A Crummy Commercial

Yes, I sometimes follow the way of the weasel.  But no, not the right wing racist path of Scott Adams (who knew ?):    I got a request to print 30 (or more) poetry booklets for a local museum.  They haven't asked for anything in almost 2 years so I figured they had made other arrangements. I was wrong. I wrote back that my printer seems to be on it's last legs (true although a new, expensive toner cartridge would help) and that the computer I use for printing might not power up (hadn't been used in almost 2 years).  So I said I wasn't interested. Then the request came for the booklet files so I tried booting up the computer - it did "work" although there was an error I had never seen before.  Even in the past when I did do the printing there were problems that I wasn't able to fix.  I was able to scrape the files off after finding an old USB 2.0 SD card reader and getting it to work (for some reason one of my old 2GB SD cards only works in the Kodak CX...

AI is hated by many, especially the young, don't try to feed them "AI Slop" But this IEEE Spectrum article was interesting: https://spectrum.ieee.org/artificial-neurons-on-silicon-chips In this case, the grad student was sloppy by not connecting the substrate to ground and it may lead to a new way to implement AI that uses less power.  So sometimes it's good to make mistakes - so this AI sloppiness might be good, at least for the environment  :) It still boggles my mind that power used is a figure of merit embraced by the AI industry: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2026/04/data-centers.html It's like the Supermen from the planet Bizarro have taken over the tech leadership of Earth !  Why is using more power better ?  It's not but apparently that's the yardstick they use :(  It's also interesting that this new potentially power saving AI work is being done at a university in Singapore.  Singapore has (unlike the current US administration) decided to embra...

. source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9wf43aoJhU There is a reason why they were called box cameras !: The Kodak motto was genius: The Kodak Bantam Special was a really cool looking camera: The weird thing is that the Bantam Special was an 828 camera - the film was 35 mm wide but it had a paper backing and it didn't have the sprocket holes along both edges.  828 film was basically gone even during the 1970s so that's one reason why I never even considered getting one. My only sorta art deco Kodak camera is a Kodak Signet: source:  https://archive.org/details/glassbrasschrome0000lahu/page/226/mode/2up It's a wonderful camera - Kodak did good work, although at a high price.  Sadly I stopped using it after buying the other cameras with light meters and other doo-dads :) I have a CX7430 Kodak digital camera, still use it regularly, often for this blog. I thought this was telling (the photo that killed the photo company didn't survive even as long as the company): A wik...

I saw this Schwinn ad on Pinterest: source:  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/358528820349226381 108.92 miles per hour on a Schwinn ?   Wiki for Alfred Letourner: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Letourneur It says he was "drafting" a midget racer car on a highway but still, it sounds fishy, especially the 5 significant figures, even the MLB only reports tenths of a MPH for their pitching records. :) What if he had blown a tire ?  yikes !  Maybe since old Al was French he was using Michelins ?: source:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/1643624025/vintage-michelin-man-poster-retro Google translation: Then again, the dude is smoking a cigar, riding a bike no hands, safety might not have been that important to Michelin :) I think I'd rather have the Black Phantom ! I actually still have a Schwinn Cruiser 5, one of many bikes I've ridden into the ground.  Someday maybe I'll fix it ? Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I've mentioned one of my grade school teachers, Mr. Peterson, before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/06/contracts-mr-peterson-7th-grade.html Recently I was reminded of the book: Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck: https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20220145 I don't remember the exact time or context (probably 7th grade) but Mr. Peterson wanted me to read the book.  Probably just because my name was Charles ?  And the Charley in the title is a dog, a big old French Poodle dog  :) I did read it (it's a travel book - all authors seem to write travel books, even Thoreau :) - the only thing I remember from the book is that at one point Steinbeck encounters buxom women - it was remarkable so he wrote it down :) Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm 

SM58 attempted destruction video:     https://www.instagram.com/reels/DaHqY6Yshvk/ SM58 wiki:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shure_SM58 SM58 Shure page:  https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/sm58 $119 (the switch adds $10) - I guess I am old, why destroy something that cost that much new ?  It does seem like a fairly decent value for a professional piece of equipment.  A page on the SM58 design: https://www.shure.com/en-US/insights/how-they-did-it-inside-the-sm58 I have one of these for the HT-37: It's been discontinued but I'd never purposely trash it. I guess the SM58 is supposed to be really hard to break: https://www.shure.com/en-US/insights/drop-the-mic-just-how-tough-is-the-sm58 So I guess it's more like Shure love or Shure respect rather than Shure hate - I blame the Mythbusters for this kind of activity. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I finally got my id.me seal of approval on Tuesday.  This is required if you want to get online with the IRS or Social Security.  Not having an activated cell phone makes id.me almost impossible to work with.  So now that I finally have a cell phone I tried signing up on Friday (6-26).  But it didn't like something I did (I suspect that it was the VPN) so I had to have a video chat with a person.  That didn't happen until Tuesday morning (6-30).  The elapsed time was less than an hour and the call with "Irving" only took a few minutes but still what a huge waste of time/money. Anyway, another thing accomplished, I was able to get into the IRS site.  Hopefully next year I'll be able to file Federal taxes electronically or check Social Security for the first time since they started this baloney. Just wait, the 666 tattoo on the forehead is coming (for convenience at security) so be sure to leave space ! source:  https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/...