Owns America

 

I am Not a Football Fan

 When I was growing up in Alexandria, VA, my father, who played football in college, was a HUGE football fan...  and whenever he was home and there a football game on, we would have the game on the television.  The whole family would watch, none of us ever thinking whether or not we wanted to or not, we just watched.

As I got older, I signed up for football and was put in the position of a defensive linebacker.  My dad's position was fullback.  I cannot remember if I tried to be a fullback or not, but really enjoyed playing a defensive linebacker because we could use our hands.

I did not play football in college and gradually over the years lost interest in watching football.  However, during my first marriage whenever with visited my ex-wife's parents or my parents over the holidays, we would watch football.  Whenever they came over to our house, we would watch football.

After 23 years, I divorced my first wife and it was then (more or less) that I stopped watching football.  My second wife like watching football but only wanted to watch the championship games for some reason.  I would watch with her out of politeness.

I am not sure why I don't like football especially since I played football...  but, it is what it is.

There are lots of people (obviously) who like watching football and I am fine with that as long as you do not expect me to watch with you.

Goodbye Jimmy Buffett

James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter,[10] musician, author, and businessman. He was best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett recorded hit songs including "Margaritaville" (ranked 234th on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century") and "Come Monday". He has a devoted base of fans known as "Parrotheads".

Aside from his career in music, Buffett was also a bestselling author and was involved in two restaurant chains named after two of his best-known songs; he owned the Margaritaville Cafe restaurant chain and co-developed the now defunct Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant chain. Buffett was one of the world's richest musicians, with a net worth of $1 billion as of 2023.

Piper and I

I live in an apartment in Florence, Kentucky circa 2011/2012 where I worked for a proprietary college just across the river from Cincinatti, Ohio.

My apartment was more like a condo with two bedrooms, two baths, a foyer, a living room, dining room, kitchen, office, and balcony.  There was an HOA but the fees were not all that much as a recall.

I came home on the weekends (about a 4 hour drive) and we planned to rent out the condo or sell it if the job did not work out.  The job did not work out and I left after a year.  We rented the condo for about 3 years before selling it at a profit.

With I was there, we decided to get a pet for me and since a dog was too much maintenance, we decided on a cat.  We found a Siamese cat for sale for $100 that was pure-bred but it cost $500 to get those papers, which we declined.

I named the cat Piper but the cat had not been socialized, so for several weeks, the cat would hide from me.  I had a food bowl and water bowl, and a liter box.  He ate the food and drank the water and used the box but would not show himself.  At night I would feel him walking on my back.

He eventually came out and we became the best of friends.  He did not like me being away during the day but when I returned, he sat with me on couch for the rest of the night and then slept with me in the bed.

When I moved back down to our home in East TN, he easily became friends with the other cats since the other two had visited me every other weekend.  He never got close to my wife even though, she gave all three cats treats twice a day.  Piper would lay in her lap until I appeared then he wanted to just be with me.

A couple of years ago, a mast cell cancer was removed from his tail but the surgeon said that she did not get it all and it could come back.  So far it has not returned to his tail, although he could have metastasized to other parts of his body.  All three of our cats are over 10 years old and cats don't usually live longer than 15 years or so...  there are always exceptions.

A pure Siamese has totally black paws on the bottom with not splotches which Piper has.  The Vet spotted this right away.  Siamese cats are very vocal and this one is no exception.  Piper hurt his eye outside a while back and lost it but that does not slow him down any.

Right now, Piper is laying against my leg as I sit on the couch.  Tippy a yellow cat is on the top of the seat of that same couch and Chazy another yellow cat is sleeping at the same location on another couch.  My wife is outside in the sunroom but these cats prefer inside with the AC like me.

Piper is the second animal that has ever gotten close to me.  The first was a dachshund when I was a child.  One might say, animals are my weakness.

 

It's Just a Matter of Time

Most of the time and when we think about it which is not too often, we notice that time has moved through our lives quicker than we had anticipated. Although, few of us, if any, actually thinks about or anticipates how quickly or slowly time will move by...  until we get old and see that there is not much time left in our lives.

More than likely this will never happen to anyway unless one of two things happen.  First, we have a near death experience.  Second, we decide to retire.  The near-death experience can be a diagnosis of a life-threatening disease, like cancer or a heart attack.

