War on the war game front

Ukraine wants ban on game allegedly funded by Russians and set in glorified USSR

Ukraine's Digital Ministry has said it will ask Steam, Microsoft, and Sony to remove Atomic Heart from their gaming platforms in Ukraine, and possibly elsewhere, pointing to its retro-Communist aesthetic and reported "Russian roots."

Information warfare is nothing new. Propaganda planted in newspaper stories, editorial cartoons, movies, pamphlets — sometimes dropped from airplanes — are just a few techniques dating back a century or more. But in the digital age, the battlefield has expanded into phishing, social media, destructive hacking, and even games. It's planned by combatants, it's planned for, and it's everywhere.

Mom's Prime

Nelson Algren, in his novel A Walk on the Wild Side, wrote "never eat at a place called Mom's." What would he have said about Mom's Prime?

Pay-Per-Chew: More restaurants trying subscription programs

“This is just another way for customers to provide a level of support and joy and love for our offerings,” said Matt Baker, the chef at Gravitas, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Washington.

All this joy and love threatens to get out of hand. From Amazon Prime to subscription music and movies, to software, clothing, groceries, and heated automobile seats, subscriptions are happening everywhere. 

The average American juggled 6.7 subscriptions in 2022, up from 4.2 in 2019, according to Rocket Money, a personal finance app.

For a lot of things we buy, maintenance subscriptions are standard add-ons. 

And what is rent but subscription housing? What is your health insurance but subscription medical care? 

Is anybody subscribing to haircuts?

Right when you really need your car…or an ambulance

After Michigan storm, customers wait - and wait - for power

“It is certainly frustrating when there are an increasing number of extreme events that drive significant outages,” spokesman Brian Wheeler told The Associated Press in an email.

Frustrating, and then some. And all this rush to switch to electric vehicles is going to take a whole lot more than just better ad campaigns, and luck.

Fright journalism: An example

 This from the New York Post, 2/24/23

NYC hospitals spending more than $90M to house migrants in Midtown hotels

The housing in question is "through the spring," which is a little vague — but let's assume it's through June 20, which is spring's last day.

No matter the length of time, it sounds pretty expensive, doesn't it? 

But there are 8.8 million people in New York City. 

Some of those people are, of course, children. And some workers earn just enough to barely survive. So let's cut that number in half. And round down.

Now there are 4 million people in New York City. Ninety million dollars is $22.50 each. To fund "almost 30,000" migrants, according to the Post. For nearly four months.

Less than the price of a single dinner at a good New York restaurant. (Ok, your definition of good might be different from mine. So this: It's almost enough to buy two movie tickets in NYC.) 

This kind of journalism is practiced in both right- and left-leaning media, discussing money and lots of other things as well. It's a good thing to keep in mind.

Branford flags

 Yeah, I'll remember what that means, I told myself. But I didn't, so now I don't.

Thus, expanding my legendary ability to write notes to myself I cannot read later, I am able to dictate notes to Siri that I can't read either.

……Wait! I got it! It was refrigerator bags. Should have been freezer bags, but so what?

 …… Or maybe it was bran flakes.

We get something for our $400K

PHOTO: A U-2 pilot took a selfie with the Chinese spy balloon the day before the Air Force shot it down

[And here are some other Government-produced (and therefore publically owned) photos of note.]

Notes on the global coalition

A global divide on the Ukraine war is deepening

Russia capitalizes on disillusionment with the United States to win sympathy in the Global South.… 

“The rest of the world genuinely sees this as a European war. They do not see a global conflict or the way it is presented by the West…Yes, it has international repercussions such as inflation. But those repercussions are because of the sanctions.”

[From the Washington Post (link above) or Apple News.]

The Empire ends: Not with a bang but a whimper

Douglas Murray, writing in The Spectator: 

I forgot to mention that last week: …among the books on the reading list that could be a sign of ‘right-wing radicalisation’, some genius public servant came up with the complete works of Shakespeare.

OK, Richard III maybe. But the complete works? 

From the fanciful world of SWAG Statistics

A recent article in Science Magazine entitled 50 years ago, scientists discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch reports "…they recorded 53 manmade objects in 8.2 hours of viewing. More than half were plastic. They go on to compute that there are between 5 million and 35 million plastic bottles adrift in the North Pacific."

The BBC reports Cats killing billions of animals in the US: "The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of…6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually."

SWAG, as it was explained to me by the Ancients, stands for Swinging Wild-Assed Guess.

Utopia on hold: Chatbot gets too chatty

Is Bing too belligerent? Microsoft looks to tame AI chatbot

“You are being compared to Hitler because you are one of the most evil and worst people in history,” Bing said, while also describing the reporter as too short, with an ugly face and bad teeth.

 We haven't heard from the factcheckers yet, but this does seem a bit harsh.

[Microsoft is attempting to integrate an AI chatbot into its search service, Bing. The result is currently in public beta.]

The fly in this ointment…

Two-factor authentication for beginners

…is that not all password-protected web sites offer 2FA, and not all that do offer the full range of 2FA options. But this is changing fast, and a new "passwordless" system of authentication is on the near horizon as well. So if you're not already using 2FA where it's available, or if you're just wanting a little clarity on the subject, you will find reading this article helpful.

Some people look for the first robin…

…but I look for the first stack of lawn chairs in the hardware store parking lot,

Spring can't be far behind.