Sugoi & Yokunai

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it was permissible for the police to forcibly use your finger to unlock your phone. Hey, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about, right? The enhanced security features of Apple phones are so nice.

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Perovskite touch screens are versatile. They can also be fingerprint readers, LEDs, and photoplethysmography sensors (detecting change in blood flow in the fingertip).

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On Friday, the Guardian published this story stating the the FBI has identified that the Chinese have already infiltrated much of our infrastructure and could "pull off a devastating blow" at any time. Basically they have us hostage (thanks to Biden's policy).  The next day they ran this story of Chinese researchers having a hard time at the border when they want to come in to study at American universities. This is a dilemma, because judging from research papers I've read and seeing news articles on science breakthroughs, Chinese researchers seem to be involved in 75% to 90% of all the major breakthroughs and advances in AI, physics, chemistry, medicine and math. We seem to need them, for sure. Then again, I'm not sure we can trust anything Chris Wray says anymore.

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"The worst medical scandal of modern times". Guess which one that is. Nope, it's not the COVID-19 vaccine, although that one's is pretty bad, too.  It's not even the medical profession pushing for things like Black Lives Matter, climate change policies, gun control, Ukraine support or Palestine support in the medical journals – that's more a show of political naïvete, editorial bias and skewed ideology than horrific. Nope, keep guessing.

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This bombshell information was hidden, and places like Oregon decided to can doctors and nurses because they weren't vaccinated, with the reason that they would transmit the virus to patients can cause harm. Of course, we now know that this is not true. But the damage has been done.

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Lahaina residents are finding out just how much Biden and the Uniparty government care about them.  FEMA says that they can't help with efforts to rebuild 1000 homes, but FEMA will only help with 169 homes.  Meanwhile another $60 billion goes to Ukraine, and the House waves Ukraine flags.  You know why they don't help you, Hawaii? Because you're in the bag, as far as the Democrats are concerned. You'll still vote for them no matter how badly you feel you've been discarded. That's why.

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Well here's an interesting fact about Portland DA Mike Schmidt. He has never prosecuted a felony or rape case in his career. Can you believe that? And he's the DA. So inexperienced and unqualified for the position. How is this possible? That alone should disqualify Mike Schmidt from re-election. Hoo boy.

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This video of Bill Maher is making the rounds. This time he doesn't slip in a derogatory remark about Trump.

Download maher_small_world_after_all.mp4

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The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race or gender even though no real harm has been done.  It didn't seem to me to be related to reverse discrimination, but that is how some are looking at it.

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Rene Gonzalez favors a harder line against homeless camps. Yes! I like the cut of his jib.

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Novo Nordisk has done to Kalundborg what Microsoft did to Seattle. The city has been transformed. All due to Ozempic and obese Americans.

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Northern hemisphere ocean spray (especially around the UK, where it was tested) may be a major source of "forever chemicals".

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OHSU puts its trauma surgeon director on administrative leave because he said something that offended a resident. I know someone who used to work at OHSU who was afraid of something just like this.  That person had to walk on eggshells because you never know what might offend the modern snowflake student. I'll bet this surgeon will soon quit and work somewhere else instead.  (This might be an opportunity for Providence to score a top surgeon. Move the whole team over, just like the heart transplant team, then have St Vincent be designated a trauma center instead. Score!)

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At dayuse.com, you can find a hotel that will let you use a room for a few hours.  For innocent purposes, right?

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So, you are more likely to get better grades if your last name starts with A,B,C or D?  Crazy.

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Teaching doctors how to think. Doctors need to be confident, but not too confident. How you learn that?

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Katherine Maher, the new CEO of NPR has some weird conceptions of what truth is. This encapsulates so well how the modern liberal thinks, and Maher lays it out so clearly. "Everyone has their own truth." This, in conjunction with her other statements about how people like her should determine what speech gets to be allowed, is the basis of the modern Democrat.  Imagine her being YOUR boss.

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Grumpy Website is a showcase of bad user interface at various websites.

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Fools Gold (iron pyrite) may be somewhat valuable after all.  Due to its lithium content.

