Rambling

Fedde Le Grand - Put Your Hands Up For Detroit (Official Video)
Altra Moda Music

Been watching Zero Day on Netflix this evening, and man oh man, it's like an instant replay of the days news. I swear ten percent of the show is spent on the actual investigation and the other ninety percent is spent on the politics surrounding the investigation. It's a stark reminder that all of the news I hear on a daily basis is bullshit and is not worth any of my time.

I hear a lot from conservative sites about the liberal bias of the mainstream media. So why aren't we looking at who is running these various media empires? I do know that Jeff Bezos, the King of Amazon, owns The Washington Post, and maybe they have changed. But then I got to wondering, maybe the people who run these big news outfits don't have a political agenda, they just go by how many eyeballs they can capture, and since they have been in this business for a long time, they know exactly what will get them the most eyeballs and so that's the kind of material they pump out.

Now it could be that some liberal agent money to these media outlets and since their reason for being is to make money, they took it, and that may have flavored their output. Which is why the liberals screamed so loudly about Elon and his cost cutting measures - the source of cash to fund their media campaigns was drying up. But if that was the case, you might expect the flavor of the news to have changed in the last six months. Has it changed? Not that I can tell. It's still nearly pure, unadulterated bullshit.

I'm sort of glad Trump got elected. Most everyone I know hates him, and most of that comes from listening to him. I solved that problem, I don't listen to him. Shoot, I don't listen to any talking heads. But I don't think Trump is going to solve any of our big problems. For that matter, I'm pretty sure they can't be solved. The big problems that I see are INFLATION and FOREIGN WARS, UKRAINE at the moment.

I wonder if AI might be able to help with our health care system. A lot of people in the health care industry spend a lot of time talking to patients. Much of it is just having a reassuring person to talk to. I wonder if Elon could whip up some very reassuring robots. They wouldn't have to be able to do much, walk, sit and talk, maybe hold a pen and a tablet. No calisthenics, no feats of strength or dexterity. Maybe hold the patients hand. I am sure there are dozens of existing scripts for communicating with patients. AI should have any trouble.

So we could have attractive male & female robots and select one or the other depending on the patient. I can already see problems when somebody forgets to sync up the voice with correct facial mask, and some manly looking robot starts speaking in a young woman's voice and freaks out the patient, so they sue.

The Translator by Harriet Crawley, Notes from first four chapters

The Translator by Harriet Crawley. I picked this book up at Broadway Books on Northeast Broadway. As I started reading it, I started making notes.

AgustaWestland AW109

Clive Franklin, the British translator, is picked up by a helicopter from a village in Scotland.

York Minster

They fly over York.

Rioja

He has a glass of Rioja at the airport.

Royal Air Force Voyager Vespina

They fly to Moscow.

The Caipirinha is Brazil's national drink, made with fresh lime juice, sugar, and cachaça, which is distilled from sugar cane juice p. 32

The Russian translator, Marina Volina has drinks with her son at a bar while watching the Russian Victory Parade.

Newton Running Shoes p. 32

Marina is a marathon runner.

Jaguar XJ Stretched Limousine p. 33

Clive catches a ride in Land Rover, the big shots ride in a limo.

Now we have a few places in Moscow:

Karl Marx Monument
Google - Workers of All Countries Unite
Wikipedia - Proletarians of All Countries, Unite!
Harriet - Workers of the world, unite!

British Ambassador Residence in Moscow p. 42

The Moscow Times reports:

The mansion at 14 Sofiiskaya naberezhnaya across the Moscow River from the Kremlin was built in 1893 for the “sugar king” Pavel Kharitonenko and his family.

After the 1917 Revolution, the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs claimed the mansion — and saved the interiors. At first it housed the families of important Soviet diplomats and visitors such as H.G. Wells and Isadora Duncan.

In 1929 the mansion was transferred to the embassy of Great Britain, the first major country to establish diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R.

They also has some fine photos of the interior of this place.

Zaryadye Concert Hall p. 44

Zaryadye Concert Hall Interior

At the Russian President's villa, the gang admires the paintings. These two get special mention.

Girl with Peaches by Valentin Serov (1887) p. 46

The Monarch of the Glen by Sir Edwin Landseer (1851) p. 47

Castillo de La Calahorra

Castillo de La Calahorra

Castillo de La Calahorra is located in La Calahorra, in the province of Granada, Spain. It is situated in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Built between 1509 and 1512, it was one of the first Italian Renaissance castles to be built outside Italy. - Wikipedia

It has shown up in several movies. 

Castillo de La Calahorra

Power from the Sky

The S1500, China’s new 1 megawatt flying wind turbine.

Brian Potter points to a story on Clean Technica. They seem to be planning on deploying these things in the jet stream, umpteen thousands of feet in the air.

