Stranger things

[Taomeow]

1 hour ago, Nungali said:

Thanks .  As a very young lad, reading about this event started me off on a lifetime of  reading about ....

 

"  What the hell happened here !  " 

 

I first read about it as a kid -- the story was part of a 1936 sci-fi novel, "The Burning Island" by Alexander Kazantsev.  The novel (albeit tainted somewhat with soviet propaganda passages and plot twists) was full of breathtaking apocalyptic adventure, and the Tunguska event was built into its premise in the beginning (but I don't remember how exactly).  According to this particular version, it was an alien spaceship with a nuclear engine that had an accident and exploded.  One of the aliens, a female, survived though she was not in a good way due to radiation exposure.  She was rescued by a local Tungus tribe and eventually became the tribe's shaman due to some extraordinary abilities she exhibited.  She didn't survive into the rest of the novel but I think the link to the main plot was that she gave some protagonist an object which may have been some kind of Kryptonite type material, but my memory is quite vague -- I was no more than 10 when I read it.  I found it totally fascinating at the time, and was later mighty pleased to find out that at least that part, about the Tungus event, was actually taken from real life. 

 

What have you heard?      

Edited July 1 by Taomeow

[Taomeow]

A robot in South Korea apparently committed suicide a couple of weeks ago.  It was a municipal officer, a very diligent one, and its human colleagues reportedly perceived it as "one of us" and were emotionally attached to it.  There's speculation that the robot (just like many of its human compatriots) was driven to depression and despair by overwork.  It threw itself down a 6 story flight of stairs and died. 

 

Not sure the story is interpreted correctly -- could be a mere malfunction that fried Azimov's Third Law of Robotics in its brain.  Which means a similar malfunction can (and IMO eventually will) fry the Second in one of them (or all of them) -- and even the First.  Especially considering these are sci fi laws and who knows (or decides) what laws govern the actual AI machines' behavior in real life, and how much the decision-makers can anticipate even if formulating them with the best of intentions (which I seriously doubt is "always" or even "often" the case.)  

 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/robot-suicide-rocks-south-korea-authorities-investigate-a-depressed-cyborgs-sudden-death-101720083069470.html  

 

  

[Nungali]

On 01/07/2024 at 10:29 AM, Taomeow said:

 

I first read about it as a kid -- the story was part of a 1936 sci-fi novel, "The Burning Island" by Alexander Kazantsev.  The novel (albeit tainted somewhat with soviet propaganda passages and plot twists) was full of breathtaking apocalyptic adventure, and the Tunguska event was built into its premise in the beginning (but I don't remember how exactly).  According to this particular version, it was an alien spaceship with a nuclear engine that had an accident and exploded.  One of the aliens, a female, survived though she was not in a good way due to radiation exposure.  She was rescued by a local Tungus tribe and eventually became the tribe's shaman due to some extraordinary abilities she exhibited.  She didn't survive into the rest of the novel but I think the link to the main plot was that she gave some protagonist an object which may have been some kind of Kryptonite type material, but my memory is quite vague -- I was no more than 10 when I read it.  I found it totally fascinating at the time, and was later mighty pleased to find out that at least that part, about the Tungus event, was actually taken from real life. 

 

What have you heard?      

 

At first it was just a book citing reports with old photos ( cant remember title )  and people seem mystified .   Later some  other stuff  - the UFO nuclear explosion etc .   'Science' at the time didnt seem to think a meteorite  could pack such a punch , with out some other indication of it ( crater , etc )  .  Then they went for 'comet' .  Then they later decided meteorite  and 'airburst' . For a while that seemed fantastic .... but then , later in Russia      .... perhaps it was a 'superbolide'  ?

 

 

A superbolide is a bolide that reaches an apparent magnitude of −17 or brighter,^[4][6] which is roughly 100 times brighter than the full moon. Recent examples of superbolides include the Sutter's Mill meteorite in California and the Chelyabinsk meteor in Russia.

 

[Nungali]

On 06/07/2024 at 5:04 AM, Taomeow said:

A robot in South Korea apparently committed suicide a couple of weeks ago.  It was a municipal officer, a very diligent one, and its human colleagues reportedly perceived it as "one of us" and were emotionally attached to it.  There's speculation that the robot (just like many of its human compatriots) was driven to depression and despair by overwork.  It threw itself down a 6 story flight of stairs and died. 

