Thoughts at large

[Bigb23]

Okay - I found my calling -

[bust]

Thank god for Reddit and YouTube for all the unknown artists out there.

You have your Jackson Pollack wanna be's for $30 million dollars,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAKfpz8Y21Q

And then your actual artists like this - [[pastel and pencil) Reddit

Attachment 41264

Ohly isht, that looks like a very high res photo.
Serious talent!
I wish I were that gifted.

But why do you call this art?
High res photography does realism even better.
How is this better than the photo the artist used for a model?

Not that I know better.
If there's anything I've learned
It's our inability to define what is art.

[Bigb23]

Not that I know better.
If there's anything I've learned
It's our inability to define what is art.

I'm always reminded of the "Art Gallery" that was undergoing a renovation, and somebody left a toilet and a pile of pipes in the exhibition space, and on opening night, people marveled at the exquisiteness of the "artist" that was just a lazy plumber.

[Bigb23]

But why do you call this art?
High res photography does realism even better.
How is this better than the photo the artist used for a model?

Because it was done by a hand and not a machine. Look at tourbillion watches and automatons from 200 years ago.

The Only Known Pair of Matching Singing Bird Pistols – Attributed to Frères Rochat | Christie's - YouTube

The Silver Swan automaton in the Bowes Museum England - YouTube

CBS Sunday Morning - Lost art of Automatons alive again - YouTube

Joueuse de Tympanon - automate - YouTube

And just for fun -

Bohemian Rhapsody Played by 100+ year old fairground organ - YouTube

[jcole]

And then there's my 12 yr old granddaughter

[Jimaz]

I have a Lasko electric space heater. It works well. It uses a couple of 7-segment displays to show temperatures. It also has a timer that will turn it off between one to seven hours. You set the timer by repeatedly pressing a button.

On the front panel, instead of using one more 7-segment display to show the timer, it uses three discrete LEDs to display the timer as a 3-bit binary number.

So consumers are expected to read binary now? Sure, the LEDs are labeled 4h, 2h, and 1h but why not just use another 7-segment LED?

That's the first time I've seen such a thing on consumer electronics. That's just weird.

[Jimaz]

The Science of Why Bacon and Eggs Are the Perfect Match

Bacon and eggs aren’t a classic flavor combo for no reason, and the science behind why they taste so good together could help us make healthier foods more appealing to our palettes.

• Umami

[Bigb23]

I thought I had a world changing "Thoughts at Large", but forgot it between the bathroom and my recliner. You're loss.

[Bigb23]

I have a constant 1.6 Mbps for my DSL. [[$56/mo.), in downtown Rottenchester. Why should that be normal? There are eastern European countries that were bombed into rubble in WWII that have cheaper, faster, broadband than we do. Next time your YouTube video seizes up several times, complain on here.

My understanding is 100+Mbps is normal in Estonia, Latvia, and Elbonia, [[yes there is one).

[Bigb23]

That commercial from Allstate insurance where they drive on a moon rover to Smokey's "Cruisin", I could listen to that 1000 times without a complaint.

Somebody in an ad agency finally nailed one.

[Bigb23]

I'm really annoyed at all of the online casino ads now on TV. Is there anything worse than Lawyer/Roof/Window ads 24/7? Yes, these ads where you can lose tens of thousands of dollars sitting on your couch holding a phone. Please set a limit. I'm not a gambler, thank god, [[Even Lotto), but there are too many people out there looking for easy money when they are already in the shithole.

Remember - the house ALWAYS wins.

[Jimaz]

Amazon, Walmart, and Target are all taking a new approach to [some] returns by telling customers to keep what they bought, even after issuing refunds

That is just weird. If it's of such small value, why sell it in the first place? There has to be some way to exploit this policy.

The saga continues.

Long Island Man Shocked By Amazon’s Response After He Found Undelivered Packages On Side Of Road

That's called flailing. Just as banks are too large to fail, so is Amazon too large to even care.

[Kathleen]

Love at first sight!!
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...173143831.html

I am loving this story about the stray dog who fell for the purple and pink unicorn in the Dollar General store and kept trying to sneak into the store to see it! Alls well that ends well!! He got adopted and he got the unicorn!

[Jimaz]

The whole video is 29 minutes but I'll jump to the explosion: 1906 Stanley Steamer Vanderbilt Cup Racer - Jay Leno's Garage.

Gotta love those goggles. It's steampunkier!

Here's a new video.

At one point Leno says "There's nothing electric on this car." Ironically, today some auto manufacturing is being suspended for a lack of electronic chips!

Total duration 31 minutes:

Jay Leno's Steam Machines | Behind the Scenes

[oladub]

I asked a McDonald's employee in the drive through line why the flag at McDonalds was a half mast. He didn't know.

