I cut this comment from the emergency cocktail open thread because I was justifiably told it was the wrong place to talk about this.
I think this might be the correct post, but if not please let me know.
Am I completely crazy for thinking that Russia might have funded Hamas to destabilize the left in the US? I know that sounds completely QANON on the other side.
I don't know, this Gutfield clown? His graphics sure looked spiffy . . .almost as if they were already in the can somewhere ready to drag out once the bombs started to drop. Moral of story? The shoe almost always fits on the other foot ...
I never seem to be at the right computer when you and yours are also present, so I haven't been able to sent the two of you all my love for your engagement!
Two wonderful people who bring me so much joy here.
One of the best parts of my new job is that a lot of things need to be signed, and my colleagues leave early, so about 10 minutes before closing I can sweep into the staff area, peep over my giant sunglasses, and trill, "autographs, anyone?" and I get swarmed. I feel like a star!
I mean I like everyone (well,mostly everyone, I fail at times to live up to my ideals) but there's some names and avs that go straight to my brain and flip the "glad" switch
getting my dad's estate stuff rolling with the lawyer, grabbing some stuff from his house to make sure it doesn't get tossed, capturing the house phone number (that we've had since 1961) and porting it to google voice so I can keep it, set up for the services, start closing up the Undisclosed Secure Location and get ready to decamp for Lake Humidity at 4AM Saturday..
Just saw on another site that, with everything else going on in the world, thousands of people have signed petition (of sorts) to demand larger, more substantial updates to a 12 year old video game.
Just a reminder of how fucking weird life can be, and how messed up some peoples' priorities can be. (And I love video games, but 12 years old is too old to be expecting any updates, let alone demanding the updates it's apparently still getting be more.)
The interesting bit about Tetris is that it *has* been iterated on over the years.
A few years ago Tetris Effect was released to great praise. Of course they didn't really change anything structural. They just gave it nice visuals and some pleasant music.
Then there's Tetris 99, a Nintendo Switch-only version which is basically Battle Royale but Tetris. Still the same mechanics though.
Were they necessary? Nah. And I think Tetris Effect is the better of the two, frankly. If you're gonna give Tetris a spit and polish, that was the way to go.
Have not played it in a while and sure, when I do, I tend to put it on peaceful cause I only use it as a digital lego game (cheat and go into creative for the monster stuff,I don't like monsters)
Though I do not know why people is whining. According to the spawn they got bees and camels now. That is pretty updaty!
There's a mob vote coming for the new update. We'll be able to vote for either crabs, penguins, or armadillos. I swear to all things holy, if we don't get penguins, I'll be really sad for about a minute and a half. Well, maybe only a minute if armadillos win. Screw crabs.
I don't really expect everyone in the world to have the same set of priorities.
Some people really care that Taylor Swift is dating some football guy. Some people care about your taste in cravats. Some people even care about video games.
Eh, I ignore the ones that I don't find interesting and let people get on with it.
I still play Assetto Corsa, which was released in 2014, to practice race tracks. And still get many many updates, mostly from third parties. So it's not crazy.
And I'm far from the only one. So I care about a nearly ten year old game and *pay* a little bit for the content creators who make tracks like ButtonWillow, so I can play them virtually before I actually drive there.
I've got a funny picture, but I have to set it up first.
Our friend, El Bastardo (who is actually a stand-up guy even if he pretends otherwise) was talking about the value of design when it comes to branding.
Now, a lot of people treating branding like some kind of puffery or nonsense. And it's easy to perceive it like that. However, it does have value.
GAAP, the "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles" that the SEC use (and it's also in IFRS), call these things "intangible assets".
"An intangible asset is an asset that is not physical in nature, such as a patent, brand, trademark, or copyright. Businesses can create or acquire intangible assets. An intangible asset can be considered indefinite (a brand name, for example) or definite, like a legal agreement or contract."
So, company value can rise and fall on the perceived value of a brand (see where I'm going yet?) - and this is a real thing. Adidas' brand gets hit by Ye being a right wing fruitcake.
Photo is from 2018, but we'll be seeing more just like it.
From The Wiki: Donald Trump arranged financing for the project from the investment bank Bear Stearns - a $230 million bond offering - for which he received a $2.2 million commission. During the financing, Ivanka Trump falsely claimed that over 90% of the units had been sold, and that their sale price was five times that of comparable units. Ivanka Trump also exaggerated demand for the units, claiming in 2009 they were selling out even as potential buyers were being offered substantial discounts. During the development, Donald Trump falsely implied that the Trump Organization had a financial stake in the project, and that it was acting as the developer, neither of which were true.
