December 17, 2017
Old 'Splodies, Newly Released
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories has released another dump of declassified films of above ground nuclear tests. While none are as visually spectacular as some of the ones in the previous release, they're nevertheless interesting and this batch seems to focus mostly on very small (including sub-kiloton) blasts and some of the big multi-megaton tests at the Pacific test range.
Regarding the latter, I do wonder if the great distances these high yield tests were filmed from in comparison to the first is related to the debacle that was Castle Bravo.
One thing about these films only fully registered with me recently. There are several sequences that attempt to film the actual physics as it is happening, and push the 1950s filmmaking state of the art to the limit. Remember, this was captured with film...there was no such thing as a digital camera then... this is a fission/fusion explosion...just really...sloooooowwwwwww.
Amazing!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:28 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 154 words, total size 2 kb.
December 09, 2017
Still Surfing the Cardboard Tsunami
So...
A short time ago Amazon, unhappy that they couldn't convince delivery companies to deliver their parcels at a loss, decided that they were never going to use UPS (or that other company) again and they were going to burry the delivery industry with their new delivery service.
As I understand it, Amazon was QUITE emphatic and eloquent in conveying the message to the shipping companies that such services would not be required this year. Thus management adjusted staffing accordingly.
Imagine our shock when Amazon packages started arriving right after Thanksgiving...en masse. It seems that delivering packages is hard and the stress and vexation of this realization is causing Amazon's newly minted employees to meet the challenge...poorly. Some have responded by going mad, or bad, or worse and some have simply cried desperately for help.
Anyway...it's been an exciting couple of weeks (and weekends too, because "OMG!"). I've worked here 25 years, and there have been some rough Christmas seasons, but this one has been a perfect storm of surprises and discoveries such as "Oh...so THAT'S the structural failure point for that type of platform."
But enough childish whining about actually being employed and getting paid lots of sweet overtime, here are some virtual ladies who manage to evoke the spirit of the season in a rather minimalist sort of way, even as they dance to lyrics that...don't.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
10:34 AM
| Comments (7)
| Add Comment
Post contains 233 words, total size 3 kb.
December 07, 2017
76 Years On
Soon all who actually remember it will be gone. What future generations know will be second and then third hand. In a decade of so, after the last have passed and their children are too old to relevantly object, "Interesting and insightful interpretations" will, no doubt, become all the rage in history departments to an even greater extent than they are now.
If present trends continue, we may be among the last people to learn anything approaching what happened during those desperate, crucial years and what we, the grandchildren and great grandchildren of those who were there know is distorted by time, wartime secrecy, human fallibility and the fog of war.
Study what you can. Remember it well, and pass it on to those that care.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
11:02 AM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 129 words, total size 1 kb.
December 05, 2017
Oh.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
09:03 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 2 words, total size 1 kb.
December 03, 2017
Rwby at Mid-Season
There was a fight four episodes ago.
There are, I believe four episodes left in this series.
It was rather more low key than the series is known for but pretty cool nonetheless.
"Why are YOU here? What's the plan?" "I don't have a plan. I mean I HAD a plan. It was a wonderful, clever and elegant plan. But you weren't part of it! Do you have any ideas?""Oh I HAD an idea and I was executing it, it was cunning and subtle...THEN YOU SHOWED UP!"The subsequent episodes have all been mostly quiet mood pieces focusing on either character development, exposition or an admittedly well-crafted sense of dread.
No. Really.
These most recent stories have mostly ended in cliffhangers, which have all been left hanging from their respective cliffs while our widely separated characters gradually regroup, show how far they have come as people, and learn more about what is actually going on.
I count at this point three separate cliffs being hung upon, two major plot developments that have been strongly hinted at, plus three major subplots, and these are all related to but distinct from the main antagonist.
There are, I believe four episodes left in this series.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
11:16 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 37 words, total size 3 kb.
Well!
The recent update of Epic REALLY, REALLY does not like Mee.nu.
Or perhaps it dislikes Minx.
I dunno.
But enough Meta whining.
Now here's something completely unrelated that we hope you really like.
Art by Hiiro Gundan
UPDATE: Aside from the odd formatting issue with the first three lines, most of the problems seem to be fixable via browser permissions.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
04:06 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 61 words, total size 1 kb.
