Ignorance is BLISS

 

Conservative Versus Liberal

Which live represents LIBERALS?

When I was in college in the 1960's (1966-1970), I was as liberal as one could get with long hair, into a variety of illegal drugs, wearing mainly jeans and a t-shirt to my classes, and a leather jacket when cold and I had several professors lower my grades because I did not dress like a college student should dress although I never cared about proving my point-of-views back then.  I went to college in the Piedmont of NC and was surrounded by the campuses of Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, NC State and a variety of lesser known 4-year colleges like Elon College (the one I attended) which is now a University and ranks as one of the top schools in NC.

Students on the campus of Elon College were exposed to all sorts of FORUMS that included both liberal and conservative viewpoints and opinions...  In the 1990's when my daughter attended UNC, the conservative viewpoint and opinion was being over-shadowed by the liberal viewpoints and opinions...  this took only 3 decades to change and in 2010 and 2020, it has only gotten worse...  and, not only has it gotten worse, but if you have a different viewpoint, you are now my ENEMY and I don't want to have anything to do with do...  in public or in private.

There are 4 definitions of BEING LIBERAL:

1. willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
2. relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
3. a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
4. a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.

TODAY...

being a Liberal only means #3 and all the others are ignored...

These are 4 definitions of BEING CONSERVATIVE

1. averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values.
2. (in a political context) favoring free enterprise, private ownership, and socially traditional ideas.
3. a person who is averse to change and holds traditional values.
4. a person favoring free enterprise, private ownership, and socially traditional ideas.

TODAY...

being a conservative means all of these except being adverse to change...

Manipulating the Masses

 

Technology Trends for 2021

According to Rohit Sharma of UpGrad.com, there are 8 Technological Trends for 2021 of which we should be or become aware...  

These are:

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Data Science
3. Networking Devices
4. Electronic Ledger Blockchain
5. Robotic Process Automation
6. Virtual Reality
7. Edge Computing
8. Intelligence Applications

Of course...  UpGrad is offering courses in each one of these areas, in case you want to move towards a career in any of these areas...  however, Community College and Technical Institutes are offering the same courses and probably for a substantial reduction of enrollment fees...   I'm just saying...

With this said...  most if not all of these 8 areas are predicated upon cloud computing or storing data in the cloud so that the proximity to the user is closer thus reducing time...

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. The term is generally used to describe data centers available to many users over the Internet.

A WOKE Mentality

Woke  is a term that originated in the United States, referring to a perceived awareness of issues that concern social justice and racial justice. 

It derives from the African-American Vernacular English expression stay woke, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues.

First used in the 1940s, the term has resurfaced in recent years as a concept that symbolizes perceived awareness of social issues and movement. 

By the late 2010s, woke had been adopted as a more generic slang term associated with left-wing politics, progressive or socially liberal causes such as anti-racism, LGBT rights, feminism and environmentalism. 

It has also been the subject of memes, ironic usage and criticism for its methods and consequences.  

Its widespread use since 2014 is a result of the Black Lives Matter movement.  SOURCE:  Wikipedia

Here's the deal Jake from State Farm...

Americans who happen to the BLACK only represent 14% of the American population in 2021...  and WHITES represent about 60% of the American population in 2021...

What this means Jake from State Farm...

 is that there are 4 times as many whites as there are blacks...  and, those white are here to stay in America and they are not going to give up their positions and resources just because blacks perceive that they want or need more...

America has had BLACK PRESIDENT for 8 years and America currently has a BLACK FEMALE VICE PRESIDENT...

• There are more BLACKS in professional sports than whites
• There are more BLACKS in professional music than whites
• There are just as many BLACK actors/actresses as whites
• There are more BLACKS selling illegal drugs than whites
• There are more BLACKS in prison than whites

This is an example of your WOKE Grammatical Aspect of life in America...  If BLACKS want something they tend to get what they want...  but, neither whites nor blacks (outside of the wealthy) are given anything...

Hump Day Humor

 

Special People

 

Game Based Learning

FROM THE LEARNING COUNCIL...

What Is Game-Based Learning?
Games have been used as a learning tool for centuries. Chess was used to teach strategic thinking as far back as the Middle Ages, and the game of Kreigsspiel was invented in 1812 specifically to teach Prussian officers strategy. Beyond military strategy, the genesis of Kindergarten in the mid-1800s was Friedrich Fröbel’s ideas of learning through play.

The core concept behind game-based learning is teaching through repetition, failure and the accomplishment of goals. Video games are built on this principle. The player starts off slow and gains in skill until they’re able to skillfully navigate the most difficult levels. Games that are planned and designed well will offer enough difficulty to keep it challenging while still being easy enough for the player to win.