ZERO DAY - Netflix Series

ZERO DAY | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix

This show is great, for what it is. Basically they took all the politics that we have seen over the last couple of years and stuffed it into these 6 episodes. I mean they've got everything. Both sides of the political spectrum are well represented here, the more extreme the viewpoint the better. We also have vicious political infighting and all the conspiracy theories you could wish for. Good visiuals on how they track networks of people by the cell phone calls they make, but you know Hollywood, they're big on visuals. Linux terminals displaying lines of neon green text on a black screen is only interesting to those who are well versed in the intricacies of whatever program they are running. The show exaggerates the risk to our computerized environment, but not by much. The danger, as always, is adding remote control / monitoring capability to existing systems (because it saves having to pay someone to actually go there and check on it), but not establishing any security around your communications line because that would just be a needless expense.

Anyway. we've got Robert DeNiro playing the head of a new agency charged with investigating a huge cyber crime, and he's literally losing his mind. Cognitive decline is a real thing and they do a good job of illustrating it here.

6 episodes 50 minutes each

Coincidentally, the FBI busted a server farm somewhere in New York this week.

This photo provided by the U.S. Secret Service, in New York, Monday, Sept. 22,2025, shows signal euqipment at the location where they were seized by the agency. (U.S. Secret Service via AP) AP

I don't know exactly what these boxes are, but they look like each box holds 30 odd cell phones. Multiple that by ten boxes and you have 300 cell phones. I do wonder what they were doing with them.

I tried watching a news report about this incident, but it was full of TV blather, so I thought I'd read the transcript, but the format is a little rough. So I copied it to a spreadsheet and used the sort function to get rid of the time stamps. What we're left with is in all capitals and sans punctuation. It's still a little rough, but you can read it here if you want.

Funnies

Stolen from The Feral Irishman and CENSOR'D

BLACK RABBIT - Netflix Series

BLACK RABBIT | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix

What a horrible show, horrible like a train wreck, and train wreck that doesn't just crash but keeps on crashing. The train comes off the rails and smashes through one building and you think, well, that was bad, but we'll recover. But no, the train isn't done, it keeps going, smashing the next building and the next and the next.

The story is about two brothers Jake and Vince. Jake runs a very trendy, expensive restaurant in Manhattan and he is doing well. He's having to hustle to keep this operation running smoothly but he is managing, until his brother shows up. His brother is a gambler. At one point he was flying high and developed a line of credit with a local mobster, but then his luck turned, the mobster wanted his money and Vince high-tailed it for the west Coast. Two years later he has gotten himself in another jam and calls Jake for help. He could have gone to Florida or really anywhere, but he didn't. He comes back to NYC where he is quickly identified by the mob thugs.

Now we go through one ridiculous scheme to pay off the mob guys, every one of which turns into a train wreck, but if Vince has one thing going for him, he has the gift of gab, and so in every case he manages to delay his day of reckoning for another few days while he schemes to come up with an even larger payday. Vince is a fucking disaster. Don't like swear words? The F-word is used about a zillion times in this show.

How many people die in this show? Let me count them for you:

• fat west coast thief steals coin collection from Vince, but fails to get out of the way when Vince backs across the parking lot and runs him over.
• young woman, former bartender at Jake's restaurant, when a couple of thugs break into her apartment and she slips and falls and hits her head on the tub.
• at the robbery we get three dead: one thug, one celebrity, and one good citizen with a gun.
• bartender at another bar during the showdown.

Jack & Vince got off to a bad start because they had a bad father. One night when the boys were young, their father lost his temper with his wife and started beating her. Vince took exception to this behavior. Looking over the railing from the third floor, he dropped a bowling ball on the old man's head, killing him. The mobster, same one who is after Vince, 'cleaned up' the mess by taking the body to a bar and pushing sent if falling down the stairs to the basement. Looks like another drunk slipped and fell. All cleaned up.

How a World War Two Submarine Works

How a World War Two Submarine Works
Animagraffs

This video is fantastic. I had a general idea of what went into a submarine, but I've never seen is laid out so clearly and completely. Geez, these things were complicated, and we're not even looking at what goes into all those analog remote controls and gauges. 

Burrowing Parrots

Burrowing Parrots, Las Lajas, Argentina

Very difficult puzzle, though I don't understand why. You might think that all the pieces of birds would give useful clues, but they didn't. Even when I was down to the last few dozen pieces, I could not find a place for some. I think maybe I'll go back to cars. They are much easier.

I do like parrots though. I wonder if I should get one. Kids seem to think I need a dog. We shall see.

Biologist Juan Masello studying the world’s largest parrot colony, at Balneario El Condor in Argentina. Don Priesler

Burrowing Parrot Range. Yellow is nesting area, orange is area of seasonal food migrations.