Most of the time, this reflection usually comes when we retire or are about to retire.  For some of us, it is difficult to stop working as that is all we have known.  Or, it is difficult because we have no idea what we are going to do when we retire.

For my wife and I, when we retired, we traveled as if we were going to die tomorrow, going somewhere every other month.  COVID slowed us down dramatically but after five years, we were burned out anyway.  COVID became a good excuse for us.

When life is not as good as expected or it could be, we tell ourselves that it's just a matter of time before everything changes again.  And, that certainty helps us keep a positive attitude.

The one certainty in life is the consistency of life changing.  It is not routine in the way it changes but it always changes.  Sometimes the change is for the good and sometimes bad.  However, whatever happens, it will happen again and go off in a different direction.

And, it is just a matter of time, before today's youth come to realize what I am talking about.  It is never too late to have that realization and having that realization will happen.

Somewhat Political

 

Opposing Viewpoints

When I was in college from 1966 through 1974, I was an all out card carrying LIBERAL...  I was a hippie with long hair and bell bottom jeans and I was ignored and alienated because I did not look like the other college students at that North Carolina College. 

HOWEVER, I wanted and demanded to hear opposite points of view about what I believed it.  It was important for me to hear both sides of an argument so that I could make up my mind.

Both my parents were Democrats and raised me as a Democrat although neither of them were as liberal as I was, so we conflicted with our points of view even on many, if not all, liberal issues.

Today, my liberal views would probably fall into the category of a Progressive Democrat although at the time there were no such concept as Progressive Democrats.

My parents were more than willing to pay higher taxes so that the government could give more social programs to those not as well off financially as we were...  however, we were not that financially well off as there were many who lived better than we did and more money than we did...  so, I never understood why my parents felt that way.

Once I left college, I found that those who managed businesses DID NOT WANT TO LISTEN TO OPPOSING POINTS OF VIEW...  it was quite a shock to my mental faculties to be confronted with such nonsense and illogical thinking.  I found myself in hot water all the time because I was fond of expressing my points of view.

When I went to graduate school to earn an MBA, my political thinking changed from that of a liberal to that of a conservative...  although I still held onto some of my liberal views...  I was against the second amendment (and war for that matter) and I felt that our Federal Government had no right telling us what we could or could not do with or to our bodies.

Being a liberal conservative was not healthy either in the business world as they were mostly straight conservatives...  AND, I still found my opposing opinions to be unwelcomed by management.

It was odd for me when I became management and had to listen to opposing views, especially since I was on top of everything and thought my opinion should rule.  I did not like being management because I was always defending, explaining, and pushing for my points of view to be accepted.

Management is nothing but a bunch of EGOS fighting each other for power and control.  There were some friendships and alliances but mainly enemies who wanted to take control away from me.

Once I got control of my ego, I left being management and vowed never to return.  It was not worth the emotional expense of remaining in charge.  Let the fools have their ship, I said to myself.

Since then, I have come to realize that the business world is all about power and control.  But, if you have wealth, then no one can take the power and control away from you unless they are wealthier.

Artist at Work

 

Robots Doing House Chores

Imagine the biggest market for a physical product you can. Are you thinking of mobile phones? Cars? Property?


They are all chunky markets but in the coming decades a new product will be rolled out that will dwarf those giants, says Geordie Rose, the chief executive of Sanctuary AI.


The Vancouver-based firm is developing a humanoid robot called Phoenix which, when complete, will understand what we want, understand the way the world works and have the skills to carry out our commands.


"The long term total addressable market is the biggest one that's ever existed in the history of business and technology - which is the labour market. It's all of the things we want done," he says.

Before we get too ahead of ourselves, he qualifies that statement: "There is a long way to go from where we are today."


Mr Rose is unwilling to put a time frame on when a robot might be in your house, doing your laundry or cleaning the bathroom. But others I have spoken to in the sector say it could be within ten years.


Dozens of other firms around the world are working on the technology.


In the UK, Dyson is investing in AI and robotics aimed at household chores.   READ MORE...

Inspiration

 

Term Limits and Age

One of the biggest problems that I have with elected officials, especially in Congress as well as in the Supreme Court is that there is no limitation of terms.

Officials in Congress can spend 40 years or more in Congress and when that happens, they tend to be more concerned with RE-ELECTIONS than with doing anything that is right for Americans...

I can say this with confidence because the same problems we had in the 1960s we will have today in 2023...  nothing has really changed...  WHY?

