Tag: Geeky Stuff

Posted on

Oh for God’s sake! I’m so over this Woke Bullshit!

Caught an article talking about the James Webb Space telescope and how there are some people who think that the telescope should be renamed so that it doesn’t honor James Webb.

Artist Rendering: James Webb Space Telescope

Webb was the second person to lead NASA and did so from 1961 – 1968.

This particular controversy doesn’t arise from the all too common hackneyed phrase of racism.

You do realize that we’re still removing historical figures based on their supposed racism in the 1600’s right???

This controversy is about Webb being the director of NASA during the Lavender scare or Pink Purge.

The Lavender Scare was a period of time when the United States Government sought to purge all homosexuals from their ranks.

The thought was that homosexuals couldn’t be trusted because they were forced to live their lives in the closet. As such, the thinking went, all homosexuals were security risks because all it would take is a commie to find out someone was queer and then blackmail them.

Given the times, it wasn’t actually a bad line of reasoning. In the 1960’s homosexuality was considered a mental illness, and illegal in most states. A queer could lose their job, their home, and be sent to an asylum for their “un-natural” behavior.

Gay men were commonly beaten up, mutilated, or killed, but Lesbians had it worse. There were a lot of men who believed that a lesbian was a lesbian, because she hadn’t had the right cock shoved inside her. Lots of real bastards would volunteer to be that magical dick that made a lesbian a “real” woman.

Picture the almost rape scene from “Kill Bill“. Except that the woman is tied down in an insane asylum and raped at any time, by any orderly who happened to get a hard on.

Oh and let’s not forget routine electro convulsive therapy. A.K.A. Electro shock. Apparently there was a school of thought that said the Gay could be shocked out of the poor soul and make them ‘right as rain’.

These factors would pretty much insure that a Homosexual would do anything to prevent themselves from being discovered.

Alan Turing

Look up Alan Turing sometime.

He helped defeat the NAZI Enigma encryption machine, could arguably be called the father of modern computing, and still ended up committing suicide (Although the suicide is still being debated,) because he happened to be homosexual.

I’m not saying that any of this was right, It absolutely wasn’t.

However those were the times.

(As an aside, this kind of persecution is still going on in the Middle East. The “woke” crowd is very willing to ignore it, because it’s ‘Middle Eastern Culture‘. While at the same time the “woke” crowd goes back 200, 100, 60, or 50 years and condemns people for shit that we’ve grown out of, for the most part.)

J Edgar Hoover

The Lavender Scare was being perpetrated by none other than the FBI. Who at the time had as its head a crossdressing asshole named J. Edgar Hoover. Uhh duplicitous much?

It’s arguable that the Lavender Scare was rooted in McCarthyism. A dark time in our history famous for the question, “Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”

The gay purge probably got started there, and just continued on under its own momentum after Senator McCarthy was considered passé.

In the case of James Webb, he happened to be NASA’s director during this time.

So let’s look at this logically. Webb was the director of NASA, he answered to Congress.

James Webb

Congress has this funny little organization called the FBI who loves digging up dirt on people. J Edgar Hoover really liked having leverage over anyone in power.

Webb had a career, a family, and believed that we should conquer space.

There were hundreds of former NAZI scientists working throughout government labs (brought over during Operation Paper Clip) including one guy by the name of Wernher Van Braun.

Webb knew there is no way in hell that the FBI was ever going to leave his people alone to do their jobs… So he made a choice.

MSFC CENTER DIRECTOR VON BRAUN, WERNHER-DR. IN HIS OFFICE WITH ROCKET MODELS IN BACKGROUND. 5/18/64

He chose not be obstructionist to the FBI.

Webb chose to keep moving the space program forward.

He in good conscience didn’t defend a group of people that Medical Science, (hey, they believed the science then too,) said were sick in the head, and that the government’s security and intelligence community said were a danger because they could be compromised by the commie bastards in Russia, placing the whole of the Space Program in jeopardy.

It doesn’t matter where he came down morally on boys who do with boys.

He had a Mission to the moon to worry about. I daresay he didn’t worry too much about a few “sick fucks” being purged from his staff.

That does not make Webb a bad man. It makes him a product of his time.

Webb’s scientific achievements merit his name being on the telescope.

I think that we’re looking at something different. I think this name change is nothing more than an attempt to purge another white guy from history.

