Random Posts

[pnwguy]

Jul 1, 2021 15:51:56 GMT LFC said:

It might be the end of the road for the Hubbel Space Telescope.

Of course the engineers and scientists are desperately trying to come up with a fix.

I would never bet against the JPL crew. There is some amazing collective genius there.

Of course if the James Webb telescope is online around the first of the year, Hubbel will be less of a factor for cutting edge astronomy.

[pg]

May 7, 2021 20:40:29 GMT @probabilistic3 said:

Gin not vodka? You folks are mild-mannered. Here it's a perfect day for a dirty martini, with vodka, of course.

Or, as I call it- Titos, rocks and 3 of my favorite Spanish olives. 

[andydp]

Jul 1, 2021 21:46:38 GMT pg said:

May 7, 2021 20:40:29 GMT @probabilistic3 said:

Gin not vodka? You folks are mild-mannered. Here it's a perfect day for a dirty martini, with vodka, of course.

Or, as I call it- Titos, rocks and 3 of my favorite Spanish olives. 

I can switch to Vodka or Gin and Tonic at any time.  Dash of bitters and we're good.  For my home (solo) consumption its whatever store brand is on sale.  For guests its either Svedka Vodka or Genever Gin.

I would like to make a plug for Bols' Genever Gin.  According to one pundit, its what Gin was like before the Brits got to it.  Bols' is hard to find.  I looked in four states before I found it about 15 miles from my house here in NY.  I'm sure its available in your area but you'd have to visit a well stocked store.  If you're not familiar with Genever Gin, Bols' was sold in crockery bottles.

[LFC]

I'd never heard of genever before. It sounds like it's its own spirit that's similar but not identical to gin.

www.winemag.com/2019/07/05/breaking-down-the-differences-between-gin-and-genever/

[LFC]

The Boy Scouts of America just agreed to a settlement of $850 million. It's not a done deal yet thought.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced on Friday that they have reached an $850 million settlement with tens of thousands of victims of sexual abuse by scout leaders.

The BSA said the agreement with the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice was negotiated as part of the bankruptcy filing by the youth organization.

The BSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2020 after revelations of decades of sexual abuse of boys in US scouting circles emerged in 2012.

"This agreement ensures that we have the overwhelming support of survivors for the BSA's proposed Plan of Reorganization, which is a key step in the BSA's path toward emerging from bankruptcy," the BSA said in a statement.

The group described the move as the "biggest step forward to date as the BSA works toward our dual imperatives of equitably compensating survivors of abuse and preserving the mission of Scouting."

The agreement calls for the BSA's national organization to contribute assets worth up to $250 million to a trust that will provide compensation to survivors of abuse.

Local scout councils would contribute cash and properties worth $500 million to the trust and another $100 million to a separate trust funded with money otherwise designated for pension plans.

The settlement still needs the approval of a bankruptcy judge and has not been signed off on by all abuse victims, although the BSA said the Coalition of Abused Scouts for Justice represents "a large majority of claimants."

The agreement is also facing opposition from insurance companies.

"There is still much to be done to obtain approval from the Court to solicit survivors to vote for the BSA's amended Plan of Reorganization," the BSA said.

[goldenvalley]

Jul 2, 2021 21:12:59 GMT LFC said:

The Boy Scouts of America just agreed to a settlement of $850 million. It's not a done deal yet thought.

I am blown away by the idea that the Boy Scouts have that much money. (and of course by how the organization managed to ignore or blow off allegations of abuse & assault)

[LFC]

Jul 2, 2021 23:07:43 GMT goldenvalley said:

Jul 2, 2021 21:12:59 GMT LFC said:

The Boy Scouts of America just agreed to a settlement of $850 million. It's not a done deal yet thought.

I am blown away by the idea that the Boy Scouts have that much money. (and of course by how the organization managed to ignore or blow off allegations of abuse & assault)

I don't know how much cash money they have but they certainly have liability insurance and they have a fortune in property, much like the Vatican. There's one nearby scout camp I bet could pull tens of millions since it's beautifully wooded and has a very long stream front, on both side in some places.

[pg]

Jul 2, 2021 23:07:43 GMT goldenvalley said:

Jul 2, 2021 21:12:59 GMT LFC said:

The Boy Scouts of America just agreed to a settlement of $850 million. It's not a done deal yet thought.