TERM LIMITS is what we need in Congress.

We can limit the terms to two terms or we can say that these elected officials can serve no more than 20 years.  This includes Congress as well as the Supreme Court Justices.

There is something to be said for TENURE and I agree but TENURE is less important than nothing changing...

• We still have racial issues
• We still have drug problems
• We still have wage issues
• We still have rising healthcare costs
• We still have declining education
• We still have rising crime
• We still have military issues

How can a 75 or 80 year old elected official, including the President or a Supreme Court Justice, know what is right or proper for someone in their 30s or 40s.  Life change.  Societies change.  People change.  Education changes.

While I am all for a Democracy, I am 75 years old and if a majority of the people, who are younger, want a different form of government, then they have the right to GO THERE...  even if and when us older folks think it is wrong.

When these older elected officials were young and enter Congress their age caused them to make mistakes but they learned.  Now it is time for the younger generation to make mistakes and learn.  We must learn to trust the learning process and accept what our leaders think is best for the country.

It will not be too much longer before it is theirs anyway.

TERM LIMITS AND AGE LIMITATIONS for members of Congress, the Supreme Court Justices, and the President.

THEORETICAL PHYSICS

Theoretical physicists invent and study theories. These theories are written in a mathematical language and use mathematical tools. 

For instance...

A theory to explain gravity is created.

Once that theory is created, they use math to explain why that happens.

So, when a apple falls from the apple tree, it hits the ground instead of floating around.

Why does it hit the ground?

There is some unseen force that pulls it down.

How is this unseen force created?

What created this unseen force?

Is this unseen force responsible for human being walking on the ground instead of floating around?

What mathematical models or formulae can I develop to help prove what I have theorized?

Einstein's theory of gravity was explained by using a blanket.  Four people are standing at each corner of the blanket pulling it as tight as possible but the strength they exert at each corner is equal.  When a ball is placed anywhere on the blanket, it does not move.

However, if the blanket is loosened at each corner equally, and a ball is placed anywhere on the blanket, it will roll to the center of the blanket every time.

This is an example of gravity and happens because the fabric of space (the blanket) is curved.

This curved fabric of space is responsible for the apple falling the ground when it drops from the tree.

Personally, I can understand the logic of the blanket but have no idea of the math needed to prove or explain the theory.

For Einstein, creative thinking and logic came first before the math.  And, while the math is important, the thinking and logic is critical.  If you know the math but do not have creative thinking or logical thinking, then your math from a theoretical standpoint is meaningless.

From my standpoint, the key here is the thinking...  not many people know how to creatively think even those who are mathematicians.  It is relatively easy to find a mathematicians, but not so for a THINKER.

I am Voting Conservative in 2024

For the first time in my voting life, I am voting conservative regardless of who is on the ticket...

It could be Trump or it could be DeSantis and it could be Haley...  Just like SHINGLES, I don't care...

WHY?...

Because:

1. I want to be energy independent again
2. I want to have a growing economy
3. I am not interested in going green
4. I want lower taxes
5. I want a small government
6. I want a strong global military presence
7. I want to close our southern borders and stop ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
8. I want to stop the flow of drugs from China and Mexico in the US
9. I don't want to buy an EV or a Hybrid
10. I am not interested in BLM, CRT, or becoming WOKE
11. I am not interested in SOCIALISM
12. I am not interested in Government Handouts
13. I am not interested in SOCIALIZED MEDICINE
14. A divided America is a WEAK AMERICA

Ever since the Biden administration took office and because too much money was put into the economy, we have had INFLATION...  and while prices have come down a little, they are still higher than before.

Throughout the TRUMP administration, the Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, and the mainstream media have been trying to IMPEACH or put this man in JAIL.

This has been going on now for SIX YEARS...  and, I am sick and tired of it...  just like many other Americans.

The Biden administration has WEAPONIZED the DOJ and the FBI which, in my opinion, is not just unethical but not constitutional...  yet, NO ONE does anything about it.

A Republican President WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Finally, the House of Representatives have PROOF that Joe Biden has been peddling influence through his son Hunter, ever since he was VICE PRESIDENT...  To me, that is TREASON...  yet, nothing is being done about that and the mainstream media seems to have overlooked it...

THAT IS PLAIN WRONG...

If you think I am wrong, then vote the Democratic Ticket and re-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, BUT DON'T BITCH if Biden leaves office for medical reasons and Kamala Harris becomes President.  Just being a VP does not make her qualified...