I don't remember the U.S. flag being at half mast so much of the time in the past. Seeking guidance about when to fly the flag at half mast, I found this article: http://halfstaff.org/when-to-raise-flag-to-half-staff/ It includes this quote,

"The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff. The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day."

It's no wonder the flag is at half mast so often. It's very confusing. This same website says the recent half mast setting, the one I questioned at McDonalds, was in memory of former Vice-president Mondale and goes on,

Fly the United States Flag at Half-Staff Immediately in Honor of Former Vice President Walter Frederick Mondale. *** flags should remain at half staff until the sunset on the day the interment.

Well, which is it? Should the flags be down 10 days from the death of the Vice-president or until the sunset on the day of interment? It doesn't matter because now it is suggested that flags be raised as the former VP will be buried in September.

[jcole]

They were being flown at 1/2 mast for Covid victims, but I think that order expired.

[Bong-Man]

By far the biggest snake I've seen in Michigan.

[Jimaz]

There's an ad that's been running on WWJ Newsradio 950 for the online Michigan lottery or some such. It ends with the disclaimer "Excludes Michigan disassociated persons." I suppose "Michigan residents only." didn't cover enough bases.

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers"

— William Shakespeare

[bust]

Have I posted here about the lawyer fish already?

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/ne...ecord-eelpout/

There was a much better lawyer fish article some 30 years ago in a local paper in the UP, but I couldn't quickly find it, and probably never will.

Had to laugh: an article in the BBC mis-attributes the origin of the burbot's nickname to its "beard"??

[Jimaz]

I think I heard this right but maybe not.

The recent gasoline shortages on the east coast were caused by a ransomware attack on a pipeline company. The crooks encrypted the company's files and withheld the decryption key until the ransom was paid. The company paid the $5M ransom but the decryption process was so slow that they restored their files from backup copies instead.

Um, if they had backups, why did they bother paying the ransom at all?

What did I miss?

[jcole]

I'm only guessing but they probably thought an encryption key would automatically open the file rather than having to wait to run the backup . You would think that a company like that would have an IT Department that would know something about ransomware or at least try to find out before they blew 5,000,000 bucksr

I think I heard this right but maybe not.

The recent gasoline shortages on the east coast were caused by a ransomware attack on a pipeline company. The crooks encrypted the company's files and withheld the decryption key until the ransom was paid. The company paid the $5M ransom but the decryption process was so slow that they restored their files from backup copies instead.

Um, if they had backups, why did they bother paying the ransom at all?

What did I miss?

[Honky Tonk]

You would think that a company like that would have an IT Department that would know something about ransomware or at least try to find out before they blew 5,000,000 bucksr

No problem, they just pass the "savings" along to the consumer.

[Richard]

What’s funny about all of that is the Mexican cartels tap into the pipelines down there and steal 10s of thousands of gallons every month.

Why do they need Millions in technology when a drill,shut off valve and tanker will work.

I paid $25 for 5 gallons of gas yesterday,welcome to the new world.

Why ask for a lousy $5 million,that is a days revenue,they had them by the pipes,why not $20 million.

I think there is more to it.

One can shut this country down from 10,000 miles away from the comfort of their mud hut,imagine what happens in the future when you have all of these electric cars hooked up to the grid.

You could make the county stand still with a few keystrokes.

Iphone - your WiFi has been disconnected until you update your phone.

You cannot update the phone without connecting to the WiFi that they will not allow you to excess.

So how is Apple any different then the ones who hacked the pipeline.

[jcole]

You can still plug your IPhone into a pc and update, then you can use your WiFi again...

...Iphone - your WiFi has been disconnected until you update your phone.

You cannot update the phone without connecting to the WiFi that they will not allow you to excess.

So how is Apple any different then the ones who hacked the pipeline.

[Richard]

You can still plug your IPhone into a pc and update, then you can use your WiFi again...

Thank you for that information.

I got it working the old fashioned way,out of frustration,I threw it against the wall,and it started working again.

and I did the update.

They told us that this technology would make our life easier,so far it is expensive and a pia.

When I bought my house,there was a phone on the wall that had been there for 50 years,it still worked and you could make and receive calls.

We now pay $1300 a year for a phone service that used to cost $10 a month,I think technology is a big Ponzi scheme,we go broke they become billionaires beyond imagination.

Tell me 10 years ago to pay $450 for a used phone and I would have accused one of smoking crack,that was more then my house payment back then.

I put a fax machine at the house and now they do not even do fax anymore,they say take a picture attach it to a email then send it that way.

They took a simple 2 step fax process and created a 6 step process that requires 1000 things to be operating correctly in the back ground in order for it to work and you do not even get confirmation that it actually was received.

Those pipeline hackers ? You know if you meet them in person and do an interview,and pass they will give you the program but you have to agree to split 25% of the take with them?

That gives our entire technology infrastructure including banking,power and ability to live our technology based life to a 10 year old with a computer and yearning to make a few quick millions.

That is scary stuff right there.