I think this controversy is nothing more than some “Woke” asshole digging into Webbs history and finding nothing more than a shred of potential guilt that can be hung around his neck, then using this “assigned guilt” to erase Webb’s achievements and legacy.

Harriet Tubman

The authors of the article suggest the telescope be called the Harriet Tubman telescope. While Harriet Tubman was no doubt an American hero, and should be remembered with respect, she was not a scientist. Tubman, like the rest of the people alive in her day was probably very content to leave the mysteries of the firmament in God’s capable hands.

James Webb on the other hand most likely wanted to see God’s hands shaping the heavens.

In my opinion, the latter makes the case for his name being on the space telescope.

We need to stop judging people of the past by the morals of the present. This behavior is irrational and destructive.

We need to look at leaders (whether heroic or despotic) of the past in context of their times. Only then can we see that humanity is progressing (however slowly) toward a better future.

We need to be able to observe past events with an unflinching realism, because only in understanding the errors and successes of the past, can we hope to build a livable future.

Posted on

It’s been 10 days or so since Parler was taken down…

I’m sad to see it go, but I was able to go cold turkey from social media.

I know the good folks at Parler are working hard to get the site back up, but I’m questioning if I’ll return to any social media.

I maintain Linkedin only for job stuff and don’t interact on the site too much. I’ve never been comfortable with HR departments searching for social history, and Linkedin just makes it easy for them to judge you based on an arbitrary set of nebulous criteria.

I’ve been enjoying my HAM radio much more than social media anyway. There was a gentleman the other day who described HAM as the original social media and I think he’s right. The focus is much more local (although with radio sometimes you can get astounding distances, depending on conditions in the upper atmosphere.)

I’ve been catching up on local events in my immediate area. Figure about 100 miles or so. There are ways to get much farther reliably due to a network of specialized radio systems placed on mountains throughout the country or countries across the planet.

These systems are not funded by government, they’re generally free to use, and are funded by the good will of HAM operators and HAM clubs. Sure, using them is a little more difficult than clicking “Tweet” on your phone, but it does provide a bit of a barrier to the riff raff.

Since Parler was taken down, I switched on my radio and discovered there’s a mountain lion wandering through the town I live in.

Social media on a global scale wouldn’t have necessarily warned me about that. The lion has been seen in multiple locations and appears to be looking for food. The general warning is to make sure that you keep an eye on dogs, cats, and children, even in a fenced yard.

That’s good to know! Especially since Jesse and I sometimes take early morning walks and we’re generally on trails in the forest.

Were I in most any state but California, it would be appropriate for me to be armed while out on a walk in rough areas. Most of those other states would look at being armed as a prudent precaution. But California is so damn twitchy about guns, they’ve made it so that you can’t defend yourself against apex predators, (Human or Animal).

In my local area, there are bears, bobcats, coyotes, rattlesnakes, and as stated, mountain lions. Any one of which could attack if it perceived you and your dog as a threat. This is particularly so if you were to come around a boulder or through a stand of trees and surprise them.

California would prefer to clean up the bloody mess and airlift your body out, rather than allow you to have a fighting chance. Many Californias would shake their heads and tut, tut, your foolishness in being out of the oh so safe, city.

Many of them would say you got what you deserved for being in the wilderness in the first place. That’s one of the weirdest things about living here. Lots of Californias ask, “why would someone have been out in the forest?” I ask, “Wasn’t the person armed and prepared?”

Californians live under the constant threat of sudden destruction from an Earthquake, or a fire, but they are astounded that anyone would want to live where hurricanes or tornados may occur. I actually prefer hurricanes or tornados because you can see them coming and get the hell out of the way. Earthquakes provide no such warning. Fires, you can avoid if you know where they are.

I guess it’s just preference.

Oddly, social media rarely provides any real time useful data about disasters. It’s almost always after the fact. I’ve always assumed that was because of internet outages.

That is why I took the time to get the HAM license, and with recent events, I’m considering taking my license to the next level. This would open my ability to communicate on a wider range of frequencies legally.

Note I said legally. I could talk on those frequencies now, but I’m a law abiding citizen and believe in obeying rules which have a logical purpose and provide a clear benefit. Radio rules typically fall into that category.

There are a lot of other rules that I disagree with because they don’t seem to have a basis in common sense, logic, or science, and simultaneously don’t provide a clear benefit.

Parler was uncensored. Twitter and Facebook are very censored and not in a consistent way. Parler was/is about protecting the First Amendment. Twitter and Facebook say they are proponents of the First Amendment but demonstrably are not.