Look at the impact domestically then look at the impact internationally...  Do you think Kamala can stand up to Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, OPEC, BRICS, and Saudi Arabia???  ALL OF WHOM HATE AMERICANS WORSE THAN BLACKS HATE WHITE SUPREMACY...

Sick Cockatoo

 

Extending Human Longevity VIA the Longevity Gene

Researchers successfully transferred a longevity gene from naked mole rats to mice, leading to enhanced health and increased lifespan. Naked mole rats, noted for their resistance to age-related diseases, have a gene that produces high molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HMW-HA), which when introduced to mice, demonstrated potential anti-aging benefits.






The successful transfer of a gene that produces HMW-HA paves the way for improving the health and lifespan of humans, too.

In a groundbreaking endeavor, scientists at the University of Rochester have successfully transferred a longevity gene from naked mole rats to mice, leading to enhanced health and a longer lifespan for the mice.

Naked mole rats, known for their long lifespans and exceptional resistance to age-related diseases, have long captured the attention of the scientific community. By introducing a specific gene responsible for enhanced cellular repair and protection into mice, the Rochester researchers have opened exciting possibilities for unlocking the secrets of aging and extending human lifespan.

“Our study provides a proof of principle that unique longevity mechanisms that evolved in long-lived mammalian species can be exported to improve the lifespans of other mammals,” says Vera Gorbunova, the Doris Johns Cherry Professor of biology and medicine at Rochester.

Gorbunova, along with Andrei Seluanov, a professor of biology, and their colleagues, report in a study published in Nature that they successfully transferred a gene responsible for making high molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HMW-HA) from a naked mole rat to mice. This led to improved health and an approximate 4.4 percent increase in the median lifespan for the mice.

A unique mechanism for cancer resistance
Naked mole rats are mouse-sized rodents that have exceptional longevity for rodents of their size; they can live up to 41 years, nearly ten times as long as similar-sized rodents. Unlike many other species, naked mole rats do not often contract diseases—including neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and cancer—as they age. Gorbunova and Seluanov have devoted decades of research to understanding the unique mechanisms that naked mole rats use to protect themselves against aging and diseases.     READ MORE...

Dog in Mirror

 

Non Tenured College Teaching

For the last three years of my career, I taught business classes at a small university in East TN.  I only had a master's degree so I could not teach graduate classes, and my 42 years of experience in management did not make any difference to accrediting agencies.

I got paid full time and my 9 month contract was spread out over 12 months.  I got paid extra for teaching in summer school.  I was hired on a non-tenure basis which means I had no employment protection, nor did I have to spend time trying to get articles published.

The requirement at this university was to have 12 hours in the classroom each week and 6 hours in the office and be on at least one committee that took less than two hours of your time each week.  These committees met once a month.  

SO...  I worked only 20 hours each week and got paid for 40 hours...  but this was only because I was not on a tenure track.  That extra time would have been used to do research for publishing.

The university was less than 2 miles from where my wife and I were living at the time.  So, I could go home for lunch if I wanted to.

When I was doing my office hours very few students came to see me so I spent that time working on my lesson plans for the next class or grading papers.

At this particular school and in this particular business department, everyone put in their hours Monday through Thursday and Friday morning.  At 1pm, all faculty except for the Dean and secretary would leave for the weekend unless they had a committee meeting.

We had three weeks off for Christmas but had to put in our 20 hours during both the fall and spring breaks where students had no classes.  That was a small price to pay.

The stress level for a job like this was next to nothing...  and, during those three years, I was wishing I had made this transition earlier in my career, but it was an excellent way to END IT.

Chaplin

 

Brain Reading Devices Using Thoughts

A brain-computer interface translates the study participant’s brain signals into the speech and facial movements of an animated avatar. Credit: Noah Berger




Brain-reading implants enhanced using artificial intelligence (AI) have enabled two people with paralysis to communicate with unprecedented accuracy and speed.


In separate studies, both published on 23 August in Nature, two teams of researchers describe brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) that translate neural signals into text or words spoken by a synthetic voice. The BCIs can decode speech at 62 words per minute and 78 words per minute, respectively. 

Natural conversation happens at around 160 words per minute, but the new technologies are both faster than any previous attempts.