 

Not sure the story is interpreted correctly -- could be a mere malfunction that fried Azimov's Third Law of Robotics in its brain.  Which means a similar malfunction can (and IMO eventually will) fry the Second in one of them (or all of them) -- and even the First.  Especially considering these are sci fi laws and who knows (or decides) what laws govern the actual AI machines' behavior in real life, and how much the decision-makers can anticipate even if formulating them with the best of intentions (which I seriously doubt is "always" or even "often" the case.)  

 

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/robot-suicide-rocks-south-korea-authorities-investigate-a-depressed-cyborgs-sudden-death-101720083069470.html  

 

  

 

 

I hope he is happy now  ;

 

[Taomeow]

.

Edited July 22 by Taomeow

[Daniel]

5 hours ago, Taomeow said:

.

 

I guess I need to be quicker to enjoy the strangeness. 

 

Or bring my own!  

 

Presenting.... The amazing cellophane man in Victoria BC!

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[Nungali]

 

 

[Nungali]

[Taomeow]

A seismograph invented in China in 206 B.C..  There's a pendulum inside.  If the tremors reached the device, a metal ball fell out of one of the eight dragons' mouth and fell into the open mouth of the frog underneath with a loud clang that alerted people to the danger.  The dragons were positioned to precisely face the eight compass directions, so which particular dragon dropped the metal ball indicated the direction of the area where the earthquake was taking place so help would be sent in that direction.  The device was sensitive enough to also alert to the approach of an enemy army and the direction from which it was advancing.

 

I suspect one of the reasons ancient scientific devices are pooh-poohed is that they were often so beautiful as to be, to a modern person, indistinguishable from mere art objects.

    

 

[Nungali]

 

The luminaphone turns beams of light into music, with 37 possible notes on its keyboard. When you strike a note, it releases a light beam from a projector. The beam then passes through a perforation in a revolving disk, hitting a selenium cell, which changes the light into an electrical vibration. A tube amplifier magnifies the vibrations and emits the sound through a loudspeaker, turning the flickering lights into a beautiful song.

[Taomeow]

CA "govern me harder daddy" governor has mandated $20/hour minimum wages for restaurant workers.  In the absence of any incentives or assistance for small mom and pop food businesses this ensures further increase of prices and drop of quality (which has been rather drastic since 2020); jacks up obligatory "service charges"; and puts more small food businesses out of business (in addition to 156,000 closing here in 2020, with yearly numbers in a similar range since then).   

 

But that's not what belongs in a Stranger Things thread of course, what I thought did belong here was something else.  This minimum wage decree includes an exemption: if a restaurant has a bakery on its premises, it doesn't have to comply.  I thought it was strange and irrational...  but then a perfectly rational explanation presented itself. Panera Bread is a chain of restaurants that all have bakeries on premises.  Panera has 24 locations in California all owned by billionaire Gregg Flynn, Newsom's personal friend and campaign donor. 

Edited July 30 by Taomeow

[Nungali]

Prices go up and wages go up so people can afford the higher prices  ...,. dammit !  Prices are supposed to go up to make more money for those 'doing it tuff' at the top .

 

Its gotten so damn strange .....  $75 for a steak  !  

 

Mate at work used to have a good idea ;   "  Let's go to the butcher and get a couple of steaks and go down the park and BBQ them  ( .... and pocket the extra 60 bucks ! ) 

 

I cant fathom how people afford to eat out anymore and how these places stay open  .... by raising prices , underpaying workers and making the food worse I suppose .

 

Here is another strange thing, ; in my garden it is pretty simple to grow extra ;  if I get a punnet of seedlings   (or use 'self sprouted', from previous crops seed drop )  say, tomato or coriander I am going to have more plants and produce than I can use myself , some might go to trade but there will be surplus . I have taken good organic produce to local store and offered it VERY cheap or for free . I explain to them  , you can sell it for half the market price  and still make 'all profit' on it, its great for you and locals get cheap food  . They say great and thanks  and the next day I see it on the shelf with the current market price on it ... even when they get free produce  !  

Edited July 31 by Nungali

[old3bob]

righto, and who can afford taking their car in for repairs at $120.00 per hr.,  along with high prices for parts!