I am blown away by the idea that the Boy Scouts have that much money. (and of course by how the organization managed to ignore or blow off allegations of abuse & assault)

I thought the exact same thing. How does that happen?

EDIT: Ah- LFC already gave us an answer.

[andydp]

Happy Fouth of July everyone !! For those not in the US: have a nice Sunday

[LFC]

More on Spears's conservatorship and, in particular, the attorney she was stuck with. He sounds like a real gem.

Following Britney Spears’ heart-wrenching testimony last month, which made clear just how badly the judicial system has failed her, many questioned how a mega-famous 39-year-old woman who had a Las Vegas residency, released multiple hit albums, was an early investor in Uber, runs a billion-dollar perfume business, and was a judge on a live TV show got to a point where she was begging for a phone call with a judge to simply hear her side.

Shockingly, Spears claimed she had no idea that she could request for the judge to remove her conservatorship entirely, rather than just have her father Jamie Spears replaced as conservator.

“Ma’am, I didn’t know I could petition the conservatorship to end it,” she told the court in her 24-minute address. “I’m sorry for my ignorance, but I honestly didn’t know that.”

The duty to have informed her would have fallen on her court-appointed lawyer Samuel D. Ingham III, who is allowed to bill her estate up to $10,000 per week, according to court documents. He has made nearly $3 million working for Spears over the years, according to The New York Times.

Ingham was appointed to Spears’ case by Judge Reva G. Goetz in 2008, although Spears had tried to retain noted trial attorney Adam Streisand to contest her father being made her conservator.

“She has expressed to me very strongly that her father not be the conservator,” Streisand told Judge Reva Goetz in Feb. 2008, explaining that he had spoken with Spears over the course of two days while she was in the hospital. “There has been an estrangement for quite some time. With him as conservator, that is causing her more agitation and more distress.”

Streisand had also requested for Northern Trust Bank to be named as Spears’ conservator over her estate, citing concerns that attorney Andrew Wallet did not have the experience to manage her then $40 million fortune.

But Ingham, who reportedly only spoke with Spears for 15 minutes, told the judge that Spears “did not understand” the nature of the court proceedings and claimed she “lacks the capacity to retain counsel.” Goetz sided with Ingham and deemed that Spears was not capable of hiring her own lawyer, booting Streisand from the court and leaving her with Ingham for the next 13 years.

[goldenvalley]

This happened a while ago, but it's sort of a fun story once you get over the idea that someone hijacked a school bus that had children in it.

The hijacker forced his way onto the school bus with a rifle and commands to “Get out of town, now!” It was “one of the scariest” scenarios possible, law enforcement said later — 18 children and their driver, at the whims of a man with a gun earlier this month.

But the bus driver says the gunman was no match for the queries of kindergartners.
The man moved all the students up front of the bus headed for an elementary school in Columbia, S.C., driver Kenneth Corbin told “Good Morning America” this week. The gunman seemed intent on reaching the next town, at least 15 miles away. Then, the kids — the kindergartners especially — started peppering him with questions, Corbin said.

Was he a soldier? Why was he doing this? Was he going to hurt them? What about their driver?
Six minutes after boarding the bus on May 6, authorities said, the hijacker ordered everyone off.

Never underestimate the power of 5 year olds.

[goldenvalley]

Maybe this is just because I live in a hot real estate market, but I'm getting robotexts telling me that there are pending cash offers for my house.  Is this happening in your parts of the country?  

[Bact PhD]

Jul 12, 2021 17:04:35 GMT goldenvalley said:

Maybe this is just because I live in a hot real estate market, but I'm getting robotexts telling me that there are pending cash offers for my house.  Is this happening in your parts of the country?  

I’ve gotten a cold call or 2 from people claiming to be real estate agents with similar lines, but I can’t say it’s a barrage. I do have to say, though, that (1) this area was in a building frenzy pre-pandemic and (2) There isn’t a surfeit of available homes, either.

The rental market, however, is really tight. Fancy complexes with amenities geared to undergraduates (and their parents’ fat wallets) go up to beat the band, but “entry-level” apartments for singles/young non-college couples are scarce, as Dear Daughter and her long-term BF are finding out.

