April 22, 2020
It's Just Like Christmas
No really. We are fully into Christmas levels of volume at my work. I personally lifted between 8,000 and 10,000 parcels today. Also, I have developed an intense hatred for Nordic Tracks and "Gaming Chairs".
Of course, I'm not dealing with anything like the hell that the ICU staff in hospitals are confronting on a daily basis, and I am not working in customer service and all the abuse that entails right now. More importantly, unlike many right now, I'm still employed. And, realistically, if work were a pleasant place to go to, they would charge admission. However, I do have two kidney stones, a sprained ankle, every muscle hurts and I'm exhausted.
I've got to get Spliff-Girl of the front page, so, here is a video that, while only tangentially related to the subject at hand, does have the benefit of being refreshingly devoid of any pretensions of respectability.
Music: Shake It by SISTAR. Animation by Natsumi Chan. Support her on Patreon.
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April 20, 2020
Happy National Splif Day
I'm sure that no harm can come from encouraging people to damage their amygdalas and lower their IQ by 8 points.
But hey, whatever gets you through the Quarantine.
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April 16, 2020
A Wise Person Learns From the Mistakes of Others (UPDATED)
I'm not particularly wise, but even I can take steps to avoid the tragic fate of our ancestors, the Golgafrinchans.
UPDATE: OK, So I've got this thing, and I must say, I'm suspicious. I have no way of knowing if this is working. There are allegedly two UV bulbs inside, but of course all frequencies of UV light are invisible to about 99.9+% of humans, and then there is the refrigerator door light problem.
Its controls consist of a flashing light that is green, red, or blue depending on how long a sterilization cycle one chooses. (5,10, or15 minutes).
It does not even have a manufacturer noted on its packaging, only the words UV Sterilizer and Made in China.
Upon opening it, I sneezed.
It does not have a plug, per se, but rather a USB cord that plugs into a micro-usb jack on the product itself. (Though in fairness, that obviates the necessity for voltage adapters, since USB is an international standard).
Shamefully lacking any electron microscopes with which to inspect the health of the microbiome on my phone and facemask, I have no way to see if this is working or not and I obviously don't want to stare at what might or might not be a UV bulb.
There is no instruction for or indications of any ability for changing the allegedly extant UV bulbs.
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April 15, 2020
Meanwhile: In China (Far Beneath the surface of the Earth)
It appear that everybody's favorite contributor of exotic cuisines and discoverer of new and consequential organisms has made yet another contribution to the overall sense of well being that we all enjoy right now.
It seems that China has been conducting very, very small nuclear tests.
China might be secretly conducting nuclear tests with very low explosive power despite Beijing’s assertions that it is strictly adhering to an international accord banning all nuclear tests, according to a new arms-control report to be made public by the State Department.
There is little indication of direct evidence, but there has been a tremendous activity at the main Chinese nuclear test site, (a place called Lop-Nur) there have also been reports of subterranean explosions and these apparently coincide with the shutdown of monitoring stations that the U.S. and China maintain in each other's countries as per treaty to confirm neither is conducting nuclear tests.
This assertion is made in a soon-to be released report by the U.S. State Department on Adherence and compliance with non-proliferation matters.
A quick perusal of publicly available documents reveals that in last years report on the same subject, similar concerns were raised.
From page 39 of last years State Department report on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, NonProliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments (PDF)
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (CHINA)
FINDING
The information raised by DIA Director LTG Robert Ashley in his remarks at the Hudson
Institute on May 29, 2019, including China’s possible preparation to operate its test site year
round and its use of explosive containment chambers, coupled with China’s lack of transparency
on their nuclear testing activities, raise questions regarding its adherence to the "zero-yieldâ€
nuclear weapons testing moratorium adhered to by the United States, United Kingdom, and
France.
CONDUCT GIVING RISE TO COMPLIANCE CONCERNS
China probably carried out multiple nuclear weapon-related tests or experiments in 2018.
Additional information is provided in the higher classification version of this report.
ANALYSIS OF COMPLIANCE CONCERNS
The nature of these tests raises concerns regarding China’s adherence to its moratorium, which
China declared in 1996, judged against the U.S. "zero-yield†standard. That is the extent of what's in it. Again, this is from last years report, which, being a public document was found with about 2 minutes of web searching after reading the linked articles. It will be interesting to see if the forthcoming report has further details or evidence, in particular the timing of the sensor stations going off line.