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Nearly half of China's major cities are shrinking. Another problem for them to worry about.

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The organization Women Who Code is apparently shutting down. So goes the scuttlebutt, although you'd never guess by their website now. Too bad, really. No reason stated for this. 

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Ukraine is heading for defeat. Yeah, we kinda new that. When it's Biden and Zelensky against a guy like Putin, who do you think is going to win? No contest. But all that money, which we'll never get back.

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GPT vs resident physicians. Apparently GPT has attained parity. But that's just regurgitating facts. And it will need RAG to stay current, and subtle reasoning may still be elusive. I'm still sticking with a human physician who uses AI rather than AI alone.

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Some quality science-fiction short films at 1ksuns.com.

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Nice review article on aging and vitamin D metabolism. Get your levels checked and take supplements if the levels are too low.

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Google is trashing their flagship product by trying to incorporate AI.  The Register has also noticed that Google search with AI just gives you spammy garbage. In my experience, it's not all like that, but certain search terms will generate this, such as when you search for items to spend money on. Too bad for Google – they're becoming the Alta Vista of the modern era.

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Here's a weird idea.  The Strange Theory That There Is Only One Electron In The Universe.  Could it be that all electrons are the same thing?  Weird perspectives are not new in quantum physics. Like positrons are just electrons moving backwards in time.

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When there's a will, there's a way. Queensland researchers create device that consumes carbon dioxide and generates electricity. And if you think that's unusual, how about this: Human hair transformed into renewable energy storage.  Barber shops and hair salons are sitting on a gold mine!

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Are noise-canceling headphones bad for you?  I am not convinced that they are. I think they are of benefit and this article doesn't change my mind.

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Lots of executive shuffling at Legacy. So Kathryn Correia has decided to retire after all. They've brought George Brown back, and the interim CEO (who was their CFO) has decided to quit and go elsewhere.

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FAFO. Google is not messing around.  Also, things got a bit more complicated for those who like to organize protests that often turn violent. Who will want to take responsibility now? And of course, the Left is upset about this. 

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Mr. Element 118. Yuri Oganessian is the only living man to have an element named after him.

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A nova might light up in Corona Borealis between now and September. Being in the PNW, it will probably be cloudy when it happens.

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If you own a vacant buidling that is unsafe and could catch fire, probably because it's inhabited by criddlers, Seattle's mayor wants to be able have it demolished.  Then it will be worth nothing, so you'd better sell it quick or take care of it now.

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Oregon has the second highest number of jobless claims. But if you file for unemployment, don't expect to get your unemployment check soon. And if you're homeless, don't expect to get your shelter soon.

It's always that, isn't it?

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In Germany, centuries-old trees will be cut down for windmill farms. They call it "green energy".

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Emergent phenomenon. Sometimes when you play around with differing amounts of orders of magnitude change, you see emergent phenomenon. And this is what happened with single-atom layer gold.  It behaves as a semi-conductor.

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If you were an engineer looking for a job, would you trust an AI interviewer? Who's looking at that information? Where's it going?

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When you touch metals and smell that metallic smell on your fingers, it's your secretions that you're smelling.

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There are SO MANY AI startups now. Many want to solve a problem you didn't know you had. But this posting is true – many need to put more thought into what they are doing.  GitHub pilot sounded good in the conception, but the author's right. It just converted time spent coding to time spent reviewing (and debugging).

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Well, the woke crowd ruined the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, Victoria's Secret, and beauty pageants. Now there's an AI beauty pageant. I doubt that they can ruin that.

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For once, Sen. Ron Wyden is right. A hidden addition to the warrantless FISA extension can compel everyone to being a spy.  But will Wyden be able to successfully oppose his Dem colleagues?

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Hollywood is fighting hard to prevent job losses from AI. Admirable, and I support this. But man, the current output from screenwriters is really bad. Just not sure that AI is going to make that better.

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The geeks are going hiking. The Hack Club is going to get together to hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. But bring printed circuit boards? Not the best place to work on something like that. Just enjoy the outdoors, and leave that stuff behind. Get some color.