I don't think Ivanka was a grifting con artist ... until she met Donnie Douche.
When it came time to shoot the production plastics, it turned out that there existed about 30 pounds of resin in that color IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Two month delay in first customer ship.
All the more insane, given that the users of that product are, generally, blind.
Gratifying to see many of those still running 30 years later.. though the batteries are mostly long dead. But even with a dead battery it'll run fine on external power. And it isn't super picky about the external power (and protects itself - self-resetting - if you get it wrong) ..
it is actually quite a bit more complicated.. between the charge management and the voltages needed internally (3.3, 5, 12, plus +-12 for RS232) it took some thought.. especially with 1993 technology..
The assumption is that random things are going to get plugged in because the user can't see what's what.
another interesting aspect is that it is designed to be dropped all day, every day - the angles and curves are designed to spread impact loads. If the headphone or power happen to be plugged in when it hits the floor, the case - and not the connectors - takes the impact. We also had Targus design a soft case for it that is fully operational, for extra impact tolerance.
He was always a creep in his personal life, but it was after that album that it also began to show in his music. That one, and the one before it, are still damn good albums, despite everything Manson is.
Grotesque was pretty good imo. But yeah, Holywood was some sort of prequel and wasn't very good. It started to show that his original theme of religion, angst and all that had run its course.
Grotesque was a good come back- "This is the New Shit."
I like that song. And I think it's Holywood I'm thinking of where 'anti-religion' Manson also sounds like he's anti-evolution, but I haven't gone back and listened to it in years now.
Saw him in concert once. It was double-billing with some other act, I can't remember who now. They were fine, if not memorable. His show was one of the worst I've ever seen.
Holywood was basically a prequel and also a reaction when the news mentioned his music being on the record table for the Columbine killers. It just wasn't a very good album, but I could understand why it might cause him to become a hermit and delve deeply into vices.
We had tickets for Mechanical Animals, but I wasn't on board- so Skepti and Daughter went. I read his book that very night- Long Road out of Hell- and started to dial him in.
Then I saw him around 2007 and he was ok, but it looked phoned in. It was a two-night gig. A friend saw the next noght and said he was wasted off his ass.
That sounds like around the time I would have seen him. And yeah, it was bad because he was not trying, probably because he was too far gone to know where he was.
I cut this comment from the emergency cocktail open thread because I was justifiably told it was the wrong place to talk about this.
I think this might be the correct post, but if not please let me know.
Am I completely crazy for thinking that Russia might have funded Hamas to destabilize the left in the US? I know that sounds completely QANON on the other side.
I am so tired of this world where the people are so mean and hateful.
OMG. Thank you for the long overdue rewording of 'conspiracy theory's. Long live it's replacement! Senile White Supremacist Lies!!!!
I don't know, this Gutfield clown? His graphics sure looked spiffy . . .almost as if they were already in the can somewhere ready to drag out once the bombs started to drop. Moral of story? The shoe almost always fits on the other foot ...
TABS are up. Time to Ma-greet the morn.
Good morning, night shift.
Morning, Mecca!
I never seem to be at the right computer when you and yours are also present, so I haven't been able to sent the two of you all my love for your engagement!
Two wonderful people who bring me so much joy here.
Thank you!
And good morning my friend Babe Paley! The mysterious newb whose real identity nobody can know.
It is truly a mystery!
One of the best parts of my new job is that a lot of things need to be signed, and my colleagues leave early, so about 10 minutes before closing I can sweep into the staff area, peep over my giant sunglasses, and trill, "autographs, anyone?" and I get swarmed. I feel like a star!
Morning shift now XD Last night I was pretty sad and afraid, but the morning crew always gives me a pick me up.
Good morning, Mecca!
This transitionary period is always fun!
Good morning Mecca! Good morning Jen!
We'll get Zyx here soon spreading light!
I love this place.