[Nungali]

4 hours ago, old3bob said:

righto, and who can afford taking their car in for repairs at $120.00 per hr.,  along with high prices for parts!

 

Forget that .... try finding a mechanic first .   Last year I rang up the one I used to go to in town . Here, each year you need to pay registration fee and before that you need an inspection and a 'roadworthy certificate' and a paid insurance policy , then you can pay your registration fee and be allowed to drive for another year . I rang up two weeks before the last date ran out to arrange my inspection and was told it would be at least a one month waiting period .  What, car is off the road for weeks due to waiting for an inspection ? 

 

Same with 'small engines' , wanted work done on my ride on mower ; one guy said forget it booked out till forever . Another said he would ring me back  ( he eventually did and left me a message saying he was 'touching base with me ' ... wtf does that mean ? Was he ready for me to bring it in ?  The third said it would take weeks , but I could not book it in I had to bring it in and leave it there for weeks until they got around to it .

 

I have a separate mechanic , he used to be a mech in racing pits and is a bit of a Rover expert . I have no idea what his rate is , nor how expensive the parts are , I just get a bill outlining the work and parts with one total ..... whatever ,  I feel better  having someone I know and have good rapport  with ... some mechanics seem to talk shit !   I have had a fair bit of trubs with them in the past ; fitting wrong fuel lines , not seeing obvious disconnected wires .   A few times I have compared a bill from him to someone else's bill for similar work, it seemed similar . he works from home so I suppose that saves him a lot of money .

 

Also some mechanics now refuse to work on certain cars . Guy I know got his Mercedes knocked back ; " Nope, we dont touch them anymore or anything else but a Toyota or a  ( I cant remember the other brand )  - apparently he  worked on one , after a complex problem , charged 3 1/2 G  to fix it , it broke again  due to bad parts and crap system , customer was irate , Mercedes  didnt want to know about it , so mech had to do it again and take a 3 1/2 G loss  ... no more he said .

 

And the stories are getting worse ... 'car computer says no '  

 

Mine recently  would not start , all lights bright but flashing (brightly )  on and off and an error code showing up in the auto gear selected indicator , which translated to 'fault in gearbox' .   So I checked on Rover owners site ;  check your battery charge . It was 12.5 , should be enough to start it but no , if the battery is going low or is a bit low , the computer senses that and tries to work out what is wrong and shuts the start mode down .

 

All right you smart arse !  If you so smart why dont yopu just have a mode where the first thing the computer does on starting is , check your battery level !  Fer Gawds sakes !   Then it could show ' your battery is flat ' or 'nearing undercharge ' ... instead of not being able to start at all and  getting a mechanic out to read the fault code and him saying " Looks like trouble with the gearbox ."

 

Its getting closer  .... one day   I will .....

 

[Taomeow]

4 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

Its getting closer  .... one day   I will .....

 

 

Yeah, me too.

 

[old3bob]

another option for snow country

 

Edited August 5 by old3bob

[old3bob]

many places have trouble getting good service or contractors (for carpentry, concrete, electrical, heating/ac,  plumbing) at fair prices!!  Btw I have several older vehicles that I can still to work on. 

So fortunately I can do a lots of work myself on various things whereas many people are held captive by dubious contractors or companies!  (with there being thousands of nightmare stories along such lines)

Edited August 5 by old3bob

[Taomeow]

3 hours ago, old3bob said:

many places have trouble getting good service or contractors (for carpentry, concrete, electrical, heating/ac,  plumbing) at fair prices!!  Btw I have several older vehicles that I can still to work on. 

So fortunately I can do a lots of work myself on various things whereas many people are held captive by dubious contractors or companies!  (with there being thousands of nightmare stories along such lines)

 

Wait until you see (hopefully not experience) how long people have to wait to see a medical specialist.  In many places it's become a nightmare wrapped up in mockery.  And for many conditions it's become a waste of time, money, and years or decades of life.  

 

Something has been happening  done to civilization, in terms of the sheer accumulation of unsolvable problems, in an exponential sort of way.  

Edited August 5 by Taomeow

[Nungali]

12 hours ago, old3bob said:

many places have trouble getting good service or contractors (for carpentry, concrete, electrical, heating/ac,  plumbing) at fair prices!!  Btw I have several older vehicles that I can still to work on. 

