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Showing posts from May, 2016

To Our Horror, What the Arpanet Became

Only a reminder that there are a few fun, interesting, and often overlooked web sites out there. If you're interested. James Lileks is one of my favorite guys. Smart and funny. http://www.lileks.com / Wanna know what yahoo.com looked like 10 years ago? https://archive.org/web/ I laughed 'til I cried at The Rink Works. http://www.rinkworks.com/ Geeky stuff, fun stuff, tips and tricks. http://www.refdesk.com/ Joe Bob Briggs. Explanations are completely unnecessary. http://www.joebobbriggs.com/ Every time I have a date, there's only one place to go. http://www.driveintheater.com/ Real maple syrup from Ohio. If it's not from the Stan Hess farm in Ashland, Ohio, I'm not eatin' the waffle. http://ohiosyrup.com/

Out of the Past--1947

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Any time I stop to think about it, I get surprised at how I have become accustomed to a 48 inch HD Wide Screen TV as an expected thing.  I shouldn’t be quite so cavalier about it.  Really.  This is truly amazing technology.  Not only am I watching a baseball game in high definition wide screen splendor, I’m watching the home broadcast of the San Francisco Giants in Castle Rock, Washington.  Not only that, I’m doing it without an antenna nor even a cable connection.  The whole thing is beamed to my tiny ROKU box via a wireless connection fed by Comcast cable through something called a “router” sending the signal silently, and ultimately, to the aforementioned High Definition Wide Screen 48-inch television. In other words…..Magic.  Amazing technology.  After the game, I’m going to watch a B&W Film Noir from 1947 utilizing the same technology.  That’s even more amazing.  I’ll still be in front of the same TV, using the same WIFI home network and ROKU box, but I’ll be watching “Ou

A Stand-Up Guy

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Tony Gwynn was a great guy, a REALLY great baseball player, and a gift generally to San Diego and baseball.  He never made excuses, and always carried his own water. Now I read that his family has lawyered up and is suing the tobacco industry for wrongful death due to Tony’s addiction to snuff.  I simply cannot believe that Tony Gwynn would be OK with his widow and children suing someone over his choices.  I just don’t believe it.  I just don’t believe it. If Tony had blamed the tobacco industry and wanted to sue them, he would have sued them himself.  It’s just the sort of guy he was.  A Stand-Up guy. In other, totally unrelated baseball thoughts, I was wondering……….Well, I’m an “out-of-market” baseball guy, therefore I watch baseball on my High Definition 48” TCL ROKU TV (I’m not shouting here, it’s just that all that stuff is just initials except for ROKU, which I thought ought to be in all caps because it’s so cool)……….Anyhow, I see baseball by way of my subs

Hummus Day at the Yard

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I was taking a long detailed look at the S.F. Giant's baseball schedule, and noticed that most of the dates have some “special” thing going on—Lots of “heritage” games. In case you're wondering, that's something on the order of Chinese Heritage Night (with a special hat or bobblehead or something as a give-away) or Korean Heritage night, with much the same sort of thing going on in addition to the mandatory baseball contest between my beloved Giants and some lesser baseball club. I have no grief with the Chinese, or the Japanese, or pretty much any other “ese” or ethnic group or religion, unless the group preaches “Death to America” as a substantial part of their credo. I guess that's why there's no Iranian Heritage night. Looking further, there's all sorts of “special” nights and days—Metallica, Marvel Superheroes, University of California (Berkeley), Autism, LGBT, Jewish…..The list goes on, culminating (at least for me) with Peanut Allergy Day. Pean

Money, Money, Money

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So we're going to change the look of the twenty dollar bill. Fine. I don't really care. But the U.S. currency system has been one of my peeves for quite some time. Ever since the runaway inflation of the Carter administration, really. So, here it is. There's no longer a need for some of our U.S. Currency and Coin, except as it relates to collectors. Like the Half Cent of years gone by. At some point, it became obsolete, and, like an old soldier, just faded away. Let's be smart and do away with the following: -Pennies -Dimes -One Dollar Bills -Five Dollar Bills -Twenty Dollar Bills Here's what you cash drawer will have in it: -Nickels -Quarters -Halves -One Dollar Coins -Two Dollar Bills -Ten Dollar Bills -Fifty Dollar Bills -Hundred Dollar Bills This makes all sorts of sense, therefore, the federal government will NEVER do something of this sort. Look, nobody actually uses much cash anymore anyhow, and even

Trump, The Nominee

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Trump, The Nominee of the Republican Party. Who'd a-thunk? Not me. This guy is a real problem. Nobody knows if the “undecided's” hatred of him is sufficient to beget a Hillary presidency. And nothing, not even Trump, would be more disastrous for the republic. I'm both a conservative and a Republican. These two don't always go hand-in-hand, but in my case, they do. I think that the Republican party generally causes less grief to the republic than the Democrats. All the while, I yearn for a real fiscal conservative who also believes in national defense and self-reliance. Oh, well. Here's what my choices seem to be: -Don't vote at all -Write in a candidate -Hold my nose and vote Trump The “Don't Vote At All” and “Write in a Candidate” options look to be a default vote for Hillary, which might cause me to contemplate self-destruction. On the other hand, if I “Hold My Nose and Vote Trump”, it will necessarily turn me into a lia

Come Together

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Every time there's some acrimony in these United States these days, every media wonk and politician in the country says that we must “Come Together”. This phraseology began bugging me about the same time that Barry Obama was elected. Coincidence, I'm sure. Time was, and not in the distant past, that when there were such disagreements, we might “Reach an Agreement”, or perhaps we would “Compromise”. The options were almost endless, varied, erudite, and descriptive. All of which has been replaced by “Come Together”. Ever wonder why this change occurred? Thought you'd never ask. “Come Together” is both the title and partial lyrics of a 1965-ish Beatles tune. Our country is being run by a bunch of dweebs who think that 1960-ish Beatles lyrics constitute a PHILOSOPHY. The solution is so obvious that I'm embarrassed to have to point it out. Replace, by any necessary means, the LINOs (Leaders In Name Only) with others who instead subscribe to Hugh Hefne