Octopus Overlords

It's a highly-known fact that in the rodent world, rats generally are the police and security forces, whereas mice are the regular 'man on the street'. Moles are the scientists and beavers wear the hardhats and oversee most construction.

Well after a year Im pretty sure i know whats wrong with my car....seems the fuel pump and filter along with alternator have decided to gang up and go on strike. My brand new battery who was part of the scabs was killed by them as well.

The fuel pump flickers..its like a Alzheimer's patient..sometimes its there and sometimes its not.
The fuel filter has also been on the car since new...so its 23 years old..not only can it vote it can buy beer..but its too stuffed up to see straight.
The alternator isn't alting correctly...its a trickster..it will show its fine then it wont charge then it will then it wont..shrug.
The battery has said to hell with this world and moved on to the promised land...guess it missed its other two battery friends.

So I need a fuel filter, a fuel pump, 1 alternator and to see if Walmart will bless me with a 3rd battery mwahahhaha cough cough.

But theres still some gremlin in the wiring..no not an AMC Gremlin..that would be cool...but a tech gremlin. My radio has only head unit power..theres no bass or anything..no boost..and theres at least 3 amps in this car.

Life in 1950s America, By the Numbers


Over 4 Million Families Had TVs at Home

Around 4.4 million homes had television sets by 1950. This might sound like a lot for the era, but it was only 9% of households. By the end of the decade, the figure spiked to 90% of households, marking a transformational decade for entertainment. Television programming, especially the American sitcom, became a staple of family life. These shows epitomized the stereotypical American family unit, from the Cleavers of Leave It to Beaver to the Warrens of Father Knows Best.


A Movie Theater Ticket Cost Less Than 50 Cents

Although the golden age of Hollywood was nearing its end in the 1950s, cinemas were still as popular as ever, and fortunately for moviegoers, this pastime didn’t cost a fortune. In 1950, one theater ticket cost 46 cents, which was less than the price of a dozen eggs (60 cents). A family of four could go to the movies for the price of around two gallons of milk (one gallon cost 83 cents) — a feat that is not likely accomplished today.

Families flocked to theaters to see Disney’s Cinderella, the top-grossing film of 1950. Released on February 15, the film grossed more than $52 million that year and sold nearly 99 million tickets. Other top-grossing films of 1950 included King Solomon’s Mines, Father of the Bride, and All About Eve.

I watch youtube videos on that subject all the time. That's what happens when you get olde.

dbt1949 wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2024 11:58 pm I watch youtube videos on that subject all the time. That's what happens when you get olde.

Seems true

My new phone scared me wit ha new alert audio. ive never heard an amber alert before. This one is my first..came out of knoxville. Hope they find the little girl.

AMBER Alert

Fewer than 6 percent of cases see children separated from their families for more than 48 hours.
...
In nearly 7 in every 10 AMBER Alert cases, children are successfully reunited with their parents. And in just over 17 percent of cases, the recovery is a direct result of the AMBER Alert. Just under 6 percent of cases end up being unfounded, while just over 5 percent are hoaxes. Sadly, over 3 percent of cases result in the death of the child, and 1.5 percent of cases are still active.

2023 Annual Report (PDF)

Anyone remember the Ford Pinto model that beat up on Porsche? I didn't either until this video.

The Pangra...damn YT embedding lack of thumbnail player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnPXNipyCwE

@Issy

Don't you hate it when you move your keyboard and hit some random key that completely messes up what you were doing.

Musical randomness:

One of my favorite bands is New Model Army. And the first song I remember hearing from that band back in the eighties was 51st State.
Today I learned that 51st State was actually created by the Quakes, a British punk band from earlier in that decade.

hepcat wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2024 8:33 am One of my favorite bands is New Model Army.

I love their name because I spent grad-school time there.

Jaymann wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2024 12:18 am Don't you hate it when you move your keyboard and hit some random key that completely messes up what you were doing.

`Y

Jaymann wrote: Tue Dec 31, 2024 12:18 am Don't you hate it when you move your keyboard and hit some random key that completely messes up what you were doing.

All too often recently, I move my mouse and hit the keyboard or something else on my desk, accidentally clicking and messing things up. Hate that!

Always fun when you have an accidental discharge in team PUBG.

Isgrimnur wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2025 7:39 pm Always fun when you have an accidental discharge

It's not, though.

As the first talkies start to enter public domain, it's weird to think that the tech hasn't yet been used for a century yet. The consumer tech curve between 1870 and 2020 is just amazing.

