John Lennon

Today ( December 8th ) in 1980 John Lennon was shot to death by a mentally disturbed man. All my life I’ve heard people talk about where they were when JFK was shot. I could never relate to that, not having been born at the time. I do remember where I was when John Lennon … Continue reading "John Lennon"

Banned Books Week 2024

This year read a banned book week falls on: Sunday 2024 September 22 – Saturday 2024 September 28 Every year for the past 38 years the American Library Association sponsors Banned Books Week: The Freedom To Read Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week … Continue reading "Banned Books Week 2024"

Comment on Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler by beforewisdom

In reply to <a href="https://beforewisdom.com/veganism/rethinking-the-meat-guzzler/comment-page-1/#comment-71547">Barbara Noblin</a>. Yep!

Comment on Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler by Barbara Noblin

It astonishes me how sensitive people can be about the suffering of domestic pets (dogs and cats) but blind to the suffering of industrial farm animals. We don't have to see the latter. If we saw pigs in confinement cages of cattle in CAFO lots, I think that would spur change.

Project 2025: An Itemized List.

  Source The Heritage Foundation is a right wing think tank. It published Project 2025, a agenda for the next Republican president. Project 2025 was written by 20 former Trump appointees. The Heritage Foundation claims that Trump implemented or tried to implement 64% of their politicizes during his first year in office. This is a … Continue reading "Project 2025: An Itemized List."

A friend looking for justice – and safety – in Frederick County Maryland

The text below is from a friend of mine in Frederick County, Maryland.  She was done wrong, way wrong, by the justice system there: On Monday, May 13, Frederick County District Court judge Dino Flores, and attorney Marjorie DiLima collaborated to release guns back to my violently mentally ill husband. Together, they silenced, objected, and … Continue reading "A friend looking for justice – and safety – in Frederick County Maryland"

Comment on The Ancient Greek Roots Of The Serenity Prayer by Shaman

This is gold, thank you for sharing. Funnily enough when I took peyote in Mexico under the guidance of a Shaman, I came in contact with a higher entity which told me the exact same thing. Its quite amusing how spirituality is interconnected and interwoven into the writtings of philosophers and theologians accross the milenia and then you trip your ass off in a Mexican desert and you have the very same realization.

Epicurus On Death

The quote above is not the most scholarly translation of that thought by Epicurus. I’m not proud, I like the way it rolls off of your tongue and the meaning is fully intact. It is a powerful quote. I think it provides an insane amount of comfort. I don’t think it provides complete comfort. Marcus … Continue reading "Epicurus On Death"

Facebook Kitsch

“Text memes” ( pictures that have only text to make the fonts bigger than is standard on Facebook ) or what I call “Facebook Kitsch” usually doesn’t offer much. Platitudes about how schools should teach gardening, food preservation, soap making, etc, instead of you things like civics, history,math, science, art, and music. You know, things … Continue reading "Facebook Kitsch"

Comment on 9 biggest rip-offs in the U.S. by beforewisdom

In reply to <a href="https://beforewisdom.com/general/9-biggest-rip-offs-in-the-u-s/comment-page-1/#comment-15028">Caroline</a>. Netflix and chill :-).

Donald Trump’s Final Hours In Office

Donald Trump has six and half hours left in office as of this writing. Words can not express how I feel about the end of his presidency or his leaving. So, I will let this video express my feelings for me.

Comment on Google+ 101 by beforewisdom

In reply to <a href="https://beforewisdom.com/tech/google-101/comment-page-1/#comment-71158">Stephen Uitti</a>. The post is from about 9 years ago :-)

Where Does The Right Wing Get Their News?

The question above has been asked a lot lately. There used to be a group on Reddit devoted to Cheeto ( Donald Trump ) supporters, that was eventually banned. They went on to set up their own web site. I went there and asked them where they got their news. These were their answers: The … Continue reading "Where Does The Right Wing Get Their News?"

Comment on Microsoft admits it: Vista is a turkey by beforewisdom

In reply to <a href="https://beforewisdom.com/tech/microsoft-admits-it-vista-is-a-turkey/comment-page-1/#comment-71169">Stephen Uitti</a>. I read that Microsoft tried to do to much with Vista, had to cut out a lot of stuff to meet some deadlines, and ended up with crap. Interesting take you have on it.

Comment on Microsoft admits it: Vista is a turkey by Stephen Uitti

One of the problems with Vista is that Microsoft always developed for the next generation of machines. I had an Intel 8080 system. I had a pc/xt with DOS, it was easily 10 times faster. I had a 386/33, it was 33 times faster. I had a Pentium II, it was 27 times faster. I had an Athlon, it was 7 times faster. And about when Vista came out, my next machine was 3.5 times faster, though now with 4 cores. Computers had hit the John von Neumann memory wall. So Vista was written for computers that haven't yet been built. The current generation is about 3 times faster than my ten year old machine, though with more cores, let me look it up. Gasp. 16 cores and 32 threads. So 3 times faster, but 24 times the throughput? Maybe only 5x the throughput. And i still have a modern supercomputer, i mean GPU. I'll start breathing again in a moment. And Windows has never really run well with multi-core system. Even Windows 10. I'd call Vista a dog, but that would be demeaning to dogs. I like dogs. And dogs can be fast.

