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It's the miracle cure! (Real link)

Hope you bought in early...

Someone mentioned Circus City and Divx. I was going to reply, but I thought I'd write a journal entry instead.

Ah Divx. Cloudy. Broken business models.

Remember Circuit City's Netpliance iOpener ?

This was about the year 2000. The iOpener was a Linux computer with monitor and dial up modem, for $99. (A steal of a price, at that time, except . . .) it was tied to a dial up internet service subscription. The idea was that you would buy the iOpener at an insanely cheap price, and they would make their profits on the required service subscription to get online. The "i" in iOpener probably meant intarwebs.

Of course, what happened was hilarious. Evil hackers intent on destroying the very fabric of society published online information about how one could:
1. buy an iOpener at Circut City for $99, without signing anything, and walk out of the store
2. hack, modify or reflash (sorry don't remember which) Linux on the device
3. have a useful computer that was worth at least four times what you paid for it
4. without paying Netpliance a single cent more
5. Profit!

Netpliance was upset. Circus City was upset. Something must be done! Some law must have been broken! It is a violation of the agreement!

Runner up: Radio Shack's Cue Cat free bar code scanner with serial port connector. The R/S sales droids would run up to you shoving these free Cue Cat scanner packages in your face! It's FREE!!! The package had the scanner and a disk of software. The scanner would be used to scan bar codes on ads or something to get grate fantastical dealz! Of course, to most of us here it was a free barcode scanner worth about $35 at the time, IIRC.

Any other great broken business models you can think of?

I've watched all the Star Trek: Picard season 1 episodes so I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts on it. I've avoided looking at too many other reviews, so I don't know how much of this has been said elsewhere.

Over all I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I think it's the best official Trek I've seen since First Contact. I seriously dislike the direction they took things with the Abrams reboot movies and I wasn't too impressed with Insurrection or Nemesis. I was expecting very, very, little of the old skool Trek in Picard, but there was enough of it, with a reasonably good story, to satisfy me. The references to old Trek didn't feel too tacked-on, so it's good to see they put a bit of work into this one.

I enjoyed it, but it was very far from perfect. What irritated me the most actually, were the incredibly anachronistic sets. Everywhere, everyone seemed to be obsessed with artifacts from the late 20th and early 21st century! Office chairs on casters, cigars lit by 21st century lighters, shirts with buttons (in TOS, all buttons were banned for the same reason). Even Riker and Troi's home is decked out with 20th or 21st century decor, furniture, plumbing and lighting (It was good to see these characters back though, and Seven of Nine). All that dated stuff belongs on a holodeck program, or perhaps a distant planet that just happens to resemble a past Earth. It's fine for Picard and Riker to have a few historic ornaments in their homes, but this took it too far and it just looks like they cheaped-out on most of the props for the show! It just seemed really sloppy to me.

Something that I considered a plot hole, which could at least have done with some explanation, is that all synthetics are supposed to be banned yet Picard consults an AI librarian and the ship has Emergency Medical, Navigation, Engineering and Hospitality Holograms! If the Romulans irrationally fear all synthetic life then why not worry that an EMH could inject someone with a toxin or a command hologram could coordinate a full scale attack?

I could have done without needless gross-outs, like the scene with Agnes Juranti's vomiting cutting straight to Riker's homemade stone-baked pizza!

I found it oddly convenient that the Borg transwarp conduit dumped their ship out so close to Soji's home world, Ghulion IV, as to pretty much be in orbit. I don't think she created the conduit, so the Borg just happened to have made one suitable for precisely that journey.

I didn't like the fact that they seemed to be using money as well. That's supposed to be obsolete on Earth.

I liked Picard's messages of hope, how optimism, compassion and free will can avoid the repetition of historic mistakes, for any race, if they so choose.

Anyway, it was all entertaining and Patrick Stewart was great as always. I'll watch more if they do manage a second series.

