sid-based-on-an-sha-1-hash-but-what-about-the-risk-of-collision/
“Yes, a rare July “cool front” will move into Houston this week”
https://spacecityweather.com/yes-a-rare-july-cool-front-will-move-into-houston-this-week/
Promises, promises ! I just got my truck washed at Buccee’s to encourage the cool front to come on in.
We just got some rain and thunder… but it seems to have stopped. Big drops, but not many.
A bit cooler, but HUMID as you can imagine.
n
Kids are looking thru a book on cryptography and it brought to mind ROT13. Remember way back in the day when sites didn’t WANT to be search indexed, so they would encrypt with ROT13? IIRC it was especially common on the message boards.
All you had to do was highlight the text and click on ROT13 in a menu in the browser or newsreader. I just looked and there are browser extensions that do it, but I guess it’s not built in anymore.
Just random, but Hey, tech content!
n
Made a couple more changes to my NVR setup in iSpy.
For some reason, the 32bit version (which has been stable and responsive) downgrades my 4K cams to approx 380×120. I just noticed. So I went in the cams, confirmed that iSpy was getting the first stream, and it was supposed to be 4K. I ended up telling iSpy to use the second stream, setting that to full HD in the camera, and now I get a high rez stream in the NVR. I am recording the full rez stream to SDcard in the camera, so I’m not losing anything, as long as the card isn’t overwritten before I can review any issues.
I also played around with active zones for where I wanted movement to trigger recording in iSpy. I was just using full frame, but every lighting change got recorded too. We’ll see how these current settings work out.
iSpy is powerful, but that comes with setup issues too.
n
V erzrzore EBG13 engure sbaqyl.
All you had to do was highlight the text and click on ROT13 in a menu in the browser or newsreader. I just looked and there are browser extensions that do it, but I guess it’s not built in anymore.
It has moved from a browser option to a website.
https://rot13.com/
“CBP: Over 1,000 African migrants arrested near Mexican border”
http://www.fox5ny.com/news/cbp-over-1-000-african-migrants-arrested-at-mexican-border
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
Just random, but Hey, tech content!
Playfair cipher is fun and kid friendly if that wasn’t one they saw in the book.
If you take the kids back to Chicago, hit the science museum. On display with the German submarine are Enigma machines.
I think I won. Round One, anyway.
When I canceled Rise after the new wISP was installed, I was informed I owe $60 because I “have a contract”. What contract? They replaced the radio and aimed it to a different tower. “We sent the paperwork!” Well…. call me a liar? It’ll be a cold day before I pay.
The next day they sent an e-mail pushing a deal “up to 25 Mb” for half the price I was paying and no contract. It’s now going to be a very cold day before I pay.
After a few months Rise sent me to a Collections Company. I had 30 days to respond to the scary looking letter. So I did. Repeated what I said above and added that from January through February I have 4.5 hours of calls to Rise on my phone and then they finally decided to send a crew. I don’t know how much time I talked to Rise from October as I deleted all of my call logs a couple of days after Christmas. The phone has a few minutes over 16 hours of outgoing calls. About three hours of that is dealing with DirecTv.
The crew stayed all of five minutes and said everything is ok. After five months of calling and repeatedly doing their diagnostic scripts. Five whole minutes. If they want their radio they can come get it or I can mail it to them…. the cheapest version sells on Amazon for $88.
Today I have a letter from the Collection Company saying they “have made the decision to discontinue our collection efforts”.
Will there be a Round Two?
I’m not worried. I have Rise’s prepaid postage label and plenty of rocks. I’m pretty sure if I was motivated I can easily cost them a LOT more than $60 in postage.
I’m not worried. I have Rise’s prepaid postage label and plenty of rocks. I’m pretty sure if I was motivated I can easily cost them a LOT more than $60 in postage.
Don’t play with the US Post Office. They’ll send an armed postal inspector for a visit to discuss why you sent the rocks, and, depending on how the law looks at the situation, you could, arguably, be brought up on mail fraud charges.
If they want to be *really* nasty, postal inspectors can get a search warrant with less probable cause than local law enforcement. When our local Sheriff in FL wanted a look inside the town dominatrix’ place of business, he had an undercover deputy pay for services with a USPS money order, and the postal inspector led the raid with warrant in hand.
Greg, true.
It’s a pre-paid label, no space for a return address. Just print and tape onto a box.
I used it to return the “free with my account” router that I didn’t install because I had just replaced my router and I didn’t want to spend yet another hour on the phone. I just took it to make them shut up about it.
Anyway, the lady at the PO just tossed it into a bin behind her.
I will wear gloves if it comes to mailing rocks. 🙂
@CowboySlim, thanks, I look forward to a future meeting.
Or dog turds.
Just be sure to obtain them from someone else’s dog!
Nah…. just rocks. In a plastic bag. I don’t have a grudge with the folks opening the mail.
My latest book project is a Western. Pam and I took a trip to visit the subject of the book – the “Forgotten Winchester”. The Winchester 73 rifle was found leaning against a Utah juniper pine tree in 2014. It had been there for around 130 years – it was manufactured in 1888. The area where the rifle was found was hit by a big range fire two years later; the tree that held the rifle for all of those years was almost destroyed in the fire.