A representation of a Chinese nuclear attack from the Art of Fallout 4
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April 14, 2020
And Now a Word From Our Sponsors
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April 13, 2020
As if Things Weren't Bad Enough Already
It appears that today's journalists can't even spell journal.
In other news, Krakatoa is erupting.
But it's pretty much always doing that.
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April 10, 2020
Well THIS is Well Done
Originally by Moouyo, whose BilliBilli page is here.
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It Ends
Just a quick update on last night's post. In lieu of actual content here is something pleasantly disturbing by Tokyo Gensou. Buy his art book here.
more...
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April 09, 2020
Uncertainties
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Unpleasant banality resides below the fold, here's something much more pleasant by Noba (support him on Fanbox)
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April 08, 2020
Is This Real? It CAN'T be Real.
TweetShot via
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Cooking Mama CookStar Does not Exist. (UPDATE: Unless it Does.)
There's an odd story over at One Angry Gamer* that is at least partially corroborated by other outlets.
It seems that the lates installment in the Cooking Mama franchise is now out.
Or not.
Here's a quick overview of what may or may not have happened.
Cooking Mama CookStar was announced for the Nintendo Switch and in its promo materials an offhand mention was made that it would employ blockchain technology. (For some reason).
This led to crazy conspiratorial speculation that the game was an elaborate and cunning crypto-currency mining scheme.
The game release date has come and gone.
The game is listed as for sale but is not available. **
It was available at some point, because there are people who have physical copies that are playable...if not connected to the internet.
There are unconfirmed reports that the game is a terrible power hog and reports that an early version could damage the Switch. (How?)
There were reports (read anonymous posts) on Discord that the crypto-mining software was also forwarding user info to nefarious people for nefarious purposes. (A source quoted in the IGN article invokes the Kochs).
Nintendo assures everybody that there never was no-way no-how any crypto mining software on their game.
Analysts who have examined one of the few extant examples of the game claim there is evidence that crypto-mining software was removed...clumsily, which accounts for the games reported poor optimization.
Other sources say that there's nothing in the code that is indicative of crypto-mining now.
It's unclear, however, who actually developed this particular game. There are three companies denying any responsibility for it and another sketchy address in Connecticut. It's also unclear at what level of development blockchain technology was considered. Nintendo says it wasn't but it clearly was considered seriously somewhere at some point was it was mentioned in the promotional materials. (along with the vegetarian option...which may or may not be significant)
So what really is going on here?
No one who's asking knows and no one who knows is talking.
However the game existed at some point as there are "let's plays" on You Tube:
Nintendo says all is well. Buy their game. Which you can't get.
UPDATE 19:39 April 8: It now appears to be available via the game's website. They are only selling physical copies though (which is not in and of itself a bad thing)
* Don't read the comments!
** Screencap taken at time of this post is here.
more...
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An Explanation for One of the Most Counterintuitive Examples of Planetary Topography
Two of The Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes brings us a follow-up to a post from about 8 months ago where we noted the then recent confirmation of very broad and deep glaciers on...planet Mercury.
"Science Babes" are actually V-Tubers Lita and Liz (of KMNZ) as drawn for their album cover by Shyugao
While the moon has for quite a while been confirmed to have water in the permanently shadowed regions at its poles, this is assumed to mostly consist of permafrost and a few lakes as there has, thus far, been no indication of the sorts of huge exposed glaciers that have been found on Mercury. Given Mercury's proximity to the sun, one would think that Mercury would have rather less than the moon.
However, according to Phys.Org scientists now think they have figured out the discrepancy.
Read the article in full, but the short version of the hypothesis is that the intense solar bombardment across most of the temperate and tropical regions releases hydroxyl ions from the surface. These. being large in number and energetic on account of their heat collide and form water molecules which bare then scooped up by magnetic tornadoes and deposited on the poles. If deposited in a permanently shadowed area they freeze and build up over millennia.
All pretty straightforward...except for the part about magnetic tornadoes.