Game-based learning takes this same concept and applies it to teaching a curriculum. Students work toward a goal, choosing actions and experiencing the consequences of those actions. They actively learn and practice the right way to do things. The result is active learning instead of passive learning.

Flight simulators are a perfect example of the effectiveness of game-based learning. Pilots commonly use flight simulators during their training. They’re given very specific goals and practice until they can accomplish them. The result is much more effective than sitting through lectures and theory.

Game-Based Learning vs. Textbook Learning
The educational system has always been slow to change. On one hand, the fact that change is slow is a good thing, since it helps avoid the pitfalls of adopting education fads before they’re fully tested. On the reverse side, it leads to a system that is sluggish to respond to the rapidly changing technological world. The only way to increase that response rate is to drastically change the systemic approach to curriculum, which is no small task.

Keith Bockwoldt of Township HSD 214 outside Chicago talked recently with the Learning Counsel about the overall shift to digital curriculum that is happening. “Even the most advanced schools and districts implementing digital tools still have a long ways to go to achieve real transformation—it will be years,” he said. “When stepping into this arena and realizing just how many publishers and vendors are out there selling you curriculum and devices, with multiple logins and standards, it’s a huge challenge. But it’s a challenge we all must confront, understand and embrace.”

A big reason why change takes so long? Textbooks themselves. When a textbook is released, it contains all of the current information, educational methods, and theories as of when the textbook was sent to print, which is often at least a year before it arrives in schools. Since textbooks are meant to be used for years, there’s a substantial delay before curriculum can be changed and information updated.

Game-based learning is built to be adaptive from the beginning. During the production process the game is tested and adjusted to be a more effective learning tool. As new information comes out in the field or educational approaches are adjusted, the game can be changed to suit them. After the game is released, it can be updated with new information, approaches, and more. Games even have student-monitoring analysis tools which allow teachers to monitor the students so the game can be adjusted in future updates.

Snoopy Sails Away

 

Three Times More Contagious

A coronavirus variant identified in the Brazilian Amazon may be three times more contagious but early analysis suggests vaccines are still effective against it, the country’s health minister said on Thursday, without providing evidence for the claims.

Under pressure as the variant hammers the jungle city of Manaus with a devastating second wave of infections, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello sought to reassure legislators that the surge of recent months was unexpected but coming under control.

He also told a Senate hearing that Brazil would vaccinate half its eligible population by June and the rest by the end of the year – an ambitious target as the country has barely guaranteed doses for half the population.

Brazil began immunisations with vaccines made by China’s Sinovac Biotech and Britain’s AstraZeneca about three weeks ago. Pazuello did not explain how their effectiveness against the Manaus variant was analysed.

“Thank God, we had clear news from the analysis that the vaccines still have an effect against this variant,” Pazuello said. “But it is more contagious. By our analysis, it is three time more contagious.”

The Health Ministry, which has not provided information about any such analysis, did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

The Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, which has partnered with Sinovac to test and produce the Chinese vaccine, said in a statement that it had begun studies regarding the Manaus variant but would not have a conclusion for two weeks.

The Fiocruz biomedical centre in Rio de Janeiro, which has paired up with AstraZeneca to fill and finish doses of its vaccine developed with Oxford University, said it is studying its efficacy against the Amazon variant, sent samples to Oxford and is awaiting results.

Located deep in the Amazon rainforest, Manaus has been hit hard by a brutal second wave of cases that has stretched emergency services to breaking point.  SOURCE:  ALJAZEERA

Approaching Conclusions

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

As we begin this week, we are also approaching the end of another month...  the month of February...  and, the reason why that is important, at least to me, is the fact that once the month of February has passed, cold weather in East TN is all but gone; in fact, according to a forecast for the month of March, weather in East TN will ONLY IN THE MID TO UPPER 50'S AND LOWER 60'S...

While this may not be important to others...  it is important to me because the older I get the less I enjoy cold weather.  And, the interesting part here is that while I cannot stay out in the sunlight because of health concerns, warm weather (even in the shade) is preferable to cold weather in a heated house.

As we approach the conclusion of the month of February, my age has put me in the category where I was able to get the first of two COVID VACCINE shots at my local health department.  My second one is a couple of weeks away and my vaccine is the Moderna Vaccine which has a good reliability factor.

However, that does not mean that I will stop wearing my face mask in public because I believe face masks and limited capacity at restaurants is now part of our future and is here to stay...  especially in doctor's offices, hospitals, and many public places were people congregate in numbers...  and, not just to prevent variations of COVID from spreading but to prevent all sorts of flu type viruses from spreading.