The first production car was 1885. In 1971, we drove a car on the moon.

In 1931, we had the first RC helicopter. In 2021, Ingenuity had it's first flight on Mars.

Heh. AI is taking over the world and we're DOOM'ed!

People have been complaining for a while that passing a CAPTCHA is too difficult, but developer and tech CEO Guillermo Rauch has made one of the hardest yet: a fully playable CAPTCHA based on the classic PC game Doom.

It's been a long-running joke that developers will make Doom run on absolutely anything, so it's not much of a surprise that it's now running inside something that resembles a CAPTCHA.

The app essentially amounts to a small Doom level that is playable with keyboard controls (arrow keys to move, space bar to shoot) within a CAPTCHA-like presentation. You must kill three enemies to pass the test.

Now you literally have to shoot your way out of Hell in order to access a webpage!

Pyperkub wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 4:19 pm Heh. AI is taking over the world and we're DOOM'ed!

People have been complaining for a while that passing a CAPTCHA is too difficult, but developer and tech CEO Guillermo Rauch has made one of the hardest yet: a fully playable CAPTCHA based on the classic PC game Doom.

It's been a long-running joke that developers will make Doom run on absolutely anything, so it's not much of a surprise that it's now running inside something that resembles a CAPTCHA.

The app essentially amounts to a small Doom level that is playable with keyboard controls (arrow keys to move, space bar to shoot) within a CAPTCHA-like presentation. You must kill three enemies to pass the test.

Now you literally have to shoot your way out of Hell in order to access a webpage!

I like the idea, but it does not seem it would be a challenge for a bot.

According to online we are now getting longer days..i cant tell yet but its a win at least. Yay.

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 3:53 pm The first production car was 1885. In 1971, we drove a car on the moon.

"We". Were you in the back seat?

dbt1949 wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 7:05 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 3:53 pm The first production car was 1885. In 1971, we drove a car on the moon.

"We". Were you in the back seat?

He was probably in the hanger where it was filmed.

Isgrimnur wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2025 3:53 pm The first production car was 1885. In 1971, we drove a car on the moon.

Orville Wright d. January 30, 1948
Neil Armstrong b. August 5, 1930

These two shared the earth for 18 years. That is how fast technology moves.

Takes a lot of concentration for me not to date my bills to 2525 instead of 2025.

Also my power bill jumped from $90 to over $200..ouch. There goes stuff I was going to buy this month...life. Bet its higher next month. im going to see if I can freeze to death instead lol.

https://calamityware.com/

Ive never understood the fine china crap...well crap to me. Everyone ive known has a set collecting dust or falling off the hutch and breaking. My in laws did..i still have it. useless. I use exactly 2 plates from my cabinet. 2. I also still have their fine silver flatware in wood and velvet box collecting both dust and grease sitting on top the kitchen cabinets. Useless. For the 20 years I lived with them before they died they never once used either set themselves.

Daehawk wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2025 1:39 pm Takes a lot of concentration for me not to date my bills to 2525

Zager and Evans have entered the chat.

Hey BlackHawk...my local animal shelter has some fancy pigeons for adoption...least thats what they call them.

https://www.local3news.com/local-news/m ... b68c1.html









Ive not seen such pretty pigeons.

2025 has already produced something that has beat 2024 for me.

I had to run to best buy to pick up something for work that I needed immediately and couldn't wait on Amazon to ship. At a stop light near the store, I look over and see a middle aged guy standing and admiring something he was holding. As I looked closer, I realized it had hair. But it was impossibly small for a baby with THAT much hair. As I drove through the intersection after the light turned green, I got a closer look.

He was holding a doll up to his face and stroking its long blonde hair as he stared at the cars in between bouts of admiring his "friend".

...I won't be sleeping this weekend. Maybe not ever again.

Kraken wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 2:29 am

Daehawk wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 1:19 am I started reading how the Michelin Star rating got started and decided to look up these food places. After a few min I started noticing that almost none of them post a menu online or prices. One place showed some dishes but no prices and one simply showed it was $750 to eat there...what lame giant ripoffs. And they seem ashamed of their pricing. They should be.

If you have to ask....

As much as I liked watching The Bear, I'm not a gourmet and will never have foodgasms over tiny portions of foofy food. I just don't appreciate the artistry that much.