November 30, 2017
Internet Fight
Two rival gunblogger's research led them to very different conclusions regarding a historical matter.
With millions in grant money at stake, only one's career will survive this confrontation!
Watch as they viciously tear into each other!
Watch as they viciously tear into each other!
Grab the popcorn as they attack each other's reputation!
Thrill as they liken each other to Holocaust Deniers!
Oh wait.
These two are scholars, not academics.
There's no blood, tears nor fragile egos.
Well, that wasn't at all vicious, but it was edifying.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:08 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 92 words, total size 1 kb.
In Addition to the End-of-Semester Crunch
...this blog's content has been handicapped of late by other factors.
As some of you know, I work in the transportation industry and recent seasonal developments in the world of shipping have had a deleterious effect upon updates.
The following embedded video is related to said developments, though out of consideration for my readers it is not a completely accurate representation of my workplace.
UPDATE: Well, that's an unfortunate (though not unrepresentative) frame for the preview.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:45 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 82 words, total size 1 kb.
E-Mail Alert
If you get any E-mails purporting to be from me that claim to concern "Home Warranties" or "Hey Babe" just delete them. They are all coming from AOL accounts albeit not my actual address.
Given the termination of the AIM service on January first, and how little use AOL is other than as a spam aggregator, I'm gonna end the account next month. Perhaps there'll be a final New Yea's Eve Chat with some AIM friends.
While we're on the topic, does anyone have any recommendations for non-Google affiliated Email providers?
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:29 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 93 words, total size 1 kb.
November 23, 2017
One Other Thing I'm Quite Thankful For
First off, the paper is over.
Done.
I do not have to do any more on that paper!
The paper is turned in.
Finished.
Despite loosing the flash drive containing the paper.
The paper got done.
On time.
And I don't have to work on the paper any more.
For this I am tremendously thankful.
Art by Gambe
Blogging will resume shortly.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
08:05 PM
| Comments (7)
| Add Comment
Post contains 69 words, total size 1 kb.
Things I am Thankful For
Art by Iesupa
There's lots, but I'm most thankful for those now distant or departed friends, who, by example, helped me to grow as a person and inspired me to strive, however imperfectly, for arete.
Thank you.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:50 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 42 words, total size 1 kb.
November 12, 2017
Halp!....IT Bleg
Instapundit
The following sites are amongst those that are not accessible from my computer;
I checked, and, interestingly, 4-chan, 8-chan, and 420-chan are down too. This is interesting not because they are dens of inequity, but because (for a variety of reasons) they are all known to be on completely different servers.
However, this condition, which is consistent across Epic, Safari, Opera, Vivaldi,(Mac-side) Midori and Internet Explorer (Windows side) and has been for just over 30 hours, now seems to only be affecting my machine.
What could account for this?
UPDATE: Oh dear. It appears that Zero Hedge is inaccessible as well, which not only results in a cray-cray clickbait deficit, but could indicate involvement by the Omnipotent, Ubiquitous THEY.
UPDATE 2: OK turning off the Wi-Fi at the box and re-starting it finally solved the issue. I have no idea why that should have worked, but it's always the last thing I do before calling Verizon.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
09:24 AM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 168 words, total size 2 kb.
November 05, 2017
Here. You Should Try This.
Seriously, all the cool kids are doing it and besides, Doki Doki Literature Club is free! It's also available on STEAM.
Go ahead try it!
It's a dating sim, which is not generally my cup of tea, but this game has got some interesting interactivity features that, amongst other things, give the player the option of using the word effulgent in proper context and iambic pentameter. The route I chose took about 4 hours (give or take...or give...I suppose it's a matter of perspective). I'll definitely be revisiting this.
Well, yeah... the game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed, or suffer from anxiety or depression but you aren't you aren't one of them are you?
You just gotta promise.
Once you've played it...
No spoilers.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
04:19 PM
| Comments (4)
| Add Comment
Post contains 135 words, total size 2 kb.
November 01, 2017
Antelope's Redemption
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
06:33 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 2 words, total size 1 kb.
