Tag: Technology

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A rainy start to the Labor Day weekend

I don’t really mind. But the dog is bored!

We got sprinkled on yesterday evening on our walk. Then the rain actually started right around sundown. It came in waves throughout the night. Sometime around 2am I remember hearing the wash starting to flow again. I thought about the Flood Control guys who’d spent so much time clearing the mud and rocks out of the wash over the past week.

OOOopps! I guess they’re going to be busy for a while longer. The guys themselves are actually nice. They’re just having to deal with a really shitty design and cleaning up after some morons who obviously were only interested in creating a “Make Work” project. I laugh because the wash project was supposed to prevent erosion, and yet, it seems to have done the exact opposite.

Again, not the fault of the guys tasked with cleaning up the mess.

It’s been raining off & on all morning. The clouds look like they’re breaking up I don’t know if it’s going to clear up today.

There is something weird going on in the atmosphere. (Aside from the rain) I’m picking up a Las Vegas, FM radio station. I’m not sure how that’s happening but it is… The antenna on my HAM rig isn’t that good! Especially since the antenna is built & tuned for completely different frequencies.

I’m not complaining, It’s an alternative rock station that I always look forward to listening to when I’m in Las Vegas. I’m just surprised that I’m hearing them here at home. I may upgrade with the antenna on the sound system in the living room to see if I can get this station all the time. Generally speaking I don’t like the LA / Inland Empire radio stations. On this side of the mountain about all I’ve been able to hear for years was Religious (Hellfire and damnation radio), or Spanish stations. Neither of which are particularly entertaining to me.

Since both cars were equipped with Satellite radios, the other half and I tended to listen only to Sat channels. Come to think of it, I haven’t even sampled local radio for decades, (except for the lone country station I could reliably receive).

Maybe it’s time to revisit over the air stations. There wasn’t much point in Southern California, for me at least. Even my old favorite stations from the 70’s & 80’s moved to Rap, or were purchased by Spanish Broadcasters and catered to that audience.

I remember a time driving through LA and not being able to find a single Radio station that was playing American Rock. I think that was 2005 – 2006. When I ordered my Mini Cooper, I made sure that the sound system had Satellite Radio, a CD Player, and an interface for my iPod.

Whenever I visited other states I’d spend time with the rental car radio to see what the locals were listening to. NV, AZ, OR, WA, KY, TX, LA, NC, SC, FL, GA, MS all had a healthy mix of musical types, talk radio, and languages represented. It was only in Los Angeles that I couldn’t find entertainment in my language.

This suggested to me that Los Angeles was no longer welcoming to folks like me, and I suggested to the other half it was time for us to leave.

The other half and I actually fought about it. He said I was being racist.

We were going somewhere, I was driving and told him, “Find a station that we can understand.” After tuning through the the AM and FM bands several times, he finally put a CD in the slot. He sat silently fuming for about 5 minutes. Then said, “Alright let’s look into satellite.”

He didn’t listen to the radio or music much when he was driving around, so he hadn’t noticed. Me, on the other hand… I spent 4 hours a day in the car going to and from work. So I WON! Well, I won half the battle, a complete win would have been us moving out of California. The compromise was, when we replaced our vehicles, we had satellite. First in my Mini Cooper, then in his vehicle. If I were to move out of California satellite radio is likely to be to first thing I disconnect especially if I go someplace with a healthy mix of stations.

I could add that to the “Reasons to Leave California list” right under cost cutting…

Hmmm. I looks like the clouds are thickening up again. Eh, I’m good with it. The mountains need the rain and I can save the water because I don’t have to water the plants in the yard.

There’s a ton of stuff I should be doing, but I’m feeling lazy. I think I’m going blow it off and find a book to read.

Have a great Labor Day weekend.

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I dropped the hammer on a PlayStation5

I know a lot of folks won’t get it. But there are those who will.

There are a lot of things I like more about the Playstation than the Xbox 360. To be fair, my Xbox is 6 years old or so. Part of this is about technology improvement and part of this is about the PlayStation’s operational philosophy and quality of the simulation environment.

Microsoft altered the Xbox interface several years back, and I HATED the new interface! I hated the changes so much, and that there were OS and Game updates so frequently that I kind of just stopped even turning the system on.

The Costco bundle is pretty nice, and their return policy is generous. I can see that I’ll be purchasing some additional storage for the system. But I’ve lost a few hours enjoying the game included with the bundle. There’s an interesting thing about the PlayStation 5 that I didn’t really consider. It’s large, I mean really large but I get it there’s a lot more surface area to dissipate heat. Let’s face it, these games do a ton of computing to render the playing environment. So I can see why this system is as big as it is. You sure can’t miss seeing the device.

Gaming is fantastic, streaming works fine, the BluRay player function works fine too. I was surprised to find that I can’t access my local DLNA video server via the PlayStation. OR perhaps I haven’t found the secret handshake to connect to the DLNA device.

Oddly, Sony BluRay players can access the DLNA, I’d have expected that the PlayStation (also made be Sony) would have the same function.

As I said, Perhaps I’m missing something.

The hours that I’ve “lost” playing the game have not been lost in vain. The puzzles and interactive storytelling that are affected by my choices in the game have sparked my brain in ways that have no consequences. My creativity is being stimulated and that’s helping my overall sense of well being

In the games, I can screw up SOOOO bad and just press restart, versus incorrectly solving puzzles like poorly worded “real world” Government instructions, and screwing up my life…

Playing like this is allowing my brain to do stuff in a lighter way. If the game gets frustrating… I can turn it off. I don’t have to worry about getting lost in the games because they’re mental breaks. I’m playing video games instead of watching television shows, or movies, or God Save me watching the news!

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I caught a clip of RFK Jr. testifying about censorship.

The behavior of some of the congresspersons was outrageous.

I really lost my shit at the exchange between Jim Jordan and Stacey Plaskett.

If she’s representative of the people of The Virgin Islands, it’s no wonder that they are still a possession of the United States and have not achieved actual statehood.

Personally I’ve fired people for less snotty attitudes than she demonstrated while speaking to Jim Jordan.

Here’s a video of the exchange. it is over the top. The wide screen version is better. Jordan’s expression in interesting and I wouldn’t play poker with him. Her speaking to him or anyone that way, should piss off everyone. Her hatred, contempt, and disrespect was evident with every word.

https://rumble.com/embed/v2yjw0s/?pub=4

I’m sure that I’d end up in jail if I encountered this bitch in a hearing. I wouldn’t be able to hold back calling her and anything she said exactly as I saw it. I personally think that she doesn’t deserve her seat in congress and should be sent home in disgrace.

She tried to stop RFK Jr. while he was answering her question.

It’s not her first time being just a snotty bitch she seems to have a history, at least if I can take all the videos online as a random sample.

I have to say I really like and respect RFK Jrs. Opening remarks. I don’t know if I’d vote for him as President, but what he says about free speech suggests that he gets it. I had to link the whole hearing bail when you’re bored or watch the whole thing, your choice.

Deborah Wasserman Schultz, is another sad piece of work. She may have been elected in Florida but the area that elected her is renown for being New York “South” so it’s not surprising that she’d be a raving bitch who sounds a lot like she’s asking for more censorship.

One thing I’ve noticed is that she’s aging very fast. I guess generating all that venom and hatred takes a toll. I’m praying that the good folks of Florida pull the plug on her career soon.