Categories
Technology

The ISS is full.

Space:  For the 1st time ever, 8 spacecraft are docked to the International Space Station

This is one of those, ‘We really are living in the future’ milestones that it’s easy to miss because it’s getting routine.

The International Space Station has eight docking ports, and all of them are in use.

Categories
Government

NYT shows how Biden failed us.

NYT:   How Biden Ignored Warnings and Lost Americans’ Faith in Immigration

NYT admits how thoroughly Biden failed at immigration enforcement.

First, they underestimated the scale of migration that was coming. Second, they failed to appreciate the political reaction to that migration — believing that stronger enforcement would alienate Latino and progressive voters, and also that a border surge would not be an important issue to most voters.

Categories
Projects

A project that isn’t as dumb as it seems.

I painted all of my padlocks and their accompanying keys.

My last home security project was to add instrumentation to all of my exterior door locks to monitor their status, and communicate with a local hub.  I wrote a short program to link the locked/unlocked status of each door lock to the off/on status of a bulb in my dining room chandelier.

Are my projects getting dumber or am I?

Categories
Government

The FBI finally gets around to arresting the guy who put pipe bombs at the RNC and DNC.

NPR:  FBI arrests suspect in investigation into pipe bombs planted near DNC, RNC before Jan. 6 attack

The FBI has spent years searching for the person who put bombs near the Democratic and Republican committee headquarters, hours before the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

That probably isn’t true.

Categories
People Technology Uncategorized

Jensen has a helluva life.

This is incredible.  Jensen went from being the poorest person I’ve ever heard of, to the richest man I’d never heard of.

Categories
Government

Congo and Rhodesia have a chance for peace.

Categories
Government Technology

Rolling back the CAFE standards for cars.

CBS News:  Trump administration moves to roll back fuel economy standards set under Biden

If finalized, the plan would relax fuel economy standards by setting the industry average for light-duty vehicles at roughly 34.5 miles per gallon through the 2031 model year, lower than the 50 miles per gallon outlined by a Biden-era rule.

For fifty years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) set fuel economy standards that car companies had to meet.  It was a type of magical thinking.  The NHTSA would issue a new fuel economy standard, and like Captain Picard on Star Trek, say, “Make it so.” 

The NHTSA didn’t have to worry about physics, they just had to wish for it.  The engineering teams had to figure out how to pull another rabbit out of the same old hat.  The rabbits were getting smaller and harder to find.

Categories
Technology

Toyota never stopped to think if they should.

 

A few days ago, this symbol showed up on the dashboard of my new Tacoma.  I added the red circle to highlight the symbol of interest.  The symbol is cryptic and persistent, so the dashboard photo was taken so I could look it up.

What is it trying to tell me?

It looks a little like a teepee or a campfire, so probably something about native Americans.

Categories
Culture Technology

Social media is all over the place.

Pew Research:  Americans’ Social Media Use 2025

Polls like this are interesting because social media keeps changing, and most of use don’t want to join everything to figure out which ones are worthwhile.

Categories
Sparky

Sparky gets some exercise.

Sparky needs his exercise, but I’ve got a head cold, so don’t want my exercise.  Running shuttles is a good compromise.