Friday, November 17

Google's DeepMind AI


Artificial-intelligence (AI) firm Google DeepMind has turned its hand to the intensive science of weather forecasting — and developed a machine-learning model that outperforms the best conventional tools as well as other AI approaches at the task.

The model, called GraphCast, can run from a desktop computer and makes more accurate predictions than conventional models in minutes rather than hours.

“GraphCast currently is leading the race amongst the AI models,” says computer scientist Aditya Grover at University of California, Los Angeles. The model is described1 in Science on 14 November.  READ MORE...

Honey Bees


 

Going Electric

There are currently more than 160,000 EV chargers in the United States.

The state of California has the most.

The 2030 National Charging Network report finds that to support a mid-adoption scenario of 33 million EVs on the road by 2030, the nation will need 28 million charging ports.

Presently, it costs about $10,000 for a level II charging station.

Cost to reach the goal: $280,000,000,000

NOTE:  this cost above DOES NOT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION the cost of increasing the power grid to accommodate all these charging stations.

Average cost of an EV is $35,000...  but you get what you pay for and the lower the price the smaller the battery and the less range that you have.

In my opinion, an EV is like a golf cart.  If you are just going to drive around locally within your community, then an EV is more or less perfect for you and all your charging can be done at home.

However, if you are making a trip of 300 miles, then you will have to stop and charge the vehicle.  Depending upon the number of charging stations and the number of people in front of you, the actual charging could take 2-3 hours.

What are you going to do while you wait???
  • Go to a movie?
  • Got out to dinner?
  • Go shopping at a mall?
How many others will have that same idea???

Hybrids that you don't have to charge are a better idea than an EV...  but, they have some problems as well.
  1. Cost of maintenance is higher than a gas vehicle
  2. Resale value drops substantially
  3. Cost of battery replacement
  4. Size of vehicle

While going EV is a great idea and very similar to going into space and establishing a colony on Mars, it is going to be a little more expensive than we had first realized or anticipated.

Somewhat Political






 

First Wooden Satellite


NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are planning to launch the world's first wooden satellite into space in a bid to make spaceflight more sustainable.


LignoSat, a coffee mug-size satellite made from magnolia wood, is set to launch into Earth's orbit by summer 2024, according to the space agencies.

Wood doesn't burn or rot in the lifeless vacuum of space, but it will incinerate into a fine ash upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere — making it a surprisingly useful, biodegradable material for future satellites. After successfully testing their wood samples aboard the International Space Station (ISS) earlier this year, the scientists believe the test satellite is fit for launch.    READ MORE...

Are You Experienced?

 

Thursday, November 16

IRON Butterfly

 

Debt and Being Unemployed

 COVID payments to Americans kept us alive during the two years that COVID filtered through all our neighborhoods.  The government essentially paid us not to work...


Not working caused production to decrease and as a result of those decreases, prices for goods and services increased.

With all the stimulus money the government was pumping into the economy, and the low production rates, inflation was fueled beyond everyone's imagination and expectations.

COVID is over, at least for right now, but inflation persists along with low wages for those who have decided to go back to work.

Here's the problem...
AMERICANS do not want to give up anything because they have fallen on hard times....  THEREFORE, they use their credit cards to continue buying.

Credit card debt is the highest its been in 20 years and is getting worse.

If you are now working and have a lot of credit card debt, please explain to me what you are going to do when humanoid robots replace you at your job?

Yes, you will get unemployment insurance but for how long?  Will you use that unemployment insurance to pay your bills or pay off your debt?

It is difficult to believe that robots will replace all jobs and perhaps they will only replace 80%... or maybe they only replace 50%...  What will you do if you are in the 80% or the 50%?

File bankruptcy...  great idea...  do you have any idea what will happen to the economy if 50% of all workers file bankruptcy?
I doubt that you have any idea at all since you did not take business classes in high school or college.
IT WILL NOT BE PRETTY...
Do a GOOGLE search on the possibility and see what you can find on the internet.