[goldenvalley]

Jul 12, 2021 17:19:36 GMT Bact PhD said:

Jul 12, 2021 17:04:35 GMT goldenvalley said:

Maybe this is just because I live in a hot real estate market, but I'm getting robotexts telling me that there are pending cash offers for my house.  Is this happening in your parts of the country?  

I’ve gotten a cold call or 2 from people claiming to be real estate agents with similar lines, but I can’t say it’s a barrage. I do have to say, though, that (1) this area was in a building frenzy pre-pandemic and (2) There isn’t a surfeit of available homes, either.

The rental market, however, is really tight. Fancy complexes with amenities geared to undergraduates (and their parents’ fat wallets) go up to beat the band, but “entry-level” apartments for singles/young non-college couples are scarce, as Dear Daughter and her long-term BF are finding out.

At least one text a day.

My son has struggled a bit finding rental here also.  Tight supply means wait listing.  It took a month of looking to find one that fits the needs and isn't too expensive, though he'll be paying what my daughter and son in law paid for a 2 bedroom apartment 2 years ago.

[LFC]

Jul 12, 2021 17:04:35 GMT goldenvalley said:

Maybe this is just because I live in a hot real estate market, but I'm getting robotexts telling me that there are pending cash offers for my house.  Is this happening in your parts of the country? 

I think we're far enough out that they don't bother even though the prices have gone up here as well.

[Deleted]

I get mail on the topic... speculators offering to buy my property so many percentage points above market. Fly by night operators, I'm sure.

I get robo texts from one Mrs. Mavis Wanczyk informing me I'm one of a few lucky people who have been randomly selected for whom she has an offer of $5000 from her $750 million dollar lottery winnings if only I would get in touch with her attorney responsible for disbursement of funds. 

[goldenvalley]

Jul 12, 2021 22:34:05 GMT @probabilistic3 said:

I get mail on the topic... speculators offering to buy my property so many percentage points above market. Fly by night operators, I'm sure.

I get robo texts from one Mrs. Mavis Wanczyk informing me I'm one of a few lucky people who have been randomly selected for whom she has an offer of $5000 from her $750 million dollar lottery winnings if only I would get in touch with her attorney responsible for disbursement of funds. 

My favorite junk/phishing email purported to be from an estate attorney who said I would inherit $100,000 from some distant cousin if I could prove that I wasn't dead.

[andydp]

A new, but familiar chapter, of my life:

"Whadda ya mean its working ?" Had a PC problem Sunday. PC froze, was not responding, would not shut down. Hard shut down but would not come back up. Left it alone before I did something stupid.  Made appointment with Best Buy Geek Squad. Got to Geek Squad Monday PM. Tech pushes start button and we're off like nothing happened. Just like going to the garage with a problem.

Now, if this was a private area, the tech would have learned several new word combinations.  Since we were in public, I asked what went on ?  Said the PC was probably updating something and it was taking a long time. After shutting it off, it just kept updating and "ignored" start commands.  (That's the gist of the answer.  Sorry I can't make it more techical sounding.")

[goldenvalley]

Jul 13, 2021 12:04:09 GMT andydp said:

A new, but familiar chapter, of my life:

"Whadda ya mean its working ?" Had a PC problem Sunday. PC froze, was not responding, would not shut down. Hard shut down but would not come back up. Left it alone before I did something stupid.  Made appointment with Best Buy Geek Squad. Got to Geek Squad Monday PM. Tech pushes start button and we're off like nothing happened. Just like going to the garage with a problem.

Now, if this was a private area, the tech would have learned several new word combinations.  Since we were in public, I asked what went on ?  Said the PC was probably updating something and it was taking a long time. After shutting it off, it just kept updating and "ignored" start commands.  (That's the gist of the answer.  Sorry I can't make it more techical sounding.")

Reminds me of a VCR I had long ago.   The power went off in the house due to work being done on the major lines in the neighborhood.  After the power came back on, the VCR didn't work.  A few days later, power went off again (same reason). When it came back on the VCR sprang back to life and worked just fine for a couple more years.  No updating was involved.

[LFC]

Jul 13, 2021 20:07:11 GMT goldenvalley said:

Reminds me of a VCR I had long ago.   The power went off in the house due to work being done on the major lines in the neighborhood.  After the power came back on, the VCR didn't work.  A few days later, power went off again (same reason). When it came back on the VCR sprang back to life and worked just fine for a couple more years.  No updating was involved.