She does too ^.^
I mean I like everyone (well,mostly everyone, I fail at times to live up to my ideals) but there's some names and avs that go straight to my brain and flip the "glad" switch
I think it's been years since I first saw her on wonkazoom and she's always interesting and fun
Everybody posting music from the 90's,i thought I'd bring one from 1951. Winnonie Harris should be in the R&R Hall of Fame!
https://youtu.be/xR_A4Su-TrI?si=vwizD_EdypChTPSA
That additional day spent mostly sleeping after the vaccinations really helped. Glad I took it.
Feeling mostly recovered. Hopefully everything hasn't gone to shit in my absence.
That was my takeaway: no real misery but a lot of naps.
I hope you didn't have Middle East Peace..!
Good for you about vaccines though. I've still got 9 more days.
running with my head down for the next few days..
getting my dad's estate stuff rolling with the lawyer, grabbing some stuff from his house to make sure it doesn't get tossed, capturing the house phone number (that we've had since 1961) and porting it to google voice so I can keep it, set up for the services, start closing up the Undisclosed Secure Location and get ready to decamp for Lake Humidity at 4AM Saturday..
Dad:
πΈπ ππππ€ π’π ππ πΆβππππππ. π»π π πππ£ππ ππ π‘βπ π.π. π΄ππ πΉππππ ππ’ππππ π‘βπ πΎπππππ ππππππππ‘. π΄ππ‘ππ βππ πππππ‘πππ¦ π πππ£πππ, βπ π€πππππ ππ π ππππππ ππππππ π‘ππβππππππ ππ‘ ππππππ πππ πΆπππππ ππ πΆβππππππ. π»π π‘ππππππ ππ ππ€ππππ π‘π ππππππ π»ππ π ππππππ πππππππ πππππ βππ ππ‘βππ ππππππ π πππππππ‘πππ .
π»ππ π€ππππππ πππ π€ππ ππ π π€ππππππ πβππ‘πππππβππ ππ π‘βπ ππππππ¦, π€ππππππ π€ππ‘β πΏππ βππβπ ππ‘π’πππ. π»π ππππππ π‘π βππ£π ππππππππ¦ ππππππππ ππ£ππ 800 πππ’ππππ π‘π¦πππ π‘βπ ππππ‘!
π»ππ ππππ-ππππ πππ£π π€ππ πππππππππ , πππ βπ ππ’πππ‘ πππ ππππ€ πππππ πππππππππ πππ πππππππ . π»π π€ππ π πππ’πππππ ππππππ ππ π‘βπ πππππππππππ π΄πππ π ππππ πΎπππ‘πππππππ , πππ πππ‘ππ π ππππππ ππ π‘βπ π»ππππ βπππ πΆππ’ππ‘π¦ π ππππ πΆπππ‘πππππππ ππ π»πππππ¦, ππ΄ π€βπππ βπ π€ππ ππππ€π π‘π πππ‘ππππ‘ππ¦ ππππ‘ππ ππππ¦ π πππ€πππππ ππππ’π‘ π‘βπ π ππππ‘.
π»π π£πππ’ππ‘πππππ ππ‘ π‘βπ ππππππ ππβπππ ππ πππ’π‘β π»πππππ¦, π€ππππππ π€ππ‘β π π‘π’ππππ‘π ππ ππ’ππππππ πππ πππ¦πππ πππππ πππππππππ ππ πππ‘ππ-π πβπππ ππππ π ππ π’π πππ ππ’πππ βπ ππππ ππ ππππ π‘βπ πππππ’πππ‘π¦. π»ππ πππ π πππ πππππ‘ππ π ππ£ππππ ππ π‘βπ π π‘π’ππππ‘π π‘π ππ’ππ π’π πππππππ’π‘πππ πππ ππ£πππ‘πππ πππππππππππ ππ πππππππ! πΈπ π€ππ πππ π π ππππππ ππ π‘βπ πππ π‘ππ£ππ πΊππππ₯π¦ πΆππππ’πππ‘π¦ πΆππ’ππππ, π π’πππππ‘πππ π‘βπ πππ π πππ ππ πππ π‘ππ£ππ π΄π π΅.
Chicopee is *my* hometown. I wonder if he knew my dad, who knew just about everybody (at least in the Aldenville area.)
I'm guessing he probably did. He also knew just about everybody.
:hugs: Tek, what a beautiful write up
Thank you for sharing your dad with us! It sounds like a rough few days ahead for you, and we send our love.
Beautiful.
And, with it, you just transported me back to The Valley (yeah, I know where is, and I lived there mid-1970s-2005). Thank you.
