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Oh, come *on*…

 blather, history, Hmm..., Meh.  8 Responses »
Sep 112015
 

A day after poking fun at the “artisinal” movement, along comes this:

I love the Victorian era. So I decided to live in it.

Where we read about the author and her husband who have decided to replace every trace of modernity with Victorian tech, including lighting their home with oil lamps.

Now, someone wants to live in an oddball way… so long as their doing so neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg, more power to ’em. But this article emits such a dense cloud of smug that the subjects of the piece come off as people ya just want to slip a case of TB to, just to see how committed to their cause they really are. I’d be tempted to suggest that they are essentially cosplayers who life their fantasy 24/7, but they’ve gone way beyond that. Most cosplayers hardly have actually functioning rayguns.

The article raises and fails to answer a number of questions:

  1. So how do they fund this way of life? It seems terribly expensive, while not being something that would seem to bring in a whole lot of cash. That oddball tricycle she’s shown riding, for example.
  2. So how do they *really* deal with medical issues?
  3. Ahem TP ahem.
  4. They turn on some olde-timey incandescent light bulbs when they have guest. Who the hell would visit them, and why?
  5. Note that this article was published on the internet. How the hell did *that* happen? Did they cobble together a Babbage Difference Engine that could connect to WiFi? The author also has a vintage, historically accurate artisinal Victorian website.
  6. Lice. Ticks. Bedbugs. Rodents. Bleah.

The author is living her dream, so bully for her. I can see the appeal of wearing “vintage” fashions… why, I’ve often thought dressing much like a 9th century Viking, but with a  Civil War Union kepi, modern combat boots, 1980’s mirrored aviator sunglasses, an 1896 Mauser Broomhandle and a WWII-era Tommygun would make a fellow a fashion icon. But am I gonna dress like that *every* day? Heck no, that’s only for special days.

 Posted by at 4:49 pm

Sigh. *These* whackos again…

 Crazy, critters, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., Hmm..., humor, Meh., religion, ಠ_ಠ  9 Responses »
Sep 112015
 

To truly end animal suffering, the most ethical choice is to kill wild predators (especially Cecil the lion)

These deep thinkers put forward the notion that the most ethical thing humanity could do to reduce the suffering of wild critters is to wipe out and render extinct predatory species, leaving only the brainless herbivores, and to reduce *their* numbers enough so that they all live in a leafy utopia.

Oy.

My “favorite” line:

And there’s no reason for considering the lives of predators like lions to be more important than the lives of their prey.

Well, except that predators are almost always substantially smarter than prey. Humans willingly associate ourselves with predators far more so than with prey. Look at your pets: Sure, there might be the occasional bunny or berry-eating turtle, but do the families that have such really think of those animals as parts of the family? Contrast to pet cats and dogs. Those fellers *are* parts of the family.

The mindset that leads people to think that getting rid of carnivores may be funny, but it’s also worrisome. Just as welfare states lead nations to weakness, so does a philosophy that carnivores are necessarily evil lead to weakness. And weakness makes you easier prey for other people who *don’t* share your fluffy worldview.

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 Posted by at 10:34 am

Well, that’s mighty generous of ’em

 Crazy, dumbassery, news, politics, religion, ಠ_ಠ  2 Responses »
Sep 112015
 

Saudi offers to build 200 mosques in Germany for Syrian refugees

Gee, greeeeaaat. One mosque for every 100 migrants who showed up in Germany last weekend. What a helpful gesture! I’m sure that has nothing to do with trying to get those migrants permanently ensconced within German culture. Nope. No colonial intentions whatsoever. Just a nice way to be helpful, because clearly the thing these people – and the German people – need more than anything is to perpetuate the ideology and power structure that made things a hellhole back home.

It would be nice if Germany responds with an offer to build 200 mosques in *Saudi* *Arabia* and to ship the migrants there.

 Posted by at 10:08 am

Artisinal

 AARRRGH, art, Crazy, Hmm..., humor, youtube  4 Responses »
Sep 102015
 

As may have been apparent, I like old-school aerospace blueprints. I’ve gone to considerable effort to develop some skill at reproducing them using the cyanotype method on vellum paper, and, while not a precise match for what would have been made 60 years ago, I still think they’re pretty good. I think they’re great art.