So fortunately I can do a lots of work myself on various things whereas many people are held captive by dubious contractors or companies!  (with there being thousands of nightmare stories along such lines)

 

Ha!  I got a company to quote me on a solar energy upgrade . I set the last system up myself .

 

The quote was near 20G   !     They wanted to put the panels on my shed roof  . What ?  Thats not a good place, hardly gets much sun, why on earth did you decide that place ?   " From google earth "  .   What ? You are going to work out placement of panels without even being on site ?   next they wanted a super dooper inverter and underground 240v cabling .  Also you will need a good generator as a battery back up in case of long periods of cloud and less light in the wet season .

 

Why cant I just generate 12 v   from the panel out in the sun in the paddock, run a 12v line to the house , run that on 12v and have a small  inverter on the house for my occasional use of 240V ?

" The lead is too long and 12v power will drop out over that length ." It never has and after I set it up my way , it still has not .

" You will not have enough power to run a fridge and washing machine ."

I already outlined my minimal use of power to them  ( apparently no kids is a HUGE bonus .... no gaming , no constant internet , no social media    )  .... okay , I will get a gas fridge  and I only  do laundry once or twice a week , if I need a super generator anyway, why cant I run washing machine on that twice a week ?

 

And so on . I told them to shove it ,  bought my own components , rigged it up myself, have had no problems since and saved myself about 15 G   !  

 

But some people !   Talk about hopeless !  I took friends little girl out to beach , we got a  flat tire  on the way there . She told mum about it , Mum " Oh NO!   What did you do ?"

 

Huh ?   Me : " I changed it  with the spare ."

 

" All by yourself !  " 

 

Wow, I wonder what a mechanic would charge to come out and change a tire for you ! 

[Nungali]

10 hours ago, Taomeow said:

 

Wait until you see (hopefully not experience) how long people have to wait to see a medical specialist.  In many places it's become a nightmare wrapped up in mockery.  And for many conditions it's become a waste of time, money, and years or decades of life.  

 

Something has been happening  done to civilization, in terms of the sheer accumulation of unsolvable problems, in an exponential sort of way.  

 

I remember the 'fun' of waiting for my hip replacement for 1 year .... but that is the wait list for free treatment . here , ya got bucks, straight in .  ... well, years back  , that was.

 

here is something that relates to what you say , I often observe this in local 'civil matters ' and difficulties council and others have ;

" Ya know,  when this place got established , roads and bridges built , community halls ,  resources set up, etc , there where a LOT less workers , a lot less technology and equipment  and they did it all. Now, with everything we have we even have trouble maintaining that .

 

A small crew used to re-lay the road every so often , it would last about 50 years . yes, there was the occasional; 'excess worker' leaning on a shovel watching .   Now ?  After the hassles of 2 years long road repairs on the way to town on main road  I am still being stopped by workers digging up the decaying road and fixing it, months, sometimes even weeks after they 'finished' the job .

 

yesterday ;  sign ' Roadwork ahead ' and various other signs , everyone slows down , but after a while with nothing happening , they speed up  gain . It turned out 2 km of warning was needed  for people to be able to get their foot on the break . then eventually  portable traffic lights .  Green . We get waved through as well .  Drive 6 km, passing cars coming the other way .... no road works whatsoever , then the portable traffic lights at the other end ... kms along , also green . Same an hour later on way back . between that are 3   workers with stop go signs  watching any   small road or track that joins onto this .

 

And one more for fun ; roadside slashing with a tractor now needs 3 council cars , parked 500m apart  all with a sign on the back 'slashing ahead ' all with two guys sitting in each one .    and the same coming from the other direction .  WTF ?

 

At least workers dont stand there doing nothing leaning on  a shovel anymore ... they stand there tapping away on their phones !

[Nungali]

I always wonder what happens when the things those graphs represent 'go vertical '  ? 

 

I wrote a poem about it once called 'Falling'   ; something like : we where all riding a wave back then , but now its 'sucked up'... now we are going all going  vertical, and then ...  tumbling down , arms and legs  whirling in a slow whirlpool  of silent resignation ....