He really was. Completely unassuming, just a regular Joe..
As the quote goes: "My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."
Just saw on another site that, with everything else going on in the world, thousands of people have signed petition (of sorts) to demand larger, more substantial updates to a 12 year old video game.
Just a reminder of how fucking weird life can be, and how messed up some peoples' priorities can be. (And I love video games, but 12 years old is too old to be expecting any updates, let alone demanding the updates it's apparently still getting be more.)
Unless the pawns are going to revolt after being essentially ghost slaves in the Dragon's Dogma word?
\I care only if this ties into Dragon's Dogma II
Also...Minecraft? They're frustrated by updates to *Minecraft*? What more could you need in a game whose sole purpose is to build [insert thing here].
That's like demanding upgrades to Tetris.
It's as good as it's going to get, and it will never need high-res graphics.
The interesting bit about Tetris is that it *has* been iterated on over the years.
A few years ago Tetris Effect was released to great praise. Of course they didn't really change anything structural. They just gave it nice visuals and some pleasant music.
Then there's Tetris 99, a Nintendo Switch-only version which is basically Battle Royale but Tetris. Still the same mechanics though.
Were they necessary? Nah. And I think Tetris Effect is the better of the two, frankly. If you're gonna give Tetris a spit and polish, that was the way to go.
Oh, is it minecraft? Those people are cult members.
hey now I like minecraft XD
Have not played it in a while and sure, when I do, I tend to put it on peaceful cause I only use it as a digital lego game (cheat and go into creative for the monster stuff,I don't like monsters)
Though I do not know why people is whining. According to the spawn they got bees and camels now. That is pretty updaty!
There's a mob vote coming for the new update. We'll be able to vote for either crabs, penguins, or armadillos. I swear to all things holy, if we don't get penguins, I'll be really sad for about a minute and a half. Well, maybe only a minute if armadillos win. Screw crabs.
What? Crabs are awesome! Many species know this, this is why so many are evolving into crabs.
Oh I love crabs IRL. They're amazing creatures. But in Minecraft? Pass.
On the topic of other species... Aren't we all trying to become crabs, at the end of the day? I'm already pretty crabby as a general rule.
I don't really expect everyone in the world to have the same set of priorities.
Some people really care that Taylor Swift is dating some football guy. Some people care about your taste in cravats. Some people even care about video games.
Eh, I ignore the ones that I don't find interesting and let people get on with it.
That's fair. But sometimes people have very unrealistic expectations.
I still play Assetto Corsa, which was released in 2014, to practice race tracks. And still get many many updates, mostly from third parties. So it's not crazy.
And I'm far from the only one. So I care about a nearly ten year old game and *pay* a little bit for the content creators who make tracks like ButtonWillow, so I can play them virtually before I actually drive there.
I still play many old games. I just don't expect anyone to still be working on them
I've got a funny picture, but I have to set it up first.
Our friend, El Bastardo (who is actually a stand-up guy even if he pretends otherwise) was talking about the value of design when it comes to branding.
Now, a lot of people treating branding like some kind of puffery or nonsense. And it's easy to perceive it like that. However, it does have value.
GAAP, the "Generally Accepted Accounting Principles" that the SEC use (and it's also in IFRS), call these things "intangible assets".
"An intangible asset is an asset that is not physical in nature, such as a patent, brand, trademark, or copyright. Businesses can create or acquire intangible assets. An intangible asset can be considered indefinite (a brand name, for example) or definite, like a legal agreement or contract."
So, company value can rise and fall on the perceived value of a brand (see where I'm going yet?) - and this is a real thing. Adidas' brand gets hit by Ye being a right wing fruitcake.
So then we come to the pièce de résistance. The ultimate brand fail.
https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/2018/03/05/de2191cb-a043-4911-a297-503769925b81/gettyimages-927683784.jpg
Photo is from 2018, but we'll be seeing more just like it.
From The Wiki: Donald Trump arranged financing for the project from the investment bank Bear Stearns - a $230 million bond offering - for which he received a $2.2 million commission. During the financing, Ivanka Trump falsely claimed that over 90% of the units had been sold, and that their sale price was five times that of comparable units. Ivanka Trump also exaggerated demand for the units, claiming in 2009 they were selling out even as potential buyers were being offered substantial discounts. During the development, Donald Trump falsely implied that the Trump Organization had a financial stake in the project, and that it was acting as the developer, neither of which were true.