But then I see videos like the one below, and wonder if I’m just being sucked into trendy nonsense…

 Posted by at 11:56 pm

We’re in a fantastic futuristic era of crime

 AARRRGH, awesomeness, dumbassery, Hmm..., humor, I'm from the government, news, ಠ_ಠ  6 Responses »
Sep 102015
 

This is… beautiful:

Lockpickers 3-D Print TSA Master Luggage Keys From Leaked Photos

The Washington Post published a photo showing the TSA’s master keys (the ones that can open *any* “TSA approved” lock that you might use to lock up your checked baggage). Some smart fellers figured out how to turn the photos into CAD models; others 3D printed them and have posted videos showing these 3D printed keys successfully opening TSA locks. The key was printed in crappy plastic, not metal, but it worked anyway.

So… your locks are no good no more.

carlton

 Posted by at 3:22 pm

Shut Down EVERYTHING

 blather, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., history, Hmm..., news, ಠ_ಠ  15 Responses »
Sep 092015
 

It’s the Daily Mail, so…

Europe’s fracture continues as Denmark closes road and rail links with Germany in bid to stem the flow of migrants heading for Scandinavia

If accurate, it seems that once again Germany is causing trouble for its neighbors.

I heard an interesting theory today: the current “migrant crisis” is America’s fault. Not the usual dribble about Syria’s troubles being due to the US invading Iraq in 2003, but a longer-term issue. The idea goes that after WWII, the US basically took over the job of defending western Europe. As a result of the Europeans not having to devote much of their national budgets to defense, they were able to build up their welfare states, which has made those nations not only weaker* but also made them more attractive destinations. Kinda the “attractive nuisance” of national policies.

*Weaker because:

  1. Less national defense/border security
  2. Less national identity (and thus less interest in actually preserving their national identity)

Not sure it’s necessarily true, but it’s an interesting thought.

Also, THIS ARTICLE claims that 4,000 migrants are landing on the Greek island of Lesbos every day. The population of the island is about 87,000. Thus the locals will be outnumbered in  just about three weeks.

PS: Is this thing on? The Disqus commenting system went goofy a day or two back. Since then I *think* it’s back, but there’ve been only a couple of comments, far fewer than normal. I don’t know if that’s due to difficulty in posting, or just a lack of interest in doing so. So if you’re even remotely interested in commenting, give it a shot. If you have any trouble, shoot me an email at scottlowther AT ixDOTnetcomDOT com.

 Posted by at 8:54 pm

CST-100 “Starliner”

 art, Hmm..., projects, rockets, spacecraft, youtube  4 Responses »
Sep 092015
 

Boeing has released some pretty animation of their Commercial Space Transport space capsule. Together with Dragon and Orion, the US *should* be back to sending its own astronauts into space in a few years.

“Starliner” is of course not an entirely accurate name. It’s not going to the stars, only low Earth orbit. And it carries a total of four passengers… not much of a liner.

Pfff. Inaccurately named vehicles? Perish the thought.

 

 Posted by at 4:07 pm

Well, *duh*

 blather, Crazy, dumbassery, Forward!, Gah., I'm from the government, news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  8 Responses »
Sep 092015
 

Slate discovers the blindingly obvious:

Student Loans Might Be Driving Up the Cost of College.

In short, it turns out that when the Federal government blindly subsidizes something, that something becomes more expensive. Why? Because those who are getting paid to provide that something now are virtually assured of getting paid whatever they ask for, because the FedGuv will pay it.

Note that there is no good reason to assume that this applies to college, but not, say, to health care.

schools raised tuition by 55 cents for each $1 increase in Pell grants their undergraduates received, and by 60 to 70 cents for each extra dollar of subsidized student loans.

No kiddin’.

Lemme put it this way: I normally charge $4 for a copy of US Bomber Projects, and sell to – if I’m lucky – about 100 people. But if the FedGuv came along and told a whole bunch of folks  – say, a thousand – that they’d subsidize ’em to the tune of $3 to buy a copy of USBP, chances are *real* good that I’d sell the better part of three or four hundred. Good for me! Now, if society told those 1,000 people that if they wanted to get ahead if life they’d better buy USBP, chances are good I’d sell more than 950 of ’em. Yay! But once *I* realized that those people are bound and determined to buy USBP, *and* that they will definitely have the funds to do so… you can bet your ass the next time you check out the webpage, the average issue of USBP will be $5. And then $6. And then $8.

And those 950 buyers will still buy at $8 an issue, and will *demand* that the government give them $7 to do so. So who’d be unhappy here? Not me. Not the subsidized buyers; they get the product they want and don’t care about the cost. Not the government, because who cares who much things cost? You know who cares? Two people. The taxpayers who have to fund this disaster. And anyone who wants to buy a copy of USBP and who *isn’t* being funded by the government.

 

 Posted by at 3:25 pm
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