Hahaha. I think I've been away from home for too long. This just happened 4 blocks from where I was born. Too much fun. Love it.

youtube.com/watch?v=22PORnPB-Y

@futurebird @whknott having taken both Calc and Stats, I'd say statistics was harder for me.
But then, I'm no mathematician. Math is a tool to accomplish a goal, not something to play with.

I've met people with the opposite opinion, and that's fine. We just need to realize that those opposing philosophies can complement each other or fight each other. It's up to us to decide which it is.

Madeleine Riffaud, hero of the French Resistance, has died at the age of 100. “The essential was not to give in. When you resisted, you were already a victor. You had already won.” nytimes.com/2024/11/23/world/e

And to those who argue that Biden pardoning Hunter gives Trump an excuse for his J6 pardons ... TRUMP WAS GOING TO DO THAT ANYWAY!

It's time for Democrats to stop the "oh gee, we have to play by all the rules all the time and be super fair and nice and sweet" while the Evil GOP breaks all the rules and runs over the Democrats with a fascist steamroller while the Democrats stand there waving flowers.

Well, Trump pardoned his son-in-law’s father and made him Ambassador to France, so no Republicans can complain.

Right?

President Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden:
nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden

It's not every day that you see a tank at a gas station. But in #Ukraine it is possible.

📽️ United 24 Media / Instagram

Good fortune has always followed me around. I'm reminded of it tonight. I'm working on a design that involves a thermistor. Modern thermistors are marvels of accuracy and repeatability. Wonderful things.

So, in the 1960s I lived in the Hillcrest area of West Los Angeles. We also had a beach house in Venice Beach. Our next door neighbor was the Link family, as in the child actor Michael Link. Michael's father was a chemist and retiring. He gave his entire personal laboratory to me, which we transported to the basement of our house in West LA and I added chemistry to my studies. Tremendous fun, very educational, even though I didn't become a chemist. Fortunately, he chose someone responsible because, while I was a crazy youthful experimentalist, I wasn't crazy enough to kill myself. The lab included lots of supplies and plenty of very dangerous reagents. Like I said, fun. This was not a child's toy or chemistry set and I was determined to learn how to use it properly. I mainly focused on chemical assaying. As in you give me a rock and I'll tell you what it's made of.

At the same time, one of my parent's many friends was Dr. Samuel Ruben. He visited Los Angeles from time to time. He and I would hang out and discuss chemistry. When he wasn't around, he was at his lab in New Rochelle, NY and we corresponded by written letters. He was my chemistry mentor. At that age and education level, I was not yet qualified to understand all that he had done. As time went on, I learned more about who had been teaching me.

Which brings us back to the thermistor. Dr. Ruben was an expert in electrochemistry. He held around 200 patents including the invention of the modern thermistor. He also invented the dry electrolytic capacitor, the modern alkaline battery, the mercury battery, the tantalum capacitor... on and on. Ruben co-founded with Mallory the Duracell company.

So I'm getting a kick out of closing the loop and holding a thermistor in my hand tonight.

Space is big. Really really big. Big enough for all the billionaires and oligarchs and power-hungry people to coexist in without taxing the people and ecosystems of Earth. Let's put our heads together and send them there.

That moment when you find out that tracking on the Web is so bad now that sites actually use the size of your browser's window as a possible mechanism to track you by.

What have we become as a species that this is where we are?

#Privacy #Tracking

@FiddleSix @NorcalGma2

Our dog was very clearly choosing things that smelled like us. If we left him alone in the house, he would get Person A's slipper, Person B's stuffed animal, Person C's (worn) shirt, and Person D's pajamas, and arrange them in a half-circle around himself.

He didn't especially chew on them - he just wanted our scents with him. He would lie there forlornly until we came home.

Trump thinks he can force Ukraine's hand by holding back US aid.

Now, Japan alone has reserved USD 7.46 billion for Ukraine.

And Japan is just one of 50+ wealthy nations supporting Ukraine.

I am not saying the US support does not matter. It does. But all Trump is doing, is removing US influence.

reuters.com/markets/asia/japan

"Poland will supply the infrastructure, equipment, and weaponry needed for the training period."

pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2024/11

Earlier this year, we reported on how a former employee said #Microsoft dismissed his warnings about a critical flaw because it feared losing #government business. #Russian hackers later used the weakness to breach the National Nuclear Security Administration, among others.

propublica.org/article/microso

#Tech #News #Cybersecurity #Hacking #Data #Technology

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Jocelyn Bell Burnell transformed astronomy #OTD in 1967 when she made the first observation of a pulsar.

She and advisor Antony Hewish initially dubbed the object LGM-1 (“Little Green Men”) for its regular signal, but soon identified it as a rotating, magnetized neutron star.

#astronomy #pulsars #neutronstars #JocelynBellBurnell

Funny story...

EV's are not a thing here in West Virginia, yet. I *think* I spotted a Volt one time a few years ago but am not sure. I did see a Rivian downtown about a year ago. But that's it.

Here it's RAM diesel pickups rigged for smoke, SUVs, and 1960's, early 70's muscle cars, fully tricked out, 3/4 race cams, open exhaust, being driven on the street. Doing a burnout on the street with a 60s muscle car is fine. The cops don't seem to notice. Hah. Wish I had my 'rod from the 70s again (a tricked out '67 Chevelle SS that I sold for 50 bucks because I was sick and tired of building engines and car & boat drag racing.) I'd kill to have my Chevelle again -- 10.94 in the quarter mile.

Anyway, never seen a Tesla...until a few days ago. Called for an Uber ride to escort a friend and her kid to the dentist and here rolls up a maroon colored car. Didn't pay attention to the type of car. Didn't care. Didn't seem unusual because the car was quite noisy with fan noise, etc. After riding for a minute I realized it was a Tesla.

The driver was an old guy like me and he had the heat turned up to like 90 degrees in the car. I didn't complain because the ride was just ten minutes. But there it was, a Tesla. It behaved like an ordinary car but the external noise was off-putting. I would expect silence from an EV, like the electric buses and trolleys I grew up around in Los Angeles 65 years ago. What's with all the noise? The thing sounded like the fans in a data center, which is why I didn't notice it was an EV until I got in and recognized the Tesla escutcheon plate.

Anyway, so I've finally seen a Tesla and ridden in it. I didn't have time to talk with the driver about his impressions, unfortunately. I was too busy talking with the person I was escorting and translating for. (She doesn't speak English).

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