I'll just leave you with this great quote from Jean-Luc:

"To be alive is a responsibility as well as a right." -- Admiral Jean-Luc Picard

Newsom or Cuomo?

Or the same old shit?

1. Stupid governments touting "immunity passports" as a way out of lockdown.

Yeah, that will work ... send kids to school because they aren't as affected, But their parents, their teachers, school bus drivers and administrators, lunch time monitors ... this is jus t"herd immunity by killing off the weak" by another name.

The whole idea is at least premature, because there is no evidence that you can't get covid-19 even if you have antibodies (pdf)

The above pdf from the World Health Organization gives an explanation as to why (1) antibody tests are not there yet, (2) antibodies don't mean you're immune, and (3) even if you have immunity today, it doesn't mean you still have it a month later.

The simple fact is we do not have any scientific evidence to believe that both COVID19 and antibody tests (which might be giving a positive result for one of the other 6 coronaviruses in humans) mean you are immune.

There's a big difference between mounting an antibody defence and mounting an effective antibody defence. Many, especially children, have very low or non-detectable levels of antibodies. Plenty of people who have recovered also have low levels of antibodies, so their recovery may be related to other defence mechanisms (see the pdf for these other defences).

And of course, many of the people who end up in the mass morgues and graves had high - very high - levels of antibodies.

So why all the talk about immunity passports? Money! While 80% of parents are against the Quebec government re-opening schools, and 2/3 have said they won't send their kids even if the schools do re-open, the government, like governments everywhere, are looking to the economic interests of their corporate "sponsors."

Otherwise, why bail out the airline tourist industry? It's not like people are going to be demanding to be squished like sardines in cans even after the lockdown is over. The airline tourist industry, like the cruise ship industry, is dead unless it removes half the seats. And that means much higher prices. Which means fewer flyers. Which is good for the environment, but not for big oil.

"But what about the jobs lost?" They're lost anyway. The latest guidance from the oldest central bank in the world (the Bank of England) says we're heading to the largest depression ever. Nobody has money for cheap getaway flights to holiday destinations during a depression.

We've seen just how many jobs aren't really "essential." Servers in restaurants, for example. Nail salon "technicians". And with the dead being shipped directly to cremation, no embalming, no viewing, we can also get rid of "funeral directors".

Professional sports? The latest CTV poll say the majority aren't missing it. And it's more and more resembling the Roman "bread and circuses" policy. Sports celebrities? Movie celebrities? Influencers? Fewer and fewer people give a shit - they have other problems. That Ellen Degeneres is a bitch and a union-buster when the cameras are off just means it's easier to ignore everything else she does. A talk show out of your home with guests by videolink and no live audience is just another shitty podcast. Ditto Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz.

Even the evening newscasts are really showing the final effects of 30 years of budget cuts and emphasis on "soft news" - entertainment pieces - over hard news stories. Half the broadcast is Tik Tok videos, Youtube videos, Lego videos. The weather, which can be done in a minute, is instead promoted several times between each set of commercials, telling us that they will tell us what the weather will be, then 5-7 minutes of green-screen crap giving us irrelevant stupidity like the weather on the other side of the country, before telling us what's coming. By that time, I've already gotten it from my weather app, so I'm either channel surfing or reading The Guardian, or walking the dog, or raiding the fridge. Like normal people. Do they actually believe ANYONE sits through all that shit unless they're in a seniors home and can't find the remote (or maybe they died)? That would be the network's ideal customer - never changes the channel.

We have alternatives. And in a depression, people are mightily motivated to try different ways of doing things that are cheaper and probably a lot safer. Movie theatres? Dead. All those blockbusters that have had their release dates pushed to the fall? They will end up direct-to-video.

And let's be honest, there's not much more to milk out of either the Marvel Universe or 007. Remember the Mission Impossible plot involving a virus that could wipe out a good chunk of humanity, stored in an Asian tower? Seems tame now that we're living with a killer virus and this movie WON'T END!!! The only reason this one keeps you in your seats is because you can't go out.