I don't think Ivanka was a grifting con artist ... until she met Donnie Douche.
Ah, it's always good to start a morning with some learning and A Nice Things.
Ah branding.
Back when I was at DEC, there was a changing of the guard in the early 1990s, and of course the brand colors changed.
As it turned out, the product I was working on (https://aphmuseum.org/record/dectalk-express-speech-synthesizer/) was the first molded plastic product to go to market in the new ugly-green color.
When it came time to shoot the production plastics, it turned out that there existed about 30 pounds of resin in that color IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Two month delay in first customer ship.
All the more insane, given that the users of that product are, generally, blind.
Even the partially sighted would recoil at that color.
I think I've seen one of those in the wild, but it's been a long time.
Doing that project was the best time of my life.
Gratifying to see many of those still running 30 years later.. though the batteries are mostly long dead. But even with a dead battery it'll run fine on external power. And it isn't super picky about the external power (and protects itself - self-resetting - if you get it wrong) ..
Doesn't it use, like, a 7805 voltage regulator so it's totally protected? (those things have saved my butt a number of times)
it is actually quite a bit more complicated.. between the charge management and the voltages needed internally (3.3, 5, 12, plus +-12 for RS232) it took some thought.. especially with 1993 technology..
The assumption is that random things are going to get plugged in because the user can't see what's what.
another interesting aspect is that it is designed to be dropped all day, every day - the angles and curves are designed to spread impact loads. If the headphone or power happen to be plugged in when it hits the floor, the case - and not the connectors - takes the impact. We also had Targus design a soft case for it that is fully operational, for extra impact tolerance.
I never got around to writing a paper about it :(
You just did.
I continue to be annoyed with cute catch phrases in commercials like car commercial I just saw-
"It's time to leave behind behind." It was an annoying commercial before seeing an interesting and old Daft Punk song- Robot Rock. Not bad at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhCwebrGMTc&pp=ygUeaSBkb250IGxpa2UgdGhlIGRydWdzIG9yaWdpbmFs
GWAR's So Fucking What: Actual sfw version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQQOJodtaw&ab_channel=RobertValken
Plain old drugs.
https://youtu.be/vlc0_GUdfIQ?si=y5LQgmhVH7ZTBmbM
The drugs don't work
https://youtu.be/ToQ0n3itoII
There are options
https://youtu.be/N6uEMOeDZsA?si=LwhXa0IAzHiy8Ssd
Not if you were the last junkie on Earth
https://youtu.be/APrpB-i4d_E
An unusual song. Interesting. Somehow, I kept expecting Bowie to sing this.
How is anyone still alive?
Been some drug talk recently.
Yes, I know Marilyn Manson turned out to be a POS, but he wrote some great stuff. I can understand why you might not.
But it's about drugs- and not just chemical ones.
It's just a lyric video so you don't have to look at him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhCwebrGMTc&pp=ygUeaSBkb250IGxpa2UgdGhlIGRydWdzIG9yaWdpbmFs
He was always a creep in his personal life, but it was after that album that it also began to show in his music. That one, and the one before it, are still damn good albums, despite everything Manson is.
Grotesque was pretty good imo. But yeah, Holywood was some sort of prequel and wasn't very good. It started to show that his original theme of religion, angst and all that had run its course.
Grotesque was a good come back- "This is the New Shit."
I like that song. And I think it's Holywood I'm thinking of where 'anti-religion' Manson also sounds like he's anti-evolution, but I haven't gone back and listened to it in years now.
Saw him in concert once. It was double-billing with some other act, I can't remember who now. They were fine, if not memorable. His show was one of the worst I've ever seen.
Holywood was basically a prequel and also a reaction when the news mentioned his music being on the record table for the Columbine killers. It just wasn't a very good album, but I could understand why it might cause him to become a hermit and delve deeply into vices.
We had tickets for Mechanical Animals, but I wasn't on board- so Skepti and Daughter went. I read his book that very night- Long Road out of Hell- and started to dial him in.
Then I saw him around 2007 and he was ok, but it looked phoned in. It was a two-night gig. A friend saw the next noght and said he was wasted off his ass.
That sounds like around the time I would have seen him. And yeah, it was bad because he was not trying, probably because he was too far gone to know where he was.
New name for Republicans: Russolikens. Make America CCCP Again.