We go to a Michelin starred restaurant here in town once a year or so. It is a hefty $250 per person, but the food is absolutely heavenly. It's a 7 course meal where the menu changes with the seasons to use ingredients that are growing locally at that time. And it has good portions, and you can get more of any course just by asking, as much as you want. If you leave hungry it's on you. And it's basically a demonstration kitchen where you can watch them make any dish at any time. It's a hell of an experience, and I know I'm lucky to be able to afford it.

gbasden wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2025 8:21 pm

Kraken wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 2:29 am

Daehawk wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 1:19 am I started reading how the Michelin Star rating got started and decided to look up these food places. After a few min I started noticing that almost none of them post a menu online or prices. One place showed some dishes but no prices and one simply showed it was $750 to eat there...what lame giant ripoffs. And they seem ashamed of their pricing. They should be.

If you have to ask....

As much as I liked watching The Bear, I'm not a gourmet and will never have foodgasms over tiny portions of foofy food. I just don't appreciate the artistry that much.

We go to a Michelin starred restaurant here in town once a year or so. It is a hefty $250 per person, but the food is absolutely heavenly. It's a 7 course meal where the menu changes with the seasons to use ingredients that are growing locally at that time. And it has good portions, and you can get more of any course just by asking, as much as you want. If you leave hungry it's on you. And it's basically a demonstration kitchen where you can watch them make any dish at any time. It's a hell of an experience, and I know I'm lucky to be able to afford it.

The all-you-can-eat aspect would make that a winner for me, too.

Kraken wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2025 9:49 pm

gbasden wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2025 8:21 pm

Kraken wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 2:29 am

Daehawk wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2024 1:19 am I started reading how the Michelin Star rating got started and decided to look up these food places. After a few min I started noticing that almost none of them post a menu online or prices. One place showed some dishes but no prices and one simply showed it was $750 to eat there...what lame giant ripoffs. And they seem ashamed of their pricing. They should be.

If you have to ask....

As much as I liked watching The Bear, I'm not a gourmet and will never have foodgasms over tiny portions of foofy food. I just don't appreciate the artistry that much.

We go to a Michelin starred restaurant here in town once a year or so. It is a hefty $250 per person, but the food is absolutely heavenly. It's a 7 course meal where the menu changes with the seasons to use ingredients that are growing locally at that time. And it has good portions, and you can get more of any course just by asking, as much as you want. If you leave hungry it's on you. And it's basically a demonstration kitchen where you can watch them make any dish at any time. It's a hell of an experience, and I know I'm lucky to be able to afford it.

The all-you-can-eat aspect would make that a winner for me, too.

It's amazing how cooking skill can transform ingredients. My wife does not like mushrooms, and we arrived once to find out that it was their centerpiece. Every dish had mushrooms. And yet, she loved it and got seconds of things because she liked the mushroom preparation so much. I experienced something similar with eggplant.

With my boonies living I doubt there a 1 star place within 1000 miles of me...and even if their was i could never afford it. thats sad as Id love something as nice as that once in my life.

You're in luck - DC and Chicago are only about 600 miles away!

The Michelin Guide only started reviewing the USA in 2005 and only covers New York, Illinois, California and Washington DC. Doesn't mean there aren't worthy restaurants in other areas.

Daehawk wrote: Fri Jan 03, 2025 6:15 pm Hey BlackHawk...my local animal shelter has some fancy pigeons for adoption...least thats what they call them.

https://www.local3news.com/local-news/m ... b68c1.html

Spoiler:

Ive not seen such pretty pigeons.

Beautiful birds, but they're not fancy pigeons, just normal hybrids. Here are some fancy pigeons:

The fantail:



The frillback:



The red Capuchin:



And the pouter:




But here's the thing - they may be pretty, but they're not really a good thing. These birds have been bred for entertainment, and it's often at the cost of their quality of life. The frillback's feathered feet are pretty, but they cause it trouble walking, and it can be extremely difficult for them to perch. Some pigeons are bred for short beaks, to the point that they have a great deal of trouble eating. Some are bred for huge ceres (the fleshy part around the eyes and beak) to the point that they're effectively blind. Here's a great example - the tumbler. These birds are famed for their ability to do aerial acrobatics:

https://youtu.be/dMwo7ippzWU?si=UjG8HJRstiQmecOK

How? Because they're bred so that when they try to fly, they have micro-seizures that cause them to lose control every few seconds.

That's kind of screwed up.

Thus endeth the pigeon lesson.

Used to have a friend who'd breed racing pigeons. He'd drive to some place, release them and time them on how long it took them to come back.