DO YOU THINK THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYONE?  

WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO GET THE MONEY?

FROM BILLIONAIRES WHO HIDE THEIR MONEY IN TAX FREE ACCOUNTS?

TAX THE UNEMPLOYED?

WITH HUMANOID ROBOTS YOU CAN KISS SOCIALISM GOODBYE...

Training of ONE TRILLION Parameter

A US national lab has started training a massive AI brain that could ultimately become the must-have computing resource for scientific researchers.  Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) is creating a generative AI model called AuroraGPT and is pouring a giant mass of scientific information into creating the brain.  The model is being trained on its Aurora supercomputer, which delivers more than an half an exaflop performance at ANL. The system has Intel’s Ponte Vecchio GPUs, which provide the main computing power.


Intel and ANL are partnering with other labs in the US and worldwide to make scientific AI a reality.  “It combines all the text, codes, specific scientific results, papers, into the model that science can use to speed up research,” said Ogi Brkic, vice president and general manager for data center and HPC solutions, in a press briefing.  READ MORE...

Pink Flamingo


 

Going Nuclear

 At a distance of 20-25 miles downwind, a lethal radiation dose (600 rads) would be accumulated by a person who did not find shelter within 25 minutes after the time the fallout began. At a distance of 40-45 miles, a person would have at most 3 hours after the fallout began to find shelter.

For the survivors of a nuclear war, this lingering radiation hazard could represent a grave threat for as long as 1 to 5 years after the attack. Predictions of the amount and levels of the radioactive fallout are difficult because of several factors.  
SOURCE: AtomicArchive.com



Here's the question:  DO YOU FEEL SAFE?


We are a dangerous species...  We kill for pleasure not just for survival...  We are aggressive and brutal, and many human beings do not value life...


Concrete shelters will protect you from radiation fallout, but you may have to live underground for 5 years. Do you have enough food for that long?  Or medical supplies?  What about electricity?


Our enemy is not going to try and just kill humans, they will first target all our energy sources.  If there are a lot of bombs, it will not just be for five years that we are underground.  What will be left, once we can get out of our underground shelters?

  • All our buildings will be destroyed
  • All our manufacturing plants will be destroyed
  • All our hospitals will be destroyed
  • All transportation will be destroyed
  • All animals will be destroyed
  • All vegetation will be destroyed
  • All defense systems will be destroyed

Lightening


 

Jobs That AI May Not Take


AI won’t automate entire professions requiring social skills, adaptability & human intelligence. Healthcare, education, arts/entertainment, engineering, academia have low risk. Focus on creativity, critical thinking, collaboration. Specialize in niche skills robots can’t match.

Introduction

The continued advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics has led to increasing anxiety about the future of human employment. With machines and algorithms becoming capable of performing more and more tasks, many jobs are at risk of partial or full automation.

However, some occupations are much safer from replacement by AI than others. Jobs that rely heavily on uniquely human skills like creativity, empathy, complex communication, and social intelligence have the lowest risk of being automated in the foreseeable future.  READ MORE...

Riding That Train

 

Wednesday, November 15

Turn... Turn... Turn...

 

One Year Until We Vote For President

 Right now, we have a few choices:

Democrats

  • Biden
  • Maybe Gavin Newsome
  • Maybe Michele Obama


Republicans

  • Trump
  • DeSantis
  • Nikki Haley
  • Maybe someone else???


Independents

  • RFK Jr
  • Former Senator Manchin (?)

WELL...  "F" Me...  I don't want any of them to tell you the truth.  If I were not telling you the truth, I don't want any of them...