As we approach the beginning of a new Presidential Administration, we have an opportunity to explore the following:

• Distribution of COVID Vaccines
• Deal with potential increases in immigration
• Deal with increases in taxes
• Deal with the end of oil and gas as energy sources
• Deal with an increase in our national debt
• Deal with China as an economic and military adversary
• Deal with an increase in terrorism
• Deal with defunded police departments
• Deal with the effects/affects of going GREEN

As the approach the beginning of a new political era/climate and the conclusion of the old political climate, I constantly remind myself that I am RETIRED and whatever happens in the United States, actually impacts my life very little...

First 3-D Steak

By Janine Puhak | Fox News

The steak was produced using 3D bioprinting technology and real cow tissue, the food-tech startup explained in a news release. From there, scientists incubated the cells to grow, differentiate, and interact, ultimately replicating a real rib-eye.

With muscle and fat similar to a traditionally slaughtered steak, the futuristic food features "the same organoleptic attributes of a delicious tender, juicy rib-eye steak you'd buy from the butcher." Aleph Farms says it can produce any cut of meat with this method, as the company sets its sights on expanding its meat portfolio.

"With the realization of this milestone, we have broken the barriers to introducing new levels of variety into the cultivated meat cuts we can now produce," said Shulamit Levenberg, a professor at Technion and Aleph’s co-founder. "As we look into the future of 3D bioprinting, the opportunities are endless."

A price point has not yet been announced for the sizzling steak, but the Daily Mail reports it will take a few years to hit shelves.

"We are executing a clear plan to achieve cost-parity for cultivation of meat products at scale," said Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO of Aleph Farms, in a statement obtained by the outlet. "We expect to achieve this goal within five years from our 2022 soft launch, which is faster than the new generation of plant-based meat substitutes."

Komic Korner Kartoons

 

I Am What I Know

 

Saturday: Before Noon

SATURDAY Morning👉 the sun is shinning in the Tennessee Valley of East Tennessee... and, I am once again able to experience another day above ground...  at 73 years of age, another day above ground is a good day.  My morning begin with me giving our 3 cats their morning treats and then I take the little white pill prescribed by my Oncologist for my thyroid...  my thyroid got messed up because of my on-going chemo treatments which is beginning its 14th year.

Once the cats have been given their treat and their bowls filled up with food, I make myself a cup of coffee with a coffee pod and sit in my recliner to watch FOX NEWS...  It is typically around 8:00/8:30 am...  Prior to 2015, I was keyed into watching CNN or CBS News in the morning, but after going to the local gym where FOX NEWS was being televised, I quickly realized that CNN and/or CBS was NOT REPORTING all the news.

After watching FOX NEWS at home and switching back and forth between CNN, CBS, and Fox, I came to the realization that the conservative points-of-view were not just being overlooked but they were being distorted in favor of the liberal points-of-view.

I was a DIEHARD liberal until I went to Graduate School and earned an MBA...  then, I became a conservative liberal with a focus on eliminating debt and balancing the budget.

Unfortunately and beginning with the Trump Administration, mainstream media simply did not publish news that they DETERMINED they did not want to general public to know...  and, that mentality bothered me more than the bullshit that Trump was doing.

Being retired...  one day is no more different than any other day...  unless, there is a doctor's appointment scheduled and then I have to shower/shave and leave the house.  If there is no appointment, then my days are typically spent inside the house unless I take a notion to get in the hot tub outside.

BUT...  this is Saturday and I know that I am going nowhere today...  so, I will drink coffee for 2-3 hours before deciding that there is something else I need/want to do.  However, I will turn the channel once CAVUTO comes on...  as I just don't like to listen to him nor do I like his personality in general.

Typically, I start watching the HISTORY channel or the FOOD channel for the rest of the morning as I continue drink a few more cups of coffee.  It bothers me that I have to also watch STUPID COMMERCIALS that target Americans with an 8th grade mentality...  but, this is how America sells its products...  and, I guess is a NECESSARY EVIL.

Once my morning comes to a close, I eat a modest lunch and then begin preparing my blogs by first preparing a list of potential topics that I want to research...  I also take a looksee at previous lists that I prepared as well.  Daily Journals that I have been keeping for over ten years is where I write these lists and keep my notes for other topics that have been previously researched.  These journals are stored in a filing cabinet in the garage.

What's interesting about this Saturday is that the sun is out and this weekends represents the being of a 30 warming trend according to the weather channel forecasts.  Cold weather in the Valley is all but OVER...

Abortion: Killing Blacks

 

Artificial Intelligence Omnipresent

THE FUTURE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Artificial intelligence is impacting the future of virtually every industry and every human being. Artificial intelligence has acted as the main driver of emerging technologies like big data, robotics and IoT, and it will continue to act as a technological innovator for the foreseeable future.