Protons from solar winds are more plentiful on Mercury than on Earth, where a mighty magnetic field whips solar wind particles, including protons, back out into space. Mercury's field is only about 1 percent as strong, and it swirls protons down onto the surface."These are like big magnetic tornados, and they cause huge proton migrations across most of the surface of Mercury over time," Orlando said.
Oh. Well that explains it then .
There's more on Mercurian Glaciers here and here, and another Reader's Digest Condensed version below..
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Someone is Not Understanding the Issue Here
I just deleted a spam comment which boasted that it was not providing a single link to another site but several links to sites with a wide variety of services.
This may come as a surprise to the spammers, but that is not actually an improvement.
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Perhaps Surviving in Post-Apocalyptia is Going to Prove More Challenging Than Video Games Have Led Me to Believe
Art by Wannkomomizi
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April 07, 2020
Something is....Wrong.
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April 06, 2020
A Few Observations
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I don't know where this picture came from. I had to have clicked on it as it was in an open tab.
But it exists, and that says a lot about the world today.
SOURCE FOUND (Well at least I figured out where I got it)
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April 05, 2020
Meanwhile: 8 Light Minutes From Earth (as of this evening)
One of The Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes brings us news of approaching entertainment from the Oort cloud.
"Incoming SCIENCE!"
River City Girls' Kyoko by ãªã¾ãˆã¯ãªã«ã«ã—よã†ã‹ãª (?)
Comet/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) is a large parabolic comet on what is estimated to be in a 4800 year orbit. Comets are not unusual of course, but this one has increased in brightness by four orders of magnitude in the month of March alone. In addition to being really big, it seems to be exceptionally rich in volitiles even for a comet and it will pass quite close to Earth. Comets can be quite unpredictable with regard to their brightness, but as of now it is looking very possible that this will be one of the small number classified as "great comets" over the last two thousand years.
It will be most visible from the Northern Hemisphere, but it will be viewable from the antipodes as it passes closer to the sun. It will pass within the orbit of Mercury and may explode or disintegrate.
It should be visible this month and will pass closest to Earth (72 million miles on May 23).
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Meanwhile: in Virginia...
Lockdown has been extended until the day after the Republican primary and after the municipal elections. Rather than reschedule the primary (the logical thing), the Governor GungrabberMcBlackface is announcing that the primary will be vote-by-mail. But ballots aren't being mailed to registered voters, they must be applied for.. There are specific requirements for absentee voting that have not been changed as I type this. There is more here.
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Meanwhile: in Ecuador (a place not known for its bitter winters)
I don't speak Spanish but this doesn't look good.
A lot of hope is being pinned on Winnie the Flu behaving like the regular flu and going away in the summer. The Ecuador situation does not seem to support that hope. Ecuador is on the actual equator (hence its name) and Guayaquil is the countries main port (not up in the mountains).Costal temperatures are moderated slightly by the Humbolt Current, but average temperature in Guayaquil in March is still 32.2C (about 90 degrees Fahrenheit) .
The above video was posted by a German News Agency on YouTube but seems to have been pulled.
There's another, short, but quite grim video from Guayaquil here and there's a CNNi report on the situation here.
Batten down. This mess is going to go on for a while.
Winnie the Flu
Winnie the Flu
Deadly detritus from the Pol-it-buro
Winnie the Flu
Winnie the Flu
Pest-er-iferous red bug
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April 04, 2020
A Short Sharp Action off Isla Del Tortuga
This is an immensely amusing story. It seems that the German owned, Portuguese flagged cruise ship RCGS Resolute suffered a mechanical casualty off the South American coast, and while drifting in international waters was approached and fired upon by the Venezuelan corvette BVL Naiguatá. The Venezuelan captain ordered the passenger vessel to follow it into harbor, and when the captain refused attempted to ram and board the Resolute.
Unsurprisingly, given that the Resolute was disabled, ramming was achieved.
Alas, as Resolute is an ice strengthened ship designed to cruise off Antarctica she suffered no damage, while BVL Naiguatá suffered sufficient damage that she capsized and sank ignominiously.
Comparison photo via The Week.
French, U.S., Dutch, and Columbian naval forces are all now on the alert for any further shenanigans from the ABV.
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