Dr. Mauve

William Perkin, inventor of mauve dye.

Introduction to How Common Is Accidental Invention? by Brian Potter:

One of the most important inventions of the 19th century was mauve dye, the first synthetic aniline dye. First synthesized by William Perkin in 1856 out of coal tar, mauve led to the creation of an entire synthetic dye industry. Within a few years, many other aniline dyes, such as magenta, aniline blue, aniline yellow, and aniline black had been discovered, and large industrial operations had sprung up to manufacture them. The synthetic dye industry ultimately evolved into the industrial chemical industry in the late 19th century (using coal and coal-tar as its primary feedstock). Synthetic die manufacturing was also the industry where the first industrial R&D labs appeared, formed to uncover new chemical knowledge in service of creating better and more efficient dyes and dyeing processes.

He goes on to discuss a number of 'accidental' inventions.

Very Geary Gears

V-Drive

Why does this truck have two differentials? That's weird, man.

V-Drive

Because the gear monkeys have been here, that's why.

V-Drive

Gear guys love to come up with weird stuff. The VEMCO story can be found here.

Via The Feral Irishman

Rover 3500

The Dream Car You've Never Heard Of: Rover 3500 SDI Full History — Revelations with Jason Cammisa
Hagerty

Jason includes a brief history of Rover, most of which was new to me. I have probably seen this car before but I never paid much attention to it, probably because it never made much of an impact in America. The part I like is the aluminum V8 engine. I had a 1963 Buick Special for year or so when I was in high school. Bought it from my dad for like $100, which was the trade in value he would have gotten from the dealer on the new 1967 Buick LeSabre he was buying.

Anyway, it had the tiny, 215 cubic inch aluminum V8 engine which I thought was very cool. I still think so. Buick dropped it, but Rover picked it up and used in their sedan and in their Land Rovers and maybe even in the Range Rover.

Comfort & Style

1965 Chrysler 300L Convertible

Sotheby's give us some numbers from a Chrysler 300 they sold last year:

• One of 440 300L Convertibles produced for the 1965 model year
• Powered by a 413-cu.-in. V-8 engine paired with a three-speed TorqueFlite transmission
• Featuring air conditioning, an AM/FM radio, and power windows

MotorTrend tells us a story:

[This story first appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of MotorTrend Classic] Sing it with me: “I got me a car, it’s as big as a whale, and we’re heading on down to the Love Shack. I got me a Chrysler, it seats about 20, so hurry up and bring your jukebox money.” Of course you know the lyrics. Everybody knows those lyrics. But perhaps you’ve never seen the video, the one where Fred Schneider pilots a turquoise and chrome 1965 Chrysler 300 Convertible. B-52s guitarist Keith Strickland’s in the front seat riffing away (he’s probably got a combo amp in the footwell—there’s room for it), while the quartet’s twin beauties Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson sit perched upon the rear seatback belting their sweet hearts out. “Glitter on the mattress, glitter on the highway.”

Not seen the video? Are you kidding? Of course I've seen the video, but I am afraid I did not notice the make and model of the car. It only shows up a couple of times in the first 20 seconds, and it sure looks like a Chrysler convertible. It's not turquoise though.

The B-52's - Love Shack (Official Music Video)
RHINO

Turquoise & Chrome Chrysler 300 Convertible

The car in the video is not turquoise, so here's one. Maybe I got the wrong video.

Rebuilding Cottage Porch

Cottage Porch Outside

Uniberp is rebuilding the porch on his cottage.

Cottage Porch Inside

Fallout from an email coversation:

California Bob is contemplating painting: . . .  need advice on paint sprayer.

• Would like something to do a large quantity of trim, baseboards. 
• Would like something portable and self contained -- not one you have to hook to an air compressor.

I seem to recall you used one to paint the inside of a garage. Suggestions?

Uniberp replies: 

Battery airless came out this year. Several to choose.

Harbor Freight, Avanti, Graco

• https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-cordless-handheld-airless-sprayer-tool-only-58520.html
• https://www.graco.com/us/en/homeowner/product/26d280.html

But the most important thing is the paint. Oil based enamel is the most durable, and flows so well that spray is overkill, plus it takes a whole day to dry and you have the vapor to deal with.

If you do it before it's installed you still have to fill nail holes or clamp it in place with adhesive.

I'll work up to painting this whole place at some point.  I delay because painting is my least favorite part.

Click on the Muskegon label to see other posts about this project. It's been going on for years.

Su-57

Su-57

Those leading edge flaps are impressive.

Kathmandu

Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal

This was a difficult puzzle. Having 300 pieces and having so much detail meant there were few visual cues as to which pieces connected. I ended up having to search for a spot for about half of them.

