January 05, 2025
FIRE!
Join us tonight at 8pm EST/ Midnight UTC as we continue to explore the Outer Ring in Zenless Zone Zero! THERE'S FIRE! THERE'S PIGS WITH SPIKY BASEBALL BATS (Who are ON FIRE)! THERE'S EVEN MORE FIRE! MOTORCYCLE RACES...IN FIRE! & FIGHTING OF MONSTERS...IN THE FIRE! https://www.twitch.tv/brickmuppet
...and a girl wearing a pickelhaube for some reason..
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Perfunctory Posting
Small bit of Banality below fold.
more...
As both compensation and as reader trauma reduction here is a celebration of current year.
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December 30, 2024
James Earl Carter 1924-2024
President Carter has died after a century of service to the U.S. and the world.
Naval officer, nuclear engineer, statesman, farmer, diplomat, and president are not career paths that often overlap but they did with James Earl Carter.
People of my generation tend to judge Carter harshly due to his diffident presidency and uninspiring public presence. His term in national office coincided with a number of national setbacks typical of the 1970s, an evil, violent decade that saw the country suffer many misfortunes (including the birth of yours truly) and he most certainly did not reassure or inspire the public.
To be honest Carter faced a steep learning curve as a president who was dealt dreadful hands on myriad foreign and domestic fronts as was typical in that benighted decade. Due to his well intentioned but unrealistic philosophy, many of his policies probably exacerbated the already serious economic woes of the country. However, he was a fairly effective diplomat in some areas, and his appointment of Paul Volker to the federal reserve allowed some needed, if incomplete, reforms, put forth by his successor to bring the country out of its tailspin.
Carter's real contribution to the country and the world revolved around his post presidential career, where he served as a sort of ambassador at large working tirelessly to bring an end to destructive conflicts around the world. He also founded numerous charities, such as Habitat for Humanity, for which later generations rightly hold him in high regard.
His greatest achievement appears to be the elimination of the malevolent scourge that is the Guinea Worm. There were 3.5 MILLION cases worldwide of this awful, agonizing, debilitating parasite in 1986. As it is a malady associated with extreme poverty and has no pharmaceutical treatment it was singularly uninteresting to the powers that be and the professional charity class. Carter set up a organization to deal with the issue. As it was not treatable with pharmaceuticals he went after the monster's life cycle in a manner befitting an engineer, providing improved sanitation to millions of the world's forgotten and ignored. As mentioned above, 3.5 million new cases were recorded in 1986. Last year there were 14.
He lived a century, and his time here was not wasted.
In his final years Carter suffered the loss of his beloved wife and had been in serious physical decline. We can gain some solace from the cessation of his pain, even as we mourn his passing. A sad event which makes the world a less bright and hopeful place.
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December 25, 2024
Merry Christmas!
I hope everyone out there is having a wonderful holiday!
Please take care!
Weeby Christmas Art by Csyday.
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December 24, 2024
IT'S OVER!
The last of the presents is on the big brown trucks. They have left the building to deliver happiness to all the little children....at least the children whose parents don't celebrate Festivus. The month of pain is at an end. Sleep, is, once again, an attainable goal. In celebration, here is a picture of....OH WHAT THE HELL JAPAN?!??!!!1!
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Picture by Rai
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December 23, 2024
Stream Cancelled
I was so exhausted when I got off today I salted my coffee and sweetened my grits.
I'm not much better now.
The ZZZ stream will be moved to tomorrow night.
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December 17, 2024
Cardboard Tsunami
Banality lies below the fold.
more...
As compensation here is a stark-raving-cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs chunni archer cosplaying as a normal person at Christmas.
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Answering Marc Andreesen's Question
Marc Andressen has been making the rounds with interviews lately, the two best and most informative can be found below. The Bari Weiss interview is, as is her wont, extremely comprehensive, and while not actively hostile she asks ALL the questions in a meticulous probing manner, very much like one would expect a highly professional reporter to conduct an interview (if one believed in such unicorns). Rogan does a good interview too, but in a more conversational manner.
Both interviews are long and informative, but necessarily cover much of the same ground, though the interviewers are astonished and offer follow up questions to different statements by Andreessen. Still, you can probably get by watching either one.
2hours 5minutes
2hours 40minutes
Both interviews cover the confusion, astonishment and horror that Marc Andreesen felt when the left, which had been so supportive of tech in the 90's and oughts, quite suddenly, in Obama's second term became pathologically anti-tech.
This is not hard to figure out looking at it from the outside and with a historical lens, but must be confusing in the extreme if one is on the inside.
The modern left runs on something that is best described as 'elemental smug'. In most of the rank and file it's not actually the toxic sanctimony of their leadership, it just an aura of a smug, self-assured confidence that the lefties are better, brighter and more creative than the filthy troglodytic plebs who dare contradict them or who don't get with their program with great verve and gusto.