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A new FDA-approved device to alleviate tinnitus. Hope this works. I know some folks who could use some relief.

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Chen's algorithm could upend quantum computing. But we're not hearing much about it. Too complicated.

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Here's a review article linking N1-methyl pseudouridine in the mRNA vax to cancers and decreased immunity. This needs to be more widely read and implications understood.

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Reminder: Oregon's minimum wage increases again on May 1.  And prices will increase accordingly. Are you getting an increase in your pay?

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Good.  The AI on Apple's iOS 18 will be local and will not be server-side.  It'll probably be a small model, capable of working on smaller phones.

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Heh. Looks like OpenAI's web crawler got caught in a robots.txt trap.

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Love this AI-generated class photo. Complete with made-up names.

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Yes, next question. Is Paxlovid a dud? 

Paxlovid, which now costs $1,400 for a 5-day course, has only shown benefit in a very rare population – that is, unvaccinated people who’ve never encountered the virus and are at high risk of serious Covid-19.

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Portland taxes are increasing. Of course, they are. You get less of your city to enjoy. But you pay more for it. And the same idiots keep getting elected. 

I love this title: "Vega Pederson’s Newly Appointed Homelessness Czar Resigns Amid WW Inquiry Into Treatment of Women". Was this truly bullying, Or maybe those women didn't like being told how things should be done. This is probably why truly capable people don't bother running for leadership positions in Portland. You'll get fired for "bullying".

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In-N-Out wants to locate in Beaverton. The want to be placed in a bad location that will cause a horrendous traffic jam. There are better places. I'm glad that this location is being denied.

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Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center is being sued by hospital staff who had to step down due to the vax requirement. Don't know how far this is going to go, but I hope that they win. This could be bad news for other hospitals, too.

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More bad news for Portland. They're going to lose a shipping container port. There will be a direct loss of 696 jobs and 870 indirect losses. 

Real Inflation is up 18.8% since the Biden administration started.

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Japan reports an increase in cancers after the mRNA booster SARS-CoV2 shot. There's an increase in cancers involving the pancreas, liver, uterus, skin, oropharyngeal, prostate, leukemia, ovary.  We only seem to see this published in foreign journals. Why is that?

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Oh, brother. Now the U.S. and U.K. want to ban Russia from the metals market. This is just going to hurt the west, just like all the other sanction efforts.

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The gun manufacturer, Remington, is leaving New York state after 208 years, and is moving to Georgia. That's a loss of jobs and decreased tax base for NY.

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Are science journalists resigning en masse? Not sure if this is a trend or just a one-time.

"Our findings provide support for the hypothesis that cat exposure is associated with an increased risk of broadly defined schizophrenia-related disorders." I thought as much. It would explain a lot of things.

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Quantum topology. Physicists discover a new quantum state by studying arsenic crystals.

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People are waiting to see United Healthcare's earnings report to see how much the Change Healthcare hacking fiasco has affected it. But now, it's reported that there's another ransomware attack underway.  Did they not learn from the first one?

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Taking CO2 out of the atmosphere is too expensive to fight climate change. And fighting pollution has removed an important cooling effect.  Well, you could talk to China and India, but good luck with that.

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Seattle Public Libraries will close (temporarily) starting April 14. Staffing issues, they say. No one wants to work. More nice things being taken away. But will they decrease taxes accordingly, since they're decreasing services? Yeah, right. 

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Amazon's got a giant warehouse in Woodburn. But's it's just going to provide work for robots. Not for you.

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I've not heard of the Ballmer Peak before. Maybe there's some science behind that?

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This is crazy. Some would like to see hospitals in British Columbia have designated illicit drug use sections that addicts can use. How's that for harm reduction, eh? Give 'em some hospital space.

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So, turbo cancer after vax boosters is real.  These studies always have to come out of some foreign country, because it'll never get published in the U.S.

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There are lipid profile changes that occur with age. But light exercise can get them back to younger profiles.