“It is now possible to imagine a future where we can restore fluid conversation to someone with paralysis, enabling them to freely say whatever they want to say with an accuracy high enough to be understood reliably,” said Francis Willett, a neuroscientist at Stanford University in California who co-authored one of the papers, in a press conference on 22 August.  READ MORE...

Cucumber

 

End of August 2023

Today, is the last day of August 2023...  this month, like all other months before, once ended we will never see again, except for maybe in photographs.

If you are like me, the photos that you take, you very seldom go back and look at them...  and, when you do, it is difficult to remember why you took them.

But, it is not so much the end of a month as it is the passage of time.  It has been over a YEAR since I had my back fused.  It was not a small surgery as L2-L3-L4-L5, and S1 were all fused together.  While there was no pain after the surgery which most people around me thought there would be, my biggest challenge was learning to walk comfortably again.  A process that I am sure all these months later, I have successfully accomplished.

If I walk with a cane or pushing a grocery cart, I am fine but if I walk unaided, then there is still a bit of a struggle, although I no longer limp.

The passage of time is a wonderful thing because BAD DAYS fly by just as quickly as GOOD DAYS when you are in your 70s.  On the other side of the coin, because time passes by quickly, one feels like one day one woke up as 70 years of age, and the next day one woke up at 75 years of age.

It is difficult to understand this concept when one is under fifty years of age...  even though turning 40 is a big milestone in most people's lives.

Regardless of what is happening around me, the end of August will ALWAYS represent the END OF SUMMER.  

September, October, November, and parts of December will ALWAYS be FALL.  January, February, and March, will ALWAYS be WINTER.  April and May will ALWAYS be SPRING and June, July and August will ALWAYS be SUMMER.

Since I am a traditionalist and see four distinct seasons that are almost equally occurring within the span of three months, AUGUST ends summer...

With that said, there will be unusually warm weather between now and the end of December, even though there will be periods of cool fall weather.

And, I will probably have to continue mowing the lawn and weed eating until the middle of October...

I am sure that weather in the Tennessee Valley is different than other parts of TN, North Carolina, Kentucky, and South Carolina but we are fortunate.  While this is a great place to live, we don't really need anymore people to move into this area...  THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Labor Day Weekend Holiday

 As we move towards the LABOR DAY WEEKEND, I am reminded of the holiday.

Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States. The three-day weekend it falls on is called Labor Day Weekend. Wikipedia

This holiday has been observed for about 141 years of which many of us are not aware.

I remember when I was a boy in Alexandria, VA, summer was bordered by two long weekends.  Memorial Day weekend on the front end and Labor Day weekend on the tail end.  School usually began the day after Labor Day.

The reason that changed was because teachers bitched that they were not being paid enough money...  so, in order to increase their wages, the school year was extended...  consequently, school re-opened their doors before the Labor Day Weekend holidays.

While working, many employers penalized you, if you did not work on either side of the holiday.  Of course, you could avoid that penalty by taking a vacation day on Friday.

My approach was to take two vacation days on either side of both Memorial and Labor Day weekends so that I could get two weeks vacation for only 4 days.  That 5th day would be taken on one side of the July 4 holiday.

Since most employers gave me a minimum of two weeks, my second week was taken between two weekends, leaving right after work on Friday.

Now that I am not working, it was only today that I realized we were heading into a long weekend which prompted this posting.

It is important at least from labor's point of view to have time off from work.  Some of us enjoys or enjoyed our work, while others did not.  Most of time when employees do not like their work, it is because of their SUPERVISOR and not the actual work itself.

While this is associated with blue collar workers, it is also what happens within the ranks of management.  Most of the time, supervisors are ASSHOLES because there is a perception that their subordinates will not work or do what is right with someone standing over them making sure it gets done right.

Why does that bother me?

When I was teaching, my supervisor would tell me how to teach...  even though that supervisor had no experience teaching or what little experience teaching that they had, the students gave them POOR EVALUATIONS.

How could they advise me on what to do when they could not even do it well themselves?

Timeshare Deception

Yesterday, or should I say last night, we got a phone call from a salesperson representing the timeshare that we own.  We got ripped off and deceived when buying this timeshare and tried to GIVE IT BACK TO THEM without any exchange of money and they refused.  We did not pay our maintenance fees and got turned over to a collection agency...  and after many letters finally paid the fee along with the penalty.

This salesperson started the conversation by saying we were a valuable client who had a history of paying their fees on time and because of that loyalty, the timeshare company wanted to reward us.