Being on the cutting edge of tech, or imagining being so, fed this smug engine. Other areas of expertise, like banking and industry were strangled and controlled....here, Andreesen explains to Rogan what they did to the banking industry in Obama's first term.
Watch at least until Joe 's eyes roll back in his head and he says "OH MY GOD!"
This sort of thing happened in MOST industries. It's one of the reason that defense procurement is so incestuous. In the early '90s most of the defense contractors were concentrated in to a few huge conglomerates. The theory behind this was that it made them easier to regulate, It also allowed strict gatekeeping and the ability to play them against each other. I should note that this specific economic system, a modern, sort of mutant variant of mercantilism, has a name, and that name begins with "F".
For about 20 years, supporting tech made left leaning policy makers feel smug and superior, after all, progressives were theoretically for "progress" and nothing exemplified progress more than new technology. If new technology displaced the less educated that was surely tragic, and was an opportunity to shed some insincere tears signal one's moral virtue, but ultimately advances in tech that one had financed were an affirmation of one's superiority.
Then, in the early 2010s, tech stopped feeding the smug. First by empowering contradictory voices on the internet, then threatening the jobs of the gentry class as opposed to the peons. At this point, tech needed to be reigned in...as Mr. Andreesen explains to Miss Wise here.
(Watch at least until Bari says "WOW!")
Andreesen seems genuinely confused by this, all of his friends in the DNC used to be so pro tech, but I think that the answer is simply that the Dems did what they have always been trying to do since 1912 (with some noble attempts at change in '60 and '76) which is a technocratic paradise for pencil pushers (and hell for everyone else).
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Pack vs. Herd
An extremely thoughtful, knowledgeable, and readable essay on the two broad types of group dynamics that humans engage in can be found over on Unfolding the World.
I implore you to read the whole thing.
I have little to add except to say that it is considerably more fair-minded in its look at this issue than most analysis we get these days. Teams and groups both have their places and uses, but most who opine on the topic in current year are convinced that one or the other is evil, and the other is a universal panacea. Such rantings are not helpful. The linked article is.
Taoist Miscegenating Tadpoles by Unknown Artist
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December 09, 2024
That South Korean Thing
The pithiest take on the abortive Marshall Law declaration in South Korea I had seen was actually by Pixy, who described the situation as the Korean president having "stripped a gear somehow".
Pixy's take is not far off. However, Nick Frietas and crew have a discussion of the matter that is the very antithesis of pithy, but is quite informative.
1hr 55min.
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December 08, 2024
Interview with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
This is from 2 months ago and is an excellent post-mortem on the COVID19 fiasco as well as an overview of the issues facing the health care establishment. Dr. Bhattacharya suffered personally and professionally for his policy recommendations during the COVID pandemic (recommendations which have proved largely correct)
2hrs 8 minutes
This is a broad ranging discussion and is both literate and understandable to the layman. Both Bhattacharya and "Dad" make a strenuous effort to avoid jargon and make these policy conundrums understandable to the general public. Dr. Bhattacharya has worked in healthcare for many years all over the world and did a stint of work in Indian slums. As a result of his experience he is most decidedly NOT a vaccine skeptic. He does have a fairly nuanced view of the current skeptics given the very understandable skepticism of policy experts as a whole by a wide swath of the public.
This is just a very good discussion and deserves to be watched.
Interestingly Dr. Bhattacharya has recently been tapped to head the N.I.H. It remains to be seen if he gets approval.
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December 07, 2024
We Have Nothing to Learn From History
For we live for the future, not the past.
The past was full of stupid people who believed silly things and weren't as smart as us because they did not know the depth and breadth of their ignorance which we, in our profound wisdom, understand.
Indeed there is talk that that something happened on this very date in the past.
People used to make a big deal about it, which is silly because it's in the past and can't affect me because it happened and therefore it's over.
I think i had to read a book on it.
OH YEAH! I REMEMBER!
"That one about the NAZIs"
In any event, we have nothing to learn from the past.
Today we're so much smarter than those people were. We've got electricity.
Our Navy is concentrated mainly in 3 locations where they are safe, our Air Force's main strike capability is in 5 or 6 bases, and most of those are missile bases that we'll never need because we're smart.
So there is really no point in commemorating whatever it was that happened back in the before times, because it doesn't have any relevance whatsoever.
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December 01, 2024
Schedule Change!
Streaming schedule on the Twitch Channel is in a state of flux at the moment because of my IRL job schedule that is going to be a tad insane for the rest of this month. Tentatively, I'm going to experiment with later streams and then going DIRECTLY to work.