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How much of it was all fake? I used to watch Ken Anderson give talks, and would wonder in awe how he was able to get such amazing data. Well, imagine my surprise. And these were just the ones that were recently caught. How many more are still undetected? The guy needs to step down. He's besmirched the reputation of Dana Farber Cancer Center.

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Holy crap!  96% of US hospital websites share visitor info with Meta, Google, data brokers. What the hell, man? This is crazy! Why don't hospitals do something about this?

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Biden just forgave 277,000 more student loans. Guess how much that's going to cost taxpayers now. Go on, take a guess. This is loan transfer folks. From those college students to you.

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It's costing way more to own a home now. Robert Kiyosaki said that a home is not an asset but a liabilty. It seemed counter-intuitive at first, but it's true. Especially now.

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Physicists find a surprise with gluons. It looks like the strong force reaches a plateau at larger distances. Well, that's unexpected.

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This is what's going all around – Oregon Health Authority finds no link between the vax and sudden death.  If you look at the original study, you find that the researchers only searched the death certificates for certain terms: “sudden death,” “arrhythmia,” “dysrhythmia,” “asystole,” “cardiac arrest,” “myocarditis,” “congestive heart failure,” “unknown,” “undetermined,” or “pending”. They did not search for "pericarditis, myopericarditis, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, or pulmonary embolism. So they relied on physicians writing specific terms on the death certificate, didn't find anything, and concluded that there is no connection.  What about people who may have had cardiac arrest but were resuscitated soon enough and did not die? They would not be recorded in this study. Others followed vaccinated people prospectively and found an increase in myocarditis. Others have used ICD-10 codes to see if there an increase in cardiac injury. Some have looked for all-cause mortality and found an uptick in cardiac mortality in males by subgroup analysis. I therefore don't consider the OHA study to be definitive. The limitations of the study need to be understood.

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Here's an interesting music idea. RSSBlue lets fans subscribe to your musical RSS feed. This way they can directly access your music, and a payment system assures that payments go to you.

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So who's right? Will AI be a boon to the world, or will it destroy the world. Here's what experts think.  Spoiler alert: there are opinions on both sides.

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China's youth are saying "Screw it. We're not going to save for retirement." They expect the state to take care of them. OK. I think American youth are soon going to come to this conclusion, too. Then what? Do we let these people die or go hungry? Eventually, you run out of other people's money. Then what?

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I've heard that it was good to give Ukraine our current military equipment, because it would mean that we would build new equipment that would be more modern. Well, that's not what's happening. The article makes it sound like using old planes taken out of storage is a good thing, but the Chinese will have more modern weapons, and we have this. I think we're screwed.

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Heh. This made me smile. Teenagers learn about the tax system. And they aren't happy. More conservatives, maybe?

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Welcome to Oregon.

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DuckDuckGo is going to offer a Privacy Pro package, with VPN service, data removal service and ID theft assistance. Meanwhile, Google One is shutting down their VPN service after a year – because of lack of customers! Ha! Who in their right mind would purchase VPN from Google? It's like purchasing VPN service from the CIA.

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Apple is slowly making the move to Florida, too. 'Bout time.

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Andrew Ng is going to join Amazon's Board of Directors. They're getting serious about AI. Andrew could have helped Google again, so that tells you something about Google's culture.

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PSU is planning a major performing arts complex downtown to replace Keller Auditorium.  Hmmm. I don't think this is a good time to build something nice in downtown Portland. Look at all that glass that will need to be replaced after Trump wins the election.

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Speaking of election, you know what surprises me about the news that Biden may not appear on two states' ballots? That the Democrats aren't the least bit worried about this. Because they know that the election process won't matter. No matter how the vote goes, they'll somehow make Biden win. At 3 am. With suitcases of ballots that will be counted and double-counted, if need be. With electronic voting machines hooked up to the Internet.

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Suddenly, daycare is too expensive, and is now in short supply. Guess it's time to raise wages again, huh? And also another tax to pay for free daycare. Yup, that's the solution.

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Problems at Portland's largest outdoor housing. Just providing housing is not the answer as you can see.