Some sectors are at the start of their AI journey, others are veteran travelers. Both have a long way to go. Regardless, the impact artificial intelligence is having on our present day lives is hard to ignore:

• Transportation: Although it could take a decade or more to perfect them, autonomous cars will one day ferry us from place to place.
• Manufacturing: AI powered robots work alongside humans to perform a limited range of tasks like assembly and stacking, and predictive analysis sensors keep equipment running smoothly.
• Healthcare: In the comparatively AI-nascent field of healthcare, diseases are more quickly and accurately diagnosed, drug discovery is sped up and streamlined, virtual nursing assistants monitor patients and big data analysis helps to create a more personalized patient experience.
• Education: Textbooks are digitized with the help of AI, early-stage virtual tutors assist human instructors and facial analysis gauges the emotions of students to help determine who’s struggling or bored and better tailor the experience to their individual needs.
• Media: Journalism is harnessing AI, too, and will continue to benefit from it. Bloomberg uses Cyborg technology to help make quick sense of complex financial reports. The Associated Press employs the natural language abilities of Automated Insights to produce 3,700 earning reports stories per year — nearly four times more than in the recent past.
• Customer Service: Last but hardly least, Google is working on an AI assistant that can place human-like calls to make appointments at, say, your neighborhood hair salon. In addition to words, the system understands context and nuance.

Limbaugh Dead @ 70

CONSERVATIVES but not LIBERALS mourn the loss of Conservative Talk Show Host Rush Limbaugh at age 70 after a year long battle with lung cancer.  However, when he was diagnosed with lung cancer, he was already in Stage IV so very little could have been done anyway.

Rush is a victim of what most Americans do, ESPECIALLY MALES, and that is not to admit that they are sick in any way until it is is too late.  Steve Jobs did that very same thing...

What is it about our culture that males do not want to admit that they are weak and vulnerable?

When I was 40 years old, I stopped smoking cigarettes and gave up all forms of alcohol except the once or twice obligatory glass of wine at Christmas Dinners...

WHY?

Because I wanted to intentionally AVOID any and all cancers associated with tobacco and alcohol and whenever I would get together with males who were drinking and/or smoking, I was referred to as not being MACHO.

I really didn't give a crap what they thought...  my main concern was my future health.  AND...  while I am not wealthy nor do I have nothing of valuable to contribute to society and no reason to live except to experience God's Creation...  I do want to live as long as I can...

ETHICS: Deepfakes

Falsified videos created by AI—in particular, by deep neural networks (DNNs)—are a recent twist to the disconcerting problem of online disinformation. Although fabrication and manipulation of digital images and videos are not new, the rapid development of AI technology in recent years has made the process to create convincing fake videos much easier and faster. AI generated fake videos first caught the public's attention in late 2017, when a Reddit account with the name Deepfakes posted pornographic videos generated with a DNN-based face-swapping algorithm. Subsequently, the term deepfake has been used more broadly to refer to all types of AI-generated impersonating videos.

While there are interesting and creative applications of deepfakes, they are also likely to be weaponized. We were among the early responders to this phenomenon, and developed the first deepfake detection method based on the lack of realistic eye-blinking in the early generations of deepfake videos in early 2018. Subsequently, there is a surge of interest in developing deepfake detection methods.

A climax of these efforts is this year’s Deepfake Detection Challenge. Overall, the winning solutions are a tour de force of advanced DNNs (an average precision of 82.56 percent by the top performer). These provide us effective tools to expose deepfakes that are automated and mass-produced by AI algorithms. However, we need to be cautious in reading these results. Although the organizers have made their best effort to simulate situations where deepfake videos are deployed in real life, there is still a significant discrepancy between the performance on the evaluation data set and a more real data set; when tested on unseen videos, the top performer’s accuracy reduced to 65.18 percent.  TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE BY SIWEI LYU

Deepfake Technology

Deepfakes (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness. While the act of faking content is not new, deepfakes leverage powerful techniques from machine learning and artificial intelligence to manipulate or generate visual and audio content with a high potential to deceive. The main machine learning methods used to create deepfakes are based on deep learning and involve training generative neural network architectures, such as autoencoders or generative adversarial networks (GANs).

An example of deepfake technology: in a scene from Man of Steel,
actress Amy Adams in the original (left) is modified
to have the face of actor Nicolas Cage (right)

Deepfakes have garnered widespread attention for their uses in celebrity pornographic videos, revenge porn, fake news, hoaxes, and financial fraud. This has elicited responses from both industry and government to detect and limit their use.

Photo manipulation was developed in the 19th century and soon applied to motion pictures. Technology steadily improved during the 20th century, and more quickly with digital video.

Deepfake technology has been developed by researchers at academic institutions beginning in the 1990s, and later by amateurs in online communities.  More recently the methods have been adopted by industry.  SOURCE: Wikipedia