One year ago today: October 8, 2024,the only customer.
Five years ago today: October 8, 2020, starting on the floor.
Nine years ago today: October 8, 2016, off-campus coffee.
Random years ago today: October 8, 2011, 20 bands, 7 girlfriends.
Oh, crap. The new clip you see of the dishwash Olympics was an error. The previous and popular robot link just got overwritten and probably lost forever. I’ll find something more suitable shortly, but this proves a different point. It’s that video, it was produced on Sora, the latest Apple offering. The significance is that app requires almost no skill to produce video as realistic as this. Forget having video as evidence any more, this will be a major upset to the courts. I say that, even though I am not a fan of dirty police tactics. Like showing the witnesses a video, then having them pick suspects from a lineup. “Gee, officer, I’ve seen that guy before.”
Here’s a can of how exciting today is likely to be. This is a product favored by the Bearded Viking, so I picked up a can. Pricey, but then you don’t need to fuss with brushes, cleaning, or storage. And he seems to apply one layer where I have to use up three. Anyway, I did barely five minutes work this morning and needed a break. I set the alarm to wake up a second time at noon. Not a good sign. I’m reading an odd spy novel called “Icon”. It’s directionless so far, just talk about spies and their handlers and where they get posted. It’s like the Ruskies never figured out to transfer their people and watch who follows.
A.I. is great at translating Chinese tattoos. One popular item is, “I like your sister,” another is “those who repair roads and bridges will die with nobody to bury them:” Sounds like a culture we could really learn from. California, where 65% of the world’s A.I. companies headquarter, passed the first A.I. laws—but I read them and they don’t mean much, mostly recommendations that you or I would favor if we wanted to protect any advantages we discovered.
The last audiobook talked of a Quonset hut, so I looked up if they are still around today. Yes, but in dozens of formats, none of which are really genuine. Here’s one I fund clever, it spans two shipping containers. It’s meant for machinery storage and the covering may be plastic. Still, kind of clever for under $10,000.
Low energy kept me idle. I searched for a video on machine learning. It’s an A.I. app I feel is the closest to reality. I read an article on this in 1981 and saw a video of how, instead of programming for the task at hand (called narrow A.I.), the code was instructions on how to memorize, in this case, human behavior. A type of harness was fitted to humans performing a task, in this case spray painting furniture. After about ten different operators were recorded, the robot arm could expertly paint. The shock came when the operator cranked up the speed dial.
The robot arm could effortlessly paint two chairs per second. A bank of four arms painted all 120 chairs they had in 15 seconds. That’s ten jobs gone in a wink, and this was nearly fifty years ago. To me, this brings into question the concept of a living wage, in particular, the worker expectations. When I got out of college, you took the job that paid the most and hoped for the best—and it was a daily struggle. My first year on the job required fourteen work days per month just to pay the rent, food, and costs of getting to the job.
Then you listen to today’s demands. They won’t take a job unless it pays enough for everything. Microwave, computer, cell, car, that is, a degree of luxury. Don’t say those things were not invented yet, that isn’t the point. These are things you work toward, not sit around refusing jobs because they don’t hand them to you instantly. Just sayin’.
My Morning Jacket Band.
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Recalling as a lad some of the army surplus Quonset huts on farms and supply stores, I found this black-and-white that spells out the manufacturing process. I do remember that galvanized steel “costed $100 more” and many farmers did not pay it and lost their sheds in a few years. All the huts I’ve seen were insulated and finished on the inside. I vividly remember army barracks when I was four years old and the stacks of green army blankets. And the aroma of the coal oil heaters, the only entertainment was a set of bar bells. Yep, Quonset, the IKEA of the housing industry.
Working on the hinge jig, I may have something to test shortly. Here’s view of what I’ve got so far. The solution to the jig staying level is I simply made the tale piece longer than would ever be likely to use a hinge that size. By making the cutting slot closed at both ends, the trouted is fit down into the box instead of slid in from one side. It is the piece underneath that determines the depth of the cut. The older piece can be seen at the top of the jig, with shows the depth of a trial cut. The jig is then held in place by the weight of the router and a slight thumb pressure to keep it snug into the corner. The sides of the jig are correctly spaced already for left or right.
This jig was a learning project. Lesson one is that I do no really have the correct tools for this kind of precision. The jig worked okay on a test piece but I had to accept a slight difference in the hinge placement left to right. Tomorrow I’ll make the tailpiece even longer to span the fill size z-box. The lids on my boxes, possibly.
My electric bill has officially doubled in three years. I have no plans for conservation as other expenses like tools and materials have fallen off now that I have an equipped shed. Trips to Tennessee are reduced and same with Miami. Some of the cost-cutting measures of the past 90 days have sort of become permanent. I no long buy much coffee downtown or buy new books. And since no local clubs have any entertainment, I rarely go out on Fridays like I used to.
As you’ve figured out, the old club was run into the ground by the city people, so even the weekend Karaoke is gone. The DJs around Polk actually chase people away. Too loud, and I like loud. They also play what they like regardless of the crowd, so last Friday I was there for an hour and did not recognize anything.
Interesting. Anticipating the capability to audit every tax return since day one using A.I., the tax department has announced it will fire 50,000 of its 88,000 staff. Bottom line, people, is if you don’t do something now, in 2029 they will put all of you in jail. From their viewpoint, most of you voted “against” them and you need to be taught a lesson. A.I. will comb through all social data, methodical and unblinking. You done been told.
ADDENDUM
I’m not a big tea drinker for several reasons. One is I can’t take it unsweetened, another is I’ve never learned to tell good or not. That’s changed. I read that quality control over in Sri Lanka had drastically improved. And yes, it has. Regular generic brands taste as good as any. I bought a sampler pack and all of them are winners. I examined the box, it is now sealed and there is an inner liner as well. It won’t change my old habits, but I’m impressed.
Some time ago, I read articles on tea production. A tidbit that stuck with me is the shape of the tea bags. It is not random, they spend a fortune inventing the double-fold bag. (I believe the correct term is “double-chambered.) That is why you see experienced tea-drinkers give the bag a little shake before use.