Comment on Blog, not BCC by Stephen Uitti

BCC is Blind Carbon Copy. So i only use it when i need to send out to everyone in a list, and the people on the list are not supposed to know each other's email addresses. And, i help run a group where that is the case. And, i have a blog. It's been a long time since i worried about someone spelling my name wrong. I mean, my last name is UITTI. It doesn't help that i pronounce it "Witty". I spelled it out letter for letter to a dry cleaner. I had no idea he wanted it to write it into my shirt indelibly. He got every letter wrong. And that's the norm. Even my first name. At a restaurant, i said "My name is Steven, with a PH." They wrote down Phteven. And yet, i also pronounce "Stephen" as "Steve". I'm easy going. I'll respond to swear words. The worst email thing ever, was from an astronomy club member, who found out i worked at the same company, and started sending me email for club business to my work email. We produce a monthly astronomy TV show. I wouldn't get the email until Monday, which doesn't fit my procrastination last minute lifestyle. I can't read it on the weekend unless there's an emergency, and i work very hard to avoid having emergencies even though it gets me paid overtime. I never told him my work email address. He looked it up. He's not a contractor, so he really only uses his work email. I told him to use my gmail account and explained everything repeatedly. I'd forward email to my gmail, then use my gmail to respond, and i'd fix up the list. And he'd edit it back even for a direct reply. Eventually, i did the only thing i could do. I changed jobs. Then he asked me why my email bounced. Sigh. Astronomy for Everyone. Our channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaU1Vl91MgoYxq0MfTm9KVw One of my blogs: https://predelusional.blogspot.com/

Comment on Linux vs Mac vs PC by Stephen Uitti

Unix at work starting 1982. Mac at home starting in 1987. Linux at home since 1992, became my primary computer around 2000, when it got a decent word processor. Windows at work in 1995. I couldn't believe how a business tolerated daily crashes to the bare metal. This was fixed with NT 3, oh, but you have to reboot every week because it slows to a crawl, and NT doesn't run all the Windows apps. Fixed in Windows 2000 Pro, but you still have to reboot frequently. Fixed in Windows XP, at least they said it was. Fixed in Windows 7. But it was too fast or something, so they introduced Windows 10. There was a Windows 8 that no one liked. There wasn't a Windows 9, because 7 8 9.

Comment on Ubuntu 9.04 by Stephen Uitti

At my new job, they gave me a laptop that seemed much faster than my previous work desktop, despite having 2 cores instead of 4, and slower cores at that. But i booted it at home, and noticed something missing - the noise. SSDs have no moving parts. It feels faster all the time because when backups happen SSDs are faster, so there's no problem. I hardly ever run anything that is CPU intensive at work. Even Windows 10 boots in a reasonable amount of time. MS Word ran OK on a 1 MIPS machine in 1989. I don't recall any particular issues upgrading to Jaunty. My desktop is a semi 2010 vintage bucket of scraps that is upgraded in various ways from time to time. It didn't have as much CPU speed, CPU cooling, RAM or disk, or a supercomputer (3 TFLOPS supporting multiple 4k HDMI video) at the start. Same axe, except the handle and the blade. In 2010, i was still buying parts only after checking Linux compatibility. In 1992, Linux didn't have shared libraries. You compile something, got it to work, and you were done forever, even if you upgraded the kernel. I had a 386 that had over 430 days of uptime. I had to shut it down because i was moving to another state. When i mentioned it, i was asked how i went that long without doing an upgrade. Uhm. I added a SCSI scanner, a web cam, and all sorts of software - even upgraded the kernel with loadable modules. Why on Earth would i reboot? But that's been fixed, upgrades are forced marched every 3 years, and you must get all new software, and you must like it, meaning learn how to use it all over, and figure out the new workarounds. Feels like Windows, though it's cheaper, and frequently the new software does something new for you. However, MS Word recently corrected my grammar, and i'd been doing it wrong my entire life. I've been using MS Word since before 1989, and it never did that before.

Why You Should Wear A Mask.

Making a better homemade mask for COVID19

I’ve cut and pasted this information so many times I decided to make a blog post about it. How to make a better homemade mask to protect others and yourself from COVID19? Read on ….. New York Times: “What’s the Best Material for a Mask?” Scientists decided to test what commonly available materials make better … Continue reading "Making a better homemade mask for COVID19"