RIGHT AWAY WE KNEW SHE WAS LYING...

The Timeshare company wanted to reward us with a 4 day, 3 night stay at one of 4 locations:  VA, Las Vegas, and two in Florida.  We would pay $150 up front (that night) and once we listened to a benefits presentations (where no one was trying to get us to buy anything) we would get our $150 back plus $100...   Our first thought was BULLSHIT...

Why did we have to pay anything if we were getting it back?

No Timeshare company is going to meet with an owner about benefits WITHOUT TRYING TO SELL THEM SOMETHING...

Did she think we were naive and stupid?

We explained to her that we did not want to go to Vegas or Virginia which left Florida.  The closest location in Florida was 10 hours away from where we lived by car and we could not afford an airflight and car rental.

At 76 and 71, we did not want to drive 10 hours for THREE NIGHTS!

She could not understand our reluctance because we were getting this free...

After 30 minutes trying to explain our situation, we were at an impasse because we did not understand her point of view and she could not understand our point of view.  We told her we were not interested and that we would pass but she refused to give up.

My wife finally hung up on her.  She called back 3 times and we refused to answer the phone.

If she is going to lie to us about how loyal we are (and she obviously had our file) then we immediately knew that the deal she was offering was bogus and was not going to unfold as she said it would.

We asked if we could extend our stay longer than 3 nights because of the ten hour drive, and she said we could only go to 4 nights and that extra day would cost us about $200 which would leave us with a $50 profit, a 10 hour drive, and having to listen to a BS presentation that would be a high pressure sales meeting.

WATCH OUT FOR TIMESHARE SALES PEOPLE!!!

 

East Tennessee: An Outdoor Paradise

While I am not a HUNTER, hunting is very popular in East TN.  What is available in this area is:  white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, black bear, rabbits, squirrels, ducks and geese.  Some like to hunt raccoon with dogs.

Fishing is also popular in this area, such as: salmon, bass, trout, sturgeon, carp, catfish, mussels, and minnows.  The best time of the year to catch salmon is May through October.  Salmon species include: chinook, coho, sockeye, and pink.

In addition to hunting and fishing in East Tennessee, there are several lakes where camping and RVs are permitted.  In addition to camping around these lakes, there are numerous places that have well defined and laid out hiking paths.  If you can camp, you can swim in the lake and have campfires and picnics.

Many people have pontoon boats and sail around the lake and up and down its tributaries.  In addition to these pontoon boats, you will see canoes, rowboats, kayaks, as well as motorized boats.  Oftentimes, these boats are pulling skiers.

East Tennessee stretches from the tri-cities area of Bristol, Kingsport, and Johnson City, down to Greeneville, Morristown, Jefferson City, over to Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg (Smoky Mountains), back over to Knoxville and then down to Chattanooga.

Where my wife and I live in East TN, we have two lakes on either side of us, Cherokee and Douglas.  A few years ago, we purchased two Dagger cruising kayaks, 10 feet and 12 feet in length, and kayaked on both lakes every weekend for about 2-4 hours.  

We carried the kayaks on the top of our vehicle and would pack bottles of water along with a few snacks.  Typically, we would kayak around for 90 minutes, stop at an island in the middle of the lake, rest, drink water, eat our snacks, the kayak around for another 60-90 minutes before returning home.

The only reason that we stopped kayaking was that we both began to experience back problems which prevented us from getting in and out of the kayaks, and sitting down inside the kayak for extended periods of time.

I am sure that there are other outdoor places that are equally as fulfilling as those of East TN...  it is just that after living here for over 30 years, and my wife for over 50 years, we have grown quite fond of this area.

Parakeets

 

Robot in the Cockpit

While the concept of automotive “autopilots” are still in their infancy, pretty much any aircraft larger than an ultralight will have some mechanism to at least hold a fixed course and altitude. Typically the autopilot system is built into the airplane’s controls, but this new system replaces the pilot themselves in a manner reminiscent of the movie Airplane.

The robot pilot, known as PIBOT, uses both AI and robotics technology to fly the airplane without altering the aircraft. Unlike a normal autopilot system, this one can be fed the aircraft’s manuals in natural language, understand them, and use that information to fly the airplane. That includes operating any of the aircraft’s cockpit controls, not just the control column and pedal assembly. Supposedly, the autopilot can handle everything from takeoff to landing, and operate capably during heavy turbulence.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) research team that built the machine hopes that it will pave the way for more advanced autopilot systems, and although this one has only been tested in simulators so far it shows enormous promise, and even has certain capabilities that go far beyond human pilots’ abilities including the ability to remember a much wider variety of charts. The team also hopes to eventually migrate the technology to the land, especially military vehicles, although we’ve seen how challenging that can be already.