This is Not as Bad as it Sounds, but it Could get Much Worse Soon
Plague-Tan by Heitor Amatsu
This story broke a bit over a week ago, but I refrained from posting on it, in part because I'd just posted about the DPRK biowarfare program. A Plague outbreak is, even today, fairly unremarkable, we get them every few years in the Southwestern U.S. and the disease is common in parts of Africa.
However, this was a pneumonic plague outbreak, in a crowded developing world city, and the potential for mass misfortune was real.
The story still isn't quite as bad as it seems from the headlines. It has not actually spread to 9 countries, though it is expected to. Also, 124 in a single city being killed by a disease in a week, is a pretty serious situation, but it's not as bad as the 1300 reported (that appears to be the number of infected...which, is impressive in a good way as Pneumonic plague tends to have a mortality rate quite a bit higher than 10%.
Pneumonic plague doesn't require fleas as vectors as it is airborne. It's not a distinct strain of plague, merely regular plague that gets into the lungs, and spreads via coughing. There are some strains of plague, that, if they get in the lungs, do transmit a bit better than others, but in all cases Plague is less virulent that a cold or flu, and being a bacteria, it responds to antibiotics. On the debit side, it spreads like wildfire in close quarters and can kill in 24 to 48 hours. In stark contrast to the necrotic and bubonic manifestations of plague, this has a mortality rate approaching some Ebola strains. This is, perversely, "good" news, as it tends to kill so quick, it inhibits its own spread, except in very urban areas...like where the outbreak is now.
While this is not as dire a situation as it might appear from a casual glance at a news aggregator sate, it is a very worrying development and could get very bad indeed, very quickly, if it starts airport hopping.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
06:23 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 354 words, total size 3 kb.
October 31, 2017
Three More Hours on the Eastern Seaboard
Drive carefully, they can pop out anywhere!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
05:24 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 16 words, total size 1 kb.
There is Already an Impressive Amount of RWBY Fan Art
Art by Esu
..for Sienna Khan, the leader of the White Fang. She's been mentioned in the show a couple of times as ruthless, but not ax-crazy. She's the one who changed the organization from one focused on peaceful protests to what can most politely be called 'direct action'. Nevertheless, she has been described as opposed to the murderous assault on Beacon in volume 3 and indeed, in episode 2 of this season, this leader of a terrorist organization is shown as the voice of reason amongst the villains. Khan is superbly voiced by Monica Rial who gives the character a regal demeanor and the impression of a mind like a steel trap.
Three episodes in, RWBY fifth (and reportedly last) season remains quite good. While the villains plot, our heroes, still scattered to the four winds, continue to do hero stuff, be likable, and make shocking discoveries. The show has really hit its stride and is doing a fantastic job of delivering genuinely surprising plot twists.
OK not all of them are twists to the audience. but it's nice to see our heroes finally in the loop.
I particularly like the idea that the only press in Australia Menagerie all appear to be bloggers.
'cause nobody trusts Lisa Lavender!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
05:11 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 221 words, total size 3 kb.
New York...Again
Reports are that someone drove a rental truck 14 blocks down a Manhattan bike path crushing people in the process, hit a school bus, got out of his truck, engaged police with what may, or may not have been paintball guns and, before being shot, shouted "Allah Ackbar!".
No word as to motive, though a talking head on Fox is pushing the "lone nut" theory hard..
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
04:01 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 68 words, total size 1 kb.
October 30, 2017
All the Cool Kids
...are doing Halloween stuff or blogging about World of Warships. I lack time for the former and sufficient internet connection for the latter. However, through the miracle of You Tube, I can hold forth on both!
Sorta...
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
09:47 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 42 words, total size 1 kb.
Obviously Its Reporting Back to the Mother Ship
While many of us were distracted, a new comet (C 2017/U1 PANSTARRS) was observed. After a bit of math, it was realized that the "comet" was moving faster than solar system escape velocity, meaning that it had to be an extra-solar object passing through our system.
One of The Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes has some...comettary.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:02 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 75 words, total size 1 kb.
90kb generated in CPU 0.033, elapsed 0.2436 seconds.
80 queries taking 0.2234 seconds, 452 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
80 queries taking 0.2234 seconds, 452 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