The governments claim that the decision to open the schools, originally scheduled for the first week of May, will be guided by science. And yet they haven't shown any modelling of how many extra deaths this will involve. Because there is no modelling. We've never done this before, so the Legault government is flying by the seat of the pants, same as Trump. But this little piece of doggerel puts into words what most voters are saying, we don't trust you so show us the science or STFU and quit lying to us.

2. Get a dog. Seriously, get a dog.

People have been demanding that plant nurseries open, and they've gotten their wishes. When did being able to plant a few flowers become an essential service? "But we're going crazy!"

Got news for you - you're already a bunch of weak-willed wimps if you can't handle this. There's whole segments of society who endure stricter isolation - nobody calls them, nobody visits them, except when the snowbirds (people wintering in Florida) go visit them and give them COVID-19. Because that's how it got so massively into the old age homes here, with over 1,000 dead directly, and many more "hidden causes", dead from dehydration and hunger, because of a sudden drop of over 9,000 care staff.

And you wonder why I've got my advanced medical directives witnessed and registered with the government? All, legal, just pump me up with pain killers to knock me out and let me die.

And once this crisis is over, the pending legislation to make advanced directives for medical assistance in dying will be passed too. Far better than rotting in a nursing home with no nurses. I call them charnel houses. Not completely accurate, but you get the idea.

Being indoors driving you nuts? Get a dog. Or just go for a walk. That's still legal.

3. Trudeau gives a slap in the face to all volunteers

If you didn't know that Prime Minister Trudeau was a former teacher at a private school for the excessively affluent, the bailout of students makes it quite clear.

You're a student, even directly out of high school, and you can't find a full-time summer job? You can now earn up to $1,000 a month for 16 weeks by working for a charity or community organization - the government will pay your wages for the 15 hours of work. You'll also get an additional $1,250 to $1,750 a month each month as a "top-up". And at the end of 4 months, an additional $5,000 (which is another $1,250 a month). This is on top of any other government aid you already qualify for.

So, $1,000 x 4 + $1,750 x 4 + $5,000 = $16,000 for 240 hours of work ...that's $66.67 an hour. Working alongside volunteers who get paid ... $0 per hour.

And most of those are retired people living on less than $16,000 a year.

Everyone that I've spoken to, whether they're volunteers or not, finds this offensive. But wait - there's more. The government also pays for 85% of student tuition, as well as making available other grants and bursaries to cover living expenses.

Trudeau knows that the parents of the excessively affluent students will eat this up. And everyone else - you don't count.

But wait, there's even more. Students are complaining that's not enough. They want a guaranteed $2,000 a month year-round to study. But they still want everyone else to pay 85% of their tuition, and keep the grants and bursaries flowing.

These students are like our prime minister, spoiled, frivolous, and lazy. Australia's former PM let the cat out of the bag recently, when Trudeau walked into a meeting with him during trade negociations and said "what do you think of my socks?" "Justin, this is not about your socks. You've insulted the Japanese and the Vietnamese. It's down to this - here are two draft communiques, one with 10 countries signing and one with 11. Nobody cares whether you're in or not any more." He characterized Trudeau as concernedonly about image, and a flake.

It's gotten to the point where even the Senate is sick and tired of a new program every second day to bail out yet another special group. "Just send everyone a check and claw it back from those who don't need it. It will be simpler and cheaper."

But our flaky PM is more like Trump than anyone wants to admit - preoccupied with his image, no substance, and incapable of admitting a mistake.

In my opinion, the term TDS has exactly one meaning: "I have no actual rebuttal to what was said."

It is (IMO falsely) claimed that TDS is used when someone trivially overreacts to any tiny thing that Trump says or does. However in my experience, I've never seen it used this way.