We're are regularly pissed off by our Sony TV because it reboots several times a weak. (BTW it uses an Android OS.) The advent of everybody wanting to create "smart TVs" has now brought the same types of update problems inherent to personal computers and phones to televisions. Of course how can they harvest your data for profit without the right computing power?

[Bact PhD]

Jul 13, 2021 21:23:51 GMT LFC said:

Jul 13, 2021 20:07:11 GMT goldenvalley said:

Reminds me of a VCR I had long ago.   The power went off in the house due to work being done on the major lines in the neighborhood.  After the power came back on, the VCR didn't work.  A few days later, power went off again (same reason). When it came back on the VCR sprang back to life and worked just fine for a couple more years.  No updating was involved.

We're are regularly pissed off by our Sony TV because it reboots several times a weak. (BTW it uses an Android OS.) The advent of everybody wanting to create "smart TVs" has now brought the same types of update problems inherent to personal computers and phones to televisions. Of course how can they harvest your data for profit without the right computing power?

I knew there was a reason I resisted getting a “smart” TV for some years!! I only succumbed late last year when we got Dear Son one for Christmas, and only because it looks like you can’t even get a “dumb” set anymore.

[andydp]

Jul 14, 2021 14:02:36 GMT Bact PhD said:

Jul 13, 2021 21:23:51 GMT LFC said:

We're are regularly pissed off by our Sony TV because it reboots several times a weak. (BTW it uses an Android OS.) The advent of everybody wanting to create "smart TVs" has now brought the same types of update problems inherent to personal computers and phones to televisions. Of course how can they harvest your data for profit without the right computing power?

I knew there was a reason I resisted getting a “smart” TV for some years!! I only succumbed late last year when we got Dear Son one for Christmas, and only because it looks like you can’t even get a “dumb” set anymore.

I bought a "dumb" TV when I was in Maine two years ago and the old RCA died.  I got the cheapest flat screen I could get at Wal Mart.  It has the capability for a ROKU hookup via HDMI.  So far, I don't need to hook anything else up to it.

Therefore a short answer: Yes... there are "dumb" TVs out there

[pnwguy]

Jul 1, 2021 16:10:49 GMT pnwguy said:

Jul 1, 2021 15:51:56 GMT LFC said:

It might be the end of the road for the Hubbel Space Telescope.

Of course the engineers and scientists are desperately trying to come up with a fix.

I would never bet against the JPL crew. There is some amazing collective genius there.

Of course if the James Webb telescope is online around the first of the year, Hubbel will be less of a factor for cutting edge astronomy.

Looks like those pointy headed science folks (who are also Enemies of the People for bringing deadly vaccines to enslave MAGA patriots), pulled another rabbit out of their hat.

www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/07/hubble-back-famed-space-telescope-has-new-lease-life-after-computer-swap-appears-fix

[LFC]

Why won't they just let Clippy die his well deserved death? He was hated when first released, he was hated when re-released, and he once had a security hole that was exploited. Nobody f***ing wants him around.

Clippy hasn't had an easy life. Microsoft's iconic but polarizing virtual assistant first appeared in Windows 97 as a small paper clip to help Microsoft Office users. It was given the boot by Office 2007.

Earlier this year, it resurfaced for one day as an animated sticker in Microsoft Teams before the company shut that down.

Now, ahead of World Emoji Day on Saturday, Microsoft (MSFT) is announcing plans to replace its standard paperclip emoji with an image of big-eyed, happy helper Clippy. The move is part of a broader refresh of 1,800 emojis across all Microsoft apps and services, which will roll out later this year.

"When we looked at redesigning the paper clip, we thought, 'How could you not?" Claire Anderson, Microsoft's art director known internally as its emoji-ologist, told CNN Business. "It's a way of honoring where we've come from as we also look at a new tech style. .. But like most nostalgic things, we know Clippy can be polarizing."

[LFC]

Remember the panic about unsolicited packages of "mystery" seeds showing up from China? A journalist from The Atlantic decided to get to the bottom of it if they could. It appears they did and the explanation is more mundane than the conspiracy theorists would ever even listen to. It's a bit long but I found it to be a quick read and interesting.