Late Tuesday Trash Day

Well, it’s not late, because it’s still Tuesday. It’s later on Tuesday. Wednesday would make it late. English is damned fussy, sometimes. Anyway, let’s clean out our browser bookmarks together. Here’s a roundup of stuff I meant to read, but didn’t, but had to to make this list, so I guess I did after all. Man, procrastination is damned fussy sometimes.

Middle-Aged Man Trading Cards Go Viral in Rural Japan Town

While kids in most parts of Japan are obsessed with Pokémon cards — or perhaps the franchise’s latest smartphone game, Pokémon TCG Pocket — the children of Kawara are clutching to something a little closer to home. They are playing a trading card game (TCG) where the stars aren’t fantasy creatures, anime heroes or even famous baseball players, but ojisan (middle-aged or older men) from the local community of Saidosho.

Article is strangely reticent about whether you get a stick of that awful dusty gum in the package. Loved that stuff.

The narrowest escalator in New York

Have you ever wondered where the skinniest escalator is in NYC? An escalator that literally has no room to pass on either side? An escalator that is only able to accommodate a single-file line of passengers? Wouldn’t you love to see and ride one just like this?

No.

The Greatest Motorcycle Photo Ever

The key to setting the record for Free was cutting down on wind resistance. So when the 47-year-old accelerated his Vincent HRD Black Shadow, he positioned his body to be as horizontal as it could. Also, he wore only swim trunks as he whipped across the hard pack of the Bonneville Salt Flats. His plan worked to perfection, setting a record of 150.313 miles per hour.

It’s a swell picture and all, but I have to respectfully disagree. As long as this snapshot is out there, there can be only one, and the motorcycle is barely in it:

“Final Usonian home” by Frank Lloyd Wright completed in Ohio

“The quest was to build Frank Lloyd Wright’s final design true to his plan, its intent and spirit, while also ensuring that the home would meet current building regulations.”

It’s one or the other, honey. Frank never played nice with the building inspector.

Mass Grave of 150 Roman Soldiers Found Under Vienna Sports Field

“Since cremations were common in the European parts of the Roman Empire around 100 AD [CE], inhumations are an absolute exception. Finds of Roman skeletons from this period are therefore extremely rare,” said Kristina Adler-Wölfl, head of the Vienna City Archaeology Department.

Inhumations is a cool word. Other than that, I got nothing.

Data centers contain 90% crap data

We need to talk about the data. Crap data. We’re destroying our environment to create and store trillions of blurred images, half-baked videos, rip-off AI ‘songs’, rip-off AI animations, videos and images, emails with mega attachments, never-to-be-watched-again presentations, never-to-be-read-again reports, files and drawings from cancelled projects, drafts of drafts of drafts, out of date, inaccurate and plain wrong information, and gigabytes and gigabytes of poorly written, meandering content.

I see this fellow has been reading my blog.

Hyundai to buy ‘tens of thousands’ of Boston Dynamics robots

“Boston Dynamics and robotics AI will play a crucial role in achieving the group’s goal,” stated Jaehoon Chang, vice chair of Hyundai Motor Group. “Physical AI and humanoid robots will transform our business landscape to the next level. Through our collaboration, we will expedite the process to achieve leadership in the robotics industry.”

I’m pretty sure Hyundai bought Boston Dynamics a few years ago. So they’re buying robots from themselves. Now if they use AI algorithms to buy robots from themselves, their Tech Buzzword Bingo Card will be complete.

The Decline of the U.S. Machine-Tool Industry and Prospects for Recovery

The machine-tool industry is a small but vital sector of U.S. manufacturing. Machine tools—which cut and form metal—are essential for reproducing the technologies required in an industrial economy. Because machine-tool makers worldwide typically sell their newest products close to home, a weak domestic machine-tool industry means that U.S. manufacturers risk losing access to the latest manufacturing technologies. In addition, the industry helps foster innovation in manufacturing processes and plays a key role in defense production.

Uh, that article is a Rand think tank report from 1994. And they were worried that the US had fallen behind Japan, Germany, and Italy. You know, they say you can see the Great Wall from space. But apparently Rand can’t see China from 1994.

Why I Maintain a 17 Year Old Thinkpad

One of the main reasons that old Thinkpads stand out is their design philosophy. They are made with swappable components with the intention of user upgradeability. The battery, RAM, storage drive, keyboard, and even the CPU can be easily replaced. I can open the bottom of my T400 with a regular screwdriver and clean the fan. A battery swap is trivial thanks to a removable pack. No single failure is catastrophic because there’s a straightforward path to replacement or repair.

Well, young feller, I’m wearing clothes that are older than that.

Free and liberated ebooks, carefully produced for the true book lover.

Ebook projects like Project Gutenberg transcribe ebooks and make them available for the widest number of reading devices. Standard Ebooks takes ebooks from sources like Project Gutenberg, formats and typesets them using a carefully designed and professional-grade style manual, fully proofreads and corrects them, and then builds them to create a new edition that takes advantage of state-of-the-art ereader and browser technology.

Neato, but I must protest. The “true book lover” doesn’t read ebooks. He asks you to help him move four thousand pounds of hardcovers every two years. BTW, does anyone have any extra boxes?

[Update: Many thanks to Bob D, and somebody named Somebody, for their generous contributions to our tip jar. It helps keep this place going]