Biden
  • Biden is older than shit
  • Biden is not really smart
  • Biden is corrupt
  • Biden passes out false information according to his own State Dept
  • Biden is a weak president
  • Biden's strings are being pulled by Obama
  • Biden opposes everything Trump did without thinking

Trump
  • Trump is simply an asshole and a bully
  • Trump cannot keep his mouth shut
  • Trump divides the US
  • Trump has 91 felony indictments
  • Trump's indictments will set a precedent for future presidents, not liked
  • Trump is not a politician
  • Trump plays to the uneducated poor class

Gavin Newsome & Michele Obama are wild cards in case Biden goes belly up...  especially if Kamala Harris continues to be his VP

RFK Jr and Joe Manchin are third party candidates that WONT WIN SHIT...  all they will do is take votes away from Biden/or whoever takes his place and Trump.

GOOD LUCK AMERICANS...  it doesn't get any better than this...  

We deserve the government we have
We deserve the congress we have
We deserve the failing country we have
BECAUSE WE THE PEOPLE LET IT HAPPEN...

Time Travel Speculation



Have you ever dreamed of traveling through time, like characters do in science fiction movies? For centuries, the concept of time travel has captivated people’s imaginations. Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time, just like you move between different places. In movies, you might have seen characters using special machines, magical devices or even hopping into a futuristic car to travel backward or forward in time.

But is this just a fun idea for movies, or could it really happen?

The question of whether time is reversible remains one of the biggest unresolved questions in science. If the universe follows the laws of thermodynamics, it may not be possible. The second law of thermodynamics states that things in the universe can either remain the same or become more disordered over time.   READ MORE...

Friends


 

MASKS

 Believe it or not, we all wear masks...

  • We hide our sadness behind a mask
  • We hide our anger behind a mask
  • We hide our beliefs behind a mask
  • We hide our true intentions behind a mask
  • We hide our opinions behind a mask
  • We hide our failures behind a mask
  • We hide our disappointments behind a mask
  • We hide our feelings behind a mask
  • We hide our love behind a mask
  • We hide our desires behind a mask
A secretive people we have become, not really telling the truth unless it somehow benefits us...  never telling the truth if it somehow hurts us...

Perhaps we share ourselves with our spouses or close friends, but my guess is that we do neither as there is no one in the world that we trust outside of ourselves and our lawyers.

I attended church services for 5 years before I found out that our associate minister was a pedophile...
I attended another church for about the same amount of time before I discovered our minister was an alcoholic...

Some of our teachers are having sexual affairs with their students...  what kind of mask do they wear?

All our politicians wear masks because I have never met a single politician that TOLD THE TRUTH.

Our parents wear MASKS especially when they say DO AS I SAY - NOT AS I DO.

Our bosses wear masks because they perceive if they told the truth, the workers would retaliate... so don't tell the truth until the end of shift on a Friday.

What masks are you wearing???


Somewhat Political

 




Chinese Robot Producing Oxygen from Water


Researchers in China have developed a robot chemist powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that might be able to extract oxygen from water on Mars. The robot uses materials found on the red planet to produce catalysts that break down water, releasing oxygen. 

The idea could complement existing oxygen-generating technologies or lead to the development of other catalysts able to synthesize useful resources on Mars.

“If you think about the challenge of going to Mars, you have to work with local materials,” says Andy Cooper, a chemist at the University of Liverpool, UK. “So I can see the logic behind it.”   READ MORE...

Who Are You?

 

Tuesday, November 14

White Rabbit

 

Students on Our College Campuses

Pro-Palestinian Movement on college campuses as Pro-Israel donors pull out their money from the school.

The administration says nothing except we believe in the exercise of FREE SPEECH.

Conservative Speakers on college campuses are barred from speaking because LIBERAL students don't want to listen to opposing views.

The administration says nothing except we believe in the exercise of FREE SPEECH.

What kind of a colleges do we have here?


I went to college from 1966 to 1968 and from 1972-1974 because I took a break and spent a few years in the military for shits and giggles.  On my campus, and I was liberal then, we wanted both conservative and liberal views so we could make up our own minds.  WE DID NOT WANT TO BE TOLD HOW TO BELIEVE OR HOW TO THINK...