The first attempt at this will be tonight,
Join us at 10:00pm EST / 03:00am UTC for about two hours. as we explore the world of Teyvat in Genshin Impact. We're currently caught up on the main story quest and are exploring this wild and wacky world in a rather more in depth manner than we have been previously (when we were monomaniacally pursuing the plot). We're also trying to level up our newest gacha recruit, a cute nerd girl who is just.....uh....sweet.
Sucrose art is official Yo-Hoyo art
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Back...Sorta
As compensation for the self indulgent banality below the fold, here is a tomboy archer contemplating some pyrotechnic mischief.
more...
Genshin Impact's Amber drawn by Sayla Mars. Support them on FANBOX! (Links NSFW)
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Stanford Torus Overview
Issac Arthur takes a Deep Dive into the Stanford Torus, the winner of a NASA study from the 1970s on space habitats. The math on this design was worked out 40 years ago. It was viable then (given the then fantastic conceit of cheap access to space) Breakthroughs in space transportation like Musk's starship might well make it viable. The advances in most areas of tech over the last 40 year can only make it more refined.
I am much more on board with this sort of space settlement than I am with terraforming. (Though I'm not opposed to the latter in principle). There are really only two viable terraforming candidates in the Solar System. (Mars & Venus...the latter of which would require a truly VAST infrastructure, and, likely, starlifting technology. ) Whereas we can build rotating habitats with earthlike gravity in numbers that boggle the mind.
Quadrillions of people such a program would produce will produce a much larger number of Einsteins, Martin Luther Kings, Ada Lovelaces, Aristotles, Jeffersons, Margurite Harrisons & Issac Newtons, with a corresponding benefit to all civilization from their mental bounty.
Anyway, this is a VERY comprehensive overview of the concept.
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A Few Links Regarding Current Affairs
First off, Nick Freitas and his crew discuss the thorny issues that face the incoming administration.
Note that this was recorded in the heady days before Trump made his Education and Labor secretary picks when there was still hope that he would at least TRY to deal with these issues.
Still, there is stuff that Vivek & Elon can do, but as this very thoughtful discussion makes clear (@1:34:00), even if they are 100% effective (a thermodynamic impossibility) it will not be enough. Some actual options on how to deal with the situation are discussed though.
2hrs 15minutes
Meanwhile: on Joe Rogan, the post election future is also discussed. This is typical of Rogan's long form interviews, in that, love or hate what the guest is saying, it's an erudite and fairly interesting discussion. This one is particularly interesting because Marc Andreessen, one of the pivotal figures in the IT explosion of the last 30 years, leads off the interview with (I'm paraphrasing only slightly) 'yeah. we're living in an alternate timeline and it's CRAZY'. Andressen also makes the case (@ 0:27:30)that the mindset of a lot of Medieval folks, (and by possible extension, certain extant different cultures) are/were better equipped psychologically to deal with the craziness of the modern world. On a tangentially related note, is a discussion of the sad current state of Blue Sky that can be found at 30:28. There is also a terrifying discussion of de-banking (@ 1:34:25).
3hrs 9minutes
Rudyard, is also known for being extremely literate, conscientious, and studious (as well as occasionally having takes that are hotter than liquid tungsten). Here he looks at something I've been contemplating for a few years and actually been struggling make a post on. Specifically, he is analyzing the deleterious and to an extent actively parasitical effects of bureaucracy on a civilization.
52 minutes
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November 21, 2024
Meanwhile: On & Under Europa
One of The Brickmuppet's Crack Team of Science Babes brings us a bit of unexpected news about Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
Science Babe is actually Selen Tatsuki by Loopin
It seems that NASA has been doing studies of the information gleaned from the various probes that have visited Jupiter and in the process of simulating the environment of Jupiter's moon Europa they have concluded that this is what it looks like on its night side.
You see, the Van Allen belts of Jupiter (In which Europa resides) are so strong that the moon literally glows with Cherenkov radiation and the phosphorescence of certain salts in the sea ice.
The NASA/JPL article linked note that this phenomena has a lot of potential for analyzing the composition of Europa's ice and its subsurface ocean, via spectroscopy. However, there would seem to be other potential implications of this discovery.
Given that:
Currently, any life on Europa is assumed to be based on relatively inefficient chemosynthesis and to be dependent on discharges from equally hypothetical volcanic vents.
Cherenkov radiation is blue light, meaning it's pretty high energy visible light.
Water is an excellent ionizing radiation shield.
NASA says the sea ice is literally glowing blue, and seems to imply that this light is visible to the naked eye..
So, if the sea-ice over the ocean is, in fact, glowing in blue light, then this light could represent another potential source of energy beyond the hypothesized volcanic vents. As happens on Earth, this would only be complimented by any black smokers spewing nutrients.