Parler was taken away from all of us by people that don’t believe in free speech and had the will and capacity to effectively silence a large percentage of Americans. If some people choosing to use Parler were offended by what they read or saw, they had the option to never go back to the Parler site.

But these people, who choose to be perpetually offended couldn’t abide differing opinions. They demand conformity of thought. I suspect that in time they’ll demand conformity of race too, since everything in their world revolves around racial identity politics.

On the radio there is no race. Only the content of your words. If you’re not good at putting your thoughts into words there’s no-one that will stop you from saying something but you might find yourself talking to dead air. Other people listening may simply find another channel, you know, old school… Don’t like what you’re hearing turn it off…

More people need to learn that.

Our house has been remarkably quiet over the past 3 weeks. We both tired of the news, we got tired of Hollywood celebrities shooting their mouths off in hateful tirades about Trump and frankly it’s made it so that watching their movies aren’t that enjoyable. Even music is only turned on when we want to listen to something particular. It’s tougher to relax or suspend disbelief so you can just enjoy the music or movie.

We’re hoping that in time as we distance from this season of chaos we’ll be able to enjoy these things once again.

In the mean time, from the radio chatter I’m hearing, we’re not alone. It appears that streaming movies and music over the fiber network here has dropped off significantly in our local area. But the Library is seeing a slight uptick in usage.

Something else I’d never have known from just social media. But it was on my HAM Radio this morning.

I’ve been listening to a bunch of local HAMS who get together every morning over their first or second cup of coffee.

They just get on the radio, and chat about local stuff. The weather, someone older who needs a little help with a project, the community center asking for books to lend, issues with snowplayers, and when the next community meeting is. The day after a community meeting, someone will summarize what was covered for those that couldn’t attend. It’s nice and somehow comforting.

Perhaps it’s time for us all to act more locally, and stop paying attention to the collective idiots who have found voice in social media. Maybe we should be more concerned about the people in our local area who are trying to do the right thing, and could use actual hands to do work that makes our community better?

It costs you nothing to comment on troubles in another state. But when you comment about something locally, there’s a certain expectation that you’re willing to put your money, or sweat equity, where your mouth is.

I suppose that too is old school…

Posted on

I’ve been putting off this little project…

Several months ago I got a nifty server. 5 drives, I configured it in a RAID array with two drive redundancy.

For those of you that think I just spoke Greek. I didn’t. Simply put, I have a server with 5 hard drives that work as a set. Any two of these drives can fail without me losing all the data stored on the server. I can pull the bad drive out, replace it and tell the server to fix the problem. A few hours later the server will be back up to full operating speed and while it’s fixing the problem, I still have access to the data.

Anyhoo, I’ve been meaning to put the thing on the shelf in my wiring closet. It will be protected and I won’t have to worry about the dog bumping into it when he comes in to the office to ask me to play. He doesn’t just ask, he’s a bit aggressive about it. He’s a dog… He doesn’t understand that some electronics are fragile and don’t like being bumped around while they’re running.

So I decided the other day, that the time had come. I’ve been putting it off because 1) nothing with computers is ever as easy as it seems. 2) I knew there was a rats nest of cables I’d have to sort through. 3) The other half had to get a new computer (The second hard drive in 6 months failed and I didn’t really want to mess with it.

I start shutting things down. Then I started pulling unused or un-necessary cables out of the wiring closet. I finally got to the point where I could route power and network cables and encountered a major problem.

The cables I wanted to run were too thick to run them the way I’d done in the past. I’m standing there holding a shelf in my hand thinking, “Well damn, this isn’t going to work.”

Then I remembered my nifty new RYOBI tools in the garage. I knew I had a 1″ hole bit in a bit set I’d recently purchased. I take the shelf downstairs and grab the new drill and the bit set. That’s when I noticed that I’d also gotten with the set, 4 different sized hole saws.

OH Goody! I’d wondered what I’d use those for and now I know and have a good excuse to boot.

I set the 1.4″ hole saw on it’s bit, locked it down and fit the assembly in the chuck of the drill. 10 minutes later I’ve got two beautiful holes in the shelf right where I need them. The drill didn’t even breathe hard.

I was standing there looking at my work, for the briefest instance I considered where else I might need a convenient hole. Thankfully something in my brain hit the emergency stop on that thought process!

I put the tools away without drilling anymore holes. I patted the new drill appreciatively and put it back in it’s case.