The rifle is now restored (stabilized, really) and visible at the Great Basin Visitor Center in Baker NV. The find is an interesting story. My book is fictional about how it might have gotten there.
The book has gone ‘live’ for pre-order. The cover may change, but it’s fun to see it on the Big River. Here, if you are interested https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VKDB74G?tag=ttgnet-20 .
The story itself is almost done. I need to add a bit more to it to make it a bit longer. Right now, at about 125 pages (6×9) and 37K words. Publish date will be at the end of August – maybe sooner.
Fun story to write. Long drive to take a look at – but we sandwiched it between visits to the kids/grandkids in CA and UT. So a tax-deductible research trip. Interesting to look at the actual rifle.
Nick, I also hate motion lights, but none of my minor tribulations come close to your adventure. I am embarrassed to say I burst out in laughter. Maybe as small compensation, I declare you winner of the Innernet for all of today :-/ Kafkaesque indeed.
The are coming for the reparations that the dumbocrat presidential candidates want to give them.
From JimB:
Forgot to include earlier: Mojave Red last evening and Mojave Gold shortly.
I soooo wasn’t thinking “Some day this will make an amusing story” at the time, but when the time is right, and the audience can deal with bodily functions, it IS a funny story. Especially if you have a good imagination.
And keep in mind, simply sitting there waving my arms to turn the lights on, was enough to cause a flush. From the time I got the paper, to the time I needed to look, the lights would go out. So WAVE the paper, look, and lift out of the way of the geyser….
literally rinse and repeat….
Oh my. I’m shaking my head and snorting even now.
n
Fuking busy body humorless scolds….
http://www.fox5ny.com/news/macys-pulls-plates-after-twitter-users-criticize-the-fat-shaming-design
Sign up for the stasi you crone.
n
And keep in mind, simply sitting there waving my arms to turn the lights on, was enough to cause a flush. From the time I got the paper, to the time I needed to look, the lights would go out. So WAVE the paper, look, and lift out of the way of the geyser….
Don’t some of these newfangled toilet seats do this for you now ? You may have been on the alpha model ! “snicker”
https://www.amazon.com/Greenco-Non-Electric-Mechanical-Toilet-Attachment/dp/B01A17T3N6/?tag=ttgnet-20
“MAYFAIR Toilet Seat will Slowly Close and Never Loosen, ELONGATED, Long Lasting Plastic, White, 180SLOW”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQ8RQZ6?tag=ttgnet-20
Whatever you do, do not tell my wife about these ! She will have me replacing all four toilet seats in the house this week. She absolutely hates it when the toilet seat hits the toilet with that loud crack.
Fuking busy body humorless scolds….
I’ve heard Dennis Miller say several times that Elizabeth Warren is “the classic Eve Arden movie scold”.
Definitely in the last month. My wife had a bunch of episodes of the podcast for the drive to/from Space Center Houston a couple of weeks ago.
Some of the best episodes of Miller’s old radio show involved interviews with classic Hollywood celebrities. Upcoming episodes of the podcast are supposed to feature parts of a seven hour interview Miller did with Orson Bean.
“Trump, Democrats reach two-year budget deal that raises debt ceiling”
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-democrats-reach-two-budget-deal-raises-debt-235547956.html
Lets party like its 1999 !
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
“Watch Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers in ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’ Trailer (Video)”
https://www.thewrap.com/tom-hanks-mister-rogers-a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood-trailer-video/
I hope that they treat him respectfully and nicely.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
I hope that they treat him respectfully and nicely.
Hanks? Yes.
Even Eddie Murphy was respectful, regardless of what Rogers thought of “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood”.
I find it harder to believe that Hanks could do a credible Col. Tom Parker (one of his upcoming roles).
My favorite Hanks movie is still “Bachelor Party”. He seemed to have a ball with that flick.
(Unlike “Foul Play”, HBO didn’t kill “Bachelor Party” for us, but, as an ‘R’ flick, it didn’t air until after 8PM Eastern by channel policy.)
Oh, you’re gonna riot??? Well maybe you’d like to do it in the dark!
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-22/electromagnetic-attack-sparks-massive-blackouts-across-venezuela-breaking-report
“Venezuelan information minister Jorge Rodrigues said an “electromagnetic attack caused the nationwide blackout” and power companies along with government officials, are in the process of restoring the nation’s power grid.”
n
Covington’s Razor
Ate from my canned goods tonight. Had a sponge cake in syrup from the can for dessert. Some sort of British import, it was pretty good for canned cake. It would be a welcome treat in a time of deprivation.
One can had gone off though. They are definitely NOT supposed to have air puff OUT when you open the can. Didn’t eat that one, although it looked normal inside.
Going to bed, hopefully will sleep in again.
n
@lynn, just put two of these in:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Medium-Oak-Elongated-Toilet-Seat/46275957?sourceid=dsn_ov_49e96ac6-7f09-45d2-ba8d-53bf4e631ed9&veh=dsn&wmlspartner=dsn_ov_49e96ac6-7f09-45d2-ba8d-53bf4e631ed9&cn=FY20-EP-L0-Home-Improvement-DPA_rt_dps_dsn_dis_ov_enp_hmi
The replaced were several decades old and hinges rotted out. These are real nice.