The way TDS is typically used, at least on SN, is when someone makes a point, in many cases supported at least minimally with facts and/or references, critical of the president, and the TDS-dropper has no actual rebuttal.

The correct reaction to seeing a TDS-bomb? Stop. You've lost me right there. I'm done reading. If you had an actual point to make you would have already made it.

Labeling valid criticism as deranged is itself, IMO, deranged.

Edit, additional thought:

Furthermore, throwing out TDS is not intended to contribute or rebut in any meaningful way, it is intended to be hurtful. It serves NO OTHER purpose. Like throwing a grenade, it has no cost to the thrower.

From the BBC:
Coronavirus: Outcry after Trump suggests injecting disinfectant as treatment
(article includes direct video quotation -- despite any efforts to retroactively change the transcript)

US President Donald Trump has been lambasted by the medical community after suggesting research into whether coronavirus might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the body.

He also appeared to propose irradiating patients' bodies with UV light, an idea dismissed by a doctor at the briefing.

Another of his officials had moments earlier said sunlight and disinfectant were known to kill the infection.

Disinfectants are hazardous substances and can be poisonous if ingested.

Even external exposure can be dangerous to the skin, eyes and respiratory system.

True leaders lead by example. Lead by being the first one into the battle with others following. Be the first one to demonstrate the powerful efficacy of your newfound treatment. Show those silly doctors and scientists how much of a stable genius you truly are. Demonstrate your truly dizzying intellect for all to see. It is well known that verifiable personal testimony of the effectiveness of your treatment is a powerful sales pitch. Consider how such courage will inspire your followers come election time.

True followers follow their glorious leader's example. As a heartening and inspiring example of selfless devotion I would point no further than Jonestown or your local Apple store. The VP should be the first in line to demonstrate the loyalty of a true follower. Inspire all the acolytes. (leaving Pelosi in charge, I think)

^{_<no-sarcasm>}
Listening to doctors and scientists and ignoring idiotic orange clowns, their daily three ring circus, and their cheerleading lap dogs at FauxNews, is really the best advice.
^{_{</no-sarcasm>}}

Update:
Lysol maker warns against internal use of disinfectants after Trump comments
I don't think there is any way to spin this that Trump did not mean what we all saw and heard him say. Everyone independently understood him to mean the same thing. Then they came out defending Trump saying he was being sarcastic -- which confirms that we correctly understood his message about disinfectants.

"we have to make sure [North Korea] does not become a military dictatorship" -- some crazy baldhead on FOX

Bad enough that Soylent Eds would continue their standard procedure of censoring aristarchus submissions, but when it is a matter of life and death? The stories on the complete Snake Oil salesmanship of the Impeached President and his Really Stupid controllers on Faux News, promoting a totally ineffective and actually contra-indicated drug, the Hydroxychloroquine fake, needs to be reported immediately, lest more unnecessarily die. Journalistic integrity, over rightwing wacko TMB "I smoke" crap, PLEASE. Or, nothing will be left of SoylentNews, but the TMB, the Runaway, and the APK. Sickness, contagion, alt-right bullshit, janrinok's complacency. You know what cures Covid-19? Lockdowns and testing. That is the only thing. If you think different, you are a threat to public safety, and if you are protesting carrying a weapon, you should be shot on sight. With bullets dipped in corona virus, you stupid patsy of right-wing corporate astroturfing bastardly farks!

Rejected submission on French study
Not accepted submission on VA study

Note: you can skip to the good stuff (#6 - recipe for ice coffee) below. There's also microwave 6 minute baked potato wedges #5.

1. Justin Trudeau, the flake.

Before I get into the latest mindless Trudeau government throwing money around without actually talking to the people affected - again - here's something from when Trudeau thought that good hair and socks were enough to make him a world leader.

Back in 2017, the Canadian and Aussie PMs seemed sympatico. But in a new book, Malcolm Turnbull says he found Trudeau to be flaky and preoccupied by appearance.

