"The large garrison immediately became a magnet for sutlers, hucksters, and mountebanks, "ambitious men of craft and cunning swindlers and deceptive knaves, mean sycophants, toadeaters, & spittle lickers," as a Pennsylvania captain wrote."
Excerpt From
The British Are Coming
Rick Atkinson
https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-british-are-coming/id1436494923
This material may be protected by copyright.
7.12.2019
But not to worry if you don't speak Dutch
Google admits over 1,000 private Google Home recordings were leaked
"The transcribers are said to write down "every cough and audible comma," as well as attempt to identify whether a man, a woman, or a child is the one speaking. Google uses these transcriptions to make Google Assistant smarter."
Priorities are everything
Flatware gets its day in NDAA
Yes, flatware. Cutlery. Knives and forks and spoons. One of the 439 amendments put forth [in a Pentagon policy bill] would require the Defense Department to buy "stainless steel flatware" and "dinner ware" from domestic, rather than foreign, manufacturers.
7.11.2019
The new Siri…
…I'm talking about the one in the iOS 13 public beta, sounds a little bit California to me.
I wonder if fhere'll ever be a Bahston option.
I wonder if fhere'll ever be a Bahston option.
They do things they don't do on Broadway
Officials confirm alligator living in Humboldt Park Lagoon, drawing curiosity seekers - Chicago Tribune
When he began his first search for the animal, Alligator Bob paddled out alone in his green canoe, wearing binoculars and a fishing hat.
7.10.2019
Let's cool it with the hyperbole people
I was just reading a story on the NPR web site about warm weather in Alaska which begins thusly:
> Temperatures climbed to 90 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday, breaking the all-time heat record for the northerly city.
"All time," the story goes on to note, means since official records began to be kept, namely, 1952.
I was in high school in 1952—depending on what part of that year we're talking about either ending my first year of high school in Illinois or beginning my second in Minnesota. I already knew how to dance the waltz, the foxtrot and the jitterbug, I was trying out for the track team, and was trying to build a rocket in the back yard. The rocket kept blowing up. I wasn't much more successful with the dancing. But I ran pretty well.
It might seem like a long time ago to you but it doesn't exactly seem like "all time" to me. It doesn't exactly seem like yesterday, either. But somewhere in between.
Have a heart.
> Temperatures climbed to 90 degrees in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday, breaking the all-time heat record for the northerly city.
"All time," the story goes on to note, means since official records began to be kept, namely, 1952.
I was in high school in 1952—depending on what part of that year we're talking about either ending my first year of high school in Illinois or beginning my second in Minnesota. I already knew how to dance the waltz, the foxtrot and the jitterbug, I was trying out for the track team, and was trying to build a rocket in the back yard. The rocket kept blowing up. I wasn't much more successful with the dancing. But I ran pretty well.
It might seem like a long time ago to you but it doesn't exactly seem like "all time" to me. It doesn't exactly seem like yesterday, either. But somewhere in between.
Have a heart.
Immortality
Amazon confirms it keeps your Alexa recordings basically forever | Ars Technica
I have to admit it's sort of cool to think someone, perhaps in some future Century will be able to hear my voice saying Alexa, play jazz and Alexa, stop.
Woohoo.
OK, what??
Facebook allows "threats that could lead to death" if they're against their designated "Dangerous Individuals"
In a shocking update to its Community Standards, Facebook has said that calls for "high-severity violence" and "threats that could lead to death" are acceptable if they're aimed at people who it deems to be "dangerous individuals."
Caveat: I'm not 100% sure I even believe this. It sounds pretty outrageous. But it looks real and it is, well, Facebook.
Sounds like The Donald but isn't. Sorta.
Pro-impeachment billionaire Tom Steyer makes late entry into Democratic race
"Nobody owns me…I'm not afraid to speak my mind. I'm not beholden to them. I'm not beholden to the establishment."
I mean, I come from a world where a million is still a whole lot of money; none of these guys represents me. Except Mayor Pete and a few of those other guys down at the bottom of the heap – http://bit.ly/2YO1gts
Of course, we could just figure out who's got the most money and let him (or her) be President but then, what if his name starts with Zuck?
Whatever, for the record, anybody who talks about getting the money out of politics and then mounts a two-year campaign does not get a whole lot of traction with me.
7.09.2019
No need to feel alone
'What's the point?' Lawmakers fess up to not fully reading the Mueller report - POLITICO
President Donald Trump can't give a straight answer about the subject. More than a dozen members of Congress readily admitted to POLITICO that they too have skipped around rather than studying every one of the special counsel report's 448 pages. And despite the report technically ranking as a best-seller, only a tiny fraction of the American public has actually cracked the cover and really dived in.
7.08.2019
There's safe and then, maybe, too safe
'Safe like China': In Argentina, ZTE finds eager buyer for surveillance tech
In Argentina's remote northern province of Jujuy, Chinese telecoms giant ZTE is installing a little slice of the Asian nation's vast surveillance state - security cameras that the local government says will help to curb street crime.…
China's lower crime rate is due in part to its sprawling - and contentious - surveillance apparatus of cameras, facial recognition software, citizen databases and courts controlled by the ruling Communist Party that have high conviction rates.
Read in Reuters: https://apple.news/ATxVnpEu6SVSjQlOSI5VUsw
In plain English, it pretty much sucks
FBI, ICE find state driver's license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches - The Washington Post
The FBI said its system is 86 percent accurate at finding the right person if a search is able to generate a list of 50 possible matches, according to the GAO. But the FBI has not tested its system's accuracy under conditions that are closer to normal, such as when a facial search returns only a few possible matches.
7.07.2019
But at least I'd be able to understand their TV shows
'Moronic & clueless': Boris Johnson sparks outrage, saying everyone in Britain should speak English first - The Washington Post
A little dose of reality…
…for people handicapping the Democratic primary.
Column: Are Democrats blowing their 2020 chance? - Chicago Tribune
It's early — very early. In August 2011, Rick Perry was the highest-polling Republican candidate, and Michele Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll. At this point in 2007, the GOP front-runners were Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson. In July 2003, Howard Dean bestrode the Democratic field like a colossus.
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