I suspect that I’ll be drilling and cutting some things in the near future as I run antenna cables for the HAM rig. (Yeah, that’s another project on the list. I need to get some better antennas and get them installed so I can get out a bit better. HAM is another of those hobbies where getting a new radio just leads to a bunch of supplementary purchases.)

I head back up into the house, shelf in hand and put it back in place. The cables routed easily and I was able to put the power cabling through one hole while putting the data cables through the opposite end of the shelf. That keeps potential interference from power away from my data. As I’m standing there on the ladder I was thinking, “I’m a moron. I should have done this exact thing years ago! I’d have saved myself a lot of aggravation over the years.“

I put the server in place, and powered everything back up. Simple and it’s a nice looking installation.

Well, that chore done… I turned my attention to another round of data recovery. That was 48 hours of pure hell. Thankfully, my computer is fast, my network is fast, and I’m pretty good at this sort of thing. Corrupted backups and a person who has no concept of a data storage plan, not withstanding. Recovering data is just plain tedious in the first place. Not having specific documents stored in logical folders to assist in targeting the important stuff makes it very frustrating.

So to any of you out there who just spatter documents and files anywhere and everywhere on your computer. I’ll give you this advice. If you value your relationship, tell your techie other half what is most important, and keep the booze coming. One other thing, move your files into some kind of logical order to start with!

As it turns out, the backups were corrupted from the previous three hard drive crashes. The other half hadn’t done any organization after any of those crashes. In fact, after me telling them that the backups were corrupted, they kept using them anyway, compounding the problem.

With 10 Terabytes of storage available, the other half had also not copied the important files out to the server for redundancy. Sigh… and I’m the bad guy for being pissed off about it.

Mischief managed. The other half is running on the new computer. The server now has copies of all the files I recovered in a non-backup related directory and there’s a duplicate scanner running on my computer looking at that directory eliminating duplications and preserving edits in chronological order. When that’s done the files will be moved to a directory structure where Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Photos, Music, Musical Scores, and other files will each have their own directory path.

Now to create a scheduled process that updates those directories once a week from the other half’s computer. As things stand right now, I burned 4 Terabytes on the server in recovery. I’ve got the other half sorting through tons of their own shit to figure out what is important and relevant to keep.

Just punishment, I think.

When they’re done with the space, I’ll be able to delete the corrupted backups (Hanging on to them for the moment in case I have to dive in to find some super important thing I missed. Then the recovered directories (except the one I’m processing) will be gone. I’m not going to be surprised to see about 2.5 – 3.5 Terabytes suddenly be available again on the server.

While I’m at it, I may go out and access one of my really old archival backups to consolidate more storage. I can move the files and documents to the main server in my home folder and then delete the old archive backup too. Then I’ll keep only the important stuff that provides history back to 2008 when everything was destroyed.

This has been my week, I hope your’s was better and in the midst of all of this I’ve managed to apply for jobs… Not that anyone is responding to my inquiries.

But I’ll keep at it.

Posted on

The Halloween Movie List

Pumpkin.jpegUp until the last three years, I’d played a selection of movies selected specifically for Halloween, for my friends.

I used to play 50s & 60s science fiction and have small get togethers with friends that would appreciate these movies.  We’d make popcorn, eat some of the kids candy and answer the door for trick or treaters (although there were fewer of those every year). 

Resident Evil ExtinctionOver time the Halloween gathering became more of an adult affair, with food, drinks, and optional costumes. So the movies became more adult and less campy. As friends moved away, the neighborhood changed, and my most recent job precluded the goofiness. The Halloween tradition faded away.

The last three years I’d come home from work on Halloween and watch a movie or two from the collection by myself.

Sadly, the once fun tradition began to become melancholy because there wasn’t the goofball silliness that accompanied friends just enjoying each other’s company.

This year I realized that I could easily let Halloween blow by as just another day.

There’s no-one to share the fun with at all in part due to COVID isolation, and in part because most of my friends have moved away.

Couple these facts with the difficulties of replacing friends as an older adult and Halloween could just become another day.  

omegaman.jpgThis is unacceptable especially since this year Halloween falls on a Saturday.

Years where Halloween fell on a Friday or Saturday were always fun party like celebrations.

I’ve decided that I will not submit! Alone or not, I’m going to have my tradition!

I’m giving a big middle finger to COVID, and all the BS in my own special way. I’m going to make drinks for myself, put out a small bowl of candy, make popcorn, turn the lights down low, and watch Halloween worthy movies.