Bigger Picture, the new autobiography by former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, is clouded in scandal. Days before its release on Monday, someone leaked dozens of digital copies to politicians and journalists across Australia. Since its publication, journalists in that country have called it, alternately, a “work of fiction” and “scandalously compelling.” Amid the many private conversations Turnbull unveils in the book, is one with Justin Trudeau, who Turnbull mercilessly portrays as self-centred and a poor negotiator who is inexplicably preoccupied with socks. “Justin always wore perfectly tailored suits that fitted like a glove, bright socks and on this occasion two-tone shoes,” Turnbull writes. “‘What do you think of the socks?’ he asked, crossing his legs as he sat down. ‘Justin,’ I said, ‘we’re not here to talk about your socks.'” According to the National Post, Turnbull describes Trudeau as singlehandedly derailing plans to revive the Trans-Pacific Partnership during high-level diplomatic meetings in Vietnam in November 2017. He writes that other world leaders, including the prime ministers of Vietnam and Japan, were humiliated, as they expected photo ops and handshakes and press conferences to seal the deal. In Trudeau’s defence, he has been fairly outspoken about his reservations since that conference in question—”I wasn’t going to be rushed into a deal that was not yet in the best interest of Canadians,” Trudeau told reporters at the time—and his primary concerns, including preserving Canadian cultural content and auto manufacturing, jive with Turnbull’s recollection of the disagreements. But what Trudeau did not disclose all those years ago was that the other Pacific countries were prepared to sign an agreement excluding Canada outright, so annoyed were they with Ottawa’s wrench-throwing attitude. Less than a week later, according to Turnbull, Trudeau announced Canada was officially in. The automotive clause didn’t budge, but Canada received binding side agreements with each member country protecting its right to “adopt or maintain discriminatory requirements” when it comes to preserving Can-con. So at least we got that.

Further excerpts in the Guardian raise the possibility that Trudeau was intimidated by Trump. Given the BS in the NAFTA2 negotiations, I'd say that too is more than likely.

Justin Trudeau is becoming more and more Canada's answer to Ivanka Trump. No real substance. I've taken to avoid both his and Premier Legault's press conferences - they're both openly dishonest. In Legault's case, it's continued claims to be guided by science while death rates continue to hit new highs. He sounds like Trump, champing at the bit to ease the lockdown, even though the vast majority don't want schools open even if their kids are driving them crazy, because, well ... death!

2. Throwing money around without a real plan

Even 50 Canadian senators have said "if you're going to just come p with more ad-hoc economic plans to fund different segments of society, why not just have one program that covers everyone, like a universal basic minimum income." But no, the latest is a plan to bail out students who can't get summer jobs. So badly constructed that students can end up making just under $3,950 a month by double-dipping into two different programs as long as they stay under the earnings threshold of $1,000 a month. Not bad for some kid just out of high school. Way more than they could have earned prior to the pandemic.

3. More volunteers drop out

I can't blame people for staying away from volunteering during the pandemic - we're mostly "of a certain age", and we're mostly "with pre-existing health conditions". And let's not forget, you have to consider that half the population who have pre-existing conditions don't even know it. Volunteering at this time is risky business.

So we lost more volunteers over the Easter break. I usually drag my ass in a bit later Monday morning than others, and stay later to take care of the stuff that needs to be done when the main job is completed. People accept it because they know I was there Sunday evening setting things up with two other people, a task that is taking longer every week because the number of families we feed keeps going up.

We've become a pretty close-knit group, since there are now so few of us. On the plus side, the people who take 3 hours to do one hour of work are no longer showing up slowing things down, and it's a lot easier to maintain social distancing (I know, we have n95s so we can be closer than 6 feet apart, but it's a good habit). But a warehouse that normally has 30 or more people bustling around Monday morning feels kind of empty with only 12-13.

