11.03.2018
Get a grip
I'm watching the Nebraskas lose (but not by very much) a football game to the Ohio States this afternoon and thinking that's a lot of people in that stadium so I look it up in Wikipedia and yup, the Ohio State stadium holds about 105,000 people (and it's packed), and that's not even the biggest college football stadium in the U.S. (sorry, Buckeyes). The University of Michigan's stadium holds a couple thousand more.
That scary "caravan" of scary Central Americans marching scarily through Mexico, threatening to arrive at the U.S, southern border (OMG) in a month or so would not even fill the end zone seats. In one of them, let alone both, let alone the dozens of other university facilities filled with spectators this very Saturday afternoon.
And for this we're calling out the troops?
That scary "caravan" of scary Central Americans marching scarily through Mexico, threatening to arrive at the U.S, southern border (OMG) in a month or so would not even fill the end zone seats. In one of them, let alone both, let alone the dozens of other university facilities filled with spectators this very Saturday afternoon.
And for this we're calling out the troops?
11.02.2018
A few reading (and listening) notes
The eminently readable Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi, at The Fairway, is self-publishing a new book on the press, AKA "the media," which can be read in serialized form for a monthly or annual ($40) subscription. Also also included in the fee is access to a previous book on the economics of the drug trade.
The excellent podcast, Serial, in its third season, is examining the workings of the U.S. justice system as exemplified by the workings of a courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It's available on iTunes and other podcast sources.
Also of podcasting note, among a pretty broad assortment of efforts in the field of cybersecurity, is an offering from the cyberwire called Hacking Humans. It's a commendably non-technical review of current phishing, vishing, smishing, and assorted other internet hustles and scams.
Eventually to appear on our reading list, the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, a work said to be much admired by Mark Twain (whose recommendation is good enough for me) is available free at Project Gutenberg.
And, if you're into reading about airplanes, a novel (entirely fictional) by Ken Follett entitled Night Over Water takes place on the (entirely real) Boeing B-314s flying boat flown in trans-Atlantic service by PanAm during the late 1930's and by the U.S. military during the early 1940's. Only twelve of them were ever built.
The excellent podcast, Serial, in its third season, is examining the workings of the U.S. justice system as exemplified by the workings of a courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It's available on iTunes and other podcast sources.
Also of podcasting note, among a pretty broad assortment of efforts in the field of cybersecurity, is an offering from the cyberwire called Hacking Humans. It's a commendably non-technical review of current phishing, vishing, smishing, and assorted other internet hustles and scams.
Eventually to appear on our reading list, the Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, a work said to be much admired by Mark Twain (whose recommendation is good enough for me) is available free at Project Gutenberg.
And, if you're into reading about airplanes, a novel (entirely fictional) by Ken Follett entitled Night Over Water takes place on the (entirely real) Boeing B-314s flying boat flown in trans-Atlantic service by PanAm during the late 1930's and by the U.S. military during the early 1940's. Only twelve of them were ever built.
10.31.2018
Really, Facebook? Again?
We posed as 100 senators to run ads on Facebook. Facebook approved all of them. – VICE News
We're looking forward to a snowball fight in Congress
Forecasters in the private sector strongly favor a snowy winter in Washington - The Washington Post
An atom here, an atom there; pretty soon you're talking about real mass
Redefining the Kilogram - Scientific American
The official object that defines the mass of a kilogram is a tiny, 139-year-old cylinder of platinum and iridium that resides in a triple-locked vault near Paris.
File under No Free Lunch
Bitcoin's popularity has a downside: It's an energy glutton that could hurt Earth's climate, study finds - The Washington Post
10.30.2018
Are you yours?
Your Medical Data Might Become A Moneymaker. How Could You Profit? : Shots - Health News : NPR
It doesn't seem like much to give up your email address for access to a web site you're interested in—after all, they're not asking for money—or clicking on a "Like" button now and then, or participating in an online poll, or…well, you get the idea.
But it is. Much. Because there are companies—some of which with names you know and others you don't—who make, literally, billions of dollars "mining" the data you leave behind, sorting it and compiling it, until some of those companies, as Apple's Tim Cook put it the other day, know more about you than you know about yourself.
And what they know, they sell. For lots.
Now, some of what they know is public information and you could find it yourself if you had enough time and money to spend. But some is private, and some is very private, as in the NPR story above.
Are you getting enough in return for it? Not for me to say.
But what I do say is this growing concern for privacy on the network is real and justified. How much of who we are do we want to let go of?
Hospitals and health plans are increasingly using the huge amount of medical data they collect for research. It's a business worth billions of dollars, and sometimes those discoveries can be the foundation of new profit-making products and companies.
It doesn't seem like much to give up your email address for access to a web site you're interested in—after all, they're not asking for money—or clicking on a "Like" button now and then, or participating in an online poll, or…well, you get the idea.
But it is. Much. Because there are companies—some of which with names you know and others you don't—who make, literally, billions of dollars "mining" the data you leave behind, sorting it and compiling it, until some of those companies, as Apple's Tim Cook put it the other day, know more about you than you know about yourself.
And what they know, they sell. For lots.
Now, some of what they know is public information and you could find it yourself if you had enough time and money to spend. But some is private, and some is very private, as in the NPR story above.
Are you getting enough in return for it? Not for me to say.
But what I do say is this growing concern for privacy on the network is real and justified. How much of who we are do we want to let go of?
I had a terrible time getting out of bed this morning because…
A) It was nice and warm in there and
B) I was dreaming of cinnamon buns. The kind with lots of cinnamon and white frosting.
I'm kind of sorry I'm not still there.
B) I was dreaming of cinnamon buns. The kind with lots of cinnamon and white frosting.
I'm kind of sorry I'm not still there.
10.28.2018
The definition of bliss
My TeeVee service today has the Bears game, the Packers game, and the Vikings game sequentially. That's 3/4 of the North Division right there.
The forth team, the Lions, are playing one of those bird teams. We don't worry about Lions versus birds, do we?
PS. The Bears won and the other three teams lost. No outcome could be more perfect. The Bears, thereby, vaulted from last to first position in the tightest division in all the NFL.
The forth team, the Lions, are playing one of those bird teams. We don't worry about Lions versus birds, do we?
PS. The Bears won and the other three teams lost. No outcome could be more perfect. The Bears, thereby, vaulted from last to first position in the tightest division in all the NFL.
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