Using the vast depth and breadth of biological and radiological knowledge that comes with a History degree, I find myself asking, "Can you grow plants with Cherenkov radiation?" It seems likely, given that blue light is pretty high in energy, and that they make blue grow lights.
The ice and water should protect against the hard radiation that ultimately causing the light, so in theory there might well be a very habitable region in Europa's ocean, one where actual photosynthesis, could potentially take place. Photosynthesis is vastly more efficient than the chemosynthesis that has been postulated as making life on Europa plausible, and (rather more so than chemosynthesis) might even support multicellular life.
Additionally, life or no life, Europa's oceans might be well lit...in an eerie blue glow (dependent, of course upon the thickness of the ice and brightness of the glow).
There are a whole bunch of variables that need to be looked at regarding this, and I'm sure SOMEBODY knows if Cherenkov radiation is devoid of anything that plants need, but I'll be damned if I can find any info in the matter at the moment.
Photosynthesis aside, there is a model put forth by a Richard Greenberg (presumably, his degrees are not in history) that Europa's ocean may be as oxygenated as earth's if not more so, due to the creation of Oxygen and Peroxides created by the radiation bombardment of the icy surface.
Europa's just looking better and better for life.
UPDATE: As you may note from the comments, this entry is from 2021, one of the last posts before my stroke. It was unlinkable and unsearchable due to a glitch involving an identical post title and I wanted to point it out to someone who had expressed an interest in it. Enjoy the blast from the past. Posting will resume soon, I promise.
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November 06, 2024
Wow.
I've been pretty exhausted the last few weeks, with medical issues, family emergencies and being run into the ground at work. it's been challenging just to keep to a schedule of anodyne rants and lamentations regards my poor video game skills as a cartoon muppet on the internet, let alone do research for thoughtful posts. I've also been quite blackpilled of late, what with assassination attempts, my own trepidation regards the less bad candidate, and what to me were grim portents with regard to polls and societal trnds.
Trump did partially allay my fears by reaching out to a diverse cross section of american right and left-wing polity, whose only common thread is that they are a bit crazy and have been rejected by the establishment, so I did not hold my nose this time when I voted for him against the horrid and strangely vapid politico he was running against. However, I had little hope that the cultural and media headwinds could be overcome.
OMG.
He won the popular vote. HE WON THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE! And did both so convincingly that it seems unlikely that any new surprise pallets of ballots can reverse this.
I'm keeping my head down as I'm surrounded by very angry people at work and in my neighborhood, but I am secretly quite pleased at the moment.
Time will tell if his dream team of eclectic intellectuals, visionary industrialists, and entertaining whackaloons can deal with the myriad issues the country faces, some, like the debt, seem unlikely to be solved by someone of Trumps predilections and temperament, and others, both economic and military are quite challenging to anyone, even someone with Trumps negotiating skills. But the one thing I am sure of is that Trump and his happy band of lunatics will TRY to make things better.
And that is a vast improvement over the current situation and a white-pill I did not expect.
UPDATE:
Bill Whittle implores us to take the high road and facilitate the nations healing. This is an excellent video, watch it in full.
It behooves us to remember that the other side is very much where we were 4 years ago when the rug was pulled out from us. They are more emotional, hence their histrionics rather than the quiet despair that set in for us, but the grief they feel is genuine. Most of their rank and file (as opposed to their leadership) really do believe their sides rhetoric and are genuinely confused and scared.
(of course SOME thoughtful snark is still allowed)
But in general, don't gloat.
UPDATE 2:
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October 03, 2024
Zenless Zone Zero
Zenless Zone Zero is...weird. A supernatural / cyber-punk story by the makers of, and with similar mechanics to Genshin Impact, The combat mechanics seem more forgiving, but also more random and mysterious.
The story itself, at least as far as we got on stream Monday night, is genuinely intriguing. It also leans much more into Manga/Manhwa/Comics than anime or light novels for its storytelling style (particularly noticeable in contrast with Genshin)
I've only played one day and I'm not at all clear on some of the mechanics (like pulls), but I'm actually liking it so far and find it quite interesting. The slightly scuffed V.O.D. from Monday's toe dip into the game from is here. Note that ZZZ doesn't actually start until 18 minutes in, due to channel bidness and the fact that I sat through the whole ZZZ opening bit, thinking it would be a lore dump. (it is not, it just sets the mood)
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Buy Toilet Paper.....While You Can
It appears that there is a lot of panic buying of posterior fecal defenestration rolls that is being fueled by the longshoreman's strike.
A quick perusal of local store shelves confirms a report I heard on the radio.
This is weird for 2 reasons:
1:We don't import more than 10% of our toilet paper.
2:The strike has been called off until January.
But the shelves remain devoid of toilet paper.
So panic accordingly.
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