But Justin Trudeau is still harping on how his programs will allow food banks to hire students to help. "Help with deliveries". Yeah, right. Most students aren't in good enough shape to carry 50-pound-plus boxes of groceries up 3 flights of stairs to families in apartment buildings, over and over, 20-30 times in one afternoon.

Certainly not during either a heat wave or the biggest snowstorm of the year. And of course, if they're back in school in the fall, what happens then?

So we have to stick with our current system, including our current delivery volunteers. Would be nice if the government backed up its commitment to volunteers by throwing a few bucks our way, but that's not going to happen. We're cynical and we're pissed off. And socks don't impress us. Neither does his latest "For Men Only" dye job.

4. Dunkin Donuts finally gets the message.

When Dunkin Donuts came out with a new ad Covid-washing their shops by emphasizing that you can still pick up at the drive-in window, the commercial showed the attendant handing the coffees to the client, and it was very obvious they weren't gloved.

They re-edited the commercial so that is wasn't on screen nearly as long, and put a banner across the bottom at the end to hide the hands.

Finally, today they announced that all employees would be masked and gloved. Stupid idiots - all food handlers have been required to wear hand protection and hair nets here for years. But of course whether they do or not was always a bit of a problem.

Greasy spoon re-opens - but too late.

Lafleurs is a chain of hot dog and greasy fries restaurants. Today they're re-opening for pickup service. Too late. Last Thursday Jody (baby kangaroo girl - remember her?) went to pick us up some stuff while we worked, but they were closed. And now I'm all potatoed out. Why?

Slice, dice, and fry an onion in canola oil. (You can use olive oil or butter or margarine, or whatever). Make sure they're at least partly carmelized (burnt edges).

Cut a few potatoes into wedges. Don't bother skinning them. Nuke them for 6 minutes.

Take the wedges out of the nuker and cover in butter and ranch dip.

Garnish with the onion wedges.

Eat.

Unlike baked potatoes, the skins are easily edible. It's kind of addictive. You can add fried green, yellow, or red pepper slices, garlic, sour cream, melty grated cheese, tomato slices, or whatever else you can find hanging around.

5. Reuse, repurpose, recycle, reduce

A recent Guardian article mentioned how modern gadgets aren't really recyclable. Coffee makers are a good example of something that isn't worth repairing but has embedded electronics and different sorts of plastics.

So when my coffee maker died a couple of years ago, rather than replace it, I kept the coffee filter holder and the coffee pot, and tossed everything else.

It works like a charm and takes up way less counter space. I just put a filter in the holder and balance it on top of the pot, then add boiling water. True, I have to add water every few minutes (every commercial, or between dog walks, or whatever), but it means the coffee is also not sitting on the hot plate for 2 hours before it finally shuts off. So the coffee doesn't get bitter while sitting there, and I've got 6 cups worth sitting there ready to nuke.

My sister thinks it's crazy, and even offered to pick me up one when they were on sale, but you can never have enough counter space, and I like the extra space, and the simplicity. Plus, it means that when summer comes, I'm all set for the following:

6. It was 5 below this morning. Or 11 below with the windchill. WT???

So of course that got me to thinking about summer. And my recipe for ice coffee. It needs 4 cuts of cold coffee, which means either make a pot of coffee, drink a half litre, and let the rest get cold, or use my "recycled" coffee maker (#5 above), which doesn't keep the coffee warm in the first place.

Combine in a blender 1 cup sugar, two cups whole milk, 4 cups cold coffee.

Once blended, throw in 2 cups of ice cubes and work on pulse until the cubes are chopped up but not completely blended, You want them to be ice chips.

For those worried about calories, 9 cups is 1,076 calories (774 calories sugar, 294 calories milk, 8 calories coffee, 0 calories ice cubes). 355 ml can of coke is 140 calories, 355 ml of this is 170 calories.

You can always cut down on sugar (to taste) and use 2% or skim milk instead of 3.25%, but hey ... for 30 calories??? I won't tell if you won't.