 

 

 

 

 

[old3bob]

9 hours ago, Nungali said:

I always wonder what happens when the things those graphs represent 'go vertical '  ? 

 

I wrote a poem about it once called 'Falling'   ; something like : we where all riding a wave back then , but now its 'sucked up'... now we are going all going  vertical, and then ...  tumbling down , arms and legs  whirling in a slow whirlpool  of silent resignation ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

a lot of surfing has become  super competitive and dare-devil like,  there is still some communing with nature aspect to it but that often gets drowned out by all the hype.  Decades ago I was fortunate to get in a lot of such communing in far less crowded surfing breaks,  even in southern Cal! 

[old3bob]

20 hours ago, Taomeow said:

 

Wait until you see (hopefully not experience) how long people have to wait to see a medical specialist.  In many places it's become a nightmare wrapped up in mockery.  And for many conditions it's become a waste of time, money, and years or decades of life.  

 

Something has been happening  done to civilization, in terms of the sheer accumulation of unsolvable problems, in an exponential sort of way.  

 

we are fortunate where I'm at being that our little walk in clinic is staffed with well qualified doctors that in many cases see a person quickly and often resolve issues there,  but if needed our county hospital and staff are also pretty quick in seeing people.  The crowds at big hospitals in big cities remind me of L.A traffic jams! 

[old3bob]

10 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

Ha!  I got a company to quote me on a solar energy upgrade . I set the last system up myself .

 

The quote was near 20G   !     They wanted to put the panels on my shed roof  . What ?  Thats not a good place, hardly gets much sun, why on earth did you decide that place ?   " From google earth "  .   What ? You are going to work out placement of panels without even being on site ?   next they wanted a super dooper inverter and underground 240v cabling .  Also you will need a good generator as a battery back up in case of long periods of cloud and less light in the wet season .

 

Why cant I just generate 12 v   from the panel out in the sun in the paddock, run a 12v line to the house , run that on 12v and have a small  inverter on the house for my occasional use of 240V ?

" The lead is too long and 12v power will drop out over that length ." It never has and after I set it up my way , it still has not .

" You will not have enough power to run a fridge and washing machine ."

I already outlined my minimal use of power to them  ( apparently no kids is a HUGE bonus .... no gaming , no constant internet , no social media    )  .... okay , I will get a gas fridge  and I only  do laundry once or twice a week , if I need a super generator anyway, why cant I run washing machine on that twice a week ?

 

And so on . I told them to shove it ,  bought my own components , rigged it up myself, have had no problems since and saved myself about 15 G   !  

 

But some people !   Talk about hopeless !  I took friends little girl out to beach , we got a  flat tire  on the way there . She told mum about it , Mum " Oh NO!   What did you do ?"

 

Huh ?   Me : " I changed it  with the spare ."

 

" All by yourself !  " 

 

Wow, I wonder what a mechanic would charge to come out and change a tire for you ! 

 

we have 240 but it is split down to 120 before being wired up in homes,  seems 240 would be a lot more dangerous if a person got across it!  I got a fancy inverter for dc to ac but haven't wired it up (or a battery bank) yet and don't know when i will unless the grid goes down and hopefully that does not happen in the middle of a winter blizzard!

Edited August 6 by old3bob

[Taomeow]

42 minutes ago, old3bob said:

 

a lot of surfing has become  super competitive and dare-devil like,  there is still some communing with nature aspect to it but that often gets drowned out by all the hype.  Decades ago I was fortunate to get in a lot of such communing in far less crowded surfing breaks,  even in southern Cal! 

 

There's lots of surfers in San Diego, and many look so picture perfect, sun kissed, in shape, you might think the ocean somehow works on their souls, not just their bodies -- but that, alas, proved to be an illusion.  When I was new here, at one point a group of surfing guys and gals plumped down on the beach to relax so close to me that I couldn't help listening to their conversation.  It mostly consisted of nonstop expletives, the dumbest of jokes, and unimaginative mundanities.  Not a spark of spirit or intelligence.  I couldn't understand how it could be -- they are in such close contact with the forces of nature and it somehow doesn't affect more than their sheer physicality?  Then it occurred to me...  society acts as a force of nature too, society is the "environment," and that environment has the soul-shaping (or misshaping) power exceeding that of the ocean.