Posted in Robots Hacks, Transportation Hacks

Tagged airplane, artificial intelligence, Autopilot, aviation, ChatGPT, robot, robotics

Somewhat Political

 

Preparing for the Athletic Seasons

As we move into the end of August, we acknowledge the beginning of the school year.  With that beginning of the school year, comes the FOOTBALL Season for high schools, colleges, and the pros.

Actually, football practice no doubt for high school began at the beginning of August and quite possibly earlier for colleges, and probably never really ended for the pros, although I am sure that they were given a couple of months off to heal souls and injuries.

I played all sorts of sports in high school but never was interested in sports in college.  And, honestly never even considered an opportunity with the pros.  I was not tall enough, strong enough, or talented enough to go that fall but that is not what stopped me.  I just lost interest.

Today, I would venture to say that if the pros from 20 years ago were playing today that they would not be good or talented enough to play in the pros.  This also applies to the pros from 40 years ago as well.  And the pros today would not be good enough to play in the pros 20 years from now either.

The professional ranks of athletics changes that much and that fast in 20 years.  And, the window might not be 20 years, it may be 12-15.   So, the average player probably plays only 10-12 years before new talent pushes them out of the top slots.

Whatever money they make they must do in 10 years and whatever money they save they must also do in 10 years.  If these athletes are smart enough or advised well, they will invest their money in other businesses like restaurant franchises, or hotels, or resorts.

NASCAR drivers put their money into car dealerships.  I know Rusty Wallace from Knoxville, TN owns just about every car dealership in Knoxville and the surrounding areas.

So...  for high schools and colleges, first there is football...  then basketball comes along...  then baseball...  mixed in with all of these male sports is female sports and track and field events, swimming, and gymnastics.  You also have archery, tennis, equestrian, shooting competitions...  although many of these are not as popular as the first three mentioned.

Not only do players make or break their careers by avoiding injuries, the coaches must have winning seasons or else they are replaced by a new coach or fresh blood.  It is true that coaches influence players but if the team just doesn't blend well together, there is no coach in the world who can change that.

It is not surprising that coaches move around a lot from one school to the next...  this happens more in college than in high school, but it is a hell of a way to make a living, and does not offer much security.

Hiding

 

Quantum Computing 10 Times More Efficient

In the world of quantum error correction, an underdog is coming for the king.

Last week, new simulations from two groups reported that a rising class of quantum error-correcting codes is more efficient by an order of magnitude than the current gold standard, known as the surface code. 

The codes all work by transforming a horde of error-prone qubits into a much smaller band of “protected” qubits that rarely make mistakes. But in the two simulations, low-density parity check — or LDPC — codes could make protected qubits out of 10 to 15 times fewer raw qubits than the surface code. 

Neither group has implemented these simulated leaps in actual hardware, but the experimental blueprints suggest that these codes, or codes like them, could hasten the arrival of more capable quantum devices.

“It really looks like it’s coming to fruition,” said Daniel Gottesman of the University of Maryland, who studies LDPC codes but was not involved in the recent studies. “These [codes] could be practical things that can greatly improve our ability to make quantum computers.”

Classical computers run on bits that rarely misfire. But the particle-like objects — qubits — that power quantum computers lose their quantum mojo when just about anything jostles them out of their delicate state. 

To coax future qubits into usefulness, researchers plan to use quantum error correction, the practice of using extra qubits to redundantly encode information. It’s similar in spirit to protecting a message from static by speaking each word twice, spreading out the information among more characters.

The Canonical King
In 1998, Alexei Kitaev of the California Institute of Technology and Sergey Bravyi, then of the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics in Russia, introduced the quantum error-correcting surface code. It organizes qubits into a square grid and executes something like a game of Minesweeper: Each qubit connects to four neighbors, so checking designated helper qubits allows you to discreetly snoop on four data-carrying qubits. 

Depending on whether the check returns a 0 or a 1, you can infer whether some of the neighbors have erred. By checking around the board, you can deduce where the errors are and fix them.  READ MORE...