Boudha Stupa gave birth to the origins of Tibetan Buddhism. Its massive mandala makes it the largest spherical stupa in Nepal and one of the largest in the world. - from Wikipedia

Katmandu
Bob Seger

I was thinking that there were some other famous songs that mentioned Kathmandu. The only other famous one I found was the tune by Cat Stevens. LYRICS found 209 other tunes. I listened to several, but nothing rang a bell. 

There was one tune that mentions 'Kingsley in Kathmandu' and that leads me to the Kingsley Holgate Foundation Facebook page that mentions the 'Japanese-built 'BP Highway' or Sindhuli road'.

The BP Highway is a highway in eastern Nepal that links Kathmandu Valley with the Eastern Terai region. It is named after the former leader of Nepal, BP Koirala. The construction of this road started in November 1996 and completed in 2015. It was built with a grant from the Government of Japan. - from Wikipedia

BP Highway Nepal

Himalayan Mountains from Space

Best view I've seen. Meanwhile, there are big time protests going on in Nepal.

William Gibson Reads Neuromancer

Stolen entire from Bearcave.com :

William Gibson Reads Neuromancer

The author Ray Bradbury is one of the early science fiction authors that moved science fiction into a literary form. As a writer Bradbury constructs beautifully written stories and novels. Bradbury's writing is in stark contrast to Bradbury as a speaker. The first time I heard Ray Bradbury speak was at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) yearly conference in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Hearing Bradbury speak is an almost painful experience. The pictures that Bradbury can paint with the written word seem to be entirely missing when Bradbury speaks. He is halting, awkward and does not seem to know where he wants to go in his talk.

In contrast to Bradbury, listenting to William Gibson has the feel of his written work. The same complex world view and sentence structure is there, although not as finely edited. An example of this can be found in the documentary made about William Gibson, No Maps for these Territories. This documentary includes extensive interviews with William Gibson. No Maps also provides a glimpse of the way Gibson looks at the interconnections and relationships in the world around us. This view of Gibson's mind shows us his genius.

The mirror between William Gibson's spoken voice and his written voice gives special force to his readings of his work. Early in his career Gibson did an abridged reading of Neuromancer, his first novel and the work that made him famous. It was in this novel that Gibson coined the term cyberspace. This reading was only published on audio-tape and is now out of print.

I hate the idea that Gibson's wonderful reading of Neuromancer should be lost or inaccessable. I was only able to hear it because the Mountain View (California) Library had a copy. Fortunately I've been able to find an MP3 copy of these audio tapes. They can be downloaded below.

I am only providing these MP3s because the original has been out of print for years. As a software engineer I believe that I should be paid for my work. If I hold this view then it is only reasonable that I should also believe that artist should be paid for their work. All of the software and music I own I have paid for (or is open source). I would prefer that the publisher re-issue the audio-tape of William Gibson's reading in a more modern format (perhaps CD) and that William Gibson collect royalties on this work. Gibson's reading has been out of print so long that I can only assume that this is unlikely to happen.

If you're a fan of William Gibson I hope that others will mirror these files as well so that they will never be lost.

This reading was published on four magnetic tape audio cassetts. These have been re-recorded in MP3 format:

Neuromancer (abridged) read by William Gibson

Tape 1, side 1
Tape 1, side 2
Tape 2, side 1
Tape 2, side 2
Tape 3, side 1
Tape 3, side 2
Tape 4, side 1
Tape 4, side 2

• An on-line copy of William Gibson's Neuromancer

  Neuromancer is one of the few books that I've read many times. All of Gibson's books are good (well, except for The Difference Engine, but that's Bruce Sterling's fault). Neuromancer is still in print, so you should go out an buy a copy if you want to read it. Writers pay their bills from the royalties from book sales. I've included the link above in case you want to get a feel for the book before you buy it (even paperback books are not cheap these days).

Via Detroit Steve

Hostages

This image released by the armed wing of Hamas shows the 48 captives held in Gaza [Photo released by Qassam Brigades]

Lest we forget just what kind of scum Hamas are. The sooner Israel eradicates this vermin the better. Taking hostages is akin to signing your own death warrant. Could it be that Hamas is just a death cult ala Kali-Yuga?

Beriev Be-12

Drone's eye view of Russian Beriev Be-12 flying boat

Ukraine sent drones to attack a Russian base in Crimea and blew up a couple of flying boats and a helicopter. Still trying to adjust my thinking to accommodate the idea that weapons can give you eye-witness view of their own destruction. I mean, it was only last week that video cameras cost zillions of dollars.

Beriev Be-12

The Be-12 is a big airplane. The wingspan is a hundred feet, it's a hundred feet long and it weighs 25 tons. For comparison, the PBY Catalina is only 65 feet long and weighs 10 tons. The Japanese US-2 is about 10% longer and wider and has four engines. First flight was in 1960, so the design is like 65 years old. The Russians built 150 of them.