Students are not that clever these days and they CRAVE being told what to think and what to believe and how to prepare their homework.


The students that I taught in college for three years before I retired were juniors and seniors who wrote at the high school level.  Their thinking was at the high school level and their reading skills were not quite at the high school level.  They had terrible presentation skills.   AND...  when assigned papers they wanted me to tell them what to include in that paper.


GOOD GOD MAN.....  I WOULDN'T HIRE ANY OF THOSE STUDENTS...


I spent 60 hours on my MBA 1980/1981 and today you can get the same MBA in 30 hours...  WHO ARE WE KIDDING HERE?


College Students, being as smart as they think they are, get their news from SOCIAL MEDIA like Facebook and Twitter or X as it is called now.


My students DID NOT

  • read the newspapers
  • watch the news on television
  • want to do homework
  • want to ask questions
  • want to put forth any effort
  • have any vision of their future
  • know how to get a bill through Congress
  • know how to spell complex words
  • know simple grammar
  • think they needed to retain knowledge as long as they made "A's"


The Lost City of Punt Found

One of the most enduring mysteries within archaeology revolves around the identity of Punt, an otherworldly “land of plenty” revered by the ancient Egyptians. Punt had it all—fragrant myrrh and frankincense, precious electrum (a mixed alloy of gold and silver) and malachite, and coveted leopard skins, among other exotic luxury goods.

Despite being a trading partner for over a millennium, the ancient Egyptians never disclosed Punt’s exact whereabouts except for vague descriptions of voyages along what’s now the Red Sea. That could mean anywhere from southern Sudan to Somalia and even Yemen.  READ MORE...

Chainsaw Dog


 

Just More Opinions

GOVT is designed to take care of 100% of the population. Politics is designed to take care of 98% of the population. IT is a game between the two parties that sometimes gets nasty as they fight for that control. Wealthy people don't really care about govt or politics as long as they can continue to make money...


The rest of us play the game as we attempt to get ahead, not realizing we are part of the 98%, so we keep trying. Using coupons, taking advantage of sales, buying lottery tickets, putting a few bucks into sports pools, and gamble at casinos, hoping that lightening will strike and we will win the BIG ONE.


Like I always say, all of this revolves around GREED and the only way to beat the system is not to play the game. Just put yourself in a position where you have no problem keeping your head above water and maybe a little higher. Buy only what you need not what you want and save as much as you can. 


Control your expectations and keep yourself healthy by exercising and eating healthy. Go on vacation at the end or beginning of the season. Buy year old cars. Have the proper maintenance done and keep the car for 10 years while you are saving for the next one. 


Don't buy life insurance unless you think you are going to die early... save that money yourself. Don't get in debt. Reject raises that put you in a higher tax bracket unless it is a huge raise... like changing companies or changing states.


What would happen to our economies if the people got smart and did this. It would grow but grow slowly.


One of the things I learned from the rule of 72, is that if you divide the growth % into 72, the result is how long it takes for the cost of living to double. IF the cost of living doubles every 20 years. then it is something that you can try and plan for. The cost of living in 1960 versus 1980 versus 2000 versus 2020. 


We have more due to inflation but our purchasing power has only increased slightly. The average American and possibly Canadian doesn't realize this. They don't realize this because all our marketing efforts brainwash us into buying... GREED. 

Somewhat Political

 



SpaceX to Launch 2nd Starship

SpaceX's next Starship test launch could lift off as early as Nov. 17, pending regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies.

The potential launch from SpaceX's Starbase test site at Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville, Texas will mark the company's second test flight of an orbital class Starship and Super Heavy booster — the largest and most powerful rocket ever built. SpaceX launched its first Starship test flight in April, but it exploded shortly after liftoff.

"Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval," SpaceX wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, late Friday (Nov. 10).  READ MORE...

Change the World