A slight difference this year is that I’m going to run scary movies possibly all weekend.

I’m planning to start with It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Yes, I know that’s not a scary movie but it’s a Halloween tradition from my childhood.

lifemovie.jpgNext up is the Resident Evil series

Yes, I own them all and they’re very appropriate this year.

Next up will be 28 Days Later I might even add 28 Weeks Later to the collection.

Then I’m thinking Twelve Monkeys. Are you seeing a pattern here?

I was thinking about tossing Life in at this point.

Followed by Apollo 18 Just to cover the space genre.

Optionally, perhaps Prometheus and Covenant. 

Apollo18.jpegAeon Flux will probably also make the cut

I’m positive about The Omega Man

I’ve been thinking about The Osiris Child

Then adding The War of the Worlds, just for a little balance. After all viruses might be your friend.

I’m tossing in Shaun of the Dead to lighten the mood

Perhaps I’ll toss in the Underworld series. 

Finishing up with Inferno

I thought about the obvious addition of The Andromeda Strain but I don’t own that one anymore and don’t want to pay the price iTunes wants for it. I’ll wait for the after Halloween sale.

If you’re not a big Sci-Fi fan, you might not be getting the connection. Allow me to explain.

All these movies (except Charlie Brown) deal with an infectious disease, or a virus. This is my way of saying, “Hey It could be worse!“

I seriously considered adding Invasion of the body snatchers, the version with Donald Southerland because of him pointing at the last survivor and making that horrible noise at the end of the movie, “Outing” her to the rest of those who’d been taken over.

That would be a fitting hat tip to the “Mask Shamers” these days. But it doesn’t make the cut because it’s not a germ or virus. It’s an alien life form bent on conquest.

Prometheus and Covenant are optional because both deal with an engineered viral agent.

This is me saying, “UP YOURS” to the current climate of terror over a virus that is 99% survivable.

Hopefully next year I’ll be back to my normal campy 50’s Sci-Fi and Monster movies.

After all, Halloween may originally have been a pagan kind of “Up Yours!” to the encroaching winter months saying you can’t have us, we will survive.

What better way to say that, than to imitate and make jokes about death and darkness. I know, earlier versions of the Holiday were more serious and meant to honor or appease the dead who might find their way back through the veil to the land of the living.

Believe me, any of my family who came back for a visit would want laughter, drinks, and merriment. My family is big on the philosophy of “UP YOURS!”

Posted on

10 or 11 days and nothing much new in the world

Ugh! The country has lost it’s mind.

I have finally gotten my dirt. I humped 19 bags of it from the front of the house to the back. Then cut the bags of dirt open to create a “Redneck” liner for the raised gardening boxes. I wasn’t going to pay for some liner thing, all I need a liner to do is mostly contain the dirt and not let too much moisture seep into the ground.

So, I got creative and used the empty dirt bags to form a liner. I’m pleased with the outcome, call it on site recycling. The plastic of the bags is perforated so I don’t have to worry too much about pooling. I wanted drainage, but didn’t want it to be instant.

One box full. Got to use my nifty little shovel too.

The drip watering system is in place. I’m waiting for some valves and miscellaneous parts to complete that part of the project. Hopefully those will be showing up later today.

I purchased some bib lettuce and squash plants They’re already sprouted so later today when it cools off outside I’m going to be planting those. Next up will be some carrots and maybe tomatoes. I’m thinking some zucchini and perhaps some other veggies that I like to have fresh.

Empty, Slightly offset so I can work on
the Drip.

Now the problem will be to keep the critters out of my garden. I’d put a picture of Elmer Fudd hunting wabbits but I’m sure that I’d offend someone with that.

I’ve take some pictures and will be taking more as the garden progresses. These boxes aren’t going to generate a lot of food but they’re keeping me grounded and will spice up the regular meals.

Who knows? I might have to get more boxes and put them all over the yard if the unrest continues. I think that if I had the entire backyard full, I might even be able to grow enough to barely feed myself.

That’s not a theory I’d like to have to prove.

Boxes filled. Drip soaker lines ready to go

This is more of something to pass the time and keep me from losing my mind entirely. I like growing things and somehow, food I’ve grown tastes better. I suppose it’s a matter of literal fruits of my labor. This way I cut out the middleman.

In any case, I hope your day is as rewarding as mine has been.