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Category Archives: Science & Technology
1973: First cell phone call made
It was made in NYC, on the street by some guy with Motorola (I think they’re dead and buried) taunting a dude who was his rival at Bell Labs. According to the interview on NPR, the phone was the size … Continue reading
Carry on, another near miss and Michael Bay fodder
Can’t believe this hasn’t made the rounds via Social Media nor the headlines for news updates. As per the NPR story, the asteroid will pass tonight, missing the earth (and moon) by thousands of miles. I think NPR was on … Continue reading
Why I don’t fear Artificial Intelligence
Despite the people at the forefront of the technology being greedy sociopaths, AI has a long way to go before it becomes anything like Skynet or Demon Seed. Think about this. When is the last time have you had a call routed … Continue reading
Fifty Years of School House Rock
A huge staple of Generation X’s upbringing! Seems they remained on the air to influence the first half of the Mills with additions on Economics and Computer Science. However, what ABC was doing via School House Rock wasn’t unique. CBS had … Continue reading
The Earth’s core is doing just fine
You may have heard some news story(ies) going around about how the Earth’s core/center has stopped spinning or rotating. As always, the COM has it all wrong since they’re not very savvy on Science; we can thank the greedy hedge … Continue reading
Some people just won’t let Natural Selection do its job!
This is a rather stupid warning. A better one would’ve been to remember removing said hangar from your clothing before putting it on as I fell victim to that dumb move when putting on a hockey jersey in a rush, … Continue reading
Posted in Biology, Humor, Pictures, Science & Technology
Tagged Dark Comedy, Evolution
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1903: Edison indirectly electrocutes Topsy the elephant
Ugh! The new year is off to a morbid start! First we lose the main lineup of the Pointer Sisters, then we have the sad 120th anniversary of Edison’s sick proof of concept…how dangerous Alternating Current (AC) was by killing … Continue reading
1983: ARPANET switches to TCP/IP
This may not sound terribly sexy but it was a big deal 40 years ago when ARPANET, the Internet’s pre-cursor, made the shift to how the majority of network traffic both internal and external functions. I have a moderate understanding … Continue reading
Jennifer’s car was stolen again…but rescued in five hours!
Yes, again. Now before you just sit there in disbelief, read on, there’s a happy ending as per the headline regarding yesterday’s “fun.” Firstly, the circumstances were very different. It wasn’t professionals yanking her Nissan Rogue from our driveway to … Continue reading
Rest in Peace P-22
Whoever handles the wildlife around Los Angeles euthanized this poor creature yesterday. His injuries were too severe to resolve but he did manage to live 12 years, a pretty good run for mountain lions (or pumas). P-22 as he was … Continue reading
Breakthrough on Fusion power but with caveats
Today the Department of Energy announced what I heard about over the weekend; there was a successful fusion ignition at Livermore National Lab. Hey, that’s near my brother’s house and a key research facility during WWII alongside Los Alamos and Oak … Continue reading
If Covid happened in the Aughts, the WFH set up
Am I glad we’ve made great progress on getting portables to be more versatile and powerful. Oh, and affordable! As much as I loved the iMac in its earlier incarnations, it was pretty heavy. The guy in the photo must … Continue reading
Something Amerika would have a stroke over seeing
Jeremy sent this recently. It’s a posting from the Dutch Communists’ Youth Brigade. Yes, these organizations still exist despite the huge lie told by the Tories and Republicans, and repeated by Corporate-owned media, on how their wannabe dictators won the … Continue reading
Posted in Dutch Stuff, Ecology, Pictures, Science & Technology
Tagged Capitalism, Climate Change, Opinion, Politics
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Am I turning into a greedy AARP member?
My free blood pressure measuring device arrived today! It’s a perk I have because I have high blood pressure and I’m using the Hello Heart app on my iPhone. Jennifer is a nurse so taking the readings are a basic … Continue reading
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
I finally finished a book! We all (including myself) thought I’d get a bunch read during Covid. No luck. I was really guilty of starting a few, then getting bogged down, forgetting to continue and then losing all the momentum … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropology, Biology, Books, D & D, Ecology, History, Reviews, Science & Technology
Tagged 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, China, Colonization, Enlightenment, Europe, First Nations, Renaissance
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